The Raiden

by Shelley Cass

  As we parted from the Lady, Thale turned to us in confusion. “I thought she could do anything,” he commented. “She even made the Forest safe from Darziates’ power.”

  Kiana’s voice was quiet and sombre as she answered. “When the Lady was explaining why there had to be Three, and why she couldn’t face Darziates herself, she described that her magic is Nature, and Darziates’ magic is everything unnatural, and kills Nature. And it took all of her might, and the might of all of the Elves and Nymphs, to banish the Sorcerer from the Forest. So perhaps she can’t see through his deceit should it be upon Agrudek.”

  “I guess now that I’ve finally had a chance to be surrounded in Nature, and have seen the vibrancy of its life in the Lady and Sylthanryn, I just assumed there wasn’t much that could beat it if the Lady chose to fight,” Thale admitted a little despairingly. “Krall is starved of life, though it goes on living.”

  “Let’s find the others,” Noal told him comfortingly. “They were going to spend their afternoon at Flash’s.”

  “They wanted to take up that drinking challenge that we didn’t have time for when we were last invited to revel with the Nymphs,” Thale allowed himself to be cheered as we crossed the City.

  “Darlings!” Asha’s voice cried out as we drew closer to the vine homes that covered the cliff walls at the edge of the City. She sped out of a tussle she’d been having with Rebel and crashed into Noal adoringly.

  “Come and join the fun,” Rebel invited us, now lazily lobbing a ball of light to scorch Shiva as he floated past with Sati.

  And as we moved to sit about a fire with the men of Krall, I realised that I really didn’t resent the majority of them anymore. I even felt comfortable sharing words with them as they joked boisterously around us.

  It was only Thorin who drew wariness from me now as I listened to him talking to Kiana and Noal with reverence.

  “Will you tell us more about your life back in Krall?” Kiana was asking him. “Was there anything there that brought you joy?”

  Thorin shrugged, but regarded her earnestly. “Life in Krall was survival and obedience, not happiness. Not for anyone. My own story is that, when I was eight, my father was killed for speaking against the King and for gathering a following of others. My mother was stoned to death to set a further example, and I was scorned because nobody wished to appear traitorous. I lived as a beggar until a warrior called Marn got me off the streets by joining me up with the army. I was ten when I joined, and Marn bribed his General to let me be in his regiment. I in turn helped him as it got harder with his age.”

  “Gods,” Noal breathed. “You have been a hardened soldier for seven years.”

  “What happened to Marn?” Kiana asked.

  “He died a warrior’s death,” Thorin answered proudly. “I believe it was the Raiden’s blade that did it, when you were escaping the camp.”

  The breath seemed to leave me, and a weight settled in my stomach even as the other warriors all raised their mugs full of Nymph liquor in respect for my having given Marn a good death.

  I tuned their voices out then, reflecting on the many ‘honourable’ deaths of Sorcerer cursed men I had given out that day, and how many more times I might have to do the same.

  When Tane began speaking about how his infant son would likely be bound into a life of soldiering too, I quietly withdrew from the group and left to walk by myself.

  My wanderings carried me to a private corner of the City, at the foot of the waterfall that tumbled majestically down the cliff.

  I pulled myself with difficulty up onto a rocky ledge that jutted out from the wall, sitting by its edge and looking out at the City. I was lost in my thoughts for some time, listening to the musical tune of the rushing falls and staring at the silvery water as it gushed past me.

  The sky was darkening when I at last refocused at the sound of someone approaching, and as the figure carefully climbed closer I saw with surprise that it was Thorin.

  I regarded him wordlessly while he pulled himself up onto the ledge beside me, then I looked back to the water as he caught his breath.

  It was quiet for many moments before Thorin broke the silence, saying: “it is alright, you know.”

  I processed the sound of his voice over the rushing water.

  “I would have done everything the same in your place. Marn knew, and every Krall soldier you fight knows that death will inevitably come. And dying in battle is the most honourable death, for we are warriors. And war and dying is all we know.”

