Then those lines opened into gushing wounds.
Kendar’s arms unwound from Rakzar’s, and Rakzar shoved Kendar to the ground. “Good luck healing those wounds.”
Kendar writhed on the ground as he tried to hold his wounds shut, but he couldn’t maintain his human form any longer. His torso compacted and his leg shriveled until nothing remained of them. Then his torso retracted into his neck and his mouth and nose formed back into a sharp beak. A third eye appeared over his beak, and a third appendage with a razor sharp claw sprouted out of the top of his head. All three appendages whipped the air wildly and shook with tremors.
Rayah rose out of the ground and gasped. “What in the name of Ƨäʈūr is that thing?”
“Zhrimƨzhedō,” said Rakzar. “Also known as a Shadowgrym in our tongue.”
“And why did my knives hurt it when your axes shattered on impact?”
Rakzar rose on his hind legs. “They might be immune to normal weapons, but not ones made of silver like your knives. Silver causes them damage that can only be healed with mezhik.”
Rayah shook her head and groaned. “And why didn’t we start there? Why did you almost let him kill you before you asked for my help?”
He didn’t want to answer her, yet he felt compelled to do so. “I didn’t remember until the moment before I yelled at you to attack.”
Rayah rose off the ground and matched Rakzar’s eye level, her wings a blur of motion at her back. “Is that really what happened, or were you just going to let him kill you and hope that it broke the curse?”
Rakzar snarled, “I can’t be killed, remember?” He dropped on all fours. “Stop thinking about it and let’s move. We’ve wasted too much time already.”
Rayah looked down at Kendar. “And what about that thing? Are we just going to leave it there?”
“Let him suffer. He’ll eventually bleed out.”
“Isn’t that—”
Rakzar turned and headed south, tuning Rayah out.
I must be mad letting her tag along.
“But she did save your life,” said Amicus.
Rakzar growled, “No one asked you, Shadowman.”
Amicus chuckled. “I offer my input free of charge.”
“Haunt someone else. I’m done with you.” Rakzar shook his head to try and rid himself of Amicus, but it only caused him to stumble. He narrowly missed ramming a tree.
“Not a chance, my friend,” said Amicus. “We still have issues to work out.”
I’m not the one who has issues.
† † †
Rayah stood in the middle of an old chestnut oak grove at the southeastern edge of the Veridis Forest. She hadn’t been there in a dozen or so years, but memories came flooding back as she stared at the largest of the oak trees toward the northern edge of the grove.
After leaving Kendar bleeding to death, Rakzar hadn’t said anything else the entire rest of the way to Shalaidah’s, and Rayah preferred it that way. She didn’t need him bringing her down, especially not now. The thought of facing Shalaidah after so many years terrified her enough without his input.
She couldn’t recall the argument that’d set her and Shalaidah at odds, but hamadryads were known to have long memories, hot tempers, and little forgiving power. She had no doubt that Shalaidah remembered every last detail, right down to what the two of them had been wearing and what they’d eaten for breakfast that day.
Rayah took a deep breath and pressed her hand against the tree’s massive trunk. “Shalaidah, tree spirit of the mighty oak, hear me now and awaken.”
Such words were ridiculous and unnecessary, but Shalaidah believed in honoring the old legends of the hamadryads and their role as tree spirits that had been passed down through the ages. She would never come out of her tree or speak to anyone without the words spoken.
The massive tree shuddered, and its branches stretched backward in an exaggerated yawn as a face rose out of the side of its bark covered trunk. “Who calls upon the great…” The eyes narrowed. “Rayah? That is you, is it not?”
Rayah took several steps back, a weary smile upon her lips. “Hello, Shalaidah.”
The face scowled at her. “Why are you here? I told you to never return, and I meant it. Go away before I throw you out.” The face melted back into the bark.
The last thing Rayah wanted to do was beg Shalaidah for help, but she had little choice. “If you send me away, it will be to my death. Do you want my blood on your hands?”
“Don’t be so melodramatic. You survived without me all these years. You can continue to do so.” Shalaidah’s voice faded.
