by Alex Alcasid
Loren’s eyes began to fade back into their normal color after Lind left, and the shimmering gold gave way to dark eyes filling with tears. The princess threw her arms around Kae, burying her face in the huntress’s tunic. She breathed in the scent of sweat and earth, and knew it was her. “I thought I would never see you again. I thought you and Ma’trii would return to the forest.” She said, trying to keep the sobs out of her voice.
Kae laughed, and to Loren’s surprise, hugged her back. “We did come back to the forest, but only because it was the quickest way for us to get back to Markholme. We figured maybe we could beat the royal convoy back to the city and meet you there, but they were faster.” She replied.
“But…why?” Loren said. “Why did you come all the way back here?”
Kae realized that she was holding onto the princess for a bit too long. She let go again, coughing awkwardly. “Well, you were so determined to find Kaiten. I know that the King showing up in Rhodia and carting you off cancelled your plans completely. You would have been furious.” She chuckled, busying herself by putting away her bow and arrow. “Me and Ma’trii decided — well it was more of me, you understand — that we would come back to Markholme, break into the castle, and get you out.”
Loren raised an eyebrow. “You were going to break into the castle?”
“I wasn’t expecting you to be able to climb out of it yourself. But the dragon was the most surprising thing.”
Loren laughed. The sight of the princess looking for happy and carefree brought a smile to the huntress’s face. “I wasn’t expecting him either! Lind saw me dangling out of the west tower window, holding onto rope made of bed sheets. Honestly, if it wasn’t for him, I’d probably have fallen and died on the rocks.”
“Good thing he came by, then.” Kae said with a chuckle. She whistled, and a shaggy gray wolf came bounding into the clearing.
Ma’trii immediately went for Loren, sniffing and nudging her in greeting. He sat obediently by her feet, and nodded his head.
“He’s happy to see you, and glad that you can rejoin us for adventures.” Kae said.
Loren smiled and patted the wolf’s large head. “I missed you too, Ma’trii! Thank you for coming all this way. Where is Cassendir, by the way?”
“We left him at an inn on the roadside. He was slowing us down, so he volunteered to stay behind somewhere with a roof over his head. He’s probably reading books and scribbling while we wait.”
“Which roadside inn? There were a lot between Markholme and Rhodia.”
“Do you remember the inn we met him in? He seemed to really like that one. He should be waiting for us there, if he didn’t decide to leave us and head back to Kespia to sell off his findings. Honestly, with his magic, I was hoping he would spell the horses to Ma’trii to run faster. All he uses his magic for is to make colored fire.”
Chapter Eleven
The trip back up the Imperial Highway was much slower than it was the first time. Because Loren escaped Markholme with Lind’s help, she did not have a horse. Kae did, and she offered the princess the use of her horse, but Loren declined. The two girls set their packs onto the horse and proceeded up the Highway on foot. Ma’trii lagged some lengths behind them to watch for any guards coming up from Markholme.
“So what are you plans, princess?” Kae asked as they walked. She held the horse by the reins and was guiding it. “Back up to the Plaguelands? That worked so well the first time.
“Yes, that’s exactly what we’re going to do.” Loren replied.
Kae stopped in her tracks, and the horse neighed. “You can’t be serious, princess. That place is cursed and no one ever goes there. Maybe the people that took Kaiten left through Rhodia’s north gate like the innkeeper said then looped back around. No one goes to the Plaguelands. It’s death.”
“That’s what they want you to think, Kae. Going through the Plaguelands is the perfect way to lose anyone looking for you. It’s the only possibility.”
The huntress sighed, and jogged a bit to catch up to Loren, with the horse following obediently after her. “Alright. And how are we supposed to get through? What’s on the other side?”
“Past the Plaguelands are the northern lands. As far as I know there are no kingdoms there. There used to be, In the time of Ylfair the Dragonheart, but the stories were that they died out from the cold. There should still be an outpost or two, near the border to the Plaguelands and at the end of the Kilrough Mountains. They’re manned by Aldoran and would be friendly and willing to accommodate us.”
