by Heath Pfaff
"I am now going to count to three," Malice said, dropping the mess of flesh to the ground. In the dim light of the torches in the room I thought, though it was hard to be certain in the dark, that her eyes flashed a deep shade of green. "If I reach three, and any of you are still in this room, I will not be taking just arms." She had to speak loudly to make herself heard, because Trepin was now screaming in a shrill voice and trying to stem the flow of blood from his new stump. The sound of armored men behind us was growing steadily louder, their pace probably hastened by the screams coming from the room we occupied. The men in the room with us, even Trepin with blood gushing with every step, ran for the door as Malice uttered a single syllable. "One." Before she reached "two," the room had been vacated, swords left to clatter on the floor by the terrified guards.
Malice wasted no time in drawing the key from a pack at her waist. It was a large, intricately carved key, and she thrust it into the equally intricate lock and turned, disengaging the bars. From behind us, I could hear voices, and curses, followed by the sounds of swords scraping free of leather. I watched the door at our back as the way in front of us opened up, and Malice went through. I followed her quickly, keeping my eyes to the rear and catching a glimpse of a guard with his sword drawn rounding the turn into the room even as we departed through the heavy steel door. Malice pulled the door shut as soon as I was through and shoved her key into the exterior lock, turning it back to the locked position. From beyond us the sound of solid metal bars sliding into place in the heavy stonework of the wall could be heard. Malice slammed the key forward with all of her strength and twisted it until there was a loud crack of metal reaching its breaking point. She tossed the remaining stub of key away.
It was pitch black beyond the basement of the gate wall, but I could hear the smile she was wearing in the dance of her voice, "Well, that ought to hold them for a while. Let's not give them any advantage though." With that, she turned and began to run down the hidden path. I followed her, depending on my eyes' ability to sort out edges and angles to keep me from running into things as I went. Malice had, in less than a day, already become a fugitive thanks to me. It seemed I had a way of getting those I knew into trouble. If she was bothered by it, it didn't show in her demeanor as she led us down the dirt path of the gate's escape tunnel. For better or worse, her fate was now inextricably tied to my own. I just hoped I was not leading us both to our deaths.
We had cleared the caves and were topside again in less than an hour, both of us happy to leave the dark underground paths behind. Neither of us had been certain exactly where the tunnel would return us to the surface. Even Malice, who'd known about the cave's existence, had not been sure how far, or exactly where, the tunnel ran. As the early morning sunlight pressed down upon us and the first breaths of cool air brushed past our skin since we'd entered the gate the night before, my eyes met Malice's. Her black eyes had changed profoundly since the night before. Where once they had been deep pits of black, as were the eyes of most of the Knights of Ethan, they now were a vivid, dark green. I was startled, to say the least, to see such a change in her. She smiled at me, a confused expression on her face.
"Why are you staring?" She laughed as she spoke, whether with relief at our freedom, or simply out of embarrassment at my sudden fixation, I couldn't be certain.
"I'm sorry, but... wait." I began to apologize, but I realized it would be easier simply to show her. I drew my weapon from its scabbard, and glanced at the reflective surface to make certain that it was mirrored enough to the do the trick. The blade was not a great mirror, but I could see my own eyes reflected in the steel, so I held it up for Malice, "Look at your reflection."
She stepped forward, cautiously, curious, but with a slight hesitation, as though I might show her something she didn't want to see. When she finally was close enough to see her own reflection, she gasped, and reached out for my sword, taking it from my hand, and drawing the blade nearer her face. "They're... green," she whispered. "They look like... his eyes." She didn't need to say who she was referring to. I knew whose eyes she was seeing. She was seeing the eyes of the Bound One who had died to give her his sight, just as I saw the eyes of Kyeia every time I looked in a mirror. It had been a ghost I'd faced every time I shaved, and one that, even knowing she lived, still filled me with guilt and remorse.
"How did this happen?" Malice asked, taking her gaze away from her reflection long enough to look at me, as if expecting that I would have some explanation. I had none to offer.
I was at a loss for what to tell her. In the night, as we'd lain together, I'd felt the change happening, but I had not anticipated what that change might be. Indeed, I was almost as shocked as she was at the transformation, and more so at the implications. Somehow, something that had happened between us had awakened her eyes, at least more than they had been. I felt that we had made a significant discovery, quite unintentionally, but one that could have monumental consequences. I didn't voice that suspicion. "It happened last night, while we were...." I let the words trail off, feeling a flush coming to my cheeks. I was not so experienced in such things that speaking of them came easy to me.
Malice flushed back, and her eyes fell to the reflection in the blade again, "I thought I felt something, near the end, but I've only been with you, and only one other time, so I believed it was only a side effect of what we were doing." She stopped for a moment, a funny smile coming to her face. "When we got out of bed this morning, I felt good. Not just rested, and... Satisfied, but truly invigorated. I can still feel it. I am..." She was searching for a word, but after a time she shrugged and simply said, "better, than I was."
