The slap from her free hand nearly knocked him off of his feet and set bells ringing between his temples. “Snap the hell out of it!”
Tears welled in his eyes.
“If you don’t do this, and he dies here, I will never forgive you.”
Takarus nodded. He reached deep inside of himself, calling forth his Sulen into a sharp glowing blade that surrounded his hand and extended five feet in length. It was a struggle to maintain the consistency of the blade with his wavering focus. He’d only managed to use this technique once before, and even then it had been sloppy.
“Do it,” Kirana said, her golden eyes smoldering in the light of the orange blade he’d summoned.
“I’m sorry, Father,” he said.
He raised the glowing blade and resisted the urge to close his eyes as he sliced into his father’s arm.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
SAGE
The rain had soaked through his cloak, and the shadows in the woods played tricks on his eyes. Reysha kept a careful pace in front of him, making sure never to let her guard down. Even if some Sulekiel had survived the attack, the two of them were outcasts and would likely be attacked on sight.
There was a break in the clouds above, allowing fresh crimson light to spill down upon the tops of the trees from Aula’kar’s brilliant disk. They’d been walking for hours without any rest, and the last bits of snow had fallen away, giving way to dirt and grass and the undergrowth of the forest. The town called Eldulor wasn’t much farther away.
Strangely, the cold didn’t seem to seep into his bones as he expected it to. The constant downpour wasn’t much more than a minor discomfort to him.
But Reysha leaned her weight against a tree, sheltering herself beneath its canopy. She sighed heavily.
“Let’s take a break,” she said.
He nodded and joined her under the tree.
They were quiet for a while, listening to the rain. He could feel a strange storm of emotions boil to the surface within her. And, finally, a question came: “Can we talk about something?”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know, anything.” Her eyes drifted to Suleniar’s extravagant black handguard: shaped like a double-edged axe, with three crimson jewels aligned in a belt atop the white faceplate that conformed to the black metallic shape of the handguard beneath. “Where’d you get the sword?”
“It was left to me,” Sage said.
“By who.”
“My father.”
He felt her body go stiff.
“He left it in my grandparents’ home, buried in my own room. There was a letter.”
“What did it say?”
“Dig beneath the center floorboards, and this is your lifeline. I didn’t understand what that meant for a long time. It’s kind of strange receiving a gift from a ghost.”
“What do you think of your father?”
Sage shrugged, watching the water drip off of his hair. “I’m not sure anymore. I used to hate him, but seeing how my grandfather, and everyone else, hated me for little more than sharing my father’s blood has caused me to revisit those feelings. Everyone besides Takarus, Wren and Belyl.”
It’s my fault, he thought.
With that thought, he felt his guilt come back, settling in his gut like he’d swallowed poison. It writhed and snaked its way up his throat.
He couldn’t help but think about what his grandfather had said. How Sage’s father had taken his daughter’s life...
Maybe that was his fault too?
Maybe he shouldn’t have been born?
“And me,” she said.
“What?” he said, snapping back to attention.
“I didn’t hate you.” Her eyes found his. The guilt melted away when he looked into her eyes. He felt...warm.
He nodded, breaking eye contact with her.
“You think he was right to rebel?”
He stared into the swaying branches and twisting leaves in the dark. “I was only a child when he did that. I don’t even know why he did what he did.”
“If you believe Kirana, he had no reason.”
“I don’t. Nothing is ever that simple.” The break in the clouds closed, and the crimson light faded. “In any case, he’s dead, so what the hell does it matter now?”
Reysha grabbed at his arm and pulled him close. “I’m freezing.”
He felt warmth stir through his body in response to her touch. Instinct told him to pull her closer and he did.
“You’re warm.” Her voice was soft.
Her eyes sprinkled golden, with just a hint of amber, in the dim light. He glanced down at her rain-soaked chest. Her breasts swelled when she breathed.
“It’s still not real, is it?” She asked after some time.
He shook his head, drawing her closer. “No. It’s not.”
“All that death and destruction. We should feel something, right?”
“They were about to kill us.”
“Not all of them.”
“Does their complacency make it better?”
Her eyes pierced into his soul. Heat erupted from their bodies, turning the rain to steam.
He leaned in and kissed her.
They tore at each other’s clothes until they were naked against blackened skies, answering the call that their bodies and souls demanded.
2
Sage woke some time later. The rain had stopped and he felt dry in his nakedness. There was a circle burned out around him and Reysha, where the grass had caught fire during their lovemaking. He could barely believe that they’d done that.
With the limited space in Yce Ralakar, it was forbidden for unauthorized couples to breed. Sex wasn’t necessarily outlawed, but it was frowned upon as many reckless actions were, though no laws would be broken until a Sulekiel baby started to swell within a woman’s belly.
Panic tore through him. What if someone had noticed them? They hadn’t exactly been quiet. Sage nudged Reysha awake; her golden eyes lit up, her lips pursed into a smile.
“Why the long look?” she said.
“We need to get dressed,” he said, standing up and searching for his pants in the dark. “If anyone saw, I’d rather not get caught without my pants.”
