Arise

by Tanya Schofield

  Protect whoever you can, she sent Christoph, knowing he would be close to Belor. The twins’ magic was near Elee’s, she saw, at least those three would be safe. She scanned for the others, her thoughts whirling like the snow. Wraiths were invisible, so she had to make them visible for anyone to fight them. It was daylight, though - illuminating them would do no good.

  Melody sent her magic out towards the wraiths, dividing her attention between each of them. Instead of outlining them in light, however, she traced them in a red fire so dark it seemed to steal the bright white of the snow. Who was near them? Jovan was close, so she sent him the image of the wraith as it would appear to his eyes, trusting that he’d either kill it or occupy it until she could get its attention.

  Another was near Duke Thordike and a host of soldiers - all without a magic weapon between them. There, she thought, finding the mage’s unique yellow-orange magic. Rhodoban wasn’t too far from them. She sent the same image to him as she had to Jovan, showing him where the wraith was and who was in danger.

  The last wraith was closest to her, but it was bearing down on a group of Healers - fast.

  “Arik, can your fire ignite weapons?” she asked, starting to walk that way. She pulled more magic in from the weave around her, wrapping it protectively around her unborn child even as she turned herself into a beacon for the wraiths.

  Come on, she challenged them. You know it’s me you want.

  “Aye, we’ve been practicing,” Arik said. “I can’t do many at once, but I can do it.”

  Melody felt all the closest wraith shift its attention to her, and pointed at the soldiers ahead of them. “Get as many of them as you can,” she said, bracing herself. “There’s a wraith coming this way.” She pulled Edwin behind her.

  Everything dimmed in her sight as the wraith approached, larger than the ones she had encountered in Porthold. There was recognition from the formless darkness, a hunger not just for her life, but for retribution. It knew what she had done to the others, and how. It kept a distance from her, and screams echoed just outside her hearing - the wraith paused, killing another human, carefully gauging her reaction.

  Leave them alone, she commanded, furious. Melody brought up the magic around the wraith as if it were a net, tightening it down and inward as the soldiers swung at it with their flaming swords. The wraith screamed, a high thin shriek that sent shivers through everyone who heard it, and drew the focus of the other two.

  Whatever made them able to attack in daylight also made them harder to kill, and the first wraith’s companions were upon her before she could finish extinguishing it. They, too, kept their distance, killing not because they were hungry, but because they wanted her to hurt. They felt her helpless anger, and fed on that while she brought up two more magical nets to hold them.

  Despite her focus, Melody felt the strain of holding the three wraiths in their place wearing on her. The storm raged out of control around her, the wind threatening to knock her off her feet. She took a deep breath, tasting snow on her tongue, and concentrated on bringing her divided efforts together. She dragged the nets towards each other, fusing them into a single prison, and pulling magic from the storm to strengthen and tighten the invisible bonds around the screaming darkness. They fought Melody with everything they had, but she gritted her teeth and hung on.

  The storm was not natural. Like the wraiths, it was stronger than it should be, and in a flash of inspiration, Melody raised the magical net containing the wraiths high overhead. She didn’t want a repeat of the destruction caused from killing the Porthold wraiths, so she tucked her head down, clenched her fists, and brought as much magic to bear as she could muster. When the wraiths were as high as she could send them, when she imagined they were in the center of the storm, she tightened the magic the rest of the way down, and everything exploded.

  She knelt for a long moment, her arms cradling her belly, reassuring herself that her son was safe, that she had insulated him from the magic she had manipulated all around him. There were voices around her, but they didn’t matter yet. She reached for Jovan, and her brow furrowed - he was frantic, someone was hurt, terribly hurt …

  Opening her eyes, Melody saw the last of the snow falling. The wind had died, the sky was clearing - the storm had been blown apart by the force of the magic. She made her way to her feet, thinking to find Jovan, but suddenly Senna was there, taking her arm and pulling her away.

  “Melody, it’s your mother—”

  There were two bodies in the bloody snow when Melody arrived, almost obscured by onlookers. Senna pushed their way through, bringing Melody to where Hodren knelt at Bethcelamin’s side, facing down a red-faced Duke Korith.

