by Megg Jensen
The two elves exchanged a glance, but Alyna could see Lymetyrr wouldn’t help them.
Reluctantly, she ascended the staircase and stood next to Nemia. The orc exuded power Alyna couldn’t begin to match. Even with Vron at her side, plotting to escape Nemia had been perilous. Without Vron next to her, Alyna felt utterly helpless.
Nemia led them into a bedroom, where two others were already waiting. Ylantri, the healer from the encampment, stood to one side, and Alyna noticed the shriveled human laying in the bed. It was the same human she had encountered outside the orc camp when the ghost invasion began. Once again she thought he looked familiar.
“Damor, we have guests,” Nemia said. “Alyna and Kazrack, meet Damor, the human dark mage who will help me finally recapture my kingdom.”
Alyna gasped. Damor. Not Benin, as he’d been referred to before. She knew the name. He was the mage who’d made an attempt on her life when she sought to help the orcs defend the pass from the humans. No wonder he seemed familiar. His face had been hidden from her then, but his aura was filled with darkness. She should have known.
Anger stoked deep inside her. Not only did she have to face Nemia, but also this dark mage. Both of them wanted her dead. After everything she’d done to fight back against darkness, she’d managed to walk directly into the hornets’ nest.
A new resolve steeled inside her. Vron had died trying to defend everyone. She would no longer hide behind his death. It was time to fight back.
Chapter 38
Ylantri eyed the two new arrivals. She had met them both before, but what were they doing here? And how would they alter the dynamic that was forming? Damor and Nemia were clearly creating an alliance—one Ylantri wasn’t fully comfortable with. Would bringing these two into the mix complicate matters or simplify them?
The faun glared at Damor. “I thought I killed you.”
He cackled. “Ah, so you recognize me now?”
Ylantri was confused. Alyna tried to kill Damor? When? And most importantly, why?
“I won’t fail the next time,” Alyna promised, venom dripping from her words.
Ylantri stepped between the two. “Stop it, both of you. I don’t know what this is about, but we have bigger problems to deal with now.” She pointed out the window. “Those ghosts are out to kill all of us. If we just band together, we can—”
“Will you silence her, or should I?” Nemia said to Damor. She rolled her eyes at Ylantri. “Really. You’re so tiresome. I don’t know why he keeps you around.”
Ylantri’s anger burst forth. “Damor doesn’t speak for me. No one does. Don’t you dare treat me like a pet. I am my own woman.”
“It’s nice to see the three of you getting along so well,” Alyna said.
“You can shut your mouth, pathetic faun,” Nemia retorted.
“It’s a pity you’re still acting on your evil tendencies.” Alyna sounded both exhausted and frustrated. “Part of me thought perhaps Azlinar was a bad influence over you.”
Nemia pushed her hair behind her ears, exposing her birthmark to all of them. “This is what makes me evil. Not Azlinar. I was born this way.”
Alyna laughed. “You think a birthmark is what makes you evil? It’s not. It’s what’s inside you. Sad, but true. Don’t use your physical differences as a defense.” She turned to Ylantri. “And you. I thought you were a healer. Why are you fraternizing with the likes of these two?”
“I am a healer,” said Ylantri. “Damor is one of my patients. And I only recently met Nemia.”
“Are you aware she is the cause of these ghosts? She led the undead army into the encampment. It is her fault so many orcs died.” Although Alyna addressed Ylantri, she kept her fiery glare on Nemia the entire time she spoke.
It was clear to Ylantri that there was a personal vendetta between the faun and Nemia. But if what Alyna said was true… if Nemia really was the cause of the orc battles…
Ylantri turned to Damor. “I think we ought to reconsider our most recent alliance.”
“No. We have to partner with Nemia. It is the only way.” Damor crooked a finger, beckoning her closer, as he took a shuddering breath.
Ylantri went to his side. She sat on the edge of the bed, took his hand in hers, and leaned down so he could whisper in her ear.
