The Last Goddess

by C.E. Stalbaum

  ***

   

  The hill leading up to the Wall was uneven and surprisingly rocky given how thickly forested the rest of the area was, but Selaste and Rook had little trouble crawling up it. They stayed hunched enough to remain invisible to the Wall’s sentries but still made decent time towards the signal torch.

  “This is a good spot,” Rook said eventually, flattening himself against the ground and catching his breath. “You know, after a thousand year slumber, I figured you’d be a bit out-of-shape.”

  She raised an eyebrow at him. “You have an odd sense of humor.”

  “So I’ve been told.”

  He craned his neck and squinted towards the signal torch. A quartet of armored guards stood still as statues around it. It was obvious they were Faceless even without the violet glow emanating from their helmets.

  “Looks like the human sentry already moved on,” she told him. “You said this Darenthi Republic was the most powerful nation in the world, and this is the best border security they could come up with?”

  “Well, like I was also saying earlier, the Wall is pure politics at this point. We blew a half a dozen holes in it during the last war—it just doesn’t stand up against a unit of trained magi.”

  Her eyes narrowed as she examined its stone construction. “I might be able to just blast us through.”

  He cocked an eyebrow. “You could have mentioned that earlier.”

  “I wasn’t up this close. I’m not completely sure from this distance, either, but it looks seriously cracked in several places.”

  Rook turned back toward the Wall and considered. “We’ll go forward as planned. As long as you can light that torch, it will work just fine.”

  “I told you I could,” Selaste replied matter-of-factly.

  “I don’t doubt it, but I spent a lot of time with magi during the war. I got used to their range and limitations, I guess you could say. Plus I’m not sure Tiel would forgive me if anything happened to you.”

  “I imagine he would try to kill you.”

  “Probably,” Rook murmured.

  Selaste took her own moment to study him. He seemed more nervous than she would have expected. This entire “gambit” was his idea, after all. She hadn’t really noticed any of the tension in his facial features until they had gotten closer.

  “So why did you come with me?” she asked. “You could have sent one of the others.”

  “I explained all of this earlier.”

  “You rationalized it. I want the real reason.”

  His brown eyes glimmered with thought, and as he tilted back to the Wall the sun sparkled off his short dark hair and beard. She decided he would look better if he shaved. 

  “I want to see what you can do,” he said. “Besides, this is the most important part of the plan. I like to be in control.”

  “You don’t know whether to believe in this legend or not, do you?” she asked.

  “I like to keep my mind open. Why, did you remember something?”

  Selaste shook her head. “No. But it all sounds ridiculous. I’d like to think there has to be a better explanation.”

  “Because it’s crazy or because you don’t want to believe it?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe both.”

  They locked eyes for a long moment before she turned back towards the wall. Ever since she’d first met him, she noticed he had the uncanny ability to make her feel incredibly exposed. It was really quite annoying.

  Rook started to say something, but the bracelet on his wrist suddenly began glowing. He tapped it once, and the small stone inside it hovered out.

  “Are you in position?” he asked.

  “We are, but you’re about to be in trouble,” Rynne’s strained voice came back. “There are a dozen riders heading directly for you.”

  Rook blinked. “Were we spotted?”

  “I have no idea, but they’re coming. You need to get out of there. Head into the forest and we’ll try and catch up with you.”

  “No,” he said, his voice tightening. “If you see a break in the Wall guard, get across. If not, get to cover somewhere and we’ll rendezvous later.”

  “Wait, what?”

  “Just do it,” he ordered, then pushed the stone back in. His eyes flicked up to Selaste. “Come on.”

  A second later the two of them were off, sprinting full bore towards the edge of the Banek Wood a half mile away. It wasn’t long before the thundering of hooves echoed in the distance, and only seconds after that she could see the riders approaching at the edge of her vision. Running out here in the open like this, they would be fully visible to both the riders and the wall sentries. It meant, among other things, they would likely have far more than a dozen men to deal with. It also meant this little journey of theirs might soon be coming to a quick and bloody end.

  Selaste steadied her breathing and ran. She had to slow her pace for Rook to keep up, but only a little. The wall of trees wouldn’t provide perfect cover by any stretch, but it would at least give them a chance to hide. She just wondered how these riders could have possibly found them in the first place.

  By the time they hit the forest’s edge their assailants were only a few hundred yards away and swiftly bearing down upon them. Rook slowed and breathlessly glanced about for inspiration. 

  “In deeper, this way,” he managed, and took off.

  Selaste followed. For several minutes the only sound in her ears was the pounding of her heart and the ominous rumbling of their pursuers. Fear threatened to freeze her muscles, but she didn’t fully understand why. She still didn’t know who or what she was; she still didn’t understand what any of these people could possibly want from her. But she did know that she was in danger, and for right now, that was enough.

  They hurtled an overturned log and she risked a furtive glance backwards. Their pursuers had slowed, finding it difficult to charge full bore in the trackless forest. A few more minutes and they could probably find a spot of brush to hide under where they could just wait out the search…

  And then, screeching past them with a sizzling roar, came a brilliant ball of orange-white fire. It smashed into a massive oak twenty yards ahead of them and exploded—and suddenly her entire world was engulfed in flame.

  She wasn’t certain how far the blast threw her, but pain spiked through her back as she landed on top of a jagged rock. Branches shredded much of her tunic and drew lines of blood down her left arm. For an instant she thought the pain would overwhelm her and knock her out, but instead she grit her teeth together and flipped to her feet.

  Rook was nowhere to be found. Directly in front of her, a curtain of fire stretched across the forest, immolating the oak and every other tree within fifty feet. A cloud of black smoke loomed over everything, and ash burned in her lungs. In the other direction, four riders cautiously approached. Three wore thick armor, a soft violet glow emanating from their helmets. The fourth wore a lighter mail, and his hands crackled with magic.

  “My apologies, Your Eminence,” he called out, a crooked smile on his lips, “but we’re here to deliver you from this vermin and return you to Haven. Come with me and I can tend to your wounds.”

  “I’m not going anywhere,” she said flatly. “And I suggest you turn around—for you own sake.”

  He snorted and signaled with his hand. The three Faceless dismounted nearly in unison and approached her. “The General believes you are the Kirshal, the Betrayer’s Prophet sent to spread her lies across the world. He will be surprised to see that you are already awake.”

  Selaste took a step backwards but realized she had nowhere to go. The heat from the curtain of fire was getting oppressively hot; sweat was already beading off her skin and stinging the wounds on her arms.

  “I’m afraid I’m not very impressed,” the mounted man sneered, “but I shall take you to him alive—one way or another.”