Death Flag

  Lord Fox nodded and then turned his attention to one of the side doors as it opened. Madison glanced in that direction, and he felt his heart stop. A beautiful young woman with silvery-white hair and frosty blue eyes that were marred with sorrow and rimmed with red stepped into the room to join the others. She must have felt his gaze on her because she turned her attention away from Lord Fox and locked her attention on him.

  “Ah. Yes. Guardian, this is my daughter Alyanna,” Lord Fox said by way of introduction.

  “It is a pleasure to meet you,” Ryder said solemnly with a slight bow of his head. “I wish it were under different circumstances.”

  Alyanna smiled faintly and said softly, “It is simply the way, Guardian. And the pleasure is mine. I understand that it was you who allowed me the pleasure of visiting the sacred grove behind this building. It was very comforting to have somewhere to gather my thoughts during this trying time.”

  Oh shit. When she said she needed time to be alone and collect her thoughts, it was because her brother was on his deathbed? What the hell? You’re so screwed, Madison.

  “Think nothing of it,” Ryder insisted.

  There was a quick knock at the door, but before anyone could even turn to answer it, Sherrie was already inside. A quick glance from Ryder told her everything she needed to know, however, and she stopped dead in her tracks. A pained looked flashed across her face for a brief instant, but it was gone just as quickly. “I’m sorry,” she said, looking at Lord Fox. “I came as quickly as I heard.”

  “As I was just telling Guardian Ryder, it is simply the way,” Lord Fox said, offering her a reassuring smile.

  For someone who just lost his son, he’s definitely doing a lot to make everyone else feel better, Madison observed.

  Lord Fox took a deep breath and gathered himself as if he were about to give a big speech, and Madison suddenly realized how tired he looked. There were dark circles underneath his eyes, making him look as if he hadn’t slept for days. “I don’t mean to be rude, Guardians, but as there is nothing that can be done here at the moment, I think it would be best if we were to have some time alone. I know that none of us has rested since we arrived, and there is much to accomplish in less time now than we had planned. Guardian Ryder, if you would be so kind as to let me know when the meeting can be arranged, I would appreciate it. Until then, thank you both for the concern you have shown for Darrius.”

  “Of course, Lord Fox.” Ryder bowed his head slightly and turned away, silently motioning for Madison to follow him as he did.

  “If there is anything we can do, please let us know,” Sherrie offered, turning to leave before Ryder even reached the door.

  Madison was slow to move, his vision locked on Alyanna. She glanced his way, and the two shared a look for a moment before she said, “Father, I would like to take a walk if that’s alright.”

  “Of course, child,” the old man responded tenderly. “Guardian Ryder, I doubt that it is necessary, but would you prepare an escort for my daughter? Perhaps someone who would be willing to show her around?”

  “That’s not necessary, father. I believe this young man here will do nicely,” she said, indicating Madison where he stood just adjacent to the entrance.

  All eyes in the room turned to lock onto him, most of them just now noticing him for the first time. “Who is—”

  “It would be my pleasure,” Madison responded politely, interrupting Lord Fox before he or anyone else could raise an objection. He had to fight back the urge to grin like an idiot. He felt like someone had just given him the last slice of chocolate cake and then told him not to tell anyone. He bowed his head slightly to Lord Fox. “I will return her to your care shortly,” he promised, holding out his hand for Alyanna to come and join him. He had absolutely no idea what the proper thing to do was, so he just went with it. Customs often varied drastically between different cultures, and even the simplest, most-innocent gesture could be mistaken for an insult in another culture if one wasn’t careful. There was no telling what these people considered right and proper, but he had a feeling that they weren’t going to be a stickler for propriety. They might have been some type of royalty, but something about the way they carried themselves told him that they were likely to be more comfortable in the middle of the woods than at a formal ball.

  “Very well,” Lord Fox consented. “Please, do not stay too long, Alyanna. I know that you must need some time with your thoughts, but you are needed here with your family as well. Your brother’s death will change a great many things, I’m afraid.”

  “Of course, father. It is simply the way,” she replied, gliding across the room and accepting Madison’s proffered hand.

  Despite his lack of knowledge on the subject, he assumed that it would have been more proper for her to take his arm, but he also assumed that might have been a little too friendly for others’ tastes. He had no problem pushing boundaries, but he also had no misconceptions about what would happen to him if he jumped across that line head-first with two of the strongest people in the fortress and an angry, offended father in the same room with him. He might be brash at times, but he was no fool.

  Madison turned toward the door, acting the part of the perfect gentlemen escort—as best as he knew how, anyway. He led her past a stunned Ryder and Sherrie, who looked like she was going to bore a hole through his head from the intensity of her gaze, and politely opened the door and held it open for her. The most miraculous thing was that he managed to navigate that simple task without ever letting go of her hand. It felt small and delicate and warm in his own hand—an entirely different sensation from what he had experienced earlier.