Rayah beat her fists on the tree trunk. “I demand you listen to me, you wretched woman!”
“Wretched woman?” Shalaidah burst from the tree, peppering Rayah with chunks of bark and knocking her back onto her buttocks.
Shalaidah stood over her, aged but still beautiful. The green streaks in her brown hair had turned silver, along with the green, leaf shapes that surrounded her bright green eyes. Brown, bark-like skin with a hint of silver covered her torso and rose into a V-shape, covering her breasts. Her exposed skin, whitish-beige in color, contrasted the bark quite well.
“I raised you as my own child. Nurtured you and loved you, yet you abandoned me the first chance you had. You are an evil little brat and have no right to call me a wretched woman.”
Rayah choked back tears as memories she’d worked so hard to forget bombarded her. Shalaidah had raised her as a prisoner, not a child, keeping her hidden away in the darkness of the tree’s trunk for most of her first years. As she grew older, Rayah realized that she and Shalaidah were nothing alike. Not even the same species. Shalaidah controlled the tree they lived in but Rayah never could. Rayah knew nothing of her own skills or the power of her wings until she escaped from the tree one day. From that point forward, she refused to live with Shalaidah in the tree, instead building her own home in the soil beneath the roots of the trees.
Rayah stood and wiped herself off. “Couldn’t you see that I was never meant to live inside of a tree? I’m not like you, but I didn’t abandon you, either.” Her gaze fell to the ground. “I’m sorry I called you wretched woman. I didn’t mean it.”
“Perhaps not, but it makes little difference.” Shalaidah turned away, but not before Rayah caught a glimpse of tears in her eyes. “I’ll never forgive you for leaving me.”
“You instilled in me a sense of pride and duty to protect our world and the creatures that live in it. Master Savric called upon me to do just that, so how could I have said no? You should know as well as anyone that I had to leave.” Rayah reached for Shalaidah’s hand, but Shalaidah moved it out of reach. “Show me mercy. Forgive me for what I had to do.”
“What you ask of me is impossible.” Shalaidah turned back. Teardrops hung from the sides of her narrow jaws. “A broken heart can never be mended. Leave me now before you finish the job.”
“I cannot do that. At least not until you’ve helped me. As I said from the start, your refusal will sentence me to death.”
Shalaidah’s long, twig-like fingers rapped against her side. “Why? What despicable thing have you done?”
“A friend of mine is cursed with a spell, and anyone who comes into contact with him will slowly start to die. I am one of those.”
Shalaidah raised her arms and spread them wide. “Then abandon him. Flee from his side and free yourself of this curse.”
“It doesn’t work that way. Once cursed, there is no escape. I chose this path of my own free will so that I could help him find a way to break the cursed spell.”
“And that choice will be your death. Your blood will not be on my hands. Be gone.” She turned away and entered her tree once more.
Rayah had one last move, and it wasn’t one she’d wanted to make, but Shalaidah had left her no choice. “You will help me, or he will come and curse you as well.”
Shalaidah’s face rose out of the tree once agai
n. “You would do that to the one who raised you?”
“You are our only hope. There is no other way. I wouldn’t be here otherwise. Besides, you know him. He’s the one who brought me to you.”
“Rakzar?” Shalaidah closed her eyes for a moment and sighed. “If I can provide you with help I will, but then you must leave and never return. Agreed?”
Rayah lowered her head. “If that’s really the way you want it to be then I agree to your terms.”
“It must be that way. Now, what can I help you with?”
Rayah spent several minutes explaining everything about the sickle spell and about the creature named Käíeƨ to the best of her ability. When she’d finished, Shalaidah came back out of her tree and sat down on a stump a few yards away.
Rayah followed Shalaidah over to the stump. “Do you know of a way we can defeat her? Trap her with something or turn her solid?”
Shalaidah’s gaze focused on the forest or perhaps something far beyond it. Rayah couldn’t quite tell. Finally, after several minutes of silence, she spoke. “I heard a legend long ago about a binding crystal that could change any substance, be it gas, air, liquid, smoke, mist, or anything else into a solid.”
