by Travis Bughi
“Off limits . . . to the angels,” Chara corrected.
Chapter 18
As Emily and Chara walked out of the angels’ tower and through the streets of Lucifan, Emily noticed not much had changed since her previous visit. The streets were still packed with buyers and sellers of all kinds, all yelling to be heard over each other or talking in hushed corners and trying not to be noticed. Indeed, as they walked through the busy intersections toward The Kraken’s Eye, the site where Emily had almost been eaten alive was now swamped with feet, hooves, and wheels. When they passed by an ogre, Emily tried to shrink out of sight.
“Don’t worry, Daughter,” Chara said, confidently strolling by, “ogres aren’t like other creatures. They feel no loyalty to one another. They are just as likely to fight amongst themselves as they are against others.”
They had to stop once for a passing colossus. They felt it coming before they ever saw it, and the streets cleared so rapidly that Emily wondered where the people went. The colossus passed by them, one slow step in front of the other. Emily looked up at it as it passed, noting how it blotted out the sun and how her feet trembled when the ground shook. Emily marveled at its stone skin and enormous height, easily eight times her own. Whoever had made the colossus had shaped it to look like a human male in peak physical condition with—literally, in this case—chiseled abs and shapely muscles down each arm and leg. The colossus wore a helmet, a skirt, and sandals, all of which were stone and as much a part of the colossus as its own hands.
“Mother?” Emily said. “There are three colossi in Lucifan right?”
“There are three in the world, actually. I don’t think they exist anywhere else because they were made by the angels when they arrived here. They were made to guard against an attack from other nations, though it was only later that they realized their greatest struggles would come from within. Or at least, that’s how the stories go.”
“Who told you that?”
Chara looked away and then shrugged with apathy. However, when Emily kept looking at her, she sighed and met the gaze.
“Your grandfather,” she said, and then added after a pause, “he was a knight.”
“My grandfather is a knight?”
Chara sighed again, upset that her answer had only sparked more curiosity rather than quenching it.
“He was a knight,” she said, not bothering to mask her annoyance. “He’s long since dead now, being many years my senior when we first met. Now, no more questions about that. Do you understand?”
In that brief moment, Emily was reminded of Mariam. Until now, Chara had been quick to foster and indulge Emily’s curiosity, and so the sudden reversal caught her off guard.
“Yes, Mother,” she said and bowed her head.
Chara looked sideways at Emily and tisked.
“Hey now,” she lifted Emily’s head with a finger to her chin. “There are just some things that shouldn’t be talked about. Do not take it personally. I wouldn’t tell your mother either, no matter how often she asked. You can ask me anything else, I promise.”
They walked on, taking side streets and leaving the thick, overwhelming crowd behind. The streets gradually became narrower and darker, less populated, until they reached their destination. Outside The Kraken’s Eye, Emily studied the odd sign that hung over the door of the tavern. It was such a strange eye. Although it was round like one would expect, the iris was an oval shape that ended in points with an hourglass pupil. It was such a mesmerizing combo, that Emily decided to take Chara up on her offer as they walked closer.
“Ha!” Chara laughed at Emily’s question. “The eye is supposedly one of a kraken’s, the huge beasts of the sea. By huge, I mean the size of Lucifan huge. Oh yes, that’s what they say. I’ve never seen one, but you could ask the next pirate or merchant for sure. Actually, a viking would know better, but they are harder to find in Lucifan. Vikings seldom come to port here, preferring to return to The North, to the frozen wastes where they’re from. Pirates, on the other hand, usually come to this tavern, but they know better when we amazons are in town. Pirates only look for fights they know they can win or profit from. Hence, the only time they’ve probably seen a kraken is over their shoulder, quickly fading into the distance.”
“The size of Lucifan?” Emily gasped. “What does it look like?”
“Supposedly, it has a massive head and eight long tentacles that span out for leagues. Really, I’m not sure, but maybe we’ll find a painting of one in Lucifan for you someday. Now be quiet. I think I can hear Adelpha.”
