by Eric Vall
“I get around,” the baroness replied as she turned her single white-gray eye to the half-elf. “I study at the Oculus whenever I’m in Serin. When your friend Haragh was recruiting mages for your project, I was intrigued, and I asked him about it. He said you were only looking for Ignis and Terra Mages or I would have joined you to help. Since I couldn’t, I returned as soon as I could here to my barony to prepare for when you came to Rajeene. Like Yakoc said, you got here a little earlier than we thought you would. Do you approve of our platform?”
I took a closer look at it and even tapped on my power to test its integrity. It certainly passed.
“You’ll want it two feet taller,” I said at last. “I’d recommend a long gentle ramp on one side for moving produce and a set of steps for people. Are you sure this is the location you want it in? The train is pretty loud, and it’s right next to your castle.”
“The walls of Castle Rajeene are very thick,” Baroness Batonova assured me. “Thank you for your analysis. Can I offer you something to eat or drink, perhaps a room for the night?”
It was hard to get a good read on the Tenebrae Mage baroness, but I had to confess as beautiful and exotic as she was, her one light eye gave me an eerie feeling whenever it settled on me. I looked to the sun which had begun to set and then looked to Aurora who seemed conflicted as well.
“Thank you for the offer,” I replied. “We will happily accept your hospitality. We’ll just go to the train and pick up our belongings.”
“Yakoc,” the baroness said to her foreman. “Please see to it that our guests are fed and made comfortable.”
I led the mages back to the train in silence. None of us said a word until we were on board and knew we couldn’t be overheard.
“I don’t like her,” Aurora immediately said with a frown.
“She’s doing most of our work for us. She offered us food and drink, and a place to stay for the night,” I replied as I counted off each act on a finger. “She was incredibly accommodating.” Then I flashed a broad and sarcastic smile. “Nah, just kidding. She was creepy as hell.”
“Her family tree could use more branches,” observed Bagnera. “I heard that only Lux or Tenebrae Mages are allowed to rule this barony, so that’s all their family marries. They say only two kinds of apples grow in the baron of Rajeene’s orchard, black and white.”
“I swear that I’ve never seen her in the Oculus at any time during all the years I’ve been there,” Aurora said as her frown only grew more severe. “Has anyone else?”
The mages looked to one another, not quite sure.
“Of course, don’t they say that if a Tenebrae Mage doesn’t want to be seen, you won’t see them?” Pindor asked.
To this, most of the mages nodded.
“Listen,” I said to the group, “we don’t have much choice but to stay in Rajeene for the night. Soon it’s going to be too dark to lay down track, and we only have about ten more miles left before we need restocking.”
“Not to mention, we believe an attack will occur when we leave,” Aurora added solemnly, “and Haragh has not arrived yet.”
I nodded. “I hope Cayla has him here by morning. It’s quite a distance from Magehill. Come on. Let’s get our things and get back to the castle.”
In a few minutes, I led the mages with their belongings slung over their shoulders past the stand and through the open gates of Rajeene Castle. Yakoc greeted us on the steps in front of the grand entrance.
“A feast has been prepared for you while your rooms are being prepared,” the foreman said as he opened the great white door. “Please follow me.”
Fitting for a Tenebrae Mage, the interior of Rajeene Castle was dark, but what we could see by the torches that lined the hall was impressive. The floor was a checkerboard of black and white marble tiles, with white walls that rose up until they disappeared into darkness at the ceiling.
Baroness Batonova sat at the head of the long table in the banquet room as we entered. Roasted meats and vegetables, plates full of cheese, mugs of ale, and freshly baked bread had been laid out, and we quickly took our seats. My mouth began to water, but I knew there were some manners to be observed in the home of this very strange baroness.
“Please help yourselves,” the baroness said, “I do not dine until later.”
The food was delicious, but my appetite began to decrease every time I saw the baroness and her one visible eye as she sat in silence and observed her guests. All she did was take the occasional sip from her glass of some kind of black liquor.
