Seeking Sorrow (Guardians of Terath Book 1)

by Zen DiPietro

  “Then you’re with me?”

  “Now who’s the idiot? What did I just say?”

  His lips curved. He leaned down to the delicate fold of her earlobe. His warm breath danced across her susceptible skin. “Make me a vow anyway.”

  “Tell me what vow you want.”

  “We’ll talk about that later. For now, just say you’re with me, no matter what it takes.”

  She inhaled slowly, and the simple nearness of him filled her. The words came easily. “I vow I’m with you, Arcen Wilding. I will give whatever it takes to rid Terath of this threat.”

  He leaned toward her with a wicked glint in his eyes. She cut him off with a sudden, halting gesture.

  “But it has to be a mutual vow. What if, in the fulfillment of my vow, I lay down some stuff you never thought you’d see? Will you be willing to deal with it?”

  His brow furrowed. Everyone knew shivs unleashed brutality when necessary. That was one aspect of the respect they commanded. She knew, though, that some of her realities would prove difficult for him. She needed to know he wouldn’t walk away once he truly understood who she was.

  “I’ll deal with whatever comes, right along with you. I thought it went without saying, but I’ll say so explicitly. Lay down your mightiest, Justice. You’re not getting rid of me.”

  She frowned, hoping neither of them would ever have to put their vow to the test. He followed through on his previous intention and removed all trace of her frown.

  Chapter 10

  As the first threads of light teased their way into the Sub-Apex sky, Will’s battalion had already burst into activity for their next day of travel. The previous day had gone much the same as the first, though the sense of wonder had ebbed while the anticipation grew. Will’s own senses swelled with the expectation of upheaval. He understood the stirrings of eagerness underscored by nervousness that his troops displayed.

  In spite of the emotional disarray, his recruits’ overall performance remained exemplary. Troops ate quick breakfasts, broke down tents and fire circles, and stowed gear. Will was satisfied with the efficiency of the outfit, and he’d traded many hours of sleep debating on how best to guide the people under his command. He felt it important to straddle the line between maintaining a leader’s presence and giving his troops room enough to excel. So far the strategy had worked, but they’d only just begun.

  He saw Kassimeigh slip out of Arc’s tent to begin breaking her own. He also noticed Izzy strolling away from Carston’s tent. He wondered if he should frown upon such fraternization among his troops, but good manners suggested he should pretend not to notice.

  In short order, the camp disappeared from the landscape and a convoy of carts rolled northward. The sun’s rays gradually melted away the darkness, eventually culminating in the overcast gray typical of the northern reaches. Today they would cross the border into Apex.

  Will found it curious that the atmosphere bored them with its dreariness all day long, only to surprise them with bright, clear skies at night. He could only hope that the battalion was prepared to handle any other surprises Apex threw at them.

  Several hours of driving jounced by. Arc sat at the wheel of their cart, entertaining himself with a few little jokes about the bigger personalities within the battalion. Kassimeigh and Izzy had lapsed into silence, as they tended to do more than he liked. He was trying to think of a good one for Orben, the big manahi, when Izzy sprang up into an impression of a tent pole.

  “Stop!” she hissed.

  Even as he fought the cart to a quick stop on the rough ground, they heard shouts. Izzy’s eyes were distant and unfocused.

  “Trouble ahead,” she murmured.

  Will’s vehicle reversed course and cleaved a path through the army of carts. He seemed to be seeking out his appointed lieutenants. When Will drew near, Arc noted the general’s grave expression. “Forward scouts have spotted probable hostiles. Sounds like the same creatures that attacked us in our camp. They haven’t detected us yet, but they’re moving in our direction. We have the high ground, because they’re coming up from the valley below.” Will frowned. “The worst part is that there are about three thousand of them, give or take.”

  Arc let out a slow breath. “Give or take,” he echoed. “Will, we have good archers, but I doubt we’d be able to thin them out enough to make hand-to-hand combat a reasonable possibility. Even if we took out half of them before they reached us, we’d still be outnumbered five to one.”

