Amethyst- Bow and Arrow

by M. D. Grimm

  "Incoming!" he shouted, before running and jumping high in the air. Fray and I both swam out of the way, but his splash was large enough for the waves to suck us both under again.

  "You idiot!" Fray yelled.

  "Maniac!" I shouted.

  Wyn laughed madly, his face lighting up with delight and blatant affection for us. I managed to swim up behind him and duck his head under the water. But I was too cocky, and he grabbed my arms, pulling me down, flipping me heels overhead. Water shot up my nose, burning the top of my mouth. He let me go, and I broke the surface, coughing and gasping. He didn't have the decency to wait for me to recover before he grabbed my waist and tossed me up in the air. I hit the water hard but managed to keep my mouth closed.

  I surfaced to see him laughing and punching a fist in the air.

  I met Fray's eyes again and grinned.

  This was war.

  Chapter Eleven

  Present day

  Grekel waited for me. I sensed his pack around us but couldn't see them. They would be powerful tools. His ears were flat, his eyes narrowed, his lips pulled back. "Invaders."

  "Yes. They are to the northeast but moving fast."

  "How many?"

  "Around one hundred. A mage leads them."

  Grekel growled again. "What do you command?"

  I smiled slowly and met the wichtln's eyes.

  "Divide and conquer."

  ***

  I crouched in a tree as the mage approached with his troops. They were massively armed, as if they were going to war against a horde of truls or revenais, boasting thick armor, multiple blades of varying sizes, various pole arms, sturdy bows, and long arrows. At least they were making an effort to win. Not that they would.

  I knew this territory nearly as well as Morgorth. They didn't have a chance.

  "If you value your lives," I called out in the common language of these parts. I knew he would understand me. "You will turn around and leave."

  Learning how to throw my voice was a skill taught early to all dialen in my tribe. Every few words I was able to throw my voice to a different location.

  The mage stopped. He held up a hand, and the soldiers halted. He was slender, not very old. His hair was blond and braided, his robes purple and regal. He was a mage sanctioned, probably of high level, by the Council of Mages, the ruling body of all mages on Karishian. The same Council that had tried to murder Morgorth as a child.

  I realized I was gripping the tree branch tightly and forced myself to loosen my hand.

  The mage stepped forward, his mouth pulled up in a sneer, his light brown eyes full of contempt.

  "Wilst thou be a coward? Come and face thy death with honor."

  A growl bubbled in the back of my throat. Coward? Fucking pet of a king. His language also indicated he was of royalty. Privileged. I would find great pleasure in killing him.

  My voice was hard, cold. "This is your only chance to continue living. Refuse and you embrace death."

  I watched the soldiers. Many of them were fearful; many did not want to be here. More, however, seemed eager -- eager to make a name for themselves as the ones who brought down Lord Morgorth, Dark Mage of the East.

  I raised a hand and flicked my fingers.

  A horde of truls came charging out from behind the trees. They hurtled toward the middle of the army line, attempting to divide it. But despite their fear, the troops were trained. They swung around, presenting their spears and halberds to the truls, setting their large rectangular shields on the ground, creating a wall of iron and blades.

  The truls barely noticed the blades, and their large clubs smashed shields and sent blood flying. The troops divided, trying to keep distance between them and instant death. The truls were only the first wave, meant to rattle their nerves.

  The mage snarled and began his magick. I slipped to the ground soundlessly, though even if I had made a sound, no one would have heard me over the battle ruckus. I crouched, making my way to the next position.

  The truls had naturally thick hides to protect them from succumbing to most magick attacks, but the mage knew that. He aimed for the eyes. The truls roared in pain, covering their eyes, giving the soldiers the ability to fend them off.

  I whistled.

  The truls retreated. Many soldiers were dead, but not enough to make a real dent.

  "Hold thyselves together!" the mage shouted. "Ye art soldiers for the great King Serpen!" Several soldiers were injured, bleeding; some had lost limbs. The mage didn't seem the least concerned. He seemed more irritated with their lack of discipline than anything. But the soldiers were taking care of each other. They bound wounds, gave water, collected the bodies of the dead.

