Enaya: Solace of Time

by Justin C. Trout

  “Give them their weapons back,” Norcross said.

  A compartment beneath the Ancrya opened up and several rifles and swords were scattered about. The soldiers reached in and grabbed the swords and the staves and a particular crossbow. They handed them to the rightful owner and watched as they adjusted themselves. The soldiers were fixed on Ashera as she arched her spine to place her staves in their holster on her back.

  She knew they were watching.

  “Why are ya givin’ us these?” Locklin asked.

  “To kill the elves with,” Norcross said. “Enaya is mine. No funny business or you all die. Get the job done and you can go.”

  “Where are we going?” Charis asked.

  Norcross turned to the cat-like creature. “To Shebris.”

  “And where do you suggest we start looking for these elves?” Charis asked again.

  Norcross looked around at the forest surrounding the Ozpleasian fields. As his perused eyes searched the valley and the forest, he saw a dense blackness to his west. The blackness appeared to be like a cave from the distance, covered by luxuriant trees. Norcross stepped ahead, and the rest followed him.

  Charis walked over to Leo. She wrapped her arms around him and massaged her head into his chest as cats did their bodies around a human’s leg. Leo rolled his eyes. “Charis, rub up against Bancroft.”

  Bancroft chuckled. “That is not necessary.”

  “I’m not interested in Bancroft,” Charis said.

  “Then find somebody else to get interested in,” Leo said.

  Norcross turned around. “Enough! You act like little children.”

  Leo replied, “Yes, Father.”

  Norcross brought his fist around and hit Leo in the nose. “Shut up.”

  Leo stumbled back. Charis tightened her grip on Leo, while staring Norcross down as he turned his back on them. Once Leo was finished shaking the pain off, Ashera dashed in front of Norcross and held her staff up to his throat.

  “Do not touch one of us again, or you can go elf hunting on your own,” Ashera said.

  The soldiers aimed their weapons at Ashera.

  “Do you hear me?” Ashera continued. She looked at Norcross and then to the soldiers, and quickly she swayed her staff to the side. The Rifles the soldiers had flew out of their hands and landed behind Ashera.

  “Understood,” Norcross said with full confidence.

  Ashera pressed her rod to his throat. “The only reason I don’t kill you now is because I need to get to Nile.”

  Ashera lowered her staff and moved out of the way, allowing the soldiers to grab their weapons and for Norcross to lead them back toward the forest. She fell behind her members and the soldiers. Bancroft looked over his shoulder, winked at her, and then gave her a nod. Ashera smiled, feeling more confident than she had before.

  The entrance to the forest was beautiful and full of life, but as the forest got bigger, the trees died down. They walked until they stepped onto black ground that crunched beneath their feet. Leo squatted down and picked up some of the black substance, and to his surprise, it was grass. The trees were thin and black as well, and gray mist swallowed the atmosphere around them.

  Leo noticed a white bedsheet and a black helmet in a pile of ash. He knew what had become of the soldiers they left in the field the day before. He kicked the helmet into a burnt shrub and turned to the others.

  “Everything is dead,” Norcross said.

  “Why is that, sir?” a soldier asked.

  Norcross scrutinized the area thoroughly. “I don’t know.”

  Leo stepped forward and asked suspiciously, “How do you know where Shebris lives?”

  Norcross turned to him, “Srinath said the other day that she lived west of these fields.”

  “Do we continue walking, sir?” a soldier asked.

  “Yes,” Norcross replied, and he stepped forward.

  As they continued walking, Ashera examined a tree on her passing. Like all trees in this area, it was black, but with a mixture of white and gray on it. She touched the tree and then removed her hand to see a black substance on her fingers. With her thumb, she massaged her fingers to see that the substance had smeared. It was ash. She rubbed her hand on her skirt and then looked around.

  “Stop,” she called.

  Everyone stopped.

  Ashera continued, “I believe we have a problem.”

  “What is it?” Norcross asked.

