by Jada Fisher
“Obviously not for you, but for Davie. Figure she’s one hand down, she could always use someone by her side who’s good in a fight.”
“I…” I was the leader. I knew that I should say something, but no words came to mind. I felt like everyone was three steps ahead of me and I was still trying to catch up to the fact that we knew what we had to do to stop Faeldrus but it meant killing an immortal being that was cursed with the deepest magic of our people. “There has to be another way, right? I’m not sure when we all became so comfortable with killing people off, but I’m not really about it.”
“I’m not a people. I’m more a figment than anything. A boogeyman. I’ve hardly even had an existence in thousands of years, and honestly, being able to just stop… Well, that sounds really nice.”
She offered her hand to me, and I swore a soft expression was on her face, which was pretty disconcerting considering her face was only made of a skull and smoke. I reached for it, the smoke of her passing through me intangibly before solidifying into fingers that intertwined between my own.
I knew it didn’t make sense to be so wrapped up in whether she existed or not when it was clear that the specter just wanted to rest, but I couldn’t help it. I thought of how she was tricked. How she had tried to save her village and ended up under some villain’s spell. How she brought around the end of her own people.
“Come on, Davie. Are you telling me, if you were in my place, that you wouldn’t do the same thing?”
Maybe I would have replied, maybe I wouldn’t have, but the moment she uttered those words, it was like a shock jolted through me and I was flung into the dark.
Reality rippled in front of me in a wave, spreading out from my feet in roiling colors until a room began to take shape. I was in some sort of…castle? But instead of stone and darkness like the others I had been in, it was crystalline and decorated in shades of blue, making it almost seem like water more than anything else.
But it wasn’t water. It was solid structures, borderline medieval but there was something else to it.
“I know I don’t possess the same foresight that you do, but surely this is an unnecessary show of force, right?”
A smooth, familiar voice drew my attention and I looked to the other side of the room to see two figures there, one kneeling and the other sitting in a lush chair, books and scrolls piled around him.
“If you know you do not possess the foresight, then why do you question me?”
That voice. Although I’d never heard it in person, never outside of my head, I knew instantly who it belonged to. And with that knowledge, I knew exactly who the woman was as well.
Maedryell and Faeldrus.
“I do not question in an effort to discredit, but rather to understand. I aspire to have your understanding of things, and I am frustrated that my own intelligence comes so woefully short.”
“I suppose you can’t help your station, can you? Unfair to expect more from the daughter of an illiterate shepherd.” Faeldrus moved, his hand coming down as he shifted as if to pat her head condescendingly. The thought made my blood boil. But then he wasn’t patting her head at all, his hand moving at the last second so his boot was atop her head and shoving her downward.
She hit the floor with a crunch that made my stomach churn. Her nose had to be broken, maybe even some of her teeth, but he kept on pressing down, pinning her there while she whimpered and squirmed.
“Do not question things that come unnaturally to you, my child. You are my most valuable acolyte, but you are just that. If I see fit to teach you something, I will. Otherwise, you need never fill your head with those pointless questions again.”
I could feel it as his words grew honeyed, layered over each other in sinful waves. Even from where I was, so removed from the situation and without his touch, I found my eyelids fluttering shut.
I wanted to believe what he was saying. Wanted to tilt my head into his hand and feel his affection. I wanted him to like me.
But this was Faeldrus, after all, so after a moment, I yanked myself back and fell into another void of dark.
I burst into consciousness like I was erupting from beneath water, gasping and sweating. I looked around wildly and realized that I was in some sort of hallway with shattered glass all around me, Mal standing in what had once been a window and looking down.
“Um, what kind of creatures are those, dead-lady?”
“I’m not actually dead, you know. And I’m fairly sure those are wraiths.”
“Wraiths?”
“A type of curse. I’m not as familiar with this dimension, but they’re people who have fallen so deeply under the spell of another that they’ve lost everything that made them human and become mindless husks.”
“So, like, zombies?”
“Like what?”
“Oh, come on. You’re telling me that with as much time as you’ve spent wandering around the planes of existence that you’ve never heard of zombies?”
“What’s going on?” I asked, struggling to my feet. My head was spinning, and I knew we were definitely away from the cave we had just been in.
“Glad to see you joined us again! We just popped in here a couple of minutes ago to get an oracle to help the other group but are having trouble finding them.”
“They are most likely hiding from the horde.”
“Yeah, that makes—”
It seemed all of us were destined to be forever interrupted as a horde of the ‘wraiths’ burst in through the doors at the end of the hall, breaking them right off of their hinges.
“Huh, guess locking that was pointless,” Mal said, jumping out of the window and grabbing my remaining hand to pull me along as she sprinted.
Maybe it should have made me feel bad that her legs were about half the length of mine but she was still so much faster than me, but I was too busy trying to catch up with the situation while trying to keep the horde from catching up with me.
