Crown of Crystal Flame

by C. L. Wilson

  “I’m here, ajiana,” he whispered, stroking her hair. “I’m here with you. Your papa is fine. Lorelle is fine. You need to stay with us now.” Tears gathered on his lashes and dropped onto her cheek, making little paths through the layer of grime coating her skin.

  Her eyes fluttered. Dazed eyes found his face. Her cracked lips parted in a faint smile. “I knew you were alive,” she whispered. “I knew you would come.”

  He blinked back more tears and brushed his hand across her hair. “Always, ajiana. Whenever you need me, I’ll always find a way to reach you. No matter what.”

  The Forests of Eld

  Together, Rain and Ellysetta sprinted through the tall, dense trees of Eld’s old forest. Thick, soft moss, layered with fallen leaves and shed needles, carpeted the forest floor. Undergrowth was sparse, but Rain used Earth to thicken the occasional stands of small evergreen shrubs and thin saplings to provide cover from their pursuers. He had to use a light hand. Too much thickening of the brush, and he might as well blazon their path in sun-bright colors.

  Ellysetta ran beside him, her footfalls Fey-silent despite the limp in her gait. She more than kept up his pace, but they still weren’t running even half Rain’s normal speed.

  They ran for bells, stopping to rest only when their legs wouldn’t carry them another step. Rain wasn’t certain how far they had run. Forty miles. Maybe sixty. Still nowhere near close enough to expect rescue from the lu’tan.

  Rain threw small obstacles behind them. Spirit weaves to confuse and mislead their pursuers: muffled voices to draw Eld attention in a different direction, a flash of Ellie’s bright hair to draw their eyes, splashes of blood leading away to the west.

  Within his body, the remaining sel’dor barbs shifted continually, tearing muscle and flesh, burning, making his every weave a painful exercise. Each time the pain grew too sharp, Ellysetta touched him and stole away the worst of it.

  Afternoon turned to evening. They came upon a narrow dirt road that cut a swath through the forest and very nearly stumbled into the path of an oncoming squad of Elden soldiers. Rain grabbed Ellysetta’s arm and hauled her back, and they ducked into the shadows of a small rocky outcropping.

  «Do you think they saw me?» she asked.

  «Nei.» He cursed softly to himself. «But they’re definitely looking for us. See how they’re scanning the forest as they march?»

  One of the soldiers stopped to nail something to a tree.

  «What are they doing?» Ellysetta asked.

  «I don’t know.» Rain narrowed his eyes. The man had hammered what looked like a round moonstone on the tree trunk. While farther down, another soldier hung a similar stone on the opposite side of the road. «Whatever it is, I don’t like the looks of it.»

  They ducked back into a small crevice in the rocks as the soldiers drew closer. He spun the barest hint of Spirit to veil the pair of them and make them appear to be part of the stone itself. The weave would not hold up to close inspection, but unless the Eld stood within a few armlengths of them, it should suffice.

  He held himself still, hands clenched, as the Eld approached. Rage, his old familiar friend, burned deep within him, hungering for blood and vengeance.

  Ellysetta laid a hand on his face, her touch cool and calming.

  Rain covered her hand with his. «I will do nothing to endanger us, shei’tani.»

  «I know you will not.» Her trust in him was simple—and absolute.

  He swallowed his hatred, tamping it down as, behind them, the Eld stopped beside the rocky outcropping. Part of him—perhaps the still sane part—didn’t believe her trust was warranted, but he prayed to the gods he would not fail her.

  “Here as well,” one of the soldiers announced in an authoritative voice.

  There was a bit of grumbling. “The Tairen Soul himself gets shot down, and Primage Keldo has us hanging jaffing rocks on trees.”

  “We all do our part, corporal. If it bothers you, perhaps you’d like to discuss it with the Primage yourself?” There was a snap to the squad leader’s voice.

  “No, sergeant,” the corporal replied sullenly.

  “Good. Then hang the chemar every hundred paces, as the honored Primage has ordered. If the Tairen Soul passes this way, we’ll have been the ones to set the trap.”

  The squad of soldiers moved away, leaving the grumbling corporal behind to finish his task. “Perhaps you’d like to discuss it with the Primage yourself?” he sneered under his breath. “Scorching brown-nose. Bet you wear a dress and bend over any time the Primage gets a stiff one.”

