The Vordalyn 2

by Michael T Payne

  “Yes, I think having numbers would offset their training, if we had numbers.” Dracon looked out, assessing the fall of Um’Vec’s hordes. The warriors of Ganlin were highly trained, once they gathered themselves, they easily turned the tide back on the hordes. It started to become a slaughter in their favor. Kaylin looked at Dracon and Satana, who were watching the fighting as it turned against them. The men of Ganlin held the center of the city and were pushing back, killing the hordes.

  “We do have numbers, why are we holding them back? How did you get those things to fight for you, anyhow?” Satana asked. Dracon cocked his head and shrugged as he looked at her.

  “I don’t know?” He pondered, “They came out of nowhere when we were confronted by Menina and my brothers. They said Venalina sent them to me, the new dark lord that rises in the south, or something like that.”

  “And what did Venalina say about it?” Satana asked making him shrug again, dismayed.

  “She denied it.” He said, clearly, he was unsure of whether she was telling him the truth.

  “I don’t wish to speak ill of the dead, but-” Satana started to say.

  “I know.” Dracon said cutting her off, “It wouldn’t be the first time she was less than upfront about her intentions.”

  “Whatever she did, Dracon, I’m sure she did it out of love for you.” Dracon looked at her giving her half a smile, pondering that thought. “Well, get your armor on, they’ll be here soon.” Satana said stretching her arms up over her head, then did a side bend. Kaylin had still been listening to their conversation and wiped the tears from her face, hating everything Satana had to say. She took a deep breath then transformed, jumping up, flying high above the palace walls. Satana and Dracon both turned to watch her, curious.

  “Isa! Isa! Isa! Yeo em ta!” Kaylin screamed, a green cloud formed over the entire city, then descended. The dead began to rise up, the dead hordes stood to fight again, all the fallen of Ganlin also rose to fight again, but against their comrades. Dracon and Satana looked at each other, then chuckled.

  “I believe we might have a few minutes after all?” Dracon laughed.

  In the center of the city, surrounded by the hordes, and within their own ranks, the already fallen began to rise again and fight. Queen Menina used her magic to assist her forces. A team of Elven magic users surrounded her, some using shields and defensive spells, others using offensive spells. Queen Menina was the most powerful among them, easily laying waste to hundreds at a time. When the dead began to rise again, they were outnumbered. Queen Menina called Elmyra to her side. “Find Prince Charnio, protect him, pull our forces back to the center of the city. Keep the dead out of our ranks, we’ve been out maneuvered, Torak’s cavalry would serve us better here. I have to get word to him. Gather clerics to fight the dead while I get word to my brothers outside the city.”

  “Yes, my Queen, I’ll protect your brother until your return.” Elmyra said glancing from the queen to the fighting around them, “Stay safe my queen.” Queen Menina nodded then vanished. She reappeared outside the city on the road, she turned back to the city quickly and saw the gates were once again whole and closed. She checked her surroundings, then looked north to the border, then vanished again. She reappeared behind the cavalry. “Soldiers!” She shouted, getting the attention of the men who turned, alarmed. “We are overwhelmed in the city! Return to the city, there is no threat in the outer region they are already in the city!” Prince Torak came riding through his men. “Storm the gates, Torak, get inside the city, the fight is there!” Queen Menina vanished again. Prince Torak rallied his men and charged back to the city. Next, she appeared in front of Prince Darrin’s battalions of archers. Prince Darrin saw her and rode over quickly.

  “Menina, what is it?” Prince Darrin asked, he could see she was out of breath.

  “The fight,” She said putting a hand to her chest, catching her breath, “We were surprised, the hordes are within the walls, find a way to get your men on the city walls and rain down your arrows on the enemy!” She said then vanished once again. The wall was not manned, making the queens request a relatively easy one.

