by L Ward
Evan swallowed his sickly fear and helped clear out the mess and set up camp for the night. It was isolated and full of nature, but Evan was grateful to hear owls hooting and the occasional maraca of crickets, at least he hoped that’s what they were.
“When prey animals are around you’re most likely safe for the moment,” Nath explained as they cosied up behind a large rock.
Will sat opposite, staring at them.
“There shouldn’t be many more nights of this. We have to be back by the full moon,” said Nath, eyes flashing. “I daren’t risk being near these lands when they rise.”
They sat in silence a while mulling things over. Evan bundled himself deeper in his furs and tried to relax and not think about tomorrow; by the looks on their faces the other two thought the same.
“We could have a threesome,” Will suggested.
“No!” they said.
“Just an idea to relieve stress,” Will shrugged. “No strings attached, obviously.”
“You’re mad, you are,” said Evan, staring at him in disbelief.
Will held his hands up. “Okay, but if you two wanna do stuff don’t mind me, I’ll keep me hands to myself.”
They sat in silence for a very long time. Maybe hours passed and the expanse of bruised clouds glittering with red-rimmed magic brushed over, blocking the moonlight. Behind them winked three waning gibbous’s.
Evan swallowed. In the darkness lips caressed his throat and he ran his hands through Nath’s soft locks, his fingers brushed Nath’s ears and he paused.
Nath felt it and looked up. There was enough light to grace his features turning his eyes into romantic paintings of sunny forests and treasure trove seas.
“You’ve got pointy ears,” he laughed.
Will looked up from where he’d been trying to sleep.
Nath’s hands flew to his ears, face basking in confusion, then surprise. He flushed and covered the tips with his hair… mostly. “Shit.”
Evan suffocated his laugh in a bid to remain quiet. “Let’s see them properly,” he grinned as Nath leaned closer to the fire and sure enough he had ears like an elf. Or, rather, a werewolf. “I think they’re dead sexy,” he said.
Will moved over to check them out. “The media’s gonna love this.”
Nah sighed and buried himself in their furs running his fingers over his ears. He paused and wiggled them and Evan snorted with laughter. “I’ll have to keep them hidden,” he said.
Chapter 12
Will
Watching them together was painful. His mouth had bubbled with bile the day the palace became a supernova. The university had been his curse; his version of lycanthropy. That day, his emotions were an inferno of fury and anxiety wondering who’d earned Nath’s eternal love. And then Evan walked into that classroom all cheeky smiles and undeserved gifts and Nath melted; the commoner blushed like a wedding night, and Will knew that for him it was game over.
Nath noticed. He hadn’t even realised he’d been point-blank staring at them.
“We’ve lost our regiment, our friends, your father may well be dead, and tomorrow we’re attempting to shut down a major government building containing extremely dangerous rifts and curse work. There’s a possibility we could die, Will, so there’s one thing I will ask you.”
Will searched his handsome face to the tips of his wolfish ears. His gut sank knowing what the question would be. “Ask away.”
“Do your secrets put anyone in danger?”
Evan’s eyes slid to him, face pale and pinched with nerves.
Okay, not quite the one he’d expected.
Camp glittered with fragments of blue and Will’s heart sank in his ocean of disappointment. He scratched his neck and stared at his knees as endless impossibilities swam through his head. A moment of pure insanity had his lips parted and the words about to tumble from his them. He could do it. He could tell Nath everything right now and… what? Ruin himself? No. Ruin Nath’s memories and possibly his stability on this forsaken mission? No. Besides, none of this affected the crown, this was personal. His problem that he couldn’t risk anyone finding out about.
“No.”
Nath studied him a moment. He knew Will wasn’t telling the whole truth, it was written on his face. Sometimes he hated that Nath knew him so well. Even when he tried his hardest the guy could see through it.
“Nath, it’s nothing serious. Life’s a bit hectic at the moment, isn’t it?”
Nathaniel stared.
