The Last Faoii

by Tahani Nelson

  Kaiya had looked for the blade that would respond to her touch with such a chorus but had only been able to find one that . . . hummed? She wasn’t sure. It still wasn’t right, but Kaiya knew there was something different about the fantoii she finally chose. That was enough. It had to be enough.

  But the unease in her gut never faded. She knew this blade hadn’t been made for her, and she doubted that it would be any more effective against Thinir than her last sword had been. Her arm still ached from where the pilfered criukli had bounced off his tattooed skull, ringing with the force. She felt so useless.

  “Sisters,” Kaiya prayed, “if someone else was meant to wield this fantoii, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to steal your glory. Or your blade. But please help me to guide it in your absence, Faoii. And Illindria grant you a thousand glorious battles once I give it back.”

  She smiled for a moment as she remembered that she would see her sisters again someday on Illindria’s infinite battlefield; she would dine with them again in Her great hall. But a sudden chill in the air brought her back to the present, and the comfort faded. She blinked tears out of her eyes and cast one more glance at the sky. “Don’t forget about me, sisters. I’ll come when I can.” The wind caught Kaiya’s whisper and pulled it upward to mix with the wisps of smoke above her head. She waited, hoping for some sign that her fallen loved ones or the Goddess had heard.

  No answer came.

  *~*

  It did not take Kaiya long to reach Resting Oak, the ever-growing town that sat at the base of the monastery’s cliffs. As Resting Oak’s main protectors, the Faoii never had trouble getting supplies here or finding a friendly face with whom to trade stories. She shivered at the familiar streets. The Crow’s Caw Tavern had always been a favorite haunt on summer evenings, and the town’s familiarity stirred up bittersweet memories as Kaiya rode through the dusty gates.

  It was early morning now. People would start waking soon, and Kaiya needed to find someone who would listen to her story, who would heed the warning of Preoii-Aleena and the Faoii. The tavern seemed a good place to start, but Kaiya didn’t think she could stand to see it. Mollie used to always buy the first round of drinks when they came this way.

  Instead, Kaiya turned her mount toward the city square. Lord Boyer, ruler of Resting Oak, lived in a manor there. He’d know what to do.

  Destination in mind, Kaiya rode through the eerily silent streets purposefully. All was quiet and dark, save for the distant glow on the horizon behind her. A tickling worry tugged at her.

  Strange. The Croeli didn’t come here afterward. Goddess knows it would be easy to take now.

  But the worry was something more than that. The air was different here than it should be. When she’d made her way down from the monastery, she had assumed it was simply the smoke from the burning monastery mixed with the scents of death and blood. But something was . . . off.

  Is someone cooking rotting meat? No. It’s more of a feeling than a smell. Something’s wrong. Maybe someone . . . Kaiya’s thoughts broke off suddenly as she realized what was different. Broken Blade. It can’t be . . .

  The signs of the Goddess, the emblems and handicrafts that normally decorated windows and doorways, were gone. But Kaiya was surely mistaken. The simple inverted triangle with its clockwise spiral inside was such a simple way to invite the Goddess into your home. It was . . . bizarre that anyone would fail to hang one. But there were none. Anywhere. The protective embrace that usually filled Resting Oak was gone, leaving the streets empty and chilled. Kaiya shivered.

  “Goddess, what could have—” Kaiya was cut off by a man’s voice booming from around the corner. A small, meek voice responded but was overwhelmed by the first man’s thundering reply.

  Kaiya turned onto a nearby street and heard the words more clearly. “I won’t!” The meek voice forced a bit of strength into the outburst. “You can burn the chapels and tear down the symbols, but the Goddess remains! The Faoii will hunt you down!”

  “The Faoii?” A man’s dark laughter grated on Kaiya’s eardrums. “The Faoii are gone. Look! See that glow on the horizon? It’s too early to be sunlight, isn’t it?” He snorted with glee. “Now, what do you suppose could be up there?” Silence answered him, and he laughed harder. “Go on! Go see! I’m sure you’d like the gifts Croeli-Thinir left you.”

