by Aleks Canard
And it had never come out.
3
Trix ploughed through the undergrowth at a brisk pace.
She slowed only when the light faded. Such a walk could be mistaken for aggressiveness. Trix kept walking at a stroll. Didn’t sing. Whistled instead. The Lullaby of Lament came first. It was the same one Baxter had sung during her first trip into the forest. Then came the Ultima Lullaby.
The machina, all the while, was listening. Her ears honed on the trees. She listened for nocking bows, leaves underfoot, and measured breathing.
It wasn’t until she split away from the brook that she heard feet against moss. The sound of skin brushing against rock. Decades had passed since the arrow in the meadow of death. Trix had survived worse encounters than dryad training.
‘Greetings, Raeyeleth.’
A shape emerged behind Trix. From the shadows. The machina knew it was Raey from the smell. And her presence had been betrayed by fairies that darted overhead. Dryads followed soon after fairies in Xifaw.
‘Gwyrlaeth. It has been many winters since you’ve shown your face here. You’re not welcome.’
‘You used to have other ways of showing people they weren’t welcome. They were sharper than your current tone.’
‘I assure you, our arrowheads have not dulled since our last encounter.’
Trix rubbed her palms absently. She still bore the scars from her first training sessions. ‘Then why haven’t you shot me already?’
‘We’re curious as to your return. The Arnums have been whispering about it. The fairies saw how you darkled when you entered the forest. They knew it was you, even though your face has aged.’
‘I’ve come for an artefact that’s supposed to be hidden somewhere within the forest.’
‘Ah, you’re with the men who lost their lives to our arrows only one day ago. They spoke of what they sought loudly. Their quivering voices were funnier than any joke I’d ever heard.’
‘I’m not with them. But we’re working for the same person.’
‘You would defile our sacred lands for monetary gain?’
‘I owe someone a debt that must be paid.’
‘And it can only be paid with this artefact you seek?’
‘Do you know of it?’
‘I know of many things, Gwyrlaeth. What you truly wish to ask is whether or not I know the artefact’s location.’
‘Do you?’
‘Yes.’
‘Where is it?’
‘I’m not telling you.’
Raeyeleth nocked an arrow. Its head glinted in slivers of light. Trix heard more bowstrings pulled taught between the trees. It was a sound she had once known very well.
‘I shall give you one warning, Gwyrlaeth, since you know our customs. If you don’t leave after it is given, then our arrows will seek your heart. In that respect, they may even be greater huntresses than you.’
‘A powerful sorceress seeks to unite the Uldarian mirror residing here with its pair. She is being aided by a demon who goes by the name of Gauthier Haunt Nadim. I believe that once they acquire both mirrors, Gauthier will call forth a demonic army to take over the galaxy, starting with Zilvia.’
Raeyeleth lowered her bow a touch. The arrow would pierce her throat instead of splitting Trix’s skull. A breeze rushed through the forest. It created a roaring sound as it swept between the branches like crashing waves. Not at all like the howling one would expect.
‘You speak of Maldrodyn.’
‘Hmm.’
‘Let him come. If it’s the mirror he seeks, then he shall never find it here.’
‘If I may offer a counter proposal.’
‘Go on, Gwyrlaeth. Choose your words carefully.’
‘Gauthier will keep trying to obtain the mirrors, even if Faedra loses interest. And he will eventually find a way to win. He might’ve been alive since light first touched the planets.’
‘The Arnums and Hanoryaeds are not young either.’
‘Then it will be a battle of the titans, is that what you’re after?’
‘There won’t be a battle, Gwyrlaeth. We will crush Maldrodyn.’
‘Let me take him out.’
‘You insult the Arnums. They have near infinite wisdom, and you have less than a century of your people’s life under your belt. How can you believe that you can defeat Maldrodyn when so many have fallen to him?’
‘I know how to challenge him. But I need the Uldarian mirror.’
‘That is a risk we need not take. Xifaw is an impenetrable fortress. Maldrodyn can’t venture in here.’