  I could faintly make out his earnest expression in the light cast by the stars.

  “In fact, it is I who should feel guilt over the deaths of Krall soldiers,” he said then. “Because I will be by your side next time. Against Darziates’ people, killing my brethren. There is no way to avoid it. They are under Darziates’ power.”

  I frowned at him, not understanding.

  Thorin sighed. “I know you don’t like me. And I wouldn’t either if our places were swapped. But Kiana and Noal told us everything last night, and we want to fight for you. We … I … will follow you.”

  I sat back in wonder, considering his unexpected words for a few moments.

  Then stretching, Thorin at last got to his feet. “I shall rejoin the others and leave you in peace,” he said. “Though I mean what I’ve told you.”

  But before he could begin to descend safely, I saw him lose his footing as he turned to climb back down from the ledge.

  I saw the rock crumble under his feet, and his body start to drop as he lost his balance and swayed forward with a cry over the open air.

  My heart felt as if it had stopped as I lunged to my feet and caught hold of a handful of his shirt in a fist, before, with one mighty tug, I hauled him back onto the safety of the ledge, and we fell together to land on our backs across it.

  He was panting with shock against me, but I winced and drew my throbbing arm out from under him, sitting up as my own breath came quickly.

  “Be careful,” I croaked, speaking to him finally. I flexed my bad arm experimentally, but somehow it felt as if none of the stitches had popped, so Ailill would not have reason for an apoplectic explosion.

  Thorin stared at me with wide eyes. Then slowly, a grin spread across his face.

  “Thank you.”

  I nodded in exasperation.

  He held out his hand with a smile and I evaluated it for a moment before I took it in my own and shook it.

  “If you can’t manage to find your own way down I’d better escort you,” I said uncomfortably then.

  So together we climbed our way back down from the ledge, going carefully in the dark.

  Chapter Thirty Nine

  Even as a girl with dark, hurt eyes and long plaited hair, Agrona had known that she would kill any who threatened her master and all she had worked for.

  “You should not need to make physical gestures for your power to work,” his hard voice had often said. “Your mind is weak, I can read every thought,” his granite eyes had hardly ever glanced at her.

  “I love you,” her heart had been completely his all the same.

  “Yes.”

  “I will be everything you need,” she had always promised.

  “Of that I am not convinced.”

  Nevertheless he had always been present in her life. And as he had promised, with the death of her parents she had been freed to embrace her powers.

  In fact unlike her scornful parents, he had pushed for her to let her powers grow. And the disappointment on his face when she had never achieved as much as he had hoped had only made her yearn to impress him more.

  She’d worked harder than any other little girl in Krall, and had learnt a great deal in a short amount of time. But the most prominent realisation for Agrona, even in her youth, had been that she was devoted beyond all reason to Darziates and to his cause.

  He had a destiny beyond all others and she was in awe of him. She had bound herself to him totally, and craved above all to be
seen as more than just a protégé.

  She loved him with all of the passion and demented lust that darkness is capable of.

  And the things she had done for him as the decades had spanned by – the blood spilled and the suffering she had relished causing in his name, would surely lead him to one day know that he needed her.

  Chapter Forty

  Kiana

  I easily blocked Phobos’ sword and followed it with a thrust that he in turn blocked, finding our drills simple and invigorating – if less intense than the aerial combat I had practised with Frey.

  My eyes flitted across to where Dalin was leaning against the fence surrounding the grounds, talking casually to Purdor and Ferron. Thorin was listening attentively at his side.

  Phobos grunted with the effort of keeping up and I slowed it down for him.

  I remembered with a pang what it had felt like to brush my lips over Dalin’s. But it was not an unpleasant pang, and as I swept my blade up once more my gaze shifted to Dalin again.

  Ailill wasn’t in sight so he was quickly testing out how well he could grip the heaviness of his sword with his healing arm. Vulcan and Thale were refusing to encourage him in case of Ailill’s wrath, but Dalin swung his blade about himself cautiously.

