“That’s what there is to eat,” said Amber. “You seem to be under the misassumption that I’m obligated to provide you anything better, or anything at all.”
“You can’t speak to me like that,” said Lady Prestia. “I am a lady of Farhaven, an official representative of the Emperor.”
“Your Emperor isn’t here, and if he was, it’s a coin toss if he’d even accept you with open arms,” said Amber.
“Why, you…”
Ari stepped into the common room and crossed his arms, taking in the sight of Amber and Lady Prestia arguing with each other from opposite sides of the central table. Lady Prestia’s hair was wet, and her face was clean. She was also wearing one of Kerys’ dresses, which her erotically plump body did a shockingly good job of filling out.
“Did you lend her that dress, Amber?” asked Ari.
Amber shook her head, wearing her exasperation openly. “No, of course not. She’s been acting as though the tower belongs to her since the instant you left. She took a shower, too.”
“Ah, there you are,” said Lady Prestia, ignoring Amber and addressing Ari. “If you would, young sir. I grow most bored of this place. Your fellow slave has already explained this tower’s functionality. You say you cannot bring me to my Lord Emperor, which I accept, but if you would please bring me to one of the other main Holds, I would be most grateful.”
Ari chuckled and shook his head. “That’s not going to happen. As far as I know, they don’t even exist anymore. You’re welcome to come with us back to our settlement, Etheria, however.”
“You’re seriously going to let her come with us?” asked Amber.
“Weren’t you interested in asking her questions about her time period earlier?” he asked.
“That was earlier, before I realized that this woman was more interested in pomp and pageantry than anything useful about her time period.”
“You!” Lady Prestia flicked her wet, red hair over one shoulder and set her hands on her hips. “You dare speak to a Lady and an official representative in that tone?”
“I wasn’t speaking to you, and even if I was, I’ll speak to you how I please,” said Amber, in a flat tone of voice.
“Lady Prestia,” said Ari, in his most patient voice. “If you want to come with us, you need to sit down and shut up. Are we clear?”
Lady Prestia blinked, and her expression went through various states of disbelief, frustration, and blank surprise.
“You…” She shook her head, moving her lips with no sound. “You’re a slave. You’re… all slaves.”
Ari stepped closer to her. She really was quite attractive, with flawless pale skin and wonderful endowments that were emphasized by her slim Saidican physique. The entitlement that still lived in her eyes, however, was anything but.
“I’m no slave,” he said, simply. “And the world you remember, the world where you could order people about, is gone.”
Lady Prestia simply stared at him. She looked out through the open door of the tower, across the roof of the spire. Ari watched her, and suddenly began to see her differently as he noticed the fear and vulnerability in her eyes.
“Hey,” he said. “I know this is all shocking for you, especially given how much time you spent on the spire alone. We will help you, Lady Prestia, if we can. I know what it’s like to feel as though you’ve been thrown out into a world that doesn’t make sense.”
“You…” Lady Prestia cleared her throat. “You needn’t comfort me, I’m no child. I will accept your offer of assistance, until a time whence I stand reunited with my own estate and servants.”
“Right, well, I’m sure that time will come before you know it,” said Ari, rolling his eyes.
Ari drew Azurelight, which flashed with light as Eva appeared in place of the sword, and Lady Prestia flinched back.
“A sword that turns into a woman,” said Lady Prestia, fixing Eva with a stare. “I’ve heard of such a thing before, but never seen it myself. Are you from my time as well?”
“I am, milady,” said Eva. “Though my memory of that age is slim.”
“Well then,” said Lady Prestia. “It’s good to know I won’t be solely in the company of rebellious slaves for the foreseeable future.”
Ari and Amber let out a groan in unison.
CHAPTER 15
They spent a few minutes sorting through their collected loot. Eva carried the various weapons they’d salvaged upstairs into the enchanting room, along with the majority of the distilled essence. Ari would have to consume it eventually and transfer the underlying essence into the enchanting altar, but he remembered how the liquid tasted and was in no hurry to drink more of it than he needed to.
