by C. K. Rieke
“I can’t live this life without you, Kera, you were the only family I’ve had since I was just a girl. I was supposed to care for you. It was supposed to be me that protected you. I’ve failed you. I’m so sorry. Please forgive me.”
The tears eventually ran dry, and she wiped away the mucus beneath her nose. She drank another gulp of water, and tore the bandage from her arm, it ripped at the dried scab formed on the front and back of it. She looked around the landscape, inspecting anything that would be of use. She eventually made her way down to the fallen assassins below the cliff, their bodies were half-covered in the sand she’d used to sweep them off. She sifted through their belongings, taking the nicer of the bows, made of a dark ebony wood, and collected all of their arrows and put them in a quarrel across her back. She found a white powder in a sack of one of the men, it looked like cooking flour, but more granular.
She held a pinch between her fingers and sniffed it . . . No scent. Then she placed a small taste of it on her tongue, it crossed her mind that it might be poison, but she’d built up a tolerance over the years in Sorock. Tastes of tarlily bark. Excellent.
She went to wash the wound with water from one of the other watersacks and pressed the white powder into her wound on both sides, and rewrapped it in a clean, white linen. Tarlily bark was a common medicine used to fight off infection and aid in healing. She felt lucky that the assassins were smart enough to bring some along, although it was ironic the one that killed them would be the one who benefited from it.
After gathering supplies, and with the sun shedding its last light on the rocks, fatigue set in again on her. Her whole body ached, and her mind began to cloud with a layer of fog. Kera not only brought with her a bond of love and family, but she freed her mind of the cobwebs. Now that Kera was gone, Lilaci began to revert back to the slave she’d been not so long ago. If she tried to remember her past, the headaches set in again. Kera was her only escape from the pain Veranor created in her.
She wanted to make a fire but found no strength to do so. She lay on her side and curled up into a ball on a set of sheets she’d collected. She put her head on her pack, and threw a last, thick cloth over her. As her eyes forced themselves shut, and she drifted off into the world of dreams, she whispered, “I will find you Kera. I will find you.”
Chapter Forty-Two
The rains had washed away any tracks that may have led her in a specific direction. Now, she was left to her instinct. To find Kera and Fewn would she travel further into the mountains, or back out onto the sands? It was the early morning then, and the longer she waited, the farther away they’d be. However, if she picked the wrong direction, she’d have little chance of finding them again, if they were alive.
Well, I know it wasn’t a Reevin that took them, as I’d surely be dead. Any Reevin would have ended me in my vulnerable state back in the storm. So, unless they were attacked by some random party, which is unlikely— she must have been taken by someone working for Voru. Possibly they sent out another group of Scaethers— but so quickly? How would they have caught up with us? We easily had a week on them. Think, Lilaci, think! My mind feels so full, yet empty. Perhaps the closer I get to her, the more my mind will be free of this hold they have on me. To the mountains or back into the desert? Fewn would have fought off random attackers, but she wouldn’t hold up against a group of male Scaethers alone. That has to be the only option. There’s only one place they’d take her.
Lilaci began to leap down the cliffs with soft footing down the mountainside. Once she reached the jagged foothills she began to run. There was nothing, no one in sight, once the sands fell again under her feet. She stood stoically, peering out into the empty wasteland. The sun burned brightly, and she covered her eyes with the thin hood just above her eyes. Not a single object in sight, and no footprints. She knew there was almost no chance to find footprints from a day before, but she hoped.
She could still turn back— there might be time, but it made the most sense that someone was taking her back to Voru, back to the Great Oasis of Noruz. There they’d enslave her and hand her to the gods, who would do whatever they pleased to the young girl they found to be the biggest threat to their existence. Even though she seemed impervious to their magic, she couldn’t stop the edge of a knife, or the will of strong hands.
“I won’t let them touch you,” she grimaced. “I won’t let them hurt you.”
