Allies & Enemies

by Cheryl S Mackey

  THE IMMORTALS

  PART TWO: ALLIES & ENEMIES

  Cheryl S. Mackey

  Copyright © 2015 Cheryl S. Mackey

  License Notes: This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  DEDICATION AND AUTHOR’S NOTE:

  This book is dedicated to my husband and my sons. Without them I could never have dreamed so big and accomplished so much. I am eternally grateful for their love, support, and understanding.

  Inspiration for the main characters goes to my friends, Jessica, Neal, and my husband, David. Without them there would be no adventures in Ein-Aral. Thank you so much my dear friends!

  Special thanks to Daniel Schofield, owner of the cover image, who gave me special written license to use his magnificent artwork as the cover of this novella. Please check out his amazing work here: http://scoffsart.deviantart.com. Huge thanks as well to my cover artist Victoria for the awe- inspiring lettering and detail work to make the cover perfect! Her work can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/whitandware.

  I also give special thanks to my beta readers, for security purposes you shall remain anonymous, but you know who you are and I thank you with all my heart for your honest and sincere contributions to the shaping of my book.

  Sincere and grateful thanks to my amazing editor at Hot Tree Editing. You rock!

  This book is intended as a prequel to another set of works currently in progress. The first book of that trilogy, THE UNKNOWN SUN, is available now. As a prequel series, THE IMMORTALS contains events and characters relevant to THE UNKNOWN SUN. However, this book is part 2 and should be read after reading part 1. The entire series is quite readily a standalone, and can be enjoyed as it is without having read THE UNKNOWN SUN. Please note that the events in this book and the rest of the upcoming prequels occur long before the events in THE UNKNOWN SUN.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter One

  3 Weeks later, Sand Lake, Burning Desert, Ein-Aral

  The women laughed. The sound snagged Ivo’s attention, and he smiled. What had Jadeth said to make Emaranthe’s eyes sparkle? Blonde braids glinted in the meager shade where Emaranthe sat at the base of a cliff beside Jadeth. The redheaded Elf lounged against the wall, her arms crossed beneath her head. Eyes closed, she grinned at something her best friend said.

  Ivo tuned out the women and squinted against the glare of the midday suns. Sweat slid down the back of his neck as he surveyed the landscape beyond the small village. The desert stretched in all directions for at least three days.

  “Tell me why we are looking for a map and a missing kingdom again?” Jaeger asked. He appeared at his brother’s side, scowling. He dragged his helm off, smearing dirt and sweat along the way. “And where the hell is this map supposed to be?”

  “Rodon’s spies indicated it was in the far south and most likely in the hands of a mercenary,” Ivo said. He sighed and looked up at the hazy blue sky. No clouds were in sight and the heat waves rippled off every surface. “And apparently not even our leaders know the answer to that question, brother.”

  “Well, a map isn’t going to be found here in this glorious shade,” Jadeth called out. She stood, brushing dust from the hem of her tunic. Emaranthe followed suit, her hooded indigo cloak a wad of fabric in her arms.

  “Let’s see if we can find a map of the desert around us,” Emaranthe said. She pulled her sweat-slicked braids behind her shoulders, revealing a pale face flushed by the heat. “We’ve never strayed this far south. We need a better idea of where we’re headed, and I’d rather be prepared.”

  “We should stay together; I don’t trust this place,” Jaeger said. “And I don’t know if I like the irony of getting a map...to find a map.”

  They moved through the crowded market, dodging chickens, unruly children, and peddlers. Heat waves swirled off the colorful stalls. The stench of food, unwashed people, animals, and offal blended into a nauseating constant.

  At a stall with a green canopy, scrolls of all shapes and sizes spilled out of overstuffed crates and unfurled over the rickety boards that served as a table. Ivo and Jaeger dug through the scrolls one by one until a small, tattered parchment depicting the landscape surrounding Sand Lake was found at the bottom of a crate. The sour-faced merchant reluctantly accepted their silver. His rotted teeth hadn’t dented the large oval coin.