I did risk a look over my shoulder and wow, was that a mistake. They were humans, alright, but only in the vaguest sense. Their bodies and faces were shriveled down to just skin and sinew, muscles and bones standing out in sharp relief. Their eyes were bloodshot and red while their lips were either shriveled or chewed off, pulled back to reveal yellowed, rotting, and jagged teeth. Their skin was covered in pox and pustules not too different from how Faeldrus had been covered, and I couldn’t help but wonder if wraiths were his invention somehow.
I didn’t have much time to wonder about that, however, because then Maedryell was sweeping up behind us and as soon as we touched her, I slid right back into the black.
Just like the first time, the void gave way to rippling color, and I saw Maedryell again, cloaked and huddled in a dark corner of what was truly an impressive library, books and tomes scattered all around her.
She was muttering to herself and the closer I drew to her, the more I could make out random words.
“It’s got to be here… I know it is…”
I moved nearer to her, crouching so I could see her face. She didn’t react to me, of course, because I wasn’t really there. I was just watching my vision unfold in real time.
Which was probably a good thing, because I couldn’t stop the feather-soft gasp that escaped my lips at the sight of her.
She was worse for wear, with scabs deep and twisted across one of her cheeks. I knew from experience that was a burn wound that was struggling to grow new skin, and I could practically feel the tug and pinch of it against the healthy skin around it.
One of her lips was split, blood dried against her chin in a tacky mess, and she had bandages over one of her eyes, the purple and blue of her busted, swollen nose covering most of that side of her face.
She was trembling so hard that sometimes the page she was turning would slip out of her grasp and fall back down for her to have to try again. It was an awful sight, a pitiful sight, and it made my heart twist.
“Man, Maedryell, what happened to you?”
; She didn’t answer, of course, still hastily flipping through the pages. I didn’t know what she was looking for, or why she was battered, and I didn’t even know why I was seeing what I was seeing.
But none of that mattered because the scene turned to sand before me and I was whisked away once more.
I sat up gasping, retching, and rolled onto my side to make sure I didn’t swallow anything that I wasn’t supposed to. I could hear coughing from beside me, but it took me quite a few seconds and even more deep breaths to lift my head and take in any details around me.
We were at the edge of an ocean, but the water was almost impossibly teal, in that perfect, Laguna Beach way that only existed in heavily-photoshopped magazines. Mal was on her knees beside me, soaked from head to toe and coughing up a storm.
A roar sounded at my back and I forced myself to roll the other way to see what was happening.
And my heart just about fell out of my butt.
Faeldrus was there, shining and golden, his scales shining in iridescence. He looked even bigger than before, wings flaring to block out the sun, which made the thin skin between them glow almost angelically.
And the only thing between him and me was Maedryell, her scythe back in her hand and smoke billowing all around her, covering the ocean and ground with thick, inky black.
I’d never seen her so powerful, so intimidating, and I wasn’t sure if she’d gotten all of that power from Sok or if the apocalypse and all the death was giving her some sort of boon. Either way, it was intimidating even for me, who knew she was my ally through and through.
Funny, if the scene were in some sort of movie or comic, I knew that the specter would be the bad guy and Faeldrus would be the good one, all luminous and shining. Evil was like that, wasn’t it? Packaged up to be appealing and perfect, but I knew what was really beneath.
Faeldrus roared again, shaking everything around him, but Maedryell held her ground. And by held her ground, I meant she launched herself up at him, smoke billowing and clouding, for her to slash at his face. He reared back, one of his massive paws coming up to smack her back down.
Like always, your little rebellions are amusing but pointless. You can’t interfere directly, Maedryell. That’s the nature of your bonds. How long do you think you can keep this up before you weaken yourself to the point that you can’t protect any of them anymore? It’s over.
“You forget, Faeldrus,” Maedryell spat, rising back to her feet. “Our fates are tied. The more powerful you get, the more I get too. So, in other words, I can go just as long as you can.”
Faeldrus let out a rumbling growl that made me want to lay back down and squeeze my eyes shut. Petulant.
Where was my fire? Where was my anything? I had once been so brave and biting and now I was just laying there and wishing I could disappear.
But then it seemed like my wish came true, because I sank into the sand and disappeared into darkness for the third time.
Another scene rolled out for me. This time, I was back in another palace-like room, except less blue and sharply angled. There were also hundreds of people sitting in seats, facing a stage where several older folks dressed in fancy robes were gathered, and then one woman in chains kneeling in the center.
Maedryell.
She looked even worse than before, if that was possible. Her long, long hair had been shorn short, in jagged, uneven patches that spoke of a dull knife rather than scissors. She wore an eyepatch, but I could see ugly scarring peeking out from under it. Her other cheek was similarly a mass of twisted flesh that reminded me of the hand I didn’t have anymore.
“Maedryell of the Barvyss Clan, you have been accused of aiding the greatest threat to our people and contributing to the attempted genocide of three species. We, the Council, decree that you are guilty of all charges brought against you.
“Such treachery, such violence, would normally carry the most painful punishment imaginable. However, considering that without your defection from the vile traitor we would never have stopped his plans, we have chosen to grant you mercy.”