“If we run into any Aldoran soldiers, they’ll just cart you back home again.”
“They might. So let’s not run into any.” Loren grinned mischievously at Kae.
“Princess?” Kae walked faster to catch up to Loren. “I don’t like that tone. What did you mean by that? Princess? Loren!”
Loren broke into a run, laughing. She ran full tilt down the road, her boots clacking against the stone of the Imperial Highway. The wind whipped her hair back as she did, blowing cold and crisp against her face. Kae struggled with the horse and followed the princess at a much slower pace. She smiled as she watched the princess run, knowing that she was enjoying her freedom from the walls of the castle, and shaking off the feelings that held her down. Kae herself used to race Ma’trii through the forest when she was feeling down.
The huntress sighed as she lost sight of Loren along the road. The princess was foolhardy and excitable when they met, and it seemed getting caught and forced home didn’t change any of that. If anything, whatever it was that happened in the castle for the short time Loren was taken back seemed to bolster her determination even more.
Kae caught up with Loren after a while. The princess was sitting on a large flat rock by the side of the Highway, underneath a sign that marked how many miles it was to Markholme, Rhodia, and the major path up to the Kilrough Mountains. An inn stood not far from where Loren was waiting. Light shone through the grimy windows.
“You didn’t go ahead inside to see Cassendir?” Kae asked as soon as she was in earshot.
Loren kicked at a rock on the road. She didn’t stand. “I was thinking about it. Maybe we shouldn’t spend so much time at the inns. Or at least, I shouldn’t.”
Kae was taken aback. “You? Passing up inns? What’s gotten into you, princess?”
“We waste more time at an inn.” Loren sighed. “I did pack gold, but what if we needed it for something more important than a roof over our heads? We have bedrolls, you’re used to camping. And I just feel like we have to…” she trailed off.
“What’s on your mind?”
“We have to hurry, Kae. We have to hurry. My mother doesn’t have much time. I’d run day and night if I could.”
“That would be easier if you had a horse.”
“I don’t have a horse.”
Kae offered the reins. “Here. You know I don’t like riding anyway. And besides, don’t worry about that for now. We have to pick up the mage first.”
Loren smiled gratefully, taking the reins from the huntress’s hand. It was Kae who led the way towards the inn at the crossroads, with Ma’trii running up the road to stand at her side. Loren found the horse posts and looped the reins around it, taking a second to pat the animal down and putting some hay in the feed trough.
When Loren turned away from the post and headed towards the door, a body flew through the door and landed heavily in the mud at her feet. The man pushed himself up, wiped away the mud and blood on his busted lip, and rushed screaming back into the inn.
The princess peeked inside the inn from the door that was busted open. There were men everywhere, locked in a mad brawl. A tall, lean man in leather tunics swung his fits at the jaw of an iron clad knight hard enough to snap his head to the side. A Beastman with dark fur lashed out tooth and nail against a stocky behemoth with a chest like a brick wall. The inn’s wooden tables were being thrown through the air, steins were crashed against heads with ale and beer flying everywhere. The
noise was horrific, with swears and curses yelled out and mixing into a nonsensical riot of sound.
“Loren! Loren, get out of the way!” a voice cut through the noise of the inn brawl, snapping Loren’s attention back into the present. Kae rushed past her through the door, grabbing her arm and pulling her away. Behind the huntress, Cassendir stumbled out of the inn, being dragged out by the front of his silk tunic.
“Kae, what happened? Why are they fighting?” Loren pulled Kae up, checking the huntress over in case she was hurt.
Cassendir regained his footing, took one look at Loren, and lunged at her. He reached for the front of princess’s tunic, arms outstretched. The dark mage markings that swirled from his wrist to his upper arm pulsed erratically, shining a faint sickly yellow and green color.
“Cassendir!” Loren yelped. The scholar had his hands on her breasts, but when Loren saw his face, his expression was eerily blank.
