Age of Souls

by Garrett Stevens

  With the louder rumble of water, a light mist grew thicker and thicker until it was almost like a still rain hung around them, collecting on their armour and soaking down the hair around their form.

  Just as the fire was about to connected with the three, they leaped forward through a small opening at the end of the tunnel, piling on each other as the inferno washed out in the mist, sending a fire ball into the air that was flooded over by the tsunami of the nearby falls. Gemini flipped her head up to get her hair behind her and craned her neck from under someone’s wing to look back at the tunnel and take in the area. They were back at the Viewpoint Falls lookout campsite.

  Mara and Gemini wriggled their way apart and quickly stood to help Marthiel to her feet and offer the support to lean on.

  “This is.” Mara took a couple steps toward the large outcropped that extended past the waterfall edge. “That tunnel was in the middle of the mesa. We are outside the valley.”

  “How is that possible?” Marthiel tried not to move on her leg.

  “Maybe something to do with the heart, something the Narx did to help perhaps?” Mara’s assumptions were met with light nodding from the other two.

  Gemini’s eyes went wider when she noticed that Faer’s body was missing, the camp site was empty of bags as if they were never there.

  “Looking for something?” A familiar voice carried through the sound of the falls.

  All three women shot their heads towards the origin of the voice. An elven man was leaning against a portion of the mountain side next to the path down with a smirk on his face. Gemini’s face gained even more surprise in not noticing him before.

  “Faer!”

  Chapter 22

  Gemini rushed over to Faer and wrapped her arms around his neck forcing him to dodge her wings as she came in and almost got punched. Squeezing him tightly, Faer’s expression winced a little with the intensity she had.

  “How?” Gemini pulled back with a confused look on her face.

  “It’s a long story.” Faer took a step back away from her and looked over her shoulder to the other two Spiri.

  Mara had a suspicious glare towards him while Marthiel smiled at seeing the two lost friends finding each other. Faer watched them silently for a second before turning back to Gemini.

  “We can’t linger here too long, there has been something hunting me over the past couple of days. I am glad you got here when you did, otherwise I would have been forced to leave. Appears you have been welcomed by the Spiri?” Faer motioned at her armour and wings.

  “You are not welcomed; you earn your place.” Mara spoke aggressively.

  Faer glared her way and smiled at Gemini.

  “It has been an interesting collection of days.” Gemini smiled back at him.

  Faer cocked his head to the side. “It’s been weeks since I woke up.”

  “Could not have been in the valley for that long, maybe a week at most.” Gemini twirled her head toward Mara and Marthiel.

  “Don’t look at me, I’ve been in the valley for more than a millennium.” Mara dropped her hip and ran her hand through the hair on the side of her head trying to pull the wet away.

  “No matter, we must move quickly.” Faer’s urgency was more prevalent.

  The three women watched as Faer jogged over to the pathway down. Faer’s insistence started to raise more suspicion with Mara as she watched him, she couldn’t keep her gaze off him.

  “Be wary young one.” The voice in Gemini’s head caught her off guard.

  “It’s been a hectic day and Marthiel is hurt. We need to let her leg rest a bit before continuing forward.” Gemini called out over the noise of the falls to make sure he heard her.

  Gemini watched Faer’s movement closer with the new warning and could see some difference from what she was used to; his movements seemed more sporadic and the odd subtle twitch as he walked like his reality was glitched. They were small but just enough to notice a head flinch or a hand shake when looking for it.

  “Shall we get going?” Faer turned to look over his shoulder and smiled at Gemini.

  “We need to let Marthiel rest before continuing on.” Gemini’s order made his smile disappear.

  Faer stopped and stood silently for a moment before circling back around, passed by Gemini toward the other two. Stopping in front of Marthiel, he scanned from the top of her head and down to her unfavored leg. In a flash, a small blade was pulled and thrust into Marthiel’s abdomen, sending a grunt of pain washing through the misted air.

  Mara sprang into action and pushed Faer away with the top of her scythe before Marthiel reached the ground. Faer staggered but caught himself from falling, sliding on his back foot and flipped his head up with a deathly focus.

  “Faer!” Gemini called out.

  He ignored her with a complete focus on the threat. Mara’s gaze burned as if she could sear through his entire existence. Shifting herself into a defensive stance, Mara watched him as he slowly took long breaths. The look in his face grew into an excitement that only the scent of blood could make a wolf have during a bountiful hunt. His face ballooned into a grimacing smile.

  “I really was not expecting three to come out, but no matter.” Faer’s voice changed, getting a little deeper.

  Erupting in to the offensive, Faer’s blade wildly whistled through the air with a distracting flourish as he approached Mara. Her speed was barely fast enough to keep up with him as she brought the back of her scythe up to block the first strike, sending the clang of steel on steel ringing throughout the waterfall mists. Mara’s movements were fluid as the falls as she brought up the butt end of handle up towards his jaw in one continuous motion.

  Just as her weapon was about to strike him, his form flickered and he skipped to the side slightly, barely being missed. With a brief confusion, she knew she had to keep on the move, or she would end up like Marthiel. Faer circled in to her right with another strike. Stepping forward to dodge the strike, her pace elevated in hopes to try and keep control of the battle. From the corner of her eye, she could see Gemini bewildered in shock by what was happening.

