The Aether Knight

by E A Hooper

  “I had trouble with them at first,” Eldsworth said. “I couldn’t control them with spears, torches, or most kinds of torture. They have an almost insect like nature. They always work together, even when you bring several from different locations and put them together. They immediately form a cohesive unit. And despite their timid nature, they have a high tolerance for pain. Torture proved ineffective until I started using acid. It causes permanent damage to their tough skin. Once the spots start to rot, they’ll pick at it to try to remove it, causing them severe distress. I’ve had some limited results in controlling them by making commands while threatening them with acid.”

  Tachios turned his gray eyes to the passage. “I see their auras are fleeing from the soldiers,” he said, loudly.

  Thanks for the warning, brother, Pyre thought to himself as he readied.

  The first strangeman ran from the tunnel and into the arena. It took a sharp turn along the wall and looked around in a panic. It didn’t have a weapon, and its bug-like eyes searched for escape. Pyre could see the patches of pale, rotting skin where he assumed Eldsworth had tortured it with acid, and he felt sad when he swung his sword and released his power.

  A flame roared from the sword toward the panicking, confused strangeman. The tall, lithe creature didn’t have time to react, and the fire engulfed it. It fell to the ground, twitching and curling its burned body, but it didn’t make a sound.

  Three more strangemen rushed from the tunnel. They watched Pyre use his power and immediately circled around the other side of the arena with daggers in their hands. Darvon kept his spear pointed at them, but their eyes stayed on Pyre.

  “Here comes the last one,” Tachios called.

  The last strangeman, the one with the injured shoulder, walked out of the passage with a knife in each hand. It glanced over the arena once and then focused its view on Pyre’s flaming sword.

  Pyre roared, channeling his power into the sword once more, and swung at the last strangeman. A wave of flames flew forth, but the creature ducked under the fire and retreated toward its burned friend. It grabbed its ally, pulled it to its feet, and handed it one of the knives. Despite having burns that would incapacitate a human or wyrgen, the burned strangeman followed its friend as they circled around the arena.

  “They’re trying to surround us,” Darvon said, keeping his spear aimed at the other three. “Blast them, dammit.”

  “I got one good, but it’s still moving,” Pyre said. “They’re hard to keep down.”

  “Don’t look too strong, though,” Darvon told him. “Just hard to kill. Like big insects.”

  Pyre released a shower of sparks from the sword at the two by themselves. The strangemen ducked and ran along the wall. He blasted them with two more waves to keep them running as he tried to force them where he could see all five at once. However, he glanced back and saw the other three moving along the wall to stay on the opposite end from their injured friends.

  “St-st-st,” one of the dark creatures called from beneath the shower of sparks.

  Pyre paused, and the entire crowd leaned forward.

  “Is it—speaking?” Eldsworth said, rising to his feet. “I never got them to speak. Even with the acid. What’s it saying?”

  “St-st-st,” the one with the injured shoulder said. “Op.”

  “Stop?” Pyre questioned. “I think it’s saying stop.”

  Eldsworth chuckled. “It’s a little late for that. Good to know these things can communicate. I’ll remember that for the next batch.”

  Pyre gnashed his teeth and stared down the strangemen. “I’m sorry,” he shouted. “I’m a prisoner too. If I don’t kill you, he’ll kill those children.”

  The strangeman with the injured shoulder looked at Pyre, Eldsworth, and then the children. Its mandibles clicked together, and the others looked at it. Its eyes went back to Pyre, however. “Ki-ki-ill. El-El-Elds.”

  Does it want me to help it kill Eldsworth? Maybe it thinks we can work together and escape.

  “I can’t,” Pyre told it. “He can disable my powers. This is the only way.”

  “He-he-he-elp.”

  “I can’t,” Pyre said, sadly.

  “Th-th-en. W-w-wait.”

  This thing is up to something. Guess I’ll wait and see.

  “What the hell is it saying?” Eldsworth asked, nearing the edge of the pit.

  “The hell if I know,” Pyre replied. “I think it might be stupid.”

  “Shut it up with fire,” Darvon grumbled.

  “I need to conserve my strength,” Pyre told him. “If they charge us at once, I can push them back with the fire. We’ll just have to wait and pick our time to attack.”

