Bierch pushed past Ashter, a glint of steel in his left eye. A patch covered his right one. He took the torch from Ashter and closed the distance between himself and Savric. A short foot remained between them. “Aye. No matter. His coins still be good. Ain’t that right?”
Savric shrugged. “Truth be told, I lack any coins.”
Bierch stepped back and turned to Ashter. “Search him.”
“Don’ hafta ask twice.” Ashter stepped forward, a snarl on his lips.
Savric drew some mezhik from the crystal orb atop Qotan’s staff, giving himself a much needed boost. He spun in a whirlwind and teleported just outside the cell. He slammed the door shut and slid the lock into place before the two men could puzzle out what had just happened.
Ashter and Bierch yelled a slew of profanities at Savric, several of which he’d never heard before. Their wicked mouths gave meaning to the phrase “cussin like a shipper.”
Savric reached out and pulled the light straight from the torch Bierch held, effectively snuffing it out.
“Wizard!” exclaimed Ashter.
Enough of this.
“Ƨəlläb,” said Savric.
The two men fell silent and slumped to the floor. Within moments, their snores filled the holding cell.
Savric chuckled. “That will keep them occupied for a few hours.”
Chapter Nine
Rayah set her mind on Alderan’s house and touched the mirror’s cold, wet surface. The mirror room underneath Alderan’s house rippled into view.
She stepped through the mirror and tensed as a memory of Sardis slithered up from the depths of her mind again. A wave of gooseflesh washed over her and shook her shoulders, but she didn’t let the memory incapacitate her like it had earlier.
Rayah walked into the adjoining room where the shelves of books and tables sat, but the room lay in darkness. A cold draft filtered down through the shaft that led up into the house, blowing her hair back and leaving her chilled as it swept past. A door slammed in the house above, the jarring noise nearly pulling her out of her skin.
The sound of her own heartbeat drummed in her ears, and her hands trembled. She took a few steps into the dark room as her eyes began to adjust.
“Alderan?” Her voice croaked, no louder than a whisper.
Rayah waited several moments but received no response. She called his name again, louder. “Alderan?”
A gruff voice sounded from the house above. “You shouldn’t be here. Go away.” The voice wasn’t Alderan’s, but Rayah knew its owner well enough.
Urza.
Rayah located the ladder across the room and started climbing. Dim light filtered down through the small, square opening in the main floor of Alderan’s house. She pulled herself up through the opening and rounded the side of the fireplace.
Urza lay on the floor in the middle of the living area. She didn’t even bother to lift her head off the floor when Rayah walked over to her. “I said, ‘go away.’”
Rayah’s hands latched onto her hips. “I heard you the first time. What’s wrong with you, and why are you here?”
Urza closed her eyes. “Doesn’t matter. You need to leave before Rakzar comes back inside.” Her voice sounded strange. Weak.
Rayah looked around. “Rakzar’s here too?” She didn’t know what was going on there, but she didn’t like it. “What are you doing in Alderan’s house? Better yet, what have you done with him?”
“Relax before you go and soil yourself.” Urza chuckled and then coughed. “Rakzar and I have been here for a few days now, but we haven’t seen the emotional wizard boy.”
He’s not here? The thought pierced Rayah right through the heart and made her chest ache. If he didn’t come home, then where did he go?
The dark corridor and the soldier that came through the mirror rose in her mind. Her pulse raced faster.
Where was that place? Why did you go there, Alderan?
“You need to leave, dryte.” Urza sounded just like Rakzar.
Rayah scoffed, ignoring Urza’s attempted insult. “I need to leave? Why? I have as much right to be here as you do. More so in fact. Why don’t you leave?”
“If you’d step outside of your self-absorbed world for a moment, you might clue in on the fact that I’m not feeling well.”
“Don’t you dare—” Rayah paused.
Had things changed with Urza?
