by Jim Galford
“Dorralt,” Raeln answered, thinking back to Altis. “He arranged all of this?”
On’esquin nodded and tapped the rolled parchment.
“So all of this was seen hundreds of years ago by the monster that created your empire? You could have said something…told someone…”
“You do not grasp what I am saying, Raeln. I spent hundreds of years telling everyone, but I was cast out as a traitor to what I was trying to save. Turess saw to it his prophecies were sent to the council, but they buried the information after the first hundred years, believing it to be a forgery and a lie. They were supposed to protect the nations while I waited with the enemy’s generals that I had defeated. In the end, I did my duty, and they did not.”
Raeln reached for the parchment, but On’esquin snatched it away before his fingers could brush it. “What now?” he demanded, growling as he watched the parchment go back into the pouch. “What do we do now?”
“Now?” repeated the orc, nodding at Nenophar. “He and the girl are discussing strategy. I only know what I must find, not what to do to bring it about or what to do when I find it. You will know what must be done when I do.”
Again, Raeln reached for the parchment sticking out of the man’s pouch, but On’esquin caught his wrist with a strength Raeln had not believed possible, despite the man’s bulky frame.
“I swore an oath to guard this parchment,” whispered On’esquin, tightening his hold until Raeln whimpered and fell to his knees. He used his free hand to push at On’esquin, but he could not so much as budge the man. “You are not someone I trust enough to show it to, not yet. Help me live through the next day, and I will consider it. Until then, you will keep your hands off of me, or I will break them off.”
On’esquin held his position a little longer, then abruptly let go and lowered his eyes to the ground again. “Go and learn what they believe must be done,” he said. “I will do what I must without question when it has been decided. Lacking any direction in the prophecies, I follow others.”
Raeln eased back onto his haunches, rubbing his wrist and trying to ignore the icy water his tail lay in. He watched On’esquin for a minute or more, trying to guess at the man’s true motivations, but the orc gave him nothing and stared at the ground.
“There is the calm I was missing before,” On’esquin said soon thereafter, smiling faintly. “Thank you, Raeln.”
Snarling, Raeln got to his feet and went to Ilarra and Nenophar, who had been whispering to one another until he got within range of hearing. In a gesture of kindness, Nenophar raised one wing over both Ilarra and Raeln as he got closer, shielding both from the rain before putting his own head next to them.
“Why are you out here?” asked Ilarra, smiling weakly. She raised her restored arm and showed Raeln, wiggling her fingers happily. “You must be freezing. I saw Greth go back to the building over there—”
“I need to know what we’re going to do,” he said, cutting her off sharply as he sat down in the mud. “I can’t rest until I know how we’re getting all of these people out of here.” His statement drew a worried glance from Ilarra toward the dragon and a similar look from him to her. They were hiding something, that much Raeln could see, but he did not have the patience to argue with another person who kept him in the dark. “Just tell me what I need to do,” Raeln insisted, putting a hand to his head in frustration. “What is my role in saving these people?”
Things have gotten more complicated since we left the wall, I am afraid, Nenophar said, his mouth unmoving though his eyes darted to watch Raeln as he spoke. The way the dragon’s slitted pupils narrowed to stare at him made him somewhat uneasy, wondering if he looked like a meal to the giant lizard.
“How complicated?”
Ilarra answered for Nenophar. “The staff was what they came for, but destroying it caused new problems. The elementals are loose. They will not stop. They will never stop.”
“Then we run, Ilarra. We get far away from them.”
“They have no limit to what they can do.” Ilarra folded her legs under her so she could lean toward Raeln, seeming unaffected by the cold or rain. Even the mud did not cling to her or her dress. “Dorralt wanted those elementals to conquer the rest of the world after he finished reclaiming Turess’ lands. Nothing in this world can stop them now that they are outside our control. Which is clearly our first problem.”
“First?” demanded Raeln, incredulous. “How can anything else compare?”
