by L. R. W. Lee
We’d been on the run for nearly two moons. The temperatures had started to cool, and the leaves on the trees would soon turn a myriad of colors, at least that’s what Kovis had said. Dream realm didn’t have any seasonal changes, and while I’m sure my many charges had experienced this, I’d never paid any attention since I’d never expected to live here. That and my focus was on helping my charges by organizing their thoughts, not noticing their surroundings. So, I was looking forward to experiencing this fully.
Last night around our fire, Kovis had been introspective and told me that autumn was his favorite season because of the magic of the leaves. Most thought leaves were green. But cooler temperatures made their green covering fade and revealed their true colors, or inner beauty. It was one of nature’s metaphors, he’d said. The notion captivated me.
But that was then, and this was now and I was frozen. Again. The colder temperatures might make leaves reveal their beauty, but I wasn’t aiming to change colors, and I certainly wasn’t hiding inner beauty. If anything, I had a mind to reveal some inner ugliness as the crisp morning air nipped my nose and made my ears ache, waking me before the sun one more time. I ground my teeth. There was nothing poetic much less metaphoric about it.
It was getting old, really, really old. I wasn't a wimp. I wasn't. I'd proven to myself that I was tough, that I could fight against cutthroat competitors and win. But cold... it was an adversary of a wholly different nature, and equally fierce, equally indifferent.
Our fire had burned itself out. The few faint orange embers told me that it, unlike me, wasn’t frigid. I tried to lie still and shove the shivers away, shifting ever so carefully so as not to wake Kovis whose naked body cocooned mine. He was the only reason I didn’t tremble and hadn’t turned into an icicle. When the temperatures first turned, I’d rallied to wear my leathers to sleep, but I’d wound up even colder.
I pulled my nearly numb toes back inside our blanket—no matter what I did, they always found a hole. The worn blanket was the one I’d scrounged in our haste to leave Flumen with Father’s mares hot on our trail, and despite its gaps, it provided our only protection against the chill. How Kovis managed to keep warm with it I didn’t understand. Perhaps he was impervious to the cold because of his Ice affinity. I wondered if it somehow neutralized the cold—I’d tried using my Simulous magic to pull a few threads of his ice power, but it hadn’t helped at all. And he wouldn’t have appreciated me extracting the amount of power I’d need to stay as warm as I was accustomed.
This was the first brush I’d had with such cold in my entire existence. Kovis had known it was coming and prepared himself mentally for the challenges ahead. I'd had no idea. As we'd first embarked on this adventure—yes, I’d originally thought of this as an adventure—I’d been naive enough to believe this could be quaint and idyllic, just Kovis and me spending time together in the beautiful outdoors. I’d been hopeful that I could quickly deduce a way to get back to Dream. That had been before the temperatures had turned with the change of seasons.
The quiet was loud. Creatures of the light still slumbered, making the night and cold seem that much more fierce. Only the hot springs burbling not far off tempered it.
We'd risked becoming a meal for some hungry beast in taking refuge in the forest, but we'd had no choice. Since we’d been on the run, other than that snake, we'd had to fend off a silver vebros, a miniature dragon the size of a large dog, as well as a fanged chutnook, but it seemed the gods had thus far spared us confrontations with some of the viler creatures that roamed the wilds. According to Kovis, during his military service while his father’s campaigns persisted, they'd had to cut down a horned thorg—apparently the quick, waist-high creature had a whip tail that was highly venomous. I’d shuddered at his telling and prayed we didn’t encounter any.
Gooseflesh rose on my arms just thinking of what all might inhabit these wilds. Kovis used his Air magic to set sensors of some sort around the clearing we selected each sunset, to warn us of large animals approaching. If such a creature disturbed the invisible barrier, Kovis would be alerted. Small mercy. I hadn't yet figured out how he did it, despite his patient explanation. This was one of those nuanced uses of my magic that I couldn’t seem to master no matter how many times I’d tried. My touch just lacked the finesse required. I’d given up in a huff the last time Kovis suggested I try. He hadn’t brought it up since.
