by Rae Brooks
Aela’s eyes widened, but she nodded her head in agreement. Calis turned back to the dragon, who was busy planning her next attack. “I’ll draw her away if I can,” Calis promised. “Please, please, save him,” he begged. Aela’s eyes met his, and there was a moment of absolute understanding between the two of them. She cared for her brother almost as much as Calis did, and she knew that.
“Go, Calis. I’ll guard Aela!” Lee snapped. Calis tore the amulet from his neck and threw it to Lee. Lee caught it, though there was a question in his eyes. Aela blanked as she stared at the amulet.
Rather than waiting to see if Lee would ask, Calis answered their unspoken question. “When the dragon tried to kill me, the amulet absorbed the fire. I don’t know why, but it did, and I think you might need it more than I,” Calis said sharply. Lee nodded his head, and then he glanced towards Aela.
“It’s the Magisters, the family crests of the Telandan and Cathalari rulers were imbued with magic to keep them from being punished unjustly,” she said. “Any crest willingly handed from a Cathalari to a Telandan or vice versa is a protective talisman. My brother gave you that, yes?” she asked.
Calis just nodded, and then the dragon started towards them another time. The creature had obviously determined what she needed to do, and her eyes were still trained on Aela. Calis closed his eyes as the words flickered through his mind. Taeru had saved his life, he realized, his directly—his only. Lee threw the amulet around his own neck without another thought. The dragon twisted through the air so that its wings stirred up a wind that made it difficult to see, and then it drew breath in order to fire.
Lee released one of his knives, just as Calis tore to the side and leapt so that his body caught the wing of the dragon. The fire started, and Lee jumped forward, throwing up his shield as fire raged around him and Aela. The amulet was glowing with power as the fire hovered just to the sides of the shield. Calis dug his sword into the side of the creature. Though, when she pulled herself up, straight up, his sword tore down her side, and he fell to the ground with a hard thud.
“Aleia, Magister of Direction, you made a promise long ago that agreed that you would be able to take the life of the Hero should he fail in his agreement to keep peace throughout the land. In no other circumstance, aside from council and agreement of the other Magisters, do you have the right to take the life of a mortal! You have to release my brother, lest you lose your position as a Magister!” Aela screamed the words, and Calis thought that people back in Telandus ought to have heard her, and yet, nothing happened. She jerked her head from side to side, screaming in fury. “Why isn’t this working?”
The ringing through the air came back into Calis’s mind, and he glanced around, feeling the way the atmosphere crackled with power. Lastly, his head moved to the obelisk, which still held Taeru’s frozen body. The vines had eased further along him, wrapping around nearly the entirety of his body, and Calis let out an agonized cry at the sight. The lightning pulsed along the crystal in larger waves, and it seemed to be emitting into the air around them. “Taeru…” Calis whimpered. “Why isn’t it working?”
Lee was staring in the direction of Calis, and there was obvious sympathy in his green eyes. Then, though, his eyes opened a little wider. “That’s it, Calis! Aela—she’s using your brother’s energy to make her stronger than the other Magisters. She’s obscuring the air so that they are unaware of what goes on here!” His eyes flickered back to Calis. “Calis, we’ve got to cripple that dragon if we want them to hear us.”
Shaking, Calis nodded his head with steeled fury bleeding into his eyes. “I’ll do more than cripple it,” he swore.
The dragon made another round, spitting fire towards Calis this time so that he was thrown back and had to crawl away to ensure that he wasn’t consumed by it. “Foolish children,” the Magister finally spoke, “you waste your time. If you value your own lives, leave now. There is nothing you can do for your poor, little friend.”
She landed near Aela and Lee, and her talon shot forward, caught Lee across the chest, and sent him skidding along the mud. Calis’s teeth ground in concern as he stood up to face the dragon another time. He watched her lift into the air and fire towards Aela—who had only just grabbed her bow. “Lee!” Calis snapped. “The wings!”
