by JD Franx
“Sorry,” he panted, “things aren’t working right.”
“It’s all right. Here try again, you need water. You haven’t had any since I dragged you out of there. Again,” she insisted. Nodding, he swallowed a small mouthful before coughing and choking on the rest. The look of fear on her face almost broke his heart and more regret settled onto his soul. He knew she felt overwhelmed as a couple of tears ran from the corner of her eyes.
“I’m really scared,” she whispered, shaking. “I don’t know what to do for you. I can’t make you better, I tried. My magic won’t heal you, and you’re getting worse.
Kael suppressed the urge to cough and tried to smile. “It’s all right. It’s just inexperience, Cassie. Even Kyah would’ve had trouble healing these wounds...”
“What do I do?” she asked, breathing deep and wiping the tears from her cheeks.
“You need to listen to me, okay?” he asked, still trying to catch his breath. She nodded, but said nothing, listening instead. “Leave me here and go find help. All right?”
“If I leave you, then I can’t defend you if something comes. There are things up here. Scary things. You’re burnt and bleeding, that’s like ringing the dinner bell.” She glanced over her shoulder as if expecting one of those things to come storming out of the darkness. Kael grabbed her hand and stopped her.
“If you don’t leave to find help, I’ll die anyway. Please, just go. You can move faster and cover more ground without me and you can use the quiet to try to sense someone who might help. Go, now.”
“All right, but I’ll be back for you. I promise. Goodbye,” she whispered softly, and kissed his cheek. He watched as she scampered up the tree across from where he sat. Into its higher branches in only seconds, she was off and running from tree limb to tree limb twenty feet above the ground. As she disappeared into the dark, Kael shook his head, wondering if he had begun to hallucinate. Trying to calm his aching body, he laid back and closed his eyes in hope that Cassie would be back before his body gave out.
In less than a minute, he was out cold.
Unaware of how much time had passed, Kael woke to find the forest floor passing by. He was being dragged along by Cassie on one side and an older woman on the other. “Cassie?” he croaked. “Wh-What’s...”
“It’s all right. Save your strength. We are almost back to Aravae’s camp. She’s Elvehn, and she thinks she might be able to heal you. Save your strength,” she ordered as again his consciousness faded.
“Come on, young one. He’s in far worse trouble than I had hoped,” Aravae Valyndir said, as they carried Kael through the forested lower range of the Dwarven Mountains.
“Hurry, little one,” Aravae said. “We’re running out of time.”
“I will, mistress,” Cassie answered. Pushing herself harder, their pace picked up as Kael’s feet dragged in the dirt behind them. The drag marks quickly disappeared as snakelike green vines following the three erased any tracks they made. Aravae’s Elvehn nature magic made sure they would not be found because of Cassie’s honesty in telling her what happened. The Elvehn mother would never turn away the injured, but because the young girl had mentioned witches, covering the direction in which they were going was a priority.
Another half hour passed by the time they arrived at Aravae’s camp. They laid Kael down on her bedroll on his side and she asked Cassie to get her some water. Cassie handed Aravae a water skin and knelt down at Kael’s side, opposite the Elvehn woman.
“All right young one, tell me what happened in more detail this time. Remove his cloak and shirt while you talk.” Knowing better than to explain exactly what she had seen, Cassie gave a shorter version, not all of it true.
“We are from Cairnwood, for the most part, mistress. We were forced to abandon the village because of an Orotaq raid. We were all afraid they would come back, so we fled the village, but he was caught by witches and they brought him north. He saved my life the night of the attack at home, so I followed them from up in the trees, like I was doing when you found me. I was hoping to help him, and when the chance came, I managed to sneak him out of their camp, but he was already badly hurt, and then we had to fight off a small group that caught up to us,” she gasped, taking a deep breath. Having thought about what to say the whole way back, she hoped Aravae would believe her.
Aravae stared at her without suspicion. “Were they mountain witches?” she asked, as she examined the wounds on Kael’s back and side.
