“Your death,” he whispered.
“By the gods.” Her hand went limp on his and she withdrew it.
“Since you have no offspring to take The Light, if someone kills you while the transfer is taking place, they can steal it. That is the only time your death as The Active Light Bearer will not destroy Epertase.”
She looked like the wind had been knocked from her lungs. It wasn’t fair and he hated that it was true.
“Does anyone else know?” she asked with quivering lips.
“I believe so. That is why I am putting you on curfew from now until this has ended.”
“Curfew?”
“Anytime you leave the castle, you will be accompanied by Lorca and his guard. This is nonnegotiable.”
She wouldn’t dare argue – he was sure. She knew when his mind was set.
He kissed her forehead and lied. “Everything will be fine, my dear.”
CHAPTER 22
TOP SCOUT
Paisel rose as Elijah entered the meeting hall. The scout standing before him barely resembled the messenger from the night before. He was clean shaven, his hair trimmed neat and short, and his new suit was neatly pressed.
“Paisel. Sorry to keep you waiting. All went well at the celebrations, I assume?”
“I had a wonderful time, your highness. Thank you.”
“Let us get to the issue at hand. I’ve had your credentials researched and by all accounts, I have found you to be exemplary in your conduct as a soldier. Your recruit commanders and former squad leaders speak highly of you.”
“I do my best, sir.”
“You need to keep your lips a little tighter. I wasn’t prepared to address the people about the threat.”
“I’m sorry, sir.”
Elijah accepted his apology. “I have a new assignment for you.”
“Anything, sir.”
“I have created a position for you. A promotion, if you accept.”
“I would be honored.”
“I want you to gather all of the western scouts. I have ordered 2,000 soldiers to your command who will accompany you on your journey back. Use these men however you see fit. I want you to establish a centralized command south of Lithia where you can gather the remaining scouts. I want you to make first contact with the incoming army. You are to welcome them and advise them of Epertase’s peaceful intentions. Find out why they are here. Keep me informed of your progress with weekly reports. I am also sending a group of our top spies to join you in your journey. They will operate independent of your leadership and will only contact you when information is to be sent to me. Is that understood?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I have drafted the paperwork and James will have it for you when you leave. You are dismissed.”
As Paisel stood, Elijah thought of one more instruction. “By the way, on your trip back to the Wastelands, detour north through Lithia and advise King Logan to prepare for war, if he hasn’t already.”
“I will leave immediately, your highness.”
“James,” Elijah hollered. “Take Paisel to his horse.”
CHAPTER 23
A MUFFLED CRY FOR HELP
As night fell, a glowing full moon rose into the cloudless sky, illuminating the mountains. Rasi cursed its brightness as the risk of being stumbled upon would prevent his sound sleep. If he were smart, he would head up the mountain to his more remote home, but Alina could come this night and for that it was worth the risk.
Salient rested behind some boulders alongside the cave. Rasi lifted his door of meshed branches and weeds. Just before he covered his cave entrance with his makeshift door, a shadow bounced across the path, stopping him cold. Damn the racket of the pounding water for letting someone get so close. The tiny hairs on his neck rose. He spun toward the path, his hand on his sword. His straps lifted into the air.
The shadow grew as its owner neared. Rasi’s straps went rigid like statues. The bulky shadow wasn’t from Alina, he was sure. She was much more cautious. Rasi backed against the mountain wall. If someone wants a fight, he thought, they will have to come at me head on. His straps hissed and snapped, eager for battle. Rasi crouched into one of the few shadows still hidden from the bright moon.
A timid stranger crept into sight, oblivious of the death that awaited him. This hunter isn’t very subtle.
Rasi waited with held breath. The figure drew closer. Still Rasi waited. The straps were thirsty for blood. This stranger had stumbled into more than he could have imagined.
The unsuspecting man fumbled forward, close enough that Rasi feared he wouldn’t be able to control his lethal appendages. Maybe, he hoped, the stranger would save himself by unwittingly moving on.
