by R A Oakes
“I want them both, and I need them both!” Baelfire shouted with all her might. And without realizing it, she experienced what it was like to love someone, for each of these courageous women had pulled at her heartstrings. Her heartstrings had been lying dormant until each of the women had fought to save the life of the other, regardless of the consequences to themselves.
Baelfire experienced the power of love, and it felt good. Very, very good.
Gradually, the golden megentum light inside of the magic sword began to awaken, and Baelfire became more alive and more complete with an awareness of the importance of having others around her who could be trusted. Love without trust, the good sword realized, was treacherous. But with trust, love became real, something that could endure the tests of time. And with a love that was real, Baelfire became real.
Even so, the magic sword could see that Raven and Chen’s lives were still hanging by a thread. Raven’s burns were far too severe for emotions alone to pull her back from the brink. And Chen had lost so much blood that life was still slipping away from her. All that was keeping them alive was love and the warmth of the megentum light.
Hearing Bold Spear crying out with concern, Baelfire glanced up at the rafters and saw dozens of ravens, large birds standing two-feet-tall with four-foot wingspans, and the magic sword found that she liked the color of the birds’ feathers, being not just black but with a purplish tint. As Baelfire made these observations, more ravens flew in and perched on the beams, voicing their own concern over the women’s condition with a loud, raspy, “C-r-o-c-k, c-r-o-c-k, c-r-o-c-k!”
Then, the magic sword glanced outside and saw dozens and dozens more of the ravens circling around in the sky high above the forge. And Baelfire had an idea, a skin graft of sorts for Raven and a blood transfusion of sorts for Chen.
“I have a suggestion, but you might not like it,” the magic sword said cautiously.
“Sometimes you just have to do whatever comes to mind,” Chen replied.
Raven, who was in so much pain that she didn’t quite care what happened, only that her suffering might end, said, “Do whatever you want, but I’m tired of being cooped up in this forge. If I’m going to die, I want it to be outside under the open sky.”
“Okay, let’s get up,” Baelfire said, surprised at the quiet authority resonating within her own voice.
Next, with an anguished grimace on her face, Raven tried to roll onto her right side and succeeded in propping herself up on one elbow. Knowing she couldn’t force herself to move any farther, she gasped, “Mother!”
Zorya was up off her chair in an instant standing next to her daughter asking, “What can I do to help?”
“Get me off this table.”
Looking at her daughter’s ravaged body, Zorya didn’t know where or how she could touch her without causing even more pain. Sensing her mother’s reluctance, Raven said, “Just get me moving.” But as Zorya gripped her daughter’s arm, Raven cried out in agony, and Zorya let go.
It thus fell to Chen, who literally took matters into her own hands.
Grasping Raven’s left shoulder, she shoved the ghost whisperer up into a sitting position and forced herself to ignore the woman’s screams. Next, Chen placed a hand on Raven’s back, shoved the ghost whisperer onto her feet and quickly handed the magic sword to her. At the very moment Raven grasped the sword’s hilt, her pain felt more manageable, at least for someone with a very high pain threshold. Yet Raven was standing upright, though wobbly and leaning against the table for support.
“You, pretty boy,” Chen said, staring hard at Dynarsis.
At first, Dynarsis didn’t know what to say, no one ever having referred to him like that before.
“He’s the king,” Raven gasped through her pain.
“What?”
“He’s Dynarsis. He’s my king.”
“King Dynarsis Kardimont?” Chen asked, feeling a sense of awe to be in the presence of such an august figure, a person of such great historical importance.
“How did you know my last name was Kardimont?” Dynarsis asked.
“Where I come from, everyone knows your name. You’re the first Kardimont king in a dynasty that has lasted for over 500 years, including King Tarlen in my own era, in my own present day. King Tarlen Kardimont is your direct descendent.”
Raven and Dynarsis just looked at each other in surprise. Then, the ghost whisperer smiled and said, “Well, pretty boy, I always thought you were rather cute, myself, so how about helping Chen to get up.”
