by RG Long
Ferdinand nodded his head.
“And as I have always maintained,” he said, taking several steps to close the gap between them. “Your Skrilx kind are more than welcome to derive order from the chaos we create.”
Rark nodded and began to move away from Ferdinand, thinking their conversation was complete.
“Your warriors will be ready in the morning to go on?” he asked.
“Of course,” she said, maintaining a tight grip on her spear. “Those were the orders I had given them. To meet the airships in the morning.”
“They are amazing warriors, your Skrilx. It’s no small wonder that Rerial saw you were such a threat. Much more capable than the average man of dealing out death and destruction. How did they manage to defeat your kind again?”
Rark’s face was turning into a snarl that she did not care to control. Why was he bringing up there defeat? Surely he knew how they feel to the Rerial nation.
“Speakers,” Rark growled. “Magic users who were willing to throw their spells at us, but not engage us honorably. Those who can shape the elements to their desire. Those who can deliver death from a distance. They never even have to look their enemy in the eye and kill them with honor. Cowards.”
She looked up to see Ferdinand inspecting her with a curious expression.
“Yes. Magic does add a bit of a tricky piece when it comes to strategy. It’s too bad the speakers cannot keep up their magic unless they have adequate food and rest. Otherwise surely magic would always win the day. Rimstone is a curious rock. It can produce an infinite amount of magic. It never runs out. But the one wielding it, that’s the key.”
Rark didn’t understand. She looked beside her to make sure that her guards were still close by. Thankfully, they were. Smoke and ash were growing around them as the fires continue to grow closer.
“Perhaps we should move from this spot, Ferdinand,” chief Rark said. “Your speakers are growing ambitious with their flames.”
“I don’t fear them,” Ferdinand replied. “Mere humans with rocks. What do I have to fear?”
He took a few steps closer.
“Anyone can speak to the elements through the stone. But it takes someone with great skill in order to not exhaust themselves outright. The elves are better than humans, so far as I can tell. They know the discipline of moderation. Dwarves craft find things I’m sure, but there’s one greater who can wield the stone. Another race innately born to interact with Rimstone.”
Rark knew of other races but had always considered them to be lesser. Goblins and Wrents such. Was Ferdinand referring to them? Surely not the Skrilx. Her kind had never studied Magic. She had forbidden it. It had been the thing that had sent them into exile. But the way that Ferdinand looked at her now made her doubt.
Her eyes widened.
“You don’t mean...” She began to ask.
Ferdinand moved quickly. At the same time, his dagger found its mark inside her ribs, volts of magical energy shot down from beside them and decimated her guards.
Ferdinand shoved Rark off of his blade and down into the rubble beside her dead warriors.
“I do not know why the Skrilx are more adept at magic when they do not desire to use the skills given to them by the gods,” Ferdinan said. “And I cannot have a chief stand in the way of progress. You are right. Magic will be the decimation of the strong. You were wise to ban your people from using it. But now that they will mourn your death, they will train to use magic as well.”
Rark was having a difficult time breathing. Searing pain and heat were shooting through her chest. Each passing breath was more and more difficult. The smoke that she inhaled filled her lungs and made her cough violently. Each cough made her vision grow blacker. The only thing that stopped the blackness from engulfing her was the bright orange lights that danced in her vision.
The fires were getting close.
“Your Warriors fight quite valiantly, for the filth that you are,” Ferdinand spat in Rark’s direction. “Let’s see if they continue to do so when I am their chief.”
Ferdinand turned and walked away. The helmeted speaker followed behind him quickly. The woman with short hair, however, stopped and looked down at Rark for several moments. Rark only stared back up at her. She had heard tales of the short-haired woman who accompanied Ferdinand. She was a Court of Three commander turned rogue. A violent woman who had no heart. Rark didn’t know why she lingered. Her lisp curved into a snarl before she turned and followed the others.
Rark could feel blood trickling out between her fingers as she held onto her side. She did not know how long she had until her lifeblood left her or the fire claimed her.
All she knew was that her revenge was incomplete.
36: A World At Peace
Cyna walked behind Ferdinand as they surveyed the damage that had been done to Poral. The destruction of the city had been complete. There wasn’t much left standing anywhere. The Blackthorn Gang and the Court of Three were reckless in their razing of the city. Anything that moved was killed. Any stone on top of another was cast down. Not a single structure was left complete.
They were relentless in their destruction. Cyna appreciated the violence that was being done. She had seen battles and wars before, having had her fair share of skirmishes and a few fights in the war between Rerial and the Court. But it was nothing quite as complete as this.
Ferdinand really was going to throw the continent into chaos. If their army continued to swell, there would be no other force that could stop them. They would march over Redact until there was nothing left but ashes.
Then again, Cyna saw how easily Ferdinand had turned on the chief of the Skrilx.
When would it be time for her to meet the same fate?
She had to be ready. When the hammer fell, she would have to deal the first blow against any who would strike her down. She was familiar with the practice, having orchestrated a few betrayals of her own making. Walking alongside the man who was her current master, she measured her words carefully.
