by Eric Vall
The part about the tunnels concerned me. I’d wondered how far the tunnels from the library ran, and now I had proof they extended to the outskirts. When we returned to the center of Hatra, I would need to speak to Alyona about sending scouts through the tunnels to search for any other threats.
“You will pay for your crimes, you disgusting piece of filth,” I snarled as my eyes locked with the beast’s, and within a second, its face changed.
Instead of Adyin, I was now staring at the eyes of a little girl, no older than seven.
“Please, Evan, don’t hurt me,” the creature begged, and now its voice was soft and sweet. “I am just doing what I must to survive. Would you truly punish a creature for wanting to live?”
I stared at the small girl’s face and realized this must have been another victim of his. I made a fist, and the fire ran up my arms.
Fuck this asshole.
“If you are going to beg for your life, at least use your own face,” I spat.
The girl smiled and with a flicker was gone. In her place now was an older man.
“I have no true face,” the Itsumade said in a rough and raspy voice, “only the faces given, oh so graciously, to me.”
The Itsumade was toying with me. Anger flowed through my veins once more, and the fire along my hands burned hotter. The two of us locked eyes for a long moment, and then I sent a ball of fire flying from my hands toward its face.
The flames grazed his face, and he fell back screaming. I could smell seared flesh, and I was proud that he was in pain.
The Itsumade stood once more and glared at me, and the left side of its face was black from my fire. With a screech, it opened its wings once again, and with one giant push, it took off into the air and smashed through the roof of the house.
I smirked. The Itsumade thought a bird could escape a dragon. I was about to show it just how wrong it was.
I stood under the hole in the roof, jumped, and shifted into my dragon form in an instant. It happened so quickly now, I didn’t even have time to think about shifting, I just did it. Once I was in the air, I chased after the creature and saw with satisfaction the terror in its eyes as it noticed my true form.
The Itsumade beat its wings faster, trying to outpace me, and I simply laughed at its efforts.
Fire burned upwards through my throat, and I shot a pillar of flames directly toward the Itsumade. The creature was fast, and it turned its body in time to avoid a direct hit, but I scorched its back feathers.
With a scream, the monster lost a few feet of altitude. Then it turned its eyes toward me, and I noticed it had changed its face again, this time into an old woman with wrinkly skin and eyes full of hatred. The Itsumade screamed and flew at me, and the talons of its feet stretched out toward my eyes.
I quickly tucked my wings and ducked under its attack, but the creature still managed to nick the side of my throat. It was little more than a scratch, so I simply called forth my healing magic and watched as the Itsumade turned to face me once more.
Its face turned from hatred to fear in a moment, but the monster still tried to attack. It flew at me again, and in one fell swoop, I slashed out one of my clawed feet to catch the creature and knock him from the sky.
My claws slashed against his wing, and I could feel the bones shattering beneath my talons. Then the Itsumade plummeted toward the earth and landed in a cloud of dust.
I flew downwards and landed next to the pathetic creature. Then I used one of my clawed feet to step on him and trap the bastard against the dirt.
“Dragon!” he cried out, and the hatred in his eyes had cooled to absolute terror. “If you allow me to live, I swear to you I will never harm another in your city. I will leave, and I will never return.”
I scoffed at his request.
“Your death was finalized the moment you killed what was mine.”
Then I reared my head back and let another pillar of fire explode from my maw toward the Itsumade.
Its scream gave me a rush of pride as I got vengeance for the death of my person.
I watched the miserable bastard burn to death while all the faces of his victims seemed to run through the creature one last time. The last face was Adyin, and I saw the life of the Itsumade leave through his eyes. Then I could feel all of the poor souls this monster had collected throughout its life finally find peace. There was a lightness to the air for a moment, and I could have sworn I heard a whisper of laughter.
When the Itsumade was nothing more than a pile of ash, I finally reverted back into my human self.
Nike, Azra, and Raisa found me a moment later, and Nike seemed to have stowed his sword in his spatial storage since it was nowhere to be seen. The three citizens of Leyte stared down at the pile of ash, and Nike was the first to speak.
“So, it’s done then?” he asked and gestured to the pile.
“I told you I could handle it,” I replied before I pursed my lips somberly. “Did you retrieve Adyin’s body?”
“Yes,” he nodded, “I have it stored in my spatial storage for now. I found no other creatures either.”
“Good. Then let’s go home. We have a funeral to plan.”
It took us a little over half an hour to travel back to the heart of the city from the outskirts. Alyona was the first to greet us when we returned, and she smiled brightly as she caught sight of me. Her white hair was up in a bun, while her two black forelocks framed her face. She was wearing a new dress today, which I was sure was a gift from her father, King Rodion. The dress was purple and clung to her body in a way that made her look absolutely delicious, and I smiled back at her as she ran to us.
“Evan!” She kissed me quickly and then wrapped her arms around me. “How was it? Did you find Lord Adyin? Is he alright?” Her smile vanished quickly when she noticed only the four of us had returned. “Did you not find him?”
