by Ben Hale
Lira’s scowl deepened. Royals of the second tier were related to the empirical line, and never ventured out of their gilded cities. For one to come here, to an unpopulated corner of Grenedal, suggested they wanted their actions hidden from the Empire.
Then the krey turned and Lira sucked in her breath. She’d hoped for a backwoods transfer of illicit goods, but Wylyn’s presence could mean only one thing. They’d discovered Lumineia. The presence of a Gate meant they intended to reach the secret world.
Lira grimaced and reached to her back, where two triangular weapons were strapped beneath her cloak. The idalians were originally krey weapons, but a friend had added magic, making them far more than simple throwing weapons. Easing them free, she scanned the camp once again, and spotted a sphere placed close to the nearly completed Gate. The gravity sphere was large enough to power the Gate, and destroying it would give Lira time to gather help from the other Eternals.
She had no illusions about the coming fight. Dakorians were bred for combat, able to stand against hundreds of humans with their bare hands. Even with her magic, battling four patrols of twelve would be suicide.
Gripping the idalians, she stepped free of her cloak and darted into the night. She reached the first sentry and cast strength, her body filling with power. Her muscles throbbed with the augmentation and she sucked in a long breath, resisting the urge to strike until she was close.
When she was just feet away she leapt high, sending the blade spinning into the trees. Enchanted to fly in patterns depending on how it was thrown, the weapon twirled up and came down, digging a blade into the neck of a dakorian. The soldier groaned and slumped to the earth, the thud of his body alerting those nearby.
Lira summoned the blade and it flew back into her hand. She dived into the trees again, but the nearest dakorian spotted her and barked an order. In seconds the entire patrol plunged into the trees, hunting.
“I want them alive!” Wylyn shouted.
Lira relinquished the strength spell and cast agility, then leapt into a tree and kicked off a branch, bounding off the mushroomlike leaves. Two dakorians appeared beneath her, one slamming his hammer into the tree, spilling green blood down the trunk and forcing it to withdraw its limbs. Lira jumped free and caught a branch of a neighboring tree, flipping back to the ground. Then she ducked behind a tree and wrapped herself in her cloak. The dakorians charged into the trees and spread out, using scent to track her. Marked by the three serrations on his horns, the officer jerked his head back to camp.
“Get the Gate active. There might be more.”
Lira twisted and heaved one blade and then two, the angle of the release sending them in different directions. One flew high, nicking a tree trunk, the other striking two dakorians standing close to the tree. They braced for the blow and retreated a step, the blade bouncing harmlessly off their bone armor before spinning back to Lira. But the wounded tree lashed out, its limbs flailing like giant clubs, bashing the two dakorians. Bone cracked as one was knocked into a second tree, while the first fought the tree, bringing its hammer to bear, hacking the limbs until they withdrew to the trunk.
The distraction created a gap in the line of soldiers and she sprinted through the breach, charging into the camp. Her sudden appearance drew the eyes of every dakorian, and a second patrol charged at her, the captain hurling his hammer.
She leapt into a flip that carried her over the weapon and landed on her feet, but the dakorians were quick to surround her. She swept her hands wide in defeat and one strode to her, wrenching the weapons from her hands and tossing them away. Then the soldier sneered.
“It’s only a human.”
“A human that killed one of mine,” the first captain said, striding from the trees. He motioned to the rest of his patrol that were carrying the body of the one she’d killed. “She is more formidable than she looks.”
“With these?” the second captain snorted, picking up one of the idalians and breaking it on his knee. He tossed the pieces away like they were trash. “She has luck, that is all.”
Wylyn and the second royal stepped through the ring and approached Lira, coming to a halt well out of reach. Lira’s eyes flicked to the companion, and recognized him as one of Wylyn’s younger sons, a krey named Relgor. The two regarded her for several moments, their eyes taking notice of her clothing, her demeanor, and finally settling on the empty earlobes.
“You are not owned,” Wylyn said.
“I have always been free,” Lira said, eliciting rumbling laughter from the dakorians.