“I don’t know, but they were wearing long white dresses with hoods, if that helps,” she replied.
“Very well, little one. The mountain girls usually dress in white, but I see no marks of the Higher Brethren,” Aravae explained.
Confused, Cassie asked, “What are Higher Brethren, mistress?”
“Oh, I’m sorry, sweetheart. I assumed because of your gift you would know.”
“I only found out two days ago that I could use magic.”
Aravae looked at her intently. “That’s amazing. I have never seen anyone heal even a scratch after only two days of being aware of their gift. Never, in the two hundred years that I have practised magic, have I even heard of such a thing. You are very blessed.” During the praise, she never stopped her examination of Kael.
“Thank you, mistress.” Cassie smiled and helped roll Kael over more so the Elvehn woman could take a closer look at the wounds on his back.
“Well, little one, here is your first lesson. At least an Elvehn lesson anyway. Every type of magic leaves a mark behind, if you know what to look for. And we Elvehn do. Few humans ever manage this. Mountain witches gain their power from the Higher Brethren, from angels. The planes of the underworld are all guarded by a race of being called the Brethren. The planes of Paradise are guarded by the Higher Brethren, angels, and the planes of Perdition by the Lower Brethren, or demons,” she explained.
Cassie shivered as goosebumps crawled up the flesh of her arms. Images of earlier in the evening haunted her. She was well aware exactly what kind of demons walked the planes of Hell; she had seen Kael call forth several of them before turning them loose on the Dead Sisters.
“I see, mistress,” she answered quietly.
Aravae gently touched Cassie’s cheek. “I know, sweetheart. The world of magic can be very scary when you first discover it, but you must learn all you can in order to protect yourself and others. It is why the gods granted us the gift of magic and why the Ancients helped us to learn to use it properly, you understand?” Cassie nodded, not knowing what else to say.
“You are very brave. Your friend would have died out there without you. Now I want you to listen closely so you understand, all right?” Again, Cassie nodded, but said nothing. “As I told you before, most witches are granted their powers from the Brethren, but Kael has no signs of this magic on him anywhere, and I can sense no vile magic in him. His wounds are from normal magic and mortal weapons. We can heal him together. Will you help me, little one?”
“Yes, mistress,” Cassie nodded.
Cassie and Aravae worked hard over the next hour as they fought to keep Kael alive. Aravae used her Elvehn magic to show Cassie how to heal residual magic harming a living body, and then the two healed the cuts and stab wounds he was suffering from. Two hours after dawn, they were done, and Cassie curled up beside Kael and fell asleep as Aravae watched over them both. Nightmares filled with hell-spawned demons chased Cassie through her dreams. It made for a restless sleep.
Kael woke an hour after mid-day. Confused and still disoriented, he was obviously surprised to be alive.
“Easy, young man,” Aravae said, kneeling to check him. “We have done all we can for now, but you are far from healed.”
Kael laid back and breathed slowly until the dizziness passed. “Thank you for your help,” he whispered, noticing that Cassie was curled up against him sleeping.
“You are most welcome. My name is Aravae Valyndir. Your little companion found me not long after she left you. We brought you back here.”
“Thank you, Aravae. My name is Kael.” Aravae smiled, as if far away memories were flooding back to her.
“My son’s name was Kael. It is a strong Elvehn name, and it is good to see others still believe so as well.”
“Was? What happened?” Her look said he was being too forward. “I apologize. I certainly don’t mean to pry.”
“He has been gone for many years. He was just a baby. I... I am sorry, but it is hard to talk about.”
“I understand. You don’t need to apologize. I’m sorry I upset you. May I ask how you came to be here? It was lucky for me that you were,” Kael said.