When they neared the tavern, Emily could hear yelling. At first, it was a massive volume of shouts, jeers, and cheers. Then, there was silence for a few moments and only one muffled voice could be heard through the stained glass. Once it stopped, there were several more cheers amongst an assortment of disgruntled yelling. Once that died out, the sound of the muffled voice returned. Emily remembered her first encounter with the amazons, not more than a couple days earlier, and all she had heard then was laughter.
“Sounds like someone is giving a good speech,” Emily said.
“Either that or there’s a strong debate. No doubt Adelpha wasn’t careful with her words,” Chara muttered.
She reached for the door and flung it open. She stepped in first, and Emily followed. Their entrance was immediately granted an audience as all eyes turned to look at them. Emily, in turn, took in the scene.
All the amazons, twenty or so by her count, were either sitting calmly in their seats or standing in outrage on their feet. They were all turned toward the bar atop which Adelpha and another woman were standing and facing each other with fists balled tight and ready to fight. Adelpha’s teeth were clenched, and she was flexing her toned arms as she looked a mere hair’s width from punching the other woman in the face.
The other woman was much older than Adelpha, but nowhere near Chara’s age. She was perhaps a few years younger than Mariam and Paul. She had auburn hair and a wide nose, but it was her clenched teeth and firm jaw that took up most of Emily’s attention. Good teeth like that were hard to find, especially on a woman her age. This woman also looked only a few seconds away from attacking Adelpha in a fit of rage, but considering Adelpha’s larger stature, Emily had no worry for the amazon princess.
What Emily did worry about was the tension she felt in the room. These women were cheering and shouting, standing on their feet with fists raised in the air. To Emily, they appeared ready for a fight, and she thought back to the screaming woman she’d heard in Jack Borgan’s bank. At first, Emily thought the woman would be easy to find, having such a short temper. It seemed now that would not be the case.
“So that’s Mariam’s daughter?” the older woman on the bar sneered at Emily. “I remember her and her scrawny brother from the other day.”
“Silence, you old hag!” Adelpha yelled back. “She fended off four ogres on her own, without any weapons, until we showed up and saved her. So shut your trap!”
Emily reeled back, her eyes popping open in disbelief. Her ears told her that Adelpha had just defended her, and admirably so, but her mind refused to believe it. Once she accepted it, Emily made a mental note to thank her and also to correct her, because ‘fended off’ would not be the terms Emily would use to describe her attempt to escape death.
“What seems to be the problem, Belen?” Chara called out.
“The problem is that your surrogate daughter over here,” Belen, the amazon on the bar, yelled back, “thinks that one of us is out to kill her.”
There was a round of boos from the other amazons, and they turned sharply to cast judging glances on Chara, awaiting her response.
“Yes, it’s a shocker, isn’t it?” Chara replied, letting her voice drip with sarcasm and seeming none too concerned about the attention. “Not to mention that the filthy banshee who tried it almost killed my daughter instead. To think that’s how we amazons introduce ourselves, with murder and betrayal? It’s disheartening to say the least. Now, I don
’t know about the rest of you, but I’d be out for blood if any, especially one of our own, tried to kill any one of us!”
Emily felt some tension slip away from her when Chara’s words got a round of nods and some grumbling agreement from within the crowd. She held up a hand to ask for silence again, but it was Belen who spoke first.
“You’re counting your pixies before they laugh!” she yelled from the bar. “How do you know this woman is one of us, huh? You saw nothing; Adelpha admits she saw no one. In fact, the only person who’s ever heard of this woman is that little farmer right there! And who is she, huh? Mariam’s daughter? Mariam who ran away to marry some twenty years ago? I’ll admit I never liked her much before then anyway, but come off it, Chara! You’re ready to accuse one of us of murder based off of what this one little girl has said. You don’t even know her! Blood or not, Chara, she’s a stranger, no amazon. I refuse to believe her without some evidence.”
