by Rosie Scott
When Melodi was halfway between my army and that of the underground, she stopped and turned, facing the entire battlefield from the northern edge. The goddess held no weapons, but she stood up straight and took a few deep breaths.
That's when she started to hum.
It was a low, haunting tune. Intimidating, mournful. The sound of her voice echoed over the field, and I found it oddly beautiful. But I was still clear-headed. Either her music could not charm me through my protections, or that wasn't her power at all.
Melodi's hum slowly evolved into open singing. Her song was beautiful, but its words were gibberish. As she sang, she raised her voice one decibel at a time, and hundreds more soldiers turned to the north to see the ruckus once they heard her over the sounds of battle. Melodi's words came quicker now, rising in strength and urgency until her song turned from a beautiful serenade into an intimidating chant.
Then, the noise stopped. Thousands of soldiers whispered in confusion. Sounds of fighting stopped in the south like allies had successfully passed our warnings along to the Sentinels. Maybe our armies were no longer fighting. Perhaps Chairel was pulling their men back to Comercio.
Azazel raised his bow, finally in range of the goddess. He quickly grabbed an arrow from his quiver and went to nock it.
Melodi thrust her hands out to the battlefield before her, and a new song broke through the air like a scream as her dreadlocks flew back from her distorted face. The awful noise of Melodi's song was visible as a blurry conical shock wave of dangerously high air pressure that raced toward thousands of us as if the sound itself was alive. It was the loudest, most painful noise I'd ever heard. The rumbling wave hit the farthest reaches of the underground army first, rippling through soldiers and rendering them still. Thousands of pops echoed out from the area before thousands of men fell. Those with alteration shields collapsed, bleeding and leaking clear fluids from ruptured eardrums. Those without magic protection at all bloated in their armor as lungs burst from the increased barometer pressure, killing them instantly. Others went into sporadic seizures. Others grasped at their hearts and fell like a dead weight.
The shock wave hadn't even reached Azazel and me yet, and thousands were already dead. I turned to my friend, finding him collapsed over his bow, draining blood and pus from his sensitive ears. I threw a spell to the ground beneath him, forcing the earth to sink lower with his body still on it. Then, I directed my attention to the grass between him and Melodi and erected a thick wall of stone.
The shock wave raced toward me like a lethal cloud, and my heart jumped in my throat. Thinking quickly, I cast dull senses on myself, and then I did the same for Azazel. I collapsed on top of him in a straddle position, clasping my hands over his delicate bleeding ears as I squinted my eyes shut in anticipation of death. When the shock wave reached me, I felt stabbing pressure in both ears, and then a skull-shattering headache pierced through my head until I saw flashes of lights. I fell forward abruptly over Azazel like a sack of potatoes, and the sounds of battle faded into oblivion.
Twenty
Eeeee...
A high-pitched ringing was the only noise I knew. My skin tickled over both cheeks, and the metallic taste of blood permeated my mouth, tinged with the bitter edge of pus. I reached up to my face, scratching at the itch on the right side. When my fingers came back soaked with moisture, I realized I was lying face down over Azazel and my ears drained fluids between my lips.
I pulled myself off of him, but I had such an intense feeling of vertigo that I collapsed again. I felt Azazel's chest rise and fall rapidly beneath mine as if he were coughing, and then the acidity of bile spiced the air. Next, he was shaking desperately. Somewhere in my disoriented mind, I screamed orders at myself to move.
I opened my eyes. My vision was vibrating rapidly, and it was so disconcerting that I turned to the side and regurgitated. I focused on Azazel once more and blinked quickly, trying to clear tears that weren't there so I could see what was wrong with him. I reached up to the archer's face, grazing my fingers over his ears and then his mouth. When I felt hot liquid spilling from his lips, I realized he was choking on his own vomit.
I threw myself off of Azazel so quickly that I landed in a heavy heap. I saw him shaking even through my blurry vision. I tugged him over to lie on his side. Only when I felt the spray of bile on my right arm did I know his mouth was clearing. Mustering every bit of strength I had left in my shuddering, injured body, I pulled myself back up and positioned Azazel's legs to allow for better circulation. Then I crawled behind him, striking him firmly between the shoulder blades. Once, twice, three times. Finally, Azazel lurched forward, and the obstruction in his throat cleared.
