by Noah Layton
Ariadne and Evelina… Something bad was happening.
I dashed over to the Core, looking over at Ruaos. He gave me a single nod, before I returned to the orb and picked it up.
Swirls of colour burst from the sphere, just as they had done with the red Core back in my grandmother’s house. They clawed their way up my arms and over my body at a terrifying speed, as a fierce explosion of energy ignited in my veins.
I closed my eyes, breathing deeply and clenching my fists as the lines of blue light soared around me. At first it felt good – really good – but quickly that feeling transformed sharply into a mix of overwhelming rage and energy, as if my body would explode and take the entire island of Wildak with it.
Fighting for calm within my mind, it finally subsided. I turned to look back at Ruaos, expecting him to have disappeared. He hadn’t, but his image was steadily fading.
‘What does it do?’ I asked him quickly. ‘The Core.’
‘You’re the owner,’ he smiled. ‘Find out for yourself.’
I wanted to jump at Ruaos and choke him to death, but he was nothing but an apparition, and all I would do is go slamming into the chamber wall.
I ran for the passage, stowing my weapons as I dashed back into the narrow tunnel.
‘Wait!’
Screeching to a stop, I looked back into the chamber to see Ruaos kneeling by the door, looking down towards me.
‘What is it?’
‘How did you arrive in these lands in the first place?’
‘A Harpy Core was in my grandmother’s house, and I picked it up without having a clue what it was.’
‘In your world?’
‘Yeah… Why?’
‘Your grandmother… Strange…’
Ruaos gave a final smirk in my direction before his image faded away completely.
There was no more time to waste.
Leaving behind Ruaos and the chamber, I headed for the surface.
Chapter Thirteen
Do the Right Thing
I scrambled out of the hole, finally getting a hold on the marble platform and pulling myself out onto the small ruins amongst the surrounding jungle.
When I had descended into the chamber the sounds of the drakes had been far off, heading in the opposite direction.
Now they were nearby, and getting closer.
I kept a hand on my sword, ready to draw it. I could start running but the idea seemed fruitless.
The sounds of the drakes were everywhere.
Suddenly a figure appeared through the shrubbery, travelling too quickly. It crashed through the bushes, scrambling to the ground after a brief flight, before looking up in my direction.
Ariadne’s hair was unmistakable, but the look of pure, frantic terror on her face was brand new.
‘WE NEED TO GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!’
Ariadne screamed the order out, propelling herself towards me and wrapping her arms around me in a single motion.
I grunted heavily as we took off, not into the sky but straight back into the forest. Branches and jutting twigs struck at our bodies as Ariadne peered intently ahead, her eyes set on the course she was plotting and executing millisecond by millisecond.
‘What the hell is going on?!’
‘There were too many… We got backed into a corner and had to make a break for it.’
‘Where’s Evelina?’
‘We split up, she’s fine. Did you get the Core?’
‘Yeah, but-’
‘Save it! Let me focus!’
We raced through the air, and in our wake I heard the drakes’ war cries steadily coming into earshot. There were more than I could count, every single one of them intent on taking us down like animals.
Bursting through the treeline and over the shore of Wildak, a wild scream rushed from Ariadne’s lungs. At first I assumed the worst, wondering where an arrow had hit her, but as the wind and the resonating sound of her voice rang in my ears, I realised that it had been caused by only herself – we were flying faster than I could believe, travelling at well over a hundred miles an hour, sliding through the sky like an arrowhead.
We arced around the easterly shore of Zakthos, losing the drakes for a minute. Despite our speed, the safety of our course didn’t last for long. In no time we had reached Caros, diving into the forest just as a wave of arrows whizzed past us.
‘ARIADNE!’
Evelina’s voice called out, and my harpy changed course rapidly, veering left towards her call.
Any notion of a stealth mission was now gone. We had taken our time in getting to Wildak, but now we were clearing the distance in no time at the risk of our lives being taken. Our only goal was to get back to Aries as fast as possible.
