by J D Franx
Looking to the wizard who saved her, she saw Master Wizard Galen Vihr drop to his knees exhausted. His life force fluttered dangerously, and she realized he had been powering his magic with his life energy.
“Fool!” she snapped and hurried in time to catch him before he fell on his face. “Humans! Foolish!” she muttered and grasped at her magic. “Amaeh Sianas Afaney.” The ageless Fae’s spell bloomed into a myriad of bright colours and entered Galen’s body. Shallow wounds healed instantly, and magical energy surged through him.
She helped him back to his feet. “Thank you, Mistress Eva.”
“Thank you, Master Wizard. Your spell saved my life—”
“A very small price to pay,” he interrupted.
“Foolish,” she argued. “Your life holds as much value as mine. You Humans do not value it enough.”
A series of bright flashes echoed around them. Eva stared on as a dozen Ri’Tek wizards and two warriors each walked from the blazing jump magic.
“Mistress ThornWing,” Ghul began. “How nice to see you, again.”
Eva glanced around and frowned. They were outnumbered almost six to one. “Are you sure you brought enough help with you, Ghul? You could have just asked nicely. You are here for me, I assume?”
The Syddic priest laughed. “I am. But experience has taught me to never underestimate your people, let alone you, Eva. Though, with all the fodder trying to escape, I could have come alone. You will surrender to me to save them. You cannot help yourself.”
Eva nodded and stepped forward.
Galen moved in front of her with his back to the new arrivals. “He would not dare kill innocent people just to take you.”
“Kill innocent people?’ Ghul asked. “My, my, wizard. You do understand we are here to help stop the creatures destroying this city, do you not? My Vikress merely wishes to resume contact with the Fae. I have come to collect her for our first official contact.”
Eva leaned closer to Galen. “We are outnumbered and have been out-maneuvered, Master Wizard,” she told him. “Let it be a lesson to you going forward. You cannot predict what they will do, you can only try to be ready for whatever they may do, and hope the sacrifice required to live another day is not too heavy.”
Galen’s voice lowered to a whisper. “I cannot just stand here and let them take you.”
“You have to,” she replied. “Go along with whatever they want until you can get to my daughter and our allies in DormaSai. We may have lost today, but this will be a war of attrition unlike any your race has fought before.”
“No… I—”
“I am waiting patiently, Eva,” Ghul interjected.
“Listen to me,” Eva snapped and grabbed Galen’s chin. “When you fight this race, your only goal is to survive for one more day, for one more week, and then for one more battle—until the puzzle comes together.”
“What does that mean?” he asked.
“DormaSai,” she said quickly as Ghul’s warriors moved. Eva put up her hands as Galen and several other defenders were forced to their knees. “Your word, Ghul,” Eva snapped testily. “Or this gate will not just run with red blood.”
“You have it. Our Vikress should already have requested a meeting with Queen Bale to take place in the coming days,” he barked. “Come now. No one else will be harmed. My orders were clear. Cethos is to be considered an ally.”
Eva nodded and stepped forward. With a simple wave of his hand, the wizard with Ghul opened a jump doorway.
“After you, Mistress,” Ghul mocked.
A bright light snapped around them, and they were gone.
Chapter Twenty-Six
MIDNIGHT CANOPY FOREST
GARETT'S VALE, DORMASAI
Kael walked from the swirling maelstrom amid the vortex of his jump spell to see Ember and her group had already arrived. There was no sign of the Ancients or their army. The ruins where the Human Animus seal were located in the open plain next to them. Before them, the enchanted dark forest spread as he could see. His heart hammered with excitement as he stared at the gnarled, mutated trees. The distorted cries of wildlife drifted from the forest on the early evening's gentle breeze, and it filled him with vigor.
Max stepped up beside him and huffed as if disappointed. “We’re sure this is the place?” he asked.
