The Ranger: Apollo's Story (Tales of Welkinia Book 2)

by J. M. Ivie

  “Yes. We have discussed this…”

  The Lawman let out a long, resigned sigh. “Well, I will finish soon… The Countess will be out momentarily. Please, have a seat while you wait.”

  I bowed and left to go sit on the bench in the room’s corner. It seemed a good time to study my surroundings. I examined everything… from the alabaster walls to the wooden doors and their steel hinges. Gold-plated iron beams buttressed the white ceiling. Lanterns, gilded in iron and gold, lined the walls. I waited, counting down the minutes, listening to my heart beat to every second which passed. Sorumeito. Barak’s words echoed in my mind. What if she is my heart companion? My equal in every way?

  It was impossible. Finding your heart companion. Just a legend anyway… no two hearts beat at the same time. No two people were made for each other.

  The door opened, and Zahra walked out. My jaw dropped. Her dress, a silk white evening gown, was embroidered with flowers that climbed up her figure. Nora had surely designed that dress to kill me before my time… She looked more beautiful than ever. I’d never seen her so… elegant.

  I stood after I saw Nora’s fiery frame re-enter the room. I must have looked like a fool. Zahra must have thought it too from how she was smiling.

  “Would Countess Winsdale and Mr. Faithe please step forward.”

  Zahra and I walked over to each other, her hand slipping into mine. A thousand invisible spiders crawled below my skin—everything tingling at her touch.

  “Would the witness please state their full name?”

  “Nora Lorelei Turnér,” she belted from behind us in a voice which bled her excitement.

  The Lawman nodded. “Now, let us begin with the signing of the commitment. This is an eternal bond, one which only death can undo. Once the vow is sealed, the paper will vanish from this room and it will appear in the Archives. Are you prepared for this?”

  Zahra and I both nodded. The stirring in my chest welled into a beating mess. I was about to marry the woman of my dreams. Still, the pang of guilt shot through me. There was one secret—one which she shouldn’t know…

  I picked up the quill and dipped it in the shining silver ink, scribbling my name on the black parchment. With the signing of our names, the paper glowed.

  “Would the both of you please, drink from this cup?” The Lawman held up a silvery, transparent goblet. I took the first sip, then Zahra took the next. The Lawman took the glass again, then sprinkled the remaining contents on the parchment.

  “Now, my lady, you may kiss your—”

  “Wait.” Zahra turned to the Lawman. “There is no rank here. If you could, say it to him?” she said, looking at me with a half smile.

  The Lawman looked surprised, but nodded. “Fine. Mr. Faithe, you… may kiss your bride.”

  I wrapped one arm around her waist, lifting her chin. Mischief twinkled in her eyes. I wanted this moment etched into my memory. Her lips were parted anxiously while her vibrant green eyes lit with an unspoken desire. Distance erased between us, and the gap which was once a wall of rank and title, fell to pieces. There was nothing hindering us now.

  “Just kiss me already, Archivist.”

  “Pushy.” As if all of space and time had dripped away, the separation melted. Now, for the first time, I kissed my bride. My beautiful, impossible bride. I felt her warmth… her heartbeat.

  My heart lurched.

  Her pulse… matched mine.

  Sorumeito.

  Zahra is my Sorumeito.

  Heart companion. Perfectly matched…

  Our lips had a hint of a glow on them, and the parchment vanished from sight.

  “Congratulations. You are now Mr. And Mrs. Wins—”

  Zahra raised her brow.

  “Ah, yes, I nearly forgot. You wished to take on his name. Madame, you puzzle me.” The Lawman sighed. “Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Faithe. You are joined, till death parts you.” With that, the Lawman collected his documents and left the room.

  “You love to buck at the system, don’t you?” I asked, looking at Zahra.

  “Absolutely. It is the divider between us, so why would I not?”

  I lost myself in her beauty as she offered up the rebel inside her. “Well—” Her kiss cut me short. She wrapped both arms around my neck, keeping herself there for what seemed an eternity.

