by Kelly Carr
“Steady!” she called, her voice expressing more courage than she really felt. “We continue on to the market square!”
Those nearby heard her and fought back, throwing the Genvu off and swinging their weapons at the necks of the monsters with deadly effect. Valeria ducked as a large block of stone hurtled past her head, then braced herself as a powerful blast of wind nearly knocked her off her feet. The Trevi of Torvain were casting their magic at anything that moved, growing careless in their attempt to stave off the Genvu. Valeria could see the fear in their eyes and wondered if it was reflected in her own. There were more Genvu here than she had ever seen before.
“I thought they left!” she called over the tumult, She wasn’t sure who she expected to hear her.
“It must have been a trick!” Liana’s voice came from off to her left. Valeria turned to look for her, but a Genvu stepped into her path. She swung her sword at it, but it was too fast. It caught the weapon between its claws. There was a horrible shrieking sound that made Valeria want to cover her ears as the blade shattered.
Desperately, Valeria conjured a flame and propelled it towards the monster. It hissed and dodged the blast. Valeria scrambled backwards, stumbling over the bodies of those who had fallen. Just in time, she heard the crunch of stone behind her and turned to find her retreat blocked by two more Genvu. She flung more flames at them, forcing them back a few steps, but it wouldn’t hold them off for long. She scanned the ground in search of a weapon. Just as her eyes caught the glint of metal caught beneath a fallen Sylph, the first Genvu charged.
Valeria screamed and dove out of the way, landing on a pile of debris, with a gasp of pain. She looked up as the creature raised its clawed hand. She closed her eyes and waited with resignation for the blow to fall, but it never came.
Cautiously, Valeria cracked one eye open. The shaft of an arrow protruded from the Genvu’s open mouth. It made a horrible noise in its throat, then fell to the ground and lay still. Valeria looked up to find Susan crouched on the roof of a nearby house, chest heaving, her clothes and face spattered with gore.
“Are you alright?” Susan asked.
Valeria opened and closed her mouth several times before words came out. “What are you doing here?” she said, anger eclipsing her relief. “You’re supposed to be safe in the forest!”
Susan glared at her. “You know better than to expect that I would follow anyone’s orders to remain behind when everyone I love is going into danger,” she said.
Valeria opened her mouth to insist that Susan return to the safety of the camp, already knowing it was too late. Before she could say anything, however, the ground shook with an explosion. Valeria grabbed Susan’s hand and towed her along behind her, looking in every direction for Liana and Davu. The tide of the battle had separated them, but it was easy to see where the fighting was fiercest. That was where they’d be.
The hairs on the back of Valeria’s neck rose. She turned her head just in time to see a bolt of dark magic plow into a house. It was reduced to rubble in an instant.
She could see Liana now. Her face was flushed. Her eyes roved in every direction, trying to take in everything at once. Valeria wondered if she looked that wild herself. Davu and Elias stood on either side of her, weapons raised.
“Liana!” she called.
Liana’s eyes met hers. Valeria saw fear there, and something like a wordless plea. Then her friend turned back to the task at hand.
Valeria and Susan joined the fight. Valeria cleared a way through the Genvu with a stream of white-hot fire. The ground shook again.
“Where is that coming from?” Valeria asked no one in particular.
“It’s coming from the castle,” Davu shouted.
“It’s Katya,” Liana said. “It’s pure Vorshi. I don’t know how to stop it other than to kill her.”
“Then do that!” Susan said without turning her attention from her adversary. “That’s what we came here for, isn’t it? And rescue my brother while you’re at it!”
“Susan! What are you—“ Liana stopped herself. She glanced towards the castle as another bolt of Vorshi hurtled into the city. “Nevermind. Can you three hold the battle for a while?”
“I hope so,” Davu said grimly.