  “Don’t you think that’s what they’re doing?” Darvon argued.

  The five strangemen continued to circle around in unison. The three always stayed parallel to the other two. Their movements stayed slow, almost like insects, but Pyre had already noticed they could pick up their pace when they wanted.

  Wyrgen are faster than humans in quick bursts but run out of stamina faster. I imagine these things have even more extreme physical characteristics. They creep and crawl until they’re ready to strike, but I know they’re fast when they want to be.

  The strangemen came to a halt, and the two men readied themselves.

  “They’re about to try something,” Darvon said. “Get ready.”

  Eldsworth looked at the three strangemen positioned just below him in the pit. “Someone grab me the acid,” he muttered to his guards with a smile on his face.

  Out of the corner of Pyre’s eye, he thought he saw his brother Tachios stir in his seat. He sees something, doesn’t he? Pyre’s eyes went to Eldsworth, the three strangemen, and then the other two. Oh, I see. They were trying to line up with Eldsworth.

  “Darvon,” Pyre whispered. “Dive out of the way when they charge us in a second.”

  “What’s that?” Darvon asked.

  Before the thief could repeat himself, the two injured strangemen launched forward as fast as the fastest wyrgen Pyre had ever seen. The burned one ran ahead of the one with the injured shoulder. It raised its knife to strike, but Pyre pulled Darvon out of the way. He felt pain shoot up his injured leg, but the thief ignored it.

  Darvon turned, saw the strangeman, and drove his spear through its chest while its ally ran past them. The one with the injured shoulder charged across the arena, and two of its waiting friends kneeled low and held their hands out. It jumped onto their hands and then leaped as they hurled it upward.

  Everyone in the amphitheater, especially Eldsworth himself, looked shocked as the strangeman landed on the ledge in front of the lord. The strangeman grabbed Eldsworth by the collar and held the knife to his throat. “Fr-Fr-ee. Uh-Uh-ss.”

  The crowd erupted with screams, but Pyre noticed a small smile that appeared on his sister’s sickly face. Tachios showed no emotion and seemed relaxed and unconcerned with Eldsworth’s wellbeing.

  Before the lord could answer, Darvon’s spear flew through the air and hit the strangeman in its side. Its grip weakened on Eldsworth for just a moment, and the lord shoved it over the ledge. It hit the dirt in front of its three friends and twitched in pain.

  “The acid!” Eldsworth roared, angry in a way Pyre had never seen. “Give me the gods-damned acid.” A terrified guard came forward with a metallic jug. Eldsworth took the jug and dumped a silvery liquid on the four strangemen below him.

  All four strangemen released high-pitch screams, and the three standing ones scattered to the other end of the arena. Their movements slowed before they reached the other side, and then they became still and watched their friend. The one with the spear in its side squirmed on the ground as Eldsworth emptied the entire container on it. It screamed and convulsed and twisted its body in agony as it tried to move away from the arena wall.

  Pyre could hear its skin sizzling from the middle of the arena, and the smell of its burning flesh would’ve made him vomit if Eldsworth had given h
im lunch. He noticed Bels’s smile had vanished, leaving only an empty gaze, and even Tachios looked disappointed.

  “You, sir!” Eldsworth shouted at Darvon. “You just earned your freedom. Hell, I’ll let you take any of your surviving friends, and we’ll give you gold and horses to return to your kingdom.”

  “Thank you, Lord Eldsworth,” Darvon said, bowing.

  “Pyre,” Eldsworth called. “Kill those three monsters before they try anything else. They only attack in quick bursts, so you should have no trouble while they’re still. For each one you kill, I’ll free one of these children. So, three for three. Fair deal?”

  Pyre didn’t answer, but he turned to the three strangemen. They had huddled together and become perfectly still. Their eyes focused on him as his sword began to glow red hot once more. “I apologize,” he told them, “but I must save those children.”

  They remained still as he descended on them. Not even the heat of the blade stirred them. Later in his cell, Pyre wondered if they had given up hope of survival or if they simply lacked the strength to fight back. Not one moved a muscle as he chopped them down.

