Feel the Burn

by MacDonald, Nicole

  ‘They’re good. It was nice spending time with them.’

  We didn’t talk much but kept our minds open to one another while we thought through images of Alek and happier times. I felt so much safer here on Loushka and sat straighter, peering against the darkness. Funny how easily you can adjust to it, I thought, and didn’t bother keeping my hands lit, instead allowing myself to merge with the shadows as I watched the others. It felt nearly hypnotic. The light from the torches the Cavalry soldiers carried flickered green from the chemicals, looking beautiful against the darkness. While I absently stared at the flames, I watched a young Alek in my mind from one of Loushka’s memories.

  ‘I knew I’d link with him from the moment he arrived on the planet, but I couldn’t hear him until he reached puberty. I used to watch him so often.’

  The ebony haired boy in her mind shrieked with laughter when a larger blond boy chased him through the castle’s snow laden courtyard, a large snowball in the blond boy’s hand and an angry red mark on his forehead.

  ‘Sabyn?’ I thought.

  ‘Normally yes, but that is another cousin. He died of an illness a few years later.’

  Though I didn’t know the boy and now never would, tears sprung to my eyes and my throat thickened when a sense of regret and grief rose at knowing I couldn’t meet him.

  My rational voice shrugged the thought off, what does it matter? You’ll never meet any of them anyway.

  While in theory I agreed, another voice spoke softly but poignantly from the back of my mind.

  Alek would want you to meet them; he would want you to live.

  I swallowed at that and the conflicting emotions it dragged up. I knew if Alek had been in this position and I had died, I would want him to live. But if I sensibly considered the odds against us, well then it didn’t matter, did it? Al would have wanted me to live, but at the cost of our friends and family? If I could get to that witch first and deal to her then they would be safe. I couldn’t hold back anything, because that would risk failure.

  A panic attack threatened at the overwhelming thoughts. The feeling of loss I’d managed to keep at bay for days swelled, making my body tense. I gripped the edge of the armored plate and closed my eyes, counting my breaths in and out, trying to control the agony, trying to jam it back into that room in my mind.

  ‘Cat?’ Loushka thought anxiously.

  ‘Having a bad moment,’ I though, gritting my teeth while tears ran down my face.

  Three days, I growled to myself, come on, Cat, you held them off for three days! Lock that damn door, rein it in!

  Loushka must have heard me and her gentle thought broke the control I fought with.

  ‘Let the tears come, Cat. No one can see you up there.’

  I didn’t want to, but couldn’t stop the rigid hold shattering, releasing the gray sensations of despair. I sobbed, flattening out along the griffon’s back, and buried my face in my arms howling silently, mouth working at the sudden intense wave of grief. All the images of him flashed through my mind, from meeting him that awful night in the forest, to that last moment when he laughed at my teasing and literally walked out of my life. The tears slowed and I started to gain control while the sense of resignation and something like relief—knowing I had managed this far, knowing I could still manage—flowed through me. I considered that while taking careful breaths, my mind running an inventory within.

  Easier to breathe? Check.

  From gray to lighter? Check.

  Focused on the task ahead?

  Jenviet’s face floated through my mind and my lips drew in a smile of utter hatred.

  Hell yes, that witch is going down.

  The calm started to reassert itself and I pushed the pain away to that room in my mind, locking the door. I sat breathing in relief when a strange repetitive sound registered in my brain. I blinked in confusion, lashes still full of tears, and paused to listen.

  Fear trickled down my spine like an icy cold drop and I stiffened.

  ‘Loushka, there’s someone above me!’

  Gredel walked with a hand on Phroma’s neck, mind far away while he imagined the estate and what Citaan and Rirae might be doing. His daughter’s tiny face and the delighted smile she made when he bent over the carved wooden cradle beside their bed, brought a smile to his face. The crazy curled mop of turquoise hair, the same shade as Citaan’s and those beautiful big gold eyes creasing with laughter when he teased her, pretending to bite a tiny slipper covered foot.

  A loud shout pulled him out, and he spun to look back, sword in hand.

  ‘It’s Cat!’ Phroma thought in alarm.

