Blood and Ashes

by N M Zoltack

  There, Hartwin Kerner was. In his hand was a ball of wind, visible only because of the thread of flames running throughout it.

  “You do not have to do this,” Vivian said, lowering her bloodied blade to the ground. Only the tip had any blood on it.

  “You do not know me or what I must do,” Hartwin spat out. “I’ve done so much for this kingdom but always for someone else, never for me. Now for me! Now, I will have all of this!”

  He held up his arms, and that ball of wind grew from the size of his hand to the size of a massive boulder. Hartwin sought to move it, to throw it, clearly as he brought his arms down, but the swirling mass of wind and fire fell down upon him. The man shrieked, the sound echoing strangely as he faced them and then away, the wind spinning him all around, the flames growing, consuming him entirely.

  The wind slowed and then vanished. Hartwin dropped to the ground.

  And that was the end of that.

  34

  Rase Ainsley

  Rase rushed over to the child. The tiny body was twitching, and there was a lot of blood. At first, Rase had thought that he would carry the young girl and carry her to Leanne in the castle, but he was afraid to move her.

  Instead, he chased down that wild horse. The wagon had tipped over onto its side from the horse knocking into it, so that was no good either.

  The horse neighed and bucked and shook all about, but Rase struggled and fought and managed to climb onto the horse’s back.

  And that proved to be the easy part. Getting the horse to gallop in the direction of his choosing proved almost impossible, but Rase persevered, and eventually, they started to make good timing. Rase rode the horse all the way inside the castle walls, even inside the keep before he fell down. His feet slid right out from under him as he dismounted, and he collapsed onto his rump, scrambled to his feet, and raced to the healing hall even though his legs shook the entire time, and he thought he might fall again with every step.

  “Leanne!” he bellowed from the entrance to the healing hall. “Leanne! Please! You have to help! You have to heal! There’s a child.”

  “A child?” Leanne appeared as if out of nowhere. Gone was any of the animosity or disappointment that had been shining in her eyes recently. “Where?”

  In answer, he grabbed her hand and rushed her out of the keep. The wild horse had taken off, but with Leanne being a healer, they were allowed to take one horse. Rase sat in the front and directed the horse. The farther they went, the more Rase became afraid he had misremembered the way back, but there was the sideway wagon, and there was the child in the same spot he had left her.

  “I didn’t want to move her,” he babbled as they approached her barely moving form. Was she still moving? Still breathing? He didn’t know. “I should have. I was afraid—”

  “Rase, it’s all right,” she said.

  He halted the horse, and Leanne slid down. She fell to her knees beside the girl’s head.

  Rase remained on the horse's back. "Can you help her?" he asked as the horse nervously pranced forward and back as if feeding on his emotions.

  “I am trying to,” Leanne murmured desperately.

  Her hands began to glow, and Rase had to look away. Tears burned his eyes. What had the girl been doing, racing toward that wild horse? Whose wagon was this? It did not have much of anything on it, and there was no drive about, no horses either. It was as if the owner of the wagon had just disappeared.

  “Mama?” a soft voice called out.

  Rase’s heart leaped for joy as the girl sat up and glanced around.

  “Where am… The wagon! Papa will kill me. I thought that horse… He carried it this far… I just wanted to help, but if the wheel is broken…”

  “Do you know what happened to you?” Rase asked, urging the horse closer.

  Leanne straightened and touched his knee. “Leave her be. I don’t think she knows, and it’s no matter, really.”

  The girl was trying to use a thick branch to level and push up the carriage. Rase sought to ride over to help her when the sky began to darken. Clouds must be rolling overhead. Unfazed, he tied the reins around the wagon’s one side and used the horse to right the wagon.

  The girl was so appreciative that she squealed, and Rase opted to tie the horse to the wagon. He would have to find a way to pay the crown or whoever he had to for the horse.

  Thrilled by his grand good deed, Rase turned back to his sister and stilled.

  She was face to face with a dragon, smiling wide, staring at the winged monstrosity with eager happiness.

  Rase couldn’t deny that his sister had been rather obsessed with the dragons lately, but this was a bit strange.

