Shadow of the Crown

by Amber Morant

  The priestess clinked the two cups together and stood up. “You never listened to them. You only glimpsed what they wanted, and you took it upon yourself to bring the same retribution as they had unto you. That wasn't what they asked of you and now you live in the lands Devata rules over. Thus, no longer protected by our gods."

  Kalio's anger flared up now and she grasped for her gun blade at her side. She had forgotten about it the entire time despite putting it on when she had changed into her disguise. "Don't fucking lie to me, you filth. I am queen of Ombramoor and Narishma. I won't bow to false gods and our gods do not dictate whether I live or die anymore."

  She aimed the gun blade at the priestess and pulled the trigger. The gunshot echoed through the room, causing the birds outside to fly out in large groups. The priestess still held the soft smile as she collapsed onto the ground. Kalio expected the woman to turn into smoke or another creature of the forest. Instead, what lie at her feet was just a frail elderly drow. She grimaced before kicking the priestess in her rage.

  "Don't ever doubt my strength. If Anjuu wants to stand against me, then so be it. I will return and make sure she dies at my hand. My kingdom will live beyond even my own lifetime. I won’t let a child I brought out of poverty be the reason I fall once again. I refuse to let it happen."

  Thirteen

  It felt different. Judging just by the sun and the way the shadows were laid out, Tosh had only been on that other plane of existence for a few minutes. Despite this, his entire body felt exhausted and ready to collapse. There was no time to sleep yet. He was given a task from Devata to find the dragons and get the moon dragon to stop the queen.

  "You should test your abilities. It's been a while since you left the quarry. The disabling abilities are bound to have been removed completely once you reached Devata," someone whispered into Tosh's ear.

  Tosh turned around to see. It didn't sound like the voice of Devata. Instead, it sounded more like the light sprites from earlier. "Probably, but I don't have the energy to try. Even if I grow a small blade of grass I'll probably collapse and not wake up until tomorrow."

  The sprite giggled. "We will see. I think you have more in you than you even know. But who am I to say, just a sprite whose sole purpose is to serve Devata?”

  Tosh let out a small groan. "Why are you even following me, sprite? I thought you all left after I got to the ocean?"

  The sprite materialized in front of Tosh. It looked almost like a miniature version of him, but more feminized. She wore no clothes, but there was nothing on her body that required any form of modesty as she possessed no genitals or breasts of any kind. More like a doll than an elf.

  The smile across the sprite's face was thin and spread across her face in an almost mocking manner. "Because I am interested in what Devata told you to do and I'm tired of just waiting for orders. You seem fun and I want fun." The sprite did a false curtsy, holding an invisible skirt. "I am Hartiel."

  Tosh let out a grunt. "Fine, you can come with me. At least I'll know I have someone to talk to. Can you choose a different person though? It's a little...unsettling to see myself like that."

  The sprite shrugged. "Fine by me. I don't like being in this form much anyways. So next human we see that you like to look at I can choose to take that form for you. Until then," the sprite closed its eyes tightly and the form disappeared into the ball of light he was used to seeing with the sprites, "I'll take my normal form. Maybe change colors when I feel like it. Who knows? Anyways," she floated onto Tosh's shoulder. He could feel a small weight, despite how small she was, "onward, stallion! To adventure!"

  "This is going to be a long trip, I just know it. Damn Devata for creating one of the most annoying creatures in the world."

  "If it weren't for us, then you wouldn't have your abilities so easily available." The sprite flitted in front of Tosh. "Look, if I'm going to be with you and you're providing me entertainment, then at least I should provide you with some sort of compensation." The sprite began to grow brighter. "Focus on me. Instead of pulling energy from yourself, focus on me and try and grow a sunflower."

  Tosh lifted an eyebrow, unsure of the procedure. His understanding of his magic came from his own internal energy he produced as a scholar. Taking the energy and power from a sprite was not in any of their books. He let out a large sigh, deciding to just listen to Hartiel for now. He was already bombarded with so much new knowledge, what was one more piece to add to the mix?

