by Thomas Green
Luna shrugged. “He does now.”
As if in disbelief, Samantha put her hand on his face to check if it was getting colder. “How? Raven uses no aether manifestation.”
Luna smiled awkwardly. “He will tell you himself once he recovers. I have no right to do so.”
They carried him to the cell and placed him on the ground by the wall, for they didn’t have the strength to lift him into the bed.
Nibbles ran to Raven and climbed on his shoulder, visibly worried. He wanted to pet his friend, but his hand refused to move.
“I will go prepare the ointments and will be right back,” Samantha said and blasted from the room.
Luna sat down next to him.
Raven turned to her after a while as he regained enough strength to speak. “I am sorry.”
Luna’s cheeks flared up and gaze sharpened. “Why did you do that? You had no right to stop me!”
“I know… but it was the right thing to do.”
“Who are you decide that?”
He smiled, saying nothing.
Luna clenched her fists. “So, I don’t count? My opinion has no value between us?”
“You would have died there, same as the Reavers.”
She sneered. “That’s not the point! It wasn’t your decision to make.”
“I made it, it happened… so it was mine.”
“This was extremely important to me, and now I’m fucked because I am doomed to become an outcast once the tournament ends. You can’t force your will on others! Not even when you think it’s for their own good!”
Raven smiled. “I am happy that you are alive. Your pride will heal, but your life would have not.”
“Happy? Happy!” Luna shouted, grabbed Nibbles and bit off his head. “How about now?”
As rage exploded through him, his vision shifted. He saw himself standing within a palace made of glass wreathed in darkness, surrounded by demons of all sizes and shapes. Before him, a man in red-black armor stroked the head of a golden retriever. Without warning, the man tore off the dog’s head. Raven couldn’t move or speak, forced to merely watch the vision, as if he was in a memory of a man who was and wasn’t him at the same time. The armored man laughed. “What did you say you would do to me?”
Raven heard himself say. “This.” His aether stretched out, tore through the defenses of the man and all the surrounding demons, gripped their hearts and stopped them from beating. Gasping for air, for life, the armored man collapsed and all the demons with him.
Raven’s vision shifted back to reality. Luna lay on the ground before him, gasping for air as his aether held her heart, stopping it from beating. He withdrew the aether. She drew breath, but her eyes remained closed, and body went limp.
Next to him, Nibbles still lay dead, severed in two. Sadness exploded through Raven. He sagged against the wall, releasing a soul-tearing wail of pain.
37
Salazar
Salazar sat onto a wooden bench within the preparation room to recover for but a moment while the specter of backlash gnawed upon his insides.
He was not done. The death of his teammates was yet to be avenged, and he knew where to find the culprit. The mere thought of her filled his body with searing rage and adrenaline, giving him the strength to move. He made a vine wrap his shattered arm and shoulder, a healing plant fill the cut on his chest, and headed out. He did not go to the washing room, for instead, he dove into the arena complex.
On a crossing, he turned into the part where he should not have and a guard, a large Urushnii, blocked his path. “Sorry, sir, but this area is off limits.”
Salazar dropped a seed. Thorny vines sprouted out and crushed the guards into a paste.
With a callous smile on his face, he continued through the complex, killing every man who dared to stop him until he arrived at the door of Raven’s cell. He opened.
Across the room sat Raven, sagged by the wall, weeping. Near him lay a rat torn in two and Luna, motionless on the ground.
Salazar raised an eyebrow. “What happened?”
“Can you revive them?” Raven motioned with his head to Luna and the rat.
Salazar stepped to Luna, made his plants grow, wrapping them around her, raising her from the ground. Her breath was faint but present. She was alive. As looked at her, he wanted to do nothing else than to kill and say she was already dead. He knew he would get away with it. Salazar closed his eyes. His father would have done that. Almost everyone else would have done that. He chose not to. He was better than them. With a slight shift of his aether, he put Luna back onto the ground. “She is merely unconscious.” He turned to the remains of the rat. “About him… shall I bury him?”
“Not here,” Raven whispered.
Salazar made his plant pick both parts of Nibble’s body and wrapped them in a small package which he placed next to Raven as he faced him. “About Luna. In case she hasn’t told you, she killed almost my entire team. It may have been an accident, but they still died by her hand. I will spare her life, but I do not forgive her. While I will not send anyone to hunt her down, she should consider herself unwelcome in my lands.”
Raven’s expression did not change. “I will deliver your message. Is Yvonne alright?”
“Mostly.” Salazar turned to the door. “One more thing… how do you call your aether manifestation?”
“Why?”
“My father once attempted to record all manifestations. He can no longer do so, but I suppose I can pick up where he left, and I need a name to write next to yours.”
Raven shook his head. “My power has no name.”
“Have you never called it in any way? How about you do so now? The tradition is that the originator is the one who assigns his manifestation with a name of his own. And have no fear, for there is a woman who calls her manifestation the Queen of Souls, so whatever you choose, I doubt you can go any lower than that.”
Raven shrugged, his face twisting with pain as he tried to move. “How do you call yours?”
“Impulse of Creation.”
“Sorry… can’t think of a name.”
