The Song of Eloh Saga

by Megg Jensen

  “I have an alternative,” I said. “If you’d just shut up for a moment and listen to me then maybe we could have a rational discussion about this.”

  Krissin screamed, sounding as if she was being strangled. I wished I did have my hands around her throat. Maybe then she’d be quiet. Ace reached over and took her hand in his.

  “Don’t,” she hissed at him, pulling her hand away. He grabbed her hand again, slamming it against the table and holding tight. Krissin struggled, but she couldn’t break free from his solid grasp. “Let. Me. Go.”

  “No,” Ace said, gritting his teeth through a feral smile. I wondered if he was actually enjoying it. Usually he let Krissin have the upper hand, even though he’d never admit it.

  “Daddy,” she whined, turning her doe eyes on Nemison. “You know she’s wrong, don’t you? Do you really want to spend time every day guarding those wicked people?”

  Nemison shook his head. “No, I don’t. But I think Reychel has the right to speak her mind. So, my darling Krissin, shut up.” He turned to me and said, “What’s your idea? Though I must admit I’m hesitant to believe there is another solution.”

  “Do you remember when I found Zelor’s cave? There were multiple portals. I say we toss them through the portals.”

  “Do you know where they go?” Johna asked. Her eyebrows wrinkled in concern.

  I glanced at Mark. He knew as well as I did that they could lead anywhere, or nowhere. I couldn’t even guarantee they’d end up somewhere safer than they were now.

  “I don’t, but that isn’t my concern. We can offer them a choice. They can either be severed or choose an unknown destination,” I said. “I can’t keep telling people what to do with their lives. It’s not in me.”

  “It’s perfectly fine with me,” Krissin grumbled. Ace still held her hand tight against the table. She’d stopped struggling, but Ace wasn’t stupid. He knew as well as I did that if he let go, she’d probably launch herself across the table and scratch my eyes out. I’d have to remember to thank him later.

  “What’s to stop them from coming back?” Mark asked. He patted my hand. The contrast between the way he treated me and the way Ace treated Krissin didn’t go unnoticed. Krissin rolled her eyes and tugged her hand, but Ace didn’t loosen his grip.

  “Can you do something about that?” I asked Nemison. The old man had so many tricks up his sleeve, I had to believe he knew of a way to cut them off from ever returning to Serenia once they’d left.

  “Probably. We’d have to test it, but I’m sure I could find a way,” he said.

  “Zelor’s book said that the wrong portal lead to certain death, right?” I looked to Mark for confirmation. He knew as much as I did about the portals. Mark nodded.

  “We don’t know if that’s true, but I say we give them the option,” I said. “Remember, Zelor was always dramatic. He was trying to scare me. It’s quite possible the portals just lead far, far away.”

  “Why don’t we just open a portal to the Malborn homeland?” Johna asked. “Give them back to their own people.”

  “Can anyone here do that?” I glanced around the table, focusing on Nemison.

  He shook his head. “I’ve been many places, but never there. I don’t know anyone who has. Short of putting them on a boat, I don’t know any way to get them back there.”

  “And if we put them on a boat, who’s to say they won’t just turn it around and attack?” Ace asked. “That’s a bad idea too.”

  “This is why I say we give them the choice. They can be severed, effectively ending life as they know it, or they can choose to step through a portal that might, or might not, lead to certain death.”

  “It would be easier to just KILL THEM!” Krissin yelled. “What is wrong with you people? We fought so hard to capture them and we could be done with severing them within a day. Instead you’re considering banishing them from Serenia. As if that’s a solution. Who’s to say they won’t treat the people in whatever land lies on the other side of that portal as badly as they did us? Are you just foisting our problem on someone else?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe.” I hesitated. That hadn’t crossed my mind. Somehow putting them through the portals had seemed final, as if they’d no longer be a problem. Not my problem, at least. “If we sent them through different portals, then they’d be dispersed.”