  I felt my resolve waver. I didn't want to kill good people. Soldiers who had families, ones who weren't here of their own free will. But they would never back down in front of a mage that would roast them should they look the least bit rebellious.

  I had to get him away from the soldiers.

  "Grekel," I said, my voice low.

  The wichtln's warm body pressed against my side nearly instantly. He was trembling, most likely with bloodlust.

  "Distract the mage. Drive him away from the soldiers. If you find a kill shot, you take it."

  He growled and slipped away as I crouched closer to the soldiers. The wichtln were great at baiting and keeping their movements swift and light. They worked the mage like they did the kellpy, but this time it was easier since it wasn't on ice. When the mage thought he could blast one wichtln, another would sneak up behind him. When he turned to defend himself, yet another wichtln would nip at his heel.

  He was a mage, but he was also just one creature against a pack of trained hunters.

  I didn't have much time. I rushed forward and leapt into a tree, overlooking the soldiers.

  "Now is your chance," I said, throwing my voice. All the soldiers jumped, grabbing their weapons. "You can leave without him knowing. Go back to your families. Your lives. If you stay they are forfeit."

  I saw several soldiers eyeing the others, biting their lips, fidgeting. Others eyed the mage.

  "If we leave," a soldier said, looking around at the dark forest, trying to find me, "our lives will also be forfeit. We will be disgraced and executed, our families left destitute. We cannot leave."

  I frowned. Damn king. He was cruel and power hungry. He didn't deserve to rule. I thought of my father, of his compassion, his loyalty, his resilience. My heart became heavy, and I gripped the pendant under my tunic. It was time to make my father proud.

  I looked closer at the soldiers. I couldn't save them all. But perhaps I could save some.

  Just then, the mage had had enough. He bellowed a harsh word, and a great gust of wind erupted from his outstretched hands, sending the wichtln flying away from him. They slammed into trees or disappeared between them.

  I gave a sharp whistle of retreat. The wichtln vanished.

  "What do thou seek to accomplish?" the mage shouted, striding toward the soldiers. He whipped his head around, also trying to find me. I crouched farther into the tree, and it moved its branches tighter around my body, the thick snow on them hiding me. My breath formed fog as I breathed, and my hands were nearly frozen. I tucked them under my arms. I couldn't use gloves as they hindered my aim.

  "Thou art not the mage," he continued. "Are thou the rumored lover he hast taken?"

  I scowled. It would seem all the northern continent knew about me.

  "What sick creature would unite with such a vile beast?"

  I clenched my hands into fists. My muscles tightened. "What ignorant creature doesn't know when he's not wanted?" I shot back. "Why does your king seek something that can never be his?"

  "This territory does belong to my king, oh servant of the Wretched One. The Dark Mage hast no claim to it. He brought this on himself."

  Perhaps he did. But the kingdoms should have let this territory go many years ago.

  "What makes his claim any less than your king's? Fr
om what I understand, your kingdom and King Raskalin fought over this territory before my lord came. He ended the dispute. He put an irrefutable claim on this land. Why is what he did any less legitimate than what your king wanted to do?"

  "The vile wretch is not a king!" the mage yelled. "He is a mage. Mages serve, they follow the Council. They dost not deign to rule territory."

  Serve? If the situation had been less intense I would have laughed at the thought of Morgorth serving anyone.

  "Servitude? Is that a mage's job? It seems to me that your king simply made you into a weapon. That's all you are to him."

  "I am his trusted advisor. My king would never have trusted this task to anyone else. I will claimest this land in the name of my king."

  I couldn't reason with him. I could see that well enough. It wasn't fear and pride that drove his words, it was the surety that he was right and I was wrong, and that was it. He would have to die. I reconciled myself to that. Then a thought hit me that should have come to me earlier. A mage, first and foremost, owed loyalty to the Council. Then to their respective kings or lords they counseled. Morgorth told me that a mage's main duty when acting as a counselor was to prevent wars between kingdoms, to promote peace. Mages did not go to war because of the power they wielded. They would destroy the world if they allowed themselves to be pulled into politics outside the Council.

