Age of Valor: Blood Purge

by D. E. Morris

  He's with Rhiamon, Lilia told her, fighting through the telepathic pain she hadn't experienced in years. They're friendly, Mairead, and I mean friendly. Both of them know that Badru is in the village, more than likely Connor as well. She said she was doing something about it as though she was actively doing something at this very minute. We have to get out of here. We have to warn them. It's time to leave!

  It is time to leave, Mairead agreed calmly. It is time for the three of you to leave.

  Absolutely not. I am not leaving without you, not now. You could be in just as much danger as they are.

  Lilia, I have to stay. You said yourself that Rhiamon loves me. She trusts me or I would not be privy to the information that I have been free to listen in on. This is the best place for me if I am to do any good for the cause.

  Mairead, please don't do this.

  There was urgency and desperation in Lilia's tone, and Mairead knew that if she was in her human form, she would be in tears. Still, she did not give in. You must hurry. Go save Connor and Badru. She slid the blanket down over her shoulders, but the little bird didn't move. She turned in Mairead's open palm, indecisive, then all at once, flew away as quickly as possible.

  Without looking back, she sped out over the trees, taking the most direct route to the path that led down the mountain. Her heart felt as though it would burst from her chest, her wings pumping harder than she could ever remember them going before. All the while she kept repeating the same words over and over: Please don't let me be too late. Please don't let me be too late.

  Though it was the fastest she'd ever made the journey, it felt as though time dragged on, that seconds really took minutes. By the time the lights of the village came into view, she was certain she would fly to Kyo's house to find her new friends slaughtered, her beloved dead among them, and Badru...she could hardly bear to think of what they would do to him if they caught him unaware.

  People moved about as though nothing was amiss. Lilia slowed her progress, terrified to reach her destination. She convinced herself that taking a few extra seconds to make sure nothing suspicious was happening in town first was the best course of action. After all, she could have gotten there before whatever Rhiamon was planning had even begun. Maybe she could stop it before it had a chance to start. She landed on the first roof she came to, getting a full, long look at the area. Nothing was out of the ordinary; everything was quiet and peaceful with everyone moving to and from in normal, casual paces and patterns.

  Save one person coming from behind the large boulder.

  Lilia's suspicion was short lived when she recognized Eira, relief washing over her upon seeing at least one of the people she was worried about. She bent low and fanned her wings, about to jump into the air and fly down to greet the woman, but as she watched, others came from the darkness to walk behind Eira. They didn't join her directly, but looked to make it a point to flank her as migrating geese followed their leader in flight formation.

  More and more people joined, men and women alike, all dressed in dark, loose trousers that ended at the knee. The men wore sleeveless tunics and the women wore crisscrossing tops that exposed their stomachs and arms, the extra fabric hanging over their shoulders like a double stranded cape. These were outfits she had seen before, though she had never given them any real thought. Modesty was a foreign concept to Rhiamon's people, so the few times she's seen a group of villagers returning dressed just like this, she'd given it no pause. Now, however, seeing these men and women, seeing even Eira dressed this way, set her panic back into full swing.

  Eira paused just before reaching the paths worn by feet and carts, her head turning as she spoke something inaudible to her followers. All at once, they split from one another, soundless, blending into the shadows between houses and shops, ducking down alleys and side streets. Confused, Lilia watched a woman slip into a nearby house, vaulting in through an open window without any hesitation. Inside appeared to be a mother and two daughters. Before any of them even knew what was happening or could cry out for help, the woman slit the throat of the mother while simultaneously driving a second dagger into the heart of one of the girls. Abandoning her weapons, she grabbed the second daughter and gave a savage twist of her head, breaking her neck. As Lilia watched from her high perch, stupefied, the woman pulled a bookcase over and disappeared behind a secret door.

