Shelter of Sighs

by Bethan Johns

  I watched him as he watched me. I do not think I had ever seen a creature so calm, it vied with the only other impression of him I had gotten. But I suppose that had only been a picture of the magnitude of his magical strength. I was trying to figure out how a male who reminded my so much of a calm crystal-clear pool could be lovers with the hurricane-ridden deep ocean that was Sierade Gwaynten.

  “You’re trying to figure out how Sierade and I could be lovers.” He said.

  I jerked hard, feeling around in my head to ensure he had not broken through.

  “I did not need to enter your mind, I know you.” His expression was bland, but I was sure I could see a small hint of amusement in his crimson eyes.

  “How am I supposed to reconcile the male I am meeting now with the female who is still throwing creation monsters out at my armies; the female who can kill millions and not seem to care?” I said.

  He smiled down at his bloodied fingers “There are many things that you do not understand about Sierade; she is not as she appears, as you have decided to perceive her.”

  “She is mad.” I said.

  He shook his head sadly “I do not know that she is, perhaps she is the only one left maintaining any clarity, but that makes her seem mad.”

  I was silent for a moment “She told me once, a long time ago that she was afraid that one day she would give too much and that there would be not enough left of herself to control her power.”

  His brows furrowed, and he took a deep breath. Leaning his head back, he closed his eyes and I watched his chest rise and fall. I could feel his calming presence washing over me. I could see how he could be the most powerful psychic in the planes, he wasn't even using any powers on me and I was already relaxing my guard around him automatically.

  “That makes me feel a deep grief for her. It makes me miss the creature she once was.” He whispered.

  “When was the last time you saw her?” I asked

  “It must have been about fifty years ago.” He looked at me then. “That was when I requested she stop harming innocents.”

  I nodded.

  “She told you?” he asked

  I nodded again.

  He sat forward again looking out over the bloodied killing field below us, his hair blowing in the breeze. “I promised her long, long ago that I would love her no matter how far away her destiny took her because even back then, we knew she had a destiny, that she would be going places I could not follow.”

  I blew out my breath. “You are one strong male to be able to love a force like that.”

  He shook his head “Loving Sierade is easy. Learning that it was never in the plans for her to truly be with me is difficult. She tries, she truly does. She loves me, but love cannot outshine an exploding sun and that is what Siera and her destiny equate to.”

  “Do you know where she is?” I questioned.

  “I can always feel her.” He responded.

  I waited for him to continue.

  “Sometimes, when I call her loud enough she will hear me, and she will come.” He said sadly.

  “Do you think she has gone too far now, that Siera is gone? As she feared? Into her power?” I wanted to ask all the questions that he would be willing to answer. This seemed a rare opportunity to speak to Sylek. Not only was he the closest creature to Sierade, he was also my foremost challenger in this war, and an extremely famous and talented Howelltie.

  He smiled as though he knew exactly what I was thinking. He looked over at me. “Don’t you see Gaelen? Siera is power. She was born pure power. She has always been lost in it.”

  I shook my head at him “I do not understand.” I said

  He laughed softly, his amusement finally leaking through to show on his features, “I truly hope that one day you will know what I see when I look at her. Learn to not judge her against things she was never meant to be compared to. She is not like you and me, she is other and when it comes to a creature like her, you can not simply love the parts of her that fit. You have to see the beauty even in the chaos.”

  “The Chaos Goddess.” I whispered.

  He nodded and stood stretching. “It appears everyone is gone. Could you please rift me back to Howelltie?”

  I nodded “What would you have done had I not been here.”

  He smirked at me. “I am the most powerful psychic known on all the planes, you really think I wouldn’t figure it out?”

  I laughed. “You, Sylek Darque, were not what I expected.”

  ✽✽✽

  Sierade

  Year 10,468

  I awoke in the Queen’s bedchamber. It looked much the same as the last few times I had been here; it never really seemed to change. I looked down at her where she slept, and I let my eyes drift lazily over her form. She truly was beautiful; it was hard to believe I had been lovers with her for decades.

  I dove deep into the pool. I had let the tendrils of the Tundra go for my visit and I felt free in a way I hadn’t in a long while. It had been quite a few years since I had let go of the Tundra. It kept whispering to me that it was almost time. I still did not know for what.

  I watched and waited. I grew my creations. My silent soldiers. I watched as their hope burnt out. As the light started flickering out of their eyes, they knew their lives would never amount to more than this single war they had been bred for. I announced to them over and over that they would live on through the Tundra, they did not understand.

  I looked up the stairs that led up to the bed as I skimmed the water and thought of Aubliette. Decades. We had been lovers for decades, I would only come and see her every few years, but for decades she had been the only person to person physical contact I had.

  But I did not love her. I did not even like her. I just knew I would have use for her at some point. I knew it was a good move to control her game piece.

