by S D Simper
“Tallora, darling, eat your krill! You silly, picky thing—”
“Your father, he . . . he—”
“You’re much braver than my protective heart would like. I know the reef is beautiful at night, but that’s when the sharks come out—”
A lifetime of moments flashed before her eyes. Years passed in her soul—
And then came a new vision of her mother’s shop, as familiar to Tallora as her own home. Yet, unnatural darkness permeated the scene, rubble outside the window blocking the light. Her mother held her finger to her lips, to another figure—figures, Tallora realized—one of whom shushed a small, crying child—
Her eyes shot open. There was no ichor, no horror—merely Harbinger seated before her, frowning. “Harbinger, that was—”
“Your mother is alive,” Harbinger confirmed, though there was no joy in the statement. “She’s still in Stelune.”
“We have to rescue her—”
“We?”
“We have to figure out how to sneak in,” Tallora continued, an idea quickly blossoming. “You could take me. We sneak in through Sha’Demoni, grab her and the rest, and then we go.”
Harbinger shook her head. “Yu’Khrall will know. He is a resident of Sha’Demoni, capable of shifting between the realms like myself, and he will smell you. Worse—he will feel me if I come too close. Not a confrontation I want. Your mother is safer staying put.”
“There has to be something we can do.”
“The risks are massive. If we want a hope to succeed, we need a distraction. Something very big. Like . . . a dragon-sized distraction, actually.”
Tallora’s grin appeared unbidden, and she nearly laughed at Harbinger’s annoyed victory. “So we wait until Yaleris goes to fight him. Then, we go and save my mother.”
Harbinger flopped backwards onto the ground, letting her body float serenely up. “I suppose we do.”
For the first time in days, Tallora felt hope.
Yaleris stayed among the populace of Iids for hours, resting in the sand as children marveled at his pearlescent scales. They refracted light in a thousand glittering colors, and he was patient with their antics, content to laugh with them.
When Tallora eventually approached, he smiled. “I’d wondered where you’d gone, Tallora.”
She looked to the children, the little merfolk swimming circles around his leisurely floating tail. “Do you like children?”
“I do,” he replied, and his tail suddenly lifted, the ensuing pulse of water leaving the children tumbling and giggling. “My Father always said to take time for the little ones. During his reign upon the realm, he walked among the people, letting kindness and mercy lead him. They loved him, and I learned from him to love them back.”
“That’s a beautiful story.”
“Thank you.” He looked to the small school of children, his scaly smile infectious. “Little ones, be careful—I’m going to set my tail down now.”
They obeyed, and Yaleris gently placed his tail upon the seafloor. The children resumed their play.
Harbinger remained hidden outside the town, content to avoid attention. Alone, Tallora summoned her courage. “Yaleris, we wanted to warn you—Harbinger and I will be accompanying you to Stelune.”
“Heavens, no!” With his claw beneath his chin, Yaleris’ head stood taller than Tallora’s body. “I cannot say what will happen, but I won’t be able to protect you.”
“Nor would we expect that. But Harbinger’s magic has found my mother, but she’s trapped in Stelune. Your fight with Yu’Khrall would be a perfect distraction for us to rescue her.”
“Forgive me for being presumptuous, but I believe the purpose of me going to fight Yu’Khrall is the slay him.”
“Yes,” Tallora replied, fervent in her words, “but it’s as you said—you can’t protect me. You can’t account for the further destruction of Stelune in Yu’Khrall’s rage. My mother is trapped in her shop, and all it would take is one swipe of his tentacles to destroy it and her. But Harbinger and I can travel through Sha’Demoni. We need only minutes to get in and out, and with you there, Yu’Khrall won’t notice us.”
Yaleris’ ensuing sigh held all the weight of the inevitable conflict. “All right. But I must wash my claws of your fate.”
“I understand.”
The dragon smiled once more. “Your bravery should be commended. To find me is no easy feat, and now you’ll willingly swim into the battlefield to save your mother.”
A blush filled her cheeks. “You’ll give me a complex, if you keep saying words like that.”