“It is,” Yrlissa answered. Max nodded, and Kael watched quietly as he moved out to scout the area. The assassin glanced between the ruins and the tree line at the start of the dark forest. Turning toward Kael, she frowned and pointed to her right. “DormaSai weathered the Cataclysm without any changes to its landmass. That forest was the battlefield for this seal. It had to be opened on the surface over on the southern rise. There,” she said, pointing back to her left, “because there’s no Deep Earth caverns below us.”
At the mention of the forest, Ember groaned. “That place makes me ill.” She moaned a second time but quickly covered her uneasiness. “This forest grew out of the bodies that fell in battle here. So many violent deaths—I can feel them, feel their spirits. This whole place grew twisted and wrong as if their magic rotted with them. They’re angry, very angry.”
Yrlissa nodded in agreement. “I told you years ago when we were on Ver Karmot, Nahlla. This enchanted forest is not like the others we have been to. The number of lives lost here were so high they were just left to decay. Those of us left were devastated after the war. Races were extinct, or nearly so. There was no one to put these souls to rest. Every vile creature dwells in there. Feral weres, harpies, succubi, and feral DemonKind vampires, too—and many that are a far worse.”
“And quite possible some creatures we have never seen,” Sephi added, pointing to show them. “Drexa Bakar found my sister and I a couple days west and north of here, within The Tail of the forest.”
“There is no doubt about it. That explains a lot actually,” Yrlissa offered, though no malice or sarcasm marred her voice. “This forest’s magic will seep into us if we stay for any longer than a single day. It is likely what happened to your sister and yourself. Your unique skills may be from your time here.”
Nekrosa laughed and kissed Sephi’s forehead. “And that is why you are my heart,” he said.
Kael snorted and turned from the forest. “Magic gone wrong, nothing more.”
Yrlissa frowned and stepped in front of him. “You must stop shunning what you are and embrace it, instead. Feel the energy—that magic which is around us. What happened here and the magic that remains within it acts like a living entity. Connect with it, Kael. Dark or Light, enchanted forests channel magic like this into this world and—with a blessing from Lady Lykke—perhaps even into you.”
“You sound like her,” Kael said, calming.
“Jasala?” Yrlissa asked. He nodded as she continued, “Good. You should listen to us both.”
“Embrace the corruption, right?” he quipped.
“Yes,” Yrlissa answered.
He turned to her and frowned, lowering his voice. “Except it is not a corruption. It is a power no mortal was ever supposed to handle let alone be imbued with at the conception of life.”
“Does it really matter?” she asked. “Accept what you are, so you can be who you are meant to be.”
“Yeah, suck it up, right?” he snapped. She nodded but offered nothing more. Yrlissa might have said the words, but it was Lycori's voice he heard. Like a ghost from the past, a shiver ran up his spine and compelled him to turn toward the forest. The familiar feeling calmed his nerves and allowed him to shift his focus back to their present situation. “Nekrosa?” he barked.
“Yes?”
“Where’s this seal? We need a plan. With Queen WhiteScale not receiving our messages, we need a good plan. This place is too open to defend effectively, and the Ancients can’t be far behind us.”
“This way,” the King said. Kael followed him until they came upon a pile of rocks.
“The seal is under ground,” Nekrosa told him. “But only about fifteen feet or s
o.”
“We dug a narrow shaft wide enough for one person to get down and verify what was there,” Sephi added. “It confirmed the seal is there without exposing it to any spies who might have been watching.”
“Max?” Kael yelled over his shoulder. Max appeared at the forest’s edge. Kael was not surprised to see his old friend had nearly completed his reconnaissance. “This pile of rocks is what they’ll want.” Max waved his recognition.
“Yrlissa,” Kael said. “How will they come at us?”
“It depends how many the Vikress brings. The Syphoners of the Syddic order are on the far side of this seal. We need to be ready, Kael. She could bring everything she has. If even a handful of those leeches survived the fighting all those millennia ago and were pulled into this seal... the Vikress will risk everything she has and all of her best people to free them.”
“Why?” he asked, shaking his head with confusion. “Why put a majority of your strongest magic users at this battle and not at the seal where Asa was fighting? He was the one who cracked the Still Dimension. The other five seals would never have opened if not for him.”