Ariadne’s name was called out again, and as we rose above the treeline she pushed us in the direction of Evelina.
‘TAKE THEM DOWN!’
A gruff, angry voice yelled out the order not far behind us. They were getting closer.
‘Get him back!’ Evelina called out from somewhere in the darkness. ‘I’ll hold them off!’
‘NO! WE’RE ALL MAKING IT BACK!’
An arrow suddenly slid by, releasing a shriek of pain from Ariadne – it hadn’t hit her, only grazing her wing before falling into the sea.
But that didn’t stop her grip from failing, just as I saw the lights of Aries Island ahead of us.
Her arms untightened, and I fell.
‘KIT!’
I scrambled madly for Ariadne’s hand, my fingers wrapping around her forearm as we flew towards Aries.
I yelled out, looking out at the maddening blackness of the night around me, Evelina’s screams of my name sounding from somewhere to my right, and the innumerable silhouetted drakes pursuing us like an army of devils.
‘HANG ON!’
Ariadne’s nails dug into my arm and mine into hers as she caught me, both of us drawing blood from each other, but we didn’t care - we were holding onto each other for dear life, and in the chaotic adrenaline of our escape I felt the familiar, unwelcome anger of the Warrior’s Rage begin to fill me up.
‘No…’ I muttered to myself. ‘Not now…’
I still didn’t have full control over this explosive power, this overcharged fury, and there was no weapon that I could use to channel it, aside from the one at my waist.
I swung my arm around to reach for the sword, and halfway into the motion a blue light suddenly appeared in my palm, extending out into a long line that widened out slightly. It wasn’t an hallucination – I could see the light illuminating my body, lighting up Ariadne’s wings.
It made us an easy target for the drakes.
Ignoring the light out of necessity, I reached for the sword in my scabbard, drawing it in the air like an idiot. I held it up, the energy still brimming within me – and the blue light still emanating.
A combined rage struck, an amalgamation of that which I had felt in my first fight with the snatchers and the one that had filled me in the chamber.
I groaned, the anger filling my chest, unable to contain it any longer.
A brutal roar exploded out of me.
A crackling rumble filled my ears.
My sword, the final sword I had brought, filled with blue light. It felt as if the handle was on fire.
I released it from my grip, and the moment it left my hand an explosion of light burst from the blade, flying in the direction of the drakes.
A shockwave blasted towards the battalion, and in the light that it carried I saw the drakes thrown back through the air, their weapons flying from their hands as they were knocked out of the sky. Some regained their flight, taking off back in the direction of Wildak, while others slammed into the ocean below.
I could only stare, mouth agape, at what had just happened. I could fight with fury, but nothing like this had happened before.
In the final wisps of light that remained, I looked over at Evelina. She stared back at what had happened as we flew on, before shooting me a look o
f shock and confusion.
This was no time to stop, though; through the night Ariadne carried me, and the three of us drew closer and closer to the home of the harpies.
Evelina called out our arrival as we approached, identifying us. The harpies were still on high alert, and the possibility of them mistaking us for potential intruders considering the previous approach of the drakes that many of the guards had played witness to, it wasn’t exactly a terrible idea.
Touching down in the plaza, we were almost immediately flanked on all sides by the welcoming presence of the harpies. Battle-worn and covered in small marks of war, the girls all looked at me with admiration, but we couldn’t stop. The three of us hurried to the palace, rushing up steps and along corridors until we reached the passage that led to Queen Athina’s chambers.
Flames lit the passage, leading to the door still guarded by two harpies, who stood aside the moment they saw us. Evelina rushed ahead with Ariadne in tow, but I found myself slowing,
‘Evelina…’ I called out, panting for breath.
‘We don’t have time to talk, Kit, we’ve wasted enough already.’