No light was yet visible, and my teeth were chattering. How much longer could I endure this? My mind numbed with the rest of me, and I moved a hand to my ear in hope of restoring the barest of warmth. I prayed it would stop aching.
I was making myself more miserable with these thoughts, so I forced my mind to focus on something else.
Haylan and Hulda and Jathan and those who had become my healer-friends since I'd come to Wake came to mind. I thought about Hulda’s fun-loving ways and Haylan's quiet but sure manner and how fulfilled I'd felt becoming a healer, helping people live better lives. But the fact that we’d run off from The Ninety-Eight with them all fast asleep renewed my angst. I’d no idea if Father had harmed them because of me. I needed to think of something else.
Velma, Alfreda, Wasila, and the rest of my sisters filled my thoughts. How I missed their warm smiles and joyous laughter. How I missed my brothers’ hugs and Mema's raised brow at my failing to meet her well-intentioned standards. And I missed Grandfather’s fun, booming personality. If I could just solve the riddle of how to return to Dream, I might see them... and be warm again. I was becoming less and less sure it was possible. The thought brought a fresh twinge to my heart
Kovis had tried to keep my spirits from sagging when I hadn't immediately found a solution to returning to Dream. His confidence in me had bolstered mine, but it was taking too long. Hoping didn’t hurry it. Wishing had no effect. Even focusing on it hadn’t helped. All any of those things did was make me frustrated, impatient, and testy. Too bad anger didn’t warm me, or I’d have been toasty.
I listened to Kovis’s breathing, still slow and deep, his exhales warming the top of my head. I again turned my focus to appreciating the quiet of the forest, before small creatures woke and scurried about, going through their suns scavenging sustenance—anything to distract myself.
The silence... the silence… I tried focusing on it for several heartbeats.
But it didn’t distract me this time. My thoughts were as frozen as the rest of me. They fixated on my ice-like state, on my lack of power to control my environment, and my lack of progress in formulating a solution to get to Dream. I needed warmth. What could we do to get more blankets and warmer clothes… this sun?
We’d raced off without so much as a copper between us, but at this point, I’d do whatever it took. I couldn’t live like this. My mind swirled, searching for but coming up with no possibilities for this conundrum either. My mind was as useful as a wooden pot over a cook fire. I clenched my jaw.
The first pink rays of sunshine finally showed through the canopy of leaves, and I huffed, pulling my frigid feet close enough to Kovis’s leg to rouse him. I didn’t even need to touch bare skin; my icy toes would do the trick easily. I was more than ready for some seduction and hot intimacy to chase the chill away.
He roused, but instead of seducing me, he tapped a finger against his lips as he eased me forward, eyes scanning the surrounding trees. The cold seized the opportunity and snuck beneath the blanket, taking another bite from me—awful, nasty villain. I pulled the covering closer, then matched his study.
I quickly spotted something moving in the trees, lurking, stalking near the edge of the clearing, and my heart sped. I couldn’t yet see the creature’s piercing eyes, or smell its stench, but I knew of only one beast who wore a violet coat that would glow eerily in the dim light. My shoulders stiffened. A creature of the night. And where there was one, there were more. They traveled in packs. Kovis must have sensed them breech the magic wards he’d set.
“Mares,” I whispered.
I’d had too m
any encounters with the beasts as I shepherded the dreams of various charges over the eons. Inducers of nightmares, they preyed on human fears, changing from their usual large wolf-like form into whatever most terrified my charge. For better or worse, humans couldn’t see or smell them, only experience the terror they brought. But once a mare had control, I was powerless to help until my charge woke. Mares were menaces, pure and simple. They’d rip you to shreds as soon as look at you.
Kovis nodded then slowly stood, taking position on bare feet between me and the sleepy fire. Muscled arms extended in front of him, palms out, tattoo blazing red, he was the picture of readiness. Had there not been a threat, I would have savored the sight of his lithe and naked body, his round but firm and dimpled butt, and… other parts. But this was not the time. He didn’t question my assessment despite not being able to see the creatures. He’d heard me tell tales of the brutes. Only I had visibility of them with senses that had somehow followed me through my transformation from immortal to mortal human body.