“Go on, get out of here,” said Valeria. She felt Liana’s hand brush her shoulder in farewell, then she was gone. The Genvu closed in around the Trevi. Valeria gritted her teeth. “Come on, you lot. Let’s buy Liana the time she needs to finish this.”
chapter five: elias
Elias could feel his past merging with the present as he fought his way through the city streets. The Genvu were more monstrous in form than the Humans he had contended with long ago, but all battles were one to him. No plan, no strategy, could ever be maintained when the chaos of battle descended. It was all screams and wild blows and blood and death.
He saw Liana getting farther ahead of him and struggled to catch up. His breath came in gasps as he beat the Genvu back. He could feel himself tiring like the old man he now undeniably was. Still, as long as Liana was there, he would continue to fight.
“Are you alright?”
Elias turned to find one of Liana’s most loyal recruits at his side. The man’s name eluded him.
“Elias!” Liana had come back. Her brow was furrowed with concern, but her eyes kept turning back towards the castle.
“Go, go,” he said. “I’m fine.” Gathering his strength, he forged ahead, accompanied by several Trevi Liana had hand picked to assist her in this mission.
Several burly Lezarian soldiers guarded the bridge to the castle island, but Liana drew an enormous wave from the ocean and swept them aside almost casually.
The castle grounds were much too dark for Elias’ liking. His eyes strained to penetrate the darkness, and he lifted his sword, expecting Genvu to attack from all sides at any moment. None came. They reached the castle unhindered.
Elias winced at the creak of the door to the entrance hall. Inside, all was dark and eerily silent. Everyone stepped inside with their weapons at the ready, prepared to defend themselves against another surprise attack. Elias felt the Vorshi seething from the stone walls around them. Next to him, he saw Liana stiffen and knew she could sense it too. Her nose wrinkled as though she smelled something rotten.
“Where do you think she’ll be?” one woman asked.
A flash of uncertainty crossed Liana's face, but she hid it quickly. “I’m not sure, but if I had to guess, I’d say the throne room seems a likely place. This way.” She turned to her left and led them along the corridor that would take them to the room in which they had first met the king of Torvain.
“Why there?” Elias asked in an undertone. The slightest noise seemed to echo in the empty hallways.
Liana shrugged slightly. “She’s arrogant. That’s one thing that’s always been abundantly clear about her. Wouldn’t an arrogant person want to be in the room most associated with power?”
Elias had no time to answer. Just then, ten shadowy shapes leapt out at them. He gave a cry of alarm that came a second too late for several members of their party.
With a whoosh, the torches along the hallway flared to life, illuminating a band of eight Genvu accompanied by five Lezarian guards. Elias had no time to look down and see who had fallen before they were attacked again. For the next few minutes, he was too busy defending himself to pay attention to anything else. Finally, he raised his sword and found there was no new foe to challenge him. Breathing heavily, he surveyed the carnage around him.
Seven Trevi lay across the cold stone floor, faces pale and eyes empty. With his heart in this throat, Elias examined each face, but Liana wasn’t among them. He stifled a cry as a hand touched his shoulder, then let out a sigh of relief as he turned to find the rest of his companions waiting for him. Liana patted his shoulder again, in reassurance this time, and jerked her head, indicating that he should follow. The doors to the throne room were just a few feet further down the hall.
&
nbsp; Liana waited until everyone was gathered around her. With a battle cry that echoed down the corridor, she kicked in the doors. Beyond them, the throne room was as dark and cold as the rest of the castle. The Aidans hurried to light the crystal chandeliers.
The throne was empty. Behind it stood a cluster of startled Genvu, surrounding the emaciated form of the prince. Liana let out a shout and charged into the pack of monsters, taking them off guard. By the time everyone else had gathered their wits enough to join her, she had already dispatched three of the creatures on her own.
Elias cut down a Genvu as it tried to grab Liana from behind. Next to him, the rest of the Trevi were likewise engaged. Elias cried out as a claw raked his shoulder. He swung his sword and removed the arm of the offending creature, quickly followed by its head. Someone behind him screamed. He turned and ran his blade through a Genvu, but was a second too late to save its victim. Emory fell to the ground with a look of shock frozen on his face.
