She frowned as a gargoyle emerged from the cave, scrambling on all fours towards the grass. It was one of the gargoyles that were said to protect Avristar. A boat pressed up against the shore, and Kaliel moved her gaze down the hill as people approached. She stiffened. Krishani was there. Why was he there? She scrambled to her feet and clambered down the hill. She was careful to stay concealed as she watched the heads of the elders drifting through the trees. She darted between the spruces, trying to find him. Her hands clawed at branches as she got turned around, confusion welling up within her as a deep ache forced her to clutch her chest and crouch to the ground. Her knees hit the spruce needles in the grass followed by her hands.
She looked again; Krishani was pacing through the trees. She felt his anger, sadness and fear as she helplessly watched him go past.
Why are you leaving me? She desperately needed to know. Kaliel remembered the boats, the gargoyle. She scrambled through the forest brush, being careful not to make noise, to cry out. She reached the edge of the tree line and watched the crowd of elders, Lord Istar, Lady Atara, and others gathered around the boat. Krishani stepped into the boat. Kaliel raced to her feet and placed her hand on the side of a tree, trying to steady herself while attempting to comprehend what was happening.
Krishani turned and raised his head, his blue and green eyes staring into the crowd of elders. They looked pained in a way she couldn’t understand. She stepped away from the tree, shock and anguish tightening in her gut. Her foot caught on itself and she tumbled down the hill towards the array of elders, landing on her hands and knees in front of them. They all looked at her with forlorn expressions, but none of them said a word.
She pushed herself up and looked at Krishani. He appeared so downtrodden, like he would rather crumble to dust than be on the boat. He wouldn’t look at her.
“Are you leaving me?” she asked.
He hung his head as the gargoyle pushed the boat into the mists. The elders vanished and she cried out as she stood on the ledge, watching the boat drift away and out of sight.
“No.” She gasped. Her eyes snapped open and she shook her head, noting she was back in the barn. It was a dream. Her heart pounded so loud she heard its pulse in her ears as she sputtered and attempted to breathe. She clawed at the walls as she fought to stand.
“Careful child. What troubles you?” Umber said.
“Krishani will leave me,” she said.
“That cannot be.” Umber grunted and scratched his hoof on the ground in apparent discomfort.
Kaliel felt the roughness of the wood under her frail hands as she pulled herself up and fell against the side of the horse. She felt so dizzy as the revelation hit her. She pressed her cheek into the fur and closed her eyes, trying to find her feet. Her hands pushed at the horse and she stumbled awkwardly through the barn and out into the forest. It was pitch black, the sky void of the moon. She wrapped her arms around her waist, trying to hold herself together. It was useless. All she could think of was Krishani’s arms around her, his sweet nothings whispered in her ear, his lips on hers. She desperately wanted to be in his arms; no more Mallorn, no more lessons, no more dreams, no more Flames.
All I want is this and nothing else, she thought bitterly as she traipsed through the trees.
The border between Nandaro and Orlondir wasn’t far. She needed to race against this twist of fate and find him before the unthinkable happened.
Dizziness swept her under as she fought to separate the shapes of the trees from shadows. She ran her fingers along the bark and turned and turned, winding through the spaces between the trunks. She tilted her head upward, tracing patterns of black leaves against midnight blue sky. She sighed as she continued to fight her way through the night. Desperation overwhelmed her as the longing for his warmth hit her again. She kneeled on the ground and let out a sob. Her limbs went weak as her elbows touched the ground and she buried her face between her hands. Tears spilled onto the grass. She was helpless and out of time.
There’s nothing I can do, she thought as she pounded her fists on the ground. She rolled on her back, hands rubbing her stomach, begging for some kind of comfort to come. She saw the waterfall in her mind’s eye, and heard Krishani’s voice in her head. I won’t surrender.