“Fair enough.” She was trying not to laugh as he struggled to get his foot into his wet pant-leg. “But if it’s okay with you, I’m just going to sit here and admire the view a bit longer.”
He paused and glanced back at her. She was staring at his bare ass. When he caught her, and realized how foolish he probably looked, he started to laugh.
It felt good to laugh like that. It felt good to be with Reysha. He wished he’d known her sooner.
Once they were dressed, they rushed deeper into the woods. Reysha seemed to be unable to keep her eyes off of him, and he couldn’t stop staring at her.
Maybe things weren’t so bad?
Eldulor was a dark series of silhouettes when they reached the border of the forest.
“That’s it?” she asked.
“That used to be a Sulekiel town,” Sage said.
“Hard to believe. How did you know where this place was?”
He avoided her gaze. “Saw it on a map Wren showed me. It’s the only town close to Yce Ralakar now.”
“Do you honestly think they’ll let us stay here?”
“No idea. How’s your illusionwork?”
“Terrible.”
“Same. So, disguising ourselves like the Masku is out of the question.”
And there was something else. It was nothing more than a feeling, like a dim presence that lurked beyond his third eye. Something he’d never felt before.
“What is it?” Reysha asked, touching his cheek with her cold hands.
“I don’t know.” He shook his head. “Must be nerves.”
He started down the hill, but she lingered at the top.
“Are you sure?” she asked.
He stopped, looking back to her. He could feel her reaching out, feeling out he
r surroundings just as he had just done.
“You feel it too?” Sage asked.
She nodded. “Should we still approach?”
“I don’t have any other ideas. Stay suppressed, and approach quietly.”
Once I find Tanar, we can formulate a real plan, he thought.
She shrugged, drawing up her hood.
They kept low to the ground like animals in the dark, fearful of anything that might think them prey. Once they were closer to the blocky, silhouetted buildings, he extended a hand to stop her from advancing. He gestured to the roof of the building in front of them.
She smiled.
He went first, leaping silently to the roof. She came next; he caught her as she came down—a stupid attempt at a romantic gesture—and together they faltered, foolishly trying to catch their balance, their feet dancing and stomping on shingles. The noise was loud enough that he felt his heart stumble.
He waved her forward with him as he sprinted along an old stone wall that ran between two wooden buildings. Once he was across, he watched her follow him. She was graceful, but in a way that betrayed her forceful and bold nature.
At the next building, as if they could read each other’s minds, they both went into a crouch and peered out at the rest of the town. The town below was quiet, empty. There were no lights in the windows from what Sage could see.
“This Eldulor is a town of ghosts,” she whispered.
“That feeling I had earlier is even stronger now,” he whispered.
She nodded. “Let’s move closer to it.”
They moved along rooftops as quietly as they could. He couldn’t help but feel as though they were moving closer and closer to a trap, like two fish caught in one of Yce Relakar’s many fishing nets.
His boots tapped atop another rooftop, and he saw light in a window across from him. Reysha followed behind him and noticed it too.
It was a large building. Shapes gathered in one of the rooms on the second floor. They seemed to be arguing.
“That’s where it is,” she whispered.
He nodded. “What the hell is it?”
Primal fear ghosted her face. “Could it be a Shar?”
Sage shook his head. “Not a chance.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“We didn’t see what attacked Kiel and the others,” he said. “And they didn’t kill us.”
“But...”
She looked forward, clearly scrutinizing the feeling of the thing’s Sulen.
“It feels different than a Sulekiel,” she whispered.
“I need a closer look,” he whispered.
I need to make sure Tanar is okay, he thought. Something doesn’t feel right.
“No, let’s get out of here,” she whispered, her eyes wild with fear.
Sage drew his sword and leapt to the ground. Behind him, Reysha cursed almost too loudly as he landed and sped across the muddy street. There was a box-shaped cart with ropes dangling off the edge before the house. He used the cart as a platform and launched himself up to the building’s second story. His boots landed silently onto the rooftop shingles. He could hear arguing coming from inside, where he’d seen the silhouettes of what he hoped were only Masku.
The feeling was oppressively close now. He crept across the edge of the slanted roof and slid his hand across the second-story wall next to him. The window was inches away from him. His heart knocked and pounded against his ribs.
What if this was a trap? What if whoever had massacred Yce Ralakar had come from here?
Thinking of Tanar, he decided he had to risk it.
He glanced inside the room and saw five Masku worrying over a bed. An old man rested at the foot of the bed, his eyes closed as he read from a leather-bound tome. A man and woman stood at opposite sides of the room, tossing angry looks at each other while the other people in the room cast saddened glances at the thing under the blankets.
Sage’s eyes jerked wide when he saw the boy. It was Tanar. Their eyes met. His eyes were sunken, his skin pale.
Reysha was shouting from behind him, telling him to get away from the window. The old man looked directly at him, gesturing to the book and back to him again.
He felt flames rush past him, turning the window to molten glass as Reysha leapt to his side and jumped through the window. She landed in front of the old man with the tome and barrier-punched him through the wall, scattering shattered bits of wood all over the floor.
