Ruby- Lost & Found

by M. D. Grimm

  I also created an invisible dome over us just in case it rained again. I pumped enough magick into it to last through the night, and it would also act as a deterrent against any hungry beasts that might want to snack on us.

  Aishe came back a short while later and stopped short to stare at my bed. He was stunned, I could see, but he said nothing. He set the fallen branches in a good pyramid formation, great for encouraging a strong fire. My stomach rumbled, and I realized I hadn't eaten anything since that morning. Strange I hadn't even notice until now.

  The dialen grabbed flint and steel, and, understanding his intention, I raised a hand to stop him. He stared at me as I pointed a finger and muttered a word. An arrow of fire shot out of my finger and ignited the wood, crackling to life and giving heat instantly. I scooted closer and said nothing. Holding my hands next to the flames, I ignored Aishe and transported some food. Aishe had his own, and we ate in silence. Sometimes, a shuffle or the snap of a twig would catch our attention, but it usually proved to be nothing but a harmless prey animal.

  I used the time to think about how I would get Rambujek back from the sorcerer. There would have to be a distraction, and since I was under no illusion that Aishe would ever let me kill the bastard, I might have to be the distraction that allowed Aishe to kill him. Then I could take the stone. I doubted I could take it while the jerk was still alive. I was powerful and skilled, but Rambujek probably gave the sorcerer a protective force field, a barrier against other magick. I had reason to suspect the sorcerer didn't think Aishe as much of a threat, despite the arrow in the leg he received in Happy Valley. I bet he didn't even know that Aishe was part of the Ravena tribe. But I couldn't underestimate him or the magick-injected ruby.

  "Have you ever had a family?" Aishe asked suddenly. I was ripped unpleasantly from my thoughts and frowned.

  "Why do you want to know?" I asked heatedly.

  "Just wondering if you're as much of an ass with them as you are with me."

  I stared at him and wondered if I should be pissed or just shrug it off. Then I noticed how the flames flickered off his face and eyes, the way it played with the shadows on his skin, and it took me a moment to remember what he asked.

  "No, I don't have family. Don't want family. That's all I'll say. And I'm not the only one being an ass."

  Aishe tossed more wood on the fire and rested his chin in his palm. "I think I'm entitled, considering everyone I know and love is dead."

  He said it deadpan, but that didn't take the bite out of his words. I looked at the flames and had a flash of memory, an awful memory, and stood up, needing the darkness.

  "What is it?"

  I shook my head and looked away from the dialen. I gazed at the seehirts and stuck my hands in my pockets.

  "Aishe, I... I know what I'm capable of. I know you have courage and skill with a bow, but you have to know that, you have to understand that, if the sorcerer unlocks all the power of Rambujek, you might not be able to kill him. Someone else, a mage, might be the one who does it. You have to realize that."

  Aishe said nothing for a full minute, and when he did, his voice was thick. "I can't think about that. I can't... I have to kill him. Don't you understand that? I have to." He stood up when I looked back at him.

  "Aishe --"

  "No," Aishe snapped and stepped up to me and gripped my shoulders. "No, Morgorth. You and I are going to kill him, there is no other option. So you had better come up with a damn plan on how to do that because I won't settle for anything less. He massacred my tribe, my blood. If you had a family, you would understand that."

  He let me go, and I stumbled slightly. He walked away into the forest and vanished. I glanced down and realized he hadn't taken his bow. If he got into trouble, he would be defenseless. But I didn't go after him. He needed to blow off steam, and I wanted to be alone.

  The passion in his voice and his eyes had rendered me speechless. What was it like to care about someone that much and then lose them? I never wanted to know. Aishe was suffering, and I had suffered enough as a child; I didn't need any more. I realized I didn't like to see him suffer, but what could I do? I couldn't bring his tribe back, no mage was that powerful. Only the Mother had the power to raise the dead.

  I lay down on my mattress and folded my arms under my head. The stars twinkled overhead, and the silver moon had yet to show herself. The wind was cool and pleasant, and the heat from the fire gave me some measure of peace. My mind shuffled through the spells I knew, and I wondered if I should give a call to my mentor for assistance. I thought of the supplies I had in my pouches and wondered if I needed more.

