Serpentine Risen

by C. K. Rieke

  Lilaci fought with every part of her mind and body to bring forth a torrent of sand onto the Reevins, to crush every bone in their bodies and wash the snakes from her and her friends’ body—yet, all Lilaci saw was a few grains of sand rustle from their position, and flutter back down the sands helplessly.

  No . . . That’s all you’ve got? The Sanzoral has let us all down. I’m helpless to stop these murderers. This is how I die? Kera . . . Kera, I’ve failed you. At this moment, all I can do is hope that you were right in trusting Veranor. He’s our only hope now to protect you. Again, I proved I was too weak, or even unlucky I guess. All my life has come to this moment. The Reevins are going to get what they came for this time. Oh, my girl, I’m so sorry. I let you down . . .

  She watched the Reevins as they swayed from side to side, as their chant grew louder, and hollower in tone. Their dark-skinned fingers readied themselves around the grips of the daggers, eager to strike down into their chests. Fewn’s eyes yearned for help, Burr and Roren were afraid too. Burr closed his one eye steadily, as if ready to accept his death.

  This can’t be how it ends! Commander, if you can hear me, Veranor, watch over her. Watch over my little girl as if she was your own.

  The daggers then lifted to their highest point, looming high over each of them as the snakes slithered away, making room for the daggers’ sharp tips to dig their way into their hearts. A calm came over Lilaci as she watched the Reevins stop their chant, and a heavy silence hung in the air. A silence full of dread and coming death. And as the Reevins prepared to drive their daggers deep into them, ripping through muscle and bone, a blue light appeared directly in the middle of all four of the downed sand-walkers. It was a majestic orb of blue wisping smoke and flame the height of a tall man. Inside the orb appeared nothing at first, but then as the blue magic flames twirled and faded, the figure of a tall, strong-shouldered man wielding a great scimitar appeared in the middle of them. His face was pale, with a sharp black widow’s peak, and Lilaci felt as if she recognized the man from a distant dream or memory.

  It can’t be . . . Can it be him?

  Chapter Nineteen

  The blue wisps of smoke lifted into the night sky as his scimitar flashed with moonlight splendor as the man before Lilaci let it rip through the neck of the Reevin hovering over Fewn. Lilaci saw another bright flash of gold as the Reevin above Roren went gasping for air, falling back into the shadow away from the circle.

  Reevins fell, as the big man with the deep widow’s peak that went down his brow, made a great arcing swipe with his scimitar and sent it into the Reevin’s stomach as the wizard tried to thrust his dagger down into Burr. Only one Reevin remained, and Lilaci felt the sharp metal point of his dagger looming over her, she could even feel it creeping closer to her, ready to pierce her skin, and she was helpless. She heard the stinging whistle of an arrow as it ripped through the air, and with a thud, out of the corner of her eye she saw the feathers of an arrow’s tail over her, stuck into the Reevin above. He coughed and screamed, then collapsed onto her, nearly knocking the wind from her. The curving black dagger stuck into the sand, and she saw her own reflection with her eyes opened wide. He . . . saved me. He, or they, saved us.

  The snakes, that had already begun to slither away, evaporated into a fading green smoke, and they were gone. Lilaci had the dead Reevin atop her, but past the dagger before her, she could see the relief in the eyes of her friends as they lay motionless. The man in thin, tan linens pulled his scimitar from the dead Reevin behind and wiped the blood from his blade on the wizard’s robes.

  He took a broad step over Burr, and went over to Fewn, kneeling to inspect her. Another figure emerged from over Roren, a woman of light tan complexion with dirty blonde hair that draped over her shoulders, long tattoos flowing down both her arms.

  The man then turned and spoke in a low voice to the woman next to him, his dark green eyes shone like emeralds. His face instantly shifted to one of concern for her as his head dropped close to his shoulder, eying Lilaci with the look of a man who hadn’t seen a friend in ages but gained a faint recognition. He seemed to have a whirlwind of thoughts roaring through his head then, Lilaci wanted nothing more than to yell out to him, and ask for help with her immobility, but she couldn’t. She felt only an overwhelming sensation of warmth to simply give into the claws of deep sleep that were reaching out for her.

