Rising from Dust (Light from Aphelion Book 1)

by Carlsson, Martine

  “You like it nasty. I will make it painful.” Hernays rose, staggering.

  Selen kicked him hard in the crotch. As Hernays leaned forward with his hands against his private parts, Selen jumped up and went for his dagger. Hernays grabbed him by the arm and punched his hip. The pain tore him apart. Selen cried out, hit the wall with his back before he slid down to the floor.

  “I won’t touch your face,” the blond man panted. “I like my whores pretty.”

  Hernays stumbled in front of him and raised his fist to strike. Selen grabbed a plank with a nail in a cask that lay next to him and smashed it against Hernays’s head. The nail ripped through the skin. The man yelled. Selen knocked him again. While Hernays crawled away with blood dripping from his face, Selen hurried to his dagger. He picked it up and came back. Hernays’s face was only cuts and bruises, but his eyes still shone. Selen shoved his boot into the man’s belly and knelt astride him.

  “A whore?” Selen shouted, running his dagger into Hernays’s right eye. “Do I look like a fucking whore?” He pulled out the dagger and pinned it in Hernays’s throat. He panted. “Your sort will never touch me again.”

  As he rose, he heard muffled screams coming from the basement. Selen looked around and spotted a door under the stairs. He ran to it.

  “Folc?” he exclaimed.

  “I’m here!”

  Selen slammed the door until it broke open. The boy rushed out and threw himself against him. “Selen!” Selen held him tight. “Selen. They want to kill you and Louis. I heard them. It’s a plot!”

  “Yes, I know. We are going back to the palace,” Selen said. “But first, I have one thing to do.”

  They were back on the street. People came their way, curious. Selen tied the rope on the hook on the wall behind the pole.

  “I think we should go,” Folc suggested. “There are people coming.”

  Selen checked if the knot was strong. On the other end of the rope, Hernays’s body swayed in the air. Blood trickled from the wound on his throat. Now you’re hung, Selen thought. The man was bare-chested. On his belly, Selen had carved a word with his dagger. Rapist. As people gathered around, Selen shouted to them.

  “This! This is the king’s justice! This is what the king does to pigs like him!” He pointed at Hernays. “Remember it when your daughter or your wife gets ravished.” He took Folc by the arm. “Now we get back to the palace,” he whispered.

  They proceeded through the city, Selen still hiding under his cloak. The streets were quiet. It did not look like a revolt had stirred up, at least not in the market district. Maybe Segar wanted to start with the slums. Those religious fanatics could raise a mob in a second. Despite what Louis thought, the people craved blood. Fortunately, it did not matter to them whose blood it was. Louis must strike the monks before they spread anger in the men’s hearts.

  They arrived on the esplanade.

  “We should go inside. That way,” Folc exclaimed.

  “No. Follow me,” Selen ordered him. They went to the stables. “Prepare a horse!” he shouted to a lad.

  Once the mount was ready, Selen helped Folc get onto the saddle.

  “But no! Why?” The boy struggled.

  “You will ride far away from here. Go to Millhaven and stay at the court,” Selen said.

  “But you need me here. I can help. I am a king’s guard!”

  “You will be a dead king’s guard if you don’t run away from here. I don’t want anything to happen to you. So get away and let me take care of the king,” Selen snarled. He slapped the horse’s rear.

  He watched the boy ride away towards the esplanade. Now, they had no friends left in the palace. Selen hurried back to the solar.

  CHAPTER 72

  The doors to the palace were secured and locked. Louis had summoned the king’s guards. The men were gathered in the gallery, waiting for his orders. He did not even know if he could trust them anymore. Louis sat at his desk, his hands grabbing his hair. Selen had been away for far too long now. There must be something he could do.

  The door opened. Selen rushed into the solar.

  “Selen!” Louis rose and strode towards his friend. “Are you all right? You look…hurt.” Selen’s face was untouched, but he had blood on his clothes, and one of his hands on his ribs.

  “I’m fine,” Selen answered, panting. “I found Folc and sent him away from here. Louis, we need to go. The place is not safe.”