“The cloud that took my brother,” added Nenophar, a touch of anger in his tone. “It is growing and trying to find more to consume. That cloud is what Turess nearly unleashed when I was young and why I allowed him things I should not have. Everything I have done to help the mortal world was done to ensure I never saw that cloud anywhere but in my dreams. Now, it is here, and it is hungry.”
Raeln looked to Ilarra, but she merely nodded in agreement with Nenophar before adding, “I can feel its desire for more from here. His brother made it aware of us. Now, it wants more. It will keep feeding and growing stronger until it can consume the world.”
“You talk like that cloud is alive,” Raeln noted. “The things that came from it are, but the cloud…”
“The things coming from it are a piece of it sent to find what it needs,” the dragon explained. “You asked your part, wildling. At first light, you will go with the survivors and any more you can find into the mountains. The undead will have trouble tracking you there and may fall far enough behind that you can get away. The rest, we have a plan to deal with.”
“Which is?” Raeln demanded, casting his glare between the two, but neither would look him in the eye.
Ilarra reached out to touch Raeln’s knee, but he shoved her hand away, refusing to be distracted.
“Go back to Greth,” she told him, settling against Nenophar’s foot. “Survive and find peace in the mountains, which was why I severed the bond with you in the first place. Live the life I never could with the person you choose, before the chance escapes you like it did for me. We will deal with creatures like the elementals and Turessians.”
“No!” shouted Raeln, jumping to his feet. “I was brought to you as a child and made to swear I would protect you. I gave my oath, regardless of whether you broke the magic enforcing it. If you are going to risk yourself, I will be there, too.”
Ilarra got slowly to her feet and giggled at the imbalance between her bare foot and the booted one. As she stared at her foot, a boot formed from nowhere to cover the flesh swiftly, then her dress mended itself. “Raeln, this is our task to finish,” she said, once the changes had completed. “You have yours. If ours goes well, we will join you in a few days. Your oath included obeying me when I wasn’t putting myself in danger…”
“This is the very definition of danger! You want to fight gods with a god. How is that not danger?”
“I cannot die, Raeln. So long as there is magic available to me, I will never die. Fighting elementals or zombies makes no difference,” she insisted. “What do you possibly think following me will accomplish?”
“I owe it to your father…my mother…all the people who died back in Hyeth,” he argued, though he knew he sounded foolish. “I have to.”
“Go to bed, Raeln,” Ilarra told him, turning away and placing a hand gently on Nenophar’s gleaming armor. “You will get ready to leave in the morning and we will see you off. If you wish to keep arguing then, I will listen.”
Letting out a bestial roar, Raeln rushed Ilarra without giving any thought to what he intended to do. Maybe he would drag her far from Nenophar and danger, but decisions like that could come later.
Ilarra caught him mid-stride with an outstretched hand. Magic snared his body, lifting him from the ground. “Go,” she repeated softly, and Raeln fell with a splash. “We will talk in the morning.”
Biting back his fury, Raeln stormed off. He ran away from Nenophar and Ilarra aimlessly until he had calmed enough he could think clearly again.
Il
arra was an adult, he told himself as he stopped near a grouping of tents, panting as he sought an end to his anger. She could take risks like this without him. No matter how much he wanted to help her, he could not make her accept his aid.
Looking around, Raeln realized he had mostly gone in the direction of the wooden building. All other thoughts finally faded away, and he knew what he needed, even if what he wanted was to help others. He needed Greth and a shoulder to lean on, knowing his sister intended to put herself in harm’s way. There would be no more chances to find comfort in someone else for a long time once they left the area near Lantonne.
Taking a deep breath, he set off toward the building and the start of his new life. Leaving Ilarra behind to help guide these people would be starting over, beginning again in the wilderness with strangers. The only person he would know was Greth, but it was enough.
A sharp coppery smell brought Raeln to a stop no more than fifty feet from the building. All around him, the scent of blood filled the air. He could not even be sure what direction it came most strongly from, as if he were standing in the middle of a pool of blood. The scent was somehow strong enough even the rain did little to diminish it. It was fresh.