Rayah crouched next to Urza and truly looked at her for the first time since entering the room. Several things about Urza differed from when she’d seen her just a few weeks ago. Urza’s fur didn’t shine like it had before, and her eyes sank farther into her skull than Rayah remembered. Also, Urza’s nose didn’t have its normal wet sheen, and her arms and legs had tufts of fur missing.
A hint of concern crept into Rayah’s voice. “What’s wrong with you?”
Urza turned onto her side. “It’s a long story. Suffice it to say that I’m dying. Now get out before you find yourself dying as well.”
Dying?
Rayah beat her wings and slid back several feet. She swallowed hard. “Are you contagious or something?”
“No, it’s nothing like that. Leave now, and you’ll be fine.”
Rayah stood. “I’m not leaving until you explain what’s going on. I have the right to know since you’re holing up in Alderan’s house.”
Urza groaned. “Alright, but you must agree to two things. Don’t repeat what I tell you to anyone, and when I’ve finished telling you what’s going on, you must leave. Agreed?”
Rayah crossed her arms and huffed. “Fine… If what you say warrants me leaving.”
Urza opened her eyes. Her irises, previously a deep yellow, looked washed out and faded. Perhaps a bit milky.
“Rakzar is cursed,” Urza said flatly. “Anyone who comes into contact with him will die. That’s why I’m dying. Good enough for you?”
“No!” She moved closer to Urza. “What do you mean he’s cursed?”
Urza sighed. “When he went after Murtag, there were two sorceresses there. They cast a spell on him they called sickle. It marked his soul. Anyone who comes into contact with him will die a slow, agonizing death. I refused to leave his side after I rescued him, and now I’m dying. So, get out of here before he comes back, or you’ll find yourself on the verge of death as well.”
Rayah couldn’t wrap her mind around what Urza said. Rakzar was a sadistic, twisted beast to begin with. Now, everyone around him would die?
Heat rose in Rayah’s cheeks. “Alderan should’ve killed Rakzar when he had the chance.”
“Maybe you’re right, but it makes no difference now. To make matters worse, the spell keeps him from killing himself.”
A thought occurred to Rayah. “Wait a minute… was Eshtak with you and Rakzar after the spell was cast on Rakzar?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Eshtak was still fine this morning.”
“Perhaps the spell doesn’t affect those around him unless they stay with him like I did.”
Rayah recalled Amicus telling her that mezhik didn’t seem to affect Eshtak the way it did others. “Or Eshtak’s immune to it.”
Urza grunted. “Either way, I don’t think you want to stick around to find out just how it works.”
Why didn’t Alderan listen to me? Rakzar should’ve died on that beach.
Rayah groaned. “He’ll never be anything but a killer.”
“As I said before, you know nothing about him. He’s not who you think he is.”
“He’s tried to kill me more times than I can count.”
“You’re lying to yourself.” Urza rolled onto her other side. “How about I tell you the story of how Rakzar saved a baby dryte?”
Rayah swallowed hard. The thought of Rakzar doing anything for anyone but himself didn’t register in her mind. The beast she knew had no compassion for anyone. Anything Urza said to the contrary would be a pack of lies. But she wanted to hear it anywa
y.
Rayah settled on the floor next to Urza. “Sure. What did he do?”
Urza closed her eyes and took a deep, ragged breath and then began her story. “Many years ago, there was a terrible fire in the Oblivio Mountains. As you probably know, Rakzar loves fire, so he went there to watch it all burn.
“Animals and creatures of all kinds fled the forest in a frenzy as the flames spread through the underbrush. While admiring the destructive nature of the fire, Rakzar heard a cry from deep within the forest. He rushed into the smoke and flames without a second thought.
“He searched the forest for a dozen minutes and almost gave up before hearing another cry not far from where he stood. A minute later, he found a baby girl dryte lying on the forest floor, surrounded by a wall of flames. The baby’s mother lay at her side, charred and dying.
“Rakzar grabbed the baby dryte and her mother and carried them through the flames. By the time they reached a safe place, the mother had died, but the baby dryte survived.