Rayah waited several moments, but Shalaidah said no more. She rose off the ground and paced in the air, frustrated. “And?”
“That’s all I know, ”Shalaidah said with finality.
Rayah settled on the ground in front of Shalaidah and glared at her. “And where would we find this binding crystal?”
Shalaidah rolled her eyes and sighed. “If it were I with a need to retrieve such an object then I would most likely seek out someone who might be able to confirm or deny its existence.”
“Why are you so reluctant to help me?” Rayah crossed her arms. “Just tell me what I need to know, and I’ll be gone forever. You said that’s what you wanted.”
Shalaidah’s features softened as she reached out and stroked Rayah’s cheek. “A broken heart is full of vengeful words. Ignore them.” She smiled. “You’ve become such a beautiful young woman. It makes me proud.”
Heat rose in Rayah’s cheeks, but she didn’t hide it. “I never thought that I’d hear words like that from you. You don’t know how happy that makes me feel.”
Shalaidah shrank away and then retreated back to her tree. “Seek out the mountain dwarves in Tectus. If anyone knows, it will be them.”
Rayah flew over to the tree and hugged it. “Thank you, Shalaidah. I love you.”
A gust of wind blew through the trees and rustled the dead leaves. Rayah swore she heard the words “I love you, too” hidden within the breeze. Her heart swelled in her chest, and tears of joy streamed down her cheeks.
She let go of the tree and backed away.
Such a beautiful old chestnut oak.
Its beauty mimicked that of Shalaidah’s.
Until we meet again.
Rayah turned and walked away, an unyielding smile back upon her lips. She wiped her eyes as she headed through the trees. A sense of confidence and determination swelled within her.
The key to everything lies in Tectus.
Chapter Twenty-One
Nardus paced in the basement of Joriah’s house, his legs fueled by anger. “What in Ef Demd Dhä is taking so long?”
It was a rhetorical question, but Berggren must’ve felt the need to answer it anyway. “You heard what Joriah said when he let those city guardsmen in.”
“Yes, I know. There are dozens of guardsmen out there, but that doesn’t change the fact that Theyn and I must get going. We’ve been down here for more than an hour.”
“I understand the importance of what you’re trying to do but getting yourself killed won’t resolve anything.”
Theyn’s voice entered Nardus’s head. “You know he’s right. I could take on several of them, but you and Berggren have no weapons. We wouldn’t get twenty feet before they subdued or killed us.”
Nardus growled and spat on the floor. “I rather take my ch—”
The floor above them creaked and moaned as it slid open.
Joriah peered down from above. “I believe it’s safe now.”
“It’s about damn time.” Nardus took the stairs two at a time and headed straight for the front door when he reached the top of them.
Theyn’s voice screamed in his head, “Wait!”
His hand slipped from the doorknob as he turned and glared at Theyn. “What is it now?”
The door creaked open behind him.
As Nardus turned, the years rolled back in his mind. Thirteen of them. Joriah’s house faded and the landscape changed. He stood atop his wagon on that fateful day, traveling down a familiar dirt road. The whoosh of an arrow sang in his ears as it soared through the air. His body jerked to the left as it had that day, but the arrow’s bite didn’t come. Instead, his head snapped back, and white-hot pain erupted in his left shoulder. A great weight slammed into his chest and thrust the air from his lungs.
Nardus blinked several times, stunned. Flashes of white, yellow, and red filled his vision, and the sounds of metal blades drawn from their sheaths rang in his ears, along with grunts, gurgles, growls, and stifled screams.
Someone yelled, “No quarter!”
Nardus shook his head, forcing his mind back into the present. He lay on the floor of Joriah’s house, along with two dead bodies—both of them guardsmen. A thick layer of black smoke hung from the ceiling of the cottage and grey haze filled the air. Orange flames consumed the northern wall and most likely a good portion of the ceiling.
Nardus didn’t see Theyn or Joriah, but Berggren fought two men on the far side of the room.
