by Alia Johnson
Vashti’s eyes narrowed, biting out in anger, “She screamed your name.”
Agitated, Gorius rubbed his hands through his hair, looking around as if Medorah would appear in front of him. He turned in a half circle abruptly, bending down as if to fly away, mumbling, “I have to go find her.”
“Wait!” Vashti shouted, grabbing hold of his arm to hold him down from flying. He tugged at his arm absently, searching the sky, finally turning in annoyance at the delay.
Vashti heaved at his arm to keep him from moving. “What’s going on? You’ve lost her already? You just left with her,” she reminded him, out of breath with her efforts to get information from the demon. He was almost as bad as Mar.
Maybe he cracked his head harder than I thought when we fell?
“I didn’t leave with her. Someone else has taken her!” Gorius fought to get away from the golden eyed beauty hanging on to him.
“Why would she scream your name then?”
Gorius snarled, “Because my brother has my face.”
Vashti released his arm at the news, sitting down on the rock hard in shock.
“You have a twin brother?” Vashti whispered.
Gorius nodded, bending down as if to take off again.
“Wait!”
“Great Baklan, woman what is it now?!” Gorius yelled out, turning to her with hands placed on his hips. He urgently needed to find Medorah before his brother took her farther away.
Vashti took a deep breath. “I saw you in the kitchen plotting with Uruti after the first trial. The person I thought was you was planning to send an army here during the Hunt to wipe out the demons and take the throne. I told King Magnamar what I saw and… Medorah.”
Gorius, stunned, stared down at her, replying, “No wonder Medorah looked at me with contempt. It was because of my brother. Of course.” Gorius laughed out loud, bending at the waist. Relief coursed through him. He had finally found out the reason for Medorah’s cold dismissal during the final trial.
“What’s so funny?” Vashti asked, raising from the rock to cross her arms.
“All this time, I had thought I had lost the girl I had fallen for because of something I had done, but really it was an honest mistake. The King told me all was not what it seemed, and I didn’t listen to his council. I didn’t listen! He’s told me over and over to use my strengths, and I haven’t. I’ve failed him.” Gorius was talking to himself while walking around the rock, kicking at stray pebbles.
The regret in his tone made Vashti hurry to reassure him, “The only one we are failing right now is Medorah. Help me up this cliff. I can look for her from the tree line, and you can search from the sky. We’ll make better time that way.”
Gorius moved close to Vashti holding out his hands, trying to figure out what part of her to grab. He couldn’t just throw her over.
What if he missed and she bashed her head on the rock?
Vashti shook her head at the puzzled demon that was opening and closing his hands like a dolt. She sighed. “Cup your hands for me, and I’ll step inside them. Just give me a boost, and I’ll be able to grab the rock and pull myself over.”
Gorius nodded, doing as she said. Vashti placed her foot inside his grip. He gently pulled her up, stretching his arms up as high as he could go.
“You’re strong, Gorius,” Vashti made a note of that out loud.
Gorius snorted, gritting out, “Not as strong as Magnamar. I’ve seen him crush rock before with his bare hands.”
The reminder of his name made Vashti swallow loudly. It was getting harder not to turn around and go looking for the King, but he had made his choice.
“That’s nice,” she replied, ending the awkward silence. Grabbing a hold of the cliff, she pulled herself over. She dusted her short skirt off when her feet were on land. Gorius flew into the air with a flap of his wings hovering over her.
Turning her gaze to the sky, Vashti remarked casually, “You know, I’m surprised we haven’t seen more men yet.”
Gorius snorted. “No demon is coming this way. They followed the women through the forest. You two were the only ones that came this way.”
Affronted, Vashti wondered out loud, “But I thought they liked my dance?” Honestly, it didn’t bother her she wasn’t being sought out, it made it easier to escape.
“Yes, we all loved Medorah and your trials. They were easily the favorites, but the men know I won’t allow another man to touch Medorah and it was obvious Magnamar had claimed you.”
Confused, Vashti stated, “He doesn’t join the Hunt, Gorius, he said so himself.”
