by Nichelle Rae
After a few more deep breaths to try to calm down, I brought my hands up and placed them palm down on each side of my head. I lifted my legs up and threw them down, at the same time I pushed myself up by my hands, launching my body so I landed on my feet in a crouch.
I straightened and pulled the sleeves of my shirt up to my elbows. “I heard you talking, and guess what: I don’t care. I’m done caring about her. Done! Let’s go.” They all watched me silently. I saw them staring at me, not knowing what to make of my statement. “Let’s go!” I cried more forcefully, and all of them jumped into action as if a spell had been broken. I was done concerning myself with the White Warrior. Done!
The sun was going down behind us and casting a soft orange glow on the rich golden leaves of Galad Kas forest, the woods that surrounded the lake and the island they lived on. The sunset made the gold of the leaves seem to shine and I felt warmth in my heart I hadn’t felt in a long while. It was the feeling of love and acceptance that I knew I had here in Galad Kas. Old friends dwelled here and I could not wait to see them. This was the only land in all of Casdanarus that was still fully loyal to my father and me, the White Warrior.
I was just about to allow myself a sigh of relief when that blasted shadow filled my mind. That foreboding feeling, like thick syrup running through my soul, told me something was very wrong. It got stronger as we got closer and closer until it felt like we were marching straight into a giant wall of Shadow.
I stopped Forfirith at the top of the hill that allowed a view of the forest to the left and caught myself actually looking for some Shadow or darkness in front of me. Everyone was looking at me confused, except for Rabryn. His eyes were as unfocused as mine as he looked for what could cause such a thick ominous feeling, as if such a thing could take physical form.
“Do you feel that?” he said in a breath.
I nodded. The feeling burned and boiled in my stomach like a vat of churning tar. I could practically feel the heat of the Evil here.
Not Galad Kas! Please not Galad Kas! I pleaded silently. The last and only foothold I had in Casdanarus was somehow compromised!
I was about to get angry, but I suddenly felt a part of me shrink and almost…well, it felt like a part of me floated away with the wind. Dread perhaps? I wasn’t sure what it was but I was left feeling extremely concerned and a little tired.
“Azrel, what’s wrong?” Ortheldo finally asked.
I swallowed heavily before answering from my gut. “Galad Kas has been attacked.”
Soft murmurs went through the group. I fought the tears that wanted to spill forth. Isadith, Palpanor, all my friends. Not Galad Kas! Please not Galad Kas! I dismounted and walked a few paces forward to the edge of the hill, not taking my eyes off the golden trees below.
After a few moments I was joined by Rabryn. “What do you want to do?”
I thought for a moment. We could go around, but it was against my nature and I knew it. I had to see what became of my friends. I had to see if I could help at all, even if I just buried their bodies. “I need to get to the island. The woods need to be scouted to see how much damage there is and if any Shadow creatures are in there.”
Rabryn nodded beside me. “I’ll go.”
“No,” I replied immediately.
“Why not?” Rabryn said defensively.
I turned and glared at him. “Do you have a death wish?”
Instead of fighting with me like I expected, he just closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Azrel, you really need to stop talking to me like that.” He dropped his hand and met my eyes. “I love you, but when you talk to me as if I were a child, I feel insulted.”
His words cut into me like a blade. I talked to him like he was a child because he was one…wasn’t he? I looked to Ortheldo for some help, but he was too busy biting his lip to keep from laughing at the exchange. When our eyes met, the words were clear in them: “I told you so.” Yes, Ortheldo had tried numerous times to tell me to not babysit my brother out here, but I had to! He was my baby brother.
When I looked back at Rabryn, I felt my face go slack as I caught a good look at his eyes, eyes I realized I hadn’t really looked into since we left The Pitt. The childlike innocence had disappeared from them. Gone!
I closed my throat against a gasp that wanted to escape from the change I was seeing in them. Being on the outside, in battles, and witnessing death and despair had changed them. As I stared into his face, I didn’t see him as the little boy I’d first met when coming to The Pitt. He was actually a young man, a young adult!