I wasn't precisely sure how to respond, so I smiled and said, "Well, that may be the best compliment I've ever received after a night in bed with someone."
Malice's smile widened and she laughed, a sound I'd not often heard from her. "You joke, but I think whatever is happening to me is a result of last night. I don't understand what this is," she pointed to her eyes as she handed my sword back to me, "but something is different in me."
"They're beautiful," I said, for I found myself drawn to the deep green in her eyes, the streaks of white lightning coursing from the white ring of her pupil outward. It was a magical thing to watch, something easy to lose one's self within.
Malice turned her face aside, breaking the contact of our locked eyes, a slight blush dancing in her cheeks. "We should get going," she said gruffly, injecting the tones of command into her voice that I was most familiar with. "We don't know how long that door will hold, or if the guards at the bridge will send a search party out to find us after we've passed. Besides, once news of my betrayal and our subsequent escape gets to the king, if he really has sent Kye to the villa to be studied, he will surely know where we are going. It would be best for us to get there first. It will make doing whatever must be done easier if we are not expected."
I let Malice change the subject, and nodded my agreement with her judgment. Reaching Kye and freeing her from the villa was our priority, and we'd be better able to tackle our task with surprise still on our side. "Do you know how long we must travel from here to get to the villa?" I asked.
"I don't know exactly where we are at the moment, but we've come a good distance underground. If the cave ran straight, as I believe it did, then we probably still have another two or three more days to go, if we keep a hard pace. Again, this all depends upon how much distance we've managed to pass underground, and whether or not we were turned about in the cave system. It's very hard to keep an orientation in complete darkness, while underground."
"I guess we'd best get going," I said, and Malice replied by looking to the sky to get her bearing by the position of the morning sun. The sky was an ever constant companion, and if you were aware of the time of day or night, it could almost always lead you in the right direction. Her bearings fixed, Malice started off through the thick pine-woods, and I followed close behind. My quest to find Kye finally nearing a conclusion, I found myself filled with a mi
x of excitement, worry, and bitter fear. I only hoped that Kyeia would be whole when I found her, not murdered or dissected for the benefit of research. What was to happen after that, I didn't know. I would need to find some way to get us all back across the Iol Adjot, if we were to return to our homeland. That brought up another thought entirely, would it be worth it to return to our land?
I was leaving behind no friends in the land of my birth. The lands beyond the human kingdom were said to be hard places to live, especially for those of human blood, but my life within the kingdoms of man would be no easier. I had made two powerful enemies, and no real friends, other than the one that traveled with me. I might find life beyond the lands of the king hard, but at least I would not be actively hunted, and what's more, I would be further from the coast and the creatures that rode the dragons across the sea. I knew, at the very core of my being, that Brutal had been correct when he guessed that they were preparing an attack the likes of which our countrymen had never seen. They would come, and the lands of men would have to unite or die. Did I want to be a part of that battle? The answer to that was simple; I wanted no part of it. However, could I simply stand aside and let such a horrible enemy devour my people? That was a question with far greater implications, one which was much more difficult to answer. Of course, all decisions hinged on whether or not Kyeia was alive. If the king's men had not found what they wanted, would they simply kill her? That thought blackened my mood. I had a great deal to think about during the remainder of my trip.
"It's called Tuskavar. It houses the king's heads of research in magic and medicine," Malice explained to me as we sat not far beyond our destination. There was a large expanse of open field between us and the villa, and little cover for us to take advantage of. "Other than for those who have worked there, the House of Arts, as it is referred to when spoken of in public, is a deep secret. Most of the Knights of Ethan have served as a guard there for a time, but outside of our order, and the chosen few researchers, guards, and servants who work there, express knowledge of the location and purpose of the villa is forbidden. Those who speak of the villa are dealt with in short order. As for what happens behind those walls, even the Knights know little."
From our vantage, so far away, it was impossible to make out any details of the building. There was a wall surrounding its perimeter, but it was not the imposing kind of wall one would expect on a building housing so many secrets. Perhaps, I thought, the secrets were best guarded by seeming as though they were not being kept there at all. The building, from what I could tell, looked like any other summer villa belonging to a wealthy noble or merchant with too much money on their hands. The fact that it was located in a dangerous territory at the edges of contested land made it a poor location for such a summer retreat, but not necessarily an impossible one. The structure had, until recently, not even been on land owned by the king, and that it made it far more peculiar, and even less likely a location for a research center manned by the king's men.
"How many Knights can we expect to encounter there?" I asked Malice, deciding it was time to know just how bad things were going to be. Guardsmen were easy enough to deal with, but Knights of Ethan could pose a serious threat.
