by Andi Van
“They are warriors,” Ulminara corrected, looking concerned for Firea’s mental health.
Zaree smothered a grin. “Have you all eaten breakfast? I just woke up, and I’m starving.”
“I’ve been trying to get them to have breakfast, but they just won’t listen,” Firea sighed. “Get them to listen to you. I’m going to go start breakfast.” She paused and leaned up to give Zaree a kiss on the cheek, then sauntered off.
Ulminara watched her leave, looking slightly afraid of the older woman. “She’s odd.”
“She makes it her mission to mother people,” Zaree informed her. “She’s convinced everyone will waste away if she’s not feeding them. How does it look outside?”
“Wet,” Ulminara answered, her tone unamused. “I dislike it. It makes flying dangerous.”
“It means the king is nearby,” Zaree explained. “Or here. Do you know?”
“We crossed paths with your gatekeeper after we arrived. He is on his way to fetch your other friends. He asked us to tell you that the ship has arrived just outside of the shield, and they are having… difficulties.”
That made Zaree pause, her brow wrinkling in concern. Was Denekk okay? “What kind of difficulties?”
“The last time he looked, a giant octopus had wrapped itself around half the ship and was tossing people overboard.”
Apparently Kelwin’s requests for help had not fallen on deaf ears, then. The sea’s residents had come to help them. “That should slow them down in unweaving the magic holding the shield together, then,” she mused. “Good. It gives us time to talk before we have to actually face the king. Tasis was trying to tell us something last night, and your input would probably be helpful.”
“Tasis was trying to tell you something?”
Zaree looked over at the hall that led to the library and smiled when she saw Nabiha approaching cautiously, holding Malik close as she eyed the strangers. “Yeah,” she said. “Kelwin didn’t tell you about it before he left?”
“I haven’t seen him yet this morning. I’ve been in the library.”
“Nabi, you practically live in the library.”
“I’d tell you off for that, except it’s true,” Nabiha said with a smile. She glanced over at the Gray Forest elves again, then back to Zaree. “Who are our visitors?”
Ulminara immediately bowed deeply, causing Nabiha to look at her in surprise. “We are those who protect the Maker and her daughter.”
“I’m the daughter now,” Zaree explained. “Think of them as overprotective friends.”
“Not difficult, considering most of your friends are like that,” Nabiha said with a shrug. “Which reminds me, do I really have to hide in the basement? I was talking to Josephina earlier and she was telling me about the discussion from last night. To be honest, I’m not thrilled with the idea.”
Zaree sighed to herself. She had a feeling Nabiha wouldn’t be thrilled with the idea, especially considering Jorget and Emlynn would be facing the king. “It’s not just because of you,” she said gently. “You have someone else you need to protect, as well.”
Malik, of course, took that moment to babble happily to himself, and Ulminara was suddenly wearing a crown of blue daisies. She glanced up, startled, then looked at Malik. “Fascinating,” she said under her breath. “He is yours?”
“My brother,” Nabiha said. “I may have… stolen him from our parents.”
“Your parents don’t deserve either of you,” Zaree spat, frowning deeply. Even when she and Tasis had been little, long before Tasis’s interest in men came to light and his only so-called crime had been his heritage, Nabiha’s parents had been kind of horrible to him. They’d encouraged their oldest boys to pick on Tasis, and Zaree had walloped them more than once. How they’d ended up with such sweet offspring as Nabiha and Malik, she’d never know. “And you know what they would have done to Malik if they ever caught him summoning butterflies. You didn’t steal him, you saved him.”
Ulminara approached Nabiha then, slowly, as if Nabiha were a frightened animal. Then she reached out to put a gentle hand atop Malik’s head, making the boy chortle merrily. “Children are precious to my people,” she said. “We don’t have many, simply because our duty comes first to us. So if you and your brother were in danger, my people would tell you that you made the right choice in leaving.”
