Angst Box Set 1

by David Pedersen

  “Something terribly wrong has happened.” Angst got to all fours slowly and took several deep breaths. “I don’t know what it is, but Rose is in trouble. Chryslaenor is in trouble. We need to leave.”

  Dallow stared at his friend, waiting for more, but Angst was currently more concerned with breathing and living, so Dallow turned to Hector instead.

  “Are you going to stop us from leaving?” Hector asked the Earth elemental.

  “I will not stop you from returning to the castle,” she said. “But do not get involved in my war. This is not open to negotiation.”

  Hector turned away from her without another word. He looked over his bedraggled team, focusing lastly on Rook. “You could probably join one of us on our swifen.”

  “I’ll get back myself. Don’t worry about me,” Rook said stoutly.

  “I don’t think you could fight off a herd of cats much less survive another attack by those green monsters,” Tarness warned as he summoned his swifen.

  “I should come with, you can use me, but I’ll see Rook home safe,” Jaden offered. “Do you want me to take Scar too?”

  “No,” Angst said as he stood. “No, thank you, but he has to come with us.”

  “Good man,” Hector said, clasping arms with Jaden. “Thank you.”

  Angst nodded in agreement and attempted several times to summon his swifen. It finally appeared as the rattled patchwork ram he’d first created. The others were already mounted by the time Angst crawled weakly onto the ram, bringing it about to face Earth.

  “Leave me and mine alone,” he warned, his voice tired but sincere. “Or I’ll blow you to pieces.”

  Angst continued staring at the earth maiden, who said nothing in reply. He nodded once to Jaden and Rook before departing with the others.

  “I take my leave of you, young humans. Enjoy what remains of your brief life,” she said to Rook and Jaden.

  “Wait, I have a question,” Jaden said.

  “What is that?” she asked with her last grain of tolerance.

  “How were you able to talk to us when it was so loud?” Jaden asked. “It felt like you were communicating through the ground.”

  “You mean earthspeak?” she asked.

  “Can you teach me?”

  15

  They traveled as fast as Angst’s swifen would allow, but what should’ve taken mere hours of pushing their swifen to their limits stretched into a tedious day-and-a-half long trip, interrupted by stops and starts. The pain rolled over Angst in waves. It wasn’t until a six-hour break that included actual sleep that most of it subsided. Angst was weak and shaky, but no longer felt like his intestines were being torn out by hands of ice and fire.

  Scar, however, was not recovering, or was recovering more slowly. Dallow had draped the limp puppy across his swifen. He did his best to pet and comfort the pup, but there was little else he could do. The only reaction Scar would give to the attention was an occasional raised eyebrow and pathetic whines.

  “How could anything that happened to Chryslaenor have caused this?” Tarness asked, his low voice filled with concern.

  “I guess I understand how Angst could be affected, but why the dog?” Hector questioned in a rough voice testy from travel. He was a mess of wild hair, dirt, and sweat. He looked itchy.

  “I healed Scar with the foci,” Angst observed. “Chryslaenor is in enough trouble, enough pain, that we’re both affected.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense, Angst,” Hector growled. “How could a sword feel pain?”

  “I don’t know,” Angst replied simply.

  When they arrived at the castle grounds on the second day, clouds had already brought on an early dusk. Without pause for formality, or guards, they rode their swifen past the castle entrance, through the castle, and into the broken great hall. Shocked soldiers grouped near the doorway, many of whom hadn’t seen the strange-looking swifen before. After Angst and his friends dismounted, the swifen disappeared—making the soldiers jump back in surprise. Angst wanted to calm everyone, but didn’t have the patience to gloss over the appearance of magic.

  He stood over the place where he’d driven Chryslaenor into the ground, trapping magic, and saving Unsel. The giant sword was gone. Angst looked around in panic. Hector and Tarness were already on their knees, analyzing the scorch marks left by the lightning strike and the deeply scarred trail of broken floor.

  “What happened here?” Angst asked a young, fresh-cheeked soldier near the door.

  “It was Rose, Angst,” Victoria said as the soldiers made way for her to enter the room.

