The Twin Princes

by J. M. Topp

  Coda glanced back at her. ‘The Veledred scouts must have made it to the Moonlit Valley by now. They didn’t spend the night resting like we did.’

  ‘They’ll be tired when they arrive at the valley. We won’t,’ said Elymiah.

  ‘I just hope this trip isn’t a waste of time.’ Coda sighed.

  SNOW AND SLEET shot at Elymiah, stinging her face. She could only see Coda’s shadow ahead through the momentary breaks in the walls of wind and smog. Several times, she thought she had lost him. Then he would appear like a black shadow in the white wisps of the ice storm. Elymiah’s mount was sturdy, and despite the snow that nearly went up to its chest, the palfrey dug through and continued to follow Coda. The beating of the wind was continuous on her back, and Elymiah was thankful for the thick, heavy bear coats. Yet the freezing cold sliced at the exposed skin on her cheeks and forehead. She could not feel her nose any longer. A white blur streaked before her, and she was barely able to catch a glance at what it was. She heard a beastly shriek above the howling snowy winds. Her mount stopped and neighed in hesitation. Elymiah’s hand wandered to the hilt of her sword at her side, and she loosened Alamánd in its sheath. It was cold in her grip, but the sword was a comfort to her. Her eyes darted around to find the source of the sound. Coda slowed down and turned back to her.

  ‘Don’t stop!’ he shouted over the fierce winds. ‘Whatever you do, don’t stop!’

  Elymiah kicked her horse in the side, and they continued moving through the pass. The screams, which sounded cold and dead, continued to echo through the mountaintops, but they did become quieter. Elymiah glanced behind her and saw dozens of blue eyes glowing in the dark, staring back at her. She couldn’t quite guess what she was looking at. Coda allowed her to reach him, and their horses trotted side by side once they had gone a few miles. ‘Those snow lions have been on our trail since we reached the top!’ he shouted. ‘They must not have been that hungry, or they would have attacked us en masse. Let’s go.’

  Elymiah shivered and clutched at her cloak, urging her mount to continue on the path down into the Moonlit Valley.

  ELYMIAH THREW OFF her heavy fur cloak and tied it in a bundle using a yew string. Like everything on the Isles of Brume, the Moonlit Valley had a thick layer of fog and mist around it. The humidity in the valley was so overbearing that she felt tiny droplets of water begin to collect on her shirt and cloak. It was such a contrast to the intense cold of the snowy pass. She could feel a tingling in her nose as she began to thaw out slightly. The change in temperature was toying with her. She could feel the faint warmth of a fever begin to collect on her forehead. Elymiah shook her head. There was no time to be sick.

  The forest was alive with sounds of cicadas and the howling of strange animals and birds. Though the forest was thick with bushes and tall trees, it was not like the jungle surrounding Saltkire Hold. The wind was crisp and fresh, without any form of humidity. Yet something unnerving lingered in the air. Something ghostly. Elymiah remembered the feeling of being pursued through the streets of Yorveth and the crackling voice of the fel-wraith. A sudden movement from the corner of her eye scared all the worries from her mind.

  Coda took his shirt off completely, flexed his muscles, and stretched. His arms were chiselled, as were his stomach and chest. He let himself fall to the floor and began doing push-ups.

  Elymiah’s heart fluttered. ‘What are you doing?’ she asked, fumbling at the knot of the bundle of fur.

  ‘I am preparing for a fight. There is no sense going into a hunt stiff and cold. Warming up is essential to avoid cramping,’ said Coda amidst his push-ups. Elymiah stared at his well-chiselled body and swallowed hard. Then a curious thought overtook her. She took her grey cloak off with a sly grin.

  She dropped beside Coda, put her severed arm behind her back, and began to push her body up and down. Her right arm started to protest nearly immediately, but she ignored it. A warmth she hadn’t had in months began to burn through her body. Over and over again she put her face directly in front of the ground. Out of the corner of her eye, she looked at Coda, who was keeping pace with her. He had put his arm behind his back to match her style. Elymiah flashed a grin and then began to go faster. Coda’s smile disappeared, and a bead of sweat appeared on his forehead. A look of desperation crossed his face. She pushed harder and faster. She could do this all day. Finally, Coda put his knee to the ground, sweat lining his cheeks and nose. Elymiah stopped beside him and put one knee on the ground, a smile decorating her face.

