Night Queen (Elven-Trinity Book 6)

by Mark Albany

  “How do you know that it would work?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.

  “I don’t,” she admitted, shaking her head. “But something needs to be done, and I don’t have any other ideas.”

  I sighed. “We are struggling as well.”

  “Finding a way to reach Abarat would be worth the effort, I think,” she said softly. “I need to return. It has been a life-savor to see you again, Grant. Please let my sisters know that I miss them.”

  “I will,” I said, trying to fight tears back as the sudden urge to pull away struck me. “We’ll see you again soon.”

  “I hope so,” she whispered.

  9

  The world fell away as the mist, the forest, and Aliana herself suddenly vanished from my sight. I wanted to protest, but something strangled my throat, holding me back as I fought to remain with her. But she slipped through my fingers anyway, as did the rest of the world, or so it felt.

  And in that instant, control came back to my body as I shot out of the warmth of the makeshift bed that I’d formed out of the blankets that we had brought with us and the leaves and bracken of the forest, jerking around and trying to reach for my sword as my lungs were suddenly full of cool, morning air, eyes wide and looking around for a threat. Or Aliana. I wasn’t sure which I would find.

  And I found neither. We were still in the forest, and the other four were still around me, keeping the camp warm despite the cool fall air. I could feel a hint of winter in it.

  Ordinarily, I would have enjoyed the cool air. I preferred the cold over the heat of the summer months, but this time all it made me feel was sick, though the temperature had little to do with it. Not seeing Aliana anymore was enough to sink my heart to my gut as I looked around the campsite.

  At first, none of the others noticed that I was awake, seeming to be deep in sleep themselves. Braire, who had been asleep with her head laid on my chest grumbled and groaned something but quickly fell silent once more.

  It was only when Norel gently pushed herself up from where she had been sleeping next to Lyth that I realized that I’d woken her up.

  “Is everything alright?” she whispered, turning to face me, rubbing some of the sleep out of her eyes. “How is your side?”

  I pushed myself up from my make-shift bed and moved over to help her up as well. We carefully moved away from where the rest were still sleeping, collecting our clothes and dressing before heading away from the where the fire had already died down to embers.

  “My side is fine, thank you,” I said once we were far enough away from the others so that we wouldn’t disturb their rest. “You should know better than most that your abilities are beyond question at this point.”

  The sun was still almost an hour away from rising, and I could sense that we weren’t going to have much time to sleep and rest in the coming days. Best to just leave them to what little time to relax that we still had.

  Norel blushed gently and leaned in to place a kiss to my cheek. “Well, I never do tire of hearing your compliments, so maybe I just needed to hear that. But I do know that something is the matter with you. Something is agitating you and it has nothing to do with my abilities.”

  I nodded, leaning my back against a nearby tree and crossing my arms in front of my chest. “I had a dream. Well, I think it was a dream, although I have suspicions that it might not have been.”

  “How deep do those suspicions run?” Norel asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “Deeper than I am comfortable with,” I replied, shaking my head. “In the dream, I thought that I was in the forest, like we are now, only there was a heavy mist and... well, Aliana appeared to me in the dream.”

  The sensation that I felt from Norel was partially surprised, with a hint of hope, and more than enough suspicion to drown the rest out as she tilted her head. “Tell me more about it.”

  “Aliana said that this was the only way for her to contact me,” I said, surprised by how easy it was to recall the dream in question. Most of those tended to slip away before I could even address them. “She said that... well, Abarat was the one who had broken the connection between her and everyone else out of spite for losing control of the emperor.”

  “That does sound like Abarat,” she admitted. “But I will say that I didn’t know it was possible. It sounds like it could be done, but I wouldn’t even begin to know how he did it.”

  I nodded. “I thought the same, but... well, interestingly enough, it was not the most memorable part of what she told me. She said that we would need to find and help her, and in doing so, stop Abarat.”

  “More or less what we were trying to figure out how to do anyway,” Norel said, rubbing her chin gently. “She didn’t happen to tell you where he was, did she?”

  “No,” I said, shaking my head. “Well, not as such. She said that she was being held in a cell that had been warded to keep her from being able to use her power. She was just able to project herself from her position to enter into my dreams, though I’m unsure as to why she came to me and not you or Braire.”

  Norel nodded, appearing to be wondering the same. “Even so, it would appear that this was more than a dream. Did she tell you how we were going to find our way to Abarat? Or where he was, and how we were supposed to reach him?”

  “Not where he was, no,” I replied. “But she did have an idea as to how we would be able to reach him. She was talking about how you and she headed up north into the mountains during the war. How you encountered a pair of beasts that were capable of opening portals and you learned while fighting them how to do it yourselves.”

  Norel nodded. “I remember. More importantly, I know for a fact that we didn’t tell you about what happened in those mountains. Well, I didn’t, and I’m fairly certain that Aliana was equally tight-lipped about the encounter. It was not pleasant for either of us, and while we were able to learn an important skill in those caves, it was not something that either of us wanted to revisit in the near future.”