  Angst walked to her and gave her a full-armed hug that he cut short when he remembered where he was. As he pulled away, he could see the worry painted on her face. That brief embrace had been enough to show her that he was in pain. Dying. He bowed in an attempt to correct his error, quietly admonishing himself for both the breach of protocol and causing her to worry.

  “Your Majesty,” Dallow interrupted as he walked over and bowed briefly. “I don’t understand. You said Rose did this?” Victoria nodded, avoiding his eyes. “But that’s impossible. Where is she?”

  “We need to talk, Angst,” Victoria said under her breath, avoiding Dallow’s questions.

  “We need to talk right now,” Isabelle screeched as she stormed into the room, followed closely by Captain Guard Tyrell. “Everyone leave! If I find any of you within hearing distance, you will lose your ears.”

  There was a great racket as full-armored soldiers did their best to sprint from the old throne room.

  “How could Rose have done this?” Angst demanded, turning away from Victoria to face Isabelle.

  “No, Angst. You first. What is happening to my kingdom?” the queen squawked loudly. “What happened at Cliffview?”

  “Yes, Your Majesty,” Angst replied snappily, his jaw set in frustration. She was right—Unsel was more important than one person, or his sword—but he worried about Rose.

  “Ehrde is at war, and we didn’t even know,” Angst said. “The physical embodiments of the elements—Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Magic—are preparing to battle. Water directly attacked Cliffview and has been eating away at Unsel—creating giant sinkholes that are filling with water.”

  The queen looked at Angst in disbelief. She scrunched up her nose and turned to Tyrell, who shrugged.

  “The sinkholes are heading straight for the castle,” Angst warned. “And there’s nothing we can do to stop them. At least, not right now.”

  “What else?” Tyrell asked, not sounding convinced.

  “They’re protected by giant water guardians and, according to Earth, will be here within a month,” Tarness added.

  Based on Isabelle and Tyrell’s shocked looks, this wasn’t what they were expecting. Victoria stared at her mother in exasperation, shooting her daggers of ‘I told you so.’

  “Rose didn’t bring you the sword?” Tyrell accused.

  “Bring me the...? What are you talking about?” Angst snapped, taking a step forward defensively.

  Queen Isabelle straightened and patted Tyrell’s arm to quiet him, as though sweeping his theory under a rug.

  “You said sinkholes and the creatures will be here in a month?” Isabelle asked. “And there’s nothing we can do to stop it?”

  “Nothing right now,” Angst corrected.

  Isabelle sighed in resignation, looking from Tyrell to Victoria to Angst’s friends and then finally at Angst. “What do you need?”

  “I need my sword!” Angst roared, making everyone lurch in surprise. “Without a foci,” Angst went on, forcing his voice to calm, “there is nothing I can do to protect Unsel.”

  “Which brings us back to my question,” Dallow said, finally seizing his chance to speak. “Where is Rose?”

  “Something...happened to her,” Victoria said. She covered her hand with her mouth and spoke through her fingers. “She attacked me and I was forced to defend myself by stabbing her hand.”

  “What?” asked Dallow
.

  “I felt awful, Mr. Dallow,” Victoria said, looking apologetic, “but I had no choice. I think something happened to her. She was behaving very strangely, and when she ran out of the room, her hand was bleeding and she was holding her eye.”

  “How exactly did she attack you?” Dallow asked accusingly, but at everyone’s stares added a hasty, “Your Majesty.”

  Victoria made eye contact with Angst, not wanting to have to explain how she knew Rose was preparing to steal her health.

  “She must not be in her right mind,” Angst interrupted, resting a hand on Dallow’s shoulder. “Does anyone know how she stole away with Chryslaenor?”

  “There were few witnesses, Angst,” Tyrell answered. “The blade was surrounded by a dark lightning that killed anyone who got too close. Though one person said the lightning actually seemed to come from Rose.”

  “It was her eye,” Dallow said, looking at the queen. “When Rose healed you she must have absorbed more than your injury.”

