by JD Franx
“No,” Ember said, leaning over the little girl. “Thank God, I hadn’t. Two more seconds and I would have.”
Yrlissa released her blade from Davin’s neck and spun him around, twisting the man’s shirt. “You stupid little man, you realize that had she started to heal your daughter, you grabbing her like that would have killed both her and Namara? The only damn Fae in the world, and you could have killed her. When a wizard tells you something, fool, you damn well listen!”
“I’m sorry. Master Locke said Namara was getting special visitors, with what the ArchWizard said, I just...panicked...”
Yrlissa shoved him out of the bedroom. “Go sit down, and let her heal your little girl.” The reality of the situation came crashing down on Tavin all at once, and he stumbled before finally sitting on one of the kitchen chairs.
“She’s gonna heal her,” he laughed. “Da, you hear that?” Malikai wiped his own eyes and grabbed his son in a hug, joined by his wife.
“Yes, son, I know. She is in good hands. That’s Kael’s real wife in there. She’ll take good care of her.”
Lost in emotions, it was clear Tavin no longer cared who was who, only that his daughter would be all right.
Working from the lost memories deep inside her mind, Ember was not sure whether the little girl would feel any pain as she healed her, but something told her if the girl was asleep, it would work much better. Knowing the problem in the girl was as deep inside her as was possible, Ember let her feelings take over while her genetic memory guided her magic.
A pale blue and green light emanated from her hands and easily slid through the little girl’s body the moment Ember spoke the words that drifted around inside her head.
“Amaeh aidora, shalaness—Anavah vallanomin,” she said, softly. Ember repeated herself, her eyes closed and her face wrinkled in concentration. A small whine escaped the lips of the sleeping girl as she squirmed with discomfort, but Ember pressed on until the genes that were not working properly in the little girl’s body were whole and complete, the damaged and missing qualities repaired. The colourful magic faded as she brought the spells to an end.
Exhausted from the use of magic required to repair a deadly genetic defect, Ember again thanked the hidden knowledge in her mind and her years of schooling towards being a doctor. Both saved Namara’s life.
Yrlissa managed to catch Ember before she fell, overcome by exhaustion—the price called for by the laws of magic.
Malikai, quickly came to her aid as well. “Is she all right, Mistress?” he asked, worry showing all over his face.
Looking up at him, Yrlissa nodded. “She will be. Healing someone as deathly ill as your granddaughter requires magic beyond even my understanding, Malikai. It has drawn a portion of her own life force, but she’ll recover, with time,” Yrlissa insisted, massaging Ember’s forehead and temples. “She’s just exhausted from the magic. I must take her to our friends where she can rest and recover.” Ember woke with a start and grasped Malikai’s arm.
“Let her sleep until she wakes on her own, even if it is days. It will take time for her strength to return, but she is... better... I... I promise.” She closed her eyes and laid back against Yrlissa, slipping from consciousness.
“Malikai, please go find the big man who was trying to buy all your supplies when we arrived earlier. I’ll need his help to get her to our camp outside of town,” Yrlissa said as she continued to hold Ember.
“Right away, Mistress.” He nodded before turning and leaving the small house.
After Max returned to the merchant’s house to help Yrlissa with Ember, they collected their horses and supplies. None of them wished to spend the night inside the city. It would mean losing a half day’s travel time and with Kael only two days ahead, everyone was eager to try and catch up to him. Seifer provided a ramshackle cart for them to use in helping Ember. Physically drained, she had yet to regain consciousness. For such a young Fae, she was quickly coming into staggering abilities when it came to helping people. They left the city to find Giddeon, Kasik, and Saleece waiting for them.
“Max,” Giddeon said, greeting them. “So, do we still travel together or do you wish to go your own way?” Max stared at Giddeon for several minutes, trying to decide the likelihood of a fight when they caught up with Kael.
“I guess that’s up to you,” he tested. “Kael is only two days ahead now. Are you going to try and talk with him or just straight up try to kill him?”
Giddeon merely shook his head. “I told you both right from the beginning that I would give him the chance to talk to all of us. I haven’t changed my mind.”