“I don’t know if I can ever retrieve the one item that will heal me. Without that, I need someone like Nemia to bolster my life force. Her magic is strong. Without it…”
Ylantri’s heart lurched at the thought of losing Damor. She’d come to care for the shriveled human. He was the only one who’d ever seen her true identity and not feared her. She’d never realized how much she craved that normalcy until she experienced it.
“Is there anything I can do to help you? I’ll do anything. You can trust me.” Ylantri squeezed his hand gently. “Please, Damor. Let me help you.”
His eyes rolled into the back of his head, then his eyelids snapped shut. He convulsed, his body shaking with the spasms.
Ylantri released his hand, grabbed a broken piece of wood from the floor, and shoved it in his mouth to keep him from biting down on his tongue. Beyond that, what could she do? She didn’t understand how he lived without a soul in the first place. It should be impossible.
After a few moments that took an eternity to pass, Damor’s seizures stopped and his eyes fluttered open. “It has returned to me.”
“What?” Ylantri asked.
“I cannot retrieve it. I need you to do it for me,” he said, his voice raspy.
“Retrieve what? How?” Ylantri feared she wouldn’t like Damor’s answer.
“I can transport you there. But you will have to find your way back on your own. This will be the last of my magic. I need you to help me. Only you.” He reached up with a shaking hand and touched her hair. “Don’t let anyone see the real you. No one understands you the way I do.”
Ylantri rarely allowed anyone to see her true visage. It was too frightening for… well, for anyone other than Damor. “Where are you sending me? What exactly am I looking for?”
“You will know it when you see it.”
“Can you tell me more than that?”
“No. I lost it years ago. Even I couldn’t find it. But you have to, or none of us will get out of this alive. I need you to be my legs and my arms.” He pulled back a bit until their eyes locked. “You are the only one I trust.”
Ylantri knew Damor’s heart. He wanted to stop the horrors that had befallen the orc lands. No matter his dealings with Nemia, he might be their only hope.
“I will do my best and speed back to you as quickly as possible. Now, what is this quick transport you speak of?”
Damor rested his hand on hers. “Close your eyes, Ylantri. Take a breath and hold it. You will know when to breathe again.”
Ylantri did as he instructed.
The moment she took in a breath, something punched her so hard in the chest she nearly let her lips open. But she held them shut tight even as her head began to spin and she lost all sense of balance. She was floating in space, her body spinning and spinning until she thought she could no longer take it.
She landed with a thump. She let out her breath and quickly took in another.
Then she opened her eyes.
She was surrounded by tall trees with peeling white bark and light green leaves shooting from narrow branches. She stood on shaky legs, brushing leaves from her arse. “Where am I?”
Damor’s magic hadn’t worked. He’d sent her to a forest in the middle of nowhere. How could she possibly find anything here that would help him? Perhaps his mind was receding along with his health. Or perhaps… Had he sent her away, afraid she would disturb whatever pact he’d made with Nemia?
After all, she’d shown weakness. She’d taken Alyna’s word over Nemia’s. Maybe this was her punishment.
A voice sounded in the distance. Another voice responded.
She waited, listening carefully. Just the two voices. No more.
She scurried behind a
fallen tree, hiding until she could determine whether they were friend or foe.
A human male came into view, a pack securely attached to his back. Next to him was… an umgar. Of all races, an umgar? And walking through the forest with a human? The umgar were a peaceful race, never involving themselves in the problems of the rest of the world. She’d known a few in Gailwyn, travelers satisfying a streak of wanderlust. But if there was one thing she knew, it was that an umgar would never raise a hand to another.
She sprang to her feet. “Greetings,” she called out. Wherever Damor had sent her, at least she wouldn’t have to travel alone. Perhaps these two could even tell her where she was.
“Hello,” the human said, his tone cautious. She noticed he instinctively tightened his grip on the straps of the pack slung across his back.
“Felicitations,” the umgar said. “How strange to come upon an elf in the forest.”
