by S D Huss
She cocked her head again and began to float freely around him, inspecting with her eyeless face. “My brothers and sisters betrayed me… I know not why… only that I had come to love the people of this world… and they hated them. They lured me here with the suffering of the Dae… and as I came to aid them… they sprung their trap. I suppose they knew they could not kill me… so they created a fate worse… than death…”
“To watch them die… and suffer for thousands of years…” He finished. “That’s terrible.”
“For eternity…” She corrected him. “At first I tried to help… but my power was drained to near nothing… I had only the strength to watch… and weep… I have not stopped… and I remember the faces of all who have perished at the mercy of the Cugorii…”
Robert shook his head, noticing that it hurt less than it had before. “So, what about these crystal things? How do we get out of here?”
“There is no way out… other than where you came…” She came to a stop before him and seemed to give him a strangely puzzled look. “How did one such as you… get so badly injured? The Dae were never so cruel…”
Robert braced himself and told yet another ancient spirit the tale of how he came to be in his current predicament. Dio’mar just listened to him, asking no questions, and nodding with the understanding of his plight. It also became apparent that the Cugorii obeyed simple commands of his, and followed him wherever he went in the cavern. There were only basic responses to his questions, but it showed that they at least had some intelligence beyond a snarling killer instinct. It was also the first time Dio’mar saw them behave in such a way. Though she tried for centuries, they never made an attempt to communicate with her. She said she knew next to nothing of them, not even where they came from.
Robert huddled against the cavern wall now, his wounds still aching with the slightest movement.
“Why do you still toil so…? The power you possess should be enough to heal your wounds.”
Robert paused at her words; his right arm cradled gently with his left. “What do you mean?”
She stared at him for a moment, Robert knew that if she had eyes, she would have blinked them in puzzlement.
“What has changed in the world beyond this dreadful prison…? Are the Dae still wielders of the Dunamis? Can you not use it to escape here?” She asked.
“I guess I have it… but I never learned how to use it.” Robert hung his head. “If I had… maybe some of my friends would still be alive.” His mind flashed again to the severed head of Veol being thrown at his feet. “Kat was right, I should have stayed with them.” His mind again started to turn to despair.
“You have this power… and I would give you an offer…” Dio’mar said, her small and unmoving mouth, curling up into an almost sinister smile.
Robert looked at her cautiously. “What is it?”
“I will teach you… how to use your dunamis… and in return, you will help me escape from here… I do not know where you came from… human, but I know that this did not happen by chance. Perhaps the Great Spirits have awoken again in our world…”
She extended her tiny hand and pressed it to his forehead. Robert could feel the strange power coursing through his body, a sensation that seemed to almost strengthen him.
“Is that your power?” He asked, astonished at the feeling.
“No… it is yours… all I have done is shined a light on what you already possess…” She replied.
chapter 24
Daniel squinted through the thick vegetation as he sat with the rest of his squad, waiting for the prey they had been stalking to waltz unwittingly into position.
Two days had passed since the exercise began for the war-games, and Delmos, despite his apparent lack of leadership capabilities, had led the small war-group through several successful skirmishes. Daniel quickly learned the terrible consequences of getting struck by the dull, but dunamis-enhanced incisor blades. He wasn’t struck himself but saw many of his young noble adversaries writhe in pain as they were leveled by the things. The Dae incisor blades themselves were a new and interesting weapon. No blade was said to be the same. The bone material they were made from was of a spiritual creature, they said. It was a large mammal called a Rug’ia, that was not only intelligent but ferocious if attacked. Delmos told Daniel that they did not hunt the creatures, only harvested the bone from where all Rug’ia went to die; that reminded Daniel of the elephants on his world.
“Dan,” Delmos whispered harshly from a bush several meters away from Daniel.
“Can you see them? How many are there?”
Daniel strained his eyes to see through the leaves and branches that concealed his position. He could see two dozen or so Dae warriors marching in a solid formation. It was how they were trained, but Daniel couldn’t see how any of the learned formations could be useful in this situation. Every formation and tactic that was taught to them by their instructors was based on the utilization of the dunamis. Without it, they would be extremely vulnerable to war-groups like their own who saw this flaw and took advantage of it. Daniel and Delmos had decided to use unconventional tactics thus far. They moved as quickly as possible from their starting location to a well-used path to the objective, a large keep in the center of the training area, and ambush the unsuspecting and unwise. So far, two other war-groups had been ambushed and wiped out. The writhing bodies of the vanquished Dae were covertly carried out by the overseers of the exercise. Their own group had suffered four casualties, almost all of them from their last encounter. The nobles fell quickly, but for some reason, the whelp warriors put up one hell of a fight.
