by Thomas Green
20
Luna
Luna sat by a tree and, with Nancy’s help, was doing her best to sew her uniform together. All the stitches that marred its texture were but a testament to her efforts being futile, yet she did it anyway. James always had his uniform spotless, and she needed to live up to that. Since they reached the forests beyond the aether-made storm, she remembered how it felt to be dry and enjoyed it. While the animals were afraid of them, the woods were peaceful, save for the occasional sound of the beating of massive wings that sometimes sounded from above the treetops.
Daniel sat next to them, writing into the tome he always carried, fully absorbed into his work.
Luna sighed. “What are you writing there all the time?”
He did not look up. “The essence of what happened. I know it’s not much, but history won’t write itself.”
Luna shook her head. “I’m not sure how to feel about every crime against humanity we cause being captured into a book others will once read.”
He shrugged. “I am not worried about that. Yes, some acts the army had undertaken might be questionable, but such is the world.”
“I wish I believed that.”
Nancy grabbed her into a hug from behind. “What do you believe?”
Luna couldn’t help herself but smile as Nancy’s gentle arms filled her with heat. “I don’t know. The men in the last town told me all they were doing was defending their homes against the invaders who came to murder their families in their beds. They weren’t wrong.”
He smiled. “But those aren’t things we get to decide. We can hate it, disagree with it, but it will happen anyway.”
She shrugged, almost throwing off Nancy. “But we don’t have to be a part of it.”
“Yes, we don’t. Yet I still believe we are making the world a better place, so I am happy I can be here.”
Feeling as if the weight of the world fell from her shoulders, Luna smiled. “Thanks. I needed this.”
He nodded. “Me too. It’s good to clear out the thoughts.”
“That’s not what I meant.” Luna freed herself from Nancy’s grasp, sprung up, caught Daniel by the shoulders and leaned down, placing her face next to his. As he heart pounded, she whispered. “You are a good man.” She pecked him a kiss on the cheek. “Stay that way.”
A beating of heavy wings echoed from above, passing above them. Willem approached from behind the tree. “I’m sorry to disturb you, but the chief sent me. We are moving the camp.”
Luna frowned. “Again? Why?”
Willem shrugged. “Chief Bull saw something on the horizon, so the lieutenant ordered us to move until we reach some thicker part of the forest.”
Daniel closed his book, pocketed the ink and quill, and rose. Luna put on her uniform, helped Nancy to her feet, and followed them to help pack the provisory camp they built mere hours ago.
They advanced into the woods, the atmosphere tense. The beating of massive wings passing above them sounded every so often, making it impossible to find peace. Even Captain Hellwind was uncharacteristically silent, keeping her hand on the hilt of her cutlass. They marched for the entire night and the better part of the next day before they finally reached a part of the forest so thick the sun was but a dream hidden beyond the canopy above.
To the relief of everyone, the order to break camp came, and they sagged to the ground for a moment of respite. While Nancy leaned onto Luna, exhausted, Daniel braced himself against a tree and opened his book to write. Luna’s eyes darted around and noticed soldiers from both companies started building provisory fortifications. Her tiredness evaporated, so she gently moved Nancy from herself and sprung to her feet.
Daniel raised an eyebrow. “What’s wrong?”
She turned to him. “We are constructing fortifications, so we either arrived where we wanted to and need to wait, or we have no way to continue our march. Both of these options are bad news.”
Daniel shrugged and returned to writing.
She stared at him with her eyes wide. “How can you be calm now?”
“I don’t see what I can do since I have received no orders.”
Luna waltzed toward Chief Bull. “Is there anything I can help with, chief?”
He nodded. “Rest. You are on the night duty, so try to sleep while we build the fortifications.”
That was not what she wanted to hear. There had to be something she could do. The beating of wings sounded from above once more, this time larger, heavier, closer. Luna dug through her memories, wondering what James would have done. Her father always solved every problem his army ever faced so he would have found a better solution than digging fortifications. But he wasn’t there. She was. And she couldn’t think of anything.
