by Nichelle Rae
“Oh, and don’t forget about the battle Reese and I had with the Gibirs two nights before that.”
Lisswilla sighed. “The Second Shadow is amassing strength quickly.”
Azrel blew out a breath and ran her fingers through her hair. “Yeah.”
No one wanted to imagine the Second Shadow that was on the horizon. It was too much. It meant the world ending and, honestly, Azrel was not ready to save it. She was two people in one mind, her magic limited, her self-confidence bottomed out. It was a really bad time for the Shadow Gods to weave their Evil webs.
“So where in Casdanarus are you from?” Ortheldo asked, trying to change the unfathomable subject.
As an answer, Lisswilla gave a soft sigh. He pushed his hood back and pulled his black mask off his face. Even I flinched. As frequently as I’d seen him at the White Warrior’s meetings, he never took that thing off. Now I could see why he wore it.
Everyone’s eyes went wide with horror, but Azrel’s and Ortheldo’s eyes were wide with horror and recognition. I felt, for the first time, sympathy for him.
Lisswilla was extremely fair. He had sharp angular features that his exotic, far-set dark green eyes complimented nicely. He had fine blonde hair that was cut at an angle from his jaw in front and rounded down to just touch his shoulders. The reason for our horror was the ugly, grayish-pink scar on the right side of his face that started at the corner of his mouth, went along his jaw line for about two inches, then curved back upward and stopped in the middle of his cheek.
“No way,” Ortheldo said.
“You’re from ancient Triple Peaks!” Azrel cried.
Lisswilla nodded. “Candletars, the Lord of Triple Peaks, is my father.”
“That…that scar was from just before Azrel’s father’s creation!” Ortheldo cried.
Even my eyes went wide at that.
Ortheldo’s eyes flicked up to Lisswilla’s hair. “But…your Sallybreath flowers are gone.”
“How are you alive?” Azrel breathed.
“Wait,” Rabryn interrupted, “how do you know not only where he’s from, but also what era he’s from by that scar?” He looked around the camp’s blank expressions and rolled his eyes. “I’m from The Pitt, remember?”
Azrel looked from Rabryn to Lisswilla. “Do you mind if I sidetrack you for a minute?”
“No, go ahead. I was going to explain anyway.”
Azrel nodded and looked at her brother. “As you know in my father’s was created to free the world from the First Shadow which was led by The Nameless One, a creation of Hathum himself. Before my father arrived, the Nameless One had already taken over the world. It seduced good people, it lied to good people, and it captured good people, eventually destroying the good in them and making them a part of its Shadow army. Each time the Shadow army took over a realm of Light, the army would give a mark, a scar, to the survivors of that land before enslaving them.
“The stronger and longer that a realm of Light kept the Shadow army at bay, the more noticeable the slaves’ scars became once it was overrun.” Azrel’s eyes went to Lisswilla. “Triple Peaks was the very last land in Casdanarus to resist the Shadow army and all its influences before my father came. Triple Peaks was a fortress, a strong hold of Goodness. Against all odds, they kept the Shadow army, which was pretty much all of the world at this point, at bay. I don’t even know how they managed it for as long as they did but”—she shrugged helplessly—“eventually they were overrun which is why Lisswilla’s scar is so prominent.”
“The Nameless One wanted to make sure everyone knew for centuries to come that Triple Peaks was defeated. It’s a shame I have to bear,” Lisswilla said quietly.
“Shame?” Rabryn said softly. “It’s a mark of the people who defended the last stronghold of Goodness to the point where you became the greatest enemy of Evil. There’s no shame in that!”
I think I saw every single pair of eyebrows in that circle go up. Azrel’s smiled broadly.
“You and your land outlasted It long enough, and strongly enough, to receive that mark on your face!” Rabryn shook his head, “I wouldn’t cover that up.” The camp was quiet for a long few moments, all of us looking at Rabryn, flabbergasted and impressed. He finally started squirming. “What?”
