by Simon Archer
“We will send Adriana and a host of troops to the east,” I informed Lorelia. “Have the messenger send word back that we are coming.”
Lorelia nodded and sprinted back out of the room. I stood up, and as I made my way to the door, Aerywin mumbled, “So it begins.”
I raced through the halls, down the several flights of stairs, and out to the training grounds where I had left Adriana only an hour before. I found her where I had left her, shouting orders to a group of new recruits who were all red in the face and drenched in sweat. As they saw me approaching, many of them stood up a little straighter, but some of their faces dropped even more, thinking I was coming to run them through even more tough exercises.
When Adriana turned and saw me approaching, her grin turned to a frown as she noticed the look on my face.
“What is it?” she asked as I came up beside her.
“Prepare your troops, Adriana. You’re going east.”
She stood at attention and nodded as a flash of excitement and adrenaline coursed through her. Adriana was a lot like me: always ready for a fight. She dismissed the new recruits who looked relieved, but they understood the significance of what was happening, and many of them wore looks of concern for Adriana and their fellow soldiers.
“How many soldiers do you want me to bring?” she asked.
“It sounds like a large horde is quickly approaching the eastern kingdoms. Take your entire unit with you and be fast.”
Adriana nodded one more time and raced off to round up her unit for the battle ahead.
31
Rachel
I watched the commotion on the field from my perch in the high window of the royal chambers as the SOS that had traveled all the way here from the east, then to Lorelia, now passed from Anix and Adriana to their troops. Soldiers zipped back and forth, hurriedly collecting the few things they’d need for the march east.
I sighed, wishing more than ever that Rozmarin was here. And Christoff. Although Rozmarin had already confirmed that Anix would be sending troops to the east if they needed us, and although Rozmarin was fully aware of the plan and had full confidence in the gargoyle and the council, I still wanted her to be here.
The Queen should be down there on the field, encouraging her people who were about to march off and fight on our behalf. Even with all my pleading, begging, and even commanding, Rozmarin, acting as stubborn as me, still decided to winnow off with only Christoff to face the very monster that had killed my previous lover.
I tried to shove down those same feelings that I had felt all those years ago when he had left me and when he never returned. They were feelings that I had long since buried beneath my many dark layers, but now it was all threatening to bubble to the surface and rip out of me. I didn’t want to relive this same nightmare again, but here I was, pacing around Rozmairn’s room, worried I may never see my friends again.
Aerywin had left soon after Anix, to inform Sahar of the news. Just minutes earlier, she and Anix had tried to comfort me; Anix had said that Christoff was with Rozmarin, so they’d be fine, but that’s what was bothering me the most. Rozmarin should have taken Aerywin or me with her, not the boy. Or, better yet, she shouldn’t have gone at all. That miserable witch was just too dangerous and sure, Christoff was the Light-Bearer, or whatever, but what could he really do against that monster?
I tried not to think about it, about Christoff and Roz, so I focused my attention on the soldiers below. They looked like silver ants from so far away. I had faith in Anix and Adriana, and between all the planning and preparing, I had watched the troops train. They were well prepared, but still, I couldn’t shake the thought that our lives were so fragile.
Even my immortal life could be snuffed out in an instant.
I sighed and tried to stop all the thoughts and emotions swimming through me. Usually, when I felt like this, I went to Rozmarin. She was just about the only person that knew me fully, inside and out. She was the only person who knew the true me. I wouldn’t doubt that she knew me better than I knew myself, and she’d probably say the same thing about me.
I saw my lover’s face staring back at me in the windowpane, with his warm brown eyes and chiseled face. It was only a trick of my anxious mind, but he looked so real like he was standing behind me, but I didn’t want to turn around to see the emptiness. I stared at his face, into those eyes, and then his face melted into Christoff’s tanned, glowing face.
I punched the window, and the image blurred as my eyes welled up with hot tears. I tried to keep them there, willing them not to fall, but the dam broke, and my tears cascaded down my face in a waterfall of emotion.
I was pacing again. If Rozmarin were here, what would she tell me to do?
“Just take a deep breath, Rachel,” I heard her say in her soft, calming voice.
I breathed in deeply, and a familiar smell rushed into me. Cinnamon and roses. It soothed me, and I wanted that smell to be with me forever. I wanted Christoff back here with me, with that dumb smirk on his face.
Some part of me understood that he would do whatever he could to protect Rozmarin, and even if a whole host of zombies stood between her and Christoff, she would kill every single one of them to make sure he was safe. We all felt their bond growing stronger every single day, and his bond with the council was clearly unbreakable now. The little thief, the Light-Bearer, was one of us.
I wiped the tears from my eyes, careful not to smudge my makeup, and the fury returned. I wanted to be where Christoff was so that I could protect him. Maybe he didn’t need my protection, but I wanted to be there for him. I couldn’t quite understand this defensive feeling. I felt it for the rest of the council, and maybe it had spread to him, or maybe it was something more, I still didn’t know, even as Rozmarin’s feelings for him were untangling.