Trix was about to retort when she heard something through the trees. Not bowstrings nor footsteps. Not fairies wings a flutter. Singing. Almost like a shanty, or a song you’d hear in a pub on a cold night. Unlike most songs sung in Xifaw, this one was overflowing with merriment. A fairy came to Raeyeleth’s ear. It spoke in hurried tones. All in ancient zirean. Raeyeleth’s face became grave.
‘Come, Gwyrlaeth. Let us see if you can still keep pace with us.’
Raeyeleth jumped into the darkness. Trix followed. They bounded up the sides of trees. Leaping from branch to branch. Trix used her magic to come beside the dryad. Others were close behind. Their movements swifter than great cats. Twice as silent.
‘Who comes?’
‘A single man. Not walking, but sitting in a meadow to Aefonryr’s northeast, across the river separating Glaen Beyr from Forae’gors. It rests so close to the sea that you can taste salt in the air.’
‘Then why have you been signalled?’ said Trix, using a vine to run along a tree trunk. She somersaulted to a lower branch. Kept moving.
‘Apparently the man has asked for me by name.’
‘Why hasn’t he already been skewered?’
‘Apparently the arrows went right through him.’
Trix felt her body go numb. She nearly lost her footing. ‘Gauthier.’
‘It would seem so.’
‘Now do you understand? Not even the Arnums can save you.’
Raeyeleth kept silent. She tried to leave Trix behind. The Valkyrie was too fast. Years of constant battle had honed her body to be the ultimate weapon.
Trix could indeed smell the sea as the women approached Forae’gors’ meadow. Then she heard the song that wafted through the trees.
‘For swords, and arrows, they fought beside the flames. Strike high! Shoot low! And the man fought thee. Until at last the devil stole the man’s soul away. A walkin’ down the crossroads, of hidden trickery.’
There was an impromptu drum solo on a rock when the singing started again.
‘For souls! For souls! The cunning devil cried. Walk high! Walk low! Walk towards the lee. The face the devil showed him was a clever way to bribe. A journeying on the crossroads, of hidden trickery.’
A pause. An intake of breath.
‘O! With music and cheer, the devil traipsed for hours three; Walk high! Walk low! Walk gainst the lee. The man’s clothes his coffin and the dirt his grave to be. What a trip, oh what a laugh, yes it’s a chuckle and a half to be sauntering down the path. Look around, have a geeze, you may spot your epitaph. O when you’re walkin’ down the crossroads, of hidden trickery.’
Rip roaring laughter followed the song’s completion.
Raeyeleth came to a stop. Perched on a branch’s tip. Trix swung into place behind her. A normal person wouldn’t have been able to see anything. Trix could perceive Gauthier’s face beneath his centre parted, shoulder length hair.
‘Greetings, machina, and dryads too. What a delight for me to share my songs with you.’
Trix didn’t like the sound of his voice. It was jaunty. Smooth. The airy fairy manner of a poet who cared not if the world was burning so long as he could sing about it.
‘I do confess that I told a lie to the fairies who came my way before. The ones in this world are a curious breed indeed. Nevertheless, it is not Raeyeleth I wish to hold palaver with, rather a certain white-haired machina.’
Raeyeleth
turned to look at Trix, but she was already gone. Trix fell between the branches. Swinging around some. Pushing off others. Her feet hit the ground right in front Gauthier. He was sitting cross-legged.
‘What a pleasure to not be fighting you, this time. I say it’s mighty fine.’
‘Stop the half assed poetry, Gauthier.’
‘I like you already. The sorcerer quivered when he spoke my name. He tried so hard to not.’
‘How can you be here?’
‘The same way anyone can be anywhere. I walked, tramped, sauntered, wandered, whatever you like to call it, on my own two feet.’
‘Even if that were possible, the universe would’ve ended before you reached your destination.’
‘Some roads are faster than others. It’s all a matter of finding the rights ones. I prefer mine less crowded, though a little company never goes astray. Travelling is a weary occupation.’
‘Why are you here?’
