by Jada Fisher
“Why do you keep saying ‘they’?” Eist asked. “You’re the All-Mother. You’re not just one of them, you’re the figurehead.”
“So they created the veil, and a paradise outside of time that their worshippers would pass into in their death. It is a beautiful place, full of joy and no pain.”
“Well, that doesn’t sound so bad.”
“It wasn’t. For them. Their power flourished, fueled by hundreds of thousands of souls. And as they gained more powers, they bequeathed it to heroes, hoping they would be the ones to turn the tide against their longtime enemy.”
“But they didn’t?”
“No. Because yet another realization came too late. When they stole the souls from your world’s cycle, they stole the magic. They stole energy itself. Life. The green from the grass, the vibrancy of the wa—”
“Yeah, I get it. Very bad.” Eist definitely had no idea how she got off interrupting a goddess. “So you three are the ones who made our world weak enough for the Blight to come back, and now it’s practically unstoppable. You drained all the magic?”
“Yes, the actions of the Three caused many unintended consequences.”
“Why do you keep talking like you’re not one of the Three?! You’re the All-Mother, aren’t you?” She was suddenly wary of a trap. Something just wasn’t adding up and it was setting her teeth on edge. For once, she would just like to sleep naturally without ancient creatures and deities pouring into her mind.
“I am the All-Mother,” the woman said, standing slowly. Fior let out a surprised sound, sniffing at her like he wasn’t sure what to think. “I am the Grandfather. I am the Storm. I am all that once might have been, and all that might be. I am all, but I am also none.”
“...that doesn't actually mean anything.”
She smiled at that, beatifically sweet. “To you, it might not. But all in time.” She chuckled ever-so-lightly at that. “Yes. Time. All of it.”
“I… I don’t understand.”
The woman reached out, her glowing hand landing on Eist’s shoulder. “You will. Just remember Yacrist’s words. The answers lie therein.”
“I don’t understand why you can’t just tell me them if you already know!”
“Because that is not the way of things. There are details we can change, and details that must always remain the same. The Three have bound themselves so much in this world that the Blight cannot destroy the world as long as they hide beyond their veil. It may own all of the darkness, but it cannot penetrate the light. Not like you can. You are the light, in more ways than you know, and you must never forget that.”
Eist wanted to ask her more. Wanted to yell at her and ask her to just peel back the levels of cryptic nonsense for just one moment. But instead, the woman let out a sigh and looked up to the sky.
“I think we’ve done it all.”
“Who have done it all? And what do you mean by all?”
But she was crumbling into golden dust, swirling up into the sky and dispersing in a rush of light. Eist shielded her eyes with her arm, and when she could see again…
…she realized she was laying in Elspeth’s bed, completely covered in sweat.
“You alr-right?”
Eist heaved a long breath and looked over to see Athar sitting up, so big that even from his low cot, his head was above hers. Lifting herself into a seated position as well, she extended her hand. Without a word, Athar reached for the pitcher and tankards kept on a small table and poured her a cup. Eist gulped it down, then handed it right back to Athar.
“Nightmare?” she asked, watching his large form move back to the table from the moonlight streaming through the window.
“Yeah. You?”
“Actually…” Eist said, running through the whole thing again. “I think it was a message.”
7
Outrageous Demands
“Wait, Eist, are you sure this is a good idea?” Dille said, trying to catch her shoulder.
But Eist just batted the witch’s hand away with her good arm. “I know what I’m doing.”
“I don’t mean to question you,” Ain added from behind her. “Except I actually do. The council is happy to have you back, and they’re looking forward to all the magicky things you two can do, but they’re pretty peeved at how we all rushed ahead of them. They’re not going to like it if you—”
“We need to t-trust Eist,” Athar said simply.
“Oh, come on, the opinion of the lovesick shouldn’t count,” Ain argued.
“If that’s the case, then neither should the opinions of those not brave enough to admit how terrified they are.”
“What? Ouch! Do you all see this? You’ve ruined my best friend, Eist. My righthand man!”
“You’re left-handed,” Dille pointed out.
“That is beside the point.”
Eist loved their banter. It almost let her forget about exactly what she had figured out. Almost.
It had been two whole days since her dream, and they had all been searching for any hidden signs from the witches and brindles that she and Dille had stolen through time. It wasn’t until she was in bed, utterly exhausted and wary of more nightmares, that she finally figured out at least a little bit of what the All-Mother had told her.
It helped that she knew where the council members were, gathered in that same room they had their little inquisition in, trying to plot their next move while also searching for much of the banished knowledge from the great witch purge.
So, naturally, Eist kicked open the door and strode right into the middle of their little planning session. Hands went to weapons instantly, but they all relaxed once they saw who it was.
“It’s the child again,” Dryss groused, still not the biggest fan of Eist even after all the time that had passed since that first interrogation.
“Eist,” Elspeth said, as calm as ever but with an edge of irritation to her even tone. “I thought you were resting.”