Ylantri laughed. “I was thinking the same about an umgar.”
“It is true,” the umgar said. “None of us belong here in orc country.”
Ylantri nodded as if she knew where she was. But the orcs’ land was wide and heavily forested. She could be anywhere.
“Are you on your way to Agitar?” the human asked. “If so, you should know evil has befallen them. It’s too dangerous. I suggest you head back the way you came.”
Ylantri pursed her lips together. She wasn’t far from Agitar, then. Her best course of action was to get back to Damor as soon as possible. Clearly, he was losing his battle. He needed her more than whatever item he’d asked her to retrieve.
“Are you headed away from there?” she asked. Perhaps they were refugees from the ghosts, though she thought she would have heard if an umgar was in Agitar. Even among the chaos, that would have been gossip worth spreading.
The human looked at her oddly. “No, we are going to Agitar. I have something that I think might help.”
“It’s magnificent. Truly!” the umgar exclaimed. “But not for the faint of heart. I agree with Ademar. You should head back to your home. Do not attempt to go to Agitar until we’ve healed it of its woes.”
“I have to go there,” Ylantri insisted. “I’m a healer. They need me there now, more than ever.”
“Ademar, she should come with us,” said the umgar. “If one of us gets hurt, she could help. An umgar, an elf, and a human walking into Agitar to defeat the evil with the power of the stone.”
“Frensia,” Ademar hissed. “Stop.”
Ylantri’s curiosity was piqued. The power of a stone? What if Damor had sent her to the right place after all? What if this stone was precisely what he’d sent her for?
“I do hope you can help Agitar,” she said, cozying up to them. “And I would be willing to assist in any way I can. Please, allow me to travel with you.”
Ademar sighed. “Fine. It’s not far. Just be on watch.”
Hope sprang in Ylantri’s chest. She only needed to get her hands on this powerful stone. If it could save Damor from whatever plagued him, she would let nothing stop her.
Chapter 39
Ademar grumbled under his breath as he stomped over logs, crunching leaves with each footstep. He had what he needed, but he didn’t know how to use it to help the orcs. And now they had this elf, Ylantri, traipsing along behind them.
Frensia at least knew what they were stepping into. They were well-prepared, even eager, to face this next challenge. But the elf had no idea what she’d stumbled upon. Had Frensia kept their mouth shut, maybe she wouldn’t have followed them into danger. But it was too late now. She was with them, whether Ademar liked it or not.
He was responsible for her and for Frensia. It was up to him to decide how they proceeded. He’d spent the last night barely sleeping, working so hard to choose his next step. His first instinct had been to take the stone to the site of the mass burial, in hopes it would call back the ghosts to their corporeal forms. But the risk was too great. He doubted he could even get close before the ghosts would attack. He needed a plan that wouldn’t get them all killed.
“It’s not far now,” he said to his two companions. The plan, such as it was, only went as far as getting to the edge of the Tingale Forest so they could see what had become of the prairie since they’d left.
“I see it.” Frensia pointed with a long silver finger to a break in the trees.
Ademar crept closer, walking without a sound. He peered through the branches, taking in the prairie. The wispy forms of the ghosts still undulated in the air, moving at a lazy pace, as if they had nothing better to do than wait for fresh meat.
His stomach sank. He had hoped the ghosts would be gone by now. That, somehow, they’d been pulled back into their graves.
Beneath the ghosts lay the twisted bodies of the orcs who had fought the ghosts, or who were cut down while fleeing. This field had seen so much death. It seemed never-ending.
“What’s happening out there?” Ylantri asked.
“Everyone’s dead,” Ademar said, his mouth set in a grimace. “Every single living being that dared touch that cursed prairie is now dead.”
“Don’t you think some got away?” Ylantri asked.
“It is doubtful,” Frensia said. “When we left, the fighting was intense. The ghosts weren’t allowing anyone to leave the prairie, or they would suck the life right out of them. We can only conclude no one made it out alive.”
“You did,” she pointed out.