  Chapter 7

  “Mil, talk to me,” Valx shouted at the door. When she didn’t respond, he huffed and turned to the stairs.

  Lilan waited by the stairs with a slight smile on her face. “She still won’t talk to you? It’s been three days.”

  “This is your fault,” he grumbled, walking past her.

  Lilan followed him downstairs with a frown on her face. “But I didn’t do anything.”

  “You’re here,” he said. “You put a piece of yourself inside me and talked to me in my sleep. She thinks I led you here on purpose.”

  “You did,” she replied. “Maybe not consciously, but you wanted me here.”

  “No, it’s a side effect of your power. It must be. You messed with my head.”

  “I did not,” she said, pouting.

  Joceline greeted them at the bottom of the stairs. Valx had noticed over the last three days that she rarely left Lilan’s side, and when she did, she remained nearby. King Thod had offered Lilan personal guards while she stayed in Direlight, for the sake of the treaty, but the Northerners had refused.

  “He looks angry,” Jocy whispered to Lilan. “I presume that young lady still refuses to speak to him?”

  “He’ll be fine,” Lilan replied.

  “I’d be fine if you quit following me around,” Valx told her.

  He started to walk across the room but paused when he saw someone in a black cloak talking to Lorkle at the counter. “Barthlomex?” he called.

  Mil’s father turned his beak-shaped mask toward Valx’s direction. “Valx, my boy. What’s this Lorkle is telling me about Northerners in Direlight? And my daughter passed her exam but will have to go to a peace summit in the North?”

  “Those are the two Northerners right there,” Lorkle whispered to him.

  “Where?” Barthlomex asked, looking around.

  “The two women beside Valx,” Lorkle noted.

  “Oh,” the doctor said, his body tensing.

  “They won’t cause any trouble,” Valx said. “This one follows me around, and the other follows her. I’ll head back to the castle before the guests realize Reaper’s daughter is in the building.”

  “Reaper’s daughter?” Barthlomex said. “My gods, does that mean she’s greatborn?”

  “We both are,” Lilan said, gesturing to Jocy. “I’d show you my power, but it’d make a mess of this establishment—and its guests.”

  Lorkle gaped.

  “Is Mil upstairs?” Barthlomex asked. “Lorkle just told me she was upset. She doesn’t have to go to the peace summit if she doesn’t want. She and I could leave the city until it’s safe.”

  “She wants to go,” Valx said. “I tried to convince her not to, but she won’t listen. I’m the one she’s angry at. You can ask her why. I’m done arguing about it.”

  “Oh, so things aren’t good between you two right now?” he said. “Well, if she’s going to the peace summit, then I’ll see if I can follow. I assume you’ll be there, Valx?”

  “I didn’t want to,” he said. “However, if she’s going, then I will to make sure it’s not a trap. Thod is preparing his army, and he wants to head out in a few days. That way, his surveyors have time to search every inch of Castle Titanweir and the city of Varsith.”

  “Varsith?” Barthlomex said. “That’s Reaper’s city. That’s where we’re going? Sounds like a trap to me.”

  “Thod already sent couriers to the Bay Nation and the Eastern Kingdom,” Valx told him. “He and his army will wait at Castle Stoneborn until we hear from them. If the Bay Nation or the Eastern Kingdom turns down the peace summit, then Thod will bring his army back to Direlight.”

  “They won’t turn it down,” Lilan said. “They don’t have much of a choice. The Islanders are only halting their attacks on the Bay Nation if they come. And the Eastern vassals have already had correspondence with Lord Cire and Lord Lito. All of them want to prevent a full-on war between the East and the North.”

  “So, the peace summit might really end the fighting?” Barthlomex said. “Thank the gods.”

  “No, thank my father,” Lilan said.

  “Let’s go,” Valx told the Northerners. “Barthlomex, I’m staying at the castle since Mil won’t let me into the room. Tell her I’ll talk to her again when she’s ready. Just let her know I love her.”

  Barthlomex nodded. “Will do, Valx. You be safe. Keep an eye on those two. Especially when they’re near the king.” He walked past, keeping his distance from the Northerners, and then went upstairs.

