Jade, who had stood up, addressed the shrike captain. “I will go near the city and get a safehouse ready. It’ll be right by the coast, behind the castle walls.” The leader of the Shrike Wing then turned to Ahna. “Will this be close enough?” The dark elf confirmed with a single nod. “When you’re near, just follow the crows,” Jade instructed, and Cedric acknowledged. “You leave at zenith tomorrow.”
“Are you sure you’re alright, Jade?” the captain asked his superior, but Jade was already strolling away.
“Ahna, this idea is extremely dangerous,” Kairen told her sister and friend. “Are you up for this?” They stood outside in the stables, Ahna was finishing to groom Bark. “That mission is suicide.”
“I know Kairen. But I think dangerous is all we’ve got at this point. If Sharr has found Orgna, we’re doomed.” Ahna awkwardly grimaced. An extra weight now rested on her shoulders, but she was ready to take it head-on. “Don’t worry, if I’m not able to even get near the castle, I will immediately come back. High Commander’s orders.”
“What if you can’t even get into the city?”
“Kairen, I’m dokkalfar. Of course I’ll get into the city.”
“How can you be so sure?”
Ahna looked down to the stables floor. “I have to be.”
The red-haired woman sighed. “Desperate times call for desperate measures, I guess. Joshua is the bravest I know, but with all that’s happening, he’s become gripped by fear. Too much to hide it.” Kairen went to give a pat on Bark’s neck. “You’ll be going back there, to the capital...”
Ahna stopped the strokes of the swine bristle. Her thoughts lingered on the idea of her inevitable return to the golden city, and she remained silent.
“Cedric will be taking Jules too.” Kairen said again. She paused for a minute. “What do you need for the spell?”
Ahna stepped back. “This”—she showed her banded wrists—“salt, and crown bellflowers.”
Cedric cast the twenty-sided dice on the table. Fourteen! The shrike had rolled lower than Lynn, which meant he could move his pawn two steps further than her, and he could go again!
“Eight. I’m on a roll today!” the shrike laughed victoriously.
His thoughts were set on the game, but the back of his mind seemed to wander elsewhere. As hard as he tried to cover it beneath a moment of ephemeral joy, Ahna could dimly hear the irregular cadence of his heart.
Lynn shook her head in false disapproval while Diego went to request another cup of ale. “Make it two!” the captain of Squadron Five signed to the attendant.
“Alright, my turn, shrike,” Lynn said determinedly.
Twenty. The Taz woman dropped her face in her hands. Cedric laughed with pride at Lynn’s discontentment.
“Don’t embarrass her too much, Captain, or she’ll rip your eyes out,” Jules played.
Lynn shoved the jokester gently to express her disapproval. “Cedric, I swear, you rigged the dice!”
The gang kept the music of their harmonic laughter going.
The hearths of the dining hall were lit again. Ahna sat at the edge of a table, close to Lynn and Jules, observing this set game of Chance of Knights. Next to Cedric was his friend Diego. Lynn and the shrike captain faced each other in this fierce dice battle. Cedric had obviously won long ago, as fate had not exactly been on Lynn’s side today.
Ahna’s gaze bounced furtively between the two players, and her eyes finally met the marksman’s. His smile remained on his face as he kept his gaze fixed on her. His cerulean gems shimmered with a genuine lightness, as though a certain weight had been lifted from his heart. But there in the blue, she saw a masked apprehension for the mission tomorrow.
While she studied the dice rollers, she pondered on her recent decision to finally set foot in the capital again. She was going to face the enemy she had run from decades ago. Xandor Kun Sharr. For the many past years, she had never imagined she would sit here, amidst the rebels, as they prepared for the final round of this fifty-year-old match. And there was Cedric, the tormented soul she had decided to save in the process. The man raised his cup to a defeated Lynn, who groaned exaggeratedly to emulate desperate cries.
Two cups full of ale topped by frothy foam landed on the table between Lynn and Diego. The two cheered and gulped a few large sips.
“You’re sure you don’t want a drink?” Diego asked enthusiastically.
