Kaianan

  “Xandou,” she whispered.

  But he had turned away again, looking to the Giliou who had all stationed themselves in positions around and inside the Manor. “Be ready,” he advised them.

  General Krivta dismounted, with a look of repugnance across his face.

  Kaianan made a quick move to get closer, hiding behind a broken supply vehicle.

  “Xandou,” the general spoke in his hoarse tone, “why did you take the Manor back when we have an army in Sile able to destroy you?”

  “Silence, Krivta,” the voice seemed to just come out of the darkness of the stationary Bones, “your tongue will get us nowhere.” Kaianan searched the crowd, Xandou’s face paled more than Kaianan thought possible. As soon as she saw the man slowly walking forward, she realised, they both hadn’t seen this man since the Battle of Middle Forsda.

  Long red robes with gold embroidery swept past; gold rings and a gold crown on top of a balding head gave her the chills. But it was that gaunt, wrinkly grey face, burning red eyes and twitching long grey fingers that really triggered her fear.

  The King of the Necromancers was not to be crossed. Even if he was toward the end of his life. Some say, he had abilities that no-one should have. Kaianan didn’t want to find out what they were.

  “Yes, King Elli,” Krivta replied, bowing to him.

  “In formation,” Xandou called to his Giliou Shielders, there were so many.

  A few hundred more infantry and Arch Mage Necromancers trailed out behind the Bones and were also getting into position on the lawn.

  Kaianan’s brain was a blur. This was King Elli Nermordis, King of Sile, King of the Necromancers, and he was in Layos? What was she going to do? The King had an eerie confidence about him—why, when Kaianan had looked over the crowd and could see the Necromancers were outnumbered? Grey-skinned bodies and red robes were few and far between.

  What was the meaning of the King being here?

  Xandou was about to raise his blade, this was it. Kaianan would have to work out what to do in the middle of the melee to help them. Right before giving the order to attack, Xandou stopped. His body went limp, Kaianan followed his eyesight, to the woman passing from the Necromancer King’s shadow.

  “Metrix,” Kaianan whispered in shock and, darting her eyes back to Xandou who looked like a volcano about to explode, he lifted his blade in the air and screamed: “ATTACK!”

  The Gorgon and Giliou flooded past him, crashing into the Necromancers in a firelight of blue and red auras owned by the Giliou Shielders and Necromancer Arch Mages.

  Kaianan ran for Xandou. He was running for Metrix.

  “Xandou!” Metrix shouted.

  “Metrix,” he said, completely disillusioned, “what have you done?”

  “Please come back … join me.” Kaianan heard the Giliou’s voice pleading as she came closer. “I want to continue the life we were sworn to, our marriage … king and queen. Don’t you see? We can rule Rivalex; destroy the Gorgon and Necromancers and keep Rivalex secure once the Siliou falls. Forget the girl. She has been sold.”

  Kaianan stopped, a few metres before reaching them. The girl? Sold? She sold Chituma?

  Black smoke was suddenly poisoning the air, it was coming from King Elli’s fingers. Kaianan kept going, the realisation Metrix had betrayed her sister, surging through her in anger.

  But when she entered the mist, the smoke blinded her. And the next minute she heard a woman screech. Was that her mother? “Agantha!?”

  It felt like an eternity, but the only thing Kaianan saw when the smoke cleared was a grey hand fastened around her mother’s windpipe several metres away. How had she not seen her before?

  She scanned the crowd for Xandou – past several Giliou Shielders – and then her eyes went back to the Queen, she stopped … on rewind, her eyes had skimmed over her father, King Reon in between the other Necromancers and Giliou. Being detained in a stranglehold by the scar faced man Nake, was her father. Where had they come from?

  Kaianan finally found her voice.

  “LET THEM GO!”

  Everyone turned to her. Kaianan had never seen so many shocked faces in her life.

  “What are you doing here?!” Xandou was yelling, Giliou were setting up guard around her.

  “If any of you move, I’ll kill them,” she heard the Necromancer King’s husky voice and then he pointed to her parents.

  “Stay back!” Kaianan said to Xandou and the Giliou. They obeyed.

  “Princess,” King Elli took his eyes to her, “so lovely of you to join us.”

