The Truth about Heroes: Complete Trilogy (Heroes Trilogy)

by Krista Gossett

  “Where’s Freesia?” Night demanded, the oddest shrill of hysteria bubbling underneath it and his voice struck a despairing chord in all of them.

  Krose seemed tongue-tied but a muscle twitched in his jaw as he clamped his teeth.

  “She didn’t make it, Night. She failed Lumina’s test,” Krose admitted, pushing Night back and preparing for the worst. The worst probably wasn’t as bad as what was simmering in Night.

  A strange keening sound was coming from Night as he struggled with grief and rage.

  “Lumina… chose you… Freesia was… really Erised’s child after all,” Night choked out his face contorting with horrid, gutripping emotions.

  None of them had prepared for the force of dark magic that had ripped out of Night and sent them all flying. They all tried to scramble to stop Night from taking this further, but they couldn’t get near him. None of them knew they could even wield the elementals’ power as Night had and their weapons couldn’t touch him; defense of their own lives was about all they could manage. Even Dinsch struggled to avoid Night’s rage. In the thick darkness around Night, Ashe could swear he heard those cursed laughs of Erised’s that Night had mentioned. Night had lashed out at Ashe, slashing through the armor and slicing into his side. The armor repaired itself but the bleeding wound underneath bloomed through the material. He rose to the air and they watched in horror as Night started slaughtering the people as they came out of their homes, razing buildings to the ground. He began to travel to the west side of the city, destroying everything as he went. They were trying to summon their elementals but either they refused to come or Night’s power rendered them useless. Unable to stop him, they refocused on getting Ashe to safety in the inn. Before Ashe had slipped into unconsciousness, his last thought was how much Night had loved Freesia— that she may have been the only thing holding him together, since that very first day he met her.

  When Ashe stirred, he was in his room in the Four Clover Inn and he thought what lingered in his memory had been a bad dream until he felt a hand on his shoulder pushing him back into bed as a sharp pain in his side racked through him. He noticed what he hadn’t before— that the armor had repaired itself as it was whole draped on a chair beside the bed. He had been stripped naked with the blankets laid over him for modesty. He would have torn them away if not for Rienna being there. He smirked a little, thinking maybe he would after all and only to see that blush rise in her cheeks. His eyes started to focus and he saw Rienna working to patch him up, frowning at that unprompted smirk she had seen creeping on his face. She looked haunted, as if she hadn’t slept and it sobered his mischievous thoughts.

  “The others…” Ashe croaked out, his throat dry. Rienna handed him a glass of water and he could see her face was a bit swollen and red from crying not long ago and the tears started streaming again. She swiped at them with the back of her arm since her hands were coated with his blood as she stitched him up.

  “Our friends are okay. Ashe… he killed everyone. Women, children, everyone. It was a nightmare. I’m so sick in my heart I could burst,” she whimpered and hated her weakness but she hated everything else about this situation even more than she cared to guard her feelings anymore. “We couldn’t even call the elementals. Somehow Erised had locked them out.”

  Ashe wondered if Melchior had made it. Night had made a beeline for that part of town so he doubted it.

  “I made the others stand outside. None of them seemed to know anything about stitching someone up so it fell to me,” Rienna said, focusing on calming down.

  Ashe reached for her and pulled her down to hug him. She tried to stop him, worried about tearing the stitches and the blood on her hands, but she did not want to struggle and risk hurting him so she let him hold her as he stroked her hair. She remembered when her heart had ached and Dinsch had allowed her this. She let out a pent-up breath and placed her blood-wet hands on his chest and just lay there listening to his heart. That heart broke down the floodgates and she sobbed against him as he kept petting her head. When she could cry no more, she fell asleep and only barely registered when Krose came in, picked her up and handed her to Dinsch while he cleaned up Ashe and finished up. Dinsch carried Rienna to the room across the hall and Pierait used warm water and soft towels to clean Rienna off gently. When Pierait left, Dinsch stripped her down, all shyness and modesty deserting her grief-ridden heart, as he covered her in soft blankets and laid his head on her stomach so she could pet the soft hair on his head until she fell asleep.

