by Simon Archer
The seer’s eyes fell on the faerie. “Precisely.” Sahar turned to me then. “There is no time for you to make the trip east and back with only the Doom Bringer.”
“Speak frankly, Sorceress,” Rachel ordered, impatience coating her tone. She really was not much of a morning person. “We’ve no time for your riddles.”
Sahar sighed, but she did not argue. “You will receive an SOS from the eastern kingdoms. The hordes will start moving in on them, and the zombies will outnumber their troops.”
“Which one?” Rachel pushed.
“All of them.”
Stunned silence echoed through the room, far louder than any amount of noise. It rang painfully through my skull. If I had still been human, I wager I would have been able to feel my own erratic heart beating in my chest.
“All of them?” Aerywin whispered, fear and disbelief coloring her tone.
The seer nodded solemnly. “I am afraid so.”
“But- how? How are the numbers rising so quickly and moving so…” Aerywin searched for the right word but was unable to come up with one to describe the movement of the hordes, so I finished the sentence for her.
“Strategically?”
Another moment of silence before Anix broke it, speaking for the first time since greeting Sahar when she’d first entered. “Someone is building an army of zombies.”
I heard a breath hitch beside me and found Aerywin, wide-eyed and terrified. Yes, that was exactly what was happening. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t realized it before then. The visualization that Aerywin’s map provided had made it clear that they were closing in on the kingdoms. However, after experiencing firsthand the gory and unorganized massacre that was The Great Purge of 2050, we just couldn’t fathom the thought that the hordes could work in any sort of organized manner, let alone as an army.
Fear, cold and awful, slivered up my spine for the first time in… years. Decades. I had felt other things during that time. Worry, yes. Nervousness, yes. Frustration, certainly. It all came with being the ruler of a kingdom that you built from the ashes of the Old World. But fear? For the safety of my people, my friends? That was a feeling that had not been familiar to me since 2050.
And so, as I’d done with fear before, I clung to it and used it. I used it by molding it into something else. Focus.
I ran a pale hand through my dark hair, my face drawn tight with exhaustion, and took a deep breath. It was time to plan.
By the time we’d finished strategizing what our next move would be, the sun was well above the horizon. We had moved to my study when Sahar’s alchemists had started filtering in. We all currently stood, hovering over my desk or, more importantly, Aerywin’s most updated map, which I used to illustrate the plan. I had multiple figurines spread across the map, representing each of my players, my resources.
“So, just to run through it one more time,” I said, pointing to the north of the kingdom, just outside the wall, and dragging my finger in a wide circle, arching eastward, around the wall. “Anix and I will scout around the kingdom to see where the closest hordes are to the walls and determine if they look to be moving in anytime soon. Depending on what we see, we will start increasing the troops training and wait for the first SOS’s to come in.”
I looked around the desk for any questioning glances but found only focused determination. The gods only knew how much time we had, but fate was not in our favor. I didn’t say that, though. Instead, I moved on. I pointed to the eastern end of the wall and dragged it all the way across the continent to the Old World’s New York City.
“Once we’ve scouted, prepared the troops for travel, and secured the kingdom within the wall, the first SOS will probably have come in already. We will send as many troops as we can spare to the northeastern kingdoms first, and then the troops will make their way south. Those who can fly will scout for hordes and lead the troops through the least infested terrain.”
I looked to my right and up at the menacing gargoyle who had been my friend through so many years.
“Will you lead the troops to the eastern kingdoms?” I asked, already knowing what her answer would be. While humans and most supernaturals alike, generally avoided all-out war and violence, gargoyles were different. They lived and breathed to fight and protect what was theirs, no matter the odds. They were the ultimate warriors. And my friend, the Doom Bringer, was no different.
Anix ducked her head once, her tone soft, yet guttural. “It would be my honor, Your Highness.”
I nodded my approval, still facing her. “Work with Adriana today to make a plan for training the troops. We have a limited time to whip them into shape,” I said as I thought about how everything would be so much easier if we just had more time.
I tilted my head to look across the table to Sahar, who had been fairly silent through most of the planning.
“Have you any more information on who might be creating and leading the army of zombies?” I asked, feeling the weight of the world weigh down on my shoulders.
Sahar shook her head solemnly. “I’m afraid not, Your Highness. It is like…” A pause, while she mulled over her words. “It is like something or someone is… blocking my vision.”
Rachel balked at the sorceress, her expression incredulous. “Someone’s blocking your vision? How is that possible?”
“I think whoever it is, has another sorceress at their side. It is the only thing that explains the blind spot blocking my vision of their leader.” Sahar’s gold bangles jingled on her wrist as her hand came up to flick a gold-ringed braid over her shoulder.
“And we’re just supposed to believe you?” Rachel said. It was not the first time the vampire had expressed her distrust of the sorceress during this strategy meeting, and I could tell that her attitude was wearing thin on Sahar.
Sahar turned her entire body to face the much smaller, gothic vampire. “I speak the truth, vampire. If you do not believe me, then send your Queen to the eastern kingdoms with only her war general at her side. See what happens.”
