by Eric Vall
Natalya let out a small breath I hadn’t even realized she was holding in. “Thank you, Elder Ruslan.”
Julia was the next one to choose a dagger from the box, and she tossed the blade in the air before she caught it swiftly in the palm of her hand.
“A fine creation indeed,” she murmured as she slipped the dagger into its scabbard and then into her orange robe.
“The intricacy of the etchings on these are exquisite,” Moskal added as he plucked one dagger from the wooden box, balanced it in his hand, and smiled.
I moved from the Elders to where Alyona and Laika remained seated, and their eyes glittered with curiosity as they stared at the metal.
Alyona and Laika had been my allies since the moment I arrived in this world. They’d fought alongside me and burrowed deep into my heart. Courageous Laika was a brilliant warrior, and I hoped this weapon would serve to protect her in every battle she stalked into. For Alyona, although I’d only seen her in combat once, I hoped the divine power inside of the dagger would augment her own purity as a priestess.
“To those who have fought by my side in the defense of this city, my comrades and friends who I trust with all of my heart and soul,” I intoned as I held out the blades to them. “May they serve you well.”
“I am honored to be your comrade.” Laika stood and clasped her hands in front of her before she picked up a dagger. “I will wield this with pride and bring honor to us all.”
The wolf warrior tied the dagger onto one of the belts that hung low around her hips, and the silver metal gleamed brightly in contrast against the dark leathers Laika wore.
Alyona stood from her seat, and my heart thudded loudly in my chest as the princess knelt. She clasped her hands in front of her, and for a moment, the color of her eyes shifted from amethyst to silver.
“I thank you for this gift and this trust that you bear in me,” Alyona’s voice echoed in the tent as she spoke, layered over with the whispering of voices that weren’t hers. “I shall use this in the defense of this land and to cut out the evil that has taken root.”
The moment Alyona placed her hand on the dagger, there was a spike of visible power in the tent. It was a wall of energy that rose up not just from the blade, but from Alyona as well. Sigils ran up her arms and shone silver just as the dagger glowed so brightly it was like a sun that threatened to blind all of us.
I squeezed my eyes shut to shield myself from the light, and as I did so, I felt a disturbance in the fabric of reality. When I opened my eyes again, the weapon in the priestess’ hands was gone.
Alyona had used spatial magic to hide the dagger away.
“What the fuck happened?” I blinked furiously as I tried to get the spots to clear out of my vision.
“The metal reacted to the Princess’ power,” Natalya explained quickly as she walked to where Alyona stood. “The blade is divine, and so is the Princess.”
“Natalya, that’s the why of what just happened, not the what.” I rubbed at my sore eyes as spots still danced in my vision. “Fuck, I still can’t see straight.”
This was one moment where having enhanced eyesight sucked.
“The dagger greeted me,” Alyona explained quietly as she sat back down. “My power responded in turn, and the dagger was bonded to me. You felt power when you first touched your dagger, did you not?”
“Yeah, it was comforting.” I blinked as the dots finally faded from my vision. “Felt pretty familiar, actually.”
“That was just what happened with me, but simply on a larger scale,” Alyona said, and her hands fidgeted in her lap as she kept her eyes on the table.
Alyona’s explanation seemed like it was lacking to me, and I wondered if the reaction had more to do with her immortal body and her power. I’d seen galaxies swirl in her eyes more than once, and I remembered how Natalya explained the legend was that a star had come down from the heavens and given the Asuras the mine.
There were secrets in Alyona’s blood, but I wouldn’t push her for those answers. I trusted she would tell me in due time.
I moved from Alyona and stood in front of Pyotr. There was one dagger left without an owner in the wooden box, and I planned for it to go to him. While I’d only spoken with the older wolf maybe once before, and that was during the midst of battle, I wanted there to be a solid understanding of friendship and not just a political alliance between us.
