A Bridge of Realms

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A Bridge of Realms Page 35

by B. T. Narro


  Terrified, Leo lost his concentration of the Artistry. He watched in horror as the rest of the beast emerged. Behind it, the tear in the rift closed.

  The creature had to be the most gigantic in the world, looking to be made of vines wrapped around limbs larger than the biggest trees. Leo still couldn’t believe it was alive, but there was no mistaking the vicious look in its white, burning eyes. It wasn’t just alive. It would destroy all of them.

  Leo was unfortunately among the troops directly in front of it. He felt like a bug in comparison. With one stomp of its four legs, it could probably crush twenty men.

  The Analytes were screaming orders. Some men far braver than Leo shot arrows at it, but the dark beast was so huge that they looked like tiny sticks lost in the sea of its strange flesh.

  “Link its legs!” Andar yelled to Leo.

  Leo found his courage and joined his brother. He wasn’t sure just how many mages had ahold of the Artistry that Leo grabbed and looped around the creature’s front legs, but a link was formed quickly.

  It snapped and broke just as quickly.

  “It’s too strong!” Leo shouted.

  “We have to try again!”

  But the beast lumbered toward them. Arrows stormed out from the army around Leo, doing nothing to slow its pace.

  “Run!” Andar yelled.

  He and Leo darted to the side in hopes of avoiding its foot coming down on top of them, but the mountain of a beast shifted to follow the moving crowd. It stopped to hoist up its limb. Leo fell as Analytes pushed him over in their hurry to escape. He was too small to have taken a spot near the front. What was he thinking? There was a huge crash nearby and a gust of wind swept over him.

  His brother picked him up. Behind Andar, Leo saw the claw of the beast, tall as a building, swiping at them.

  “Duck!” Leo yelled.

  He and his brother fell flat. The claw swept over them, smashing against a horde of Analytes. A storm of wind followed that sent Leo rolling at a dizzying speed.

  He picked himself up when he came to a stop. Andar was already up and sprinting toward Leo.

  “Keep moving downhill!” his brother yelled.

  Leo didn’t see what the beast did next, but he felt another crash behind him. Armored troops rained down around him as if they were little toys. One fell onto Andar’s legs.

  Leo turned over the fallen man, yelling for him to get up. But he was covered in blood and couldn’t seem to move, his steel armor shredded. Leo pulled his brother out from under the Analyte. Together they ran.

  Leo looked back. The beast turned its attention toward the swarms of Analytes surrounding it. Leo stopped and thought about going back to help, but two swipes later there was a wide clearing around the beast.

  Analyte officers yelled as they ran, no doubt giving the order to retreat. Leo heard the word in common tongue soon after as some of the retreating human army flooded between the Analytes. All the troops fled, but the beast bounded after them.

  Leo watched in horror as dozens more men were flung away like insects. He ran and ran until he could see the capital in the distance. He dreaded what the beast would do to the city, but it was here that the creature finally stopped. It stared at them for a long while as they continued to flee. Finally, it turned around and ran all the way back, where it looked as if it would walk into the rift.

  Its head darted to the side as if detecting something. Suddenly it was off, running alongside the slowly expanding rift.

  My father, Leo realized. He was off to the side somewhere with the rest of the rebels; he could even be close.

  The human army charged past the Analytes in the same direction as the beast. They were far from the rift now, the creature not seeming to notice them.

  “Come on,” Andar said. He and Leo ran with the human army.

  Leo heard shouting behind him.

  “Gavval, turn back! Gavval!” It sounded like the voice of Dasfis.

  The furious tone of the Analyte king made one thing clear to Leo. Gavval was not ordering his army over here to help the rebels destroy the rift. He would destroy the rebels.

  Leo and Andar sped up and soon neared the front line. Leo could see a large group of troops fleeing away from the rift as the enormous beast chased them. Rebels flew through the air as the creature swiped at them.

  Then a blanket of thick fire seemed to appear out of nowhere, creating a wall between the creature and the fleeing rebels. Black smoke filled the air, a burning smell reaching Leo’s nose as he started to close in. The beast fell backward to escape the tremendous heat that blasted Leo’s face from so far away.

  The creature rushed back to the face of the rift, where it waited to see if anyone else would challenge it. The wall of fire collapsed on itself, sparks and embers falling to the ground. The rebels circled around to face the incoming army.

  A woman’s voice rang out. “We are here only to help!”

  “Arrows ready!” ordered Jarrel somewhere to Leo’s side. Archers beside him took aim at the men and women ahead.

  The rebels with shields took the front line. Leo noticed his father and gasped. He was at the center of the line, his beard finally shaven. He was close enough for Leo to make out the same worried expression that he wore whenever Andar was late coming home.

  “This is your king, Mavrim Orello!” announced Mavrim just behind Leo. “Put down all weapons immediately!”

  “The king!” shouted many of the troops. “Put down your weapons! Put them down!”