  I could try to trap the sorcerer in ice like I had done in Happy Valley. That seemed to work well enough, and Rambujek's barrier didn't seem to protect him against my spell. But making ice out of nothing wasn't easy. I had to take moisture from the air and freeze it. It would be better if we were near water, and I could just splash him with it and then freeze it like I'd done before. Fire would be useless; the stone's power would surely protect him from that. Wind wouldn't assist me -- I couldn't exactly blow the sorcerer down, the ruby would block any attempt at that, but maybe the ground would help. But that was the hardest element to work with.

  The sound of footsteps brought my attention back to the present, and I rolled over to see Aishe come back. He didn't look at me, not once, and he just lay down and closed his eyes. I saw that the black paint also coated his eyelids, and it looked slightly eerie in the dark to have just black where eyes should be.

  "Good night," he said simply. He rolled over on his side, his back to me. I stared at him, the only sound that of the crackling fire. Not even an owl hooted. I told myself to sleep. I would need all my strength if I was going to get that stone back and if I stood any chance of resisting the powerful pull of the dialen known as Aishe.

  ***

  I woke up when sunlight hit my eyes. I grunted and covered them with my hand, rolling over on my mattress. Just a few more hours, for the Mother's sake. But I knew I wouldn't go back to sleep. Once I was awake, I stayed that way, and I was hungry. Sighing in regret, I sat up and groaned, rubbing my back. I was always stiff in the morning, no matter what I slept on, and no amount of magick made it any better. The fire was out and no longer smoking. The crisp morning air filled my lungs and gave me more energy. Birds sang, rodents chattered, and rym bobbed above me. This really was a cheerful little forest. Ugh. I missed Vorgoroth.

  I turned my head and was surprised to see that Aishe wasn't anywhere in sight. His stuff was still there, so he couldn't have gone far. Maybe he was hunting? I really wanted meat. When I was about to transport some food, I noticed a small bowl of what looked like porridge sitting right next to me with a wooden spoon next to it. I stared at it for several seconds, trying to process the fact that the dialen was providing for me freely, even though he knew I could get my own food. For some reason I felt guilty, but I didn't know why. I hadn't done anything to the dialen. I hadn't blasted him, harmed him, left him alone in the wilderness, so why the heavy weight of guilt?

  Damn it.

  I scowled at the bowl, but I picked it up and ate because I was hungry and it was there. I really couldn't figure Aishe out, and my curiosity about him burned intensely. I knew I was falling into the trap I usually found myself in -- curiosity led to obsession. I would obsess about the thing or creature for a limited time, and then, thud, I would become bored. Would it be the same with him? It didn't matter; we would separate after this little task was done and never see each other again.

  I suddenly felt ill, and set the empty bowl on the ground, grabbing my stomach. Fumbling for one of my belt pouches, I pulled out a yellow leaf, tore it in half, and swallowed one of the pieces. Having a stomachache was not a good way to start a journey.

  Where the hell was Aishe? I suddenly had an image of him, hurt, and my hands burned. Scowling darkly, I berated my magick and shook my hands. I stood up and grabbed a few hairs off the ground where he had slept. I found another crysta
l in my pouch and did another tracking spell. I followed where the crystal pointed, and it wasn't long before the sound of swift moving water met my ears. I continued forward and found myself generally concerned with the dialen's whereabouts. My hands shook. By the Mother, I needed to stay away from him; I should be going the other way. I should be leaving now before he knew I was gone. But I didn't, I just kept following the crystal.

  I walked past the trees, and the river met my eyes. It was certainly swift-moving and broad enough that it wouldn't be an easy task reaching the other bank. Out of curiosity, I lifted the crystal that had the hairs of the sorcerer. It pointed away from the other side of the bank and back the way I had come. Good. I really didn't want to battle with the water; it was the second hardest element to control. Moving the earth was the hardest, considering it was so solid, and your will had to be stronger than the Mother's.