  As soon as the woman was gone from her sight, everything hit Lilia all at once. Eira, the woman who had been so sweet and forthcoming with her own tragic tale, had been a spy, and she'd sold them out. She was the reason why Rhiamon already knew Badru was there. Now the Keepers and any sympathetic to the Gaelic cause were being taken out. With a boiling mixture of anger and fear, Lilia threw herself into the air, aiming for Kyo's house in the distance. Before she had flown even a few feet, she saw Eira below, moving in the same direction. At almost the same time, Eira spotted her as well. The colors of her body gave her away in an instant, and Eira shouted commands to her followers, her stealthy slinking turning into a sprint.

  From the darkness behind her, an arrow came shooting toward Lilia and barely missed her tail feathers. She squeaked her protest and banked to the side, dodging and weaving in an erratic flight pattern as more arrows flew in her direction. Eira gained distance on her and she chirped helplessly, wishing for the first time that she could shift into anything else but a colorful bird that drew attention everywhere she went. Taking a risk, she dove straight down, flinging her wings out when she was only a few yards above the ground. She shot forward after Eira, tiny legs extended with talons ready to scratch at any exposed skin she could reach. Eira glanced back to see her and doubled down, but Lilia was much faster than she was, the archers no longer able to shoot at her for fear of accidentally shooting Eira. She caught up to the woman quickly and threw herself at her over and over, scratching and pecking at her face without mercy. She felt her talons sink into the tender flesh below one of Eira's eyes and curled her toes, tearing and scraping as she screamed.

  With the woman momentarily distracted, Lilia landed and shifted as quickly as she could. She glanced back at Eira to see her doubled over, holding her face. If she was lucky, she would have enough time to get to the house to warn everyone before the hunters were upon them. With filmy skirts in hand, she ran as fast as her legs would take her, not stopping even when she reached the familiar house with all the lights on inside. She bounded up the front stairs and threw the door open, making all four men inside jump in fright at the intrusion. “Run!” she cried slamming the door shut behind herself. “They're coming!”

  No one questioned her, they simply began gathering up whatever they had been looking over that was spread out across the table and reaching for weapons. “Are you all right?” Gerwyn asked Lilia, the first to be ready to leave.

  “Fine, but we have to hurry. Eira's betrayed us and we're all in danger. Your family may be in danger, too.”

  Connor, Badru, and Kyo were quick to join them, and all four men looked at one another in silent communication. They sandwiched Lilia in the middle before giving Gerwyn a nod. He took a breath and lifted his sword, then yanked open the door, ready to rush out. He hadn't been prepared for the woman waiting on the other side with a sword of her own. She shoved her sharp blade right through Gerwyn's chest before he had time to even register her being there, doubling over on the blade as blood pooled around the weapon.

  “Go!” Kyo ordered, shoving the others back away from the door. He kicked the woman, sending her flying over the railing, then swung the door closed behind him. Badru and Connor raced to pull the top of the secret passageway open, but Lilia stood there in complete shock. When they were able to move forward, Connor had to pull her along, both men rushing and firm as they helped her down the ladder and into the tunnels. Badru took the lead to begin, running and taking whichever turns he felt would bring them to safety. It wasn't long before they came across their first assassin, a man armed with little more than a dagger and a blazing torch. Badru simply
glared at him. With one rage-filled thought, the fire from the torch spilled out from the protective iron grating around it and down around the attacker's hand like lava, quickly consuming his body. The trio turned around and ran, Connor now at the head, with the man's screams and the stench of his burning flesh blocking the tunnel behind them.

  Every which way they went, they were met with someone blocking them and more people coming in behind them. It would have been impossible to fight their way out even if all four men had made it down into the tunnels alive and uninjured. Every single person Eira had recruited for this mission of hers had made it into the secret passageways by now. They were all corralling the remaining three in, either to kill them or to bring them to Rhiamon, there was no telling which or whether one option was more favorable than the other.