  “Zahra! I never took you for such a kisser!” Nora squealed.

  “Oh look, someone else is here,” I said, looking in Nora’s direction.

  “If I wasn’t here you two would be on twelve different levels of mischief.”

  “Oh, quiet!” Zahra swatted the air, releasing me from her grip and hugging her friend. “You’re such an amazing companion, my dear Nora. Thank you…”

  A thunderous crash shook the building. Pain followed. Clear and direct pain… an arrow. Blood trickled down the shaft, protruding from my chest. I heard Zahra’s scream and saw Nora’s horrified face.

  One man barked, “Stay with the women!”

  I went to stand. The sound of snapping bone resounded in the hall. Like pottery shattering on stone. I heard it before I felt it. Perhaps my mind wasn’t sure what to focus on. The pain in my body, or the horror of the situation. Two hands grabbed my arms, “Take him.”

  Zahra screamed my name. The arrow…

  “Zahra!”

  Splintering pain erupted through my body as one man slammed his heel against my broken leg. In the blur of emotion and agony, they dragged me from the chapel.

  ___

  “We need to kill him now!”

  “I want him to suffer first.”

  “We need to tie him—”

  “Quiet, the three of you! You can make him suffer, then you can kill him. We are required to make it quick. Azu will be here to inspect our handiwork momentarily… We don’t want to return to the chapel baring bad news.”

  I could barely move. I wasn’t sure what had come over me… lethargic… numb.

  “We don’t need to tie him up, anyway. The arrow was tipped with Roja.”

  I heard the men around me laugh. I bit back the pain, cursing the unripened Rebrum berry juice under my breath. It was then that a sharp object cut into my back. The stabbing pain exploded through my body. Again. And again. Stabbing pain. The blunt end of a sword. I was dying. Slowly suffering to death.

  The snapping of bones sounded like the shattering of clay pots, only muffled by the flesh that encompassed them.

  Pain swiftly followed.

  My world went black.

  ___

  Biting pain brought me back. I looked, only to see Barak’s troubled face.

  “Where’s Zahra?”

  Barak shook his head. “Gone. You need help.”

  “Help me back to the chapel…”

  “You are dying!”

  “Barak, please!” I groaned, noticing my red stained palm.

  Barak slipped his arm around my torso. Writhing pain snaked through my body. Warm blood slithered from my wounds. I limped back to the chapel with the help of Barak, only to find it enveloped in flames. The heat pounded into me, taunting me.

  I was too late.

  “I need to bring you somewhere you can get help.” Barak’s eyes darted—searching. “The Woodlands is not far from here. It is our only chance.”

  I nodded… my strength draining. Time was not on my side.

  ___

  Barak pounded on the gate, shouting for the guards to open the doors. “My brother is dying!”

  His voice was a blur. A distant echo. Every muscle in my body gave way, and I collapsed, an unconscious lump of human flesh.

  PART SIX

  TWENTY - EIGHT

  SUN. THAT WAS ALL I understood when I awoke. The clear, blue spring skies peeked through the white stone windows. I couldn’t move. My body, weighed down by fatigue and pain, glued to the bed where I lay. Groaning, I threw off the blanket covering my body. Patches of gauze covered some wounds, while others remained open, showing painful stitches. There was a str
ange oil on my bruises that smelt like lavender, albeit, far more potent. My body burned as if I stood within a fire, my back dripping with sweat that stuck to the sheet.

  I heard breathing. I turned my head to the side of the bed. Barak was sitting in the chair, fast asleep. “Barak?”

  His muscles twitched as he stirred awake. Dark circles had worked their way under his eyes and intensified when he scowled. “Are you all right?”

  How he spoke differed from how he spoke before… gentle. I smiled, though, I wasn’t sure if I was ‘all right.’ I tried to sit up, but no strength came. Every bit of my body screamed in agony, and I tried my best not to sing along to the painful chorus.