  “You don’t know that.” Krissin took her free hand, placed a finger on the top of Ace’s hand, and zapped him. He pulled his hand back and blew on the top of it where she’d burned him with her gift. Krissin crossed her arms, a smug look settling on her face.

  “You’re right, I don’t. But severing them will take away their personalities and memories, effectively ending their lives anyway,” I said.

  “Let’s sever them and then send them through the portals.” Krissin smiled, sure she’d gotten the best of me.

  “That takes away their choice.” Images of Ivy flashed in my mind again and I shuddered. I’d told her what to do over and over again, forcing her to do things my way. She chose death over following me. How many others would rather death, given the choice?

  “They gave away their choice when they decided to try to kill all of us. That’s how war works,” Krissin insisted. She glanced around the table. “Support me! You all know this is true. This is the way of war. For Eloh’s sake, everyone thinks she’s dead anyway. No one recognized her with all of that fighting, and the people who did are in this room or the dungeon.”

  “That’s not quite true,” I said. “There’s Ella, who’s still recovering from her injury. Luci and that little girl saw me in the kitchen.”

  “That will become myth soon enough, Reychel. Not enough people saw you for it to matter. Now why doesn’t everyone just agree with me and we can move on,” Krissin said.

  Johna stole a glance at Nemison. Ace and Mark shuffled in their chairs, neither of them willing to meet my eyes. I didn’t have any experience with war, but I knew it was true. People fought for their side, hoping to conquer and subdue the other side. People were hurt. People died.

  “Then maybe it’s time to change the rules,” I said. “Let’s give them the choice. We’re building a new, peaceful Serenia. Let’s show our people that we mean it. Starting off by eliminating the enemy will only make people fear us. Why don’t we show everyone that we can be trusted?”

  The table fell silent. I’d hit a nerve. Ace sat farther back in his chair, refusing to look at anyone. Johna nodded her head and glanced at Nemison.

  “The girl has a point,” she said to him. “Maybe it is time to do things differently.”

  Krissin’s breathing quickened. Her hands formed fists and I was sure she was digging into her palms with her fingernails. “Vote. Everyone vote now. If you agree with Reychel’s idiotic, unprecedented plan raise your hand.”

  I looked down, not wanting to influence anyone’s decision. Not even Mark’s. He’d been trained by the military and I knew war was deeply ingrained in him. I wouldn’t blame him if he agreed with Krissin.

  Fabric rustled, but I didn’t know if people were shifting uncomfortably in their seats or raising their hands. I stared at the knots in the table, willing everyone to make their decisions quickly. I didn’t know how long I could stand it.

  “I do not believe this,” Krissin said. “You can look up now, Reychel. Everyone agrees with your stupid ideas. Even my own father and the man I thought I wanted to marry.”

  I looked up and my throat constricted. All four of them, Nemison, Ace, Johna, and Mark all held their hands high in the air. Ace didn’t look at me or Krissin, instead he stared at the table just as I had moments ago.

  “Are you sure?” I asked.

  “Don’t question people when they’ve already agreed to follow you, child,” Johna chided. “Take it before we change our minds.”

  “Okay, then. We need to go down to the dungeon and offer up the choice,” I said.

  “And you’ll do it without me,” Krissin said. “I won’t have any part o
f this ridiculous plan. I’m going home.” She stood up, bumping the seat of her chair so hard it clattered onto the floor. Krissin held her hands up in the air, flicked her fingers, and a portal appeared. She flipped her hair and looked over her shoulder. “You’ll all regret this.”

  She stepped through the portal without a word and took the energy in the room with her. We stared at one another. For a brief moment, I doubted my convictions, but it was too late. The decision had been made and we would follow through no matter the consequences.

  Nemison opened a portal to the dungeon and I took a deep breath before stepping through. They all felt I should be the one to deliver the choice. The four of them followed me and Nemison closed the portal behind him.

  “Listen up,” I said, trying my best to project my voice to the first hall of cells. Noise reverberated as people scrambled to get closer to their cell doors.