Salazar smiled. “Then I shall give it one myself.”
“How will you call it?”
“Will of God.”
Raven’s eyes widened. “That’s a little excessive.”
“Says the man who can stop time.” Salazar left the arena complex and headed straight to the palace. He may have spared Luna, but there was another soul that deserved to pay for the death of his team. The city was still in an uproar, partly from the match, partly from the black flames that devoured a third of the houses last night and partly from none of the city’s wyverns waking up in the morning.
When he reached the palace, Salazar chose the side entrance, entering among the slaves carrying in supplies. Since all soldiers were busy helping the citizens to recover from the nightmare of the last midnight and the arena match, he did not encounter a single guard on his path to the throne room. Upon the golden throne sat Lord Alkambra.
The lord arched an eyebrow as Salazar entered. “I am of the belief you haven’t been invited for an audience.”
Salazar laughed. “From what did you assume I cared about that?”
Lord Alkambra scoffed and motioned his guards, four men in gold-rimmed armor. “Seize him.”
Salazar released a seed and made the thorn vine burst out to end the lives of the guards. Once done, the vine spun around the room, sealing all exits.
“What the hell are you doing?” Lord Alkambra shouted, his face pale.
“I have come to deliver upon the promise I had given you.”
“Are you threatening me? How dare you!” he leapt to his feet and drew a glaive from the side of his throne.
Salazar smiled. His plants exploded through the room. Lord Alkambra weaved and slashed, but the plants caught all four of his limbs and stretched him out into an x shape. Salazar stepped to him, withdrew a seed and let it sprout into a tiny spiky flower, which he pressed into the lord’s artery. Alk
ambra shrieked in pain and trembled.
Salazar spoke calmly, like a professor giving a lecture at a university. “This plant is called Devil’s Smirk. It will spread itself through your circulatory system and wrap around your veins. Afterward, it will eat you from the inside. The main of this plant is its method, for it eats the host in the way that does not kill him quick. It will take at least a day before your heart gives out, allowing you to die and believe me, you will know every minute because the plant releases a toxin that stimulates the blood flow, so you will not fall unconscious, no matter the pain. And trust me, wyvern’s poison is a child’s play compared to this in the intensity of pain.”
“You can’t… do this,” Alkambra said between groans of pain.
Salazar stuffed Alkambra’s mouth with the vine, spun on his heel and left the room.
The uproar in the city made it easy for him to reach back into the abandoned house that served as their shelter. He walked to Katherine and withered the plant keeping her unconscious. “I am sorry I knocked you out.”
Katherine scanned Salazar and saw him bleeding beneath his healing plants. “Wh… what? What happened to you?”
“I fought Raven.”
“I see… so, what now?” she asked as she went to dress.
He smiled. “Unfortunately, we do not have time to wait for my backlash to cease, so we need to pack up and head home before the city council finds out what I had done and sends men to pursue us.”
“What? Did you…” Katherine couldn’t squeeze the words out.
“I lost.” Salazar interrupted her. “But I avenged our team.”
She smiled faintly. “I see.”
He sagged down by the wall, exhausted, his lips turning blue, his skin pale.
She shrugged. “Fun’s over, I guess.”
He sighed. “Indeed. Now I need to go do the ruler part and handle the transfer from a city with slavery into a city without one. I have drafted the laws and prepared the council, so what is left is the actual hard work. It will be a long process of everyone getting used to not having a slave to cut their garden anymore.”
“How many slaves do you have?”
“About seven hundred myself and I have no idea about how many are at the palace, but I believe it is in thousands.”
Katherine narrowed her eyes. “You are passing a law that decreases your comfort. That’s unlike you.”
“Look around. The Order turned Redwall into a ruin overnight. Lucas tore off his leash, and since I haven’t lived up to my promise to him, the only path I can take is to ally Xona to the Order, for which I need to clean up at my porch, so to speak.”
“Things must be serious if you are planning to appease the Order,” Katherine said with a smile. “Why don’t you build them a temple? Holy orders love big temples.”
“I am saving that move for when I anger the Order beyond what normal measures could repair.”
She stretched her neck, pausing for a moment “How is Yvonne doing?”
Salazar approached her, who lay wrapped in plants by the side of the room to scan her with his eyes. The shape his plants molded into around her body did not fulfill his hopes. “Her spine is shattered to the point from which I cannot fully repair it. I have done what I could have, so with a bit of luck, she should one day be able to walk and function as before. Although, I am afraid her adventuring days are over, for the recovery shall take years. I will have her delivered to the Alnil temple where the priests will take care of the process. Once she has recovered, I will offer her position at the court, something akin to my personal bard or whatever I can make of such sort.”
Katherine frowned. “That makes our situation even more hopeless, for like this, both of you are unable to fight, and I don’t think I can fend off the hunting party they will send to avenge Lord Alkambra alone. We need to get out of the city, now.”
They left the city within an hour, stealing four horses from a nearby stable. Salazar kept Yvonne wrapped in plants and unconscious. He rode a horse by himself while Katherine rode the one onto which they tied Yvonne.
Redwall disappeared behind them. They traveled for a few more hours before they stopped to rest. At dusk, they saddled the horses once more and headed into the darkness, changing horses every few hours to balance the exhaustion between the animals.
