Fist of the Furor

by R. K. Ryals

  Oran’s snout lowered; his teeth bared. A grumbling growl emanated from his chest. I knelt next to him, my clumsy fingers returning the dagger to the sheath on my thigh.

  “Wyvers,” the wolf hissed. “I smell wyvers.”

  I gasped, “That’s impossible.”

  The prince’s hand fell to my shoulder.

  I looked at him. “Wyvers.”

  “Dammit!” Daegan swore. “Those cursed, ill begotten creatures!”

  Lochlen’s reptilian eyes glowed. “They’re not here to kill.”

  I stood. “How can you be sure?”

  Lochlen sniffed. “Because they’re in the air. They haven’t landed.” His gaze moved to Cadeyrn. “Is the nursery exposed to the outside?”

  The prince nodded. “There’s a glass ceiling similar to the one in the Hall of Light in Arien’s quarters.”

  Squeaking heralded the return of Thomas the mouse. “They have the child, my Queen, but they’ve no way to escape.”

  It hit me then what the men planned to do, and I went running down the hall, my bow clanging against my back. The wyvers weren’t here to attack, they were here for escape.

  “Damn it, Stone,” Cadeyrn yelled, his steps bringing him alongside me. “You’ll get us all killed.”

  “They’re going to use the wyvers to take the prince,” I panted.

  A female scream brought me to a halt outside an elaborate wooden door with a crescent moon engraved in the surface. There was a crash within, followed by another scream.

  Cadeyrn gripped me around the waist, pulling me against the wall hard, his breath fanning my hair. “We won’t do Henri any good dead.”

  Pushing at his hand, I pulled an arrow free of my quiver. “Is that his name?” I asked. “Henri?”

  Cadeyrn didn’t answer; he didn’t have to. The guards and the rest of the rebels caught up with us, their chests heaving.

  Cadeyrn pointed to three of his men. “You! Go to the ramparts! If they manage to get away, we’ll need to know in which direction. Don’t shoot! Do you understand? If they have the prince, it will only serve in getting him killed.”

  The men hurried to obey, their feet thudding in the corridor.

  Cadeyrn released me, positioning himself in front of the closed nursery door. “Cover me,” he ordered.

  In moments, he had kicked the door in.

  The sight that met us was horrifying. There, in the middle of the room, were ten men cloaked in familiar tunics, serpents emblazoned across their chests. It was the New Hope crest. These men were from New Hope. One of them held a screaming baby. A crying, middle-aged woman was pushed up against a table, a man with a dagger standing over her, her skirts pushed up. Her face was bruised, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. The prince’s nurse.

  Cadeyrn roared, his sword flashing. I strung my bow, my eyes following two of the New Hope men who also carried arrows. Ducking, Cadeyrn entered the chamber, his gaze tracking the man with the infant. He trusted the rest of us to cover him, and we did just that, our group slinking into the room with weapons drawn. Above us was a ceiling made of the same glass as the ceiling in the Hall of Light. In the sky, three wyvers circled, their tails swinging.

  We were too late. I knew it by the smirks on the men’s faces. They had the prince now, and anything we did only put him in danger.

  Cadeyrn was as aware of it as I was. “What do you want?” he asked them.

  The men grinned. “What we want only your father can give us,” the one with the baby answered. He spoke Sadeemian. After our prolonged stay in Sadeemia, even Maeve and Daegan could understand most of the language now, and we all stiffened.

  Cadeyrn’s sword twirled, the metal flashing. “You ask for war by betraying us. You, my mother’s countrymen? You dare risk that? You dare risk war?”

  The captor tightened his grip on the child. The infant squirmed, his plump face red and furious. “It was an offer we couldn’t refuse, Prince. If your nation falls, a lot of smaller nations benefit.”

  Cadeyrn frowned. “How? We provide a lot of resources to your country, even manpower when needed. What has Raemon offered you that we haven’t?”

  A crash sounded above us, and I glanced up to find one of the wyver’s tails hitting the ceiling. It fractured, a vein of webbed cracks spreading across the glass.

  A New Hope bowmen used the moment to his advantage, lifting his bow. I mimicked his movements, my string going taut, my arrow flying before his could dispatch. It sliced through his neck, embedding itself into his skin. The prince’s nurse screamed.