“He promised he never would,” she whispered as the wind rustled the trees. She curled the blades of grass under her fingers and ripped them out of the soil. Her chest heaved in spurts of anxiety. She had no idea where she was anymore. Orlondir seemed too far away for her to travel on foot, and he would be gone before she could reach him.
“What troubles you, Little Flame?”
Kaliel jumped. She looked around, trying to place the voice. She stretched out her arms and felt for anything near her. There was a tree to her right. Her hand traced along the trunk and she realized it was older than the others. She dropped her hand and crawled over to the tree, aligning her spine with it. She let out an exasperated sigh. She longed to go back in time, to erase the words of the Great Oak, to stop the foe from seeking her, to live in bliss from her past, yet she knew none of that was possible.
“He’s being forced to leave me,” she said.
“Then it was not meant to be.”
The words stung her heart. “But it was.”
“And now it is no more.”
The words crushed the last of her strength; darkness engulfed her in its cold embrace. Her eyes drooped shut and she slipped into the abyss.
Wansa.
The words were clear as crystal, but she couldn’t understand them. She was … somewhere. Underground maybe … a crypt? Torches flickered on the walls and she felt the sticky ooze beneath her feet as she assessed her surroundings. Pain stabbed her stomach. She put pressure on the imaginary wound, but as she peered through the bars she saw a girl pressed up against the wall.
Corza.
More words in a language she didn’t understand. Kaliel watched her with delirious attention. The girl’s eyes were closed and her mouth moved, mumbling something. Kaliel moved towards the cage and curled her fingers through the spaces between the bars, pushing her face into the iron to get a better glimpse.
The girl’s wrists were in shackles, her midnight-black hair matted against her face. Her eyes darted back and forth underneath their tan lids. Kaliel backed away from the bars and stumbled through the muck as she turned and tried to claw her way through the catacombs.
Behind her was a tunnel. She entered it and raced towards the end. There was something familiar about the place. She passed by the tombs and felt something holding her back. She pushed, but it was like she had hit an invisible wall. She stopped and stretched her arms out to the darkness but it pushed back. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as footsteps pounded the stairwell behind her.
She flushed with fear as she tried to stay calm and still. There was a splash behind her and her heart did a double jump. She clenched her fists together and gritted her teeth. She trembled to the bone and her mouth threatened to erupt in a succession of screams. She held her lips together and stifled the faint whines in the back of her throat. A sharp strike of flint sounded against the stone, and she cringed as she turned to witness the foe.
En guyen naha lin sanse.
Kaliel understood it this time, and the Flame inside of her struggled with all of its might to emerge. As she closed her eyes, it rushed out of her. She took a sharp breath as she looked at the people in the cell. There was a body on fire next to the girl now, flames smoking out of his form as the foul smell grew thicker.
The one with rosy pink eyes stared at her and the meaning of the words flooded her mind. Run. Hide. He will take your soul.
The Valtanyana didn’t seek to kill the Flames, they sought to possess them. Kaliel felt sick as she fought to bring herself out of the dream, back to reality, back to the place where she could find Krishani, warn Mallorn, tell the elders everything she had seen. She tried to close her eyes, but she felt like they were fused open as the enemy crouch
ed beside the girl and presented a tiny crystal clear orb. She watched as the pink essence from the girl’s eyes flowed into the orb, turning it into milky pink vapors. He stood as the girl slumped to the side, dead.
Desperate, Kaliel tried to back away, but the enemy turned his gaze towards the darkened tunnel. His white-lightning eyes sparked, making contact with her amethyst enflamed ones until everything fell away into awful blackness.
* * *
27-Innocent Mistakes
There was a light tap on the door. Krishani raised his head, his face hidden behind his hands. He wanted to deny existence, move backwards in time, stop the Ferryman from dying in the first place. In the weeks since Kaliel left, the Elmare Castle had grown cold. He was a pawn in their games. Even Hernadette refused to make eye contact with him while she sorted out the herbs he would offer to the Gatekeeper.