The smaller vampire backed down after that, unwilling to take the chance and knowing that I would have overruled her decision, anyway. I caught Rachel’s eyes. “I trust the sorceress to speak the truth. If I didn’t, she wouldn’t have such an important position in my castle. You know this.”
Rachel narrowed her eyes at me but wisely stayed silent. Rachel may have been the oldest one in the room, and she had certainly earned every ounce of respect she’d gained, but Sahar was… otherworldly and, by far, the most powerful and useful asset I had at the moment.
Once I was confident that neither of the women was going to tear out each other’s throats, I put my head back down and ran through the plan again.
19
Christoff
Sahar wasn’t in the alchemist lab this morning. Though it wasn’t completely unheard of, it wasn’t normal either. At least since I had been there, I could always find Sahar in the alchemist lab. I wondered where she could have gone. Could it have to do with the trip Rozmarin was on? Did she go with her? I shook my head. She was probably just somewhere else in the castle. Besides, it was none of my business if the Queen took the sorceress with her on her trips.
As I wandered the halls of the castle after my daily tests in the lab, I considered what I was going to do today. Maybe I would go down to the armory and practice more with the dagger Rozmarin had bought me. As soon as I had the thought, I began to make my way up to my quarters to change. Some quality time alone with my new blade was exactly what I needed to work off this anxiety in my chest that had slowly been rising since the Queen and I had said our goodbyes the night prior.
After changing into more comfortable clothes and boots and stuffing a rag and my dagger into a sack, I made my way downstairs. I popped my head into the alchemy lab as I passed it, just to make sure that Sahar still wasn’t in there, but she wasn’t, so I continued on to the armory. It was a surprisingly beautiful day outside, though you wouldn’t know it with how dark it was underground,
beneath the castle. The armory would have been pitch black, had I not taken a lantern from the hallway outside the room to navigate my way through the darkness until I found the first lantern, and I transferred the flame from my already lit lantern to the one hanging on the wall.
As soon as most of the lanterns in the room were lit, I made my way to the center of the room to do some warm-ups and stretches that Rozmarin showed me last night. I tried to shake away the other things she taught me last night, wanting to focus on training.
Once I felt warm and limber, I pulled my dagger from the sack I’d dropped near the door and got to work, repeating the same drills from the night prior, over and over again, until my muscles failed to repeat them any more. As frustrated as I was that I couldn’t get down the exercise Rozmarin had taught me, I used that anger at myself to fuel my motions through each step. I started with my right foot forward, dagger held out in front of me, just like Rozmarin had done. I slowly drew my forward foot back and to the right, spinning my body around, and then to the left. I tossed the dagger and went to catch it in my left arm, but like I had done every time before, I dropped it.
I let out a frustrated yell that echoed through the room. If Sahar were in her lab, she probably would have heard me. As I thought about the soothing sorceress, I remembered our time in her lab when she tried to teach me how to use my power. Maybe if I used her technique, I would be able to better focus on the exercise. It was worth a try.
I closed my eyes and calmed myself with a deep breath, clearing my head of all thoughts, including my annoyance at myself. When I opened my eyes, I felt more centered and ready to tackle the task at hand. Positioning myself in the starting stance, with my right foot forward, I stretched my gleaming dagger out in front of me, and let the blade become an extension of my arm.
As I had done so many times before, I slid my foot back and spun around. I tossed my dagger and reached my left hand for it, and the dagger hit my hand with a satisfying smack. I finished out the exercise with a quick left-hand jab and a sigh of relief. I’d done it! Now, to perfect the movement.
By the time I finished, nearly three hours later, every muscle in my body was screaming, and sweat matted my hair to my face. I had gotten into such a zone that the time had flown by oddly quickly. Even though it was only my second practice with the new weapon, I could already feel my hands forming new calluses, the grip molding and shaping to fit my palm and fingers perfectly. Though my muscles grew tired throughout the drills, my aim became more accurate, the sharp-edged blade, cutting through the air with more and more precision with every strike, and I mastered that damn exercise. I felt an attachment to the blade like it was my closest connection to the Queen and my only companion while she was away.
When I finally ascended the stairs to the sixth floor, calf muscles burning from the exertion, sunset was only an hour off, and I briefly wondered how the day had flown by so quickly. I had half expected it to drag on in a haze of boredom, but my new dagger had offered me a well-needed distraction. The endorphin high was still rushing through my veins when I heard the echo of soft voices drifting down the stairwell, and I slowed, my ears perking up. I knew I shouldn’t eavesdrop, but old habits die hard.
“The head alchemist is still locked up in the Queen’s study with the Queen and her council. They’ve been holed up in there all day,” a soft, young feminine voice said in a hushed tone.
What? Rozmarin hadn’t left for her trip this morning? That explained why none of the council, including Sahar, was nowhere to be seen. Something sad and lonely tugged in my chest at the knowledge that they were all up there… without me. It was ridiculous, I knew, to feel left out after only being here for just over a week. But, no matter how much I reasoned with myself that I wasn’t one of them, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I belonged in that room with them.
“No kidding?” an older, yet still feminine voice said. “So, the Queen never left for her trip this morning? I heard that she was flying to the eastern kingdoms just this morning. And so soon after her emissary got back, it must have been an emergency.”