  “Are you here to let us know how we’re going to die?” There was no mistaking Alia’s voice. I didn’t realize she was in this hall and would be among the first to choose.

  “We’re not going to kill any of you,” I said, trying to maintain a steady tone. “We’re here to offer you a choice. You can either submit to being severed and living peacefully among our people or you can choose to enter a portal. We don’t know where it goes or if you’ll die entering it. But the choice is yours.”

  No one answered and the silence mocked my choices. Neither of them was good, but they had tried to destroy us. At least I was giving them options they wouldn’t have had under Krissin. A low, hysterical laugh cut through the quiet. Mark pointed to a cell door. I walked over and glanced through the barred window. Alia.

  “What do you think of the choices?” I asked her.

  “I can’t believe you’re doing this. All because of Ivy. You’re such a fool Reychel. I can’t even believe your stupidity. Of course I choose the portal. Without my gift I might as well be dead. At least this way I have a chance.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief. This was the choice I’d hoped she would make, not because it took her life out of my hands, but because she made her own decision. My entire life I’d been forced into everyone else’s needs, never being allowed to choose anything for myself. How could I do something so cruel, even to someone who wanted to destroy me and take control of my land? If I did, it made me no better than Alia.

  If I couldn’t rise above, I’d never be able to live with it and the big decision I was preparing to make for myself. I had to. I could only think of what Ivy whispered in my ear before she killed herself.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Since Mark and I were the only people who’d ever been to the cave, we opened two portals. Two lines of the gifted army stood quietly, awaiting their fate. Every single one of them chose to follow Alia through the portal. It surprised me. I honestly believed some of them would want to be severed and have a clean start at life instead of facing an unknown life, or even death, through the portal.

  Our only concern was Emperor Larnack. We hadn’t found him yet, but Ace swore they’d track him down once we’d taken care of the prisoners.

  Guarded by our gifted friends and Ace’s men, they filed one by one through the portals. We’d sent Nemison and Johna and a couple guards through first, to make sure nothing happened on the other end. As the last of the prisoners walked through the portal followed by their guards, Mark grabbed my hand.

  “You’ve made the right decision,” he said. “It’s probably the most courageous thing any of us have ever done. If we would have severed all of them, it would have equaled killing them. At least now they know we can defeat them. Maybe they’ll think twice before trying to hurt anyone else.”

  “If they make it through the portals safely, and as we know, that’s a big ‘if,’ who’s to say they won’t do this again?” I rested my head on his shoulder, knowing we only had moments before we’d have to enter the portal and enact this plan of mine. Every moment I doubted it more, wondering if Krissin was right. Maybe I was only delaying the inevitable. Maybe I would live to regret it. I wanted to be heartless and enact justice, but it wasn’t in me.

  “We have to believe Nemison’s plan will work. He can avoid a full sever by just disconnecting their connection to Serenia. They shouldn’t be able to port back here. Maybe they’ll get to their new destination and not have a reason to fight or conquer. They can start new lives and hopefully some of them will use their gifts for good.”

  I lifted my head up and stared him in the eyes. “Do you believe any of that?”

  Mark smiled and shrugged. “I want to.” He put his fingers under my chin, rubbing his thumb along my cheek. “I believe in you.”

  “Thanks,” I said. I really meant it too. I needed someone in my corner. “Let’s do this?”

  Mark nodded, took my hand, and I stepped through the portal.

  When I emerged on the other side, I stepped in a sticky, bloody puddle flowing from the chest of an inert Zuri. Her lifeless eyes gazed at me and I leaned down closer to them. Losing my balance, I flailed my arm in the air while Mark stepped through, holding my hand and steadying me. He quickly dropped it and pushed past me, brandishing his sword in front of him. I hadn’t even seen him unsheathe it, but the dim light of cave glinted off the blade in front of me.