Belen received another round of cheers, loud and proud. The group seemed to tighten, shuffling closer towards the bar while simultaneously turning accusing stares at Emily and Chara. Emily tried to stand strong like her grandmother. The adversity made the air tense, but Emily had no doubts about what she’d heard and seen. She was just about to shout out, too, but Chara spoke first.
“Now, some of you may doubt Emily’s worthiness among us, and thus her word,” she nodded, sounding agreeable. “This I can understand. She knows nothing of fighting with a dagger and even less of archery, but I think it’d be poor judgment to blame her for her mother’s decision. All I and Adelpha can confirm is that last night, we were ambushed by ogres, and their intention was to capture our young, dainty princess you see here standing on the bar, ready to fight. Instead, they took my daughter, and that’s cause enough to piss me off.”
A quiet chuckle and a few more nods came from the crowd. If Adelpha was offended by the prod, she didn’t show it.
“So what are you saying?” Belen asked. “None of this indicates that one of us is a traitor to her own kind.”
“You’re right, Belen,” Chara nodded. “You’re absolutely right. For all we know, that woman lied and is no amazon. However, that still leaves the problem that there is someone out there who wants us dead. She is hiring people, vampires, ogres, and leprechauns to kill us. You could argue Adelpha was the only target, but you all know our thoughts on that. An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us. If that isn’t enough to get your blood boiling, then perhaps you’d best stay in Lucifan, because the jungle is no place for such lethargy, and I wouldn’t want to call you my sister.
“However, to counter you Belen, I’d remind you that this woman promised to give the killers a basilisk using the very wood we use for our bows: the wood of treants. So, whether or not this woman is one of us, she’s knows way too many of our secrets and certainly is no friend of mine. I, for one, want to find the traitorous wench and use her for target practice!”
The nods and murmurs of agreement that had followed Chara’s words turned quickly into cheers, and some amazons even raised their bows. They looked to each other, hunger and anger in their eyes, and Emily saw the fierceness in their souls. Chara was rallying them for blood, and they met the call eagerly.
Yet Belen was one of the few who did not seem so easily persuaded. She jumped off the bar to land on a table, holding out an extended fist toward Emily’s grandmother.
“And how exactly do you intend to do that, Chara?” Belen countered. “Shall we go on a vampire hunt and be slaughtered in the dark? Perhaps we should ask the ogres, or pay a vast sum of money for a tip or hint from the leprechauns. Perhaps you have forgotten that we still have a long journey home? We’re to leave tomorrow morning.”
Chara kept her attitude calm, letting her confidence shine under the words of fury. Emily had the notion she’d done this before and was well practiced.
“Dear girl, where do you come up with these ideas?” Chara chuckled, and Belen gritted her teeth. “Of course not. No, instead, we find the samurai. We go directly to the source. Okamoto Karaoshi is his name, and he knows who the woman is, who’s helping her, and—best of all—he’s lightly guarded. It’s thanks to Emily that we know who and where he is, if you’re curious. So tonight, we march down to his ship, docked at the port, and take him away with us. Then, we may question him at our leisure and find the truth of who hunts us, or if Adelpha and I are right, who betrays us.”
The proposal must have come out of nowhere, because the amazons went quiet for once. They neither cheered nor jeered and only looked at each other, contemplating the idea. In that moment of wonder, Belen seized her opportunity.
“Have you gone mad, Chara?” she tilted her head. “You want to sneak onto a ship in the middle of the night without any knowledge of who or what is inside? In Lucifan of all places? You say it’s lightly guarded, but how do you know? Not to mention, according to Adelpha’s story, this samurai is a diplomat, and not even the angels will touch him. Would you incur the wrath of the knights so easily? What happens when we come here next year and are locked in cells for such crimes?”
Emily scoffed, just loud enough to be heard. Belen instantly stopped her speech, and all the amazons turned surprised eyes on the farmer girl who dared laugh at any one of them. Emily should have shrunk under the weight of so many eyes, but this had been a part of her plan. She’d used the same trick to get Nicholas’ attention more than once, and when she had the audience, she found the voice that had lain buried since leaving her home.
“I’m surprised you’re so quickly scared from a fight, Belen,” she said.
