Only a Glow

by Nichelle Rae

  “Do you remember,” the first voice said, “when Mother took us to the waterfall for that picnic?”

  I didn’t know how she could think of that right now, or be so calm in the presence of these things, but the memory did come to me. The waterfall was cascading down the cliffs while we ate peaches and Mother’s special sandwiches. As the memory flashed in my mind, my leg again jerked up from the ground and I took a step back.

  The creatures screamed again! It only got louder and more terrifying! I thought I might go deaf from the sound. Every muscle in my body burned with pain from their screams. The shadows bounced up and down at the waist and clutched their heads, which were shaking abnormally fast. The sight of them again sent spikes of terror into my soul. My legs stiffened again.

  “Just keep thinking about our picnic,” Azrel said as smoothly and calmly as if we were back at that peaceful picnic right now.

  Rather than taking a step first, I used the calm of her voice to finally break my gaze off the shadows and onto the ground. That alone relieved me. As I played the serene memory over and over in my head, my legs started moving more easily, and I backed away.

  Finally, I found myself standing between Ortheldo and Azrel. Both had their swords drawn as they glared at the shadows. Without a glance or a word, they both took hold of my upper arms with their free hands. The solid feeling of their touch sent overwhelming relief dripping through me, washing away the unbelievable terror I felt. I let out a long, heavy breath as my arms became unlocked from firing position and sunk down to my sides. I felt like I was about to topple over with relief. My muscles relaxed almost to the point of liquefying. I was surprised my knees didn’t collapse under me. My arms hung limply at my sides. I closed my eyes and let out another breath.

  When I opened them, the shadows were gone! Gone, just like that! It was as if they’d never been there! Before I could contemplate this, Azrel firmly grasped my other arm and turned me to face her. Her eyes were filled with concern.

  “Are you okay? Did they hurt you?” She rested her hands on my cheeks.

  I felt my face flush with embarrassment and shame as Ortheldo stepped up next to me. I couldn’t bring myself to look at him. After griping and arguing about them not wanting me to take a watch, I’d failed them. I was so angry with myself for being so bloody useless and a sorry excuse for a Salynn.

  My fist tightened on my bow and I squeezed my eyes shut. “I’m fine,” I managed in throaty whisper.

  I braced myself for them to start screaming “we told you so!” And why not? I deserved it.

  Instead, Ortheldo clapped me on the back. Was this a friendly gesture? I opened my eyes to find both of them beaming proudly!

  “Well done!” Ortheldo exclaimed. “Few in the entire world can draw a weapon after a Feariter has targeted them.”

  I was flabbergasted that he was praising me! I could have gotten us all killed by those things and they had to rescue my pathetic hide!

  “They had no way of harming Ortheldo or me, so you can put that concern out of your mind,” Azrel said, reading it in my eyes. “And us helping you is nothing to be ashamed of. Your actions are not to blame.”

  Was she serious or was she just trying to make me feel better?

  “Why not? Why could they only harm me and not you?” I asked.

  Azrel had a grim look on her face as she laced her arm through mine and we began walking back to camp. “Had I known those things were this far west, I would have warned you.” Her voice dropped low. “Seems our situation is worse than Beldorn knew.”

  That wasn’t comforting, but I kept my mouth shut.

  “Feariters are from the Black Mountains way in the east,” Ortheldo said. “They’re pretty harmless if you know about them.”

  Harmless?! I wanted to laugh out loud!

  “They basically feel a nearby presence of fear and seek it out,” Ortheldo went on. “When they find it, they can use it against the source. They build your fear up until there is enough for them to control. That gives them control of you. They can paralyze you, make you go mad, or anything they want until they kill you and eat you.”

  “What?!” I cried, my heart jumping into my throat. “I was almost eaten by those things!”

  “That’s why Ortheldo and I spoke to you in steady, calm tones, hoping that it would calm you down so you could break free of their control. They use fear to control their prey. If there is no fear, or not enough, they have little control.”