Cedric and Jules shook their heads. “No, big day tomorrow,” they said in unison.
Their friends at the table did not know what tomorrow would bring, and such a crucial mission this meant for the Resistance. The Council deemed it necessary to send the shrikes and Ahna covertly, while the rest of the troops focused on preparing for a possible evacuation.
Lynn slowly came closer to Ahna. “You know,” she whispered to her. “Jules is unmarried.” She giggled with a girl’s voice.
Of course, Jules had heard her innocent remark. He blushed like a ripening tomato, while Lynn sneakily shoved her elbow against Ahna’s waist, to push her closer to her target. Ahna chuckled, and to join Lynn in her amusement, she slowly turned to Jules with enamored eyes and slyly winked at him. Jules awkwardly smiled and blushed some more.
Cedric then went to rest his arm around his shrike’s shoulders. “You have no chance, Ahna, he’s mine.”
The two laughed comically. Jules raised his hands and tapped the air to signal for this goof to stop. “Well, Cedric is not wrong, ladies!” he charmingly said. “I’m sorry, Ahna, I play for the other team.”
Lynn sighed in seeming admiration. “That’s why you’re so handsome, shrike-boy. You’re blessed by Bishet himself!” Ahna tilted her head to the Taz woman, intrigued by her words. “It’s what we say in Tazman,” she proceeded to explain. “Bishet blesses those who strive for the unity of all.”
Jules blushed again. He too tried to enjoy this lovely evening as much as he could, but he remained preoccupied with the big day tomorrow.
The night had settled for a few hours. Lynn and Jules left the table and headed to the dorms, and Diego remained with Cedric and Ahna. The elf stood up to bring the cups back to the kitchen area. She passed by a few tables where lone rebels stayed to enjoy a smooth mug of ale.
When she returned, she overheard Diego speak a few words before he rose to his feet. “I’m glad you’re back, Captain Cedric Rover. It took you long enough!” The shrike smiled back at his friend. “Ten years, dai. Ten years!” Diego exclaimed again as he headed upstairs. He waved at the two and headed toward the stairway.
After a few moments of silence, Cedric searched for Ahna’s purple eyes. She looked back, hesitant.
“See, I can also be a nice person!” he said with a whimsical tone.
Ahna felt she could be honest with him. “Well, you had me fooled. I thought you were going to kill me.”
Cedric bent slightly closer to her. “I could have,” he said, with a more serious tone.
His hands were clasped in front of him on the wooden table. In the burst of comfort Ahna wanted to give him, she mechanically laid her hands on his.
“We will succeed,” she assured.
As he plunged his gaze deeper into her eyes, she saw something more than the dim light of hope. She saw confidence, determination, but perhaps a tint of dread. She suddenly felt drawn to his honest and bare allure. Their breaths slowly synced, and he gently turned his wrists so her hands would fall in his.
“Why put yourself at risk for me, dokkalfar?” he asked, not patronising but more uncertain.
Ahna withdrew her hands away, and she pursed her lips, thinking. “I can’t imagine a soul, no matter how evil or how unholy, be deprived of an afterlife.” Her voice dissolved in the silence of the room.
“What about Sharr?”
Ahna sighed. “I don’t think we can call that a soul.”
Cedric leaned back. He kept his gaze fixed at the dark elf, hesitant but resolute. “Let’s get some sleep,” he suggested as he clapped the table.
“I probably won’t be able to,” Ahna honestly said.
Cedric breathed in slowly and peered at the elf. Ahna began to stiffen the deeper he looked. She cleared her throat and stood up while he remained seated. His eyes followed her movements.
“Where do you sleep?” he curiously asked.
“In the squadron dorm, the same as Lynn’s,” she replied with a cautious tone.
“Well, good night then,” he calmly bid.
Ahna gave him a final nod and found her way upstairs.