  Barak’s dark eyes softened and he looked at me with slight disproof. “They stabbed you eight times. You have many broken bones and your spine was nearly shattered,” he mumbled. “King Elric has been so gracious as to aid your recovery and has offered to keep me here till you are better.”

  “What about the tethers? Doesn’t Jensen know where we are?”

  “So long as we stay here in the Woodlands, the tethers will not work. King Elric explained to me everything. Once you step foot out of the Woodlands boarders, the tether snaps back and will alert Jensen that you are alive and tell him where you are.”

  I grunted. “I’m not going back—not after what happened. I need to find Zahra.”

  “You need to stay here… Otherwise, Jensen will hunt you like a criminal.”

  “Better to be a criminal than be captive to the system. I have two choices. I can either be in bondage, or I can choose freedom. I’ll be choosing the latter.”

  “You would risk it?”

  I nodded. “I came so close to dying. There’s no point...”

  Barak leaned back in the chair, crossing his arms. Arms which seemed a darker, richer shade of copper. Had he been in the sun? “No point in what, exactly?”

  I bit my cheek, turning from him to the window, “The point in living. Not without Zahra.”

  He exhaled, “There is nothing I can say to convince you otherwise. All I can say is this—” he rested his hand on my shoulder. “If you let the meaning of life rest in another life just as volatile as yours, you will find it is an empty life to live.”

  I turned my head to face him once more. “What do you live for then, Barak?”

  He cracked a smile. “I live to serve Dracul. If I can be true to him and his fire, I may find life eternal in the land of the fallen. You should find a religion… one which speaks to you.”

  “You may recall that I don’t believe like you Fiermontians.” I laughed.

  “And I do not care what you think.” He winked at me. “Well, I suppose I will stay with you.”

  I tilted my head, though, the little movement pained me. “You’d risk it too?”

  He nodded stiffly, “Stay here. Your little nurse will be back…” Barak stood and turned to the door. “You have her to thank for saving your life.”

  “I dare say I have you to thank for that.”

  He nearly smiled. “Me first, then her.” Barak breathed in, gesturing to the window. “Spring has arrived. The wings of the Dragon have spread and brushed away winter. Enjoy the fresh air.”

  ___

  Some time passed before a cool hand pressed against my forehead, startling me awake.

  “How’re you feeling?”

  I looked toward the speaker’s blurred face, “I’m not sure. It’s hard to gauge.”

  The Princess Laramie nodded, walking over toward a cabinet. “I’m going to clean your wounds.”

  “I don’t think—”

  She shot me a scowl of disproof… silently saying she would tend to me either way.

  “Why… you? Why not a doctor?”

  “I’m learning for when I take my first Leveling test. He already showed me how to do this. He’s busy right now… a woman is ill and so I am taking over.”

  “What about becoming Queen someday?”

  Laramie put her hands in her trouser pockets, “I know it will happen. But perhaps I can become a doctor before I need to become Queen. Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? Doctor Laramie Aurora of the Fourth Level.”

  I smiled and nodded, “It does.”

  She had cleaned each individual wound, all the while conversing with me and asking me questions. When she got to asking how the injuries happened, my mouth snapped closed.

  “Mr. Apollo?” She tilted her head to the side. “Is everything all right?”

  I shook my head. “No…” I admitted. The spring wind rustled through my hair and the wave of guilt spread anew.

  “So, what happened?”

  I turned to Laramie beside me, eyes wide in anticipation. “I don’t know,” I admitted. “It was all such a blur. I can’t seem to understand it. Zahra and I, we married… then everything came crashing down on us. It was a nightmare. A nightmare I wish I could have been dreaming. She was there, in front of me, then gone a second later. It was horrible. I can’t seem to make any sense of it!” I looked around me, shaking my head. “It was torture. Not this—” I gestured to my tattered body, mangled together by stitches and rags. “But, not knowing if she is all right…”

  Laramie cast me a sideways glance. I couldn’t make out what she was thinking based on her features, but, whatever was in her mind was running around like a mad freight engine, whirring and grinding away with living and breathing energy.