"When I was stationed there, there were six of us, but the king has been fortifying his outlying positions since the attack at Fell Rock. That is why I was at the bridge-gate. Normally that position is manned only by guardsmen, but the king felt a Knight of Ethan's presence would help secure that front. I wouldn't doubt that he has added more Knights to the guard at Tuskavar as well. The research that goes on there is considered very valuable, and he would not want to risk losing it. I would say there would be at least eight Knights, but I wouldn't be surprised if he had placed ten or more. Our numbers are thinned..." She stopped for a moment, and then corrected herself, "Their numbers are thinned, recently, so any extra resources expended come at a great cost." My companion's reply was disheartening. So many Knights in one location would be more than difficult to handle.
"Is there a back route in, something less guarded?" I asked.
"I'm afraid not." Malice pointed at the iron front gate, "That's the only way into the compound, short of scaling the wall, and there are only two doors into the building itself; one at the front, and one at the back, each well-guarded."
I looked at the wall stretched in a circle about the villa. It was only about twelve feet high. It would be no hard task getting over that particular obstacle, but what lay beyond would prove the greater challenge. If we alerted the guards to our presence it would mean a hard fight all the way through to Kye, and we were not even sure where to find her once we'd gained entrance to the building. If we had to search and fight, especially against Knights of Ethan, we would be in trouble. The more time I took to think about the task before us, the more daunting it seemed.
"How are the patrols beyond the wall?" I asked, fearing I knew the answer already.
"There is a constant perimeter march, and each guard stays within visual contact of the one in front of them the entire way around. While I was there, there were two Knights of Ethan and sixteen standard guards on the march at all times. If the line is punctured for any reason, help is immediately called to the fallen point, and half the guards on duty proceed to the area while the other half take up strategic points about the property, so as to avoid being caught unguarded from behind. They are well versed in breaking in and out of formation and dispersing as needed."
I cursed under my breath. "This is going to be difficult. What if we walked up to the gate and demanded entrance in the name of the king?" I asked, certain it was a terrible idea, but curious.
"They would want to see your papers with the king's seal. When you failed to show them, the Knights at the gate - there are at least two of them - would take you into custody, and lock you in a cell until the nature of your intentions could be determined." Malice said, her voice a sigh of frustration at the situation.
"Even if it was someone they knew, like you?" I pressed.
"It's procedure. They would assume I was telling the truth, and would probably hear me out, but they would have to follow procedure anyway, and when they checked our credentials..." She let her words trail off.
We fell quiet for a time, and I watched Malice pacing in the afternoon light, her cloak shifting and blurring the edges of her body, swimming with the colors of its peculiar magic. After all the time I'd spent seeing the phenomenon, it was still impressive to watch in action. A sudden thought struck me.
"Malice, do you know if they are researching the Lucidil cloaks in there?" I pointed at the villa.
"Yes, they've been trying to improve them for years," she answered. "A man named Dian Froast is running the project currently."
I smiled widely. "Don't you think he would be interested in this new breakthrough our team of researchers down south has recently made?" I held up my cloak for Malice to see, and the start of a smile touched her lips.
"That's an interesting idea, Lowin, but if they don't believe you, or if they insist upon protocol, we could be in some serious trouble," she replied, warily.
"It's the only thing I can think of, other than trying to fight our way in." I grabbed the hilt of my sword as I spoke. "I don't cherish that idea."
She nodded. "It might work, especially if we can speak with Froast. He will be eager to investigate your cloak, and would assume that anyone researching the cloaks would probably be under the employ of the king, especially when escorted by someone who is well known among the Knights of Ethan. Froast will be ecstatic. Last I'd heard, in all the time he had managed the project, they had not made any notable progress on the fabric. Your cloak might just stir enough notice to get us inside, at least somewhere besides the dungeon."
The plan was simple, and we could only hope that it would work. If we could get inside Tuskavar, it would put us that much closer to our ultimate objective, though how we might find Kye once inside was another problem entirely. Together we stepped from the woods and ont
o the open field that stretched before the villa in which Kye was being kept. Each step felt like a step toward the gallows, as though I were walking toward my own execution. It took a conscious effort not to draw my sword as we drew nearer the entrance. I knew such an action would be folly, but I felt as though I were coming into danger naked without my sword at the ready. There were two human guards outside the gate that I could see, and on the other side of the gate I could make out just faintly the shifting silhouette of three Knights of Ethan. As we came nearer, the eyes of those manning the gates fell heavily upon both Malice and me. They lingered longer on me, and my unusual cloak, open curiosity reflected in their eyes, but no outright alarm. We were unexpected, but not so much so that we caused immediate alarm.
I expected the human guard to confront us as we drew near the gate, but one of the three Knights of Ethan came forward instead. She was a short, but powerful looking woman, with long black hair that hung freely about her face. She drew close to the bars, and I could see, by the way her Lucidil fabric shifted about her, that she had the arms and legs of a fell beast hidden beneath her cloak. Her arms were longer than they would have been otherwise, and she moved with a grace unobtainable to those limited by human limbs. When her lips drew back from her teeth so that she could speak, her voice was gravelly and fierce, and her teeth razor sharp. She employed "the voice" on Malice and me, despite the fact that we were unaffected by it.