I took in a shaky breath and, despite my new view of him, quickly walked up and embraced him. When he embraced me back, I did gasp, and even trembled a little, as I felt the change in his body as well. He was harder, more muscular. His shoulders were broader and he was so much taller than me now! He really had changed, and I missed it. I’d been too desperate to hang on to the memory of the little boy who had completed my world since the day we met.
“I’m sorry, Rabryn,” I said in a shaky breath.
He kissed the top of my head and held me tighter. “It’s okay, Azrel.”
“I don’t know. I guess I just want to keep the memory of you as a little boy with me forever, because the day I met you was the best day of my life.”
“I know, sis,” he said gently and rubbed my back, “but I’m not a child.”
I nodded against his chest. “I know…now.” I swallowed and pulled away and looked up into his eyes. “I’ll try.”
Rabryn smiled and wiped my cheeks that I suddenly realized were wet. “That’s all I ask.”
I looked at the ground to try to compose myself and tell myself over and over again, He’s a young man. He’s a young man. He’s a young man. I swallowed again and met his eyes once more. “What did you have in mind?”
He smiled then looked towards the trees again. “I’ll avoid the creatures by walking the treetops.”
My brows went up. I was impressed. I knew for a fact that the branches of the Galad Kas canopy were thick enough to walk on like a floor. It was such a tangled jungle of branches that it would be slow going and required some body contorting and climbing, but it could be done with a good sense of direction. Salynns had an impeccable sense of direction.
I grinned at him with pride; he really had grown up before my eyes. Unfortunately my worry for him beat at the back of my mind and my smile wilted as I took his hand into mine and looked up into his eyes. “Rabryn, if I put my big sister worries aside and let you do this, you have to promise me something.” His head tilted to the side and he looked at me curiously. “Promise me that you’ll be careful and not get yourself killed.” He gave me a gentle smile. “I mean it. Don’t be a hero for any reason, okay?”
He nodded and kissed my forehead. “I promise.”
I sighed and looked down at my hands holding his. I gave them a gentle squeeze before dropping them. “Go then,” I said, keeping my eyes on the ground. I watched his feet move towards the horses. I listened while he unpacked his weapons. I had to cross my arms in order to resist the urge to grab his arm and stop him when his feet ran past me towards the woods. After a moment I brought a trembling hand up to my face and covered my eyes. I felt like I was going to shatter to pieces with how badly I was shaking. What was I thinking? Letting him go off alone!
I felt a body press against me and Ortheldo hugged me. I couldn’t take my hand from my eyes as I pressed my face into his chest. “I’m proud of you,” he said gently.
“Yeah, well I don’t feel proud.”
“You should be. That took courage. He’ll be fine.”
“How do you know? What if he gets hurt? What am I going to do?”
“First thing you need to do is to stop thinking like that.” I sighed in annoyance. “Then trust him to make the right decisions.”
That was far easier said than done. Rabryn had been, and probably always would be, the single strand of goodness and hope that I had in my life. If I lost him I wo
uld have nothing.
“I said stop thinking like that,” Ortheldo chastised.
I met his eyes. “How do you know what I was thinking?”
He smiled and brushed a loose strand of hair out of my face. “Because I know you. You were quiet, which means you were thinking negatively.”
I sighed again and pressed my cheek against his chest and let him hold me. I hoped Ortheldo’s arms could keep away the fear and worry for my brother, but no, it was no use. Ortheldo couldn’t protect me from my inner turmoil. I sighed and pulled away, then turned to watch my brother running towards the trees in the distance. When he was completely swallowed by the forest I walked to the bottom of the hill and sat down on the grass and waited.
Chapter Sixteen
Addredoc
The sun had long fallen and Rabryn had yet to return from the woods. Azrel was still at her spot at the bottom of the hill; she hadn’t moved for hours. Well, “hadn’t moved” wasn’t entirely accurate. As the night waned on she had started to rock herself back and forth like a mad woman. I had to heal her thumbnail twice because she’d bitten it down until she was bleeding.
