by Rosie Scott
“Oh? What's this?” Nyx pondered aloud. “Should I feel offended to have been kept out of the loop?”
“I needed to bring it up when I had everyone here,” I explained. “Calder, why don't you explain your idea? It was yours, after all.”
He chuckled. “Ah, yes, blame it on me. So,” he started, leaning forward and eyeing my friends. “You are late on your way to Eteri, yes? This trip has cost me everything but these sailors here. I no longer have a ship. I no longer have Koby, who was my partner in crime. Thus, I feel like I might want to take a break from the seas for a time. Kai and I were talking the other day, and she told me of all of the slaves she has freed in Nahara. I was once a slave. This interests me. Freeing them interests me. I am sure freedom interests them, and some might be willing to join you all in your little quest for world domination.”
I chuckled at his wording. I watched Nyx's reaction to this, since I figured she knew where this was going. She seemed intrigued.
“You always reminded me of Kai,” my best friend piped up, one eyebrow raised. “Now I know why. You two are both willing to rush into war to get what you want.”
“Sometimes war is necessary,” Calder replied.
“And don't act like you don't enjoy it,” I added.
Nyx snorted a laugh. “Okay, so I do. And I'm guessing you are talking about marching right underground and starting a civil war. You don't just want to free the slaves. You want to kill the women who look like me who enable it.”
Calder watched her carefully. “Yeah, unless they decide to be tamed. Do you have a problem with that?”
“Problem with it? Hell no. They're a bunch of backstabbing bitches who deserve their comeuppance. I'd love to go back underground. It'd be a chance to wipe them out. The Alderi assassins have been on us like flies on a corpse for the past year. We could injure them and get us some Alderi men, all at once.”
“As allies,” I clarified.
“Among other things, if time allows,” Nyx retorted playfully. She tilted her head toward Calder. “Though, I'd love to hear your ideas for how a group of eighteen could go underground and make any headway at all. And how we'd keep these losers safe,” she added, throwing a thumb in my direction.
“You've never had to worry about that before,” I mused.
“Yeah, because you've never been underground before. You, Cerin, Anto, Jakan.” She nodded toward the sailors, none of whom were Alderi. “You guys. The underground isn't meant for you.”
“I lived many years in the wildlands,” Calder said. “I have friends here. The beastmen are always looking for people to join them. I'm sure many of them would be willing to join us in this quest, because escaped Alderi tend to be easily recruited. We would not be alone. Besides,” he added, “You know how the underground is mapped out. If we go underground to Thanati and free the slaves there, we would be recruiting numbers we could take with us to mow over Hazarmaveth, and eventually Quellden. We would be like a snowball rolling down a hill, love, collecting numbers and moving through the tunnels as one.”
“Considering that works,” Nyx countered. “Quellden is half the size of Eteri alone, Calder, and it is but one city packed to the brim with trained assassins.”
That shocked me. I knew the Alderi were plentiful beneath the surface of Arrayis, but I'd had nothing from which to base its size. Eteri wasn't the largest country in the world, but the fact that one city was half its size and well-populated was fascinating to me.
“Quellden is large, my dear, but is it not your home?” Calder questioned, tilting his head. “You know it inside and out. I know Hazarmaveth. We are a long ways from Quellden. We are probably sitting above Thanati as we speak, but it is a smaller city. We can gain supporters in the wildlands. If they won't follow you, I have faith they will follow me. We can take the smaller cities out in stealth until we gain numbers, and launch an assault on Quellden. Time it right, and we could take it over in the year.”
“Mm. You are like me,” I mused, thoughtfully. “You don't just want to free your brothers. You want the land as well.”
“Of course. Freeing the slaves is a temporary solution. You know that,” Calder pointed out. “Free the slaves, thousands more will take their place. Only through war and conquest do we have hope of changing the way the underground functions. Take out the queen, and someone will rise through the ranks to be in her place.”