There was a gasp from the crowd and people began to loudly object. I flinched from where I was standing in the midst of them, feeling like I might be about to see a riot unfold before me.
“Quiet!” another one in the fancy robes decreed, their voice booming in a way that had to be altered by magic. That seemed to do the trick, with a few grumbling, cursing outliers, and the original speaker continued.
“But note, this mercy is not a kindness. You have wounded our people. Hurt us. Left children crying for their dead parents and parents searching for their sacrificed children. You have helped drench our lands in blood.”
Maedryell remained silent, staring straight ahead without reaction. There was an iron sort of strength to her. And guilt. I could practically see it weighing on her figure, bearing down on her and keeping her still. I swore she was looking right at me, but that wasn’t how visions worked.
“So, you will repay your debts to our people, one by one. We must leave the waste of our planet, as the war with Faeldrus has left it unfit to be inhabited. In less than a century, our entire world will be wastes.
“We are under no illusion that our escape is not the nature of things. That we will be entering worlds never meant for us. And that spreading ourselves out amongst the mirrored worlds can cause some to be lost.
“So, it is your cause now to shepherd us to safety. Your restitution is to preserve the presence of our people. Wherever you tread, oracles will rise—no matter the challenges we face. And when we succumb to whatever peril or peace that might await us, you will guide us to our peaceful eternity with our ancestors.
“But you will not know that peace yourself. You will not know the comfort of touch, or the taste of food, or the quenching of good drink. You are denied the same life that you denied our brothers and sisters. You will be a shade, bound in perpetuity. That is your fate. Do you possess the grace to accept our mercy?”
“I accept it,” Maedryell responded, her eyes boring into mine. There was so much on her face. So much expression. I swore she was staring right through me, seeing down to the core of everything that I was. She was just so strong.
I wanted to tell them that it wasn’t her fault. That she’d been under a spell. I’d only gotten a tiny dose of it and I was nearly pulled under—and I had only experienced it through a vision. I couldn’t have imagined what it had been like for her, being magically drugged and kept compliant only to be beaten whenever she was coherent enough to ask a question.
“I accept it. I will do my duty to my people for as long as I exist. The debt in my ledger is too great to ever fade.”
There was silence for a moment, and I wasn’t sure what people were waiting for as the council seemed to discuss something among themselves. But then, a few beats later, another was speaking.
“We recognize that you have delivered yourself to us and have accepted your punishment with grace. For this, we give you three full moons to enjoy what last vestiges of life you wish to. You will remain in the custody of the council and shall live out your days under watch, but you shall not know hunger, thirst, or pain. This is our final gift to you, our thanks.”
“I don’t need it,” Maedryell hissed and for the first time, I heard a bit of a warble in her voice. “I don’t deserve your mercy.”
“The will of the council has spoken. You will be taken to your quarters to rest and meditate on your final days among the living. Thus is the will of our elders, and so be it the will of the people.”
“So be it the will of the people,” the crowd murmured around me, the shock of it driving me out of the vision and back into nothing.
“Stop running! Fight me like a warrior! Or are you still too much of a coward to do that?”
I blinked before leaning to the side and losing what little contents I had in my stomach. Normally, visions weren’t so bad, but I wasn’t meant to have so many back to back to back. It was making me feel groggy and drained, m
y stomach roiling and lungs aching.
“Whoa, are you back with us?” Mal asked, her voice barely audible over the whipping wind.
I blinked at her and realized that she was driving a car. Wait, no, not a car. Some sort of dune buggy.
And… Were we in the desert?
I looked out of the open window beside me, the one I’d unwittingly lost my lunch out of, and sure enough, we were indeed surrounded by miles and miles of sand.
“What…” was all I managed before there was a shriek above us, then the awful sound of something grating against scales.
“We got the oracle from the last place, dropped her off. I’m guessing right about now that they’re all joined up in a circle and doing whatever oracle magic you guys do. Or at least I hope so, and that’s why you’re passing out right and left.”
“How long was I out?” I asked, craning my head back. I wasn’t sure what I expected, but it wasn’t Maedryell standing on our roof, covering the car with a mass of swirling back smoke but leaving the front of it clear for Mal to drive. Faeldrus was above us, spitting fire and trying to strike us down but being blocked by Maedryell at every turn.
It was a sort of eternal stalemate, the two of them locked together, neither able to defeat the other or lose to the other. It could last for an eternity, it seemed.
Except the worlds around us definitely wouldn’t. As we cut through the sands, skidding across the top of dunes and down into sandy gullies, things continued to fall from the sky, thunder cracking above as cars and cats and pieces of street signs tumbled down.
Oh, and a mountain suddenly shot up from the ground, sending our buggy flying up and then flipping over several times.
“Hold on!” Mal cried. “This thing has a roll-cage for a reason.”
If it were any other situation, I might have asked Mal since when she knew about cars with roll-cages—after all, she was from a world without automobiles, libraries or anything like a mechanic—but as it was, all I could do was brace myself and try not to scream.