  “Get away from my wife!” the Duke was saying. “Get your hands off of her!”

  “You’ve done enough damage,” Hodren snapped. “Let me work!”

  “What happened?” Melody asked, summoning the healing energy even before she lay her hands on Bethcelamin’s blood-soaked abdomen.

  “He stabbed her,” Hodren said, gratefully sitting back on his heels. The wound had been mortal, it had taken all he had to keep Lady Korith alive until Melody arrived.

  “I will have your head for that accusation,” Korith threatened as Melody looked up, disbelief and anger warring on her face.

  “You did this to her?” she asked, her eyes flashing.

  He looked away. “She wasn’t there when I swung,” he insisted. “I was defending myself against that … thing, and she came out of nowhere.”

  “Calder,” Bethcelamin whispered, her hand reaching for Melody’s. She blinked, drawing in a shuddering gasp. “He … saved me.”

  Melody took her mother’s hand and looked over her shoulder, finally seeing the second body. Calder’s eyes were open and sightless, but there was no blood. The wraith, she realized. It had sensed Bethcelamin’s connection to her and attacked. Calder must have pushed her out of the way, taken the hit himself. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she squeezed her mother’s hand.

  “Is he all right?” Bethcelamin asked, her voice as weak as her grasp. “Did you heal him?”

  She shook her head, her tears spilling free when she saw her mother’s face crumple at the news. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

  “I told you,” Korith said, his voice too loud in the quiet moment. “I can’t believe you blamed me. I’m here, aren’t I?”

  “Senna? Senna! Oh, Melody, thank goodness. Please, come quickly, both of you!” Elias was out of breath from running. He extended his hand to help Melody to her feet.

  “Elias? What is it?” Senna’s voice was sharp, with an edge of fear.

  “Aggravain,” Melody breathed. That’s why Jovan had been so upset—

  “Sophie’s with him,” Elias said, pointing back the way he’d come. “Prudence, too. He’s alive, but … you should just come.”

  Senna was gone in an instant.

  “Hodren, will you stay with my mother?” Melody asked, touching his shoulder. “Keep the Duke away from her,” she added when he nodded his agreement. “I’ll return when I can.”

  Jovan was transferring Aggravain’s head and shoulders into Senna’s arms, and relief flooded his face when he saw Melody approach with Elias. Sophie and Prudence barely looked up, they were focused entirely on the unconscious man. Senna placed her hands on his bare chest alongside theirs, blinking back tears.

  “‘Vain, no, please …” Her words were both a denial and a prayer.

  “He’s not injured.” Melody paused. The magic that hovered beneath her vision showed her an Aggravain she had never seen before. “He’s just … cold. What happened?” she asked, stepping closer.

  “He saved my life,” Jovan said. “I never saw the thing coming. ‘Vain pushed me out of the way, and it got him instead. By the time I was back up swinging, the thing was gone, and he was down.”

  “Well that sounds familiar,” Senna said, meeting Melody’s eyes.

  Melody’s heart tightened. “Arik,” she said, not
looking at the boy. “Go check on your brothers and sister, please. Sophie, Prudence - would you go with him? I’ll see to Aggravain.” Bethcelamin, Jovan— the wraiths had deliberately gone after people she cared about. The third one could only have gone after the twins, or Elee, though it seemed impossible that Semaj could know about her.

  “Familiar how?” Jovan asked.

  Melody took a deep breath. “Calder … he saved my mother’s life when a wraith attacked her. He’s … dead.” Despite her best effort, she couldn’t stop her tears.

  Jovan pulled her into his arms, stunned. “Calder? Dead?” He met Senna’s eyes over Melody’s head.

  The Healer nodded. “‘Vain survived, though,” she said. “How is that possible?”

  “Prudence and Sophie were close,” Jovan said. “They saw him fall, and they came right to him. Maybe they healed him fast enough?”