“Yet your actions show otherwise,” Yrlissa snapped.
“From your point of view, perhaps,” Saleece said, as she rose from the side of the campfire and poured a pot of water over the flames. “You need to understand that Kael might not want to talk when we catch up, even if it’s what we want.”
“Travelling together is safer,” Kasik added.
Too tired to argue further, Max looked at Yrlissa, who nodded. “Then I guess we might as well travel together. From what I understand, we’re heading into some dangerous country.”
“We are,” Kasik said. “It’s not too bad before Cairnwood, but after that, the mountains are full of all matter of problems.”
“After everything we’ve been through, how bad can it be?” Max asked, as he smirked. “A couple giants and a few ogres, maybe? No problem.”
“It scares me that I can’t tell whether or not you’re joking,” Yrlissa said.
“What? I wasn’t being serious, but I figured the way things have been going we’re due for about that much shit.”
Giddeon grunted. “You tell him, Yrlissa. I cannot believe that after everything he has seen and been through, that he could still be that gods-forsaken ignorant.” He tugged his horses reins to turn his mount and cantered away.
“What?” Max repeated.
Yrlissa glared at him as if he were a ten year old in big trouble. “Do I really have to answer you? Only a donkey’s ass would laugh and joke about giants and ogres. Even your strength pales in comparison to either of them. Hopefully, they’re both still scarce.” She smiled, winked, and then rode away, leaving him to bring up the rear with the squeaking, bouncing old wagon.
He looked back over his shoulder into the wagon to make sure Ember was secure and as safe as she could get. He stared towards the city gates of Dasal before taking a quick glance back down the road in the direction of Corynth. Try as he might, he could no longer sense someone following them, not since they escaped from the Taktala. He was concerned that if his group was no longer being followed, where did their followers go? With Kael meeting up with Giddeon and then passing them, were they actually after Kael instead?
Maybe they were following Kael. He hoped whoever it was meant no harm. Kael had been through enough already.
“Ha,” he barked, out loud, thinking again about giants and ogres. “Ah, Kael. I wish ya were here, buddy. It’d be a blast fighting an ogre together,” he joked to himself. “I can’t believe it’s come to this, sis,” he said, checking on Ember in the back of the wagon yet again. “Ah well, some day very soon we’ll be back together. I promise.”
DASAL
Queen Sephitrotha Kohl woke from her sleep by a repeated banging on the inn door that belonged to her and her husband. Without even bothering to dress, she sprang from the bed with little effort, landing only feet from the door. She swung the door open, having recognized the uniformly coded knocks. Luthian quickly entered the room without being seen, she hoped. He turned to offer his Queen a bow, as well as a reason for his urgent intrusion, when he realized she had yet to dress.
Staring from surprise, he quickly averted his eyes. “My queen, I apologize for staring. I just assumed you would be awake. Forgive me, Your Highness, please,” he begged.
Walking over to a tall closet, she removed a long silk cloak and covered herself.
“It’s fine, Luthian. Why are y
ou here?” The second she finished speaking, the door opened a second time and Nekrosa walked in backwards, a platter of food filling his arms.
He turned. Surprised to see his spymaster, he asked, “What are you doing here?”
Luthian began to bow. “My king, I...”
“Get your ass up,” Nekrosa snapped, taking a half-hearted kick towards him with his bad leg. “None of that at the best of times, let alone in a kingdom where it could get us killed, understand? I really don’t want to say it again,” he said, with a stern voice, and then started to laugh as if he could no longer keep up the serious tone.
“Come on, old friend, have a bite to eat and tell us why you’re here. It’s well after the noon meal. You must be hungry, and Sephi was on watch most of the night. She needs to eat too. Here.” He sat the platter down on the table and retrieved his walking stick from his belt. Not bothering to waste time with the food, Luthian explained his unexpected visit.
“She’s here, My King... Sorry, Nekrosa, Sephi. Here in Dasal. They arrived this morning and spoke with the Master Wizard here, then left to gather supplies. I know which one she is. A merchant, his granddaughter is, or was, dying. I asked around and it sounds like she has the wasting sickness... or had, Gods. The redheaded one, Nekrosa. She healed the little girl. I waited three hours before coming here. I saw the little girl, the mark of the Void is gone. All signs of death are gone from her body. This young woman healed a deadly illness. I still can scarcely believe it and I saw it all through the eyes of the wing. As sure as I am standing here... She is a real Fae,” he described.