  They made their way back to the foot of the cliff. The suns had dragged the shade farther away, leaving little room to study the map comfortably. They knelt in a tight circle and Ivo unrolled the brittle scroll. One corner had been torn off and the opposite corner looked like a rodent had chewed on it.

  In silence, they studied the map. It revealed little other than the topography of the nearby area and the location of only two places by name in tiny, jagged handwriting. Sand Lake was a speck on the map near the upper edge, and the other location, near the center, was difficult to read. The two points were the only scraps of civilization in a desert known for its deadly nature. Outlaws, rebel Immortals, assassins, and roving Dro-Aconi minions were just some of what lay beyond the grimy outpost.

  “Drag? Dragoo? I can’t read the letters; can you, Ivo?” Emaranthe asked. She leaned closer and pointed with a gloved finger at the faint script. She sat up and clawed sweat-dampened streamers of hair from her forehead with a frustrated exhale.

  Ivo tugged his helm off and dropped it beside him. He leaned closer and stared at the nearly illegible writing for a long moment before glancing up. Emaranthe had leaned close as well, and he found himself nose to nose with her. For a long moment, he forgot what he was going to say as he hesitated, studying her.

  She had freckles on her nose.

  He inhaled, struggling to force away the ache building in his chest. Wide golden-brown eyes studied him back, waiting for his input on the map. He swallowed and forced himself to look back down.

  “I think it says Dragon Bone Outpost. Shed-Akr,” Ivo muttered. He sat up and let Jadeth and Jaeger lean in to see. Green eyes flickered with despair as they returned to Emaranthe. Somehow, the freckles made her even more beautiful. Freckles he hadn’t noticed in over three hundred years of companionship.

  “…Well, that’s a start, we could head there first, right, Ivo?” Jaeger asked. He glanced up at his brother and frowned. His brother’s face was tight with pain, his gaze shuttered.

  “Ivo?”

  “Uh, yeah. Let’s ride,” Ivo snapped. He climbed to his feet, slammed his helm on, and moved away from the group. “We head for Shed-Akr to get a feel of the landscape before venturing farther.”

  Jaeger nodded in silent agreement and glanced over at the women, but they were busy trying to roll up the map without ripping it.

  “I’ll go get the horses,” Ivo called over his shoulder. He vanished into the crowded market without waiting for a reply. Jaeger scowled after his retreating back.

  Confused gold eyes followed as he walked away.

  ***

  “Tell me why we are in a desert? Again?” Jaeger grumbled. He squinted at the distant, sandstone hills where they met the dusty blue sky. The larger sun was dead above them and the smaller just a faint, red glow in the south. They would meet in the middle soon. “Why can’t we get
a mission to a forest or island or something?”

  Ivo grunted, not hearing his brother, and tugged the reins of his warhorse guiding it up the cut stone stairs ahead of the other three. He studied the long, wide stairway winding up to the plateau above Sand Lake and to the open desert.

  “I haven’t been to Old Wood in decades,” Jadeth said. “Maybe when this mission is over we can go back.” She laughed and tapped her heels to her horse’s flanks. The big beast broke into a canter and her scarlet braids bounced with the motion.

  “I miss the Broken Bow,” Jaeger added. He waited for an oddly quiet Emaranthe to guide her horse up the steps before following at the back. For a long moment, the only sounds were the stony clip of the horses’ hooves and the distant clamor of the market behind them. “We never did fulfill our bet did we, Ivo?”

  Ivo didn’t answer, but shot his brother a dark look over one shoulder.

  Stifling the urge to roll her eyes, Jadeth pulled the scroll out of the top of her dress and unfurled it carefully.

  “We follow this road southwest for a while, but it should lead us there no problem,.” She said. She held the barely legible map closer to her face and tipped it sideways slightly. “It appears to be a half day’s ride. All desert. Ugh.”

  “Uh, what road?” Jaeger asked. He reined his horse past Emaranthe and pointed southwest. Drifts of sand had all but covered an ancient stone road, leaving only small patches visible to lead the way.

