Raven's Hand

by James Somers

  Then she was alerted by the sound of rustling among the trees around the temple. I looked as well, unsure if this was a present event or something still to come in the future. Given our nearness to the temple now, I had the terrible feeling that this was happening right then. Cindermen appeared from the trees, encircling the ancient ruined temple. Shalindra was here facing them all alone.

  I wanted to fight for her, to somehow intervene. I tried to scream to her, but unlike Killian she did not hear it. If only the vision would release me, I could warn Killian of what was happening. We might still be able to rush to Shalindra’s aid before the worst happened. There were so many of the creatures. How could she hope to prevail?

  Then Shalindra acted against the threat. She called upon tremendous power. The trees near the temple walls responded in kind, reaching down like giants to swat at the Cindermen as they came for her. In part, this seemed to work, but the beastly men quickly managed to get around the trees and charge into the ruin itself.

  They carried weapons of every kind, but even their muscular bodies were weapon enough. With their sharp claws and teeth, Cindermen could rend flesh as easily as any beast of the wood. Given the opportunity, a Cinderman could best its beastly counterpart any day. A lion-like man, such as these, could kill a true lion without a weapon in hand at all.

  As the Cindermen charged her, Shalindra gave up on the help of trees and stretched her hands toward her foes. Volleys of lightning shot away from her fingertips, striking down many of the approaching Cindermen. Thunderous bangs resounded throughout the temple ruin with each air splitting burst of white hot energy.

  Still, the Cindermen came on, forcing the priestess to retreat at every turn. Swords struck stone, spears missed her back by mere inches, and arrows the same. She fought and retreated until she was surrounded, with only a stone wall behind her. The Cindermen halted, waiting, weapons ready and teeth gnashing.

  Then he appeared. Judah, the lion-like leader came over the half tumbled wall with all the gracefulness of a gazelle bounding a stream. He landed behind Shalindra, standing easily a foot taller.

  For a moment, she didn’t seem to be aware of him there. Then, she turned. I hoped she would strike him down. Even if the rest killed her, she might at least destroy the leader of them with one final burst of power. But she didn’t even raise a hand to him. She was like a lamb going to slaughter. Not a cry did she make.

  Judah seized Shalindra by the throat. His hand was quick as an adder. He had her in his grip, hoisting her off of the ground, his claws digging deep into her throat as he crushed the life from her. I tried to stop him, but there was nothing I could do in my incorporeal form.

  Tears streaked my face, as he held her dying body up for the cheers of his Cindermen. They gnashed their teeth in anticipation, and I knew what would happen next. I remembered Celia by the road, this thing taking her life so callously.

  As I feared, Judah threw her corpse to his horde of beastly soldiers. I turned away, unable to look, as the frenzy for her flesh began. I sobbed, lying on the cobblestones of the temple, evil all around me, but unable to do anything to stop it.

  Then a hand touched my shoulder, and I started. Killian was there, speaking to me. I jerked away reflexively, looking for the Cindermen and their leader, terror written upon my face.

  “Raven, what’s wrong?” he asked. “Are you all right? You seemed to be in some sort of trance.”

  I could hear the concern in his voice. He didn’t know what I had just seen. We were still in the glade by the forest stream. Esmeralda stood waiting nearby. There were no Cindermen here at all.

  “Killian,” I began, still panicked and sobbing, “I saw something in a vision, something terrible—”

  But that was all I managed to say. The world around me spun and the black veil of unconsciousness consumed me. I felt Shalindra die in that moment, and it became like death unto me as well.

  Hannah walked the main corridor of the abbey in frustration. The sun was already up now, but where were her girls? It was so unlike them to be derelict in their daily chores. They knew what punishments would await them for their laziness. Yet, when they should have been here and there working away, none of them could be found.

  Then she heard one of the servants screaming her name. Hannah ran toward the sound, eventually winding her way through several rooms to come to the courtyard that sat in the midst of the compound. Many of the other household servants were already gathered there.