  ‘By Oredmere, you beat me with only one arm.’ Coda stood up and offered a hand to her. She took it and brushed dirt off her trousers. ‘I meant to warm up, not give out all the strength I had,’ moaned Coda, massaging his arms.

  ‘That wasn’t all you had, was it?’ said Elymiah, sighing. Coda reared back and let out a laugh. Elymiah smiled, and before she knew it, she was laughing right beside him. She strapped Theodric’s metal arm onto her shoulder. Pulling the straps, she tightened the leather against her skin. The runes glowed faintly. She flexed the metal fingers, and they squeaked in protest, responding slowly to her commands, but it was better than nothing. Coda shook his head and chuckled, looking over the valley.

  Elymiah stared at him. There’s something about him…

  A shrill, hollow scream killed the moment. It echoed through the valley like a ghost rushing up at them. The strange feeling returned to Elymiah. She shuddered and stared into the forest.

  ‘What the fuck was that?’ said Coda, putting his steel helm on his head. ‘It sounded like a woman’s scream.’

  ‘The search party.’ Elymiah grabbed her grey cloak and fastened it on her shoulder. Then she unsheathed Alamánd. Coda drew his own sword. Elymiah knelt beside the tree line with weapon in hand. Coda matched her stance.

  ‘Lead me to them,’ said Elymiah.

  Coda nodded, walking into the forest with sword drawn. Elymiah walked in after him. Boulders and massive rocks lined the forest floor. The ground itself was pocked like someone had dug holes to plant large trees but had never gotten around to actually planting them. This prevented Elymiah and Coda from charging through the forest without the risk of breaking a leg or neck. They had to make their way through the forest floor carefully and quietly.

  ‘This must be the edge of Kveikur’s territory,’ said Coda, inspecting some of the boulders and broken rocks as he passed them. ‘The strength of this cyclops is impressive. Much more than any cyclops I’ve ever seen. The scream, however, wasn’t too far away.’

  ‘How do you know that? The scream echoed across the valley. It could have come from anywhere.’ Elymiah eyed the dense canopy of trees far above.

  ‘Do you care to wait around for another scream?’ He turned to her. ‘No? If I had to guess, the search party would have made it to the caves closer to the centre of the valley at this point. It was the original roost for the other cyclopses before we eradicated them. I would have chosen that spot to begin as well.’

  The sun was beginning to go down by the time they reached the outskirts of the Moonlit Valley Forest. The pocked earth was replaced by a thick green moss carpet, which masked Elymiah’s and Coda’s footfalls. Odd flora with green and blue caps and petals grew on the bottoms of the numerous tall trees. Their thick and coiling roots rose well above the earth as if they refused to be buried in the ground beneath. A thin sheet of fog had begun to collect, but this time overhead. In the distance, a wolf howled, sending shivers up Elymiah’s spine.

  ‘We are close,’ said Coda.

  ‘How do you know that?’

  ‘Do you feel it? The Moonlit Valley is shaped like a large bowl. The closer to the centre we get, the hotter it becomes,’ whispered Coda, loosing the sword in his sheath. ‘It also means that we are getting closer to the caves.’

  A moan rose through the night, eerie and cold. Coda shivered and made a strange symbol in the air over his chest. ‘Ghosts roam this land.’

  The moan came again. Elymiah shook her head. ‘That was no
ghost.’

  She held still, searching for the source of the sound. Crickets and other night bugs chirped, but nothing moved. Then Elymiah saw a bloodied hand stick up into the moonlight. She held her breath but moved to the body. A man garbed in a green cloak with three black wolves emblazoned on the padded leather gambeson lay in the dirt with blood dripping from his head. Spilt blood carpeted the ground and grass beside him. The man leaned forward and snorted through his nostrils. His blond hair was a mess of mud and leaves.

  ‘How the fuck did you get here so fast?’ the man said. It was Theodric.

  Elymiah and Coda sheathed their weapons. Dried blood covered Theodric’s face, and he was sporting a gash on his forehead. Elymiah knelt and reached into her pouch for a bandage. Theodric smiled and let his head fall on the ground. ‘Or maybe I am that close to dying and you are the maiden death itself. I should have known she would have your face.’

