by Cory Mccoy
“On this night I watch our bravest and brightest hopes stride through the gates of death.” He said, looking at the ground as if he were ashamed to say it.
“If we truly are everything that you envision us to be, then you can be sure that we shall return.” Roley said, grasping his arm as Mongaka had just done.
“He's right master, have faith in us.” Senneilia told him, embracing the old man heartily.
“There have been many times in this ancient man's life where faith has not been enough, my dear.” He said, recalling countless memories of the wars he had seen in his three hundred years. “Indeed, you now embark on a road that takes you through the single most dangerous wilderness in our world and I can not even entrust my heartiest stallions to expedite that journey.”
“My father has raised me to fight past even death and my escorts are two of the most valiant men you could ever hope to meet. If you can't find faith in me, surely they can warrant it.”
“Roley. A moment, please.” Marceaux said as he walked out of earshot of Senneilia and Mongaka.
“Anything you ask, Master.” Roley said following him.
“I wish to barter with you, my young friend.” Marceaux said.
“I dont understand.” Roley replied, somewhat shocked at what was happening.
“You've become a fine young man Roley.” Marceaux said, staring up at the intimidating cliffs before them. “I trust you know what that entails.”
“I was sure I had until this conversation.” Roley told him.
“Her life.” he said, glancing at Senneilia who was playfully boxing Mongaka. “I'd like to barter for her life.”
“There is no need.” Roley said, “I'd die again before I let her come to harm.”
“I have no doubt.” He said, fixing his eyes on Roley. “However, I can offer you something no man on this continent can. My steed Starmire has bore a foal, a fine young mount that will surely fly past any other in the world once he is grown.”
“Master...” Roley said before being cut off.
“He is yours upon Senny's safe return.” Marceaux said walking back to the horses and grabbing their reins. “Do not let me down.”
“You have my word, Master Marceaux.” Roley said clasping his arm one last time.
“Come now,” Marceaux said as he led the horses away. “We'll have a hearty supper once we get home.”
“You made a pact?” Mongaka said as Marceaux faded in the distance.
“We did.” Roley replied, and not another word was said about the agreement as they made camp for the night.
Chapter Seven
Death Comes Quickly
“Are you afraid?” Roley asked Senneilia, his arm slung about her shoulder. His face inches away from her cheek, his words flowing softly into her ears.
“I am.” She said, the words barely escaping her lips.
“Good.” He told her, “Only a fool walks into death's mouth without a moment's hesitation.”
“We'll be fine.” She said, more a question than a statement.
“If not we'll die together.” Roley told her, gently kissing her cheek.
“The pass is far more dangerous than the wild jungle.” Mongaka said, his eyes fixed upon the towering cliffs around them. He looked as if he were ready to fight the mountains themselves.
“How far do the chasms stretch?” She asked, burying her face in Roley's shoulder.
“Too far, my love. Much too far.”
“That's man speak for thirty miles or so.” Mongaka said, striding forward as he unsheathed his axe. He was prepared to fight.
“Come, dear.” Roley told her.
With that they followed closely behind Mongaka who had tread these treacherous crags many times. The cliffs towered unfathomably high above them, the lichen fading into a pearly white as the sun began to creep over the coast. The pass was wide as they entered the gates, a strange rock formation that looked like a massive cave but was open above on the other side. As they progressed, the path became a series of gorges that they followed based solely upon Mongaka's recollection and instinct. Occasionally he would stop them, bound up the rock face and sniff the air. Every few miles Mongaka bound gracefully up the rippling hillsides, trying to find a distant vantage point and smelling the air for signs of life. His feline instincts bode well for his companions.
“A terror beatle.” he would say pointing down a path they wouldn't be taking.
This continued hour after hour as they progressed. With every mile the cliffs grew higher until only light would creep in and they couldn't see the sky. Soon Roley had to take out a fire-rock to light their way. Unlike the crystals of power, the fire rocks simply glew with the radiance of a mid-summer star.
“We're drawing close.” Mongaka told them as light slowly washed back in on the east side of the canyons. “Very close, but something troubles me.”
“Nothing troubles you.” Roley said, realizing the levity of the danger his companion anticipated.
“Most days,” He told them. “But not today. Today we've trudged through the maw of death and have yet to meet a foe.”
“It is certainly a blessing.” Roley said, pulling a long twisted sabre that was strapped behind him.
As he did so, Senneilia and Mongaka did the same. They began to distance themselves, allowing space to move. Senneilia's heart was beating violently, she could taste the adrenaline starting to run through her veins. Her legs felt weak, but fast. Ready to fly if threatened.
“What exactly is worrying you?” She asked, not wanting the answer.
“Death, my friends. Death and decay.” He said, his teeth grinding as the words came out.