  I nodded, reaching out to place a hand on her shoulder.

  She smiled, covering my hand with hers. “I think that your suspicions were correct. The details are too... well, I don’t believe in coincidences, and so the knowledge that was imparted had to have come from Aliana.”

  “You really think so?” I asked. “But what about your doubts on the breaking of the connection?”

  “I’d say that the chances of Abarat knowing how to break a bond like ours is higher than you pulling an incident that happened over a hundred years ago from thin air,” Norel pointed out.

  “What got pulled out of thin air?” Braire asked, yawning as she pulled her clothes on as well.

  I turned to see the woman standing only a few feet away from me, not having made a sound as she approached.

  “Well, in all honesty, it would appear that Aliana is not only alive, but still able to help us, somewhat,” Norel explained, tilting her head, looking to me to provide the rest with the same explanation that she had given me.

  I took a deep breath. “Well... in a way, yes, that is more or less what happened. I had a dream that Aliana came to me and said that we might have a chance to figure out how to open a portal to bypass the army, and to take us to where Abarat is, but it would take us away from the rest of the army and have us miss out on the opening stages of the fighting.”

  “As we were thinking to do anyways,” Lyth pointed out. “How did she think that we would be able to do that, though?”

  “In the dream she mentioned that she and Norel fought a pair of beasts that proved to be more than a match for the two of them,” I explained. “The two beasts were able to open portals and through them, they were able to learn how to do the same.”

  “Is that true?” Braire asked. “Is that how it happened?”

  Norel nodded. “We just barely made it out with our lives.”

  “How come you never told me about it?” Braire asked, moving over to the woman who was her sister in all but blood, gently squeezing her shoulder.
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br />   “It was... well, fairly traumatic,” Norel said. “And a little embarrassing, if I’m being frank. Aliana and I were sent to investigate a group of humans who were supposed to have been discovering a new and powerful weapon that could have been used against us during the war. The threat was enough to alarm our leaders enough at the time to send the two of us off to make sure that the weapon in question did not fall into their hands.”

  I hadn’t been a part of the war, and so it was interesting to learn what those who had been went through. Even so, I could tell that it was difficult for Norel to talk about it, and not only from the sinking feeling that was spreading from her to the rest of us. She didn’t enjoy recalling what happened, but appeared to be ready to push through it for us.

  “When we arrived up in the mountains, there were signs that the humans had been there, but none of the humans themselves,” she continued. “They had made camp and even started exploring the area, but we couldn’t find them anywhere. Not even bodies had been left behind, although there were tracks leading into a cave, but none coming out. We went inside and... well, they were in there.”

  “The bodies?” Lyth asked, tilting her head.

  “Yes, those too,” Norel said, taking a deep breath. “The monsters were waiting for us. Even in the darkness, they could move through the portals without any effort, using magic like nothing we’d ever seen. It was only when we saw the runes in their skin starting to glow that we were able to understand how they were able to do it, and we only just managed to escape the caves by using those same runes. It wasn’t a pleasant experience for either of us, but at least we were lucky enough to survive, which could not be said of the humans. And we had discovered the weapon that they were there to try and collect.”

  “The beasts, or the ability to open portals?” I wondered, tilting my head.

  “I guess we’ll never know,” Norel said, shrugging. “Maybe both, but they had to know that taking monsters that deadly and that intelligent, not to mention powerful, would be a difficult prospect to begin with.”

  “I suppose that it would be interesting to ask, but how is it that Aliana expects us to be able to survive something that the two of you barely escaped from?” Faye asked, cocking an eyebrow.

  “I guess the fact that there are five of us means that we should be powerful enough to be able to put up a fight,” Norel said, shrugging her shoulders. “That and the fact that we are desperate and need a way to get to Abarat before the battle turns into a charnel house.”

  I nodded, turning to the four women that were with me, the four that I trusted more in the world bar maybe one.

  “What do you all think?” I asked.

  They exchanged a few glances, and, unsurprisingly, Braire was the first to speak.

  “Moving that far north would isolate us from the rest of the army,” the beast mistress said, crossing her arms. “As well as cutting the rest of the army from us, should they need our help.”

  “The emperor is powerful enough to protect them from anything that Abarat can throw their way,” Faye pointed out. “Not for the long term, but for long enough, should they need him to step up. And if we can find a way to take Abarat out of the fight permanently, it would give them the advantage that they need to win the battle.”

  “On the downside,” Lyth said,” if we are caught by enemy forces out in the open and without any kind of support... well, we could make a dent in their forces, but not nearly enough. We could be easily attacked and overwhelmed and prove not to be of any use to anybody.”

  “All very good points,” I said in a soft voice. “None of us are going to be forced into heading into a situation that they are not comfortable going into. There are enough dangers for us to face without adding doubts to our situation. There can be no doubts about what we’re going to do.”

