Birthright: The Crystal Throne - Book 1

by Kim Fedyk

  "WHOA, WATCHA DOING?"

  Arleth turned around and her nose brushed against the fur of Zeeshan's chest.

  "I almost ran you over" Zeeshan said, taking a step backwards. "Why did you stop so suddenly?"

  Arleth felt the heat come to her cheeks. For the first time in the last two hours, she was thankful for the dark so Zeeshan couldn't see her blush. I bent to pick up grass, because it seems like the best thing in the world right now.... Ya that's a good reason.

  "It's so dark, and I don't know where we are. I was trying to see what was ahead of me" she held both arms out in front of her, illustrating how little of the ground ahead of her was lit up by Selene's patch of light. "I was trying to.... catch my bearings..." she trailed off.

  "Oh right, I forgot that you weren't born here. You have no idea where we are do you?"

  Arleth let out a sigh of relief. He had bought her terrible excuse. And she realized he was right, she really did have no idea where they were. She knew they were leaving the stronghold (which they had done) and going to Occa, which was in a forest, Frasht forest to be exact. But beyond that she knew next to nothing of where they were, what kind of terrain they would have to go through, what animals or plants or people they might encounter, heck she realized she didn't even know in which direction they were travelling.

  "Ok well," Zeeshan said as he moved up to walk beside her. "I will start with Iridian castle then. Let's say Iridian castle is here," He held his left fist out in front of him. It was illuminated just enough by the patch of light on his wrist that Arleth could see it. "The Iridian mountains circle all around the castle." He made a circular motion with his right hand around his left fist. "The stronghold we were in, was in these mountains. I don't know exactly where, but let's say it's here." He pointed to a spot to the right of his left fist which was still illustrating Iridian castle. "We just travelled down the mountain," He trailed a path in the air in front of him and now we are here. To the right or east of the stronghold. Right now we are walking across the plains which stretch all the way east to the Frasht Forest. Hey Arleth hold out your hand."

  She held out her left hand.

  "No, the other one."

  Zeeshan pointed to her now extended right hand, "This is Occa." He motioned an area all around her hand, " And this is Frasht Forest."

  "So we are heading east, crossing the plains, until we get to Frasht Forest and then Occa is inside the forest."

  "Yes exactly."

  Arleth nodded. She was relieved that they had flat land to walk on for the foreseeable future.

  "The plains are pretty boring, but it's dark anyways so who cares. The Frasht forest is more interesting, scary, but better than the plains. More to look at. I think we will probably be going through the forest tomorrow when it's light so you will be able to see. But the best thing in the forest is definitely Occa." The pride in his voice was evident.

  Arleth smiled at him in the dark, "You love your home, don't you?" She couldn't remember ever loving her home, or even considering anything really home. Certainly not at Bella's. And in the orphanage she was happy, but it had never really felt like home.

  "Of course I do! I can't wait to see my mom and my dad. I can't wait to introduce you to them."

  Arleth laughed at his excitement.

  "Will you shut up!" Graydon whispered angrily at them. "Zeeshan you are talking loud enough to wake the dead."

  "He's just excited to be going home." Arleth said

  "Excited? That's nice, how excited will you be when Absalom and Rogan set up an ambush for us?"

  Arleth and Zeeshan stared at him

  "Stupid children," Graydon muttered under his breath

  "WHO YOU CALLING STUPID?" Zeeshan roared, taking a menacing step towards Graydon.

  "SSSSH, SHUT UP," Graydon yelled back at him.

  Zeeshan took another step towards Graydon, "NO YOU SHUT UP, YOU LITTLE PIP-SQUEAK." He took a swipe at Graydon's head, which he just managed to avoid. "I AM BIG ENOUGH TO BREAK YOU IN TWO."

  "YOU WANT TO FIGHT?" Graydon yelled back, balling his hands into fists. "BRING IT ON."

  A blur of white appeared, and Selene forced her way between them. She put one hand on Zeeshan's waist and one hand on Graydon's chest, forcing them apart.