The scholar was about to move in closer when Kae brought him down with a swift, solid kick to his ribs. Cassendir fell to the floor with a soft ‘oof’, and lay there groaning. “Did he hurt you, princess?” she said.
“No, he didn’t. I was…surprised.” Loren crossed her arms over her chest protectively. “What’s gotten into him?”
Kae sighed, and nudged Cassendir with the tip of her boot. “No idea, but it’s something. Seems the whole inn came down with is. I found a lady inside, she said she was the innkeepers wife. All those men, she said they’re everything from knights to traders to mercenaries. Some woman in a cloak came in and they all started fighting. At first they were reaching for her, but her husband fought them off, then they all started smashing each other in the face.”
The scholar groaned where he lay, rolling onto his back and holding a hand where Kae kicked him. The huntress continued. “Whatever came over the other men affected Cassendir, and looks like it only works on men.”
Loren crouched beside Cassendir and pulled up the sleeve on his tunic. His markings still flashed the wrong colors. “It’s something magical. I think it overpowered Cassendir, and took over the others easily.” She said.
“Well how do we get him to stop? We have to get back on the road somehow, and as much as he’s a pain in the ass, I don’t want to leave him here.”
Loren stood, and looked back towards the inn. “Kae, please find something to bind Cassendir with.”
“Leave him to me, I’ll tie him to the horse post.” Kae answered.
“Please don’t look too happy about that.” Loren smiled at the huntress before heading back inside the inn.
The brawl was still in full force. Beastmen were slashing and biting at each other and other humans within reach. Punches were being thrown wildly, heads were getting kicked, and furniture was flying. Yet the entire time, all those fighting wore a blank expression much like Cassendir. Loren squeezed her way inside the inn and kept to the walls, dodging men and their fists. The princess attempted to find the innkeeper’s wife that Kae mentioned earlier, but a flash of yellow and green caught her eye.
A hooded figure stood in the center of the room. The curves of the person’s body betrayed her as a woman, and she wore a cinched bodice with no blouse or tunic underneath, and tight leather trousers tucked into knee high boots. She held her hands in front of her in a beckoning motion, and her body would shake with laughter as the men would try to reach for her, only to be knocked down in the brawl. Yellow and green light glowed from her chest, though Loren couldn’t see the pattern of her mage markings. Loren began to push her way into the crowd, shoving masses of sweaty armor and fur out of her way.
“Who are you?” Loren called, and the hooded woman turned to look.
She lowered her arms and turned her full attention to the princess. “That is none of your concern. You are not affected by my spells. I advise you to go. Simply go, and leave me.” Her voice was low and sultry.
“No. You have these men fighting endlessly for your affection, and you’ve put my friend under it too. Lift your spell, and lets all leave from here in peace.” Loren shot back.
The woman laughed, and lowered her hood. The dark mage markings swirled around her upper chest and crawled up to her neck, with dark flicks reaching out from the side of her face to her eye. Loren saw the mage markings as beautiful on other mages, but on this woman they only seemed to disfigure her, twisting her features into something unsettling to look at. Or perhaps it was the glint in her eye. “And who are you to ask such things from me, the Second of the Daughters?” she asked, mischievously grinning.
Loren drew herself up to her full height, looking proud and strong like her mother. “I am Loren Cyrael of Aldoran, heir to this kingdom. I demand that you lift your spell from all these men and leave my kingdom.”
The woman stared at Loren, dark eyes flicking up and down her form. Then, she broke into a laugh. “You? The youngest daughter of dragons and heir to Aldoran? Please. You are nothing but a child. Remove yourself, I would speak to you no further.” The woman turned away, lifting her hood back over her face with an air of finality.
“What?” Loren yelped as the woman began to walk away from her and the brawl surged to fill the space. The princess pushed her way through the melee, striking plate armor and Beastman fur with her elbows. “Wait! Lift the damn-“ she started but was cut off.
“Princess? Loren, where are you?” Kae said from the doorway of the inn. She craned her neck to see, but the princess was lost in the crowd. “Loren!”