Melianna, on the other hand, had been chirpy. As she measured him for the robes, she chattered on about the battles her father and his men fought in the Lands of Men. The conversations only made him more depressed that no matter what he wanted, not once had they bothered to mention Kaliel.
In addition, Kuruny was nowhere to be found. After that night he encountered her in the hallway, she had disappeared to some unknown place. He longed to speak with her more about the land she returned from so he could understand what he would face when he arrived.
That was the worst of it. The Ferryman followed death. It didn’t matter where Krishani went—he would find death and it would find him. A thought he didn’t want to relish.
Another knock on the door. He sighed and looked around his small room. There was nothing but what had been there since the day he arrived. He closed his eyes and tried to push away the sadness, the very urge to scream at Melianna. Profanities wouldn’t help. He sighed. There was no way to stop this. Sweet surrender, he thought as he lifted his head towards the door that was already creaking open.
He stomped his foot on the floorboards as he stood and the door shut with a bang. He ran his hands down the robes. They were embroidered in gold and loosely hugged his form. He shuffled towards the door and placed his hand on the doorknob. As his fingers gripped it he had another thought race through his mind: The Valtanyana. When would he encounter them? He shook his head. That was fear he didn’t need to carry. Corruption festered in every part of the Lands of Men. The Daed were crawling from every hole and crevasse they could find. Whoever sought Kaliel was much more dangerous than those he would encounter. He hoped she could evade the Valtanyana until he was strong enough to return to her.
“Krishani,” a voice on the other side of the door said.
He turned the handle. Melianna stood in the hallway, appearing nervous and bothered. She took off down the corridor, swiftly leading him to where the Elders waited.
• • •
Kuruny watched from the shadows as the Elders gathered in the main hall. The spectacle made her sick. She had to get to Krishani somehow before the insanity continued. She peered around the corner up the grand staircase to the east wing and caught a glimpse of Melianna’s satin blue slippers. She pressed her back against the stone wall.
The Elders arranged themselves in a line leading out to the courtyard. Kuruny recognized half of them, the others appointed during her extended absence. She glanced at the torch bearers. They were in twos, rounding the end of the processional. Lord Istar and Lady Atara were somewhere near the front in the midst of the courtyard. Kuruny was disgusted with her father. He wanted to keep her from the Lands of Men due to the hex, and yet refused to break it, and refused to allow her to join in the affairs of the land.
She scowled as she recalled the tasks she endured over the past few weeks. There was nothing she could say that would allow him to reconsider his decision, to consult with the Gatekeeper before sending his most prized apprentice to his death. And she was certain Krishani would die. She stifled a sigh as she recalled the fact she had barely escaped with her life. What would they do to someone like Krishani? It wasn’t as though his kinship wasn’t clearly marked. Even that cloak couldn’t hide the pointed ears, the mismatched eyes, or the pale white skin. All the men she had encountered were tanned, muscular and hairy. How they wouldn’t see him as a demon was beyond her.
She turned her attention to the processional as she watched the torch bearers exit the main hall. Her heart leapt out of her chest as she realized they were truly going through with it. She peered around the corner. The castle was empty. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She tiptoed towards the archway as she slipped outside into the courtyard. She hid behind a bush and watched them cross the bridge. The processional turned left as she scrambled across the yard, careful to keep up, but careful to stay hidden. They began down the forbidden trail to the top of Tirion Mountain. No one ever ventured there save during the Fire Festivals, and even then, only a select few were given the honor of hearing the voice of Avristar.
The sky gave off the last rays of sunlight, as the midnight blue of the night and a blanket of stars crept across the horizon.
Kuruny’s pulse quickened as she skipped over the bridge and watched them enter the forest path. She paused. She couldn’t go walking a few steps behind them. The path curled, but if even one of those torch bearers looked behind them, they would spot her plain as day. She calculated the distance, and what it would cost her to forge a path through the trees. The processional trudged on and as Kuruny found herself lost in thought, it moved out of sight. She cringed and dove into the trees, doubting her options were any wider. She pushed branches out of the way as she clumsily traipsed over the forest brush. She had to move faster. Krishani was at the front and she was wasting time. She sighed and scrunched up her nose in disgust. Begrudgingly, she quickened her pace and soon flickers of more torchlight, and the bobbing heads of Elders. Each of them had their head down in meditation. She snickered to herself and hoped they felt ashamed of their decision.