  "What the hell are you doing?" She said angrily, but quietly. "We need to be quiet. We don't want Absalom to know where we are going. We need the element of surprise... which is probably ruined now."

  Even in the dark, the force of her glare at the two of them was burning.

  Zeeshan dropped his arms and looked down ashamedly.

  "I was trying to tell them just that, but they weren't listening."

  Selene riveted her head towards Graydon, "You," She punctuated this by pointing a finger into his chest, "Were being just as loud as they were."

  "But.."

  "And fighting! You are on the same side for God's sake, grow up."

  Graydon smirked.

  "Both of you." She grabbed Graydon's arm. "You walk up with me, and all three of you, I want no talking beyond a whisper for the rest of the night."

  She strode off, half dragging Graydon with her.

  * * *

  A few silent hours later, they reached the edge of Frasht Forest and the column halted. Arleth and Zeeshan joined the others in setting up camp for the night.

  "What is happening?" Arleth whispered to a nearby soldier , "Why are we stopping?"

  "It is not safe to go into Frasht Forest at night."

  AHHHHHOOOOOOO, a loud howl broke through the night. It was followed by a feral scream and then abruptly silence as the creature's life was snuffed out.

  Arleth shivered despite the heat.

  "All manner of creatures come out at night." The soldier continued. "Most you don't want to cross paths with."

  "What was that?" Arleth whispered back.

  "Sounded like a Vrog. Deadly creatures, sleep in caves during the day. Come out at night to hunt. Anyways, I reckon we only have a few hours to get some sleep before daybreak and we have to start moving again. I'm going to catch some sleep, I suggest you do the same." The man disappeared into the darkness.

  "That sounds like a good idea," Zeeshan said. "Come I've set up our bed rolls."

  Arleth took one last look into the abyss of the forest, before turning away to follow Zeeshan.

  * * *

  A loud knock on the door, violently shook Absalom out of his reverie. It was four in the morning, but he was still awake. Good thing for whoever was on the other side of the door, that's for sure. "Come in."

  The door creaked open and a familiar face stepped in. Absalom didn't know the man's name, didn't care actually. But he recognized him as one of the scouts he had deployed earlier that day to monitor any movement around the mountains.

  "Sorry, it's late." The man stammered. "But you said to inform you of any important news as soon as it happened."

  "Yes," Absalom said impatiently. "Well what is it?"

  "Aedan, and a few thousand of his soldiers are heading across the Dari plains, in the direction of Frasht Forest."

  Absalom sat up in his chair, instantly more alert. "A few thousand are you sure?"

  "Yes, very."

  "Interesting.Who else was with him? Selene? Any of his commanders?"

  "Selene for sure. I don't know about the commanders," the man stammered again."But I did see Arleth and some big white bear-looking creature. They were arguing with a young man, so loud I could have heard them from miles away."

  Absalom didn' t care if they were all arguing, he had the information he needed. He stared at the man in annoyance "Bye!"

  The man bowed and all but ran out the door, closing it behind him.

  This was very interesting, Absalom thought. Heading towards Frasht Forest... clearly they were going to Occa. And he was bringing a sizeable portion of his force with him. A risky move, leaving his stronghold with only a skeleton guard.

  He would have to bring more soldiers now when he
attacked Occa, but no matter. He now had the chance to take out Aedan, Selene, Arleth and most of their force. Much better than he was hoping for.

  And he still had the Ranin Bud set in their stronghold. With any luck any survivors from his annihilation at Occa would just make it back in time, to be killed by the Bud. But if not, it was still good; less soldiers left in the stronghold meant, his Bud was more likely to succeed. Most of the soldiers would be gone, leaving old men and women and children. And without a sorceress... they would be all but defenceless.

  Absalom smiled in pure glee.

  "What a remarkably stupid move Aedan Amara." He said out loud. "I just hope you live long enough to truly realize the mistake you have made."