  Perhaps I should get something straight right now: the Mother is the deity that all Karishians believe in. She is worshipped, prayed to, sacrificed to, and often seen as a maiden or crone walking around forests and meadows. She is the spirit of Karishian, the Creator. She has a consort, the Hunter, who is her inferior but also her only love. She interacts with us, her children, from time to time, gives prophetic dreams and plays with our lives like we were mere characters in a tragic play. She writes the script of our destinies, and she controls the elements. She created magick, and it was said she appears most often to payshthas. When I was a young boy, before my magick manifested, I have a memory of her, watching me as I slept, tied up, in bed. She stroked my hair and said I would find what I searched for and that she would always be with me. I've never told anyone about that, and I still believe that her confidence in me, her appearance that night, helped me take my future, my destiny into my own hands and change it.

  She was the nurturing mother and the bloodsoaked warrior, the giver and the punisher, the creator and the destroyer. She was the reason we were alive, and I'm damn sure she wanted the Pferun Dulleriin destroyed as much as I did.

  I lowered the sorcerer's crystal and lifted the other crystal with Aishe's hair. It vibrated and rang dully. I turned to my right, only to be struck dumb, all thought disintegrating and leaving me weak as a newborn.

  Aishe stood with his back to me, a pale back that was exposed to the sun and my gaze. In fact, his entire body was exposed to my gaze because he happened to be naked. He was in the water, and it came up to just under his very fine ass. Perky, round, and mouthwatering, his ass taunted me, but my eyes would not rest until they had explored all that was in their sight. Aishe's back was muscled and smooth, only marred by the few scars that bunched his skin, and I knew, just by looking, that he had gotten most of those scars in battle training or from being a young child growing up in the forest: climbing trees, falling down, scraping skin while climbing up rocks. But he had a nasty scar that ran from about the middle of his back on his right side down in an arch towards his left butt cheek. It looked like a killing blow, and I vaguely wondered how he had survived it.

  His hair was wet and shiny and slicked back. He turned slightly, giving me a glimpse of his hip, his smoothly muscled arm, and a small bunch of curly white hair just barely visible between his legs.

  My, it is hot out here. My breath backed up in my lungs, and my body was cold and hot at the same time, making my clothes itchy and confining. All my blood had drained, pulsing south of the border, and it was painful. My hands itched to touch and stroke, to discover and devour. Desire and passion exploded inside me with such fury that I knew I would never feel this way about anyone ever again. The urge to protect crashed over me like a powerful wave.

  He was so different from those I was used to dealing with. Not once had I ever felt trickery from this dialen, and I was highly tuned to bullshit and how to detect it. He wasn't a user, a deceiver; he wasn't my enemy.

  I met Aishe's eyes and realized, with a jolt, that he had watched me as I stared at him. He didn't move, only watched, and I saw a faint blush rise in his face, and that was what jerked me back to myself. That embarrassed blush made my eyes turn away, made me finally able to suck in a breath and try to find my center.

  Saying nothing, I walked away, back toward the camp and dropped the crystal with Aishe's hair into my pocket. I paced, energy snapping inside me and adrenaline making the blood run swiftly through my veins. By the Mother, I had to work this off, I had to do something with it before I exploded or jumped the dialen. I had to forget that protective streak that had shot through me. I didn't know where it had come from, but I didn't want it. The damn dialen meant nothing to me; why should he? I didn't even know him.

  Gritting my teeth, I walked out of the camp and found a large boulder and thought it was as good a target as anything. I sent the magick flooding out of my stomach, down my arms, and into my hands and pointed my fingers at the boulder. I said a word, knowing my mind was too chaotic to think the word clearly, and pure force lashed out and hit the boulder, making it explode into a million pieces. I instantly drew up an invisible barrier to keep the pieces from slicing me. But the energy still pumped through me, aggravating me. I braced my hands on my knees and tried to take steadying breaths, but the image of Aishe's lovely body was burned into my retinas. My body surged to life once more, and I scowled down at that part of me that I neglected the most.

