by R. E. Carr
“Well then, there is only one thing to do, isn’t there? Jenn, you’ve been a very bad influence.”
Kei looked up and saw a bolt of silver shoot through the sky as the skiff plowed into the balloon of the dirigible. The resulting explosion lit up the battlefield.
As Kei scrambled out of the way of shrapnel, he saw a streak of red falling amid the wreckage. “Ji-ann?” he howled. “Ji-ann!”
“Ann!” Farris roared from his half of the arena.
Kei staggered beside him. “You killed her. You killed Ji-ann,” Kei snarled.
“Animals!” Farris hissed. “Nothing but animals! We should have died, not her, not our love.”
The pair turned and attacked each other with renewed fury. Neither seemed to care that the sky was raining flaming metal, nor that their armies were both running away in terror. Instead they chose to focus entirely on each other. Tearing and slashing, Kei and Farris filled the burning field with their anger.
“We destroyed you once, and we will destroy you again,” Farris howled as he lunged at Kei.
“You are mad!” Kei cried.
Kei snarled as he shoved Farris back again. Both men panted as they collapsed. Farris had lost his helmet and part of his armor; Kei nursed a gash on his side.
Farris glared at his nemesis. “The last one we fought was like you. Your people were stronger, but we were smarter.” He reached to his side and pulled a black object from a holster on his belt. “You aren’t worth our honor, animal!”
Kei scrambled to the ground as the gun fired.
Farris sneered when his bullet landed in a sheet of ice. The handle on his pistol glistened with frost, forcing the Knight to drop it. “Licia! You dare to interfere?” he gasped.
Kei leaped from the rubble and slammed Farris across the ring. The Beast-Man tried to press his advantage, but Farris somehow managed to slip from under Kei’s grasp.
Farris roared and leaped back into the fray. Sword landed against guard over and over, until the Knight suddenly took a moment to look up to the sky. Kei’s right forearm guard drove all the way into Farris’s stomach. His sword clattered to the frozen ground.
Kei twisted his hand within the Knight. “I thought you were better than me,” Kei snarled.
“We are,” Farris said, staring into Kei’s eyes. “Now we get to be with her again.”
Kei bared his fangs and jerked his bloodied hand from his foe. The Knight dropped to his knees and choked out, “Our line does not yet en-end, Beast . . .”
Kei dropped to his knees as well, staring at his bloody hands. As he closed his eyes, he choked out his own version of Farris’s bitter promise.
“Now I get to be with her again.”
Title Redacted
A broken and bleeding procession of troops made its way slowly into Gracow City. Kei watched as tall soldiers in black walked side by side with his own people. He stood and nodded solemnly to the head of each column until the final wave of Jar-Elks and mammoths dragging in the wounded finally appeared. Behind him, both Mihasu and the high shaman muttered prayers under their breath.
“My lord,” Sotaka said, pointing to the Oracle of Ice leading one of the largest of the Beasts. “It is time.”
Kei picked a rather unassuming sack up off the ground. A mix of mud and blood had soaked through the bottom. Licia gave him a slight nod as he approached.
“The Beast Tribe pays its debts,” he said as he handed her the bag.
“This will make a fine display at the new shrine of Delphi,” she said. “Now, I promised that I would bring your father’s body to you, but I am afraid I could not do that—”
“What?” Kei growled.
Licia stepped aside so that Kei could see the Warlord lying on a stretcher with a bandage over his remaining good eye. The moment Kei approached, the old man lifted his hand.
“My . . . son,” the Great Bear whispered.
“It seems it takes more than an exploding toy to kill the Great Bear,” Licia said. “But he is still very weak.”
Kei took his father’s hand. “Father, it is done. The Machidonians are defeated,” he said.
“You . . . must . . . ,” the Great Bear started to say. He shuddered and choked as a few sputters of blood left his mouth. Kei motioned for the shaman.
“Rest now, Father,” Kei said. “I promise to tell you everything soon.”