  Back where Talila first unleashed the hordes on the city, she and Um’Vec faced off with Tamina, while the other creatures moved on to the center of the city. Tamina shielded herself and the men who rallied to protect her, during the initial onslaught. Um’Vec ordered his hordes not to stay and continue to the center of the city as planned. Once, they were alone, Talila walked ahead of Um’Vec, cocking her head from side to side, smiling at Tamina and the men she protected. The soldiers had their swords and shields at the ready, Talila frightened them with her black eyes and black horns, like a winged demon. Talila looked at the ground below their feet. “Watch out!” she said, and her eyes lit up. The ground beneath them crumbled and the men fell into a bottomless pit that opened below them. Tamina dropped her shield, abandoning the men, then transformed, instantly taking flight. She arced around in a tight circle, rounding both Um’Vec and Talila. She ignored Um’Vec and dove, horns first at Talila. She did not turn fast enough and Tamina caught her hard, flinging her head over heels. Talila’s wings flapped awkwardly as she tried to recover. To Tamina’s surprise, Talila recovered more quickly than she anticipated and shot a ball of fire back at her that even Um’Vec had to dodge. Tamina spun as she flew, closing her wings around her tightly, acting as armor to shield her from the blast. When the heat passed, she popped her wings open again and aimed both hands at the snarling Talila. Water surrounded Talila in a column, bubbling up so quickly, it covered her completely, making escape impossible before she could react. The water turned and became a whirlpool, flinging Talila around within, attempting to drown her. Tamina landed back on the ground before Talila.

  “Let me teach you what happens when you play with fire!” Tamina laughed and whipped her hands in a circle, making the water spin even faster, and Talila with it. Um’Vec grabbed Tamina by her wings and whipped her as hard as he could backwards, sending her hard against the city wall with a smack. She cried out, hitting it so hard it almost knocked her unconscious, had she been human, she would have been dead. Um’Vec charged at her with his club high over his head, ready to crush her.

  “Stop!” She cried from her knees, having great difficulty getting to her feet. She wiped her hands over her face and made herself look like Venalina, exactly as she had before. Um’Vec slowed his charge to a walk, confused, but still coming. “I am the mistress who called you that day.” She said in his tongue. She used the wall to help her to her feet. Her wings twitched, struggling to return to their natural position. “I destroyed your foe in a rain of blackness and called for your march, to seek out the new dark lord who rises in the south, it was I who ordered you back to the outer region and slowed your travel here!” Um’Vec still held his club ready to crush her. “You were concerned you would anger him with your tardiness.” She said, Um’Vec stopped, he believed her. He let his club drop, no longer in a striking position. “Kill her!”

  “You are Venalina? Mistress of his lord, Dracon?” Um’Vec asked still confused, not entirely understanding what was happening. Talila was on the ground behind him, throwing up water from her lungs, her wings soaked, laying like a wet blanket on her back and shoulders.

  “Kill her, obey me!” Tamina commanded. Um’Vec slowly turned around and looked down at Talila, still coughing. He walked over, picked her up by one horn, lifting her from the ground, then grabbed her by her throat. Her eyes went wide with surprise, her black wings flapped desperately, flinging water everywhere. He squeezed slowly, making her choke and gasp. Talila’s stared into Um’Vec’s monstrous eyes, trying desperately to think of how to speak his language, she thought about how she understood him, but how could she make him understand her.

  “Dracon!” She gurgled, grabbing his massive forearm with her hands, “Dracon!” she said again. Um’Vec cocked his head, curious about what she was trying to say to him. He was unsure of whether or not he should obey and k
ill her. The dark lord Dracon favored her, why would Venalina order her death?

  “Loose!” A command was given from atop the city walls. Arrows rained down, hitting Um’Vec on his shoulder and the arm he held Talila with. He bellowed in pain, dropping Talila. Tamina fled, knowing the soldiers would think her one of the sisters and try to kill her as well. Talila fell to the ground taking cover in the shadow of Um’Vec’s large frame. He roared at the men above him. “Aim! Loose!” The command was given again. Talila grabbed Um’Vec’s ankle and the two vanished. Goblins returned to the alleyway, looking for the portal to escape the turning tide, only to be brought down by the archers on the wall above them, by the dozens they fell.

  Talila and Um’Vec teleported to the palace park near the fountain. Um’Vec was still roaring upward. He stopped and lowered his hands, looking around, then recognized the area where Talila had brought him before. He looked down at her, confused. “You protected me?”