  Ivo scowled. “Come on. We won’t get there at all if we sit and talk about it.”

  Emaranthe watched him pull his horse around and head off down the faint trail. She flipped a damp braid over her shoulder and waited for Jadeth to follow before tugging on her stallion’s reins. She fell in behind Jadeth and behind her, Jaeger’s stallion’s plate-sized hoofs clattered on stone, then silently through deep sand.

  ***

  Ivo let his horse run. The harsh desert wind eddied around him, churned by his emotions. The gritty air helped clear his mind, helped turn his thoughts to more important things than freckles. He too had heard the legend of The Citadel, Orin-Iad. The lost city of the fallen Windwalkers. He hadn’t spoken the words that had beat a tattoo in his mind back at the Unknown City, hadn’t voiced his concerns. Dread mingled with anticipation. Caution threatened the instinctive excitement at the idea of finding it. They would no doubt find what they sought, but what else waited for them there? Just how had an entire realm, and its people, vanished? The legends surrounding it had faded, truth having given way to myth and rumor. Ivo didn’t know what to believe and it bothered him.

  The hours sped by and the land opened up like a painting. Tans and browns stretched into a sea of white sand dunes all around. The two summer suns traded places in the sky and now sagged low over the horizons. Dry and stale, the hot air did little to encourage conversation. Ivo reached the peak of a dune where the cobblestone road had vanished, and halted his horse.

  “I think Rodon is out to get us,” Jadeth muttered. “His obsession with this missing kingdom and the trinket is odd, even for him.” She stretched aching arms over her head and inhaled. Heat waves swam over every surface and her half-joking smile faded.

  “This is what we were destined for,” Ivo replied. He jerked the sun-heated helm off his head. Sweat dripped and stung his eyes as he watched his brother and Emaranthe guide their horses up the dune. “We fight to turn the tide of war before it comes in too strong.”

  “That tide is long in turning, brother,” Jaeger grunted. He reined his horse to a halt and scanned the bleak desert. “I wonder if the tide will ever return to the sea.”

  Ivo didn’t answer. He turned the horse and began the descent to the tower wavering in the heat waves in the distance. It leaned at a severe angle; whether by design or accident, he didn’t care. At its base, a giant collection of bones gleamed in the hot sun. The giant bones twisted and curled about the tower and ended in a massive skull with a gaping mouth and rows of jagged teeth. Leg bones stretched like off-white oars in the sea of sand, and iron sheets plated the exposed ribs, giving the long-dead beast armor.

  A small collection of colorful tents dotted the landscape around the tower and the owners didn’t seem to care that they draped linens over and between the bones. A single tent rose larger and grander than the rest; and they halted before the shadowed entryway and dismounted. The rumble of conversation from within muffled their collective groans.

  Ivo scanned the room. With eyes stinging from sweat and pipe smoke, he studied the occupants. A half a dozen men, some Elves, some Earthlander, relaxed in various nonchalant positions throughout the tent. The interior was spare…various rugs laid directly over sand and rock, and a handful of colorful cushions encircled a small ring of rocks where a fire smoldered. Six pairs of eyes studied him through a shroud of pipe smoke.

  A man detached himself from a small group beside the fire and approached. They studied each other with equal wariness. He was tall and rail thin; but clothed in so many layers of robes and cloth sashes, he appeared bulkier. A blue cloth wound around his head and covered most of his face, leaving only his bushy eyebrows and eyes visible.

  “You must be weary, travelers,” the stranger spoke with a quiet authority, his voice like so many others, gravelly from the constant sand and grit. “Your purpose is evident.”

  “Yes. We are on a mission and seek information as well as rest. Hinder or help, it is your choice,” Ivo said. His lips twisted into a scowl as he spoke.

  “I am Jaran. I have no quarrel with Immortals or otherwise.” The stranger exhaled smoke with each word. His enigmatic gaze returned to Ivo with serene slowness and studied him in the dim light. The bushy gray eyebrows rose in emphasis.