  I blinked distractedly when I heard someone say something to me. Then I shook myself back to reality with a shock, startled to see that I was now exchanging blows with Phrixus.

  “Sorry, what did you say?” I asked Phrixus.

  I forced myself not to look at Dalin again, and became absorbed in the drills instead, later laughing at the surprise on Aiolos’ face as I broke from the routine to make things more interesting.

  He was one of the quieter men, but cried out as I suddenly used his lunge as a foothold. I stepped on his thigh, swung myself around his neck and slid down his back.

  “Gods!” he gasped as I sprang away.

  His friend, Gideon, tried to startle me then, but I easily slid between his legs, and used his ankles to propel myself away.

  I smiled gaily as the soldiers around the yard all began to consider the challenge of my new game, and I felt so lively that I wondered if perhaps Agrona’s poison had worn off.

  I threw Wolf over my hip and shoulder, then did a safe tumble and somersault away from Phobos to avoid being dragged down by his bulk when he dived in to crash tackle me.

  I ran up the length of Thale’s back, and ducked around Vulcan as his big arms made to catch me.

  I was laughing with the fun of it as, with angles and leverage, I bested every bulky warrior who tested me, and I was feeling invigorated when I faced Nikon next. But, with just one thrust of my blade, a searing stream of fire suddenly shot from the scar that Agrona and the General’s arrow had left me with.

  I gasped and staggered forward and Nikon gave a startled cry, moving his blade away from me as I doubled over, clutching the old wound.

  “Are you well?” I heard Nikon splutter, and felt his hands steadying me on my feet.

  But I could not reply or even think over the harrowing waves of pain, feeling as if someone was repeatedly pushing knives into my chest, twisting them in.

  I groaned and slid down from his grasp, landing on my knees upon the grass.

  Then I felt another pair of hands catch me from behind, cradling me as I tried to stay conscious over the lashes of agony.

  “All she can do is wait for it to end,” I heard Dalin say, and I felt him draw me close to try to comfort and shelter me.

  I vaguely made out Noal crouching beside me and dully heard the voices of the other men bubbling around us, but everything other than the pain seemed suddenly unreal.

  For a flickering moment I remembered a flash of a bony white hand slapping my face, heard the shrill cry of a raven, and felt the sickening, rotten, decayed stream of Agrona’s power surging through my shoulder. And I slumped heavily against Dalin as he held me until, finally, it all ebbed away to leave me drained and shivering – the searing bolts of agony dulling to throbbing spasms.

  “What was that?” I heard Thale whisper over us, and there were other murmured questions.

  “That was Agrona’s poison,” Noal answered blankly, and I felt him put his hand on my leg reassuringly as I tried to regain my breath, my face still hidden against Dalin’s chest.

  “But Kiana was fine a moment before,” Thorin fretted.

  Slowly, I sat a little straighter and lifted my face. “I am nearly fine again,” I told them, but felt sick just to put effort into speaking.

  Noal sighed. “It feels like all the lot of us do lately is get hurt, poisoned, or into trouble,” he complained. “I’m fast tiring of it.”

  “Does Agrona’s poison affect you that badly every time?” Ferron asked, pale faced on my behalf.

  “Much the same,” I said shakily. “I never know when it’s going to happen.”

  “Is there anything that can be done?” Cadell questioned, looking just as appalled.

  I shrugged. But I knew that there was something I could try that would help me to overcome Agrona’s dark magic. Something I had to try, if we were ever to be the Questing Three of the prophecies.

  “Gods that was awful!” Tane told me reproachfully, and I laughed despite myself.

  “You’re exhausted.” Dalin gave me a quick squeeze. “I’ll help you back to your tower.”

  I nodded gratefully, and Dalin supported me to stand and to begin to walk back.