  From the sack at his waist, the corporal yanked out a small round stone set in what looked like some sort of pendant, then he pulled hammer and nails from another pouch. He slapped the stone against the tree trunk at shoulder height, pinned the nail through the bale loop at the top of the stone, and swung his hammer. His foot slipped on a pile of slick leaves, and the hammer slammed down on his thumb instead of the nail head.

  “Krekk!” The white stone fell to the ground and skidded across the slick blanket of fallen leaves, down an incline. The Eld soldier loosed a stream of colorful swearing and shook his smashed thumb.

  “Son of a pole-shriveling bone-hag. Miserable cherviljaffing, krekk-gobbling rultshart.” The corporal stuck his thumb in his mouth and sucked on it as he stomped after the fallen stone, which had come to rest near a small rocky outcropping. “I’ll bet they’ve already found him. I’ll bet they’re roasting his Hells-flamed Fey changeling ass over Mage Fire right this very moment, and I’m missing out on the lot of it.” He snatched up the fallen stone.

  He stopped short, his gaze freezing on the shadowed outline of two pairs of booted feet visible within a translucent gray veil of stone. “What the… ?” He squinted and stepped closer. The boots were connected to legs and whole bodies. It looked as if two people had been entombed in the stone.

  Understanding, unfortunately late, bloomed in the young man’s brain as he looked up, straight through the weak Spirit weave into Rain Tairen Soul’s glowing eyes.

  The chemar dropped from the corporal’s nerveless fingers.

  “Krekk.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  Eld ~ North of the Heras

  Rain’s Fey’cha flew true, burying hilt-deep in the Elden soldier’s throat. Tairen venom did its job. The young man’s eyes rolled back instantly, and he dropped to the ground.

  A shout rang out from the squad farther up the road.

  “Come on!” Rain grabbed Ellysetta’s hand, launched out of their hiding place, and headed due south. The time for backtracking to a safer crossing was over. They needed to get to the river—and fast.

  He sent a blast of Fire up the road and whispered his return word to retrieve his red Fey’cha from the fallen soldier’s throat. As they sprinted across the dirt road, Earth rumbled to Ellysetta’s command, shifting beneath the feet of the squad of soldiers. A chorus of screams rose as trees toppled down on top of them, and another gout of flame lit a deadly bonfire.

  One of the white stones on the trees began to glow as Rain and Ellysetta ran past, and a glowing rune appeared in its center, as if written in fire.

  “What is that?” Ellysetta pointed at the glowing stone.

  “I don’t know, but it can’t be good. Run faster, shei’tani.”

  She put on a burst of speed, then faltered as a wave of ice washed up her spine, and her knees went weak. “Rain… My legs…” Her legs abruptly folded, and she went sprawling into the bracken. Rain circled back and snatched her up off the ground, but her trembling legs would not hold her weight. She collapsed against him, clinging to him to hold herself upright. “I’m sorry.”

  “Las. There is nothing for which you should be sorry.” He scooped her up against his chest and continued to run. Behind them, the screams of the burning soldiers died out, leaving only the crackling of Rain’s Fire.

  Ellysetta’s trembling increased until her entire body shivered uncontrollably with the familiar sensation of ice spide
rs crawling up her spine. Her temples ached, and there was a strange pressure at the backs of her eyes, not unlike the burn of unshed tears. She stared over Rain’s shoulder as he ran, and watched in horror as a black spot began to widen in the place where the glowing chemar stone had been.

  “Rain! It’s the Well! The Well of Souls is opening!” Her fingers clawed into his shoulders as a sudden, powerful blast of cold, gagging sweetness swept over her. Robed Mages rushed out of the Well, globes of deadly blue-white fire whirling in their hands.

  “Run!” she cried. She flung a series of five-fold weaves behind her, but the sel’dor weakened her threads, and the Mages easily batted them aside.

  Rain clutched her to his chest and raced across the rolling hills of Eld. The exertion opened his barely healed wounds, and drops of bright scarlet marked a trail that would be all too easy to follow. Of course, with Mages at their back, leaving a visible trail was the least of their worries.