  “You’re lying.” The smaller voice did not sound so sure, but it strengthened and continued, “The Faoii are undefeatable, and there are no Croeli left.”

  At last Kaiya found the alleyway that was the commotion’s source. She dismounted and entered it silently, warily drawing her fantoii. A hulking brute in hardened leather armor stood with his back to Kaiya, his attention focused on the only other people in the alleyway. A middle-aged woman stood facing him defiantly as she clutched a Goddess symbol with white knuckles. A slightly older man had one arm wrapped protectively around her shoulders. The battered old sword in his other hand shook.

  The beastly man stepped closer, looming over the pair, and Kaiya’s eyes narrowed. She doubted the couple saw him reach for the dagger at the small of his back.

  “Your divine hag and her Faoii have no place here. She will follow her pathetic worshippers to the hell we sent them all to.” A laugh rolled out of him like smoke billowing from a funeral pyre as the couple stared back in dismay.

  Kaiya’s blood boiled, but she didn’t speak. She released no bold, hate-filled battle cry to summon war magic. She did not even melt into the shadows that steeped the street in gloom. She simply sprinted, determined and spiteful, toward the Croeli, blade unsheathed. He didn’t have a chance to react—she swung her blade, and his laughter faded into a soft gurgle.

  Kaiya sheathed her blade as the man’s shaved head rolled toward her feet. She stopped it with a booted heel and looked down at the lifeless eyes.

  "Only one of us ended up in hell, you bastard,” she whispered before stepping over the gore and stalking back to the now-gaping townsfolk.

  Kaiya stopped before reaching them, suddenly at a loss for what to say.

  “I . . . uh . . . sorry,” she finally stammered, looking down at the body at their feet. “It’s been . . .” She didn’t know how to finish. She had been planning to say a long day, but it sounded like a sorry excuse, even to her. Preoii-Aleena had said that executions, however just, were not supposed to be a spectacle.

  Ashamed of her thoughtlessness, Kaiya stared down at the headless body as crimson blood pooled around the fleshy neck. The silence and the bloody puddle slowly filled the space between her and the people of Resting Oak.

  Ages passed before the woman finally released a shaky, nervous whisper. “We thank you, Faoii. I am Astrid. This is my husband, Ray.” The couple bowed their heads and raised their hands to form an inverted triangle at chest level—the common citizens’ sign for Illindria. These two, at least, recognized her for what she was.

  Kaiya fisted her hands in front of her and lowered her chin a bit as she spoke. “I am Faoii-Kaiya of the Monastery of the Eternal Blade. I’m sorry I scared you.”

  “Better to be frightened and alive than whatever this man was planning to do to us,” Ray replied before glancing around uneasily. “There isn’t much time, Faoii. The others will look for him. We have to get rid of the body.”

  Kaiya frowned. “I thought Illindria’s word was still law here,” she said as the couple broke formation and began dragging the headless corpse across the cobblestones. “The Faoii are Her enforcers. Our actions are above reproach.”

  “Normally you would be right, Faoii,” Ray whispered fiercely, “but these men do not follow the Goddess or Her laws.” Astrid mentioned a refuse pile, and he nodded before ushering her through a gate that led to another alley and helping her to drag the body after them. Kaiya picked the head up by its greying beard and followed. Ray continued between grunts as he lugged the heavy body forward, “An army appeared at our gates before daylight yesterday. Literally appeared, Faoii. Out of nowhere. A few of the warriors stay
ed here when the others disappeared again. They’ve destroyed all signs of the Goddess and have been jailing everyone that speaks against them. They’re already in control of everything here.”