‘The same reason I’m anywhere. I was out for a stroll. And the crossroads led me here.’
‘You’ve come for the mirror.’
‘If only it were that simple. No. My advocate is already hard at work procuring the second mirror. In fact, they’re already in this very forest.’
‘You’re lying.’
‘Perhaps, though I believe the element of truth to be a necessary ingredient in every lie ever told.’
‘The dryads would’ve found them already. Not even you escaped their detection.’
‘I wasn’t trying to. I wouldn’t have been singing if I had. I find a tune or two helps make the journey less lonesome.’
‘Why did you help Faedra on Drion? As the demon in your threesome, you shouldn’t be able to actively grant her wishes.’
‘And that’s why I didn’t. I merely tagged along to abate my crushing loneliness,’ said Gauthier, batting his eyelids. ‘Was it not Faedra’s portal who took her into the vault? And her men who disabled the haxabyr?’
‘But you opened the vault. Showed us nightmares. Redirected Valentine’s bullets. Created a portal to escape.’
‘First of all, silly machina, I’m allowed to defend myself should I be attacked. It would be rather unfair if I wasn’t. And as for the portal, I did not use my special ones. Rather, I obeyed the rules of magic in your world and abided by ancient zirean runes in order to summon it. The same can be said of opening the vault. I can help partially, so long as I play fair.’
‘So you admit that one of Faedra’s wishes is to obtain the Uldarian mirrors?’
‘I admit nothing. And from that nothing you may ascertain whatever you want.’
Trix drew her sword. Maybe Gauthier only tricked people into thinking he couldn’t be killed. Her sword would put his illusions to the test.
She moved from drawing to a slash faster than anyone but a spectre machina could have avoided.
But Gauthier Haunt Nadim didn’t need to avoid it.
The machina watched as her sword rent a chest open. Oceans of blood surged forth, like water spouts during storms. The chest she’d cut open was not Gauthier’s. It was Felix Westwood’s.
Trix screamed. Held her dying father. He turned to bones when her arms closed around him. They turned to dust.
A hand settled on Trix’s shoulder. It was the bad man’s.
‘Ghastly shame that. Blood is gloriously pretty, though not much good when it leaves the body.’
‘I will end you.’
‘My dear, you may certainly try. Hit me with your best shot, take a swing, give it red hot crack, but caution, little machina, don’t make a claim you can’t take back.’
‘Whoever your advocate is, they can’t best me.’
‘You might be surprised. I’m willing to wager your skills are evenly matched. Why, after this encounter, you may find your reputation tarnished, scratched.’
Trix shook Gauthier’s hand off her shoulder. Turned. Her face was right in front of his. Their noses were almost touching. He smelled like a roadside tavern flowing with mead, meat, and scrumptious pastries. Trix would’ve preferred it if he smelled like rotting corpses. To her, the worst monsters were the ones that didn’t seem monstrous at all.
‘End of discussion,’ said Trix as she looked into Gauthier’s eyes. They seemed to go on forever. ‘You will not win because I will not lose.’
Gauthier smiled at Trix before turning on his heel and walking into the trees.
‘I wonder what happens when two undefeatable demons clash? I suppose we’ll find out.’
Maldrodyn disappeared into the trees. Arrows chased him.
Struck only air.
Raeyeleth descended from above. Landed next to the machina whose thousand yard stare was still affixed to Gauthier’s last position.
‘You were right.’
‘I know.’
‘And if you take him to the mirror, he can be stopped?’
‘He’s bound to accept any challenge issued to him, so long as the right conditions are met.’
‘Do you know the nature of this challenge?’
‘No. But he has to make it fair.’
‘That thought does not comfort me.’
‘I was under the impression that dryads couldn’t feel fear.’
‘Everyone fears something, Gwyrlaeth. Just as you fear death, though not your own. It is clear that the Arnums cannot protect us from whatever that demon is.’
Trix was about to ask a question when she realised that she was standing in a part of Xifaw in which she’d never been before. The trees were less dense. More light shone through. Trix could hear crashing waves through the trees.