  Isabelle instinctively reached up to the scars around her right eye and shivered, obviously remembering the horrific attack by the steel-beaked birds, and the cursed eye the host of Air had given her that almost took over her mind.

  “We don’t know where she is,” said Tyrell, finally answering the question. “Her trail went cold outside the castle.”

  The room quieted as everyone contemplated the significance of the day’s events. Angst looked up through the broken ceiling to see dark clouds churning above. Nausea coursed through him, pulled by a wave of pain.

  “What are we going to do without Chryslaenor?” Hector asked Angst. “You need a foci now!”

  “What do you mean without Chryslaenor?” Dallow said in surprise. “We find Rose and get it back!”

  “Dallow, there may not be time,” Hector said apologetically.

  “Of course there is—”

  “Angst, you once said you had an idea about what to do next,” Victoria interrupted.

  “At the party you threw, when I first wielded Chryslaenor, King Gaarder of Melkier said there was another sword,” Angst answered, swallowing hard to keep his stomach in check. “I believe he knows where Dulgirgraut is.”

  Dallow stared at him, disbelief in his brown eyes. “You want to go to Melkier?” He shook his head and clenched his fists. “Angst, if we go to Melkier, how will we find Rose?”

  “You cannot leave. We need you to stay and defend the kingdom from the threat of water,” Tyrell stated firmly.

  At this, his friends began arguing with Tyrell.

  “That’s enough,” Angst yelled as loudly as he could. A small piece of ceiling dropped, shattering as it struck the dirty marble floor. “I need to speak with Victoria. Alone.”

  “What?” Hector asked in surprise.

  “This isn’t the time,” Tyrell snapped.

  “I agree that we need a private conversation with Mr. Angst,” Isabelle said firmly in her high-pitched voice. “Tyrell and Victoria, please stay. The rest of you can wait outside.”

  In a loud mass of grumbling and discontent, Angst’s friends stomped out of the room, leaving behind a frustrated wake that could only be soothed by apologies and mead. Angst sighed deeply at their departure.

  “Thank you, Your Majesty,” Angst said, bowing his head before turning to peer intently at Victoria. “I need to know what you see.”

  “No, this isn’t right,” Tyrell snapped, gripping his sword. “You aren’t supposed to know!”

  “Don’t be a fool, Tyrell. Of course he knows,” Isabelle said, crisp as a thin sheet of ice. “Shut up or you can leave too!”

  Tyrell was barely contained at the end of his leash, bitterly upset at Victoria’s secret being spoken of so casually, and out loud. Angst ignored him, keeping his focus on Victoria. She seemed to pale as her eyes flashed between Angst and her mother, worried now that he could be in danger. The queen nodded at the young princess without a hint of disappointment or concern.

  “I know it’s hard for you to ‘see’ around the foci, but I’m not bonded to it now. I need you to tell me about my future. I need you to try,” Angst encouraged.

  Victoria’s hands were trembling as she glanced at the queen and Tyrell one last time before looking into Angst’s eyes. She reached out and took his hands. The queen rested hers on Tyrell’s arm once more to calm the Captain Guard. Victoria breathed deep, trying to let herself fall into a trance-like state.

  “I can’t do it!” she said, attempting to get away from Angst. “It’s too much. I’m scared now, that they might...”

  Angst kept holding her hands. He moved closer, too close, as close as she normally stood when her mother wasn’t right next to them.

  “I’m in no danger from your mother or Tyrell, Tori,” Angst said quietly. “I know you can do this.”

  He continued pulling her until his chest touched hers. Until her cheek rested against his. The queen clicked her tongue and sighed loudly in disgust, but said nothing further.

  Minutes crawled by as Victoria tried sifting through Angst’s futures, pushing aside thick cobwebs of what he wanted, what could happen, and what she wanted. She could see so many paths that lead directly to his death; it was everything she could do to keep from pulling away. But he held her close, helping her stay calm and focus. Finally, she found it: a thin trail that led to survival, to success, and to something that made her shudder to her core.

  She knew it was the only way.

  Victoria let go and inched back, tears streaming down her cheeks. Angst eyed the tears with concern—the future had never made her cry before.