  Louis took Selen by the arm and made him sit on a couch. “Calm down. Is it your blood?”

  Selen shook his head. “It is Hernays’s. There are religious fanatics on the streets spreading words about us. Soon the slums will rise.”

  “The slums can’t rise against me. All I did was for the most unfortunate of our people,” Louis responded in denial.

  Selen stared at him with a sad look. “I’m sorry, Louis. But you know how mobs are. And Segar and your ministers are behind them.”

  “I see. After all I did, they’ll declare me an outlaw again. They will trash my name and cover it with filth.” Louis did not care as much for his name as he cared for everything he had accomplished, all he could do for this land. Why did no one understand the goodness in his project? “Is virtue really a utopia?” he asked Selen with sorrow in his soul.

  “No. It’s not. I am convinced that there are many people who are grateful to you. But we have not extirpated enough of the evil that dwells in this city,” Selen answered.

  “Is it even possible?” Louis remembered the dragons in the assembly and the crowd that had spat on him.

  “If you give up, no one will succeed.” Selen took his hands in his. “Don’t look sad and don’t despair. I’ll stand by you. I am your only king’s guard. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

  Louis looked at Selen’s smiling face. He caressed his cheek. No words could express his gratitude. “I love you.” He rose. “I don’t want it to end with us trapped in the palace like cowards. We won’t show weakness or hesitation. Come.”

  Louis stepped out and went to the main gallery. “Open all the doors!” he shouted to the guards. “And prepare my horse, I’m riding to the city.” He would speak to the crowd and see for himself if they still wanted him or not.

  Louis and Selen headed north in the gallery, towards the stables. Selen, who strode at his side, halted. When Louis turned around to urge him to follow, Selen collapsed to his knees.

  Louis hurried at his side. “What’s wrong? Are you wounded?”

  “It’s burning…my chest,” Selen breathed, a hand against his heart. He rolled up one sleeve. Though his skin was usually pale, his arm shone with a faint white light. “It hurts.”

  Louis remembered the white light he had felt on his skin before. He did not know if it was the same for Selen, but at least it had been harmless for him. Louis took hold of Selen and put an arm around his waist. “Courage, my love. Lean on me. Hang on a little more. We must go out.”

  Guards waited for them in the yard. Louis walked as straight and calmly as he could. Selen managed the few steps to his horse alone. They mounted their horses and rode to the esplanade.

  They were passing in front of the great hall when a mob rushed from under the gatehouse. Louis wanted to talk to them but realized that it was more than just a mob. There were many of Segar’s soldiers among them. He looked back. The guards blocked the way. Their way. He tried not to panic. The doors of the great hall opened. A group of nobles and armed men rushed towards them. Louis’s horse shied. Louis looked at the chaos around him. They were aggressive but still hesitant to harm their king. Louis looked at their faces. Faces of hostility and abhorrence he had seen before. All hope abandoned him. Would he die lynched by a mob this time? Yet, he felt no fear. Only sorrow for his dreams, shattered once again. But this time, his hands were not tied. He would fight them to the end. He reached for his sword.

  Louis heard a scream behind him and turned. The men grabbed Selen by his hair and legs. His friend fell off his horse.

&nbs
p; “Selen!” he shouted but got no answer. He jumped off his horse and drew his sword. Men came towards him with swords and spears. Swirling his sword, Louis pushed them away.

  “Don’t hurt the king! He’s mine!” he heard Segar’s voice say.

  Louis looked towards where Selen had fallen. His friend had been dragged on the ground by a group of men. They kicked him with their feet, insulting him with crude words. Louis would rush towards him if only he could drive his assailants back.

  Louis heard shouts come from the gatehouse. He turned his head and saw Folc with Pembroke and Josselin at the head of armed men and a crowd of commoners. The group attacked the heinous mob.

  “In the name of the king!” Pembroke yelled.

  “Over here, Louis!” Folc shouted, stretching out his hand towards him.