“The Elvehn live for many centuries, as I am sure you are aware. When a parent loses a child, and has no more offspring, we often spend many years in Commune. I believe Humans call something similar a sabbatical or a retreat. It is a time of grieving while being alone to deal with your thoughts and feelings. When I lost my son, I waited for a couple years before I decided to spend some time with nature. I had an adopted daughter who was only twelve when my son... died. She needed me, so I stayed until she turned sixteen. Then I left for my Commune, to try to silence the screaming pain my soul had for my son. I have been out here in this forest for two years. Before that, I have been to many forests and even spent some time on the Dragon Isles in the enchanted Forest of Whispers. It is customary to Commune for eighteen years, one year of mourning for every year my son would have been a child. My soul will mend someday, and when it does, I will return to civilization,” she explained.
“That’s amazing. Your son lost as much as you did. Your devotion is incredible. My wife and I have been gone from our home for almost six months, I doubt either of our parents have even noticed we are gone.”
“Where is your wife, Kael? She was not with you?” she asked. Not wanting to go into detail because the last thing Kael needed was to be hunted by the Elvehn, he told Aravae only the bare minimum.
“She passed away several months ago, shortly after we were taken from our home. We grew up together as children. She is all I ever knew. I will miss her until the day I die and rejoin her,” Kael said solemnly.
“I am sorry for your loss. This world we live in can be a terrible place. I am also sorry that you are not closer to your parents. It is sad when things like that happen among family.”
“It is, but we move on I guess, don’t we?” She nodded, but did not speak because Cassie woke, and seeing that Kael looked a bit better, she smiled.
“Kael! You’re all right,” she shouted, hugging him tight.
He groaned from the tight hug, but still managed to smile. “I feel much better, thanks to you, I’m told.”
“I’m so happy,” she said still hugging him. “I was so scared when I left you. I thought I would never see you again.” She laughed as tears rolled down her cheeks.
“Thank you,” he said as he held her. “But you shouldn’t have come after me...”
“I would never have left you with those witches, I had to try.”
“I know, and you did good getting me out of there,” he praised.
“She did very well helping to heal you, as well,” Aravae added as Cassie blushed under all the attention. “You best take good care of her. She is a very gifted young lady.”
Kael smiled. “I knew that all along, right kiddo?” He smiled, ruffling her hair and making her giggle.
Kael spent the afternoon resting, and Cassie helped Aravae prepare some herbs that would help Kael regain his strength. After the evening meal, with a little help from Cassie, Aravae gave Kael another round of healing magic. When finished, she told him she had done all she could with magic and he thanked her yet again. Feeling much better, he informed her that they would be leaving in the morning, for her safety he tried to explain. Though he didn’t tell her, Kael was worried about the threat from Giddeon and didn’t want her to get caught in the middle or end up getting hurt trying to get involved.
Aravae warned him to take it easy for a few more days. Overexertion could cause a major setback to the damage her healing magic had repaired.
DWARVEN MOUNTAINS
Savis Ephemeral had spent his entire life hunting Humans, the Elvehn, and even the occasional Orotaq. His first contracted kill was at the age of nine. Killing things turned out to be incredibly easy when most people could not see you coming. His inherent ability to bend light, making himself nearly invisible, had passed down his family line from thousands of years ago. It was one of the original Elderblood powers. How many other Elderblood abilities were left in the world, Savis had no idea. Documents about Elderblood magic were extremely rare, and his power allowed him to be very good at making people dead. Little else mattered to him.
He always succeeded where other guild assassins had failed. Only Yrlissa Blackmist had been better, and he had immensely enjoyed every part of becoming better than her. He smiled to himself as he thought about how she would never be better than him again, her body likely rotting in the river, somewhere on its way to the ocean. He only wished he could have dumped her body in the river himself. Instead, he had to pay two lowlifes who had helped him dispose of bodies before. Nobody looked twice at the local gravediggers when they hauled bodies around. Even Savis could never get away with that, so as he had done before, he paid them a few coins to dump her body in the river outside of Corynth. Problem solved, and she would never be found. The beasts of the Black Cauldron Ocean would eventually devour the remains.