Lilaci began to run off into the sands, southwest back towards the city. With no one in sight, she knew she could keep up a good pace for the better part of the day. With Kera’s short legs she could easily catch up in a couple days’ time, that is unless she was atop an Iox, then it might be closer to five. She couldn’t risk it though. There were many paths from the Zont-Il mountains into the Dakaran region. All Scaethers were trained how to avoid being followed, and most of the time that meant taking the lesser-taken path, not always the shortest.
Then it occurred to her— what if it was Veranor? She stopped in her tracks. What if he’d been following them all along, just to make sure they carried out the mission? Or what if once Dellanor and Garenond returned to the city, he decided to come out himself? Fewn wouldn’t stand a chance against him. He was too strong, too fast, too experienced.
Would I even be able to fight him if I did catch up to them? The mages’ spell is too strong for me to be able to resist his will. I’d only be able to fight if Kera was around to break up the cobwebs. And if she’s already . . . Dead, then I’d be walking into my death. But what is there to live for anyways without her? What’s the use in dreaming of my own family— after losing my family twice now. The dream of living in freedom and peace is nothing if everything I ever care for is taken from me. No! I won’t let them take her. She’s mine! She belongs to me, and I to her!
She continued her running throughout the morning, stopping only briefly at midday, and then her running continued. All through the journey back towards evil, she thought only of Kera. Her mind drifted to her losing her first family, but again returned the worms, covered in thick slime that made her sick. When the blanket of twilight fell on the sands, the air cooled, and the stars returned to show that the Arr still remained unchanged, even though Lilaci’s world had turned end over end.
The flint struck steel, and a fire was born. She stared into the crackling, popping wood ablaze. She chewed on tough, drying cacti, and her mind relaxed. Her body was sore, which she ignored, but her mind was exhausted from the racing it’d been doing throughout the day. Worry flowed through her body the entirety of the day. Her thoughts drifted to that night in the tent with Foro, the first taste her mind had of freedom in years— and then— it drifted to that night in the tent when she was a child. The night her parents were killed.
“No worms!” she yelled as she leapt to her feet. “No worms! No Veranor!” She lifted her fists up into the air. “Kera! I’m coming! I’m getting closer!” Her eyes welled up with tears again. “You’re alive,” she whispered. “You’re alive—”
Before the sun had even hinted at its return, Lilaci was back on her feet, running even quicker than the day prior. Where are you? You have to be close. My mind is free again, yell out to me, tell me where you are. Her feet moved quickly beneath her. She yearned to stick her sword through the heart of whoever took her. Under the midday hot sun, she stopped to take a quick break. The sun seemed even hotter than the day before, if that was possible, with nothing to break its light, no objects to offer shade. She peered up to scan the distance, her eyes wanting only to remain shut, to relax. Yet, back south there appeared to be a rocky formation, maybe only two miles away. If Kera is around, that’s where she’d be. She would know to head there, if not only for the shade, for the possibility of water.
Her break was over as soon as she spotted the rocks. Sweat ran down her face, neck, arms, and chest. She knew she couldn’t keep up that pace for long under the afternoon sun, but she only had to make it two miles. Just. Two. Miles. Kera, I’m coming for you. You just hold on
. Hold on just a little longer.
Her breathing grew labored, as she had but one more mile to go. She pushed harder. She forced her legs to move faster in the sand that shifted beneath her feet. Kera. That is all that matters is her. Push yourself. You know no limits of the body. You are a weapon. You were assassin born. For her. It’s all for her!
As she approached the rock, she slowed her pace, as she saw no one around. The rock was large, three times her height. It was strangely out of place. With no surrounding mountains, how would such a rock come to be? She drew her sword and inched her way to the backside of the rock. She didn’t know what to expect, but she could feel her mind was completely free of the spell.
“Kera,” she said. “Kera, where are you? Fewn? Are you there? Call out if you’re in trouble.”
She leaned in to see the backside of the rock, in partial shade, there appeared to be a tunnel into the rock. She walked over to it cautiously, a cool breeze wafted from it. It was dark, no light in the distance. It was made of rock, and it was silent.
“Kera?” she called down into it. No answer. Would they be down there? If they were, wouldn’t they have torchlight or something to lead them? Maybe they are far enough down that I wouldn’t be able to see it. “Kera? Fewn?” Again, no answer.
