Beyond the Dark Gate

by R. V. Johnson

  Her dad exchanged a glance with Jade who sat docilely on the stool as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. “The black dragon, Jade’s dragon, struck you with its tail,” her dad finally said.

  Crystalyn gaped as he paused, presumably to let it sink in. How am I still alive? she wondered.

  “When I got to you, you were in bad shape,” her dad continued, his voice getting hoarser at the end. He swallowed. “Jade then called for the five healers from her retinue of twelve Users who maintained her barrier. The rest set up a shield around us while the dragon and Jade’s rear line soldiers battled the creation, finally destroying it. A truce was called with your soldiers when the dragon fled to recover from the wounds it received.”

  Crystalyn locked eyes with Jade. Her younger sibling wore too much black eye shadow, and she had smeared lipstick across her full lips, black lipstick, and donned a lacy low-cut dress. Her black high-heeled boots, though matching her outfit, didn’t fit Jade’s usual look, at all. None of it did. What happened to her innocent sister?

  “How does a young woman acquire an army?” Crystalyn asked.

  “Perhaps, one should ask you the same,” Jade replied without a smile.

  “Stop acting above your seasons,” Crystalyn scolded. “I asked first, and what’s with all the black you’re wearing? Aren’t you glad to see me? Don’t I get a hug?”

  “The Dark Citadel has named her lady of the Citadel after the Alchemist’s extended absence,” her dad interjected, speaking quickly.

  Crystalyn frowned. “What do you know about running a fortress?” she asked Jade.

  Lined with black, Jade’s emerald eyes were impassive, round and unblinking, reminding Crystalyn of the frustrating antics of Atoi.

  “She doesn’t have to know,” her dad cut in. “There are lords and Users here giving council, not to mention me.”

  “Is that why you attacked me? Sent the black dragon after me?” Crystalyn persisted, still looking at Jade. “How does one get a dragon, anyway?”

  Her dad replied again. “She… we thought you were invading. Well, that is what you did. Nevertheless, we had no idea it was you. The dragon bonded with Jade after we came here, it’s quite protective. Particularly after that apparition appeared and attacked everyone.”

  Crystalyn raised an eyebrow. “You bonded with a dragon? You impress me, sister. Come, give me a hug while you fill me in on the state of my army, running of yours, and the welfare of my companions,” she said, holding out her arms.

  Jade stood.

  “No!” her dad said, too loud. His deep blue eyes had fixed on Jade.

  Jade looked at him sharply.

  So did Crystalyn.

  “I mean it, Jade, you are not to touch her,” he said, scowling at his youngest. Visibly smoothing his features, he turned to Crystalyn. “I have spoken with your friends. They also have received warning of this. There is something important I have to ask you as I asked them. Jade is fighting an illness, some sort of disease we know little about, which might be contagious. I cannot take the risk it is. Please don’t make contact with her until my scholars have researched it. Will you promise me this?”

  Crystalyn frowned. “What type of disease? What are the symptoms? Though I haven’t tackled ailments of that scope yet, I might be able to cure her when I have my strength. I can heal, Dad. I’m stronger than anyone I’ve met, so far.”

  With a quick smile, her dad folded his muscular arms at his chest and leaned a shoulder against one of the polished gray granite columns. Crystalyn still found it hard to get used to the change in him. “I heard. I’m quite proud of you. We’ll discuss that when you’ve healed.”

  Though she said nothing, Jade still eyed him.

  “Is it dangerous to her? What are the symptoms?” Crystalyn repeated.

  “Not now, I mean it. When you’re stronger and only if you don’t need to touch her. Jade’s safe for the time being. Your friends wait in the antechamber. I’ll let them inform you of the state of your soldiers.”

  “My people,” Crystalyn corrected. “Which companions are out there?” she asked, suddenly afraid. How many had she lost?

  Her dad’s smile was soft. “You will soon know, and I’ll let them speak of it. There were many who fought bravely.” Standing to his full towering height, her dad strode to her and squeezed her shoulder gently. “I shall return after you’ve had a night’s rest. Don’t allow their well wishes to keep you awake overly long.” Giving her a last fond look, he strode to the doorway, turning to wait for his youngest daughter.