  I couldn’t believe this! They were talking about them so easily, so simply! I felt a pang of anger and jealously that I didn’t know this. I should know these things. I hated how useless and inexperienced I was! I wanted to be able to know what was what without batting a lash. I wanted to be able to defend myself against these evils roaming about.

  Ortheldo looked across at Azrel and winked. “Nice touch, planting a calming memory in his head. It was very quick thinking for one who’s been out of the game for nine years.”

  Azrel flashed him a smile. Then her eyes turned to me with concern. “I’m sorry I didn’t think to tell you about Feariters and how you have to be fearless when facing them. I had no idea they were around here. If I had, I wouldn’t have put you on a watch without warning you about them. If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine.”

  “I’m still very impressed that you managed to draw your weapon,” Ortheldo said before I could say a word of comfort to my sister. “When a Feariter has control of someone such as yourself, who doesn’t know how to get out of their control, the prey very seldom manages to do anything, let alone draw a weapon. The Feariters usually have complete control within seconds and obviously wouldn’t allow you to do anything that could cause them harm, like drawing a bow.”

  “Why didn’t you just slice them up instead of talking to me?”

  Ortheldo shook his head. “You were too deep in their control. If we attacked, they would have forced you to attack us.”

  “And even if we had somehow managed to spare you and get past you to kill them all, you would have just died along with them because they had such a firm hold on you,” Azrel said softly.

  Why did I know so little? I pressed both of my fists to my forehead, trying to control my patience with myself. Was I going to die because some evil thing attacks me and I don’t know what to do? I wanted to know everything there was to know about creatures like the Feariters, but suddenly I was tired. I just realized how the terror at dealing with those things had wiped out my energy. I gazed up at the dark sky and my heart sank because I still had to finish my watch.

  I stopped abruptly and turned around to head back to the woods, my mind blank. Both Ortheldo and Azrel were quickly at my side. “What are you doing?” Azrel asked.

  “It’s still dark.” To my shock, my voice was low and slurred. “I have to finish my watch.” My eyes were half closed, and I felt like my mind had already gone to sleep. My body seemed to be walking and standing by itself.

  “Oh, no you don’t!” Ortheldo said, turning me around toward camp and guiding me forward by my shoulders. “You just mind wrestled with Feariters. It’s harmful for you to stay awake right now. Besides, you’ll just pass out anyway and be useless as a guard.”

  Though I wanted to, I didn’t argue. I let them lead me back to camp. I was vaguely aware that they were taking off my quiver and my cloak, making me comfortable. My vision was blurry as Azrel brought my blanket to my chin and kissed my cheek. She softly rubbed a hand over my hair like mother used to do when I was little.

  “I’ll take the rest of the watch,” Ortheldo said. His voice sounded miles away. I felt his hand on my shoulder, “You are too brave for your own good, my friend. Too brave,” I heard him say just before I fell into blissful sleep.

  I tilted my face up into the waterfall, letting it wash away the feeling of almost losing Rabryn to the Feariters and the exhaustion of arguing with Ortheldo over who was going to finish Rabryn’s watch. I managed to convince him I wasn’t tired anyway. It was the trut
h. I was too shaken to sleep. I paid for it when the morning dawned. I was in a daze of exhaustion as I walked upstream and found the waterfall.

  I stood on the surface of a huge rock jutting out from the ground to my right. The large waterfall cascaded an easy forty feet down past my perch. I stood under a small branch that flowed off to the side. The pool on the rock was only ankle deep, and the water ran off the edge to meet the large stream down below.

  I didn’t feel so tired after getting under the cold water. I sighed and leaned forward, crossing my arms against the cliff side and resting my forehead against them. I’d almost lost my little brother last night. It took all the strength I had to stay fearless when my brother stood so helplessly, and I was nearly helpless to do anything. Rabryn was okay though, that was all that mattered. He looked rather well when I woke him this morning, save for maybe a little lingering embarrassment. But he was okay.

  I jumped with a start when suddenly fingertips grazed my back. In a blink, I grabbed my sword that I’d stuck point-down into the moss and spun around.