The woman’s laugh rang out through the inn, and her mage markings glowed a shade brighter. Her laugh slowly died in her throat as she saw a flash of long dark hair moving through the crowd. Loren cut her way through, climbing over men heads taller than her, stepping on breastplates, shoulders, and heads. Her eyes gleamed a dangerous gold as she sailed over the crowd with one long jump. The princess crashed into the mage, ripping her hood off and grabbing her bodice.
“You will lift this curse!” Loren said through gritted teeth. “I am young, but don’t underestimate me, I will kill you where you stand!”
The woman laughed in her face. “Really, daughter of dragons? Kill me? You would go straight to that, instead of bargaining or bartering— my, my. You do have a bit of red in your family, don’t you? The Fourth Daughter was right.”
“Enough of your riddles!” Loren moved to draw her sword.
The tip of the blade was just about free of the sheath when Kae grabbed Loren by the wrist. She pulled back on the princess’s arm and twisted it, causing to drop the sword. “Loren, that’s enough! I know you don’t want this!”
“Kae, let me go.” Loren spat, glaring at the huntress. The woman laughed.
“This isn’t like you. You were the patient and diplomatic one. What’s gotten into you?” Kae asked. There was a look of disappointment in her eye, and Loren saw it. “I’ll handle this. What is your name?” she asked the woman. Behind her, the princess glared hard enough to blast holes into the back of the huntress’s head, but said nothing except a grunt as she retrieved her sword.
The woman smirked. “My name? I am Danna, the Second Daughter. What of it, girl from mud?”
Kae’s eyebrow went up. “You keep saying that, “the Second Daughter.” What does it mean?”
“That is something you should learn for yourself…” Danna looked Kae up and down, sniffing derisively. “It is knowledge that would neither concern you, nor find you worthy enough to know.”
“Oh, now you’re insulting Kae.” Loren said, twirling her sword. “Move aside, I should be dealing with this.”
Kae rolled her eyes. “I thought I was the hot headed one. Tell me anyway, Danna, if you’re so much better than me.”
Danna laughed again. She easily stepped back and out of the way as a Beastman and merchant crashed between them, fists flying. “The Daughters and the Sons are Seven in number. Four to the points of the map, three to chosen elements, always clashing with the other to steal one from their ranks and balance ourselves.” She chuckled,
raising one hand to her lips and smiling as if she had told the best joke.
The huntress stared back at her cluelessly. Beside her, the gold began to fade from Loren’s eyes. The princess put her sword away and looked to Danna with a determined expression. “You’re the mages foretold in prophesies, aren’t you Danna? Fourteen in all, you are the strongest mages in the world with the cycle repeating every generation. If one in your ‘ranks’ dies, their place is immediately taken by the birth of a mage that very moment.” The princess met Danna’s shocked look with one of ease. “Isn’t that right?”
“My, you know your lessons well, daughter of dragons.” Danna muttered. “You are correct. I am the Second, Daughter of the West. I came here in hopes of finding the Fourth Son, or whichever is in the West.”
“Was all this necessary?” Loren asked, gesturing to the brawl.
Danna laughed in response. “No, of course not! But I did not find the Son here, and quite honestly, I had grown tired from my journey. I decided to have a bit of fun.”
Loren sighed. “What do you want in return for lifting your spell from my friend? Gold? A position in Aldoran?”
“Oh, little dragon, I do not doubt that you can grant me anything I wish.” Danna smiled. “But why, dare I ask, are you so desperate for me to free your friend?”
“That’s none of your business.” Kae cut in, folding her arms across her chest.
“No Kae, its alright.” Loren said gently before turning back to Danna. “We need his help to cross the Plaguelands.”
“Oh dear, that is a journey indeed. Whatever would you want in the Plaguelands? I stepped one foot across the border and my goodness it was horrible! You are but children!”
“We…” Loren started, but stopped herself. She realized that she had no one to blame but herself for her foolish plans. She took a breath. “That is to say I… I want to find the heir to the Beastman throne. I have reason to believe that he has been taken past the Plaguelands and into the border of the north.”