9
The Golden City
Ahna latched her large satchel full of gunny sacks of salt and flowers onto Bark’s saddle. She then placed her foot in the stirrup, shifted her body and used the saddle to pull herself up. As she mounted her brown steed, Jules trotted toward her on a new black, tamed free-roaming horse. The capital was but a day away. If they left now, they would reach by nightfall. Cedric stepped outside, accompanied by a woman. When Ahna noticed his interlocutor, her mouth slightly opened in surprise. He was followed by Lilth, and the two seemed to be in a heated dialogue.
Jules, seeing Ahna’s confusion, explained what this all was about. “She was supposed to go to the capital on a recon mission in Sharr’s camps. With what’s going over there, the captain ordered her to stay, but she still wants to go.”
When Lilth laid eyes on Ahna, she waved at her with a beguiling smile. Her hand slithered in the air with a lithe movement. Jules watched this, and he looked at Ahna with fascinating eyes and snickered awkwardly.
Cedric went to fetch his grey horse. He carried two large satchels that he strapped to the stallion. As he came nearer to Ahna and Jules, she saw he was equipped with a perfect steel shortsword and the notorious bow.
The band of three rebels galloped down the hills, into the plains and straight toward the golden city of Bravoure. Dusk fell fast. The far figure of gold had now become a massive edifice that stood ahead of their course. Ahna’s heart pounded in her chest. She was close to the place she had once called home.
They circled the city to remain undetected while they headed for the coast. Between the heart of Bravoure and the ocean cliffs was the grand royal palace, Sharr’s hive. The castle of Bravoure was surrounded by a tall battlement with stainless crenels, with bricks of sand marble. It was deliberately made only accessible from the city by a golden drawbridge. The high towers’ conical roofs were plated gold. The castle appeared to shine with the light of the sunset, like a holy beacon for the divine.
The horses loped to the south side behind the city walls. As they drew close to the shore, Cedric signaled for them to come to a halt. He glanced left and right, looking for Jade Lark’s sign of a safehouse. “Look out for the crows!” he directed.
The horses whirled round as the three rebels scanned the area.
“There!” Jules called and pointed. A murder of crows flew south.
They followed the birds to a group of silos scattered around a field. At the edge of the terrain, further toward the sea, there was an abandoned granary.
Ahna turned her head to the city of Bravoure. She could see the castle so close, she could almost feel the presence of the Dark Lord, the man who had driven her to flee. In her short moment of solitude, Cedric and Jules had already parked their horses. They then stepped into the granary. The small barn had been converted to a basic camp house. There were four lofts, a table, a few seats, and a huge can that could do well as a bath.
Ahna, who still stood outside, noticed the place where the barley had once been grown had been razed bare, but the well by the field had recently been refreshed. When she entered the old granary, she spotted the two shrikes, who had this deeply concerned look on their face.
“Where’s Jade?” Jules asked.
Cedric answered with a frown. “She should have been here,” he emphasized. He then paused for a second and recentered his thoughts. “Night is near, we must get prepared.”
He went to fetch the satchels from his horse and unwrapped a loaf of cloud bread and potted nutspread on the table. The two shrikes began to gobble their meal.
Ahna did not feel hunger, her mind was too preoccupied with tomorrow’s mission to even think about nutspread. She gazed to the outside through the small window, at the castle of Bravoure. Her heart weighed heavy. All her memories of this place raced one by one, in a flash before her eyes.
“Ahnny, I have a question,” Jules said. He finished chewing his bread and swallowed before he pursued. Ahna remained all pointy ears. She came to sit at the wooden table with the shrikes. “Are you absolutely sure you can get this close to Sharr?” The corner of her lip sank down with a slight bit of concern. She was not absolutely sure, but she was sure enough. “And”—he finished munching—“I’m no mage, so I’m just saying things, but why can’t you simply disguise Cedric as a duchess?”
Ahna laughed. Cedric cast an unconvinced glance at Jules. Of course, the lieutenant meant a disguising spell, not an actual costume. He was not wrong, this could have been a good plan. But Sharr would immediately see through this farce, even if it were a magical one.
“I’m no illusionist, and Xandor was the perspicacious one,” she murmured as a dull response.
Jules raised an eyebrow. So did Cedric. Ahna realized what her words could have meant, like she and Xandor had been more than just enemies in the distant past—like she knew him.