  It's you. After all these years, you came for me. I thought you were dead, but you’re here, when I needed you. Another blessing, another sign there is something out there in these lands that wants to give us . . .

  The blackness came over her again. A dreamless sleep. A dark, lifeless, sleep.

  The bright, blinding light appeared. It was as bright as the warm, afternoon sun, but not like she pictured the aura of the Great Realm in the Sky to be. Her limbs were numb, her head foggy, and a sharp pain shot through her mind as the bright light sliced through her. Am I dead?

  A shadow drifted through the light, cutting it in half. A dark, cooling shade that broke through the heat of the light. “Am I . . .” she said, her voice raspy and cracked with a dry mouth that clicked slightly, “dead?”

  “No, Lilaci,” a man’s voice said. “No, you are not, and thank the gods for that.”

  The memory of Dânoz shot back to her, and Kera out on the sands without her. Her eyes shot open, even in the blinding light, and the figure of a man appeared before her. He was bathed in shadow with the sun glowing behind him. Thank the gods? You are on the side of them? She ran her hand to her back, wrapping her fingers around the dagger that lay there, and pulled it forward. Before she could bring it up to hold it to the man’s throat, she felt strong fingers wrap around her wrist.

  “Lilaci, stop,” she heard a familiar woman’s voice say. It was Fewn’s. “He saved us. Don’t you remember?”

  Remember? I—I remember, the Reevins. They had us, they had us poisoned, and then . . . He came . . .

  “Hi, Lilaci,” the man’s voice said. “It’s been a long, long time.”

  “Go—” she rasped, “Gogenanth?”

  He released her wrist, she caught the glow of his emerald eyes before her. A warm smile crossed his face. Then the tears came, as Lilaci felt all the pain and suffering since he’d been taken from her return. All the years she spent with Veranor, in his forced service, under the spell the mages placed on her. And the long nights she’d spent with him under the moon and stars returned.

  “I came back,” he said, his voice quivered. “I didn’t think I’d find you alive.”

  “You came?” she said. “You came back? I thought you were dead.”

  He leaned down and wrapped his arms around her, and she rose up into his as they embraced each other tightly. “I came back. I’ve been gone too long. I’m sorry. I thought you were dead.”

  “They told me you’d died,” she said. “How is this happening? And . . . And we were poisoned.”

  “Yes,” she heard Roren say off to the side, “we think the venom faded after the Reevins died.”

  “I-I just don’t believe it,” she said. “Gogenanth. You’ve come back. How did you know where to find me? How did you know we needed help?”

  “Again,” he said. “Bless the gods for this, we only happened upon your attack. And when I say bless the gods, I mean, bless my gods, not yours.”

  “Your gods?” Lilaci said.

  “Yes, Lilaci, I’ve come a long way to make it back here, back to the Arr.”

  “Back to the Arr?” she asked, her voice shaking.

  “Yes, I’ve had quite the journey since we’ve been apart,” he said.

  Lilaci sat there silent for a moment, looking up at the older face of the boy she’d known all those years ago. The same boy who lost his family when she did. She tried to let the things rolling around inside of her reconnect. “What did you mean by, we happened upon your attack?”

  Another person walked over to Lilaci, and Gogenanth leaned back to let Lilaci look up at her. She laid
out her hand for Lilaci to take “Lilaci,” she said, long tattoos on her arms and the back of her hand. “It’s nice to meet you finally, I’ve heard so much about you. The names Ezmerelda, let's get you some water. You and he have gotta lot to catch up on. And I sure could use some more of that wine you all are lugging, these deserts sure are a bitch to walk.”

  Lilaci sat up and Ezmerelda pulled her to her feet, her legs were still weak and wobbly. “Ezmerelda, thank you, thank you for helping us.”

  Fewn, Roren. and Burr all seemed weak too, but Fewn nodded to her, a signal that they’d made it through another battle together.