“Kei, we must get your father to the temple, and you must—” Sotaka started. “By the Great Spirit, is he . . . ?”
“He doesn’t need a burial, he needs healers!” Kei snapped. “Take him now.”
Kei watched the renewed fervor of action on the main road as Sotaka and his guards cleared the way. The soldiers cheered as they watched the Jar-Elk pulling him lumber toward the palace. Kei and Licia remained frozen.
“So Oracle Mountain’s debt is paid?” Kei asked.
“I told you that I was simple,” Licia said. “As for the others, I’m sure Aubergine is too infatuated with the Western Empress to care. Those two will be content enough to divvy up the spoils while I bide my time. I pity you, Zhanfos. I’m sure that Mihasu expects you to be under her thumb by sunrise.”
“It is still my father’s decision,” Kei said.
“Yes, it is. Which is why I did everything in my power to keep him alive,” Licia said with a little smile. She gave the heir Warlord another nod. “You’re welcome.”
“I should attend to my father,” Kei said quickly. “I hope that the next time we meet—”
“It’ll be a little less bloody?” Licia offered. “Oh, I think for the health of both our peoples, I should stay on the mountain and you should stay in your forest. Good-bye, Lord Zhanfos.”
“Good-bye, Oracle,” he said as he rushed after the procession. He spent the next few hours alternating between pacing outside his father’s room and listening to update after update as commanders and shamans tried to quantify the chaos to the south.
By the time he had heard the third report of panicked grunts fleeing to the plains on foot, he roared and sent the poor rabbit shaman scurrying. The other advisors in the room stared, dumbstruck, as Kei glared at them all.
“I think the Lord Zhanfos needs a moment,” Mihasu said. She seemed to materialize out of the shadows behind him. “Let me attend to him while you update the Council.”
“I do not need coddling,” Kei growled even as he let her lead him back to his room. “I need answers.”
“My lord, you have summoned a god and fought a war today. I think you are entitled to some rest while the healers attend to your father.” She pointed to the stain on his side. “Have you even asked for a healer for yourself?”
Kei snarled. He limped to his bed.
“My lord . . . ?”
“Any healers should be attending to my father first,” he snapped.
“And if he should die, who must be Warlord? At least let me look at it.”
He let her unhook the buckles on his bracers and the Western armor he had borrowed. His eyes widened a little as she pulled off his undershirt. He quickly returned to his habitual stony face when she next looked his way.
“It’s not bad, but it does need to be cleaned. You may need some stitches, even,” she said as she looked at his side. “I must say, your tribe is amazing. I wouldn’t be able to walk with a gash such as this. I’ll get water—”
He grabbed her arm as she was pulling away. “I never thanked you for your help,” he said softly.
“And you’ll never have to,” she said. She pulled off her mask and smiled warmly. “Now, for just a moment, let someone take care of you so you can take care of your people.”
Kei soon drifted off to sleep, barely disturbed by Mihasu cleaning his wound. She then left him to rest until the Great Spider finally joined them.
“Would you excuse us, Your Highness?” Sotaka asked. “Your envoy is meeting with the other shamans now, and you are expect
ed.”
“Of course,” she said, slipping out of the room with barely a sound.
Kei endured another round of someone poking at his side. Once the shaman was satisfied that the wound was indeed on the mend, he grabbed Kei in a ferocious hug.
“I cannot believe you did it!” Sotaka cried. “The word is already out that the Machidonian’s machines are silent and the Knight is dead. I know the cost was great, but your people . . . they will thank you forever.”
He hugged his friend again. This time Kei grunted. He stared off into space. Sotaka let out a deep sigh.
“There is always a sacrifice, is there not? Did the Serif-fan return to the stars when the Great Spirit returned to us?” Sotaka asked.
“In a way,” Kei said softly. “I will tell you the story soon enough. Our . . . god and Ji-ann sacrificed themselves to destroy that ship. I saw her red light falling from the sky.”