  The blaze of light was so bright he couldn’t make Cat out at the center, then his stomach dropped when he spotted the focus of her fury. Gredel bolted, shoving through the gathering soldiers.

  ‘Catherine! CAT, STOP!’

  It took only moments to reach Loushka. The griffon bent her knee just as he jumped, seizing the edge of the griffon’s shoulder armor, and swung up to crouch in front of Cat.

  ‘Cat, stop it!’

  Cat jerked her head down from the shrieking creature on the ceiling to stare at him, eyes already shifting from dark red to green.

  ‘Gredel! Do you know what it is?’

  He nodded while motioning for her to stay low. With a frown she extinguished her flames and shifted back along Loushka, giving him room.

  ‘A torch,’ he called and the centaur closest passed one up. With a sharp rap against Loushka’s armor, he knocked the burning part to the ground, leaving just the glowing chemicals. Not much light but enough for him to see and not so much to blind her. Gredel’s tongue felt thick and awkward when he spoke a language he hadn’t used in decades. All those watching stayed silent and the shivering creature above him responded in a thin high voice.

  The language to an outside sounded like a strange array of murmurs punctuated with the occasional click of the tongue.

  ‘Gredel, what are you saying?’ whispered Cat, her eyes locked on the creature.

  He ignored Cat while talking to the Cyq, soothing and reassuring the young creature as it shivered, casting fearful glances at Cat.

  My first glance up scared the heck out of me. The thin, angular creature with incandescent skin and visible dark lines of veins had, to my tense eyes, looked like a reanimated corpse, as ridiculous a concept as that was. Its unearthly look augmented with jutting cheekbones, a narrow flattened nose and excessively large eyes with pinpricks of pupils. The strong bones of the face created shadows making its age, to me at least, indeterminable.

  Straining my eyes I jolted in shock when it looked at me, able to twist its neck right around even though it clung to the ceiling front first.

  ‘It’s okay, Cat,’ Gredel assured me. ‘She was worried for you.’

  ‘Worried for me?’ I said in surprise.

  Gredel looked steadily at me.

  ‘She saw you crying.’

  The sympathy and sorrow in his eyes made the agony bubble close to the surface again and I dropped my chin to avoid his gaze.

  Above, the creature made the humming noise again and I looked up. With her front still facing the ceiling and her head twisted to watch me she crawled a couple of feet over, until she hung right above. It pushed the grief away as I gaped at the display while staring into her enormous eyes, unnerved by the tiny pupils. I gave a tentative smile. She cocked her head, still humming and seemed to mimic the smile though her forehead twitched.

  ‘Smiling isn’t normal for them, Cat,’ Gredel said in a quiet voice while he watched.

  ‘What is she?’

  I copied her actions, cocking my head, and smiled when she made the same motion, then turned my head to the other side. The humming stopped and she made a strange noise that sounded like the rattle of a chesty cough, then she turned her head the other way too. I glanced at Gredel, who watched her with kind but sad eyes, then looked to me.

  ‘You made her laugh, Cat. She is a Cyq. A cave dweller.’

&
nbsp; ‘Are there others?’

  ‘In here? Yes, a whole community. They’re watching us from the edges, Cyqs are shy creatures.’

  ‘Can you tell her I’m sorry for scaring her? I didn’t mean too.’

  ‘Already did.’

  The sound of hooves distracted us and we looked down to see Belsesus there.

  ‘All good? We need to get moving.’

  Gredel nodded and looked back to the Cyq, speaking that strange language, and she chatted back in an animated fashion.

  Gredel turned back to those watching.

  ‘There are creatures in the next cavern we need to watch out for. Light will keep them at bay so let everyone know to light their torches before passing through the doorway.’

  Belsesus gave a nod and turned, calling out the instructions in a loud voice. The men rustled in their bags for the chemical mix that allowed the torches to burn bright for so long. I watched then glanced back up to find the Cyq gone.

  Gredel watched when Cat looked around for the Cyq.

  ‘She’s gone, Cat. We need to get going,’ he paused, considering, then asked, ‘Would you like me to ride with you today?’