“Alyona,” I began as I settled my hands on her hips, “I know this is going to be hard to hear, but Adyin is gone. He was attacked by a creature that lived in the outskirts of the city.”
Her face crumbled, tears sprang to her eyes, and she covered her mouth with her hand.
“Oh, no,” she murmured.
Nike stepped forward and rested his hand on her shoulder.
“We did find his body,” he reassured the princess. “We will give him a funeral fit for a nobleman.”
Alyona nodded and gave a watery smile. My fiancée was both beautiful and strong, and I loved her all the more for it.
“He will be honored today, for all he has done for Hatra and all of Rahma,” she said, and then she seemed to think for a moment as she grabbed one of her forelocks and began toying with it. “I will have to alert his family at once of course. What exactly happened to him?”
“It was a monster, he called himself Itsumade,” I explained. “He’d been asleep under the city for a thousand years. He killed his victims by luring them into his den, and once he killed them, he added their face to his collection to attract more victims.”
“How awful,” Alyona whispered as tears continued to swim in her amethyst eyes.
“Yes,” I agreed, “which reminds me, we need to go to the library. The creature said he had slept inside the tunnels under the city, and I think he meant the tunnels that extend out from the library. The creature could have easily awoke and just walked right into the heart of the city before anyone even knew what was happening. We need to seal up all the tunnels until we know each one is safe. Who knows what else could be lurking inside our very walls?”
Alyona nodded. “Of course. And we should add extra precautions to the exits of the city.”
My lover was right. We needed to be better protected from all fronts. We had a lot to do.
“We need to have a town meeting,” I decided. “I’ll let Ruslan and Julia know, but can you spread the word to the rest of the people?”
I looked toward the small group, and they all agreed.
“Thanks,” I said. “Now would be best, if everyon
e is available.”
“A sound plan,” Nike remarked. “The sooner we discuss this, the better.”
I nodded before I used my magic to create a small silver dragon and sent it on its way to find my adoptive parents. I watched as the dragon split in two and took off in different directions, which meant my parents must not be together at the moment.
Once the dragons were out of sight, I looked back to the small group.
“I’ll meet you all in the library,” I told them before I left to bathe and change my clothes. For some reason, I felt like I had the ashes of the Itsumade caked into my clothes and skin, and I wanted nothing more than to wash away every remnant of that creature.
Within the hour, I was presentable again, and news about the meeting had spread fast, so nearly the entire city was inside the library. I glanced at the crowd and saw Laika talking with Alyona. Anton and Pyotr were next to them, along with Daya and Tion. Afra was standing with Leon, and both of them were blushing and looking away from each other. Lastly, my parents stood next to me. Julia was flicking her wrist to fan herself, and my father was watching the crowd patiently, waiting until the last few stragglers made their ways inside.
Once everyone was situated, I cleared my throat.
“Thank you everyone,” I began in a loud voice that carried through the cavernous library. “I know this is short notice, but we’ve had an incident that could potentially be a risk for all of us, and I’d rather get ahead of the problem than wait until something happens. Today, we found the remains of Lord Adyin.”
A shocked gasp traveled through the crowd, and I saw more than a few wide eyes.
“He was attacked along the outskirts of the city by a creature known as Itsumade,” I went on. “The creature had been living in a hibernation state for the last one thousand years, and he was here, in these tunnels, for that time. We cannot let something like this happen again. We need to board up the tunnels and send search parties through each one until we can for certain say they are all safe. As long as they stay open, we are at risk.”
A murmur of agreement went through the people.
“I’d also like to place walls between the completed parts of the city and the ruined outskirts, for the same reasons,” I added. “If we can, I’d like to get started immediately. We’re also going to be implementing a new buddy system, so no one goes anywhere alone. Always take someone with you. There is a safety in numbers. For my last request, I think we need to focus on getting everyone a home here. I know a lot of The Blue Tree Guild lives inside of their airship, but if this is going to be their home too, I want them to have houses of their own.”
I saw shock cross Laika’s face before she smiled, and I noticed her tail wag slightly.
I smiled back at her before I turned to the crowd once again. “Does anyone else have anything they’d like to bring up or discuss?”
No one raised their hands, but I wasn’t too surprised. The last meeting hadn’t been too long ago, and we were still working on most of the past requests.
“Okay then,” I concluded. “Thank you everyone, that’s all we have.” I stood back and watched the group disperse. Then I followed and walked with Alyona and Laika.
“I’m glad you’re safe, Lord Evan,” Laika murmured on my left side, and I turned my head to face her.
“Thanks, it wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle,” I replied with a smirk, but then I sobered. “I’m just sorry I couldn’t save Adyin.”
“I know how it feels to lose those you are responsible for, it is not a feeling I would ever wish on anyone,” she said before her hand found mine, and she squeezed tightly. Then we locked eyes, and I could see all the pain from her lost comrades.