“Addredoc,” Ortheldo said. I looked at him and he handed me a cup of broth. “Bring this down to her, please.”
“Take this too,” Reese said and held out a blanket.
I took them both and made my way down the hill. I draped the blanket over Azrel’s shoulders and sat down next to her. “Here’s some broth. We didn’t give you any vegetables because we didn’t want you to exert any energy by chewing them.”
She humored me by forcing a smile and taking the cup from me. “Thank you.”
“What? Were those words you just spoke?” I joked, trying to help her feel better. She gave me a more genuine smile, but it wilted as soon as she looked towards the woods again. I sighed. “You know he’s going to be okay, don’t you?”
“How can I know that, Addredoc?”
I didn’t have an answer, really.
I looked into what I could see of her eyes. They were so beautiful, but somewhat darkened of late with the revelation of secrets her father kept from her. Her foundation was crumbling. She kept a brave face, though I could see her slowly dying inside. The hardest part was that I knew there was still so much more she didn’t yet know.
She brought the cup of broth up to her lips but before she took a sip, her eyes went wide as she looked over the rim towards the woods. She jumped to her feet, dropping the cup to the ground. The blanket fell off her shoulders.
I saw Rabryn running towards us, bow in hand. “Guys!” I called, getting quickly to my feet. “He’s back!”
“Rabryn!” Azrel cried, then started running towards him.
Everyone quickly came down the hill to join me and we ran towards Rabryn. Azrel was just throwing herself into her little brother’s arm as we met up with them. He caught her in his free arm, but quickly put her down. I could hear him panting heavily. He doubled over and started coughing from breathlessness.
“What’s wrong? What happened?” Azrel was asking trying to cup Rabryn’s face in her hands. “Light Gods! You’re soaked. Are you hurt?”
“No,” Rabryn replied, still unable to breathe. “It’s sweat. I had to run full speed the last seven miles.” He coughed again, pressing his hands into his knees. “I have never hated my human half until this very moment.” He coughed again and we all managed to smile. Rabryn met Azrel’s eyes. “I heard some creatures talking. I moved down to listen to them. A smaller branch didn’t hold my weight and snapped.”
“Get a cold cloth!” Azrel cried.
Reese turned to go but Rabryn stopped him. “No. I’m okay. I’m just winded. I’ll be fine once I catch my breath.”
“Here, sit down,” Azrel coaxed.
Rabryn didn’t argue that and sat on the ground.
I felt a small body push its way between me and Ortheldo. Cairikson stood in front of us, looking at Rabryn. “Rabryn? Are my people okay? Is my home okay?” he asked in a small voice.
Rabryn shifted his eyes to Cairikson. “Come here, kiddo,” he said. Cairikson walked over and sat in his lap. “You Whiteians are very brave.” Cairikson nodded. “I didn’t see very much going on at the island but”—he sighed—“you should know that a lot of your people have died in the woods.” Cairikson’s chin started to quiver as his big blue-green eyes filled with tears. Rabryn hugged him. “I’m so sorry.”
All of us bent down and offered weak gestures of comfort to this boy who had lost more than a child his age should ever lose. Azrel got to her knees and plucked Cairikson right out of Rabryn’s lap and held him in a close, tight hug.
“What exactly did you see?” Azrel asked her brother.
“Gorkors and Gibirs are scattered everywhere in those trees. I think though, since I was spotted, they’ll concentrate themselves over this way. Luckily I’m a fast runner so I left them far enough behind. But we’ve got to go now if we’re going to get into those woods. Otherwise we’ll have an army in our way.”
“Don’t you need to rest?” Azrel asked.
Rabryn smiled. “If I say yes, you’ll suggest we rest and wait. If I say no, I’d be lying.”
Azrel narrowed her eyes at him. “We’ll rest, then.”
“Azrel, we don’t have time. We need to get to the island to see if anyone is alive there. They’ll need our help if there is.”