  He closed his eyes and focused on the bright light from the sprite. Her light still shined through his eyelids. He thought about sunflowers he had seen as a child that grew in large fields. All of them reflecting the light that symbolized the freedom of all scholars. Yellow of the air, brown for the earth, green was the water, and the blooming of leaves and petals were the fire. He could feel the energy of the elements begin to pull from within him to manifest the sunflower and refocused his mind once more on the sprite.

  "That's it, take what you need. If you take too much, don't worry. It will kill me, but I'll just come back after a while."

  The newfound energy filled Tosh. It was like liquid light filling his entire body. It poured through every vein of his being until it reached his feet and hands. From there, the energy flowed down to the earth. He could feel the vibrations below him as he created the seed. The seed then sprouted and could feel it breaking out from the earth.

  Tosh opened his eyes and saw, standing between him and the sprite, the largest sunflower he had ever witnessed before. It stood at least three and a half meters tall and the flower blossomed out by about half a meter in diameter. The sprite was hidden behind the thick stem of the flower, but he could hear Hartiel giggling behind it.

  "See? I told you that you could use my energy to do what you need to do. Though we may need to practice this a bit more. I simply meant for you to grow a small sunflower, not this giant of a creature."

  Hartiel flitted next to Tosh and landed back on his shoulder. This time at least, Tosh was thankful for the sprite’s presence. Once they were done and were rid of the queen, he was going to create a new study on how sprites could interact with scholars.

  The two walked past the flower and toward the beach. He wondered how much he could do now that he was away from the quarry and had extra assistance on his own magic. Tosh stopped in front of the boat that now sat on the sandy beach. The ocean was almost too still, save for a few waves that came crashing onto the beach. "Think the water sprites will get us back over?"

  Hartiel didn't respond, instead a large wave rose from the ocean. He could see the row of sharp teeth smiling from within the wave and immediately recognized it as the water sprites. They flowed forward toward the boat and surrounded it until it was drifting in a shallow amount of water. Despite the other waves around it, the boat didn't move from its position, held tightly by the water sprites until he got on.

  This time on the boat ride, Tosh was prepared not to touch any of the false creatures the water sprites had conjured up to move the boat. He wanted to keep his fingers. Even Hartiel stayed close to Tosh, watching the small fish swim around underneath the surface of the water, looking at her as if she were their next meal.

  The boat ride had been easy now that he knew what to expect, but the walk was what he now dreaded. There were no vehicles waiting for them, and the next city was at least a day's walk. He prayed that someone would find them and let them hitchhike to the next city. However, the mark on his cheek might alert someone who was aware of what it meant.

  After an hour, the two reached a nearby highway. It stretched from the northern part of Narishma almost halfway to the bottom of the country. It wasn't a main highway by any means, but he knew there were bound to be people traveling it once most jobs got out. He looked back up at the position of the sun. Only an hour until then. At least he was going to head north toward the city. It was better to start the trip than wait until someone decides to hopefully pick him up and not turn him in to the queen for escaping.


  The hour passed by quickly and he had only travelled a few miles before the cars and trucks started filling the roads. Each one too busy to look his direction. One had thankfully acknowledged him, only to be yelled at and called some obscene names. At least he figured that was the case, because they had driven by so fast it was impossible to hear what the person had said.

  Another hour passed. Or had it been the entire day, Tosh wasn't sure anymore. All he knew was that his feet hurt, his legs hurt, and his vision was going blurry from exhaustion.

  "Don't you dare give up on me now, scholar." Hartiel tugged on Tosh's clothing and hair, but he was too weak and tired to move.

  Tosh couldn't remember the last time he had slept. Had it been almost two days since he had proper sleep? All he knew was the ground now felt more like a bed than any he had experienced in a long time. Even the sprite couldn't wake him now from the long-needed nap.

  "Hello? Sir? Doctor, he's still not waking up!"

