by JD Franx
Saleece was in much worse shape than Yrlissa had hoped. She could sense the damage the WraithLord had done to the woman’s connection with the earth. It had been torn in several places and the only way to help was by using magic that was long forgotten, even by Talohna’s most powerful wizards like Giddeon. She said a quiet thank you to a long-lost friend, Terric Yorsair, as the foreign magic he created flowed into Saleece’s body. Yrlissa whispered the spells so she wasn’t overheard, but there was no possible way to completely heal the girl’s ruined cruus. Saleece’s bond to the earth fluttered and then flared with strength before fading. Only time could repair it and even then it might never be restored back to the way it was. The modified Fae spell saved the woman’s life, but it was something Giddeon wouldn’t have understood. The Elvehn assassin kept quiet and moved on to the next wounded member of their group.
She checked Kasik and found he was already regaining consciousness, so she hurried to Max’s side seeing that Ember was already there. Giddeon had helped with his pain, but the cuts across his face were well beyond the ArchWizard’s skill.
“I’m sorry, Yrlissa,” Giddeon said. “I never studied much healing. I can’t help him. The cuts are bone deep.”
She smiled. “It’s all right. Watch the others. Make sure Kasik is all right and then keep an eye on Saleece.” He nodded, but Kasik waved him off, grumbling under his breath. Giddeon sighed, kneeling at his daughter’s side, he took her hand as he stared at the carnage around him.
“Max?” Yrlissa asked, trying to pull his hands from his face. “Max, let me and Ember help you, please. I have to see it in order to help. That’s it,” she said gently, as he let his hands come away from his face. Ember stifled a gasp as she saw his flayed face. More familiar with battlefield wounds, Yrlissa’s cheek merely twitched at the sight. Three of the WraithLord’s claws had laid open the flesh all the way down to the bone.
“That bad, uh?” he mumbled, glancing at her through swollen eyes. Ember struggled to smile.
“I’ve seen much worse,” Yrlissa replied. “Ember, help me hold the wounds together and give me your needle and threat, the enchanted ones. Bite down on this, Max.” She placed a piece of rolled leather between his teeth as Ember handed her the prepped needle and began. Her face shifted to a light shade of green as she pushed the folds of his face together. Max bit down on the leather, a muffled grunt escaping between explosive gasps of air. The pain renewed tenfold as Ember pushed harder on the folds of the wound, sliding them back together.
“Hold on, Max, I know it hurts,” Ember said. “Lissa will fix you so we can find Kael together.”
As Yrlissa began more forgotten spells, Max mumbled through the leather clenched in his teeth. “Just a scratch, sis. Be back to normal in no time.” The flesh and nerves of his face slowly melded together until reaching just below the surface of his skin. From there, the needle and thread, sparkling with magic, reinforced the deeper healing
Yrlissa tied off the last stitch and gasped, grabbing her head. Falling onto her backside, she sighed, her magic exhausted. “That’s the best I can do, Max. Even I can’t heal wounds like that completely. Only the Fae could help you, if they were still here. The enchanted thread will help a bit, but it’s going to scar, I’m sorry,” she said with a whisper, so only he could hear.
“It’s okay, Yrlissa. Women find scars sexy, right?” he grunted, still in considerable pain. She smiled down at him as he grasped her arm with a soft touch. “Thank you,” he said.
“You’re welcome,” she said, and then bent over with her lips against his ear. “Yes, Max. I happen to think scars are sexy.” She laughed as she winked at Ember.
Unable to suppress a smirk, Ember shook her head. “I’ll bandage him up and apply some ointment to stop the infection,” she said.
“Thank you,” Max said, as he slowly sat up.
Yrlissa stood and looked around. “We should all be thanking you, Max. If not for you we’d already be dead.” The others agreed, offering their appreciation before she continued. “It won’t be safe to stay here, Giddeon. I know we’re in no shape for it, but he have to ride away from here. This glyph won’t last long if that WraithLord decides to test its strength against it. You should have said something, Giddeon. It’s a miracle we weren’t killed.”