  Faer was quick, something was spurring him beyond normal means, something not natural. His movements were very unpredictable, and his body flickered at times, like he was not there. The dance of battle moved in circles around the campsite, clashing from time to time to send out the ringing of steel on steel and throwing water that had collected. She was having a hard time keeping up.

  “Faer stop this!” Gemini called out through the waterfall.

  She stood off to the side and had to shake her head before looking around for something to stop the fight. No response came from Faer, just a side glance as he passed by her. He knew that she would not be a nuisance to the confrontation and could play with her after he was done dealing with Mara.

  The lack of sleep the three had was getting to Mara, she was slowing down. Faer saw the opening and went in for the strike, sending his small knife towards her torso. Catching the attempt and barely able to get something in the way to block it, her defense altered the tip of the blades course and she was able to thicken her armour just before the blade was sent into her flesh. Recoiling before he could pull it from her arm, she grabbed around the wound with her free hand and held the dagger in place as she pushed away from him.

  “Now you don’t have a weapon. Give up little Elf.” Mara grinned through the pain as the adrenaline filled her body.

  “More to combat than having a piece of steel, winged devil.” Faer stood tall and gave her a coy glare.

  The lighting around them began to darken as if the day were ending and any remnant of brightness was being sucked in from the edges. The three watched as Faer’s flickering body began to fade with the light with each of his flickers made him fade into the mist until the false night overtook them. The mountain and themselves still had an odd light as if they were a light source themselves like a large cloud had covered the sun but still allowed them to see.

  “Wel
come to a broken world, it is time for Shard to be revealed and with his strength, break the hold of the gods. There is little you winged vixens can do to stop the flow for the rightful rulers of this land. The Children have had their promise of freedom and we will deliver it.” It was as if his voice was coming from everywhere, bouncing from side to side in the area, suppressing the waterfall like it were running out of water.

  Mara held her scythe up to ready herself in defend, blood running down from the blade still stuck in her side. Marthiel still on the ground laying still while Gemini raised her arms to guard herself as well.

  “Be wary young one.” The voice in her head spoke softly.

  “You are not alone.” The other voice with the aggressive tone said as a follow up.

  With each word there was something else bothering her, something was tugging at the side of her legs like it was wanting to break free from inside, making her want to itch through the living steel.

  A darkness came together in the low light and suddenly a dense shadow shot toward Mara, knocking her to the ground. A cry of pain escaped her lungs that was followed up by a blood-filled cough. It was as if the coalesced shadow was the weapon, was filled with an evil magic.

  Gemini couldn’t hold back the urge to itch the side of her legs anymore. She reached down and scratched hard with her nails, digging into the shifting steel. A piece of her armour came loose, a cylinder like portion popped out like a dried scab and shifted into a weapon hilt to match her armour. In her surprise, she lost focus of the darkness around her and drew her attention downward toward the changes. The metal around her legs, shifted and pushed against the handle, extruding more and more of the metal, begging her to pull on it.

  “The gifts given.” The voices spoke almost perfectly together, a bit of an echo, like they were whispering right behind her and in her ear.

  The itch grew stronger until Gemini couldn’t take it any longer and she grabbed the two hilts protruding from the sides of her legs and pulled on them with all her strength. The sliding of steel of steel rang out as she pulled to reveal two strangely formed swords; both sort of zigzagged back on themselves with no real straight edge to form the blade portion of the weapons. They had a sort of bone-like look to them while still holding the same movement and royalty as her armour.

  “Mourn and Felicity, gifts by our extension.” Again, the two voices spoke together in their echoed way.

  Gemini held out the two swords and with wide eyes scanned them up and down. They radiated a magical essence that made her feel uneasy. Flicking out the one in her right hand which in a flash, unfolded itself from a short sword length to a longsword and held more of a straighter weave to the steel but still zigzagged all over.

  Her face filled with a battle born smile, finally something from this new vocation that she knew how to use. Stretching her wings wide she slid her right foot back to ready herself for combat and flicked the sword back to her, folding it to its original state. The weapons were intuitive to her will, quick with the formation between the type of weaponry.

  She sprang off toward Mara who was being struck again and again with the magical essence of shadows; her face and armour covered in blood and had been forced to the ground. Propping herself with her scythe, she did not have long before the final blow would take her.

  Coming to a skidding halt only a few paces away from the bloodied woman, Gemini calculated the movements quickly from within the shadow and before she could blink, lunged forward with blade, catching the dense shadow from behind with both swords.

  The faded light around them shrunk away and the light from the day came back. Sounds of the waterfall grew back fast and Faer’s body formed in and around the two swords. His eyes were wide in surprise, blinking a few times before trying to take breath, causing him to cough. Blood began to gush from his back and down the swirled and weaved steel of Gemini’s weapons until it covered her hands.

  “Suppose that was going to happen at some point.” Faer’s voice didn’t sound like he was wounded. “Let this piece fall, the mirror has already been shattered and the view in this reflection has faded.” Without another sound, Faer’s body went limp.

