by Mark Albany
It didn’t change the fact that I had been tired before we started, and as the adrenaline and lust started to fade, I felt exhausted.
I pulled myself out of Norel, leaning down to numbly kiss her back as I lay down next to them. I watched as Norel pulled herself from between Aliana’s thighs and kissed the djinn with a small smile on her lips before she moved to join me lying on the ground.
“I could fall asleep right here,” I said, wrapping Norel in my arms first, and then when Aliana joined us, pulling her in close as well. I wasn’t lying. It could have been the exhaustion talking, but as things were, lying naked next to two gorgeous women was more than enough comfort for me despite the primitive nature of our location.
I groaned, feeling myself slowly starting to drift. The two women with me were similarly tired. A few hours passed with us locked in this odd yet comforting embrace before I snapped up, looking around, reaching for the blade I’d turned over to Aliana for safekeeping as I heard someone stepping into the cave.
My fears were put aside, however, when I saw that it was just Braire, recently returned from her hunting. She was carrying a small white-tailed deer. The small antlers told me that it was a young male, or so I assumed. I didn’t know much about deer, even though I had spent some time out here. Aliana had handled most of the hunting.
Braire dropped the body to the ground, showing her pouch now full of what looked like edible roots and berries to add to the food. She pulled a knife from her pocket and started to clean the deer. The deft way she handled both her knife and the process showed that this was not the first time she’d done it.
It didn’t escape me that she was openly trying to ignore the fact that I was currently tangled up naked alongside Aliana and Norel.
I pulled myself up, grabbing my clothes from where they had been discarded and quickly dressing. It wasn’t a matter of modesty, not really, but Braire seemed uncomfortable with my nudity and there was no need to make any kind of situation about it with her.
Norel and Aliana woke from their quick nap and joined me in dressing and then helping Braire set up a fire and camp for us to spend the night. The silence among the four of us was starting to get uncomfortable until Aliana spoke.
“You know,” she said, “you really should join us in our fun with Grant, Braire. All things considered, we are going to need as much power as we can get since we’re preparing to stand against Abarat. As fun as our trysts are, they also help increase and replenish our power. I can only imagine the benefits of adding you to it.”
Braire looked up from placing the venison over the burning embers of the fire, eyeing Aliana and then me in succession.
“I think I would rather be flayed alive,” she said. “No offense intended, Grant.”
“None taken,” I replied smoothly. Like her sisters, Braire was a gorgeous woman. Different from Aliana and Norel, although the two were as different from each other as they could be. The thought of having her join us caused a tensing in my lower stomach that wasn’t completely unpleasant. There was still something about her. Whether she just plain didn’t like me, or if I somehow needed to prove myself to her before anything could happen, I just felt that time was needed before I was ready for her to join our trysts, as Aliana had called them.
Aliana grinned, having noticed the way I reacted to the idea as she leaned closer to me, whispering so that only I could hear what she had to say.
“Don’t worry, Grant,” she murmured, pulling me closer to kiss my cheek tenderly. “Like with Norel, she will change her mind. Just give her time.”
I didn’t reply, simply stroked Aliana’s hair and smiled while completely avoiding looking at Braire.
2
The meal was quickly finished. None of us seemed to have any intention of starting any of the conversations we wanted to have. There were questions that needed answering, statements that needed addressing. The most important was what we were going to do next, but it could all wait until we’d rested.
There was no telling what kind of bad decisions we’d make if we tried to plan when we were this exhausted. As the fire started to dwindle, I leaned back into the wall, feeling my eyes drift shut as Aliana laid her head on my lap. I could hear Norel and Braire talking softly, but eventually they too fell asleep, wrapped around each other. I wasn’t exactly sure when I drifted off, but by the time I woke the sun was high in the sky and shining right into my face through the cave’s entrance.
I shook my head, trying to turn away as my body resisted the need to wake up. We had a lot to get done today and every other day for the foreseeable future. What was the harm in catching a few extra minutes of rest before we got started in our fight against Abarat again?
But as the sun’s warmth started to spread across my face, it became a battle against inevitability that I eventually lost. I turned to look out the entrance. It was late morning, and if we were going to keep sleeping any longer, we might as well plan to do something at night. I took a deep breath, not realizing how much I had missed the fresh, cool air of the forest. I gently pulled Aliana’s head from my lap and stood, careful to exit the cave before pausing to stretch and groan. While my sleep had been delightfully dreamless, waking up after sleeping in an upright position meant that I was going to be sore in all kinds of places, some I wasn’t even aware I had.
When I was finished, I turned to inspect my surroundings, pausing and feeling a shot of embarrassment send blood to my face as I realized Braire was sitting outside the cave as well, and had been staring at me.
“Sorry,” I said, rubbing my eyes as I moved over to join her where she was sitting. “I didn’t realize anyone else was awake.”
“There’s no need for an apology,” she said softly, looking down at what she was working on. She was running her fingers over what looked like a small round pebble, the kind that could be collected from the nearby waterfall. At first it looked like she was just polishing it, but as I looked closer, I could see the tiniest hints of runes being inscribed on the smooth surface.
