by E E Ewer
Margery had been wandering the East Wing for nearly an hour looking for Nire, and when she couldn’t be found in her room either, she decided to go check with Miko. She recalled her mentioning something about that today, and wondered if they were off in the forest.
Upon entering Miko’s hut, the old woman was surprised to find a red fox curled up in the corner on the pile of furs, where Nire had slept during her first few nights at the castle.
“Miko, what’s wrong?” Margery asked the very sad looking fox. Miko looked up, and upon seeing Margery her fox form melted away and she sat up, holding her knees to her chest.
“Nire left,” she said sadly, with her head in her arms.
“What? Miko, what do you mean Nire left?” There was a ring of panic in the old woman’s voice.
“She said she was going to find someone who would help her get home, and she left,” Miko explained, shrugging her shoulders. “I tried to convince her not to, but she wouldn’t listen.”
“When did this happen?” Margery asked with urgency.
“Sometime this morning…”
“Miko, this is far more serious than you know. I might need your help. Quickly get prepared,” the old woman said frantically as she turned to go back into the castle.
“Prepared for what? What’s going on Marge?” Miko asked lifting her head from her arms.
“Prepared for anything!” Marge shouted behind her as she shut the door.
The old woman rushed as quickly as she could towards the East Wing. Realizing she had no time to spend looking for the Lord of Shadows, she shut herself into a windowless room and called out loudly into the darkness.
“LUCIAN!” she shouted. After a few moments a voice came from behind her.
“Margery, what is it?” Lucian asked. This was not a common happening, and Margery almost never addressed him by name. Swinging the door to the hallway back open and letting the light flood the room she quickly explained herself.
“My Lord, Nire has left Eastcastle!”
“What?”
“Miko saw her leaving,” Margery explained, “saying something about finding someone who would help her get home.”
Lucian’s eyes grew dark as she spoke. “Margery, get any information you can. I will find you again soon,” he said, then faded back into the shadows.
Lucian threw open the South Wing Armory door. Both trainees and Alastor stopped all activity and looked up, startled at the sudden intrusion.
“Alastor, gather 20 of your guards and have them search the city for a young human girl the age of 19, brown hair, green eyes, answers to the name Nire,” he ordered fiercely. The lion headed Elder raised a brow at Lucian and cocked his head. “I will explain later!” Lucian shouted.
Obeying the command, Alastor waved his hand to one of the recruits to fetch the city guards, throwing a look that clearly said “you heard him!” Lucian walked over to Alastor and continued his instruction.
“Ready your men for anything, Alastor, we may need to march.”
“My Lord,” he responded in obedience. “But… Nire?” he asked curiously. Alastor seldom left the South Wing during training season, and aside from the occasional rumor had no idea what had been going on these last few weeks.
“Yes, the same,” Lucian responded. The Captain of the Guard had been his most trusted friend for thousands of years, and had been one of the few to know about the importance of the human girl those many years ago. “The human girl who came here from another world, it is her,” Lucian explained in short.
“I see… and what has happened?” the lion headed man asked.
“She’s left the castle. I need her found. Now,” Lucian said darkly. Alastor nodded.
Neir had been standing nearby, no doubt irritating Alastor about the trainees using wooden swords again. Overhearing the conversation, she stepped forward.
“My Lord,” she began. “Is there anything I can be of assistance with?”
“Yes. Track her,” he said before turning to leave. Neir bowed her head and quickly left the room
The city guards had been mobilized and were combing the city streets for any sign of the human girl. Lucian watched through a window as they scattered through the city below. Unable to stand idly by, he turned quickly and stepped through a shadow into Nire’s room.
Splayed open on the floor was the drawing book he had given her the night before. Picking it up he smoothed the pages, which were all still empty. As he began to close the book he noticed that there had been a single mark made on the front page, where the outline of a heart encased the inscription he had written for her.
Closing the book he set it gently on the foot of the bed, trying to understand why Nire would have up and left so suddenly. He opened the chest and found all her other personal belongings gone, but in the armoire her original clothes were still folded at the bottom.
Unable to find anything of interest he left the room as it was, and faded into the Depths. Focusing all his consciousness on locating the girl, he searched every inch of the castle, and any shadow he could find within the city, but nothing revealed the brown haired girl to him.
With his agitation growing by the second, he quickly left the Depths and returned to the South Wing. He stepped out of a shadow behind Alastor, just as a guard came running.
“Captain!” the guard shouted with a salute. “A girl matching the description was seen leaving the city on the back of a supply cart, sir!”
“When did this happen?” the Lord of Shadows growled at the guard from behind Alastor, who would have jumped if he were not used to Lucian’s sudden appearances. Looking quickly between Alastor and Lucian, unsure of who to address, the guard finally settled on Lucian.
“Uh… near eight or nine hours ago, si – uh, My Lord!” the guard shouted.
“Alastor,” the Demon Lord began, his voice low and foreboding.
“My Lord?”