  Ezmerelda grabbed Lilaci by the arm to help her toward the wagon, but Lilaci removed herself from her grasp. “I’m OK, I can walk.” Her head still foggy, but slowly clearing, she went over and took an eager drink from her watersack. She turned to look back at Gogenanth. “Is this a dream? It seems real, but I’m finding it difficult to find the difference recently.”

  “It’s real,” Roren said.

  She went over and wrapped her arms around Gogenanth, and he returned her embrace. “I’ve had a hard life since you’ve been away,” she said. “He took me after you left, he told me you were dead. Then I found Kera, but she’s gone now. The gods don’t want us to be together, they want to kill her. Gogenanth—” she looked up into his eyes. “Where have you been all these years? Why didn’t you come sooner?”

  “I would’ve come,” he said, his voice somber. “I—honestly, Lilaci—I wasn’t even intending to find you.”

  “What?” she asked, brushing her hair back behind her ear. “You weren’t looking for me? I don’t understand.”

  “Like I said, I thought you were dead. I came for him.”

  “Him? What are you talking about?” she asked while taking a slow step back.

  He released her from his embrace and looked deep into her eyes. “I came for the commander. I came to kill Veranor for what he did to me. For what he did to us. It was only by pure chance we’ve been reunited. Ezmerelda and I were traveling through the night and saw the wizards as they slunk through the shadows to attack you all. We were only saving who we thought was an innocent party. I came to avenge you and kill him.”

  “Ha.” Burr laughed loudly. “This is a turn of events. I like you!”

  Gogenanth flashed a confused grin toward Burr.

  “Go ahead,” Fewn said. “Tell him, Lilaci.”

  “Tell me what?” Gogenanth asked, his eyebrow lifted.

  “Well, things have grown . . . complicated over the last couple of weeks,” Lilaci said.

  “Complicated?” he asked, his raised eyebrows quickly turned to a frown. “What do you mean complicated?”

  “Complicated as in—” Fewn said, “—as in Veranor is on our side now.”

  “We don’t know that,” Lilaci said.

  “Veranor is…” Gogenanth said in disbelief, “he is, wait, what are you saying?”

  Lilaci sighed. “Listen, Gogenanth, Veranor is a son of a bitch, and he’s done things that are unforgivable, but—”

  “He tore us apart!” Gogenanth said, balling his fists and shaking them. “He took you from me, we’ve lost years of our lives to his torture. What are you saying? You’re saying you’ve teamed together?”

  “He’s got Kera!” Lilaci said. “And until she’s safe with me again, Veranor has to live. He’s the only one standing between the gods and her. We’ve got to find her again.”

  “How’s Kera?” Ezmerelda asked.

  Fewn walked over and put her hand on Ezmerelda’s shoulder. “Girl, you’ve got a lot to catch up on.”

  “What about you, Gogenanth?” Roren asked. “Where have you been all these years? Why come back now?”

  “That, Roren,” he said. “Is a story I don’t wish to tell. But I’ve traveled from Essill, over the Elden Sea. I came to kill Veranor, because I thought Lilaci was killed. Now, I have no idea why I’m here.”

  Part IV

  Where Sunlight Fades

  Chapter Twenty

  Heavy was the desert air the night of Gogenanth’s return. It hung all around them like a thick, veiled tapestry. A delight resounded from another victory against the Reevins, albeit their narrowest escape yet, and all respect was due to the man who’d entered their lives in the middle of the night with a strange woman from another part of the Arr. They’d come from the land of Essill.

  Even with the exhilaration of having much needed new allies in the war, and their journey to find Kera on the other side of the seemingly impassable canyon, not all was celebratory.

  “You’ve let him take the one you swore to protect?” Ezmerelda asked Lilaci.

  “She didn’t let him take her,” Fewn said. “But he did take her nonetheless. Remember, Kera told us to trust Veranor. That’s why he was allowed to walk with us. She was always right . . . I guess she was almost always right.”

  “Had it been up to me,” Burr said, “his blood would have stained the sands that first night. Even if he did help us kill that poisonous snake the Witch Queen.”

