Arise

by Tanya Schofield

  “I’m ready,” Melody said. Her face tightened for a moment, but she took a deep breath and forced a smile, laying a hand on her belly. “And I agree – I don’t think we should wait much longer.”

  “Is it the baby?” The only sign of Jovan’s well concealed panic was how his hand clutched the fabric of her dress.

  “But it’s daylight—“ Thordike went pale, and checked the position of the sun once more.

  “Is it time?” Even Rhodoban seemed flustered as all three men spoke at once.

  Melody shook her head hard enough to make her unruly black curls bounce. This was going to be difficult enough, the last thing she needed was everyone so frantically on edge around her.

  “Not yet,” she said. “It was a twinge, barely a cramp. Just uncomfortable.”

  Jovan frowned and tilted her chin upwards, making her look at him. He hadn’t felt any real pain from her, but there was always the possibility that she’d learned how to hide it from him. Her powers were … unprecedented. “Truth?”

  “I promise.” Her red-gold eyes shone, a tiny smile played around the corners of her lips, and it took most of his willpower not to kiss her. This was their son quickening in her belly, and here they were about to battle the greatest evil the world had ever known … how could she seem so calm?

  “I could get Senna just in case,” he said, but he made no move to step away.

  Melody started to laugh, but the stink of undead on the wind made her cough instead. “There is no need,” she insisted. “I’m fine. I just think we should … begin. Lianodel will be here.” Melody wished she were as confident as she sounded. “She will be here,” she said again.

  Thordike smoothed the growth of mustache on his upper lip as he regained his composure, and gave a slow, considered nod.

  “Then we start. Orrin, Jovan, get your men up here. Two groups, ready to move down if needed. Rhodoban, move up the users and make sure the Healers are prepared. Have them bring Elee and the twins to us. Melody … let’s get you in position.”

  Jovan did not move. Instead, he leaned down and wrapped Melody in his arms, burying his face in her rain-sweet hair and lifting her practically off her toes in a fierce embrace. He was agonizingly aware of the hard curve of her stomach against him.

  “You be careful,” he whispered, and his voice was deep and rough.

  Melody could feel his arms trembling around her, and she wished with all her heart that the embrace would never end. Oh, Goddess, she was going miss him— she had to blink back tears.

  Be safe. She couldn’t look up, she couldn’t meet his eyes. His lips brushed across hers, and then he was gone, striding back towards where the soldiers waited.

  Thordike did not hurry her. He had embraced Marina much the same way just hours ago. Love was too rare a thing to be rushed, regardless of the looming danger they faced. The Duke let Melody get her feet under her again, then offered her his arm for the walk to the ridge.

  The location was less than perfect, but it was the only angle they could have approached Cabinsport with any kind of speed. The town spread out at the bottom of the hill, and Melody felt her heart sink at the sight. Fields that she remembered being lush and green were now brown and withered – even the line of the forest in the distance was dotted with dead trees.

  Far beyond that treeline, deep in the sheltering woods, was the Dweller’s glade – probably overgrown, now. Or was her childhood home as lifeless and bleak as these fields? Melody paused, remembering Cabinsport as being so much bigger than this, these abandoned few buildings and one short street. She remembered freezing in a panic at the sight of it once before, and now…

  “By the Break …” The serious tone of Thordike’s voice made Melody look twice. The road through the center of the small town of Cabinsport was full of people … packed tightly together, shoulder to shoulder, simply standing – unmoving. She looked closer, and saw that it wasn’t just the street, it was everywhere – right up against each building, and out into the dead fields… every available space in the town was packed.

  A brief breeze ruffled Melody’s hair, and brought with it the stink. “They’re all dead.”

  The others behind them were gradually seeing the same thing as they emerged onto the ridge, and stopped to stare. A few coughed, though most had dropped their voices to a whisper or broken off their talking entirely. One or two ran back to the trees to be sick, and Melody did not blame them. The smell was significantly more powerful out in the clear, especially with the direction of the wind. Melody could feel the uneasiness in their assembled forces quickly turning to fear, fear that was steadily escalating. She released her light grip on Thordike’s arm and brought her focus inward.