“Greth!” Raeln shouted, taking several more steps toward the building before he spotted the first body. Lying facedown in the mud, he found a dwarven woman with her head aimed at the building. Near her, two elven men lay similarly, though their bodies were positioned so their heads were angled in toward the dwarf. It took Raeln a second before he realized he was looking at a macabre arrow made with the three corpses.
Someone wanted all attention on this building.
Raeln’s stomach knotted as he stared through the steady rain at the dark structure. As his eyes adjusted to the difference between wood and shadow, he realized the door was wide open. “Greth?”
Numb, Raeln walked on, unable to scream for help or turn away. He knew he needed to get more people just in case, but he could not stop himself. He had to know.
He began up the stairs of the building and onto the porch, sniffing almost constantly while straining his hearing to make out anything beyond the pattering rain on the roof above him. “Greth? Are you in there?”
A flash of light momentarily blinded him, and when he opened his eyes again, a lantern glowed on the floor of the building. He could see nothing near the lantern, but there were faint sounds of movement inside he could not see from outside. “Greth?”
Raeln reached the door and stopped, his leg muscles refusing to budge. Leaning forward to glance inside, he slowly brought his head near the doorframe until he could see a sandaled, dark-skinned human foot off to the left. Inching a little farther, he followed the leg up and saw blue silk covered by a black traveling cloak.
“Do come in, my dear.” A girl’s voice, though her accent was thick. He knew that voice, and it made his hair stand on end. “We were talking about you. I would have brought tea, had I known we would be having this chat, no?”
Raeln trembled as he stepped fully into the light. Inside, the dark-skinned human gypsy girl he had fought at the city gates waited in a simple wooden chair, her legs crossed as though they were going to have a pleasant conversation. She even smiled pleasantly as he came in. Behind the girl, four zombies stood, their vacant stares aimed in four directions. They were the bodies from when he had Greth had first arrived—including the cougar wildling Greth had killed—now animated by the girl.
Greth was near the fireplace, his hands tied behind his back. He struggled to stand as straight and tall as he could on his toes, nearly up on his claws. One of the longer leashes that had hung near the door was knotted around his throat and hung from the rafters, just short enough that if he relaxed, he would choke. A second leash had been tied around his muzzle, keeping him from calling for help. Deep gashes covered his bare chest, and every visible inch of his fur was stained with his own blood. Despite the obvious pain he was in, Greth’s eyes were still bright as he watched Raeln.
The girl waited until Raeln had taken a few more steps, before raising a small hand to stop him. “Is far enough. We talk from here, yes? I have learned to expect crazy things from those with fur, so I hope you understand why I have you stop there.”
Raeln froze where he was, clenching and unclenching his fists as he focused on Greth.
“Now,” the girl continued, flashing Raeln a bright smile, “is time for negotiations. Among my people, I would first say what I have to offer, but I think you know what that might be, yes? Instead, you will go first and tell me what you will give me to rescue the man I have kept alive especially for you.”
“Anything. Please let him go,” Raeln pleaded, his voice cracking as he twitched and struggled not to run to Greth. “Take me.”
“If I wanted you, is you I would have taken instead,” she replied, giggling. “I will be easy on you today, Raeln. I tell you what I wish to have, and you will tell me how you will give it to me.” The girl stood, smoothing her blue and brown clothing and the black cloak she wore over them. Tossing her hair with an almost impish glance at Raeln, she suddenly had a knife in her hand close enough to Greth she could easily cut him before Raeln could get to her.
“My master wishes to have the dragon, since the other went and got himself oh so dead,” the girl explained as she began pacing around Greth, always staying close to him with the knife. “While killing you both would be good exercise, is not helpful. Dead wildlings do nothing to humor me or get me closer to the dragon, no? So, you will find a way to talk the dragon away from the elf girl while he is still tired. Sleepy dragon will make a good pet, at least until my master comes.