  She woke in the morning to Pierait holding her pile of clothes and watching her expressionlessly. Pierait handed her clothes over and left the room. No sooner was she dressed when her companions flooded into the room. Ashe didn’t look to be hurting and she frowned with confusion.

  “Sea Star paid me a visit. Did you know water is a healing magic? She healed me up and the stitches just fell out. Still a pretty nasty scar but I feel good as new,” Ashe offered.

  Rienna was still confused. “You summoned her? They seemed so adamant about not helping anyone but their precious chosen one.” She heard the bitterness in her voice, but if Sea Star could have done her favors before, she should have saved Freesia, damn it! She could see from Krose’s face he thought the same.

  “No, I summoned Zephyra and it turns out the two of them are fond of each other.”

  Rienna grumbled. “She could have mentioned that before I spent so much time stitching you up.”

  Ashe sobered a little, his face not thrilled by what he had to tell her next.

  “Rienna… we’re going to have to travel to the opposite side of the town. There are still ships down at the docks according to Dinsch— he scouted this morning. It’s… not going to be a pretty sight, but Dinsch and Krose did their best to… make the path a little less grim.”

  “We’re crossing the water?” Rienna asked. She could only imagine what Night had left in his wake and refused to think any more about it. Wallowing in grief was not going to do her any good.

  Ashe nodded curtly.

  “The Myceans are on that continent and Dinsch said Night took off that way too,” Ashe explained, although not happily. Dinsch had tried to follow Night but even he hadn’t been able to keep up.

  “I see… Lead the way then,” Rienna allowed. She was probably the only one among them at this point that had no idea where they were going. If you had told her that her quest would be taking her across two continents, she never would have believed it. At some point, revenge had stopped being the top priority. She needed to find Night and the Myceans would have to answer for the war they started on Vieres. Her father might have frowned on why she started this journey, but she knew in her heart that he would proud of her resolve and her motives now. She knew he wouldn’t recognize her now; she had changed so much, but everything she was now would never have been if he were alive to see it. She would be happily married—beyond that, she drew a blank. What happily married was like she couldn’t imagine and that life was lost to her now.

  Ashe seemed somber; despite his bad injury having been healed, he was still as bruised and dirt-streaked as the rest of them. The elementals had not been happy that Erised had kept them away— they feared the Shade’s power but their rage was stronger. Erised had chipped away at Night until he had cracked and used Night’s despair to cause destruction. The elementals were making plans to strengthen their Chosen but if they filled them with such power so soon, it might end them rather than strengthen them. As cold as the elementals could be, they were not so harsh as Erised to risk it. Ashe explained this first to Rienna but she could see there was more troubling him. She knew it was a big something since his face wore the same troubled expression she had seen in her own as she had neared that inn the night before.

  “It’s… not just Freesia that Night was troubled by. He told me that Erised had been whispering, ‘lying’ was his exact word, filling his head with negativity and playing with his perceptions. And… Rienna, we found out that Melchior was here, in
the Old District where we are headed, and I spoke with him. Night was not at all happy that I was waiting until the rest of you arrived to decide his fate,” Ashe admitted none too happily.

  “He had a lot to take in, Ashe. All of us do. But then we didn’t have a Dark elemental tormenting us with our darkest fears either,” Rienna weakly supplied. “I… wouldn’t have been happy if you had taken justice to Melchior before I could question him, but I won’t speak about what would have been best in hindsight. There’s really no telling either way. The fact that you did not mention Melchior again makes me think that maybe Night had gone to finish him off anyway.”

  “You weren’t ready to hear it yet; none of us were. We didn’t find a body but who knows?” Ashe said softly.

  “Some of those creeping tendrils of darkness were disintegrating people. Still, I somehow doubt Melchior would have been so easy to kill— we know he was Chosen by fire and Nuriel has butted heads with Erised before,” Krose added.