No such luck. The stranger took another fatal step.
Whoosh. The straps lashed out past Rasi’s ears. One of them grabbed the intruder’s arm. Another wrapped around his leg and they lifted him into the air. The color left his prey’s face. His eyes grew wide. He wrestled against their grip so they tightened until he wrestled no more. The straps pulled taut, threatening to tear him in half. Rasi vaulted from the shadows with clenched fists and teeth. The straps lowered the intruder’s terrified face to meet Rasi’s gaze. Rasi snarled. Another strap coiled around the stranger’s throat and constricted.
“Please,” his dying voice begged. “Don’t kill m …” The strap squeezed tighter, sending a wheeze from his trachea.
Rasi scowled at him. A deep, guttural growl escaped his mouth.
Release his throat, Rasi pleaded in his head. I don’t want him dead.
The intruder’s eyes bulged and screamed, “Please, don’t.” His lips went cyanotic. Emptiness slowly replaced the fear in his eyes.
Release him, damn it!
Rasi grabbed for the intruder’s throat and pried a finger beneath the strap’s vice-like grip. He strained but he might as well have pulled the ground from beneath his feet. Stop, please, he begged one last time.
Then, as if his pleas were heard, the semiconscious man dropped to the ground. The straps lunged forward, surrounding their prey. The stranger coughed and rolled onto his back. He shuffled toward the raging water. The straps followed like the killers they were. He struggled to his knees. “Are you …” he rubbed his throat while never taking his eyes from the straps. “Rasi?”
Rasi nodded. He would tell him no more.
“I am here to deliver a message.”
The stranger slowly rose to his feet. The straps mocked his every cautious movement, ready to strike. One of the straps brushed against his cheek and he cowered away from it. Another one nudged his shoulder and he flinched again. They were playing with him like a cat would a mouse before it finished the critter.
“The Princess needs you,” he blurted.
Rasi leaped forward, coming face-to-face with the stranger. He could smell the fear on the man’s breath.
“She said for you to meet her before dawn where the forest meets the Great Plains. She said to make sure no one sees you and to wait near the tallest tree. She said you’d know where she meant.”
Rasi broke for Salient and sprang onto his back. He realized that his hideout had been compromised by the stranger, who for all he knew was sent by Elijah himself, but told himself that problem would have to wait. He grunted, digging his heels into Salient’s side.
Rasi’s straps floated behind him in the wind. Salient’s hoof hit a loose rock and he stumbled, almost bucking Rasi from his back. Rasi shifted his weight as Salient regained his stride.
They entered the forest. Though he followed the same path Alina had used for years, branches had grown across it. He ducked the first branch but he was moving too fast to avoid them all. A strap shot forward, batting the next limb from his path. As the branches grew thicker, all seven of his straps reached forward, ripping and knocking the limbs out of his way. Rasi didn’t slow.
He reached the edge of the forest before bringing Salient to a halt. Good ride, old boy. He stroked Salient’s neck and then s
ent him grazing.
Rasi paced back and forth. His anger built with each passing moment. I will protect you, Alina, against all comers, that I swear. He felt alive like a soldier again and he liked it.
The distant moonlight shone onto a tree that dwarfed all others. Again, he wondered if he had entered a trap set by Elijah, but for her it was worth the risk. Seek out a different tree, he told himself. Now, all he could do was wait.
CHAPTER 24
SYMBIOTS
Dawn approached. Alina had not slept a wink. She spent the night brooding over her father’s words. She crawled out of bed and dressed. Rasi will know what to do, she told herself.
The air was brisk. The blurry glow of the southern suns fought to poke through a ground-level cloud that had settled overnight. Upon Allusia, Princess Alina approached the guard tower at the edge of the royal grounds. She hoped the guards hadn’t been informed of her new curfew and casually waved to them like all was normal.
“A little early for your morning ride, Princess?” Thomas shouted from his perch.