  The wyver’s tail sank once more to the ceiling, splintering it. Cadeyrn ducked, his body falling into mine as the roof caved in. The infant’s captor covered the baby, protecting him from the rain of shards. The men had no intention of killing the child. The young prince’s best chance came from our retreat.

  “Stand back,” Cadeyrn ordered, his voice tight, his eyes full of rage.

  The wyver landed in the room, his tail swinging. The captor climbed onto its back with the child, even as the wyver used his strength to down two of Prince Cadeyrn’s men. I saw the moment the tail swung toward Maeve, her back exposed. It happened in slow motion. My heart cracked, anger bubbling to the surface. I’d lost too much to Raemon, to his wyvers.

  With a shout, I went to the glass-covered floor, taking Maeve to the marble with a sweep of my leg before rolling to cover her.

  The wyver’s barb sank into my thigh, and I screamed as it pulsed, driving poison deep beneath my flesh. It burned! My skin burned!

  Maeve shimmied out from beneath me with a cry, her hands gripping my arms, tugging me away from the beast. It dislodged the barb, ripping it from my flesh with enough force that I screamed again. There was nothing anyone could do. The wyver was lifting into the air, his wings flapping furiously, the baby screaming. It couldn’t be killed now without harming the infant heir.

  Sinking to the floor, my palms met glass, my body overtaken by heat and pain. The wyver had given me too much poison, way too much poison. My magic revolted, my body convulsing in the shimmering glass shards, my eyes going to the sky. Lightning ripped through the black clouds, the sound of thunder rumbling as the New Hope men fought our men. It was a suicide mission for the foreigners, and they knew it. They meant to take out as many of Cadeyrn’s men as they could before they were cut down.

  A lifeless body fell next to me on the marble, his glassy gaze wide. I would have screamed, but I couldn’t.

  “Stone!” a voice cried. It was distant, the voice. It sounded an awful lot like my brother’s. I had yet to get to know Gryphon the way I wanted to.

  The fighting ceased. Glass crunched as men stepped over bodies.

  Oran was suddenly lying on top of me, his fur warm. “Hold on, Phoenix,” he growled.

  I stared at the sky, my body throbbing. It was too much, the pain, but I couldn’t scream. The poison wouldn’t let me scream. It paralyzed me. I couldn’t even close my eyes. The lifeless gaze of the Sadeemian man next to me mocked me in its death.

  A female wept, and I knew from the sound of the sobs it was Maeve. A massive roar filled the room, and I watched as Lochlen transformed, his golden body thrown into the air. He fought with the two remaining wyvers, his golden scales magnificent in the black sky. He took no prisoners, my Lochlen. He was awe inspiring; his teeth flashing, his talons sinking deeply into the wyver’s hide. I couldn’t look away.

  Something wet trickled from my nose onto my lip, and I knew it was blood. The pain worsened. There was sobbing. People touched me, but I couldn’t feel them. Oran’s frame shook, causing my body to tremble, but I couldn’t feel it. I couldn’t even feel his warmth anymore. All I felt was ice, burning ice that filled my body to bursting.

  “No one survives a wyver sting,” a guard hissed.

  “One more word, and I will run you through!” a voice threatened.

  A face materialized above me. It was Gryphon. Conall’s son, Cadeyrn’s friend, and my brother. “It’s going to
be okay,” he whispered.

  There was pain, so much pain. I wasn’t sure which was worse. The pain, or being frozen in this maddeningly aware body, forced to endure it.

  Above me, there was more lightning. It highlighted Lochlen’s scales, turning them into the most brilliant gold I’d ever seen. His head turned, just enough his reptilian eyes met mine. There was anger there, but there was also something more.

  “You’re going to be fine,” Oran growled. “Call on Silveet, Phoenix. Call on the trees.”

  If I was breathing, it didn’t feel like it.

  Cadeyrn stooped next to me, his pendant dangling over my face. Three knots. Family. His blue gaze found my empty turquoise eyes just as it began to rain. It was a deluge, the water slicing through the shattered ceiling, soaking everyone.