“I offer this dagger to you as proof of Hatra’s friendship and trust in the Blue Tree Guild,” I declared, and my voice was steady as I nodded at the dark eyed wolf.
Pyotr stood and stared at me for one long moment before he broke out into a wide smile.
“I gratefully accept this proof of our friendship.” Pyotr lifted one of the daggers and tied it onto one of his belts. “The Blue Tree Guild shall defend Hatra until its last breath, and we will plant roots here in this city.”
I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding and returned to my seat with the box in my lap. There had been a niggling doubt in my mind as to whether or not the rest of the Blue Tree Guild had agreed with Laika’s decision to settle in Hatra, but that seemed to be okay. Hopefully, their and Alyona’s presence in Hatra would deter anyone from attacking the city for a while.
“I hope such drastic measures won’t happen anytime soon,” I said, and a frown crossed my face as I realized something. “Wait, is there anyone or anywhere else near the city we should worry about?”
“Daya?” Pyotr turned to the Mistress of War next to him and raised an eyebrow.
The fox warrior slipped her hand through the air, and the hair on the back of my neck stood up as she pulled out a pile of scrolls using spatial magic. Then she spread open one of the maps and motioned me over to look closely.
I stood and leaned over to look at the map. There were six landmasses on the page, and Rahma was on the largest of the continents. If I compared it to maps from back on Earth, it was the size of Europe and Asia combined. The country of Rahma took up a good third of the continent, and none of the other twenty countries were even close to Rahma’s size.
“Damn,” I let out a low whistle. “I didn’t realize how large Rahma is.”
The closest in size was the country of Ogrines on the northeastern border of Rahma, but even then it had only a third of the landmass.
“It is a sizable kingdom,” Alyona agreed, and I realized she stood to inherit a pretty good chunk of the world.
“Wait, what’s that?” I asked as my eyes drifted to the large red splotch on the map that stretched from the eastern edge of the content nearly to the western edge.
“That’s the Breach.” Daya tapped the map with her finger and traced the length of the red splotch. “Rahma, Ogrines, Skaa, and Troas are the only countries that share a border with it, but the Breach reaches out to the ocean. Its tainted waters reach the coastlines of Afur, Udri, and Xostea.”
I shook my head in wonder. The Breach was immense. It was nearly the size of a country, and I wondered how many people it had swallowed up.
“What about near Hatra?” I tore my gaze from the Breach and found the small dot of our city near the western desert. “Are there any cities that could pose an issue?”
“None that come to mind.” Daya shifted and sat on the table as she traced a wide perimeter around Hatra. “Even at a fast pace, it’ll take a week to reach any civilized village or city, and no lord would risk travelling through the desert or around the Crimson Canyons and wake the wrath of the Crimson Dragon. They’re more worried about any possible skirmishes with bandits or demons.”
I winced at the thought of the dragon I’d encountered once already.
“What about border skirmishes with other countries?” I was curious as to why Daya hadn’t mentioned any political instability, but maybe Inati was calmer on that front than most worlds.
“Only the Breach is keeping other countries from outwardly attacking us,” Alyona explained bitterly as she stood and traced the Breach with one delicate finger. �
��Only Rahma’s armies and His Eminence are stationed at the Breach, even though it threatens all of our world. Because of that, the other kingdoms know militarily attacking us is out of the question, even if they were strong enough for it. The threat of mutually assured destruction keeps most of the vultures at bay.”
“Vultures?” I asked and wondered at the bitterness in the usually sweet Alyona’s voice.
“Perhaps that’s insulting to vultures, comparing those poor birds to them.” Alyona smiled wryly as she leaned on the table. “Rahma is mostly self sufficient, but the other countries raise taxes on any of our travelling citizens and impose ridiculous tariffs. We are wealthy, but taxing us to even breathe foreign air?”
“There is also the matter of segregation in the foreign kingdoms,” Laika added as her ears fell flat on her head and her fur bristled. “Demi-Humans are ostracized and even enslaved in some of those countries.”
