by Noah Layton
‘The drakes…’ The queen said. ‘This is unquestionably their doing. They may have been pushed back during the war years ago, but one hears rumours on the wind of their forces gathering. They have been patient in waiting for an opportunity to strike, and that time has come…’
The queen coughed violently, and Ariadne and I shared a look.
‘Who are these drakes?’ I asked, as the queen regained herself.
‘Hundreds of species and peoples occupy these lands,’ she continued, ‘but they were the first to attack. They rallied forces together from different lands and began slaughtering undefended communities. They are much like us in appearance, but largely male in populous – they are a vicious kind, with an animosity matched by their intelligence. I theorise that they are the ones commanding the snatchers in their attacks.’
‘Look,’ I started, ‘I know I’ve only been here for a few days, but whatever you need… Isn’t there anything that we can do to save you?’
‘We can’t fight the rest of this war without your guidance,’ Ariadne said. ‘There must be something we can do.’
The queen looked between the three of us. For several moments she didn’t say anything, before her eyes finally rested on me.
‘Mr Kit, ensure that the door is locked.’
I wanted to question her, but instead I did as she said, turning the key in the lock and bolting the latch.
‘Upon that chest of drawers… Bring me my papers.’
I fetched those too, setting them down in the queen’s lap before returning to my place by Ariadne. They were the same pieces of parchment that I had noticed earlier.
The three of us watched her as she rifled through the papers, finally settling upon one in particular.
‘Yes… Yes, this is it.’ She pulled out a tattered piece of yellowed pair that looked as if it had been dipped in coffee a thousand times. ‘It was not my desire for you to find out this way, Evelina… But our people know more about the Harpy Cores than we have previously revealed.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean…’ She continued, ‘that with the passing of each king or queen of the harpies, not only the crown and the kingdom are passed down. Over the years our people have gathered information on the Cores, and this information is handed from king to queen and vice versa, to do with it whatever that leader should so desire. Upon my death you would have received such a gift, but as I have already said, with the current situation… Well, desperate times and all that.’
‘Why didn’t you share this with me before? Why haven’t you sent harpies out in the past to find them?!’
‘We did,’ she coughed, ‘we sent scores of men out in search of them over the decades, secret missions organised in an attempt to recover them… But no matter how many of our best and brightest went hunting for the Cores, none ever returned. We lost some good men in the pursuit of them and all it ended in was disappearance and disappointment.’
‘What do you think happened to them?’ I asked.
‘Who knows… Death traps, wild predators, poisonous plants… There are more than enough things out in the wilds beyond this island that are capable of killing any of us without a second thought. We could control it before the war, back when we ruled over these lands and kept some sort of order, but those days are gone, and murder and villainy has taken over once again.
‘My only hope, our only hope, is this…’ She held the paper out with a shaking hand to Evelina, who took it from her carefully. ‘It was found centuries ago upon the raiding of an old encampment, then tucked away in the library for some time until one of our scholars found it during the war.’
The three of us crowded around the paper and examined it. It was so old that it had the texture of tissue paper – one slight accidental movement would rip it in half. The deep, black ink that had graced the pages by an unknown hand hundreds of years ago showed a detailed outline of an island with no indicating features within to suggest what was located upon it – apart from one single splotch of ink, and a crude scrawl in a language that I didn’t recognise.
‘What does it say?’
‘Savour’s Blessing,’ both Ariadne and Evelina said together, slowly.
‘I’m guessing that’s one of the Cores,’ I said, looking up at the queen.
‘Indeed it is. Finding it and bringing it back is the only way to ensure any hope of survival. You three must be the ones to return it to the citadel.’
We all looked between each other, before Evelina and I locked eyes.
‘No, no, no,’ we both said, waving our hands before us.
‘I really don’t think I’m the right person for this,’ I said, ‘I know a minute ago I said I would help with anything, but I can hardly control this Warrior’s Rage Core-thing that I have.’
‘And I really think it should be myself, Ariadne and a small team,’ Evelina said. ‘I could take a group of eight or nine out and find it.’
‘Silence, both of you,’ Queen Athina said, raising a hand. ‘Guard Ariadne, what is your opinion on this?’
We both looked over at Ariadne, who looked like a deer in headlights.
‘Uhh… I really don’t think I should be the one to make this decision.’
‘And you’d be right in saying that,’ the queen continued, ‘it was just a courtesy. There is no decision to be made. Mr Kit here must go with you. He is the only one whom we know for definite can command a Harpy Core. You may be strong of mind and body, my dear, but there is no way that I can guarantee your safety upon taking up this legendary artefact. Besides, Mr Kit has proved a successful guinea pig, and I’m sure will continue to do so.’
‘Wait, what?’ I said, raising an eyebrow.
‘It is paramount that only three of you go, and that you leave on your quest tonight. Small numbers will travel faster, and it cannot be known that the heir to the throne has departed on such a dangerous quest in the wake of an attempt on my life. Do you understand?’
The three of us shared another look. This wasn’t a request, it was a flat-out order, and if it was an order that meant titles were back on the menu.