  Will’s mouth compressed into a small, hard line. “The manahi can help the archers at range, and some of the blades have spears, javelins, and such. Given the rate the creatures are traveling, they’ll reach the ridge in about twenty minutes. At that point, there will be no way for us to avoid detection. We have to organize and strike immediately while we have the advantage of the high ground.”

  He shifted his attention to Izzy. “There’s no safe place to stow you. Stay behind the back line, and behind the carts. It’s the best we can do.”

  Izzy lifted her chin. “I knew what I was agreeing to, coming with this group. I won’t hide while everyone else fights. I’m no accomplished archer but I know the basics.” She looked at Arc. “Find me a bow and put me somewhere.”

  Arc nodded. He wouldn’t let Izzy stand around helplessly. Better she have some task she could accomplish, however inexpertly. If she just happened to find herself in the safest spot among the archers, well, that would just be coincidence.

  “Arc, begin organizing the archers. Kassimeigh, you’re with me. You’re in charge of the left flank. I’ll take the right.”

  Kassimeigh slid out of the cart and grabbed two long weapon sheaths and swung a large bag over her shoulder. She loaded the items and then herself into the back of Will’s cart. She didn’t look back as they drove away. Arc didn’t know what to make of that as he watched the distance between them grow.

  Doom and determination could exist simultaneously, Arc found. The archers had already formed their line, and everyone else had established their positions. A nearly tangible sensation of repressed fervor inspired a restlessness that twitched through the rows of waiting troops.

  Will moved among his people, organizing and giving orders. Luc and the other manahi had joined together on the far side. The rest of the battalion held position directly behind the ridge’s high point. The steep grade gave them the best tactical advantage over the army of awful that steadily marched their way. When he dared a glance around the ridge and down into the valley, his heart skittered in his chest at the ever-decreasing distance between the battalion and the gruesome creatures. Had they been searching for the battalion, or was this a chance encounter? Either way, their tactical advantage at the top of the ridge was their only hope. He refused to admit that they had no hope at all. He would fight alongside the rest of them, to the last.

  Previously, they had only seen the creatures by firelight. Daylight revealed that the previously understood level of repugnance had been far understated. The things were person-like, but some taller and a lot stockier. Their forms were disturbingly asymmetric, as few had two arms that matched in length. The legs were closer to matching, though some of them walked with a stagger. Some had a neck that was thick and misshapen on one side, or a chest that protruded unevenly. Arc recognized the bizarre facial asymmetry, and the gaping mouths that failed to close properly.

  There was nothing of nature in these creatures. Though they assumed a human-like form, they didn’t speak to one another. They simply trudged along together in apparently mindless silence.

  Arc tried to control his sense of revulsion. “That’s . . .”

  Izzy tore her gaze away from them. “Unbelievably horrifying.” She shuddered.

  “What are they?” Arc couldn’t fathom how such creatures existed.

  Izzy shook her head. He hadn’t expected he
r to know, but the question burned in his mind.

  Kassimeigh stood only a few dozen yards away from Izzy and Arc physically, but Arc felt like she was miles away. She didn’t make eye contact with him or speak to anyone unless it was necessary. She moved among the groups, making sure they were equipped, prepared, and waiting as Will had ordered.

  “Ready?” Arc asked Izzy. Each held a bow. The archers waited for Will’s order. He’d instructed them to take out as many of the creatures as possible before the things gained the ridge. Once the first arrow flew, the battalion’s presence would be revealed.

  “Sure. No problem.” Her tone belied the flippant words, and Arc appreciated her effort at levity.

  Kassimeigh and Will stood in front of the two flanks. Her heavy black coat and somberness gave her the air of a funeral mourner. Her eyes tracked Will, waiting with the rest of the battalion for his order. Restless fidgeting suddenly stopped and silent stillness echoed in the cold air. Arc’s breath slowed and the seconds stretched into tiny eternities, as all attention focused on Kassimeigh and Will, waiting for their order.

