by J. K. Barber
“I knew of no one else like me,” Mala continued, “until we met the residents of this village. I was alone in my abilities for so long. I was afraid to tell anyone, afraid that they would treat me like my parents did, with fear of the unknown.” She paused a moment, taking another long breath. “The second reason for not telling you was to protect you. As you well know, Katya especially, knowledge is power. People, not even near as terrible as the Ice Queen, will do horrifying things to learn of a talent such as mine. Those types of people will hurt my friends to get to me. I could not allow that to happen to you girls, whom I love so much, or your mother who showed me so much kindness.” The older woman cast a sidelong glance at Jared. “You, woodsman, I have just recently come to trust. If I couldn’t even tell my own nieces, I sure as hell wasn’t going to tell you.” A tiny smirk from Mala managed to brighten the mood. Jared, knowing all too well her fears, couldn’t help but return the expression.
“I don’t blame you,” he chuckled. Mala smiled briefly but her mirth was lost on the girls. The twins wore frowns on their faces. Mala’s expression sobered.
“I am sorry, girls. I hope you can forgive me. My love and concern for you is no lie.” Mala spoke these last words and fell silent again.
The six of them sat quietly for a bit. Sasha, who had loved Mala as a mentor as well as a dear friend of the family, spoke finally, breaking the awkward moment. The young swordswoman’s eyes were on Jared when she spoke at first, something the woodsman duly noted. He smiled. Telling her his personal secret had brought them all the closer. Sasha understood him and her words were partially meant for him as well.
“I understand your fears, Mala,” Sasha said. “I appreciate your honesty now, but I just wish you had known that Katya and I would have accepted you as our mother did. And, while we appreciate your wanting to protect us by not telling us, you are worth the risk. You should have known we would be by your side. You are family.” Sasha nudged Katya and her sister nodded. They rose together and placed their arms around the Master Swordswoman. The sorceress put her head against Mala’s.
“You are forgiven,” the dark-haired woman whispered. Mala’s breathed easier and returned their hugs.
“Please know that you can rely on us, as we do you,” Sasha said hugging Mala all the tighter. The three women shared a genuine moment of affection, holding each other. It was broken by the wild sobs of Niko, who flung himself against the girls.
“Awwww, I love you guys too. You’re the best big beasts ever,” the Nhyme man said, burying his face into Mala’s neck. She laughed as his wings tickled her under the chin. Chyla remained where she was but clapped happily.
“Yay! All is well again,” she beamed, launching into the air in a spiral on gossamer wings as she cheered. Her previous exhaustion was forgotten at such a display of true familial love.
Jared laughed at the spectacle before him and winked at Sasha, who caught his eye with a happy grin.
Chapter 13
In the midst of fifty therianthropes, his friends, and ten Aeirsgan soldiers, Jared walked beside Chieftain Hridayesh, his voice excited as he asked questions about the conifer forest through which they traveled. The large man was immensely patient, answering each of Jared’s questions with kindness. The woodsman’s joy upon entering the spruce forest was noticed by all. He wanted so much to reach out to a woodland animal, but he dared not, knowing that it could be a therianthrope; he didn’t feel like testing his luck on the stability of the mental connection they would share. Despite being unable to use his more mystical talents, the woodsman’s entire body was relaxed, and he often bent down to look at some plant he recognized. He pondered longer over the local flora he had never seen before. Hridayesh had seen Jared silently questioning the leaves of one plant and decided to help the young man, especially since the leaf Jared was looking at was poisonous. “Yakone,” the Chieftain had said, “for its red edge. Do not touch it unless you want an itchy rash that will make you want to rub the skin from your hands.” Jared had snapped his hand away and thanked the older man. The woodsman stood and had walked by Hridayesh’s side ever since, asking an endless stream of questions.
“What kind of trees are these?” Jared asked, gesturing to the snow-covered, evergreen trees towering over them.
“Ikiaq,” Hridayesh replied. “Red spruce,” he continued when Jared shook his head apologetically for not knowing the therianthrope language.