Someone was tracking them. But she couldn’t find the Shadowless carrying the black orb herself and doubted they could have been followed by aether for so long. A spy may have worked if it had a way to communicate with the pursuers, but she saw no way how because aether would have been detectable by people like Willem and Rod. She saw no solution, no way out, nothing to do other than to wait for whoever was coming for them.
She shrugged, returned to Daniel and lay down on the grass-covered ground next to him, inviting Nancy to lie down by her side.
He granted her a warm smile. “Sometimes, doing nothing is the hardest activity of them all.”
“Hmph.” Luna turned to her side, showing him her back. James would have figured out what to do. But she was too stupid to do that. Moments like these reminded her how inept she was to carry the name Laen’Ash, making her mood sink.
He laughed. “Can I assist you in sulking with a massage?”
That’s not how I meant it. Her heartbeat sped up. But I will accept. She lay on her belly, allowing him to massage her to sleep.
***
The treetops above them allowed barely any light, forcing them to maintain fires and torches around the makeshift barricades. Luna had to give the sailors credit, for what they built from the trees they felled or found, appeared almost like a small encampment. Their fortifications formed a circular formation within the forest.
Luna sat by battlements with Daniel, Nancy, Willem, and Sparks by her side, waiting. While the sounds of the wilderness were terrifying at first as they forced her to imagine a demon behind every trunk, she got used to them and merely waited.
They heard a horse neigh in the distance and the entire encampment fell silent while a part of the soldiers rushed to wake up everyone sleeping. The sound of heavy wings now sounded closer as whatever created it passed straight above the treetops.
Luna focused outside and soon saw soldiers dressed in dark-blue armor swarming through the forest ahead of their barricade. She turned to her companions. “You should go to the center of the formation.”
Daniel’s eyes widened. “Why?”
She did her best to keep her voice calm, hiding the rise of panic that burst through her veins. “They are encircling us without rushing, so they will attack once we are surrounded. When they do, this barricade will become a bloodbath.”
Willem shook his head. “We are soldiers, Stilts.”
Luna sighed. “I know.” But she didn’t want them to die. Nor anyone else from their company.
Daniel put his hand on her shoulder. “We all knew to enlist to the navy to join a Holy War will lead to fighting. We can handle ourselves.”
His firm touch calmed Luna down, pushing her heartbeat to an average pace.
The soldiers in blue encircled them, forming a wall of shields everywhere they could see.
Captain Beatrice Hellwind stepped to the center of their fortification. “Both companies, prepare for battle! We need to hold this position until everyone other than us dies!”
“Aye, aye, madam,” the entire encampment thundered.
The massive wings echoed from above, the canopy above Beatrice rustled and a woman fell down next to her, landing on her steel-heeled boots that dug into the ground as if she weighed more than
a horse. She wore blue robes, had her hay-like hair arranged into an elaborate haircut and in her face shone two sapphire blue eyes.
The captain leapt to the side, drawing her cutlass. The woman drew her sword, an astonishing blade made of one piece of sapphire. “I am Kayleanne, the Sapphire Crane. Leave or perish by my blade.”
Luna spun on her heel charged toward her while the captain and her six closest soldiers moved to surround Kayleanne. The captain slashed at her back. Kayleanne whirled to parry the strike and stepped in to slam her shoulder into the captain.
With a grunt of pain, the captain flew away like a leaf in a hurricane. Kayleanne slid sideways to cut apart the captain’s troupe, her sword but a blur of blue light, making blood spray through the air as they barely avoided death.
Luna turned her fingers into vicious claws and leapt at Kayleanne. She spun to hit Luna in the head with a round-house kick. The steel heel connected with Luna’s temple. Her mind went blank, and her skull cracked in an explosion of pain, sending her flying into the men by the barricade.
As her skull reformed and her vision cleared, she saw Kayleanne knocking aside Lieutenant Redeye by charging into him, shoulder first. Chief Bull stepped to Kayleanne to swing down his axe. She parried his blade, stabbed him in the shoulder, whirled and kicked him in the stomach, bending in his armor. He staggered and fell onto the ground. A dozen soldiers rushed in to cover the chief. Kayleanne cleaved through them within a moment.
