“Tools? Marric… People. Are not. Tools,” Ash responded. His knees buckling, he caught himself. However, he remained bent over, hands on his knees, breathing shakily. Euan and Farrah continued to fight off men to Ash’s rear and side. Farrah saw him struggling but knew not to draw any more attention to him than needed. She would need to clear a path to him.
Marric reached for him, “Let me help you brother.”
Ash slapped away Marric’s hand. “Help me. Help. Me. You tried. To. Kill me. You. Brought the Hylaen army to. Invade. To kill. My father,” Ash said, struggling between breaths, panting.
Ash swung at him with his sword. Marric easily and effortlessly stepped out of the path of the blade, “Ash, you are unaccustomed to using magic. It requires energy. You are strong brother, but magic is still new to you. Your body isn’t used to it yet. It doesn’t yet understand how to handle the flow of energy. You need to rest and recover your strength.” Marric reached for his brother once again.
“Rest? There are men - your men. Here in the forest. Just outside my Father’s castle. Waiting to invade. Men. Soldiers who are trying. To. Kill me,” Ash said, his jaw flexing as his chest rose and fell hard and fast.
“I need to get to Ash,” said Farrah to Euan. “Help me.”
Euan smiled. “Allye had to do lass was ask.” Euan raised his index finger casually and began to draw a circle in the air. The dirt, leaves, and other debris from the battle began to lift and spin around circularly. There were only a few men remaining and the torrent created by Euan caught enough in its eye to allow Farrah to reach Ash. She ran within the eye of the howling torrent as it blinded the remaining soldiers with dirt and bashed others who tried to enter with debris. The howling came not only from the growling speed of the winds, but from the cries of the men trapped within. Euan was still atop the hope chest, as it gave him a better vantage point from which to view the battle. Being the size of a child had its drawbacks. His feet trembled. Euan looked down to see the chest beginning to vibrate and then shake ever so subtly. He jumped down. “Place the heart within and hope will keep it safe until love will birth it anew,” Euan said quietly to himself. The corners of his mouth raised ever so subtly as he continued the make a circle in the air with his finger.
As Farrah ran towards Ash, an arrow buzzed by her face, nearly catching its target. That’s where those men ran to; they went to get the bows. I knew we shouldn’t have let them run off, thought Farrah as she reached Ash and quickly slid an arm under his. “On three, help me lift you up and put your weight on me. One. Two,” Farrah said as she braced herself to take his weight and walk him to safety. “Three!” She could feel the winds beginning to slow around them. She grunted under his weight. She was also tired, and Ash was a big man. A burst of flames flew by Farrah’s side. She zipped her head around to see that it came from Marric. “Damn you, Marric,” she said.
“It wasn’t for you,” he replied as the man he hit fell in flames, but before he could scream, an arrow pierced his chest, killing him instantly. “Let me help you,” Marric said, as another arrow flew by, notching his shoulder. He gripped it with a wince.
“Now you want to help? You tried to kill him…And me. You tricked my sick father into lending you his army. All so that you can kill Ash’s father,” Farrah said as she stared at Marric coldly, still struggling to bear Ash’s weight. Marric heard the buzzing of another arrow. He turned quickly to see the man who shot the arrow. Marric let loose a bolt of lightning at the man. Lightning moved faster than fire, and at that distance, speed was everything. The archer fell to the ground convulsing before his heart stopped.
Marric turned back to Farrah, his eyes meeting hers. “Our father…”
Farrah shook her head. “Oh. Our father? You two are brothers. You share a father. And, you want to kill him. Great. Just great,” Farrah said in reply as she felt the warmth and clamminess Ash’s forehead. Farrah turned Ash back in the direction of Euan and the hope chest. “I don’t know who’s worse, Marric. You… Or my father.” She left her words to linger in the air as she struggled to move Ash to safety.
