by Jack Whitney
“Then perhaps you should have been out here all night,” called one of the other Belwarks.
Draven eyed the guard a moment and huffed in amusement. “Go home, little soldier. The grown ups will take it from here.”
He clicked his tongue twice, and the horse he was on started forward down the beach.
Aydra raised a brow at Bard’s bewildered face.
“Taking orders from the Venari King now, Your Majesty?” he asked her.
“You’ve lived here long enough to know by now that something as rash as this plan is one of mine, Bard. Not his. He’s here because he’s stupid enough to follow me.” Her horse shifted weight under her. “Did you find anything last night? Anything odd?”
“Nothing out of the ordinary to report,” Bard said, his lips pursed.
“You’re sure he couldn’t have snuck past you and into town?” she asked.
“As I said, Your Majesty, there was nothing to report. Nothing at all. Makes me wonder what we are even doing out here,” he replied with a look back at Draven’s disappearing figure.
“You don’t believe him?” she asked.
“I’ll believe him when you’ve the Infi’s head in your hand,” he said with a raised brow.
Aydra exchanged a glance with Lex and then gave Bard a nod. “Go home, Belwarks. Get some rest. I will call when we find him.”
Bard called for his men then, and the throng of thirty men on horses passed them by, each giving Adyra a nod upon their passing. As they left, Lex and Aydra urged their horses forward. Draven was already well ahead of them, scanning the beach in the faint purple light of the sunrise behind the cliffs to their right.
“Do you think Bard has a point?” Lex asked after a while.
Aydra considered it a moment, staring at Draven’s figure down the beach. “I’m aware of the Chronicles’ stories of their betrayal.” She paused a moment and considered the Venari King once more. “But I think if this Venari wanted our kingdom, he would have a better plan than sending the Belwarks on a chase through darkness for a creature that doesn’t exist,” she replied.
A yawn slipped on her face then, and she let go of the reins to stretch her arms over her head.
“Assuming Ash finally learned where things are?” Lex mused.
A huff of amusement left Aydra’s lips. “I can honestly say, I’m not sure,” she answered.
“Not sure?” Lex frowned. “How can you not be sure?”
“Because I’m not sure whether he actually found it or if the herb I smoked with the Venari had something to do with it,” Aydra said. “Judging by the way he—”
“Whoa—” Lex pulled on her horse and stopped fast in the sand. “Hang on, you smoked with the Venari last night? How drunk were you?”
“Oh, shut up,” Aydra muttered.
Lex snorted and started forward on the horse again. “Queen of Promise getting high with her enemy King,” she mused with a shake of her head. “What will the Chronicles say about that?”
“The Chronicles will never know,” Aydra said fast. “And you’ll keep your mouth shut about it.”
“Yes ma’am,” Lex grinned.
They trotted in silence a moment, both of them staring at the back of Draven’s figure up the beach. She could not deny the curiosity of his shadowed facade… Wondering what he hid so well beneath his hardened and dangerous exterior.
Aydra allowed her eyes to flutter close a moment as the memory of the herb came to mind. She only remembered flashes of feeling, of ecstasy and desire pulsing through her veins has it had not done with Ash in the past. The golden haired Dreamer was always desperate to please her, even if he did go a bit sideways at times, trying perhaps too hard or treating her more gentle than she liked to be handled.
Then again, she was the Queen. She was sure Ash didn’t want to be beheaded if he pressed too far.
“I can’t believe you smoked without me,” Lex said after a few seconds.
Aydra nearly laughed. “Would have made quite the crowded bed,” she said with a raised brow.
“Maybe I could have finally shown Ash what he’s doing wrong,” Lex mused as she winked at Aydra.
“This is true,” Aydra couldn’t help but agree.
Lex sighed audibly, and they watched as Draven stretched his own arms up over his head, pulling and stretching his taut muscles behind his back. Aydra allowed her gaze to wander, to take in the ripple of his stretch, feeling her head tilt despite herself at his movements.
