The Lure of Fools

by Jason James King

  Maely hadn’t believed Raelen when he first told her about the creatures who fed on the essence of grass, trees, animals, and people. But following the trail of blackened, desolate ground had convinced her that the nightmare Raelen described was very real. It only made her more enraged at Kairah’s brother. She may not be the one to cast the spell that would destroy Jenoc, but she was an integral part of the plan to bring about his demise. She wasn’t sure if that would be enough to qualify as washing the mud off her fur, but it was going to have to be. Still, it felt a poor trade for the misery and death she’d helped to cause. Was there anything she could give to pay for her portion of what Jenoc had done?

  Maely banked and turned so that she was flying at the mass of monsters instead of following them from behind. She swooped again, and Raelen cast two explosions simultaneously, leaving deep craters in the blackened ground. Empyrean had copied the spells laid on the wavy red sword called a flame kris, and at Raelen’s direction, the ship was casting intense, scarlet explosions of fire he claimed were many times larger than the original talis could produce. It was impressive, but Maely wouldn’t tell the sentient airship that. He was too uppity already, and didn’t need a bigger head… well, if he had a head.

  “Empyrean.”

  “Yes, Maely?”

  “Can you make me see them up close, like through a looking glass?”

  Maely flinched as the indecipherable mass suddenly leapt so close that she could see the haggard faces of each of the individual monsters in her view. She’d expected them to be snarling, fanged, creatures with red eyes and claws, but it disturbed her to see just how human they looked. They stared at the sky with wide eyes and gaping mouths. They were afraid, and Maely almost pitied them–almost.

  She quickly scanned the mob for Jenoc, but found no heads of ice-blue hair in the crowd. “I don’t see him!”

  “He looks different now,” Raelen answered. “Like one of us.”

  Maely looked from face to face, but didn’t see Jenoc. Well, that just meant they’d have to burn them all.

  Jenoc watched the enormous, aerial construct–a craft that was more edifice than ship– bank and fly toward them. Two more explosions rocked the ground making him stumble. Who was this? Peacekeeper scouts? Certainly the ship had to have been sent by his people. Yet, Jenoc did not know Allose to be in possession of one of the ancient talises. All the Empyrean sky vessels were supposed to have been destroyed in the first talis war. Where had this come from? Why hadn’t the masters of artifacts at the College of Disciplines known of it?

  His admiration of the supernal specimen of ancient Allosian talis craft faded when one of his children fell to the ground a smoldering skeleton. Could whomever piloted the craft know how to kill Moriora vessels? But how?

  Well, whatever the explanation, Jenoc was going to have to destroy the ship before it killed anymore of his children. His old self would’ve been saddened by the idea of destroying the artifact, and losing a chance to study it. He just laughed at that.

  Using Empyrean’s magnification power, Maely scrutinized the faces of dozens of the life sucking monsters below. She kept her swooping and diving focused on the front of Jenoc’s army, reasoning that would be the most likely place she’d find their leader. Explosion after explosion sent black rock and human debris into the air. They’d succeeded in scattering the mass of monsters, but there were thousands, and it was going to take time to kill them all.

  Maely focused on one group running away from her. They fled in all directions save for one lone figure standing at the epicenter of their retreat. Maely made the image of the man’s face larger and her breath caught. He had long blond hair and green eyes now, but there was no mistaking that perfect face, or that smug smile.

  “I found him!”

  “Where?” Raelen sounded as eager as she felt.

  With both of them connected to Empyrean, they could communicate telepathically. It wasn’t to the same degree that Maely had experience when Jenoc broke into her mind, but it was similar. They still needed to use words to convey specific ideas, but they could share emotional impressions or images of what they saw. Perhaps that’s why both mirrored each other’s anxious desire to destroy Jenoc. Or maybe it was just because he was a total bastard.

  Maely sent the image to Raelen and she felt his anger flare.

  “Get us closer!”

  Maely pulled her view back and banked, coming around and then pitched Empyrean into a steep dive.