Through my shaking vision, I realized with horror that Azazel's glimmering alteration shield was fading. I could hear nothing except for the ringing in my ruptured ears, so I hadn't known Melodi was still singing. I refreshed both of our shields as quickly as I could, and then I scanned over the battlefield, trying to ascertain blobs from blobs.
A searing headache accompanied my blurry vision, and finally, tears of agony fell from my eyes. The once-cluttered battlefield to the east was little more than a field of green spotted by black where thousands of allied soldiers lay dead or dying. Even if Melodi's voice hadn't killed the soldiers, it had incapacitated them, but the song hadn't affected her. Thus, even with my impaired vision, I knew the single dark blur walking south was Melodi.
I crawled toward the goddess, my hands and knees slipping through bloody grasses. I ran straight into a fallen ally, and I struggled to lift myself up high enough to tumble over their body. Melodi continued walking confidently southward, intent on killing everyone here. So far, she was doing a hell of a job.
As the blur of the goddess became smaller, I realized I was losing her. I begged my hands and knees to move more quickly. As I noticed the glimmer of my alteration shield fade again, fear grabbed hold of my heart. The magical guards were all that kept Azazel and me from death, and Azazel couldn't refresh his shield in his current state. My other friends and allies were more at risk of joining the casualties with every step Melodi took. I imagined my friends dying painfully and alone, and then I pleaded with myself to stop the thought from coming true.
I took a deep breath meant to calm me, and then I dragged myself to my feet. One careful unsteady step at a time, I headed toward Melodi's back. The more she sang, the more energy collected in my alteration shield. Without the protections, all of us would be dead. With the shield, however, I was collecting her energy even as it weakened. It was so abundant within the protective orb that I felt my long hair float away from my face on sparks of static.
I screamed Melodi's name. I couldn't hear my own voice, so I was sure it sounded like gibberish. Even so, I was desperate for her to stop her advance and turn to me. When the dark blur stopped moving, I knew my plan had worked. But Melodi was still so far from me, and I couldn't hear her to understand if she was singing or if she'd spoken to me. I needed something that could reach her from over our long distance. I hoped to the gods that by charging one spell in particular with enough energy, it could kill her.
Creatius el crevas. I charged the spell until the barriers vibrated violently with the pressure. The blur far ahead of me that was Melodi turned, and then she headed south again. Perhaps she knew I was trying to fight her.
I thrust the spell at my boots, and then I hobbled back a few unsteady steps. The earth trembled dangerously beneath my feet for a few seconds, and finally, the plains between Melodi and me split into two. The power of the spell sent me tumbling back to the ground, and I landed on the body of an ally that was still cooling. Through my blurry vision, I watched as a black streak which was a gap in the earth etched ever forward, chasing after Melodi like a predator from below.
My vision suddenly cleared. Melodi must have stopped singing, for the barometer pressure of the northern battlefield returned to normal. The goddess ran from the approaching break in the earth before the land's shivers
sent her tumbling to the grasses. She turned to glare at me from over our distance, screaming angrily even though I couldn't hear it and only stared blankly back. Melodi scrambled to stand, but the thick boots on her feet slipped on slick bloodied grass, and she fell once more.
The crack in the earth was violently wide, fueled by the energy Melodi had offered me freely from through my defenses. It tore open land and grasses alike, leaving dozens of allied corpses falling into the abyss before it finally reached its target. Melodi screamed inaudibly as she tumbled into the open earth.
With my vision back, I stood with much less effort than before. Using the rest of the energy vibrating against my skin, I walked up to my end of the crevasse, holding my hands over either side of the split land as I recited a spell the Vhiri had taught me.
La terra te closura.
With a violent tremor, the hungry earth slammed shut like it'd had its fill, crushing Melodi and allied bodies alike to a pulp. I lifted a hand, seeking life in the earth's grasp. When the spell detected nothing, I turned silently, my eyes set on the wall of stone I'd summoned earlier to protect Azazel from Melodi's sound waves.