  The women exchanged glances once more, and while there was a hint of hesitation at first, there seemed to be something of an unspoken determination between them.

  “What do you think?” Braire finally asked.

  I paused, taking a moment to ponder my words before speaking. “I think that if there is a chance for us to save lives by removing Abarat and the threat of a coordinated horde from the field of battle, I think we need to take it. It will be dangerous, and possibly foolish, and it could end with all of us dead without having accomplished anything. Even so... I think that it would be the best use of our talents.”

  “Then we are with you,” Braire said, reaching out and placing a hand on my shoulder, squeezing it gently.

  “It... well, are you sure?” I asked, looking around, and they all nodded.

  “We’re standing with you, Grant,” Braire said. “We always have, and we always will.”

  “Well, I haven’t always,” Faye said. “At least not in action. My intention has always been to, however. That is what counts, yes?”

  I couldn’t help a small smile as I nodded. “I do appreciate the trust that you all have in me. I’ll endeavor to prove myself worthy of it.”

  Lyth came in next to me and pressed a light kiss to my cheek. “You have already.”

  The comment made me grin like an idiot. “It’s decided then. We’ll pack up camp and head up to where Norel remembers that she encountered the beasts and hope that we find them again.”

  They all agreed and started heading back to our campsite, but I touched Faye on the shoulder, indicating with my head to stay for a moment.

  “What is it?” she wondered once the others were out of earshot. “Feel like a little loving before we head off? I’d like it, but it might make the rest of them a little jealous.”

  I blinked. “I... well, maybe not now, but maybe later.”

  “Then how can I help you?”

  “I was wondering if I could ask you something,” I said, keeping my voice down. “It might be difficult for you to answer, and if you have no intention of talking about it, I’d understand.”

  The fae woman nodded, brushing a few strands of hair from her face.

  “Can you tell me what it was like to be under Abarat’s control as you were?” I asked. “It’s an odd question to ask, I know, and if you would rather not talk about it, I’d understand, but know that I have my reasons, even if I cannot reveal them to you now.”

  Faye’s eyes narrowed, but there didn’t appear to be any kind of annoyance over my persistence, not over the odd question or the fact that I wasn’t going to share my reasons for prying.

  There was curiosity, but no anger on her part.

  “Well, at its core, it appeals to a basic side of your mind, pulling and tugging you,” she explained. “Nothing you do seems unnatural until you look back at it and realize that the thing that you did was somehow something that you wouldn’t do. The longer that you spend under his control, the more you realize that what you’re doing is someone else’s actions through you. It comes to the point where you are just... sitting in your body, watching yourself do one horrifying thing after another.”

  I nodded, and she could tell that I was feeling a little disappointed by what she told me as she leaned in and wrapped her arms around me.

  “He’ll be using Aliana’s altered form against her,” she whispered. “The change into a dark djinn will be his hold on her mind, allowing him to influence her and warp her mind away from what she knows that she is. It’s her weakness, but your strength. There’s something in Ali that wants to come back to what she was and who she was with. If you can find a way to draw her to you... that would be how to break Abarat’s hold.”

  I smiled, leaning in to place a light kiss on her forehead. “Thank you, Faye.”

  “Of course,” she said with a smile.

  10

  Our group started heading further and further north, evading the growing numbers of undead that were starting to head deeper into the area. We couldn’t see any of them engaging with the army that was already assembled to stop them, although word was spreading of smaller skirmishes happening in the periphery of where th
e real battle would commence. Most of them saw victories for the humans, but not all. Nothing that we heard told us anything encouraging.

  It was all building up to something, of course. Abarat was testing the edges of the conflict, trying to find weaknesses to exploit. Most of the troops would still be heading steadily south, of course. There were too many of them to fight without suffering heavy casualties, which was why they had elected to stay away from larger groups, funneling the whole troop into the war zone the emperor had prepared.

  Everything was building up to the battle that would give the living the best chance that they would have against the dead, but it was still not going to be enough. Not to my mind, anyways. Every once in a while, even as we were sticking to the wooded areas, trying our hardest not to be caught out in the open, we could still catch glimpses of the armies that were being gathered.

  And sometimes, more than glimpses.

  I dropped down to my knees, wiping my sword clean of the blood and gore that was covering it from the beasts that we had spent our time killing. The scouting groups were getting more and more frequent the closer that we got to the main army, and the more we needed to keep the fights quick and decisive to avoid collecting the attention of the rest. Those fights that we could avoid were avoided.

  It seemed that even if Abarat knew that we were moving around his force, he didn’t really care. There were enough of them continuously heading south that it didn’t appear that they cared about what any small group was doing.

  That, or maybe Abarat assumed that we were just scouting, and would be heading back to the main force before the fighting started. I couldn’t assume that he didn’t know where we were, of course, since he had to have at least sensed our movements.