  As Hannah approached, the crowd of women in gray uniforms parted to allow her access to the area near the coy pond. There she found all of her young wards upon the ground. They were not dead. She could see them breathing. However, for some unknown reason, each and every one of them was unconscious.

  Royal Pain

  Evelyn entered the room where Kane already waited with their honored guest. Radden stood in the middle of the room. Evelyn had brought a retinue of guards, but they remained outside the door for now.

  Normally, Radden would have waited for his queen to speak. However, he assumed, with the current situation, that the time for decorum had passed. He was a prisoner now, plain and simple.

  “Your assassin,” Radden said, indicating Kane, “has refused to answer any of my questions, Majesty. I can only assume there is some appropriate reason for detaining me?”

  Evelyn stopped in her tracks next to Kane. “Indeed there is,” she said icily. “Your son has committed so many crimes against the crown over the past few hours that nothing in this world or the next will ever be able to save him.”

  “Crimes?” Radden asked.

  “He attacked me in the dungeon and then escaped his cell,” she reported. “He then interrupted my son’s bonding ritual and absconded with the Daughter of Eliam who would have become his bond!”

  Evelyn did not bother to withhold her fury. The boy had defied her openly, and most of what she had told his father was true. The fact that she had embellished his escape from the dungeon was merely incidental.

  He had somehow vanished, when she attempted to kill him with her wand. Evelyn still failed to understand how the boy had done it. But the result had been Killian attacking Kane and preventing the ceremony that would have bonded Raven with her son.

  Radden’s son had left her in a terrible situation. Without the girl in hand, Steven would soon die, and Nathan would have no means to assume the throne. House Rainier’s enemies would quickly rally against them. The city might even come under siege.

  Whatever had happened earlier to destroy part of the palace had done no more damage since. Kane mentioned the girl using her power, but Evelyn doubted she wielded that kind of power. She was far too young. It wasn’t as if she was Eliam’s priestess, Shalindra.

  Radden remained silent for a moment before speaking again. “Majesty,” he said, trying to choose his words very carefully, “I assure you there must be something unknown in this situation. Killian would not do these things of his own volition. I will do all that I can to help you find him. I only beg that you give my son an opportunity to explain why these events have happened as they have.”

  Kane grinned, glancing sidelong at his queen. “I believe him, Majesty,” he said in a calculating fashion. “Radden does not understand his son’s actions, but surely he can assist us in Killian’s apprehension.”

  Radden swallowed with difficulty. His throat was feeling a bit dry at the moment. He did not wish to confer any guilt on his son by his words. However, there seemed little recourse in this situation without seeming to be a traitor himself. That would do nothing to save his son.

  “As I’ve already said, Majesty, there must be a rational explanation for his behavior. I only ask for your mercy and patience. After all, as his father, I also want to know why these events have transpired. I cannot explain his actions any more than you.”

  Now, Evelyn spoke up. “Oh, I believe I can explain his behavior quite easily, beginning with the kiss he gave the girl in the alley following the Cinderman attack.
The boy has become infatuated with a beautiful girl. It’s plain old lust that drives this madness against the crown. But madness will not save him from my vengeance.”

  “Majesty, I can—”

  “What you can do to help is just what you are doing now—remaining in custody,” Evelyn continued, interrupting Radden. “I’m going to set a day for your execution and have the event published throughout the kingdom. Either your son will come to take your place, or you will pay for his crimes against House Rainier. I will not barter. One of you will die for what has happened.”

  Radden could only stand there and listen to Evelyn’s decree. He wondered briefly about the possibility of escape. Then he glanced at Kane standing there and reconsidered.

  The queen’s bodyguard had a reputation that preceded him by miles. The man was considered second to none as an assassin for hire. However, these days, he only worked for Queen Evelyn and House Rainier. Trying to escape with him around would be an even quicker death than Evelyn’s threat of public execution.