  “That’s right.” Talila said then stood up. She shook out her wings, trying to wring them free of the water that still soaked them. She looked up at him and pointed her finger in his face, “You owe me your life!” She said then spun away from him and walked off a few yards. She stopped and heat emanated from her as she dried herself off, it was extremely hot, making Um’Vec step back. When she was done, she turned around and nodded her head for him to follow her, “Come on.” Um’Vec paused then ripped the arrows from his shoulder and arm before following her. Talila did not rush and walked casually to the palace gates, when the gates came into view, she could see dwarves were running all along the top of the wall, making sure they kept watch for the forces of Ganlin coming to the palace from the city. She spotted Dracon and Satana on the wall above the gates, watching the battle. Kaylin had just finished the spell she cast, out over the city, raising the dead to fight for her. Talila considered what she would say about her encounter with Tamina, and what Um’Vec had done. It was clear to her that it was Tamina who set all of this in motion, she said as much to Um’Vec, pretending to be Venalina. She must have been the source of it all. But what was she to say? Venalina forbade them from telling Dracon that his sister was a Kina, Tamina was also a Kina, it was they who set Dracon up to look like an evil lord. Even recruiting Um’Vec and his hordes under the guise of being Venalina. Talila led Um’Vec to the stairwell that led to the top of the wall, just beside the palace gates. She stopped and turned back to face Um’Vec, but not before she walked up several steps, so when she turned, she was eyelevel with him. She closed her eyes and thought about every word Um’Vec ever spoke, how each sounded. Then she spoke to him.

  “You have been led astray. She was not the true Venalina, she was a false Vordalyn, a Kina. I am a true Vordalyn, like the goddess, Venalina, I too am a wife of Lord Dracon. You will serve me loyally, or you will depart now. Make your choice. But if you stay, you are mine, ever more, until your death.” Talila growled and snarled when she spoke his language. Um’Vec did not think on it long before he took a knee to Talila.

  He uttered in his growling language, simply, “You are strong, worthy.” Talila looked down at the top of his massive head and smirked.

  “Stay by my side.” She said then turned, continuing up the stairs to the top of the wall.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Janouc and the Priests of O’on set Venalina’s body on a cold stone bed. One meant for preparing the dead for burial. There was a channel around the edge of the pedestal to catch water and fluids, then drain it to a collection source beneath it. Janouc stared at Venalina thoughtfully, he felt a great sadness for her loss. She was so beautiful and strong, now, in death she looked weak. The thin cut circled her neck, covered in blood that had begun to turn black and thicken as it coagulated. He felt an emptiness inside. He felt lost. Priest were moving about the room, gathering what was needed to clean her body, then prepare her for burial. A priest approached Venalina then lifted her up by her shoulders to remove her clothes. It infuriated Janouc how cold and indifferent he appeared, it was the job of that priest to prepare the dead, but Janouc could not stomach his callousness. She was not just another corpse for the dirt. “Let her go!” He snapped at the priest, grabbing his wrists away from Venalina, then setting her back down on the pedestal, gently.

  “Janouc?” The priest asked curiously, he could see the sadness in his eyes, then asked, “Maybe it would be better if you left? It is an uneasy thing to watch, my friend?”

  “No, no, you… you leave. Everyone,” He called to the others in the room, “Get out. All of you, get out. I will do this alone. She will have her dignity!” The priests looked at Janouc, then each stopped what they were doing and left. “I’m sorry, my queen, they have no respect. I suppose it’s not their fault.” He said softly. “My dark princess, my beautiful Venalina,” He said combing her sticky, blood-matted hair, from her neck. “What did they do to you?” He sighed and lifted a small stone plug that allowed water to flow through the channel, filling a basin where Janouc stood. He put his hands in the basin, washing them thoroughly. Janouc took a towel and soaked it in the basin, overflowing it slightly. The water fell into a collection channel, travelling underneath the pedestal to a drain in the floor. The design kept filling clean water into the basin while overflowing contaminated water. He washed her neck gently, cleaning away hair that was stuck in the blood, then moved all of it out, over the top edge of the stone bed. The edges of the cleaned wound had become purple, just like her lips, so prominent against her milky white skin. Janouc closed his eyes and sighed. He could hear her say, ‘My love’, could see her lips sounding out the words, words he heard her say a thousand times… to Dracon. Again, he sighed, looking down at her, slowly shaking his head at the beautiful woman before him, his queen, his only desire. Dead. What would he do now? He wanted to follow her to the ends of the earth. Now? The Priests of O’on no longer had his heart. Maybe he would leave? Go seek out her home in Taranath, study what he could of her people, the dangers of the city be damned! If he fell in her home, it would be a fate worthwhile.

