“You don’t want to wait for Haley?” Bailynn asked.
Logan gave Bailynn a slight shake of his head but Bekka had already stiffened. She walked past them towards the door. “She’ll either catch up or she’s already waiting.”
With a sad smile he didn’t feel, Logan followed after. Several of the former bandits had gathered outside. Others were missing or could be seen heading off the island to the west.
The same man that had spoken to them before stepped forward. “We figure we got a right to split up what was taken and collected while we were doing that witches bidding.”
“What about the people you took—”
Logan put his hand on Bailynn’s arm, silencing her. “We took our things back, save for the food and gold that are missing. We’ll be on our way. What you do is up to you, but I advise you not to follow us and not to stay here. Without that witch you won’t find this swamp a pleasant place.”
Some of them grumbled in the back of the crowd but others silenced them. “I seen what you done,” the spokesman said. “And we all seen the body of that swamp thrasher you killed. You go your way and we won’t have nothing more to do with you.”
Logan saw Bekka jerk at the mention of the reptile in the swamp he’d claimed to fight. Now she knew it wasn’t just a claim. He nodded to the man and led his companions around the group towards where their canoes had been pulled ashore. The one he and Bailynn had been in still had puddles of water in it, but after they tipped it to let it run out it proved seaworthy again. Bailynn gave Logan a pouting glance when he suggested she ride with Bekka, but after they were successfully afloat again both boats rode higher in the water for it.
They put their oars in the waters and headed south again, though Bekka kept craning her neck to search through the shadows of the swamp for any sign of the missing Haley.
Chapter 7
The sun crept overhead slowly, burning down fiercely on the three as the day progressed. They paused only for a midday meal, which Bailynn obtained after several failed attempts with her spear. Bekka’s magic sparked a fire and they roasted the muddy tasting bottom feeder on a stick.
They travelled the rest of the day, anxious to put the swamp behind them. As the sun set Bekka wordlessly summoned up some ghostly floating lights that allowed them to continue their journey. Logan didn’t even spare a glance as the sun was replaced by the small moon. The larger moon arrived, supplementing the silvery ambient glow of the rising mists. It was half full, which gave him a couple of weeks.
Considering his recent control of his curse, he wondered just what the full moon had in store for him.
“What kind of fools travel through an unfamiliar swamp in the middle of the night?” Bailynn paused for rhetorical effect. “Oh, fools like us!”
“We’re almost there,” Bekka said softly from the front of the boat.
Bailynn snorted. “Swamp looks the same to me.”
Bekka stopped rowing and pointed ahead. The swamp looked the same as it had for the past fourteen hours. The sorceress scowled and made a motion with her hand, dispelling her lights. Almost instantly a pair of faint glowing lights could be seen in the distance.
“Wisps,” Bekka said. “I heard they guard the land of the Fayer and lead those that are worthy through.”
“And those that aren’t?”
“They’re led elsewhere.”
Logan frowned. Elsewhere didn’t sound like a good place. He stayed quiet, afraid Bekka would accuse him of running Haley off. His mind was at peace and he wanted nothing to ruin it. The hard work of rowing the canoe on his own had helped clear his thoughts and give him a chance to think. He’d reached no decisions, but he found his thoughts straying to Bailynn more and more as time went on.
Bekka’s oar dipped back into the water. Bailynn glanced at Logan, who shrugged in response. She resumed her strokes and Logan watched them for a moment before he set his own oar to work to catch up with them.
The distance to the floating lights closed rapidly. They looked similar to the lights Bekka had conjured, save that they floated of their own control. So intent were they on the lights that their canoes rubbed against the ground before they realized how shallow the swamp had become. Water remained ahead of them for several dozen feet.
A third wisp floated up and joined the others ahead of them on the shore. “Now what?” Logan dared to ask.
“Now we get wet,” Bekka said. She grabbed her pack and shrugged it on her back, then stepped out of the beached canoe. The water was ankle deep.