“What?” Anger spiked inside of me, and the wood under my hands splintered with the sudden pressure. “There’s slavery in Inati? Which countries?”
I couldn’t believe it. Actually, I didn’t want to believe it, but it made sense. Even if it was a world of magic, there would still be the same cruelty found back on Earth.
“The only countries, other than Rahma, that don’t practice segregation to an extent are few,” Alyona explained as she looked away from the map to the ceiling of the tent. “The lands of Skaa, Odrein, Troas, and Ogrines are the only ones I can think of.”
I clenched my fists as I listened to Alyona list the four other countries that weren’t entirely cruel and hopeless. This was ridiculous, and I would do whatever I could to change it once Hatra was safe.
I didn’t care how long it would take me.
“What about the survivors from the battle?” I asked. “Could the Green Glass Sect have gathered their army of adventurers from any of those cruel countries?”
Maybe they could tell me where they came from and why they attacked us. I knew Asher had been corrupted by miasma, but what about the others?
“Well, there’s about seventy of them, and they’ve been quite uncooperative.” Daya’s grin was vicious as she looked up from the map. “Though, I wouldn’t be quite happy if I was inside of the Blue Tree Guild brig.”
“Take me to them,” I ordered.
I didn’t know if I’d be of any help, but it wouldn’t hurt to try.
Chapter 3
Daya led our small group to the area outside of the city walls where the airship was docked, and my mouth dropped open at the sight in front of me.
“Holy shit,” I breathed as my eyes widened.
The airship of the Blue Tree Guild was as immense as I remembered it. The ship was the size of an aircraft carrier back on Earth. Seamless mahogany wood formed the hull of the airship, and there were no planks or nails I could see along its length.
A ramp of the same mahogany wood led from the ground to a great gate in the center of the hull. With my enhanced senses, I could hear the clamor of people running around in the ship and chatting away.
I couldn’t help but wonder just what it was like to live and travel on this massive ship. It was the strangest mode of transportation I could have imagined, but also the coolest.
“Impressive, is she not?” Daya smirked as she strode forward in the direction of the ramp. “We have a level dedicated entirely toward training our guild members and maintaining our combat abilities. There is also our archives and library that span an entire level. We do have a stable yard, so to speak, onboard as well as smaller airships near the storage levels. Much of her is unused, but she’s served well in times of disasters when we’ve been contracted to evacuate cities. Now, follow me to the brig, it isn’t far. Well, relatively speaking. Quick to enter, but difficult to get out of.”
I glanced at Laika and Pyotr as they murmured to each other behind the group. Laika’s ears were flat on her head, and she was scowling as her grandfather spoke.
“You’re going to be left behind.” Julia tugged on my sleeve and led me into the airship behind the two advisors.
Out of everyone who’d been at the first council meeting, only Julia and I accompanied the Blue Tree Guild members to their airship. Ruslan left with Natalya to the smithy to see just how much they would need to expand, and Maksim and Moskal went off to find Afra and the healing herbs she’d brought back from the river. As for Alyona, she’d said she wanted to look through the archives.
I’d been hesitant about her going down there alone again after what had happened with the miasma, but she’d promised to take someone down with her so she wouldn’t be alone.
So, it was just Julia and I with the Blue Tree Guild members.
We were led through mahogany framed passageways, and I felt we were travelling toward the bottom of the ship, close to where it touched down on the ground.
“This is our humble brig,” Daya said as she placed her hand on a thick door of steel engraved with runic circles and sigils.
The hair on the back of my neck stood on end, and I took in a deep breath as the door opened.
At least a hundred cells lined the large space on either side with a little under half of them full, and in the center of the hall were five Demi-Humans standing around a bloodied prisoner. The prisoner wasn’t tied down, but they were curled into a fetal position as a dark blue light crackled over their body, and there was a runic circle carved into the metal beneath them.