  Screams echoed through the caves, the sound of steel against flesh punctuating the air. Dead bodies littered the rocky floor. Stalactites broke from the ceiling with the assistance of someone’s gift, stabbing men from the Sons through the chest. Their steel was no use against the heavy, pointed mineral formations that cleaved them just as easily as a knife slicing through a piece of parchment.

  I whipped my head around, searching for Nemison or Johna, or even Ace, to tell me what had happened, but I couldn’t find one of them. People were moving too fast. Men ran gifted women through with their swords, as they pleaded and begged for mercy.

  Mark stood still in front of me, and I placed a hand on his shoulder. No one had noticed us yet. “What should we do?” I asked.

  “I don’t know,” he whispered back to me. “I can’t see anyone I know. I need a report. For Eloh’s sake, Reychel, what have we done?”

  I gasped, spying Alia across the cave, her arm around Johna’s throat. Her feet dug into the ground, but Alia was too strong. She tugged Johna closer to the portals. I tapped Mark and pointed.

  He grabbed my hand and we skirted the battle. A rocky outcrop gouged my shoulder, but I ignored the pain. Nothing mattered until we could get to Johna. I stumbled over rocks holding tight to Mark’s hand. He didn’t stop, not even for me. He only tugged harder, refusing to leave me behind, never giving up on Johna.

  “Leave her alone!” I screamed across the last ten paces. Alia looked up at me, a wicked smile spread across her face.

  “Did you really think we’d go quietly, Reychel? You’re a fool. You always have been and you always will be as long as you worry about keeping people alive. Killing me would have been the better option. I can’t even imagine how you convinced everyone to go along with this plan. They all must be as idiotic as you.”

  Alia’s arm tightened around Johna’s throat, her elbow pointing upward, driving Johna’s chin up. Johna gasped for air and my heart broke in a million pieces as I watched her eyes roll in the back of her head. Her body went limp, but Alia didn’t release her grasp.

  “She’s passed out, Alia, let her go,” I begged.

  “Let her go?” Alia’s laughter bounced off the battle waging behind us. “I’m sticking her hand in the portal to see if it disintegrates. If it doesn’t, then the portal should be safe. Then we’ll know if we can escape after we’ve killed all of you.”

  Mark dropped my hand. I reached out, but he wouldn’t take my hand back.

  “Mark?” I asked.

  He turned to me, tears in his eyes. “I believe in you Reychel. I’ve always said that and I mean it.”

  Then he pivoted and ran toward Alia.

  I flung my arm out toward him. “Mar
k! No!”

  Alia held Johna closer to her body, shielding herself from Mark and his charging sword.

  “I’ll kill her,” Alia screamed, tightening up her grip on Johna’s neck. “Don’t come near us!”

  Mark’s arm dropped to his side and the sword clattered to the floor. He pushed past Alia, surprising all of us, and stuck his hand in the portal. His scream of sheer agony mixed with my shriek of terror. He yanked backward and fell to the ground, his hand wrapped in his shirt.

  “So now we know what the portal really does!” Alia dropped Johna. Prone on the floor, she didn’t stir. “Tell your boyfriend thank you. He just saved her life.”

  Before she could attack me, I flung a web of my gift around Alia, forcing her to the floor next to Johna. Alia hit her head again in the same place as before, knocking her incoherent. Keeping one hand out toward Alia, I ran to Mark and fell to the floor next to him.

  “Are you okay? Are you burnt?”

  He groaned, writhing on the floor in pain. I touched his elbow, tentative, but I needed to see what happened to him. “Please, Mark, let me help you.”

  I struggled to split my concentration between the web I held around Alia and my concern for Mark. A hand touched my shoulder and looked up. Nemison.

  “I have her,” he said, pointing to Alia with his hands. Grateful, I dropped mine and focused solely on Mark.

  I placed both hands on his injured arm and followed the strong muscle from his bicep to his forearm. Wrapping my fingers around his wrist, I tugged but he wouldn’t release it from his shirt.

  “If you pull my arm, I could bleed out,” he said between gritted teeth. “I need medical attention and I need it now. Is Johna awake yet?”