Lee’s eyes narrowed as he glared at the dragon, holding the new wound that he’d acquired tenderly. His eyes twitched along the dragon’s body, and he subtly nodded his head. Calis had to get onto the dragon if he wanted to ensure that he won this battle. “Aela, give me the book,” Lee demanded. Without protest, Aela tossed the book to Lee.
“Aleia,” Lee spoke with a condescending tone that probably ought not be used when addressing the Magister of Manipulation. But the tone made Calis like his advisor infinitely more. “Interfere all you like with what we can say here. You cannot follow all of us, and with this book, we can find a way to reach the Magisters. This book is magical in itself, created by your fellow Magisters—and we will find them with it.” The dragon’s eyes turned to him, and Lee took a step back. Perhaps he was feigning fear, perhaps he wasn’t.
When the dragon descended another time, this time fully focused on Lee Keiichi, Aela and Calis prepared themselves. The fire launched across the landscape, and Lee turned to sprint towards the opposite side of the grove. He did not swerve as Calis had so many times, but rather, he kept a straight line so that the dragon flew low to the ground—quick and unyielding. Overconfidence could afflict even the cleverest of creatures, Calis assumed.
Calis managed to pull himself even with the dragon’s side, forming a route so that their paths would only intersect for a few brief moments. The dragon glanced once to him, obviously intent on avoiding the intersection, but an arrow cut into the dragon’s already injured wing. With the distraction, Calis leapt to the side and once more onto the dragon. This time, he clung and dug his sword into the dragon’s side, just above the wing.
The dragon staggered towards the ground, and Lee dropped to it, throwing the shield over his body in a last ditch effort to save himself. Aleia reached downwards, plucking the shield from his grasp and tearing through the metal, though leaving him where he was. Calis’s fingers plowed into her flesh, desperate to remain on the dragon’s back, though with a final thrust, she threw his body.
His sword cut into the wing, though, slicing through it relentlessly, until it came out the other side and sent him spiraling back to the muddy ground. He groaned as his back impacted with a painful shock. The dragon hovered above the ground, struggling and floundering until she was forced to land. When Calis moved towards her, though, she let out another flash of heat. Her fire slid just to the side of him, and he stumbled as he glared into her eyes. “My life… isn’t worth living… if he isn’t with me,” he told her, voice shaking.
Her body shook, reacting, determined to keep him at bay as she let out another explosion of fire. Calis moved to the left, bringing his sword across her side, but she turned, her talon cut along his arm, and he stumbled back again. He brought his sword up as he did, though, and her body was once again lacerated by his blade. Suddenly, a knife slammed into the dragon’s neck, as she aimed another flash of embers at Calis. Her head jerked, and she turned to glance at Lee. Calis took a breath, and he shook his head violently. “Taeru,” he whispered.
Leaping forward, Calis released his thoughts, his fears, his concerns. He could think only of the death of this dragon, and he was lost to his anger once more. He twisted his body around the dragon’s long neck, clawing into her and driving his sword into the thick neck, hard and fast. Her head slung to one side, and she cried out in pain. Her wings sliced through the air, lifting her body into a feeble hover as she flung her head and neck from side to side, up and down. Calis clung, and his sword tore up the side of her neck with deadly purpose. She growled, and fire exploded from her mouth, without a target. Another shriek snaked through the air, and Calis could hear the ringing beginning to dissolve in favor of her cries of agony.
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She threw him left and right. His body was jostled, dangling by his desperately clinging arms. His feet found and lost their foundation. As he struggled, his sword broke into her flesh, tearing it asunder, again and again, but she remained unchanged. He couldn’t seem to get a cut straight through her neck, but then, with a glance back towards the disgusting obelisk, he grabbed ahold of one of her horns and brought his sword into the air, over her head. “I said… let - him - go!” he shouted, and his sword slammed downwards, fast and with more strength than a single man ought to possess.
The grove shook as her wings failed her. The skull of the dragon gave way, and his sword bit into the flesh, bone, muscle, and whatever else Aleia had put into this monster’s body. His sword cut through tongue and flesh, and at last, he pulled it back, and the broken creature fell to the ground with a final groan of agony.