  Jade gave a brief stare and then strode from the room in silence.

  “Dad! Mom’s here. She’s been on Astura the whole time,” Crystalyn blurted.

  Her dad froze at the threshold. “I know that now,” he said, nearly too soft to hear. Then he slipped through, vanishing from sight.

  Crystalyn frowned. Though she’d finally reunited with most of her little family, they had something to hide. They’d only told her the bare minimum of how they’d come to be at the Dark Citadel and only those parts concerning her. How had easygoing Jade come to run a place of such war mongering and in-fortress violence? Didn’t her dad want to hear about his wife who had been missing for so many seasons?

  “Though I heard and understood your true clan’s words, I have no sense of their inner selves.” Broth sent, breaking into her tumultuous thoughts.

  Crystalyn stared at the empty doorway. Sadness replaced anxiety. From their words and silence, it was almost as if she didn’t know her family either.

  QUIET REVELATION

  Atoi slipped inside the bedchamber first with Hastel right behind. “You live,” the little girl observed as she halted at the foot of the luxurious queen bed. Inlaid with gilded white porcelain tiles drawn in fine black paint, the bed was a masterwork depicting animal life on Astura. “Have you mislaid your instinct for it?” the little girl asked her green eyes round with curiosity.

  Hastel spoke quickly. “What she means is, we thought we’d lost you when you charged into the enemy like a young dragon lion on the rampage.” He sat stiffly on the cushioned benched footboard. A wide kell leather bandage compressed his chest and stomach.

  “Aye, what caused you to do such a thing?” Lore Rayna asked, as she, Sabella, and Long Sand filed into the room, spreading out around the bed.

  Crystalyn gazed fondly at them all, even Sabella. Then she grew sad; there was one missing and bound to be more. “I am sorry for the loss of Railee, Long Sand. She was a great warrior.”

  “Aye, that she was. Railee has earned a place inside the Tomb of the Warrior, an honor bestowed only upon the greatest of our peoples. Two of the Red Rock clan are transporting the frozen remains. With your consent, I would like the great honor of attending the ceremony in your place,” the sand reader said.

  Though surprised by the abrupt request, Crystalyn nodded. “You have it. Who better to perform it? Go now, ask the clans to gather those fallen inside this dark place of stone. Let them also have a final resting place in your lands. Take whatever you require from here.”

  Long Sand bowed deeply, his forehead nearly touching the bed. “I thank you, Kalaesanamun,” he said, straightening. “Most were already honored with a pyre. Their ashes shall be returned to the sand in private ceremonies.”

  Crystalyn gaped. “What did you call me?”

  “The clans have now bestowed upon you the highest honorific, given only once throughout our long history, for your bravery and power. Kalaesanamun. No one has ever succeeded in assaulting the Dark Citadel. Roughly translated from the ancient histories, it has a meaning of Warrior Queen of Sun and Sand.”

  Crystalyn flashed a brief smile. “I’m no queen, far from it. Nay, I’m only a simple broken-minded woman who wishes to care for loved ones.”

  Long Sand shrugged. “Give them their beliefs. Until we meet again, Kalaesanamun,” he said. Turning, he strode from the room.

  Gazing at her remaining co
mpanions, Crystalyn took a deep breath, steeling herself. “Who else? How many did we lose?”

  “RaCorren lives, though we lost a few of the Vale. The druid Camoe has gone to stand before the Great Mother,” Lore Rayna said. “His loss is a heavy one for humankind and Valen alike. Camoe shall return to the soil as soon as your father assures us that the Citadel soldiers have withdrawn from the Vale.”

  Crystalyn nodded though she wondered why Jade hadn’t mentioned someone so dear to her passing. Was her sister grieving? “I shall see to the withdrawal myself as soon as I can get my dad back in here,” she said. “Has he been preserved?”

  “There is time for your full recovery. Our Users keep him within ice as is the Red Rock woman,” Lore Rayna said.

  Crystalyn moved on to her next question. “How did you survive the quills? Did you heal yourself?”