After having eased Chen onto her feet, the warrior woman was about to push Dynarsis aside but hesitated when she remembered whom she was dealing with. Even if Dynarsis was unaware of his historical value, she was not.
Raven and Chen were now both on their feet, and Zorya tried touching her daughter as gently as possible, but even the slightest touch caused Raven to cry out. However, Chen was aware that neither she nor Raven could walk on their own, so the warrior woman took a deep breath and said, “Okay, Raven, let’s go outside.”
Though neither Chen nor Raven knew what Baelfire had in mind for them, the magic sword had realized that both women were tenacious and decided to defer to Chen’s leadership, at least for now.
Chen put her arm around the ghost whisperer’s shoulders, and Raven put an arm around Chen’s waist, and the two women took agonizing step after agonizing step. And as Raven kept screaming, Chen focused on the pragmatic side of things and said, “If you drop Baelfire, we’ll both be dead before we hit the floor.”
“As bad as I’m feeling now, I might just fall on her blade and be done with it all.”
“That would be a selfish act.”
“I’m feeling selfish.”
“Being that I’m a direct descendant of yours, if you go down, you’ll take me down with you, as well as all 500 years of Kardimont rule, an enlightened dynasty that has brought peace and prosperity to this region for hundreds of years. So, I’d think twice about being selfish given the costs involved.”
Chapter 23
“You’re a direct descendant of mine?” Raven asked, surprised that Chen had made such a statement.
“Yes.”
“Who’s the father?”
“Dynarsis.”
“A direct descendant of ours?”
“Yes, something I only recently learned about. The king in my era, King Tarlen, is also a direct descendant of yours, and King Tarlen and my father are cousins, a fact that got buried during a prolonged period of chaos and upheaval.”
“I thought you said the Kardimonts brought peace and prosperity.”
“They had for hundreds of years, but then, Balzekior and a warlord named Swarenth overthrew the Kardimonts, who have since been returned to power.”
“Balzekior?” Raven asked.
“Yes.”
“But she’s behind the chaos erupting all around us here.”
“If that old witch succeeds in disrupting history, everything the Kardimont dynasty has accomplished could be wiped out. Balzekior has to be stopped,” Chen declared.
At that moment, the two women reached the forge’s entrance, looked outside and found it to be anything but encouraging. Yet Baelfire had just learned an important piece of information. Whatever happened here today would resonate throughout future generations, and the magic sword felt something else she’d never experienced before, a clear sense of purpose.
Baelfire realized that she had to stop the madness that was going on all around them, and if Raven and Chen could be kept alive with some life-changing physical alterations, then so be it.
Now, with love and a strong sense of purpose, Baelfire awakened a bit further, a warm golden glow radiating all around her. And not just covering Raven and Chen, but filling the doorway and causing the meat-eating trolls closest to them to back away a few paces, and then, a few more when Raven and Chen stepped outside. However, the golden light wasn’t powerful enough to make the meat-eating trolls retreat any farther.
So
on, Zarimora emerged from the crowd, shouting and urging her warriors to attack, and a thousand who’d been watching the monastery burn rallied to her call. Also, over 100 meat-eating trolls wearing long black cloaks got out in front and began inching their way forward, shouting horrendous battle cries.
“We’d better get to work,” Baelfire advised.
“What did you have in mind?” Raven asked.
“First, I need all the ravens on this mountain to rally around us.”
“Bold Spear!” the ghost whisperer shouted to her friend, a raven whom all the other birds respected for her courage and intelligence. When Bold Spear landed on the ground next to her, Raven said, “Get all the other ravens to fly around us in a circle, and please do it now.”
“C-r-o-c-k, c-r-o-c-k!” Bold Spear shouted as she flew off and made a wide lap around the monastery, letting all of the other ravens know what was expected of them.
And as Bold Spear did so, Chen watched while her warrior women formed a circular protective perimeter around Raven, Baelfire and herself. Next, Vangalaya and the vegetarian monks formed a protective outer perimeter around the humans. Outside of that, Zarimora and her horde of mindless meat-eating trolls kept inching their way forward, the troll queen whipping her troops into an emotional frenzy.