  “We aren’t fighters,” Astrid said. “We sent word to the monastery for aid, but no one came.” She paused for a second, staring fearfully into Kaiya’s eyes. “They took our blood, Faoii. All of us.” She rolled up one of her sleeves to reveal a shallow cut on her forearm. Kaiya frowned.

  “Did they say why?”

  “No. But we did hear a man in the market say that someone named Thinir—Croeli-Thinir—was collecting blood from conquered towns all across the country. For a spell.”

  Kaiya tried not to let the worry show on her face. “No one practices blood magic anymore. Not even Croeli. Don’t worry.” She hoped that she at least sounded sure, but as she pictured the sorcerer that had destroyed her home, she was less than certain.

  “The bastards—” Ray grunted as he pulled the body over a broken stretch of road. “The bastards claimed that the troops that disappeared were off to destroy the monastery, but that’s impossible. No one can defeat the Faoii.” He stopped for a moment in order to meet Kaiya’s gaze. Licking his lips nervously, he lowered his voice as though hoping Kaiya wouldn’t hear. “They didn’t take the monastery, did they, Faoii?”

  Kaiya’s face was grim as she forced herself to respond. “They did.”

  A squeak escaped Astrid’s lips, and she faltered. On reflex, Kaiya moved to assist with the body, tucking the beard attached to the severed head into her belt. She could almost hear Preoii-Aleena’s guidance: Don’t show weakness. They need you to be strong.

  Be strong. Kaiya could do that. She was Faoii, after all.

  Her body obviously didn’t hear her brain’s determination, though, because as she leaned over the Croeli torso, Kaiya’s head spun in a sudden, dizzy exhaustion. She shook it away with effort and heaved the body forward.

  The couple said nothing as they helped her drag the man down another alley that ended with a rubbish heap. After adequately hiding it beneath the refuse, they straightened again, grimly look- ing over their completed task.

  “No one will find him here?” Kaiya asked.

  “Eventually, sure,” the aging man replied. “But people bring their pigs here when feed prices get too high. Hopefully, if they do find him, he’ll be too far gone to recognize.”

  “And the blood trail?”

  “It is beginning to rain, Faoii.” Kaiya looked up, surprised to have missed something so obvious. “We should head back,” he added softly.

  Nodding, Kaiya spun on her heel to return the way they’d come. The movement was too quick, however, and the alleyway tilted. She sagged against a clammy wall, willing her eyes to clear.

  By the time they did, she realized with an uncomfortable jolt that the couple was supporting her.

  “Are you all right, Faoii?” Kaiya was ashamed that anyone would have to ask her that.

  “I’m . . .” she took a deep, steadying breath. “I’m fine. I need to speak to Lord Boyer.” Kaiya was confused by the sound of her own voice. Were her words always so thick and slurred? Carefully, she pulled herself free of the couple’s supporting hands and straightened. “Lord Boyer,” she repeated, her words clearer.

  “I’m afraid that won’t be possible, dear.” Kaiya bristled at the endearing term and turned to face the woman who’d dare say such a thing, but she paused when the world spun again. It righted itself more quickly this time, and she found herself looking into the worried eyes of a woman who, in another life, could have been her mother. Kaiya softened her gaze.

  “Why not? Isn’t he at his manor?”

  “His head is in the courtyard, Faoii,” Ray answered quietly. “We don’t know what they did with the body. Either way, I don’t think he’s the man you need to see.”

  It took a moment for Kaiya to comprehend what he was saying, and her knees sagged as realization struck her.

  Lord Boyer was dead, and the Goddess had been pushed out of Resting Oak There were no allies for her here. Or at least no one with the ability to fight back against the Croeli. She needed warriors. She needed Faoii, not scared citizens that could barely lift a sword. When Preoii-Aleena had said she was the last, Kaiya had not truly understood the magnitude of that statement. Where else could she go? Who else could she turn to?

  For the first time, Kaiya realized that she was completely and utterly alone.