‘Yes, your highness,’ we said together.
‘Excellent,’ the queen replied. ‘One last thing; be quick. I fear I have but days left, and without the Core there is no hope of survival from this blight.’
Chapter Eight
Into the Dark
We had to travel light and fast, that was a given; instead of the heavy metal armour that I had gotten used to, we traded it in for a more lightweight version. It was a combination of both steel and leather, and while my strength could manage the heaviness of my original set, the long distances we would be covering would have made it too much of a burden.
It was nothing in comparison to this new set; my body could move easily within it, and it would allow me to wield a sword and carry a shield much more easily than before.
If I could even use a sword, that was – but Ariadne had an answer to that.
Several hours had passed since the assassination attempt. The harpy presence in the skies had quietened somewhat, though there were still plenty surveying the surrounding lands from the rooftops of the buildings across the citadel.
Ariadne and I headed to the armoury, completely inconspicuous against the alarmed backdrop that had reigned over the streets since this attack. It was only a short walk from the passage to the cell where I had been kept.
The large storage room looked as if it had been ransacked in the wake of the citadel’s harpies taking up arms, but a few items remained – especially beyond a further locked door that Ariadne just so happened to have the keys to.
‘This your own secret stash?’
‘You could say that. I’ve been a guard for a long time, and it comes with certain privileges.’
We went inside, the light from a flaming torch that Ariadne carried guiding our way within this small room beyond. A small but valuable array of weapons ranging from spears to swords to daggers and even an absurdly
oversized claymore was lined up in a single rack.
‘We have had little use for these weapons for a long time. Those we use in battle are durable and composed of tough steel, but the ones you see before you are of a different nature. They can withstand more than the others, can take more hits and endure more. Oh, they bear the same sharpness and the same propensity for delivering death, but they also last longer – which is exactly what you need.
‘If you can learn to control the Warrior’s Rage in steady pushes then you may be able to avoid destroying your weapon… But just in case, take two of those swords.’
‘And a shield?’
‘And a shield.’
I took up the items in question, securing them to my back, and one sword in a leather-bound scabbard on my belt.
‘What you said before,’ I started, looking over at Ariadne, ‘about having been a guard for a long time…’
‘Yes?’
‘Have you seen a lot of action?’
‘I have fought in many battles… More than I can even count, actually. Even saved Evelina’s life on more than a few occasions, and she mine.’
‘You saved the princess’s life?’
‘You can just call her Evelina down here.’
‘Judging by how you dived on the two of them during the attack I’d put you down for a real royalist. Didn’t think you’d shirk the titles.’
‘I am a royalist, but… When they’re not around you don’t have to say those things. Queen Athina, maybe, but…’
‘But not Princess Evelina?’
‘She’s not the princess once we leave the citadel. She’s just another fighter, like back in the day. We used to be friends, you know? Really good friends, but… After she became the heir, things weren’t the same. She’s still a fine harpy, but sometimes I get the impression that the power has gone to her head a little.’
‘You don’t think it’s just the pressure of having to be queen? What we’re about to do is literally an effort to prevent that. She’s not just saving Queen Athina, she’s saving herself from the duty that’s eventually gonna be on her head.’
‘Maybe… Anyway, let’s get moving. The moment we’re in the wilds we can be normal harpies again.’
‘Except for me,’ I said, following her out, ‘you two can fly. What the hell am I gonna do?’
Meeting with Princess Evelina, we followed her through an unassuming passage in the depths of the castle while checking our packs. A few days supplies of water and food, the latter composed of breads I was familiar with and strange fruits that I was completely unfamiliar with, but was assured by both of the harpies I followed were delicious and filling. Princess Evelina led us, lighting the way with the torch handed to her by Ariadne, until we reached a final, worn doorway and made our way through, giving onto the wilderness, and onto the loss of Princess Evelina’s title.
Out here we were equals.
Out here we all had to look out for each other.
She stamped the torch out before we left the passage, and by the light of the moon we journeyed out across the steep wilds of the island, down to the shoreline.
While the previous journey I had made with the group of harpies to meet the snatchers had been a slow crawl into a deep forest, our descent now was sharp and steep; we moved carefully from ledge to ledge, Ariadne and Evelina taking a lot more liberties than myself in the process. While I had to watch my footing in the near-darkness, they leaped deftly from perch to steeper perch, making it to the bottom before I was halfway down.
I wanted to shout down how much of an ass I felt, but I knew better to resist. Being too loud meant alerting the harpies within the citadel, and that would cause an outright panic.
We were unofficial outlaws to our own people.
Our people? Did I really consider myself to be a part of this society already?
If anything I didn’t, even if the girls had made me feel more than welcome over the past few days. But now here I was, heading out on what would likely be a suicide mission in an attempt to bring back an ancient artefact that could save the queen’s life, and which only I could apparently wield.
Talk about being boxed in.