I'd killed Melodi, but I felt no joy or happiness. The injuries Azazel and I sustained were severe, and even though many allies had alteration shields when Melodi first started singing, much of the magic had still affected them. Most of those who had only suffered ruptured eardrums at the beginning of the fight were now dead, for they had been too incapacitated to refresh their protections against her continued singing. Unbelievably, the goddess of music was the deadliest god I'd ever faced.
The northern battlefield was a wasteland of allied corpses and dropped weapons. My heart tore out of my chest with the worry that I'd been too late to save Azazel. All of my senses were either taken from me or impaired, preventing me from fighting at my best. It was the second time in the same battle that my own abilities were stolen or used against me, and I felt an overwhelming surge of heartbreak at the resulting allied losses.
I finally reached the stone I'd summoned. Azazel was lying where I'd left him, still in the same position and surrounded by vomit. Around him in an egg shape was a flickering alteration shield. I collapsed to the ground behind him, exhausted and heavily injured. I reached out to his right shoulder, holding his arm as I scooted closer, leaning my forehead into the black armor on his back. I couldn't hear or feel his heartbeat, so when his shoulder rose and fell with a breath, a shuddering, desperate exhale of relief escaped my lips. Hot tears rolled over my cheeks as my mind raced through awful thoughts of our losses today. I thought of the support I'd built over the years of the war from people I cared for, and then I thought about the thousands of their soldiers who were dead. In a matter of minutes.
I held Azazel close to me, desperate to hang on to one thing I knew I hadn't lost, taking solace with each time he took a weak breath. The exhaustion of the day took that time to catch up with me, for the next thing I knew, I was reliving one of my favorite memories of Bjorn. But deep in my heart, I knew he was dead and it was a dream.
*
A warm hand held onto my right forearm, and hair tickled my left shoulder. That meant it was bare and without armor, so my eyes snapped open. I'd had so many dreams during my rest that I didn't remember the battle or its events until I pieced my situation together by my surroundings.
Cream-colored canvas of a supply tent hung in a peaked roof over my head, lit up in sections with warm firelight. Everything else was in shadow, proof that it was late at night. I was lying on a straw mat. Cerin slept to my right, holding onto my arm, his pale face flickering in the light of the nearest oil lamp. Nyx leaned back against a crate on his other side in a deep sleep despite her awkward position. Holter slept against her, his head between her face and shoulder. Maggie curled up in the tent's corner, using her separated prosthetic leg as a support beneath a pillow fashioned out of haphazardly crumpled cloak.
I turned my face to the left. Azazel leaned his head against my shoulder as he rested beside me, his long black bangs in sharp contrast to my creamy skin. As if he felt my movement, he backed up a few inches, relief washing over his face as he realized I was awake. Azazel said something, but I couldn't hear it. I reached up to my ears, feeling that someone stuffed them with cotton. For the first time, I noticed that the high-pitched ringing from the battle was no longer prevalent.
“Kai.” Azazel must have said it a little louder because I heard it this time. I nodded, showing I heard him without saying it. I reached over to his ear, feeling the same cotton that was in mine. “How are you feeling?” he asked next, the words muted as if they were said in another room.
“Disoriented,” I replied, the word a slurred mess. I pointed to my ears in question.
“Surgery,” Azazel explained. “Ruptured eardrums. We won't be able to fight for a while.”
My nostrils flared in frustration. “How long?”
“Rest for five days,” Azazel replied, lifting a hand to show me all five fingers in case I hadn't heard him correctly. “No strenuous activity for four weeks.”
“That's not an option,” I said.
Azazel smiled, the gesture tinged with amusement. “I told them you'd say that. The five days is mandatory, Kai. We'll pull some strings to finish this battle before the four weeks.”
“Chairel retreated?”
Azazel nodded. “Pulled their men into the city and closed the gates. Hasani and Cyrus kept their men from following because of our losses. We have to heal and regroup. Many in Comercio were also affected by Melodi. We don't expect another immediate attack.”