‘No, it’s…’
‘Look,’ she said, turning to look at me from Ariadne’s side, ‘I know we’ve been through a lot, but time is of the essence and we’re back in the citadel. We may be friends, and we may have spoken frankly with each other out there, but… Here, I am your princess. And I am ordering you to come with me, and to save Queen Athina.’
I looked between her and Ariadne, both of them looking at me with the most serious expressions that they had ever set upon me. Even if they had had their disagreements during our journey, in the face of saving their queen everything else was set aside. They had reconciled, and they were captured by an idea.
‘Fine.’
I said it simply, quietly, and headed onward, following them into the room.
Inside, Queen Athina remained bedridden. She was beneath the covers now, looking frailer than ever, her condition having deteriorated rapidly over the past few days since we had left. Her face was washed out, pale and sickly, and she looked as if she had lost twenty pounds.
Even so, she was lucid, and upon laying her eyes upon us she ushered away the cleric at her side, ordering her from the room.
Once the door was closed and the four of us were alone, Evelina dashed to her bedside.
‘We have retrieved it, my queen,’ she said, kneeling upon the ground and taking one of the queen’s hands in her own. ‘You will be saved.’
Queen Athina smiled, looking past her heir to me. All I could do was stare back at her, unable to move from where I stood.
‘Kit?’ Evelina said, looking over at me frantically. ‘Come on! It’s time.’
‘The time…’ Queen Athina said quietly, her voice croaky, ‘is almost upon us.’
‘Almost?’ Evelina repeated. ‘The time is now. You are becoming frailer by the hour.’
‘That is indeed the case. And someone has come along to cure this plague that has tainted our lands for too long.’
‘I don’t understand…’
Evelina and Ariadne both looked at me as Queen Athina patted her heir’s hand.
‘Do not blame the boy,’ she continued. ‘He was none the wiser of the nature of your mission. But after retrieving the Core I imagine he is now.’
‘What is she talking about?’ Ariadne said with a whimper, looking over at me.
'I am talking, Guardsman Ariadne, about the Harpy Core that Kit is now in control of. I… I am sorry for lying to you, Evelina. It was never my intention to betray you as my heir, but it was the only way for this kingdom to not only survive, but push back. If we continued the way that we were going, we would have been driven into the sea and slaughtered before the end of the next harvest.
‘The truth is… There is no way to save me. There never was. But there is a way to save the kingdom of the harpies, and it is latched to the soul of the young man standing in this room.’
The girls both looked over at me.
‘When I was down in the chamber, I saw something… The same thing that I saw when I picked up the first core back in my world. It was one of the Ancients.’ I looked over at Queen Athina. ‘He told me that the Core can’t save a life. That there are no Cores that can do that.’
‘It is true…’ She replied. ‘Such powers are beyond even that of the Ancients. Bringing back the dead is beyond anyone.’
‘So what does this thing do, your highness?’ I asked desperately. ‘What’s so amazing about this Core that it meant sending us on what could have very nearly been a suicide mission to retrieve?’
A contented smile, one so genuine that for a moment it seemed to alleviate the ailment that blighted the queen, rose against her cheeks.
‘I knew who you were from the moment you appeared in our lands. The jump from the cliff, the scouting mission, what you have achieved in acquiring the Core… It’s one thing to possess the temperament to be able to use the Cores, but it is another entirely to possess the bravery and fortitude that you do, young man.’
‘I don’t know if I’d call it bravery, your highness… Just a desire to do the right thing.’
‘And a willingness to act in spite of the odds that are stacked against you,’ she continued. ‘That is what makes you a harpy. Not the wings on your back, but the strength of inside of you… The one that has been with you since birth.’ She pointed a finger at her chest, where her heart resided. ‘The Core that you have taken on may not cure me, but it will allow you to cure these lands. From my window I saw a blue light shining through the dark, which would suggest to me that it has already manifested within you.
‘The Saviour’s Blessing is a weapon. It is unique only to you – it can be summoned whenever you should so desire to call upon it, extending from your very form and receding into your spirit whenever you wish to call it back.’