All of us finally smiled, even Lisswilla. “I never thought of it like that—and I have lived a really long time.”
Azrel shook her head in awe. “Leave it to my little brother to see the bright side of everything.” Rabryn just blushed and shrugged.
Lisswilla sighed heavily and shook his head as if he still couldn’t believe those words. “I never thought of it that way,” he said again. “Thank you.”
Rabryn just blushed harder. “I didn’t do anything.”
Lisswilla nodded. “Yes, you did.”
Rabryn smiled. “Well, then you’re welcome.”
Lisswilla grinned at him and took a breath to continue. “Shortly after Triple Peaks fell, Azrel’s father came into existence. He allowed himself a few years beforehand to scout people with Hope left in their hearts and turned that Hope into Goodness in order to build up his army.
“His very first massive victory occurred when he stormed Triple Peaks to set us free. He lost nearly his entire army in that battle and only one of his protectors survived—Derweldo, who became his Deralilya.”
Oh no! I thought. I looked at Azrel and Rabryn quickly.
Too late.
They knew.
Chapter Fourteen
Rabryn
“Excuse me?” came the response from both Azrel and me.
He couldn’t mean who I thought he did. There was no possible way!
“Did you say that Derweldo was my father’s Deralilya?” Azrel asked.
I saw Acalith, Ortheldo and Addredoc all slap their hands to their foreheads and rub their faces.
“Yes,” Lisswilla said, confused by all the responses. “You’ve heard of him, then?”
Azrel and I looked at each other. She started breathing heavily. More secrets, more of her father’s lies, were being revealed and she wasn’t taking it very well. Both of us looked back at Lisswilla.
“Are you talking about a Gold Flowered Salynn named Derweldo?” I asked.
“Yes. How do you know of him?”
My eyes went to Azrel again, but she was still staring at Lisswilla in disbelief. “He…” I huffed, and then blinked in disbelief. “He was my father.”
It was silent for a moment. “Truly?” Lisswilla asked.
The next thing I knew Azrel was up on her feet and storming away like I knew she would. I let her go for a moment as I contemplated the thought.
My father and Azrel’s father had known each other? My father knew the White Warrior. They were companions for thousands of years! They’d battled and bled together, they’d served Goodness in the highest ranking positions they could gain without being the Light Gods themselves. They’d confronted a Shadow-ridden world with nothing more than Hope to turn into Goodness. Together they’d turned that Goodness into an army, and that army had become a worldwide force of millions to combat The Nameless One.
My father had done this with Azrel’s father!
I blew out a breath, then stood up to go after my sister. No one followed me. She wasn’t too far off, standing at the edge of the tree line with her arms crossed and her back to the camp. I stepped up behind her and rested my hands on her shoulders, then rubbed her upper arms in a weak gesture of comfort.
“He kept so much from me,” she said and shook her head. “I completely trusted him and believed in him, and he lied to me and kept secrets from me. I feel like I didn’t even know my father. It feels like I lived with a complete stranger for twenty years. My roots, my entire foundation, are crumbling into nothing.” She shook her head again. “It’s pain I’m not so sure I can stand much more of.”
I sighed. “Come here,” I said and turned her around. She turned and pressed her face into my chest. For a moment I was stunned because I re
alized how much taller than her I was now. She and I had been about the same height for the past couple years. I might have had an inch on her at most, but now I had four. Who grows four inches in a month?
“Listen Azrel,” I said softly. “I know you’ve already been through a lot, and there’s still a lot you’re going to have to face to be prepared to fight his Shadow.” I sighed. “But don’t lose hope now.” I held her tighter. “Your father probably kept things from you for reasons. Ortheldo said that he and Beldorn have planned out your future beyond what any of us can fathom. Maybe everything he told you, and didn’t tell you, was because this bigger plan is dependent on certain things taking place and not taking place.” I sighed again. “But I don’t think your father keeping things from you is what’s gotten you so upset.”
“What do you mean?” she asked, her voice muffled.