I took a few deep breaths before I asked, “Our losses...?”
Azazel hesitated. “Considerable,” he finally said, and my heart fell. I closed my eyes, overwhelmed with a variety of negative emotions. “Kai,” Azazel went on, putting his hand over mine. When I reopened my eyes, I found him watching me with a mixture of admiration and love. “Melodi caused thousands of casualties today. We were the only two left alive on the northern battlefield because our shields still held. I was told that our men saw you refreshing mine before you killed Melodi despite being heavily impaired.”
“I buried her alive,” I replied, slowly becoming used to hearing my own voice on an echo. “I was terrified I was too late to save you. The more she sang, the more our shields absorbed and weakened. You weren't conscious to regenerate it yourself.”
“You say this so matter-of-factly like you didn't risk your own life and our progress in this war to save me,” Azazel said.
“Did you expect me to leave you?” I questioned.
Azazel laughed humorlessly and looked away. “No, but you are the only one who never has. Your loyalty is astounding. Perhaps it still surprises me because I spent so long being mistreated and abandoned. It's such a change suddenly being beside someone who refuses to leave me at risk of her own life.”
“Suddenly?” I asked rhetorically. “You've been with me for ten years.”
“Ten years is a short amount of time compared to the life I had before I joined you,” Azazel pointed out, meeting my gaze again.
“Yes, well, I will ensure that your life as a slave is just a blink of an eye compared to your freedom,” I promised, squeezing his hand warmly. “And for that to be true, you have to live. You're not allowed to die.”
Azazel huffed in humor. “I had so much fun fighting with you today,” he admitted. “I think we influence each other.”
A half-smile brightened my face. “I think so, too. You've made me more cautious; I've made you more brash.”
Azazel chuckled softly. “Thank you, Kai.”
“For what?”
“For being the wonderful friend that you are. For saving my life. Again.”
“We could tally up all the times we've saved each other,” I began, “and I guarantee the results would mimic our card playing. We will forever be even.”
Azazel smiled. “That doesn't keep me from appreciating it.” After a pause, he added hesitan
tly, “This is why I came back all those years ago, Kai. In the underground. I learned to care for you, and you were the first to reciprocate.”
“Thank you for telling me,” I said with a soft smile, “but I already knew.”
A mixture of relief and happiness flashed over Azazel's face, like he'd waited so long to tell me that and was needlessly worried about my reaction. With each year that passed, Azazel became more open with me. It was all part of slowly healing after so many decades of turmoil and pain. None of the victims of the Alderi culture could heal overnight, and perhaps many were too traumatized to heal at all. But just ten years after the Underground Liberation of 420, many damaged men were finally becoming used to a better life. Despite our extensive losses in the Battle of Comercio, I felt some solace over the fact that even if we lost this war overall, the effects I'd left on the world would last. I had already given so many the opportunity to cherish the same freedoms that most took for granted.
The hand on my right arm twitched as Cerin stirred. I turned to find him waking, and when his eyes met mine, he leaned over me and hugged me as lightly as he could to avoid hurting my healing body.
“Thank the gods, Kai,” Cerin murmured as he pulled back from me, the words barely audible to my stuffed ears. His eyes were puffy and bloodshot like he'd been in mourning, and I felt new concern race through my veins.
“Who died, Cerin?” I asked.
Cerin frowned as his fingers ran over my jawbone. “Lots of our men.”
I reached up and pressed at the swollen skin beneath his left eye. “You've been mourning.”
Cerin swallowed hard and nodded, before blinking rapidly, keeping more emotion at bay. “When Melodi died, all we knew was that the singing stopped. We didn't see how she was killed at first because we were too far while trying to avoid her. We searched the battlefield for survivors. Calder flipped out when he saw his casualties, and then...” Cerin shook his head, like it hurt him just to recall. “He's the one who found you and Azazel like you were. He snapped. From our point of view, Kai, it looked like you two died trying to protect each other. You were both lying on that field surrounded by other bodies. You were bleeding and deathly still. Calder thought you two were dead. I haven't seen him in such a rage since we were in the underground.”