There was no time to contemplate the young man’s death, however. These Genvu were putting up much more of a struggle than the ones they had met in the corridor. Elias raised his blade once more, only to be knocked to the floor by a blast of power. It took him a moment to realize that it wasn’t the Vorshi, it was the Mother of Magic’s power.
Wincing, Elias sat up and found that the Genvu had all vanished. All but one of their own party lay senseless on the ground.
“Ouch,” Darcy grumbled, rubbing the back of his head as he sat up. “If you had that one up your sleeve all this time, how come you didn’t use it earlier?”
Liana looked around herself in bewilderment. “What just happened?” she said.
Elias shrugged. “You had a magical outburst. You haven’t had one since you were very young, but they’re closely tied to your emotions.”
Liana opened her mouth to reply, but her attention was drawn away as the prince groaned. She flew to his side. He was so thin that there hardly seemed to be any skin left on his bones. His cheekbones showed prominently from beneath sunken eye sockets.
“James!” Liana said urgently. “James, are you alright?”
The prince’s eyes opened, and he blinked slowly as though he didn’t understand what he was seeing.
“That’s just cruel,” he said, his voice hoarse from lack of use. “Leave me alone.”
“James, it’s me!” Liana said, her own voice breaking with emotion. She reached up to touch his cheek, and the firelight glinted off of the bangle on her wrist. The prince’s eyes seemed to fix on that. Slowly his gaze returned to her face.
“Is it really?” he still sounded unsure.
Choking back a sob, Liana turned her attention to the chains that bound James’ wrists. Elias found himself looking at them for the first time as well. They were no ordinary metal. Shadows seemed to ooze across them, and Elias knew they had been infused with Vorshi power.
Liana reached out a hand before Elias could shout a warning. She shrieked as she touched the chains and snatched her hand away as though she’d been burned. She peered more closely at them, frowning. The ground shook beneath them, and she looked up, suddenly reminded of the passing time. She reached out a hand again, more tentatively this time, and released a pulse of magic towards the chains. This time the prince was the one who cried out in pain.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Liana said helplessly.
The ground shuddered again.
“Go,” James said, “You have to stop her.”
“I know,” Liana snapped, “but I can’t just leave you here!”
“If you defeat Katya, I’m sure we can free the prince from those chains,” Elias said, his tone growing urgent as the ground shook yet again. The blasts were becoming more frequent.
Liana turned back to James and tilted her face up to touch her lips to his just for an instant.
Elias turned away, hurriedly concealing the flash of pain that crossed his face.
“Well, come on then,” Liana said. “Darcy, you stay with James. Defend him if any of the Genvu come back this way, and if you can find some water, see if you can do anything to heal him. James I—I’ll be back.”
Even to Elias’ ears, she didn’t sound so sure.
As they stepped out into the corridor, Liana broke into a run. A bolt of Vorshi hurtled down into the city, and Liana's gaze darted to the window. Her eyes followed its trajectory and turned upwards, narrowing in grim determination.
“She’s in one of the towers,” she said, not a trace of doubt in her tone. Her stride lengthened, and Elias once again found himself struggling to keep up. Liana seemed to be following some trail only she could see. It took them down long hallways and up many flights of stairs.
The castle shook with the force of the power Katya was channelling. Elias wondered if it would all fall down around their ears before they could even reach her.
“This is it,” Liana said, gasping for air. “The highest tower.” She reached for the handle of the door in front of them and jerked it open. A sudden presentiment struck Elias. He shoved her out of the way just as a spear came sailing down the dark staircase.
chapter six: liana
Time seemed to slow as the spear appeared from the darkness above them. Liana reached for it but was a second too late. The weapon sank into Elias’ stomach, and he fell to the ground with a grunt of pain.
Liana moved towards him, but just then several burly figures came barreling down the stairs. She sent flames streaming into the torches along the walls and found herself surrounded by four Lezarian guards in heavy furs. One of them she recognized as the man who had first brought news of Katya to the Trevi. She could see that he remembered her as well. He grinned and hefted his axe in anticipation.
