by Evren, S. K.
“Yes, Sir!”
“And Sergeant,” Cardalan said, his tone more familiar, less rigid.
“Yes, Sir?”
“Take care of the children, Sergeant.” Cardalan looked past the sergeant back to the west, back toward Arlethord. “These aren’t Avrandian raiders, Glement. I think we just woke up to a nightmare none of us ever thought we would dream, you know?”
“We’ll bring ‘em home, Cap’n. They’re good kids. They’ll do what needs being done.”
Cardalan reached out his hand and the sergeant automatically saluted him. Instead of returning the salute, Cardalan extended his hand, waiting. The sergeant looked at his captain, nodded, and took the offered hand.
“Don’t be too long, Cap’n, or we’ll come looking for ya.”
“Damn right you will,” Cardalan smiled and turned away.
Drothspar and Chance dropped off their gear and waited for Cardalan at the edge of the camp. They could barely make out his form talking seriously to Vae. The Eastern warrior was more in control of her emotions and listening closely to Cardalan. When the captain stopped speaking, she nodded her head slowly and touched her hand to her chest in salute. Cardalan returned the gesture and the pair walked over to join Drothspar and Chance.
“Are we ready?” Cardalan asked his assembled guests.
Everyone nodded affirmatively.
“Vae here has agreed to keep a truce with you, Drothspar, for this reconnaissance.” He looked closely at the Avrandian woman’s eyes. “She gave me her word, and I accept it. I recommend you do the same.”
“I do accept her word, Captain, gratefully. I thank you, Miss—”
“Vae,” she said shortly. “My name is Vae, not ‘miss.’”
“Thank you, Vae.” Drothspar corrected himself.
“Thank you, Vae,” Chance said, smiling at the Easterner. “How’s your leg?”
“It’ll heal,” Vae answered, shrugging her shoulders. “How’s yours?”
“A little sore,” Chance admitted.
“That was a nice cut, girl.” Vae said admiringly. “I never even saw you pull the blade.”
“Thank you, again,” Chance replied, flushing slightly. “I try to keep in practice.” She smiled wryly. “That was a pretty nice kick, too. I was really surprised at how hard you hit with such a small movement.”
“It has to do with how you move your whole body,” Vae explained, “perhaps later we can—”
“Ladies,” Cardalan said, interrupting them. “There will be plenty of time to discuss training after we return. Let’s get to the tree-line before we lose all our light, shall we?”
Vae and Chance nodded at Cardalan and turned to smile warily at each other. It was a small step, Drothspar thought, but it was a step on the path to peace. Forgiveness, he knew, required far more strength than conflict.
They moved east from the camp and threaded their way through the trees. The sun had already set, and the steel blue light of evening was fading fast into night. They approached the tree-line and looked out into the fields surrounding Æostemark.
Cardalan examined the scene and his face paled. Several hundred bodies stood in loose formation just west of the damaged wall. More ranks faded out of sight on the north side of the city. Chance stared, eyes wide, trying to count the total number. Vae’s eyes hardened, her teeth bared like a cornered wolf.
Drothspar felt a tightness in his chest. Something was different, out of place, like a familiar melody played slightly out of tune. He was struggling with the feeling when Cardalan signaled for them to return to the camp. They worked their way back from the trees and met with the sergeant.
“Keep your voices down,” he warned them in a low whisper.
“What’s going on, Sergeant?” Cardalan asked.
“There’s something to the west of us, Sir. We haven’t been able to get a good look at it. It’s keeping its distance.”
“How many are there?”
“As far as we can tell, Sir, there’s only one. Whatever it is, though, it’s got the horses spooked but good.”
“Did you see that?” Chance whispered anxiously.
“See what?” Cardalan whispered back.
“Eyes! Glowing eyes!”
“Where?” Vae whispered, reaching for her empty sheath.
“May I approach?” Drothspar heard a woman’s voice ask clearly.
“What?” he said, louder than he had expected.
“Shhh!” came the collective warning.
“May I approach your encampment? Your friends seem upset by my presence.”
“Who are you?” Drothspar asked quietly. Cardalan, Chance, and Vae stared at him nervously.