Savis, on the other hand, was normally very good at finding things that wanted to remain lost, but his current target was almost a ghost. Months had passed without a sighting, not so much as a single rumour, since he had began the hunt five months ago. For most of that time, Savis had been following the Cethosian ArchWizard Giddeon Zirakus, hoping he would eventually lead him to his primary prey. However, following Giddeon’s group had turned out to be exceptionally challenging, because the largest of the two warriors with them seemed to know they were being followed. Every single time he had gotten close enough to try to identify the people travelling with Giddeon, the swordsman would drop back and wait. Twice, he nearly tricked Savis into revealing himself. He never did get close enough to identify them all and as the months passed, the warrior became more suspicious, and that keen sense that alerted him to danger seemed to get stronger instead of easing. Once acquiring his primary target though, Savis had no further interest in Giddeon’s group anyway.
As he stared down from the tree above the Elvehn woman’s camp, Savis was unsure for the first time that he could remember how he was going to fulfil his contract. For days now, he had followed Kael and the witch named Kyah while trying desperately to keep the little girl Cassie in sight once she had arrived and began following them as well. Savis loved to use the trees, a lot of assassins did, and he even preferred to travel in them, if they were close enough together and large enough to hold his weight. But the little girl was using the trees to travel in as well, and he was positive that she was more squirrel than human. She practically flew through the trees, barely touching the branches with her toes and hardly making any sound. Thankfully she made just enough noise for him to hear her when she was close. Twice she blew right past him, travelling so fast she never even felt him or heard him, and the second time, he fell from his tree almost twenty feet in order to avoid her running right into him. The soft leaf mould covering the forest floor saved him from serious injury.
Savis had never feared death and he still didn’t. He just preferred to carry on with living. But the longer he watched Kael, the more he was certain that his chances of surviving an encounter with him would be slim, should he attempt the assassination.
He had watched the massacre the previous night at the witch’s camp with a professional fascination that bordered on awe, something he felt for no other being alive. He had never seen so much devastating magic and raw weapon skills be used by one person. The small clearing had quickly become an intoxicating bloodbath. Wounds that would have killed lesser men had not
even slowed Kael, and when the little girl dropped from the trees at his side, Savis was sure she would become his next victim. Instead, when she spoke to him, he sheathed his weapons and fell to the ground unconscious, rift portals to several of the Nine Hells closed at the same time, pulling their demons back to Hell.
The determined little girl hauled his unconscious body out of the camp, but when Savis landed on the ground to follow, hoping for a chance to fulfil the first contract, he quickly realized that Kael had unintentionally left one of the witches alive. It forced Savis to deal with her because he had been visible. It had taken him too long to kill the stubborn witch, and by the time he had, the Elvehn matron had already returned with the little girl to help Kael. He remembered now why he hated witches so much. She refused to die quickly and was persistent about trying to poison him with her vile, filthy excuse for magic.
Witches always seemed to be a serious pain in Savis’s backside, because the guild always used him when they needed one dealt with. He cocked his head, deciding it was a good thing though, because at least he knew how to kill them.
But now, Kael was almost completely healed, and Savis was back to figuring out how to stay alive and finish the job. He knew that Kael would not leave until morning so he slipped down from the tree without making a sound and headed for the river a couple miles back and to the west. Using his family’s inherent ability at night meant that Savis was all but completely invisible. During the day, in bright light, he could be seen, though barely. At night, though, it was an advantage that allowed him to move like a phantom. In almost a hundred years, he had never been seen at night and only twice during the day. As he bent down at the river to wash his face and refresh with a mouthful of cool water, he had no fears of being seen by anyone.
“It appears to be a fine evening, Savis. Do you not think?” When he heard his name, Savis could barely move. His first thought was that Kael had sensed him and came to find out why he had been following him, but he knew beyond a doubt that his ability kept him hidden from magical senses. Then again, he should be completely hidden by the dark night and yet someone could still see him. He looked around trying to find the voice, while at the same time grabbing a blowgun hidden in his wrist bracer that was loaded with a dart tipped in the poison of a Gyhreni Grandscorpion. The poisoned dart would kill a Human in less than five seconds. It was the last Gyhreni dart he had, but if it saved his life, it would be well worth using.