We’d tied Alshain and Fiona to trees not far off. They didn’t startle much less bob their heads in alarm, so clearly they didn’t sense the threat. The menaces ignored them, focusing only on us, thank the gods.
A twig cracked behind us, and I pivoted. Another mare, still behind the tree line but creeping closer.
Panic welled in me, not from fear of physical pain or night terrors, but from fear that we might not see another night. Surely, they could wound us, fell us with the swipe of a mighty paw if we weren’t careful. A quick death would be a mercy, which was why they wouldn’t kill us that way. They would do far worse. They’d dredge up memories of what we most feared then feed and nurture that fear until it became paralyzing. I’d have rather had my soul sucked from me than that. But still they wouldn’t end us, not when prolonging our terror would make their feast that much more delectable. The only thing that would end us would be our hearts nearly beating out of our chests. We would die of heart attacks—literally. We’d battled terrifying creatures since we’d been out here, but nothing compared to mares and what they would do to us. We had to win. It wasn’t a choice.
I tried to calm my raging thoughts, but they refused. Were these wild mares or Father’s trained abominations? Had he found us despite our best efforts? If so, how? Kovis and I shared dream sand, and its scent should have made us invisible to them. Father's mares had masqueraded as my siblings moons ago. If these were his, they would have shifted, right? These had remained in their base wolfish forms. They had to be wild.
My theory was quickly tested as a hare hopped between us and our pursuers. It didn’t see us, unmoving as we were, nor our foe, and was easy prey. But the mares didn’t fall on it. So they weren’t wild then.
My mind tumbled. I had no idea what they were. I needed my head clear and my breathing calm, so I told myself, even though they hadn’t killed that hare, these had to be wild. Father had not found us. This was a chance encounter. I’d keep telling myself that until I believed it.
Another violet beast—this one to our right—returned my stare as I spotted it. These monsters were huge. This one came up to my chest, perhaps even to my shoulders.
I counted as I scanned the perimeter. Nine. Nine mares, maybe more, had us surrounded. A chorus of growls began as their circle grew smaller, their noose tightening. Even combining Kovis’s Water and Ice powers with mine, there were too many of them, and they were too large to freeze like we did the small animals that sustained us. We’d have to engage the fight with them one at a time.
I shed the blanket and took a ready position, matching Kovis at my back. Despite the frigid air and lack of clothes, my limbs loosened as my heart thundered with anticipation and blood raced through my veins. Kovis was equally alert, his heart rate loud through our bond.
Our enemies continued closing in, and wisps of their stench hit me, making my stomach sour, but I couldn’t afford to retch. Kovis and I had triumphed over the host of competitors at The Ninety-Eight. We would not succumb to these vile beasts. I swallowed hard, forcing down bile, then opened my mouth and took calming breaths in and out.
The first mare pounced from the tree line in the blink of an eye. I swallowed as I saw its true size, even bigger in the open. It was a marvel of strength and grace and force. Its enormous, muscled body was elegant as it stretched for us. And we had no less than nine of these to defend against, to prove our cause to the gods. Would they see our quest as just, ordained, or squash it before it really began?
Alshain let out a whinny, no doubt sensing Kovis’s distress as together he and I raised a wall of impenetrable air that swirled around us, cocooning and protecting. If only it blocked their stench.
The first mare's muzzle slammed into our barrier and crumpled to the ground, dazed. The gods were for us, they had to be. Other brutes followed on its heels but averted the barrier as they landed. Saliva dripped from bared canines as they prowled around the perimeter, searching for weaknesses.
Kovis was the most powerful sorcerer the Altairn Empire had ever known—tri-affinitied in Air, Water, and Ice magic—but blind as he was, his effectiveness rivaled a mule deer crossing ice. He tried nonetheless, drawing water from the air then freezing it into a multitude of needle-thin icicles. These he sprayed through the wind wall, hoping to hit something, anything.
A mare stopped dead in its tracks, eyes and nose suddenly leeching blood. Another, its ear and side spouting red through violet fur, halted. Both slumped to the ground. Kovis swore as they materialized, the hulking, lifeless bodies giving up their shields of invisibility.