He did have to down a few of the vials in order to gather enough essence to power the teleport back to Etheria. Distilled essence was sickly sweet and burned on the way down, and it gave him the overall sense that it was a substance not originally meant for consumption. Ari coughed as he upended the last vial into his mouth, slapping his free hand down on the common-room table.
“Everybody ready?” he asked. “I doubt we’ll be coming back for a while.”
Eva and Amber nodded. Lady Prestia looked confused, though he’d already explained to her how the tower worked. Ari used his will to coax the rune wards into visibility, and then set his hand down on the one that would bring them to Etheria.
Light flashed around the outside of the tower for an instant, and then they were home. Ari breathed a sigh of relief, feeling more than a little grateful for how quickly they’d been able to accomplish their goal.
The relief faded as his ears identified the regular, pattering sound of rain striking the roof of the dome overhead, outside of the tower. He immediately looked at Eva, who’d already moved to peer out the window.
“Fishers,” she said. “At least one is inside the settlement.”
Ari scowled with gritted teeth. “Come on. We need to find the others.”
“What?” Lady Prestia stood up and frowned. “Explain the situation to me. How should I—”
A heavy thump came from outside the tower’s door, hard enough to make the ancient wood groan from the force of the blow. Ari summoned Azurelight to his hand and pulled the door open just as the offending fisher hurled its body forward a second time.
It came through the doorway in a tangle of dark tentacles, reaching out in an attempt to grab both Ari and Amber. It was a nightmare embodied, with four main limbs, six tentacle appendages extending from just below the head, and a mouth with two sets of diagonally placed jaws.
Ari didn’t hesitate. He hacked away at the fisher with his sword, severing tentacles and sending green blood splattering across the common room. The monster let out a clicking, high-pitched hiss and continued trying to force its way into the tower. Ari slammed his foot into its abdomen, knocking it off balance, and then stabbed it twice in quick succession with Azurelight.
“Stay here!” he shouted. “Keep the door closed.”
“I’ll… try to,” said Amber, her voice shaky with fear. Surprisingly, Lady Prestia was the one who met Ari’s gaze and nodded. A single look at the resolve in her expression was enough to tell him that she’d encountered the monsters up close at least once during her time alone on the spire.
Ari kicked the fisher carcass out of the tower and firmly shut the door behind him. He looked around the settlement’s central chamber, desperate to catch sight of Kerys and the others but also terrified of what he might find when he did.
There were two other fishers in the chamber, one of which was already heading his way. Otherwise, it was completely empty. Ari took a breath and forced himself to stay calm and focused instead of letting his emotions take control.
“Talk to me, Eva,” he whispered.
“Finish these two and check the underchambers,” she said. “They’ll be here, somewhere. Don’t let yourself assume the worst just yet.”
“I’m a mud-damned idiot,” he said. “I should never have assumed that the others
could manage against the Weatherblight on their own.”
He sprinted forward, taking loping, Feathercloak-assisted steps. The nearest fisher reared back and stretched its tentacles out on all sides as he closed on it, as though it thought that the gesture might intimidate him into slowing down.
Ari let himself vent his frustration on the monster. He slashed Azurelight across its chest, nearly cutting it in half in a single blow. Green blood shot to the side, splattering onto the ground in an echo of the path of his sword.
The fisher grabbed his left arm with two tentacles. Ari swung his sword one-handed, still managing to decapitate the monster despite the grip it had over him. A noise came from behind him. He spun just as the second fisher threw itself forward and fell backward under the weight of its monstrous tackle.
The new fisher seemed dead-set on getting its bizarrely quadrisected jaws closed around Ari’s head. He blocked with Azurelight, pressing the edge of the sword into the monster’s mouth. It continued pushing forward despite the blade cutting into it, and it had both the weight and strength advantage over Ari.
