Issa tasted blood in her mouth and released her bite on her lip and her grip on Illendri. Many would die. The fear of battle wound her stomach tight. It won’t matter if we lose Drax, because I’ll be dead, too. The thought offered her some courage.
28
Broken
‘Join me or be nothing.’
Baelthrom’s claws scraped the floor in front of Freydel’s face. The wizard’s cheek pressed into the cold stone of the dark chamber and black energy poured through the enormous iron ring suspended before him. The energy settled in his stomach and made him want to vomit. The walls of the chamber angled inwards and upwards, so far above he could not see where they ended.
Freydel inhaled cold damp air but he could not lift himself up. Not a single muscle would obey his command. The translocation had been violent, now all he could do was lie here before the terror of the world.
‘I’ll join Ayeth, the being who you once were,’ rasped Freydel.
‘That part of me is gone. Ayeth was weak, he should not have fallen to the ways of the Yurgha. His goddess made him weak. Now I have no ruler, and I cannot be ruled.’
‘So you remember, then? All that occurred?’ This was a surprise to Freydel. Did Baelthrom know all that had happened, including Lona’s betrayal?
‘The iron ring has shown me all, and memory has returned to me. I am now complete.’ Baelthrom’s voice was a rolling tide that echoed around the room. ‘I am ready for the ultimate journey into the Dark Rift. You may serve me, or be torn apart in the transition. No being who has not imbibed the black drink will survive such a journey—at least in their current form. This planet and all its lifeforms are about to embark upon an incredible transformation.’
The wonder in Baelthrom’s voice sickened Freydel further. Through the fog of black magic, a little feeling returned, and he weakly searched in his pocket for his orb. It wasn’t there. The bottom of his world fell away.
Unwillingly, his eyes were drawn to the flaring black crystal Baelthrom slowly held up in his hand. ‘Looking for this?’ asked the Immortal Lord. Freydel’s staff and his orb sizzled with rage as they were held by the very one he had fought against all his life. Tears filled his eyes and he could not breathe.
The orb should have destroyed anything that was not its Keeper. Was Baelthrom’s power now so great he could withstand even the orbs? And he is not truly alive! The thought rattled in Freydel’s tortured mind.
Baelthrom read his mind. ‘Wrong. I have that which necessitates life—I am not one of my Maphraxies. Hmmm, it’s clear you still do not know my plans, but then again, how could you decipher something built by a master?’ The Immortal Lord walked towards the pedestal holding the three other orbs, his great lizard tail swinging, and set the black orb in one of the indents beside the others.
He turned back to Freydel and lifted a very human looking hand. Dark magic moved, surrounded the wizard, binding him and lifting him to his feet. His body was so weak he doubted he could stand unaided anyway.
‘My Maphraxies, their souls I’ve gathered, for safekeeping, if you will. When we’re all within the dark embrace of the rift, they will be returned to them. Changed, yes, but better, purer. They will know me as the One Light and no other.’
‘Their souls are not yours to take,’ Freydel dared to utter.
‘Ignorance must be overcome, through force, if necessary,’ said Baelthrom, his eyes glowering dark blue. ‘Either you will serve me, or you will be nothing.’
The Under Flow began to build, a heavy cloying weight filling the room and pressing down upon him. Freydel swallowed and closed his eyes.
‘Ayeth,’ he screamed as searing pain exploded within every bone.
In another dimension, Lona asked, ‘Where is your human?’
She stepped beside Ayeth onto the crystal balcony overlooking the forest. ‘We have not seen him for many moons. Has he abandoned you?’
‘His name is Freydel,’ Ayeth reproached gently. ‘I don’t know, but I try not to give into the small mind of fear and worry. Their planet is undergoing many difficulties. Through the orb I search for him every hour, but I cannot reach him.’
He tried not to think about the human wizard who had come so suddenly into his life, and now had vanished. Instead, he wrapped his arms around Lona’s slender frame. They looked to the East over the stunning landscape of waterfalls, rock pools and forests that were Aralansia. But it was to the sky their eyes were drawn—and it was an incredible sight to behold.