“What could cause that kind of death?” She asked as she and Roley began to smell what Mongaka had knew what was ahead.
“Something horrible.” Roley told her, spinning his sword eager for the fight. They walked forward, cautiously, readily.
“I never thought i'd see the day when the two of you tread careful-” Senneilia said before suddenly being caught off.
“Senny!” Roley roared as his lover flew violently through the air and slammed into a cliff, slumping unconsciously to the ground as a pool of her own blood began to collect.
“Look alive!” Mongaka roared, flying up the cliff side as only a felinra could. His claws extended tearing into the moss as he threw himself upward, higher and higher until he was level with his foe.
“My god,” Roley said before tumbling away from the giant's other swinging foot. “A crag giant...”
“No time for small talk.” Mongaka said as he burst away from the cliff side, his back arching violently as he flipped and landed. He cleaved his enormous axe into the should of the behemoth, yanking himself onto it's shoulder.
“It shouldn't be within a thousand miles of here” Roley yelled as he ran toward the cliff wall and what seemed to be certain death. The fool was cornering himself.
“Watch out.” Mongaka bellowed, slashing his paw at the giant's right eye. Roley jumped, bouncing himself off the wall and somersaulting behind its deadly feet.
“Take it down.” He roared, the rage in his voice enough to make the giant balk. He glanced toward Senneilia as he slashed feverishly at the giant's ankle.
Suddenly a piercing scream filled the air. No sooner was Senneilia on her feet then she flew through the air. The giant's leg gave under Roley's attack. It was too distracted batting blindly at the enraged cat attacking it's face. She flew twenty feet toward it and more than thirty feet in the air to catch it's throat as it dropped to a knee. Her eyes glew like a wildfire as she drove her twin blades into it's aorta. An incomprehensible shout of pain escaped it as the giant's body gave away. It dropped to the ground, taking Senneilia with it as Mongaka leapt for the nearby wall. She hit the ground gracefully and rolled onto her side with both gladius pointed up as the giant's head bounced off the wall just below Mongaka and came down upon her
.
“Senny,” Roley yelled flying toward the massive dead body. Without thinking he grabbed the satchel that was tied upon his belt. Roley ran forward throwing his arms at the crag giant's quickly bleeding husk. He would move it, he would throw all the strength in his body at it in order to free her.
Suddenly, inexplicably the giant's body bounced. The massive, stupid head glancing off the rocks once more. Without explanation or need for it, Senneilia rose to her feet and Mongaka looked down upon them in shock.
Chapter Eight
The Extent of the Deep Magic
As it grew close to dusk, Mongaka busied himself preparing camp and a fire as Roley tended to Sinneila. They had hardly spoke as they made their way out of the maw of death that was the High Pass.
“We should turn back,” Mongaka stated solemnly.
“Oh come off it.” Sinnelia replied, “I’m fine, it's nothing more than a few scratches and bruises.”
“He kicked you thirty feet into a sheer rock face,” Mongaka said growled. “A blow like that would have killed even a Felinra.”
“Which I am not.” She insisted, her brush with death emboldening her.
“She's right you know.” Roley said, ringing the bloodly cloth out and wetting it for the tenth time from his flask.
“Of course she's right, the hideous furless thing.” Mongaka chuckled.
“Well, I’d have to disagree with your assertion, but I mean she's right that the giant hardly did any damage.”
“How is that possible?” He asked in awe. He said nothing for a few moments as he snapped thick tree limbs to throw into the fire. The ease of his strength making her seem even more impressive. “It really is true then, these wards are nearly impervious?”
“For the most part.” Sinnelia said, sitting up. She snatch Roleys flask and emptied it.
“How could any army stand in the way of the leagues of your kind in the city?” Mongaka said, “We could rout the entirety of Karath's army in weeks.”
“They're strong, but they're not invincible, my friend.” Roley said, tossing the empty flask aside.
“What do you mean? How can they even kill the infants if they're that strong?”
“There are many ways to kill a man.” Roley said, his mood growing dark. “Not all magic is ineffective and they do bleed. As you can see.”
“It's just a scratch.” Sinnelia said feigning exasperation.
“A gash, my love.” Roley said, wiping the cut near her temple.
“Papa says scars build character.”
“Indeed they do.” Mongaka said grinning broadly, as he had quite a few marring his otherwise glistening coat.
“They crush their skulls usually.” Roley said, staring intensely at the fire. A flash of subdued rage dancing across his face. “That's how they killed my younger brothers. They dropped huge rocks onto them, they were young and helpless. One an infant, the other barely a year old.”
“By the gods...” Mongaka whispered as Roley continued.