“There’s a full war-group coming,” Daniel whispered in response. “Standard marching formation.” He couldn’t see it, but he was positive Delmos was grinning at the last words.
“We rush in as they pass us and take as many out as possible, hit them from the side, same as last time,” Delmos said.
Daniel nodded in acceptance.
“Hey,” Vissa whispered from behind him. “That isn’t going to work again. We can’t make a mistake like last time, we underestimated them and lost a quarter of our war-group.” She gestured with her hands something clearly profane.
Daniel looked to Delmos’ bush. He couldn’t see the Dae warrior, and the sight was amusing because it shook as he spoke.
“Well, what do you suggest we do then? We have to be actively pursuing the objective or face disqualification. If that wasn’t the case, we would be hiding in a bush for the majority of the time to preserve our numbers.”
Vissa huffed in frustration. “Well… damn the spirits, why don’t we just take out the nobles? Then retreat back into the brush?”
Daniel looked again to the bush, it was silent and still. Delmos was contemplating her words.
“That’s a good idea,” Delmos said finally, the bush shaking again. “I’m glad I thought of it.”
Vissa just rolled her eyes and shuffled her way down the concealed line of whelp warriors to pass the word.
The formation crept slowly up the road that led past their ambush point, they were almost within range. Daniel smirked as he saw the nobles leading up front, a foolish mistake often made by arrogant or entitled leaders. The feeling of being ahead and in charge fulfilled a deep desire for these Dae. This would be easy.
As they marched into the ambush site, Delmos let out a yell and charged from his bush at the startled nobles. The rest of the whelps charged as well, letting out screams of their own. Vissa had told them to only attack the nobles, and to defend against the other whelps until it was time to withdraw again.
Daniel brought his blade up, charging beside Delmos as the fear-stricken nobles before them fumbled for their blades, but could not pull them in time. With a violent ferocity, the three nobles were dispatched, and before any real counter-attack could be mounted by the whelps, Delmos’ war-group was already retreating back into the trees and bushes.
The whelps stood now, stunned and clearly confused o
n what to do. Leaderless, they would no doubt have to face the shame of returning in defeat, and even more, not writhing in pain from battle.
“Fantastic!” Delmos shouted while they moved deeper into the woods. “A sound and decisive victory if I’ve ever seen one.”
He stopped and turned toward the now barely visible road. “Those poor bastards! Haha!” He slapped Vissa’s shoulder in excitement. The Dae woman winced in annoyance at the pain and sneered at him.
Daniel squinted at the whelps, feeling satisfied with himself when he was struck with an idea.
“Hey Delmos, what is going to happen to those leaderless whelps?” He asked.
“What do you mean?” He replied. “I don’t know, they will probably have to go back to the camp, or wait until they are disqualified for inaction.” He shrugged. “Who cares, they let their nobles get killed, they are disgraced.”
“Are there any rules saying that we can’t recruit them?” Daniel asked.
Delmos’ face froze as he contemplated the thought. It twisted as he strained to remember the rules of their war game.
“No,” Vissa said, moving next to Daniel. “There isn’t! By the spirits… that is a fine idea.” She looked at Delmos. “We should go over there and order them to join us.”
Delmos sighed heavily and stood. “I suppose it’s worth a try.”
Grumbling to himself, he walked his way through the heavy brush back to the road.
The twenty whelps still stood in a somewhat defensive formation, several of them trying to tend to their three leaders, groaning in pain from the fight.
As they saw Delmos emerge from the treeline they stiffened their defense.
He took a moment to be seen, quite theatrically in Daniel’s opinion. He and Vissa followed shortly after, and they both stood to his left and right.
“I almost forgot to introduce myself.” He said, in his most imperious voice. “My name is Delmos of house Regios. And I have a one-time proposal to you unfortunate sods!” He lifted his hand and pointed with his index finger to emphasize his point. “One chance.”
Daniel looked at the young Dae. He was a sorely underestimated warrior, overshadowed by the presence of his older sister, and of course his own lack of confidence.
The whelps looked on, slightly confused at the strange situation.
“I will offer every one of you the chance… No! The privilege of joining our war-group. Your leaders are out of the exercise and lay before you unable to continue. You can either stay with them and return to the camp in disgrace, having lost them without raising a hand. Or… you can join us. Join the son of house Regios, and bring glory to yourselves and your houses.”
Silence ensued, and all that could be heard was the wind brushing past the trees, and still the groans of the incapacitated nobles.
Delmos shook his head and was about to speak when Daniel stopped him and looked to Vissa standing to their left.
“Give your two cents Vissa,” Daniel said.
“Give my what?” She asked, confused.
“Say something.”
She cleared her throat and took a step forward.