  “We have to head for the river,” Connor panted after running back down another long tunnel, Lilia's hand still gripped in his. He looked past her back at Badru. All of them were sweaty and covered in dirt, and quickly losing hope. “It's the only way we haven't tried and it may be our only option left. If we can make it there, we can possibly swim out to the lake and get out of here alive.”

  Badru hesitated even as they continued moving. “I do not swim well.”

  “We'll help you,” Connor promised. “It may be our last chance.” He lifted his sword and sprinted ahead, practically dragging Lilia along behind him as Badru brought up the rear. Working together, the men oriented themselves enough to be able to figure out where to turn to make for the underground passage to the river and hurried for what could be their last shot at getting out of there alive. Voices echoed around them and behind them, taunting as they jeered and hollered, driving the trio onward even faster.

  Soon, the narrow tunnel widened and the sound of water could be heard over the cries of the hunters at their heels. Badru passed Connor and Lilia, a ball of blue and gold flames roaring to life in his palm. The light was bright enough to illuminate the wide mouth to the flowing river up ahead, showing their way unobstructed. “Perhaps there is a boat or a raft of some sort,” said Badru. He walked to the very edge of the path where it dropped off into the river and leaned out over the edge. Looking both ways revealed nothing but water. He gave a quiet sigh of displeasure at the same time an arrow shot from the water and embedded itself in his jaw. His head dipped forward and he saw a dark face under the water grinning up at him, a crossbow in hand. He stumbled as he turned, his vision already failing and his legs weakening as blood poured out of his mouth. “Run,” he managed.

  Connor and Lilia stood together, frozen at the gruesome sight before them until Connor saw the fire that had begun to crawl its way over Badru's skin, scales being burned into his flesh like brightly colored tattoos. “He's shifting,” the younger man whispered urgently. Without mercy, he took Lilia by the shoulders and spun her around before shoving her back down the way they had come. Taking her hand firmly in his, he sprinted past her, pulling her along. “Hurry! He's shifting!” They were running back toward the voices, toward their attackers and it was only a matter of seconds before one of them jumped out in front of them to fight. Connor was ready and battled ruthlessly. When the earth around them began to tremble, all of them gave pause and looked up, watching as dirt and rocks showered down around them. Connor took the opportunity to run his opponent through, then hurried on with Lilia once more. They barely made it a few feet before someone else rushed at them. As Connor prepared himself to fight, he saw terror register on the face of the man before him and one that had come up behind him, terror that was much too raw for it to be directed at either Connor or Lilia.

  The two men dropped their weapons and turned on their heels, running away at a faster speed than they had approached. Confused, Connor glanced back at Lilia with question and froze, his eyes pulled by a growing light in the tunnels behind them. Fire was rolling toward them in a heated wave, bright and blazing. Lilia screamed, taking her turn at doing the shoving when Connor seemed too shocked to move. Together, they followed their attackers down the tunnel, turning when they could to get away from the congestion of bodies as people tried to get out. Having more knowledge of where he was going, he made for one of the missed passageways that was dark, finding a ladder and letting Lilia climb up first. Others had seen them duck down the tunnel and were now coming after them, the glow of fire getting brighter.

  Lilia threw the tunnel doorway back to reveal a night sky mostly blocked by trees. It was deceivingly peaceful, especially when the ground began to shake in earnest. Connor grabbed onto the ladder and hauled himself up, kicking at whomever had begun to climb after him and tried to pull him down by his legs. There was a loud roar, the desperate trumpet of pain from a dragon in a space much too small for it, and the earth shook so violently that Connor nearly fell off the ladder. Quick to help, Lilia almost threw herself down the slim hole to grab his arm and pull him up the rest of the way. As soon as he crawled up onto the ground, Lilia swung the door closed and Connor shoved his sword through the latch, preventing the door from being opened again. Screams of rage and suffering rose in a muffled chorus as the flames caught up with their attackers. Jumping back from the surge of heat and light that rushed up between the cracks of the door, Lilia and Connor only had a moment to catch their breath.

