Herald of the Nine

by Tiger Hebert

  Vacinne shouted, “Move!”

  Myshal shook her head, “Make me.”

  “I don’t have time for this,” sighed Vacinne.

  Envar said, “Looks like you’re going to have to make time.”

  Envar and Kiar both grinned.

  Dedric said, “Guys knock it off, just let her pass.”

  “Shut-up, Dedric,” barked Myshal as she stared down Vacinne.

  Vacinne didn’t want to fight Myshal—or anyone for that matter. She’d done enough fighting to last her a lifetime. She also couldn’t afford to make a big scene here, but Myshal had always done everything in her power to make Vacinne’s life in the temple hell.

  Myshal was her age, but had arrived a year before Vacinne. She never understood why the woman hated her so much, but Myshal had been a thorn in her side since day one. Vacinne had always looked for ways to avoid the young woman, but Myshal actively hunted her down.

  It was one of the reasons why Vacinne was so happy to start going on missions, because it would keep her outside the temple walls. Though she guessed that probably only made matters worse, as Myshal was still in training. Vacinne had surpassed her in her schooling and training, and it only made the woman despise her all the more.

  Myshal uncrossed her arms and said, “I guess this special mission of yours isn’t that important after all.”

  Vacinne said, “I don’t want to fight you.”

  Myshal snapped, “I don’t give a damn what you want.”

  The short haired brunette lunged forward. Vacinne twisted and swatted her hands away. Despite appearing off balance, Myshal executed a graceful spinning roundhouse kick. Vacinne narrowly dodged the woman’s speeding boot. Myshal caught her balance, then charged at Vacinne. Vacinne turned her right shoulder toward the woman as she reached out and grabbed one of her outstretched arms. Vacinne executed a perfect hip toss, pulling the charging woman up over her body and slamming her down onto the hard floor. Vacinne twisted over Myshal, her hand shooting for the woman’s throat while her knee pressed into the woman’s stomach.

  “Stay out of my way. The next time, you won’t get up again,” growled Vacinne through clenched teeth.

  Myshal’s face was a display of terror. Her eyes were wide and her lips were trembling.

  Vacinne pulled Myshal up toward her, against the pressure of her knee. “Do you understand?”

  Myshal nodded her head, but said nothing.

  Vacinne shoved her back down, then rose up. She towered above the cowering woman.

  “Good, we’ve got work to do,” declared Vacinne with determination in her voice.

  Envar and Kiar just stared at her in disbelief. They’d never seen her stand up for herself, not like this. They’d seen Vacinne be bullied for years, but that Vacinne was gone.

  Dedric just shook his head. “I told you to let her pass.”

  Vacinne stepped over Myshal with one foot, then when she went to step over with her second, Myshal grabbed for her ankle. Vacinne delivered a lightning quick reverse snap-kick to the woman’s face. Myshal’s head snapped back and bounced off the floor.

  Vacinne didn’t look back, as she continued walking into the library.

  Renlar looked at the three guys then down to Myshal’s motionless body. “I’d make sure you have some bragle root tea for her when she wakes up, because she is going to have one hell of a headache.”

  Envar and Kiar just stared at him slack jawed.

  “Oh,” said Renlar, “And I am one hell of a wild beast.”

  Renlar winked at them, before turning and following Vacinne into the library.

  Renlar entered the library, but did not see Vacinne immediately. It was no surprise either, the library was absolutely massive. One of the largest he’d seen anywhere on the entire continent. It made up the majority of the entire twenty-first floor of the temple. There were towering shelves of books everywhere. They not only lined the walls, but there were rows and rows of them. There had to be tens of thousands of books here.

  This way, said a voice in his head. Straight back.

  Renlar made his way between the tall shelves. He saw nothing but row after row of books until he reached the end of the shelves. He stepped forward and ran right into Vacinne. Their bodies collided. His eyes met hers, and he saw that it was no accident. She threw her arms around his neck.