Three planets and a moon rolled imperceptibly before them. All felt the immense power of the alignment; the gravitational pull alone was enough to know something amazing and rare was taking place.
‘Within a few days, they’ll be in a perfect line,’ said Ayeth, kissing Lona’s head. ‘Perhaps the energy of the planets is overpowering my own feeble attempts to find Freydel. But enough of that. You’ve been busy, too, so much so I’ve barely seen you for months. Tell me more about this human you’ve made contact with. A girl, yes? Yurgha technology truly is something to behold.’
Lona’s cheeks blushed pale blue—a sign of anger or sadness, sometimes even embarrassment; Ayeth could never be sure which—and she tried to pull away but he held her closer.
She relented and after a moment said, ‘Yes.’ With a sigh, she rested her chin on his arms folded around her.
When she didn’t say more, Ayeth said, ‘The link between Aralansia and this Maioria is intriguing. But how did you do it? Why this girl? Does this child have special powers?’
‘It’s not like with your human,’ said Lona. ‘She’s so small and innocent, you wouldn’t think she could have so much power, so much…potential. But it’s early days. I’d like you to meet her, but you might frighten her so we must wait until she is more used to me and our ways…our powers.’
‘Is she not too young, hmm? And what is it you desire to teach her?’ asked Ayeth, frowning at how nervous Lona seemed to be. She was wringing her hands and the blush on her cheeks had spread to her neck.
Aware of his scrutiny, Lona chuckled, wiggled out of his arms, and gazed at him with her penetrating black eyes that had the ability to mesmerise him. ‘So many questions. Do you not trust me? Let it be a surprise. For now, let’s not talk about our pets for they are more a hindrance than a help. We must think only upon the alignment; it won’t happen again for near a million years. The Yurgha won’t survive that long. I’ve done everything to prepare my race and our planet. The emancipation of the Yurgha and all of Yurgharon is upon us.’
Ayeth smiled. He could barely believe Lona would soon be healed, and the race of Yurgha would enter a bright future. ‘You will soon be free of disease, of the sickness that plagues you, and of the Rorsken and Anukon who invade and destroy your lands. They won’t be able to cope with the pure frequencies of the One Light that will shine upon Yurgharon once more, and they’ll be forced to leave. And, who knows, perhaps they’ll take a little light back to their planets; perhaps, one day, they too can be healed.’
‘It would be better if they were annihilated completely,’ Lona growled quietly, hatred passing across her face. She caught herself and the hatred was replaced with her usual smooth smile.
A large blue bird landed on the balcony rail beside them, making Lona jump. Quite unafraid, the bird cocked its head and watched them through dark eyes. It stretched its dark beak and ruffled its beautiful indigo feathers that captured the soft light of dusk.
‘Stunning,’ Ayeth marvelled. ‘And what a marvellous omen.’
But Lona drew back, eyes wide, lips pursed. She did not like animals, least of all Aralansia’s, but this reaction was stronger than usual and Ayeth noted it.
‘Don’t worry, this is a raven,’ said Ayeth. ‘They’re friends and helpers of all Aralans. Blessed by the goddess, they bring luck and good fortune, and are among the most intelligent creatures on all Aralansia.’
‘I find it…ugly,’ gasped Lona. Ayeth was shocked to find her trembling. ‘I mean, unsettling,’
she corrected herself.
The bird appeared to sense this and stared at Lona all the more. Then, with a loud caw, it flew away. Pushing Ayeth’s helping hands away, Lona gripped the balcony. Slowly she relaxed, and they watched the planets in the darkening sky.
When Lona is healed she’ll rediscover her love of all creatures, Ayeth nodded to himself and lost himself in the beautiful scenery.
Freydel gasped yet the air brought him no life. The magic—the only thing that could feed him—was gone.
‘Ayeth!’ he cried out, but his voice was a rasp whipped away by the unrelenting wind tearing across the barren plains.
Without his orb, Freydel could not reach Ayeth. Ayeth, his grand master and beloved teacher from a different time, a faraway galaxy, even a different dimension, was lost to him forever.