I had to break the silence with some conversation.
“Can we help with your defenses at all?” I asked. “Your castle is obviously well fortified, but you have a large town with no wall--”
“My family has been ruling Rajeene for centuries,” Baroness Batonova interrupted me. “The people know that they can always find shelter here if need be. In truth, we have had very little trouble. I believe the bandits are afraid of me.”
“I can believe that,” murmured Pindor under his breath.
I gave him a quick sharp look, but the baroness evidently didn’t hear him.
“Where are you going next?” the Tenebrae Mage asked.
“To Cedis,” I said as I felt the instinct not to be more specific than that with this mysterious woman.
“The closest border is due south,” Baroness Batonova said. “The terrain can get quite rocky, but there are some old salt mines not far which you can use for passage if you’re inclined.”
“Thank you,” I said in my friendliest voice. “We’ll just finish up the tracks through here and then be on our way first thing in the morning.”
With the feast over, the baroness’s household servants emerged silently from the shadows to clear the plates. Among them was a pale man with long, limp white hair who wore a robe of black velvet.
“This is my castellan Lexius,” the baroness said as she took another sip of her dark elixir. “He will show you to your rooms and will see to it that you have food in the morning. I may not see you in the morning, as I tend to be a night person.”
“If we don’t see each other again,” I said with a deferential nod, “thank you again for your hospitality.”
“Oh, I am certain we will see each other again,” Baroness Batonova replied and narrowed her gray eye at me, a smile on her black lips. “I have my eye on you, Defender Flynt.”
I felt goosebumps rise on my arms and the back of my neck, but I didn’t let on. It seemed pretty obvious she wanted that reaction for some reason, and I didn’t want to give her the pleasure.
Lexius said not a word as he escorted our group from the dining room and up the dark obsidian staircase that led to the bedrooms. The one he had saved for Aurora and me was the last at the end of a long, dark hall. It was luxurious, and in the same non-colors as the rest of the castle: black walls, gray sheets, white furniture. There were no windows in the bedroom, and now that I thought about it, none in the rest of the house unless they were covered up by heavy curtains or tapestries.
“I don’t think I’ll get any sleep at all,” Aurora sighed. “You know how my senses can pick up on sights and sounds that yours can’t?”
“Sure.” I nodded my head. “Have you picked up on something?”
“No, that’s just it,” Aurora whispered with a shudder. “Houses are actually pretty loud, with creaky doors, footsteps in the hall, conversations on another floor, but I don’t hear anything at all. I also can’t see any further in any room than where the light touches. It’s like being in a bubble.”
“Well, we both need sleep, so I have an idea,” I said as I reached into my bag. I took my little buddy Stan out and addressed him, “I’m going to need you to stand guard tonight and wake us in the morning or if you see anything. You got it, buddy?”
Stan gave me a salute, and then he jumped from my hand to the floor. He walked over to the door and began to march back and forth as if on patrol.
Aurora grinned. “Ridiculous a
s it sounds, that actually helps.”
I had to agree. As we put out the candlelight and settled into the sheets, the tiny sound of Stan’s metal feet on the floor was soothing. Within a few minutes, I was asleep, my arms wrapped around Aurora.
My dreams were dark and dreamless, and I didn’t wake until I felt something on my chest that then crawled onto my face. I opened my eyes to darkness with a start, which woke Aurora as well. Thankfully, the candle at our bedside ignited with a pulse of her power.
“Is it morning, Stan?” I smiled at the little automaton.
Stan stood on my face and pointed into the corner of the room away from the door desperately.
“What is it?” I asked quickly. “Is somebody there?”
Aurora sent a small ball of bright flame floating into the shadows, but there was no one there. I put Stan on my shoulder, got out of bed, and tapped the wall. It was solid. No secret passage.
“You’re sure you saw someone?” I asked Stan again. “Not at the door, but in the corner of the room? Right here?”
