“Kalic!” Erendil shouted as he dropped his weapon and ran for his friend.
“Do not fret, Erendil,” Kalic said as he brought up a hand. With the other he gripped the arrow in his chest and pulled it out, a painful grunt escaping his lips. Blood spilled from the open wound.
“What?” asked Erendil in bewilderment. Before his very eyes he saw the wound stitch itself up like magic until the only evidence was the hole in Kalic’s armor where the arrow had pierced.
“Pick up thine bow,” Kalic commanded.
“Your weapon is broken,” Erendil said with narrowed brows. “How can you be an elementalist?”
“I told thou, I’m no elementalist,” Kalic replied. He hovered a hand over his chest. “Like thou, a monster dwells within, and that monster won’t let me die. Many nights it had spent vying for control of my body to escape. I am a dragoon.”
“Dr—dragoon?” Erendil repeated. “So, whatever it is inside you wants to take control?”
“Wanted,” corrected Kalic. “My will emerged victorious.”
“I see,” Erendil said as he made his way back toward his weapon and picked it up. “You’re saying that I have to give in to the darkness and face Akaba head-on.”
“Yes,” said Kalic.
“And how many arrows will that take?” Erendil asked, raising his bow and aiming at Kalic once more.
“As many as need be,” Kalic replied.
_ _ _
The four riders were well away from Adderton by the time night arrived. The hot, blaring sun and the stifling air was replaced with a bright moon and a sharp coldness belying the daytime. The sky was lit with thousands of bright stars, nary a sound other than the occasional howl from someplace beyond.
A warm blanket and a roaring fire protected Arwynn from the harshness of the night. The four of them sat huddled close to the warmth without much word being exchanged since they settled down.
“Over yonder is Poisonpoint Canyon,” Darius said as he pointed to the southeast. “Maybe a half-day’s ride ‘till we hit the rocks. Only way to get to the Ghadji Desert from here. Keep your eyes peeled. The canyon holds many dangers.”
“The canyon, and the desert,” added Raxxil, who was doodling on the ground with a stick to keep his mind busy, if Arwynn was to guess. He never did much of that unless they were away from the fight for long periods of time. “The desert is not welcoming. Besides the elements, some parts are not safe to roam.”
“The vilicid?” Samantha asked. Her face had a little more color to it than earlier, and she seemed a bit stronger as well. “Have you ever come across one?”
Raxxil shook his head. “You?”
“No,” replied Samantha. “I’ve always thought them as a story to scare off children with wanderlust from getting lost in the sands. Seems like there’s a story like that just about everywhere I go. Children-eating monsters lying in wait for misfortunate souls. I’m starting to realize who the real monsters are.”
“I wish I could take it back,” Darius said, unable to lock eyes with any of the others.
“I… wasn’t talking about you, Darius,” Samantha clarified as she threw up her hands and shook them palms facing outward. “It’s just that I’ve tried my best not to think about the war so much. I just can’t reconcile what I saw.”
“Then you’ll end up drowning in your own mind,” Raxxil said, throwing the stick away and giving Samantha a hard stare.
Samantha closed her eye and sighed.
“What’s a vilicid?” Arwynn asked as she waved her hands in the air at Raxxil, both hoping to get everyone’s minds away from troubling thoughts and also out of genuine curiosity.
Raxxil shrugged. “All I know is what I’ve heard. Bugs the size of horses that burrow colonies under the sands of Ghadji.”
Arwynn swallowed hard. “B-bugs?”
“I’ve heard of them, too,” added Darius. “Even met a few who say they encountered one. Claimed they lost fingers, hands, even arms to ‘em. I couldn’t really tell if that was true or not.”
Raxxil stood up and started toward his tent. “True or not, we can’t afford to lose focus until Liberty is dead, and we still have a long way to go. Get some good sleep tonight.”
“He’s right,” Darius said as he too went for his tent, leaving the two women.
Arwynn looked at Samantha, then to the fire, back to Samantha, and finally stopped at the flames. The more she gazed into the fire, the more she felt a rising urgency in her stomach. Since arriving to Onturi she had forced herself to focus solely on the mission and to disregard the feelings welling within.