Yaleris laughed, and it lit up the whole world. His voice lowered, his eyes endlessly kind. “All my sisters and brothers have our own unique gifts—both elemental and in magic. I have always been a being of empathy, so while I don’t know the details of your turmoil, I felt it the moment you touched me. There’s something broken inside you. Something you must forgive yourself for. I’m simply telling you what I and the rest of the world see.”
She hadn’t been prepared for a touching moment. Tallora offered a broken smile. “Not all the world.”
Yaleris shook his head. “I like you very much, Tallora, and I only met you a few hours ago. I’m confident your loved ones think the world of you.”
Tallora thought of Kal and prayed it was true, that he might forgive her someday. She thought of her mother and her disapproval of her path but knew that love remained between them.
And finally, her thoughts settled on Dauriel, whose opinion she wished didn’t matter, but though her heart remained shattered, there was still love there, somewhere.
As always, her heart dragged her down like an anchor.
“The time nears,” Yaleris said, looking fondly toward Iids. “Won’t you find your friend? I will carry you to Stelune.”
* * *
As Stelune approached, anxiety welled in Tallora’s stomach. The vision had said her mother lived, but what if her death came by Tallora’s actions instead? What if their plan failed?
Tallora reminisced over the lifetime of memories she had hours ago witnessed—a lifetime of her mother sacrificing over and over for her only daughter.
She had to try.
When the edge of the valley appeared, Yaleris slowed, then softly landed on the ground. “I wish you both luck,” he said, finality in the words. “I’ll lure him out, and then you go.”
Sadness brewed in Tallora’s stomach from a source she could not quite name. “Thank you, Yaleris,” she said softly, and beside her, Harbinger simply watched. “The seas don’t deserve you.”
“The seas are my duty, sweet Tallora. I shall find you in Iids, when this matter is done.” With care to not sweep them aside with his wings, Yaleris floated up and slowly approached the edge of the valley.
“Tallora.”
Startled, she turned to see Harbinger offering a hand. “We will be safer in Sha’Demoni,” she continued, but then a great rumble stole their attention.
Yaleris roared as he swopped into the valley, a spray of ice bursting from his mouth. Throwing aside any notions of sanity, Tallora swam to the valley’s wall and watched as the ice nearly hit Yu’Khrall in his single, massive eye—the leviathan managed to cover it in time; instead the elemental spray coated his tentacles. He shuddered and twitched, ice sealing the appendages together.
A furious cry split the sky. Yu’Khrall’s tentacles broke their frozen bonds, enormous chunks of ice floating through the waters. Yaleris sprayed his icy stream, and again Yu’Khrall protected the eye at the center of his being. His tentacles flailed widely, seeking the dragon, but Yaleris dodged with grace.
Tallora gasped when something touched her shoulder. “Go,” Harbinger said, and Tallora accepted her hand.
The world shifted. Tallora saw grey. Yet, within Sha’Demoni remained shadows of Stelune and thus the titans clashing before them. They phased in and out of sight—Yu’Khrall’s monstrous tentacles remained a real danger, even in the broken realm. Yaleris’ i
ce sent shocks of light through the shadow world, and when a stray stream came toward them, Tallora ducked.
Harbinger, however, simply let the ice engulf her—and when it dissipated, she remained. “Yaleris is not in this world. Nothing he does can hurt us. But Yu’Khrall can, if he seeks us.”
Beyond, Yu’Khrall unearthed himself, his tentacles stretching wide as he rose from the ground. “You carry . . . something,” Tallora heard his thunderous voice say. “I want it.”
Yaleris said nothing, merely roared as he led Yu’Khrall from the valley.
Harbinger and Tallora swam. The scenery raced by at a nauseating speed, and before them were the main canals, shadowed and crushed by Yu’Khrall’s power. “Lead the way,” Harbinger said, and Tallora took her hand as she navigated the broken streets, watching them swoosh by with every motion.
It took time, her frustration rising as streets came and went, her control limited in this broken world. With it came sorrow, to see the destruction of the world she loved. “Harbinger, we keep going too fast. I can’t find it.”
Though visibly pained, Harbinger said, “All right,” and suddenly all color reappeared.