“Do we really intend to leave for the south in the morning?” she asked as Ferdinand wiped the Skrilx’s blood off his dagger.
“That is still the plan so far as I know,” Ferdinand replied. “I am about to see if there had been any changes. “
Cyna felt confused. Why would there be changes? And if there were, why would Ferdinand need to hear about that? Was he not the leader of this war of chaos?
From within his jacket, Ferdinand produced a small, intricately designed box. It was finely crafted with Rimstones all around it, yet fit easily in the palm of his hand. It also looked vaguely familiar to her.
Placing it on the ground, Ferdinand pressed his hand to it and spoke a few words of magic.
He took a few steps back and then bowed before the box.
“I suggest you bow,” Ferdinand said as Cyna watched the ground around it begin the glow.
The Speaker who had walked with them and kept his helmet on bowed down as Ferdinand did, but Cyna found her gaze transfixed on the box.
A glow that had been contained within the box slowly began to lift up and formed a circle in the air. Inside of that circle, Cyna could see as if looking through a door, a man seated on a chair. She tilted her head as he looked at her with a disdainful impression.
An unseen force shoved her to the ground, and she hit so hard that the wind was knocked out of her. She gasped and gagged for air as she heard Ferdinand speak.
“Another city burns at your command, my Lord,” he said. “Poral has been reduced to ash.”
Cyna found her breath just enough to glance upward to the light. The man did not speak but rather looked up. He nodded once at something unseen and then turned his attention back to Ferdinand.
“Taystone and Severn are at war. LeGrove will soon follow. I do not think it would be wise to split your efforts.”
There was a pause as Cyna attempted to take a kneeling position, but found that same force keeping her firmly fixed upon the ground.<
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“Continue on as planned,” he said. “Those who walk in purple flame have taken notice and may appear once more. If anything remains after the war between humans and dwarves, proceed to Darc and deliver that nation up for sacrifice as well. I care nothing for it. I will be watching. Though there is one close by who may thwart my plan.”
“Are you command my Lord,” Ferdinand replied. “Chaos and destruction will reign throughout Redact.”
“And so long as it does,” the man said. “You shall live.”
The glow disappeared, and so did the man in the circle of magic.
Ferdinand stood and looked down at Cyna.
“We travel to Severn in the morning as planned,” he said as if nothing unusual had just occurred. He offered no hand to help her off the ground as she found that she was able to lift herself now. The force that had shoved her to the dirt now relented.
“Who was that?” Cyna asked.
Ferdinand smiled.
“Have you ever considered what an ant thinks of humans, elves, and dwarves? Imagine being so small and insignificant that you cannot even grasp what they do with their lives?”
Ferdinand picked up the box and replaced it into his jacket pocket.
“Suppose you took an ant who was on the verge of death and, by way of magic, nursed it to life and promised it eternal well-being so long as it served you. You do not need the ant. It is an amusing pet at best, nothing more.”
Cyna stood to her feet and looked at Ferdinand with a furrowed brow. What was he speaking of? The man or themselves?
“We are ants,” he said with certainty. “All of us are living in the shadow of a god. So long as I serve my master, I draw breath. He desires chaos, so do I. If I am to continue to exist, I will serve him; however he sees fit. It just so happens that I enjoy bringing ruin and chaos wherever I tread!”
Ferdinand chuckled at this and began to walk away from the spot they had encountered the man on the chair.
“Oh that the fates had our paths cross. Were it not for him, I would be dead, and the world would be at peace.”
37: The Suns Rise
The sun had risen up just as Elise had walked outside of the hallway and out onto the deck of the Sky Dart.
Odd dreams and the feeling of not belonging on this ship had made her sleep fitfully. Once she saw a glimmer of light from her window, she forced herself up and dressed as quietly as she could. Perhaps she could clear her mind with fresh air and a brisk new morning.
She found that she was not the only one out to see the suns rise. A Rimstone lit three figures huddled over a barrel with a cloth laid on top of it and several small objects being handled by their resident engineer. Jill, Jaxon, and Jurrin were all out on the deck inspecting a piece that Jill had apparently taken apart and was trying to put back together with the encouragement of Jurrin and the unhelpful musings of her husband.
“Such an odd piece!” he said. “Is that why they stopped making it like that? I haven’t seen them created this way in years! Doesn’t seem to want to work like it’s supposed to, does it?”
“I know it’s not working like it supposed to!” Jill replied through gritted teeth. “That’s why I pulled it out!”
“You’re doing a fine job, Miss Jill! I’m sure you’ll get it here soon!”
She shook her head and left the three of them to their own devices and went to join the other person who apparently had awoken early. Walking over to the front of the ship, she joined Ealrin who was leaning up against the rail. He didn’t move when she joined him. Instead, he kept looking out.
With the help of Blume and a little bit of luck, they had managed to move the ship into a place where it was hidden on most sides except for towards the sea. Mountains behind them to the east and a small grove of trees to the west kept the ship from most prying eyes. Currently, they were looking north with the sound of the waves muted by the distance but still barely perceptible from where they were stuck at the moment.