“Imagine if you’d smoked it and went to bed with him,” Lex muttered. “I told you he’d satisfy everything.”
“Maybe you should try it after the next meeting,” Aydra said. “Give yourself a change of pace.”
“If that man cornered me in one of the servants’ tunnels, I daresay I’d get on my knees and do whatever he wanted,” Lex admitted.
An audible chortle exhaled from Aydra’s mouth. “Hilexi Ashborne,” she said with a shake of her head, “Who knew you would get on your knees for such a man?”
“Do you know which other man I’d get on my knees for?” Lex asked, raising her brow.
Aydra eyed her sideways and felt a knowing smile rise on her lips.
“Grey,” they said together.
“That man…” Aydra’s voice drifted as she remembered the salt and pepper bearded smith’s face and arms. “How is it we’ve not noticed him before?”
“Surprised you didn’t go back to see him after the beach the other day,” Lex said.
“I was pre-occupied.”
“Ah… the greenhorn Belwark, Corbin,” Lex remembered. “Do tell. How was he?”
“Bold,” Aydra said fondly. “It was quite enjoyable. Actually have a scratch from where he pushed me against the cliffside.”
Lex’s brows raised. “Good on him,” she mused. “I’m impressed.”
“You know, he did this thing with his tongue, almost like a flicking—”
The sudden flash of fire before them made their horses balk. Aydra had to do a double-take at the sight of Draven suddenly standing in the sand a few feet ahead, torchlight lit in his hand. He stared between them, nostrils flared in an annoyed manner. His jaw twitched upon meeting her eyes.
“If you two are quite done talking about your conquests, I’d like to get on searching for the Infi,” came Draven’s low drawl.
Lex reached down and calmed her horse. “What’s wrong, Venari?” she asked. “Jealous you weren’t a part of it?”
“Had I been a part of it, neither of you would be able to sit on your horses this morning,” he said in a voice that such resembled a purr that a chill ran down Aydra’s spine. He looked between them again, the annoyance in his gaze.
“Your voices carry,” he continued as the pair dismounted their horses. “We’ll be lucky if you haven’t driven the Infi further up the beach.”
The orange light of the sun rising around them reflected back in his features, and Aydra exchanged a look with Lex.
“Very well, Venari,” Aydra said as she pulled her cloak back over her head. “Lead the way.”
Draven’s stern gaze darted between them, obviously unsure of how to take the women standing before him. “Are there any caves or hides around here that you are aware of?”
“Behind Arbina’s pool,” Aydra replied. “We threw the creature’s body off the tower into her waters.”
“We’ll start there,” Draven said.
Silence welcomed them as the three set off down the beach, Draven leading the way towards the waterfall. The air chilled around them, soft waves crashing in the ocean to their left. Aydra heard the squawk of the seagulls fighting over food all around, and she tried to shut the noise of their voices out. The raven must have heard her, for she heard it cut through the sky a few moments later, cackling at the annoying ocean birds and shooing them away.
“What exactly are we looking for?” Lex asked.
Draven slowed. “The Infi are shiftlings,” he said in a low tone.
“Duarb was
cursed with giving children of both fates, the Infi and the Venari, after he did what he did to my giver mother,” Aydra cut in.
Draven’s jaw tightened as he glared back at her. “Lies of your Chronicles,” he growled.
“How else would you say your giver came to bear they and your own kind—”
“Do not speak of my kind as if you know anything of it,” he hissed, rounding on her.
She balked. “You—”
“Neither of you have answered my question,” Lex interjected lazily.
Draven paused. The glare in which he stared down at her with should have struck fear into her core, for she was sure that’s what he was accustomed to. But her lips pursed, and she raised a determined brow at him, daring him to blink or back down from her. The stern beating of her heart slowed, almost as though the adrenaline were calming her.
The wind whipped around them once, pushing her cloak off her head, and then Draven turned away from her. He started walking again, conviction in his deliberate strides, one hand on the handle of his sword. She could see the flex in the back of his bicep when his hand tightened around it, and he scanned the shadows with his night-piercing gaze.