  “It will be less of an ordeal if there isn’t a crowd of mothers following her,” I heard Noal say good-naturedly, and I appreciated when our new friends hurried to purposefully return to their exercises as Dalin and I left.

  Chapter Forty One

  Kiana

  The Unicorn figurine reared up gracefully from where it balanced on my palm, but I stared at it despairingly as night began to settle over the City outside my tower.

  For hours I had grappled with different ideas of how to make that fine incision around its body open for me, yet the figurine was still as whole and solid as ever every time I despondently ran my fingers over the cool white stone.

  Finally, when the floating light globes in my room began to shimmer and glow, I shook myself from my useless pondering and rose from my bed. Closing my fingers firmly over the smooth figurine, I descended the stairs to exit my tower.

  I waved and smiled at the Forest dwellers I passed, but didn’t stop until Noal and Thorin spotted me.

  “Where are you going?” Noal inquired suspiciously.

  Thorin put on a serious face and crossed his arms when Noal elbowed him.

  “For a walk,” I replied.

  “For a walk?” Noal repeated incredulously, as if this were the most preposterous reply he’d ever heard.

  “That’s what she said,” Thorin told him helpfully. “A walk.”

  Noal took a deep breath, smoothing his golden hair in irritation. “Have you forgotten the severe pain you were in earlier?”

  I shrugged. “I need to think and find peace by getting out of the City.”

  “And what is it that you need to think about that you can’t mull over in the City?” Noal enquired.

  I lifted my hand and opened my fingers to show them the Unicorn, and Noal stared at it with his mouth open, understanding dawning upon his face.

  “Is that …?” Thorin regarded it curiously, remembering what Noal and I had said about it as we’d recounted our story to the Krall men.

  Noal’s face softened. “You want to see if it will open? Because of today?”

  I gave a single nod. “Yes. I’ve got to do it sometime anyway. And you know I am at my best when I am roaming amongst Nature.”

  He pinched the bridge of his nose worriedly. “You can’t go out there alone,” he said finally, but I smiled a half smile.

  “I’ve been through the Forest many times alone.”

  “Plus, we were what made it dangerous for her last time. That’s not going to happen now,” Thorin admitted.

  Noal looked at
the both of us with the expression of one who was trapped. “Dalin won’t forgive me if anything goes wrong,” he groaned at last.

  “And I wouldn’t forgive you if you tried to stop me,” I told him with a wider smile.

  “I am not comforted,” he said to my back as I left them. “If you haven’t returned by the time I wake up tomorrow we’re sending a search party!” he called warningly after me, and I waved over my shoulder, not pausing.

  Soon I had climbed to the top of the cliffs and could see the City glimmering down below. But I stepped away from the sight and into the moonlit Forest beyond – calmly ambling through the towering trees.

  I followed my feet steadily, finding myself surrounded in trunks that were growing to boggling sizes as I stepped deeper into the Forest heart. My skin was prickling as I moved onward, and I began to have the sense that the quiet Forest was alive with an electric energy that seemed to be pulling me along a specific path.

  The Unicorn was warm in my hand, and I felt a tingling sensation flowing through my fingertips and tickling their way along my palm.

  I listened carefully and was sure that I heard magic all about, whispering on the wind, circling through trees, beckoning to me.

  A warm breeze stirred the leaves from the Forest floor about my ankles, and then pushed them along before me as I quickened my pace. Excitement quickened my heart, and the prickling, ticklish sensation spread along my arm.

  Without glancing back I followed the power reaching out to me and began to jog while the tingling spread to envelop my entire body. Even my tongue tingled and I felt acutely aware of my surroundings as the leaves danced and flew in front of me, swirling crazily.

  The breeze grew and became a gust of wind that seemed to be thrusting me forward. My hair played about my face and with a terrible longing I chased the whispering feeling. Skirting trees and leaping over bushes, I went faster as I felt the magic growing, until the Forest, and my entire being, seemed to pulse with it –

  And then suddenly the dense trees stopped and opened into a circular clearing before me.