  “I can hear the wheels turning in your mind,” Kane said to Radden.

  “I wouldn’t advise any attempt at escape,” Evelyn warned. “There is no man in my kingdom quite like Kane.”

  The assassin arched an eyebrow, apparently uncertain whether Her Majesty meant the comment as an insult or a compliment. Radden noticed a shadow of contempt cross Kane’s face while regarding Queen Evelyn. He might have been completely loyal by appearance, but that look hinted at something brewing just below the surface. Radden wondered if Evelyn even considered the fact that Kane could kill her as easily as him.

  Finally, he asked the obvious question. “What happens now, Majesty? Am I to be interred in the palace dungeon now?”

  “Unfortunately, that is precisely where your son escaped from,” she said. “Therefore your accommodations will be more comfortable.” She said to Kane, “Have him placed into one of the cells made for the Daughters of Eliam. Even if they make it back into the palace, attempting a rescue, they’ll not think to look there for him. In fact we will publish his location, awaiting execution, in the dungeon in the same cell his son occupied.”

  “And leave a garrison below to wait for them?” Kane asked.

  “Precisely,” Evelyn confirmed.

  Radden sighed in resignation. He had no options right now. Possibly, something might present itself, but at the moment he would have to do as Evelyn commanded. He could only hope that Killian did not return for him.

  “If your son does return, Radden, and if he surrenders the girl unspoiled and the sword unmarred, I might find some spark of mercy in my heart toward him.”

  Radden looked up at this, expectantly.

  Evelyn turned and left the room, a guard opening the door and then closing it behind her.

  Radden and Kane regarded one another.

  “She will not show my son mercy, no matter what else happens, will she?”

  Kane grinned. “I wouldn’t count on it.”

  Rearrangements

  General Rosta waited patiently for his master to speak. Kane’s quarters inside the palace were spacious and luxurious, to be sure, but the apartment also held an unused feeling. None of this pomp and circumstance was Kane’s doing.

  For his part, he was a simple man. He cared nothing for decoration or flamboyance. Being first and foremost a hired assassin, his reputation was the only adornment he valued.

  However, Rosta, among very few, knew that Kane was more than a bounty killer, and more than Evelyn’s servant. He was even more than the mere possession of a powerful Malkind spirit. He was the heir to a great house, if a dejected and minor one by comparison.

  “You have heard about the girl’s escape?” Kane asked.

  “Word has reached my ears, but not the camp, my lord,” Rosta said. “The army of House Turine awaits your command to attack the city.”

  “They must remain in the west for now,” Kane said.

  “But surely you can simply kill the royal family and take the city now,” Rosta replied. “They pose no real threat. I could have our men in the palace take care of it tonight.”

  “I need the girl, not Evelyn or her son,” he said. “With her, my ascension will be recognized by the other houses. Also, there is the matter of Stephen’s death and his son. Stephen must pass away naturally and Nathan become unable to ascend to the throne. With the girl missing, this can be accomplished, but I’ll need her when we take the city from House Rainier.”

  “Your army is ready, my lord,” Rosta assured him. “We can move swiftly once you give the word. No other house will be in position to move on Rainier.”

  “But they won’t be far behind,” Kane said, beginning to pace. “Our army will have the city, but I must bond with the girl in order to secure my reign as the new king of the realm. Otherwise, the other houses will mass against us, and their armies are greater in number by far.”

  “And what of Judah and his Cindermen?” Rosta asked. “Will they fight for us against the other houses, if it becomes necessary?”

  “Judah is no coward,” he said, contemplating the Cinderman leader, “but he is no fool either. This is a game, and we are all playing to win—even Judah and his kind. He will only support us if it gains him something.”

  “But what do creatures like them want, my lord?” Rosta asked. “They are not even barbarians.”

  “He might be part beast, but he is no less a man because of it—perhaps he’s just more honest about his nature. Judah craves what all men crave, Rosta. He craves power. If we are smart, then we can use that desire to control him and his people long enough to win the kingdom for House Turine. I will send orders with you for Judah when you go.”