“I think what’s really got you upset is that you don’t know how your father felt about keeping secrets from you.” She sighed, which I took as confirmation. “You’re wondering whether he cared about hurting you at all, aren’t you?”
She was quiet a moment. “Yes,” she replied, holding me tighter. “I keep asking myself, did he even care? Did he even care? Did he know what this would to do me? And if he didn’t care, then did he care about me at all while I was growing up? If not, then what did I have with him? Was I truly just a student to him? Did he love me at all? If he did love me, then why did he do this to me?” I felt her warm tears seep through my silk tunic.
“Well,” I said, “you knew him better than I did, so I can’t answer those questions for you. But think about this—your father was the Warrior of Goodness. He was made and created by the Light Gods of Goodness.” I smiled, so she could hear it in my voice. “I’m pretty sure being secretive and devious, especially towards his own daughter, was against his nature.” I was rewarded with a small chuckle from her. “I know he loved you very, very much because there’s nothing not to love about you. But he had to make a choice, a tough choice—your love for him or saving the world.
“Like any man of Goodness, he chose the unselfish route to save the world, and he was willing to risk sacrificing your love for him in order to do it. He set this painful path for you to walk so you would be ready to save the world when the time comes.” I petted the length of her hair. “I think as the White Warrior you are going to be faced with horrible, impossible decisions like that too.” I shrugged. “How you decide them is what makes you the Warrior of Goodness.”
“But how do you know he’s got this master plan for me? How do you know it hurt him to do this to me?”
“Well, I don’t know for sure.” She shook her head helplessly. “But that’s what Faith is all about.” She went very still. “I trust the Light Gods, which means I trust your father because he was created by Them. Your father was made from the power of Goodness, and Good people don’t hurt their daughters without a Good reason. Saving the world from an everlasting Evil is a pretty Good reason.”
Azrel brought her face up and looked at me like she didn’t even know me for a moment. I thought the next words out of her mouth might be “Who are you?” but the strange look disappeared a moment later. She sniffed and started wiping her cheeks. “I suppose then that I’ve got to work on my Faith in the Light Gods and trust in my father in order to be at peace with all that’s happening to me.”
I nodded. “That would be a great start.”
She crossed her arms and shrugged. “I was just never comfortable with the idea of people I can’t see being in control of the world and my life.”
“I know, but when you do start to trust and believe in Them, the peace does come. Just like your father, They’re not devious little people out to get you.” Azrel laughed, which made me smile. “They are Goodness personified.”
Azrel nodded, though I could tell she was far from convinced, “I’ll work on it.”
“If you can’t yet go so far as to believe in the Light Gods, at least believe in your father. Trust in the belief that he loved you and that what he did was in the best interest of helping you save the world. Trust that it was not an attack on you.”
She nodded and wiped her sleeve under her nose one more time. “I’ll try.” She met my eyes and smiled. “So our fathers knew each other, huh?”
The sudden unbelievable statement made me burst into laughter. She quickly joined in. “Isn’t that wild?” I exclaimed. “I can’t believe that!”
Azrel chuckled and put her arm around my waist. “Come on,” she said, guiding me back towards the camp. “I know Lisswilla has more to tell us and I have a few matters I need to address as well.” I put my arm around her shoulders and we headed back towards the firelight.
Azrel sighed as she sat back down. “Sorry again.” She rubbed both hands over her face. “I’m not handling these secrets my father kept from me very well. Please Lisswilla, continue.”
“I’m sorry, Azrel. I didn’t mean to cause you pain.”
“It’s alright. You didn’t know.”
Lisswilla smiled appreciatively. “Well, after your father conquered Triple Peaks back from the Shadow, The Nameless One’s first true defeat in about two thousand years, your father gave a vast number of us an assignment ,but kept a few hundred to replace his lost protectors and to build his army back up. Our assignment was to scour the world for Hope hideouts, realms, lands, and countries all over the world and bring anyone back to Casdanarus we could. It was up to us to turn what Hope we could find into enough Goodness to make people want to come back to Casdanarus and be further trained by the White Warrior. I, along with about five hundred of my kinsmen, were assigned to scour Alkgwathien, the city of the Elves.”