“They can't burn them, but some of the Magi particularly enjoy drowning the ones who are too young to know to hold their breath. Neilly here could hold her breath for an hour if she needed too.”
“Roley, you've never told me any of this.” She said, shocked and suddenly more afraid than she had been only hours before.
“One magi used a falcon-like construct to kill my cousin. It was massive, bigger than any Death-Hawk. It looked of solid crystal, he must have pulled the rocks from nearby caves to form it. He was a year younger than me, they never tested him because his mother had bore twins.” Roley went on, his voice almost flat, emotionless after years of training. “One was still-born, they showed the inquisitors its body. The bird was terrible, glassy with razor sharp talons. It ripped him limb from limb. It could have done the same to that crag giant.”
“It seems my people have aligned themselves well.” Mongaka said slowly and deliberately, his eyes burning “The Guardians have shown us the good in the elder races, but few remember the evil that some are capable of.”
“That's why you push us all so hard isn't it?” Sinneilia asked, suddenly aware of reason for her lover's intensity when it came to training.
“You are all my family now, I could not live with myself if I led you unprepared into this war.” He said, softly gripping her hand. His head was still low, lost in the flickering flames. “Most of us will die, but a few might live to see this world liberated.”
“How did you survive such an attack?” Mongaka asked.
“I'm not sure that I did entirely.” Roley replied, glancing up from the fire for the first time in what seemed like an eternity.
“How can that be? No man can escape from death and retain his essence, such is the decree of all of our gods. Even the recent usurpers of heaven agree. Death is universal.”
“I’m not entirely sure what occurred. Only one man is really, and he's the closest thing to a god this planet has ever actually seen.” Roley said, trying to remember what had happened so many years before. “The Lord Master said they had all but given up on saving me when my heart stopped, but he urged them to continue because he knew my essence had not left.”
“I'm not following you, my friend.” Mongaka said, still breaking smaller branches that they would never need. The fire reflected off the mountains behind Roley and the stars rose above the distant canyons they had just left. Miles below them the valley spilled forth, its trees straining ever upward toward the twin moons in the night sky.
“I caught the mage controlling the construct off guard and ran him through with my father's sword. The bird shattered, his men were startled. I don't remember much, I lost control. Le Ronea said that he saw eleven dead by my hand by the time he intervened. He decimated the rest. I've never seen anyone fight like that.”
“What do you mean?” Sinneilia asked.
“The way he attacks is incredible.” Roley told them, “He never stays in place longer than it takes to swing his blade. He opens voids all around him, he would phase through the darkness and kick a man into one before disappearing again and coming up behind another. It was incredible and terrifying all at once. Somehow I knew he wouldn't kill me, but the ferocity of his attack gave me nightmares for months afterward.”
“Is that why you insist we always stay mobile in combat?”
“To an extent, it works well for the Felinra also.” He said “Being that agile you'd be a fool not to.”
“My father always told me that a cat with a broken leg is a dead one.” Mongaka said.
“Do you remember how you would come tell me stories when I was in the infirmary all those months?” Roley asked her, smiling fondly.
“I used to tell him bed time stories for hours at a time,” She said “You must have thought I was just a silly little girl.”
“You still are,” he said “you're just stronger and faster now and the Lord Commander would kill us if he found us in the same bed these days.”
“Im sure he knows by now.” She said laughing.
“He nearly killed Karath, you know.” Roley said, leaving them both stunned. “Long before any of us were born. During the schism, when the High King ordered all children who didnt respond to their magic dead, he fought him all through Cair Agmon. That's how he lost his eye and how Karath earned the scar across his breast. He would have killed him had the Lord Master not summoned him to get the first wards out of the dungeons.”
“I never knew that.” Sinneilia said, her eyes welling with tears. “He only ever told me that it was an accident.”
“He's a very humle man indeed.” Mongaka said, now just snapping tiny twigs to ease his anxiety over what he was hearing. “Why didn't he kill him when he had the chance?”
“The magi would have brought the castle down upon the dungeons in order to win that battle.” Roley explained. “Hundreds of thousands of innocent people would have died in its shadow. Cair
Agmon is a massive castle, sitting atop a steep hill with networks of caverns all throughout. The people retreat into these tunnels during times of war. They would have sank the entire thing into the earth. Karath and his warlocks are used to instilling fear, not being the recipients”
“I think he's got a lot more to fear once we return.” Sinneilia said, “Roley is going to be nearly unstoppable with this crystal.”
“We don't even know what it does or if it's any good yet, dear.” He said “besides it takes decades to master a full crystal of that size, id imagine fragments would be worse if they even cooperate with each other at all.”
“The first thing you've done with that bag of rocks was throw the body of a giant.” Mongaka said, now absent mindedly drawing shapes in the dirt with the last twig he hadn't broken.