“What are you doing to them?” I asked as I stared in shock at what was happening in front of me.
I’d seen horrible things as an EMT, but I’d never seen a person be broken down to this extent.
“What torture is this?” Julia’s fingers dug tightly into my arm as her breathing quickened. “They’ve done nothing to deserve this. What happened to the honor of war accorded to survivors?”
“Grandfather ordered for the prisoners to be interrogated,” Laika intoned and clenched her jaw as her tail hung limply behind her. “The mages are simply following Grandfather’s orders and forcing their way into the prisoner’s mind.”
I turned my attention to the prisoner on the floor and realized it was a girl underneath all of that grime. She couldn’t have been any older than Laika, and her pale blue hair covered her face as she writhed and screamed on the ground.
It was a horrible sound, a death rattle that echoed throughout the brig.
She was dressed in rags, and blood covered her body, so I focused on her and searched for any wounds.
Classification: Snake Demi-Human.
Condition: Fractured mind, shattered rib cage, and internal bleeding detected.
Priority: Immediate healing required.
Danger: In danger of dying.
Status: Critical.
I knew she’d been part of the force that attacked Hatra, and a part of me was perfectly fine with what she was being put through. In fact, it wanted even worse to be done to her.
But that was the dragon side of me, and I knew I was slowly changing to become more ruthless.
The part of me that was still Evan the EMT didn’t agree with this.
But I wasn’t the same Evan anymore. I couldn’t just go around spouting out about the Geneva Convention when this was a world where torture was considered normal. This was a new world, and I was a new being.
Still, there were other ways to get information out of a person that worked far better than pain ever could. From drugs that loosened one’s tongue to mental manipulation, those could be trusted more than a pain induced false confession. Anyone would do or say anything to get the pain to end.
“Stop!” I commanded as I stalked toward the mages. “You won’t get anything out of her like this, she can’t even talk.”
Daya and Tion looked at me with curiosity in their eyes as the mages glanced between them and me.
“Continue with the interrogation,” Daya ordered as she leaned against a wall.
“These prisoners would have murdered and tortured all the people
of Hatra.” Pyotr shook his head in disbelief as he looked at me. “Why do you have any sympathy for them?”
“Because they’re still people,” I replied as I pointed at the broken prisoner. “But more importantly, breaking them down like this won’t give us answers we can trust. They might even lie just for the torture to stop.”
“This is the way things are.” Pyotr lifted his chin as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. “This world is a brutal and lethal one. Passiveness and mercy can and will get you killed. Answers are what we need, answers these prisoners can give us.”
“I understand that, but you aren’t getting any answers from them like this.” I shook my head and turned toward Laika. “Laika, stop this and let me try to talk to them. Torturing them isn’t working. My way might work.”
Laika clenched her fists at her side as the snake Demi-Human thrashed and screamed in front of us. The she-wolf’s ears lay flat on her head, and the muscles in her jaw twitched as she stared at the ground.
“Laika, this is madness,” Julia pleaded as she stared at the tortured girl in front of us. “Stop this.”
“Don’t listen to them, child,” Pyotr interrupted as he placed his hands on Laika’s shoulders. “You know this is the only way to get answers.”
“Laika, you know doing this won’t work,” I said with a frown. “She’s dying, and none of us will get any answers if she dies.”
A tense, silent moment stretched on in the brig, broken only by the girl’s screams of agony. Then Laika snapped her head up, and a fire burned brightly in her gray eyes.
“I command you to stop!” Laika snarled as she broke away from her grandfather and stood in front of the mages. “By my rights as Guild Leader and Clan Leader, I order you to cease and desist. No further mind invasions are to take place, so do I command.”
The dark blue light around the snake Demi-Human dissipated as the mages stepped away from her.
Without hesitation, I ran to the girl, and Julia followed behind me.
Blood dribbled from the girl’s crimson stained mouth and nose as her whole body shook as if she were possessed.