“I can’t tell you things I don’t know. There are many things about Talohna we still don’t understand, Yrlissa. There are millions of TimeKeeper journals, we’ll never know as much as the wizards before the Cataclysm did,” he said, by way of an apology. “As for the rest, I agree. It won’t come after us if we’re away from here, but what about the other stone? We need to have two. We can’t be caught on the DragonKin’s land without one, and the Talons at the Ver Karmot docks will take one as a price for entry.”
Yrlissa nodded. “I’ll get the second one. I had hoped not to have to, but I’ll get it. I’ll wait for the rest of you at a small town called Albynor. It’s just before you reach the Elvehnai Mountain Pass into TaCeryss.”
“I know where it is, Yrlissa. The Elvehn Guard is stationed in Albynor. I thought you said there was absolutely no way to get your binding stone back?” Giddeon wondered.
“There probably isn’t, but there might be a slim chance if I go alone. There are a series of tunnels that lead into the guild that were built at the same time as the guild hall. Over the last several thousand years, the guild and its leaders have forgotten about them. Perhaps, maybe if I can find them, I can sneak in and get it back.”
“That’s a whole lot of ifs, Yrlissa,” Ember commented.
“We’ve no other options, unless you want to take months going to DormaSai and then ask the necromancer king and queen for one. Do you, Giddeon?”
“You know that’s not an option, Yrlissa. They might give you one for the right price but they’ll execute me on the spot, just like I would them.”
“I know they practise magic that is outlawed here, but it’s not illegal there. It is an option, you know.”
“No. It’s not,” argued Max. “We don’t have the months to spare. Kael could be dead by then. Do your best, Yrlissa, and if you can’t get it, we’ll figure out something else. We’ll see you in Albynor. Be careful.”
Ember frowned at him. “Jesus Christ and God almighty, you are a colossal dumbass. Quit talking, Max. That’s an order. You want your face to fall apart?” He slowly shook his head and looked at her before finally nodding his agreement.
“It’s settled then,” Yrlissa said. “Take them to the northern forest pass in the morning. I’ll head south into the mountains. We’ll meet in Albynor as soon as we can. Giddeon? Give me a moment?” Yrlissa raised her eyebrows as she stepped away from the group.
Following, Giddeon asked, “What is it?”
“Take this,” she said, handing him a wooden medallion the size of a gold coin. “If I don’t show in Albynor, take this token to Ella Navasha and tell her to give you a binding crystal. A full one, word your request properly. Give her the coin and tell her if she does what you ask then she owes me nothing. Our debt will be settled.”
“Ella the White? Gods, Yrlissa, you realize she promised to kill me the next time she sees me? The Bales didn’t hold their end of the bargain after the war. It was my word that struck that bargain.”
“I know, Giddeon. Most people know some version of the story, but if I don’t return, it means I’m dead. For real this time, and she’s the only one who can help you in time to save Kael. That wooden coin will ensure she harms no one, even you, but don’t linger and don’t push your luck. She owes me her life. Such a favour will balance our debt, but it’ll get you no more than enough time to leave her sight.”
“Fair enough. If we have to we will, let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. I had hoped to never see her again.”
“I know. There has never been a more powerful witch with powers of the White.”
“Yrlissa?”
“Huh?”
“Why would you give this to me? Surely g
iving it to Ember would make more sense.”
“I will never be able to pay her back for saving my life and she’s becoming a dear friend. She and Max both are. But you know as well as I do neither of them has the experience to deal with a mountain witch. If Ember asked Ella for a binding stone without wording the question correctly, she could receive anything from an empty rock to one forced down her throat. To this very day I don’t know whether Ella Navasha uses the power gifted to her by Angels for good or for evil and we were... close friends once. No mistakes.” Giddeon nodded and went to help the others as they began loading the horses for the move to a safer place to camp for the night.
Yrlissa stared up into the sky and said a quick prayer to gods that no longer seemed to care.