Salazar barely hung on the horse, happy the beast knew what to do. What terrified him the most was the lack of pain. He found it easy to focus on pain and make peace with it, but the cold stillness of his body was a different issue entirely.
As they rode through the dawn when he realized they missed the planned switch of horses. He blinked to clear the fog from his eyes and noticed Katherine kept kicking her horse while holding the reins of his horse.
It seems like we will not make it out of the desert. Shame. Salazar glanced on his shoulder and saw what he had expected, a cloud of dust, a sign of the pursuing riders. He reached inside but found nothing. His power lay depleted and would stay so for the upcoming weeks.
I may have overstretched myself. With a clumsy move, he pulled a dagger from his side and slashed the reins of his horse while he motioned it to stop with his legs. The exhausted beast obeyed.
Katherine realized almost a full minute later. She cursed, turned her horse and headed back to him.
Salazar climbed down from his horse and stepped toward the arriving Urushnii, over thirty riders on gargantuan wolves. The Urushnii slowed down as they approached. Salazar waved his hand over his shoulder to signal Katherine to stop her charge. He heard her curse while she half-ignored him, stopping the horse by his side.
A giant of a man on an even larger wolf stepped toward him. He measured Salazar with an appreciative stare. “At least you have the courage to face your end.”
Salazar shook his head. “That is where you are wrong. You keep your eyes fixed upon the ground, yet your death comes from the skies.”
The Urushnii scoffed. “Whatever.” He motioned his wolf to leap forward.
The beast did not finish its jump, for an eagle-winged jaguar the size of a house slammed into it from the side, crushing the rider between its massive jaws.
A stone fell off Salazar’s heart as he smiled at the jaguar’s rider. Sibyl’s jewelry shone in the sunlight, granting her an otherworldly visage. She led the jaguar to shield Salazar while she leapt down to the ground and drew her warped longsword.
Salazar had seen many fights, yet this one was one of the most one-sided. Screams and stench of blood filled the air as Sibyl invited the Urushnii to a dance of death. The warriors of the desert were strong, but they were nothing next to the Sil Haen pureblood.
Katherine peered down at Salazar. “Is this… real?”
“Yes. I had a backup plan prepared, but Sibyl has a thing for arriving at the last possible moment. I believe she had been following us since we left the city, curious how long would it take us to get caught.”
A massive, blue-feathered, four-winged eagle landed near them.
Salazar nodded at the rider, a young-looking girl of timid features and plain leather armor. “Chloe.”
She leapt off the mount. “Sibyl said your arm’s a mess, so can I look at it?”
“Please.” Salazar removed the plants from his shattered arm.
Katherine shook her head. “Those are… the Sil Haen, aren’t they?”
“Yes.”
Chloe started tracing symbols above Salazar’s arm, examining his wounds with her aether.
Since the remaining Urushnii and giant wolves fled, Sibyl was done with her fight. She was drenched in their blood and wore an amused smile on her young face.
Katherine narrowed her eyes. “I know this one. We captured her a few years ago when they raided a village where you were holding a speech. Although, back then, she wore significantly cheaper jewelry.”
Sibyl laughed playfully. “Oooh, your captain remembers me.”
Katherine sneered. “I also remember you being locked in our prison, before mysteriously
disappearing.”
Salazar rolled his eyes. “At ease, Captain.”
Katherine sighed and bowed. “Your Highness.”
Sibyl approached him. “So, Chloe, how’s his arm?”
“Shattered bones, torn muscle, two broken ribs beneath, neither of which I can heal since he’s in a crazy backlash.”
Sibyl weaved to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Sounds like you will be no fun tonight.”
“I am sure we will overcome this small hurdle.” He leaned in for a long kiss, pushing her into himself with his healthy arm, his soul calming down.
Katherine shook her head and went to remove Yvonne and their saddlebags from her horse, for the gargantuan jaguar was eating their spare horses, and she had no illusion about what was next on its menu. She waited for Salazar’s kissing to finish. “Next time, I would appreciate if you would tell me about having a backup plan.”
Salazar smiled. “Noted. By the way, no word of Sibyl shall reach the ears of anyone in Xona, especially not my children, my wife or her maids. Are we clear on that, Captain?”
“Yes, your Highness.”
38
Luna
To her surprise, Luna woke up without being in pain. Her body was warm and responsive, the opposite of what she expected it to be. She opened her eyes and saw Miranda sleeping next to her within the cot made of furs. Her hands glided over Miranda’s skin, savoring the smoothness with her palms as she wrapped her arms around her.
Miranda blinked her emerald eyes open. Her faint smile instantly turned into a murderous glare that pierced Luna. “We need to talk.”
Luna’s heart froze. “I’m—”
“Shut up,” Miranda snapped. “You’ve talked enough.”
Luna stared at her, eyes wide, mouth gaping.
“Good.” Miranda smiled. “Now answer me. Do you want to die?”
“No,” Luna whispered.
“Are you sure?” Miranda reached behind her, pulled out a black dagger and put it to Luna’s throat. “Because if you do, I will end you right here and now. So?”