  Leo thought he heard relief in many of their voices.

  As the final archers let their bows drop, Leo checked on the beast. It stood in front of the rift, watching them all as it paced around. Why did it guard the rift?

  The answer seemed obvious. The rift gave it power, perhaps even life.

  Could it even be linked to the rift?

  “What are you doing here, Father?” snapped Gavval.

  “These men and women are our allies,” Mavrim announced as he pushed through the ranks of his army. “They will be treated as such!” He spoke loudly enough for even the rebels to hear. They lowered their shields.

  A man in white robes came through the rebels. “Is that really you, sire?”

  “Yes. FLip Trange?”

  The grandson of KRenn.

  “It is me.” There was a strange silence as the armies stood before one another. Someone shouted that the beast was going back into the rift. Leo turned with everyone to watch the creature disappear into the massive blue sphere.

  Mavrim announced, “We’ll all retreat to the capital for now. A new plan is needed. FLip, bring your men and women with you. Erisena, are you there as well?”

  An Analyte woman stepped forward. “I am, Mavrim.”

  “We shall meet back in the capital and discuss tactics. I guarantee all of you will be safe.” He glared at his son. “We would be foolish to attack one another when we have all seen what kind of monster threatens all of us. We need every last mage and soldier if we are to defeat that beast. Let us fight together. What do all of you say?”

  Leo and Andar cheered with many of the troops. He yelled even louder when he noticed Jarrel and Gavval sharing a worried look with one another.

  But then he noticed all the dead on the hill leading up to the rift. He swallowed sour air as a wave of fear crashed onto him. They would have to return to face this beast once more.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  It took far into the night before Leo and Andar had been given a room in the capital. It was much smaller than the room they had in the palace, but that didn’t matter to them. Feeding and housing all the troops, including those previously deemed as rebels, had taken many hours. Apparently, the kings and the other leaders had been holding a meeting all this time, but there was still no word about whether they had finished.

  Leo and Andar had spent much of the evening trying to find their father, but many others were looking for “DVend Quim” as well. Men and women alike, although more women
by far, had heard DVend had joined the rebels, and they wanted to see him for themselves. Leo just wanted to hug his father and soon became frustrated with everyone else who sought to bother Darren.

  Eventually, they encountered someone high enough in rank to know that DVend was in the meeting of leaders. Leo would have to wait for his father, just as he would have to wait for word about what would happen now.

  He was certain they would have to attack the rift again and somehow defeat that beast, but he feared the news coming. He figured it must be possible to win, but he was not as courageous as he’d once thought he was. He did not want to go back there.

  Alone with Andar in their small room, Leo admitted this to his brother.

  “Of course you don’t want to go back. No one does! That doesn’t make you a coward. It means you’re not stupid. Good, because sometimes I worry, you know.”

  Leo grabbed his brother and tossed him on the floor, surprise working in his favor. But Andar quickly maneuvered around and soon had Leo pinned.

  “Give up!” Andar demanded.

  “Fine, but only because it’s too damn hot to fight.”

  The door to their room opened as Leo was getting up. He was glad neither he nor his brother had disrobed when he saw the princess enter.

  “Again with no knocking,” Andar complained. “I’m trying to learn your customs, so you should learn ours.”

  “We Analytes do knock, but only when we respect the inhabitants of the room.”

  Andar grumbled something, an insult probably.

  “What about me?” Leo complained as he felt a tension toward this princess growing.

  “I do respect you, Leo,” Siki said to his relief. “But my disrespect for your brother is stronger, so I do not knock if both of you are present.”

  Leo supposed that was fair.

  “Why are you here?” Andar barked.

  “You are in the care of my father so I must ensure you have everything you require.”

  Leo thought it strange that she would personally attend to that, but he said nothing of it.

  “We want something to drink,” Andar answered. “And for you to enjoy it with us. You look like you need to relax.”

  Leo was confused by his brother’s request. Why flirt and be rude to her at the same time?

  Siki scowled at Andar. “There is too much to do for drinking. Your mind should be on more important matters.”

  Leo had his own request, and it was far more important than any quip his brother might utter. “It would mean the world to me if I could have a letter delivered to someone in Jatn.”

  Her mouth scrunched. “To human territory there is no mail service.” She looked to be in thought. “However, our traders do reach Jatn. I suppose I could convince one of them, for an additional coin or two, to deliver your mail. I will bring you what you require, but I cannot guarantee your letter is delivered.”

  “Thank you, princess. I appreciate you trying, and I will personally pay whatever additional coin is necessary.”

  She nodded at him, then looked at Andar. “And is there someone you wish to write to as well, perhaps someone who misses you?”

  “No.”

  “I figured,” she said.

  Siki promptly left the room as Andar appeared stunned by her insult.

  Leo couldn’t suppress his laugh, not that he really tried.

