by David Ekrut
Zeth stopped and half-turned to him. “I had expected you to flee. Instead you come of your own …,” His words trailed off, and Zeth gaped openly at Elwin. His eyes traveled up to Elwin’s face, before he finished. “Accord.”
He needed to keep him talking long enough for Feffer to … do what? There was no door. What was Feffer going to do? There was no door on the cage!
That was when he heard Feffer’s voice near his sleeping body. “Elwin. Wake up, Elwin.”
“Every night I met with Jasmine in the shadow realm for training,” Elwin said. Elwin could hear Feffer testing the bars, whispering his name.
The Lifebringer save him. Please let the bars break.
“The Life witch, Jasmine Lifesong, trained you herself?”
“She is no witch,” Elwin said.
“I was told you had residence in the castle, but I had not been told of your training.”
“Told?”
Zeth smiled. “Bain has agents everywhere. Now, I need to see what you are capable of. I felt Air in you earlier. What talents have you learned?”
Elwin could hear his father shaking on the driver’s seat. He must have seen Feffer. His father had been ordered to guard Elwin. If he lost his will to the soulkey, Feffer would be captured. He wanted to return to his body, to rise, and to help Feffer, but he had to stay. If Elwin left, Zeth would leave and see Feffer.
“The Lifebringer save me,” Feffer said breathlessly. “What in the abyss did he do to you Drenen? Help me get Elwin free.”
“I … can’t …,” Father said. “Get … away … now. I can’t … can’t fight it.”
“I hoped I wouldn’t have to use this,” Feffer whispered. “Elwin wake up.”
“I trained daily,” Elwin said to Zeth. His father’s shaking became more violent. “I have mastered flight and the wind thrust.”
Elwin heard flint strike steel several times.
“Useless,” Zeth spat.“A person with your power? And that is all you have mastered? Weakness. That will be corrected. You will come with me to the Father and accept his gift. Your retraining begins now.”
Elwin heard the fire catch, then he heard a slow steady sizzle.
“Elwin,” Feffer said with desperation clear in his voice.“Wake up and move back. Please.”
He had heard that sound before. Poppe liked to light fireworks for his festivals whenever possible. Elwin and Feffer had filched some of the smaller ones one year. When placed in mud and lit, they would burst and send mud everywhere.
“Never,” Elwin said. “You will have to catch me first.”
He stopped the flow of power from the pendant and returned to his body.
Elwin saw the fireworks bundled together and tied to the edge of the cage with fishing line. There was one very large firework, cylindrical in shape, and several smaller round ones fastened together. The wicks were all wound into a single fuse. And they had been lit.
Feffer had moved several paces away and was watching the fuse. Feffer’s wide eyes met Elwin’s, then he motioned Elwin to back up.
Elwin tamed Air and flew to the furthest edge at the top of the cage. Behind him, his father still struggled with his command to guard Elwin from escape. He had fallen from the driver’s seat and was convulsing on the ground. Black fog seemed to seep from his eyes.
“Fight it, Father. Just a little while longer.”
As the fuse disappeared, Elwin closed his eyes, shielding his head with his arms. He heard a long, loud whistling sound, then felt more than heard the explosion.
His ears had a ringing sound, and Feffer’s voice sounded like it was in a well. A strong burnt smell filled his nostrils. It was as if a thousand candles had been doused at once. Before he could make out Feffer’s words, he heard the sound of animals stampeding behind him. He turned to see the horses and cattle running toward the tent, trampling it into the dust.
“The Lifebringer be praised,” he said.
“Elwin, help me!”
He looked at the edge of the cage. Two of the bars were cracked but not broken. Feffer was pulling on them. Elwin flew to the bars and tried to squeeze through. It was no use. They were too close together.
Feffer unsheathed a long, curved sword. “Back up.”
When Elwin moved back, Feffer took the sword with two hands and began to chop at the bone. His movements were precise and practiced, and the bone cracked with each swing. But it didn’t break.