A shadow flitted across Nardus’s vision, drawing his attention. Sunlight glinted off the shiny yellow armor of a guardsman standing in the doorway. Nardus met the guardsman’s gaze, and the guardsman’s eyes narrowed. The guardsman stepped inside and raised his brandish sword over his head. Nardus rolled to his left, right over the top of a discarded sword, and narrowly escaped the guardsman’s blade as it bit into the wood-planked floor with a thud. The guardsman grunted as he worked his blade free, giving Nardus just enough time to recover the discarded sword and get to his feet.
The guardsman snarled and lunged forward, thrusting his sword at Nardus’s midsection. Nardus easily dodged the attack, spun around, and landed a blow to the guardsman’s left side, but the blade failed to penetrate the guardsman’s thick armor. The blow nearly jarred the sword from Nardus’s grip, but he didn’t have time to think about it as the guardsman retaliated with a barrage of swift attacks. Nardus managed to block them all but lost a lot of ground in the process. He quickly found himself cornered.
Two more violent blows from the guardsman ripped the sword from Nardus’s hand. The sword clanged as it hit the floor. The guardsman spat and grinned. Nardus knew the look in the guardsman’s eyes—twisted and animalistic. The man sought to spill his blood, and Nardus had no way of stopping him.
The guardsman raised his sword. “Time ta die.”
Nardus flinched as blood exploded from the guardsman’s throat. His sword fell from his hand, and he dropped to his knees as he clutched his throat. A hulking shadow stood behind the guardsman, disfigured by the smoky haze.
Berggren.
Berggren drove his sword down through the guardsman’s clavicle and into his chest cavity, burying the sword all the way to its hilt. The guardsman gurgled, his mouth full of blood. Berggren ripped the sword back out and the guardsman fell sideways in a heap.
Berggren stepped back, his sword dripping with blood. “Figured I’d return the favor by saving your hide.”
“And I thoroughly appreciate it.” Nardus bent down and picked up the sword he’d dropped. “We need to find—” Theyn trotted through the doorway, her fur matted with blood. Nardus gasped. “—Theyn! Are you okay?”
Theyn’s presence entered his mind. “Relax. None of the blood is mine.”
“Where’
s Joriah?” asked Berggren.
“Taking care of the last few guardsmen,” said Theyn in Nardus’s head. Nardus relayed the information to Berggren as they all headed outside.
Smoke and flames rose from several fires spread over the hilltop. Dead guardsmen lay strewn across the landscape, several with detached limbs and a few without their heads. Others still smoldered, their corpses black and shrunken within their melted armor. Joriah had done a number on them with his fireballs. Nardus counted nearly three dozen bodies in all. The loss of life sickened him, but they’d been left without choice but to defend themselves.
“We need to move,” said Berggren. “This mess won’t go unnoticed for long.”
Theyn lifted her nose in the air and drew a deep breath as she turned in a circle. She snorted and shook her head. “More of them are on their way now. I believe we will be surrounded if we don’t hurry.”
Nardus grimaced. “Theyn says they are coming from every direction.”
Joriah pulled his hair away from his face and straightened his cape. “Follow me and stick close. I know this city better than anyone.”
The three of them nodded their agreement. Joriah took off down the stone path, surprising Nardus with his agility as he cleared the three-foot-tall iron gate without missing a step. He and Theyn both cleared the gate as well, but Berggren just ran right through it.
For a solid hour, they slowly made their way across West Hotah, narrowly escaping detection on several occasions. Now, the single bridge to East Hotah lay ahead of them, but dozens of guardsmen stood in their path. The four of them crouched behind a building as they contemplated how to proceed.
Even in the deep shadows Nardus could see that Joriah looked paler than he had earlier. “You okay, Joriah?”
“Just a tad depleted after that fire fight. I’ll be fine once we get the two of you to safety.”
“I won’t allow you to sacrifice yourself for me.”
“All of us serve a purpose in life, Nardus. If mine is fulfilled in this act, so be it. Besides, I’ve not had this much fun and excitement in… well, ever. Don’t you dare try to take it away from me.”
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