  “I said let them go.” Her voice unforgiving and callous.

  “Not likely,” An older Necromancer woman, sided by a younger Necromancer girl, chuckled strolling past the Necromancer King.

  “Hmm,” King Elli narrowed his eyes. “Darlia,” he waved to the older woman, “go, have some fun.” Elli proceeded to direct his hand toward Kaianan.

  Darlia walked towards her. A bright red dress clung to her slight frame and the shadows under her rich black eye sockets deepened in a grimace at Kaianan. Her long nose scrunched up and her animalistic black hair tousled about when she began running, blade out.

  “Xandou, blade,” Kaianan ordered and with a sound splitting the air, she grasped the hilt coming at her just in time to swing and defend the woman’s attack.

  Kaianan shielded multiple strikes; her leg bleeding, body aching, she was running on pure adrenaline … swing after swing, when finally, in a loud bellow of might, she drove her blade into the poorly guarded woman’s shoulder.

  Darlia stopped and staggered; crying out in agony while gore spilled down her arm, and slowly she plummeted to her knees.

  “Please, no,” Kaianan heard her mother’s voice scream and from there it all transpired too fast for her to keep up. When Kaianan twisted round, she was met by General Krivta, standing over her mother’s body with a bloodied blade in his hand.

  “That got your attention,” he said with a smirk. Kaianan’s mouth fell open. Queen Agantha had collapsed in a pool of blood and blood was still gushing out of a pierced wound in her neck as she fell.

  “MOTHER!” Kaianan screamed; her heart beating in her ears. Her brain was burning, her limbs were numbed, every inch of her was tense. She tried to advance, one foot in front of the other when she was backhanded across the face and sent pummelling head first to the ground.

  Kaianan’s blurry sight slowly returned. She heard her name from somewhere nearby and then heard another, deeper, derisive voice as pain shot through her neck and she gritted her teeth in discomfort.

  “You repulse me.” She heard King Elli say. “I pity the training that gave you nothing.”

  The sound circled her. He was above her, orbiting where she had fallen. But she could see the Necromancer King was talking to someone else. Kaianan cricked her neck one more inch sideways and managed to see Darlia stalking off.

  “Here you go, Nermordis,” the bleeding Necromancer woman said and snatched up Kaianan’s grounded blade and jammed it into—NO! Kaianan tried to speak but her mouth was completely dry. Darlia had laid her blade into the chest of King Reon. Kaianan was choking on air as King Reon, gurgling blood and eyes bulging, sunk to the ground.

  “Just like your husband, always priding yourself on the easy kill,” Elli finished saying to Darlia and then crouched down to Kaianan. “So many tears,” he wiped his thumb across her dirty and wet cheek. She was immobile. She couldn’t muster the strength to move. With her mouth open, no words came out when she willed herself to speak. He placed his hand on her unkempt hair and yanked her bloodied head upright. “You are over,” he whispered in her ear.

  “Kaianan!” Xandou shouted once more, throwing Nake against the Manor wall, and knocking the brute unconscious.

  “STOP! NOW!” Elli said. He clung securely to Kaianan, pulling her inside the Manor Hall, and everyone froze.

  “Addi,” the younger Necromancer girl squealed in the distance.

  “King, the Princes have arr
ived,” General Krivta said.

  Addi? Kaianan fumbled around on her stomach, trying to get movement out of any limb she could. Blood seeping from her fresh wounds and down her face, she could barely see herself through the wreckage of the glass of the Wall of Many Mirrors she just crawled over. It took all her concentration, but her face finally became clearer. In the same broken shard of glass, she saw a blurry figure in the reflection above her. It was familiar.

  She turned around—she knew that face. Everything inside her was burning… What was he doing here? What was her Julius doing on Rivalex when he was supposed to be on Earth?

  She reached her hand out for him as he ran toward her. “Julius,” the tears coursed down her face.

  “It’s Prince Julius Addi Nermordis to you,” the young girl’s voice sounded.

  “Shut up, Kydra,” Julius said to her.

  Kaianan dropped her hand. She couldn’t breathe. She thought she was chocking but it was her heart splitting in her chest. She willed herself to inhale. Julius dropped to his knees next to her.