“Rakzar knew he couldn’t and wouldn’t take care of her, so he took her to the one place he knew she’d be safe and cared for: the home of a hamadryad named Shalaidah. He left her there and never looked back.
“That was you, Rayah. He saved your life and tried to save your mother’s as well.”
Rayah’s cheeks swam beneath a river of tears. How could Rakzar have done something so selfless? Why?
He couldn’t have done it without reason, could he?
No. He’s incapable. But then what did he gain from it?
None of it made sense. She wanted to believe that Urza lied, but no one knew the truth about her past other than Alderan. No one knew Shalaidah had raised her.
Rakzar saved me… The truth of it sank in. Shook her world.
Shalaidah had told Rayah that her mother had abandoned her all those years ago. Why had she lied to her? What else had she lied about?
No, no, no! She took me in. Gave me a home. Treated me as her own.
What difference would it have made if she’d told me the truth about my mother?
She knew the answer in her heart, but she couldn’t let herself think about it. Let it stay in the past.
Rayah wiped her cheeks and sniffed. “I… I can’t believe Rakzar would do such a thing. How could someone like him—a beast with no heart—do something so selfless?”
Urza forced air from her nostrils. “He has a bigger heart than you can imagine, even if he doesn’t show it. He saved me as well when I was just a pup.”
“He did?” Perhaps she didn’t know him as well as she thought she did.
Ƨäʈūr, have I been wrong about him all this time?
Urza peered up at Rayah through slitted eyelids. “He’s not the monster you believe him to be. Killing was a means for him to survive, not what his heart truly desired. He saved Alderan from that castle fire as well. Don’t you see? He does care. He saved us all.”
Rayah suddenly felt sick to her stomach. She’d practically begged Alderan to kill Rakzar several times. Yet he didn’t.
Alderan, the prophesied savior of the world, strove to preserve all life, even of those that sought to end his. He’d taken the lives of two gnolls to save hers on that hill. Had that selfless act tainted his soul?
Rayah groaned. I started the fight that led us onto that hill.
Would Alderan still save the world, or had her jealousy over Aria ruined everything?
No! I can’t believe that. Ƨäʈūr, tell me there’s still hope!
Rayah needed to find a way to stave off her jealousy and focus on the needs of those around her. She couldn’t allow her selfish desires to rule her mind anymore. She’d change, starting right then.
Rayah reached out and stroked Urza’s yellow, fur-covered forearm. She wondered what had happened to the spring-loaded sheaths Urza normally wore on her forearms but decided not to ask. Urza growled but didn’t pull away. Maybe she didn’t have the strength to do so. Or perhaps she liked the attention. Rayah couldn’t be certain.
Her mind returned to the problem at hand. “How can Rakzar break the spell?”
Urza yawned. A long, grayish-black tongue curled into her mouth and then unwound. “As far as I know, there’s no way to do so.”
Rayah moved closer and stroked Urza’s back. “There must be some way for him to break the spell.”
Urza growled. “What do you think you’re doing?”
Rayah withdrew her hand. “I don’t know. Trying to help I guess.”
“Well you’re not. I’m no dog.”
Rayah nodded. “I know. I’m sorry. It’s just that Shalaidah used to rub my back when I didn’t feel well. It always made me feel better. I thought it might make you feel better too.”
“I’m slowly dying, not sulking.”
“Right. Sorry.” She twirled her finger into her hair. “Can’t all spells be broken or countered? If they’ve been cast, there must be a way to remove them.”
“I know little of mezhik or how it works, so I’m no help there.”
Rayah stared at the blackened hearth. “Maybe he can get the sorceresses to remove the spell.”
“You really are stupid, aren’t you? They’ll never reverse the spell. They’d rather die.”
The jab stung, but Rayah let it slide. It actually felt good doing so. The thought of the sorceresses dying sparked an idea. “Why doesn’t he find them and kill them? Maybe the spell will die with them.”
“That’s absurd.”
“Why? You have a better suggestion?”
