by Callie Kanno
The Shimat dropped to one knee unexpectedly. His widened eyes seemed to say that he had not planned on L’avan magic being a problem for him. Savir’s blade sped toward the Shimat’s heart, and the assassin was only just able to deflect it. The cold metal still pierced the Shimat’s chest, but the blow was not immediately fatal.
Savir was about to attack again, but he did not get the chance.
The Shimat drove his knife into Savir’s lunging leg and then turned and fled from the tent. L’iam was about to run after him, but the sound of a quiet moan brought him up short.
Me’shan lay on the ground in a pool of blood.
L’iam clutched his own wounded side as he hurried to kneel beside his father-in-law. Me’shan had not escaped that first, deadly blow of the Shimat’s blade. Blood flowed from between Me’shan’s fingers, which were pressed against his throat.
“Guards,” shouted L’iam in panic and desperation. “Healers! Anybody!”
Savir dragged himself over to try and help stop the flow of blood from Me’shan’s neck. The Henka’s face was grave as he pressed his hands over Me’shan’s.
Me’shan’s lips began to move, but no sound came out. L’iam leaned forward, his eyes filling with tears.
The man’s words were barely a whisper.
“E’rian…has…come…for…me…”
With a smile on his pale lips, Me’shan closed his eyes and let out his last breath with a sigh.
***
The Shimat ran through the camp, keeping to the perimeter and avoiding any source of light.
He could feel his life ebbing from him, no matter how hard he tried to staunch the flow of blood from his chest wound.
There was just one last thing that he had to do before he died.
He could have escaped the L’avan camp and gotten back to his fellow Shimat in time to receive healing. He might have even survived. Maybe. However, the Shimat knew that there would be no point in returning to Cha-sak without doing everything in his power to accomplish his mission.
The demon did not look kindly on failure.
So, the Shimat ran on. Based on the information he had gathered, he could assume that the L’avan queen was in one of the Healers’ tents. It did not take him long to reach that part of the camp, and it was not difficult to identify which tent belonged to the queen. L’avan guards had been posted at the entrance.
The Shimat’s heart took on a sputtering rhythm, and he slowed to a stop. His body was betraying him. He still had one thing to do before he could allow it to give up.
The Shimat approached the tent silently, watching the L’avan guards with a sense of disgust.
The fools.
In a tent, every wall was a potential entrance. They could not protect their queen by simply standing by the opening.
He was breathing heavier now. He struggled to keep all sound to a minimum, but it was difficult when the air seemed to be escaping his lungs.
The Shimat used his remaining knife to quietly slice through the fabric at the back of the tent. He gently parted the wall and looked carefully for any sign of a guard or Healer within the interior.
A dimmed lamp sat on a stool near the entrance, but the tent was empty save the form of the queen on a padded cot.
The Shimat slipped into the tent and raised his knife. He silently approached the sleeping figure and stood over her with a sense of satisfaction.
He had been sent to kidnap the L’avan queen and to return her to Cha-sak, but the demon lord had said that killing her would be the next best thing. Perhaps the Shimat would have been more successful in kidnapping her if he had decided to ignore the second part of his orders—to kill her family.
The Shimat had thought that killing the husband and the father would be easy, and then in the chaos that followed he could have carried off the queen with no interruptions.
Well, even the best of plans meant nothing once they were put into action.
The Shimat paused and frowned.
Something was wrong.
He flipped back the blanket that covered the cot, and bit back a curse.
The cot held nothing more than a rolled up pad.
Some unseen force knocked him to the ground, causing the pain in his chest to soar to unbearable levels. The Shimat could feel himself starting to black out, and he desperately hoped that he died from blood loss before they could take him prisoner.
“You were right,” said a deep voice standing over him.
“Of course I was right,” hissed another voice that was strangely sibilant. “I am never wrong, Rashad.”
“As soon as we dispatch of the assassin, we can return Adesina to the care of the Healers.”
“Yes,” said the second voice, “she will be safe now.”
The Shimat didn’t know how they could have possibly known that he would be there, but he supposed it did not matter. He had failed Lord Cha-sak, and his life was forfeit.
The demon would just have to find another way to get what he wanted.
Chapter Thirty-Three: A Bitter Heart
Adesina slowly opened her eyes.
At first she wasn’t certain where she was, and she half-sat up in alarm. Then she spotted Ruon sitting next to her and her heart stopped racing.
“Do not be afraid,” the Laithur said softly. “You are safe.”
Adesina relaxed back against the cot. “What happened?”
Ruon’s eyes were filled with meaning, but he said very little. “You were injured.”
Memories flooded into Adesina mind. “I was shot with an arrow.”
The Laithur nodded his oval head.
She reached up and felt her neck. There was no bandage and no sign of any sort of wound. “Was I healed?”
Ruon nodded again.
Adesina looked at him intently. “You were there to save me.”
His glittering eyes turned downward at his clasped hands. “I merely arranged for you to be brought back to camp.”