  “I know you could have handled that for me,” she said.

  “I wanted to.”

  “I know you did, I could hear it, but more importantly I could feel it.”

  “You could?”

  “Yes, but you didn’t,” she replied.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “I’m not. I needed to know that you trust me, that you believe in me, that you know I can take care of myself,” she said.

  “I do trust you and believe in you.”

  “Good,” she replied.

  “I—”

  “There are times where I want you to step in and take care of things, but not because you think I can’t handle it. You know what I mean?” she asked as she stared into his eyes.

  “Not at all,” he said laughing. “Do you want me to step in or let you handle things?”

  “Yes,” she replied before pulling him in close for a kiss.

  Her soft lips met his for the first time. His arms found their way around her and held her close while she pulled him down into the kiss. Renlar’s heart raced as she kissed him with the same passion and intensity, he’d seen so frequently in her since he’d known her. He couldn’t believe it.

  To Renlar, it felt like the kissing embrace was a slow and meandering dream—one he should never wish to awake from. He tried to remember every touch of her fingers, the taste of her lips, even her scent which he’d grown so fond of—vanilla and cinnamon. He was lost in her, and he wanted nothing more.

  Their lips separated and Renlar opened his eyes. Her body was still pressed against his and her face was still close to his and she smiled at him. He could still taste her on his lips, and he yearned for more, but there was work to be done.

  “There will be time for us later, we’ve got a job to do,” she said, as if she was reading his mind, which she probably was.

  “Lead the way.”

  Vacinne pulled her arms away. She nodded, then she reached down and grabbed one of his hands and she pulled him after her. She led him through the back of the quiet and empty library. Within a few minutes they found themselves on the opposite side of the library, which put them on the opposite side of the tower now. That is when Renlar first saw the large balcony open up before them. It was late at night and it was growing cold this time of the year, so the glass panels had been slid closed.

  Renlar and Vacinne made their way to the glass walls, and wasted no time sliding it open. Strong winds greeted them when they first stepped out onto the large balcony that stretched far wider than the large entrance. It immediately died down to little more than a gentle breeze, then Renlar slid the glass door closed behind them.

  “Are you ready for this?” asked Renlar as he pulled off his pack and retrieved some supplies from it.

  “As ready as I’ll ever be,” answered Vacinne with an unsure expression.

  She laid her shield down on the floor. Renlar grabbed a roll of black rope. He wrapped the rope around Vacinne’s hips and down through her legs several times creating a harness for her. Once he was happy with the way the rope secured her, he gestured for her to step onto the shield.

  Once she was in place, Renlar began securing the ropes of her harness to her shield. The rope harness held her securely to the shield. At least that was the hope. Renlar stood back up and took a step back.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “Let’s do this,” she said.

  “You’ve got the sound stone?”

  “Yep, right here,” she said while patting on the rune stone in her pouch.

  Renlar said, “You’ll have to maintain the mindlink, I’ll be completely focused on controlling the lif
t.”

  “Okay.”

  Renlar said, “Okay, here goes.”

  His hands moved in smooth, flowing motions. The chill night air on that dark balcony began to swirl in a strangely controlled manner. The shield began to lift from the floor. As the floating platform rose into the air, Vacinne widened her stance to improve her balance. She exchanged glances with Renlar, and she nodded.

  Renlar lifted her higher into the air, inch by inch. The lift was slow but steady. That is all he cared; it didn’t matter if it took all night for them to pull this off—it just had to be safe. Renlar watched Vacinne rise away from him on her flying platform. His eyes glanced from her up to the top of the tower. Three floors above them he could see the bottom of a balcony on the twenty-fourth floor. That was their destination. Renlar estimated that it was at least forty feet above them, possibly more. His eyes shifted back to Vacinne who continued to rise steadily into the night air.

  She was already several feet above him. Everything was going according to plan. He continued to send the steady controlled flow of air underneath her while controlling the stability of the shield with his control over the Drenamine. Vacinne looked down at him and smiled nervously.