  Then something large and black swooped from the trees through the mist and snatched a soldier. Everybody turned with their weapons aimed. Leo and Locklin backed near each other while Bancroft and Charis were near Ashera. The soldiers squatted down and rushed around Norcross.

  “What was that?” a soldier asked.

  Then something flew over top of them with wings spread out like waves. It collided into a few trees from above and knocked branches down. Everyone watched the trees shake and could hear the noises of wings flapping.

  “Dragons,” Charis said.

  “What?” Norcross fearfully asked.

  Then there was a loud, horrendous roar that came from behind. Everybody turned to the direction the roar came from. Crawling through the mist like a demon coming out of hell was a large black tank that rushed their way. It took a second to recognize what it was.

  The dragon had a long neck and four horns behind each ear. The horns stuck out and curled at the tips. The wings stretched out nearly forty feet from each tip. It opened its mouth, revealing two sets of razor-sharp teeth on the top and the bottom, each set directly behind the other. Its tongue was long and gray, and its nostrils were oozing mucus. Its claws extended to about six inches, and its knees bent as if it were about to pounce. The tail was long, with large horns at the end.

  “Sir!” a solider screamed

  “Fire!” Norcross yelled.

  The soldiers fired at the dragon. Its scales burned off and smoke leaked from the wound. The dragon roared in pain and then turned to a soldier. It twirled its massive neck around and came down to a sudden stop in front of him. Its colossal jaws opened, and fire whirled out, torching the man alive. The soldier staggered around, waving his arms while screaming, trying to put the flames out. He fell to the ground and rolled around. Norcross aimed at him and fired, quickly putting him out of his misery.

  “Now that was fire dancin’,” Leo remarked.

  “What now, sir?”

  Norcross searched the area quickly, and he pointed straight in front of him. “We run for it!” He went first, and immediately everyone followed him, including the dragon.

  Ashera looked back to see it hovering nearly six feet behind her, and as it cocked its head to breath fire, she pointed her staff at it while running, and the fire hit an invisible shield and blew back to the dragon. The dragon roared and landed, rubbing a paw at its snout.

  “I’m scared!” Leo exclaimed.

  “Eh?” Locklin said.

  “I’m scared!” Leo repeated, but like most things he said, he had a cynical smile.

  “Oh,” Locklin said, gripping his sword.

  Charis leapt instead of run. This was faster for her. She leapt like a cat and was as graceful as one as well. She finally got ahead of Norcross and continued straight. When she looked back, the dragon had caught up with them. It roared and came down with a hard thump in between the group. Charis and Norcross were separated from the rest.

  Norcross pulled out his pistols and unloaded rounds into the dragon, but they were not enough to stun it. It spun around and whipped its tail into Norcross, knocking him about ten feet to the side and into a tree. The dragon stumbled to the side and lifted its tail. Charis saw the others on the opposite side. The tail crashed into the ground as it roared, and then soldiers fired at it. Once the dragon lifted its tail again, Charis dashed for the others.

  “Keep firing!” Norcross screamed as he got to his feet.

  “I don’t know what to do, eh,” Locklin said.

  Ashera twirled her staff around her body, and
then brought it straight in front of her. The tip of the staff shone, and a bright purple light flashed from the rod. The light hit the dragon like a knife and broke through its skin. The dragon roared and backed away. The beast glanced at its wound and grew even more agitated, and it quickly jerked its head toward them and breathed fire. Ashera threw out her staff and the flames stopped at the tip of her rod.

  Ashera then held up her left hand and lowered the staff with her other. She could feel the flames warming her. She brought back her left arm and then threw it forward, and the flames shot back to the dragon, hitting it in the face. The dragon lowered its head to the ground and crawled backward, squirming like a beheaded snake.

  A soldier quickly threw a grenade at the beast, and it landed right beside its squirmy head. The grenade exploded, and the lower jaw to the dragon was severed off. The brute staggered like a drunk. It crawled backward for a few seconds and moved its head from side to side, and with a sudden clash, it fell to the ground.