Forever!
Freydel lay where he had fallen, thrown out from Baelthrom’s Mountains of Maphrax like garbage. Down he’d rolled, his body smashing over rocks and rubble until every part of his body had been bloodied or bruised. The pain in his physical body was nothing compared to the rent in his soul. He wished the earth beneath him would swallow him up or that Baelthrom had destroyed him utterly rather than simply hurl him from the mountain.
Discarded waste, that’s all I am!
‘I am nothing,’ he gasped. I live only for magic, and now it’s gone.
Baelthrom had not killed him because removing his magic was a far worse death.
Oh clever, clever, clever, we could never out-best you.
Heavy boots marched on the ground not too far away. Maphraxie grunts – hundreds of them, fully armoured and carrying their black iron weapons – marched the winding road into the Mountains of Maphrax. Freydel was clearly visible in his prone position atop a jutting rock, but the Maphraxies weren’t interested in him.
I am nothing.
If the light in his heart had gone out, did it matter whether he served the light or the darkness? He could return to Baelthrom and say, “Yes, I’ll join you.”
I would do it, only in the hope to be close to Ayeth. The realisation chilled him, and he swallowed against a dry throat. I would join Baelthrom only in the futile belief I could reach Ayeth somewhere within him.
He thought of Issa, of the Wizard’s Circle, and of all the people fighting battles to win back their meagre lands. It was all so pointless. Nothing they did could stop them falling into the Dark Rift.
After all that he’d done, he knew he could not return to Issa. She would think I’d abandoned her and joined Ayeth. Perhaps she would even believe I joined Baelthrom. But would she be wrong? No, I joined Ayeth willingly, heart and soul. The Raven Queen can only free those souls trapped here before the end. I thought it was more, but now I realise the truth. A noble quest, a noble goddess, but nothing can truly save Maioria.
29
Fall of Myrn
Seers and Elven refugees flooded the boats under an electric night sky.
Lightning cracked against the failing shield covering Myrn, tongues of fire snaking all over it, trying to find entry. The shield flickered and fought in a battle it could not hope to win. All beneath it knew the might of Baelthrom was above them. For so long they had hidden but now his power was too great, and their end had come.
Naksu’s boat couldn’t get to the dock for all the boats piled with fleeing seers and elves. She was going in the opposite direction, she was going into Myrn. There hadn’t even been a boatman waiting on the Western Isle to pick her up when she’d—rather miraculously—arrived through an electrical storm, the effects of which still crackled in her hair and made it stand up on end.
The boat jerked and crunched onto the pebbled shore some distance from the packed jetty. She jumped out as a wave of seers and elves ran towards the boat. The fear on their faces had been unseen on the tranquil Isles of Tirry, and a lump rose in her throat. Their fear was catching, quickening her pulse. She could give into it, under that terrible sky, under the terrible feel of the Under Flow surrounding them, ready to smother them, but she gripped her staff firmly and forced her feet forwards.
Scanning the people, not one of them was Iyena or the Trinity. But they would never flee Myrn, not now, not in her final hour. There were only two places they would be. She looked up at the sky, noting the cracking shield and the awful power beyond it. There were moments left, not hours, not even minutes. I cannot reach Sheyengetha in time, so I shall try for the Star Portal, if it will let me find it.
Naksu ran without looking up. She pelted along the quaint cobbled streets of Oray ignoring the dark grey of the houses which reflected the sky above, rather than their usual gleaming white. Her staff vibrated a warning. Red flared from above and was reflected in the fountain spurting in the centre; its stone dolphins still seemed joyous despite the destruction about to befall them. Naksu still did not look up.
Her legs ached, her breath came ragged and sweat trickled down her back. Onwards she ran, out of the village and up the path winding through the ancient forest of oak and chestnut. It was dark, almost like night, but the crystals along the path did not glow because it was not night and it should not be dark.
The shield shattered. Her soul cried out and an immense invisible force hurtled her forwards. Great winds gushed around her, and her staff flared white, protective, angry. The Under Flow heaved, and like a light being swallowed by darkness, the Flow fled.