“Who are you talking to?” Chance whispered to him seriously.
Out in the woods, Drothspar thought he saw a shadow move through the trees. It wasn’t so much a shadow, he thought, as an absence of light entirely. He saw it move and then stop, and two gleaming eyes turned to shine toward him.
“There!” Chance whispered again, excitedly. “There they are again!”
Drothspar could barely make out the form of the darkness. It appeared to be a four-legged creature, like a large cat.
“Please, may I approach you,” the voice asked again, “I’ve been waiting for you for quite some time now.” The voice stopped, considering. “Is it this form that’s disturbing you?” it asked.
There was a shimmer in the woods and the blackness shifted into the form of a person.
“They’re gone now,” Chance reported. “The eyes are gone.”
Drothspar looked at his friend, surprised she couldn’t see the figure in the woods.
“Come forward,” Drothspar said, “slowly, please.” He turned to Cardalan. “Captain, we have a visitor. Let’s see what she wants before we do anything hasty.”
Cardalan stared at Drothspar and then back into the woods.
“Sergeant, pass the word. No one attacks unless I give the order. Understood?”
“Yes, Sir,” the sergeant whispered in reply. He relayed the command down the line.
“Thank you,” a woman’s voice said in a normal tone. “I’m coming in now.” She walked closer to the camp and stopped to let the living get a clear view of her. “I mean you no harm,” she told them gently. “Though I have to admit, it’s about time you got here.”
The woman was dressed in a black velvet cloak that reached to the ground. Her head was covered by a velvet hood of the same color. She moved easily over the rough forest floor, her every step fluid and graceful. She approached the camp directly where Drothspar, Chance, Cardalan and Vae were watching. As she moved closer, she pushed back her hood, revealing long, glossy-black hair and a beautiful face. Her skin was pale and her eyes a brilliant green. Her beauty was familiar, classical. She was the very definition of beauty in art. It was not that she matched myriad paintings and sculptures, but more that those works sought to become what she, herself, was.
“What did you mean ‘it’s about time’ we got here?” Cardalan asked. “Have you been waiting for us?” His eyes were hard, suspicious.
“Well, I simply meant that it was about time that you returned from the—”
Drothspar watched the woman’s eyes as she spoke. Although her face was turned toward Cardalan, her eyes were focused on Vae. He felt a rough tug at his neck and heard Cardalan’s dagger scrape out of its sheath. Vae slipped the captain’s dagger up to Drothspar’s neck and pulled him two steps behind the others.
“What are you doing?!” Cardalan demanded.
“Isn’t it obvious,” Vae said, her voice heavy with contempt. “This creature is in collusion with the enemy—with this—this woman!” Vae held Drothspar securely and kept the dagger firmly to the vertebrae of his neck.
“You gave me your word you wouldn’t attack him!” Cardalan told her accusingly.
“I gave you my word I wouldn’t attack him at the tree-line,” she replied. She looked at the woman who had just entered the camp. “This thing is an abo
mination, and an enemy, and it must be destroyed!”
The woman in the black velvet robe sighed.
“Really, Vae? Do you think that harming Drothspar will ease your guilty conscience? Do you think that hurting him will in some way alleviate your fears for the child you left behind? Drothspar had nothing to do with any of that, you know. He was never part of those creatures in Æostemark.” She stared at Vae with unwavering eyes.
Vae looked first at Cardalan and then at Chance. She knew they were the only two people close enough to stop her. She stared back at the strange woman in black, her eyes uncertain, wounded.
“If you think it will make you feel better, Vae,” the woman continued, “by all means, cut him with your knife.”
“No!” Chance exclaimed, “Please!” Her eyes darted to the strange woman and filled with hatred. The woman returned her gaze, unperturbed. Chance turned to Vae and pleaded once more. “Please, Vae, don’t do it!”
“Oh, go on Vae,” the woman said. “If violence will really ease your troubled heart, you go right ahead.”