  Jenoc manifested his Moriora so that it wrapped around and enveloped him. He turned and craned his neck at the fast-approaching airship. The pilot had spotted him, and was moving in for the kill–just as he’d hoped.

  When the craft was almost on top of him, the air around Jenoc turned hot and heat lines shimmered in his vision. Then the world went red in an explosion of crimson fire.

  “You got him!” Maely shouted, though she hadn’t needed to. Raelen could see what she was seeing through their psychic link.

  The prince didn’t respond, but Maely felt a sense of grim satisfaction suffuse their bond. After a moment, he finally said, “Let’s hit him one more time, just to be sure.”

  Maely banked and Empyrean veered back toward the smoldering crater. As they approached, the smoke cleared, and Maely gasped. Standing in the center of the crater, completely whole and unburned, was Jenoc. His curtain of blond locks hung over his face, but by the magnification of Empyrean’s magic, she could see his perfect white teeth framed by a feral smile.

  Jenoc threw up his hands, channeled the energy from the blast that had been meant to immolate him, and cast it back at the approaching airship in a stream of red fire. It engulfed the spire protruding from the nose of the craft, and then punched through the hull and exploded out the top.

  The airship tilted hard to the left and swerved away from him, on fire and trailing smoke. It rose into the air, but quickly dropped again, repeating the cycle several times and each time falling lower and lower. The wind whistled as it streaked down toward the valley below.

  The world lurched and Maely found herself no longer in the sky, but lying on Empyrean’s smooth, white floor. The ship was shaking, and whatever magic kept everything inside the cabin in place was failing, for objects slid across the floor and she could feel every jolt and turn of the ship. Raelen’s dirty brown satchel fell from where it hung on a hook protruding from the wall, scattering emerald colored shards across the floor and making the lights flicker as the anti-Apeiron well shards started to consume the airship’s energy.

  Maely glanced around and located Raelen. The prince was likewise thrown from the circular purple dais that allowed one to join with the airship. He scrambled up, and tripped as the ship lurched again.

  “Empyrean!” Maely cried out.

  “I am sorry, Maely,” the polite voice replied. “I am unable to repair such severe damage while in flight. I am attempting to mitigate the impact of our forced descent and inevitable and sudden touchdown.”

  “You mean we’re going to crash?”

  “Yes. And as my ability to dampen the resultant kinetic forces is hampered, I would suggest finding an anchor for yourself.”

  The ship was just as pretentious and condescending as Kairah, something that would’ve irritated Maely if she wasn’t about to die. She scrambled up and latched onto the now empty hook protruding from the wall. It was almost too small to hold onto, but it was the best she could do as Empyrean’s walls were also smooth and the cabin devoid of furniture.

  “Take my hand!” Maely called out to Raelen.

  The prince stumbled over to her, joined his hand to hers, and the two pressed themselves against the wall.

  Jenoc watched the massive white airship arc downward. It punched through an invisible barrier, causing translucent purple ripples in the air. Those waves, like heat lines, shimmered and the cloaking shield hiding Allose from view shattered like glass. The white city, Jenoc’s home, and its massive Apeira well popped into existence before him. The ai
rship descended into the city, clipping a tower that spun it as it went crashing down into the streets. When it crashed into the ground, it slid, rolled, and smashed through several buildings before finally coming to a stop.

  Jenoc grinned. What a perfect distraction! He’d thought he was going to have to deal with the peacekeepers, but this would keep them busy and afford he and his children the chance to flood into the city unmolested. The sight of the Allose and the Mother Shard caused his army to frenzy, and they broke into a frantic dash toward the city–toward their feast.

  It was dark inside the ship’s cabin, and save for a loose glow orb rolling slowly across the tilted floor, Maely would’ve been lost in blackness.

  “Empyrean?” She sucked in a sharp breath upon trying to move her leg. Pain flared at touching it, and she guessed it to be broken. “Empyrean?”

  The ship didn’t answer.

  “Raelen?” Maely called next.