  The shield rose higher and higher. Sweat poured from Renlar as he steered the makeshift lift toward the target location. Over twenty feet were now between Renlar and Vacinne as she neared the balcony.

  A rogue gust of wind blew in from the north. Renlar missed its coming. The air buffeted Vacinne, who was fully exposed to the elements. The blow caused her to lose her balance. Her arms flailed wildly and her body moved about as she fought to regain her balance. Renlar shot a blast of wind at her back. The gust was too strong. It shot her forward, nearly knocking her from the platform.

  “Renlar!”

  Vacinne struggled to regain her balance, but the wind caused her to collide with the side of the temple. She hit the temple with a little too much force. The impact was jarring, but it allowed her to steady herself and avoid falling over.

  “Are you okay?” He asked nervously.

  Vacinne made sure she had her balance once more before responding, Yes.

  Renlar focused his magic upon holding the shield level for her while steering her away from the temple wall enough so the shield wouldn’t scrape or catch on it. Vacinne managed her balance well, but they still had another twenty or so feet to go before she would be in a position to even attempt to climb upon the balcony.

  Renlar began to lift her upward once more, despite the suddenly strong winds.

  Can’t you do something about the wind? Isn’t that your thing?

  Her words were only spoken in his mind, but he could still hear the cutting sting they carried. Vacinne was frustrated and afraid.

  I’m doing everything I can. You have no idea how bad this storm really is, he answered.

  Renlar was indeed giving it everything he had. Despite the massive storm that was coming, he was doing everything he could to keep things relatively calm around them. He had been from the moment they stepped onto the balcony. Unfortunately, the coming storm was drawing nigh and its fury was great.

  What storm? Asked Vacinne.

  She didn’t wait for the answer though, instead she carefully turned her gaze away from the temple. The dark night made it hard to see much of anything, until distant flashes of lightning started to dance through the sky. Vacinne yelped in surprise.

  Vacinne, I need you to focus. We need to get you up there before the storm gets any closer, urged Renlar.

  Vacinne replied, Okay.

  Renlar pushed her upward in a controlled, but urgent pace. She rose toward the balcony, closing the distance quickly. A rogue gust of wind sliced through Renlar’s barrier and hit Vacinne. She started to spin as the gale continued to rush past her. Renlar used his magic to try to slow the spinning, but understood an abrupt stop would be dangerous. The wind continued hard against her, hammering her from multiple directions. Still spinning, Vacinne fought hard to maintain her balance, but she was losing the battle.

  Lightning flashed in the night. It was much closer than before. Cold drops of rain pelted them at angle. The icy drops hit with stinging force and the lightning strikes became more frequent. With every brilliant flash of light, Renlar could see Vacinne struggling some twenty feet above him.

  Frightened, Vacinne cried out into the night air.

  Her left boot slipped on the newly slicked surface of her shield. With her footing lost, her boot slipped right off the shield. She fell awkwardly to the right and landed hard on her shield. Her weight being off center caused her to fall off the side of the shield. Her harness held her to the shield, but the shield spun as her uneven distribution of weight forced the shield to roll over. Vacinne fell, with only the straps of her harness holding her to the still upheld shield.

  Her screams filled the night air and were it not for the now raging storm, would have alerted every guard in the temple.

  Hold on, I’ve got you, Renlar promised through their mindlink.

  Hurry, she cried.

  Renlar was fending off as much of the storm as he could, he was holding the shield twenty feet off the ground, and he was doing everything he could to stabilize her and the shield in the midst of all of it. He strained as he poured all his Spirit into his efforts.

  Angry winds continued to assail Vacinne. She rocked and swayed as she dangled upside down from her harness. Lightning arced in the distance and the cold rain battered her.

  You’ve got to cut my harness, she said.

  What? Are you mad?

  You have to, I’m stuck like this.

  What are you going to do?

  Just trust me, demanded Vacinne as she pulled herself up enough to get a good grasp on her shield.