She shook her head stubbornly. “I saw you before I was wounded. Why were you on the battlefield?”
“I Saw you being injured,” he stated calmly. “I had to protect you.”
A wry smile crossed her face. “It would seem that you arrived too late.”
“No,” Ruon disagreed, “I arrived in plenty of time.”
Adesina frowned in confusion. “What do you mean?”
The Laithur sighed in irritation. “I dislike repeating myself, and I already explained this once. You are Immortal. A simple thing such as an arrow would not have any real effect on you. I was there to protect you from being taken by Cha-sak’s followers.”
Adesina felt a chill run through her. “The Shimat were going to capture me?”
“They would be fools if they did not try,” responded Ruon. “You are the single most important person in the world right now. If Cha-sak were to get his hands on the Threshold Child…”
He trailed off, leaving the rest to her imagination.
Adesina understood completely. It would be beyond a disaster if she were to be captured by the demon and his followers.
“Thank you,” she said softly and sincerely.
Ruon shrugged his slender shoulders. “I do it out of self-interest. You are needed to restore balance to the world.”
“You did not do it to save humankind?” she asked teasingly.
Ruon did not smile. Instead, his expression darkened.
“No.”
Adesina grew more serious. “Why do you hate them so?”
A slow hiss escaped the Laithur, and for several moments it seemed that he would not answer her question. Finally, he lifted one of his lithe hands and pointed to the slight bulge in the middle of his forehead.
“Do you see this?”
Adesina nodded.
“The Laithur were not born with this,” Ruon explained. “It was a gift given to us by the Seer.”
The young queen’s brow furrowed. “What is it?”
“It is sometimes called the Thi
rd Eye or the Seer Stone. It is a special talisman that was planted directly into our heads by the Seer. It is what allows us to connect to Him and See the future.”
Adesina found herself staring at the Laithur in fascination. “How does that work?”
Ruon gave a small smile at her obvious interest. “It simply does, and that is all you need to know.”
“Why are you telling me this?” she inquired.
Ruon continued his narrative, ignoring her question. “Several centuries ago, it was discovered that the Seer Stone could be used by others to see into the future as well. I do not know how this was learned or who was the first to learn it, but the nature of the Seer Stone became widely known.”
“How would that be possible?” asked Adesina in confusion.
“It is only possible,” replied Ruon with a voice that was heavy with bitterness, “if the Seer Stone is removed from the head of a Laithur. Mortals could then gaze into the Stone themselves and seek to understand.”
A sickening sensation spread through Adesina’s chest. “Do the Laithur…survive…the process?”
“No.”
The word was laden with pain and grief that had hardened into hatred.
Ruon cleared his throat and went on. “Humans began hunting the Laithur in order to obtain Seer Stones. They practically sold their souls so they could gain the power necessary to capture my brothers and sisters and slaughter them.”
Adesina was completely speechless. She stared at Ruon with sorrow in her eyes, wishing she could say something to comfort him.
His small black eyes were fixed on some point at the other side of the tent. It was almost as if he had forgotten that she was there. “That was when the Laithur turned from the Light. If the Light could be so concerned with protecting and prospering such selfish and violent creatures as humans, then it is better to be an ally of the Dark.”
Adesina reached over and placed her hand on his. “Ruon, you cannot blame all of humankind for the choices of that one group. Yes, humans are flawed and some of them choose to embrace evil, but there are also those who devote their lives to doing good.”
Ruon snorted softly. “You sound like Sitara.”
The young queen sat up on her cot, bringing her face level with the Laithur’s. “The difference is that I know what it is like to be a human,” she said deliberately.
This statement finally brought Ruon’s eyes to her face, and she could see that she had his attention.
“The L’avan are a uniquely fortunate people. They have historical accounts and their faith to guide them and give them a sense of purpose. They know who they are, and that is a great gift.”
Adesina could see that Ruon was about to interrupt, and she spoke over him.
“But I was not raised by the L’avan.”
The Laithur quieted his objection and waited for her to go on.
“I was raised by the Shimat organization, which is run by means of lies and murder and corruption. I did not always know the true purpose of the Shimat, but that amount of darkness cannot leave any participant untouched. Ravi or L’iam or E’nes can tell you how difficult it was for me to face the truth, but they helped me to understand that although I had been raised and taught by those who embraced evil, that did not mean that I was evil. I still had a choice, and I chose the Light.”
Ruon gave a small, stubborn smile. “You are the Threshold Child. I daresay that your experiences are different than the average human’s.”
Adesina shook her head. “I honestly do not think that they are. Every person—human or not—will find themselves faced with the choices that will either lead them to do good or evil. The form those choices take will vary from person to person, but the choices are always there.”
There was a brief pause before she went on.
“I chose to find my way to the Light, and it was not an easy journey. I often feel that I am still struggling to break free from my Shimat teachings.” Adesina looked at Ruon intently. “I believe that I am exactly like the average human. More importantly, I believe that the large majority of humans choose to seek after good rather than evil.”