Aela’s voice rang out again, and this time, the ringing seemed to be absent from the air so that her voice was louder, clearer than before. “Aleia, as a Magister, you made a promise long ago that you would be able to take the life of the Hero or his descendants should they fail in their duty to keep peace throughout the lands Cathalar and Telandus. Otherwise, only through long council among Magisters may you take a life! You have to release Taeru Lassau, lest you lose your position as a Magister!”
Calis stared towards the obelisk, but it remained as it was, with Taeru’s suspended body still hung against the black rods beneath the surface of the crystal. Calis shook his head, even as the Magister slowly returned to her original form—a lady made of vines. She was smiling. “You silly creatures… I told you that you cannot destroy me. I am a Magister. Invincible,” she hissed. Calis trembled, tears stinging in his eyes as his mouth opened. How could this not have worked?
“Oh, why so glum, Calis? I’m sure you’ll find someone else. As you mortal creatures say—plenty of fish in the sea.”
Calis screamed in pain, and he sank his blade into her body, though the effect was nothing. “No, no,” he cried. “Take me… take… please… please, don’t…” Calis whispered, weak with anguish.
“Look!” Aela’s voice rang out again, though, and Calis’s head jerked up at once. There were tiny specks of light across the grove. First, there were only a few, but more and more began to surround them.
Judging from Aleia’s terrified expression, Calis was well aware of what they were. Orbs of different colors, apparitions that he couldn’t see, even when he tried to focus on them—as they remained just beyond his comprehension. So many, layered on one another, and Calis stared around as light began to shine through the clearing as if the sun itself was in the sky. Then, the first beam of light shot outwards and into Aleia, then another, then another, until every single orb was pulling at her, and she screamed in pain.
An explosion of light rocked the grove, and Calis jerked his head backwards, staring at the naked form of the woman before him. The beams slowly began to fade, and he narrowed his eyes. He drew his sword up one last time. “Who’s the mortal now, bitch?” he asked hollowly. With a decisive cut, he beheaded her again, and this time, when her body crumpled into dust, so too did her head.
Calis heard the crash before he actually saw it, and his body ran towards his destination before he fully verified what had happened. The crystal holding Taeru shattered, exploding outwards, as it evaporated into the air, and the prison vanished, leaving him suspended in the air until his body fell backwards. Calis was there, and he caught the lithe form easily.
Lowering Taeru to the ground, he stared into the boy’s paled face. Lines from the tendrils were along his neck and arms, and he looked like a broken bird after a storm. Calis held the feeble body weakly, and his fingers trembled as he stared down at the boy. Taeru did not move, and the marks along his body were horrifyingly telling of what he’d experienced. “Taeru,” Calis whispered. “Taeru, please…”
Footsteps sounded behind him, but the world seemed to be distant from him. He wasn’t sure of the Magisters, or what had happened, but he knew that the boy in his arms was not moving—even after the hanging, Taeru had moved, whimpered. Taeru’s hands were on the ground, splayed outwards, fingers curled just slightly—entirely limp. No breath passed his lips, and when Calis pulled the small chest to his ear, he realized there was no heartbeat. Calis’s entire body froze as he stared, eyes widened, tears having found their way back down his cheeks. Everything faded into the background as the terrifying realization shook him to his foundation. “No, no, no… Taeru… Taeru, don’t do this to me, please. Please, you can’t do this. Please! I need you. You can’t leave me. You can’t leave me here.” Calis shook the small form as gently as he could, but there was no response.
“NO!” Calis shouted, and pain burned through him, destroying any trace of self still hovering within his body. His entire soul ached, hollow and without feeling, an agony so intense that he could scarcely breathe, see, move. “Taeru! PLEASE! Don’t. DON’T. I can’t lose you! I can’t! You were everything I needed, I wanted… I… nothing… my life is nothing if you aren’t here. I can’t live without you. I don’t want to. With you was the only time I ever felt I was alive, the only time this world held any color. Please! Please, you can’t leave me, Taeru! I love you too bloody much. Taeru…”
He choked, lowering his head as he brought Taeru’s lifeless form up to his chest. “You showed me how to live, please don’t leave me to die…” He bent his head a little lower so that his forehead rested against Taeru’s. His breathing choked him, and tears fell without heed.