She had to show Raxxil what she was capable of. That was what he saw in Samantha, right? A strong woman, one who could match him in ferocity and stand side-by-side against… whatever.
She had to show him that she wasn’t just someone for him to protect.
Samantha yawned, then stood up, took a step but stopped. She turned to look at Arwynn. “Arwynn?”
“Hmm?” Arwynn replied without taking her gaze off of the flames.
Samantha took a while to speak. “Nothing.” She too disappeared within the confines of her tent, leaving Arwynn alone by the fire.
Minutes passed by, Arwynn’s focus stuck on the cackling flames until they gradually subsided into a collection of embers. Arwynn took a deep breath and got up.
She took a few steps toward her own tent, but stopped midway and faced Samantha’s. She snuck to the front of Samantha’s tent and waited there for several minutes, opening and closing her mouth several times when she got the urge to say something but stopped each time.
“Arwynn, is that you?” asked Samantha’s voice from within the tent.
Arwynn jumped and almost squeaked. “Sorry, I… uh…”
“Yes?” Samantha said, the flap of her tent opening and her face poking out. Arwynn could tell that Samantha had removed the outer layer of her armor, leaving just a shirt that left her shoulders and collarbones exposed.
Arwynn pursed her lips, debating on whether or not to dive into the rabbit hole of her unspoken anguish.
“I can tell that something is on your mind,” Samantha said when Arwynn took too long.
“It’s about Raxxil,” Arwynn said, looking down at her hands.
Samantha nodded. “I know. He’s wearing himself out on this crusade. I wish—“
“N-no, it’s not that,” Arwynn interrupted. “It’s…” She smiled awkwardly. “You like Raxxil, right?”
“Do I…?” started Samantha, but her voice trailed off and her eye narrowed. She too smiled in embarrassment. “I suppose you could say that.”
“Like, or love?” pressed Arwynn, adding extra emphasis to the last word.
“If I said yes, would that irk you?” Samantha replied.
“Have you professed it to him?” Arwynn asked, ignoring Samantha’s question.
Samantha took a moment to ponder. “I don’t think something like that would be appropriate right now. Raxxil’s right. We need to focus.”
“What about him?” Arwynn continued. “Has he done the same to you?”
“No, get some sleep, Arwynn,” Samantha said before vanishing into her tent.
Arwynn remained where she was, flushed and hot. If she saw herself she guessed that she would have looked like a tomato. She curled her hands into tight fists, so tight that she felt her nails digging cuts into her hands. Then she turned and dove into her own tent.
She knew that she wouldn’t sleep that night.
_ _ _
Arwynn’s eyes shot open at the sound of rustling and voices beyond her tent. It was dawn, and a night of tossing and turning had left her sleepless. She remained where she was, eyes staring at the ceiling of her tent.
Am I going to lose you to her, Raxxil?
The thought had been on her mind the entire night. Better yet, had she already lost him, or did she never have him to begin with? Would it have been better for him to just let her die back then?
Movement at the cor
ner of her eye made Arwynn glance casually to her right, her gaze focusing on a skittering, chitinous creature coming at her with sharp pincers and a long tail ending with a stinger.
“Ah, a vilicid!” screamed Arwynn as she jumped so high that she unhooked her tent from the ground and tangled with it during her descent. She landed back in the same spot on her rear, the horrible monster right at her feet. She panicked, her blade resting several feet away with the vilicid between her and Cadence.
The vilicid, with its eyes and stinger set on Arwynn, charged at her—
A bolt pierced its carapace, pinning the vilicid to the ground. It squirmed for several moments until it went limp. Arwynn looked up to see Darius holding his crossbow aimed at the vilicid with one eye closed.
“That ain’t no vilicid, darlin’,” said Darius. Satisfied that the bug wasn’t moving, he lowered his weapon. “Black Poisonpoint Scorpion is what that is. Did it sting you?”
Arwynn, still wrapped up in the tent, shook her head.