Before, when I noticed her obsession with him, I didn’t think in a hundred years she would ever want to complete the mating bond with the silly human, but I saw that fire in her eyes when she looked at him or spoke about him. I think she slowly started seeing him as her mate, and as their connection grew, their paths started intertwining.
Of course, I was happy for her. She hadn’t been this radiant in years. She usually was guarded around her other suitors, and she had been guarded around Christoff, but the two were becoming more vulnerable with each other, and I couldn’t deny anymore that Christoff was actually kind of good for her. He was good for all of us, really.
Even me.
He made me see the world differently. He somehow made it brighter, and I didn’t want to live in a world without his light.
32
Christoff
Rozmarin winnowed us as close to The BloodDrake’s hidden cave as her vague map would allow. Winnowing was an odd, disorienting sort of experience. One minute we were standing on the roof of the castle, and then there was a whoosh of air and blinding blackness like we had poofed out of existence. Then, after a few moments of never-ending darkness and silence, the black seemed to spit us out into the biting chill of the mountain winds as they whipped across my face.
“Sweet… zombie babies, I think I’m going to barf,” I said, leaning over as I dragged in deep breaths, my hands supporting my weight on my knees. The world was spinning, and I couldn’t quite tell which way was up and which was down, my motion sickness making a whirlwind of a return. Rozmarin, unaffected by the blasted travel, rubbed soothing circles along my back and murmured sweet nonsense while I caught my breath.
At first, the chill felt good, but once I had recovered, I was glad to be wearing a heavy wool travel coat over my dark slacks, boots, and a long sweater. I pulled the cloak tighter around me when I stood straight, Rozmarin still hovering at my side. It may have been the warmer season in Constanta, but these mountains were always cold and unforgiving. I glared into Rozmarin’s silver gaze when I was stable enough to muster the venom.
“Thanks for the warning, Your Highness.” Her expression said she knew she was in trouble when I used that term
in such a way.
“My apologies, my lord,” Rozmarin said, her tone genuinely concerned. “I did not know using winnow powder could be so… uncomfortable for humans. While I have used the dust incorrectly, the travel has never made me… nauseous.”
A howling sound echoed through the mountain range, and I started, just about jumping out of my boots. Holy crap, I thought as a realization set in. I was outside of the walls of Constanta.
I had never been outside of its walls. Most people hadn’t, especially not humans. I had waited my entire life to be able to see what went on outside the kingdom walls, and now I was finally able to see all of the… snow?
I dragged in one more long deep breath of the crisp, cool air before turning my attention to my surroundings. We seemed to be in the middle of a clearing, surrounded by snow-tipped evergreens. At least six inches of snow was packed into the damp earth, slowly soaking its way through my socks and shoes. When I looked up, grey clouds covered the sky, the smell of freshly fallen snow still in the air. It wouldn’t have surprised me if it began to snow in the next hour or so. To the left of the clearing, the mountain continued upward until the very top, where the pointed pink slouched in an arch. On the other side of the clearing, the mountain sloped downward in a maze of snow and rocks and trees.
I turned to face Rozmarin, once again.
“If this is what I’ve been missing out on the outside of the kingdom’s walls, then I really haven’t been missing out on much.”
Rozmarin threw her head back, laughter howling from her smiling mouth in large puffs of smoke. “My lord, this is not even a fraction of it. We are not far from the kingdom, either. Just wait until you see the tropics.”
I didn’t mention that I would likely never get the opportunity. Instead, I turned my attention back to the weird slouching mountain tip.
“Let me guess. The creepy sorceress monster is somewhere underneath that super sketchy slumping rock.”
Rozmarin’s gaze followed my own as she squinted up at the odd rock configuration.
“Somewhere,” she said vaguely as she pulled a folded-up map from her sack.
“Why didn’t you just winnow us directly there?” I asked as I craned my neck at the steep climb ahead of us.
Rozmarin looked at me as if I was missing something obvious. She stretched her arms out toward the clearing that we still stood in the middle of.
“I thought it would be wise to take precautions by aiming for a large, safe clearing. I did not want to miss it again.”
I shrugged. Fair enough.
“So, where exactly is the BloodDrake’s evil lair?” I asked, unable to keep the mockery from my voice.
Ignoring my teasing tone, Rozmarin continued to look back and forth between the map and the looming mountain above us. After a few minutes, she let out a frustrated sigh.
“It is impossible to get the full picture without getting an aerial view.” She looked to me, determination set in her gaze. The next moment, her wings shimmered into existence, a looming dark form behind her back. “I must get a bearing of our surroundings. Allow me ten minutes, my lord. Do not move.”
And then, she was gone, and I was alone in the damp, freezing woods. As her winged figure faded in the distance behind the trees, I marched in place and breathed warm air into my gloved hands to de-ice them. When a few minutes had gone by, I walked around the clearing, wondering if it would be best for me to take cover beneath the trees. At least then, no one could see me from above. I rolled my eyes at the thought. The only people crazy enough to be in these mountains right now were the BloodDrake and Rozmarin and me.