Yrlissa left the next morning with the others, but quickly headed south. The moment the others were out of sight, she packed all her belongings into her travel pack and turned her horse loose. With luck, she wouldn’t be needing it. She had a way to get into the guild unseen, but it wasn’t through the hidden caverns. It would take her weeks to manoeuvre the ancient booby-trapped tunnels. Time she didn’t have. She had something else in mind. Something she hadn’t done in many years. Thousands of years, in fact. A deep breath steadied her racing heart as she slowly rubbed the death-flower tattooed on the right side of her face. Kneeling in the grass, Yrlissa closed her eyes and bowed her head in prayer.
“Mighty Dathac, God of all that is dead. Master of Paradise and Perdition, please hear my prayer. I know you all have abandoned us, and I’m sorry for mankind’s failure to this realm, as well as my own. But please give me a sign, the smallest piece of hope that you still care. I am still fighting for this world you cared so deeply for, so long ago. Help me one last time. I need two jumps through your dimension. Let me land where I need to and give me a small reason to hope that you won’t abandon this world to what is coming. For all our futures… Please Dathac, let Lady Inara’s grace guide me through your realm once more…” Her voice trailed off as she rose to her feet and opened her eyes. Lazy black swirls of energy drifted through the whites, entering her yellow irises and disappearing into her dark pupils. The vaguely familiar power made her smile as she lunged forward.
Yrlissa vanished in mid-air, leaving behind only wisps of black smoke that swirled like living serpents on the cold currents of the early morning air.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
So many years have passed since I have allowed myself to get close to anyone. After my husband and my little girl were butchered eleven years ago, it has been easier to keep everyone at a distance. Everyone but Falcon Yorsair. Falcon was always there when I needed someone, whether an extra hand with an assignment or just someone to dig up information on a target. Much older than I am, I always looked at him as the older brother I never had. His betrayal in the council chambers was like a knife to my soul. My knife will send his soul to the afterlife.
And now, try as I might, I cannot stop myself from having these feelings once again when it comes to both Ember and Max. I have never seen such a pure soul as the one that resides in Ember; well, perhaps many, many millennia ago, I did. And Max, his strength of spirit is as staggering as his physical power. The old Yrlissa Blackmist would have run from this group the very first chance she got, but I find myself unable to leave. Is it any wonder that Ember’s pure soul found the tormented spirit of a banished DeathWizard? Without her at his side, I am terrified of what he will become. Especially now that he is in the hands of the unholiest of evils.
FROM YRLISSA BLACKMIST’S PERSONAL JOURNAL.
DATE AND LOCATION UNKNOWN.
BROKEN BLADE MONASTERY, CORYNTH
Merethyl Bellas strolled through the halls of the Broken Blade Guild of Assassins like an all-powerful Elvehn Queen, and in a sense, she was just that. The guild council had bowed to her leadership years ago, and were now nothing more than puppets at the end of her numerous strings. The successful assassination of Yrlissa Blackmist a month ago had solidified her position even more. Merethyl’s only regret had been watching the powerful assassin die instead plunging a blade into her neck personally. There was no one left to stand in the way of what was coming, events that would permit the guild to thrive during the drastic changes set for Talohna in the years to come. The strife started by Yrlissa over a decade ago was finally buried where it would never be found.
Merethyl left the Hall of Trophies without ever looking back, or above her, totally secure in the world she dominated so completely.
The Hall of Trophies was a long, pillar-lined hallway with recessed shelving and locked glass containers, free-standing and carved into the cold granite walls. Twenty-five feet up, the ceiling was made from a heavy lattice design of enchanted hardwood beams built from the trees of the Dyrannai Forest in the abandoned kingdom of the Ancients. Just as Merethyl reached for the ornate tree-shaped golden handle on the solid wood door, a soundless swirl of black smoke appeared high in the ceiling’s rafters. Yrlissa stepped from the oppressive fog, dragged forth by her passage through the realm of death and back into the mortal world. She dropped into a crouch, checking her surroundings for immediate danger. Seeing no threats, Yrlissa glanced down as Merethyl left the trophy room without noticing her arrival.