The little stick figure nodded his head frantically.
“Nothing would surprise me in this creepy place,” Aurora declared as she got herself dressed. “If it’s morning time, I’m happy to get going.”
I agreed, quickly got dressed, and we headed out into the hallway. Aurora and I began to tap on all the doors we knew were the mages’. They emerged in various states of wakefulness at the same time as the castellan Lexius came out of the shadows at the other end of the hall.
“We have to get back to work,” I said to the quiet man in explanation. “We can’t put it off any longer.”
“Breakfast has been laid out for you in the banquet hall,” Lexius said, and I believe those were the first words he had ever uttered to us. His voice was dry as if it wasn’t used very much.
I wanted to refuse, but my stomach growled hungrily, so I just nodded silently and followed him to the banquet hall.
We ate the bread, cheese, and butter in silence until Pindor couldn’t take it anymore.
“Shouldn’t we wait for Cayla and Haragh?” the young Terra Mage whispered.
I put my fingers to my lips and shook my head. Not now.
Just as the night before, the moment we finished eating, the baroness’s servants came silently out from the shadows of the room and began to clear away our plates. I looked at them curiously, but they seemed like ordinary men and women, who acknowledged us with a smile and a bow but said nothing. Like everything else in Castle Rajeene, the effect was eerie.
The nine of us stepped out of the front door and were met with the sunrise. When we were in that strange windowless palace, I had to take Stan’s word for it that it was morning.
As we arrived at the train, I turned to Pindor to answer his question.
“Hopefully Cayla and Haragh will catch up to us soon,” I said simply, “but we can’t keep waiting.”
I didn’t want to say or even think the obvious, that they may have run into trouble on the road and were not able to come at all. I also didn’t want to voice my disquiet about the baroness or her creepy castle. It was best that we get on the move again.
Bagnera and Aurora charged up the engine, and we slowly began to move forward. The Terra Mages joined their power circuit and focused on the path ahead, while I used my power to lift up tracks and ties and lay them out to the platform and then on south. I also remembered to take the time to create a rail switch at the platform.
The forest was sparse compared to the one that covered Tor Morvum, but there was still an occasional tree that needed to be blasted by the Ignis Mages and have its roots crushed by the Terra Mages. The ground, however, was rough, as Baroness Batonova had suggested, and more effort had to be made to keep the path smooth with incline or decline. We had to create a train line, not a rollercoaster.
Clearing the path did not take too much energy, but I liked less and less the landscape we were in. I kept in mind the goddess’s warning about trouble when we left Rajeene, and anyone or anything could easily hide in this rocky terrain. It was ideal for an ambush.
“What do you think about the baroness’s suggestion about finding an old salt mine to use?” Aurora asked as if she had the same thoughts. “It would save us the trouble of digging out a new tunnel.”
“I’m considering it,” I admitted while I continued to levitate tracks ahead of us. “I just don’t know if it’s good advice or a trap.”
“Hold on,” Aurora said quickly and she shut off the engine so that we came to a halt. “Everyone, be quiet.”
The half-elf pulled her azure hair away from her long, pointed ears and concentrated. Then a frown marred her beautiful face. She heard something that we regular humans could not, that was certain.
After a minute, Aurora shook her head, frustrated.
“What did you hear?” I whispered.
“It sounded like a distant rumbling or growling,” Aurora replied in a low tone. “Almost like a roar.”
A couple of possibilities came to mind, one good, one not so good.
“Was it a creature of some kind?” I asked quietly. “Or could it be the roar of Bobbie’s engine?”
I let Aurora wait another moment in what sounded like perfect silence except for the wind. Her brow creased, and then her eyes widened.
“Wait, there’s something--” she began to say, but the rest was cut off when something struck the train. The impact wasn’t great, but heavy enough that we all felt it.
“What is it?” Pindor asked, and his eyes were widened in fright.