They all looked over at me as I raised my hand, staring at my palm. Stepping back from the girls, I thought back to the cave where I had met Ruaos, to the overwhelming energy that had filled me, to the light that had burst from my palm against the drakes, and imagined the handle of this illusory weapon in my grasp.
A blue light flashed over my eyelids, a gasp escaped the girls, and opening my eyes to look at my hand, I saw it.
The Savour’s Blessing took the form of a large gladius sword, the kind that I had seen Spartan warriors wielding in every movie and documentary about them, only this one glowed a luminescent, radiating blue that lit up the quiet dimness of the room.
It was so light in my grasp that as I raised it to examined the blade, I half-expected it to be exactly the illusion that I had at first anticipated. Only after I raised my other hand to its flat edge and ran a finger along the cold, steely exterior it possessed did I comprehend its appearance. Swinging it in a quick manoeuvre that Ariadne had taught me back in my cell, I felt the perfect balance of the gladius, the effortless motions in which it moved at my command.
‘The Warrior’s Rage may destroy any of the weaponry that we have put in your hands, but this one cannot be destroyed or removed from your grasp. Through it, you can truly channel the energy that you possess. It is yours and yours alone. It is you. And it will help us stave off the drakes.’
I admired the sword for another moment longer, looking it up and down once more before it drew back into my hand.
The motion felt deliberate and sure. But even so-
‘It’s not exactly safe, is it?’ I said. ‘What if I accidentally unleash it when I’m close to an ally? I really don’t feel like stabbing any of you any time soon.’
‘It belongs to your deeper self. The sword will only appear in battle. It is you, and it will never betray you.’
‘I hope so,’ I nodded.
Evelina nodded back at me, a weak smile appearing on her lips, before she returned to Queen Athina.
‘But what happens now, my queen?’ She asked. ‘This is the end?’
‘Nothing can b
ring me back from this brink I am facing, my dear. I am growing closer and closer to death as the hours pass, and once I have passed from this world and into the next, someone will need to take the mantle from me.’
‘I…’ Evelina started, shaking her head, her eyes welling up with tears. ‘I can’t do this…’
‘I know…’ Queen Athina responded without hesitation, patting her on the hand. ‘But you can help the one who can.’
Evelina looked back up at Queen Athina, who smiled and nodded at her warmly before extending the nod over her shoulder – directly at me.
‘Woah, woah…’ I said, holding up my hands. ‘You… You can’t be serious. I don’t know the first thing about this place. I only arrived here a few days ago. You and all of the other harpies haven’t just been living in this world for centuries, but you’ve lived through battles and wars that I can’t even imagine. How am I supposed to lead?’
‘Because you possess all of the qualities of a leader that I have already mentioned. Skill, perseverance, improvisation, a willingness to hold your nerve…’ The queen coughed violently, pressing a handkerchief against her mouth that quickly stained with the redness of blood before she regained herself. ‘Do not make me flatter you anymore, Kit. My son would have made a great successor to this kingdom, but he is long gone, and that is a fact I must deal with. His loss was one of the saddest that I have ever felt in my life, but if we dwell upon the tragedies of the past then we will all be destined for tragedy in our futures. This cannot be allowed to happen. We must move forward, Kit. Your knowledge of these lands may be limited but that is what your advisors are for.’
‘… My advisors?’
‘An heiress who already knows the ins and outs of this kingdom,’ she said, nodding to Evelina, ‘and a great warrior to lead the harpies into battle.’ In turn, she nodded at Ariadne.
‘Me?’ Ariadne stuttered. ‘… You want me to be an advisor?’
‘Once I am gone, and it will be soon, our enemies will descend upon these lands. We need to respond with force.’
‘They’re already planning it,’ Ariadne said. ‘We overheard the drakes’ plans from the mouth of the leader himself. They will attack at sunrise. The exhibition of Kit’s power may have warded them off for now, but I doubt that they will deviate from their plan.’