“When the Infi are born beneath Duarb’s roots, they are in their true form. Skin near translucent, red boils on their flesh. If this one is still shifting back from death, he will look like this. If he has already mutated, he will look as a normal man, possibly either old and frail or tall and handsome, appealing to what they think would manipulate you most.”
“Do they ever change to women?” Lex asked.
“I’ve never seen a woman Infi,” Draven answered. “But I suppose it wouldn’t be out of the question.”
It wasn’t long before the sound of the waterfall began to block out all others. Aydra could smell the poison of Arbina’s pool at the bottom of it, the clear liquid looking so inviting that any who did not know better would have succumbed to its depths.
“Careful,” Aydra said as Draven neared the water. “It is poison to anyone not of her own.”
“Of course it is,” he muttered. “I’m sure she has a special poison for Venari as well.”
“What is that?” Lex asked as they approached the pool.
The noise of the waterfall was so loud, Aydra barely heard her. “What is what?” she asked.
Lex leaned over and pointed in front of Aydra’s face towards a light coming from behind the water. “That.”
Draven’s body tensed at Aydra’s side, and he stepped in front of them. “That… is an Infi,” he said quietly.
Faintly behind the water was the sight of a small fire going, a being was bent over it, blanket covering its mangled body. Aydra could not make out much of it, but what she could tell looked like a skeleton child, flesh milky white and balding. It was so different from the men whom she’d beheaded that she almost began to argue with the Venari.
But when it turned its head and stared at them through the water with bulging yellow eyes, her stomach dropped, and she knew she’d seen the creature before.
“If he runs, shoot him in the neck,” Draven said fast.
Aydra didn’t get a chance to respond. Draven was already creeping around the fall towards him. She gave Lex a nod, and Lex started to creep around the opposite way. Aydra stood her ground and slowly pulled an arrow from the quiver on her back.
The creature had spotted her, and it watched her continuously. She noticed it was crouching down, inch by inch, as though trying to hide itself in the shadows of the fall.
A sudden wind wrapped around her, and a deliberate chill ran down her spine. She wobbled on the spot, blinking as her breaths shortened. Incomprehensible whispers filled her ears. The beach began to spin around her.
The creature ran.
Draven shouted something. Aydra shook off the nauseating rush and blinked back to reality. It was then she realized the creature was running straight at her. It thrust itself through the water and on the edge of its pool, not seeming to give thought to it burning his feet. The rate it ran towards her was faster than any creature she’d ever seen. It’s wild yellow eyes paralyzed her on the spot.
“SHOOT IT!”
Its mouth opened, and she saw scratches of teeth lining its gums. The blanket flailed off its shoulders. It seemed to be growing taller as it ran faster and faster towards her.
“AYDRA! SHOOT IT!”
Aydra finally moved. She pulled the arrow through and let it fly through the air. It hit the creature in the shoulder. But it barely slowed, still running at her. She didn’t have time to pull another arrow.
—Her sword caught the creature’s throat as it jumped in the air towards her.
A spray of thick black blood shattered over her, and the creature landed in the sand at her back.
“What the fuck was that?” came Draven’s angered voice. “You see an Infi creature running full towards you and you paralyze on the spot?”
Aydra spat blood from her mouth and glared at him. “I—”
His own sword thrust into the head of the Infi behind her and he shook his head. “I said shoot it in the neck. Do they not teach archery here in this kingdom?”
“It is dead,” she argued. “What is the problem?”
“I’ll have them put that in the Chronicles where it asks for your last words,” he spat as he knelt beside it. His knife ripped through the creature’s grey flesh, and Draven’s hand plunged inside it, only emerging to the surface again when he’d its heart in his hand.
“Catch.”
He tossed the heart towards her without a glance. She nearly dropped it when she realized it was still beating.