  In moments, I was in Cadeyrn’s arms, my head lolling against his chest. I felt nothing, my cheek pressed up against flesh that I couldn’t feel. Had Kye felt this way before he died? Had he been trapped in his body, his frame racked with pain? Had he heard my weeping, his own heart breaking? Anguish overwhelmed me. It ripped through me, joining with the physical pain that already enveloped me.

  “She saved my life,” Maeve sobbed.

  I saw nothing except Cadeyrn’s rain soaked skin, but I knew we moved, knew by the sound of rising voices that we were in a different part of the palace. I heard the king shouting, the sound of screams and sobbing as the story of the infant prince’s kidnapping was revealed.

  “It’s the rebels fault!” Gabriella’s voice insisted. “Let her die! Let the girl die! They are nothing but trouble for this family! They bring death and sorrow with them.”

  As quickly as I was in Cadeyrn’s arms, I was no longer in them, my vacant stare finding the trailing grey beard and the wizened face of a mage. Mothelamew.

  He leaned over me. “I know you’re there, Drastona,” he said.

  “No!” Maeve gasped. “She can’t be feeling this. There’s no way she can be feeling this! Her thigh!” she sobbed harder. “It’s—”

  “Maeve,” Daegan soothed. “If you don’t stop, they’ll remove you from the room.”

  More screams joined the chaos, heart-wrenching screams, the terrible yells of a mother in pain.

  “My baby!”

  It was the Princess of Yorbrook, her shout followed by the most desperate cry I’d ever heard. My anguish was eased by her pain. No matter how much I hurt, how much I missed Kye, nothing could compare to losing a child. It made me wonder how Cadeyrn stood the pain. He’d lost an infant son once, and his baby wasn’t coming back.

  Sudden cold fire ripped through me, and even though I couldn’t scream, my body arched off the floor. Cadeyrn and Mothelamew loomed over me.

  “The forest,” Oran insisted. “Silveet!” he growled.

  The pain intensified, ripping me apart from the inside. It tore me asunder, and I wanted to scream Kye’s name, to find a way to go to him in the afterlife.

  “Let her die!” Gabriella screamed.

  “You would want her to, wouldn’t you?” another voice asked. It was Catriona’s voice. “She poses that big of a risk to you.”

  Risk? Me?

  “Out!” Cadeyrn bellowed. “All of you!”

  No one argued with the prince. But I knew by the voices in the room, Mothelamew, my brother, the rebels, and all of the royals still remained. I was in the Hall of Light. I knew it because I was suddenly looking at the sky again.

  Pain … so much pain.

  “You are closer to the gods here,” Mothelamew told me. “Do not be afraid. Look to the sky. Call on your power.”

  “The forest,” Oran insisted. “Silveet.”

  “We need to bind her thigh,” Cadeyrn said calmly.

  I drew on his calmness even as I begged to go to the Great Veil.

  My leg was lifted. I saw my kneecap as Cadeyrn’s wide hand spanned it. Someone handed him a long length of clean white cloth.

  “Stone!” The voice of the trees filled me, consumed me. “Come to us, little one. Draw on our power.”

  Something stirred inside of me, a glowing warmth that started in my heart. It melted the painful ice there, spreading slowly.

  “Remember the rebels,” the trees coaxed. “Remember the marked people in hiding. Remember what Kye was fighting to change. If you give up now, you let his father win.”

  The warmth kept spreading. My face relaxed, and I was suddenly in the forest. The Hall of Light vanished. The black, ominous clouds were gone. There was only forest and the haunting scent of pine. A tree branch swept downward, touching my cheek before lifting again. I reached for it.

  Distantly, I heard someone gasp, “Her eyes! They’re white.”

  The voice was distant enough it didn’t matter to me anymore. I was in the forest. I could feel grass beneath my suddenly bare feet. The cloying smell of soil, pine, and fresh air filled my nostrils.

  Inhaling, I reached for the trees again, my voice hoarse when I begged, “Help me.”

  The warmth continued to spread. More tree branches bent. The stalks of tall grass and saplings bowed.

  “Our queen,” they said.

  I frowned. Distantly, I felt someone run their fingers over my forehead, smoothing the wrinkles there.

  “Don’t,” I murmured. “Please don’t call me that.”

  “And yet,” the trees answered, “that is what you are now. Your heart is good. You are strong, little one. You don’t need our help. Fight!”

  There was another voice, a sweet female voice that called out, “Listen to the forest.”

