by M. D. Grimm
An arrow was shot at him, and he managed to jerk out of the way in time. He scowled at the dialen and flicked a finger at him. The dialen went flying into the side of a house and through it. He stared at me, and a small smile touched his face.
"You thought you could keep them all for yourself," he said, his voice deep. "But I got one anyway, Lord Morgorth."
He said my name mockingly, and I bristled, wondering what the hell he was talking about. Then he held up his hand, the one holding the object. He moved his fingers, and I saw what he was holding. My body went from boiling to freezing in less than a second.
"By the Mother," I whispered and sent a bolt of fire at his hand, trying to knock the object loose, but he had been expecting that, and he spun away, laughing.
"You can't harm me. You can't defeat me. I will rule the world and destroy every other mage until only I remain. You will go first."
I lunged away from the fireball and rolled to my feet, my own fireball ready. Another arrow flew through the air and lodged itself in the mage's leg. I grinned and flung the fireball at him. He didn't dodge, and the fire consumed his clothes. He screeched and managed to douse the flames as I levitated several lengths of wood that used to be someone's wall and flung them at him. The mage collapsed underneath them, and I ran to him, but before I could grab his hand, the wood was shoved away and some of it hit me in the shoulder. I staggered in surprise, and the mage stood up, gave me a look that should have turned me to stone, and vanished. Poof.
Fucking-A. I hadn't even mastered the transportyourself magick. Damn it.
Before I had time to think, I had to dodge another arrow that was aimed for the mage but had missed him when he vanished. I staggered to the side and glared at the dialen who was now running towards me.
I turned away from him and looked around at my village, fury boiling the blood in my veins. He wasn't going to live, that much was certain. I raised my hands and looked at the fire, the destruction, the destroyed crops, before closing my eyes. I focused my magick, focused on the words I would use, and the magick flowed out of me like a gentle breeze. I could see it working even though my eyes were still closed. The flames died, though they gave me particular trouble because I had not conjured them, therefore I had limited control over them. The houses began to rebuild themselves. The wood attached itself once again as walls and doors, and the hay became the roofs once more. The stands tilted back onto their feet, and the merchandise that had been trampled and broken repaired itself and organized itself neatly, ready to be sold.
But I couldn't fix the crops. Or the burnt wood. I couldn't repair what had been completely disintegrated and turned to ash. But I quelled the fires, saving what I could.
I exhaled slowly and opened my eyes, seeing my village the way it was supposed to be. Before I had committed my pranks, before the mage's destruction. That's when I noticed that the dialen and I were surrounded by a crowd. The entire village stared at me with awe, and I felt horribly awkward.
I narrowed my eyes and leaned towards them, satisfied when they leaned away.
"Boo," I said. Most of them scattered, some faster than others. I couldn't smile, and I winced when I looked at the charred flayn. It was a female, and her feathers and hide were blackened; she had to be in pain. I wasn't very good at healing, and I wondered what I should do when the dialen stepped forward. He set down his bow and walked to her, talking softly to her, words I could not hear.
That's when I remembered that most dialens had healing magick. I stood there and watched, feeling sore and winded, as the dialen set his hands gently on the flayn and they began to glow a warm yellow. I was fascinated as I watched the flesh repair itself, the charred feathers being replaced by new ones. It was similar to what I had just done, but instead of repairing what was broken, he regrew what had been disintegrated. I felt a little germ of jealousy worm its way alongside fascination. I had never been good at healing magick.
I waited for the flayn to thank the dialen before walking towards him and asking him who the hell he was. But I wasn't the first to speak.
He turned to me and narrowed his eyes. "I can't believe you just let him go! Do you know how long it took me to track him? How hard? It's not like he left footprints, he flew!"
I was shocked and stood still as he dug a finger into my chest.
"All I needed was for you to hold him, and then I would have stuck an arrow in his heart. Was that so hard? Now he's gone, and you have to help me."