“We were lucky,” Ademar said before Frensia could tell Ylantri the truth.
Ademar was already irritated that she’d learned he held a relic of power. He’d rather she didn’t know he’d used magic to leave Agitar, too. Though perhaps that part didn’t matter now. If the boy in the Fifth Sanctum was to be believed, his traveling stone was out of charges. It was just as well; magic felt foreign to him.
“Then hopefully others were just as lucky,” she replied.
“Based on what we saw, it would be very few, if any,” Ademar said. “I’m just glad the ghosts haven’t spread beyond Agitar’s borders. We still have a chance to contain this.”
“Unless some of them got away, too. Like us.” Frensia offered one of their fake smiles.
Ademar sighed. “That’s not helpful.”
“It is worth considering every angle,” Frensia pointed out. “For instance, one could be behind you right this very moment!”
Ademar felt a moment of panic at the thought, but he knew Frensia well enough. There was nothing behind him. The umgar was only spouting off for the sake of it. They liked to offer information, and Ademar took it for what it was. He knew Frensia meant well.
“Well?” Frensia asked, their dark eyes boring into Ademar’s.
“Well, what?”
“Aren’t you going to open the box? This is why we left and why we came back. Do not waste another moment. Do it.”
Ylantri stepped closer to him. “Yes, I would like to see this stone the umgar mentioned.”
“Not here,” Ademar said. “I need to be closer to the ghosts. And I need to go alone. The two of you remain here.”
“No,” they said in unison.
Ademar wasn’t surprised by Frensia’s objections, but he had assumed the elf would be happy to stay behind. He turned to her. “Why would you want to leave the safety of the forest?”
She bit her lip. “I don’t think it’s safe anywhere. And I’d rather not be alone.”
“I don’t believe you.” Ademar crossed his arms over his chest. “And I don’t believe we ran into you accidentally, either. What is your purpose here, elf? Tell us now or we’ll…”
“You’ll what?” Ylantri’s crooked smile sent chills over Ademar’s skin. “I’m coming with you, and I’m going to see what you’re hiding. What are a few secrets among friends?”
“I’d hardly classify you as a friend,” Frensia said. “We only just met you. Ademar and I weren’t true friends until after his companions were killed. That cemented our bond. It takes more than—”
He took a deep breath. “I have a stone of great magical power. It might be able to destroy the ghosts. Or absorb them. Or… I don’t know what exactly, but I’m convinced it might help.”
Ylantri’s eyes flickered to his pack, then met Ademar’s. “Do you know what this stone is?”
“No,” he admitted. “But I’ve seen its power. Years ago, Hugh, the former human queen’s father, touched it, and his entire life changed for the better. It can help. I’m sure of it.”
Ylantri’s eyebrows shot up. “Hugh? The same human whose relics were used in an attempt to heal the orcs stricken by the infection?”
“Yes, I heard about that.” Alyna had mentioned it when she’d given him and Tace a rundown of events after their return from the Fifth Sanctum. He’d been horrified at the thought of his old mentor’s body doled out, piecemeal, to sick orcs. Alyna had said it hadn’t worked anyway, which was just as well as far as Ademar was concerned.
“Now,” Ademar said. “I’ve told you why we’re here. It’s your turn to share. Why are you here?”
She paused. “What if I told you I was sent here to retrieve what’s in your pack?”
Her words were spoken carefully. Almost too carefully.
“That’s impossible. No one even knows I have it. You’ve located the wrong people.”
“I don’t think I have.” Ylantri stepped closer until they were nearly nose to nose. “This will be easier if you just give it to me.”
“It will be easier if you step away.” Ademar gripped the straps of his pack tightly. If she tried to take it from him by force, he could best her. At least he thought he could. Tace had taught him well, and he had the advantage of size.
Ylantri leaned in closer, her lips only a breath from his.
Ademar tightened, waiting for her to relent. He wouldn’t strike first.
Then the strangest sensation came over him, as if he were floating out of his own body.