  “Hey! Whoa! It’s me,” Ortheldo cried, jumping backward and nearly going off the edge of the rock.

  I let out a breath and closed my eyes, then stuck the point of my sword back into the moss. What was he thinking? He should know better than to sneak up on me from behind.

  “You never cease to amaze me,” he said.

  I opened my eyes and saw a goofy smirk of his face. My brows dropped. “What?”

  His stupid grin widened. “How can you be even more beautiful without clothes on?”

  I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “Shut up.”

  Had it been any other handsome man standing adjacent from me while I was naked, I would have been embarrassed. Even Rabryn had never seen me unclothed before, but Ortheldo had. Growing up, my father had set schedules from day to day. While some activities and lessons were shifted about daily, one thing always remained the same: bathe in Gegnar Stream at sunrise. We’d seen each other naked every day for seven years. Why was he looking at me as if he’d never seen me before?

  “What are you doing here? Where’s Rabryn?”

  “Back at camp.”

  My eyes bulged. “You left him alone! What’s the matter with you?”

  “Relax Azrel, he’s fine.” He paused and looked at me a bit sympathetically. “He’s a young man. You can’t babysit him.”

  I pointed a finger at him. “Don’t tell me how I should treat my brother.”

  “He needs to learn how to make it on his own, especially since we’re taking on a journey like this one.”

  “Make it on his own?” I said flatly, putting my hands on my hips. “You’re telling me this after what happened last night?” “Ortheldo,” I held out an open palm in the direction of camp, “he couldn’t even withstand what most people consider harmless creatures! How well do you think he’ll do when we get down to business with the real Evil things in Casdanarus? There are far more deadly things out here, and you know it. Do you think he stands a chance against them?”

  “Rabryn didn’t know about the Feariters. I think if—”

  “You’re right,” I interrupted. “He didn’t. That makes him unable to make it on his own. Had we not been there, he would be dead. He’s from The Pitt, Ortheldo. The most challenging thing he ever encountered was how to deal with the hate people there had for me. And danger? That word doesn’t exist in their vocabulary! He can’t survive out here alone.”

  “He needs to learn.”

  I dropped my brows. “Not on his own.” My voice was stern and final.

  Ortheldo let out a breath and gave me a small smile. “You’d think I’d know by now not to argue with you.” I tightened my lips and looked at him defiantly. “Trust me that he’s okay. You know Feariters only hunt at night.”

  I looked over at the waterfall and tried to block out the worry that there were other, more dangerous things that hunted during the day. When I looked back at him, I noticed for the first time Ortheldo was standing in front of me with only a deep red cloth wrapped around his waist. He was also holding a blue folded cloth in his hands, with a small lavender cloth on top of that, and three small, familiar vials of liquid.

  He smiled at me. “I thought you might need these.”

  I returned his smiled and took them. “Thank you.” I set them on the ground next to my sword, which was just out of reach of the waterfall.

  When I looked back at him, he was removing the cloth from around his waist with his back to me. Unexpectedly, my heart started to race as I watched it drop down from his hips and he gently tossed it to the ground near my sword. I couldn’t stop my eyes as they moved slowly up and down his body. He was so handsome, even from behind. His broad shoulders went down into a V-shaped back that rippled with muscles all the way to his waist. His hips were small and his buttocks firm and tight. Below that were thick, muscular thighs that led down to strong, shapely calves.

  When I raised my wide eyes, I realized he was staring at me over his shoulder with a smirk on his lips. “Like the view?”

  I cleared my throat and hardened my expression, trying to make it seem like I didn’t. “It’s nothing I haven’t seen before,” I said, trying to sound uninterested. I tore my eyes away and turned back toward the waterfall, putting my back to him. I only hoped he hadn’t seen me redden. Too bad I couldn’t help myself and had to look at him one more time over my shoulder.

  He started to laugh. “Looks like I’m not the only one pleasantly surprised after all these years.”

  It escaped—a girlie, stupid sounding giggle, and this time I know he saw me turn red. I quickly cleared my throat and forced my stupid smile away as I turned around to look at him. “Don’t even think about joining me under this waterfall to bathe. I got here first and I don’t want you in here. You can wait until I’m done.”