“Good, cause if it had, ya’d be dead by now,” replied the bounty hunter. “Ain’t no known antidote, and there’s plenty of critters like that in Poisonpoint Canyon. Best be careful once we reach the cliffs.”
“Speaking of which, it’s time to go,” Raxxil said, already finished with packing his horse. He gave Arwynn a hard stare. “Let’s go, Tanaria.”
“I’m not… ugh!” she mumbled as she disentangled herself. She scrambled to put her tent away, then started packing her horse. On the other side of it, off in the distance, she saw rising dust trails and some dots that were growing bigger.
“Uh, what’s that?” she asked over her shoulder, her eyes fixed on what was coming at them. The dots formed shapes, and then those shapes formed into recognizable figures.
About half a dozen of riders looking very similar to Darius, silly hat and all, were coming their way.
“Who cares?” Raxxil replied as he mounted his horse and signaled for the others to do the same. “We’ll lose them soon. We don’t have time for this.”
Raxxil running away from a fight?
Arwynn mounted her horse. Samantha was already mounted, and Raxxil waited for Darius to do so as well. The bounty hunter had stopped in the middle of packing, his eyes glued to the incoming riders.
“Darius?” Arwynn called.
“So, reckoning has come after all,” Darius said, but it sounded like he was talking to himself.
“Darius, we need to go,” Arwynn urged.
“I’m staying,” he said, finally taking his eyes off the riders and looking at Arwynn and the others.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Raxxil asked.
Darius looked down, smiled, and shook his head. “Look, I don’t know if this makes any sense. Maybe it will to ya ex-Order folk. Never thought about it a whole lot before, but elementalists are proof that there’s somethin’ beyond, ya know?”
“What are you saying, Darius?” asked Samantha.
Darius looked back at the riders and shrugged. “I believe in the soul. I tried to pay for what I did. Maybe this is a sign that I gave back enough, and it’s time to give my last payment.”
The bounty hunter turned to Raxxil and winked. “Now go, and give me a man’s word I won’t see yer grubby mugs again. Respect my honor, that sorta thing.”
“Farewell,” Raxxil said. “I’ll remember you as the worst bounty hunter ever.”
Darius smirked. “Not such a bad thing, I suppose.”
Raxxil nodded, then tugged on his reins and was off.
“Ladies,” Darius said as he tipped his hat. “Ye both best be off before they catch up. It’s my blood they want.”
“Darius,” started Arwynn, “you can’t just—“
“Arwynn,” interrupted Samantha, jerking her head toward Raxxil when Arwynn looked over. “It’s what Darius wants.”
Arwynn looked back at Darius. “Just like that you’re going to leave us?”
“That’s what life is, little missy,” Darius said as he turned his back to them. “Leave me be with my phantoms.”
By now, Samantha was already off after Raxxil. Arwynn stared at Darius’s back for several seconds, then gave up. She grabbed hold of the reins, then looked back one last time.
“Goodbye, Darius,” she said, and when he did not answer, she rode after the others.
Serraemas, Erendil, and now Darius. Will I lose them all, one-by-one? And to what? Pride. Honor. Pointlessness. Am I the only one to dream of just love and happiness?
“We can’t just leave him!” Arwynn yelled over the sound of galloping as she neared Raxxil and Samantha.
“You heard him,” Raxxil shouted back. “He thinks that he’s repenting for his sins.”
Arwynn gaped at Raxxil. “You don’t even believe in that!”
“It doesn’t matter what I believe in,” he replied. “A person is free to choose their path. He chose his, and I’m choosing mine.”
“Samantha, you can’t agree with that?” Arwynn asked, hoping the two girls could at least agree on something.
But Samantha said nothing.
“Fine,” Arwynn said as she tugged on her reins, slowing her horse to a halt and then turning back. “Then I’m choosing my path, too.”
“Wait, Tanaria!” she heard Raxxil yell, but it was already too late. If no one was going to help Darius, then she would alone.
Chapter 24
289th Dawn of the 5010th Age of Lion
Phantom
I see you in the corner of my eye
But when I look I see only a lie
Why do I give you permission to haunt me?