  “My lord, I assumed you knew,” Rosta answered. “Judah and his Cindermen never reported to our camp.”

  Kane’s eyes narrowed. “Then he is up to something…”

  Rosta did not offer any theories as to what the Cindermen might be doing. At the moment, he was simply glad that Judah’s disobedience had not been somehow blamed on him.

  Kane stopped pacing suddenly and straightened. “His men might have been in the city when Evelyn sent the guards out after the girl,” he said indignantly.

  “Might he have taken up the chase as well?” Rosta suggested.

  “Indeed,” Kane answered. “He knows that the girl is most precious to House Rainier. It is unlikely, but he might even think to use her as a pawn against me directly.”

  “But how could he know your plans for her, master?”

  “Judah is a warrior, Rosta,” he said, grinning. “He is cunning. That, among other reasons, is why I sought to use him. Like a true lion, he is always looking for weaknesses that can be exploited. We must find out what has happened to our illustrious ally and reign him in before he does something to get himself killed.”

  “Killed, my lord?”

  “Of course, Rosta,” Kane said. “Naturally, if Judah has impeded my plans, I will be forced to kill him myself.”

  Esmeralda walked behind us as quietly as possible through the shrouded early morning in the Brine Wood. I led the way to the place where I felt Shalindra either was or had been. I had no idea why I should know, except for the vision. Yet, there was something drawing me toward our inevitable destination.

  Killian walked beside me, keeping the blessed sword ready for anything in his hand. We crept along carefully, and, for the most part, soundlessly. I used my power to dampen the sounds of our passing—a trick I had actually learned from Celia. She had been a master at sneaking about the abbey without anyone hearing.

  When we drew near to the place, I noticed the very top of a stone structure piercing the trees about one hundred yards ahead. I paused, placing my hand upon Killian’s arm. I felt that we were standing upon a razor’s edge between life and death. Anything, it seemed, could happen from this point on.

  “If my vision has come true already, as I fear, then the Cindermen are probably still here.”

  “And if it has
not?” Killian asked. “We might very well save Shalindra’s life.”

  “My visions have never not come true,” I reported.

  “Ah, but you warned me at the Mangy Cur, remember? I did not die.”

  “I never said that I saw you die,” I replied, “only that I saw men attacking you while you slept. The rest of the vision ended when I screamed to warn you.”

  Killian smiled at me kindly. “What do you think we should do, Raven?”

  The last thing I wanted, at this point was to be forced into making a decision that might lead to our deaths. However, I was the one with the visions and the unexplained sensation drawing us to the place where Shalindra was or had been recently. Clearly, this was not Killian’s decision to make. I was at least glad that he had enough confidence in me to allow me to make the choice.

  “As much as I dread what might lay ahead,” I said, “I do feel that we must go on.”

  He smiled more broadly now and leaned forward to kiss my forehead. “I trust you,” he said. “Do not worry, only trust that Eliam is leading us to whatever end he sees fit.”

  “The words of the prophets?” I asked, remembering words I had read from Eliam’s holy book.

  “Even though he might slay me, I choose to trust him,” Killian recited. “We cannot choose to walk with the Creator of all things only when we will have something to gain by it. If he is truly in control, then we must trust him no matter the circumstances.”

  I smiled now and kissed him—not on the forehead, but on his lips. He accepted the gesture easily, but he did not draw it out. We had a greater purpose for being here, and it was time that we found out what it was.

  A moment later, we were walking upon the ancient stones of the temple courtyard. We ascended the stair. Still, there was no sign of the Cindermen. There was also no Shalindra.

  Oh, there was evidence of her having recently been there: trails of blood, smoking scorch marks upon the ancient stone walls, and the smell of foul creatures recently here. What was curiously missing, however, was the arrows and spears and bodies I had seen in my vision.