I felt a flare of anger rush through me as I thought about the pain of losing someone I fought beside. I’d only known Adyin for a short time, and I never spoke to the man, but his death still rattled loose a fury inside me that burned deep. Killing the Itsumade only seemed to quell the fury for a moment. I knew the only way to truly honor the fallen nobleman was to defend this city and prevent any more deaths from happening within these walls.
I was going to protect Hatra, even if I had to build walls three hundred feet tall. Nothing and no one would ever hurt my people again.
And anyone who tried would end up just like the Itsumade, incinerated to ashes and left to blow away in the wind, forgotten for all eternity.
Chapter 2
The funeral arranged for Adyin was simple.
The citizens of Leyte explained that while funerals were always a somber occasion, they were never meant to be ostentatious. They were simple, fast, and meaningful. The only thing that would be decorated would be the funeral pyre. They would add things the deceased valued in life, like coins for money, flowers for love, or notes from loved ones to represent family.
Alyona had sent a message to Adyin’s family, but we hadn’t received any response as of yet. So, his friends each wrote a personal letter and placed them next to his body along the pyre. Wooden arrows and sparring knives were also added to show his honor and loyalty to Rahma.
Nearly the entire city gathered to witness his farewell later in the day. The citizens of Leyte offered their final farewells and stood by as my father, Ruslan, used his fire magic to set the pyre ablaze. The pungent smell of burning flesh must have been overpowering, because I could hear others coughing and gagging. A few covered their noses and mouths before they grimaced and took a few steps back.
I was standing close to the pyre, but I wasn’t as sensitive to the burnt smell, and I wondered if this was another dragon ability or if I was still too full of anger to be distracted by odors. As I watched the ashes of the pyre rise into the sky, I could only focus on the fact that someone had died in my city.
I clenched my fists in fury, and my fire licked at my palms. I would never let this happen again. No one would ever suffer such a senseless death in Hatra for as long as I lived.
The next day, we began the fortifications inside the city, and we started by building up walls to cut off the outskirts from the city proper.
I used my power over stone to raise the walls from the ground while Alyona enchanted them. I left door sized holes through the center of the walls, just so we could have access to the outskirts when we began to assess the damage that far out.
The dryad sisters, who until recently had been working at the Asuran village, had returned to assist in the reconstruction. They covered the gaps in the walls with thick vines and thorny brambles and made it impossible for even an ant to crawl through.
Using my magic to raise the walls took up most of the morning and afternoon. By lunch, Alyona and I were both sweaty and tired.
The dryads, on the other hand, were just as happy and impish as ever as they danced around the people and offered braided flower crowns to small children.
I grinned at their carefree attitude, and I noticed Alyona smiling softly at them as well. Then the three sisters approached us and sat down. Trina and Polina sat on either side of me, and Marina sat across from us, next to Alyona.
“Evan!” Polina cried out, and she snuggled up to my side. “We have missed you!”
“Polina!” Trina chastised her sister. “He is a Lord now. He is not ‘Evan,’ he is Lord Evan.”
“Oh yes, of course. Lord Evan, my apologies.” Polina’s voice was tight, and she glared at her sister for correcting her in front of me.
“I have missed you ladies, too,” I chuckled before I turned to the pouting sister. “And it’s okay, Polina. You all knew me before I was Lord Evan, so I understand how it could be confusing.”
Polina’s glare melted away at my attention, and I could see a slight blush in her cheeks.
“You are too kind, my Lord.” Polina’s eyes glinted mischievously, and her sisters chuckled beside her.
“Oh, and of course we have missed you too, Milady!” Marina chimed in as she grabbed onto Alyona’s arm. “It has been so boring over in the Asuran village. All we do is work, and the
guards we have over there do not believe in fun.”
Alyona chuckled sweetly. “There is no need to be so formal with me either, ladies, we are friends. Just ‘Alyona’ is fine.”
Marina smiled and squeezed her arm tighter. “Alright, Alyona.”
The sisters and Alyona gossiped for a few minutes and caught up with their lives before I interrupted the conversation.
“How has everything been going with the village?” I asked the sisters. “I haven’t heard an update in a while.”
Marina opened her mouth to speak, but Trina interrupted her.
“It’s been slow going, but we are getting there. The houses are mostly standing again. We could probably have a few more guards or even some of the builders come over now. We should be done with everything soon, and once the village is restored, we can reopen the mine, and Natalya could reopen her shop to arm the guards and miners who will be staying there.”
Trina finished her report with a flip of her short hair and a raised eyebrow at Marina.
My eyes darted between the sisters, and the tension was so thick around the trio, I could have cut through it with a knife. It was obvious they were in a battle for my attention, but I had never seen them bicker with each other. They really must have missed me. I would need to have a talk with them, just to assure them there was enough of me to go around.
“So, Alyona,” I changed the subject to ease the tension, “is there a way you could show me how to use spatial magic? It seems like it’s something I should have learned already, and it would come in handy.”
Alyona sat up a bit straighter and smiled.