  She began muttering repeatedly: “who are you? Who are you?”

  Tears blinded her, she couldn’t see anything and then she heard him, two simple words out his mouth that destroyed her: “I’m sorry.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five: Moral Deceit

  Prince. Addi. Is. Julius.

  Julius is Prince Addi.

  Julius is the Necromancer Prince, to-be Necromancer King of Sile.

  Kaianan’s face turned white as she put the pieces together. She felt weak, weaker than anything, staring at Julius with wide, shocked, and furious pupils. Her mind flashed back to the Prince who stood across the river, who healed her; then back to Julius, on Earth, protecting her, getting close to her, rebuking his father, having difficult expectations placed on him. Difficult was an understatement! His family had invaded her home and killed hundreds of her people! Did he refute that?!

  “Why?!” she exhaled amid the tears, wiping her eyes to get a better look at him. A better look at the man she’d given her heart to.

  His face was sorrowful, an expression of sadness she had never seen from him before. Then Caidus had emerged from behind him. Him too? She squinted in pure hatred toward them, and when Caidus lit up in a glowing red aura and slowly his skin turned grey, she was compelled to do anything more than kill them. Necromancers. Right under her nose, her very enemy had been pursuing her.

  “I can explain,” Julius said weakly.

  “Where is Chituma, Kaianan?” Kaianan barely heard Caidus whisper.

  “Akki, don’t,” Julius pushed Caidus away.

  “Get away from her and get back in line, my son,” King Elli spat, “and for the virtue of Holom get out of preform. Now!”

  And at the command of those words, Julius began turning grey, kneeled over, right in front of her.

  Kaianan swallowed, watching his eyes go from bright green to scolding scarlet. His cheekbones, no longer an olive complexion masterpiece but gaunt with greyness. His mouth was thinner, his brown hair turned charcoal and dishevelled all the way down to his neck—just like it had been at the river.

  Kaianan could not breathe at the sight of him. She despised herself for not knowing better, for not asking more. Deep down she understood this was her fault. That was the biggest upset of it all. That she chose to ignore the fact he wouldn’t tell her who he was.

  Shaking her head, Kaianan used all her strength to crawl to her mother’s near-dead body. Tears and blood waterlogged her eyelids. Her mother, grasping her hand, let out a croak and Kaianan, turning her neck, could just make out her voice: “save your sister, Kaianan, save your sis…” Agantha’s words faded out just like her grasp on Kaianan’s hand did.

  “Mother—”

  “Move, boys,” King Elli pushed his son out the way and Julius scurried back behind him.

  King Elli Nermordis, Julius’s father, was suddenly over her, leaning down and grasping onto Kaianan’s chin to yank it up to him. Blood, dirt, grass and sweat invaded every part of her skin and brown mane. But it was her heart that was destroyed. “It’s time to die, Rivalex Mark …” Elli said quietly. “If only you had stayed with your Liege Brikin and finished your Shiek training. Senseless Gorgons. They shut you out from Kan’Ging and now you’re this helpless girl, aren’t you, Menial?”

  Menial… Menial…

  The word triggered Kaianan’s eyelids to slam shut, loud bangs pierced her ears and without warning, bright flashes of light took over.

  She screamed and Elli fell away from her.

  Her brain burned at remembering … remembering her long lost Kan’Ging—images of bright violet aura shimmering around her body seared into the back of her eyelids. Then, amazingly she felt the aura pulse through her body; the Kan’Ging was in her, right now, it was there all along, underneath, stirring. Somewhere along the way she had learnt how to use this aura and there was little doubt in her mind this was a bigger part of who she was.

  The purple flames eased out of her skin and clasped around the shape of her, a second skin as she directed it. Opening her heavy eyelids, her pupils no longer green, now burned deep violet and instantly she adjusted to the lens the Kan’Ging wielded. She could actually see the use of the Siliou, she was able to determine the ability of the other auras around her; how much they could consume, how strong they were and Kaianan was seized by an overriding confirmation, her aptitude in the Siliou was by far greater than any of those that encircled her.

