by Matt Heppe
“What losing his voice has to do with it, I don’t know,” the second rider said. “It’s a shame he couldn’t have fought harder.”
“The duke will want to see her,” the first rider said.
“I have to see the king,” she said.
The knight shook his head. “There’s no king. There’s a queen, but you don’t want to see her. You’ll come with us. We’ll take you to Duke Braxus of the South Teren.”
“Can I see the queen instead? Forsvar must be taken to Belen. We are all in terrible danger.”
“You’ll see the duke. He’ll decide what happens then.”
Chapter Eight
“Orlos! Orlos, wake up!”
Orlos jerked awake, the nightmare still on him. It took a moment to realize it was his mother holding him in the near-dark of the room. “You were crying out,” she said. “Another dream. Just another dream.”
He lay back in bed and took a deep breath. She had stopped asking him what he dreamed of a long time ago. He would never tell her. How could he? Dreams of blood and death or thousands of voices crying out in pain and fear.
“Is it morning?” he asked, hoping it was. He didn’t want to go back to sleep again.
She nodded. “I was just rising when I heard you.” She still wore her night-shift. Gently, she reached out and touched his face. “Come down and eat with me before the others rise.”
Orlos nodded and sat up in bed. “What do I do, Mother? The dreams have returned, and I just got back. I thought I would have a few days at least.”
“Do you want to try sleeping in a Spiridus Glade again?”
“It doesn’t work!”
She shushed him. “I don’t want you to leave.”
“Leaving is the only thing that gives me peace.” He paused a moment. “Is this why old Orlos left? Is this why he lived in Salador for so many centuries?”
“I don’t know the whole tale. I only know that he said he was banished.”
“Is this what he meant? Banished by nightmares?”
“I hope not. I couldn’t bear it if you left. What would your brother and sisters do? They cannot live in Salador.”
When Orlos didn’t say anything for a few moments, she said, “Get dressed and come downstairs. I’ll make honey cakes for you.”
He smiled at her. “I will.” She kissed him on the forehead and left.
Orlos got out of bed and pulled clean linen trousers and a green tunic from his trunk. The stone floor was cool under his feet and a gentle breeze blew in from the window. The horizon glowed red and gold.
He padded down the hall past his brother’s room and the room his two sisters shared. There was no want for space in Belavil. Even his sisters could have their own rooms if they’d wanted them.
Kael was stirring in the master bedroom as Orlos passed and headed down the broad stairs. The house must have belonged to some spiridus lord in ages past, Orlos thought. Maybe even to his namesake. The thought gave him a chill. Orlos had been exiled from Landomere for five hundred years.
The kitchen was bright with light. Mother had a fire going in the cooking hearth. A copper kettle hung near the flames. She was mixing nuts, dried fruit, and honey in a wooden bowl as Orlos stepped up next to her.
“We could move just across the border,” she said. “Right across the river.”
“It isn’t safe, Mother. Don’t worry yourself. I will think of something.” The lie came easily to him. He already knew the only solution. He would leave.
“You can’t go alone,” she said, as if hearing his thoughts. “The Great Spirit wants you here. The Great Spirit thanked Hadde for bringing you home when you were rescued.”
“I saw her,” Orlos said.
“You did? You saw Hadde?” Mother stopped mixing and looked up at him.
“She ran with me in the forest. I almost caught her.”
“The Lady of the Forest?”
Orlos nodded, smiling. That’s what he had called her when he had first seen her as a child. Mother had cried for joy when they had made the connection. Hadde’s spirit had returned to Landomere. She wasn’t truly dead.
“Is she happy? Did she speak to you?”
“She was joyful. She was like a child running through the woods. I almost caught her, but she turned into a spirit bird and flew off. She didn’t say anything, though.”
“I wish I could see her.”
If only he could grant his mother her wish. The Lady of the Forest only ever appeared to him, though. Even when others were nearby, none of them could see her. “I’ll take you to a Spiridus Glade today,” Orlos said. “Maybe she’ll appear. I’ll tell you when she’s near.”