  ◆◆◆

  Mavrim was exhausted. He had finally finished meeting with all those who held any power, many of them good leaders, he’d determined. Erisena was a bit young and inexperienced, but she was as smart as a whip. More importantly, she cared deeply about not only Analytes but humans as well. He would look forward to speaking more with her and DVend in the days to come. Mavrim might even make a friend, he hoped, for possibly the first time in his adult life.

  When he was Maddox, he had spent every night sleeping in a tent. Now that he was Mavrim again, he would enjoy his bed so much that he almost wanted to lie awake just to feel it.

  He had fallen asleep when a knock roused him.

  “FLip Trange wishes to see you,” said one of the king’s armed guards.

  “Let him in.”

  Mavrim put on his thin night robe and tried to stand straight, but he was dragged down by his exhaustion. He sat on his bed instead.

  The young holyman entered and immediately bowed his head. “Sire.”

  “Something to add FLip?” The young man had been part of the meeting but had not offered much to the conversation. Whenever Mavrim looked over at him, he seemed to already be staring with a bit of shock in his eyes, as if he still didn’t believe it was Mavrim sitting here and strategizing with rebels.

  “Nothing about the rift, sire. I’m sorry to keep you up. I promise this will be short if you will give me but a moment.”

  “Of course.”

  FLip shut the door and edged closer. “I have to know if something is true.”

  “I will not lie to you anymore, FLip.”

  The young man had a simple face, nothing to note. He always appeared friendly, albeit somewhat concerned. His hair was just as blond as Mavrim remembered, but there was something in his eyes now that Mavrim had not seen before, a fear of some kind.

  “DVend Quim shared something with me that I have refused to believe. He said I could do as I please with the information because he has told no one else. I have barely slept since hearing it, however, and I fear I cannot go one more night without knowing the truth.”

  “I know what it is that you seek, FLip.” But should Mavrim tell him the truth? It was likely to do more damage than good.

  “Can you please tell me, then, sire. Was it you who lifted me out of your castle?”

  Mavrim had promised he would not lie, and he would keep that promise.

  “It was.”

  FLip looked as if he’d heard news of a loved one’s death, his knees buckling.

  “Everything that has happened in the last four years was because I believed it was the gods’ will,” he said. “Everything, sire. I’m twenty-two years old, yet I’m still a child. And now thousands follow me! They have joined me in my mission to aid the rebels solely because of my short flight.”

  “That was my intention.”

  “What?”

  “I knew the rebels needed assistance. I took you out of the castle in hopes that you would bring them an army with supplies.”

  FLip appeared too shocked to speak for a few breaths.

  “So you planned this from that day? You planned to help Erisena?”

  “I did. I tried to have a messenger tell her that I wished to meet, but my family usurped power and sent my own army to destroy her and all her followers. Sending you after her was the best I could do.”

  “You went against your own family? But you’re an Orello.”

  Mavrim would’ve laughed had he the energy. “I have made many mistakes. I now hope to correct what I can.”

  FLip practically fell into a nearby chair.

  Mavrim stood as he waited for the young man to find his words.

  “You are not the man I thought you were,” FLip finally uttered.

  “I realize that.”

  “But neither am I,” FLip said sadly. “I thought I was KRenn reincarnated. I thought the gods looked after me and my followers.”

  “They still might,” Mavrim encouraged. “Don’t give up on your faith that easily. The gods might’ve brought you here, right?”

  FLip nodded hesitantly.

  “I see much of your grandfather in you,” Mavrim lied. He almost took it back as he remembered his promise, but he could see his words working. “You are a godly man, FLip. You must never forget that.”

  FLip gave a slight smile. “You never spoke to me much about my grandfather before. Why is that?”

  “Because it saddens me to bring him up.” The king sat on his bed and knew he hadn’t the strength to stand again that night. “It was twenty-three years ago, I believe, that he disappeared around here. I had some hope
we would find him and that he would know exactly how to destroy this rift. He would be an old man now, but he would still be strong. KRenn never gave up when he set his mind on something. He would find a way to not only destroy the rift but to help me keep my son from destroying all the peace we’re building now.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  Present day

  It was sometime in the early morning that a man emerged out of the rift. He still had all his limbs. He even appeared to be in good health. He headed toward the capital in a rush. It had only been about a year since he’d fled into the rift to escape certain death, but the rift itself had grown tremendously. It was now close enough to the Analyte capital that he soon saw the town.

  His grandchild had no doubt been born in the one year of his absence. If she was a girl, her name would be Yessifa. If he was a boy, he would be FLip. KRenn had told his son that both were weak names that should be rethought, but HSon was stubborn. He did not heed his father’s advice.

  KRenn wanted to return to the human kingdom to support his family, but there were other matters that needed to be addressed. The child was still a baby, anyway. KRenn’s guidance was better offered to the Analyte king. Even the unmalleable Mavrim Orello should give up his incessant rebel chasing for a time when news of this rift reached him.

  There was so much to do now, and not much time.

  END OF BOOK 2

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