The horses whinnied and stomped their hooves.
Holding my winds steady, I borrowed a thread of Kovis’s water magic and drew liquid from the air. I pried the muzzle of another beast open with a strand of my winds and forced the water down its throat until it overflowed. It’s what I’d done with my final competitor during The Ninety-Eight, and the move produced the same result. A third body turned visible.
Fiona whinnied, her tone becoming panicked.
I added sand from the clearing to my winds and blasted another mare. Blood sprayed as the abrasive struck its nose, then eyes, then ears before it succumbed. Red flowed from the nearly headless corpse as it showed itself, adding to the carnage littering the clearing.
Kovis threw an ice mist that would freeze anything it touched, but it hit only the hind quarters of another attacker. The beast’s back legs collapsed, but it fought its infirmity and struggled forward, teeth snapping. I ended it, blasting it with sandy air.
I downed two more mares, drowning one and shredding the head of the other, but as I eyed the next adversary, my bond with Kovis went silent. I pivoted and screamed.
Both horses reared, fighting their teethers.
Not more than a stride away, a beast had Kovis’s leg clamped in its maw. It tossed him like a rag doll, side to side. Kovis yelped. With him blind, his wind wall must have separated from mine and a mare found a way between.
Oh no you don’t! The thing had made it past our defenses, but I would never let it keep him. Not without a fight.
I wrenched Ice magic from Kovis at the same time I realized his eyes had closed and the mare was shifting, changing into what Kovis most feared. The thing had put him fast asleep quicker than I could blink. Kovis thudded to the ground as the form of a powerful, robed, black-winged god emerged. Father, or Kovis’s interpretation of him, bent over and grabbed his neck in a death grip. I blasted the impersonator with ice until I’d encased all but where it held Kovis’s neck, then turned my winds on it. It shattered into a million pieces.
Kovis didn’t move.
But something in my periphery did, and I shot up to find two more monstrous mares lunging, about to sandwich us. In rescuing Kovis, I’d taken my focus off the last of our opponents.
Perhaps it was the direness of the situation, but panic didn’t raise its head. Rather, an icy calm suffused me. I’d been frustrated, increasingly so these past sennights. My frustration h
ad turned to anger then morphed into rage as a solution back to Dream continued to hide itself while Kennan and Alfreda’s lives lay on the line. Between the biting cold, our primitive conditions, battling for our lives in this gods forsaken wilderness, and now these mares, I was done. My calm was that of all my wild emotions, no longer roiling, but solidified into hardness, into resolve. I clenched my jaw, thrust my arms out wide, closed my eyes, and let my winds fly, holding nothing back.
I heard my name as moisture pelted my face. I didn’t stop. Ice flowed through my veins. These mares would pay for all they and their kind had done to my charges over the annums, pay for Father’s scheming. I’d make them suffer like I had, like Kennan and Alfreda no doubt were, at his hands. I would show no mercy. I would utterly destroy them.
A voice called insistently, but still I ignored it as I let my winds obliterate the foe. I was done freezing outdoors, done running, done feeling helpless.
“Ali! Stop.” Strong hands gripped my shoulders, forcing me from my fury.
I opened my eyes to find Kovis staring into them, panting.
“I’ve said it before, but it’s true. You’re fierce when you’re angry, Ali.” Kovis grinned, but I wasn’t in the mood.
He drew two fingers to my cheek and brushed them across. The tips came away red. I jerked back, returned to reality in a heartbeat. He motioned with a finger, tracing the outline of the clearing. My eyes followed. Six bloodied and mutilated corpses littered the clearing, but their stench lived on. The devastation I'd wrought was total, complete. I almost wished I felt remorse. Almost, but no, they were our ancient foe, and I would spare no pity for them.
“You completely obliterated the last two,” Kovis said, reading my unspoken question.
“The blood is from them?”
Kovis nodded. “And bits of hair and bone and… You may not have learned the nuances of your magic, but I’ll have you fight on my side every time.” He swatted the air and grimaced. “They reek.” He coughed, trying to control his stomach.