  Rienna did her best to not look so closely at the red/brown/ black smudges that used to be people. They had done a good job of removing any bodies or parts left behind on the main road, but there were places on storied buildings where dripping, torn bodies draped off of the ruined, collapsed walls. As they neared the center of the port city where the machines had first attacked, the flowers that had been laid out in mourning were littering the streets there, shredded like a morbid wedding reception. Ashe proceeded to explain everything to the others; while Pierait already knew about what had happened there prior to them arriving, all of them were hearing for the first time what Ashe had learned about Melchior. He sounded detached as he recounted that bit, but Rienna was sure that this was mostly because he didn’t think Melchior was able to escape Night’s wrath so it was useless to pursue it. Better safe than sorry, but if Melchior still lived, he intended to make sure their wrath towards him was rational. He thought that Rienna might find some small bit of solace with what he knew, even if she wouldn’t get the chance to question him herself.

  Ashe had stopped suddenly, seeing the Barrel Row Inn sign lying there, splintered in two. Ashe studied the rubble then started to walk again. Rienna was lagging behind them as they passed it. She saw a strange silver glinting as the morning sun had shifted in a pile of rubble and headed over to it, expecting it might just be a piece of aluminum.

  She looked down and discovered she had more tears to shed after all. It was a broken silver link chain looped through a small white-gold wedding ring, a modest heart shaped diamond framed by amethyst chips that bloomed like flower petals from the diamond. There was no other ring like it and Rienna had only seen it once, a night when Night had thought no one else was awake and he had pulled it out from under his silk wrappings and inspected it in the moonlight. Now that Freesia was gone, it must have felt like a noose around his neck. Rienna let it sparkle in her hand for a moment— Ashe stopped and noticed, shuffling over but not alerting the others.

  “It was Night’s,” Rienna whispered, tried to force out the words through the tears. “I think he was going to give it to Freesia. Probably even planning to do it here. It all went so terribly wrong again.” Her eyes met Ashe’s, her eyes hollow with despair but a glimmer of stubborn hope. “Do you think ours will be another tale written with shining elementals and heroic deeds, when the truth is we were dropping like flies, pawns in a living horror?” Her fingers closed around the chain and when they loosed, she let the jewelry tumble forgotten.

  “Pierait seems to think we’re agents of Fate, pushed by a current. Maybe that’s true and we have to go where it takes us. Maybe it leads to a tributary and maybe there is a choice there; we can give up and stay in the boat or bail and make a go at swimming for the bank. You can’t swim up a waterfall, so maybe you just have to think outside the water analogy and make your own paths,” Ashe explained, knowing Rienna wasn’t looking for calming platitudes.

  Ashe grabbed the hand that held the chain a moment before and massaged at the deep grooves left in her hand with his thumbs. “It’s not over yet, Rienna. Don’t give up on us. Any ordinary woman would have given up long before now— you’re so much stronger than that.”

  “I’m a fraud, Ashe. I acted so tough until the time came to be strong and I lost my husband for that mistake. I have frozen up so many times already. I call myself a warrior and I have done little but bark out commands and hide behind others,” Rienna confessed unhappily. She knew she was an able warrior, had worked so hard to be, but she had managed to lose confidence for all the reality of learning some things could not be controlled.

  “That’s not the way Krose and Dinsch feel. You had just lost everyone you loved and you stuck your neck out to help a man rescue his friend. You could have kept going and found your way without Krose’s help but there is a real strength in you when people need you most. You can’t save everybody and you know that, but it doesn’t stop you from trying. I saw you trying to stop Night before I passed out— you weren’t freezing up then. I’d never seen anyone fight like that before, Rienna. You were frantic but you weren’t careless and you put yourself between them and danger and defended us all. If there’s anything weak about you, it’s your faith in yourself.”

  Rienna could feel the sun warming her frozen heart and she looked at Ashe as if seeing him for the first time. Her heart swelled at the sincerity of his words and it pulled at her tenderly. She looked up into those eyes now and tilted her head.

  “Your eyes are different,” she observed, lamely avoiding how grateful she felt to him at this moment. Something told her he knew even without her saying so. Still, his eyes were indeed different, like that cerulean dress she had worn for Belias once. It made her heart ache and she reached up to touch his face, stopping herself with embarrassment before she did. She lowered her shaking hand and looked at her feet.