“Oh, Architects,” Lex mumbled upon reaching them. “It’s still—”
Draven stood then and pressed his knife into Aydra’s open hand. “To kill an Infi outside of Duarb’s territory, you have to remove its heart and keep it separate from its bones. Otherwise, it will merge back together before you can reach the Hills for Duarb to take it back. The body and heart must be taken to the Hills, which means we’ve two days ride ahead of us.”
“Two?” Aydra repeated.
“Your territory stops at the Bedrani pass,” Draven explained. “Duarb’s roots cannot reach past there. It’s why so many Infi travel to the mountains and now, I suppose, to this realm to hide.”
“I’ll get the horses,” Lex said as she took off into a run.
Draven gave an upwards nod to the knife in Aydra’s hand. “Knife into the heart, and it must stay there until we reach Bedrani,” Draven told Aydra. “The only way to stop its beating is for Duarb to take it back.”
“Is it this hard to kill a Venari as well?” Aydra asked.
Draven’s jaw tightened. “The Infi are an immortal curse. The Venari are not.”
CHAPTER FOUR
AYDRA TOSSED THE heart and knife into one of her bags on the saddle of her horse once Lex had returned with them. They helped Draven roll the Infi creature into a blanket and tie it to the back of his horse. Aydra washed herself of the blood in the surf before they headed back towards the town.
The sun had risen fully by then, and the Dreamers were beginning to stir through the streets. Shrieks and gasps filled their ears as they made their way to the castle gates.
“My Queen—”
Aydra held a hand up to Bard as he met them at the castle steps. “Wake my brother,” she commanded him. “We do not have time to waste.”
Lex jumped from her horse and began barking orders to the men standing around, telling them to pack up water and food for their journey east.
Young Prince Dorian was first to arrive on scene, his blue robe tucked around him and fluffy black hair disheveled as though he’d just woken.
“Morning, sister,” he said with a yawn. “What’s this about your bloodlust taking over before dawn?”
Aydra eyed him, reaching up to lift his chin. He was a couple of inches taller than her, and growing by the day. “You know for someone of nineteen—” she raised a brow at the hickey marks
on his neck “—you certainly are getting around.”
He gave her a sleepy wink and smiled. “Reputation to keep up,” he yawned. “You understand.” His eyes traveled back, and he met the gaze of the Venari King. “Morning King,” he said with an upwards nod. “What trouble did my bloodthirsty sister find for you on this morn?”
Aydra nudged his arm, and Dorian laughed softly at her. Draven simply shook his head and gestured toward the dead creature on the back of his horse. “Infi creature behind your mother’s pool,” Draven told him.
“He’s showing me proper disposal should we ever need it again,” Aydra informed Dorian.
“Can I come?” Dorian asked.
Aydra met Draven’s eyes. Draven shrugged, and Aydra turned back to her younger brother. “I suppose you are the next king…” she thought aloud. “Can’t imagine it would be up to Nyssa to behead criminals,” she mumbled under her breath. “Fine,” she finally agreed. “Change clothes. Quickly.”
Dorian beamed and ran up the steps into the castle again, nearly running over Rhaif on his way through the doors. Rhaif said something smart to Dorian, but he didn’t stop. Aydra stopped stroking her horse and turned toward him, his burnet cloak billowing behind him as he walked. He was still in his night clothes, and for a moment, he looked like the old Rhaif that she had once adored and played sticks with on the beach.
But the brief moment of bliss was short-lived, and his new character fell into his eyes upon his double-take at her figure.
“Why are you wet?” he asked as he came to a stop in front of her.
“Good morning, brother,” she smarted. “And you’re welcome.”
His jaw tightened. “Welcome for what?”
She pulled open the bag on the saddle and revealed the heart inside of it. “Finding the Infi creature,” she told him. Her eyes cut at her brother’s Second standing behind him. “No thanks to you, Bard,” Aydra smarted. She shook her head and turned again towards Rhaif. “Lex and I will accompany the Venari to Bedrani where he will show us proper disposal of the creature’s body.”
“I do not want you going alone,” Rhaif said. “You will take my company with you.”