Then she noticed something halfway down the cavern path, it was light and soft. Lilaci ran down into it, the cool air was an instant relief from the scorching sun on her shoulders. She ran to it, knelt and picked it up delicately. It was the kerchief. Kera. I’ve found you. She lifted it up to her mouth and nose and inhaled deeply. It’s you. You’re down there. “Hold on Kera, I’m coming!” Her voice echoed through the tunnel. “Help is coming. Just hold on.”
Chapter Forty-Three
Darkness. Pure. Darkness.
In her haste she’d left her belongings back at the mouth of the cavern, grabbing only her sword and bow. She had not the makings of a torch and had no will to travel back to her pack. She only thought of one thing— get there in time. Just get there in time.
“Kera!” echoed down the long tunnel. “Kera!” Lilaci yelled down again.
The tunnel was one long path, no side pathways or caves. It was a circular, smooth dark rock on all sides as at Lilaci’s feet. She couldn’t touch both sides of the tunnel with her arms outstretched, she thought it was maybe twice the width and height of that.
As she ran her fingers along the right side of the tunnel, finding each footstep in the dark, she remembered the Sanzoral. She felt foolish not thinking of it at first, but she wasn’t in her best frame of mind. As she searched her mind for its power, and her control of the sand, one thing popped immediately into it— she was completely free of the mages’ spell. Kera is close, and alive. That’s the only way. In the utter blackness, with her eyes closed, and her mind searching, she found that faint hint of wisps of smoke the color of lilacs. She focused in on them, and they grew brighter, and closer.
Then she opened her eyes, at least she imagined she did. She looked down to see both of her hands illuminated in the glow of vibrant purple streaks of power, flowing back behind her as she continued her way down the tunnel. The light wasn’t the same luminosity of a torch, or even a pair of candles, but it was enough. The cavern glowed a dull purple haze as she continued down. It didn’t show much of the path before her but lit the cave on all sides of her.
“How long does this go on for?” she whispered to herself, and she caught a sharp shiver in her body, that crept up from her stomach and back to her head. She shook it off, but she hadn’t been in such a cold environment, well— maybe ever. The air was clear, and chilly— inviting even. This would be a wonderful place to escape the heat of the sands above. Maybe that’s why they came down this way, to—
Suddenly, with no warning, she found an object in the small of her back. It propelled her forward with a strong burst and sent her flying forward. She put her hands up to reach out for the rock that would be before her, but she found none. She began to panic as she fell through the air. She was falling, and she didn’t know where the bottom was going to be. For what felt like minutes, she fell. The light of the Sanzoral had faded and she didn’t think of her own fate, she only worried for Kera’s. Then the bottom came. She fell to the hard rock, and almost all of the air in her lungs left her. She gasped for more, as she’d landed on her thigh and side, lying dazed and hurt.
It took her a couple of moments to collect her breaths again, and she slowly stood, the side of her body she landed on ached. Luckily it was her side with her injured arm, she thought. Then, a subtle glow emerged from above her. It was a low amber, and then it grew to a golden glow.
Lilaci’s eyes adjusted slowly, but then a silhouette of a figure came into view. It was twenty feet up or higher, holding a torch in its right hand. The figure’s stance was strong, its hair was pulled back, and then the figure’s face began to glow in the torchlight. Its eyes were dark, like twilight on a moonless night. Her expression was stern, and spiteful.
“F—Fewn?” Lilaci whispered up. She then saw the figure hold out the torch before her. It indeed was Fewn. In her daze, Lilaci yelled up, “Throw down a rope.”
Fewn didn’t respond. She only stood there motionless. Looking down on Lilaci, who had gone over to the cliff she’d fallen down. Her fingers reaching for something to grip and climb up with. But she found nothing. The wall was almost completely vertical, and smooth as glass.
“Fewn? What— What is this?”
“This is goodbye, Lilaci.”
“Where’s Kera? Where is she?”
“I have her.”