  Melody took a step back, wiping at her eyes. “I don’t … No, I don’t think so. He’s different. His magic looks different, as if it’s faded.”

  “What do you mean?” Senna was shrugging out of her cloak, and Jovan stepped closer to help her cover Aggravain’s now-trembling body with it.

  “I think maybe the wraith did kill him.” Melody’s brow was furrowed. “Well, one of him.”

  Senna stared at her friend. “One of— wait. Do you mean … he could be cured? He’s not a..?”

  Melody answered with a question. “Have you ever known Aggravain to be cold?”

  32

  “Bethcelamin, dove, we need to talk.” Korith guided his horse up beside his wife’s, but she refused to look at him. “Epidii—”

  “Go ride with your men, Jayden,” she interrupted, quietly. She was still pale, she had lost a considerable amount of blood earlier, but she had insisted on riding. “What few you brought.”

  “What few—? I brought every man left alive, Bethcelamin. Epidii is nearly lost - or don’t you care about your home anymore?”

  “Everything is nearly lost, Jayden - or haven’t you noticed?”

  “You need to watch your tone, wife.” He rubbed at his forehead, as if he could ease the pain there. “I am still your husband.”

  “That fact means nothing out here, Jayden. Not anymore. Not to me.”

  “You are my wife,” he insisted.

  “I am also a Healer,” she reminded him. “I am a mother, and a friend. I am more than my relationship with you.”

  Korith clenched his jaw. “I see. So you care nothing for your sister, either? Her children? Your maid’s parents? Your disobedience will kill them, Bethcelamin.”

  When she turned to face him, there was none of the expected fear or even dismay in her eyes. There was only disdain.

  “It’s hard to believe you frightened me, once. Melody asked an excellent question after you left,” she said. “About what you were more likely to do - work at something, or lie about it.”

  “Of course, the witch poisons you against me—”

  “You’re much too lazy to send that many letters over the years, Jayden. I wish I had realized that earlier.”

  “You walk dangerous ground, wife.” His tone was a warning, but it was obvious she didn’t care.

  “As dangerous as this morning, Jayden? Don’t think for an instant I didn’t see you. It happened quickly, but I saw - you took one look at the wraith, and you hid. Behind me. You put your own wife between yourself and certain death, and if it hadn’t been for Calder—” Her breath caught, the grief was still too near. “Without his sacrifice I would never have lived to tell anyone.”

  “You’re lying,” Korith hissed. “You said nothing. I would have heard it.”

  “So that was the reason you feigned such concern, hovering at my side? To keep me from speaking the truth?”

  “You were injured, Beth. I care about you.” His eye twitched rhythmically, the pain in his head growing with his anger.

  “Care about my silence, perhaps. My obedience.” She practically spat the word. “You would have killed me and expected sympathy for your loss. If Duke Thordike didn’t need your soldiers so urgently, I’d tell him exactly who he was allied with.”

  “Breathe a word and I will leave with them this very day, see if I won’t. I keep my promises, and whoever survives this nightmare will see that I kept mine.”

  “You honestly think they’ll be lining up to crown you if we win this fight,” she realized. “You still think any of this is about you.” She seemed genuinely surprised.

  “It doesn’t have to be,” he suggested. “It could be about us. You could be a queen when this is all over.”

  Bethcelamin laughed, but there was no mirth in the sound. “First you try to kill me, then you offer me a throne? Return to your men, Jayden. I want nothing to do with you.”

  Korith put a hand on his sword, and leaned closer. “I told you to watch your tone, Beth. You are my wife, and you will behave like it,” he threatened.

  “You have no power here,” she replied, pulling up the hood of her cloak. The signal would bring Orrin and the other soldier who were looking after her from a distance, at her own request. “Go, before I decide to tell Duke Thordike what you did.”

  “No one will believe you if you do.” Korith sounded more confident than he was.

  “Of course they will,” she replied. “They already know you tried to prevent anyone from Healing me. They know you hid behind your Hunters at Midland Crossing.”

  “Lady Korith,” Orrin said, riding up beside the Duke. “Are you all right? Is this man bothering you?”