Evan didn’t look as though he believed him, either.
A flicker of anger raised the campfire and Nath glanced to it disapprovingly.
Will started to shake and couldn’t stop. “I am trying really hard, Nath,” he pushed the sight of Evan from his mind and softened his eyes. “I’ve told ya how sorry I am and since the moment you became king I’ve only ever helped you, haven’t I?” He glanced at Evan knowing damn well he’d continued his hostility.
Nath sighed. “Your words have been meaningless before, Will.”
He stared into Nath’s eyes, hardness glazing his own. “You either believe me or you kill me,” he said calmly.
“We’ll see,” said Nath.
Chapter 13
The night was solemn. Owls hooted too slowly and bats scattered by, eyes like red lasers in the dark. It was cold, but the warmth of Nath’s body in their furs made it almost bearable.
Will had done a fantastic job of making it the most uncomfortable experience. Threesomes and secrets swirled around the atmosphere like noxious clouds.
At dawn, a heart-stopping noise punctured a brutal hole in Evan’s napping. The boys sat and listened. The echoes of nature died and the blood-red dawn was a promise of the slaughter to come.
Then it came again, the melodic whittling of a flute.
“Music?” Evan frowned.
“No,” Nath whispered, voice shaking. “I hope to the gods that it’s not what I think it is.”
The horses outside whinnied, smashing their hooves threateningly to the earth.
Large feet padded overhead, working their way down the rock face in timely thuds. Large claws scraped the overhang and Evan wanted to pass out.
Nath held a finger to his lips and gestured for them to get up slowly. He raised his fists, moonlight glittering across his knuckles. Will’s eyes were every shade of autumn’s blaze.
The haggard breath came again and a monster of legends plopped gracefully before their eyes. It was as tall as Evan with the body of an enormous lion bursting with long razor-sharp spines. It’s face was grotesque and humanoid with a hairy roman nose and huge, brown eyes. It snarled revealing three sets of deadly fangs. An odd tootling sound rang from its throat, and it lunged.
Evan shoved Nath out of the way.
The fire was sucked from the pit, arcing through the air like a comet and exploding on the monster’s head. Sparks shattered blinding them a second as it screeched with a sound like someone blew in a recorder too hard.
Evan was thrown aside, casting his magic over his skin to protect him from the scalding embers.
“Run when I say so,” said Nath, fists radiating orbs of silver, starshine dripping to the floor like puddles of molten platinum.
The beast snarled and leaped for Nath. He opened his palm as it leaped and caught it mid-air with his power, it’s ten-inch black claws outstretched. The monster’s face twisted with shock as it rose. It thrashed, floating around helplessly.
“Anti-gravity,” Will breathed, staring in amazement. He raised his palms and summoned Hell’s inferno; the surrounding rocks blistered with heat making the atmosphere ripple and glint red.
Evan sucked a breath, sweat trickling down his sides.
The manticore sang beautifully as it aimed every spine in their direction.
“Don’t get hit, they’re toxic!” Nath shouted.
The rocks rumbled; the flute-like melody continued. It was almost mesmerising.
Evan threw himself aside, missing five spines as l
ong as swords and twice as thick that oozed mustardy yellow liquid on the floor. He threw his hands up and the magic burst from his body binding the three of them in a barrier. “I can’t hold this for long!” He cried.
Nath thrust his arms out and the monster slammed into the ceiling. The mountain rocked and gems rained from above pelting them like furious hail. Thanks to Evan they didn’t feel a thing, but they would if they didn’t get out quickly.
The monster wasn’t willing to accept defeat. The rest of it’s spines we’re crushed and dripping but still it howled and slashed at the rocks with gigantic paws, breaking itself free.
“Run!” Nath cried.
It brandished it’s deadly tail like a harpoon and missed Will by half a meter. It lashed out again, narrowly missing Nath. Will’s eyes reddened and he summoned the flames; they hit up the manticore with a best friend’s rage.
The screams were brutal.