Vae stared at the woman in disbelief. Her eyes widened and then narrowed into a hard gaze. She sneered at the stranger, certain she was being taunted. Thrusting forward with her left hand, she slashed across Drothspar’s neck with her right. The dagger slipped easily between his vertebrae and Vae fell backward to the ground, surprised by the lack of resistance.
“There,” the woman asked, “do you feel better now?”
Cardalan was on top of Vae in a moment, and joined by several of his men and Chance, who ripped the dagger from her hand. Chance spun on the strange woman and leveled the dagger at her breast.
“What were you thinking?!” Chance screamed, shocking everyone in the camp.
“Do calm down, Sasha… or do you prefer Chance?” The woman waited for an answer, but Chance was flushed red and breathing too heavily to answer. Her body shook, but the hand that held the dagger was rock steady. “Look at him,” the woman continued, “He’s fine,” she said as if there had never been any doubt. “Did you really think that dagger could hurt him?” She looked at Chance with a wry smile. “Yours didn’t, did it?”
“What?!” Chance asked, her voice rising in tone. “How could you know…? Who are you?!”
“You’re asking my name?” the woman asked, surprised. She clapped her hands together delightedly. “No one’s asked my name in so long!” She frowned slightly and sighed. “I can’t tell it to you, of course, but thank you so much for asking!”
Chance stared at her, dumbfounded.
“Still,” the woman went on, “you people do seem to require labels for things.” She paused, thinking. “How about this? Call me, ‘Kitti.’”
Drothspar, who still felt a little odd about having a knife pass through his neck, cocked his head at the woman.
“You’re kidding, right?” he said.
“No! Not at all! Quite appropriate, don’t you think?”
“It’s your name,” he said.
“Well, no, it’s not actually, but I do take your meaning.” She smiled at him and he was taken aback by her beauty.
“What is she talking about?” Cardalan asked, releasing Vae to his men.
“The glowing eyes you saw in the woods,” Drothspar said, “they belonged to a very large black cat.” He nodded meaningfully at the woman. “Kitti.”
“Her?” Cardalan exclaimed.
“Of course, me,” the woman answered. She looked at Cardalan. “Do you mean to tell me you can stand there, in the presence of an animate skeleton, and be surprised that I have another form?”
“Well,” Cardalan started, “it’s just that…” He sighed and threw up his hands. “Okay, whatever. Nice to meet you, Kitti.”
“Thank you, Captain, it’s nice to finally meet you, as well.”
“What are you doing here?” Drothspar asked.
“Would you mind terribly if we settled ourselves to chat, perhaps around a nice campfire?” She looked at the struggling Vae and dagger-wielding Chance. “I’m certain we’d all be more comfortable.”
“We can go back to the camp,” Cardalan agreed, “but we can’t have a campfire, we’re too close to the enemy.”
“If that’s all you’re worried about, Captain, I can take care of it for you.” Kitti smiled at him brightly. “Lead the way,” she invited.
Drothspar, Chance, Cardalan and Kitti walked the short distance to the center of the camp. Vae, still struggling, was escorted back to the camp and bound to a tree several feet away from the others. Her face was flushed an angry red and her lips were curled back away from her teeth. Her eyes, however, showed a crack in her certainty.
Although Cardalan repeatedly informed Kitti that they could not build a fire, she insisted she would not talk unless they gathered up “a nice bunch” of dry wood for her. Scowling, Cardalan ordered his men to collect some wood, quietly stipulating that it should all be as thick as his forearm around. He reasoned that he harder the wood was to light, the more chance he’d have to put it out before anyone near Æostemark could notice it.
Kitti, however, was pleased by the large chunks of wood the soldiers brought back to her. After it had been arranged into a neat pyramid shape, she invited everyone to gather close. Drothspar sat beside her on a fallen log, and Chance settled in on his other side. She eyed Kitti suspiciously, still upset over the attack on Drothspar. Cardalan sat on the ground on the opposite side of the firewood from Kitti. Sergeant Glement, Corporal Kelton, and a few soldiers who were not on guard duty formed a half-circle on the side facing Æostemark. Cardalan stirred uneasily. He watched Kitti nervously as she approached the firewood.
“We can’t have a fire,” he warned her again seriously. “We’re too close to Æostemark.”