  But if that was the case, then why was the mage promoting war by invading Morgorth's territory? My gut slithered with greasy knots as I came to a conclusion. Just like weeks before, the Council was once again declaring war on Morgorth. It was quite possible that this mage had convinced his king to launch this invasion, and that it was the Council who had ordered the mage to do so. What had Nanna and Dyrc told the Council? Master Ulezander wouldn't know since he was here with Morgorth.

  Once again the Council was trying to dismantle Morgorth's power, provoking him to declare war. They kept trying to keep their hands clean, to make Morgorth the villain. If my mate came back to find his home invaded and conquered, he would war against the Council.

  I shuddered as my mind was weighed down by this revelation. Dammit. I took a deep, silent breath, and hardened my resolve. The mage had to die.

  "Let me see you try." Challenge dripped from my words. "We will eat you alive."

  I forgot to throw my voice during my last words. Considering my turmoil, I couldn't completely blame myself. Only my quick reflexes and warrior senses saved me from being fried. Fire surged toward me, and I leapt from the tree, hit the ground, and rolled before coming to my feet. The trees that the fire hit thrashed in pain and anger. There was nothing I could do for them.

  I cursed my carelessness. Keeping out of sight, I slipped away even as the mage strode toward the fire.

  "Did you get him?" one of the soldiers shouted.

  "No." How he knew, I couldn't say, but he knew I had survived.

  Grekel appeared beside me. "Can we eat him?"

  "If you can catch him. But I doubt even your great pack could take someone like him down."

  I forced my mind to ignore the fire and the memories it conjured, the fear, the lust for blood. I had to get rid of this army quickly. If I took out the mage, the rest might just go home. Many of them didn't want to be here. And I didn't want to prolong this -- the mage could too easily set fire to everything and burn Vorgoroth to the ground.

  Gritting my teeth, I leapt into a tree, climbing swiftly to the top. I cupped my hands around my mouth and sent out a shrill call that no seela or mage ear could hear. I kept out of sight, but I had to raise myself above the chaos below to be heard. The trees thrashed as the fire ate at their bark and melted the snow. I cursed the mage, even as he put out the fire with a cold blast of air. That would make sense -- property was useless if it was damaged. Also, he surely didn't want to land himself and his troops into a forest fire he couldn't control.

  It wasn't long before dark shapes appeared in the sky. I had taught the gargoyles that call only a week ago -- as I sat with them, bored, as Morgorth continued one of his lessons on the field. Seven of them swooped down, and didn't so much attack the soldiers, but helpfully distracted them, just like I wanted them to. The gargoyles also began to separate the soldiers from the mage, who was hissing and cursing, sending jets of light at the gargoyles. He kept missing. They were just too fast for him.

  But even as I hit the ground, he caught one gargoyle directly in the chest. The gargoyle let out a wail -- I'm unsure if it was pain or shock -- and it smashed into the ground, almost shattering. Certainly, chunks flew off and dirt and snow were flung into the air. Even as I watched, however, the stones snapped back together as if somehow alive, and the gargoyle sat up as if nothing had happened. He launched into the sky within a heartbeat.

  By the Hunter, Morgorth, I love you.

  I took a deep, bracing breath, before running briefly into the opening.

  "I'm right here, mage!"

  He swung around, his teeth bared. He lifted a hand, but I was already sprinting away. I knew he'd follow me -- he'd correctly deduced that Morgorth was gone, and that I was in charge of the forest and its beasts. He probably assumed that if he took me out, he would defeat everyone and everything. He was wrong, though. While I might be the commander at this moment, Grekel would take over the defenses should I fall. The mage was under the impression that this forest was full of dumb beasts, and while the trees acted alive, he probably assumed they were merely enchanted like the gargoyles.