They were at the exit, panting and wide-eyed, watching the monster scream as fire erupted all over its body, incinerating it’s fur and blackening it’s skin. Its expressions were too human.
Evan bent over to vomit up what little he had in his stomach.
Nath was glowing with power. His lips drew back over his teeth as he cupped his palms, ethereal light radiating from within, and launched a moonbeam at the suffering creature. It had no time to react and hit the wall of the overhang with a thunderous crash. Rocks rained from above pummeling it to submission. He seized Evan’s hand and they ran for their lives. The horses thundered behind them, breaking free from their meagre tethers. They were safe, of course, the manticore had no interest in horses of myth and legend when there were delightful young humans about.
They ran until the ground stopped shaking and Evan collapsed exhausted and dizzy.
“Everyone alright?” Will asked, not even slightly out of breath. Bastard.
Nath searched Evan’s eyes and drew him into a warm hug. “What was that magic?”
“A barrier I invented,” he took the proffered water with shaking hands. “It’s the most protection I can give you. I’ve been working on it since the Mass when my powers were supercharged.”
Nath’s face was radiant as the sunshine back home. Oh how Evan missed true sunlight.
“So, what? It makes us invincible?” asked Will.
Evan hesitated. “As close to invincible as one can get, but I can’t hold it for too long, especially on more than one person. It’s extremely intense magic.”
Will bit his lip like he was holding back another malicious comment about Evan’s inadequacy. He'd noticed this behaviour a lot lately.
“Incredible!” Nath’s dimples nearly had him launch another trouser rocket.
“Now what are we gonna do?” said Will.
Nath sank down beside Evan. “We let Evan rest a minute, and then we storm the facility.”
“They’ll know we’re here with all that noise,” said Will, nose crinkled.
“If they knew we were here they’d have come by now. They can travel these realms faster than humans,” said Nath. “There’s all sorts of monsters on these mountains, we’re lucky to have experienced so little.”
“What if it was the manticore that destroyed the camp?” Evan asked.
“Unless it’s an arsonist, it wasn’t,” Will replied.
“It’s not impossible. It depends what caused the fire,” said Nath. “Let’s focus our energy on gaining control of that building and getting our comrades home safe.”
“If they’re not already dead,” said Will.
∞∞∞
Mt. Haven ended like a life cut short: brutally, unexpectedly and tragically. The flat top was a grassy plain of nothingness. If loneliness were a colour, it would be grey. Grey like the mist that swirled around them, parting down the middle of a stone bridge linking Mt. Haven to Mt. Passage. It looked like the surrounding mountains’ little brother; a fortress of ebony and shadow.
The air rippled with enchantments; tasted bittersweet like dark chocolate and mountain air.
In no time at all the hooves touched the mountain’s soil and they made their way up a narrow path off the main track. The lack of noise was deeply unsettling, and they rode in silence for hours.
The higher they climbed the mistier it became, and every so often he heard tiny sounds; a beetle scuttling in the dust, a bird’s caw, the wind’s whispering laughter and the heavy thrum of magic which grew steadily louder the closer they became.
“There’s security,” said Will as they cloaked among a patch of sleepy trees with ebony leaves and ghostly branches.
Hideous ogres patrolled the perimeter, half-naked and some of them bloodied. Evan hoped to the gods the injuries didn’t signify the death of their comrades.
“I can knock out a few ogres,” he suggested.
Nath and Will looked to him in surprise; Nath wore pride like a gold medal.
They approached tentatively and Nath plunged the area into darkness, concealing them in time and space. The world went topsy-turvy whenever he did that.
Evan felt around with his magic; it was like flicking a light switch off in their heads. One by one the ogres collapsed like dominos all over the floor. Clouds of soot puffed around them, blanketing their greyish skin in a layer of soot. They looked like mountains in their own right.