“Ready my rathe,” he said, his eyes filled with fury. The anxiety in his heart turned to anger, directed at anyone or anything that might harm his precious human. “Also ready 15 of your soldiers to accompany me. You have 20 minutes.” As the Lord of Shadows turned to walk away, he shouted over his shoulder. “And ensure the rest of your men are ready to move at moment’s notice!” Alastor nodded his maned head as Lucian stormed out of the room.
The entire castle was on edge as the Lord of Shadows rampaged through its halls. Almost none of the residents had any idea what the uproar was about, but the very fact that the High Lord was in this state at all put them on guard.
Lucian hurried to his quarters and donned light armor over his clothing. Quickly attaching pauldrons and cuisses, he was not expecting a fight but it was senseless to leave Eastcastle unprotected. Attaching his sword to his side and a dagger to the inside of his left boot, he immediately moved to meet Neir in her lab.
At 20 minutes precisely the Lord of Shadows appeared at the stables. His rathe had been armored and saddled and stood in front of 15 other mounted soldiers, prepared to follow him. The stallion was comparable to no other, standing far taller and built much stronger than any of the other mounts. Its coat was jet black, its eyes were red and its armor forged of black steel with decorations of red and gold.
Mounting his horse he gestured to the men behind him that they were moving out. The horse reared slightly as his master turned him to go, and the company rushed out the castle gates. The main road had been cleared, and the city guards held back the crowd as the Lord of Shadows raced through the streets.
Neir had been doing her best to locate the path that the girl had traveled in, but being that she was not walking it was a very difficult task. She had searched Nire’s room, and upon finding a strand of hair left on her brush she headed quickly to her lab. Using the strand and a concentration of her own pure magic, she created an enchanted gem that would glow when its caller neared.
Lucian held the tiny stone in his hand and watched it as he rushed down the main road and out the city gates. I
t would have been eleven or twelve hours now since she had left, and he needed desperately to make up the lost time.
Nire had absolutely no knowledge of the world outside Eastcastle, and as the Lord of Shadows rushed to find her before the unspeakable happened, Margery was in search of anything that might help them locate the girl. Entering the East Wing library Margery called out to Eireane.
“Eireane, was Nire here today?” she shouted into the library.
“Yes, sometime around 10, why do you ask?” came a voice from somewhere amongst the shelves.
“She’s left Eastcastle, and his Lordship has left in search of her,” Margery called out as Eireane appeared from behind a shelf.
“What? Why did she leave?” the black haired girl asked with concern.
“That is what I’m trying to find out. Miko said that she was looking for someone to help her get home, but that doesn’t explain why she would have left in such a hurry, and without telling anyone.”
“Well, she seemed perfectly fine when she came in here… she did take out a book, but it was just another book on plants,” Eireane offered.
“A book you say? I wonder if she still has it on her…” Margery thought out loud. “Thank you, Eireane,” she added as she walked out of the library, leaving the dark haired girl to her thoughts.
The old woman rushed down the service hallways towards the Medics lab. Neir was standing over her table examining a book on enchantments. It was difficult to track someone who was not leaving some sort of trail, and the spells she knew only covered a short distance.
“Neir, Nire might have a book on her from the castle,” Margery announced suddenly, causing the Midblood to startle.
“Is that so?” she asked as Margery approached the stone table and tossed a piece of parchment in front of her.
“That is the enchantment that was placed on the library books. Can you track that?” Margery asked hopefully as Neir picked up the paper and read the enchantment to herself.
“Yes… this will be most helpful,” Neir said as she laid the paper in front of her. Placing her hands on either side of it she concentrated on the spell, the book, and the stone she had given the Lord of Shadows, which was not actually a stone at all, but a concentration of pure magic that she had designed to respond to alterations from a distance.
If she could reach it, she could design it to track the spell Margery had given her as well as Nire. This sort of enchantment would be far more appropriate for long distances. She strained as she searched the realm for a connection to the gem. Finally her consciousness detected it as it flew down the road leading away from Eastcastle.
“Ahh...,” she said as she focused hard on the book’s spell. It had been designed to locate any books that left the castle grounds. Many of the books were the only copies in existence, and that made them a valuable commodity, worth the effort of protecting so strenuously.
Without Neir, Lucian could only follow the main road as far as it went until he was riding blind. The company reached the first crossroads, and Lucian came to a halt. Considering each direction carefully, his rathe maneuvered impatiently as he fought to concentrate on Nire. The sun was hanging low on the horizon and it would soon be dark.
Just as he was beginning to lose composure over the issue, the stone in his hand began to emit a red glow that called him to the south. Instantly recognizing the spell that traced his books, he realized that Nire must be carrying one on her. Forcefully guiding his mount to the right, he picked up the pace as the glow of the stone in his hand burned intensely.
As the sun dipped below the horizon Lucian only hoped that Nire would stop soon, before she found herself in trouble. This was not the kind of place a young girl should be traveling alone, let alone a human girl with no experience of the land.
The company rode throughout the night, but Lucian knew it wouldn’t be long before the horses would need to stop and rest. There would be no rest for the men who accompanied him however, as they would continue on foot, leading their mounts behind them.