Yrlissa frowned, rubbing her forehead in frustration. “No one battle was more important than the others in the minds of the Ri’Tek. They didn’t believe we could pull off using such powerful magic, let alone have the power required to succeed. We were the Lesser races for a reason, Kael. DormaSai has always been Talohna's magical powerhouse. Most Human and Elvehn wizards studied in Drae'Kahn before the Eye was created, and the largest wizard family known is the White Cabal, they lived here. Fae and Dragon Behemoths studied or taught here before the war. The Syphoners were best utilized fighting the massive number of wizards in this country. It was nothing more than that. The Ri’Tek were merely balancing the battle at this location.”
As Max returned to the rock pile, it was clear he had overheard them. “What makes them so dangerous?” he asked
“The Syphoners?” Yrlissa replied, getting a nod from him.
A crack of magic rocked the ruins behind them and a white light flooded over the small clearing. Emerging from the light, several newcomers put everyone on edge.
“Because without them,” Vikress Illara began, “we cannot use your magic. But, more importantly, we cannot make new Vascuul unless they are freed. My apologies for the delay in our arrival, but we had to make a detour.”
“Mom!” Ember screamed as two of Illara’s Sect Priestesses and a male wizard pushed Eva Thornwing forward, forcing her to her knees. Kael gasped, and his heart fluttered as the wizard stared at him.
“I am all right, daughter,” the Fae Matriarch assured her and smiled up at Ember.
“Well, well,” Illara smiled. “Interesting, surely, but ultimately irrelevant.”
Ember grabbed his arm. “Help her, Kael, please!”
“Let her go,” Kael barked. Calling forth his reaper blades from the Ether, he quickly closed the distance to Illara’s group. The others followed him while Ember remained tight at his side.
“Of course, I will let her go,” the Vikress said, gesturing with her hands. It prompted a priestess to place a dagger at Eva’s throat, and Kael stopped. He held out his hands for the others to stop as well.
“You don’t need a Fae Matriarch to open this seal,” he snapped. “Even your kind doesn’t believe in senseless killing.”
“True,” the Vikress replied. “Though, this really would not be a senseless killing. Far from it, in fact.”
Yrlissa gasped and Kael sensed real fear in her voice. “No! You can’t!” she practically shouted.
“Of course, I can, Yrlissa Blackmist. The blood of a matured Fae would bring down Jasala’s Sepulchre in a matter of hours, and the remaining four seals would all open at once. The blood of the High Matriarch will destroy the Sepulchre in seconds and will free my people from the living hell you trapped us in for over ten millennia. Though, I must admit it is a shame that our first meeting will be our last. Sythrnax has told me plenty about you.” The Vikress closed her eyes and sighed. “I have not killed a Guardian in so very long.”
Kael scoffed. “You’re crazy if you think we’ll let you do that. You made a mistake, Illara. You didn’t bring enough fighters.”
The Vikress laughed. “Of course, I did, Kael. You have spent too much time focused on me and not nearly enough on your surroundings.”
“Kael,” Max mumbled. “We have a problem.”
As Kael glanced around, he saw Nekrosa and Sephi had joined Ember by his side. Max, however, had hung back and was the only one protecting their rear flank from attack.
Kael turned in time to see two dozen warriors surrounding a Ri’Tek wizard. The Ancient wizard slammed his staff into the rocks protecting the seal’s entrance.
An explosion of rock and dirt tossed Kael and the others through the air as if they weighed nothing. His shield flared to life when he hit the ground, but it did little to cushion the blow. The dust cleared slowly, and he groaned as he rose to his feet with the others doing the same. The pile of rocks was gone, leaving an amphitheater-sized crater in their wake.
The Human Animus seal was fully exposed for all to see. Twenty or more Ancient warriors and wizards made it their duty to guard it.
Illara’s voice penetrated the ringing inside his head. “It is a shame you will all die here today. If you had accepted us like the rest of Talohna, you would have lived to see this world returned to its former glory.”