  He led her down the short hallway and listened as the others followed behind. He had absolutely no desire to hear any speeches about what would happen to him if he let something happen to Alyanna or if he didn’t act the part of the perfect gentlemen, so he didn’t stick around long enough to give them the opportunity to say anything. Instead, he quickly led her through the first available door and then casually took a series of random turns until he was certain the magic had gotten them lost.

  “I hate to admit it,” Madison began as they leisurely walked down a hallway, “but I was serious when I said that I was new around here. I’m probably about the worst tour guide anyone could imagine.”

  Alyanna smiled faintly and shook her head. “No, that’s okay. It wasn’t so much about sightseeing as it was just getting a chance to get away.”

  Madison nodded. “I’ve been in my fair share of those situations before. I understand how taxing it can be.”

  “It is not our way to grieve for the dead,” she said softly, “but . . .” She trailed off and studied the floor as they walked.

  “But he was your brother,” Madison finished for her.

  Alyanna didn’t respond but simply let herself be lead along in silence for a while.

  Eventually, Madison opened a final door for her and ushered her out onto a small, stone-paved patio. He had been here once before, early in the morning in the predawn hours of the day, and he had made a mental note to come back at some point. It stuck out in his mind now for some reason, and he supposed it was about as good a place as any if all she wanted was some time to herself. Thankfully, it also turned out to be empty.

  The patio was much as he remembered it, though this was his opportunity to see it in the light of day. Framed in by the building’s high walls on all sides, it was filled with planters and small trees that grew up from the brick and was decorated with a few random benches and chairs placed around the raised fountain that dominated most of the space against the back wall. It was about as cozy and scenic as he knew how to provide without actually going back out into the woods he had been told were forbidden.

  Alyanna seemed to be satisfied with his choice of venue. She glanced around once to take in what little there was to offer and then walked over next to the fountain, settling down onto one of the long wooden benches.

  Madison knew that the bes
t thing he could do at the moment was to be supportive, but that didn’t mean he necessarily knew what he was supposed to do. He had never been good with things like this. He knew how to offer the common platitudes and condolences, but beyond that, he never really knew how to act. He’d been to the funerals of most of his family, and his friends’ families, and to a handful of friends, but it never seemed to get any easier knowing what to say or feel. Now, he was in an even more peculiar situation. He was alone with a beautiful young woman whom he barely knew yet felt more intimately connected to than anyone he could think of. He had only met her less than half a day ago, and yet he somehow felt that she was already a major part of his life.

  In the end, Madison simply sat down next to her on the bench and watched the ripples spread across the surface of the water as the fish swam around underneath. Everyone reacted to the death of a loved one differently, but he could tell that she was trying to be strong and not show any emotion. He had picked up on the fact that both she and her father said it was simply ‘the way,’ and while he didn’t know exactly what that meant, he was certain it had something to do with a cultural acceptance of death.

  The two sat like that for a while until she eventually broke the silence. “My father’s advisers warned us that making this trip was a mistake,” she said quietly. “They told us that misfortune would find its way into our homes if we traveled south. Now, they’re all going to be proved right.”

  Carefully, Madison answered, “I can’t say I know what that’s like. Most of the time, whenever someone tells me that I can’t do something, it’s just encouragement to do it even more. I’m sort of like a child in that aspect.”

  “When you have people that depend on you for their livelihood, it’s not always that simple,” she answered wearily. “It is my family’s job to accept the advice of a few and make the best decisions for many. Now . . .”

  “Don’t get me wrong,” Madison countered. “There’s good advice, and there’s bad advice. But when someone says ‘this is going to turn out badly,’ I just want to prove them wrong. I take it as a form of inspiration and motivation.”

  She shifted slightly next to him, and for a brief moment, he was afraid that he had said something wrong. The last thing he wanted to happen right now was for her to stand up and leave him. “It’s not always about being right or wrong; it’s about accepting the consequences of your actions,” she explained solemnly.

  Madison shook his head. “Okay. This might be a bad example . . . actually, it’s a horrible example . . . But, anyway, there was once a young man who wanted to court a young woman. He began talking to her at first, and as time passed, things began to grow serious. The young woman’s parents were fine with the young couple’s relationship until it became something more than a passing interest. When that happened, the young woman’s mother approached the young man and his family and told them that their relationship was unacceptable. She swore that the young man would never amount to anything and that he wasn’t good enough for their daughter who was destined for greatness.”

  “What does . . .?” She looked up at him, a slightly-confused expression on her face.

  Ok, well, maybe this example is even worse than I thought. Probably shouldn’t talk about romance and love while she’s mourning the loss of her brother, you insensitive jackass. “Why did you come south?” Madison asked, deciding to try a different tactic. “Why did you decide to come to K’yer Utane? It’s not exactly a common occurrence—or, well, so I’ve been told anyway.”

  “We came to ask for the Guardians’ help,” she answered quietly. “Many did not believe that this place even existed. They said that it was only a myth for children. But my father swore that it did. He was certain that we would find help here.”