“Aristial!” said Eva, through the bond. “The new ability!”
It took him a second to realize what she meant. Ari was pushing with his arms, but he could also push with his will, drawing from his and Eva’s bond to add even more leverage to the weapon. Azurelight seemed to hum in his hands as he did, and Ari snarled as the combination of both aspects of his strength was enough to push the monster clear of him.
He scrambled to his feet and cleaved through the fisher at the waist, leaving it spewing green blood from both halves. He kept his sword at the ready as he began to run, checking first the underchamber that Kerys and the children had moved into.
It was empty, as was the training room, and every other one he checked. Ari felt a growing, painful pressure encasing his heart as what little hope he had left began to dissolve entirely.
“Maybe…” He shook his head, biting his lower lip hard enough to draw blood. “Maybe they’re outside somewhere?”
Eva didn’t reply. Ari took off at a dead sprint and tried to ignore the insidious voice in the back of his head.
They’re dead. All of them. That’s why they aren’t here.
CHAPTER 16
Ari slowed as he approached the tunnel, spotting his rune sled in the spot where he’d left it. The old, rusted artifact had been at rest for the past few weeks, given that it had run out of essence shortly into their time at the settlement.
It wasn’t an issue for him now. He still had enough essence left from the vial he’d drunk earlier to spur the craft back into motion. He triggered the ward and climbed onto it, taking hold of the handle bar and urging it up to full speed as he shot down the tunnel.
There were signs of digging out front that suggested that the others had begun putting his plan to create a fence of trees into motion. Had they been outside when the storm had begun? The children, at least, would have still been inside. Why would they all have abandoned the arena, then?
“Check the drake skull that Rin uses for her training,” suggested Eva.
“Good thinking,” said Ari.
It was no more than a minute away by rune sled at full speed. The rain was falling in thick sheets, and Ari traveled fast enough to make the droplets sting as they struck his face and eyes. There were fishers everywhere, prowling through the rugged hills with predatory focus, but the few that came after Ari were too slow to catch up.
The drake skull was empty. Ari swore under his breath and slammed his fist against the side of the ancient fossil. He was desperately trying to think of where else he could look when he spotted the trees at the top of the cliff, where he, Virgil, and Eva had trapped the gazelles the day before.
“There!” he shouted. He willed the rune sled into motion and took off, cloak trailing behind him like a flag in the wind.
The trees were knitted together much as they had been during the gazelle hunt, with the addition of several fishers partially or completely bound with vines and flexible branches. Ari brought the rune sled to a stop and dispatched one of them with a sword thrust through the neck.
“Kerys!” he shouted. “Virgil!”
The trees shuddered slightly, and then an opening appeared in the branches. Ari decapitated another fisher as he hurried through, the branches immediately locking closed behind him.
Virgil stood at the front of the group of huddled survivors. They were all soaking wet. The children were at the center, with Grena and Kerys each comforting as many as they could manage at once. Durrien stood on the far end, watching the cliff with a long, club-like stick in both hands.
When Kerys saw him, she immediately stood and ran over, pulling him into a tight hug. Her teeth were chattering and her skin was ice cold. Ari hugged her as tightly as he could without hurting her.
“Mud and blood, Kerys,” he said. “You’re okay. I’m so glad.”
“The storm came on so suddenly,” she said. “Durrien was out gathering firewood since we didn’t have the tower’s kitchen to cook in. Virgil couldn’t keep the fishers out of the settlement on his own, and we couldn’t just stay there once one had made it in.”
Ari ran a hand through Kerys’ black and blonde hair and kissed her forehead. Virgil was standing nearby, his gaze directed downward. He looked ashamed of himself, and it wasn’t until Ari reached out and set a hand on his shoulder that he lifted his head.
“Virgil,” said Ari. “Are you okay?”