  They were standing at the edge of the forest, just barely hidden in the trees. The villagers were all in a panic, wondering if there was an earthquake, and what kind of beast has awoken beneath their feet that would be causing such a noise. Not even a hundred yards from where the two tried to gather their senses, the ground exploded as an enormous dragon made of pure fire rose from the depths. Chunks of earth went flying as houses on top of his chosen spot of exit were decimated. Others nearby went up in flames or fell into the pit he left behind. In his rage, streams of fire spewed forth from his maw with no thought of care for direction or damage.

  Connor grabbed Lilia around the waist and hauled her deeper into the forest, both of them just barely missing being roasted alive themselves. “We have to get out of here.”

  “No,” she argued, breathless and sobbing. “We have to find Kyo and make sure he's all right. We have to go back for Mairead. We can't just leave her here! And Badru...what if he didn't shift fast enough? What if he still dies after all of this?”

  Connor looked toward the town, still able to clearly see the fiery visage of Badru as he soared through the sky, the terrified screams of the villagers a haunting cry all around them. “We don't have a choice, Lilia. We have to go. It isn't safe to stay here and there's no way we could get Mairead out of that village without further endangering her or ourselves. We have to go.”

  She turned her face up toward Badru, tears leaving odd little trails in the dirt on her cheeks. With a helpless cry, she looked away and followed Connor deeper into the woods.

  The shaking of the earth had been far-reaching, and had woken all those that had been sleeping inside Cynefin. Not even Rhiamon herself knew what was happening. As everyone gathered in confusion, she did her best to calm and assure that all were safe. It was the general assumption that there had been a small earthquake, and that damage assessment could be done in the morning, but as everyone was turning back for where they had been just moments ago, someone gave a cry of alarm and pointed to the sky. High above, they could all see the clear and distinct form of a dragon enveloped in fire flying over what they knew was the village at the base of the mountain. He cried out in anger and blew bright flames into the sky, making the younger children cower in fear.

  “Shhh,” Mairead soothed, pulling Esther and some of the other girls close to her side.

  Rhiamon drew up beside her, dark blue eyes trained on the dragon as well. Her expression was unreadable, with neither fear, nor anger, nor triumph to be found even in the slight upturn of her lips or a wrinkle in her brow. She simply observed in silence, regarding no one as she did so.

  “Will the dragon come here next?” asked one of the little girls, her high, little v
oice wavering.

  “Of course not,” said Derog, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. His square jaw was set with fierce determination, eyes intense as he, too, watched the dragon. When he turned away from the threat in the sky to look at the little girl, he softened. “But if it does, we will be ready for it.” Lifting his eyes to Mairead's face, he touched her shoulder and asked, “Are you all right?” She was wearing one of the standard night dresses that had long sleeves but was split open at the arms, and Derog's hand rested on her bare skin. A cold shiver ran over her. Concern crossed his features and he undid the thin cloak around his neck before draping it across Mairead's shoulders to cover her. “You're safe here,” he promised.

  “Derog.” Rhiamon's voice stole his attention and he moved on before Mairead could reply. She watched him from her peripheral, pulling the edges of his cloak tighter around her neck. As he was sent off on some task, she followed him with her subtle gaze. Once he was out of her line of vision, she glanced around for anyone that looked out of place, anyone that could be Merrik. No one had ever described him to her so she had no idea what to look for, but every face had become familiar to her in the days she'd spent there. Surely someone new would stand out if they had come to see what had caused such a commotion.

  “The Element of Destruction.”

  Mairead blinked and looked to Rhiamon. She hadn't taken her eyes off of Badru, but there was a hint of distaste in her gaze that hadn't been there before. “That should be what they call him since that is his nature. It is fire's true purpose, to destroy everything that it comes into contact with, and the Fire Elemental has always been known for its volatile temper.” Finally turning away from the blazing form in the sky, the older woman scrutinized Mairead's face. “Are you looking for someone?”