  Ellysetta didn’t think the situation could get worse, then two—no, make that three—new portals opened. She saw one of the white stones with the fiery rune glow bright, just before a fifth portal opened where the stone had been. “It’s the stones! They’re using those stones to open the portals.”

  The Eld were gaining on them. Carrying her as an extra burden slowed Rain down too much. She squirmed in his arms. The tingling, ice-spider feeling was still strong, but the initial rush of weakness had faded. “Put me down. We have no chance of outrunning them if you keep carrying me.”

  He set her on her feet without breaking stride, and she landed running.

  «If we can make it to the river, we might have a chance at escape.» The Heras was fed by the powerful faerilas Source at Crystal Lake, and its waters worked like acid on Mage flesh. Even with their magic tightly leashed, Mages avoided wetting so much as their smallest toe in the fierce waters of the Heras. «The river won’t stop the Mages completely, but at least it might slow them down.»

  They raced through the trees, leaping over small rocks and fallen tree trunks. As he approached a final, small ridge, Ellysetta could smell the brisk, clean waters of the Heras and hear the rushing burble of its swift current.

  Almost there. Five more tairen lengths, and they would be over that last ridge and speeding down its slope to the protection of the river and away from those gods-scorched chemar stones that were spitting out Mages by the dozens.

  An arrow slammed into Rain’s back, knocking him offbalance and sending him sprawling.

  “Rain!” Ellysetta scrambled down the hill towards him.

  “Leave me! Run! Get to the river! I’ll be right behind you.”

  “I’ve already told you, I’m not going anywhere without you.” Her eyes went wide, and she lunged for him. “Look out!”

  Rain threw himself to one side. The arrow in his back snapped in two as he rolled onto his back, and two more barbed arrows thunked into the ground at the exact spot he’d just vacated. A third arrow sank into a tree trunk near Ellysetta’s head.

  Rain’s eyes flamed at the sight of the poisonous black missile quivering in the tree so close to his shei’tani. Despite the howling protest of the sel’dor embedded in him, he sent Fire spinning from his outflung hand. It scorched several trees and ignited the three Elden bowmen who’d shot the arrows.

  Ellysetta grabbed him and yanked him to his feet. Together, they raced up the final ridge, scrabbling over slick piles of fallen leaves and tumbled rocks. A storm of arrows erupted from the trees at their backs. Ellysetta flung a blast of Air to knock them off course.

  At the bottom of the hill, a pair of yellow-robed apprentice Mages stood surrounded by archers and swordsmen. Magic crackled around them in a visible nimbus, and in their hands they coaxed deadly globes of blue-white flame to life.

  One of the two Mages sent his ball of Mage Fire roaring towards them. Rain attempted a five-fold weave, but sel’dor howled through his flesh. His resulting weak, crippled weave only managed to deflect the Fire, not destroy it. The Fire plowed through another clump of trees, eradicating portions of them from time and space.

  In a battle of magic today, even those two apprentice Mages would win.

  “To the river, shei’tani. Hurry!”

  Behind them, at the bottom of the hill, the second Mage released his fire. Rain looked back just in time to see it hurtling towards them. “Get down!” He flung himself at Ellysetta, knocking her to the earth and covering her body with his own as the enormous ball of blue fire roared over their prone bodies, close enough to singe Rain’s skin with the burning ice.

  A hail of arrows followed on the heels of the Mage Fire, and yet another volley of Mage Fire followed the arrows. Ellysetta deflected the arrows but Rain could not even slow the Mage Fire.

  “Rain.” Ellysetta gasped softly and grabbed his hand, squeezing tight.

  A sudden blast of energy from the west ridge intercepted the hurtling balls of Mage Fire and destroyed them.

  Their unlikely savior was a blue-robed Primage heading up a second troop of soldiers and archers. “Kill the Tairen Soul, if you must, idiots,” the Primage shouted in Eld to the two apprentice Mages, “but harm the girl, and the High Mage will roast and eat your livers out of your still-living bodies.”

  Rain glanced behind them, to the Mages approaching from the west, north, and east, then looked down at the troops standing between them and the river. “That’s our only chance,” he said. “I don’t see any Mages there.”

  Ellysetta raised her brows. “So what are we standing here for?”