  Cat looked at him in surprise, the defensive mask slipping from her face and she shrugged, avoiding his gaze.

  ‘Cat,’ he said kindly. ‘Come here.’

  ‘Phroma, I’m going to ride with Cat today.’

  Cat shuffled forward and he reached to give her a one armed hug then helped her to shift to the front. The line started moving again with each soldier having a torch to hand, the unlit chemicals glowing a faint green.

  Neither he nor Cat spoke for a while then Cat asked, ‘How do you know the language the Cyqs speak?’

  That brought back a string of memories, good and bad.

  ‘When I was young I found a cave near to where we lived. Being a foolhardy child I couldn’t resist exploring it and I met a family of Cyqs in there. My father taught me some of their language when I told him of first meeting the family, he knew Cyqs from the mountains he mined in. I spent a great deal of time in that cave. They became good friends.’

  He couldn’t help the sorrowful tone at the end. The cave was an exciting place for a young boy, dark with glowing mosses, insects, minerals, and more. The discovery of friends in that family of Cyqs had made the quiet days, while his mother looked after his newborn sister and father worked in the mines, a joyful time.

  ‘What happened to them?’ Cat asked tentatively. She leaned back against him, the two of them swaying in time with Loushka’s sauntering gait and it comforted him to have her close. She made Citaan and Rirae feel nearer. Citaan spent so much time with the four girls that they all felt like family and the times Alek and Cat had joined them at his estate had been noisy, laughter filled occasions. It made Alek feel near too. Gredel’s mind drifted, forgetting Cat’s question when he thought to his friend.

  Grief never felt quite like you imagined and it never got easier.

  ‘Gredel? What happened to your friends?’

  Cat’s question pulled him back from the memories of the loved ones, always there, deep in his heart and mind.

  ‘They were taken away.’

  ‘By who?’

  ‘Soldiers. The DeNaga’s soldiers.’

  ‘Why?’ Cat asked, looking over a shoulder at him, her eyes dark in the dim light. A sigh of an exhalation slipped out and Gredel pressed his lips together in a grim smile.

  ‘You’ve heard of shadow creatures?’

  ‘They’re evil. They work for Jenviet?’

  ‘Shadow creatures are one of Jenviet’s “creations”. Created from Cyqs. You see how fast and quiet they are, Jenviet makes them faster and changes their form so they can literally blend with the shadows. She adds an insatiable appetite for flesh and heightens their senses. Makes them lethal.’

  ‘Can they be changed back?’ Cat asked in a shocked voice.

  ‘No. All her changes are permanent.’

  ‘How do they see with those eyes?’

  ‘Cyqs see body heat. You were blinding to that girl.’

  They both fell silent and he idly listened, hearing the numerous footsteps, the clank of armor and supplies, moving against the flanks of those carrying them.

  ‘Did you ever see them again?’

  He went still and I felt his chest stiffen, another sigh shuddering through.

  ‘Yes, Cat. I saw them again.’

  It struck me then, how little I knew of Gredel’s past. How little I knew of all the mens’ pasts and the things that must have occurred to make them like they were. Part of me didn’t want to ask, didn’t want to know just how awful it had been. I’d seen and felt Jenviet’s influence first hand; did I need to know more?

  The question whispered out on its own accord. Apparently I did need to know.

  In his steady, quiet voice, Gredel told me.

  ‘There were rumors they’d been taken by the Sorceress’ guards, but nothing to prove it. Townspeople spoke of it, then forgot and eventually I gave up visiting the caves. Life continued. Everyone knew awful things happened across the realm but our small town seemed untouched. Then Phroma came into my life and people thought we were blessed and it only enhanced the complacent attitudes.’

  Gredel paused and stretched, his back making an audible crack before he continued.