  She frantically surveyed the dim cabin until she found the prince lying at the bottom of a sloping incline beneath her. He wasn’t moving. Maely carefully moved down the tilted floor. She yelped as she lost her grip and involuntarily began to roll. A scream ripped from her lips when she slammed into a wall that was more like a floor, and the pain in her leg was so intense that her vision swam and she started to faint. She clawed her way back from syncope by sheer strength of will, and breathed deeply until the fiery agony diminished to a lesser throbbing.

  Maely located her glow orb, which had blessedly landed in such a way that it rolled to a stop against her head. She grabbed it and turned so she could see Raelen. She’d nearly landed on top of the prince, who lay crumpled just a few feet from her. His blond hair was mixed with red as blood from a gash in his scalp leaked down the side of his head. His head lulled to the side, but he was still breathing.

  “Raelen!” Maely stretched out her hand and gently touched his shoulder. “My prince?”

  He didn’t respond.

  “Empyrean?” Maely shouted.

  This time the ship answered, albeit in a weak voice. “I apologize, Maely. That landing was a little rough.”

  Maely was so relieved that her crying changed to laughter, though tears continued to roll down her cheeks.

  “Did you hit your head, Maely?” Empyrean sounded confused.

  “No, but I think Raelen did.” She wiped her eyes again. “Can you tell what’s wrong with him?”

  “He has a concussion and some broken ribs. I fear without a healing, he will not wake for some time, and there is a chance he could suffer further harm.”

  “Can you heal him?”

  “I am sorry, Maely. Most of my talises are damaged or inaccessible.”

  Maely’s stomach twisted. “Can you move at all?”

  “It will be some time before I regain any mobility.”

  Maely clenched her teeth. “Well, what can you do?”

  “I can open an exit.”

  The wall above her liquefied and flowed open.

  Maely nearly wilted under the sense of crushing despair. How was she supposed to crawl back up the sloping floor with a broken leg while towing the injured prince? She rested her head on Raelen’s leg and sobbed.

  “Reka?” A voice echoed down.

  Maely snapped her head back up to find a reptilian head poking in from the opening in the cabin wall. “Karak!”

  She froze. The Vorakk looking down at her was a shade of green so dark that it nearly appeared black. It was also smaller than Karak, and had white bone protrusions rimming its brow. It was a different Vorakk.

  “Shall I shut it out?” Empyrean asked.

  She almost said yes, but right now the humanoid lizard was her only chance at escape.

  “No.”

  As if that had been an invitation, the Vorakk climbed into the cabin and crawled on all fours along the wall and floor. Just where had they crashed? As far as she knew they were nowhere near the southern region of Shaelar and the Vorakk desert. She watched the lizard man descend, sudden trepidation seizing her breast. What if it wasn’t here to help? What if it was here to eat her?

  Maely glanced around for anything she could use as a weapon, and found the flame kris lying half beneath Raelen’s side. It was a minor miracle the wavy red steel hadn’t cut him. She reached up, took hold of the handle, and slid it out from beneath Raelen’s ribs. She tried to be careful, but the fast approach of the Vorakk made her pull a little too quickly, and she cut Raelen’s tunic. She winced, hoping she hadn’t cut the flesh beneath, but the lack of blood quashed that worry.

  She raised the small sword just as the dark little Vorakk reached her. It clung to the sloping floor three feet above her and stared at the red steel of the sword. Then it flashed a toothy grin.

  “Uska!” It extended an opened-clawed hand to Maely.

  Maely eyed the claw, and then hesitantly surrendered the flame kris. The Vorakk took it, slid it inside a belt at its waist, and then reached down again. Maely glanced at Raelen. If the lizard man had wanted to do them harm, it already would have. It’d come to rescue them, and right now it was their only way out. Maely took the Vorakk’s hand and yelped when the Vorakk jerked her up. It twisted and raised Maely up so that she landed on its scaly back.

  “Rok,” it hissed.

  Apparently this Vorakk didn’t speak Aiestali like Karak did.