She ignored him, jamming her heels into Allusia’s side, and racing through the gate into the open plains. The thin mist was cool against her face, blinding her beyond a couple of horse-lengths. But the fog did not slow her – she had ridden the route enough times that she could do it without eyes. To the contrary, the fog was a blessing, hiding her from any of the castle’s curious eyes.
She was halfway across the field when a creepy feeling grabbed hold of her. She wasn’t alone. Who could be out here? Who could’ve known I was coming? She felt her pulse pounding in her neck. She had made a grave mistake.
The first sign of her pursuers was a horse snorting to her rear. Alina jerked her head around to nothing but more fog. She could hear their hooves against the ground but could not see them.
“Who follows me?” she tried to shout but her words were more timid than strong.
Her answer came in a high-pitched cackle from her front. She yanked Allusia’s reins to a stop. Alina scanned the fog. Allusia snorted and danced side-to-side.
“Show yourself,” she demanded. Then she leaned her head against Allusia and whispered, “I need you to run as fast as you have ever run before.”
The stranger cackled again, this time closer and next to her.
She saw a blur in the fog. Allusia rose nervously to her hind legs and neighed.
A different whispered voice, a female’s, broke through the fog from behind. “You’re mine.”
Alina whipped the reins against Allusia’s neck, sending her mare into a full gallop. Rasi, help me, she screamed in her head while knowing he wouldn’t hear.
No one can help you, a different, shrill voice said in her mind. Her knotted stomach sunk to her feet. The horse hooves of the invisible pursuers kicked dirt into the air, some of it smacking against her face.
The rough-voiced woman whispered, “Come here, bitch.”
Something brushed against Alina’s shoulder. She gasped and veered Allusia to the side.
“Yeeah, hah, hah, hah, hee, hah, hah,” the man laughed again.
They were toying with her. She should be at the trees soon and that is where she’d lose them. Faster, Allus …
But she wasn’t fast enough. “Uhmph!”
Pain shot through her left breast, knocking her into the air. Her body jarred against the rough ground and she tumbled through the knee-high grass. Her face dug into the dirt. She spat the grittiness from her mouth as she looked around. A tree branch as big as her arm lay in the grass next to her head. She reached for it but a blood-stained, pointed-toe boot cut her off.
The laughing voice spoke. It didn’t sound like a man, nor a woman, but crazy. “What have we here? A p-p-p-rincesssssss?” His shrillness pierced her ears.
She lifted her head so she could see her tormentor. His face was pale and ugly and obscured behind strands of scraggly, gray hair. A silver birthmark of sorts covered his cheek and as she looked closer, his bare chest as well.
“What do you want?” Alina cried.
She heard his voice again in her head. Stand her up, Blog.
A thick, powerful hand tangled into her hair and yanked her head backward. She clawed at the strong fingers with a pained whimper. He yanked her from the ground. Her hair felt like it ripped from her skull until her feet dangled in the air. She kicked the brute but he didn’t budge.
Another set of feet landed in the grass near her though the figure was cloaked by the fog. She hoped it was Rasi, or even Lorca, but was sure it wasn’t. The owner of the feet emerged with his thin, sickly horse in tow. He was shirtless and his ribs bulged against his skin. Shiny, silver splotches, like the first one wore, shifted and crawled over his flesh.
The first stranger, the one they seemed to report to, the one with the crazy voice, stepped forward. He tapped the hilt of his sword with his finger in an antagonizing gesture.
“What kind of creature are you?” Alina asked.
“I am Scorne and I am d-d-d-d-death to all,” he hissed. The one called Blog let loose of her hair and she thudded to her knees. She peered back at him. She had never seen a man so large. He too was covered with the same strange metallic splotches as the others. He leaned his face next to hers and grunted; his breath smelled of decaying teeth.
“We must go,” the one called Scorne ordered. “Cyn, bring her.”
The female appeared, her face as pale as her leader, and her hair a ratted, black-as-night mess. She glowered at Alina for a moment and then said in her mind, I ain’t touching her. She mounted her steed. You do it, Rez. Then she hustled to catch up with Scorne.