“It would be wise for you all to take this opportunity.” Her voice seemed to boom with the air of a true noble Dae. “You have few options here. Like your Lord Regios said, you can bring yourselves glory and renown with the house that controls the majority of military operations here in Vul De Rah, or… you can ignore it and amount to nothing more than Dae statues tasked with guarding the latrines.”
She looked to Delmos, who was looking back at her appraisingly.
“Such a fine specimen.” He said with a grin.
She scoffed and stormed back into the treeline.
“If you wish to join us, then follow. If not… well, I don’t care what you do.” Delmos said, turning on his heels and following Vissa’s trail.
◆◆◆
Katrina’s eyes filled with tears as she heard the news. She had been training with Avria when Boros decided to visit. Though usually a pleasant surprise, today he brought grave news from the Rexunii capital.
“No… it’s not possible.” Katrina said in disbelief.
Boros shifted uncomfortably, looking to Avria for some support.
“I’m sorry Kat… these are from very reliable sources… they were present when he was thrown into the pit.” Boros said.
“No! You said that he would be safe!” Her tear-filled eyes turned angry as she stepped toward him. “That's what you said! That we had time to prepare!”
Boros stepped back, unable to speak.
“Enough!” Avria shouted. “You will control yourself, Katrina! Do not disgrace yourself over grief.”
Katrina stopped and closed her eyes. She counted in her head, doing her best to stem the tide of anger and fear. Robert was here… a living, breathing man. Now, just a memory to be mourned. It wasn’t fair. This world had given her a new life, but stolen her old one away, now completely.
“I’m sorry my Lady…” She said, hanging her head. “We have to tell Daniel.”
Avria looked to Boros.
“He… he’s in the middle of a very important exercise. He won’t be reachable for several days.” Boros said. “But Kat… I am sorry for this… we truly believed that the Rexunii would not follow the doctrine of the High Espi-Dae. They hate the Torre’ Espi and have always been unique in their beliefs. This is highly unusual for them.”
Avria’s eyes widened with a sudden realization. “Unless… the Torre’ are there… Which wouldn’t make any sense at all, seeing as how they… hate… Or the Rexunii would be in collusion with them.” She paused for a moment. “I knew it… I knew your father’s open defiance of the King would have consequences! They are going to help the Rexunii attack Lokkadonia!” She turned to retrieve her cloak.
“Avria, that’s ridiculous,” Boros said, crossing his arms. “Our spies would never have left out such an important detail. The Torre’ have been keeping the Rexunii in their place for hundreds of years, everyone knows that.”
“Now, things are different Boros.” She huffed. “Ever since the Hego made the decision to harbor the humans, and defy not only the King of Lokkadonia but the High King as well, things have been moving against us. The Rexunii were never so bold as to openly attack our warriors in our territory.”
“Well, weren’t you going on about their new King, Alektor? How he was not to be underestimated? Perhaps it is he who decided to go along with killing Robert on his own.” Boros looked to Katrina and winced apologetically.
“That is possible,” Avria said. “But we cannot be sure.”
“I will send a message to our spies in Thule,” He said, “Find out if this is true.”
“Wait on that,” Avria said. “We cannot be sure that they haven’t been compromised. Keep sending them information, but mention nothing of our military preparations. Take care of Katrina, I am going to see my father.” She looked at the human girl with sympathy in her eyes. “I am sorry for your mate, I promise you we will avenge him…”
Katrina just nodded slightly but kept her eyes to the sand below her feet.
Avria moved out of the courtyard where they were conducting that day's training session and strode toward the manor of the Regios estate.
Boros stood in awkward silence, even after the sound of Avria’s feet on the stones faded.
“I know you did what you could…” Katrina said, a steady flow of tears dripping down her cheeks. “I’m sorry for yelling at you, Boros.” She lifted her eyes to meet his. “I can’t thank you or your family enough for what you have done to help us…”
“Of course,” Boros said, putting his hand on her shoulder. “We are not the savages the Rexunii are, we hold dear the gifts from above, and strive to serve the spirits.”
Katrina’s heart whirled with sorrow and grief, but her mind did its best to bring reason to her thoughts. She knew that Boros had tried his best to push for the return of Robert, whether out of devotion to the Spirits, or
the strange attraction that she knew he had for her.
“I have to catch up with Lady Avria.” She said. Turning to move, she was surprised by the sudden tightening of Boros’ hand on her shoulder. She stopped for a moment and looked at his hand, then to his face.
“Kat, I want you to know that I will do everything in my power to bring justice to those monsters… these are not just words… said in the moment to bring some comfort to you; what I am telling you is a solemn vow… they will pay for this.”
With that, he relaxed his grip and the two of them followed Avria to the Regios manor.
◆◆◆
“I understand how you may feel, but we have not heard anything of the sort.” Lord Regios said, rubbing his tired eyes in his study.