Emily had intended to sound sarcastic, but the rise of adrenaline in her veins made her words sound honest.
“I never said I was scared, you pathetic dirt digger.”
“I’ve seen my mother kill a full grown behemoth with a single arrow,” Emily raised a finger, voice growing in strength. “She stared it straight in the eyes the entire time it approached her. After never using a bow for almost twenty years, she can still hit the sunken eyes of the largest beast I’ve ever seen. Yet, here I stand before more than twenty amazons, well-practiced women I admire and aspire to join, and yet I find you, Belen, are afraid to capture one samurai who seeks to hunt you like a gnome collects weeds to stuff his pipe. I’m just surprised is all.”
Emily had meant for her words to sting, but Belen’s teeth clenched tight enough to make a lone vein pop out on her neck, and her fingers reached down to touch the knife handle at her waist. The other amazons seemed insulted, too, looking sidelong at Emily and narrowing their eyes. Chara even moved an inch over to shield Emily with her body.
“What do you know about being an amazon?” Belen seethed. “You don’t know—”
“She’s right,” came a quiet, meek voice.
Once again, the focus of all was shifted. Emily was surprised to see it do so, because to her, the voice had been neither loud nor strong enough to hold up in the room’s fury. Yet it did, and the amazons parted to reveal a slim and beautiful amazon, no older than Emily, sitting in the corner of the room where it was darkest. Not just beautiful, stunningly gorgeous. Full lips, small nose, dark hair that fell straight to frame her stunning cheeks and lips, large eyes a shade of blue that made the ocean seem drab. Her skin had a warm, alluring glow. Emily’s breath caught in her throat, and she had to look twice to convince herself such perfection was possible.
This girl could have passed for an angel, and yet she fidgeted as if unsure of herself.
“Who’s that?” Emily whispered.
“Heliena,” Chara whispered back. “Adelpha’s sister.”
Emily balked and looked at Heliena a third time, and then once again to make sure it was the right girl, because she looked nothing like Adelpha. This wasn’t to say that Adelpha was ugly, but rather that Heliena radiated beauty. In fact, the only thing the two had in common was that they both had black, straight hair. Everything else from their height and size to the way they carried themselves was
different. Where Adelpha walked with her head held high, bursting with confidence, Heliena sank low, arms folded, trying not to be noticed, even when all the amazons in the tavern were staring at her.
“What are you talking about, Heliena?” Belen asked.
“She’s right,” Heliena said after a pause, brushing a strand of hair from her eyes. “That samurai tried to kill my sister. We can’t just let him go. We can’t leave without trying.”
Heliena’s eyes fell. She’d mumbled most of the words, but in the silence, no one missed a word, and even now they lingered, almost tangible. The mood in the tavern changed, and when the crowd looked at Belen, she had nothing to say. Her face showed that she still clung to some defiance, but Heliena’s meek words had stamped the strength of Belen’s position. Adelpha raised her bow up high in one hand, gathering the attention back to her.
“Alright then, ladies,” Adelpha cried out. “String your bows and sharpen your knives. Tonight, we hunt!”
Chapter 19
After all the cheering died down, and Belen and Adelpha shared a final glare, drinks were ordered, and the amazons took their seats. The woman named Margret, who Emily had thought was just a barmaid but actually turned out to be The Kraken’s Eye’s sole owner and operator, began to pour mugs of golden liquid and distribute them amongst the patrons. There was bread, too, and beans and meat. Adelpha took a seat at one of the larger tables where a group of women was already seated, and Chara took Emily to join her.
“Sometimes, I really hate that woman,” Adelpha said, looking across the tavern at Belen seated amongst others at her own table. “My aunt’s shadow in every form.”
“She had good reason to oppose you this time,” one of the women replied. “You leveled some claims that seemed rather outrageous at the time. I’m still in disbelief, mind you.”
Chara and Emily pulled out chairs and took seats. The table was filled now with seven women seated together, and Emily examined the four she did not know. Those four looked back, and Adelpha cleared her throat.