  The magic here wasn’t an ocean, blue and full of ripples and currents. It was a desert, sparse and dry. It took effort for Melody to send her awareness out and down, through the motionless, silent crowd of undead. Semaj was not among them, nor did she sense him close. He was preventing her from seeing into any of the run-down structures, however, she could see the barriers he had put into place - maintained somehow by the magic she couldn’t access.

  Aside from the barriers, there was nothing down there in the town besides the unmoving crowd. She concentrated, sharpening her focus until it seemed she could see their faces, and the tiny pinpoints of red light in what passed for their eyes. Each of them turned as if they were looking directly at her …

  Fear.

  She felt it, everyone on the ridge felt it. It was practically a tangible thing in their midst. Each of them had been unnerved by the sight of the town and its eerie occupants, and the anxiety of the long journey was compounded with each passing moment by the stench of the undead, somehow stronger in the unseasonably warm air.

  Melody knew if she did not do something, the battle would be over before it began. Fear was a weapon none of them had considered, but it was an effective one. She took a deep breath, concentrating on not coughing on the foul air, and let it out in a clear, sharp whistle. The magic came to her willingly, surging to do her bidding. Her request was simple. She turned her back to Cabinsport, and raised her arms.

  At the sound of the whistle, the others tore their attention away from the town, shaking out of their nervous paralysis. Within moments, they felt better, though they could not quite tell why. Melody’s whistle continued, and as if in response, the wind that had been reluctantly coming up the hill from Cabinsport shifted direction. Now the breeze was at their back, steadily bringing with it the fresh smell of trees and melting snow and sunlight, sweeping towards Melody and making her skirts blow around her legs. She fell silent, but the wind remained steady.

  “Be careful,” Thordike said as he gestured for Senna, Bethcelamin, and his twins to come closer. “Save something for later.”

  Melody was not listening, but she nodded at him anyway so that he would leave her alone. Her entire attention was back down in the town, probing into every corner, seeking … but Semaj was keeping out of her range, and the strange unmoving crowd was still staring directly at her.

  She knew those dim red not-eyes, knew what those creatures could do. She had met them before – in the lighthouse, and again outside of Foley. Those encounters had been terrifying enough … and there must be hundreds down there.

  “When should we make the shield?” There was a hint of real fear in Belor’s voice, which he struggled ineffectively to conceal.

  Melody gave the boy a reassuring smile, and crouched awkwardly beside the twins. “Not until we really need it,” she told them. “You and Elee and Sophie stay beside your mother, all right? I’ll tell you when.”

  “All right,” they agreed in unison, offering Melody their shoulders as support for her to get back to her feet. She pulled herself up, balancing on them just enough so that they felt useful but not burdened.

  “Is one of them the Lich King?” It was Christoph who spoke, pointing down at the mass of people filling the streets of Cabinsport. The boy’s eyes were dark with worry.
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  “No,” she assured him. “He is nowhere close,” she said softly, trying to reassure them.

  “But where is he, that is the question.” Thordike did not like any of this. The Elves should be here, but they weren’t. Semaj should be pressing an attack, but he wasn’t. And he had no answers. “Melody, come with me.”

  Within fifteen minutes Thordike had gathered up Jovan and Rhodoban and Melody. They stood off to one side while the rest of the force shifted anxiously on the ridge. “What do you make of this?” he asked them, motioning with his head towards Cabinsport.

  “Semaj clearly has the superior numbers,” Jovan said. “Yet he makes no move. Why does he wait?”

  Rhodoban shot Jovan a disbelieving look. “Are you wanting him to attack before Lianodel arrives? That is madness!”

  Jovan shook his head. “Of course not. I am only asking why. It makes no strategic sense.”

  “I have to agree with him, Rhodoban.” Duke Thordike frowned. “Could he have found out about Melody’s pregnancy?”