“What in the abyss,” Feffer said. “It is too strong. What is this stuff made from?”
Feffer glanced toward the trampled tent. A figure was moving beneath the flattened folds.
“Hurry, Feffer,” Elwin said. “If you can just get the one, I can squeeze through.”
Feffer swung over and over, chipping at the thin bone with each strike. Zeth had emerged from his tent and started limping toward the cage.
Feffer’s aim began to miss the mark, and his voice sounded desperate. “I am going to die.”
“No you are not,” Elwin said. He let the power of Air fill him, “Move back.”
Zeth staggered toward the cage at a run. His legs elongated and blackened as he ran with increasing speed.
“Do something!” Feffer cried.
Elwin backed to the end of the cage, taming the power of Air into a wind thrust, centered behind him. Taming flight, he aimed at the weakened bone and pushed a good portion of his stored power into the wind thrust.
His left shoulder slammed into the weakened bone, and the bar shattered. His shoulder burned as if on fire, but he pushed the pain from his thoughts and grabbed hold of Feffer’s waist.
Opening his essence wide to Air, he flew straight up. Elwin felt the flat of a sword hit his back, as Feffer’s arms and legs squeezed around him.
As Zeth gained ground between them, he grew to an impossible height, towering over the cage. His body had transformed from head to toe into an animated shadow.
Feffer squeezed him more tightly. “The Lifebringer save us! Fly faster!”
Reaching the wagon, Zeth ran up the boned cage, like a person would a step, and leapt in their direction. Elwin felt more than saw Zeth moving through the air. The dark man soared through the expanse between them, gaining on them as Elwin flew higher.
“He’s flying, Elwin, go faster!”
Elwin pulled at the Air and tamed it through his essence as hard as he could. He flew faster than he ever had.
“He’s falling,” Feffer yelled over the rush of wind.
Elwin slowed and looked down at the falling shadow.
“He can’t fly,” Elwin said. “He had used Fire and Earth at the inn. He doesn’t have Air. He had only jumped.”
Elwin felt relief and weariness all at once. He could feel his essence waning, and his shoulder began to pulse with pain. He hovered for a moment, not having the energy to do much more than hold Feffer. Beneath him the skeletons were still.
“Go northwest. We have to get Haven.”
As he tamed more Air, it felt like nettles covered his body, but he forced the power to go through him. He flew, letting Feffer guide him northwest to Haven. Elwin set Feffer down beside the horse.
Shrieks echoed from the east.
Feffer looked at him, “What in the abyss is that?”
“I don’t know,” Elwin lied. If Feffer didn’t know about the skeletal warriors, Elwin didn’t want to tell him just now. “We should go.”
Feffer sheathed the sword and slid into the saddle. “I couldn’t agree more.”
“I can’t believe you held on to that,” Elwin said, pointing to the blade.
“I wasn’t letting go of anything,” Feffer said. “Flying may feel natural to you, but I almost wet myself.”
Elwin smiled, weakly. “You saved me, Feffer.”
“Thank me, later,” he said. “Did you see how fas
t he could move?”
“Right. We need to get back to Benedict. I need to find my mother, if … if she still lives and get her to safety. Zeth will go for her.”
“Elwin, she’s safe with Faron and Poppe. They know to hide, and we can’t outrun him anyway. I want to get back as much as you, but it’s not a good idea.”
“Where then?”
His eyes met Feffer’s. Light glinted off his cheeks in the moonlight.
“My father is gone, Elwin. He’s gone.” Feffer’s voice cracked.
Elwin grabbed Feffer with his good arm and pulled him into an embrace.
Feffer held onto him with both arms and sobbed into Elwin’s chest. Each sob sent barrages of pain down Elwin’s arm, but he ignored it. This was all his fault. Had he gone with Zeth, none of this would have happened. “I’m so sorry, Feffer.”
A few moments later the sobs subsided, and Feffer pulled away, his face a hard mask.