  Chapter 26

  Selene yawned and rolled over on her stomach. Groggily she reached out her arm, expecting it to land on Aedan's chest, and felt nothing but the fabric of the bed roll. She patted around, more fabric. Where was Aedan? She opened her eyes, blinking against the sunlight and looked at Aedan's empty bed roll beside her. With a sigh she rolled back over and sat up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

  Was there ever going to be a time in her life when she could sleep comfortably, in a bed, for longer than a few hours?

  She kneeded her lower back with her fingers and looked around for Aedan. He was sitting a few paces away on a fallen log. He was hunched over the Erum, clearly deep in thought. One hand rested on his forehead and even from here she could see that he was biting his lower lip in concentration. Selene shook her head with a smile and went over to sit beside him.

  Aedan looked up when he saw her and smiled.

  "Morning hun," He kissed her.

  "Reading the Erum?" It was more a statement than question.

  "Mhmm, look what I found." He pushed the open book over to her so that it rested on both of their laps. "This is the part that Arleth told us about, when she last saw Neve." He pointed near the top of the page. "Neve fought Rogan while Arleth was in a storage closet, then when Rogan was unconscious, Neve forced Arleth to run away, while she stayed behind. We know this part already from Arleth. But read here, what happened when Arleth left." He pointed lower down on the page.

  Selene looked at the page Aedan had indicated and saw meaningless symbols. "Aedan I can't read it, remember. Not an Amara."

  "Oh right. Sorry."

  Aedan read aloud,

  "Neve watched Arleth leave and then turned back to Rogan. He was stirring and she knew he would become conscious at any moment. Neve knew that Arleth's only chance of survival was if the dread mage thought that she was dead. So without hesitation, Neve cast an illusion charm on herself. A few seconds later, Neve no longer looked like herself, in her place stood the image of Arleth Amara. Quickly, she stumbled into the storage closet where the real Arleth had been hiding and waited for Rogan to become conscious. A few minutes later, the door of the storage closet flew open and Rogan entered. He smiled and a spear of green light formed in his hand. Neve screamed as he jammed it through her heart, killing her instantly."

  "Well, that explains why Rogan didn't continue searching for Arleth."

  "It sure does," Aedan replied. "Absalom must have read this passage a few weeks ago and that was how he knew Arleth was still alive."

  "It's a very good thing we got back the Erum, who knows what else Absalom might have been able to find out."

  Aedan nodded in agreement. "But I wonder why the Erum recorded that passage at all, it followed Neve as well as Arleth until Neve died. It was almost as if the Erum got confused by Neve's illusion charm."

  "Hmmm, or perhaps it was on purpose?" Selene thought out loud.

  "What do you mean?"

  "Well the Erum is only supposed to follow the lives of the Amara's right?"

  "Yes."

  "What if it was designed that any attempt to mimic one of the Amara's would be recorded as well."

  "So Neve's illusion charm."

  "Exactly. I can only think of two reasons why someone would want to cast an illusion charm on themselves to make them look like an Amara. One to protect them, or two to cause them harm or impersonate them. Either of which, I'm sure, you or Arleth would want to know about."

  "Ya, actually that makes a lot of sense. Kind of a built-in way to help protect us. That's pretty genius."

  "It is. Except in this case it worked against you."

  Aedan nodded, "True. Oh, there was something else I wanted to show you too." He flipped the book ahead a bunch of pages. "Arleth hasn't had a very easy life. Here listen to this, it's from when she was 12. She was a slave to a woman named Bella."

  "For the second morning in a row, Arleth woke up in the cage. She was shivering from the cold and her empty stomach grumbled - she realized she hadn't eaten anything in two days. Her legs ached from being cramped up. She tried to stretch them as much as she could in the confines of her cage. As she did, she noticed that the dark purple bruises had faded overnight to a dull hue."

  "It's all like that - seven years of that. She was treated like an animal, worse than an animal."

  "Wow," Selene shook her head sadly, "That is awful. She endured that for seven years?"

  "Ya. Her life after the orphanage is just page after page of the same thing."

  "Wow," Selene said again. "It does explain a lot about her personality though."

  "That's for sure. How brave and mature she is for one."