I nodded, not wanting to intrude or break her focus. Rune scribing was a skill I still hadn’t learned, although I’d seen it done a few times before. I still had the runes that were burned into my hand from when we’d first fought a hellhound, and they had helped me gain control of my abilities by leaps and bounds.
It was something I wanted to learn, but it apparently required years to become proficient, which meant it was something that could be handled another time. I tilted my head as I studied what she was doing. I could hear her whispering soft incantations so I waited for her to stop and put the pebble down before speaking.
“Aliana told me you took a trip back when…well, before…” I stuttered, unsure how to describe the spell that had changed their lives. From the look on Braire’s face when she turned to look at me, she knew what I was talking about so I pushed forward. “Anyway, when you returned, you had learned a few techniques and abilities that were considered unique.”
“If you want to know how I learned those powers, I don’t think we have the time for me to tell you stories of my adventures,” Braire said, shaking her head.
“No, nothing like that,” I quickly back-pedaled. “I’m just curious about where you might have gone. There isn’t much written about what lies beyond the borders of the Empire, even less about what lies beyond the shores of this continent. I’ve already read that there is more to be found out there, but there don’t seem to be many people who want to go and find out.”
“From my experience,” Braire said softly, “staying is the wiser choice.”
Her tone indicated an end to the conversation, and I didn’t want to keep on prying into what sounded like a delicate subject. I nodded, looking down at the ground as I heard Aliana and Norel starting to wake up. I breathed deep, pushing the questions out of my mind for the moment.
The two sisters joined Braire and I once they were done waking up.
“Did you tell them what we talked about?” Norel asked Braire.
“I was waiting for everyone to be assembled,” Braire replied. “Norel and I were talking last night about returning to the Imperial City. That has to be where Cyron and Abarat have gone.”
“If that’s where they are, doesn’t that mean we should be as far away from them as possible?” I pointed out. “At least until we’ve gathered our strength and are able to put together a proper strategy, which is something we were lacking in the last time. And we all know how that went.”
“We won’t be able to develop a proper strategy if we don’t know what Abarat and Cyron are up to,” Braire pointed out.
“What else could they be up to?” I asked. “Two of the most powerful human and elf mages working in tandem can’t have too much need for subtlety.”
“The Emperor is still alive, as far as we know,” Norel said softly. “His power should never be underestimated or taken lightly. Cyron knows this and will be planning for it. We need to know what he is planning if we are to combat it.”
“Where has the Emperor been all this time?” Aliana asked.
“From the last reports I saw, he was still spending the summer in meditation at his palace in the Summer Isles,” Norel stated. “He was not to be interrupted for any reason, which would explain why he hasn’t returned to deal with the shit that the Empire has become in his absence.”
“It would explain why Cyron has been waiting this long to enact his plans,” I said softly. “Waiting for the Emperor to be unreachable and unable to stop what he has planned had to be vital for his success.”
“All that said,” Norel continued. “It would seem the best move for us to make now that we are reasonably rested, would be to go back to the Imperial City and find out what Cyron is up to.”
“And if he’s not at the Imperial City?” I asked.
“Then that will be where we base ourselves to find him,” Braire said. “Being back in this cave is fucking distracting.”
I quickly reined in my questions for the moment. I didn’t really have any reservations about heading back to the city other than the fear of facing Cyron again gnawing at the pit of my stomach. Having seen him at his full power in the underworld made me realize just how weakened he’d been when we first fought him. And now he had an ally who was just as powerful, maybe more so, than he was. That wasn’t promising news.
I knew we were going to have to face him down eventually, just as I was aware that facing him sooner rather than later would be better since their power had to be growing with each day that passed. But the dread remained. I didn’t want to do it.
I gritted my teeth as I felt Aliana stepping closer and placing a hand on my shoulder. I wasn’t proud of this cowardly side of me, and one of the downsides of this bond I shared with the both of them was that there was very little I could do to hide it.
“Let’s get something to eat,” I said with a firm nod, faking what I couldn’t feel. “And then we head back into the city.”
Aliana and Norel nodded. Braire showed no reaction, but her lack of resistance to my suggestion said that she was going to follow through with it. The way she moved back into the cave and started setting out what food was left over from the night before told a similar story.
We ate our meal in silence. I realized I wasn’t the only one having trouble coming to terms with the fact that our actions were leading inevitably to a battle that none of us were sure we could win.
I took a deep breath, wolfing down some berries and the cold meat Braire set out for us. Fear made the world a colder place, I realized. I remembered the heat and strength I’d felt when I first set out with Aliana. Things were uncertain, but the fact that my powers were only just starting to be tapped made hope something I could lean on. Now, it was something we couldn’t even cling to. We needed to prepare knowing that anything we did might not be enough.
I finished my food first and took the advantage to move out of the cave first, closing my eyes and gathering myself, pulling myself together.
I felt a hand on my back and turned to see Norel standing behind me, sporting a reassuring smile.