Relgor cocked her head to the side. “What brought you here, slave?”
Lira remained silent. Slaves were taught to bow their head to krey, but she held the gaze of a royal, an act punishable by instant death, usually carried out by injection of the earring all slaves wore. Relgor’s eyes darkened with hatred and he drew a snort blade, but Wylyn raised a hand.
“You did not come here of your own accord,” Wylyn said. “I suspect you were sent here by another.”
Wylyn’s voice was warm and inviting, but her eyes were cold and haughty, the legacy of being taught that she was a supreme being. Lira didn’t flinch or speak, but her eyes flicked to the Gate.
Noticing the motion, Wylyn’s purple eyes narrowed. “Who sent you?” she demanded.
Lira remained silent, gauging the circle of dakorians, and the other two patrols just finishing the Gate. If she acted too early she would be surrounded. Too late and the group would get through the Gate.
“You’re uglier than most royals,” she said, and then smiled.
Dakorians sucked in their breath and several stepped forward, instinctively raising their hammers, all itching to punish her for her words. Wylyn simply glared at her, black darkening her eyes to indicate hatred.
“In all my life I have never been spoken to in such a fashion,” Wylyn said, her voice soft, dangerous. “To hear it from a slave is all the more surprising. I do not see fear in your eyes, and trust me when I say, by night’s end, you will beg to be my slave.”
“Permit me to kill her,” Relgor said, his voice eager.
Lira looked to the second captain. “Royals love to hear their own voice. Do you ever tire of it?”
The dakorian snorted, but the touch of amusement in the sound caused Wylyn to glance his way. He lowered his gaze and shuffled his feet. The third krey, the one from a fifth house, stepped forward and stabbed a long finger at Lira.
“You dare to speak to a krey in such a manner?” he snarled. “We should cut out your tongue.”
“I’d still be prettier,” Lira retorted.
Another gasp and the second captain dropped his hammer to thud on the ground. “Your death will silence you.” Lira glanced his way and noticed the four serrations on his horns, making him the high captain of the group.
“Tardoq,” Wylyn said, “finish the Gate.” She then glanced to the first captain, the one she’d fought in the woods. “Kill her, and make it painful.”
The dakorian reached for her and grabbed her arm, dragging her away from Wylyn. His grip was an iron shackle, the bones clamping onto her shoulder so she could not escape. He leaned down, his voice like stones grinding against steel.
“It’s always a pleasure to break a woman’s bones . . .”
Wylyn motioned to the second patrol and they returned to their work, connecting the power source to the Gate. As it activated, purple light seeped from the sphere and a mirror flickered to life within the arched gate. Lira winced and realized she was out of time.
“Do you miss Skorn?” she called over her shoulder.
Wylyn whirled. “Stop.” She closed the gap in quick strides until she could glare into Lira’s eyes. “What do you know of my husband?”
“That he and his brother disappeared three sentenia ago.”
“That fact is common knowledge,” she snarled, her purple irises spinning with red.
“I know that two brothers wanted to tinker with the race of man,” Lira said. “And rumor
has it, they succeeded. But how are we supposed to know, given that the two brothers never returned?”
“You know of my father?” Relgor demanded. “Speak, or I will have your skin flayed from your bones.”
“I know he sought to change the race of man.”
Lira held Wylyn’s gaze. Wylyn stared at her, the fury of her eyes fading to a calculating cold. Lira could almost see the thoughts churning in her mind, wondering how a simple human could know such a dark secret.
To alter the genetics of a slave was forbidden across the Empire, and one of the few crimes that merited an execution for a krey—even a royal. If a krey or a dakorian had spoken those words, Ero and Skorn would see their entire houses put under the most intense scrutiny. If the accusation was found to be true, both would be executed in public.
“On what grounds do you make such an accusation?” Wylyn asked.
Lira glanced to the Gate, which was nearly complete, and then turned back to Wylyn. “Because I was one of those changed,” she said.
Drawing in her breath, she gathered her magic and cast a strength charm, her magic seeping into her bones and muscles. As Wylyn’s eyes widened in shock, Lira turned to the dakorian holding her arm and struck him in the chest, sending his large body tumbling like a stone thrown across a lake.