  "And how Absalom didn't have as much an effect on her as we expected he would - she has learned to be guarded and to rely on herself."

  Aedan nodded.

  "You know we can't let on that we know this about her. She doesn't seem like the kind of person that would want to share this part of her life. At least not yet anyways."

  "Yes I know," Aedan replied. "And speaking of which," he gestured with his head. "She seems to be awake." A distance away Arleth stood up and stretched. Yawning she caught sight of Selene and Aedan watching her. She smiled and waved at them.

  "Let's go get breakfast," Aedan said to Selene as he waved back. He closed the Erum with a snap and put it under his arm.

  "Breakfast it is." Selene agreed, taking Aedan's hand as he headed over to his sister.

  * * *

  "Arrumph" Arleth swore as the branch snapped back and hit her in the face.

  "Huh? Oh sorry Arleth" Zeeshan said, turning to look behind him. "I didn't realize the branch would be so swingy."

  "Arrumph." Arleth put a hand up to her forehead, it felt warm and sticky. She brought it back down, it was red.. blood.

  Zeeshan smiled sheepishly at her and held up his paws, "oops?"

  "Let's keep it moving." A voice called out from close behind them. "We don't want to be in these woods when it gets dark.

  "Sorry," Zeeshan mumbled. He turned back around and continued walking.

  Arleth wiped the blood off on her tunic, and still bristling, followed Zeeshan.

  Arleth estimated that they had been walking through Frasht forest for about three hours. Normally she would have been overjoyed by such a journey, but not today. When she had woken up, she had been fine, but almost as soon as they had entered the forest, Arleth had been hit with a huge wave of nausea which still hadn't abated. With each step, she fought the simultaneous urge to vomit and pass out. And now, thanks to Zeeshan, her head also throbbed. Even better, a swarm of insects, seemingly attracted to the blood had taken up residence buzzing around her head and no amount of arm waving would dislodge them.

  The next branch, Zeeshan held carefully for her and smiled at her hopefully.

  Arleth just glared at him.

  They continued trudging along until a little while later, the entire column halted and the order was whispered down the line, to be quiet. From her vantage point, Arleth could see nothing out of the ordinary and despite her throbbing head, she craned her neck to see why they had stopped. Her effort yielded no results and so she was forced to wait impatiently until they started moving again, this time in dead silence.

  After a few
minutes, the trees in front of Arleth thinned and she stepped out into a clearing. The sudden difference in terrain was staggering - in one stride, she had stepped out of a forest, into a barren wasteland. Ahead of her stretched a long tunnel-shaped clearing. The foliage and rich soil of the forest was replaced with dry, cracked clay. Aside from the column, making its way through, there was no movement. Nothing here lived. On either side, separating the wasteland from the rest of the forest were rows of caves, stacked one on top of the other. As she continued walking, she heard a faint humming. At first she thought she was imagining it, but as she went farther into the wasteland, it became louder and louder.

  But where was it coming from?

  The ground was completely flat, she could see all the way through to where it, just as abruptly, turned back into forest. There were no plants, no animals, just dry, dead earth.

  The caves, she thought with horror. There must be something in the caves. She looked to her left scanning the rows of caves that she could see. They all looked deserted.

  CRUNCH!

  Arleth looked down to see what she had stepped on.

  It was a bone.

  The ground was littered with them. She didn't know how she hadn't seen it before. All the ones she could see were completely stripped of flesh and ranged in size. The one she had stepped on looked remarkably like a human arm bone and there were indents in it that looked like bite marks. But that was a small bone compared to some of the others, although some were the size of small twigs, many more were twice the size of her leg. She didn't like to think how big something would have to be to eat and kill something with bones that big - or how small she was in comparison.

  Up ahead, there was a commotion in the column. All heads turned to the right and a few pointed excitedly. Arleth turned to see what they were looking at, and had to put both hands over her mouth to stifle a scream. Directly to her right, a huge hairy arm was draped lazily out of a cave. A piece of bloody flesh was dangling from its massive claws - remnants of a prior meal. The arm was swaying up and down slightly, almost in time to the humming.