Nyx raised her hand. “If the queen is going to die, I'm throwing my name in the hat to be the one to take her out. Mommy dearest deserves much worse things than death.”
I smiled inwardly, remembering Nyx's stories of her cruel upbringing. Given she had been living above ground for seven years now, I thought she had left much of her bitterness behind her. I was happy to see her motivated to right the wrongs of her culture. Perhaps my own mission of conquest would allow the others their own methods of obtaining satisfaction.
Jakan spoke up when the conversation quieted. “What about Eteri, Kai?”
I found the Vhiri's gaze. “I still wish to go there, and as soon as possible. But given we are here, I think it might be more effective time-wise to aid Calder in this first. Otherwise, we could be doubling our travel time.” I hesitated, understanding why he had asked. “Is this okay with you? I know how much you wish to visit your homeland.”
Jakan glanced to Anto, who watched him carefully. “I long to be in Eteri, but it wouldn't mean as much to me if you guys weren't there. And I wouldn't expect Calder and the others to put their own mission on hold for ours. I'll go with you to the underground, but if I don't make it out alive, I will haunt you until you visit Eteri.”
It was said somewhat in jest, but I could tell there was a seriousness behind his words. It wasn't just possible that more people I cared for would die by the time I took over Sera, it was probable. Theron's death had cemented that fact into all of our minds. Death was never convenient, so Jakan's worry that he might not see his homeland again now became mine.
“We will visit Eteri immediately after our trip underground, Jakan,” I said, my tone confident. “I promise you.”
Jakan nodded, though he did seem a little saddened that the visit was put on hold. “I believe you, Kai. After all, I highly doubt more time will convince my people to join Chairel, if that's what they're trying for.”
“What can we expect of the underground?” Anto asked, his brown eyes flicking between Nyx and Calder. “You have mentioned it might be hard for us. We need to be prepared.”
“Nyx is being overly dramatic. It is not that bad,” Calder spoke. “It is dark in many of the tunnels, but I have alteration spells that give us light, and Kai knows fire magic. Perhaps we can recruit a shapeshifter or two who knows alchemy so we may have an ongoing supply of calcint.”
“It is still dark, Calder,” Nyx argued. “And if you are looking to utilize stealth, we cannot use light.”
“Who says everyone has to attack at once?” Calder asked. “We can leave some of the others in pockets of the tunnels while those of us who can see move forward, if we need to. Besides,” he motioned toward his red eyes with a hand, “I'm practically blind when it comes to being Alderi, and I escaped the damn place. If I can get through it, they can.” He looked to us. “The underground is not pitch black, as you might believe. It is full of bioluminescent plant-life that makes it glow all manner of colors.”
“True enough,” Nyx sighed, appearing contemplative. “We still need to be careful about being in the tunnels. Every one of us will have to be as quiet as possible.” She looked to me. “The tunnels are hard rock, and vibrations and sound travel easily. It's immensely easy for an Alderi to track a noise underground, but the rest of you wouldn't even know you were causing it.”
“We have you and I,” Calder said. “And as I pointed out, there are more Alderi in the wildlands.”
Nyx thought about this quietly. Noting her hesitance, I said, “You seem to have a lot of qualms with this idea, as much as you'd like to pay your mother a visit.”
“
It's a good idea,” my best friend replied, subconsciously sifting through the white sands beside where she sat. “It's simply a dangerous one. The underground is not like any place else on Arrayis. It is huge, and it is packed. It's not like above ground, where fleeing is always an option. There are many entrances to the tunnels, but the entire underground is contained. If we're going to do this, we need to be ready.” Her black eyes flicked up to Calder's. “We need as many people as you can get in these wildlands before we can even think about setting foot down there.”
“It will be done, love,” Calder replied, smoothly.
“We need to make sure we don't spread ourselves too thin, Kai,” Nyx added, her voice lower toward me. “You have already started one war. You will essentially be a major player in starting another. This is how world wars begin.”