  Kassimeigh’s head angled toward Arc, her one small movement breaking the collective stillness. She abandoned her post and stepped across a knobby path of gnarled ground to stand in front of him. His range of vision contracted until all he saw was the grim sadness in her eyes.

  “What are you doing?” he murmured, even as she leaned forward and touched her forehead to his.

  “Honoring my vow to you.” She stepped away from him. “I’m sorry.”

  She moved away from him, loosened her coat, and then dropped it, causing a small plume of dust to waft away from it. Beneath, she wore her black shoka. She paused for the briefest moment, then stepped forward onto the ridge and into the sight of the creatures.

  A bone-chilling collective scream went up in the valley. The sound rolled up the sides of the ridge and bounced back toward the creatures, causing the scream to double over itself in a horrifying echo. The horde began to scramble forward as quickly as their uneven bodies permitted.

  “Kassimeigh!” Will bellowed.

  Her expression revealed nothing at all when she turned around to face the battalion. She raised her hands to chest level. A block of ice coalesced on one side of the ridge. A sinuous motion of her hands mimicked the growth of the ice as it formed into a long, high wall that snaked between her and the rest of the battalion from crest to crest of the ridge. Arc and the troops now stood separated from her and the creatures, behind a crystal-clear wall.

  She let her hands drop as she pivoted back toward the creatures. Now howling and screaming, they rushed toward the battalion. Some of the abominations fell and went sprawling in their lumbering haste to gain the ridge. Their friends trampled over them.

  Exhaling slowly, she lifted her hands high. Her fingers spread out like claws. Arc didn’t know what the gesture meant, but he dreaded whatever was to come next.

  The front line of the battalion had surged forward, and now banged on the wall in front of them. It was not truly the ice it had seemed. Arc eased closer and ran his hand over its smooth surface. Whatever Kassimeigh had created, it lacked the cold of ice, and rebuffed all attempts to chip away at it, no matter how strong the troop or how sharp the blade.

  Arc yanked his attention to his left, as he spotted an arrow zinging through the air toward Kassimeigh. Although the wall separated them, it caused no distortion. He clearly saw that her eyes had closed as she stood motionless.

  “Kass!” he shouted, pushing all the energy of his heart out through his voice. Her eyes snapped open and immediately focused on the arrow as it sliced its way to her. Calmly, she reached out and plucked it from the air with her fingertips, as though selecting a cube of sugar to add to her tea. Then she whipped her arm around in a smooth motion, sending the projectile back the way it came with no loss of momentum.

  She ignored the arrow she’d just flung, which embedded into a creature. She again lifted her hands and stared out into the valley. The air around her seemed to ripple and curl with heat.

  “No,” breathed Luc, drawing Arc’s attention. His voice was quiet, but rang out against the battalion’s silence. Arc saw the manahi recoil in horror. “Oh, no, no, no.”

  Similar expressions of shock and dread froze on the other manahi’s faces.

  Kassimeigh’s hands crashed down, illustrating a violent action that invisibly repeated in the valley. Two large, hand-shaped areas of flattened creatures now littered the ground. Those left standing took little notice. They scrambled over the fallen in their haste to gain the ridge.

  Her hands rose again, and this time green spectral hands rose into the sky, then crashed down, smashing more creatures to the ground. Again and again, the spectral hands slammed down, crushing scores of creatures into flattened remnants.

  Not enough, Arc thought. She’s not getting rid of enough of them. They’ll reach her before she wipes them all out.

  No sooner than he thought it, a vibrating energy shook Kassimeigh. Her inhuman scream tore through the air and rattled the ground in the valley. The creatures toppled end over end, slapping their hands over their ears. Some of them, with an arm too short to reach the corresponding ear, pressed their heads to the ground beneath them. No one on Arc’s side of the barrier even flinched, so whatever had been in that scream hadn’t reached the battalion.