Chapter 10
Table of Contents
Darkness loomed over the East and Nire continued to sleep soundly as the cart traveled on down the southern road. She was awoken suddenly by the sound of hooves fast approaching, and with blurry eyes she sat up looking for the source of the commotion.
“Get down!” She heard Markim whisper frantically. “Hide amongst the crates if you can!”
Doing as she was instructed she found a rug to place herself behind. It didn’t hide her nearly as much as she would have hoped, but it was the best that she could do. The sound of hooves came ever closer as she lay quietly, fear rising in her stomach.
As the sound reached them the cart came to a sudden stop. Nire tried to peek out the back, but saw nothing. Whoever it was must be standing in front of the cart.
“And what is it we have here?” said a man’s voice, no doubt directed at Markim.
“Nothing of interest, just delivering supplies,” the old man responded, trying to sound casual.
“Is that all? Nothing interesting? Are you sure?”
“Positive. Now if you and your men would kindly let me pass,” Markim said as he attempted to guide the horses around the blockade.
“Well, unfortunately for you it just so happens that today I am looking for the uninteresting and mundane. I don’t suppose you would mind if I took a look in your cart to see if I could find anything like that, now would you?” said the man.
“Now see here,” Markim began.
“Somebody shut that old man up,” the other voice hissed. Nire heard a muffled cry followed by the sound of a thud, and gasped. Immediately putting her hands over her mouth she held as still as possible, but she knew that it would likely be of no use.
Between crates she could see a mounted rathe circling around the cart, and the torso of a man as he dismounted and began walking towards her. The voices of other men began clamoring behind her as she tried desperately to keep quite.
The man was at the edge of the cart now, and Nire could smell him. He reeked of dirt and sweat, and he was only a few crates away from discovering her. He began pulling out boxes and tossing them to the ground. As the boxes broke open the other men sifted through the debris and took what they wanted. It was only a few minutes before it was all over.
“And what have we here?” the awful man yelled, grabbing Nire by the hair.
“Ahhhh!” she cried, throwing her hands to her head. The man tossed her on the ground, just as he had the crates, and she half expected one of the other brutes to come pick her up. However, the first man turned around and stepped towards her as she held her head with her hands.
“Lookie, lookie,” he began. “Now, this is very interesting indeed.” The other men chuckled.
“What do you want?!” Nire screamed at the man. Looking up she was able to get a better view, and realized this was not a man at all. A demon … and what appeared to be an Elder. The book had said that Elders often exhibit animalistic features in their normal form, and this demon had the head of a lizard.
“I want you to shut that shrill mouth of yours before I slap it off your face!” he hissed angrily. The other men laughed. Reaching into the pouch at his side he pulled something out that Nire could not see in the darkness. He approached her quickly, grabbing both of her wrists and spinning her around to face away from him.
Everything went completely black as a cloth sack was placed over her head and tied around her neck. Nire screamed, and upon doing so she felt a sharp pain at her right temple shortly before she hit the ground.
As dawn approached Lucian prepared to signal his men to stop and dismount, when a sudden change in the stone he carried caught his attention. The red light diminished as he rode, and he pushed his mount to press onward. Hoping there would be some sign that might direct him towards his human, his pulse quickened when he saw in the distance a cart sitting idle in the road.
Racing forward at full speed his hope turned to distress a
s he realized it had been completely torn apart. Flying off his horse he scanned the wreckage, and much to his dismay the stone had stopped glowing. The demon began picking up pieces of debris and tossing them aside, when finally under an old rug he found what he had hoped not to find.
Nire’s bag lay open in the pile of rubbish, and the library book that it had contained only a few feet away. Picking up the book he placed it in her bag, and looked swiftly for any of her other belongings.
He didn’t have time to rest the horses, but they would be of no use at all if they were over worked. Turning to his men as they caught up to him, he signaled for them to dismount.
“Urazel!” he called angrily to one of his men.
“Yes, my Lord?” responded a tiger headed demon, coming to the front of the company.
“Ride back to Eastcastle as quickly as you can. Tell Alastor to send five of my legions and hold the rest ready to march. They will have to ride quickly to catch us; I can’t afford to lose time.”
“My Lord, what shall I tell Captain Alastor if he inquires who we are preparing to fight?” the soldier inquired.
“Whomever we have to! Now go!” Urazel bowed his head and quickly mounted his rathe and road back towards Eastcastle.
Lucian was completely aware of where Nire had been taken, or at least where she would be going. It was not unusual in this area for demons from the Southern Quadrant to attack travelers and steal their wares. However, with the cart owner laying dead in the road it could easily be assumed that material goods were not all they had been after.
He needed to catch them before they got too far into the South. There were a number of places Nire could be sold or traded – illegal as it was. The Ancient continued to lead his men on foot; the horses would just have to rest while walking. A bright early morning sun hovered in the sky as the company continued down the southern road. The bandits would have to stop and camp sometime, but Lucian did not, and neither did the 14 Elders who trailed behind him.