  “She is so kind...” Laramie finally spoke. “And so are you. Neither of you deserved what happened.”

  I sighed. I deserved it… But Zahra? No, she deserved none of that.

  “Here—” Laramie gave me a drink of water and smiled. “Your strength should return soon. Take it easy, we don’t want the stitches to burst. You should be able to walk in the next few days… with the aid of a cane, that is. Your leg will take longer to heal than the rest. The new potion we are perfecting will heal some of the minor wounds in no time.”

  I nodded, drinking down the contents of the water. It had a sweet tang to it, then turned bitter toward the end. “Laramie, where is your father? I wish to speak to him.”

  Laramie smiled and gestured out the window to a beautiful archway, intertwined with ivy. The ragged appearance of the arch made me curious as to its age. I studied it for a moment, gazing at the pearl pathway leading toward a glass building.

  “He’s most always in there. You can usually find him in his study or roaming the halls. If he isn’t there, he’s likely visiting the townsfolk. If you wait, he will return.”

  “Thank you,” I bowed my head, ever so slightly. “I’ll be visiting him when I can.”

  “I’ll tell him, then.” Laramie packed up her things and smiled at me. “He will be glad to see you are doing better.”

  T W E N T Y - N I N E

  BARAK

  THE SOUND OF THE WATER flowing down from the mountain and into the river calmed my spirit. Midnight approached, and I watched the pastel waterfall change its hue. The moons spoke to the water, and the blue cascade radiated in return. It invited me, the clear and glowing pool which I stood beside, as if telling me I could dive in and forget the world for a moment.

  All around, the lantern flowers lit, casting their faint green light all around as the Alvë danced around the mahogany trees. The small creatures resembled humans, with the wings of the butterfly—bearing semblance to thin sheets of ice. Seeing the creatures reminded me of the old Luxterrian tale, of the woman who befriended an Alvë. The tale says that, if you are lucky enough, you can see her apparition dance among the ruby flowers in the fields of Luxterra by the waning moonlight.

  “Are you alone?”

  I turned my head, seeing a woman with hair the shade of fire and eyes the color of darkened coals pause at the edge of the path. Had she not been so pale, I would have thought her to be the Luxterrian woman from legend. She stood tall, elegant in her posture, as if a descendant of royalty. I bowed, silently responding to her question.

  “Hello, Mr. Chigaru-Bara
ka.” She descended toward me, her silk gown reflecting the gentle light of the world around. I had spoken to her frequently since I arrived. She was one of the many people who attended to Apollo while he remained unconscious.

  I inclined my head, “Miss Mairead.”

  Once she stood beside me, we remained in silence. The balmy breeze caressing our skin as we watched the water. After the long silence, she slowly brushed away the tight red curls from her eyes as she examined me. “You know, most Fiermontians I have spoken to wear a warm smile on their faces.”

  I tried to fight the smile. “Do you often speak to Fiermontians?”

  “Rarely.” She walked over to the water’s edge, leaned down, and let the water trickle around her fingers. “You’re an enchanting people. Everything your people does seems thought out and so well executed. The Kasai temple, for example, is the epitome of engineering and architectural magic.”

  I sat on a boulder protruding from beside the pond, dissecting what she said. “You must be from Oceland.” I looked her over. She had a slender body that resembled a young willow, with gentle curves that went nearly unnoticed. Her thin arms showed through the slits in her emerald dress, revealing freckles dotting her skin. “Ocelandites are accepting people.”

  Mairead smiled, her eyes sinking into slits as the lines appeared on her cheeks. “Yes. We are.” She lifted her dress and stepped one foot into the water, “I am also told that we are a reckless people who do things unexpectedly and without reason.”

  “Such as swimming in a silk gown?” I crossed my arms and watched as she waded deeper into the water.

  “Why yes, that exactly!” A smirk lifted her lips. “It’s either gown on or no swimming at all. I’d rather go swimming.”

  I examined her again. I couldn’t understand what her point was, being out here at such an hour.