Behind him, she could see Elias, wincing with pain, fruitlessly reaching for his sword. Another of the guards saw this too and laughed.
“Look, he’s still trying to fight,” he said.
The rest of the guards laughed as well, then turned their backs on him as though he were no threat.
Liana’s brows knit together in a glare of loathing and she raised her sword and charged at the first of the guards. He clearly hadn’t been expecting such a brazen attack. He stumbled backwards, flailing with his weapon, a heavy mace. Liana dodged his blows and pulled her sword neatly across his exposed throat. She landed nimbly on her feet as he fell to the ground and raised her weapon again. The rest of the Lezarians eyed her with a bit more respect.
What followed was nothing more than a brawl. The men all converged on Liana at once. She had the upper hand at first with her magic, but they seemed to have some kind of defense against direct magical attacks. She had to resort to ripping stones from the walls and hurtling them at her attackers or blowing gusts of wind at the torches so that they sent sparks flying into the men’s faces. She managed to scatter them and brought down one more. It took too long though, and another caught her around the waist, pinning her arms to her side. She twisted her wrist to try and strike him with her sword, but it was no use.
“We’ve got her,” her captor said. “Now what to do with her? She’s a pretty one, might be worth some sport, eh, Ruslan?”
Liana gritted her teeth and strained every muscle in her body as she tried to break free. The man only laughed.
“Hmm,” Ruslan said thoughtfully. “Could be, but we’ll need to quiet her down a bit first.”
Liana barely had time to brace herself before the man’s fist smashed into her stomach. The blow knocked all the wind out of her. She gasped for breath.
“That’s more like it,” Ruslan said with a smile.
The next strike hit her ribs, shortly followed by one in the face. Liana let out a whimper of pain. She tasted blood and spat, but looked back up into Ruslan’s face, her eyes narrowed with hatred.
“Hmph,” Ruslan said. “I prefer mine more submissive. You do as you like, but be quick about it and then—“ His voice choked off, and he looked down with a shocked expression as the tip of a bloody sword em
erged from his chest.
“What--?” Liana felt her captor’s grip loosen in surprise for just an instant. It was all she needed. With a mighty heave, she pulled herself free and snatched a dagger from the belt at her waist. The man had only half recovered his wits when Liana drove the knife home and kicked his body away.
She turned back to face Ruslan, but he lay still on the ground, a wide red stain gathering beneath him. Where he had been, Elias stood, his sword held weakly in his right hand, his left clutching the wound in his stomach. As she watched in horror, his knees trembled, and she stepped to his side just in time to catch him as he fell.
“Are you alright?” he asked weakly.
Liana fought back a hysterical urge to laugh. “I’ll live.”
“Well, that makes one of us,” Elias said, grimacing in an attempt at a smile.
“Don’t say that,” Liana said. “I’ll have you fixed up in a minute.” She looked around desperately for some kind of water to use for healing, but even as she did, she knew it was no use. Elias placed his hand on hers and shook his head.
“It’s no good,” he said.
Liana wiped tears from her eyes. “No,” she said. “No.” Something was welling up inside her. Grief, fear, and anger all fought for control, but underneath them was a growing feeling of heartbreak and loss that didn’t seem like it belonged to her.
“Is that you,” Elias said. “Are you there?”
Liana suddenly realized that her hands had come up to touch Elias’ face tenderly, without her quite knowing how they had got there. Frightened, she tried to quell the alien emotions, but they wouldn’t be suppressed. When she regained awareness, she found herself clutching Elias to her and choking with sobs. Finally, she understood.
“You were in love, weren’t you?” Liana said. “You and the Mother of Magic. Why didn’t you ever tell me?”
“I love you too well yourself to lay that burden on you, sweet lady,” Elias said, patting her arm weakly. “From the moment you wrapped your arms around me at the Koval Retreat as a child, you have been the daughter I was never lucky enough to have in truth.”