Suddenly, Raven and Chen both collapsed to the ground, being at the very limit of their endurance even with the help of Baelfire’s golden glow.
Zarimora, standing on a small mound near the forge, saw the two women when they fell and sensed that victory was within her grasp. Raising her sword high into the air, she sought to rally the meat-eating trolls who were still caught up in the mesmerizing view of the disintegrating monastery. Trying to shift their attention away from the billowing inferno, she shouted, “Burn the forge! Kill them all, and the mountain is ours!”
Now, thousands of meat-eating trolls were bearing down on Vangalaya and her monks, and the spiritual master knew they couldn’t resist the troll queen for long. Her monks understood the importance of both meditation and self-defense through individual combat, but mass violence made no sense to them. And the ancient ghost thought, Whatever Baelfire’s going to do, she’d better do it soon.
Lying on the rain-soaked ground, Raven and Chen gripped the magic sword and watched Bold Spear flying overhead. The courageous bird had rallied hundreds of other ravens and was leading them downward, cutting through the storm clouds. And as they did, the ravens gave their own battle cry, “C-R-O-C-K, C-R-O-C-K, C-R-O- C-K!”
Soon, over 200 ravens began swirling around Baelfire, Chen and the ghost whisperer, as others attacked the meat-eating trolls. And the magic sword shouted, “Zorya! Aldwen!”
When the wizard arrived, Baelfire asked, “Where’s Balzekior?”
“As we suspected, the old crone’s badly worn down. But she had enough energy to knock me flat on my back a little while ago, and when I got up, she was gone.”
Turning to Zorya, the magic sword asked, “How much of your fire-energy do you have left?”
“Only a little, but I’ve been saving that for a last- ditch defense of my daughter.”
“Well, that time has come.” Looking back at Aldwen, Baelfire asked, “How much energy is left in your wizard’s staff?”
“About half of it. I used up the other half pushing Balzekior as far away from the forge as I could manage.”
“Then, I need you to shoot all your remaining energy directly into me. And Zorya, I need you to pour every last drop of your fire-energy into me at the same time.”
“Can you handle that much energy all at once?” Zorya asked.
“I guess we’re about to find out. But do it now, or we’re all dead. I need you to trust me on this.”
“Baelfire, you’ve only been alive for a short while,” Aldwen said, deeply concerned. “We don’t know the full extent of your abilities and limitations.”
“Can you beat back Balzekior and Zarimora’s trolls by yourself?”
“No.”
“Zorya, can you?”
“No.”
“Well, not knowing what I can or can’t do is the only option we have left. Let’s hope what I have in mind works.”
“What’s that?” Zorya asked, but just then, there was an enormous roar as Zarimora rallied her meat-eating trolls and broke through the protective perimeter formed by Vangalaya and her monks. Now, only Chen’s warrior women were holding the meat-eating trolls at bay.
“Zorya, Aldwen, now! Do it now!”
Zorya gripped Baelfire’s hilt and burst into flames and, at the same time, Aldwen cut loose with a blast of pure white light from his staff infusing the magic sword to overflowing. The fire, the white light and Baelfire’s golden megentum light all began blending together into a combustible mix, a combination that no one truly knew anything about.
“Now get back!” Baelfire shouted to Zorya and Aldwen. “I can’t contain the energy.”
Stepping outside the encircling ravens, the wizard dropped to his knees next to Zorya, who’d collapsed as well, and he said, “I’ve never bet everything before, everything all at once.”
“Neither have I,” Zorya replied, gasping for breath.
Inside the circle of swirling ravens, Raven to the magic sword, and Chen wrapped both of her arms around the ghost whisperer. Baelfire was blistering hot and blindingly bright, but Raven didn’t feel any pain at all.
“Closer!” Baelfire shouted to the ravens and, like an artist’s brush, the tips of their feathers were so close that they could have painted the two humans from neck to ankle using black with a purplish tint, the same color as the ravens themselves. And, in a way, that’s what happened. It seems that the fire energy, the white light and the golden light had interacted in a way that had been unpredictable yet predictable.