I shook my head slowly, not unaccustomed to the hostility but to his boldness. His voice was slightly accented, and he spoke in the tongue common around these parts. Despite his anger, his voice was pleasant to listen to: musical and deep. "Who are you?"
His nostrils widened as he exhaled, and I enjoyed watching him gain control over his emotions. I also enjoyed the blast of his vibrant green eyes and the fierceness I saw in them. He intrigued me, and the fact that he was gorgeous didn't hurt. I got a closer look at his face and liked what I saw; a regal nose, elegantly sharp cheekbones, and his hair was incredibly white -the sun actually shone off of it like it was a precious gem.
"My name is Aishe." He pronounced it as "Ash."
"I am of the Ravena tribe," he continued. "Who are now all dead because of that monster. I must kill him to bring peace to my tribe, and I cannot do it alone."
It seemed to bother him to admit that. I couldn't blame him; asking for help was something I never did. I rolled my shoulder which had been struck by the wood and cringed.
"Your tribe held one of the Pferun Dulleriin," I said. It wasn't a question.
Aishe nodded.
"He killed all of them?"
Aishe nodded again, and I saw the flicker of grief and rage he had bottled up. I winced and looked away. The mage had a stone of power, and not just any stone, but a major stone. Rambujek, a medium-sized ruby, and I had felt its call. I had felt the promises it offered, the violence and war it lusted for. Of all the stones, he just had to find that one. He was nothing but a sorcerer, or a very weak mage... suddenly, his words to me made sense. He was the mage Grekel had spoken of. He had tried to gain access to Geheimnis to get my stones, and my traps had discouraged him quickly.
He had attacked my village to get back at me. I looked around at Happy Valley, at the citizens who were still shell-shocked but attempting to go about their day, trying to ignore Aishe and I. A group of them headed for the crop fields, and the rest were trying to repair the thatch roofs. What would have happened if I hadn't come back when I had? I shuddered to think.
I looked back at Aishe, who watched me with impatience evident in his stance. I also noticed that his fury, though under control, was shooting off of him in sparks.
"How'd you survive the massacre?" I asked.
"I was banished," he said through gritted teeth. "I rejected tradition and was sent away for a time, and when I came back, everyone was dead."
That bumped up my admiration for Aishe. It took a lot of guts to go your own path.
"That was a couple of months ago," Aishe continued. "I have been tracking him ever since. I had to keep you from killing him. It must be me who kills him, do you understand?"
I raised an eyebrow. "I get the whole mission thing you're on. The hakum. And I am going after him. If you want to be the one to kill him, better get there first."
Aishe frowned at me, and I wondered what it said about me that his anger, his wrath, aroused me. I understood his need for revenge, and I sensed a soul that was similar to mine. Dark and rebellious, and one that yearned for freedom.
My arousal annoyed me.
"I was seeking you," Aishe said. "I know I am no match for a mage with a stone of power, so I sought another mage. His attacks seem to be made at random, but he was moving in this direction. I...hoped I would find a way to have you assist me."
He looked away, and I saw sadness come into his eyes as he gazed at my village. "But I would never have hoped for something like this to convince you."
"Who says
I will help you?" I said and crossed my arms over my chest in a belligerent fashion. "You'll just slow me down, and I don't need you."
He turned back to me. "Considering I tracked the murderer this far shows I am not useless or someone who will slow you down. I will search him out with or without you, Morgorth."
The way he thrust his chin forward and his eyes sparked made him awfully cute. I thought about what he said. I didn't have companions, travel or otherwise, but he could prove useful later. At the very least, as a good distraction. Added to that, I had to respect him for how far he'd come already.
"Please help me, Lord Morgorth," he whispered. "I must do this, it is my duty. I failed my family once; I cannot fail again."
I didn't understand his devotion to his tribe. They were dead, so why the hell would he feel obligated now, when in life he'd rejected them? Just because I knew about the dialen custom didn't mean it made any sense to me. Well, the fact was that he would go after the sorcerer with or without me, and what mattered most was the stone.