  "Keep giving him fluid. He will eventually find himself awake. He didn't have any identification on him, so let's hope when he does wake up, he's not going to cause us problems."

  Tosh opened one of his eyes. There was a bright light above him. At first, he thought it was Hartiel, but once his eyes adjusted, he realized it was a large light hanging from the ceiling. The walls were all a polished white with a few charts tacked onto them.

  "Doctor, he's awake!" A woman called out from behind a curtain. She emerged after that with a large tray filled with different syringes and bottles of liquid. "I can’t believe you woke up! You've been asleep all day. So glad we saw you on our way home."

  She was an elf like him with black hair tied up into a bun. She wore a large pair of glasses with thick lenses inside of them. The room made him feel like he was at a doctor’s office, yet she was wearing a pair of boot-cut jeans and a black shirt with a cat that looked naturally angry on it. If they had been in a normal situation, he probably would have laughed at the absurdity on the shirt, but right now he needed to know where he was.

  Tosh sat up, pain welling in his arm. He looked down and saw a needle taped onto his skin leading up to an IV bag. "Where am I?" he muttered, tugging at the IV bag then flinching in pain.

  "You're at our clinic. We found you unconscious on the highway and brought you back here." She walked over to the IV bag and looked at it. There was only a little bit of liquid left inside. "You seem pretty good to go now. Just try not to overdue yourself." She pulled the small needle and tape off his arm, ignoring his flinching from the sudden pain.

  The doctor walked into the room. He had a large, bushy mustache and wore a large white lab coat with a pair of jeans underneath. "Not until he pays."

  "But doctor, all we did was an IV and let him sleep. I doubt that will really cause much problems with our banking to just let him go. Besides, he didn't have any money or identification on him when we picked him up."

  "He has a bank stamp on his wrist, if you didn't notice. If he has that then he can pay."

  "But—"

  "No buts. He's paying. I don't care if all he has in his account is a few drakes."

  The nurse shook her head and walked out of the room, followed by the doctor. Tosh looked down at his arm. He was surprised they even thought he had funds on him. He was a scholar trapped in the quarry for so long that the queen had most likely taken all of his money too. His family had come from some form of wealth that they could get the scanner on their wrist, but every scholar was on the same level once they joined.

  She returned with a small handheld scanner and reached out for his wrist. "I'm sorry he's a bit prickly, but this town doesn't get much funds for healthcare these days."

  Tosh shrugged. "It's whatever at this point. I doubt I'll have anything in the account anyways. They cleaned it out when I—" He stopped, not wanting to announce his position as an escaped scholar.

  She shook her head. "No, I know what you are. We're not dumb, we know scholars were branded recently to keep them identified. I don't care about that. My job is simply to help people." She pulled the trigger on the scanner, letting it read the stamp for a few moments. "Oh." She gasped in shock looking at the scanner.

  "Told you I wouldn't have anything," Tosh muttered.

  Hartiel flew out from Tosh's shirt. She was now in humanoid form, appearing like the nurse next to her. She looked down at the scanner, her face reflecting similar shock. "Tosh, you should see this."

  Tosh leaned forward and looked at the small screen on the scanner. Where he would have expected just a few drakes to show up, if any, instead it showed he had close to a million.

  He grabbed his wrist and held it back out for the nurse. "Do another scan. That has to be wrong."

  The nurse shook her head. "Not a glitch. Though that is a first for me to see something like that. Here I will take the full payment of 200 drakes then you go and get some of the money pulled out quickly. If you are trying to escape the queen, then it may be best to not use your stamp more than needed."

  "You're probably right." Tosh got up and threw his coat on. "Look I appreciate what you did for me, but don't tell anyone I was here. It could get you in trouble. Even if it's a dragon guardian that asks."

  "Dragon guardian?"

  Tosh didn't bother to explain. Instead he walked out of the room and down the hall, where a radio was playing. A sign above named the direction as the exit. He slouched to avoid any more attention and walked past the check-in counter and then out of the building.