Mother’s eyes welled up. “I would like that. You know there’s a wedding today. You’re taking the couple to a glade.”
Orlos sighed and his shoulders slumped. “No, not today. Not after last night.”
She turned away from her work. “You’re the last spiridus. The people need you.”
“No they don’t. They don’t need me to get married. They just want me to lead them to a Spiridus Glade.”
Mother crossed her arms. “It’s important, Orlos. The people of Landomere are unified for the first time in five hundred years. You, the Great Spirit, the Lady of the Forest, and the Spiridus Glades… they are what tie the people of Landomere together.”
Orlos closed his eyes and rubbed his face. “I didn’t ask for this.”
“There are a lot of things we don’t ask for. But sometimes they turn out to be the most precious gifts.”
Orlos kept his face hidden in his hands, hoping they hid the flush that came to his cheeks. His mother’s face bore the scars from her rapist’s knife. Orlos was the child of that rape. He was also the spirit-child of Orlos, the ancient spiridus who had died saving his mother’s life. It was Orlos’s spirit that resided in him and made him a spiridus.
“I’ll do it. Of course I’ll do it,” Orlos said. “I just want to be free of these nightmares. I can’t take them any longer.”
***
Orlos led the wedding party out the gates of Belavil and into the forest. They departed to the sound of cheers and music as a group of well-wishers tossed seeds and everbloom petals.
The group that made its way into the forest was very small, only the bride and groom, their parents, Orlos, and his mother. Orlos had learned years ago that the bigger the group, the less likely they were to find a Spiridus Glade.
One time there had been an attempt to bring over a hundred people into a glade. Orlos had felt the presence of the glade, but it wouldn’t reveal itself to him. They had wandered the forest for almost a half day, slowly winnowing down the crowd until only six remained, and only then had they found it.
Today was a beautiful summer day. A gentle breeze blew through the great oaks, making a sound almost like a sigh. Everbloom swayed near the ground, their white flowers seeming almost to glow.
Orlos’s mood lightened, the darkness of his nightmares banished by the sights around him. There was a Spiridus Glade nearby. He felt it.
The wedding party was happy. They chatted as they walked behind him. Mother joined in—they were happy to have her, as she was the mother of the last spiridus and was viewed as a bringer of good fortune.
Orlos knew the couple getting married. Belavil was small enough that, with the exception of foreign merchants, most everyone knew everyone else. With the Wasting ended there were children everywhere, the first wave of them Orlos’s age—born just as the Wasting ended.
This couple, like Orlos, were seventeen years old. I wonder when my turn will come. He’d pursued and caught a few girls, but nothing ever lasted. His nightmares, his dark moods, his sudden departures, all worked to ruin any relationship. He was always the one to break things off, the girls usually willing to suffer him because he was spiridus.
It’s the only reason they want to be with me.
Mother told him he had plenty of time. Kael told him, when Mother wasn’t near, that he should cha
se every girl in the city. Orlos shook the thoughts from his head. He had other worries at the moment.
And he’d lost the glade. He’d let his mind wander too far from his task and now it was gone. He stopped.
“Are we near?” the groom asked.
Orlos held up his hand for quiet as he cleared his mind. He drew his spiridus cloak over himself, and the path became clear. He sighed with relief. Orlos had never failed to find a glade but always feared he someday might.
He let the cloak drop and then waved the party forward. They went a hundred strides, and Orlos stopped again, next to a large sweetberry bush.
“We’re here.”
The groom frowned as he looked around. The bride didn’t try to hide the disappointment in her face. It was a pretty section of forest, but there was clearly nothing special about it. Nothing magical.
Orlos rolled his eyes. “No, we’re not in the glade.” He gave them a reassuring smile. “We’re at the entrance.”
Their relief was palpable.