“These are my terms, Raeln. You run for help, you try to save Greth here, or you tip off the sleepy dragon, I tie you up like him.I then spend day or two cutting on Greth until he stops breathing before I begin on you. Is fair, yes?”
Raeln struggled not to scream with the strain of holding himself back. Instead, he managed to croak out, “If I betray the dragon, will you let us both go?”
“Yes,” she replied, resting the sharp tip of the knife on Greth’s ribs, smirking back at Raeln. “To make sure you do not waste time, I keep cutting him until you have dragon. Faster you move, the more likely he keeps all fingers, toes, and eyes, and maybe makes full recovery. You bring dragon and you both leave on your own two feet, and I ignore you running away until another time.”
Raeln could see from the girl’s face she had no intention of honoring the deal, even if by some miracle he could lure Nenophar to her. Still, he could find no other way out, no other option with any chance of saving Greth. If he brought Nenophar, it at least gave him another person at his side to try and stop the girl.
The muscles in Greth’s neck tensed, and Raeln realized what he was about to do too late to do anything about it. Greth clenched his neck and kicked up, knocking away the knife through sheer surprise. He kicked again, trying to do some small amount of damage as Raeln began running at him, but the girl blocked his leg and backed away.
“Dogs who bite their masters are punished!” the girl shouted, raising her free hand at Greth as he choked and tried to get his feet under himself.
Raeln ran as hard as he could, trying to reach the girl in time, but the world seemed to slow down around him. Magic roared into existence around the girl’s outstretched hand and flashed toward Greth. Just as Raeln slammed into the girl, the magic hit, snapping the leash and hurling him across the room in a puff of flame and smoke.
Then, everything came became all too quick again. Raeln and the girl tumbled to the floor, both scrambling to get away from the other. She was faster than he had expected, rolling away from him to grab her weapon and coming onto her feet before Raeln could hop up. With inhuman speed, the girl produced a second knife and began striking at him, the gleaming weapons darting around his attempts to block and stinging seemingly everywhere at once.Raeln did the best he could, trying to use his forearms to catch the girl’s swings before the knives could reach hi
s skin, but she never tired, even as blood loss and fatigue wore him down. It did not take long before she slipped past his defenses and drove a knife between his ribs. He clamped his hand down on the weapon before it went too deep, the blade digging into his hand but not deep enough to kill.
“Do not hit young girls,” warned the gypsy, shoving Raeln off-balance. “We hit back. Worry not, fuzzy man, I will make sure I tear your friend apart before you die so you can watch. Maybe I make him stand back up after he is dead and dance for me, yes?”
Raeln gasped and struggled to keep the knife’s tip from punching any deeper into his side, but he knew the girl could force it at any moment. Small or not, she was far stronger than he was.
“Varra, is it? One of your brothers spoke of you being here before he went to pieces over in Lantonne,” came a gravelly voice from the doorway. “Let the wildlings go, or you will face me.”
The girl’s grin faded, and she eased off the knife, looking past Raeln. “My master said the orcs from Turessi were all dead,” she whispered, abruptly letting go of the knife. She instead grabbed Raeln by the shoulder and neck, spinning him around and using him as a shield between herself and the newcomer. “You have the markings…you are him, the betrayer.”
Raeln clenched his teeth as he pulled the knife free of his side, keeping one hand firmly against the wound to slow the bleeding in both his chest and hand. Looking up, he saw On’esquin stood in the open door, though he held no weapons and did not even appear to be working on a spell. Instead, he stood there calmly, arms crossed in front of him.
“I want a message sent to Dorralt,” On’esquin told Varra, advancing into the room with heavy pounding of his boots on the plank floor. “Tell him he has caused the prophecy to begin after all these years. Tell him I will stand by my oath, even if he will not. Tell him this, and I will not use you as an example of what will be done to the Turessians standing in my way.”