CHAPTER 13
Marric reeled in anger. He had planned so carefully for this, and it was all falling apart. None of the men would follow his orders now. At first it had been a dozen or so mutineers, and perhaps, if he hadn’t reflexively killed that solider, he could have reasoned with the dozen or so men. But, he had killed more than just that one. He had killed too many of the men he brought to aid him in his regicidal plan. He had killed too many to save his brother. He would only have limited time to sneak into the castle now and execute Alric before the entire castle was on alert as word of the battle would surely reach them before morning. Ash would never allow him to fulfill his murderous plan. But, Ash’s current condition offered Marric an opportunity. Ash was in no state to stop him now. If I can slip away now in the confusion of battle, then I could accomplish my goal, he thought to himself. The anger he felt rose and fell like the air in his lungs. It gave him life. It pushed him forward. He needed to make sure Ash would survive before he slipped away. A single ray of light on the ground caught his eye for a moment. It was coming from the hope chest. The chest was vibrating. Shaking.
Farrah and Ash reached Euan, who had waited until all of the soldiers trapped in the torrent of wind he created had been incapacitated by either concussion or asphyxiation. Ash saw the chest shaking. A single ray of light slipping through. “Is it opening?” he asked Euan.
Euan looked him up and down. His eyes were narrow. “It might be. It will open when it opens. My mother is a fickle woman.” Euan pressed his hand to Ash’s forehead. “I taught you one spell to build a campfire, or to help you out of a bind. You are nowhere near being able to use magic for battle, you fool!”
Ash looked up at him, his blue eyes were glassy and red. He smiled a small smile that felt much bigger to him than it actually was. “And. Yet. I did,” Ash said between breathes.
Euan shook his head at the prince. “Ever the fool,” he said, as he turned to Farrah. “Can you keep us safe from those men over there for a short while? I can help him recover some of his strength. If you can give me the time to do so.”
Marric struck two soldiers about twenty feet from Ash, Farrah, and Euan, a ball of fire hitting one while a bolt of lightning the other.
“There aren’t many more left. I can handle it. Just help him,” she said as she squeezed his shoulder before then taking up a position just ahead of them. She picked up two spears from the ground and drove them into the ground beside her. I can throw these at anyone outside of my reach, she thought to herself. I could even hit Marric from here. She gripped the shaft of one of the spears and lifted it to the level of her eye.
Marric was on top of a solider, pummeling his face with his fists, while a burning solider next to him lay writhing on the ground, not yet dead, but not long for this life. He stared intently at Marric as his hands patted down the side of his leg. She pulled her hand back, took two steps forward and launched the spear into the air. It flew straight towards her target. She cringed as the spear hit home in the man burning next to Marric. The dagger he pulled from his boot fell from his hand. Marric turned to the man and then back to Farrah. She glared at him. She looked around the camp. There were the bodies of Hylaen soldiers all about them - some dead, others dying, while there were some only injured, and retreating to tend to their wounds.
“I can’t completely heal you, Ash. And, I can only do this once. So, don’t go getting any crazy ideas,” Euan said as he cupped the back of Ash’s head with his right hand and placed his left upon the center of his chest.
“Thank. You,” Ash said softly with more effort than should be necessary for so few words. Euan’s hands began to warm. Ash felt their warmth. It was like the first warm rays of the sun after a long cold winter.
“I am giving you my energy, Ash. I’m giving you some of my life.” Euan closed his eyes. Ash did the same. He could feel the warmth flowing from Euan into his body
.
Marric moved alongside Farrah. He, too, would protect Ash and Euan. “Get away from me. Stand over there,” Farrah said pointing a few feet away from them. A few of the injured men were beginning to recover. Many helped their compatriots to their feet and took them to seek aid away from the battle - away from Ash and his companions. A few however, had dark intent behind their stares as they skulked away into the shadows.
Marric surveyed the camp. “I think we’re safe for now. Go to him. I’ll take care of the rest,” Marric shouted to Farrah as he began to conjure a band of fire between his open hands.
She rushed to Ash’s side. Euan had just finished. He released his hands from Ash’s body. “He should be fine for now. He’ll need to rest and plenty to eat in the coming hours, Farrah. Can you see that he gets -?”
Interrupting Euan, she hugged Ash tightly. “I will,” she replied to Euan. “I will,” Farrah said as she grabbed Ash’s face and kissed his lips.