“Wait here just a moment,” he said to the young couple. He waved his mother closer and took her hand. They stepped behind the bush and the glade appeared. A carpet of grass flowed down a gentle slope to where a brook babbled along. Wildflowers and everbloom grew all along the creek, with bright butterflies flittering above. The scent of flowers brought smiles to both their faces.
The Lady of the Forest walked along the brook. She looked up at Orlos and smiled. His heart thudded at the glance. “She’s here,” he said to his mother. “By the brook.”
“Where?” Mother said, excitement in her voice. “I don’t see her.”
“We’ll go closer.” Orlos led his mother to the water’s edge. Hadde knelt on the grass as they approached. “Sit, Mother,” Orlos said. “She’s right in front of us.”
Orlos turned to the Lady of the Forest. “Hello, Hadde,” Orlos said. “I’ve brought my mother with me. She would like to… be with you.” He almost said see but didn’t want the Lady of the Forest to rebuff him or to leave.
Hadde was naked but clothed in light at the same time, so that Orlos didn’t know if she was truly naked or not. She glowed with an inner light, and her hair that should have been black, was silver. Three tiny rayed orbs glowed on her cheek like little stars.
“She’s reaching out to you,” Orlos said. “She’s touching your face.”
Tears fell from his mother’s eyes. “I…I feel her,” Mother said, putting her own hand to her face, covering Hadde’s. “I miss you, Hadde,” she said.
“I am with you,” the Lady of the Forest replied.
“Did you hear her?” Orlos asked.
Mother shook her head. “What did she say?”
“She’s always with you.”
“I heard her before. Why can’t I hear her now?”
“I don’t know, Mother.”
“I wish I could see her again.”
Hadde still sat, shimmering by his mother. “I don’t know, Mother. Maybe someday it will happen.”
“Can I stay here? I want to sit with her.”
“For a little while. The wedding party….”
Mother sniffed and nodded. “I know. Just a little bit, though.”
They sat there, just the three of them, for a while, Orlos had no idea how long. Time meant very little in a Spiridus Glade. Hadde took her hand from Mother’s face and turned to face Orlos. “You cannot leave. The Great Spirit needs you.”
“For what?” Orlos asked.
“Freedom.” Hadde stood, touched Mother’s face once more, and walked downstream. After only a dozen strides she paused and knelt at a patch of water lilies.
“She’s gone,” Mother said.
“She’s still close.”
Maret took a deep breath. “I wish… how I wish she hadn’t died.”
“She’s not dead, Mother. She is always with us. Just like the Great Spirit.”
“I want my friend back,” Mother said as she stood. She brushed off her dress. “It cannot be. I should go and get the happy couple.”
His mother left the spiridus glade and a few heartbeats later the two newly married Landomeri entered with their parents. They all gasped at the sight of the glade, marveling at its beauty. Orlos called them closer.
“She’s here,” Orlos said. “Come and stand beside me. She’s there, by the lilies. Hadde has returned to Landomere as the Lady of the Forest. She is part of the Great Spirit now. I often see her, sometimes as a beautiful Landomeri clothed in light, and sometimes as a spirit bird.”
The six Landomeri stared at him with rapt attention.
“She doesn’t appear for every newly married couple, but she’s here with you today.”
The newlywed couple beamed at one another.
Hadde walked closer and reached out, but instead of blessing the couple, she touched Orlos on the shoulder. Her touch was like ice.
“Free them. They are bound by blood.”
“What’s wrong?” the wife asked. “Did she leave? You look sad.”
Orlos shook his head. “She’s here.”
“Bound by blood,” Hadde said again. A chill went down Orlos’s back as his nightmare came alive in his mind. He closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them, the Lady of the Forest was gone.
“You look pale, Spiridus Orlos,” one of the mother’s said.
Orlos forced a smile. “It’s time for us to go, parents. The Lady of the Forest gives her blessing to all of you.” It was a lie. She’d done no such thing, but with her words and his nightmare fresh on his mind, he wanted nothing more than to leave.
“Make us a beautiful grandchild,” the mother said to her daughter.