Just as I had the thought, a flicker of movement caught my attention out of the corner of my left eye, and I whipped my head around to find… nothing. Only empty darkness beneath the trees at the edge of the clearing. I let out the breath I was holding and continued to move again. I was afraid and alone in a foreign place. I reminded myself that a certain amount of fear was healthy for humans. It was all a part of some survival instinct we had developed long ago.
The next bit of movement I saw behind the tree line had me cursing those damned survival instincts. What was the point of fearing something you couldn’t quite see, let alone fight against?
“Hello?” I called out, my voice shaking with unease. “Rozmarin?”
When nobody answered, I felt stupid for even speaking. If someone or something was hunting me, the last thing I wanted to do was make noise. Then again, I was standing in the middle of the uncovered clearing, alone and unarmed.
Well, not completely unarmed, I thought, as I remembered the comfortable weight at my hip that I’d grown used to having there. The pommel of my dagger glinted in the glare of the snow beneath my feet as my hand came down to rest on it impulsively. My breathing immediately slowed at the feel of the familiar grooves on the grip.
“I guess it’s just you and me,” I muttered to the dagger. Keeping one eye on the sky for Rozmarin and the other on the tree line, I gripped my dagger tighter at my hip.
An eternity seemed to go by before I saw the next movement behind the trees again. The dark figure jumped between shadows, but this time I was faster. I was able to see a tall, slender figure jumping from tree to tree, its movements jerky and ungraceful. Something hung from its back at an awkward angle, broken and splintered. I faced it, doing my best to track its movements with my human eyes, but it was quick, jumping four to five trees in a single second. If I hadn’t just learned of how winnowing actually worked, I would have thought it was jumping through space.
It slowed after a while, realizing that it wasn’t going to catch me off-guard again. Finally, it stood still behind a tree, its head cocking to the side oddly as it watched me monitor it. I couldn’t make out any details except for its tall, slender figure, the stringy white hair the color of snow that hung limply from its face, and the odd broken things that hung from its back.
Every possible explanation ran through my head as we stood there, staring at each other. It couldn’t have been human. It moved too fast, and the form was far too spindly. Zombies were just undead humans, and even that creature was too unnatural to be anything close to human, undead or not. That left a whole host of other potential supernatural creatures that it could be, but none of them added up to anything that I’d seen or heard of before.
The closest creature I could compare it to was a wood faerie. It matched with the tall, spindly form and would also explain the things on its back, broken wings. But its movements were far too jerky and uncontrolled to be that of a wood faerie. Also, they were usually quite friendly. They tended to be creatures of grace and manners, so I wrote that possibility off.
As I searched my surroundings and scrambled for some way to escape, the creature clumsily surged forward, stepping into the light and out of the dark cover of the trees. When my eyes focused and I was able to take in its features, my hand flew to my mouth to keep myself from screaming.
I had been wrong… but also right. It had been a wood faerie… at least at some point. The creature’s green-tinted skin was flaking off its face and limbs. Only a few clumps of snow-white hair still clung to its scalp with only empty black sockets for eyes. Its razor-sharp teeth were turning black with rot, and its wings were clearly no longer functional as there was no skin left to cling to the delicate bones that hung from its back. It wore a dirtied, torn up robe without shoes, and its elongated ears gave away its sex as a male. Females generally had shorter, more rounded ears.
“He-Hello?” I said, breathlessly. “Can you understand me?” I asked, holding my hands in front of me in anticipation of its next move.
I had half expected the creature to scurry away at the sound of my voice or jump at me right away, but instead, what happened was far more horrifying. It cocked its head once more in that inhuman, eerie way that it did before lifting its face to the sky, jaw unhinging to stretch wider, wider, wider. Then, a long, keening screech bellowed from its mouth, echoing off the snow-covered cliffs. My hands imme
diately flew to my ears as I hunched over, the pain in my eardrums unbearable.
When the screeching finally stopped, I realized I had closed my eyes. When I opened them again, the creature was closer, and it was not alone. I stumbled back, almost falling on my ass in my attempt to get away, but I bumped into something behind me, a startled cry falling from my lips.
I spun around, already trying to put distance between whatever I bumped into and myself. Whatever it was, it smelled like rotting flesh. When I saw what had stopped me, instincts finally kicked in, and my hand went for the dagger at my hip, pulling it out from its holster. Slimy, blinding panic warred with months of training for control of my attention.
After a few moments, I managed to get my panic under control and focus on my options. Rozmarin would likely have heard the screech that the first monster had emitted. She should be coming back at any moment. That is if she wasn’t in trouble too. I thought that over for a second and came to the conclusion that I couldn’t depend on Rozmarin returning to help me. It wasn’t pride that brought me to that conclusion or even arrogance, but rather an innate, almost animalistic need to survive.
It wasn’t a choice. It was a reflex.
All the painful, grueling training that I’d done over the past months finally paid off as it took over. The weight of my dagger in my hand suddenly was all I needed.
In a single, fluid move, my dagger sliced through the necks of the five zombified supernaturals that surrounded me. Black blood spewed and splattered on the snow, on me. Slowly, as if their bodies hadn’t registered the loss of their upper appendage yet, each one collapsed into a heap of rotting, spindly limbs, their heads rolling to my feet.