“Kei . . .”
“I felt it, Sotaka. I do not know how, but I could feel her die.”
“My friend, you must not dishonor her by being upset now. Her sacrifice destroyed the Machidonian’s greatest weapon. She had reason to destroy it. Have faith that she has joined the Great Spirit.”
“I will have faith tomorrow, Sotaka. I just need a little more time for weakness. I have much to explain, after all.”
“Yes, you do. There has never been a day quite like this—one where we are expected to open our doors and welcome spies and assassins as our allies. There is also word that the Oracles of Delphi granted us aid. Tell me, what was the price of all this?”
“A head on a pike,” Kei said flatly.
“And?”
“And I am supposed to marry the empress’s daughter.”
“Oh . . . well that should be interesting to explain. Is that what you want, Kei?” Sotaka asked softly.
“What I want . . . is impossible.”
The lazy waters around Roanoke Island bubbled with new life on a balmy spring evening. One by one, though, the cicadas stopped their nightly song and the frogs grew eerily quiet. A few fish floated to the surface, then sunk back into the murky depths near where a tiny cluster of lights had formed.
“The empress is still waiting for her answer, Warlord,” Sotaka said as he approached the obsidian throne. The Great Bear sat proudly before his subjects again, even though he now wore a headdress that covered both his missing eyes.
The old Beast motioned to the seat at his side. Kei leaned over and whispered, “Father, please . . .”
“My son is still in mourning for the Serif-fan. There are many rituals that must be performed,” Matahk said. “While we are grateful for her aid, it is traditional to take a full season to contemplate before her offer will be considered.”
“Father, I understand the tradition, but—” Kei started.
“It is more important now than ever that we follow the traditions. The empress will understand this. If she wants her daughter to be accepted by our people, then she will acquiesce,” he said. “Sotaka, pass on the word and bring me that emissary from the Oracle of Ice. Kei, accompany the Great Spider.”
“Yes, Father,” he said as he followed his friend. He watched as a hooded woman in white and blue passed them in the hall.
“Sotaka, do you have any idea what my father is doing?” Kei asked.
“I only know that the Warlord has been in talks with Delphi about salvage since the battle. We have no need of Machidonian scrap, but it is valuable to all our new allies. I am certain that he is delaying the wedding announcement until all of these treaties’ terms are settled.”
Kei growled and flattened his ears. Sotaka chuckled.
“I see that you still love politics as much as ever, old friend. The Warlord is trying his best to settle these affairs, you know.”
“He is getting stronger every day,” Kei said. He didn’t dare look at Sotaka as he said it.
“Lying to yourself never helps, Kei,” Sotaka said. “Now, we have missives to draft, trade ambassadors to meet, and a full day of helping you get to know the people that you will rule soon enough.”
Kei peeked out a window. He watched merchants and guards milling about while the occasional black-clad visitor cleared a patch in the crowd.
“It was so much simpler when I just had the seals to worry about, Sotaka,” he said.
“Well, that is why the lore masters do not weave tales of the everyday, of the time after the great battles, or the lives of the men just trying to rebuild what must be rebuilt. We want to hear a story that is simple, and has an ending full of great triumph and great loss. It is what helps us endure all these other days.”
“I will do what I must,” Kei said flatly.
“Is that why you are so eager to marry the princess? Do you care for her?” Sotaka asked.
“Honestly, I do not feel anything,” Kei said as he made his way down the hall. “I simply hate the thought of owing a debt. I suppose . . . that is something.”
“Today is the day, Lord Zhanfos,” Sotaka said as he led the young beast toward the throne room. “Your father wishes this.”
“He seems to think that this cough is somehow worse than any of the others,” Kei muttered. “I am certain that with rest—”
“He will never get rest if he continues to be Warlord, Kei. You are as ready as any other Warlord has been.”
“He summoned the Oracles. What is he thinking?” Kei snarled as he paced in front of the door. “The last letter from the empress was cold at best.”