In order to reach her old quarters, Yrlissa would have to cross to the far side of the guild’s complex. Most of the distance could be travelled without ever leaving the safety of the upper rafters; once in the living quarters, however, she would have to sneak through on the ground floor. But first she had something to do.
“Thank you, Dathac,” she whispered, with her eyes closed. “Thank you for giving me some hope.” The echo of a female voice as she passed through the realm of death still rang in her ears. It is time to finish what we started so long ago, child of Dyr. She had no idea who the words belonged to, but only the gods spoke from other realms and only the Goddess of magic, Lady Inara, spoke for all of the gods. Yrlissa smiled, really smiled, for the gods were finally back in the fight for Talohna’s future. Real hope swelled in her breast for the first time in over five thousand years. The only way she could pass through the underworld unscathed was with the unspoken consent of its master, the DeathGod, Dathac. The most powerful of all the gods had finally heard her prayers. She took a deep breath and steeled herself for what had to be done.
With footfalls that made not so much as a whisper, Yrlissa moved along the ceiling beams and crossed from the Trophy Room to one of the many large meeting rooms scattered throughout the guild. She was the last one alive to know their true original use, rooms once used to plan war strategy now only planned the deaths of the guilty and the innocent. Having to tip-toe down the narrower beams of the room, she headed into the massive training area used to teach young people how to fight and kill for well over ten thousand years. From her vantage point up in the rafters, Yrlissa could see the design of the Broken Blade Guild seared into the tigerwood surface of the floor. It filled her with a sense of longing for what used to be.
Yrlissa crossed the beams with care, but quickly, as men and women both young and old trained in hand-to-hand combat and assorted weapons below her. Crossing over another raised beam into the communal banquet hall, the hidden assassin danced down the rafters until she reached the last section before the living quarters.
Yrlissa stumbled and froze as she heard Merethyl’s voice. “Tox?”
“Yes, ma’am?”
“Where’s Falcon?”
“Dunno, ma’am. I ain’t seen ‘im for many days.”
“If you do see him, tell him I need to speak with him. I’ll be in my office for the rest of the day.”
“I will, ma’am.”
Merethyl turned left, heading to her office. Yrlissa sighed a breath of relief and moved towards the living quarters, but something stopped her. Merethyl’s office was twenty feet away and no one would disturb her for the remainder of the day, except for Falcon. It was the perfect chance to kill the woman who had betrayed everything the guild stood fo
r, and with luck, an opportunity to kill the friend that betrayed her. The blood of an assassin ran through her veins, and an assassin never walked away from a target. Especially a personal one.
It took only minutes for her to reach the section of ceiling twenty feet above Merethyl’s office. Yrlissa crouched on a wooden beam directly over her desk. Magic that was known to very few kept Yrlissa’s presence hidden from all the guild’s wizards and their esoteric senses. Slowly and with no sound, she drew her daggers from the sheaths secured at the small of her back. A quick drop and Merethyl Bellas would be dead.
Yrlissa tensed for the twenty foot free-fall just as Merethyl spoke to her. “I know you’re there so you might as well come out. How could you possibly think I wouldn’t know?” Yrlissa’s heart hammered in her chest as she frantically looked for a route to escape. Merethyl would already have her surrounded. Getting out of the sanctuary would be impossible.
A chuckle from the room below froze Yrlissa where she crouched. A young man materialized out of no where following his laugh. Stretched out on the lounge across from Merethyl’s desk, the man acted like he owned the place. Yrlissa turned up her nose at the arrogant disrespect.
“You do like to ruin my fun, don’t you, boss? Or should I say Chief now? Or Master maybe?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. Yrlissa couldn’t believe what she was seeing, only now could she sense the man below. Had she dropped from her hiding place Merethyl would be dead, and so would she. Bastard Ephemerals, she cursed inside her head. The invisible wizard would have killed her before she even knew that he was there. Stunned that anyone from that cursed family line still existed, she shook her head and calmed her beating heart.
“Get your filthy boots off my lounger, Savis,” Merethyl snapped, shoving his feet to the floor. “Where have you been? It’s been over a month.”