  He smiled crookedly and lightly tapped her arm with his knuckles and the gesture sent a strange shiver through her.

  “Better? Less of a sad reminder now?” he asked, wiggling his eyebrows to widen and flash them.

  She managed a smile and dared herself to be bold again. She reached her hand up again and laid her fingertips on his jaw, feeling a muscle twitch there. She leaned forward and pressed a chaste kiss on his lips. Ashe knew that was her way of saying thank you and a damned fine one. She realized the others were getting ahead of them and hurried to catch up. Ashe looked down at the ground at the chain and ring. He picked them up and stashed them in one of his belt pouches. They may still have a use yet.

  As they edged toward the docks, Rienna could see the ships that they had mentioned and it looked as if two were still usable. She could smell the old fish and salt aroma— untended fish were starting to spoil in the morning sun, but the smell of fresh catches weren’t much better on the olfactory glands. Rienna took a deep breath anyway and looked around, thinking that despite all that happened, there was still some peace to be had in these small moments. What Ashe had said was true enough; she didn’t give herself enough credit. She wasn’t really weak; so many times she had to let out her grief hard and fast, maybe so she could stand up and move on. She didn’t mope and she didn’t let pain cloud her eyes from the beauty still to be had in the world.

  Xanias’s docks had been the most lucrative part of the city and it had not escaped her notice that the docks could be entered from the New and Old Districts and it was kept rather pristine like the richer part of the city. The stones under their feet were cut stones of no particular shape but expertly interlocked. The landing had been kept scrubbed and the wood of the boat docks looked well maintained and free of rot. Her inspections seemed bittersweet; docks were never meant to be so quiet and abandoned. The calls of the seagulls overhead sounded sad and hollow, echoing too long and they were much bolder in having their fill of the fish without the humans shooing them away.

  Rienna heard a rustling behind one of the empty stalls and drew her sword instantly. She watched the mysterious figure appear and he held his hands up a
nd his hood dropped, Rienna’s jaw following suit. Her face then twisted menacingly and she fell into attack stance.

  “Melchior,” she hissed out.

  Melchior held out his hands in a gesture of surrender but Rienna was already running towards him. He spun and drew his sword to block her swings and she was smothering him with a flurry of sword swings. He seemed impressed that she was wielding her father’s sword so well; the last time he saw her, she was still using epees, lighter swords more suited to a woman. It was plain to see he wasn’t having an easy time of it since his left arm was in a sling and he was protective of it. His face was filled with admiration despite her deadly pursuit.

  “STOP!” Rienna heard Ashe shout, shocked by the force of command. Melchior did not throw in a cheap shot when she did but he watched her to be sure she was really stopping. Her eyes held his fixedly, but he saw some shame for her impulsiveness. So Ashe had told her. He smirked with cynicism, realizing it hadn’t much cooled her rage. He didn’t begrudge her that; he damn well deserved it.

  “How the hell did you get away from Night?” Ashe asked, putting himself between them while Rienna sheathed Justice again, the others watching wordlessly. Dinsch looked ready to burst as usual, Krose tense in observation. Pierait, well, he gave away nothing but he was better than any of them at schooling his emotions.

  Melchior shook his head grimly.

  “I take it you mean that psycho little dark one that razed the city. Makes me glad I made a pass on Erised’s offer,” Melchior sheathed his sword and rubbed his arm. “You have to remember that Nuriel already stopped that bastard Erised from killing me before, so it was a no-brainer that he wouldn’t lose to him now. That kid seemed to be particularly interested in getting to me. I had enough time to realize what was going on and escape into the cellar. Smuggler’s routes, remember, little brother? I know the seaside caves under this town better than anyone; most of the residents have no idea they even exist. There’s one under the tavern and the bartender was quick to jump for it when he heard the commotion. Fucking coward if ever I’ve seen one, but I didn’t exactly stand in the path of that thing either. Nuriel didn’t much like that I pretty much used him as a torch to find my way through rather than confronting Night, but I wasn’t taking any chances. Nuriel might have done worse damage. All that arrogant pride they seem to run on…”