There were hugs and congratulations, and then Orlos led the parents from the spiridus glade. There was no need to leave food, fire, or shelter. There was no such thing as hunger, cold, or want in a Spiridus Glade.
Orlos, Mother, and the four parents slowly made their way back towards Belavil. Mother chatted with the others, but Orlos quickly lost the conversation, sunk too deeply in his own thoughts.
Free them. They are bound by blood.
What did it mean? His dreams were filled with blood and death, but whose blood? Who was bound? The elementars were bound by blood—to each other. They were all descendants of Handrin the Great. Did the Lady of the Forest want him to help Sulentis free the elementars?
Orlos continued through the forest, occasionally catching bits and pieces of his mother’s conversation. They spoke of children and harvests, of crafts and homes. Would that be him someday? Or would nightmares of blood chase him from his home?
He’d tried cloaking himself in shadows to escape the dreams, but it only seemed to make them worse. If the nightmares came for him again that night, he would flee the forest the following day. Maybe if he stayed away for a while, it would be better when he came back.
Or is that what Orlos thought? He spent five hundred years in Salador. He had to die before he could come home.
***
Orlos dragged himself upstairs to his bedroom. He was drunk. So drunk. So much wine with his friends. So much trouble you could get into when you could make yourself invisible.
He staggered into his room and sat down on his bed. Getting undressed seemed like too much of a hassle, so he lay back, his head landing gently on a down pillow.
“So soft,” he said. “So drunk.” His ceiling seemed to spin above him, so he closed his eyes. Now he seemed to spin in the darkness, which was far worse. He opened his eyes and leaned out the window by his bed. He didn’t want to be sick on the flowerbeds below. Mother definitely wouldn’t be happy. He’d have to cloak himself and hide.
That was a funny thought. He laughed. He’d hidden from her before. Being a spiridus was useful. The world stopped spinning as he looked out over the gardens of the top terrace of Belavil.
Orlos had told his friends about his dreams. It just scared them. It ruined their party, so he just drank more. He had hoped the wine would drown his mem
ories, or that he would just pass out. Maybe if he was unconscious the dreams wouldn’t come.
Orlos rested his arms on the cool stone of his windowsill and then put his chin on them. The world didn’t spin, which was an improvement. He closed his eyes for a moment. Maybe he could sleep like this. It was too uncomfortable though. When Orlos opened his eyes again, he thought he saw shadows moving across the terrace gardens. He frowned as he looked closer. The shadows walked like men but had huge capes, almost like wings on their backs.
A chill of alarm swept through Orlos. There was danger here. He tried to cry out but couldn’t find his voice. He tried to lift his head, but it seemed pinned to the ledge.
There were other shapes out there as well. Humans. They were struggling, being pulled along by the winged forms. Behind them he saw a glowing temple. Something horrible was going to happen. He had to stop it.
With all his will, Orlos lifted his head and stood. He called out to his mother and Kael, but all that came out was a whisper. Orlos threw his leg over the window sill and then slid out, until he was dangling above the flower beds. Suddenly the drop he had made hundreds of times before seemed like a gaping chasm waiting to swallow him.
His fingers slipped, and he fell. He landed hard but didn’t feel any pain. Carefully, he crept towards the shadow figures. His heart pounded with fear that he might be seen. No matter how hard he tried to reach it with his mind, the spiridus cloak wouldn’t come.
And then he was compelled to walk forward. Orlos tried to resist, but it was impossible. He joined the other spiridus, as he now realized what they were, and shambled towards the temple. He tried to shout, but fear locked his tongue.
Someone had to hear. Someone had to come for them.
The temple was surrounded by hideous black-winged figures. They watched, their malevolence emanating from them like heat from a forge. Orlos shrank before them.
Inside, dark blood splattered the walls of the temple. Not the blood of spiridus but of the others. The winged creatures stabbed each other with long daggers, chanting in some hideous tongue. There was no fighting, just an orgy of death.