Ruon was silent for several moments as he considered her words.
“You have given me much to think about,” he said as he got to his feet. “Perhaps we can continue this discussion after I come to some conclusions.”
Without another word, he walked out of the tent, leaving Adesina with a mixture of emotions. She finally understood Ruon’s bitterness toward the human race, and her heart ached when she thought of the events that had caused him to turn from the Light. Even so, she felt a ray of hope that the Laithur would not always be lost in the Darkness.
Adesina was not alone with her thoughts for long. Ravi and L’iam ducked through the opening of the tent less than a minute after Ruon left. Adesina gave them a wide smile, happy to see them. They tried to smile in return, but tears filled both sets of eyes.
Adesina’s smile faded as a chill passed over her heart. Something terrible had happened while she slept.
***
There was no funeral for Me’shan.
Not yet, at least. There would be a memorial service for all the soldiers who had fallen, but they had to win the war first.
His body was cremated, along with the others who had been killed that day. There were just too many of them to be buried, and there was nowhere to store the bodies until they could be taken back home.
Adesina watched the flames of the pyres climb higher and higher into the sky. It was as if they were reaching for heaven.
L’iam had spoken a few words, as he always did before the fires were lit each night, and those who had attended had said their farewells and left. Ri’sel had lingered a bit longer, looking lost without his older brother. Eventually, he also turned and walked away.
Now Adesina stood alone, save for Ravi and L’iam. Even they gave her some distance, respecting her need to mourn.
She knew that death wasn’t the end. After all, she had had countless conversations with her mother, who had died on the day Adesina was born. Even so, Adesina’s heart was heavy with sorrow that she would not see her father every day as she used to.
With her Dreams barred from invasion from Cha-sak, Adesina would not have a chance to talk to her father until after the demon had been defeated.
She would not have the chance to say goodbye.
Tears streamed down her cheeks, and her shoulders began to shake. Me’shan had been a source of guidance and love from the moment she had met him. He had never acted like they were strangers, and so she had never felt that way. It had been as if they were simply picking up from where they left off, rather than starting from the beginning.
Other thoughts began to creep into her mind, and she resented their presence.
Adesina was not only a daughter. She was also a queen. Me’shan had been an important military leader, and now he was gone. It would be difficult to find someone to take his place.
She hated herself for thinking of such things, but she knew that it had to be done. She could take more time to mourn when the war with Cha-sak was over. For now, there was work to do.
“L’iam?”
Her husband closed the few steps between them so he could stand by her side. “Yes, my love?”
“We can go now. I am ready to return to my duties.”
L’iam took her hand gently. “There is no rush. You can take an evening for yourself.”
She smiled up at him, her heart swelling with love for his patience and understanding. “Thank you, but I cannot. Cha-sak is certainly not resting, and we have much to do before morning.”
Ravi joined them. “The others are waiting in the command tent.”
Adesina nodded and turned away from the flames of the pyre.
Chapter Thirty-Four: A Perilous Position
The morning dawned as it always did, and yet Adesina wondered how it could be so. It felt as though so much had changed over the past couple of days, and so why could the
dawn not change as well?
Torith shifted beneath her, as if he were impatient to gallop into battle once more. Adesina was glad that he had been given some time to rest while she recovered. She did not want him too tired to be an effective mount for the leader of the cavalry.
Ri’sel sat on his horse next to Adesina, steadfast and silent. He had been called to take Me’shan’s place as Chief Protector General. His eyes looked weary with sorrow, but there was no sign of defeat in his stance. He had always been a warrior, and nothing could change his fighting spirit.
Me’da had also joined the fight as one of the leaders of the infantry. She was sixty-eight years old, but her energy was in no way diminished. She had not seemed reluctant to set aside her retirement in order to fight for her king and country. Experienced military leaders were scarce, and Adesina was grateful for her help.
Equally important was the fact that the L’avan people had great faith in Me’da’s abilities. Me’da was something of a legend to the young soldiers, and they would follow her with enthusiasm. Morale was low these days, and that enthusiasm was vital.
Z’eki had seemed disappointed that he was not able to ride into battle as well. He had offered to fill one of the many empty leadership positions, but he had known the answer as he spoke. He was well into his nineties, and his physical age could not be counterbalanced by his energetic personality.
L’iam and Hestia had also considered joining the fight, but Adesina had led the arguments against that. Even with fewer leaders on the field, it was important to continue with the practice of keeping one L’avan royal safe while the other fought. As for Hestia, she was more valuable as an advisor to L’iam than as a soldier.
Adesina used her vyala to enhance her vision, and she turned her gaze to the Shimat and their mercenaries. She could see the Shimat leaders riding among the hired soldiers, issuing commands or simply waiting for the order to advance. She did not see Breyen, and this caused her to frown. It had been a while since Adesina’s former Shar had been spotted among the Shimat, and she wondered why that was.