  There was a nervous stirring from Gogenanth who stood with his elbow resting on the side of the wagon in the early morning sun, casting a long shadow to his side. “The . . . the Witch Queen is dead?” he asked, his voice was firm but held an unfamiliar tone of disbelief. “The goddess Gorlen has perished? How is that possible? I believed the gods to be immortal.”

  “Yeah,” Ezmerelda said. “How’s that work? In our world the gods can’t die, at least we are told they can’t. Even our gods know they can’t.”

  “Your gods? They are different where you come from?” Roren asked with his brow furrowed.

  “Yes. There’s a long story in that,” Gogenanth said, “another tale of Essill that merits telling once we’ve made a way forth in these lands.”

  “It’s worth telling that our gods are good,” Ezmerelda said. “Ever since the war ended. So I take it by the words ‘poisonous snake’ Gorlen wasn’t good?”

  “No,” Lilaci said. “No, she was not. I’m sure Gogenanth remembers tales of her.”

  He nodded with his brow furrowed. “It is bewildering to me that she’s is gone . . . forever . . . How did that come about?”

  “Kera,” Lilaci said. Who would’ve thought a girl as young as her would end the reign of one of the most infamous of the gods?

  “Sounds like we need to get her back then,” Ezmerelda said. “Quite a magic she’s got to do that.”

  “Speaking of magic,” Roren said. “You haven’t told us yet how you did what you did in the night to kill those sorcerers. I’ve never seen magic like that. You appeared out of nowhere. That blue magic you carry is powerful, that could really come in handy if you walk with us stranger.”

  “He’s so stranger to me,” Lilaci said. Is this still part of my dream? How is this possible? He should be dead, he was dead. And we should have been killed out there under the magic of the Reevins. Gogenanth, you saved us. You saved me. You came in my greatest time of need. I owe you. And how I’ve missed you.

  “The magic I wield is of the gods in Essill,” Gogenanth said. “It’s a rare gift from Ojiin himself, our Great God, it’s the magic of the Azulūz.”

  “Yeah, but many used to have it,” Ezmerelda said. “They were hunted down . . . and we lost friends, but Zaan . . . never mind, that’s a long tale, but now Gogenanth is the only one with the Azulūz. It was given back to him so we could come to the Arr, so we could kill Veranor but wow, don’t really know what to do now. Wait, what do you want us to do? Help you find this girl, and . . . help him? Help Veranor?”

  Gogenanth and Ezmerelda both looked at Lilaci for an answer, then Lilaci noticed they were all looking at her for an answer to that question. I don’t know what to tell them. On the one hand, what better feeling would there be to kill the one who ripped us from our families, and then each other? And we could kill him together. But—if he were still, and only if—he was still working with us to help her, I don’t know what I’d do.
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br />   “We find Kera first,” she said, “then once we know what is really going on with him and his relationship with the gods, in a way he will decide his own fate. I won’t deny there is a possibility your scimitar will be wet with his blood, old friend.”

  A subtle grin came across the large man’s face. “I would enjoy that.”

  Lilaci sighed. “Me too.”

  “So we climb down into the canyon,” Ezmerelda said. “Let’s go.”

  “It’s not as simple as that,” Roren said. “This isn’t an ordinary ravine, it was created by Dânoz himself to keep us back. Its high cliffs are sheer, and we don’t have enough rope to climb down. All hope isn’t lost, but we could use some luck for sure, as we’ve spent much time scanning for anyway down.”

  “We will find one,” Gogenanth said, moving away from the wagon and walking over to Lilaci who stood as she watched her oldest friend, then just a boy, now a man, approach. He unsheathed his scimitar from his side, flipped it on its side before him and bent to a knee. Bowing his head, he held out his sword and lifted it up with both hands to her. “Until death finds me, or until the girl you seek is safe and your need of me is done, my sword is yours.”

  Ezmerelda went and knelt next to him. “Where he goes, I go with.”

  “Thank you both,” Lilaci said. “You both are more welcome than you know.”

  “Aye,” Burr said. “I second that.”