  “What did you see, Tori?” Angst asked hopefully, his voice a gentle whisper.

  “Dulgirgraut,” Victoria said as she pulled her hands from Angst’s and swiped her cheeks. “We need to go to Melkier. There is a chance that will work. A chance.”

  “Thank you, Your Majesty. That’s what I’ll do. I’ll... Wait. You said we,” Angst said, his face suddenly panic-stricken.

  “Yes.” Victoria nodded, now smiling innocently. This was her one opportunity to leave, just as Heather had suggested. She swallowed hard and looked at Angst bravely. “You need me, Angst. You’ll die if I don’t come with. There’s only one path and—”

  “Oh, this is absurd!” Tyrell roared, starting toward Angst. Once again, the queen held him back. He looked at her in shock, but she nodded at Angst.

  “I agree with Tyrell,” Angst said, verbally stamping out Victoria’s hope. “There’s absolutely no way I would bring you on such a dangerous trip.”

  “Dangerous?” Victoria said defiantly. “King Gaarder adores me! There’s no danger in me visiting Melkier.”

  “No!” Angst growled.

  “But you’ll die!” she wailed.

  “I said no!” Angst shouted in panic. He hated this. He had never hurt Victoria in any way before. “Don’t you understand? Look at what’s happened to Rose. If anything happened to you, I—”

  Victoria slapped him across the face as hard as she could and ran out of the room in tears.

  Angst adjusted his jaw, moving it left to right before making embarrassed eye contact with the queen and Tyrell.

  “I’m sorry, Your Majesty. I just couldn’t bear it if she were hurt,” Angst said, looking down at the ground. “I meant no disrespect to your daughter.”

  “Go now, Angst,” the queen said. “Make haste. Go find your foci so you can save Unsel once more.”

  “Yes, Your Majesty.” Angst stood up straight, bowed to the Queen and nodded once to Tyrell before striding out of the room.

  “That was the first thing he said today that made sense,” Tyrell said as Angst left the room.

  “I’m not sure about that, old friend,” the queen remarked, looking about her broken throne room longingly.

  Angst jogged down the empty corridor to find his friends. Hoping to take a shortcut, he turned into a small, dark corridor that servants used when the throne room was active. In his rush, Angst crashed into her. H
e grabbed her arms to steady himself and to keep her from falling over.

  “Your Grace,” Angst said in surprise to Alloria. “I’m sor—”

  He broke off to goggle at her. Her nightshirt was short and low cut. It covered very little, and where it wasn’t baby pink, it was sheer. Every breath she took left little to the imagination, and it was so jarring to see her like this, after his last several days, that Angst feared his reaction was offensive. Until she giggled and made a vain attempt to tug her nightie down, exposing even more of her breasts.

  “Are you okay? I didn’t mean to...” He kept looking from her eyes to her ample cleavage, to the rest of her. Angst was pretty sure he was still too weak from the ordeal with Chryslaenor to face the young woman as she was right now.

  “I heard you’re leaving me. Again.” She bit her full bottom lip. “Were you going to say goodbye?”

  “Of course,” Angst lied, and she leaned her head to one side in disbelief. “I’m sorry, Alloria. Standing here and talking would be a lot more...interesting than what I have to go do, but I don’t even have time to explain.”

  Alloria looked restrained, as if there were something she wanted to say but couldn’t. She lifted up one bare knee and stomped gently on the ground.

  “Are you okay?” Angst said, worried that something might be wrong. “I do have to go, but I’ve got a moment.”

  Alloria reached between her full breasts and pulled out a ruby ring that hung from a necklace. Where had that come from, and how she could have possibly hidden it within the little she wore? His cheeks heated. Being here with her, especially like this, was very wrong, which made him restless and in a hurry to leave. She hesitantly slipped the necklace from her neck, stood on her tiptoes and leaned forward to place it around his.

  “I can’t take this from you,” Angst said with a dry throat.

  “This ring was a gift from my parents. I believe this is the reason I made it safely out of Cliffview.” She looked at him hopefully.

  Angst swam briefly in her large eyes, where the water was very warm.