  He laughed, loving her. Then his expression went serious as he handed her two red Fey’cha.

  She took the poison blades and searched his face.

  “In case, I cannot save us,” he admitted in a low voice.

  Her gaze fell, and she nodded in solemn understanding. Their situation was grim. Rain would die before letting the Mages take her, and if he did, the Fey’cha would at least give her a way to avoid capture. She sheathed the poison blades carefully in the knife belt across her chest.

  He touched her cheek. “Lend me your strength, shei’tani?”

  “You need not ask.”

  “And give me one last kiss?”

  She smiled and moved into his arms. “You need not ask for that either.”

  Her lips, so warm and soft, parted beneath his. She tasted of life and sweetness and all the dreams he’d ever dreamed as a boy. She tasted of hope and of a future he’d never allowed himself to want since he’d found his wings. Regret dimmed his pleasure. She was so young, her life so unfulfilled.

  Ellysetta pulled away to look into his eyes. “No regrets, Rain. I have none.”

  Peace settled over him. He nodded, his throat too tight for words, and kissed her once more. «Ver reisa ku’chae. Kem sera, shei’tani.»

  Her hands closed around his. The brightness that was Ellysetta flowed up his arms and filled him with peace and warm, rejuvenating strength. He gave her back the essence that was himself and watched her eyes flutter closed. She smiled, a secret, womanly smile. “Ke vo san, shei’tan. I always have. I always will.”

  Together they turned to face the advancing line of soldiers.

  “There.” Rain directed her attention to the spot where the line of soldiers was thinnest. He gathered his power. They would not have more than a few moments to make their escape. He would have to strike hard and fast, with only one or two concentrated weaves to open up a corridor between the advancing Eld.

  She squared her shoulders. “Let’s go.”

  They ran down the hill, magic blazing. Earth shuddered violently. The ground split open to the left and right, and dozens of soldiers toppled into the fissures. Fire and Air roared down the hillside, plowing through the remaining line of men and clearing a direct path to the Heras River.

  Sel’dor screamed in Rain’s flesh, amplified by the echo of Ellysetta’s matching pain, but he roared his defiance of it and held his weaves until his very bones rebelled. They raced through the burning
carnage as the remaining soldiers converged on them, swords drawn.

  A badly burned soldier leapt from the smoking ruins of his fallen comrades to make a grab for Ellysetta. She slashed out with Rain’s red Fey’cha. Blood spurted from the Eld’s torn throat, splashing her face. She swiped her forearm across her face and kept running. Beside her, Rain swung his seyani sword in his left hand and fired off red Fey’cha with his right.

  Behind them, the Mages had reached the crest of the ridge. A line of archers fired a volley of arrows. As they soared overhead, Rain saw the white stones attached to each arrow shaft already brightening. Rain grabbed Ellysetta’s hand and put on a desperate burst of speed.

  Too late. Portals opened like gaping black maws directly in their path. Mages and soldiers poured out, blocking their path to the river and cutting off their only hope of escape.

  Cornered, breathing hard, Rain and Ellysetta turned to face the enemy.

  The Fading Lands ~ Chatok

  With the Baristanis healed and safely in tow, Kieran and Kiel led their small group back up and over the shattered mountain to the edge of the Faering Mists. Though Teleon and the Garreval now appeared completely clear of Eld, Kieran and Kiel took no chances. They traveled just inside the edge of the Mists, following that edge to the Garreval and emerging only to make a swift dash into the Mists-filled pass between the Rhakis and Silvermist mountains.

  They stayed close to the shei’dalins, walking in the thinner mist that surrounded them, and the passage into the Fading Lands went without incident. Kieran held Lillis on his back, while Lorelle rode on Kiel, and the girls’ kittens, who had also survived their ordeal, purred happily inside their slings on Kiel’s and Kieran’s chests.

  Within a few bells of entering the Garreval, they emerged onto Taloth’Liera, the great, walled field that marked the boundary of the Fading Lands. Fey in full war armor stood atop the wall and flanked the mighty steel gates that led into the Fading Lands.

  The warriors guarding the gate greeted Kieran and Kiel as if they’d risen from the dead. Which, Kieran supposed, they had.