“Wilton is still out there, Elwin. I want to go home too, but we can’t. We just can’t. That thumping piece of dung will catch us if we try for the capital or west at all. I had half-expected something like this. We go north into the Carotid Forest. By the time we make it to Goldspire, Lord Zaak and Sir Gibbins will learn of the attacks. They will come for us.”
Elwin nodded. Feffer was right. Without flying, they couldn’t outrun Zeth. But without sleep, he wouldn’t have the energy for long-distance flight, and he wasn’t sure if he could carry Feffer on his back that far anyway. Plus, it would be easier to hide in the forest than along the roadway.
“North,” he agreed.
Chapter 18
Hunted
The nocturnal sounds of active insects were loud in the night air of the shadow realm. Elwin’s eyes fell immediately to Feffer. His foggy form huddled next to his own sleeping body in the damp brush.
Elwin could still feel the pain in his shoulder. Moving over to his body, he inspected the wound. There was a small bone fragment sticking from his shoulder, and dark liquid dampened his silk shirt. In the dark of the shadow realm, it looked black. Harkin might just feint if Elwin ever made it back to the castle with that tunic. He shook his head. His shirt was the least of his worries at the moment.
Not for the first time, he was tempted to go back to his town to check on the survivors. Zeth may have gone to hurt them.
“We are more than twenty leagues from Benedict,” he told Feffer’s sleeping body. “It will take Zeth some time to get there. Besides, I can’t do anything for them. I should try to find Jasmine.”
She would likely be in the lecture hall with Zarah. Elwin imagined Zarah wouldn’t get a reprieve from lectures just because he wasn’t there.
Elwin closed his eyes and focused on his desk. He knew it was far from his body, but he would be careful. Jasmine needed to know what had happened. Forming the image of the chair in his mind, he willed himself back to the castle.
He could feel a disconnection from his body. It felt like he was being watched from every angle.
“Elwin!” Jasmine said. “What are you doing here?”
Jasmine was at the front of the room, and Zarah sat next to him.
The last days’ events just poured out of him in a rush.
He forced every word of the tale from his lips, not slowing until he finished describing his escape with Feffer. When he finished the tale, Jasmine only stared at him.
“We traveled north for miles,” Elwin said, after a moment. “We had to ride Haven, because I was too weary to fly.”
Zarah’s hand touched his arm. The sensation was unlike anything he had felt. The strength of her heart and the purity of her soul reverberated through him. He could feel the fabric of her existence. Her touch made him feel safe, as if the darkness around him could not harm him.
Her voice was a song. “Are you alright?”
The same time Jasmine said, “Where are you now?”
“I’m fine. Well I am fine under the circumstances. I scratched my shoulder, but it didn’t seem to deep. We are sleeping in the Carotid Forest. But now I’m afraid Zeth will go back and hurt more of my friends and family.”
“You did well to go north. You are safe for now.” She released a quick breath. “This Zeth must be powerful, indeed, to make a soulless one. But at least there is no way he can follow you in the shadow realm. Your pendant will keep you safe from him, and it will be difficult for Zeth to follow you through the forest with an undead army.”
“How come you never taught me about skeletal warriors?” Elwin asked.
“There is much history I have yet to tell you, Elwin. The abominations Zeth created are one of the many topics we need to discuss. Some undead creatures are created by those that surrender their souls to evil, while others are created from the Death Element. The power of each creature created depends on many things. The least of these is a skeleton warrior, and the most powerful is a Drakolich, an undead dragon. But, we do not have the time for this. You need to go back to the sanctity of your body.”
“Alright,” Elwin said.
“Wake at first light,” Jasmine said. “And keep traveling on to Goldspire. I will meet you at the Hammer Forged Inn with any troops the king can spare.”
“What about my family?”
Jasmine’s tone sounded impatient. “We will send troops to Benedict as well. You need to go, but be wary. The Carotid Forest is full of animals but not many nefarious creatures. However, after making it through the forest, you will come to the Goldspire Mountains. It will be difficult to traverse, and there are mountain giants that reside there.”