“Something to remember, Grant,” she said, her voice soft. “Fear can be a paralytic, or it can be a powerful motivator. It can break your focus, or it can make everything clearer. The emotion itself isn’t what defines you. All creatures feel fear. What becomes a part of you is how you use it, or how it uses you.”
I nodded, catching a glimpse of a wince on Braire’s face as she walked out of the cave to join us. Aliana followed her out.
“We’re all ready, then?” Braire asked, looking around at the rest of us. “Aliana, whenever you’re ready.”
Aliana nodded, taking hold of Norel’s and my hands, and we brought Braire into the circle as Aliana closed her eyes. It was draining for her to transport this many people at once, but we knew she could do it even under the most demanding circumstances. It took a moment as Aliana picked out a spot for us to land and then opened the portal. I felt the familiar ache in my teeth as we were twisted into it.
The headache from this trip was considerably less than the one I’d felt from our trip out of the underworld, but it was still there, like an evil imp beating mercilessly on an anvil inside my skull. I shook my head, blinking a few times before looking around, finding our bearings.
We were inside the city, I mused, and not too far from Norel’s estate in the merchant’s quadrant. That wasn’t the first thought that sprang to mind, however, as the city itself was unrecognizable. Smoke was rising across the expanse of it. All of the buildings looked like they had taken at least some damage, with a good number having been completely levelled. The shops and stalls that usually inhabited the square we were in had been turned to kindling, crushed and ground to nothing more than dust.
“What the fuck?” I asked, looking around. “It looks like a battle happened here.”
“No, it doesn’t,” Braire said.
“Look at the damage,” I said, gesturing at the destruction. “It’s like siege engines took this place apart.”
“No bodies,” Braire pointed out simply. I looked around and realized she was right. This place had been a hub of commerce before but now it was deathly silent. There were no bodies around, and no sign that any had been moved. No blood, no viscera. Not even hints or stains that might indicate that any of the violence might have claimed any victims. Of course, we could look around and search through the ruins for bodies, but there would be no real point right now.
It should have been good news, but there was something about this scene that just didn’t sit well with me as we started heading deeper into the square. I wasn’t sure what was rubbing me the wrong way. Everything about this place just seemed wrong.
I did notice that the Lancers’ building was still intact in the distance. I couldn’t tell if there was any damage to the structure from this far off, but from the looks of it, the towers and the spires were still there, stabbing grey daggers into the sky.
“We need to keep moving,” Norel pointed out. We all agreed, stepping out from the square and heading through the streets. The pattern of seemingly random destruction could be seen everywhere. There were marks of fires that had gotten out of control in the middle of it, and no sign of anyone having tried to stop it. There had been some rain at some point to put them out. And still no sign of any bodies.
“How long were we down there?” I asked, giving voice to the question that had been nagging to me. “How long did it take for all this to happen?”
Aliana shook her head, lacking any answers for the moment as we picked up our pace, heading toward Norel’s estate.
While the destruction in the rest of the city seemed to be random, the condition the estate was in was clearly very methodical. There wasn’t anything of the impressive building higher than my ankle left standing. It had been torn to pieces, destroyed utterly and completely.
“Well, this is hard not to take personally,” Norel said, her hands clenched into fists. “This the second house I own that
Cyron is responsible for tearing apart.”
“You’re seriously concerned about a house at this moment?” Braire asked, turning to face Norel.
“Not concerned, no,” Norel replied, shaking her head. “Just angry. It’s like he’s is trying to wipe any evidence of my existence here out.”
“Or he was searching for something,” I pointed out, “and all the destruction was meant to hide what he was looking for. I don’t suppose you left anything behind that he might have been able to use?”
Norel paid me a glare that answered my question. “Of course not. I took everything of any kind of power with us when we left.”
“If he was looking for something, what might he have been looking for?” Aliana asked, taking a closer look at the rubble.
“Didn’t some of your sources mention that Cyron was still looking for the ring, even though Aliana was no longer tied to it?” I asked Norel.
She nodded. “We assumed he wanted it to get into the underworld. I thought it was destroyed when we used it to get to the underworld ourselves.”
“It was or is a powerful artifact,” I said softly. “There is no reason to assume there was only one use for it. Who knows what Cyron has in mind for it?”
“Aren’t we all forgetting that Oro was taken captive by Cyron?” Aliana asked. “If the ring survived taking us to the underworld, it would make sense that Cyron already has it.”
“We need to move on,” Braire said.
I didn’t turn to her, walking into the middle of what had once been a dining hall. “This seems like something we need to focus on. If Cyron has an artifact that powerful, we all need to be concerned.”
“That said,” Braire said, her voice a bit more insistent. “I think we have greater concerns at the moment.”
The alarm in her words told me there was something about this conversation I was missing. Somethings, I realized as I looked up. I had felt a gentle tremble in the earth but hadn’t paid it too much mind. As I looked up, the source quickly became clear when I saw the massive creatures made of mud and rock traipsing through the city.