The reason they had risked moving the ship at all had been the strange lights they had seen in the sky the night before. It looked as if some battle of magic was going on in the direction of Poral. It had concerned everyone. But mostly they had decided they did not want to be out in the open if whatever it was over to the north came their way.
The ship had all but given up when they set it down into this place. If they couldn’t get it working, wherever they went to the next day would have to be by foot.
Elise had grown so accustomed to flying that she dreaded the possibility of having to walk somewhere.
“What do you think we should do?” Ealrin asked.
Elise leaned against the railing of the ship and let out a sigh. She was worried he was going to ask him. If he was still mad at her, he didn’t show it. Perhaps the trials of the last few days had been enough to wear down his anger.
“What are you asking me for?” she asked. “This is your fight. I had no part in it. If you want to go all peacekeeping, that’s up to you. I’m the one who started a rebellion, remember? Peace doesn’t normally register well with me.”
Ealrin grunted.
“You’re kind of impossible. You know that, right?”
“I am well aware of my deficiencies, thank you,” Elise said. “I am equally as aware of yours.”
This made Ealrin turn towards her.
“Really?” he asked, looking at her for the first time she had joined him on the railing. “Enlighten me then.”
Elise shrugged as she looked out towards the ocean.
“You desperately want to do the right thing,” she said. “So desperately that you are sometimes scared you’re not choosing the correct option. Sometimes you’re so blindly optimistic you’ll move forward even if it’s not the right option, but you believe that it has to be.”
She smirked a little as she remembered their past. The one he was still blank too.
“Even the day of the rebellion, you questioned it. Not because you didn’t believe in it,” she added quickly, watching his eyebrow raise. “That part was true. You were worried it was going to be too much loss of life. You didn’t want any unnecessary deaths.”
She let out a deep sigh.
“You’ve always wanted to do the right thing,” she said. “And I’ve tried to follow that example. It’s never been easy.”
She turned to look at him.
“About a year after you disappeared, we had a few airships up and running again. I sent one out to look for you. I so desperately wanted to believe that you were alive that I did what I thought was the right thing. That ship never came back.”
She shook her head.
“You’ve had a greater influence on me than I care to admit,” she said. “I thought it was the right thing and it cost us a valuable airship and several soldiers we didn’t have to lose. Who knows where that ship went? Stolen by pirates or ravaged by dragons.”
“It made it to me,” Ealrin said.
Elise blinked.
“You met an airship in Good Harbor and didn’t come back to Rerial? How did I miss that part of your story?”
“No, no,” Ealrin said, waving his hand. “The ship didn’t make it, a sailor did. Or soldier, I guess. He told me they had been looking for me. But he didn’t say who he was or where he was from. We thought he was another washed-up sailor like I was.”
Elise wasn’t sure if this news made her feel better or worse.
“We couldn’t spare any other airships past that and father told me we needed to move on. Live a life where it was just the two of us.”
She glanced his way and saw, in his face, the face of her father telling her to live a new life. One without her brother. It had been so difficult she had thrown herself into becoming a pilot to distract herself from her loss.
“And you were out there all along. Surviving. Fighting for peace. Doing the right thing.”
They both stood there in silence for a moment. The suns were continuing to climb over the horizon and cast shadows of trees
into the Sky Dart.
“You know that doesn’t help me at all, right?” Ealrin said.
“What?” Elise answered back, casting him a slight look. “You don’t think my musings are helpful? I guess you’ll just have to figure this out on your own. Which is what I’m actually trying to tell you. What do you believe is the right thing?”
Elise saw Ealrin turn and consider. She knew that his mind was working, but if it was anything like her own thoughts, it was scrambled and jumbled. Should they go back and find their father? Should they try to return to Rerial? Would there be any home to return to now that their father knew they were traitors? And what of the war with the Court?
Ealrin pushed off from the railing.
“The right thing to do,” he said. “Is to make breakfast for everyone. Come on, lazy. Let’s get cookin’.”
It didn’t take long for Elise and Ealrin to get everybody awake and eating. Silverwolf had gone to do some morning hunting and came back with two birds and some eggs they couldn’t identify but cooked up all the same.
Some spices from Jurrin’s box and some quick grains ground up to make some flatbread meant everyone was eating and in good spirits in no time.
Elise was glad to think about something else for the moment. She didn’t cook often. The servants at their father's residence had always taken care of the food. And for this group of people, the halfling had mostly been the one to take over that task. Though they all heartily agreed anyone could do a better job, the halfling was just willing.
That’s what Ealrin had told her at least. Jurrin was so engrossed with the airship at the moment; she had to shove the food underneath his nose to get him to realize it was breakfast. They were all eating out on the deck tonight, feeling much more sheltered by the mountains and the trees. It was pleasant.
“Thank you, Miss!” he said. “I thought I heard something going on over there. Everybody meeting?”