“Hah! I know, right?” Distracted, he flexed his wings. “If you find her yell out for me!” Gorius soared high into the sky after his command.
“I will!” called back Vashti. Yes, Gorius is very similar to Mar.
The long path in front of her stretched on. Trees peppered the area, making it hard to visualize what was ahead. There wasn’t much time. Vashti raced through, running over rocks and boulders. She didn’t dare call Medorah’s name in case someone was close by. Vashti needed to surprise the enemy. The rough terrain was thinning out, blankets of ivy starting to cover the dirt, blending in with the middle path making her steps light and airy. Raised voices were becoming apparent up ahead. Vashti slowed her step, hiding behind a rock formation, inching forward. In front of her, was cooled magma blocking her path.
Several nettles, used to carry riders in Romule, stood pawing at the ground, monitoring the landscape with their wide eyes. The body of the nettle was shaped like a horse, the black and white stripes dancing down the sides. The face was of a lionfish with sharp barbs standing at attention. Their rider’s faces were easily recognizable. The men that sat on the nettles, speaking with Gorius’s twin, and holding Medorah’s bound hands at her side, were from Romule.
Medorah had a muzzle on, unable to use her venom on the man holding her. She knew it wasn’t Gorius now. Oh, she had thought it was him when he first grabbed her, the side of his face a perfect replica of the man she had admired from afar, but when he turned, the damaged part of his face had been revealed. Burned areas of flesh peppered the area, healed with pink and red tissue giving him a mottled appearance. He smiled menacingly down at her. “No. Not Gorius. Charon. But you can still scream. I like it when people scream.” Medorah had felt genuine fear then.
This man had no soul, his empty brown eyes a bottomless pit of misery. Gorius’s brown eyes sparkled with mirth and excitement when he saw her. This Charon, the twin of Gorius, sparked with the promise of pain.
“Where are you taking me?” Medorah asked, afraid of the answer. If she could get her hands free, she would have a better chance of escape.
“We are meeting up with my new army. We are getting our throne back today.”
Medorah struggled against his hold as he took them farther away from Vashti, reminding him, “King Magnamar has never known defeat. He hasn’t even joined a Hunt before. How do you expect to get to him?”
“I didn’t expect him to join. I’m taking the battle to him after I take his men.” He grunted under the strain of holding her flailing body.
A swift hit on her head caused her to blackout. Charon hefted her in his arms to carry her the rest of the way.
Medorah had just woken up from the blow in front of these men and their beasts with the muzzle across her mouth firmly in place. She recognized the colors the men on the nettles wore now. She had seen them before at the edge of the Forest patrolling for Romule. She heard them arguing about where to look next meaning they couldn’t find Vashti. If they did, they would take her back to their Prince to be tortured again. She wouldn’t let them hurt her friend.
No matter what happened.
Chapter 18
From Vashti’s hiding spot, she thought hard about what to do to help Medorah. She couldn’t call for Gorius to assist her. The nettles would easily hear her and strike him down when he flew in, and he had flown the opposite way, in the direction of the other paths. Hopef
ully, he would return soon to check on her.
The raised voice of Ruben shouted harshly at Charon, “Where is Vashti? You told me you would bring her to me!”
I knew he would never give up looking for me.
Closing her eyes, she tried controlling her fear of him. The hard look in his eyes when he thrust her cage down into the pit he had made, again and again, to feel the venom from his snakes was seared in her head. She could still feel the sensation of being unable to move away from the strikes and the cold scales moving around her. The voice of her torturer still rang through her head with his orders to his men as he ignored her cries to let her go. The helplessness and the vulnerability he had instilled in her mind would never be gone as long as he was still alive.
Charon shook the bonds of Medorah, replying grudgingly, “I have her best friend. They bonded during the trial. The guardians watched over them both closely and reported their friendship. Vashti will come for her.”
“I’ve decided I can’t wait any longer. We put her friend’s head on a pike as a warning of what we will do to these people if Vashti resists.”