  ‘Shut up, Theodric,’ whispered Elymiah. Coda pulled a phial of methanol from his pack and handed it to her. She doused a bandage with the liquid and began to clean the wound on his head. ‘What happened here?’

  ‘As soon as you left, Zigi organised a second search party. I believe he was afraid you would find Artus first. I don’t know why he cares who finds him so much. He fed our steeds this root that makes them forget exhaustion. Unfortunately, it also prevented us from realizing our horses were being run into the ground. They all died as soon as we entered the valley. We then realised we would have to walk back to Karagh Muín. As we left our mounts, we were attacked by these strange beetle-like creatures. They crawled underneath the brush. They were quiet and struck without warning. They had jaws like a bear’s, and they were ruthless. They tore us to shreds. I think I am the only one who made it out.’

  Elymiah glanced at Coda and then tightened the bandage on Theodric’s head. Theodric winced but didn’t moan again. ‘Tell me you have some wine on you,’ he whispered.

  ‘No wine, sorry. I do have some moonshine.’ Elymiah pulled a bottle from her pack.

  ‘That’ll do,’ said Theodric as he snatched the bottle from her hands and began to chug it. Elymiah had to force the bottle from his lips to keep him from downing the whole thing there and then.

  ‘Once I find my father, I will come back for you, I promise.’

  ‘Fuck that,’ said Theodric, leaning forward. He touched his head and clenched his teeth but then stood up. ‘I am not staying by myself here.’

  Elymiah glanced at Coda, and he shrugged.

  ‘You’re only going to slow us down,’ said Coda.

  ‘No, I won’t.’ Theodric bared his teeth at the man.

  Elymiah shook her head. ‘If you fall, we won’t pick you up. If you cry out, we won’t listen.’

  ‘I wouldn’t expect anything less,’ said Theodric. Elymiah nodded, and they continued down the path. Coda set his hand on the hilt of his sword, carefully observing his surroundings. Elymiah did the same. Theodric gasped, and she turned to see what he was looking at. Goosebumps trickled down her neck and arms.

  The tree Theodric was looking at was cracked at the top, as if someone had come with a giant cleaver and sliced the top off. A man garbed in green stared dully from the top of the broken tree. The lower half of his body was missing, and only the top part was embedded into the wood, with his head dangling from the tree. Dried blood was caked around the area where his lower half should have been. His head was mostly ripped from his body and was swinging softly in the wind.

  ‘By the gods, that’s Sullyvan,’ whispered Theodric, staring in horror. Elymiah walked around the tree and nearly swallowed her tongue. Behind the tree lay a gruesome and bloody scene.

  A small campfire filled with ash lay in the centre, with mangled bodies strewn around it. The bodies were clad in green like the man in the tree. Seven or eight daemon hunters seemed to have gone through a lumber mill saw—at least, Elymiah thought there were only seven or eight. It was difficult to tell since there was not a single intact dead body. Where moss green had been the primary colour of the ground, now it was crimson. Two horses had been torn in half, and the front of one horse was attached to the rear of the other, mismatching their colours. A pair of legs had been stuck into the mouth of each horses. Beetles and flies hovered over the bodies, buzzing their wings and clicking their pincers.

  Theodric walked past Elymiah, absorbing the cruelties of what he was witnessing. ‘This must have been where the other search party made camp. What the hell?’ he whispered to himself. His arms began to shake. A strong stench of death and blood rose to Elymiah’s nose. It made her eyes water immediately. Coda put a hand over his nose and cursed under his breath, but Elymiah didn’t understand the words.

  ‘Is this what is left of us?’ asked Theodric, his eyes unblinking.

  ‘It looks that way,’ said Coda, blowing his nose loudly. He wiped the mucus on his leather pants and shook his head rapidly.

  ‘This was not done by an ordinary cyclops,’ said Theodric, a smile beginning to spread on his face. ‘A cyclops is too loud and clumsy. These men were attacked by surprise. Look, their swords are still in their sheaths.’ He began to chuckle to himself. ‘There’s no way it was a cyclops.’

  ‘It was Kveikur,’ whispered Coda, shaking his head.

