Brian turned to his sister. “They will reach the village,” he exclaimed. “There’s too many of them.”
“We’ll be ready for them.” She fired another arrow before shouting a command to the Arraci on the ground. “They must not pass into Skee!” she ordered.
They heard the clopping hooves of horses behind them and turned to see Victoria and Elizabeth trailing behind another hooded stranger. Thrix’s horse continued past the rooftops, and he dismounted beside the rest of the Arraci on the ground, all of which backed away from his brutishly tall physique. He unnerved them further after he removed a large sword from within his cloak, the size of which almost matched Richard’s entire height. Brian broke his focus on the battle for only a moment as he also noticed the quiver of arrows on Thrix’s back – white feathered, black-shafted arrows.
“The caverns,” Brian muttered to himself and Adriana looked at him. He continued. “He carries the same arrows as the figure that saved me in the caverns.”
Adriana glanced down at Thrix, inspecting the arrows, before turning to see Elizabeth and Victoria riding up to the building behind them.
“The stone,” Elizabeth said to Victoria as Victoria stopped her horse next to the building the twins stood upon.
“I have it,” she assured, removing the black bag from within her dress and handing it to Elizabeth. “It’s safe.”
“Thank you,” Elizabeth said, briefly embracing her friend from behind before carefully taking the small black bag and returning it to a fold in her dress. She looked to the twins on the rooftop before focusing on her friend again. “Move the horse closer to the building, as I’ll join the Arraci on the rooftops.”
Victoria directed the horse closer, and Elizabeth carefully stood on top of the horse’s back to gain access to the rooftops. Brian had seen them approach and now extended a hand to hoist Elizabeth up onto the roof with him, ensuring she kept her balance. Elizabeth spoke calmly as she caught her footing and withdrew her bow. “The stone is safe once again,” she said to herself, feeling the relief of carrying the stone once more.
“Who’s the other?” Adriana asked from beside her brother.
“Thrix,” she answered while preparing and releasing a white shafted, white feathered arrow, “a friend of Victoria’s and trustworthy.”
Adriana nodded. “I suppose I’ll trust him too, then.” She glanced over her shoulder to see Max and Richard reach the inn. “At last, the royal family is all safely in one place.”
“I wouldn’t say safe yet,” Brian corrected, redirecting his attention back to the battle. “The enemy continues to come.”
*************************************************************
“Go, brother,” Max told Richard as they stopped at the small stables beside the inn, Richard’s horse sluggishly stumbling towards the water and hay barrels in the corner beside the other horses. “I will return after this battle.”
“Max…”
“I must fight, little brother,” Max declared, jumping off the horse with his sword withdrawn. “Go into the inn!”
“But why must you fight?” Richard pleaded. “Please, come into the inn with me.”
“I cannot,” Max said as he turned to leave. “I must stand with Adriana.”
Richard watched his brother run towards the fight, but he obeyed, rushing towards the stairs of the inn. As he ascended the final step, Aroden appeared in the inn’s doorway and rushed forward to embrace him.
“You are safe,” he muttered under his breath, holding Richard to him as they stood at the top of the steps. William stood close by.
“I’m sorry, father,” Richard said. “I should’ve listened to you.”
“It’s in the past,” Aroden assured, his eyes momentarily watering as he took in his son’s appearance. “I can feel only relief right now, my son, that you are here and once again safe.”
Richard stepped back and shook his head. “None of us are particularly safe now.”
Aroden and his two sons looked around, seeing as the Arraci quickly dispatched their arrows, the thunderous sound of the Fortari army charging towards the village. “They will reach the village, father,” Richard said.
“The Arraci will prevail,” Aroden assured and he quickly pulled his sons towards the inn. “Come inside, then I must go stand by the Arraci in battle.”
As they entered the inn, William spoke to his brother. “Who was the other that rode with Victoria into the village?”
“The alchemist of Forelorne,” Richard exclaimed.
Aroden stopped at the door, his eyes widening as he turned around to address Richard. “The alchemist?” he commented. “How did he come to join you and Victoria?”
“We met him in Onderal; he was waiting for Victoria there.” He paused and shrugged. “They’ve known each other for centuries.”
“So he’s an Eranite, too?”
“No, he’s something else but wouldn’t say.”
“That’s very odd,” Aroden said, his brow lowered, “I wonder what else could be that old.” Aroden stayed with them in the inn, intrigued by his youngest son’s words.
“His robes bear an uncanny resemblance to the crest we saw in Orwell,” Richard added before the others spoke, “one with three intersecting triangles, but it doesn’t have the beast’s head in the centre like the enemy’s, just the triangles.”
William’s eyes widened as he turned to Zed, who was already shuffling through the pages of his ancient book to the page of crests, still marked by the white feather from earlier. Zed’s finger dropped on top of the crest Richard described, pointing to the page opposite the one with the beast, the one with only the three triangles. He looked up, his jaw slightly lowered as he confirmed what they all suspected.
“The mark of an Eternal.”