Destruction and blood surrounded them, though most had filtered away into the ocean. Bodies floated serenely in the waters, those not yet claimed to satisfy Yu’Khrall’s hunger—their bloated corpses welled nausea within Tallora.
Her tears came fast, until Harbinger yanked on her arm. “Go,” she spat, and Tallora obeyed, her motions methodical and possessed. “I will watch for Yaleris and Yu’Khrall and drag us to Sha’Demoni if needs be. You lead.”
Tallora swam quickly through the winding canals, the deafening battle beyond the valley increasingly cataclysmic. But she knew these sights, even though horror lay between buildings, crushed by a monster’s will.
But the shop approached. Tallora sped up, screeching when Harbinger suddenly pulled her back—
Color vanished. Light consumed them. Tallora flinched, but forced her breath to steady—there was no danger from ice here in Sha’Demoni. The battle remained in Stelune.
When the ice dissipated, color reappeared. The world returned to what she knew. Tallora spared a glance for the titans above them, watched as Yaleris tore at an ice-covered tentacle with his mouth and ripped it from Yu’Khrall’s body.
A horrendous shriek filled the canyon, but the leviathan pushed on.
Tallora swam to the window, covered by rubble and rocks, but managed to catch sight of a few terrified figures. “Mom!” she said, and she matched eyes with a familiar woman.
Her mother swam to the window. “Tallora?!”
“We’re going to rescue you. Stay there.” She looked to Harbinger. “Sha’Demoni can’t help us phase through walls, can it?”
“Actually, yes.”
Convenient. The world shifted back into greys. Harbinger pulled her through the wall—and though it resisted, she fell through.
Immediately, the shop appeared, color restored as Harbinger released her. Tallora fell into a loving embrace. “Oh, Momma.”
She heard quiet crying in her ear. “Tallora, my darling, how did you get here?”
As Tallora pulled away, she saw survivors watching their reunion—only a handful, five in all. “Mom, this is Harbinger,” she said, gesturing to the witch. “She can take us through Sha’Demoni to get you out of here.’
Mother’s eyes grew wide. “Sha’Demoni?”
“Trust us. But we have to hurry—we aren’t safe here.”
“What’s going on out there? I swear I saw ice out the window.”
“Mom, it’s Yaleris.” Understanding dawned upon her mother’s face. “He’s come to save us. But there’s every chance we’ll be destroyed while they fight, so we have to go.”
Her mother beckoned for the others, but one resisted. “I’d rather take my chances here than in the demon world,” a man said, disdain in his gaze as he looked at their Onian rescuer.
Vitriol rose in Tallora’s throat, but Harbinger spoke first. “All right. Stay. The rest of you, hold hands.”
The man seemed appalled to be dismissed, but the rest, however wary they appeared, joined in a circle, including a woman holding a small child. Tallora held Harbinger’s hand as well as her mother’s, keeping watch on the man until the world changed—he became simply a dark shadow in the corner.
“Hold tight,” Harbinger said, and she led them slowly through the solid wall—but not so solid in the demonic plane. Once out, she said, “We must be fast; there is no telling what—”
“Yoon?”
“Damn.” Harbinger looked up, as did the rest—
And staring at their small group was Yu’Khrall’s massive eye, golden even in Sha’Demoni’s monochromatic void. He phased out of sight—a glow of light engulfed him. Oh, thank every god for Yaleris!
“Tallora.” Harbinger grabbed Tallora’s shoulders, panic in her eyes. “Take them. I will find you.”
“What?”
“He will look for me first. Not you. You can do it. Just wait beyond the valley for me to come.”
Tallora placed a hand on Harbinger’s and squeezed. She hated it so, but she knew the Onian was right. “Good luck.”
“You better hope so. You will be trapped here if I die.”
And with those soothing words, Harbinger darted away, tentacles pulsing.
Tallora said, “Stay in a line.” She grabbed her mother’s hand and pulled her and the rest along, keeping one eye on the battle high above.
Yaleris phased in and out of sight, more a shadow than a magnificent beast. Yet, Yu’Khrall remained constant, his eye fully visible though not turned to them—not yet. His tentacles flailed about erratically, toppling structures not quite destroyed in his rampage against Yaleris.