“Thank you,” the woodsman replied, repeating the word aloud. “Ikiaq.”
“Two days north is what we call Tartok. In your tongue, it is called the Marsh of Shadows. It is a dark place with even darker inhabitants. The muddy ice there is deep, said to swallow men whole in a heartbeat. We do not go there.” Jared looked to the northern horizon trying to imagine the half-frozen coastline and the beasts residing there. “May I ask you a question, Kinaroq?” Chieftain Hridayesh had called Jared this name soon after shaking hands. Jared had corrected the older man, but the Chief simply put two fingers to his eyes and then pointed them at Jared saying, “Tikaani. You are wolf.” In an effort not to draw further attention to the Chief’s words Jared nodded and continued walking, wondering if this man knew about him. Surely he sensed something. The Chief had respected the woodsman’s silence after his mysterious words.
“Ask away, Chieftain Hridayesh. You have definitely answered enough of my questions,” Jared laughed heartily. The large man smiled warmly and subtly gestured to the twins walking far ahead of them. The two men, busy in their discussions, had fallen to the rear of the group.
“The twin sisters, Mistress Mala names them Sasha and Katya. I call them Shila and Tulugaq.” When Jared’s brows knitted with confusion and mild frustration at not knowing the local language, Hridayesh added, “Flame and raven.” Jared nodded, understanding. “The darker one is a Tupilek is she not? A shaman?”
“I guess you could call her that,” Jared responded.
“Her ravens are her innersuit, her spirits. It was Niko, the Tonraq that came for our aid. She speaks to them often.”
Jared nodded. “They are not hers per say, but they are our friends. Having met Katya first, the two of them do favor her.” He did not say more.
“I sense that you are being purposely vague about the little ones. I shall not press you further about them. I am merely curious. We have many children’s stories about the innersuit and we haven’t had a shaman around since grandmother passed on a few winters back. Can you tell me more about the girls?”
“They come from Snowhaven. Their father was the local blacksmith and they are graduates of the sorcerer and fighter schools. Their mother was a scribe for the Administrator of the sorcerer school. Sasha and Katya are very special women and are truly blessed by the Great Mother with strength and intellect. I think the two of them could accomplish just about anything.” Jared’s eyes lingered on Sasha’s back unconsciously, a small grin forming on his lips.
“You favor Shila, I see,” the older man said, his lips forming a wide grin.
Jared looked at his feet immediately, cursing his damn eyes. Sasha, having felt his eyes on her, looked back at him and smiled mischievously before turning back to something Mala was saying at her side.
Hridayesh laughed so loud that several soldiers and therianthropes glanced back at the pair. He elbowed Jared convivially.
“Pikatti then,” the older man said. “She is your companion.”
Jared simply smiled, which the Chieftain acknowledged with a nod of his head. The men walked in silence for a time before Jared checked the sun’s track on the horizon. It was getting close to evening and they would be stopping soon for the night. The woodsman asked, “How far are we from the Ice Palace?”
“It is a day and a half more from here to the southwest. We’ll exit these woods tomorrow and come to the Sirmiq, glacier in your tongue, the morning after. We travel south for a short time and will arrive at midday. Mistress Mala and I have already decided to stop short of the fortress and rest until nightfall
on that second day. We’ll attack under the cover of night.”
“A sound plan,” the woodsman replied.
“In theory,” the Chieftain chuckled. “Much can change depending on the Ice Queen’s defenses. Luckily, we do have the best of scouts.” The older man smiled and looked up to the treetops. “There is my nephew, Iluak, now.” A great white owl soared through the tall trunks, screeching a greeting to Hridayesh. The Chief waved back and they continued their trek west.