Chapter 2: Eternal
The dakorians froze in disbelief, all their vaunted training unprepared for a human with such might. Before they could recover, Lira surged into a sprint. Calling on her second magic, she summoned the wind into an air blade, a gust coalescing into a blade thinner than parchment, yet sharper than steel.
Racing for the line of dakorians, she dropped her strength in favor of agility. Tardoq charged, swinging his hammer down on Lira with a bestial roar. She slipped aside and leapt upward, casting an air stone.
The block of air was the size of her boot, and it solidified beneath her sole. She stepped on it and leapt again, casting a second, allowing her to ascend a thin staircase fashioned from stones of air.
Shouts of surprise rang out as she sprinted upward, dancing across nothingness as her boots landed on floating stones. She raced above the dakorians, charging for the gravity sphere connected to the Gate.
“Kill her!” Wylyn shrieked.
She was already outside the ring of dakorians and the soldiers by the Gate raised their hammers. Activating the energy within, they aimed and fired, the weapons sending bolts of power in her direction.
Dakorian training was legendary, their aim flawless. But Lira summoned a wall of spinning air, the magic turning solid to deflect the energy bolts in every direction. Dakorians ducked as the bolts impacted the ground, the trees, and their own ranks. One soldier was too slow and it slammed into her chest, tearing a burning hole in her bone armor and sending her to the ground. Trees ignited, the fires spreading as the forest released a keen of anger, the branches flailing.
“KILL HER!” Tardoq bellowed.
But Lira leapt through her own shield, the air turning clear as she passed through and landed on another air stone. The dakorians converged on the gravity sphere, forming a wall of bone flesh. Lira leapt higher and hurled her sword, morphing the blade into a spear that arced high into the air. Energy bolts leapt towards the spear but passed through the soaring weapon.
Lira curved the spear’s flight, arcing it around the formation of dakorians to strike at the back of the gravity sphere. She clenched a fist just as it struck, the weapon turning solid and plunging into the energy source, piercing the heavy shielding with a screech of metal.
Purple energy flared from the hole and spilled outward, the mirror beneath the Gate flickering in response. Then the purple light began to brighten, the breach building with power, the purple light sparking and igniting small flames.
Lira rolled into a flip and dropped agility, augmenting her strength as she fell forty feet and struck the ground. Rising to her feet, she whipped her hands outward, casting two air blades, and turned a circle, ready for the group to flee.
“Through the Gate!” Wylyn screamed. “Before it collapses.”
Lira blinked in surprise. They had less than a minute until the gravity sphere detonated, shredding the area. It would be difficult for the entire group to depart with their supplies, especially with Lira to fight. She’d thought Wylyn would flee and make another attempt, giving Lira time to gather more forces.
Wylyn shouted to the first captain, who had risen to his feet. Cracks marred the bone platting across his chest and rage filled his eyes. Picking up his hammer, he barked an order and the rest of his command closed the gap, charging around Lira’s dissipating shield. One of the dakorian patrols charged from the opposite side, closing her in a trap.
The fourth captain and his soldiers hurled the containers of supplies through the Gate, the materials disappearing from view. Others dived into the mirror, all while Tardoq guarded the three krey on their way around the raging battle.
With strength active, Lira wielded her twin air swords, deflecting the hammers that came at her from all sides. She tried to leap into the air but a hammer swung above her head, forcing her to drop back to the ground.
She twisted to avoid a downward strike and rolled up the hammer, driving her air blade through the bone armor and into the dakorian’s chest. It groaned and retreated, but another was quick to fill the hole.
Helpless, Lira watched Wylyn and Relgor circumnavigate the battle on their way to the Gate. Wylyn smirked, her expression one of triumph. Then Lira growled and struck the ground, sending a blast of air in all directions.
The dakorians didn’t fall, but they slid backward, giving Lira room to jump. This time she didn’t use air stones, and instead pulled the wind to aid her. She leapt into a high flip, soaring over the ring of dakorians and landing outside the circle of foes. Then she sprinted for the Gate.