“Take me… take… anybody… anybody else.” His thumb played along Taeru’s bruised cheek, stroking, desperate to see it flush again—just one more time. “I’ll do anything… it’s not fair!” His breath broke on itself, and he sobbed between words. “Don’t leave me…”
His tears fell onto Taeru’s cheeks as he closed his eyes. He wanted the world to disappear, leave him to be with the one thing he loved. “I love you.”
He heard someone behind him crying, a sort of anguished cry, and he heard it, though he didn’t care. Nothing mattered. He didn’t want to remain in this world with this realization because all he could feel was pressing, pounding agony coursing through him without relent. “Taeru, Taeru, Taeru…” He whispered the name, over and over, begging, pleading. His body and voice trembled. Blackness controlled every part of him, wreaking havoc throughout his body, through a heart that had been torn from his chest, to pieces, that no longer existed.
Sobs wracked his body as he held the small form, refusing to let it go, knowing that he wouldn’t let it go—ever. He didn’t care who came. He would die here. He would fall on his own sword if he had to, and he would feel no remorse, no fear. “I love you more than I thought it was possible to love, Taeru Lassau. Don’t leave me here. I can’t stay here without you.” Calis pleaded again.
When there was another moment of silence, someone tried to reach to touch his shoulder, and Calis shook them off without acknowledgement. A scream tore from his lips, from some deep, visceral part of his chest that possessed him as it ripped from his lungs and through his body—hurting and shredding.
“Taeru, please…” someone whispered from behind Calis. Calis stared into the soft face of the only person he’d ever loved, the most precious thing in the world to him—motionless, broken, lifeless, and still somehow unfairly breathtaking.
Calis pressed his lips to the chilled forehead, cradling the body tightly, whimpering as he did. Pulling back, he stared into the boy’s face. “You weren’t supposed to die here. This wasn’t your responsibility. They can’t take you from me,” he whispered. “You should never have had to do what you did. You’re too brave, too strong for your own good. But… you imbecile. How could you not understand that you were killing me? Why didn’t you think about yourself?” His lips quivered, pressed together as salty tears somehow made their way into his mouth.
Moving a thumb over Taeru’s cheek, he touched his lips, and he felt the agonizing desire,
need, and desperation shatter through him. “Why did this happen?” he whispered quietly. “Why you?” he choked. Warily, he moved his hand up to Taeru’s black hair, brushing a little bit of it from his forehead. Then, he gripped his lover’s face while tears burned in his eyes, letting out a sharp, keening sound through his teeth. He lowered his head, kissing Taeru lightly against his temple. “I love you… please, come back… come back.”
Light flickered over the clearing, illuminating Taeru’s face just a little for a moment. So many bruises. So many failures that Calis could see written across his face. “I couldn’t save you… all I wanted to do was protect you, and I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t keep you safe. I… oh, Taeru…”
Gripping Taeru’s face again, Calis stared at the unmoving lips, and his body quivered with anguish. “Say something. Please, say anything. By the Light… just… please, one more time… one more moment… please… I just want… you. Open your eyes.”
A sacrifice for a failure. A mortal dabbling in the affairs of the Magisters, a mortal having to stop what never should have started… a Hero. So too shall justice be with you.
The words flickered across Calis’s mind, but he stared into Taeru’s face—in a never-ending abyss. He could not force himself to think, to care, to leave this spot, staring at the delicate, lifeless creature. The one thing in the world that he had fought for, had cared for, had loved. And now Taeru lay in his arms, completely out of his reach, despite Calis’s most passionate desire to reach him. His tears fell across Taeru’s cheeks, spilling onto the ground beneath him, and Calis shook. “I can’t—I can’t… I’m so sorry, Taeru,” he whispered. He clutched the form more desperately, clinging.
“Calis…” It was the softest, most disoriented voice he’d ever heard. “Calis.”