Nekrosa paused for only a moment before taking several candied dates from the platter of food. He tossed one in his mouth and looked over at Sephi, she smiled from ear-to-ear.
“Well, my dear, this has been a most enlightening trip has it not?” he asked. With a gentle glide across the floor, almost as if she were floating, Sephi stopped in front of him, and nodded. She opened her mouth as he placed a date on top of her tongue, kissing her mouth before she closed it and swallowed. “Mhm. Except for using up our only vial of enhanced healing. All we have left is the spelled Brethren blood. But a DeathWizard in debt to us for his life, the only living Fae right in front of us, things couldn’t have gone better even if we had planned it, could it?”
“No, it couldn’t, my husband. Things seem to be going exactly as we had hoped they would. Before long, the only living DeathWizard and the last Fae will be returning with us to DormaSai.”
“All right then, Luthian,” Nekrosa said, limping across the room to retrieve their travel packs. “Supplies, horses, everything we need, I want to be after them in an hour’s time.” He tossed Luthian a bag of gold nuggets, DormaSain gold coins would only get then in trouble.
Luthian started to bow but saw the look Nekrosa gave him. Standing with his back straight, he nodded instead and left.
Chapter Twenty-Three
“Hollow Dogs. What can I say about these creatures? I myself have never seen one, though I have talked to a northern trader who has. Corbin Sayde, an Elvehn caravan trader, has survived several far north expeditions into the Black Hollow peninsula in order to barter with the Orotaq. This is what he told me:
‘Trading with freakishly strong blue monsters is merely a matter of having barter materials they want, a lot of said materials, and having them often. The Orotaq can be quite civil, though I wouldn’t recommend breaking any fast with them—in fact, avoid them completely during meals. As for the hollow dogs, the wild ones are rarely the real concern. They live in the gas swamps, a place no sane person would ever go. Most of the Orotaq-tamed dogs are very well trained; they usually only kill when ordered to do so. They have every nasty attribute of their wild counterparts, only they’re trained to obey extremely complex commands. They’re dangerous and damn smart.’
“Corbin never said as much, but avoid Black Hollow during your travels across Talohna. There’s nothing up there but death for any race other than the Orotaq.”
Garren Sallus, Myths and Creatures of Talohna. Vol. 1
ROAD TO CAIRNWOOD
Kyah and Kael pushed themselves and their horses as hard as they dared while still leaving themselves in fighting condition and the horses with enough energy to flee if they encountered trouble. Never believing for a single second that Giddeon had gone after the Cethosian princess, Kael was positive it had been a ploy to slow them down and allow for the ArchWizard and his group to catch up. The fast pace of travel left both tired, though still able to defend themselves should they need to. Even so, Kael made sure to always switch watch with Kyah throughout the night. Seifer had warned them of the serious dangers of the high country.
The first four days were uneventful; no creatures or threats surfaced. Knowing they were getting closer to a serious battle with Sythrnax or his forces, Kael had been trying to teach offensive magic to Kyah. Considering his own limited abilities with underworld magic and no abilities with earth-bond magic, it was actually going quite well. Kyah was a bonded wizardess, so once he had taught her the words to Gabriel’s lightening spell, she found it easy to cast, and was soon capable of staggering power. She explained to him that as far as she had been taught, power was power, which was why Dead Healers were forbidden to learn offensive spells.
As the time drew near for the evening meal, they debated pushing on for Cairnwood in order to spend the night at an inn. The hours of darkness brought temperatures close to freezing in the mountain foothills. Only a few miles away from the town, they walked their horses as they talked back and forth trying to decide whether or not to push on.
Kael stopped dead in his tracks as if running into a brick wall. He gasped, putting his hand on his forehead. Crouching on one knee, he closed his eyes to concentrate.