“Mountain giants?” Elwin said. “I thought those were just stories. But then again, I never thought undead were possible. Next you will tell me vampires are real, too.”
“Aye,” she nodded. “But they do not concern us now. It will take you several tendays to travel to Goldspire. Go now, I do not like you being this far removed from your body.”
“Several tendays?” Elwin said. “What about my trial?”
“Let me worry over that,” she said. “You do not need to be present for the trial to proceed. Now, go.”
After a year of lecture, there was so much that she had not told him. It seemed like she had skipped over all of the important things, like giants and vampires. How big were ‘giants’ anyway?
Zarah pulled her hand from his arm. With the warmth of her touch removed, the feeling of separation that he had felt before returned. It was more intense than it had been.
He looked at her. “I’ll see you soon.”
“Farewell, Elwin.”
He focused on his body and willed himself back to his sleeping form. The feeling of safety returned. Their campsite was the same, and Feffer had not stirred.
Elwin sat by Feffer and stared at the trees. Images of Zeth attacking the innocent people of Bentonville would not leave his thoughts. How long before Zeth reached Benedict? He had moved so fast. How long could Zeth run in that form? Was it like flying?
He stood. Elwin had to see his mother. The castle was much further than the farm was. He would be fast.
Elwin closed his eyes and thought of the swing on the porch. He opened his eyes, and he was sitting on it. The feeling of being watched was instant, but it was far less than before.
There was light coming from within.
“Mother?”
Motion from the edge of the field drew his attention. A figure in dark robes strolled across the field. Muscles bulged beneath the robes. The man’s head was shaven, and his face carried a long scar that had just missed his eye.
The man approached the house, and Elwin did not like the look of the man. The black robes looked too much like Zeth’s.
“Mother!”
Elwin thought of the common room of his home and transported there instantly.
Wilton Madrowl sat on the sofa, staring int
o the fireplace. Next to him laid a familiar basket and a letter from Elwin’s real mother. Wilton picked up the iron prod and stirred the fire methodically.
What was he doing there? It didn’t matter, the black savant was coming. What else could the man have been?
“Wilton, get out of here!” Elwin screamed.
Elwin ran to the window. He was almost here. What could he do? He turned around and looked for some way to warn Wilton. He could feel the power of Fire coming from the flames beside Wilton. He hadn’t trained with Fire yet. Whatever he did could hurt them both.
Images of screaming people running from Zeth flashed in his mind.
Elwin focused on the warmth of the flames. He could see embers rise from the Fire and flow toward him in burnt-orange arcs. Wilton didn’t seem to notice.
When the embers touched Elwin’s hand, they merged into him. The warmth was different than Air. He felt, powerful. With a burst, he released all of his energy into the flames. The small fire flared, and Wilton fell backward over the sofa.
In that moment, the door slammed open, and Wilton jumped to his feet, drawing his twin blades. When his eyes met the bald man’s face, Wilton sheathed his blades and knelt at his feet, placing a fist across his chest. “Savant Fasuri, I thought you were taking Elwin across the Tranquil Sea. I was expecting Savant Emmantis on the morrow.”
“What?” Elwin looked at Wilton.
Fasuri moved several paces into Elwin’s home, never looking in Elwin’s direction.
“Elwin has escaped,” Fasuri said. “We must alter our plans. Did you kill Elwin’s family, as I ordered?”
“Kill my family? What is this?”
Elwin backed away from Wilton. This wasn’t possible. Elwin had known Wilton his entire life. How could he be with the black savants?
“I waited here,” Wilton said, “but they never returned. Perhaps they are already dead? Either way. I found this letter.”
Fasuri took the letter. After reading it he said, “You have done well. King Bain will want this.”
Fasuri folded the letter into one of his robes.
Elwin gritted his teeth. “That’s mine.”