  Madison furrowed his brow and thought back furiously over everything he had heard the last few days. No one ever just came right out and said anything, so he struggled along to piece things together as he could. What was it Warren told me? That K’yer Utane existed to make sure that the world didn’t go to shit again? And Cruz said that there was a war going on somewhere? And that people were expecting K’yer Utane to get involved?

  “You came to ask for help with the war?” he said at last. It was absolutely an off-the-wall guess, but it was the best he had to keep the conversation going. He wasn’t exactly planning on pumping her for information, but he was all too willing to take it if she handed it to him.

  “Yes,” she answered simply.

  “What would make you go in search of a mythical land—a hidden world that you didn’t even know existed—if you were caught up in a war?”

  She was silent for a moment as she studied the fountain in front of them. Just like when he had visited before, there was no running water. Every time he thought of a fountain he thought of it spewing water, and now that he was looking at one, it was hard to believe it actually existed. The life-sized statue depicted a mythical creature that looked like a cross between a human, a faery, and a serpent. It had the long and thick body of a massive snake for his lower half, human’s body for its upper half, two massive faery-like wings on its back, and it was holding a net in one hand and a trident in the other.

  “This statue . . .” she began. “It is a statue of a Naga. Although I have never seen one, I am certain that they exist. Traveling to their homeland on the Southern Ocean was once a dream of mind as a child. I dreamed of what it would be like to smell the salty air from the sea and walk along their paved streets that are said to be lined with finely-crafted statues of their heroes. I imagined what it would be like to see all the traders and craftsmen and people from all the different races coming together in harmony. Have you ever been there?” she asked.

  Wait, you’re serious? Naga are real in this world? “No,” he answered honestly. “But it’s always been a dream of mine to travel. I want to see new places and experience them for myself.”

  “So, you would travel to places you’ve never seen? So that you can experience them for yourself? How is that any different than us traveling here? How do you know that those places even exist until you are there?”

  “I suppose I can see what you mean,” Madison admitted. “But there’s a difference in following a map to a place someone has been before and searching for a mystical lost land of assassins—or whatever this place is,” he added a bit more crossly than he intended.

  She smiled and turned to look up at him. “You are very caught up in what is real and what isn’t, aren’t you?”

  Madison raised an eyebrow. “What makes you say that?”

  Smiling slyly, she asked, “They teach magic here, correct?”

  “Yes. Although, I’m so new that I haven’t been able to study it at all. And I don’t think that’s the path I would take anyway.”

  She shook her head firmly. “No, you are not a magician, and you never will be. I am certain that is not your path in life. But, I will teach you the first lesson about magic because it is applicable now. Magic is all about intent. Magic is controlled by intent. As long as knowledge and intent and ability exist, magic is formed and is functional.”

  As convoluted as that is, it makes sense. As long as I intend to find my way to something in the main building, the magic will lead me there. Alright. That’s simple enough. “So, you’re saying that, because you intended to find your way here, you did?”

  She giggled, and it was a soft, musical sound. “No. Magic is never that simple! But, what magic creates is not real until it is created. Correct? Fire certainly exists somewhere in the world, but it doesn’t necessarily exist in a particular spot until it’s created with magic. As long as the knowledge of fire exists, and a magician intends to create a fireball, he can. Do you see?”

  “But that would mean that you had to have prior knowledge of K’yer Utane. You had to know it existed,” he countered.

  She turned back to look at the fountain and then settled down on the bench until she was right next to him. She leaned over and rested her head aga
inst his shoulder, her magnificent silvery hair spilling down his arm. “I know that is an effect of the reading I did on you, but I feel as if I can trust you,” she offered as an explanation before beginning her story.

  “My family is from far in the north, a place called Stargrave. It was named such because, many thousands of years ago, it is said that a star fell from the heavens and crashed to the earth there. When my father was a young man, he went out in search of treasure and glory and riches as all young men do, and one of the things he sought in his quest was this fallen star. The legend says that anyone who finds it will be granted one wish. No matter how strong or impossible it may be, the power of the star would grant that wish.

  “Well, also like all young men, my father was also in love. And, just like the man in your story, he fell in love with a girl he couldn’t have. Her family swore that my father would never be good enough for her. She was to be married to a second cousin of a king somewhere, and my father was only the lowly lord of a frozen wasteland. So, out of all the riches he sought, he searched for the fallen star the hardest.

  “Unfortunately, he never found it. What he found instead was a winged terror hidden deep within the mountains. He and his company stumbled upon a dragon’s nest, and after a harrowing fight, only he made it out alive. Believe me when I say that he still carries the burden of his friends’ deaths with him to this day, and he still wakes up screaming their names at night as he fights that battle over and over again, so do not dare think of him as a coward who abandoned them.

  “Anyway, he escaped, but he was beaten and broken and on the edge of death. He pulled himself from the depths of the mountain, only to fall and collapse before he completely made it out. When he woke up, he found that he was in the company of a young man whom he had never met before. The young man forced an elixir down his throat and told him to rest. When my father came to again, a full week had passed, and he was back in his home village. No one knew how he had arrived there; the household servants simply woke up one morning and found him asleep in his bed.”