Azrel sighed and put Cairikson down as she got to her feet. She gave a sharp whistle and all of the horses came galloping our way. “Let’s hurry.” We all frantically grabbed our weapons off the horses. Azrel said some quick words to her horse about going around Galad Kas and meeting us on the other side, and then all of them took off. Azrel looked at the rest of us, “Let’s go.”
We all started jogging towards the trees, Cairikson surprisingly keeping pace at the front of the group with Azrel. We stopped just at the tree line and Azrel looked up into the thick canopy. She had a sour look on her face.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“I grew up in a cave. I’m not so sure treetops and I will like each other very much.” All of us chuckled.
“Would you like us to hold your hand, oh mighty White Warrior?” Reese asked in a mocking tone.
None of us were sure if we should laugh, but Azrel playfully glared at him over her shoulder. “Would you like a fist in your mouth to go with it?” We all chuckled and Azrel smiled. She looked up at the tree tops again. “Rabryn, how did you get up into the branches? They’re fifteen feet off the ground.”
“Like this.” Rabryn stepped forward, leapt up with what looked like barely any effort, and grabbed hold of the branch nearly fifteen feet off the ground. He wrapped his legs around the branch and pulled himself up onto it.
“Must be nice to be a Salynn,” Ortheldo muttered.
“Not all of us can do that!” Azrel called up to her brother, who chuckled.
“Wizards can levitate to the branches,” I offered smugly.
“That’s great for you, but what about the rest of us?” Reese challenged.
I chuckled. “I can get you all up.”
“Actually I’m not sure you can,” Rabryn said from the branch. All of us looked up. I almost got playfully offended until I saw the look of concern on his face. “I can’t use my magic.”
All of us blanched, particularly me. I held my hand out and called wizard fire to me…nothing. My eyes went wide and I couldn’t help looking at my fellow wizard with near panic. Lisswilla looked at me with the same wide-eyed concern.
“It’s okay,” Azrel said calmly, “it’s not an evil spell.” All of us glanced at each other and wondered how she could know that. “The Salynns pulled together to put a protection spell over their land to disallow any magic use.” Her eyes met mine. “They wanted to make sure Hathum couldn’t use magic if he was here.”
“How do you know, Azrel?” Ortheldo asked.
“The White Warrior just told me.”
“What?”
“You
can hear her?”
“She talks to you?” We all burst out at once.
Azrel nodded. “That’s one of the several things I didn’t get to cover the other night when you all passed out to meet with her. Among a couple other things but—”
“We don’t have time now,” Rabryn said. “Let’s go everyone! Those beasts will be at the tree line any minute.”
“Azrel, you should still be able to use your magic to lift us up,” I offered.
“I can, but I won’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because using my magic drains me. I want to be in top form in case we have to fight anything on the island.”
“Sometime this age would be nice, people!” Rabryn called from the branch.
“Ortheldo help me,” Azrel said, then walked to the tree that Rabryn was in. She and Ortheldo clasped hands as they stood close to the trunk. “Rabryn, hang down and pull each person that we lift to you up onto the branch.”
“You got it.” Rabryn hooked his legs over the tree branch and hung down.
“Addredoc,” Azrel said.
I nodded and reached down for Cairikson, who held his arms out to me. I picked him up and put him on my back, then stepped up to her and Ortheldo. I placed a hand on each of their shoulders and put my foot on their interlaced hands. We bounced three times and then both of them lifted their arms up, pausing at their shoulders.
“Up again,” Azrel grunted.
With another bounce they both lifted their arms up over their heads, lifting me within reach of Rabryn’s hand. I reached behind me, pulled Cairikson off my back, and handed him to Rabryn, who pulled him up onto the branch.
“Addredoc!” Azrel cried.
“Sorry!” I called and then Rabryn grabbed my hand and pulled me up onto the branch. I climbed higher to make room for the others. One by one we were all pulled up into the tree. Finally Azrel and Ortheldo were left.