Was there an emergency? Had something bad happened that prevented Rozmarin from leaving? Question after question filled my head until I felt like I was ready to explode.
After squeezing my eyes shut tight and shaking my head, I raced up the steps, certain to make as much noise as possible to alert the two gossipers that they weren’t alone. Sure enough, the hushed voices came to a halt, and when I reached the fourth floor, I saw the backs of two wraiths retreating down the hall, the door closing shut behind them. I walked up to my room, pausing at the door to the hallway and debated whether to continue to the seventh floor, where I knew I would find the Queen and her council. Instead, I pushed through the door that led to the hallway and marched to my bedroom door, closing it a little more firmly than was necessary.
My room looked the same as I’d left it, my closet door, half-open with clothes piling out of it, and my satchel hung on the wall next to the closet. The coals from last night's fire burned low in the hearth, and I’d scattered papers filled with half-written letters to my family across my desk. At least I’d made my bed.
Discarding the sack, which I dubbed my workout sack, on my bed, I started stripping off my sweat-soaked clothes as I lumbered toward the bathing room. I started running the bathwater. I didn’t know how, but the water always seemed to come out the perfect temperature that I desired. I chalked it up to the work of Sahar. In the time I had spent with her over the past few days since I’d been here and gotten to know her, I had come to realize how truly crucial her magic was to the functionality of the castle. Her magic often provided what our lack of technology couldn’t, like hot water.
I soaked in the bath for far longer than I needed to, the warm water soothing my aching muscles. Finally, once my body was squeaky clean and my skin pruny, I grudgingly stepped out of the bath with a final longing look. The chill that washed over me as I stepped out caused my aching muscles to seize up, and I rushed to wipe myself dry with a towel I left by the tub.
When I finished dressing in a dark blue dress shirt and black dress pants, it was nearly full dark and, after the workout that I’d just had, I was absolutely starving, but instead of heading down to the Great Hall for dinner, I decided to stop somewhere else first. Checking myself in the mirror by my dresser one more time, I left my room before I could change my mind.
Two minutes later, I was on the floor above mine, standing just outside of the Queen’s study, fist raised to knock on the heavy door. But, before I could knock even once, the door swung open to reveal an exhausted, yet still somehow gorgeous Rozmarin. When I took in her expression, I saw lips and eyes drawn tight with exhaustion and something else. Stress, maybe?
I had a passing thought that it was utterly unfair how beautiful she was, especially for a two-hundred-and-twenty-three-year-old vampire. Still, her dark, inky hair, curly at the ends her bangs now hung in her eyes, making the silver pools somehow shine even further with the contrast. The skin beneath her eyes was darkened by bruising from a lack of sleep, and probably blood, and her mouth was pulled down in a tiny frown.
One hand came up to run through her long flowing hair as she took in my dark outfit, and a searing expression washed over her face before she recovered and shut it down, closing her eyes and inhaling through her nose. When her eyes opened again, they were a little clearer. She probably hadn’t breathed a breath of fresh air all day if she was truly holed up in her study the entire time.
Suddenly, all thoughts of petty jealousy and frustration fled my mind as worry for Rozmarin’s well-being came to the forefront of my mind, taking place front and center. My eyes fell to below her shoulders, taking in the rest of her body for the first time. She was leaning against the frame, hunched over a bit, and she still wore what looked to be travel attire, all wrinkled and disheveled.
“Christoff,” was all she said as a greeting.
“Have you left your study at all today?” My words cam
e out a bit sharper than I meant it to, but even I could hear the concern in my voice.
“No,” she answered truthfully. A moment of awkward silence went by where neither of us seemed to know what to say, but neither were we willing to walk away, so we sort of just stood there… hovering.
“Perhaps, a lap around the courtyard and some fresh air would do Your Highness some good,” I said, and surprise flickered in Rozmarin’s eyes at hearing me call her ‘Your Highness’ for the first time without a single ounce of resentment.
Rozmarin looked over her shoulder, and the door opened further so that I could see everyone inside. I squinted, my eyes adjusting to see into the dimly lit room.
When my vision cleared, I could see Sahar, Anix, Rachel, and Aerywin all strewn around the room in various positions. Anix and Aerywin hovered over the Queen’s desk, a map laid out atop it as they spoke in hushed tones and pointed to something on the map. Sahar smiled at me tiredly while Rachel only glared at the sorceress. They all looked a little worse for wear. Whatever was going on with them, I had no doubt that it was important, and they looked like they had all worked themselves to the bone all day long. When I spoke, my voice was loud enough for each of them to hear.
“You guys look like you could use a break. Have any of you eaten anything today?” I asked.
Each of them shook their heads silently, like ghosts. Of course not. I returned my attention back to Rozmarin and put my hands on my hips.
“Should you really work your council this hard? There should really be labor laws about that,” I joked, trying to ease the tension that I could feel seeping out of the room. When none of them laughed, my smile died, and my arms fell limp at my sides.
To my surprise, it was Sahar that spoke next, closer now since she had apparently stood up from her seat and made her way towards the door. She took her place behind the Queen and put a single dark, slender hand on the Queen’s shoulder.