  Ivo studied the colorfully garbed man and then the others behind them. Unlike him, they seemed to be wearing a uniform of some sort, white loose shirt or robe and white trousers. They wore no head coverings. His narrowed gaze didn’t miss the arsenal of varied weapons either.

  Jadeth shifted and let her hammer swing. It didn’t glow, but its hefty size meant as much business as her sharp gaze. In the dim sunlight filtering through minute rips in the tent, various daggers, swords, and knives gleamed. All gazes were on Ivo and Emaranthe, but one.

  The sixth pair of eyes studied Jadeth from the shadowed depths of the tent. Soundlessly, he melted into the darkness behind the lounging soldiers and slipped behind a stack of crates. Twin blades, sharply curved like deadly hooks, shimmered and then vanished with their bearer.

  Jadeth watched the shadowed figure dart behind a pile of crates. The telltale gleam of blades had caught her keen gaze. She watched them fade until only a slight warping of the air was visible. She shifted her weight again, bringing the hammer up slightly. Her ears flicked back as the invisible enemy crept closer.

  “Jaeger, left, behind the crates. Immortal. Invisible,” Jadeth whispered. Her command was soft, but Jaeger heard and understood. Jaeger’s narrowed gaze scanned the shadows as his hand moved for his axe with deceptive casualness.

  “You are free to occupy a tent and rest before resuming your journey,” Jaran bowed and backed away.

  “We thank you,” Ivo replied. He bowed back, but hesitated when a movement caught his attention. He half turned and shoved Emaranthe’s slight frame behind him. “Watch out.”

  “Hard to watch out when all I see is your back,” she snapped and shoved past him. A ribbon of fire seethed toward the door and a sheet of white-hot fire filled the opening, blocking it, and preventing the invisible assailant from escaping. Emaranthe’s frown was enough warning for Ivo. He backed away, jaw set, sword in hand, to watch the scene unfold. Arms folded with irritated casualness, he leaned on a support post and waited.

  Jaeger and Jadeth moved in tandem as the man shaped shimmer hurtled toward them. With a growl, Jaeger swung low with the blunt edge of the axe, catching the intruder and sending him sprawling. The stranger’s cry cut off as Jadeth leaped high and landed on him bodily, pinning him to the ground. The
form materialized with Jadeth standing on the nearly bare chest of a lanky male Elf, her hammer pressed to his throat. Sapphire eyes glittered in fury and recognition.

  “Why are you here?” she hissed and jabbed harder with the broad side of the hammer. The strange Elf glowered up at her, his jaw flexing in mute frustration. Tall, lanky, but well muscled and clothed in all black, he made no move to wrestle Jadeth aside. Instead, he studied her from beneath a tangled mess of long black hair. Blue eyes stood out against dark skin.

  “Speak, Elf!” Jaeger barked out. He hovered over the prone Elf and switched his axe to the other hand, ready to strike if need be.

  Emaranthe watched the scene from the doorway, her attention on Jadeth instead of the stranger. Her redheaded friend was furious… and afraid. She knew him. Well.

  “Why are you here? Speak!” Jadeth hissed. She jammed the head of the hammer harder into the Elf’s throat for emphasis. His gaze wavered between the companions. He had, Emaranthe realized, been expecting this welcome. She frowned.

  “I bring a message. Lureg is who you seek.”

  Ivo narrowed his gaze until they were mere glints in the shadows of his helm. He shifted his weight to his other leg, his shoulder still propped on the post. The motion drew Emaranthe’s gaze to his lean, tall form, and the fiery door guttered as her appreciative attention shifted to the giant Warrior.

  “How is it you know our business, Elf?” Ivo asked.

  “I know everything. I too serve Rodon.”

  “Liar!” Jadeth hissed. “Your lies are done now, Dehil.”

  “You know him?” Ivo asked. He turned to Jadeth and studied her furious face in the dim light. Perched atop the Elf, her chest heaving with anger, she turned to Ivo. Her eyes glittered in the darkness.