She took a deep breath and tore a piece of cloud bread with her fingers. As she chewed on the day-old bread, Cedric rose to his feet and marched toward the door. His look remained fixed to the outside for a few moments.
When he turned back to the band of rebels, he still had a concerned look on his face. “Jade is still not here.” He remained there for a bit longer and retorted to himself. “She’s probably still in the city. Maybe she’ll be here tomorrow.”
Then he shook his head to hush his worry away.
As the night grew darker, Jules had already sunk into his bed. He was packed underneath a warm cow pelt they had found in a wooden box in the corner of the barn. Cedric stood outside, leaned against the wall by the ajar door. He waited for Jade and could not bring himself to sleep. Ahna, who noticed the shrike’s enduring concern, went to join him in the cool of the night. She stood silent next to him.
“I have a bad feeling, Ahna,” he declared after a moment of stillness.
She wanted to reassure him. However, as hard as she wished to ignore it, she definitely shared his misgiving. “We have to do this at dawn, at first light. The longer we wait, the higher the risk,” she asserted calmly.
Cedric reclined his head on the stone wall. His eyes closed, he let the sounds of the night reach his ears. Ahna came a little closer. She felt him breathe in her scent as she leaned against the wall, next to him.
“Is it a difficult spell?” he wondered, distant.
“Well, yes, but I’ve done it multiple times.”
Cedric opened his eyes. He looked in the distance at the shadow of the castle. There were but faint lights, the rest was dead as the night.
“We might actually end it all tomorrow,” he pensively said. Ahna searched his eyes. His gaze had become dark, like the midnight blue of crown bellflowers. “A clash of fifty years ends with a simple magic trick,” he said again, with an awkward chuckle.
Ahna straightened her posture. She stretched her arms and turned around. “Good night, Cedric.”
The man looked to the ground and hid a smile. He remained silent while Ahna stepped back into the granary. He stayed awake for a few moments longer before sinking into a disturbed sleep.
Dawn rose above the city of Bravoure. The golden light reflected off the castle towers, and the scent of the southern sea was carried in the gentle wind. By the coast, in the abandoned granary that had become a rebel safehouse, Ahna stood with two shrikes and sacks of salt. With the thin white grains, she drew a circle on the cold ground in the middle of the room. The two shrikes observed the elf perform her binding ritual.
She chanted an i
ncantation quietly in old elven. Her words did not make much sense to her companions, but her voice resonated like music to their charmed ears. They were a succession of complex phrases spoken one after the other with a low, monophonic tone.
She paused for a moment and motioned for Cedric to step into the circle. “You must remain here. This circle will be fixed between this realm and the Abstract Plane.”
As she proceeded, she held her two newly imbued bands in her hands. Crown bellflowers provided magic-users with the ability to enchant items. Their dark blue tint covered the linen.
Cedric was instructed to kneel in the middle of the circle, then Ahna kneeled in front of him. She held his left arm in her hands and encircled it in the black linen wrap.
“This will entangle your body with mine,” she explained as she wrapped the cloth around his wrist. “Now, hold your sword.”
The shrike heeded her order. The elf then rose to her feet and continued the ritual. She wrapped her own right forearm tight in the linen band. As she stood in front of Cedric, she murmured the next words of the binding spell.
“Now that we both stand here, I will bind this circle to the Abstract Plane. And remember, Cedric, when the time is right, to fade to me, you just need to will it.”
She held her hands high in the air. Her head raised to the ceiling, she uttered the next elven words. Her eyes turned black, and a sudden massive force made her arms drop toward the earth. She clenched both hands in a fist, as the gravity pull of the encircled ground intensified. She uttered the final words, and her hands were set free.
Ahna recollected her thoughts and tilted her head to Cedric. “Are you alright?”
Then she saw the shrike in a deep trance. Cedric sat, voiceless and motionless, on his knees, his sword in his right hand. His eyes were as dark as the absence of matter and were forced wide open.
Tempest of Bravoure: Kingdom Ascent Page 12