Phantom
Not even my bolts of lightning can strike you down
You wear me like I’d wear a crown
How do you wear my face better than I do?
Phantom
When I run you only get faster
And when I stand my ground you only get darker
Is there any way to leave you behind?
Darius watched the riders as they approached. He counted six of them, nothing that he hadn’t handled before even without Truebolt. He instinctively reached for his crossbow, aimed it at the forefront rider, and slid his finger around the trigger.
He then lowered the weapon and sighed. Some habits were sure hard to shake off.
“Sorry, ol’ buddy,” he said to his elemental. “I have to do this.”
“I understand, Darius,” replied Truebolt.
“Do you, really?” he asked.
“We were connected from the very beginning,” said the elemental. “Even though you did not hold me in your hands, I saw it all. I saw you stripped from your family and home, raised by an impostor. With every life you took, a piece of your heart taken without you knowing.”
Darius sighed. “Let’s just hope I did enough.”
“I have no doubt,” said Truebolt.
The riders circled Darius, all six of them aiming right at his head with fireshooters. They all wore deputies’ attire, fashioned with shiny badges denoting authority. The foremost one, standing right in front of Darius, gave him a toothy smirk.
“Tommy, I take it?” Darius asked.
“Thumbcutter,” replied Tommy, though he said nothing more nor made any other movement. The seven of them remained where they were for a few moments in stalemate.
“Well, ain’t ya gonna reach for yer crossbow?” Tommy asked after a while.
“I’m here to surrender,” Darius said as he held up his hands. “I’m ready to accept whatever comes.”
The six others burst out laughing for what felt like was too long.
“Hear that, boys?” Timothy said in between bursts of laughter, saliva flying in all directions. “Thumbcutter wants to surrender!”
“Get this over with,” Darius said. “Shoot me where I stand or take me to trial, the Western Reaches will no longer be haunted by Thumbcutter.”
“The Western Reaches?” Tommy repeated. “You mean what’s left of it, after th
at bastard from the southeast came barging into our land.”
“Liberty?” Darius asked.
“The one and only,” Tommy affirmed. “Didn’t ya notice, Thumbcutter? The Western Reaches is now one big ghost town after Liberty came and forced just about any able-body to fight for him. Anyone left either hid in the hills or wasn’t hit. I guess the point is, ain’t no body to haunt no more, Thumbcutter.”
Darius shrugged. “My choice is all the same.”
“The real question is,” started Tommy as he touted his guns around, “is what the hell are ya doin’ out here? If ya thought ya could terrorize some more, ya were dead wrong.”
Tommy pointed at Darius’s crossbow. “Yer outmatched and outgunned six-to-one.”
“I told you already, I’m surrenderin’,” Darius said.
“Ya ain’t foolin’ no one,” Tommy said, once again pointing his fireshooter right at Darius’s face. “If ya thought ya’d get outta this one, ya—“
A hammer flew in out of nowhere, striking Tommy square in the face and triggering an explosion. Likewise, bursts of flame erupted at the positions of the other five before anyone could react, sending the horses fleeing in terror and the immolated deputies screaming in pain.
In the blink of an eye Darius found himself surrounded by burning corpses. He whipped his head around, finding a familiar trio on horseback waiting for him not too far away.
“What in tarnation did ya do, Raxxil!?” Darius roared, finding no amusement in the fact that he was mad at someone who had just saved his life. “Are ya a man of code or not?”
“I am, but she’s not,” Raxxil said as he pointed at Arwynn. “She came back for you. I had no choice but to kill them.”
Darius fell to his knees.
Did I just miss my one chance at redemption?
He felt a hand touch his shoulder, and he looked up at Samantha.
“Whether your time was meant to be now or not makes no difference, Darius,” she said with a slight smile. “I know you as Darius, not Thumbcutter, and I know you to be a good man. There is still good to be done, if you’re willing. That’s what God looks for, if you’re wanting your soul by his side, that is.”
Silent Requiem (Tales of Ashkar Book 3) Page 30