“Cold! My favorite,” a new voice said. “It is so good to see you again, Lord Kei. Is it Khanfos now, or are you still just the heir?”
“Licia?” Kei asked, dumbstruck, as a group of women in white robes approached. The normally flamboyant Oracle of Ice wore a gown that covered her fully, with an empire waist. She had also exchanged her pigtails for a single braid.
She pulled back her hood to reveal a sparkling crown. “You mean Her Majesty, High Oracle of Delphi, actually,” she corrected. “I just won the vote at the solstice.”
“Your Majesty,” Sotaka said with a bow. “We had not heard.”
“Considering our history, I wanted to tell dear Kei myself. Indeed, it was my relationship to the Beasts and their future Warlord that tipped the vote in my favor,” Licia said. “Poor Aubergine must be consoling herself in the arms of her dear empress again. Your father is about to announce his support and ratify a new treaty with the mountain.”
“My father made a treaty with Delphi?” Kei asked incredulously.
“We made an offer that he couldn’t refuse. Well, we made an offer that we knew the new Warlord would not refuse,” Licia said as she ran her finger down the stunned Kei’s jaw. “Oh, and Kei? I brought another Oracle for you to meet.”
A woman in a simple green cloak stepped out of Licia’s shadow. Kei’s eyes widened when he saw golden curls tangled in a bramble of vines.
“Winowa!” Kei said softly.
She pulled back her hood to reveal skin like polished marble. An emerald sparkled between her mismatched gold-and-green eyes. She nodded to the stunned shaman and heir Warlord.
“I am one with the earth and earth is one with me,” she said. “Great Spider, we have much to discuss—later.”
“The contract is already signed,” Licia said before breezing past the stunned pair.
“This cannot be good,” Sotaka whispered as they followed the Oracles.
Kei did a double take when he saw just how much the bear headdress was now engulfing his father. The old man even rested his scepter to the side while two shamans stood beside him—even their loose sleeves couldn’t quite hide that their hands were propping up the Warlord.
“The Great Spider and Lord Zhanfos,” one of his guides called.
“I may be blind, but my other senses work all too well,” M
atahk snapped. “There are others, I know.”
“Greetings, Lord Khanfos, Great Bear of Beasts. The High Oracle of Delphi herself has come to see the crowning of a new champion of your tribe,” Licia said.
A commotion sounded from the hall as another envoy—dressed in black robes instead of white—also burst into the throne room. Their leader pulled back her cloak to reveal a half mask of bone.
“Ahh, the Phantom Tribe is here as well,” the old Warlord said. “You are most welcome in our halls. Many thanks to you both for being allies in our time of need.”
Kei looked all around, and especially at the teeming masses of people all looking at him. He straightened his shoulders and tried his best to make a dignified walk to the obsidian throne. Sotaka followed, carrying the pelt of a snow leopard.
“Today marks the last day of the Great Bear,” Matahk said. “I am proud to step from this throne and call forth another of my blood to serve you all, as my father did before me. I have one order of business left to attend to, then I will ask you, Great Spider, to give my son a new name.”
“It will be done, Warlord,” Sotaka said. A quiet wave of murmurs rippled among the crowd.
Matahk nodded and a young tribesman ran forward with a scroll in hand. He bowed before the Oracle and held the trembling paper over his head. Licia picked it up and opened it slowly.
“Let it be known that on this day, as the sun and moons reign equal in the sky and the seasons change, that the Tribe of Beasts have entered an accord with the priestesses of Delphi, with a promise of mutual trade and protection for the next hundred years. Furthermore, the noble Tribe of Beasts does cede all salvage rights from the Port of Jasturia and to the Arch River to Delphi, while giving all rights to the west exclusively to our mutual allies, the Tribe of Phantoms. The only salvage claimed by the Tribe of Beasts is a single trinket given by the High Oracle Licia, Guardian of Ice, to the heir Warlord, Kei Zhanfos,” Licia read.