  Louis refused to join them. Selen was still on the ground. One man stepped forward from the mob. Louis recognized him. Jamys. Segar’s henchman. The tall man walked towards the group on Louis’s right. He took Selen by the hair and dragged him to the edge of the cliff.

  “No, no… No,” Louis whispered, shaking his head. He threw a last, spinning blow at his attackers and hurried towards Jamys. The brute had seized Selen by the throat and hung him over the precipice. Selen was barely conscious. His hands scratched feebly at Jamys’s wrist.

  “Hold on, Selen!” Louis shouted. He ran his sword through the man’s back, as vertically as he could to avoid hurting his friend. Jamys collapsed. Louis pulled him backwards with all his strength. As the man released his grip, Selen slid, grasping frantically at Jamys’s clothes, then at the edge of the cliff. With horror, Louis saw Selen’s hands disappear.

  Louis crept towards the edge. The wind of the emptiness whipped against his face, through his hair. Down on the cliff, Selen hung on to a protruding stone. Selen’s hands trembled. Louis saw panic in Selen’s green eyes. Louis tried to reach Selen. “Grab my hand!”

  Selen stretched out his arm to reach Louis’s hand. Too short. “I can’t,” Selen murmured.

  Louis crept further until he could barely hold on to the edge. “Try again,” he implored, breaking into tears.

  Selen pulled harder on his arm and stretched out his hand. As his fingers grazed Louis’s, a white light spread from Selen’s arm into Louis’s body. Yet, Louis barely cared. His legs tensed when he saw the look of despair in Selen’s eyes. His mind screamed in denial.

  “I love you,” Selen whispered. The stone tumbled. Selen fell backwards with his arms stretched out, his long lilac hair floating around his face. The stone hit his brow. At the same time, Louis plunged over the cliff.

  The fall was fast, but he managed to grab his love. Their entwined bodies swirled in the air, falling. He would not leave him; he never could. The only reason one fights is for what one loves. I will die for love again, Louis thought, and join the stars. “Together,” Louis breathed, holding Selen tight.

  He felt an excruciating pain in his back. As the roofs of the city’s houses grew closer, Louis stretched his wings. And flew.

  The side door of the great hall flung open. Louis stepped forward, carrying Selen in his arms. His long archangel wings were folded behind his back. He stepped onto the dais. Delicately, he laid Selen onto the ground. His friend breathed weakly. Louis cupped Selen’s face in his hands. Tears ran down his cheeks.

  “It is your wings I carry, my love,” Louis whispered.

  He swiveled his face towards the nave. His narrowed blue eyes burned with rage. The mob of nobles and armed men looked at him with disbelief. Louis stared only at one man. Outside on the esplanade, Segar Mills grinned at him.

  Louis rose. Slowly, he walked down the central aisle, his torn tunic hanging around his waist, his giant wings floating gracefully behind him. The mob opened. The nobles stepped back and curled against the walls. When he crossed the threshold, the battling crowd outside fell silent. Louis faced Segar. The man’s shirt was half torn, revealing black scales covering his skin to his neck. Sharp bones, or plates, protruded out of his shoulders. Though he had no armour, Segar was taller, stronger. His grin was barely human. Segar spoke.

  “Behold! Killed by your hands, I rose up from the soil you rinsed in blood!” Segar raised his arms high. His eyes sparkled with red. “I have split open your closet and turned your world upside down. Your dreams shattered, you’re nothingness again.” Segar laughed and stretched his arm wide. “Look around you! The time for glory and honour has passed away. They are a lost cause. But you are not. I can see the burning pride in your eyes. Join me in sin. Obey our Master!”

  “Fool! I despise you and your kind. There is pain in my heart, but my tears are no weakness,” Louis answered with scorn. “Although a shadow inside me sees no tomorrow, I want to believe there is hope. Hope for innocence and virtue.”

  “Virtue does not dwell in the hearts of men. The age of innocence and purity you long for never existed. Mankind follows my voice. Their flaws grow like weeds, and I feed their every need.” Plates grew on Segar’s back.