  He let out a sigh. "Not exactly how I expected to get to this place, but it's better than nothing." His stomach began to grumble. "Well if I have the funds then I better grab something to eat before I head out to the mountains."

  Tosh turned down the road and started walking. A few other people walked next to him, but none of them seemed to notice him or his mark. He imagined most didn't want to get involved with a fugitive and just feigned ignorance at his existence. His stomach grumbled again. He needed to find a fast food restaurant quickly. He'd grab something quick and then figure out how to head to the mountains from here. Walking was out of the question.

  The smell of fries and burgers cooking wafted through the air, pulling him down another side street. Even Hartiel was sniffing the air. "Since when did sprites eat food?"

  Hartiel shrugged. "Since never, doesn't mean I don’t like to taste and smell different foods."

  Tosh turned another corner and found himself in front of a small fast food restaurant. The walls were painted yellow and red with floors that looked half washed. He shrugged, not too worried about the appearance for now. The quarry had led him to be less picky on the appearance of anyplace. Even now, his stomach didn't care if he was eating from a dive bar. Food was food.

  He opened the door and was blasted with the smell of greasy food. People were focused on the flashing screens around them. A few electronic kiosks stood at the entrance with cait shidhe standing in the screens describing the menu. Most ignored the kiosks, opting to stand in an obnoxious line for ordering.

  After waiting in so many lines for branding and food, Tosh didn't want to wait. Besides, a kiosk was at least a means to avoid as many people as he could while here. The cait shidhe on the screen looked almost like Azrael from the quarry. However, she was a shorter woman who had a friendly demeanor compared to him. It made him feel uncomfortable having the golden cat eyes staring at him, but he reminded himself it was simply a program.

  "Welcome to Macolds. Please click start, and we will begin your order," the cait shidhe announced, pointing at a large green button that said "order now" on it.

  Tosh hit the button and then scrolled through the long list of items. Double cheeseburgers, fries, pies, shakes. The thought of all the food made his mouth water but he had to hold himself back. Even if he did have as much as the nurse had said he had, there was no way he could even think to eat all the food on the menu. He would just choose something basic for now and keep his money spending at a minimum, just in case.
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br />   He selected a triple cheeseburger with all the condiments, a large fry, and a water. The cait shidhe popped back onto the screen, repeated his order for confirmation. This time he noticed she was wearing the uniform of the other employees in the restaurant. A small grilled pulled up in front of her and she began pretending to make his meal.

  "Are they going to give you an electronic version of your food too?" Hartiel asked.

  Tosh shrugged. "Probably to add to the idea of how the kiosk works. I just want to pay though."

  As if they electronic cait shidhe heard Tosh, the grill changed to a register. "Your food is ready. Please pay here or at the register so you can get your food."

  The image turned from the cait shidhe to a picture of the scanner to the left. Underneath it was a person's arm with a scanner, a phone, and a card indicating the type of payments the kiosk took. Tosh pulled his sleeve up to reveal his wrist and followed the instructions. A green laser shot down, scanning the stamp on his wrist. It let out a soft ding to confirm the payment and the words “Come to The Counter” pulled up on the screen.

  "Meal for Tosh! Your food is ready!" someone called out from the counter.

  Tosh walked over, shrinking in size as others glared at him who were still waiting in line to order. It wasn't his fault they chose to go the old route, but they still chose to blame him for their discomfort.

  The elf at the counter had a large smile that mimicked the cait shidhe from earlier. She had a plain face that he could easily forget with small pimples dotting her face and dull brown eyes. She handed him his bag of food and turned back around into the kitchen. He was right on remembering her face as she quickly blended in with the other cooks running around.

  As Tosh sat down at one of the nearby tables to eat, he saw the screen on the kiosk start to turn red. He began eating his fries, trying to now ignore the alarm that was blaring from the kiosk. Many of the people were now looking at the kiosk or at him. He couldn't handle the staring anymore and looked at the kiosk to see what was wrong.