The remaining dakorians converged on her and she dived to the ground, ducking under the swinging hammer and twisting, slicing her blade across a soldier’s knee. Roaring in pain, he went down and she deflected the next blow, the hammer bouncing off her sword and plunging into the ground, the impact powering the weapon.
Lira reversed her grip on her sword and leapt, punching the dakorian in the face. He stumbled back, dazed by the blow, giving her a straight line to Wylyn. Dropping strength, she cast speed, and felt energy course into her body.
She charged forward, moving so quickly the remaining dakorians could not stop her. Just feet from the Gate, Wylyn glanced back and spotted Lira. Her eyes widened, but Tardoq stepped between them and lunged. His hammer came down on Lira but she was moving too fast, and she drifted to the side—into Tardoq’s fist.
On instinct she lifted her arms, bracing her forearms against the blow and wreathing her skin in wind. The blow cut deep, the spines of bone drawing blood and knocking her brutally to the dirt. She rolled and came up, raising both swords to catch Tardoq’s hammer as it landed upon her.
The impact sent her to one knee. She’d dropped speed in favor of strength, but Tardoq was still stronger, and she strained to keep the hammer at bay. Other dakorians converged on her but Wylyn barked an order and they veered into the Gate, disappearing from sight. The others followed, and Wylyn stepped to where Lira was pinned.
“I do not know where you draw such power,” she said. “But know this, I intend to possess every living thing in Lumineia.”
“You have no idea what you face on the other side,” Lira growled. “A handful of dakorians will be no match for what you will discover.”
“You should not be so confident,” Relgor said with a sneer. “For your home is not what you imagine.”
“It does not matter,” Wylyn said, glancing at the gravity sphere. It trembled and sparked, the sphere close to the catalyst within. She sneered at Lira. “Soon I will own everything you thought to protect, and all your people will call me master.”
“Mother,” Relgor said, his expression uneasy as he glanced to the shaking gravity sphere.
“
Go,” she barked, and he disappeared into the mirror with a scowl at his mother.
“You think to control Lumineia?” Lira strained to keep Tardoq at bay. “The races of our lands have power greater than I.”
“You are merely human,” Tardoq spat, grinding her deeper into the ground. “No amount of power will prevent you from being a slave.”
Wylyn issued a dark laugh as the last of the dakorians disappeared from sight, leaving just Tardoq, Wylyn, and the red-banded krey, who stood next to the Gate, her expression uncertain.
“You may have destroyed my gravity sphere but I will build another,” Wylyn said. “And when I unleash the might of my house upon Lumineia, I will have vengeance for those who killed my husband.”
“He deserved his fate,” Lira snarled.
The gravity sphere gained an ominous whine, and Wylyn retreated to the Gate. “Make sure she’s dead, Tardoq.”
“With pleasure,” the large captain said.
He rotated the hammer and swung the handle at Lira, but she rolled backward and sent a gust of air into her feet, sending her skidding away from the blow. The hammer crashed into the ground, sending a plume of soil into the air, the impact adding light to the runes in the hammer, indicating it had gained more power.
Lira rolled to her feet and motioned to the second idalia. A swirl of air picked it up and sent it hurtling toward Wylyn. The woman grabbed her companion krey and yanked her in front of the spinning blade. The second krey screamed as it pierced her chest. She fell to Wylyn’s feet, dying just steps from freedom, her body rolling through the Gate, taking the idalia from sight.
Wylyn smirked at the miss and stepped back, disappearing from view into the mirror. Tardoq whirled and, in three great steps, disappeared as well, leaving Lira alone in the clearing with the bodies of those she’d slain. She looked to the gravity sphere and it was rising off the ground, the casing of the sphere cracking and spilling light.
Too far to reach the Gate, too far to reach the forest, she did the only thing she could. Gathering all the air around her, she spun a circle and struck the ground, summoning a tornado with her at the center. The air sucked her skyward as the gravity sphere detonated.