While I completed the drop to the shoreline, being more confident with my drops from ledge to ledge the further down I got, Ariadne and Evelina fumbled and splashed in the darkness of the shallows below. A few yards from the bottom I was about to ask what the hell they were playing at, but my eyes eventually adjusted, and I saw that they were handling what appeared to be a long, wide canoe.
‘That for me?’ I asked, ‘Because if that climb took long enough I can tell you, manoeuvring a freaking canoe to a whole other island is gonna take hours.’
‘We’re not flying across,’ Ariadne said assuredly. ‘That used to be our mode of transport from island to island. Took a matter of minutes. But there are too many enemy forces lurking out there and keeping watch. Far too many of our kind have been shot out of the sky from watchtowers, and we can’t risk the same, even if it would mean a much faster trip. This way may take longer, but at least we won’t die… Probably.’
‘I’m going to go ahead and guess that I should get used to this idea of probably dying from here on out, right?’
‘Kit,’ Evelina said, as they pushed the small boat into the water. ‘If you haven’t gotten used to that idea already then you’re in serious trouble. Get used to a lot of things almost happening.’
I was about to ask what she meant when I caught the glint of a smile on her face before she turned back to the boat.
‘Right…’ I said, ‘Hilarious.’
Ariadne frowned. ‘What’s hilarious?’
‘Nothing,’ I said, shaking my head and brushing it off as we boarded the canoe. I felt like a real idiot for putting up with Evelina’s deliberate teasing, but even if the harpies were open about their partners I still felt weird bringing it up. Ariadne and I weren’t bound together after our night in my cell by any means, but even so…
Ariadne took up a seat at the front of the canoe, while Evelina took the middle and I sat at the back. I followed suit in taking up an oar, watching their movements and imitating as best as I could as we departed the shores of Aries Island and move out into the darkness of the open waters of the archipelago.
‘That’s Caros Island,’ Evelina said back to me as we glided through the water, nodding to the next land mass ahead of us. It was less than half the size of Aries, but its looming shape in the moonlight ahead still filled me with a sense of dread. ‘It used to be one of our primary defence points during the war, but like half of the archipelago it was lost. A surprise attack wiped out all the forces upon the island. Now, as far as we’re aware, it’s occupied by a unit of drakes. They realised long ago that any attempts to attack from there would be futile.’
‘Fortunately we’re not headed there,’ Ariadne said from the front. ‘Zakthos is a mile beyond it. That’s where we are bound.’
Our course took a sharp turn to the right as we arced around the island, keeping a distance of at least a quarter of a mile from the shores of Caros. Twenty minutes into our voyage across the water a screech called out from that very island, and I turned frantically in its direction to see a flock of silhouetted birds soaring through the sky. The harpies carried on rowing, not even giving the sound a second thought, and it was only then as I looked up that I saw the beauty of the towering, majestic galaxy that looked down on us from above.
The night sky was littered astonishingly with thousands of stars – my mouth had fallen open on more than one occasion at the sight of a naked harpy over the past few days, but this time it was the expanse of the universe that took my undivided attention. I had to remind myself to carry on rowing as I drank in the view greedily.
We rowed in silence as we rounded Caros’s waters, and in the distance beyond it, Zakthos came into view. Aries was a wilderness with dangerous creatures and the occasional group of attacking forces that I had come face to face with more than once, but Zakthos, j
ust as big as the home of the harpies, was a completely different force altogether.
Looking back over my shoulder I could just about make out Aries in our stead; the citadel was lit brightly with hundreds torches. Zakthos, on the other hand, wasn’t. It was a massive, featureless dark mass that awaited us.
I asked the girls whether it was occupied.
‘Not to our knowledge,’ Evelina said. ‘Even at the empire’s height Zakthos was largely unused. It was deemed too wild and too difficult to tame, so we abandoned the prospect. Thick jungle, vicious creatures – essentially everything that Queen Athina spoke about.’
‘I’m starting to get an idea of why so many of your kind went missing when searching for this Harpy Core. Most of the things in the archipelago seem to really enjoying kill things.’
‘Get down!’
Ariadne released a loud whisper from the front of the boat, and the next thing I knew we had ceased the paddling. The girls huddled down into the depths of the canoe and I did the same.
The shimmering water splashing against the sides of the boat and our bated breath was the only sound that existed in the darkness, until I heard the unmistakable sound of the air tearing and looked back to the sky.
A pair of wings beat against the backdrop of the universe, blocking out some of the stars above.
‘What the hell is that?’ I whispered.
‘One of the snatchers playing scout. It’s carrying out surveillance.’
‘What do we do?’
‘We can’t leave it up there,’ Evelina said. ‘It looks to be staying in the area, and the moment we move it’ll be on us… We’ve gotta take it down. Who’s the better shot with a bow?’
‘Don’t look at me,’ I whispered back.
‘You’re gonna need to get its attention, Ariadne. It’ll dive-bomb us, but that’s going to act in our favour.’
Evelina retrieved her bow and arrow while Ariadne retrieved her spear. They both stood, at the ready, then-
Ariadne struck her spear against the side of the boat with a single knock, and the snatcher overhead let out an almighty scream, descending upon the boat.