  Ashera leaned on her staff, breathing hard. “Magic . . . uses a lot . . . of energy.”

  Leo clapped his hands as if he were dusting them off. He turned around and stopped. His eyes were wide, and his smile faded into nothing. “We have another problem,” he said.

  Slowly, everybody turned around. Was it another dragon? Ashera gripped her staff hard, the sweat sliding against the wood in the palm of her hand, and she froze at the sight before her. The cold fog dampened against her skin as she watched the dozen shadows lurch through the mist hungrily, and all at once they moaned.

  “What is that?” Norcross asked, looking to Bancroft.

  “I have no idea,” he said, stepping in front of his friends.

  The figures continued to stumble across the ash field. The smell of smoke drowned out the putrid odor that gleamed from their decaying corpses. Their armor clanged together, performing a haunting tune as they staggered through mist. Then, all at once, they came into view.

  The undead.

  One stumbled upon Norcross, carrying a battle-ax. Norcross placed the pistol in its mouth and fired. The bullet shattered through the skull, dispersing dust into the air, but it didn’t die. It stumbled back across the ash and caught its footing. The battle-ax rose above its head and it staggered to Norcross again.

  “How do you kill them?” he asked, agitated.

  Ashera swayed her staff to the side and a gust of wind blew into the undead, but they remained standing. “They’re protected by magic.”

  One of the undead lunged at a soldier, falling on top of him and forcing him on the ground. The undead got to its feet, brought the sword over its head, and came down. The soldier rolled out of the way, feeling the wind of the blade. He got to his feet, ripped off his helmet, and threw it at the undead. The undead flinched, staggered back, and then came forward again.

  Charis fired an arrow through the head on one, but it continued lurching forward with the arrow buried into the skull. There was no blood, only dust. She loaded another arrow and fired it into the chest, but it only pierced the armor and skin. The undead still remained undead.

  “The head,” Bancroft said. “Remove the head.”

  Locklin stepped forward and swung the sword into the neck of one of the undead. The head fell and turned into dust, and the body followed. There was nothing left, not even the armor. Locklin glanced at Bancroft and nodded. “It works.”

  “Remove the head!” Norcross exclaimed.

  Bancroft went straight for the neck of an undead, but he slipped and lost his footing. The undead swung the sword, but Bancroft brought his up in time to block the attack. Dust flung from the blades and Bancroft kicked the undead back. He stepped forward and brought the sword clean through the neck. The undead fell into a pile of dust.

  The soldiers fired together at one of the necklines. The bullets pierced through the decaying flesh like it was a sheered curtain. The bones crumbled and the head fell off. They found another undead, the closest one, and fired into the neck. The same motions happened and again, it decayed back into the earth.

  Two of the undead came behind the group of soldiers. Norcross glanced across the ash into his squadron to see two swords pierced through the torso of his soldiers. The undead pulled their swords out and the soldiers fell. The undead had proven to be very sneaky, two of which killed Norcross’s men, then a third one fell with an ax through the chest.

  Leo, Bancroft, and Locklin swung into the necks of the undead. One head fell, then two and then three, but six remained. The moans sent chills up Leo’s spine as he backed away next to Ashera. She held her staff, watching everybody else take care of the dust problem. She leaned in on her staff and was amazed at how quickly the undead were dying. She had to admit that when she first saw them creeping through the fog she knew they were far from Nile, but now they were only closer.

  Norcross fired two shots into the throat of one. The head severed off and fell into a pile of dust. The body did the same. Norcross loaded his pistol, staggered upon the pile, and kicked it as hard as he could, angry at the situation that trespassed upon their goal. If this was the work of Shebris, he was going to be sure to give her and extra shot in the face.

  Five more left.

  Ashera swayed her staff around her body. Her cape fluttered and spread out like wings and her hair twirled around her as well. She brought her staff from the side, almost like a dance, and a streak of white lightning burst from her staff, decapitating one of the undead soldiers. It fell into a pile of dust from where it once came, and Ashera broke apart her staff, holding the pieces at her waist.