Megentum metal, when heated to extreme temperatures, at least while first being forged, can absorb the properties of whatever’s around it. Thus, the College of Wizards had intentionally surrounded Baelfire while she was being created so the sword would absorb their knowledge and wisdom.
In much the same way, as the magic sword was attempting to heal both Raven and Chen, the two humans were absorbing the properties of the birds flying around them. Raven, having been severely burned over 90% of her body, all except for her face, the front of her neck and her hands and feet, was absorbing that which she lacked, a covering for her ravaged skin, a skin graft that would keep her alive.
And Chen, having experienced severe blood loss, was absorbing that which she needed from the birds, a transfusion of sorts. With the ravens swirling around both women, what Raven absorbed for herself extended to Chen, the warrior woman gaining a new coating of skin and whatever came with it, including feathers. Also, as Chen received a blood transfusion, so did Raven.
“Disperse!” Baelfire shouted to the ravens. “Disperse!”
As the birds obeyed, they were helped along by a brilliant wave of white light which sent them all high into the sky where they maintained their vigil from a distance.
Slowly, Chen and Raven stood up. When Chen arose, she was healed, and the warrior woman, an eminently practical person, was glad just to be alive, feathers and all. When she spread her majestic black wings for the first time, it was easy to see the outline of every feather for Chen was also shimmering with golden megentum light, each feather highlighted by the radiance. The warrior woman looked down at her chest, stomach, arms and legs and found them covered with black feathers as well. Each one tinged with golden light. And Chen had never before felt so complete and whole, both physically and spiritually. It was an awakening.
When Raven rose from the water-soaked ground, standing tall as rain poured from the storm clouds overhead, the ghost whisperer was covered with feathers also, but they were golden feathers. Her long hair was golden blond and billowing in the wind, and her face, like Chen’s, was untouched by fire or feathers, as were her hands and feet. But the rest of her body was covered with megentum-colored feathers. Feathers shimmering
with golden light.
As Raven spread her majestic wings, Zarimora and the meat-eating trolls stopped fighting and gasped in amazement. They’d never seen anything so beautiful, but they hated her from the moment they set eyes upon her. Raven made them feel empty inside, accenting their wasted lives, lives dedicated to wanton destruction.
Hatred built up inside Zarimora and her meat- eating trolls until they could take no more of this breathtaking indignity. The two-winged humans in front of them appeared to epitomize a sense of freedom, women devoid of limitations or boundaries.
“Kill them!” Zarimora shouted with all her might. “Kill them all!”
However, before the meat-eating trolls could take a single step, Raven spread her wings even farther, the golden glow of her feathers touching those closest to her, and she shouted, “Join us!”
The meat-eating trolls were stunned by such an invitation and looked at her in confusion.
“Join us!” Raven extolled them once again, hoping to find a nonviolent resolution, a way for them to coexist in peace, a solution both sides could live with. However, the meat-eating trolls remained silent, all except for Zarimora, who shouted, “Why would we kneel down to you!”
“I’m not asking you to kneel to anyone,” Raven replied. “I only ask that you allow us to live free, as we see fit.”
But then, Aldwen, Raven and the others discovered where Balzekior had gone when they heard the old crone behind them in the forge’s doorway shouting, “She’s lying! They’ll enslave us! Destroy them!”
“Yes, kill them!” Zarimora shouted.
And the thousands of meat-eating trolls surged ahead, echoing their troll queen’s exhortation, “Kill! Kill! Kill!”
“Won’t they ever learn?” Raven sighed.
“No, I don’t think so,” Chen replied. Having spent years dealing with the harsh realities of life, the warrior woman had escaped a world filled with darkness, making it into the light only after a difficult soul-searching journey. Chen had been groomed to inherit a dark sword of great power yet, in the end, refused to follow such a grim pathway and helped restore the days of enlightenment in her own era. Chen and her warrior women had evolved into an elite unit dedicated to serving their king and had come back in time partly at his behest.