Rez looked down with disgust before turning and arguing with Blog. Why do I always have to touch these animals? You do it.
Blog grunted again and shook his head.
As they argued, Alina slid her hand along the ground until she felt the rough bark of the tree branch. Rez mumbled curses under his breath, obviously losing the debate, and leaned over to grab her. She sprung to her feet, let out a grunt, and swung with all of her strength. The silver splotch on his shoulder slithered up his neck and onto his cheek just as the branch slammed against it. The blow knocked his head to the side with a dull clunk.
Alina stood stunned before him, her tree branch hanging next to her leg. He ground his teeth to an awful scratching sound. He opened his mouth, stretching his jaw, and rubbed it.
She looked down at his clenched fist. The metal on his arm, seemingly alive, slid down over his knuckles. He drew back. She braced herself. He heaved forward.
Blackness.
CHAPTER 25
THE HUNT BEGINS
The sunslight poked through the trees at Rasi’s back. She’s late. Something is wrong. Every instinct inside of him screamed to stay in the tree line, to wait for her, but he’d rather die. She wasn’t there and that meant she needed him.
He summoned Salient to the bottom of the tree. Going into the openness of the Great Plains was dangerous for such a hated man, but he hoped the early-morning fog would give him cover long enough to pick up her trail. He rode north, slow and cautious with each step. The suns ate away at his cover, bringing the blur of the castle walls into focus. He breathed heavier and faster.
He lowered from his steed as close to the kingdom wall as he was comfortable in going. He crouched into the tickling grass. He saw nothing that could help his search. The morning wore on and the fog dissipated until he was nearly exposed to wandering eyes. He needed to head back and try a new tactic. He turned to retreat.
That’s when he saw it. Ten or twelve horse-lengths from where he stood. It was only a small clump of dirt but it was everything. Next to that clump, he saw another. And then another. How could he have missed them before? Their brown wads of mud now stood out against the ocean of bright blue grass as if screaming his name. He scurried to them, scooping one wad into the palms of his hands. The mud crumbled between his fingers. He had found her trail – he was sure.
He touched the ground. A struggl
e.
Fresh hoof prints, now as clear as the coming day, gave him a direction. Either whoever did this was foolish not to hide their tracks or they were in too much of a hurry to care. There were four sets leading back toward the forest just east of from where he had come, with one set headed toward the castle. Allusia? he wondered. With Salient in tow, he followed the four side-by-side trails until he reached the tree line again. Two sets broke into the forest while the other two continued east along the edge.
Elijah will no doubt send soldiers soon.
His straps sprang to alert. He slowly pulled his sword from his sheathe. Whoever they are, they’re good. They’ve doubled back. They knew I was coming. He tried to spin around but one of his straps violently jerked at his back. He grunted as he was yanked from his feet and hurled through the air. The tree came at him with painful velocity and he braced himself. His other straps reached out to cushion his impact though it wasn’t near enough. His sword flew into a thicket bush.
Rasi tried to shake the grogginess from his head to no avail. His gigantic attacker turned away with the strap over his shoulder as one might carry a bag of laundry and dragged Rasi away from the tree line. The other straps flailed at the mountain of a man with about as much effect as a swarm of annoying bees. One of them grabbed his arm but he effortlessly jerked his thick bicep away. Rasi struggled to his feet but the tug at his back just as quickly yanked him to the ground again. He clawed at the soil. Another strap wrapped around a tree trunk. Rasi rolled to his back and dug his heels into the dirt. The big man jerked backward; Rasi strained. His attacker fell back to his rear.
This was Rasi’s chance. He leaped to his feet. A female slammed against him, knocking them both to the ground. He jumped up and heaved his fist at her as she sprang to her feet as well. Her jaw turned silver. His fist struck what felt like steel, sending pain from his knuckles to the pit of his stomach.
Light of Epertase 01: Legends Reborn Page 10