They dismounted leaving the horses out of sight knowing they’d come at a moment’s call. Evan clenched his hands to stop them from shaking. They crept through a high archway sticking to the shadows. Dozens of stone staircases lead along battlements to sinister wooden doors. There was no movement; no sound. In the center colourful smoke billowed to the blackened sky. Destination discovered.
Nath’s fingers laced his palm and squeezed, then he took Will’s hand and stepped into the smoke. They shot into the clouds, racing the length of the fortress’s dark walls past windows without rooms and doorways without landings. They reached a platform on the battlements and tip-toed into the shadows.
Magic hummed so loudly it was hard to focus; the smell of incense was overpowering. Nath covered his face with his shirt. Corridors zigzagged everywhere, but they were following the trail of magic that glittered like spent spells.
Occasionally they heard sounds of life, but there didn’t seem to be any guards this high up. Evan guessed they probably didn’t need any with the amount of horrors surrounding the isolated mountains. You’d have to be out of your mind to come up here.
Nath directed them down a path and their footsteps became light as they hit marble that shined like honey gloss. The magic was almost unbearable and Evan clenched his teeth willing the beating drums in his brain to fuck off.
They approached an archway set in the wall; orange mist drifted to the floor pooling in clouds.
“What’s this?” Evan whispered.
“It’s a gateway to deeply magical devices. This is a powerful place and it leads us to the rift generator. I can sense it,” said Nath, squeezing his fingers tenderly.
“And all we have to do is cross it?” Evan frowned. “It’s never gonna be that simple.”
Nath laughed and Will walked right through it. No alarms sounded and he didn’t collapse in agony.
“They’re ornamental doors. Mum put a few in the manor,” said Will.
Evan stepped through before Nath could feeling the gentle smoke wash over him, odourless and cool. Nath stepped through behind them. The unsettling silence continued.
They followed a dark tunnel chipped into the wall up ahead, it grew smaller and narrower the further they progressed until they were crouching through the darkness, heading towards a pool of light up ahead. The air crackled with every shade of sunburst and smelled of incense powerful enough to fog their consciousness. Evan’s mind was a kaleidoscope of anxious energies, worsened when the atmosphere began to sing.
What they thought was light turned out to be a shower of magic, beautiful silver magic that rained from the blackness above. They felt it grow nearer with each step.
A second archway led them directly into the rift room. Gigantic crystals bedded in the harsh stone walls, glowing every shade of melted rainbow beams, all combining in the center of the room like a planetary collision that was the rift. It was stunningly horrific, gaping like a fresh wound, spewing a galaxy of radiance and magic dust reminiscent of Andromeda.
Evan watched in awe as lightning slashed across its surface and the air tumbled with static; smelled of prophecies and something sour.
“Sweet Lunara…” Nath breathed, gazing at it wide-eyed.
“I wonder how many more there are,” said Will, stepping forward to get a better look.
“Stay back. That thing could lead anywhere,” said Nath.
That’s when Evan noticed patterns etched into the walls. He moved closer and realised they were codes, like geographical locations. He frowned, Kalani would be able to read these with all the foot travel she’d done, but Kalani wasn’t here. The thought made him miss her more than ever, and he wondered how she felt back at the palace pregnant and wondering if she’ll ever see them again. “Nath?” he said softly.
Nath was beside him in a second, eyes scanning the numbers. “If we shut this one down it’ll destroy the others, they’ll be feeding from this room’s energy,” he said, surveying the rift more closely. “And if we needed to we could probably use it.”
Evan shot him a panicked look and noticed the fair stubble forming across his jaw.
“That is if we needed to,” his dimples were wicked. “Summoning moonlight will close this, but if I do it now security will arrive and we won’t be able to search for our comrades.”
A distant thud like a rock striking pavement from a height broke the conversation. They exchanged three-way stares.
“There’s lots of crates lying about, lets search them,” said Nath.
The room was vast and encrusted with gems. They wedged open a couple crates marked with numbers in no particular order. Most of them contained uncut gems or hand mirrors, few contained empty vials. Strange.