  Lore Rayna flashed a quick smile, lovely on her broad face. “I tried, but they were saturated with the poison of Dark Flow. Fortunately, two of our Users with healing affinities came to my aid. Between the three of us, we slowed it enough for seven master healers to be found and cleanse it.” The thought of her ordeal causing her stress, the green-leafed dress shifted back and forth with agitation, revealing far too much of the beautiful woman underneath.

  Crystalyn could empathize. She’d thought a lot about the battle upon awakening and most of it caused her no small amount of anxiety. “Darwin had become nearly unstoppable. Without my dad and all of you, the outcome may have been different. Which reminds me,” she said, looking around the spacious room. “I’m sure there’s a way back to Terra available in the Citadel. Where’s Trenton? He helped us; I want to do what little I can for him, for all of you.”

  “I have a portion of the answer you seek,” a soft masculine voice said from the doorway.

  “Have a care, Do’brieni. I have no sense of this one as well. There is high suspicion in the White Fur clan that he may have engaged some of my race for reasons unknown.”

  A shadow detached from the darkness of the foyer outside the room coalescing into the hooded man wearing a half cowl that left his stomach bare. The silver bands clamped around his muscular biceps shone with new polished brilliance. “The gray robe was last seen fleeing the courtyard with the red robe Malkor during the battle with the creations.”

  Sabella’s gray eyes glinted as she frowned. “Did you not believe it relevant to inform us of this sooner, Father? Between them, Malkor and the outlander have considerable power I—we—could use them.”

  Crystalyn cut into the conversation. “Use them for what? They are not tools to use as you see fit, Sabella. Nor are any of us.” The woman opened her mouth to protest. Crystalyn silenced it with her imperious empress look. Wear the right emotional mask and people will respond. Crystalyn turned to the Alchemist. “Your daughter is right to ask, however. Why have you not mentioned this sooner?”

  The hooded man’s golden hourglass eyes were shadowed, revealing nothing. “Knowledge of the two was only gleaned two bells ago. Since then, an investigation regarding the murders of your warriors left guarding the topaz gate has revealed they likely fled through it. Their whereabouts from there are unknown.”

  Silence followed the quiet revelation.

  After a time, Sabella stirred. “How many have you sent after them? When will they report back?”

  The Alchemist said nothing.

  The thought of Malkor slinking around out there made Crystalyn’s stomach turn. What would make Trenton join with such a man? Had he really helped murder her people?

  Crystalyn put the matter away for the time being. Something else came to mind, something vital to this world. “What is your plan now, Alchemist? Do you expect to rule the lands with your potions and cunning after removing the stain of the Flow from the lands? Was that it all along? Tell me, though it makes little difference to one such as me. As you know, I don’t use the great river of power.”

  Folding his arms at his chest, the hooded man froze. Then, leaning forward slightly, his golden feline-like eyes peered from the shadows of his hood unblinking. “How would you know about that?” he asked.

  Without waiting for a reply, the hooded man continued. “Your connections are more extensive than I believed. There’s no harm in telling you now. The Flow is doomed. Soon, there shall only be the power of one’s ingenuity, steel and armor, and your symbols. With my flasks as support, no one would stand a chance of defeating you.”

  Sabella’s ecstatic smile was wide. “My father has done you a great service, Crystalyn. You should thank him by rewarding him from the Citadel’s coffers.

  Crystalyn did not smile back. She couldn’t trust either one.

  Instead, she locked her eyes upon the two golden hourglass ones so like her link mate’s. Though she didn’t like it, sometimes when it came to the matter of trust, one had little choice.

  The worms had a weakness, she knew, one that had caused the hooded man concern in the past. If only she could recall what it was, perhaps she could restore Astura if it came to that.

  Crystalyn’s adopted world wouldn’t be the same without the great river of magic flowing through it. Something she would have to deal with at some point. Not now though, perhaps when she healed.

  Broth rose upon his four great paws and laid his head in her lap. His now large blue hourglass eyes, symbolic of his contentment, looked up at her as she scratched gently behind his sharp ears. Crystalyn returned the gaze with a fond one of her own, and then looked around, the grandiose room.