Luna snarled and darted at her. When she approached, Kayleanne stepped forward and swung down her blade. The sapphire edge passed through Luna’s collarbone and ribcage as if they were made of jelly. She screamed in pain, not stopping while trying to grab Kayleanne’s legs.
With a few quick, short steps, Kayleanne weaved from Luna’s arms, suffering merely a few scratches onto her robes. “You are such an annoying little pest.”
They both whirled, and Kayleanne rammed her shoulder into Luna, throwing her to the barricade where Daniel caught her.
Kayleanne spurted to them, towering above Luna like the end of all hope. She swung down her blade. The sapphire edge stopped an inch from Luna’s face, hitting an invisible barrier made by Willem.
Luna’s regeneration finished repairing her, so she rolled to the side and sprung to her feet. “Get away from her!”
Kayleanne whirled, shattering Willem’s barrier. Captain Hellwind appeared behind her, slashing at her nape. Kayleanne spun, grabbed Beatrice’s wrist, cut her across the chest, and threw her into a nearby tree, knocking her out.
Luna darted at her. Kayleanne ducked into a spinning slash, crushing both of Luna’s knees. She crumbled to the ground, screaming with pain. Kayleanne swung to sever her head.
Daniel stepped in and planted his shield into the way of the sword. The slash blew apart the shield and his arm but missed Luna’s head. She tried to leap to her feet but collapsed backward as her knees had yet to regenerate.
Kayleanne slashed at Daniel’s head, but Willem’s new barrier stopped her. She darted sideways to ram her shoulder into Willem, throwing him into Sparks and Nancy, knocking them all out.
Luna leapt at Kayleanne. She gripped her sword with both hands and slashed down, severing through her collarbone and ribcage, cutting her heart in two. Luna collapsed to the ground. Kayleanne kicked her, slamming her into a tree before she bolted toward her. Daniel stepped in front of Luna, using his book for a shield.
Kayleanne stabbed him through his stomach. As he bent while spitting blood, Kayleanne whirled and severed off his head, sending it falling into Luna’s lap.
Luna stared frozen at Daniel’s head as it lay in her arms, his last expression but a mask of terror. She wished this was a bad dream, pinching herself to wake up. But it was real. Daniel was dead. Rage and despair exploded through her, blinding her every sense. She roared and launched herself at Kayleanne. The demon princess ducked, grabbed the makeshift fortification behind her, a hedgehog made of sharpened logs, and spun to throw it at Luna.
The sharpened logs pierced Luna’s abdomen and chest, sending her flying across the encampment.
Kayleanne stretched her neck. “Bismund!”
With a battle cry on their lips, the soldiers in blue charged their position, flowing into their encampment through the hole Kayleanne made. She slashed the blood off her sword and bolted forward, cutting through one soldier after another.
Blind with pain and rage, Luna clawed to her feet and ran toward the demon princess, seeing nothing but Kayleanne. Before she reached her, Luna’s strength vanished and legs gave out. She collapsed onto the ground, kneeling straight before Kayleanne. Luna lowered her head, empty, waiting for the end.
A pulse of power blasted through the air akin to a world-shaking tremor. The battle stopped. Luna looked up, seeing a man standing above her, shielding her from Kayleanne. Blood and ashes covered every inch of his black tunic and long, silvery hair.
Kayleanne smiled at the man while she sheathed her sword, leaving her hand on the hilt. “You have captured my griffin, haven’t you?”
He stretched his neck, his joints popping. “It’s kind of fat, to be honest.”
Kayleanne giggled, blushing slightly. “I can’t say no to him. So, how do we resolve today? I like my men, and I think you like yours, but our fight would lead to all their deaths before we would get anywhere.”
“Figured,” he said. “How about I let you withdraw, and we arrange a ninety-six-hour truce where neither side tries to follow the other one?”
She clicked her tongue. “Ninety-six hours? Not a chance. You are getting a day.”
“Anything short of forty-eight hours is pointless.”
She shrugged. “Fine, forty-eight hours. Where’s Grimbeak?”