  It was Aigneis’ voice, and I sobbed, my heart clenching. My deceased companion stepped from the trees, a small smile on her face. She was transparent, her image shimmering in and out of focus.

  Reaching for me, she called, “Listen to the forest.”

  Then, she vanished.

  “Aigneis!”

  My cry was lost to the forest, to the mists that suddenly rose from the underbrush. Sunlight fell through the trees, dappling the ground and causing the mist to glow.

  “Hold her down,” a distant voice ordered. Cadeyrn’s voice.

  Another voice joined his. “She’s having delusions.”

  Something grew in the mist. It was bright, too bright, and I shielded my eyes.

  “Stone,” a voice breathed.

  This voice filled me, consumed me, and I would have went to my knees in the forest if it hadn’t been for the trees. Branches supported me. My heart shattered. It was Kye’s voice. His brilliant, beautiful voice. It cloaked me. He stepped from the mist into the clearing where I stood, his body unblemished. Even his scars were gone. His beauty was blinding. He circled me in the clearing, staying just out of my reach.

  “Stone,” his gaze raked my figure, love shining in his eyes, “we must overcome and prevail. Go back and fight. Fight hard.”

  I choked. “Kye!”

  Somewhere in the distance, I heard Maeve sobbing. “She’s leaving us! She’s seeing the dead.”

  I ignored them, my hand reaching for him. Something gripped my fingers, but it wasn’t Kye. He still stood too far away, his beautiful gaze on my face. “You have to let me go,” he said.

  I struggled against the grip on my hand. This hand was anchoring me, and I didn’t want anchored. I wanted free.

  Tears wet my cheek. “It hasn’t been long enough,” I sobbed. “I can’t let go.”

  Kye smiled. It was a gentle smile, full of understanding. He’d always been too understanding. “War often doesn’t give us time. Love comes fast and hard. It often ends too abruptly. Our time came, and it left us. Let it leave you with something bigger. Don’t let it hold you back. Fight for our people. Open your heart back up to possibility.” He moved toward me, his hand stopping just short of my face. “Go back. You have the power to beat this poison. You have the power to beat what no one else can.”

  “Kye,” I whispered.

  He shushed me. Mist curled around us. It lifted our hair, and swept our
faces with cool moisture. Droplets of condensation left trails down Kye’s cheeks.

  “The forest is your family, Stone. Embrace it. Let it embrace you. Use it to help the Prince of Sadeemia. In a different world, your paths never would have crossed. Now they are intertwined. I know you don’t believe in destiny. You’re right. Destiny can hold you back, but don’t forget it’s there. Sometimes destiny surprises us.”

  Kye was fading, his voice along with it. His dark eyes beseeched me. “Good-bye,” he called. “Let me go, Stone. Fight this war. Fight it for our people. Fight it for his people.”

  With those words, he vanished. His absence left me broken. The warmth that had started in my heart suddenly flooded me, mending places I hadn’t realized were broken inside of me. I felt my body arch, my back coming off the floor.

  The wyver poison was killing me before the forest brought me here. This place wasn’t a delusion. I was in the spirit realm. I was in the Great Veil. The forest had done the one thing no one else could have possibly done. It had given me a chance to say good-bye. To Kye and to my past. There was only the future left now. It wasn’t a particularly rosy looking future, but it was worth the fight.

  I inhaled, the breath large and unsteady, my magic surrounding me, pushing at me. I welcomed it, opened my arms to it, and felt my body suddenly encased in vines. Mewling animals surrounded me. Somewhere in my forest, a falcon called.

  A hand still anchored me to the hard marble in the Hall of Light. It anchored me in Sadeemia. Only I wasn’t sure any more if that hand was holding me or if I was holding it. I knew whose hand it was, knew it even though the forest still surrounded me.

  The trees began to fade, Kye’s memory with them.

  “Let me go, Stone. Fight this war. Fight it for our people. Fight it for his people.”

  My back arched again, and in the fading light, I screamed, “Cadeyrn!”

  Chapter 11

  “She calls out my husband’s name, and I’m supposed to pretend it was nothing?”

  Princess Gabriella’s voice slammed into me, causing my head to throb with an intensity I’d never felt before. Nausea overwhelmed me.