  Four more left.

  The four stopped moving, frozen in marching position. Norcross threw up a fist and his soldiers halted. The Magical stiffened behind them as the dust from the fallen undead gathered up. Each grain rolled under the armor and lifted it up, shifting into position until the dust became the undead again.

  All the ones that had fallen were now standing.

  “It’s a curse,” Ashera said. “There is blackness behind this. We can’t fight them any longer. We need to run for it.”

  “Very well,” Norcross said. “Go!”

  They turned and ran through the black forest hastily. There was a fallen log up ahead and Leo tried to jump it, but he missed and his foot went through it. The ash ate up to his knee. He kept pushing further. He glanced back to see the soldiers were running after him, their rifles slightly pointed at the Magical.

  Charis had dashed ahead of everybody, pouncing on all fours. Leo smirked. There was a clearing and a lot of light ahead. The forest was starting to become green again. It was a slightly more pleasing view, considering the circumstances that they were facing. The leafy part of the forest welcomed them and they dashed through it and between the trees, finding comfort in the solace of nature.

  There was something up ahead.

  A stone structure built into the mountain.

  They ran harder, sweating and huffing, then burst out of the forest. They came to a stop. Leo was laughing a sense of relief and Bancroft smiled at him.

  “Gotta quit smokin’,” Locklin said as he bent over and rested his hands upon his knees.

  Norcross was breathing hard, staring at the structure. “Is this it?”

  “I don’t know,” said a soldier.

  “Well, best not waste more time. You! Go first,” he said, pointing to Leo.

  Leo looked into the gaping hole of a door. “It’s too dark in there.”

  Norcross shot the ground beside his feet, and Leo jumped in panic. “Go now, Leo!”

  “I don’t want—”

  Norcross shot at Leo’s feet again.

  Leo gulped and trembled as he placed each foot in front of him up the steps. It seemed to him that the black kept getting blacker. Sweat drenched down his face, sticking to his already dirty head. He wiped the sweat off and felt a clump of something hard in his hair. He pulled at it, only to realize it was a clump of dried dirt. He came to the entrance and looked through. He saw noth
ing. He placed a foot across the stone and into the darkness and he felt something squash beneath his feet. Leo’s eyes rolled to the back of his head and a sour face overcame him, but he continued through anyway.

  Chapter 42

  It Starts Here

  “Let me help you,” Nile said.

  “You’re going to,” Shebris replied. She glanced over to Srinath and Ramiel and nodded. The two elves rushed Nile and grabbed each arm, forcing him down to his knees. They held him there, and Shebris’s left hand became encompassed with mist. The mist swallowed her pale skin, wrapping around her forearm as it extended out into a sword.

  “You don’t have to do this.”

  She ignored him and placed a cold hand upon his cheek. Srinath and Ramiel released their grip. “Back to Solace of Time we go.”

  “Hey!” called a voice.

  They turned to the entrance, stunned. Nile was a relieved. Leo peered through the doorway, followed by the others. He was excited to see Nile and he wanted to jump the stairs and greet him with a hug, but Shebris was glaring at him. Leo became encompassed with fear. Nile jumped to his feet at the sight of Leo and Ashera, but Srinath punched his spine and pressed him down back onto his knees. Shebris hissed at them. Leo began down the steps and the others followed them.

  “How did you get here?” Nile asked.

  “We had help,” Leo replied.

  Through the doorway, he saw soldiers and Norcross follow them. Nile gasped in defeat. It would have been too easy if his friends were to show up on their own, surviving the cells in Silvago. But now, Nile realized that there was never an easy way. Life always presented a tougher route, a harder path, a journey that was always unpleasant. The opposite of what he wanted.

  Leo stepped onto the wet platform first. The rest followed. Leo pointed his sword to Shebris. “It’s over,” he said with a warrior’s smile.