Bailynn and Logan followed, though they were pulled up short by the two magical lights that moved in front of them. “Bekka! Wait!” Logan cried out. She’d followed one of the lights that moved fluidly through the air before her.
She turned to look back. “They will guide you.”
“What’s gotten into her,” Logan hissed.
Bailynn grabbed his hand and squeezed it. He could feel her fear in how his fingers protested the pressure of her grip. Logan gave her hand a squeeze back, not certain if it was safe to speak before the wisps.
“They want us to split up,” she whispered, her hand tightening even further to convey how much she wanted to remain with him.
Logan stared at the two lights. They shed a light around them that lit up the countryside for nearly a score of feet in any direction, yet staring directly into them didn’t hurt his eyes. “Aye, I think you’re right.”
“We could wait for her,” Bailynn suggested.
Logan chuckled. “What if she needs help?”
“It’s never about you, is it?” Bailynn asked. “You never ask for anything for yourself.”
Logan smiled. “It’s my calling, to put others before myself. I get something out of it. Satisfaction and happiness.”
“You could put my happiness first and do what I want you to.”
Logan chuckled. “I have a feeling I’d get quite a bit out of that. But Bekka still needs us more than she realizes.”
Bailynn sighed. “I know, but I’m holding you to that.” She let go of his hand and slipped her gloves on, then stamped the butt end of her spear into the ground. “Let’s go, firefly.”
The wisp in front of her floated through the air away from her. She followed with a final glance at Logan. He gave her a smile then turned to face his own lantern. “My turn.”
The wisp remained motionless. Logan stared at it, waiting for it to move. He took a step sideways but the wisp moved to match him, keeping it between him and the land beyond.
“Am I forbidden to enter? Do the Fayer fear me?”
The magical light remained silent. Bekka and Bailynn had disappeared, taken wherever their wisps had led them. Logan stared at the light in front of him again, then decided it was up to him. His friends needed him, he wouldn’t disappoint them.
Logan stepped forward, hands at the ready should the wisp try to stop him. It stayed in front of him, refusing to yield. When his hands reached for it a powerful blast staggered him back and made him fall to one knee. He stared up, seeing the smoke curl up from his hands. His hair was singed and his skin blistered. The stinging faded but the blisters remained.
He climbed to his feet, feeling the anger within him raising the hair on his neck. He reached for his weapon and felt the sheathed sword. It reminded him that his mace was gone. His friends were alone, whether they survived their guidance or not. He couldn’t help them so long as the thing before him blocked him.
Logan pulled the sword free of the scabbard. It felt alien to him, yet there was a warmth in his hand that soothed the burning in his fingers. He swung the unfamiliar weapon, trying to angle it more for a cutting strike than the blunt impact favored by a mace.
The wisp exploded, stunning him and sending him staggering back again. This time it was without injury, but when he looked up the wisp had been scattered into several smaller motes of light. They swirled about madly, moving so fast they left leaving tails across the night sky. They crashed into one another, merging
back together until the larger and slower lights rejoined to form the wisp again. It remained unmoving before him.
Logan bent down and picked up the dropped sword. A shimmer of light flashed down the blade, sending a tingle through his arm. There was no pain but the sword felt better in his hand, almost like an extension of his arm. He sheathed it and stared at the wisp.
“What’s next? I won’t give up!” He growled.
The wisp floated in place, as though it was unimpressed.
Logan felt the answer deep within him. “You’ve left me no choice,” he growled. He fell forward, crashing to the ground and letting the change take him. His clothing stretched and ripped, as did the belt holding his new weapon up. His boots slipped free of his feet and what remained was a massive wolf with fur as black as midnight.
He howled at the wisp and then dug his feet in, prepared to lunge at it. He sniffed, detecting the faint tang of ozone in the air. With a growl he crouched low. Before he could leap and snap at it the wisp it floated away from him, heading inland.