  “Logannus knew,” Melody said softly, leaning into Jovan’s side. He wrapped his arm around her. “Semaj would have known it through him.”

  Rhodoban’s face clouded. “Does he know about the curse, then? The moon?”

  No one answered. Thordike took a deep breath and let it out in a long, slow sigh. “He doesn’t have to. He can wait as long as it takes – his army is already dead. They never need food, they never need rest, and they never get sick or afraid.” There was a long silence.

  “We can’t wait him out,” Jovan said. “We can’t afford to. Melody is our only advantage here, and once the moon rises… We should make our move soon.”

  Rhodoban shook his head. “Without the Elves, we don’t stand a chance. It’s suicide, Jovan, for her as well as everyone else.”

  Both men looked to Duke Thordike. “Melody?” he asked. “How do you feel?”

  Now every eye was on her. “There have been no cramps,” she finally said. It was enough for Thordike.

  “Then we wait for Lianodel and the Elves,” he said, holding his hand up when Jovan began to protest. “I understand your position, but I just can’t take the risk. There is some time before nightfall yet. We have to give the Elves a chance to get here.”

  Rhodoban nodded his assent, and though he was clearly upset, Jovan did the same.

  “Let’s get everyone into position and ready,” Thordike said. “Talk them up, assure them that help is on the way. Morale is our biggest problem right now.”

  “Back to work,” Jovan whispered, squeezing Melody tightly before disappearing again, heading back to the soldiers so anxiously needing some word, some action, anything other than the waiting. He only wished he could give it to them.

  Thordike moved back to the ridge, offering direction and hope to the soldiers gathered there. Rhodoban arranged the mages to one side and addressed them as well. The quiet was a good thing, the leaders said. Semaj didn’t know what he was in for, they said, or he would have attacked by now. And soon it would be too late for him. The Elves would be here, and with their power alongside Melody’s, Semaj had no hope.

  It worked, for a while. But when the sun passed its midpoint and the silent, motionless crowd of undead that clogged the street of Cabinsport had still made no sound, no movement at all, fear slowly returned.

  Melody could feel it. She once more sent out her consciousness, seeking Semaj and finding nothing. Her belly tightened again, the muscles mirroring the twisting of her gut. Perhaps her unborn son was eager to arrive, or perhaps he was anticipating nightfall.

  If she were to strike, lash out at the tiny town and the unnerving undead that inhabited it, if she were to force this battle to start, would Lianodel and the Elves arrive in time to finish it with her? And if she didn’t, if she played Semaj’s waiting game … the Elves may still be delayed and the moon may rise full and her own son might destroy her before Semaj had a chance. There was no time, whatever Duke Thordike may believe. Jovan was right, he had been right hours ago. She had to act.

  Melody breathed deeply, reaching deep to draw energy up from the land itself – and found it practically depleted. The ground beneath her was almost as dead as the fields spread out before her. Any force she brought to bear would have to come from the forest behind her, or the sky above … or from within.

  She began to whisper, so softly even the Healers and the twins did not hear, letting the magic surround her and sink into her. She closed her eyes and breathed in again, picturing the clouds being pulled closer with her breath, picturing the magic filling her to near bursting.

  Senna felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She looked sharply to her friend, but Melody was deep in concentration, her lips tracing words none of them could hear, but the effect of which they could feel.

  A roll of thunder announced that her storm-calling had been successful, and without opening her eyes, Melody raised both of her arms. She turned to face Cabinsport, seeing perfectly in her mind’s eye the inn where she suddenly knew Semaj was hiding. Of course he was there, it was the inn where she had first encountered his power.

  Every eye was on her now, but she was aware of nothing save her goal. The power within her throbbed hungrily. It was stronger than that which she had brought forth in Foley, but then, so was her control … Melody drew in the air that practically crackled with the storm’s energy, feeling the charge resonating in her whole body. She raised her arm, her hand clenched into a tight fist, existing only in that breath.