  Kassimeigh staggered back from the ridge. She wrapped her arms around her torso. Arc watched her struggle to contain the energy that clearly fought to annihilate her.

  Luc had joined hands with the other manahi. They stood behind the wall as they stared at Kassimeigh. Help her. Do something, Arc willed.

  She reeled back against the barrier, recovered, and took two graceful leaps toward the edge of the ridge before launching herself over the edge.

  Arc’s breath froze in his throat, making the “No!” that ripped out of him so painful he could barely see. Kassimeigh’s body rippled, balled up, and streamlined. Struck entirely dumb, he watched as a screaming phoenix formed itself in the air, red and burning.

  With an ethereal grace that transfixed the already-staggered battalion, the phoenix circled the valley then swooped down, loosing a blowtorch of fire onto the creatures. The ones who’d managed to stand fell again, burning and melting and screaming. The phoenix circled again and erupted its fire, dropping hundreds of creatures with each breath. The mythical, impossible creature circled the field, repeating the onslaught until the field was still and full of steaming char.

  The phoenix bolted straight up into the air and shrieked. Her splitting cry rang with so much pain that tears threatened more than a few of the emotionally-wrought battalion, who pressed their hands to their faces. A fireball blazed in the phoenix’s stomach, then gradually eclipsed her entire body. It grew too bright for human eyes to behold, forcing everyone to look away.

  The intense glow of the fireball diminished somewhat, and the manahi’s murmuring drew Arc’s attention. The seven stood together with their hands joined. A fire began among the corpses in the valley, and gradually increased as the fireball in the sky diminished. The sphere of energy slowly stopped burning, turned blue, and gently descended toward the ground behind the massive crematory in the field.

  No longer able to see Kassimeigh or the blue sphere, Arc looked back to the manahi. The depleted mana-holders dropped one another’s hands and sagged to the ground, seven bundles of gray-skinned weakness. Thom and Quillen lay motionless, possibly unconscious. The ice-like energy wall undulated and evaporated as though it had never existed.

  Silence created such beauty. After so much noise, the quiet soothed every part of her. Kassimeigh couldn’t quite remember what had assaulted her ears with an intolerable onslaught. She only recalled the roaring sound and the need to get out of her skin, just to escape the noise. No, it hadn’t been just noise. An agony of
power had threatened to cause all of her cells to combust. It wanted to destroy her to escape the inadequate confines of her body. Yes, that was it. She and the power had fought to get away from each other.

  Now, the lack of pressure and sound created a blissful void. She lifted herself from the ground and found her body weightless. She moved away from where she’d been, letting herself drift toward something more desirable.

  Sunbeams drenched her skin and warmed her from the outside in. So effortless was this existence, so unhampered by sound and pressure. She felt the sunbeams dancing up her arms and kissing her cheeks. She looked down at her arm, wondering if she could actually see the sun on her skin. No, nothing there. A long sigh poured out of her, followed by a contented hum.

  She noticed a village. Funny that it hadn’t been there a moment ago. Yet here it sat, and she felt perfectly at home. In fact, she was home. The comfort of homecoming righted all the forgotten wrongs that she no longer cared about.

  She floated around the tidy, cozy little buildings. There was the dry goods store, and the candy shop. She’d loved both when she was a girl. She’d delighted in making purchases for her mother at the store. Her taste buds told her stories of chocolates and lollipops even as she recalled how very mature and responsible she’d felt to running errands for her mother. Now inside the candy shop, she inhaled the mingling scents of sugar and comfort.

  She’d loved it here, she knew. She’d loved Umi Cabal, her friends, her neighbors, and the life they all shared. She’d belonged here. Every bit of it was dear to her, but the dearest of all was her mother. The woman had been so beautiful, kind, and wise that Kassimeigh had been in awe of her sometimes. Mama had always worked so hard to take care of others.