He motioned in a direction. “Three hundred feet that way.”
Kayleanne spun. “Bismund! Call for withdrawal, and we have a forty-eight-hour truce.”
A soldier in blue shouted, “yes, ma’am!” and ordered his men to retreat.
Luna remained crumbled on her knees, petrified.
The man turned, his eyes kind. “Are you all right?”
Memories exploded through Luna’s mind. She remembered the man before her. Lucas. A memory of him almost killing her in Grimdawn flash before her eyes, but so did all the times he was there when she needed him, all the times he raised her to her feet when she could no longer stand. You are too late. She fell onto her side, exhausted with tears creeping into her eyes. “No.”
“Rest for a while.” He left to help the sailors reorganize.
Luna tried to stand up but failed. All she could see was Daniel’s head falling into her lap. She exploded into tears and soon fell unconscious.
21
Zerae
As the freezing wind battered their faces, the Frozen Heights opened in the view before them like a sculpture made of ice. Zerae’s teeth clattered as the flame inside her coiled into her deepest corners, refusing to use this rare opportunity of being useful.
By her sides, Astril flew tucked into the feathers of her eagle-lizard mount while Leena looked akin to a frozen statue as she sat on her wyvern. Within the next few hours, they found the encampment of the Sil Haen force sent to patrol these mountains.
The camp lay hidden on a high platform inaccessible by other means than flight. They landed by the side, and the Sil Haen warriors on patrols rushed to them to cover them by furs.
Since Zerae’s body was so stiffened by the cold she couldn’t speak, she let them bring her to a tent that featured a blazing fire in its center. The heat of the flames filled Zerae, returning her to life.
Sibyl Voidwalker, her clan’s champion, entered the tent before they unfroze, her overabundant jewelry glistening in the light from beneath the furs wrapping her. She sat down next to Zerae. “Since you came here in person, I don’t think you are bringing good news, War Leader.”
With a trembling hand, Zerae pulled a cigar from her pocket. “I made a deal with the Order. They will smuggle our hostages
to a safe location I had arranged, but now I have to deliver my part of the promise.”
Sibyl playfully jabbed Zerae’s shoulder. “That’s uncharacteristically selfless of you. So, what do they want?”
“Multiple paths through the mountains, all away from the sight of Kayleanne’s demons. They want to cross the Frozen Peaks with an army.”
Sibyl raised an eyebrow. “How many of our sisters do they hold as hostages?”
“Two hundred when I left for here, but likely more now.”
Sibyl sighed. “I hope you know what you are doing.”
“I don’t, but I also lack any better ideas.”
Sibyl laughed and rose. “Come. I will show you something.”
She followed, leaving behind Astril and Leena to unfreeze. Sibyl got onto her mount, a blend between a jaguar and an eagle the size of a house while Zerae returned to Belenus. Sibyl led her, flying across the mountains to land upon a ridge much like any other. They dismounted and stood at the edge, peering down.
In the valley beneath, a snake made of people slithered from one horizon to another. Men, women, and children were carrying all they had and retreating through the mountains.
Zerae’s eyes widened, and her cigar fell from her mouth. “What the hell?”
Sibyl smiled, but there was no happiness within her eyes. “The Order conquered the cities by the eastern side of the mountains. They allowed their and Alnil’s followers to stay, but forced everyone else to leave, directing them toward the Frozen Peaks. This is merely one string of refugees from the total of four and while a third of the people die during the trip, what’s left are hundreds of thousands of people.”
Zerae shook her head. “This is their move against Kayleanne. They will flood her lands with refugees, so she either faces an uprising if she kills them or starvation if she doesn’t.”
“And she doesn’t know, because she’s too busy hunting someone in the west,” Sibyl added.
Zerae rubbed her chin. “It’s a double-edged strategy though. The refugees will eat all the resources available, meaning whatever Palai army crosses the mountains won’t be able to pillage for food. With the Palai fleet having its supply routes severed by the storm Ur’Thul’Gar has created, the Order could face a complete annihilation if they fail to kill Kayleanne, Ur’Thul’Gar, and Ebilezerhar before their supplies run out.”