“I’m done with resting,” Eist said, pulling Persinnia’s tome from her messenger’s sack and tossing it on the table all of them were gathered around. “I have answers.”
“What is this?” their leader said, picking up the book.
“It’s one of the tomes that helped corrupt Yacrist.” Elspeth dropped it instantly, but Eist picked it back up. “I had a thought last night, so I broke into Yacrist’s room and read through the whole thing.” Her mind still prickled from it, little slivers of slimy darkness wanting to worm into her thoughts. “And I found exactly what I thought I would.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that Yacrist isn’t done.”
“We know that, but since we managed to stop him from blowing up the entire mountainside, it will take him time to regroup and find a way to—”
“No. It won’t. He’s still planning to summon the Three to this plane and devour them. As long as they exist behind their veil, he can wreak as much havoc as he wants, but none of it is going to do anything.”
“And how could you know that?”
“Because it’s all right here.” She opened the book and pointed to a spell written in such ancient runes it was almost unreadable. But to her, their true meaning shimmered in gold. “This was originally an attempt to bring the old spirits back from their slumber, but then the spellcaster realized they weren’t sleeping at all. They had just dispersed themselves to keep our world together, giving up their life essence to fuel the world a bit longer. This is the same spell that gave my mother the idea for the Blight’s prison.”
“How do you know that?” Fjorin asked. There wasn’t malice in his tone, or disbelief, just genuine curiosity. But then again, Fjorin was always genuine.
“I don’t know, actually. I just…know.”
“Uh…right.”
“Anyway, in order to do this, he’s going to need a sacred place, an important place. Some place that’s still connected to magic.”
“But I thought you said magic is all but gone from this world.”
“That’s because it is,” Eist countered. “Except for a few key locations. And we’re familiar with the most powerful of them.”
“You’re kidding,” Dille said with a sigh. “Not that collapsed temple.”
Eist nodded. “I’m pretty sure it’s the collapsed temple. It was where he was born in his current form. Yacrist won’t be able to resist the poetic drama of it all.”
“She’s right,” Ain groused. “If there’s one thing that cad loved, it was a good show. He wouldn’t give up the perfect symmetry for anything.”
Dille groaned. “You know, it’s like I can’t escape that place. I swear, it wants me dead.”
“What are all of you talking about?” Elspeth cut in sharply. Oh, right. Eist had forgotten they weren’t all there for a moment.
“What we mean is—”
Suddenly, the alarm bell sounded outside—one, two, three strong rings—and then everything burst into chaos.
“What is happening?” Dille said as the council members all rushed out, their dragons screeching and hissing above as they rushed to reunite with their riders.
“Three bell tolls,” Ain said, grabbing her arm and pulling her along. “That means enemy at the gates.”
“I know what that means,” Dille said. “I had the same classes that you lot did. I just want to know what could possibly be attacking the academy! We’re the most enforced building in the city.”
“And so was the palace before this, but that didn’t stop it from being torn down.”
“Alright, I see your point.”
They raced into the armory with the rest of the riders, grabbing spears that looked like they might work. Everything was flurry and shouting and rushing, with the sound of dragons landing and taking off.
Fior was waiting for Eist right outside of the armory, crouched low under the belly of Dille’s red dragons. Gaius and Ethella joined less than a beat later, and soon they were all taking to the sky.
Elspeth and her queen dragon were already at the lead, hovering over the front wall and its grand doors that usually welcomed students in. Eist and her friends joined them, expecting a battle much like Margaid.
Except it was nothing like Margaid at all. If only because there were no abominations, no masses of war. No corruption or hordes of decrepit beasts.
No, there was just Yacrist and Alynbach, hovering there like there was nothing wrong with that.
“Yacrist of Auber,” Elspeth said, her tone powerful but steady. “Have you come to surrender?”
“Not at all!” he said with a cheery grin. Looking at him made Eist’s blood run cold, and she didn’t miss how Athar urged Ethella a little ahead of her protectively. As for Fior, he was snarling in a manner most unlike him, but Eist couldn’t help but agree with his sentiment. “In fact, I’m come to offer a bit of an armistice.”
“Armistice?” Elspeth repeated dubiously. “I have come to understand that you are not the young man I once knew you to be. You have killed an innumerable count of my people. Your very goal is to destroy everything that we are. You kidnapped one of my students and held her hostage for weeks, breaking her bones and keeping her practically buried alive. Tell me, what kind of armistice could a creature such as you desire?”
“Funny you should mention her,” Yacrist said, grinning cheekily. Like he was throwing on a show and it was his time to shine. “I do so terribly miss my love. She’s here, right?”
His eyes scanned the assembled crowd, and Eist was horrified when he found her. She didn’t want to flinch away, or hide, because that would prove to him that he still had power over her. Which he didn’t! Or…at least not much power over anything but her nightmares.
“There you are.” He beamed like the sun, and she had never felt sicker. “You look well. Have you finally stopped exercising to the point of sickness? I did so hate to see you waste away.”