  I think she loved me. When she turned and looked at me sometimes her eyes glittered in that special way only for me. Either that, or she loved power, and she knew I was power.

  I sighed as I rifted away.

  I appeared in the command tent at the Rustlavayne Merc Camp.

  Rislin stood, shocked at my appearance. I looked down and remembered I was nude.

  “Sorry.” I muttered and snapped a simple tunic and some leggings into place with a pair of fur-lined loafers.

  “Sierade, it has been so long. How have you been? Where have you been? The things they say about you!”

  I smiled at her. Rislin was still as beautiful as ever.

  “I hear they call me Chaos Goddess.” I said.

  She nodded, her eyes widening. “They also call you Planet Destroyer, but I never believed that.”

  I shook my head. “It is an apt enough name.”

  She opened her mouth and I interrupted her “Look Rislin, can I be honest with you, I don’t even know why I rifted here. I wasn’t even thinking. As wonderful as it is to see you, this place hurts my heart and I assume I am looking for Sylek. Is he nearby?”

  She nodded. “He’s in his tent, I could …”

  I picked up the location of his tent from her head and immediately rifted. He was asleep. He looked the same as the last time I had seen him. His broad chest pale and speckled with scars. He looked peaceful and rested.

  He opened his eyes suddenly and sat up staring at me.

  “Si?”

  I moved to sit on the side of his bed. He drew me into his arms and held me tight against his chest. His breathing was even, “I love you Sierade,” he whispered into my hair.

  “I have missed you desperately,” I whispered back. I let my fingers dig deep into his chest.

  I felt my throat tighten. I had forgotten what it felt like to be held by someone who loved you; even the last time I had seen him, we had barely touched and that was nearing a century ago.

  I sobbed quietly into his chest and he stroked gentle circles into my shoulders.

  “I turned Faust into a star over my favourite plane.” I told him.

  I
heard the rumble of gentle laughter in his chest. “What is the plane like?”

  I leaned back. “Oh, it’s a disaster. Tundra created it when I told it I loved music. Tundra can’t really understand music, so it is basically a cacophony of random noises that I have slowly been tuning over the years. Some realms on the plane are quite pleasant. Others I haven’t even touched and when you spend more than a few minutes there, your ears ring for days.”

  He laughed softly. “It sounds exquisite.”

  I smiled at him. “I’ll take you there one day.”

  He cocked his head at me. “You mean to tell me I will get you back one day?”

  I nodded “I think so, but I’m sorry Sylek. Not for a long while.”

  He shook his head. “Why? How long?”

  “I don’t know the answer to either of those questions. I am going to win you this war first though. I can’t give you exact times, but soon, it will be over. With barely any lives lost on either side.”

  He smiled. “Truly?” I nodded. “Truly.”

  He pulled me close again and held me near his chest. I pushed him back into the bed and snuggled under the covers with him. I let him tangle his long legs with mine as he hummed gentle songs to me.

  I fell asleep in his arms.

  Chapter 17 – The Death of Me

  Year 10,480 AC

  Gaelen

  Elliot and I tried to take time to walk throughout our garden regularly to meander and talk and forget the stressful situations that seemed to follow us everywhere we went throughout these past years.

  This time the walk took place in the evening. The sun, bowed low in the sky, glittered fantastically in the fountains causing an unearthly calming effect on us as we wandered through the stone walkways.

  Elliot walked a few paces ahead of me, and I watched the set of his graceful shoulders as he moved. His earrings, glinting in the sunlight along with his hair, added to the overall decadence of the evening.

  As though he could feel me watching, he tilted his head back to glance at me before turning and continuing to walk as he spoke.

  "You know what I'm going to ask you for."

  I rolled my eyes. "I know Elliot. Do you not realize that we are at war? How much free time do you think I have?"

  He turned to face me now, stopping his steady gait to shove his hands into his pockets and narrow his eyes at me.

  "I don't really care. It has been ages Gaelen."

  I stopped as well.

  "I do not have time to go hunting for some obscure painter and obtain their works for you."

  It was a lie. I had been working on finding the artist. The artist that I had dreamed about and then shared the dream with Elliot. He had not let me go more than a few weeks without bringing it up again to remind me.

  He did not know that my own mind would not let me forget either. I had a prophetic dream about a painter. Did he really think I would not also want to investigate?

  The dream was a simple one compared to many of my prophetic dreams. I could not remember the painter's face. All that was clear was the perfection of the work, the massive tapestries depicting Angels and the Tundra. Things were in conflict with the rest of the dream as it appeared this artist lived and worked upon a human plane. A human plane that otherwise seemed unaware of magic.