A Dread Dragon screamed.
Naksu kept her eyes to the ground. Inch by inch she heaved herself onto her feet. There came another deafening scream and red fire blazed overhead. Hardly able to breathe, Naksu staggered up the hill. She could have looked back—always at this spot, beside the old chestnut and the sapling, she looked back, for Myrn was so beautiful with its white town of Oray, the rich green of the trees and the turquoise blue of the sea beyond. And that’s how she always wanted to remember it.
Off the path and into the denser forest she plunged. Oddly, calm and silence descended, even now after the shield had shattered and the people beneath it left to their fate. Here, she could almost pretend there were no Dread Dragons in the sky…almost.
The ground trembled. A soft mist grew, reaching around her ankles. Please let me find you, Naksu pleaded, tears filling her eyes. Not for my sake, but for yours and for all the others who need you. The ground trembled, violently enough to make her stagger. The mist thickened defiantly. Ahead, a pale stone loomed out of the darkness, massive, stoic.
Naksu sobbed.
Beneath her feet the earth rumbled, then was still. The sky cleared, and stars twinkled. Through the rows of giant standing stones, she ran towards the sacred mound.
Before it she paused and thrust up her staff. The Flow filled it in halting, stuttering waves. Hand and staff high, she closed her eyes feeling the magical energy surround and fill her.
‘Myrn is falling!’ she cried. ‘As in the past, so too now. Retreat into the mist, fall back beyond the veils, until a time will come when it is safe for you to emerge, should ever such a time come again.’
The Star Portal did not need to be told. Naksu felt she had only put into words what the portal itself was already doing. She was an assistant, nothing more.
The mist thickened. Everything became darker, as of night deepening. Silence became absolute as the world of mayhem and death moved further away.
With her mind, Naksu reached for Iyena and the Trinity. She could feel them out there, further beyond the veils and into the mists above and beyond Maioria. With her senses, she saw and felt them, standing as she was with staves and arms raised high, before a tree made of golden light. So bright it was she could barely look at it.
The staves of the Trinity flared, and everything was lost in white light. Naksu’s staff responded. The power of the Trinity rushed towards her, knocking her from her feet. The Flow engulfed her, a raging sea which she had no hope of withstanding. Pulled out of body, her spirit rose with the Flow leaving her physical being somewhere far below.
Time passed.
It could have been years, or mere moments as everything slowed and she floated in nothing but energy. She couldn’t feel Myrn or her body, maybe they were simply too far away, but a certainty came upon her that the Trinity and Sheyengetha and the Sacred Mound still remained, that they were safe.
She smiled and let herself drift in the light. Was this the Ethereal Planes of which people spoke? It felt purer here, clean and safe. She wanted to stay here forever beyond the confines and ills of her physical body.
A voice called out for the light. It came from beneath her, where the darkness dwelled, capturing Naksu’s attention. She didn’t want to hear it, it marred the peace of this place. Again it came, pain-filled, terrified, and embodying utterly the world of suffering that existed far below.
Naksu knew that voice, and for all her wishes to remain here, she could not ignore it. She descended, following the pull of her attention, and the darkness engulfed her.
Pain, fear, darkness—and a voice crying out for the light within it. A voice she remembered.
‘Freydel,’ she called. ‘Freydel.’
The light of a staff and an orb flared. The haggard face of an ageing wizard formed within it. He appeared to see her, his eyes widening with hope and desperation. Then both staff and orb shattered, and he was falling away from her. The Flow failed in his grasp as his physical body tumbled over red rocks and dirt. His robes ripped and tore until they were rags billowing around him. He rolled down and down the mountain until he stopped at the base, bruised, broken and bleeding. Life remained within him, but the Flow did not. In his hazel eyes Naksu saw something worse than death—the loss of power, a way of being that was one’s entire life. If a wizard had no magic, he was a wizard no more.
War of the Raven Queen: The Goddess Prophecies Fantasy Series Book 6 Page 32