  ‘Kveikur.’ Theodric whipped his head around to look at Coda. Sweat poured from his head, and tears were beginning to fall from his eyes, but it was his smile that froze Elymiah. ‘This was no random attack. The creature played with the bodies once he was finished killing them, like torturing them gave it pleasure. There are no footprints either. How do you explain that?’ Theodric looked at the dead without expecting an answer. ‘This is something else. This is the work of a daemon.’

  A loud scream pierced through the Moonlit Valley, shaking Theodric from his shocked state. He stood up and shot into the woods in the direction of the sound, mumbling to himself, leaving Elymiah and Coda behind.

  ‘Theodric, wait!’ Elymiah shouted after him. She kicked herself into action and began to chase him. Coda cursed and sped after her. Careful not to slip on the not-yet-dried blood, Elymiah ran through the brush.

  ‘Theodric!’ she shouted again, but Theodric didn’t seem to hear.

  ‘He’s in shock,’ said Coda.

  ‘He will get us all killed.’ Elymiah urged her legs to move faster. She crashed through a bush, trying to get ahead of Theodric. Another scream pierced the fog, this time much closer.

  To my left, thought Elymiah as she drew her sword. There was no telling what they would find ahead. Then, she saw Theodric stop. She ran up to him and was about to scold him for running off when she realised why he had stopped. They were in a clearing with a large tree stump in the middle. A man was tied to the tree stump with both arms outstretched. He was completely naked, and small red cuts decorated his pale white flesh as if someone had been prodding him with the point of a sword. His nipples had been torn off. Theodric fell to his knees. The man was still breathing, but he didn’t even look up at the newcomers. His unkempt hair cast a long shadow over his face. The naked man had his face lowered to the ground. His legs were bent at odd angles. Elymiah took a closer look and realised that they had been wholly crushed as if someone had stomped on them while he was tied up.

  ‘It came…from nowhere…’ he whispered to himself, staring with eyes wide open. ‘Not a cyclops.’

  Theodric held his breath and gasped. ‘I knew it.’

  Elymiah unsheathed her knife and reached to cut the bindings from the man’s wrists, but as she drew closer, the man screamed once more, raising his face to the moonlight. The scream died in the man’s throat.

  It was Tsoryg.

  His eyes had been gouged out of his face. Only black and red remained crusted where his eyes should have been. Elymiah cut the bindings and let his arms fall to his sides.

  ‘Tsoryg, can you hear me? You’re all right. Everything is going to be all right.’ She cradled him in her arms.

  ‘Amelinne? Where
is she? Where is my wife?’ mumbled Tsoryg, tears streaming down his face.

  Elymiah looked at Theodric and Coda, but they were just as stunned as she was.

  ‘She’s dead. Why did I…’ whispered Tsoryg.

  ‘What? I can’t understand you, Tsoryg,’ said Elymiah.

  ‘Why did I ever agree for her to come?’ Tsoryg touched Elymiah’s arm and ran his fingers down to her hand. ‘Thank you,’ he whispered, and then, in an instant, he wrenched the knife from Elymiah’s grasp. He pushed Elymiah and rolled away from her reach.

  ‘I will be with you, Amelinne!’ he cried.

  ‘Tsoryg?’ asked Elymiah, standing up. ‘Tsoryg, no!’

  Tsoryg drove the knife into his eye socket, splattering blood over Elymiah’s face. Over and over again, he stabbed himself, and finally, he screamed one last time. She was too stunned to stop him. He fell to the ground, limp, with Elymiah’s knife in hand.

  ‘We made a grave mistake,’ whispered Theodric with a crazed smile. His shoulders shook as he laughed. ‘We shouldn’t have come here. We should never have come.’

  Coda knelt beside Tsoryg’s body and pulled Elymiah’s knife from his skull. He closed his eyes and put his hand on Tsoryg’s chest. ‘May his soul be safely channelled to the land of the gods, and dance with the angels.’ Coda then turned to Elymiah and wiped the blood off on his pants. ‘Stand tall, Elymiah. I didn’t see your father’s body here. There is still a chance he is further up.’

  He helped Elymiah up onto her feet and handed her the knife. She stared at it for a moment and then sheathed it, turning to Theodric.

  ‘They’re all dead,’ said Theodric.