  The sudden weakness in the Faoii’s stance did not go unnoticed, and the hovering woman was there immediately. “Ray, let’s get her home. We can’t leave her out here.”

  “Come, Faoii,” Ray replied. “It is not safe here.”

  Kaiya strengthened her knees, pulling her arm from Astrid’s shoulders. She let go and Kaiya walked, though sluggishly, on her own two legs.

  “My horse.”

  “We’re almost back to the street where you left him. I’ll stable him for you once you’re safe.”

  The walk to the couple’s house could not have been a long one, but to Kaiya it seemed like ages as every step caused her entire body to scream in pain. At one point, they’d tried to convince her to mount her gelding, but the task had seemed too arduous at the time. As she walked, she tried to focus on a specific hurt and enter a simple healing trance, but she could not focus on anything other than the constant sound of her sisters’ screams echoing in her mind. If her eyes closed, she was back in the chapel watching Mollie’s head split open. A thousand images and sounds from throughout the day—Goddess, it hadn’t even been a full day, had it?—came flooding forward. Kaiya wanted to scream, to cry, but only forced herself to keep walking with her face rigid but expressionless and her steps sluggish but straight.

  The rest of the journey seemed to happen in pieces. At one point, she was walking next to her gelding, her hand tangled in its grey mane as it plodded steadily beside her. Then she was walking next to Astrid and a heavy rain had begun to fall, plastering black ringlets to her neck, which peeked from beneath the ivy helm. Later she was in a soft, warm room, and someone was pulling off her boots as she fumbled with her breastplate. Then there was no one, and it was quiet. Kaiya lay in the silence, her eyes staring, unfocused, at a thatched ceiling.

  She did not know how long she lay there, still hearing the screams of her sisters, but when she at last plummeted into a hard and dreamless sleep, she found herself thinking of the abhorrent name that both Preoii-Aleena and Astrid had given her.

  Croeli-Thinir.

  5

  There are nine horses left at the monastery,” Kaiya explained to Ray as Astrid dressed the wounds on the Faoii’s battered back. “They’re corralled in the pasture beneath the cliffs. There aren’t any stallions left; the Croeli took them and our largest mares. My mount was the only gelding left, and I need him. But the rest should be worth something.” She tried to give the couple a reassuring smile. “They’re yours if you want them. Maybe you can make a life where the Goddess is still welcome.”

  “The Goddess is always welcome in our home, Faoii,” said Ray.

  “I know. That’s why I’m offering them to you.”

  Ray bowed his head. “We accept your gifts with gratitude, Faoii, and are humbled that we could share our table with you. Your presence brings hope that the Croeli may yet fall.”

  Kaiya looked at her fantoii resting against the table leg. “As long as one Faoii still wields a sword, her blade will sing with the voice of every throat that has cried out against injustice and dance with the steps of every innocent child. She will lead the choir, and the voices of her sword will deafen the ears of her enemies.” The Oath was cold and heavy on her tongue. Ray nodded grimly.

  “I hope that your choir does not grow any larger, Faoii. But I wish you luck in your journey.”

  “And you in yours.” Kaiya winced as Astrid wrapped her torso, but remained silent.

  “You have four broken ribs, Faoii,” the woman said softly. “And the wound in your stomach
concerns me. There may be damage beneath the skin.” Kaiya looked down at the purple bruise blossoming on her belly. It was dark and tender to the touch, but she couldn’t repress her smile.

  “You should have seen it when it was a stab wound.” Astrid and Ray gaped as Kaiya pulled on her worn tunic and leather jerkin. Then she donned her bronze breastplate and took Astrid’s shoulders in her hands. “May Illindria bless you always, and may you never forget Her truths.”

  “Thank you, Faoii.”

  Kaiya gave Ray her blessing as well. He thanked her softly and turned toward the door.

  “I’ll retrieve your gelding, Faoii.”

  “Where will you go?” Astrid asked quietly after her husband had gone. Kaiya thought for a moment.