“She’s right,” Firea said as she strolled back in. “Nabiha, would you be a love and go tell the others that breakfast will be ready soon? Reikos should be in Shan’s room, Josephina is with Tasis, and Falcon is likely still in the docking cavern with Yldost. She hasn’t wanted to come inside for long.” She thought for a moment, then made a face. “And I suppose you can tell Sireti and his crew. They should be on his ship. I don’t mind feeding his crew, but Sireti….”
“I know he’s a jerk, but he’s done a lot to help us, as much as I hate to admit it,” Zaree said gently.
“He treats you like garbage,” Firea argued.
Ulminara’s eyes narrowed, and Zaree had a feeling it was a very good thing she wasn’t holding her glaive. “Who is this Sireti?”
“My brother,” Zaree said. “My other brother,” she explained when Ulminara gave her a confused look. “Sireti’s older, and the one I’m actually related to by blood.” At least she thought she was still related to him by blood. How did that work when she’d been given a new body?
“Blood is of no importance when souls are involved,” Ulminara said sagely. “I fail to see how the one who sleeps is not your brother in true.”
“Exactly what we’ve been saying,” Nabiha agreed as she handed Malik to Zaree. “I’ll be back.”
By the time they gathered, they were forced to move breakfast into the seating area of the library to accommodate everyone. Kelwin came in halfway through moving everything, bringing Jorget, Emlynn, and a handful of giants—which left them grateful that whoever originally designed the stronghold had considered that giants might be in residence—and elves with them. Arin was there, too, and Zaree hoped she’d have a chance to catch up with the kind baker.
“There are two of them out there now,” Kelwin said as he picked at his food.
“Two what?” Zaree asked. She was afraid he was talking about the king’s ships. One was bad enough. What would they do about two ships full of people intent on doing them harm?
“Octopuses,” he said. “Now there’s one kind of wrapped around the back of the ship and one wrapped around the front, and it looked like they were playing catch with each other using some of the guards. There’s a pod of dolphins out there too, and I swear they’re watching as if they’re keeping score of some sort.”
“That’s got to be making things interesting for them,” Sireti said. “I had no idea there were octopuses that large in this part of the sea.”
“Can we talk about what we’re doing?” Jorget interrupted. “Not to be rude, but they’ve probably been picking at our shield for a while now, and if they get through before we have a solid plan, everything’s going to fall apart.”
“I’ve been thinking about what Tasis tried to tell us last night,” Kelwin said, setting his plate on the floor for Daro to clean up before leaning back with a sigh. The wolf gobbled the leftovers happily, ignoring the frown Firea shot in their direction. “I feel like he was trying to tell us to go a different direction than Triv did. Stay strong together.”
“That… might have made a difference back then,” Josephina admitted softly, making Zaree wince. It was easy to forget that the woman had been there when it had originally happened, since it seemed like such an impossibly long length of time. “In some ways, I often wondered if she simply gave up.”
“She felt she had no other option,” Falcon guessed. “I am aware what she was—and still is—like. What do you intend?”
“All we can really do is face him directly,” Emlynn said with a sigh. “I, for one, refuse to abandon the isle. It will do no one any good if we run.”
Zaree nodded. “I
agree. I say we wait for them to break through and meet them. Calmly and rationally, like we were talking about last night.”
“Anyone opposed?” Kelwin asked. When no one spoke out, he licked his lips nervously. “Well, then, it’s unanimous. Does anyone have any guesses as to how long it’ll actually take for them to break through?”
“I would guess another couple of hours,” Yldost offered. “I believe we could talk Vashk into keeping an eye on them. I could wait at the dock for word from him and let you know when it is time?”
“Probably the easiest way to go about it,” Sireti agreed before shoving yet another of Firea’s biscuits into his mouth. The events unfolding were having no effect on his appetite whatsoever, obviously.
“My people and I will begin placing ourselves out of sight soon,” Ulminara announced, looking at the rest of her group. “As much as I dislike the rain for the difficulties it presents, it will not harm us so long as we’re careful. We’re used to being in the elements.”