The townspeople ran screaming from the room.
He could rebuke Reysha for blowing their cover later; his eyes locked onto Tanar’s sickly body.
Sage followed her through the window, rushing to Tanar’s side. He didn’t understand the words coming from his mouth, but for a few.
“...Daemon,” Tanar said. “Run.”
“What’s he saying?” Reysha asked.
“He’s telling us to run,” Sage said.
It’s too late for that, Sulekiel rats.
Sage and Reysha looked toward the hole in the wall. There was a great well of Sulen emanating from the shadows beyond those broken wooden planks. Goose prickles steadily climbed their way up Sage’s back. Ice settled in the pit of his stomach.
Rats rats rats. How did the rats survive the fall of Yce Ralakar?
“What the hell is that?” Sage asked. “It’s using some kind of telepathy technique...”
“It must be a Shar,” Reysha said, forming a barrier sword. “I hope you managed to counter Byshun’s mental trickery, because this thing is gonna do far worse.”
“The Shar aren’t real!” Sage shouted, staring back at the hole in the wall.
“They’re real,” Reysha shouted. “So get your damn head in the game, Sage!”
Flames roared and seared the carpet around her body. Her teeth were bared into a joyless grin. He saw her punch at nothing and stumble forward. There was a flash of light, and something exploded in the air, tossing her body through the wall. Instinctively, he darted forward and put up a barrier, protecting Tanar’s body from the blast.
When the dust settled, he saw something emerge from the hole in the wooden wall. The creature stood just short of six feet tall and was clothed in Masku robes of some kind. Its scaly skin glistened in the dim blue light emanating from his barrier. It was thin, but toned in muscle, and covered unevenly in blackened, almost metallic-looking horns, two of which drooped off its head.
Was it directly in front of him? If this truly was a Shar, he wouldn’t be able to trust his senses.
Why aren’t you attacking, boy? Are you afraid of me?
“Come here and find out,” Sage said, closing his eyes, focusing. His barrier became a sphere around him, just as he’d done against Byshun. It had barely been enough to beat the other boy; he had little hope this tactic would save them. There were no rules here.
I’ve got to get this thing away from Tanar, he thought.
Something slammed into his barrier, cracking the floorboards beneath his feet. Instinct took over at the moment of impact. He dropped his barrier and spun around, wrapping a barrier around his leg as he struck out with a spinning kick. Vibrations from his barrier’s impact with something traveled up his leg. He heard a snarl, and crashing sounds.
Then silence filled the room.
He opened his eyes. The bed and the floor were sunken in now where the destruction had taken place, but Tanar was still breathing faintly. Sweat beaded off of the boy’s forehead and the blankets had been tossed aside. Sage could see crude bandages, crusted with dried blood, pus and blackened filth, wrapping about his torso. Tanar’s pale skin above the bandages was turning green and black. It didn’t look like he had long to live.
It’s your fault, you know?
He turned and walked to the edge of the roof, where the wall had been completely destroyed. He saw the scrawny creature standing below him, its irises burning an eerie yellow, while the film of the rest of its eyes remained black as ink. Its mouth was agape, filled with black and yellow teeth, its face tw
isted and malformed. The strange set of robes over its body billowed erratically in the wind, covering large golden rings wrapping up its neck and limbs and hiding its blue scales in the dark. Why would a creature like this wear jewelry?
He glanced back at Tanar for a moment. He had to take the fight to this creature.
Sage walked forward and allowed himself to freefall off the roof to the dirt path below. His boots sank into the mud. He rose to face the creature. He knew the Shar was most likely not standing in front of him.
Reysha was pacing around it, barrier sword at the ready within her own barrier. She was being cautious.
She rushed forward, gathering fire in her free hand and tossing it out at a thing that wasn’t there. The fireball arced through the empty air and slammed into a wooden building, exploding and catching the walls on fire. There was no ring here; she couldn’t use the same trick she’d tried using against Byshun. And if that thing was going to be in their heads...
How the hell would they be able to coordinate their attacks?
He had to think of something fast—and keep his thoughts guarded.
The thing in front of him was grinning, waving its claws in a come-hither motion.
I know you want to rush to her aid, the Shar said. But, if you do, poor little Tanner will be defenseless, won’t he?
Reysha switched to sending out waves of fire, probably hoping one of them would tell her where the hell the creature was. Something exploded off her barrier, and she dropped it, slicing at open air with her barrier blade.
She had the right idea.
But the creature seemed to be familiar with this tactic. He wished he could see what was attacking her. The next time she dropped her barrier and tried to slash at it, something hit her, knocking her into a wooden carriage. Sage’s pulse pounded between his temples, watching as she stood up.
Reysha’s rage filled her aura and the wet air. It was the same look of murder she’d had in her eyes when she’d faced Byshun. She screamed and started lashing out at the illusions, leaping and slashing at nothing, jumping several feet at a time, until she was halfway down the street.
It was trying to divide them!
He saw it and felt it, clearly standing before him, watching him closely.
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