  Reluctantly Renlar commanded one of his blades from its sheath and he sent it up to her. He worked the knife with great care to cut her free from the harness. As his knife sawed through the black ropes, he watched Vacinne pull the grappling hook from her belt with her free hand. She let the long rope fall away from her. Then the last part of the harness was cut away.

  Vacinne’s full weight was now held to the shield solely by her left arm. The shift of the weight distribution caused the shield to tilt onto its side, dropping Vacinne several inches. The gusting wind caught the broad side of the shield and flung her about wildly like a kite in a storm. She flung the grappling hook toward the balcony with all her might. The black hook flew through the air with great accuracy right toward the railing, cutting right through the wind and rain.

  Renlar watched as the hook hit the top of its high arc and descended toward the stone railing that surrounded the balcony. The black hook fell toward its target in a flash.

  Clang!

  It slammed into the railing with a force. The throw was just a few inches short. The hook bounced away until Renlar snatched it with his magic. He jerked the hook through the wind and rain toward the balcony, where he wrapped it securely around the railing until he was satisfied.

  Vacinne tried to look down to him.

  Don’t, just focus, he said.

  I just want you to know you are amazing, she thought.

  Tell me that when we’ve survived this crazy night.

  Vacinne grasped the black rope of the grappling hook with her right hand. Once she was confident in her grip, she let go of her shield and grabbed the rope with her left hand. Renlar then allowed her shield to fall away as Vacinne swung away on the dangling rope. The shield fell down to Renlar, who then eased it to the floor near him, right next to the dagger he’d used to cut her free.

  A wave of relief washed over him. He could now focus his magic on helping her make a controlled ascent, despite the degrading conditions. He realized they needed to move quickly too, because the storm was drawing closer by the minute and the lightning strikes hadn’t subsided in the least.

  Renlar drew upon his command of metals to tug at the drenamine in her suit of armor. It wouldn’t be as easy as it was with the shi
eld. Rigid objects were easy for him to manipulate, but the suit of armor was thousands of tiny interconnected, interlocking pieces. It would require thousands of points of control. The risk of pinching and hurting her was incredibly high. It was the whole reason why he opted for the shield. But this was what they were left to work with.

  I’m going to give you a gentle boost. If it starts to hurt you in any way, let me know.

  Okay, she replied.

  Renlar worked his magic to steady her movements and give her a boost as she climbed the wind-blown rope. It worked! Vacinne was suddenly able to speed her way up the rope. She climbed with tenacity and despite everything against her, she was reaching up and grabbing ahold of the stonework on the balcony railing. Renlar watched as she pulled herself up and out of his sight. As the relief from fear and anxiety fell away from him, Renlar fell backward under the weight of exhaustion. He was able to keep his eyes open, but his body collapsed to the rain-soaked balcony beneath his feet. From his back he looked upward and watched as Vacinne’s face appeared over the balcony. She looked down to him and waved.

  Are you okay? What happened?

  I’m fine, finish the job, so we can get you the hell out of there, he replied.

  Okay.

  Then she vanished from his sight.

  8

  Storming Mad

  Vacinne wiped the rainwater from her eyes and turned her sights to the glass door that separated her from the Grand Master’s quarters. She crept close to the glass wall. She leaned forward and tried to peer inside, but the unlit room beyond made it impossible to see anything from here. She looked around at the glass door for the handle. After a few seconds of scanning, she found it and slid the heavy door open. She was quick to step inside, lest she risk making Jherenon aware of her presence from the sound of the storm. Soaking wet, she stepped inside the room and was quick to slide the door closed behind her. The door thudded closed far louder than she’d intended, and Vacinne cringed.

  She stood frozen in the dark room. Water dripping off her to the rug below her feet. She was cold and she was wet. That presented a new problem she just realized. She was soaking wet and was likely to leave a trail wherever she went. It would be evidence to Jherenon that someone was in his place.