Yrlissa pulled a chunk of sharp rock from her shoulder and spat a mouthful of blood toward the Vikress. “Return to oppression under Ri’Tek rule?” she said, spitting more blood from her crushed lips and torn mouth. “I’d rather die here before becoming a Lesser race, again.”
“Come now, Yrlissa,” Illara cooed. “We both know you were never part of the Lesser races. A Lost race, perhaps—and they certainly never lived on their knees under our rule. Now, sit down and watch while I tear down your prodigy’s magic and free my people from a fate worse than death.”
Unable to move, Kael and those with him watched helplessly as the Vikress’ Sect priestesses dragged Eva onto the seal and shoved her to her knees. Images of Kazzador City flooded his mind, and he struggled desperately not to fall into the Fae memory magic.
“Please, stop,” Ember begged. “You don’t need to do this—”
A Ri’Tek warrior lunged forward and smashed the pommel of his sword into her mouth. Kael quickly stepped in front of her as she crashed to the ground, protecting her body with his. The warrior’s second swing struck the left chain mail bracer of his enchanted armor.
Catching the pommel in his left hand, Kael angled the blade upwards with his right and drove the sword straight into the warrior’s chest. A moment passed and his short scythes appeared in his hands. He rushed Illara.
Side-stepping with ease, she barked orders for her people to stand down. “I have killed more of your kind than any of my people—dead or alive, Kael. If you insist on fighting, I will add your life to that number.”
Catching his breath, Kael settled his feet and grinned. “I promise you have never killed one my kind. I am nothing like the Kai’Sar you faced so many years ago.”
“Good,” she said, returning his smile with a short bow. “Then, perhaps you will live longer than the rest of the abominations spawned before you.”
Kael mocked her bow and attacked. Three fast strikes missed as the Vikress twisted her feet and dodged each swing. Her hand shot out and hammered his chest, forcing him backward. Driving his blades into the ground helped hold his footing, and he glanced up to see a massive glaive appeared in the Vikress’ hands. An ugly bladed head edged in serrated barbs had been seamlessly forged into the spear’s handle. The blade extended the glaive’s reach to extensively in a way that made her practically untouchable. The weapon’s defense alone was tremendous.
“I am impressed,” she said, titling her head. “Your chest should have collapsed under the pressure of that spell.”
Kael snorted. “
Several species of demon hit far harder than you do.” He knew he would never get inside the glaive’s reach with his shorter blades, and he struggled to see a way to defeat the Ancient warrior.
Akai’s voice rolled through his mind.
A double fanged scythe will give you the reach. You must free me to make the first change of a new weapon. Only then can you summon it at will.
The second Akai offered it, Kael took a step back and twisted the handles of his shorter blades together cracking the dragonbone handles. White fog rolled out, lengthening the weapon. A wicked scythe blade shifted to the end while a shorter second blade followed underneath. As the handle curved and twisted to fit his grip, he watched the shock come to life in Illara’s eyes.
“Your time was well spent in the afterlife, I see. We heard rumors during the war that the Dwarves were trying to forge a sentient weapon—they succeeded. I am surprised.”
“Funny thing about rumors, Illara. They’re seldom true,” he said.
“Says the man at the heart of two very true rumors,” she replied. “I might have been mildly concerned there for a moment.”
Kael did not bother to respond. He knew from experience the Ri’Tek liked to play verbal mind games when they fought. Smiling, he vanished in a cloud of black smoke. Illara spun immediately, prepared for the attack from behind, but he emerged at her front and swung his scythe when he stepped from the Ether. Realizing her mistake, Illara spun on her heel and drove her glaive into the ground. Kael’s scythe cut through its handle as she leapt backward, spinning through the air only to land on her feet a dozen feet away. The broken glaive vanished. Though surprised by the phenomenal acrobatics, he still smiled. The top blade of his scythe was lined with purple-red blood. He smiled wider.
She was not quite fast enough.
Illara gasped at Kael as she touched her fingers to the gash across her stomach. “You are an enigma, Kael Symes. We should not be fighting. We should be bringing peace to Talohna together and repairing the damage done by the Lesser dosa.”