“The giants will win the day simply by being there,” Whogs said, a grin playing at the corners of his mouth. “Our dashing good looks will have them awestruck.”
“Father…,” Emlynn sighed and shook her head.
However ridiculous Whogs’s comment may have been, it lightened the mood in the room, and Zaree had a feeling that had been on purpose. They spent precious time laying out plans, and once they’d made those decisions, there was nothing to do but wait.
After helping clear up breakfast, Kelwin and Reikos managed to get Shan down to the basement and onto a makeshift bed. He was doing better, but he was nowhere near ready to fight. Aldris talked Nabiha into joining them with Malik, using the excuse that he wanted her company so he could tell the old stories to someone who wouldn’t roll their eyes at him. Firea had heard them more times than she could count, he explained, so she tuned them out. Firea, in turn, had looked like she wanted to have words with him, but she kept her mouth shut.
“What about Tasis?” Emlynn asked as they got those who were staying behind situated.
Zaree looked at Kelwin. It probably would be best for them to ensure his body was kept safe, and she tried not to think about what would have to take place for him to wake.
“I will get him,” Emlynn continued, not waiting for an answer.
At least when they stepped outside of the stronghold, they’d know those who remained behind would be safe, Zaree told herself. It was small comfort, but it was something. The Gray Forest elves had dispersed outside among the trees, waiting. Yldost waited for word in the grotto. All the rest of them could do was pass the time.
Eventually, Yldost joined them and put an end to their misery. “They will be through very soon,” they informed the group. “Vashk also wishes for you to be aware that Denekk appears to be the only real magic user with him. Vashk has instructed the merfolk to get him away once he has broken through the shield. He also apologizes for the fact they will be of little help for this.”
“No,” Zaree said, shaking her head. “The fact that they’re getting Denekk free is enough. They’ve already gone through this once. Now it’s our turn.”
The rain was still coming down when they assembled in the clearing toward the front of the guild, the ground breaking away abruptly nearby. It was eerie that it was raining too heavily for the ocean to be seen, when they knew it was just on the other side of those cliffs. The shield was visible, though, the green of it shimmering in the air. They all watched, and it wasn’t long until the shield flared brightly, then disappeared completely.
The spell had been broken, the magic stripped into pieces. And in no time at all a robed figure climbed to the top of the cliff from the beach below.
The king approached, one guard at his side as the rest hung back, ready to charge in at his command. Zaree watched them, forcing her expression to stay neutral. The king looked worse for wear. She’d often heard Tasis describe him as horsefaced, and she hadn’t realized how little her brother had been kidding. He had a face that was not easily forgotten, if only because it was so homely. He also had a wild look in his eyes that spoke volumes on how little of a presence within reality he still had. When he stopped in front of their sizable group, his eyes landed on Reikos, and for a moment Zaree was afraid they were going to pop clear out of his head.
“You! You little bastard, I gave you a home, a job, and a promise of handing the kingdom over to you, and this is how you thank me?”
“Funny how you say that when I never wanted anything from you,” Reikos shot back with a scowl.
Zaree ignored the argument, scanning the crowd of invaders. A feeling was prickling up the back of her neck, and she wasn’t sure what to make of it.
“Why have you come, Archai?” Kelwin asked, cutting to the chase. “There’s nothing for you here.”
“I want your power,” the king snarled, and suddenly Zaree could feel history repeating itself.
Was this what had been picking at the edge of her awareness? Regardless of whether it was or not, this was one of the times to change the course of events. “You want power, Archai?” she asked, holding her arms out at her sides, indicating those around her. “Here is our power. Our power is in our bond, in the trust we have for each other. Our power is not something we can simply hand over to you.”
“Lies!” The king began to foam at the mouth, and Zaree had to force herself to stay still when all she wanted to do was take a couple steps back from the madman. “Your magic! With it, I can take over the world!”
That feeling tickled her senses again, and she continued examining the crowd. “We will hand nothing over to you,” she said, and her eyes happened to land on the guard standing next to the king. Something seemed very familiar about him, and—
She felt the blood drain from her face and wondered if she was going to faint. “You,” she snarled, pointing at the guard. “I can sense it within you. It’s not the king we needed to be concerned with. It was you. Wasn’t it, Gisik?”