With any luck, we could find the sorcerer in a day or two and then go our separate ways. But when have I ever been that lucky?
"Fine. You and me," I said. "And we better hurry; the longer he has Rambujek, the more power he'll unlock until he can rule the cosmos and bring it to ruin."
Aishe's eyes widened slightly. I smiled, but it was humorless. "You might be going after him because of your tribe, but believe me, this goes far beyond you and your tribe. The whole of Karishian is now in jeopardy, and unless the other mages take an interest, you and I are the only defense."
The dialen looked down for a moment, and his chest moved slowly up and down as he took a deep breath; I couldn't help but watch. He wore tight green leggings and a short-sleeved tunic, and neither hid his well-toned body. His boots were brown and rose to mid-calf, and they were muddy and well-worn. His belt was golden, and a couple of pouches hung from it. His clothes looked like they'd been torn multiple times and stitched up. He certainly looked like he'd been traveling for months.
I turned around and walked over to where the sorcerer had collapsed on the ground. I looked around, my eyes focused and searching. Finally, I found what I needed and picked it up carefully, holding it firmly in my hand.
"What is that?" Aishe asked from behind me. "A tool," I said. "Now, let's go."
Aishe had to grab an old bag from the lodge he'd been staying at before we could leave. He walked beside me as we headed out of the village. We walked into my forest and weren't bothered at all. I knew we were being watched, but everyone knew to stay out of my path. I saw their eyes, heard their sounds, felt their curiosity, but they kept their distance.
I saw Aishe shiver. "I have heard rumors about this forest," he said, looking at me. I tried not to meet his eyes because looking at them made it hard for me to form a sentence and to keep my distance emotionally.
"I'm sure you have," I said. "I started most of them." Not even a twitch of the mouth. Well, I really didn't expect much humor from a dialen on a hakum.
We walked through the rest of my forest in silence, and once we came out of the other end, we were ambushed by the knight who harassed me earlier that day. It seemed like a lifetime ago. The ambush basically involved the knight jumping out from behind a tree and brandishing his sword.
"Ye have not vanquished me, Villain!" the knight roared.
I smacked the heel of my hand against my forehead and groaned. Why wouldn't this guy give up? I glanced over at Aishe, who was staring at the knight, his eyes hard.
"I get that a lot," I said.
"I would assume so," he said. "You are a villain after all."
I stepped forward and decided I wasn't playing nice anymore. I called silently to the truls roaming around the forest, and it wasn't long before they came lumbering out from behind the trees. The knight paled and backed away, the truls looking hungry, with drool dripping from their mouths.
I felt Aishe step closer to me as the truls walked past us. The truls were large gray monsters with tusks jutting up from their lower jaws and a smell that made your nose hairs curl. They had overly long arms that caused their knuckles to drag the ground and seemed to be misshaped, as if a drunken sculptor had created them. But they could play music better than anyone. Who would have thought?
"This is your last chance," I said to the knight. He turned his wide, panicked eyes toward me, and I shrugged. "Run or die."
Five truls were closing in on him, and he ran. The truls couldn't run, but they had long strides. I watched them chase the knight back toward his kingdom. I wondered if he'd make it.
"Not much of a warrior," Aishe commented.
"They rarely are," I said. Before I could start walking again, Aishe gripped my arm and met my eyes. He stared hard into mine, and I could have sworn he was staring straight into my soul.
"Lord Morgorth, as I've said, I've heard a lot of rumors, about this forest, your castle, about you. I saw how you fought the mage today. And I need to know, are you as good as they say you are?"
I couldn't look away from the emotion he allowed me to see. Grief, rage, determination, all of it was visible inside those green eyes for the space of two heartbeats and then was gone. The shield had been rebuilt, and I wondered how long he could lock away his need for emotional release.
My emotions were touched, which annoyed me further. Aishe needed hope, needed something to cling to. He wanted to believe so badly that he would be able to find justice for his tribe. He had chosen to put that belief, that faith in me.