*************************************************************
Thrix lunged towards the oncoming attackers, his long sword slashing through multiple foes at a time before they could even reach the Arracian line. The front lines of the Arraci wielded their blades and prepared for the creatures to plunge into them while the Arraci on the rooftops and behind the buildings continued to release volleys. By the time the enemy reached them, only about a hundred or so remained, the land behind them littered with corpses. Even as the front lines connected with the Arraci, the other Arracian archers continued to release a sea of orange from Skee, killing the back lines of the enemy.
A loud, deep horn echoed from the distance as more emerged from the trees at the back of the village, another enemy army entirely, though smaller than the first, with an array of brutish swordsman with shields and a group of lanky archers; a large creature led them at the front, riding what appeared to be a horse from a distance.
Brian spotted them, redirecting the Arracian arrows towards the reinforcements to fend them off and focusing on the enemy archers first. Elizabeth kept an eye on Victoria while Max took to one of the rooftops beside the twins and Elizabeth. A clap of thunder struck the air and several of the creatures fell backwards, huge gashes in their chests and death in their eyes. Between strikes of her sword, Victoria employed Dra’cordar to destroy her foes, engulfing them in a fiery sphere of blue death.
But they kept coming. The second large force in the back crashed into the front lines, a swarm of crazed swordsman with a burning rage to kill, while their commander remained behind them. Elizabeth worriedly watched as her friend started to become overrun and turned to see Thrix further up from the rest of the front line, alone in the centre of the enemy. Thrix’s eyes burned a vibrant red, and a spinning sphere of red fire appeared in the palm of his raised hand. He shouted something, his booming low voice audible over the battlefield, and clenched his hand into a fist.
The power expanded.
Troves of the creatures flew through the air, a terrifying sight, their bodies mangled and torn with the expanding scorching force. Even a few of the Arraci paused in fear at the shear destructive power of this stranger. Another group of cr
eatures charged, but he did it again, sending them coursing through the air in pieces, his bellowing voice blotting out the sounds of their war cries. But the third group of attackers managed to reach him, and with one swift strike of a jagged, black sword, one of them managed to cut him along the arm.
His yell startled his attackers as they cowered backwards. In one swift motion, his long sword sliced the creature through the centre. Thrix unleashed another battle cry before engulfing himself inside a sphere of red energy, his eyes burning the same colour. He rushed along the lines, propelling his enemies into the air until the energy dissipated around him, leaving a cracked ground and death in his wake. After a few more kills with the sword, he rushed towards Victoria, who hovered close to the front lines of the Arraci. The two of them fought next to each other.
Elizabeth watched them from the rooftop, keeping an eye on her friend and Thrix. She could tell that he was tired and required assistance, but the shear level of death he brought upon the enemy troubled her.
“What did he just do?” Brian yelled towards Elizabeth for an answer.
“I’m not sure,” she responded quietly. “I’ve never seen him do that.”
“Well it just wiped out most of the enemy, so I’m glad he did it,” Brian added, surveying the dwindling forces.
Elizabeth continued to watch him and muttered to herself. “How did you do that, Thrix?” She noticed Victoria give her a curious glance from the battle and saw her shrug with an ounce of confusion in her eyes, too, clearly having heard Elizabeth’s words. “Join me on the rooftops,” Elizabeth said to her friend, knowing she’d hear her.
Victoria left Thrix and slowly made her way to the front lines of the Arraci, where only a few of the Fortari had managed to reach. She passed through a small opening made in the front lines for her and climbed up the rooftop where the twins, Elizabeth, and Max stood.
“What was that?” Elizabeth asked her friend while releasing an arrow, her quiver almost empty. “I’ve never seen him command such magic.”
“Nor have I,” Victoria admitted. “I knew him to be capable of strong magic but nothing that destructive. It startled me, I admit.”
“How can you not know?” Max blurted out, somewhat terrified of what he had just seen. Before today he’d never seen magic of this sort, never witnessed the brilliant flames of death emanate from a single person to annihilate another. “He has capabilities like that, and neither of you have ever asked him about it? He just eviscerated the enemy! Do you know what he is?”
“No,” Victoria answered quietly to herself as she stared at him, “no, I suppose I truly don’t.”
“Their morale falters,” Adriana called out after seeing the left side of the enemy attempting to retreat. She aimed directly for their leader at the back of the ranks. “But I cannot reach their leader,” she muttered.
Elizabeth touched her shoulder, the streaks of green flowing into Adriana. “Release your arrow,” she said, and Adriana obeyed, striking their leader through the forehead.
Elizabeth tried to retract her hand, but she quietly groaned in pain, her eyes widening and slowly turning lightening blue. With one last desperate pull, she removed her hand, her eyes returning to their natural light green. She stared at Adriana in confusion and fear. Something had tried to prevent her from removing her hand, some sort of force within Adriana.
“Now their morale will certainly falter,” Adriana said, oblivious to the effect on Elizabeth and ignoring the sudden pain in her head. “The rest will withdraw soon.”
“Then we have victory,” Max declared.
Elizabeth continued to look at Adriana, perplexed and alarmed by what she felt. The sensation, the force or energy transferred, it made little sense to her. But Adriana’s words were correct. The right Arracian flank quickly overwhelmed the remaining attackers; their morale broke as they attempted to flee, only to be struck in the back by the Arracian arrows.