The chest began to glow around its edges where the lid and the remainder of the box had met before it sealed itself. Marric focused his attention on a large open swath of dirt between himself, Ash, Euan, Farrah, and the Hylaen soldiers. He let loose the band of flames he had created between his hands. The band grew into a wall of fire that burned hot and roiled angrily. It rose up to be about five feet high and twenty feet wide. It was just enough to keep the soldiers away, but not high or wide enough to reach the canopy line of the forest.
Ash stood up tall and held Farrah tightly. “Do you think Tyr’s impressed now?” he asked Farrah as he brushed the hair from her eyes. He could see that they were wet.
“I should hope so,” she replied with a smile. He kissed her.
The chest shook and rattled as a sheet of light erupted from within. Marric rushed at the chest, sliding on his knees, he grabbed it by the side and tried to open it. Nothing. There was now a seam where once there had been none, and he could move the lid ever so slightly, but it still would not open.
“Why? Why won’t you open? I need what is trapped inside this damned box. I need the dragon’s heart. Dammit.” He turned to Euan, his eyes bloodshot and wet. His jaw and eyes set hard, like a statue of a raptor about to seize its prey. There was a long silence between them. “Why won’t it open?” he asked Euan.
“I didn’t seal it. He did,” Euan said pointing to Ash.
Marric looked to Ash. He looked happy. Exhausted and beaten, but happy. An almost imperceptible tear ran down his cheek as he turned back to Euan. “But, he doesn’t even know how to open it,” Marric said to Euan in desperation.
Euan dropped his head slowly. “No, he doesn’t. However, my mother is fickle, not cruel. It will open once her conditions are met. Whatever is placed within, hope will keep it safe, until love will birth it Anew,” Euan said with a smile.
Marric stood and kicked the chest. “Your mother, Euan? Was she a Frost Giant? I’d swear you’re Loki in one of his many forms, having a little fun with us mortals between pestering Thor and Baldr.” Marric growled in frustration.
“My mother is the Yew tree. Of her this hope chest was made for the daughter she longed for but would never conceive. She had me instead. She would have been a nymph, but males cannot be nymphs. I am the essence of the forest, as I am born of a man, made to walk among man. That box represents the hope of a mother for the daughter she never had. It is a chest of hope yet to be realized. A keepsake of my mother, the Yew,” Euan replied solemnly, the corners of his mouth falling neutral, momentarily.
Marric stared off into the distance. Deep in thought. Euan too, was an unwanted child, he thought. Marric looked to Ash and Farrah.
The wall of fire flickered in three brief bursts, but it caught Marric’s attention. “Ash!” shouted Marric as he took off sprinting in Ash’s direction. Ash turned to see three arrows heading toward Farrah. Ash swung Farrah around, throwing her at Euan as he put the back of his body in the path of the arrows. Marric grabbed his arm and pulled Ash in front of him as the three arrows landed one after the other. They each pierced Marric and found a home in Ash’s back. Ash dropped his body low; the tips not fully embedded in his back. He turned to hold Marric in his arms. He could not set him on his back or even on his stomach, so he held him in mid- air.
“Help!” Ash shouted. “Euan. Farrah. Help. Me!” Ash shouted, his voice shaky.
Euan and Farrah stood near them both. “I…I can’t help him,” Euan said as his gaze fell from Ash and Marric to the bloodied dirt floor of the camp.
Ash looked to Euan. “Do to him what you did to me.”
Euan shook his head, “I told you I could only do it once. I can’t help him. Even if I wanted to, Ash. I can’t.”
Farrah stood by his side in silence. She simply squeezed his shoulder to let him know she was there. “The arrows. We, I, have to get the arrows out of him;” Ash said as he snapped the fletching from one arrow and pulled it through by the tip.
Marric cried out in pain, “No! Ash. No. Stop.”
Ash’s face was covered in dirt. The dirt was more visible now that his tears had begun to carve channels into the grime caked upon his face. “Just hold on, Marric. I’ll save you,” Ash said as he snapped the fletching from the second arrow and pulled it through Marric’s back. Blood was beginning to pool under Marric as the color drained from his cheeks.
“I… I deserve this Ash,” Marric said softly, struggling.
“You might. You’re a bastard, Marric. But, you’re my brother. I think I always knew,” Ash said, as he snapped the fletching from the last arrow and pulled it through. “Or maybe, I had just hoped.”