There were more ahead of her as she flew through the trees. Her lungs ached from exertion. That was new, but then again she had never forced herself to run like that. She looked through the branches and saw Istar’s long white hair. To his right was Atara, her auburn hair flowing behind her. Krishani shuffled along, the black hood of his robe pulled over his features to hide his fear. Her heart dropped. There was little hope of getting a message to him. The path turned and she watched as Istar and the others flowed around the base of the mountain, moving to the gradual incline. She winced and tried to find a line of sight to Krishani. It was difficult; the brush was in the way and his head was bowed. She carefully moved through the vegetation and once again hated her options. She stopped and grabbed hold of a branch above her and shook it, hoping it would cause enough commotion for him to turn and look.
She felt like an idiot.
Sure enough the whole processional stopped and turned in her direction. She gasped and dropped the branch, crouching to the ground. She peeked at them, thinking maybe he’d catch sight of her. No one came to investigate the rustling. Istar turned back to the path. Krishani lingered, his gaze searching the trees. His eyes met hers though she figured it was just by chance given all the branches.
“Krishani,” she telepathically projected.
His eyes widened as confusion and panic crossed his expression. She sighed and nestled herself into the brush below.
“I need to speak with you.” She didn’t bother to watch as the elders encouraged him to follow.
“What do you want, Kuruny?” His voice was a welcome change in her mind instead of her own panicked thoughts. She mused at both their competency as she assumed he was no good with the art of telepathy, but had proven her wrong.
“You’re not going through with this are you?”
“I have no choice.”
Kuruny sighed. He was too honorable to betray the land. He wouldn’t try to escape. She didn’t really care about him but she couldn’t let Istar make such a mistake. Maybe it would be enough for the lord to reconsider
his decision and then Krishani wouldn’t be committing a crime. She had been worried about him since that night in the corridor. No matter what he thought of it, she feared for him, and if she could help, she would. She closed her eyes and tried to piece together her words so he would understand. Apparently the prospect of death didn’t scare him, and that was peculiar. Why wouldn’t he fight harder if he knew this would lead to his demise? She shook her head. Her own thoughts were muddled and she needed to be clear.
“It’s an absolute choice.” She shifted her weight in the grass. The remainder of the torch bearers had already passed her, rounding the mountain.
“I don’t understand,” Krishani said.
“If you leave, you’ll never be with Kaliel again.”
Kuruny sat back in the grass, stunned by her own revelation, but it was the only way she could explain it. There was no way he would ever be able to return to Kaliel and live by her side. His only hope was in denying his duty. She found her way through the trees to the path. Krishani didn’t respond. She knew her words stung.
• • •
Krishani was agitated by the silent conversation. He stared at the ground as he tried to conceal its existence. The elders were known for their sharp abilities and he knew it was possible that Lady Atara could hear everything being said between him and Kuruny. He stuffed his hands into the sleeves of his robe and pushed his arms to his chest. The day had been bad enough without Kuruny’s idle speculation and warnings about death in the Lands of Men. He already knew how much death he would encounter. Death wasn’t the problem.
He shivered. Tremors raced through him as though an ice cold breeze had blown right at him. He took another step before nausea seeped in. Vertigo surrounded him as the word never clamored against his temples. He forced another step forward and tried to make it look natural, but he was breaking down. He had clung to Istar’s empty promise of his return. Kuruny wouldn’t lie; the Lands of Men betrayed her. She knew what kind of abhorrence he would face. If she went to such lengths to stop him, she must have good reason for it. And losing Kaliel forever was something he could never go through with.
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