Urza closed her eyes. Her chest rose and fell slowly, and she wheezed with each breath. “No. Maybe you’re right. Maybe he could kill them and break the spell.”
“Then tell Rakzar to do it.”
“Why are you trying to help him? I thought you hated him and wanted him dead.”
“I do.” Rayah frowned. “Or I did.” She shrugged. “I don’t know. Perhaps he’s changed. Maybe he’s not as bad as I thought. I don’t know.”
“Perhaps it’s you who has changed. Or at least your view of him.”
How cold is it in here?
Rayah hugged herself and rubbed her arms, but the rigid little bumps that speckled her skin remained. “Would you like me to build you a fire before I go?”
Urza nodded. “I’d like that.”
Rayah took some logs from the pile next to the fireplace and placed them inside the hearth. She stuffed kindling between and underneath the logs and then found a match to light it. The kindling burned hot, quickly catching the logs on fire. Within a few minutes, the fire pumped much needed warmth into the room.
Urza crawled closer to the hearth and curled up. “Thank you.”
Rayah rose. “You’re welc—”
A noise outside the front door startled Rayah.
Urza’s eyes shot open. “You must go now! If you don’t, you won’t survive.”
“I’ll come check on you again. I promise.”
“If you do, make sure Rakzar isn’t here first.”
“Right. I’ll call for you through the mirror.”
The door handle rattled.
Rayah flew around the side of the fireplace and descended the ladder as fast as she could. The front door shook the house just as she reached the last rung. She jetted through the lower room and into the side room with the mirror.
Zerenity’s closet appeared through the mirror when Rayah pressed her hand against its surface. She pushed herself through the mirror’s cold, wet surface and stepped around the pile of ash on the floor. Had she not seen the soldier combust with her own eyes, she wouldn’t have believed it to be more than dust.
Through rows of hanging clothes came a faint light. She followed that light into Zerenity’s room and shut the closet door behind her. She leaned against the door and exhaled. Her pulse raced.
What would she do now? Master Savric wanted her to find Alderan, but she had no idea where to look for him. The mirror fright
ened her.
The dark corridor she’d seen through the mirror might be where Alderan went, but she couldn’t be certain and had no idea where the corridor led. Even if she did find that same corridor, she might not be as lucky as the first time. Anything or anyone could be waiting on the other side of it, including those that wielded mezhik.
For the first time in her life, Rayah felt helpless. She didn’t know what to do or where to go, so she knelt, closed her eyes, and prayed to her God.
Ƨäʈūr, I am Your servant. Tell me what to do, and I will obey. Guide me by Your hand as a shepherd guides his sheep. I will follow. Give me a way to be useful and contribute. I surrender.
A toppled tree flashed in Rayah’s mind. She remembered it well. Sickly, dark-grey vines with orange thorns and leaves grew up from the black soil where the tree once stood. The vines produced a pungent odor that stung her nostrils, and a loud hissing noise filled her ears.
A pit of vipers.
Rayah opened her eyes. What would she find there if she went back? Would the vines have spread and infected the entire forest, or had they shriveled? She didn’t know, and it scared her to think about it.
A strong urge to visit the forest rose within her, followed by an urgency she couldn’t explain. Sweat dampened her palms, and her heart drummed in her ears. Wings fluttering, her feet lifted off the floor. She paced in the air.
I must go back to that spot.
† † †
Rakzar stood just inside the door for several moments, inhaling the tantalizing aroma of burning wood. Little else gave him pleasure since Amicus’s death. Fresh snow pellets clung to his cloak. He brushed them off and watched as they melted into dozens of miniature puddles across the warm floor.
Urza lay on the floor in front of a blazing fire, her back to him.
“Did you start the fire?” he asked, but she ignored him.
Rakzar’s forked tongue flicked the air. “I can smell the dryte. Is she still here?”
“No.” Urza didn’t move. “Rayah just left.”
Rakzar removed the cloak Eshtak had given him, stuffed it into the brown sack flung over his shoulder, and tossed the sack on a chair. “Good, but why was she here?”
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