Charon smiled and threw Medorah down before Ruben in the dirt to do as he wished. He may have been interested in her at one time, but the throne he coveted came first.
Oh Freyja, they are going to hurt Rah if I don’t give myself up! Vashti wasn’t going to let Medorah suffer because of their friendship. A little torture never hurt anyone, right? She would make it through Ruben’s ministrations; she just had to give herself to him. All her plans to convince Mar to be with her withered away, but it would be worth her friend’s life.
Goodbye, my love.
“Stop!” screamed Vashti, emerging from her hole in the rock. Her dress caught on a sharp point, ripping down the back, exposing her snake bite scars to the air. Vashti didn’t care about the ugly marks anymore. She was proud of the journey she had been through to make it this far.
The nettles heard her call and began to bugle out their own, alerting their riders to her presence. The riders turned their mounts in Vashti’s direction and spotted her making her way down the cliff.
Ruben rode up to Vashti and held his hand out to her, waiting for her to take it. She ignored his gesture, making her way by herself down the rock, scraping her hands and knees just to irritate him. Passing the nettle that he rode on, she walked the rest of the way to the clearing that Medorah kneeled in. Vashti would rather bleed out than accept help from Ruben.
Vashti stopped in front of Medorah. Grabbing her by her arms, she helped her stand on her tail. Looking down when Medorah’s breasts began to shake oddly, Vashti noticed Bitsy’s head poking out to scent the air. He quickly retreated to his hiding spot when he saw the large audience around them.
Snarling with rage, Ruben stated, “You ran from me. It’s time to go home, Vashti. You made a promise to serve me, and you will stand by it.” His golden hair was perfectly combed, the patrician features portraying the perfect noble, but inside he was pure evil. The enjoyment he had received from the torture he had bestowed upon her would never leave her mind. The mocking laughter when she had screamed grated on her nerves. He had betrayed his own sister, her best friend, many times but showed no remorse. There was no redemption for one such as him.
“I made you a promise inside a cage I couldn’t move in, starved, and out of my mind with poison. If you believe anything that I said was true, you are a fool.”
The cool look Vashti knew to be trouble, passed over Ruben’s face. “Then the snake you call friend dies the worst way I can imagine. I’ll drag her body through these rocks attached to my nettle until there are only shreds of flesh left. It will be so much worse than your back, Vashti. Think of the pain.”
She had expected that type of response from him. Vashti nodded, not looking at him. She couldn’t bear to look at his triumphant face. “Will you let Medorah go if I come willingly? Make sure Charon doesn’t get his hands on her? I will do as I promised if you agree.” And hate every moment.
Medorah shook her head, flicking her tail at Vashti urgently. Medorah couldn’t bear it if her friend gave up her freedom to go back with the man that had hurt her so much, that had left horrible scars on her back.
“It’s okay,” Vashti reassured her, whispering lowly. “I’ll escape and make it to your wedding.”
Tears filled Medorah’s eyes at the promise. They both knew it was a lie. The only thing Medorah could do was nod her head, but inside she promised herself she would do everything she could to save Vashti from Ruben after she was released. Her apology to Gorius could wait.
“We have a deal, Vashti. It’s time to go,” Ruben reminded her, holding out his gloved hand again.
Vashti took a final look to remember Medorah’s face before grasping Ruben’s hand. He swung her in front of him, her legs at one side.
“You have your army, Charon. Do whatever you wish with the snake,” informed Ruben bluntly, clicking his heels on the side of the nettle to bring it to a gallop. His arms tightened down on Vashti’s waist, preventing her from falling off their mount.
“No!” screamed Vashti. “I’ll do anything, Ruben! Don’t let him hurt these people!” Vashti pleaded, grabbing the front of his shirt to show her desperation. It was just like before. He would tear her away from everything she loved to keep her power and body to himself.
He hadn’t changed at all.
Rage passed over his face screwing his beautiful eyes into menacing daggers aimed at her. “You care for these beasts so much, Vashti?!” Ruben yelled in her face, spittle hitting her. She wiped it away absently.