Fury burned in Lilaci. Instinctively she reached out and found the Sanzoral once again, and her hands erupted into powerful purple flames. But— she felt no sand to gather. She reached out again, and down there in the darkness of the tunnel, she’d left the sands behind, and above.
“What’s that?” Fewn scoffed. “Your powers don’t work down here? That’s too bad. I guess you’ll just have to go that way to get out of that hole.” She hefted the torch high above her. Lilaci looked back to see the tunnel continued down behind her. Dark, and she sensed the air grew thick and murky that way.
“Fewn, take me to Kera or this isn’t going to end well for you. Why are you doing this? I thought we were all going to stay together? We were going to keep each other safe.”
Fewn laughed, and it echoed throughout the tunnels. Her laugh resembled an adult mocking a child’s naivety. It enraged Lilaci. “You think you— or I— could keep Kera safe from the gods themselves? How long did you expect us to walk the sands? How long could you fight off the hordes of Reevins? How long could we dodge the gaze of the commander? How long until they found us, and an army of Scaethers murdered us and took her anyway?” Her tone turned serious. “I believed you, you know? You made me believe that we could be a family. I was fully honest back then in the desert. I believed you. But it was a lie, there was never going to be a happy ending with all of us, and you knew it. Deep down, you knew it. You made me believe a lie! The truth is this— and it’s always been this— we were born to be slaves. We were born to obey. We were born into misery forever. Your hope that we could save her was wrong. . . so wrong.”
“So, what then? Just give her up to the gods? You know what they’ll do to her. They’re going to torture her. Gorlen is going to poison her, and the others are going to kill her, a death by a thousand cuts. You’d give her up to that? What kind of monster are you?
“It’s what we are!” Fewn roared. “Have you forgotten that already? You’ve known it your whole life, and now that you meet an innocent girl for the first time, you change your mind? You’ve killed, you’re not innocent. At least this way I can save myself. We were all doomed to die, it was only a matter of time.”
“What’s changed, Fewn? Tell me. What changed in the last week? You’re not like this. You’re not a traitor. It was going to be the three of us.”
Fewn seemed taken aback, and she lowered the torchlight. “It do
esn’t matter. There’s no going back.”
“What do you mean? What have you done? Tell me!” There’s still time to stop all this, Fewn. Don’t say there’s no changing your mind now. You can still stop this madness.
“I heard his voice. He spoke to me.”
“Who? It was Veranor, wasn’t it?”
Fewn didn’t answer.
“Damn him,” Lilaci said. Even thousands of miles away, he still has to ruin my life. “Damn him to the Eternal Fires! Must he ruin everything good in this life? Don’t listen to him. It’s not too late. Whatever he told you was to manipulate you. Believe me, we can turn this around. We don’t have to listen to his commands anymore. Kera has a power that can save us, can save everyone.”
“I’m sorry, Lilaci. It’s over.”
“No! Don’t let it be. You have a choice, that’s Kera’s gift. She lets us have the power to choose. Don’t give in, there is another way!”
“There’s no other way,” Fewn said softly, turned, and began to walk away.
“Fewn— Fewn!” Lilaci yelled with all her might. She clawed at the wall before her, reaching out for anything to climb up, but found nothing. As the light of the torch faded above her. Lilaci stepped back and her mind swirled in pain and torment. How could you do this? She’s just a girl. She’s just like we used to be— before.
“Kera!” Lilaci yelled up, and her eyes welled up with tears. “Kera! I’m sorry. Don’t leave me, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. Please forgive me. I— I don’t know what to do. She clung to the rock wall and hung her head low. As she dropped her sword to the hard rock it clanged and sent a sharp echo through the tunnels.
As she sobbed into her hands, the pain welled back up into her. Her side, her arm, her head, and now her heart, all ached. As she sobbed, she heard an unusual sound coming in the darkness from behind her. At first, she thought there was something in her mind, as if the spell was returning, but then she stood up and listened, in the silence of the cave there was a slow, low pitched, sliding sound. She knelt and hefted her sword back up to her side. She re-gathered her wits and found the Sanzoral’s light again. She searched out for the bow and collected the arrows and put them back into the quarrel at her back.