  Janouc pulled all her hair, again, over her head and let it fall off the pedestals edge. His breath, and the trickling of the water, was all that could be heard in the room. He slipped her dress off her shoulders, then began to examine it for its fasteners. He rolled her on her side, looking at the center of the back of her dress. There were no fasteners there either, it made Janouc chuckle. A magically designed dress, no doubt, that she simply made appear on herself, not needing fasteners. “You are most unique, my queen.” He said then left her side to get a knife from a table with many instruments laid out on it. When he turned around, Venalina had horns. His jaw dropped, so did the knife. He watched carefully for her to move. When she did not, he approached the table cautiously, then sighed, “You’re a fool, Janouc. She is not human girl, as she appears, she is a Vordalyn, of course she’ll revert to her true self in death.” He said to himself aloud. Then he could hear the back of her dress tearing, he lifted her by her shoulders, letting her wings unfurrow their full length. He had her in a sitting position to allow room for her wings. They were massive in size, Janouc never seen them so fully extended before, or that close up. When she was done transforming, he imagined what the other priests would have done, if it were they who witnessed her post death transformation. He chuckled at the thought. What was he going to do with her now, her wings were going to be difficult to manage? He started to lay her back and saw her wound had vanished with her human form. Her skin was still cold to the touch and as much as he wished it… her eyes moved! They did not open, they simply moved like one who dreams, asleep. “Venalina!” He whispered and grabbed her cheek while holding her up, “Venalina!” He said shaking her.

  “Venalina!” Venalina popped her eyes open and there before her stood Dhysevera. Venalina looked at the emptiness that surrounded them both.

  “Why are you here?” She asked, “Why am I here?” Venalina asked looking around.

  “You are free, my niece,
my daughter, my heir,” Dhysevera struggled to speak, choking back tears. “It is time for me to say goodbye, forever. You are free.” Dhysevera floated over to Venalina.

  “I don’t understand?” Venalina accepted Dhysevera’s hug.

  “I know, but you will. It will all be yours, finally, all I am, is yours, no longer in part, but in whole. This will be the last time you hear my voice, see my face, that is not a memory.” Dhysevera said through tear-soaked eyes. “I give you my crown, and, my most cherished memory. Hold on to both, tight as you can, my niece, my daughter.” Dhysevera vanished leaving Venalina in an open field, no longer surrounded by darkness. She could hear laughing and giggling, the squeals of teen girls at play. Two girls with wings flew passed her with a swoosh, one chasing the other, then suddenly Venalina could see through Dhysevera’s eyes as she chased her sister, Venalina’s mother, through clear blue skies, fast, turning one way, then the other, left, then right, then back the other way, always just out of reach. Ashavera, kept glancing back at Dhysevera with the devious smile of a girl who simply would not be caught. No matter how fast they flew, she was always just a little faster, just a little too far out of reach. The joy of that memory became hers, burned in her mind forever, a final gift from Dhysevera.