Rubble scattered through the water, some of the rocks twice Tallora’s size. She gasped as she dodged the falling stone, forced to release her mother’s hand. Their formation broke amidst the falling rocks, but then one fell upon Tallora—
And moved through her. None of it existed in this world. “It can’t hurt you!” she cried, then realized her great error.
That eye turned upon her. Tallora stared into a terrifying void.
A tentacle shot out to grab her. Tallora darted aside, knowing the effort was futile, but just as she felt the still water pulse, familiar hands pushed her aside—
The tentacle grabbed her mother. “Momma!” she screamed, and she caught her eye, that final glimpse not of fear no—but of relief. “Momma, no!”
Her momma disappeared among the mass of tentacles. Tallora felt nothing, numb as one of the refugees grabbed her arm and tugged her along. Even when they appeared at the edge of the canyon, Tallora stared beyond, the first of her tears welling in her eyes.
She watched a shadowy tentacle dart to a minute figure, a faint spot upon the grey palette of the world. A flash of light, and Yaleris appeared for a flickering moment, the spray of light engulfing the tentacle, perhaps saving Harbinger’s life as it passed harmlessly through her. Yet, she disappeared again amidst the mass of tentacles, not grabbed but engulfed.
Tentacles surrounded Yaleris. The dragon bit at the appendages, but more wrapped around him, even as ice spread from his body. Yu’Khrall recoiled, but his sheer size—many times larger than the beloved dragon—enveloped Yaleris, and Tallora heard a cry of pain that echoed through both realms.
She stared, transfixed as Yaleris flickered in and out of sight, the mass of tentacles steadily surrounding his glowing light. “No,” she whispered, pain in the word. “No—!”
A sickening crack sounded through the valley. Yaleris disappeared in Yu’Khrall’s great mass. Tears welled in Tallora’s eyes as Harbinger appeared. “Tallora, we should hurry.”
She shook her head, then realized what Harbinger had slung over her shoulder, supported by her one arm—Tallora’s momma, though bleeding and limp. When Tallora beckoned, Harbinger gently placed the woman into her arms. Her heart broke to see the mass of bruises o
n her mother’s torso and the faint cloud of blood escaping her mouth, but when she placed a hand to her mother’s throat, Tallora felt a faint pulse.
The world suddenly flashed with color. One by one, the refugees appeared, but Tallora hardly noticed—for beyond, a horrible red cloud spread above the ruins of Stelune. She caught glimpses of the corpse in Yu’Khrall’s grasp, nauseating crunching sounds revealing his actions. Scales fell, as did bones as Yu’Khrall feasted upon his conquest.
Tallora sobbed at Yaleris’ death, the gentle dragon having died to save them all. She saw Yu’Khrall pluck something from the corpse, an undeniable flash of blue and white glowing within one of his many appendages.
And she heard a voice that filled her with dread. “What . . . is this?”
Harbinger whispered, “We have to go, now.”
The Onian all but dragged her away, for Tallora’s limbs were too numb to move.
Yu’Khrall had claimed the dragon’s power.
* * *
Once away, Harbinger phased them back into Sha’Demoni. The trip was silent as they swam to Iids, the mood heavy. Tallora cried the entire way, her mom’s body held to her chest, supported by her small arms and the water.
Despite her momma’s rescue, all hope had vanished.
They returned to the mortal realm when Iids was in sight. Tallora noticed, for the first time, Harbinger’s own thoughtful countenance, subtle anguish in the lines of her face. Tearful cries of relief sounded as the refugees swam ahead, some embracing other survivors, leaving only Tallora, the unconscious woman in her arms, and Harbinger. “Thank you for rescuing my momma,” Tallora said softly, but the Onian glanced back toward Stelune.
“That orb,” Harbinger whispered thoughtfully, “. . . they say its power is depthless. He will either be docile for a thousand years, or we are in deep trouble. Either way . . .” Something akin to rage twisted her visage. “We cannot let this stand.”
“I don’t disagree,” Tallora said, her own exhaustion steadily seeping into her bones—emotional and physical, both. “But I don’t know that there’s anything more I can do.” In her arms, her mother groaned. “I have to—”