Katya sat in her tent, staring absently at the candle’s flame before her. On the bedroll next to her, Chyla and Niko lay curled together deep in sleep as chipmunks, their little chests rising and falling almost in unison. Once again, the sorceress was alone and left to her reading of Magus Lucian’s writings or simply her own thoughts. There would be no campfire or the cheerful chat that went along with it this night, not so close to the Ice Queen’s Glacial Palace, and so all who were not on watch had retired to their tents when the sun had set. Sasha’s empty pallet next to her was not surprising; her twin was most likely with Jared somewhere even though the swordswoman had claimed she was to be on watch first shift. Mala had not thought Katya had noticed Jared’s empty pallet that morning in the therianthrope village. She had though; she knew where he probably had spent the night. Again, the sorceress was not surprised, not really. No one had yet to admit to anything, but the darker twin knew her sister well. The lovers weren’t going to any great lengths to hide their relationship either, so the sorceress guessed Mala had given her consent. Otherwise, Jared would be missing an arm if not his head. Katya laughed once at the absurd notion of Mala actually killing a man for sleeping with one of her nieces but then sighed, her heart heavy. Katya tried to think of other things.
The last two days of their trip had passed much quicker than Katya would have liked. She was enjoying the company of the therianthropes; their keen intellect and rich culture was refreshing after months with only soldiers and scouts as company. Not that Mala, Sasha, and Jared were dull-witted, but Katya sorely missed the company of other sorcerers and more interesting talk of books, culture, and finer living in general. After reading Lucian’s journal at least a dozen times, she was still no closer to finding out how she could reverse the Empress of Ice’s hold on the Ice Palace’s crystal. The Ice Queen’s perverse use of magic itself was so obscure and beyond her knowledge already; Lucian had been right about not being able to discern a remedy without seeing the actual negative effect. The sorceress had concluded, after wanting to rip her hair out in frustration several times, that she would have to see and study the Ice Queen’s crystal firsthand and hopefully would then know what to do. The wrapping up of her studies left her feeling drained, nervous, and bored.
Niko and Chyla had kept her sane, at least. Late at night when there was no one to see them in their spritely forms, the three friends would chat about magic, and the Nhyme continued to teach her how to heal. Every day under their tutelage brought her greater insight into magic as a whole. After learning of the event only recently, Chyla had drilled Katya about how she had dispatched one of her attackers in the herbalist shop in Valshet. The young woman was appalled at herself to learn after much discussion that she had indeed misused her healing magic, and that to repeat such a spell would lead down a dark road she cared not to follow. Katya promised upon her love for her family that she would never use Nhyme magic so wrongly again. She wasn’t even sure how she managed it without touching the man, an aspect of the Nhyme healing that they all had thought was necessary. She apologized profusely and even shed tears when Chyla had flown furiously out of their tent in the therianthrope village. The sorceress had never seen her friend so upset, not even at the tiny woman’s father’s funeral. The Nhyme, being a gentle race, forgave her at long last in return for her promise never to attempt to use their teachings to harm again, and all was well. Katya had been very grateful, holding her friends to her cheeks in a warm hug.
Her mind wandered back to the woodsman. There was, once more, the matter of Jared and Sasha that irritated her on so deep a level. Katya was slowly moving on, not caring as much as she had before. While Jared’s love of nature and herbalism was attractive to the sorceress along with his good looks, she saw the way he and Sasha looked at each other now when they thought no one else was watching. Jared was not Katya’s to have, not anymore anyway. That ship had sailed. It had taken much of their boat journey as well as the crossing of the Frozen March for her to understand. She realized that the reason she had become so infatuated with the woodsman was because he was so mysterious and because her sister was also very interested in him. Of course a sister is going to want what the other sister has. That is the most basic precept of sibling rivalry. Katya figured she appeared moody to her friends, but she didn’t care. She preferred cold silence rather than hearing Sasha talk constantly about how great Jared was. The raven-haired woman had seen plenty of other interesting men since Aeirsga. Captain Damon, for instance, was much more interesting than Jared. Too old perhaps, but his confident charm, stylish way of dress and the graceful way in which he moved were exciting to her.