“After all these centuries, someone finally saw through my disguise?” he asked, his tone full of hubris. “Perhaps the new daughter isn’t as stupid as I’d thought.”
His skin began to writhe, and the king stared at him in horror. “What are you?” he shrieked, his voice pitched high in panic and insanity.
“You and your line are no longer useful to me,” Gisik simply answered. “What I gave freely is mine to take freely.” He reached out with one hand, the skin still pulsing and the color beginning to change, and touched the king’s forehead. The king’s mouth went slack, and his eyes became vacant.
Gisik’s skin heaved, then split. It fell away in bloody clumps around his feet, showing another humanoid form underneath. He frowned and picked a clump of skin from his face. “So unsanitary,” he lamented. “May I never have to wear someone else’s body to disguise myself again.”
Zaree was too aghast to look away and suddenly very much regretted having eaten breakfast. She swallowed hard and tried to ignore the pitching of her stomach. Apparently she wasn’t the only one affected by the display, if the retching from at least one person in the crowd was any indication. The king’s guards looked just as green at the sight.
Gisik shook himself, then shifted into his dragon form. Zaree winced at the sight. Dragon of chaos indeed. His scales were any number of garish colors. Where Nirena’s scales had been an iridescent white, Gisik’s were full of bright colors that all seemed to clash with the one next to them despite the fact the colors kept changing. She wasn’t sure if it would nauseate her further or hypnotize her, and she vaguely recalled that Gisik had been black in the mural at Mountaindeep. Yldost had agreed he was the black dragon. Did the artist make him black because there was no possible way to capture Gisik’s hideous palette, or had something happened to his scales in the centuries since?
“Quit dozing, girl,” Gisik snarled, lashing out, his claws aiming straight for her chest. Just as he’d killed Triv by ripping out her heart, he was intent on repeating the
blow with her. She closed her eyes tight, knowing she had no time to react, and heard a thud.
But there was no pain. Only someone crying out a word in that odd language used for spells. Someone female.
She opened her eyes and, to her horror, Josephina stood in front of her, Gisik’s claws protruding through her back. “You bitch!” he shrieked, though Josephina was past hearing. He yanked his hand free and the shell of the grandmotherly elf fell heavily to the ground. In a fit of rage, he picked up her body and threw it. It sailed over the heads of the guards and over the edge of the sandstone cliff. A moment later, there was a bright flash of light.
Two deaths, the Maker’s voice buzzed in Zaree’s head. And her magic freely given with her final word.
“No,” Zaree choked out. She took a shuddering breath, and the word left her again, this time as a scream. “No!”
Gisik craned his head around to look at the guards. “Well? Kill them.”
The guards hesitated, then advanced slowly, likely more afraid of what Gisik would do to them if they didn’t obey than from any remaining desire to fight. Before they could go more than ten paces, however, a thunderous boom echoed across the isle, and Zaree knew in her bones what had just happened.
Tasis had awoken.
Chapter 20
THE DEAFENING roar of what sounded like pure rage and unimaginable agony shook the very ground they stood on, and even Gisik went still, Josephina’s blood still dripping from his fingers. “Ah,” he said, sounding completely unconcerned as he gave a short nod. “I see. This was planned.”
“Planned?” Zaree asked, the hatred coursing through her veins making her pulse throb in her ears. “We aren’t like you. We don’t sacrifice our loved ones for our own gains. We cherish and learn from them.”
“Oh come now,” Gisik said, looking at his gore-smeared hand. He wrinkled his nose in disgust and shook it in an effort to dislodge some of the fluid. When that proved ineffective, he wiped it off on the king’s robes. The king merely stood there, staring. There was no trace of thought in his expression, and Zaree had a feeling his mind was gone. “We all use our loved ones. Look at Qelmar. He used me to get close to Nirena and take her from me.”