“Yes,” I agreed. “I know. But it's a war that will eventually come into play whether I have anything to do with it or not, and right now, an ally has walked to our doorstep without me having to say a word. To pass on this opportunity would be to pass up on an ally that may not offer themselves to us later. The Alderi are already after us. We can stunt them here and give them something to do in the future rather than focus on us.”
“This war is already devolving into a world war,” Cerin spoke up, the rough edges of his natural tone making the words sound more intimidating. “Chairel is involved. Nahara is involved. Hammerton is probably getting involved as we speak. The Alderi have already stuck their noses into our business. The gods are involved. It would be easier to list those who aren't.”
“Glacia and Eteri,” Jakan mused, softly.
“Glacia is the only country which will probably end up abstaining from the fight,” Cerin said.
“Are you sure about that?” I countered. “Chairel may seek them as allies because they have a common enemy that neither of them have been able to capture.” I let one finger run down the length of his arm as I said it.
“I am not worth the trouble,” he grumbled.
“You are now, my dear. You're part of a rebellion,” I pointed out.
Calder chuckled at our back and forth. “My, my, my. Hasn't this been enlightening? I wish I could see into the future and look for our names in the history books of future generations.”
“Play our cards right, Calder,” I started, catching his eyes from through the flickering flames of our campfire, “and all of us will be legends.”
Sixteen
It was another three days before we finally were able to leave the islands behind us. Our time was spent transporting supplies from the small island Calder and I had landed on to the one the sailors had occupied. In the meantime, Calder transformed into his beast form to make it easier to gather what wreckage and loot there was in the ocean. The kraken had dragged the Galleon Stallion into the depths, so the majority of our things were gone. Our books were ruined and of no use to us, so we eventually left them behind. The long voyage had given us the time to learn most of the spells within the books, though now we were without alchemy recipes, and we were still without an alchemist. We were also low on gold, as Calder had only found about half of what we'd had.
Even so, we were alive. I was used to finding victories through hardship at this point, so I tried to stay positive as our group started trekking through the lower wildlands. Our plan was to visit all three cities here to gather beastmen and supplies, as the last city on the way to Eteri was close to the nearest entrance to the underground. The wildlands were unlike Chairel and Nahara in the sense that the cities were all it had. The land was so harsh and unpredictable that it inhibited smaller towns and villages from popping up along the main routes. The three main cities here had been built and maintained with no outside help from the other countries, so I expected them to be smaller and rougher in architecture than what I'd seen elsewhere. I reminded myself not to be judgmental, however; already I had found I was incorrect as to the ways of the people in this country. It was possible they did quite well for themselves, and their isolation kept this hidden in secrecy.
Our initial destination was Misu, which was the first city that popped up in the southern wildlands. Calder informed us it would take a few weeks to reach based off of our current location and how slowly eighteen people moved through thick wetlands while carrying salvaged supplies. I wasn't looking forward to the journey. Walking through the swamps had been bad enough for the two days we'd searched for each other along the border.
Thankfully, the wetlands were harshest along the coast, where the ocean's waters seeped over the land like a plague. Within the first few days of travel, the depth of the saltwater lessened, though it was thick and cloudy around our lower legs. The group of us stunk with the gases of plant-life and decomposition, the stench so ingrained in our hair and clothing that I doubted I would ever stop smelling it. The water itself was putrid and translucent with a variety of debris from plant matter and dirt, and it left its grimy brown residue on armor and skin alike. Our own bodies began to protest the travel with the smell of body odor from a lack of hygiene, and our feet were so wrinkled with the moisture in our boots that the skin of our toes began to hurt, becoming sensitive and dried out.
To make matters worse, the farther into the wildlands we got, the larger and more persistent the insects grew. Near the coast, the bugs had been similar in size to the beetles and flies that populated any other land. Once we were about a week's trek inland, they had grown to be half the size of us. We fended them off with magic and weapons alike, though they weren't too keen on fighting us as a group. It wasn't the insects we needed to worry about, Calder told us; instead, our concern should lie with the creatures that hunted upon them.