  Melody brought her hand down in the same instant she opened her eyes, still focusing her every thought on the dilapidated inn. Something in her lashed out, whip-like, and the inn simply … exploded.

  A wave of energy surged forward, over the heads of the gathered soldiers and down the gentle slope of the hill, across the field, and into the street of Cabinsport, aiming directly at the shattered inn even as pieces of the ruined building still fell from the sky. The undead in the street that were not crushed beneath the falling debris were thrust backwards and upwards by the surge of unthinkable force before they, too, exploded.

  The human army on the ridge burst into a cheer, the sound of it echoed even louder than the thunder that shouted along with them. Melody felt Senna’s hands on her, and realized she had nearly fallen backwards. A smile broke over her scarred face. Not for any weakness had she lost her balance, but for sheer, enormous power. The magic coursing through her body was as electric as the lightning that was now flickering over the tiny town before her – and she felt no trace of exhaustion.

  “Dear Goddess,” Bethcelamin whispered, looking down at the destruction, and over at the breathless girl who bore such an incredible resemblance to her long-dead love. “Not even Solus could have …” Her voice was lost in the triumphant calls of the others.

  “Melody?” Senna did not bother to look, the response of the soldiers was indication enough of what Melody had done. Her real concern was for her friend – who didn’t seem to need it. Melody’s eyes were shining more gold than usual, and her grin was contagious as she leaned on Senna to get her feet back under her.

  “I’m … fine,” she said, and Senna believed her. The Healer looked back towards the town only when she was certain Melody was well, and she had to draw in a deep, astonished breath at the impressive sight of such destruction. But as she looked, her smiled faded … along with the shouts of the assembled army.

  “Oh, Melody. Look.”

  Melody looked. The pieces of the inn had finished falling, and where it had stood was nothing but a small hole leading into the ground. From the hole were emerging more people – no, she reminded herself. They were no longer people, they were undead, and they filled the spaces left by those that Melody had destroyed.

  It was all happening silently, and within minutes the small town was overflowing with undead that moved slowly to a position and then stood utterly still. Each of them looked towards Melody with dim red not-eyes as more crowded in around them. Th
ey poured from the tunnel entrance, ever more of them, until it seemed their number had doubled – but still more came forth.

  Jovan watched with the same sinking feeling that everyone else felt, counting. He was no expert, but judging from the size of Semaj’s army – and Jovan had no doubt there were more forces in reserve – there were at least fifty undead for each one of their soldiers. Melody’s strike had filled them all with hope, but as he watched the dark stain of Semaj’s army spreading out around Cabinsport … he began to fear she could wear herself out with the magic and still not make a difference in their numbers.

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  Melody’s smile dropped from her lips. Joy was replaced with anger, and the dark red haze that had swept across her vision in Foley returned … only this time, she had fierce, pinpoint control.

  Senna had never seen anything like what she saw in Melody’s eyes at that moment, but she did know she never wanted to see anything like it again. She took an involuntary step backwards and nearly tripped over Bethcelamin, who was kneeling with Lady Thordike beside the nervous twins, trying to offer some explanation of what had happened, what was happening.

  The air around Melody seemed thicker, somehow, and when she turned back towards Cabinsport, the lightning doubled in its intensity. Thunder cracked violently, and the rain began to fall with a fury unmatched in the experience of anyone watching.

  “Coward!” The full power of her voice was unleashed, but Melody barely saw the effect of it shudder through the soldiers on the hill. She did not see Senna recoil, or Bethcelamin, and she did not see the two women shelter the terrified twins. Her focus was unshakeable. She could sense Semaj.

  He was out there, somewhere beneath the inn where she had first met Jovan, and Kaeliph. She could feel his smug satisfaction, even if she couldn’t see him. She also knew that he was aware of her, and she intended to get his undivided attention. She motioned with her hand and another wave of energy whipped down into the town, obliterating an entire swath of undead in a single burst.