  ‘I was out on Phroma, practicing. When we came back over town, thick choking smoke filled the air. The town was alight. We headed for the caves where my father mined and found all the miners dead. Throats and chests ripped open, blood splattering all the rocks. I didn’t even recognize him but Phroma knew his scent and spotted him. I didn’t want to leave him there. I remember trying to piece the shirt back over his chest. When I pulled away I saw it; emerging from his shadow. Thin arms with claws like a rhyel and a face I vaguely recognized, those enormous eyes. Phroma lunged at it when it jumped at me and it vanished back into the shadows. We raced home as it neared dusk but it was too late. I found my mother in the doorway, her back ripped open and when I went to lay her down, found my little sister underneath. The creatures had reached her through the shadows mother created when she tried to protect her. We fled that night. I haven’t been back since.’

  Beneath the woolen undergarments my skin prickled and I shivered. Gredel stayed quiet and it didn’t feel right to speak.

  ‘How old was Gredel when this happened?’ I thought to Loushka.

  ‘Twelve I think. Alek was still young when Gredel arrived, a thin, haunted boy. Far older than his years.’

  ‘How does she do that?’

  ‘Who, Cat?’

  ‘Jenviet, how does she change them and why?’

  ‘I don’t know how, but they are designed to terrify. It’s one way to stop revolutions.’

  ‘Can any escape her reach in this land?’

  ‘Only those that hide.’

  I sat back watching the procession. We still looked to have a way to go; I couldn’t see any walls yet.

  ‘How do you kill them?’

  Gredel, seemingly lost in thought, jolted at my question.

  ‘They’re mortal. Just enhanced by Jenviet. You need to stay in the light to avoid them. They can hide in any shadow. There’s a faint sound when they emerge, like claws dragging on stone. Be fast, be accurate and keep as much in the light as possible.’

  ‘Are there any left in Vo’Arum who oppose Jenviet?’

  ‘Not if they want to live.’

  I sighed now, feeling a wave of despair.

  ‘How are we meant to do this?’

  A large hand closed over my shoulder and he squeezed gently.

  ‘Just do it. We focus on the only task which is getting you girls to the castle. Then it’ll be up to you.’

  Anxiety swirled at his words so I sat back and calmed myself by thinking of happier times; of Alek, of Audi and Ada, and Citaan and Rirae. The rocking motion of Loushka’s gait made it easy to almost doze off in the past, mind pleasantly occupied.

  *~*~*


  Chapter Nineteen

  Rumal’s large hand, fingers threaded through hers, kept Kassie’s hand warm while they walked. Kerak occasionally questioned things but most of the time the three of them followed the line in silence.

  It’s like you never wake up down here, Kassie thought, blinking when her eyes focused on the pretty green glow the unlit torches gave off. Ahead a quiet call came down the line and in a few more meters they stopped, having reached the entrance to the next cavern.

  ‘Why are we waiting?’ Kassie asked Rumal and she leaned against him, his long arms crossing her back.

  ‘Gredel. He knows about the creatures in the next cavern. He’ll give us pointers.’

  Around them soldiers and allies shuffled close, the Halenine fae hitching rides on the centaurs, griffons, and Sito. Kerak purred a greeting when Loushka approached and Phroma moved closer too. Gredel and Cat slipped down from Loushka to wait with them and Loi came around to hug Cat. Kassie smiled at them but stayed with Rumal.

  Strange how normal this seems now, she thought in amusement, watching Leseach—a vividly striking, obviously not human female—as she spoke to a Halenine fae hovering at face height. Just to think of Earth and her old life, the contrast couldn’t be more different. Kassie shook her head when the familiar sense of astonishment ran through her.

  ‘All right, love?’

  Tipping her head back, Kassie smiled into Rumal’s eyes. Such a beautiful man, she thought and reached a hand to stroke his jaw, feeling a flush of pleasure when his eyes started to glow. He ducked his head, full lips decadently sensual against her mouth.

  ‘Hmmm,’ she sighed when he pulled away. ‘Will be as long as you don’t stop kissing me like that.’

  He chuckled, flashing a smile and they both straightened to watch Gredel, who cleared his throat and stepped into the middle.

  ‘The next cavern has vork lizards; two headed and nasty. One head is venomous and paralyses and the other head eats the prey. They’re strong enough to drag a centaur off.’

  It got noisy while the soldier and allies ribbed one another, excited at the prospect, shouts echoing back and forth through the group. Gredel waited, then, when they continued, raised an arm for attention and they quieted.