Several minutes passed before Kyah broke the silence. “What is it? Do not go drifting off on me again.” Kael shivered, all his muscles twitched and hummed as his eyes popped open.
“There’s heavy movement in the forest several miles to the north. It feels familiar but I don’t understand it. I can smell smoke as well, but it’s faint,” he said, then closed his eyes again, but for only a second this time. “Magic. I can sense magic. It’s different, strange.” Kael stood, chewing his bottom lip, deep in thought. “Come on, something is not right.”
Climbing onto his horse, he took off at a gallop as Kyah shouted for him to wait. Realizing he did not hear her, she jumped up on her mount and followed, racing to catch up.
Galloping flat-out at breakneck speed, Kael pushed his mount for all it had when it suddenly hit him. He pulled back on the reins, forcing the horse to stop, and he closed his eyes and concentrated once more. Kyah had never seen him like this before, and he knew it was starting to worry her. She was right to be worried.
He opened his eyes. “Oh, Jesus. Kyah, the village is under attack,” he said, looking at her. “There are so many. Too many to count.”
“Who? Who are they?” Sensing his distress, Kael’s horse pawed the ground and spun to the right, eager to be off.
“I don’t know!” he yelled. “But there are dozens dead already. Come on. We have to hurry before it’s too late to help.” The words had just left his mouth when his mount spun to the north and jumped into a gallop. Letting it have its head, the horse’s hooves tore up the dirt trail as it raced for Cairnwood. Only a little over a mile out from the town, they arrived in minutes.
With Kael in the lead, the two horses burst from the trees into the clearing before the town of Cairnwood. At a full gallop and their mounts heavy with sweat from the mile-long dash, the first thing they saw was smouldering ash—all that was left of the town’s front gates. Screams of horror and cries of pain echoed through the smoky air as they entered the town.
Kael slid from his horse, landing in a full run with both his Vai’Karth reaper-blades already in his hands, but stopped, staggering after only ten feet. The south end of the town was engulfed by flames, the buildings on the ground and those built into the cliffs
were all on fire. Smoke hung thick in the air, darkening the sky, and the entire section of the town was overrun by large black dogs, all three hundred pounds and four feet high. No wonder he couldn’t count them all with his magical sight.
The hounds reminded him of the darga he’d fought while in the Forsaken Lands, until he got a good look at one. These creatures had no horns and were covered in shiny black fur that blurred their exact outline. The jaws were huge, powerful, but they only had half the amount of teeth compared to the twisted creations he had fought up north. What they lacked in horns and teeth, they more than made up with their large feet and retractable claws. There were more than twenty of the black hounds within sight. Some were dragging helpless people towards the centre of town. Others had stopped to feed on smoking bodies, their powerful back legs and vicious claws tore the dead apart.
“By the blessed Fae,” Kyah prayed. “Those are hollow dogs from Black Hollow. No,” she cried. “That is why they seemed familiar, Kael. The Orotaq are here!”
A booming voice echoed from across the street. A seven foot tall Orotaq mystic, covered in thick, runic scars exited the front door of a burning house and tossed a young woman’s body to the black dogs.
“Right ya are, little girl, and ya arrived just in time to die,” he snarled, as he put a whistle to his mouth and blew it for two seconds. Every hollow dog in the vicinity stopped what they were doing and started towards Kael and Kyah.
Both unleashed hellstorms of blistering lightening and dozens of dogs were fried by Kyah and sliced to pieces when hit with Kael’s writhing black current. Even with only a couple dogs still standing, the Orotaq mystic laughed as if it didn’t matter.
Kael barked the words of his spell again, focusing every ounce of power he could bring forth. “Kveysa drepa.”
The words tore from his mouth as euphoria from the magic flooded his veins. The black and purple electricity shot across the street, enveloping the shaman. The big man laughed again and pulled a massive battle axe from a sling on his back. Slamming the butt of the axe into the earth, Kael’s sizzling and crackling magic quickly dissipated and died out. The remaining dogs bolted, disappearing down the street. Without hesitating, Kyah followed his attack with one of her own, her lightening slammed into an invisible wall in front of the Orotaq mystic and ricocheted up towards the sky as he lifted his axe above his head.