  Maely wrapped her arms around its neck as it launched into a climb up the floor and wall. It climbed through Empyrean’s open portal, and Maely gasped as the sight of an Apeira well so massive that it equaled the size of a small mountain. All around the well were beautiful white towers, and other ivory buildings that looked as much like works of art as they did pieces of a city.

  Jewel-colored heads of hair were everywhere. Thousands of Allosians gathering to inspect Empyrean while others cleared away white chunks of rubble from collapsed buildings.

  We crashed landed in Allose.

  The Vorakk climbed down Empyrean’s wing and gently deposited Maely on the ground.

  Before she could ask it to go back for Raelen, the creature was already climbing back up the airship’s side and disappearing back into the round opening in the hull. It took several minutes for the Vorakk to remerge, a fact that had Maely’s stomach twisted in knots. She panicked when the Vorakk appeared from the door alone, but her fear dissipated when the creature reached an arm inside and pulled Raelen out. The prince climbed out of the ship with the help of their Vorakk benefactor, and descended the wing.

  Raelen held a brown satchel in his other hand, a bag Maely knew held the green shards of the corrupt Apeira well. If they were in Allose, would they really need those shards? Couldn’t the Allosians fight off Jenoc and his army of life sucking monsters?

  It became clear as to where Jenoc’s army had been marching. Maely had assumed they’d be en route to strike another human city, not Jenoc’s homeland and his own people. Or maybe he was coming to convert them, as Raelen had described he’d done with the Aiestali army. Either way, their situation had just gone from hopeless to the best possible scenario.

  Raelen landed next to her. Dried blood caked his blonde hair to his face. Even battered and bloody he managed to look handsome.

  Golden womb of the goddess! Now is not the time for that!

  The little dark Vorakk landed in front of them, and Maely got her first complete view of the creature. Like Karak, it wore a loin cloth, but also a piece of cloth wrapped around its chest covering two breasts. It was a female.

  “What’s your name?” Maely asked.

  The female Vorakk just grinned at Maely, returned the wavy red sword to her, and then vanished. Maely examined the flare kris and was encouraged to find its well-shard glowing. The talis had recharged.

  Raelen knelt at her side. “Are you hurt?”

  She nodded. “I think my leg is broken.”

  “This must be Allose.” Raelen fished in his bag and pulled out the amulet he’d made.

  “What’re you doing?”

 
Screams and shouting erupted all around them. Maely surveyed the crowd of on-looking Allosians who were pointing, shouting, and running away.

  “I don’t think this is over yet.” Raelen slipped the leather band over Maely’s head and slipped the cloth wrapped emerald shard underneath her neckline and between her breasts.

  She blushed furiously and opened her mouth to reprimand him for his indecency, but stopped herself.

  Don’t be stupid! He’s just offering me protection. And though she would never admit it, the contact had been a little thrilling.

  Raelen quickly fashioned another amulet from an emerald colored shard he’d pulled from the bag. He winced as he held the jagged crystal with his naked skin, but didn’t shirk at the pain.

  “Aren’t we safe here?”

  “Perhaps.” He looped the second amulet around his bloody head. “But I’m not done with Jenoc.”

  He stood. “Stay here. If an Allosian offers to heal you, take off the shard.”

  She knew that! She’d been the one to discover that the pieces of the corrupted Apeira well blocked healing.

  “Try to explain to them what is happening.” He took a step away from her, but stopped when she reached up and caught him by the hand.

  Another thrill washed through her at the skin to skin contact. “Please don’t leave me.”

  Raelen looked down at her and smiled. Then he bent over and kissed her on the forehead. “Don’t worry. I’ll be back.” With that, he broke into a jog away from her.

  Maely looked away from a group of approaching Allosians, afraid they’d see her blushing of all things.

  I am a stupid, silly girl.

  Allosians didn’t wither and die when Jenoc fed upon them. Instead, they instinctively pulled more Apeiron into them to counter his magic which in turn fed him more energy. This of course only fueled Jenoc’s power, giving him back the ability of unlimited spell-casting, which he used to terrible effect.