  His knowledge of this place was delightfully lacking.

  I heard him shout out a couple of names, and when I dared to glance behind me, it was to see him chasing after me with five soldiers. The rest were back in the clearing, defending against the gargoyles. I would deal with them later. I quickly sized up the soldiers: three had the gleam of bloodlust in their eyes... They wanted to be here. They wanted the glory of killing the Dark Mage. They wanted prestige and the fight. The other two looked less sure. Both were hard males, loyal to their king, and certainly frightened of the mage who led them.

  I took all this in quickly before turning back, weaving my way through the trees. I wasn't trying to lose them yet, but I didn't want to get too close either. I knew it was difficult for the mage to see me but I made sure he could hear me.

  I kept to the denser part of Vorgoroth, letting some of the darker creatures have their chance at the mage. I heard grunts and shouts behind me just as a trulbar roared in fury, but didn't dare look back. A few fireballs and strange, green jets of searing light flew in my general direction several times. When the green jets hit the ground or a tree, it seemed to eat away at them, creating a strange hole. The trees would quiver as their bark dissolved, and I was sure if they had voices, they would have screamed.

  The icy river appeared before me suddenly, and I only had a moment of comprehension before I kicked off the ground, grabbed the tree branch above me, and swung over the ice. The trees assisted as I swung from branch to branch, easily crossing the river.

  I had just landed on the other shore, my heart pounding in my ears and my breath coming short, when the mage and three soldiers burst onto the opposing shore. Two of the soldiers with the bloodlust, and the other with hesitancy, were the only survivors of whatever beasts had assaulted them.

  I stood straight, proud. The mage stared at me with hatred gleaming in his eyes, and I saw my death in them. I wanted to make sure he saw his death in mine. I had to show him that I was just as much of a threat as Morgorth. He might be a mage, but I wasn't going to surrender, ever. Desire burned inside me -- desire to prove to this mage, to myself, that I wasn't a damned burden to my mate. I wasn't someone he always needed to save. I could hold my own against anything he could.

  "There is no need for such violence," the mage called across the river. "Just surrender and I will take thou captive. I will leave all thy little beasts alive. Then thou and I will wait for thy Master to come for his pet."

  Indignation burned in my gut. His tone was insulting, as if
he were speaking to a child. He wanted to show me how inferior I was compared to him. He was royalty, a mage. I was just a common dialen. I snarled.

  "You called me a sick creature," I yelled back, "to choose Lord Morgorth as my mate. What's sick is that you can only bring yourself to attack his home when he is away. You are a coward."

  The mage bared his teeth and barked something at the soldiers behind him. They began to look around them, at the ground, the trees, the river. I realized they were looking for a way to safely cross.

  I had to keep the mage talking. I had to learn everything about his purpose here. "You said you owed loyalty to your king. What about to the Council?"

  "Do not speak of the Council! Thou knows naught of magick nor my duties! Nor my purpose. Thou should not deign to talk of what thee doesn't know."

  Pompous bastard. I felt my mouth twist, and I knew my face betrayed my disgust.

  But the mage's arrogance must have gotten the best of him because he continued. "I am here on a mission. A mission given to me by the Council, the Hand, and my king. I will rid this world of the Dark Mage. And all of his supporters."

  He meant to put fear into my heart. Instead, he made me instantly think of Master Ulezander and Enfernlo, a powerful payshtha, who was a close friend of Morgorth's. I'd like to see him take on that beast and live.

  But his mention of the Hand made me pause. Morgorth had told me little about them, but what he did tell me, I didn't like. Fear pierced my gut. The Hand was the punishers, the law-makers, and sometimes the executioners of the mage world. But I tried not to allow the mention of them to shake my resolve.

  One of the trees that had assisted me over the river suddenly swung its branch at the mage's head. The mage ducked, and soon all the trees got into the mix. I grinned, confidence and satisfaction flooding through me. I stood even straighter and gripped my bow harder.