  It certainly did pique my curiosity. Often my dreams meant nothing of import. They were a seemingly random slew of images from other creatures' lives. This one would probably be the same, but the paintings were nothing to scoff at and I would certainly like to obtain at least one. Possibly ask this artist to paint more.

  I continued to badger Elliot. "Why can you not go obtain it for yourself?"

  He scoffed and turned back around.

  "Do you not realize we are at war? I am the Crown Prince and far busier than you are."

  I chuckled softly before I started walking at a quicker pace to catch up with him again. He was right, Elliot barely had time to sleep these days what with all the damage control he was doing in the wake of Aubliette's hurricane.

  She was becoming more and more power hungry, commanding larger and larger armies, asking increasingly more unethical demands of her soldiers. Not only her soldiers, but her council members.

  I could tell by the tilt to Elliot's head that his mind was racing along the same paths of thought as mine. He had stopped sticking up for her in private forums as much as possible. I could see that it tore at it him to hate his own mother as much as he now did.

  He hated fighting for her. They had never been close, but the past few decades had certainly destroyed what little love they might have shared.

  When he stopped again in front of me, his head bowed, I could no longer tease him. These walks were supposed to be about forgetting our woes, not finding reasons to bring them to the forefront.

  "I will find you your painter, Elliot."

  He looked back at me over his shoulder with a sigh. "When?"

  I smiled at him and brushed his hair from his shoulder. I knew where I needed to go.

  "Now."

  I rifted.

  It was a strange place to rift into; I knew that I must remain unseen. It seemed like an innocuous enough stone room in that it had a simple wardrobe, bed and water jug with a few glasses on a stand by the door. Moving forward quietly, I looked out the window to see the dusty earth of a war camp far below.

  A Howelltie war camp, one of a few belonging to the Rustlavayne. I chuckled to myself. Deep in the midst of enemy territory I stood. I was not looking for tactical advantage however, this was a personal errand.

  I turned back to the room and sighed. I had no idea how long it would be before Sylek returned to these chambers. If indeed they were still his chambers, it had been some time since I had rifted him here from that cliffside.

  I sat down upon the bed to wait.

  I must have fallen asleep because I was awakened by the feeling of a blade at my throat. Opening my eyes and trying not to move suddenly, I saw through the shadows that had formed in the room, a startlingly beautiful Howelltie female.

  We held eye contact, neither of us moving. I couldn't see whether the blade at my throat was made of ash or silver.

  I swallowed gently.

  "Rislin." A voice from the darkness spoke.

  Her eyes flickered, but she did not move a muscle.

  A pale hand appeared out of the darkness to rest upon her arm.

  "Rislin. Let him up." His voice was gentler this time and she turned her head to look back at him before stepping away from me.

  I sat up slowly as Sylek stepped into view.

  "What do you want Gaelen?" He asked.

  My eyes drifted to Rislin. She did not need to be here.

  She scoffed and turned to face Sylek, who conceded a very small nod, and she left the room.

  I watched her go and continued staring at the door.

  "I need your help Sylek."

  Feeling his weight shift the bed as he sat on the edge, I turned to watch him.

  "What would you have of me Stormcleaver?"

  "It is a personal favour." I muttered, unsure now if he would even grant such a thing.

  He nodded "I figured, you would not have shown up in my bedchambers unannounced otherwise. Speak."

  I rolled my eyes. "You are succinct. Tundra!"

  He turned now to stare at me. "I have had a long day. I may or may not help you, but if you decide to take any longer to speak your request, I will simply put you to sleep so I can get some rest."

  I stood from the bed. "I need you to find someone for me, or rather a plane. The person I can find on my own."

  "What information do you have?" He asked, his eyes closed now. He truly did look on the verge of collapse, this creature did not give off the same aura of calm as the Sylek I had met previously. More like the calm before a storm. A storm that had already worked its way through many villages and cities wreaking havoc as it went.

  "I have only images. Images of creatures I hope are
unique to the plane and vegetation as well."

  He shook his head. "Why come to me? Why not a geographer? Why not a naturalist?"

  I laughed. "Because I know what you spend your spare time doing. Flipping through the pages of every creature's mind that you meet. You have probably witnessed more of every plane in this universe than any other creature. I know you are capable of soaking in ages of memories and thoughts from entire armies in mere minutes. You have more information inside your head than centuries worth of research a geographer or naturalist could do."

  He watched me carefully; I got the impression that he did not like that I knew that much about his capabilities. It was true that not many truly understood what a psychic as strong as Sylek could be capable of. Using one's mind as a weapon was far more dangerous than many would give credit to.

  "Look, Sylek, I believe that you could find this information in a matter of minutes. Do me this favour?"

  Watching me still. He responded after a few moments of silence.

  "Does this have anything to do with Sierade?"

  I shook my head. "Not a thing."

  "Fine." He stood, held out his hand to me and closed his eyes. "Send me the images."