  “This man—! Now see here, you insolent little—”

  “Yes,” Bethcelamin said, raising her voice to cut off her husband’s tantrum. “Would you help him find his way back to his men, Orrin?”

  “It would be my pleasure, Lady.” Orrin took the bridle of Korith’s horse. “Your men are further back, Duke. I’ll bring you there.”

  “Remove your hand from my horse or I will remove your hand from your arm,” Duke Korith snapped, snatching at the reins. “I know very well where my men are. They’re mine.” He rode off, kicking up dirt and snow behind him.

  “Are you all right, Lady?”

  Bethcelamin nodded. “I am, thank you. I apologize for the inconvenience of needing a guard,” she said.

  Orrin smiled. “I’d have been looking after you regardless, Lady. Our Bashara thinks the world of you, you know.”

  “Oh, Orrin. We’ve all been so busy I haven’t had a chance to tell her I never wanted to let her go. It was Jayden who insisted on that. Would you tell her I’m sorry, at least? That I miss her?”

  The soldier nodded. “I’m sure she already knows, Lady, but I will tell her.”

  “Perhaps when this is all over …” Bethcelamin let the words hang. They were only a few days out from Cabinsport now, racing the moon to fight the Lich King, but it was hard to picture an after. “Well. We’ll have to see what happens.”

  “Until Duke Korith returned with his men, I wasn’t certain there would be an after,” Orrin confessed. “None of us thought he’d actually come back.”

  “He said that Epidii is nearly lost,” she told him. “Status and power are Jayden’s only love, but if Semaj is not defeated, he will have nothing to rule. He casts his lot where he sees an outcome that benefits him.”

  The soldier nodded. “It’s a sad day when a man like Korith might mean the difference between winning and losing this battle.”

  “And that’s only if we make it to Cabinsport in time,” Bethcelamin added. “Without Melody— do we really have a chance?”

  “There’s still the little girl,” Orrin said. “Duke Thordike’s youngest. Though if she were my little one, I couldn’t say I’d risk her.”

  “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

  33

  “No word yet from the Elves?” Duke Thordike managed to sound both hopeful and disappointed at the same time. The late morning sunlight filtered through the edge of the trees, the sky shone crystal blu
e with an occasional wisp of white cloud. The air was dry, without the edge of bitter cold that had plagued them, and the only thing that made the idyllic setting less than perfectly serene was the unmistakable stench of nearby undead. Even the normally smiling Duke was stone-faced, trying to breathe shallowly so as not to gag.

  Melody stood with Jovan, Orrin, and Rhodoban, looking up at Thordike. There were dark circles under her eyes. “Lianodel does not sleep now, my Lord, or I would be able to reach her. I’ve spoken with Rhodoban,” Melody covered her nose against the stink with one hand, “and we think she and the others must have traveled through the night. Neither of us could find her dream.”

  “She and the others were close as of the night before last,” Rhodoban confirmed. His voice was muffled by his hand clamped over his own mouth and nose. “I have faith in her, and her people. They will be here.”

  Thordike nodded, and looked over his shoulder to the treeline before glancing up at the position of the sun with an uncharacteristic frown.

  “I don’t want to wait much longer. We’ve wasted too much time just getting here as it is, and who is to say Semaj is going to be patient and wait until we are ready?”

  “We are ready,” Jovan said, massaging Melody’s back under her cloak. It was a small touch, but they were both very aware of it. He had stayed as close to her as he could all morning, refusing to leave her side, but the time was fast approaching that he would have to – and it was not going to be easy. “Or as ready as we can be.”

  “What mages can fight are more than prepared,” Rhodoban said. “The rest are ready to follow Melody’s lead, and the Healers are waiting for Melody with your children. Just say the word.”

  “Well, Aggravain should have the scouts and archers in position by now, or at least close. What say you, Melody?” Thordike had sent out a portion of their forces very early that morning, small enough to move quickly and skilled enough to be useful. With luck they would provide a flank attack, and add some element of surprise.