There were so many things that Eist wanted to spit at him. Curses and epithets and vile, dark things full of anger and bile. But her tongue felt heavy in her mouth, and she was covered in a cold sweat.
Thankfully, a line of dragon riders moved in front of her, shielding her from his blithe gaze.
“Oh, come now. What? Are you trying to hide her from me?” Eist didn’t need to be front and center to see that same strange, intangible power expanding around him like a kraken. Ropes of invisible power slowly stretched up and outward, coiling like they were ready for attack. “You all could never hide Eist from me. I saw her before any of you ever did. Before you all knew that you could use her for your own benefit.”
“Surely a great and terrible being such as yourself has more to be concerned about other than one of my students of eighteen winters. You’ve brought entire cities to their knees and destroyed our palace,” Elspeth spat at him.
“Actually, you’d be a bit surprised then,” he said. “Because I’m here to offer you complete and total peace. I will never attack you directly again, never send beasts to your shores or walls. I will have my followers pull out of your political affairs, and I will even expose that lovely subterfuge that scapegoated all those dear witches and sorcerers all those centuries ago.”
“That is a heady offer. And what would you ask in return?”
“Just one thing. One small, little thing, and you could save all of your people.”
All the sweat that had appeared on Eist’s skin turned cool, and her whole body shivered. She could feel that something terrible was going to come out of his mouth. Something that would make her whole body recoil with terror and hate.
“And what could that possibly be?”
“I want my beloved back,” Yacrist said, like it was the most practical thing in the world. “I want my Eist.”
There it was, the words out in the open and stark for all to hear. Eist could feel hundreds of eyes on her, and she knew she was doomed.
It was a trick. Of course it was a trick! Yacrist would no more give them peace than he would voluntarily give up all the power running through him. He was lying, as he was wont to do.
But how could Elspeth risk that? He was offering her a way to save everyone. All of her people. And all she would have to do was give up Eist.
The obvious choice was right there, and she couldn’t blame their leader.
But Eist would fight it. She would fight it with everything she could. And her friends would fight too. It would be a bloody battle amongst themselves and Yacrist would be right there, waiting to finish them all off.
Elspeth’s voice was iron when she finally responded. “You think that I would trade one of my own as a sacrifice to your bloodlust?”
“Why not?” Yacrist asked with a shrug. “As you said, she’s just a girl of eighteen winters. Her life for all of yours, everyone who is alive right now.”
Eist couldn’t believe it when the woman let out the tiniest of sounds and her white dragon bellowed, letting out the biggest plume of violet fire that Eist had ever seen.
It was like someone had snapped a taut string. Suddenly, all of the dragons were surging forward, cries and fire and lighting filling the air. It was a cacophony of violence, and all Eist could do was sit there for a moment in awe of it all.
Yacrist had offered peace. A total peace. Even if it was a lie, surely it was at least worth risking a single human life for that.
But no.
Elspeth had said no.
She’d been offered everything that so many heroes before her had dreamed of, and she’d said no, just to save Eist.
An indescribable feeling surged through the young woman. It was somewhere between joy, shock, love, and disbelief all bound together in a complex knot of emotions. It didn’t make sense for the leader to do what she had done, and yet that was what had happened.
Power that Eist hadn’t felt in weeks flowed through her and she let out a battle-cry, surging into the attack on Yacrist. But before anyone could reach him, he let out a complete wall of power, bursting out from his core in a wave that knocked hundreds
of dragons and their riders back.
Fior was no different, tumbling through the air tail over kettle, only coming to a stop when one of those barely visible tendrils of power wrapped around him. Eist pressed her palm to it, going off complete instinct, and just thought about burning, piercing light.
Gold blazed from her fingertips, and the intangible thing suddenly burst into color and being. It was like the battle of Margaid again, except now everyone could see the limb around Fior.
Bringing her sword down on the tentacle again and again, Eist didn’t stop until it fell away. She knew that another would soon replace it, but she would bring that into the light too, over and over again until there was nothing left.
Fior pulled free and shot upwards, out of the range of the strange, grasping power. The rest of the dragons were beginning to recover and rally again, but before anyone could make any sort of formation, the entire earth shook violently.
The wall of the academy groaned and shuddered, making noises that it definitely was never supposed to make. Looking down in horror, Eist watched as it crumbled and cracked, shaking harder and harder until finally, it all stopped.
The silence lasted for only a few breaths, and then familiar, wicked sounds reached Eist even from all the way where she was. Everything in her body seemed to stop as the first wave of dark, sickly abominations poured from the earth itself.
It seemed that if they weren’t going to take the peace that Yacrist had offered, he was bent on bringing them total war.
Power of Three
The Brindle Dragon, Book 9
1
No Surrender
“We’ve held off these beasts at Margaid, we can do it again! Vortex formation!”
Elspeth’s battle cry rang out over the chaotic sounds of the fray, carrying in a way it had no right to. Eist tucked her knees in and dove down, feeling the magic that had been locked inside of her during her captivity crackling to life.