  “You creep in the twilight, but this is the dawn of a new age!” Louis cried out, stepping forward. “Like a phoenix, mankind will be reborn from the ashes of the pyres I built for your minions.” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Folc run towards him. Louis made a sign for him to stop.

  “Ah! I grow stronger every day!” Segar boasted. His teeth shone, sharp. “I roam the darkness of the hearts. Can you look around you and tell me you believe in virtue? War, corruption, suffering, and death rule this world.”

  “And I also see innocence and love. Justice and goodness will hold hell away from men. Evil will be crushed,” Louis answered.

  “Your justice? Theirs? Who can tell the wrong from the right? You? You play God with such an arrogance. I like it!” Segar raised his fist with delight. His fingers turned into claws. “Burn with me!” His words were poison foaming at his chops.

  “Never!” Louis snapped.

  “Do you know why I hate you?” Segar growled. “You believe the words you speak. There is freedom in your eyes.” He spat the words. “But you can’t escape your fate, and you are doomed.”

  “My fate lies in my hands. I am the master of my own will. You can have my body, put me to death, but you will never have my heart.” While Louis spoke, his white wings spread wide in the wind.

  “The world is mine. I will feed on your flesh, I will feast on your sins and on the hatred of the men.” Segar threw himself at Louis with a roar.

  “Folc!” Louis shouted. The boy handed him a sword. Louis rotated the hilt around his thumb, raised the sword like a spear, and threw it. It skewered Segar during his jump. The beast fell to its knees.

  Louis walked towards him and pulled out the sword. “And forever, I will stand in your path, burning with vengeance. Now that you have knelt, return to hell.” With one clean blow, he beheaded his foe.

  Louis turned around. Every man standing on the esplanade knelt and bowed. He looked at them with contempt. They had taken weapon against goodness, but they bowed to the force. Yet, some had come to save him. He looked at Folc and half smiled. Louis dropped his sword and walked back towards the hall. As he entered the nave, his archangel wings withered away in sparks of light.

  CHAPTER 73

  Slowly, Selen opened his eyes. His body hurt. He lay, probably on a bed. It was warm and soft. Once his vision had become clearer, he recognized the ceiling of the solar. He felt a weight on him, and someone held his hand. He bent his head as low as his neck allowed. Louis sat next to the bed. He had fallen asleep with his head on Selen’s abdomen. Louis’s hand cupped his. His friend looked tired. He had dark rings under his eyes, and his features were drawn. His mouth was slightly open. Selen heard him breathe.

  Selen pulled his other hand from under the blankets. He felt pain all over. His body twitched. Louis opened his eyes. His friend smiled with relief. He clenched Selen’s hand and buried his face against Selen’s chest. “Selen,” he murmured.

  “Am I alive?”
Selen asked. “I thought I fell.”

  “You did,” Louis said, cupping his face. “But you are my angel. You gave me your wings.” Louis smiled and sobbed. “The white light from your arms.”

  Selen remembered the light and how it had flown into Louis. “Angel wings?”

  Louis nodded. “It was your light.”

  “What of the plot?” Selen asked, worried.

  “It’s over,” Louis said. “They have been arrested. I will fix their execution. I’ve killed Segar Mills.”

  “And…what of the rumours?” Selen inquired.

  “I will fix that too. We will fix it, together.” Louis smiled. “How do you feel?”

  “Alive. This is already a good start.” Selen smiled. “How long did I sleep? How do I look?”

  “You only slept the night. Brother Benedict examined you. He said you are covered with bruises, but besides your ribs, no bone is broken. Your face is all right. You probably protected it with your arms. You were lucky.”

  “Lissandro said I have a saint watching over me,” Selen said.

  Louis’s face twitched. “No, I made you suffer. I endangered your life. I am sorry. I love you so much.” His friend wept and lowered his head.

  “I have chosen to be at your side until the end. Isn’t that what you wrote? That friends should fight side by side and die together to be buried in the same grave?” Selen smiled.

  “Yes. I did.”

  “And you jumped.” Selen reached for Louis’s face with his hand, whatever pain it caused. Louis’s cheek was soft and wet with tears. “I love you,” Selen whispered.