Tears fell down Marric’s face as he tried to respond. “I…I’m…” Marric fell silent. Ash created a small fire at the tips of his pointer and middle fingers.
“What are you doing, Ash?” Euan asked, worry clearly echoed in his words. “I told you not to do anything foolish. This is foolish,” Euan said, as Ash pressed the small flame into the first of the three holes left by the arrows. The wound sizzled and popped and the smell of burning flesh rose with Marric’s screams. Ash quickly used the flame to cauterize the remaining two holes in Marric’s back. He flipped him onto his back.
“He’s lost a lot of blood,” Farrah said. “This might not help him. You could just be torturing him in your attempt to save him,” she said, concerned for Ash and surprising even herself that she felt a tinge of sorrow and sadness for Marric as he laid there while Ash pressed his burning fingers into the holes where arrows had just cut through his brother’s body.
“Stop. Please,” Marric begged as Ash readied the flame once more.
“I’m sorry. I know this hurts. Just be brave like the knights in those stories you used to tell me when we were kids,” Ash said, as he forced a smile. Marric smiled painfully in response. Ash moved quickly to seal each of the three holes with the fire. When he was finished, he checked the wounds to be sure they were sealed. They were. Ash looked to Marric, directly into his eyes. “I told you you’d be okay.”
CHAPTER 14
Ash wiped the sweat from his brow. His eyes were glassy. Farrah could see it when he turned to look at her. “He’s going to be okay,” she said, as she rubbed the back of his head and kissed his brow.
“It looks like he is,” Euan said, seeming less excited than the rest. He stood watching Marric.
“Water. He needs water,” Ash said scanning the area.
Farrah gripped his shoulder, “You both do. I don’t know how you pulled that one off, but -,” she was interrupted by Marric as he coughed. Ash turned to Marric to see blood dripping from the side of his mouth. Euan shook his head. Ash ran to Marric.
“What is it? I sealed the wounds. What?” Ash asked Euan.
Euan rubbed his eyes allowing his hand to drop down his face to his chin. “But you couldn’t heal the wounds inside, Ash. You bought him more time. If there is anything you want to say to him. Do it now. He won’t live for much longer.”
Ash knelt next to Marric. He placed h
is head in his lap, his palm supporting Marric’s head. He ran his hand over the wounds he had just healed in Marric’s chest. “I thought I fixed it. I thought I saved you.” Marric tried to speak but could only cough.
Ash remembered how Euan had held him similarly when he healed him. He gripped the back of his head and pressed his palm onto his chest. Euan closed his eyes. But there had to be more than that, Ash thought to himself. If I needed to visualize fire to conjure it. If I had to feel its essence to understand it, Ash thought back to the feeling he felt when Euan had healed him. The warmth. Euan had said he was giving him his energy. Ash closed his eyes and focused on his breath. He could feel the energy coursing through his body. Each breath moved it throughout his body.
“What are you doing?” Euan asked, as he turned to Farrah. “What is he doing?” he asked.
She looked to Ash then to Marric, then back to Euan, “It looks like what you did when you healed Ash earlier.”
Euan’s eyes widened. “He can’t do that. That’s far too advanced for him. I had to give him my own energy just so he could walk out of here. He’ll die. He has nothing to give.” Euan ran to Ash, Farrah to Euan. Ash could feel the warmth at the points of contact between himself and Marric. Euan could sense the energy moving between the brothers. He reached for Ash’s arm; Farrah stopped him.
“What are you doing? He’ll die. You’ll lose him,” Euan said.
Farrah took a breath. “Whether he lives or not is up to him to decide. If I tried to stop him, If I robbed him of his choice, I’d lose him anyway,” Farrah said, her voice trembling.
Euan ripped his hand from hers. “If you die, I can’t bring you back to life, you fool!” Euan said as he turned and walked away.
Ash felt Farrah’s hand pressed gently on his back. The hope chest stopped vibrating. The light was pulled back within the box. Euan moved closer to the chest. It had not sealed itself again. He gripped its lid and pulled. It still would not budge. He tried it once more. Marric coughed, but no blood fell from his mouth. Ash continued to allow his energy to pass into Marric. Farrah reached for Marric and placed a hand on his shoulder, “Ash, I think it’s working,” she said.
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