My brows dropped in confusion while Ortheldo’s smile went wide. I wanted to ask what Elves were, but I didn’t want to look like an idiot. I’d also never heard of Alkgwathien.
“In that time, the Shadow had reached Alkgwathien, so scouring the land for Hope would be an understatement. We had to work secretly too, so as not to be discovered. Your father and his Deralilya kept in contact with us through a mental link of his magic. My kin and I spent a lot of time there, hundreds of years, and managed to send back a few thousand Elves to fight for Goodness. As your father’s influence and fame started rising over time, it became easier to find Hope in people. Eventually, Hope was all it took to have more and more Elves want to go fight for him and they left on their own. Alkgwathien was soon emptied out. I, and what was left of my Triple Peaks kin, left with the last band of Elves to come back to Casdanarus and fight.” Lisswilla shrugged. “When the war ended I went to live up there because I loved the land so much.”
It was quiet for a few moments as everyone absorbed his rather incredible story, which I however, didn’t understand much of. Finally Azrel spoke. “What happened to your light green Sallybreath Flowers? I think Triple Peaks are light green.”
Lisswilla nodded, and then smiled a broad, wolfish smile. “I was a bit of a troublemaker after Triple Peaks was overrun by the Shadow Army.” Everyone smiled except Addredoc, who only rolled his eyes. “They decided I wasn’t worth the effort of trying to control, so they cut off my hair to watch me die a slow, drawn-out death.” His smile widened, “Too bad for them your father got there before I died.”
Lisswilla’s eyes suddenly went unfocused as he relived a memory. “He had just infiltrated the Second Mountain; people were screaming and metal was clashing together. The noise was so loud I wanted to die just to be rid of the headache—though I think the headache was mostly from my magic loss.”
His voice went to just above a whisper. “He just happened to be passing by the public platform where they were keeping me to watch me die over weeks and months. He was walking down one of the lanes alone, as confidently and casually as if he were walking through a common area to meet a friend. He nearly walked right passed me, but something made him stop in his tracks and turned to gaze over his shoulder. He actually looked at me as I was lying on the floor, nearly d
ead. My eyes met those strong, defiant eyes, and I think time stopped for me in that moment. It was as if I was looking at the Light Gods Themselves.
“He softly glowed in his white garments and his white hair shone like a halo. His left hand rested casually on the magnificent diamond hilt of his sword that lay in its sheath. I remember seeing the light from the battle fires flash off his diamond crown too. I couldn’t believe a Godly man like that stopped to look at me.” Lisswilla shook his head in awe, his eyes still unfocused. “Then his left hand came off the hilt of his sword. He held his palm out to me and, just like that, I felt life return to me.” His eyes met my sister’s intensely. “The man restored my life force without restoring my flowers or my magic.”
Everyone’s eyes went wide except for mine. Clearly this was significant, but I didn’t know why.
“Then he turned away and kept walking as if nothing had happened.” Lisswilla’s eyes took on a new light of excitement. “I have never forgotten that first glimpse of him in the eleven thousand years I have lived.” He smiled. “I cannot wait to see you as the White Warrior for the first time, Lady Azrel.”
Azrel quickly became unhypnotized from Lisswilla’s story and I saw her blush. She scratched the back of her neck self consciously. “I doubt I’ll leave an impression quite like that.”
Lisswilla’s smile lingered on her for a moment. He shrugged. “Anyway, as I was scouring Alkgwathien, I realized he hadn’t changed me into a human. I didn’t die of old age after a hundred years, so I had thousands of years to live still. I figured since I had time, I would teach myself advanced magic. I just happened to have a knack for it”—he winked—“and quickly became a wizard.”
“You happened to have a knack for it? Yeah, I’m sure your life as a magic-wielding Salynn beforehand had nothing to do with it,” Addredoc said.