  His brows furrowed, the smile still there. “Bathe? I came here for a swim.”

  He turned to face me, giving me a full-frontal view of him. I gasped softly and failed miserably to try and stop my eyes from growing big. My heartbeat quickened to a pace I didn’t think was possible to have and still live. My wide eyes, without permission, washed down his body again.

  I looked back at his face as he held out a hand to me and mischief flashed in his eyes. “Would you care to join me?”

  At his words the fantasies faded. I shrank back into myself and looked down shamefully. “You know that I can’t swim.” Small prickles of panic ran up and down my arms at the memory of being swept away by the Ambuel.

  “I’ll teach you.” His voice was soft and genuine.

  I simply shook my head in response and I turned my back to him, facing the waterfall again. I didn’t want to embarrass myself anymore than I already had. The last thing I wanted to do was flop around in water like an idiot while he tried to teach me to swim. I needed to retain some of my dignity. Besides, we had things to do.

  Splash! I heard a distant splash and spun around. Ortheldo was gone. I got to my knees and crawled to the edge of the rock, looking down the forty foot cliffs. Ortheldo’s head surfaced in the water below.

  He jumped! I couldn’t believe he jumped from that height.

  “Wooo!” His exhilarated shout echoed off the cliff sides as he flipped his hair out of his eyes.

  “Are you crazy?” I screamed down at him.

  “It feels great!” he laughed. “Jump for it, Azrel! I’ll catch you!”

  “You’re mad!” I said in disgust, though I was smiling.

  His laugh dimly echoed off the rocks. I watched him swim to shore and stand at the mouth of the steep, winding path that led back up the cliffs to the main ground. He was so handsome it made my heart ache.

  He cupped both hands around his mouth. “Would you mind throwing my cloth down?”

  I smiled broadly and shook my head in disbelief, then turned around to retrieve it. Right in front of my nose, I saw the black hem of a robe swishing around hidden feet.

  I screamed a
nd jerked backwards. I wasn’t scared! I wasn’t! I just needed to think! Was I under attack? What was this?

  I began crawling backward to allow myself time and room to think. Another longer scream escaped as I ran out of ground and I fell onto my back, almost plunging over the edge of the rock. I was trapped!

  I sat up and saw a black robed figure down on one knee with a bowed head. “Forgive me, Missstress. I didn’t mean to ssscare you.” The airy hiss of the voice made me imagine what a snake would sound like if one could talk.

  Seeing this figure in a submissive position calmed my heart. I found my voice. “Wh…why are you kneeling?”

  Then the head lifted.

  In the effort to hold back another scream, I squeaked, and made odd noises in my throat. My eyes nearly popped out of my sockets, not from fear, but from disbelief.

  It was not a human’s face looking up at me. Its skin was of human color, but it wasn’t skin that covered its human-sized skull; it was scales. Scales also covered the long mouth, head and the abnormally long neck. Yellow eyes bulged from under hairless brows. The eyes held not a black dot but a vertical diamond-shaped pupil. A forked tongue hissed out of the mouth when it spoke.

  It was a snake’s head! It was a snake’s head on a two-foot-long neck!

  “Are you not the one who hasss the necklace?”

  “I…I have it, yes, but it doesn’t belong to me. My friends —” my voice failed as my throat seemed to close from the sight before me. I swallowed past the lump. “My friends and I are on a journey to find the owner and return it.”

  “I am here to help you, Misssstress.” It rose to its feet and walked toward me.

  I felt helpless, paralyzed as it reached into its black robe. Was it going to pull a knife and kill me? My sword was behind the creature! I couldn’t get to it!

  I tried to back away, mostly to give me enough room to think, but I ran out of ground. I was trapped. I looked up into the snake eyes, not afraid, just helpless. It pulled its human hand from its robe. Expecting a knife to glint in the sunlight, I closed my eyes and waited for pain and death. Instead, a soft, satiny material draped around my naked shoulders.