  At least she had her family together again, both old and new. Once her mom was contacted and asked to make haste to the household, to Creek Citadel as she would demand the Dark Citadel be known from now on, they would all come together again. Crystalyn smiled from the thought of it.

  The End

  Read on for an excerpt from book three of the thrilling epic fantasy series, The Flow of Power.

  SHADOWY FORM

  Sureen blinked. Evening’s golden light replaced the darkness of hood and blindfold. Foliage faded into view, matching the scents and sounds she had smelled and heard for some time from horseback. Teal ferns grew near fallen logs clumped with lime green moss. Thick roots of the great falun trees dived under a long ago cultivated wagon trail. The trunks rose beyond sight on both sides, creaking now and then from a light breeze. Not far ahead, an arced wooden bridge raised high at the center spanned the Even Flow River, one of four crossings accessing the town of Four Bridges.

  Stuffing the kell leather hood and soft cloth in his bags, the graying, grizzle-faced Captain Bronaham rode to the front of the line, six horses away.

  Sitting her horse on Sureen’s left side, Kara Laurel gripped her appaloosa stallion’s reins in her left hand. The right held the white crystal staff and her roan mare’s reins. “You shall remain with your hands bound behind your back for a while longer, my dear. I would hate to have you lost in such a backwoods town.”

  “Why are we here, Kara? What is it you wish of me?”

  Kara Laurel smiled with the same sweet radiant smile Sureen recalled from their youth, the one that lit her green eyes with an inner glow of vibrancy. “There is someone you need to meet, someone you shall befriend and bond with.”

  “Are you quite certain of that?” Sureen asked. “I choose friends with much care.”

  Kara Laurel’s laugh was a tinkle of tiny silver bells, as rich as her mood. “How well I know,” she said. “Come, we have little time left before darkness falls.”

  Urging her roan mare forward, Kara Laurel followed the black Shire warhorses, strolling at an easy clop in single file. Soon they were thumping over the high arc of the bridge and then plodding onto the well-packed trail on the outskirts of town.

  They passed a wagon lined with straw leaving town. With the passage barely adequate for two carts abreast as the trail narrowed for the bridge, the farmer gazed at her openly, his brown eyes bold with curiosity from under his wide-brimmed kell hat.
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  Sureen stared back, hoping he would ask the meaning of her binding and perhaps gain interest from the many other horses and wagons trailing him to cause a scene of many inquiries. Instead, the man’s eyes shifted from her as soon as he noted her arms bound behind her, which denoted her as a User held under guard. Quickly, he looked to the road ahead, his body rigid as he moved from sight.

  Disappointed, Sureen tried the same boldness with several of those exiting the providence, her eyes imploring them to speak. Every eye slid past her as most noticed the reins Kara Laurel gripped led to more than her horse.

  Giving up, Sureen focused on her surroundings. The town of Four Bridges spread between the eastern side of Lake Ever Cold and the base of Glacier Mountain, the rambling wood and stone structures small underneath its looming presence.

  The place had a festive air about it. Townspeople and visitors flocked about going about some sort of new spring event. Colored ribbons and banners hung from nearly every storefront. Young men and women chased after each other dressed in garb gaudier than even the most flamboyant merchants wore.

  Reining sharply to the left, Captain Bronaham swung into a side alley filled with refuse. Guiding his warhorse around the larger piles, he halted beside a nondescript wooden door.

  Dismounting, he stepped gingerly over to where Kara Laurel had brought their horses to a halt and helped the woman dismount. Then Sureen found his strong arms around her waist as she slid to the muck, wincing when it splashed wetly.

  Kara Laurel handed the reins of the horses to him. “Meet inside, after the animals are stabled. The booth is at the back. Set your men up with drink, but remind them of the need for discreetness.”

  Captain Bronaham inclined his head. “Aye,” he said. Climbing into the saddle, he rode off leading the two horses. His twelve leather-clad men followed in silence. The dark armor of the Citadel had long ago been replaced with the kell leather of Four Bridges.