‘Why haven’t you shot me yet?’
‘It’s clear that Maldrodyn cannot be defeated here, at least, not in any way we know, and we cannot leave. You are our only chance. Our differences will have to be put aside.’
‘You’ll take me to the mirror?’
‘It seems I have no other choice.’
The dryad began walking. Trix had expected her to take off at a run.
‘Raey, what became of my parents?’
Aefonryr’s leader kept walking. Trix couldn’t hear any more dryads around them. They were alone.
‘Please, Raeyeleth, I need to know.’
‘You shan’t drop dead if I don’t tell you.’
‘Can the heart not break while a person lives on?’
‘You were broken long ago, as was I. We’re still here. Therefore I see no need to tell you.’
‘Fine. Tell me because I want to know.’
‘You don’t deserve such information. It was you who burdened them with us. With an enchantress who had previously shown us contempt, and a hunter who wasn’t zirean, and had little chance of ever assimilating into our life.’
‘Baxter’s dead.’
‘I know.’
‘How come you couldn’t save him? Apparently he ran into the forest.’
‘Not even the fairies can be everywhere at once, Gwyrlaeth.’
‘Then how did you know of his death?’
‘Arnums hear many things on the wind. You need only listen.’
‘If I listen, will they tell me of my parents?’
‘Mayhap. Each who listens hears different utterings.’
‘And, what do they tell you now, Raeyeleth?’
‘That should you challenge Maldrodyn and triumph, the Arnums will reward you with complete clemency in our realm.’
‘I don’t have that now?’
‘If you run back to Aefonryr, or deeper still, without me, then you will be put down. Your shields don’t work in here, and our arrows can pierce your armour.’
‘Wasn’t planning on it.’
‘Then come now. When Maldrodyn walks, his footsteps set the world afire. We haven’t much time.’
Raeyeleth broke into a sprint. Trix kept pace.
They raced through the trees. Deeper into Xifaw. Trix had a feeling they were journeying for the dryads’ capital city.
She would be the first outsider to e
ver glimpse upon it.
4
Mirror Image
There were three ships now orbiting Zilvia at varying locations.
One was the Red Queen. Valentine told Serena of Strife Squad’s exploits on Drion, embellishing liberally as they waited for Trix’s call. She’d already told them that her banishment had been lifted. Valentine had no doubt that Trix would obtain the mirror now. He wondered what Altayr was doing as he spoke.
As it happened, Altayr was speaking with Faedra. Largely about research and times gone by. She had slipped into the cockpit so she could call in more troops, similar to the mercenaries who had accompanied her on Drion. They were now waiting in formation nearby. Ready to join her on the battlefield.
Faedra’s discussion with Altayr came, as it had several times already, to the subject of the Uldarian mirrors. Finally, he asked the blunt question.
‘Where’s the mirror you stole from the Conclave’s vault?’
‘I’m surprised it’s taken you this long to ask.’
‘I wouldn’t want to make you think that the mirror’s all I care about in this venture.’
‘You may be one of the Conclave’s weakest mages, but a better gentleman would be hard to find.’
‘Yet not impossible?’
‘The galaxy is a big place. It would be a lie for me to say otherwise.’
‘So where, in this big galaxy of ours, have you hidden the mirror?’
‘Any eagle eyed person may see what lies on the horizon as clearly as you see me now, though under their nose, they are blind.’
‘It’s on this ship.’
‘I would’ve been worried if that had gone over your head.’ Faedra rose off the sofa. ‘I’ll show you.’
Altayr felt like he was being led on. He mentally prepped himself for a possible attack as he followed Faedra across the living quarters. A door opened to them. A bed was on the other side. On a ship this small it could’ve only been Faedra’s bedroom.
And sitting off to the side, where one might expect to see drawers, or a makeup table, was the Uldarian mirror. It appeared to hold no greater significance than ordinary furniture in such a commonplace setting. A toilet could appear mystical if it was placed in the Conclave’s vault, but put it in a bathroom and it was just a toilet.