Logan hesitated, confused by the action. His blood was in his ears and his hackles were raised, prepared for battle. He followed, forgetting his fallen equipment behind him. The wisp moved faster, prompting him to move a trot. The movement felt good, exerting his muscles in a way he was unfamiliar with. Logan tasted the air on his tongue and felt the thrill of the chase as the wisp moved faster before him.
* * * *
The light had grown so bright before Bailynn she found it impossible to see anything else. She stared into the consuming whiteness and followed, unable to break away. When it faded she blinked, unable to believe she could see contrast and colors again. She looked around, coming to her senses as though she’d just awoken.
A flowering hedge stretched before her, the ends seeming to go forever. She frowned and turned to look behind her. A person stood a few feet away, startling her. Her gasp turned to open mouthed awe when she realized the person wasn’t standing, she was hovering. Gossamer wings on her back beat and suspended her in mid-air.
Her hair was the color of emeralds, complete with the occasional glint of reflected light. Her eyes, finger and toenails, and even lips shone the same hue. She wore diaphanous strips of material that were wrapped around her, revealing and concealing her beautiful figure. The clothing matched her hair and eyes, complete with emeralds and other gemstones that were woven into it.
“Are you one of the Fayer?” Bailynn’s tone was almost reverent.
“I am Sarissa, of the Fayer,” she confirmed. “You are Bailynn, of the humans. Yet you’ve come so far. Would you go further still, child?”
“I’m not a child!” Bailynn’s hand slipped to her mouth as though she could pull the snapped words back in.
Sarissa smiled at her. “Old for your appearance, perhaps, but you’re a baby compared to me.”
“Oh. Um…Sorry.”
Sarissa stared at her, making Bailynn feel uncomfortable. Next to the beautiful creature she felt childish and ugly, and that only served to make her mad. “What? Yes, I plan to go further. I came here to help my friends. Where are they?”
“Your friends are being tested. You amuse us, all three of you. So naïve and yet so full of life and promise. My people are interested. Will you enter the maze before you and find your destiny?”
“My destiny?” Bailynn turned to look at the hedge as though it threatened her. “I…I just want to find my friends. We came to help Bekka, but now there’s this White Lady we have to stop and I’ve got help Logan figure himself out and…”
“Hush little one,” Sarissa said, drawing a scowl from Bailynn. “Little of figure, large of heart”
Bailynn felt slightly mollified by the amendment, but not enough to drop her scowl.
“Your destiny is yours alone. You will choose it, should you enter.”
“What if I don’t?”
“Then you’ve still chosen your destiny, though your friends may go on without you.”
Bailynn glared at the hedge again. “They wouldn’t leave me,” she insisted.
“In the maze you will be tested and you will find what you seek/”
“What I seek?” Now she was staring at the beautiful Fayer again.
“You seek your past, yes? To regain some of what you lost. You also seek acceptance and love. You’ve come a long ways, Bailynn, but you can yet go so far. Should you fail, you’ll learn that what you seek may not be what you’d once thought.”
Bailynn stared at her for a long moment, trying to make sense of the cryptic words. She was being offered what she truly wanted, the only catch was it sounded like it may not be what she thought it was. That much made sense, she’d once thought she wanted freedom more than anything in her life. Freedom from the elves and from any who would control her. She’d been given that, but the cost was what she’d come to rely on as defining who she was.
She’d come to Kelios searching for a meaning to her life. Finding a purpose had escaped her, until she’d fought the skeletons. She’d known what she needed then. Sarissa was right, she needed what she’d lost when the Elders had healed her. They’d stripped her ability to fight with the same ferocity and power that Logan had.
Thinking of Logan reminded her that things had changed again. If she could have Logan could she accept life as she was? She fought down the frustration that built up inside of her. She had wants and she had needs, at times they seemed at odds with one another. “Seems I don’t have a choice,” she muttered. “I know what I must do.”
“You always have a choice. Your freedom is what fascinates us. Even not making a choice is a choice.”