  "Stay down or I'll remove you," I snapped, and with another word I had fire erupting from my hands and flung it in a sharp arch in front of me, setting trees on fire, not caring about the destruction, only needing some release from the thoughts and the energy driving me insane. The fire burned viciously, and I knew it would spread swiftly if I didn't stop it. But I just watched, not even exhausted. I almost wished for seehirts.

  Why couldn't the sorcerer show up now? I was pumped and pissed, and I had nothing to take it out on.

  "Morgorth, what are you doing?" Aishe shouted and ran at me. I didn't move when he gripped my shoulder and I refused to look at him.

  "Those trees are homes for the seehirt and rym of this forest! Stop this now."

  Seething and wanting to shove Aishe against the nearest tree and taste him, I jerked my arm out of his grip and stepped forward, gathering the power once more. Saying the word under my breath, I calmed the fires, cooling them and finally smothering them by denying them air. All that was left was charred bark and blackened leaves.

  "There," I snapped. "Happy?" I brushed passed him and knew I would do something worse if I didn't calm down. If I didn't find an outlet for all this anger, confusion and, damn it, fear.

  "What's wrong with you?" Aishe snapped back as he followed me, his things already gathered. I ignored him and was about to transport my bedding back home when the ground trembled violently enough to have the roots of the trees shake loose and rise up. We both stood still, not knowing what to expect.

  I looked at him, and his eyes were wide on me, confusion evident in them. This area was not known for its groundquakes, and as far as I knew, it had never had any. There were no volcanoes near either, so what...?

  My senses tingled, sharpened, and my magick surged into my hands. "Aishe, get your bow. Now."

  The dialen followed my orders just as the ground before us erupted and we were flung off our feet. The ground ripped open, wrenching roots and felling trees and causing forest creatures to screech and run. Red light flooded out of the gap, and I scooted back on my butt, horrified and not knowing what to do. As I watched, a strange mass began to appear from the hole, and I stood stiffly as a very terrifying thought entered my mind.

  No way... he can't have....

  Oh, but he had.

  Heads appeared first, ten of them, all horned, with bulbous black eyes and sharp yellow teeth. The hands were next, twelve of them, all viciously clawed. The thick body was next and the feet, two of them, last. As the monstrous thing heaved itself out of the gap, the ground closed, sealing the rift that had been created between the surface world and the underworld.

  The stench emanat
ing from the revenai was gagworthy, and the poisonous drool dripping from its many mouths made the vegetation it dripped upon wither and die. The body was black and red, striped like a tiger, and the spikes along its back quivered, ready to shoot out and pump venom into its victims. I was staring at an underworld demon, a nasty one that had no business existing on the surface world.

  They could only be summoned, and I'll give you one guess as to who had summoned it.

  The revenai fixed its hundred eyes on me, and I gulped, wishing my mentor was here, or at least Enfernlo. I've never fought a demon before, and I honestly didn't know where to begin. Their hides were tough, almost magick-proof, and they had excellent range with their poisonous spit and their venomous spikes.

  It lunged at me, and one of its heads spat drool at me. I flung myself to the side and rolled, trying to kick-start my brain and body into battle mode. I had wished for something to unleash my pent-up frustration on... I really should be more careful what I wished for.

  The revenai turned toward me, and an arrow went flying at it and stuck in one of its eyes. It roared, and four arms swung around toward Aishe, but the dialen was quicker and dodged out of the way, another arrow already singing through the air and puncturing another eye.

  "Get up, Morgorth!" Aishe roared. "I can't do this alone!"

  I shook myself and prepared to unleash everything I had at the monster. I sucked in a breath and ran forward as the revenai tore at the arrows, its other hands tearing at the trees, sending them crashing around us. I weaved around them, flinging some out of my way with force, and others I sent right at the revenai's feet. I had to find a weakness; every monster or creature had a weak spot. For payshthas like Enfernlo, it was the soft flesh of their stomach; the rest of their bodies were scaled. For truls it was their armpits because, again, the flesh was soft, and if punctured at the right angle, the blade could stab their heart.