“Fine, milord.” Virgil blinked a few times, and Ari got the sense that his face was wet from more than just the rain. “I failed. I didn’t know what to do when it was just me against one of those, those…”
“You did exactly what I’d hoped you would,” said Ari. “You kept everyone safe.”
Ari grinned at him and clapped him on the back. Eva had shifted into her incarnate form, and she was helping the others onto their feet and preparing them for the necessary trip back to the settlement. Ari looked around and only then realized what, or rather who, was still missing.
“Where is Rin?” he asked. “Don’t tell me she…?”
He couldn’t finish his sentence, and he felt a momentary wave of despair at the idea of her falling to the fishers.
“We still haven’t seen her,” said Durrien. “She’s been off on her own since you left.”
“Mud and blood,” muttered Ari. “That foolhardy woman. There’s nothing we can do for her right now. Come on, here’s how this is going to work.”
He set the youngest of the children onto the rune sled, which he put Kerys in charge of controlling. Ari took the lead, wielding Azurelight on foot. Virgil watched over the center group of Grena, the children, and the rune sled. Durrien followed behind as the rear guard.
They moved as fast as they could through the dark, only slowing when they needed to shift their course to give one of the monsters a wide berth. Ari was forced to dispatch two more, though they each attacked individually, which made the fights easy.
Etheria was still cleared out, which was a relief. Ari took the duty of guarding the tunnel and directed the rest of the group inside, though the rain was already falling with less intensity. He stood with his hands tight on Azurelight’s hilt, as ready for a fight as he’d ever felt in his entire life.
The storm ended less than an hour later. Ari only let himself relax after a few minutes of calm weather, and even then, his heart was still pounding in his chest like a well-played drum. His sword flashed with light, and Eva appeared beside him, looking worried.
“Aristial,” she said. “We should head back inside.”
“It could rain again,” he said.
“If it does, I’ll guard the tunnel,” she said. “You’re too tired to keep going.”
She wasn’t wrong, but Ari didn’t want to admit that out loud. He headed inside with slow steps and found the rest of the community dealing with the aftermath of the monsters he’d dispatched.
Kerys, along with a few of the c
hildren, were gathered around Lady Prestia, who seemed comfortable, if not outright pleased, with the attention. Kerys was frowning, which Ari found understandable, given that the Sai woman had borrowed one of her dresses without asking.
“How very quaint,” said Lady Prestia. “I suppose these children aren’t slaves either? Will they at least become your servants when they reach adulthood, then?”
“Aristial,” said Kerys. “Would you care to explain to me where this woman came from, and why you thought it would be a good idea to bring her back here?”
“She was one of the mesmers in Deepwater Spire,” said Ari. “The pink one. I think you met her briefly, didn’t you?”
Kerys’ cheeks suddenly flushed. Ari grinned, remembering how he’d found her in Lady Prestia’s room only a few moments away from getting to know the pink mesmer in the same way that he had.
“If you don’t mind, Lord Stoneblood, could you show me to my room?” asked Lady Prestia. “All of the excitement of this night has thoroughly worn me out.”
“You don’t have a room,” said Ari. “I suppose you can share the underchamber that Rin has been sleeping in, for now.”
He scowled and ran his hand through his hair, feeling his anxiety for Rin flare back up.
“She’ll be okay,” said Kerys. “She has wings, remember? She could always just fly out of a storm, away from the fishers.”
“I guess,” he said.
He helped Kerys and Grena clean up some of the fisher blood and disposed of the monster carcasses. Their bodies, after death, felt almost like empty sacks, with all of the bones and structure dissolving in the same process through which they had formed.
He was tossing one of the dead fishers into the grass when he caught sight of movement overhead. Rin landed not far from the tunnel’s entrance, her feet squishing against the wet ground as she touched down. She waved at him, and he struggled to keep his emotions in check as she slowly made her way over.
Reborn Raiders (The Weatherblight Saga Book 4) Page 10