The therianthrope men were also appealing, and Katya definitely did not complain about the constant nudity she witnessed in their transformations as they returned to their human forms from whatever arctic creature they became. Her thoughts weren’t all about men though; she was very much interested in what the therianthropes talked about. While there was some talk of warriors, which bored the sorceress to no end, she struck up a conversation during their stay in the village with a young man by the name of Iluak. Besides being the Chieftain’s nephew, he was showing promise in the shamanistic arts of his people. He spoke often of the Great Mother and the natural flow of energies as being Her life force. Before his Great Great Aunt had passed a few winter’s back, he had been her pupil. Sadly, his education had been too brief, and there were no more shamans in his village to continue where his relative had left off. His beliefs about magic were most interesting to Katya, and she very much enjoyed his company. What started their first talk was his asking about her ravens. He called them “innersuit,” shaman’s helpers in his language. He had also witnessed her spell casting during the fight in the ice orc camp and was more than a little enamored with her power over lightning. Additionally observing she also was a healer had only further caught his attention. The therianthrope man wasn’t obsessed with her or anything; he simply was not shy in the slightest. His questions, however, were always asked with care and respect. Katya and Iluak talked constantly, not that her friends noticed. They were all too busy doing other things. A bitter taste seemed ever present in her mouth these days. As they neared the Empress of Ice’s fortress though, she found herself not brooding over these relatively little things anymore. A sense of purpose filled her with renewed energy. Her heart quickened its beat at the mere thought of infiltrating the Ice Palace. Still, having a new friend in Iluak was refreshing. When he was off scouting in his white owl form, her thoughts would return to the task at hand. When she, Sasha, Mala, the Nhyme, and Jared had set off from Aeirsga, the ending to this trip seemed in the far future, but when the sun set next she would be standing in the Ice’s Queen’s very home. A shudder traveled the length of her spine and left her breathless. A voice outside her tent startled her from her reverie.
“Katya?” Iluak’s voice called softly. “Are you awake?”
Double checking that the Nhyme were still in animal forms, which they were, Katya leaned her head out the tent flap.
“Hi, Iluak,” she smiled genuinely upon seeing his dark loose hair framing his tanned, hawkish face from under his fur hood in the moonlight. “Yes, I am awake. Is everything alright?”
“Oh, yes,” he replied, a mischievous grin on his exposed face. The therianthropes weren’t as bothered by the cold as the Illyanders were. Perhaps it was the animal in them keeping them warm somehow, the sorceress thought. “I wanted to show you something if you don’t mind a short walk and the cold.”
“I did
grow up in Snowhaven. I can manage the cold,” The young woman grinned at him, his high spirits infectious. “Sure, I’ll go. Let me just bundle up a little. We also need to tell someone where we are going. I got in a great deal of trouble the last time I took off without telling anyone.”
“Wise,” Iluak said, “We’ll tell whoever is on watch.”
Katya nodded and ducked back inside the tent, picking up her staff and wrapping her face with a scarf before throwing on her heavy fur cloak. When she emerged from the tent without her ravens, Iluak asked if they slumbered.
“They are asleep, yes.” Katya replied. “They are pretty tired, so I’ll not disturb them. I am ready.” Iluak took her hand and lead her through the camp, checking in with the two therianthropes on watch. The sorceress noted that her sister was not with them. She figured as much. A twang of jealously plucked her heartstrings, but Katya dismissed the feeling. Good for her, she thought. She smiled at Iluak as he helped her up a rocky ledge.
“Shall I summon some light for us?” she asked.
“No, it is too risky this close to The Ice Palace. My eyes are keen. I will lead you, do not worry,” he replied quietly. His face was far too serious, and Katya did start to worry a little bit. Should they really be out wandering around outside of camp if a light is too risky? She trusted Iluak though and continued to follow him.
After a series of outcroppings, leading higher and higher, it was not long at all before they came to a massive rock covered with dozens of rudimentary drawings in the therianthrope style. The crescent moon shone brightly on the pale rock, so Katya was able to get a good look. One picture depicted a polar bear on its hind legs, roaring defiance to a crudely depicted human in black clothing. The man’s hands were actually made into points as he held them up in a threatening manner to the bear. Another was one of a black she-wolf defending her pups across a river from a forest filled with animals. There were so many scenes to look at, but each seemed to show a conflict of some kind. While the drawings were rustic, they were quite pretty.