It was early in the morning on the 42nd of Red Moon, and my eyes were still heavy with fatigue as I followed Calder through a thicket of trees. I pulled long branchlets out of my way while trying to ignore the itching of my skin where insects had feasted. Calder stopped at the edge of the thicket, and the group of us slowly piled up behind him, waiting.
I looked past the Alderi and into the swamp clearing beyond. The land was drier here. Thick seedy grasses rose in tufts throughout the clearing, though in the center, the long grasses were lying flat, broken and folded near the bases from a great weight. Above, the sun broke through hot and bright, uninhibited by the surrounding knotted trees.
My eyes caught on something off to the right. It was a crinkly material of sorts, creamish-white and transparent. It was long and twirled over itself, and parts of it were broken and frayed, as if it had gone through trauma. Calder also took note of the mysterious pile, though his red eyes flashed with recognition. He lifted up a hand, and whispered, “Sik le life.”
Though he had said a spell, I didn't immediately notice a glowing energy over his palm. He held his arm out, palm toward the clearing ahead of us, and slowly moved it toward the right. Finally, a foggy red energy appeared mere inches before his hand, in a flat sliver that moved slowly through the air all on its own. I'd never seen anything like it, because the energy was not in a ball.
“What is that spell?” I murmured, because he'd been so quiet while using it.
“It detects life,” Calder replied, looking off above the red energy to the trees beyond. My eyes followed his own, but I could see nothing but swampy brush. “We are not alone.” He glanced back toward the rest of us. “Prepare for battle.”
“Against what?” Nyx prodded behind me.
Calder had already pulled his shirt off over his head by the time he replied, “Something big, but you've all been to Nahara. It's nothing you haven't seen before.” He thrust his thumbs under the hem of his trousers, before pulling them off. “Avoid its head. Use the trees for cover.” He took his ball of clothing and handed it back to a sailor, who put the garments safely in a satchel.
“Tranferra sel ti kin a blud,” Calder murmured, bracing himself with one blue hand on the tree beside him. Even before the transformation began, I could hear his breaths huffing anxiously into the air. I
wished I could help him avoid the pain of the transformation, but to use the mute senses illusion spell before battle was a danger all on its own.
Crack! Calder fell to his knees, both hands shaking as they held his weight above the moist grass. I wasn't sure which bone had started to morph until I saw the bottom of his spine start to protrude through the skin of his lower back, preparing to form a tail. He heaved over the ground with such agony that watching him without being able to do anything was painful enough. It was obvious that transforming into the creature was worse than reverting back, because he was in twice the discomfort.
As Calder cried out in pain and convulsed on the ground before me, another man's cries alerted my attention to the rest of the group, where two of the sailors were following in their captain's footsteps. I hadn't been aware that any of the sailors had been beastmen, but then again, I'd never had a chance to see them fight other than on the ship, since most of them had been manning cannons. As Calder's blue skin hardened and separated into thick scales, one of the sailors started to sprout feathers, and the other grew thick, black fur.
Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! The bone of Calder's skull protruded outward around his head, forming into the horns of a lizard. When he cried out again, his voice was distorted, and little more than a pained hiss. He rolled his head around sharply, and I heard another crack of bone. Blood surrounded his hands and feet as sharp claws cut through flesh that was still hardening. Webbing stretched between fingers and toes, only compressed by his six copper rings. His ears retracted into his head, the gold earrings aligning the scales on either side just behind two small reptilian ear holes.
I was so entranced by watching Calder's transformation that I nearly forgot there was a reason he was going through it. In the clearing ahead, I still could not see anything approaching. As the beastmen of our group finally quieted their cries of pain, however, I heard it. There were no footsteps, only a constant sliding noise which rustled past already trampled foliage.