  Venalina awoke with a start and a gasp, then looked at Janouc. She was suddenly so overcome with emotion she began to cry, falling into his arms. Janouc hugged her with all his might, he didn’t understand what was happening, but he held her tightly, comforting her. Janouc eventually helped her from the pedestal, to stand on her own two feet. She had changed. Her horns were adorned with gold, capping the points of its tips, banded every few inches along its length, thicker and jewel encrusted at the base by her skull, resembling a crown of horn’s. She was refreshed, renewed. Her tears dried, and she pushed Janouc back gently. “Ever my faithful servant.” She said, her words spoken to his mind and ear alike. She could see everyone of Janouc’s thoughts, they were both aware of it. It made Janouc look down embarrassed. Venalina lifted his head with a gentle hand to his chin, staring into his eyes, making all his embarrassment disappear with her smile. “Only you, Janouc, shall ever be my most trusted servant. I return your love, in my own way. Come to terms with what will be and what will never be, I belong to Dracon.” Janouc again looked down, then nodded yes. “Life and love are ever changing, take heart in that.” Venalina stepped away from Janouc, “It’s time to go home, Janouc, Taranath awaits.” She started walking toward the door, Janouc followed at her side. Her black wings folded neatly behind her. As they approached the door, it vanished, along with a large section of the wall around it. Janouc stopped, surprised, but Venalina kept on walking out into the hall. There, she did not turn right or left, which was the only direction of the hall, but straight to the other wall that also disappeared as she approached it. Janouc rushed back to her side just as the door and wall to the room they were in returned to its place. The disappearing wall opened to a balcony doorway, beyond that, darkness. Janouc stayed close to Venalina, who began to glow, lighting their surroundings, making it possible for Janouc to see. They were on a balcony. Janouc could hear the echo of a large cavernous area beyond the balcony. The railing of the balcony was covered in the dust of hundreds of years, or more. Venalina floated up, above the balcony overlooking the underground city of Taranath, she made a sound that was unlike anything Janouc had ever heard, making him fall to his knees, covering his ears. Any creature that heard it would know, just like Janouc did, it was a warning to any unwanted inhabitants that the queen had returned. The screech went on for several seconds, threatening to burst Janouc’s ear drums. When she stopped, he could hear the echo of the sound she made go on through every hall and cavern in Taranath. There were a multitude of creatures that inhabited the dead city. Braziers along the balconies edge burst to life with flames, one at a time, lighting the ornate, solid gold balcony. It was incredible. Janouc looked on amazed from his knees. He could hear the same sounds of braziers coming to life behind him, making him glance over his shoulder at a room the balcony belonged to. The curtains on either side of the balcony’s opening shimmered and moved like a wind was blowing through them, they turned from a dirty gray to a pearl white, right before his eyes. Venalina floated back down to the balcony and walked by Janouc into the room. The balcony was no longer covered in dust. It was as clean as when it was first built. Janouc stood up and walked to the balcony’s railing overlooking the city. He could see the city was coming to life with lights of all colors. The spectacular underground city was like no city he had ever seen before, the architecture and design were so far advanced from anything in the world above. He stared out in awe. Spires came to life with lights that circled them dancing from their bases to their pointed tops as if they were electrified. The reflection of the lights made the roof of the cavern visible, a smooth, milk white dome that appeared to encapsulate the city. There were no stairs from the dizzying heights of any of the buildings that he could see. Nor could he see any streets, everything below fell off into darkness. Janouc wondered what held the city up? He wondered if it were not a dome, but a complete sphere that held the city within. His eyes could not discern the vast distance around him to speculate on any such ideas. He felt like an insect, in awe of the wonders he was permitted to behold. He hurried to catch up with Venalina, who had entered the room which had become brightly lit, also designed in a similar gold adornment as the balcony. The room had a high ceiling. Venalina’s wings came to life, lifting her from the floor, to the very epicenter of the domelike room. Spheres, floated toward her, forming from the air around her. She batted one away, then another, looking for a specific one. When she found it, she let it float in place before her, gazing into it. She looked down at Janouc, whose mouth had been hanging open in awe from the moment they stepped onto the balcony. Without so much as a gesture in is direction, she made him float up to her side. Janouc tried to steel himself from gasping, he was exhilarated, in awe of the gift of witnessing what she was showing him. He tried to maintain his composure and no matter what he saw, he would stifle any fear it would elicit, knowing his queen would keep him safe. Venalina oozed magic, it was tangible. She could perform fantastic feats with a mere thought. When Janouc rose to her side, the sphere flashed and grew outward, encompassing them both. They were in an empty space; the room was no longer. There was simply nothing.