Tears filled her eyes, the thought of Mar, the guardians, and Medorah falling beneath this army, breaking her. There would be nothing left if he had his way.
“Yes,” Vashti replied through gritted teeth trying to hold back her tears from falling. Her temper was beginning to grow instead, but she knew if she hurt him now, she wouldn’t be able to stop his army. Ruben had complete control and had already given them orders to follow Charon. He was also wearing a suit of the Incendie, impervious to fire. All she could do was kill the nettle, but that wouldn’t solve anything.
“Then watch me destroy them all,” he replied insanely, gripping her chin with harsh fingers to shove her face away. The nettle’s hooves pounded across the ground, taking them away from Baklan.
Losing site of Medorah, Vashti held on tightly to the saddle. All she had to do was get Ruben alone again, but with these guards encircling her, she had no chance.
The sudden vibration of rock sliding from the side of the volcano stopped the nettle in its tracks, Vashti and Ruben almost shooting over the top of the barbed head. The ground began to shake, causing the nettles in their group to shake their heads in distress.
“What’s going on?” yelled Ruben, pulling his sword from the scabbard at his side.
His head guard attempted to control his own nettle, replying, “I… I… don’t know, Your Highness! It’s some type of earthquake.”
The rocky cliff at their side exploded with a great force, a giant hole appearing in the middle. The gripping pinchers were the first thing to come into view through the dust. Next, was the head of the lotle worm inching forward with the movement of millions of legs taking it from its hidden location.
“What is that?” yelled Ruben. The disgust on his face was plain to see. He had obviously never seen one of the worms before.
Why would the worm come out of Baklan? Unless Mar…
On the back of the giant worm sat Mar in his battle armor wielding his giant broadsword he held in his clawed grip. His giant wings flared out menacingly at his back, the sharp points of his body glinting silver. They had been filed down to sharp points. The veins of fire that weren’t concealed by metal were flowing quickly, angrily, as if his power was waiting to be unleashed on the men.
Magnamar stared intensely at Vashti as she sat pinned between the nettle’s head and Ruben’s arms. Her eyes were shining with tears that she couldn’t hold back
.
He came for me.
Ruben dug his heels in the side of the nettle to push the beast forward to escape Mar’s wrath. Vashti reached to the side and called up her ice magic. It built quickly, crafting into something she could use to defend herself with. She held tightly to the knife she had constructed and was about to plunge it into Ruben’s heart when the head guard keeping pace with them brandished his sword, slicing it from her hand. In her distraction, she hadn’t realized he had been watching her.
Vashti cried out, the weapon falling from her grip to land with a thump on the ground. It melted where it sat, unable to be used again. Vashti cradled her injured hand that bled freely, feeling the bolt of pain slicing up her arm from the shallow cut. The injury would heal fast, the skin stitching together without a thought, but it was still painful.
Mar let loose a howl of rage when he saw the guard cut Vashti. The worm he was riding shot forward to block their path. The worm moved fast with all of its legs churning across the ground. Its body twisted around Ruben and his men to halt their retreat from all angles. Ruben spun Vashti’s body around to keep her from being taken away from him, anchoring her to him, but in his haste, he exposed her back to Mar. The King’s narrowed eyes raked down Vashti’s long scars from the surgeon’s skilled hand. The dots of the snake’s fangs stood out, making Mar bare his teeth with rage at the pain she had suffered. He turned accusing eyes to Ruben. It was the first time he had seen her old wounds, and his anger was directed toward Ruben.
“You will pay for her suffering. You would torture someone you claim to love?” Mar growled.
Ruben laughed. “I tortured my own sister, what’s one more? I have all the cards, Magnamar. I have an army at your back. I have Vashti at my front. And Uruti is finishing off your right-hand man as we speak. You’ve lost everything! If you surrender now, I’ll take Vashti, and leave your kingdom in one piece.”
Magnamar growled, “All is not what it seems in Baklan. The secrets you wanted to keep exposed themselves long ago. Blinded by your greed, you couldn’t see the trap you walked into.”