The mages all went to the sapphire glass windows and peered outside. Nothing to be seen but rocks and trees all around us.
I felt warmth on my face, and it took me a moment to realize it was the metal as it called to me. I looked up to the ceiling and noticed it was slightly dented.
“Everybody out!” I shouted. “Scatter and find cover!”
The nine of us leapt from the train and split up as we ran. None of us looked behind us while we scrambled into the rocky terrain. Aurora and I found a place behind a boulder before I finally turned.
There it was on top of the train, though it took me a moment to understand what I saw. Its legs were as long as mine, and there were eight of them that scuttled on the roof. Twin claws scratched into the metal as it tried to dig down. Most horrifying of all, it held its tail up above it, poised to strike with its stinger.
It was a motherfucking fifty-foot long scorpion, and it was made out of fire.
Chapter 10
“What the fuck is that thing?” I hissed to Aurora as I stared in horror at the beast before us.
My Ignis Mage shook her head, emerald eyes wide. Apparently, she had no idea either.
The giant scorpion currently atop the train wasn’t just on fire, it was made of fire. Its armor wasn’t made of chitin, but instead flame on some kind of solid matter, and when it clacked its claws and swung its stinger, flames trailed behind like tracers off a sparkler.
Except ten times hotter and more lethal.
The flame scorpion stayed on top of the train for a moment, and then it leapt to the windshield, perhaps thinking it could tunnel into the car from there. Of course, it was sapphire and wouldn’t melt at all, but the fire-beast would realize that in due course.
Sure enough, after a minute of hacking futilely at the windshield with its claws, the scorpion seemed to give up. Then the small pair of eyes on top of its head, and the four sets of eyes along the side, flicked from left to right as it looked for its prey.
I scanned the area for the other mages to make sure they were clear. Most had hidden themselves, but I spotted some movement and assumed the scorpion did, too. I glanced back at the beast, and heat radiated from it, so the air in its vicinity shimmered.
“We have to get that thing off the train, or it’s going to melt right through the car,” I whispered to Aurora.
She nodded but kept her eyes trained on the scorpion. “What do you think we should
do?”
“I’ll think of something,” I muttered as I looked at our surroundings. I didn’t want to dislodge anyone’s cover, but there were plenty of rocks strewn about around the train. Placing my hand to the ground, I let my power pulse through the surface until I could lift a dozen stones, some the size of baseballs and others the size of a desk, and with another strong charge, I sent them flying at the giant scorpion.
The rocks had nearly hit their target when they began to disintegrate in the air. Only two made it to the flame-scorpion, but by then, they were barely more than pebbles. Enough to irritate the monster, but not enough to knock it off its perch on the train.
While I considered my next move, I caught a whiff of evergreen in the air. I turned to Aurora and saw the half-elf focused on the scorpion with her arms outstretched. She too had tapped into her power.
“You’re trying to extinguish it?” I asked.
Aurora nodded, not breaking her concentration, and I already saw beads of perspiration on her beautiful pale skin.
“I-I don’t think I can do it,” the Ignis Mage groaned as her face contorted with strain. “It’s too powerful.”
“Keep it up, maybe you’re weakening it,” I suggested, but my mind was on the train. Even from my vantage, I could see rivulets of steel as they ran down the sides. If the giant fire scorpion stayed on it much longer, even on the sapphire windshield, my train would be a molten puddle.
I touched the earth below me again and focused on the ground beneath the train. It began to burble, and the train above began to sway. The giant fire scorpion scampered about as it tried to keep its footing while the train started to sink. The moment the train had sunk completely into the quicksand, I sent a fast pulse to harden the surface back to stone.
My train was buried in rock, but at least it was safe. The creature, however, was now on solid ground.
And boy was it pissed.
It had no obvious targets, so it clacked its pincers in frustration before it froze. Then it shifted its gaze, all six eyes focused on one target.
Which happened to be me.