  Gemini lowered her hands causing the corpse that was impaled on them to slip to the ground. Removing them from his body, she lowered the tips to the sandy dirt, hung her head with closed eyes and sighed.

  “Thank you, Mother.” Mara’s blood-filled appreciation was quickly followed by the sounds of her spitting to clear her mouth.

  Stepping over Faer’s lifeless body, Gemini knelt in front of Mara and placed her hand on her shoulder to look into her eyes.

  “I will be ok, check on Marthiel.” Mara spit another mouthful of blood to the moistened ground.

  Gemini stepped over to the motionless body of her Spiri friend. Everything about her was soaked, drops of water dripped from the tips of the feathered wings, creating small pools and streams in the dirt below. Kneeling beside her, Gemini could see the small rise and fall of her chest as she breathed; the length of each showed she was barely clinging to life.

  “Marthiel?” Gemini whispered through the mists. Placing a hand on her shoulder, she knew she did not have long.

  “How is she?” Mara called out over the roar of the falls.

  “We need to move before the Dragoon Spirit comes out.” Gemini could hear Mara sigh heavily. “Are you able to move?”

  “I will make do.” Mara pushed her full weight onto her scythe, propping it up like a crutch. “We need to get some distance between us, hopefully it won’t sense our presence and come after us.”

  “Be at peace Marthiel.” Gemini whispered to herself.

  Gemini swallowed hard against the thought of having to leave another body of a friend on the lookout but knew that there would be no way they would survive if Marthiel passed while they were there. Standing with her head lowered with silent tears collecting against the mists, Gemini nodded to herself and turned to Mara who had already made her way to the slope of the pathway leading down.

  Looking down at her legs where she pulled Mourn and Felicity from, she noticed small gaps in the armour, like a sheath. Placing the tips of the blades into each, the steel from the both armour and weapon molded together, sliding the swords back into the shifting metal, back to one.

  Before she left the campsite, Gemini looked back at Faer’s corpse again and then back to where he had died the first time. From the corner of her eye, her attention was caught by Faer’s body flickering slightly like it was before.

  “Faer.” Gemini repeated his new name before turning to the path. “Shard.”

  It did not take long for her to catch up to Mara who had made good headway down the path. Coming up behind Mara, Gemini grabbed her free arm and slung it around her neck to give her support. Mara smiled her kind, warm smile and shifted some of her weight off the crutch and over to Gemini. With the additional support, they were able to pick up their pace slightly. The bottom of the path came fast and the randomly forested prairie in front of them expanded like a golden green road to freedom.

  “We might be far enough now, there a safe place to rest?” Mara looked behind them and up to the falls.

  “There is a camp near Dire Lake up in that forested area.” Gemini pointed off into the distance to a collection of trees.

  Mara nodded after following her finger.

  Sounds of the birth of the Dragoon Spirit exploded through the day, drawing their attention up toward the falls. The shockwave of the spirit breaking free pushed aside all the water coming off the falls like it were a balloon being popped in the rain. The break in flow exposed the stone wall beneath it and sent the waters shooting from the side of the mountain crushing plant life as it connected to the ground. The stream quickly recovered and reverted to its original trajectory.

  The wailing of the spirit ripped passed the sound of the falls and the two Spiri looked up at the lookout with deathly concern.

  “Go!” Gemini pulled Mara along to get her moving.


  • • •

  “Will be four gold Murdine ta get back ta the isles mi lady.” A portly grizzled old fisherman spoke in a raspy voice with an outstretched hand.

  Latisha flipped her hood back and pulled her long dark brown braid out from under her cloak and smiled at the fisherman.

  “Oh! Sorry ma lady, didn’t realize it was you. We are leaving in an hour, just waiting on the deckhand ta get back from paying our anchorage.” The dirty fisherman stepped to the side and waved his hand to the side to usher her onto the boat.

  It was a smaller sailboat, but still large enough to have a cabin. Nets and empty barrels covered the deck, laid out in a way that presented a readiness to the voyage. At the back of the boat, the stairs into the cabin gave their welcome to her. Smiling to herself at the thought of being able to clean up and not be bothered for a night urged her forward.

  “Dammit boy, I told you ta hurry.”

  As she slid her way down the stairs, she listened to the old fisherman scold the deckhand as he walked up to the boat.

  “She is already on board so finish our cast off.”

  Muffled responses from the boy followed but she didn’t care enough to listen any further.

  The cabin was quite clean for such an old boat, an obvious attempt to make it more hospitable for her during the voyage. With the journey only taking less than a day, she was surprised they went to the extra effort for her comfort.

  Another voice came close to the side of the boat, a woman’s voice. Latisha couldn’t make out what they were saying but the fisherman’s voice was low and serious. Handfuls of armour footsteps scuttled over the dock, echoing across the water and through the hull. She needed to be ready for anything.

  Weaving a couple hand formations together, she popped open her left hand like she was grabbing something, and a dense form of whirling air took form in her palm before beginning to stretch out into a short spear. It was like the weapon was made from a storm cloud.