  She stared at the Necromancer King in new light. “Nermordis,” she said nonchalantly. “My name is Kaianan, rightful leader of Layos, Child of the Rivalex Prophecy written in the Hunted Gorge and bearer of the BI Mark. This is my land, and you are trespassing. It stops here and now.”

  “I’m not so sure you understand,” he answered, “the Felrin are the elected leaders of the Universal Order, and, well … they want you dead. So, it’s time for you to die.”

  “Father, please,” Julius cried.

  “Stay back,” Elli fumed, his red aura storming around him. Kaianan knew he was a Silkri Drake, the King a Silkri Drake, just as his son, Prince Julius Addi was. It sickened her.

  In her new-found form, Kaianan summoned her father’s Silver Rapier and promptly, it flew to her, resting in her palm.

  Vengeance was burning in her muscles. Closing her hand tight around her Rapier, she swiftly felt the familiarity of the Kan’Ging wrapping around each of her fingers and down onto her blade like she was on fire. Feel the Siliou, my Menial. You’ve been trained in Kan’Ging and the forces you control are yours to master in your pure mind, the man’s voice echoed.

  “The paramount worth …” she exhaled, raising her blade, “I am pure of mind!”

  Kaianan glowed brighter violet and sent thick aura flames out of her skin. In one swift movement, she had sucked up enough Siliou to basically drain them all of using it.

  The Necromancers grouped together to attack her in hand-to-hand combat. Darlia, Nake and Krivta all rounded on her; however, this time her Gorgon and Giliou allies came charging past her in defence.

  Kaianan utilised her aura like a bursting light against the Necromancers. It exploded outward and hunted out their weapons until they lost hold of them and they were completely disarmed. Then she castoff her Kan’Ging aura as a rope to wrap around the Necromancer King’s throat and bring him to his knees. All the wounded and broken, everyone stopped fighting and watched on as she squeezed her hand tighter and Elli chocked on Kaianan’s hold.

  “You stop … now,” King Elli tried to get out through Kaianan’s glowing rope of aura pulsing out like fire from her fingers. “You’re using …. too much …. Siliou.”

  In spite of everything, blood was dripping down her leg; it did not matter, she remained in control of the Siliou. “Our level of strength is not in our body or aura, it’s in the attainment of a peaceful and pure mind,” she ushered out. Someone had taught her this. But who?

  Kaianan’s eyes went to Julius and Caidus who we
re gobsmacked. They didn’t dare use their Silkri aura against the Kan’Ging. Her aura was too strong. Kaianan knew she’d won. But was she going to kill the Necromancer King? And in front of everyone? Was it what he deserved? Everyone was panting and watching her. Waiting patiently for her decision.

  Julius held his hand up to her. What was he trying to say? Kaianan flexed her purple aura flaming head and eyes at him, feeling her bushy brown hair fly past her vision. What did he want from her? That after everything they’d been through, he knew that deep down she wasn’t a killer. That she never meant to kill anyone. That she just wanted peace. That she just wanted to love him.

  Did she even have a pure mind?

  Was she still that person now?

  Kaianan moved her glowing purple eyes back to Elli Nermordis.

  “Go back,” she said softly. “Go back and sit on your throne with your impure mind and torture yourself. And if you ever come back here again, I will kill you.”

  Kaianan dropped the aura rope around him. Elli spluttered and fell back, carried away by Necromancers who were retreating.

  Julius’s eyes met hers. He looked frightened. He should be. She was a purple glowing array of anger and vengeance. She turned away from him and reigned in her feelings. Kaianan’s aura had spread out across the whole lawn. Once she’d flicked all the blades she’d gathered away, she brought her aura closer to her body.

  “You are a humiliation to your own kind.” The woman’s voice echoed from the right. Kaianan took her eyes to the dirty and bloodied Metrix. “Look at you, a Felrin Shiek? You disgust me.”

  “Where is my sister, traitor?” Kaianan’s voice was low but menacing. “Tell me now.”

  “Wouldn’t you like to know? Perhaps you already do? Your time is up; don’t you get it?” Metrix swung her blade comparable to a hapless harpy. Kaianan easily ducked out of the way, re-emerged in a quick flash of light, and stabbed the Giliou in the thigh. Metrix fell, screaming and bleeding, to her knees.