He had made a bad choice. But at that moment, I couldn't crush his hope.
"Yes, Aishe. I am better than what they say."
Chapter Three
The sorcerer wasn't as smart as he thought he was. He thought he could avoid detection by poofing in and out of places, but that was where the line between a professional mage and an amateur sorcerer was made. While still in the town, I had found some hair that the sorcerer left behind. I would use it to track him. I had to be impressed by Aishe; he had tracked the sorcerer this far without the benefit of magick or even footprints, and he had the balls to try and find me to ask for help. That either took courage or desperation. Or both.
I took a small crystal from inside one of my belt pouches and gently tied the hairs to it. My magick, which was always just below the surface, came when I called to it, when I urged it with just a nudge to answer me. Just a word was all it took to unleash the magick, to direct it where I wanted it to go. It hadn't always been that easy, that simple or smooth, but I had been taught well. My mentor had been one of the rare ones to earn my trust, respect, and admiration. But even with him, those feelings were limited.
I thought a word, and the crystal shimmered with a faint blue light as the tracking spell was activated. I watched the crystal as it began to swing, first slowly, then with more speed, until it came to a sudden halt and lifted into the air, restrained by the string that was wrapped around my hand. It pointed west, toward the ocean.
"Gotcha," I murmured.
"How does it work?" Aishe asked as he stared at the crystal before shifting his eyes to my face. "I thought the mage would block any tracking spell with Rambujek."
"Can't be done," I said and started to walk in the direction the crystal was pointing. "No amount of magick can block my tracking spells. I'm tracking his aura, not just his DNA."
"His what?" he asked.
"Doesn't matter," I said, not wanting to explain genetic code to someone who had no concept of science. "And he's a sorcerer, not a mage. Sorcerers steal power from other sources while having little or no magick themselves. Mages have magick that comes naturally."
"Oh," was all he said. Aishe fell into step beside me. It was strange to have a companion, especially one as distractingly beautiful as he. I haven't felt this interested sexually since... well, it's been years.
I have given in to the desire to be near beauty before, but not as often as I would have liked. Sex wasn't something I actively sought.
The few times I participated in it, which could be counted on one hand, I felt awkward, embarrassed, and in a hurry to get it over with. The lead up would usually be good and pleasurable, but when it came to the act itself... Let's just say my partners were always less than impressed. I was done with that sort of humiliation, so I decided to stop altogether. Stop pursuing, stop thinking about it. And it had worked for many years.
But now all that desire was flooding back with a vengeance. Just one look at Aishe, or one sniff of his unique smell, and I began to want and to wonder what he looked like naked, what he might look like or sound like in pleasure.
Damn it. Fucking annoying.
Sex involved a level of intimacy that I had never learned how to give or receive. I had to remember that to keep myself from wanting something far beyond my reach. Once I had Rambujek in my possession, I would leave the dialen and have nothing more to do with him. I just had to be strong until then. I was also glad that the dialen, because of his hakum, couldn't let anything distract him.
"Do you know anything about the sorcerer?" I asked.
Aishe shook his head. "No. I do not know where he came from or how he found out about my tribe and Rambujek. As far as I knew, only one mage knew about the stone, the one who gave it to us. But I do not know who that was, and they would not tell anyone about it."
He paused and glanced at me. "Right?"
"I can't think of why any mage would want some hack coming along and stealing power that doesn’t belong to him. But things get leaked. Nothing stays secret forever."
I could feel Aishe's steady gaze on me, and I really wished he would look somewhere else. But when several minutes passed and he didn't look away, I turned to look at him. I raised an eyebrow.
"Problem?"
He shook his head, no emotion showed. "No. You just look like I thought you would."
That shocked me enough that I stopped walking and turned to face him. "Really? I look like you thought I would look?"
"Indeed," he said and leaned on his large bow, which was the same height as him and made out of the black bark of a Krane tree. "Why are you so surprised? Everyone all over Karishian knows your name and your reputation. I'm sure they have all imagined how you might look."