  Valx waved to Lorkle and then headed out of the building. Nevin waited outside, leaning against the wall. His eyes slanted when Lilan and Jocy stepped outside.

  “You don’t have to follow us,” Lilan told him.

  “I do,” Nevin said. “We can’t have people like you running around Direlight unsupervised.”

  “Valx is supervising us,” she replied.

  “Yeah, but if you attack him, he’d be in a two on one battle.”

  “I’d never attack my dear Valx. But if I did, you wouldn’t be able to stop me.”

  “You don’t think so?” Nevin replied.

  Lilan smiled at him, and the Highguardsman glared in reply.

  “We’re not here to cause trouble,” Joceline interrupted. “We’re here in the name of peace.”

  “Yeah, right,” Nevin said. “You Northerners started this war. No one believes you want peace.”

  “My father started this war to unite Ter’al before the Feyans arrive,” Lilan replied.

  “I don’t believe it,” Nevin told her. “Some far off land is going to show up and destroy us all? So, your father thought the way to stop it was to destroy us first? Either you’re lying, or Reaper isn’t as smart as everyone says he is.”

  “Or you don’t see the whole picture like he does,” Lilan said, angrily.

  “You don’t like it when people insult your father, do you?” Nevin asked. “I’ll keep that in mind—what did the king call you the other day? Little Miss Reaper?”

  An irritated look crossed Lilan’s face. “I don’t care to hear insults about my father from some lowly guard with a cape.”

  “Insulting my cape, huh?” Nevin said, grinning. “Not very clever from one of Reaper’s spawn. You must be one of the throwaways. He has so many after all.”

  “He doesn’t have any like me,” she replied.

  “Oh, you think you’re special?” Nevin said. “I bet all his children think they’re special. All his wives too.”

  “But none of them have metamorphosis,” she said, menacingly.

  Nevin paused and gaped at her.

  “Miss Lilan,” Jocy said, worriedly. “Please, don’t frighten them. We’re here for peace, remember?”

  “You have that power?” Nevin asked, moving from the wall. “The one Valx’s brother had? And we let you in the castle? Valx, did you know t
his?”

  “I didn’t,” he admitted, glaring at the girl.

  “We can’t let her back in the castle,” Nevin said, thumbing his sword handle. “She shouldn’t even be in the city if she has metamorphosis. She’s a monster.”

  “I am,” she mocked. “Luckily for you, I’m here for peace.”

  “The queen would know if she was a danger,” Valx said. “Silvina’s brother even said for me to trust her.”

  “We can’t trust someone with that power,” he said. “Who would stop her if she attacked Thod?”

  “I would,” Valx replied. “I stopped my brother after all.”

  “And you almost died,” Nevin said. “You only won because of ascension or whatever the hell it’s called.”

  “Technically, it was a pseudo-ascension,” a voice called from the roof.

  Valx looked up to see Shift, with her Silver Knight face, sitting on top The Rotten Apple.

  “And the girl won’t try anything,” Shift told him. “If she did, I’d wait till her metamorphosis ran out, and then I’d kill her. Her friend there would be dead by that point. Trust me, I’ve dealt with countless greatborn. I’ve learned how to plan for all kinds of abilities.”

  “So, you could stop her from killing Thod if she tried?” Nevin asked.

  “I doubt it,” Shift replied. “I’d just kill her after her rampage was over.”

  “What about at the peace summit?” Nevin asked. “If Eldsworth enables greatborn powers, our side will be at a huge disadvantage.”

  “What if I teach Valx metamorphosis?” Lilan responded.

  “You can do that?” Valx asked.

  “Surely, you have the potential for it,” she said. “You descend from the Delgard Clan. Their exotic auras let them use metamorphosis, and you have as much power as your brother. Likely more hidden inside you. I’d love to see how much power you have.”

  “It’s difficult to use my power now,” Valx said, touching his scarred stomach. “When I try to draw out my abilities, I feel a sharp pain where my brother injured me. I don’t think you healed it all the way.”

  “I had to do quick work to save your life,” Lilan said. “If you want, I might be able to use my power on you again. Complex healing usually takes me a few sessions. Once I fix the damage that’s causing you pain, I’ll begin training you to unlock metamorphosis.”