She winked at him.
Cardalan’s eyes widened in surprise and he readied himself to jump on the fire and stomp it out. His men were poised similarly, like a group of springs about to leap out of a broken clock.
Kitti knelt before the fire and closed her eyes. Her face was lovely, peaceful, calm. She extended her right hand over the wood and spoke very softly.
“Thank you,” she said and the wood beneath her hand crackled. It took several moments for fire to show itself. It was not what anyone, except Kitti, had expected.
Drothspar watched as the shadows of the firewood shifted and moved. He swiveled his head around to see what light had changed to make the shadows shift. No clouds covered the moon and the stars glittered brightly as ever. He turned his gaze back to the firewood and stared.
It took several moments for him to see, to understand. It wasn’t the shadows that were moving—the flames of the fire were black! As the black flames licked higher and deeper into the wood, a gentle, dark blue glow illuminated the area of their circle and no further. Drothspar heard the collective gasps as others began to perceive the new type of fire before them. He also noticed a few of them huddling closer. Apparently, he thought, it was giving out some heat as well. A few moments later, he felt the warmth himself. It was a good warmth, neither too hot nor tepid. For lack of a better word, he thought, it was perfect.
“It’s a very lovely fire,” he said to their new guest.
“Thank you!” she said brightly. “My brother showed it to me.” The bright look fell from her face and she sighed.
“Yes,” Cardalan said, “it’s a very nice fire.” He was relieved that she hadn’t created a bright glowing bonfire and trying very hard to remember his manners. “Could you tell us now what you’re doing here, Kitti? Please?”
Kitti’s face lit up as she heard Cardalan call her name.
“You called me by my name again! Well, my new name. It’s been so long since anyone’s called me anything. Well, anything nice, anyway.” She smiled at Cardalan. “‘Kitti,’” she said, trying the name out again. “Yes, I think I like it very much.”
“That’s wonderful,” Cardalan said, trying to remain calm. “Do you think you could tell us why you’re here?�
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“You really are on about that, aren’t you?” she asked. “Oh, all right. If it’s that important to you, there’s really no great mystery about it. Something is going to happen very soon, and I’ve decided I want to be a part of it.” She paused, considering. “Well, I suppose it’s more that I’ve realized that I need to be a part of it, but I want to, as well.” She smiled at Cardalan as if she had explained everything to his satisfaction.
“That’s it?” he asked incredulously. “Something’s going to happen? Do you know what is going to happen?”
Kitti was taken aback by Cardalan’s attitude. She blinked her green eyes at him and tilted her head. Cardalan, a man who hadn’t much considered women since losing his wife, was shaken, himself, by Kitti’s look. Her beauty astounded him. Kitti smiled and answered his question.
“Well, yes, I do know what’s going to happen tomorrow.” She smiled again. “And, no, I really don’t.”
“Tomorrow?” Cardalan exclaimed.
“Yes, tomorrow. Oh, I see! Well, I guess you’re right. Technically, today is tomorrow.”
“Would you care to explain further?” Cardalan asked, exasperated.
“Well,” Kitti began, “okay. You see, days go from midnight to midnight, and since it’s now past midnight, it’s no longer today, it’s tomorrow. Which is to say today.”
Cardalan groaned and sunk his face into his hands. Drothspar was grateful that his face couldn’t betray his phantom smile.
“I think what the Captain means, Kitti,” Drothspar said, “is could you explain what’s going to happen tomorrow—today, rather?”
“I could try,” Kitti replied, “but you see I wouldn’t be completely accurate. Since it’s in the future, it really hasn’t happened yet—”
“Are you trying to say that you can see the future?” Chance interrupted her. “Like some kind of fortune-teller?”
Kitti turned her eyes on Chance, considering the question. Chance’s eyes softened under that gaze, she was only slightly less affected than Cardalan had been.
“Ah!” Kitti declared. “I think I understand your question now. ‘Fortune-teller!’” she said, as if that had explained her thought process. “No, I’m not a fortune-teller and I don’t see into the future in the way that you mean. Let me see if I can explain.