Sarissa’s enigmatic words annoyed Bailynn. She stared at her while reaching down to slip her hands into her gloves. She knew Logan wouldn’t stop, not while his companions pressed on. Bailynn knew she couldn’t either. Not for her friends and not for the innocent girls that would be at the mercy of the White Lady. Logan would expect as much, and if she was to be worthy of him she had to push forward. The words that spilled out of her mouth surprised even her with their honesty. “Fine, if I have to choose… I choose Logan.”
“You would put your faith in another human, even one afflicted such as he is? What about yourself? Would you like to have some of the power you had before, under your own control?”
Bailynn forced her jaw to unclench. “Logan’s not cursed! He’s got something wonderful that nobody understands. Nobody but me. He…wait, how do you know so much about me?”
“The elders you know are truly an ancient race, but they aren’t alone when it comes to understanding the great mysteries of the void.”
“You’re talking about magic?”
Sarissa nodded.
If the Fayer had powers like the elders, they could do amazing things. They really could give her back what she’d lost when Logan had given up his gift so that she could be healed. She took a breath and shook her head. “No, Logan is what I want. I want to help him see how wonderful he is. He helps everyone but himself, it’s time someone did that for him.”
Bailynn thought she saw the Fayer’s smile widen, if only a little. “The choice is up to you. You’ll find it in the maze, you need only enter it.”
“How?” She asked, turning back to stare at the immense wall of vegetation. She gasped when she saw an archway had appeared in it, trimmed in flowers. “Oh. All right.”
Bailynn thought about saying something more to Sarissa, but what that something was she had no idea. Should she at least tell her goodbye? She glanced at the hovering woman then shrugged and turned back to the hedge. Challenges and hardship she could deal with. She marched into the archway, walking straight until she came to T. She could go to the right or the left. She glanced behind her, remembering that was a choice as well. She jumped away from the hedge wall when she realized the path she’d walked in on had disappeared.
She still had options, but what she could choose between was limited by what was available to choose among. Bailynn chose left. Sh
e turned and walked, carrying the spear in both hands and remembering to be careful to keep her fingers from gouging into the shaft.
Rather than sticking with the paths on her left she let her heart pull her through the maze. At each intersection she cleared her mind and went with the direction that felt right to her. She walked for what felt like hours, never once having to turn back because of a dead end, until a turn in the passage opened into a large clearing. The hedge stretched around in a border but the opening stretched a few hundred feet in both directions.
Several creatures perked their heads up as she emerged. They climbed to their feet and stared at her, ears turned back. Bailynn counted them, she faced seven midnight black wolves. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” she muttered. “Wolves? Of all things, wolves?”
They moved towards her, spreading out to keep her from running. Bailynn shifted her stance and crouched low, spear held at the ready. She knew without looking the hedge had sealed up behind her.
The first wolf lunged, coming in at her from the right. She saw another start from her left out of the corner of her eye. She swung her spear and caught the wolf on the shoulder, sending it scrambling away. She kept spinning with the momentum and dropped her spear so she could grapple with the second leaping wolf.
Her head smashed into its snout, driving it back and allowing her to tuck herself into the fur of the beasts neck as it bore her to the ground. Her hands were working deeper into the wolfs hide, her clawed fingers digging into the flesh on its ribs and back. It snapped and howled as they rolled along the ground. She pushed herself free and sprang to her feet in time for a third, larger, wolf to jump up into her face and snap at her.
Bailynn fell back, surprised at how quickly the new wolf had appeared. It landed on her and growled. Bailynn bared her teeth at the wolf and sucked air between them. Another wolf grabbed her boot and yanked at it, pulling her leg so harshly she feared it would be dislocated.
She punched up into the wolf’s belly, her fingers parting the tender flesh and letting her slip her hand into its slippery insides. The wolf yelped and leapt back, but not far or fast enough. Bailynn still clung to a fleshy rope, even as it struggled to pull away.
Voidhawk - the White Lady Page 9