As custom of the Arraci, they left a small group of foes alive in order to gain information; the small group fled along the barren lands towards the distant tree line. Adriana aimed towards one of them and released, striking the creature in the leg and watching it fall helplessly to the ground. With the successful capture of the one, a few Arraci released arrows to deal with the rest while a couple of the Arraci on the ground ran towards the incapacitated enemy and pinned it to the ground.
“Perhaps it will tell us something,” Adriana said as Elizabeth and Victoria stared at her. “I want information.”
“If you can understand it,” Elizabeth said.
The two Arraci held the creature down, but, shortly after, looked back to the twins on the rooftop and shook their heads. Victoria could hear the creature’s language and turned to Adriana. “I heard that tongue earlier today,” she said. “It’s foreign to this realm. You’ll learn nothing from it.”
Adriana sighed, looking to the Arraci again. She motioned for them to kill it and turned to face Max, who was already hovering at the back of the rooftop.
“We should return to the inn and tell the others it’s over,” Max said, giving Adriana a shallow smile. “They’ll want to know that it’s safe out here.”
*************************************************************
William looked through the window after the sounds of battle ceased.
“Is it over?” Richard asked from behind him. “Did we prevail?”
“Yes, little brother,” William nodded, “we did.”
Aroden passed through the front door to the outside, followed by William and Richard, and waved to the others on the rooftop. He motioned for them to come to the inn, and the others answered the summoning. The rest of the Arraci formed a perimeter around the village, led by Orthol and Gringal; many of them would scour the battlefield and retrieve the viable Arracian arrows, salvaging ammo for their dwindling supplies. A few of the villagers in Skee emerged from their homes; most of the dazed villagers made their way towards the inn, too, likely looking for reasonable answers. Rachel reached the entrance of the inn first and stood outside, preventing any of the villagers from entering.
“We are safe,” Adriana announced as she and Brian broke through the surrounding villagers and entered the inn past Rachel. She saw everyone in the inn looking to her with questions in their eyes. “But we’ve set up a perimeter around Skee so that we’ll know if another attack comes.”
“We successfully defended the village,” Max announced as he, along with Elizabeth and Victoria, joined the others in the inn. “We defeated them.”
“With help,” Adriana spoke up. “Victoria came with another.”
“Victoria’s ally,” Aroden stated while searching for him.
Thrix walked into the inn with his sword sheathed and the hood over his head, only his face visible. “Yes, that would be me,” he answered while removing the hood again and staring right into Brian’s eyes.
Brian’s jaw dropped. “You’re the traveller, the one I met at the inn in Orwell,” he muttered. “How did you…”
“The stone,” Thrix interrupted. “It must go to Brymar. That’s all that matters.”
“The stone to Brymar again,” Victoria scoffed. “You mentioned nothing of this plan to me,” Victoria complained. “You changed it.”
“Who are you?” Max demanded.
“I’m Thrix.”
“How did you find us?” Brian demanded while taking a quick glimpse of the crest on Thrix’s robes. “You explained nothing of this at the inn in Orwell.”
“The ring that Max wears,” Thrix answered. “I can track you by that. And, of course, Richard told us you would be in Skee.”
“He’s also the alchemist from Forelorne,” Richard quietly added for the rest.
Aroden sighed angrily. “You’ve been following and watching us this whole time, then. Explain yourself. Why have you been watching my entire family?”
Even Victoria and Elizabeth both looked to him for answers. “Thrix,” Victoria spoke up. “You’ve been keep
ing secrets from us. What’s going on?”
He sensed everyone’s stares and his face hardened. “I…”
“Wait, everyone,” Zed interrupted, still sitting with his book open and pointing to Thrix’s robes. “Look at the crest,” he said, glancing again at the page for confirmation. “Look!” He held up the page in his oldest book depicting the three intersecting triangle. “It is a perfect match. He bears the mark of an Eternal upon his robes!”
“Enough!” Thrix shouted, his voice echoing in the room.
“Is it true?” Victoria immediately asked, the frustration of deception visible in her eyes, but it morphed into anger. “You’re an Eternal?”
He didn’t respond.
“You never told me…”
“My oath prohibits it,” Thrix declared.
“Even among friends,” Victoria continued, the anger in her eyes building, “even with me, after four centuries?”
“You must understand, Victoria,” Thrix started calmly, sensing his alienation from the rest of them. “This is bigger than all of us…”
“Did my father know?” Victoria interrupted, but Thrix didn’t respond. Richard recalled their conversation earlier, the purpose her father sent her away for and the complicated history she mentioned with Thrix but refused to explain. “Did he know?” she demanded again more forcefully.
Thrix nodded.
Victoria glared at him, the anger seething in her eyes.
“You must understand,” Thrix began, “the stone you carry must be returned to Brymar. It is the only way.”
Victoria prevented Elizabeth from countering. “Fine,” she said, the emotion vanishing from her face, replaced by a cold, unforgiving expression; her trust in him faltered. His deception enraged her, but she hid it well. “It will be returned to the halls of Brymar,” she calmly appeased.
The Secrets of Brymar (The Elitherian Fragments Book 1) Page 27