  The dragon just stared at Leanne for a long moment, and then the dragon’s neck stretched out, and Rase feared the dragon would eat her.

  But the dragon sliced his claws straight down at her, from face to shoulders to torso to legs. Leanne collapsed to the ground in an already growing puddle of blood.

  No!

  35

  Alchemist Apprentice Sabine Grantham

  Patience. The virtue was one that Sabine was beginning to master. Why resort to something as pathetic and deplorable as anger and frustration when she had the time and the resources to try again?

  But not within the castle. She had perhaps overplayed her hand by going after Aldus, but she wished for the ambitious man to learn his place. He would not have the better of her, and she knew that even if he did not go to Rosalynne to complain about Sabine, that her actions against the prisoner Bjorn might be found out. Either way, Sabine was not quite so removed from her feelings that she did not understand that she had to leave in order to preserve herself.

  So she asked the guard Thorley to go and have a fresh meal prepared for her. The moment he left, she gathered all of her notes, books, and ingredients together. She then consumed two potions, both from her mother's notes, one that granted her the power of increased strength as well as one that would allow her to become very light in weight.

  The strength she required, of course, to carry everything she brought with her. As for the necessity for her to weigh less…

  She had rushed to the window, out to her balcony, and she had jumped. The potion allowed her to land on her feet without harming her ankles or knees at all, and she had hurried away to the stable. There were not many horses there. Was an attack being mounted somewhere? How strange it seemed to be so far removed all of that. Those matters simply did not concern her, not at the moment. Once she was queen once more, once Tenoch was hers as was Vincanans, once the three dragons were all dead and all threats eliminated, then she could have such mundane worries. Not that she thought she would have to send her knights away and mount any attacks. Certainly not.

  How foolish the other female alchemists before her must have been that not one of them had become queen.

  Not as far as you know, a voice in the back of her head whispered. A strange voice, not her own, although distinctly feminine.

  Sabine had hesitated before climbing onto the nearest horse’s back. Would the voice speak more? But there was nothing else, and Sabine gave it no further thought.

  She raced to the outskirts of Atlan. There were some people here, and they at once began to offer her food and whatever else she might need. She moved into a house, rolling her eyes at the foolishness of Rosalynne. The young queen never had declared Sabine no longer a joint ruler, had she? If she ever had, these pitiful fools did not know it.

  You’re the pitiful one. You don’t even know how potent oresil is.

  And there’s fury stalk.

  And sludge.

  "Sludge?" Sabine voiced allowed. Somehow, she wasn't worried about overhearing various women's voices in her head. A part of her knew immediately that they were her sisters, the voices of the accursed female alchemists who had come before her.

  Not the sludge that is muck and mud. The poison sludge.

  Slowly, a wicked grin crossed Sabine's face. Yes, sludge would be a won
derful addition to her potion. Why had she not considered it before? Sludge would cause the cold agents to last longer on the person, while the poison part would help to weaken the person as well. That weakness would help Frozen Kiss's effects to be amplified.

  "Any other thoughts?" she asked. "I can try the oresil and the sludge. Fury stalk raises a person's body temperature. I seek the opposite."

  Oh, she’s a feisty one.

  Willing to listen to us.

  Let’s help her.

  Sabine closed her eyes and sought out their advice. Finally, she had advisors who would not betray her. Soon, she would have all she deserved and more.

  36

  Rase Ainsley

  Leanne. His sister.

  His ma.

  His pa.

  Maxene.

  Her baby.

  Everyone Rase knew and loved. Everyone he had ever cared about.

  They were all dead.

  All because of him in some way or another.

  His pa because Rase was hungry and couldn’t hide that anymore even though he strove to.

  Maxene because he hadn’t been able to get her a good enough physician or apothecary to help with the childbirth.

  The babe for the same reason.

  His ma had been killed because of Rase’s enemies.

  And his sister… Rase had sought to be good, to help the world, to make a difference. He had spotted a child who needed to be healed, and he had known Leanne could heal her, and Leanne had.

  But if Rase had made better choices… If he had been a good brother… a better person… maybe then the dragon would have seen fit to give Rase magic too. Maybe then he would have been a healer. He could have saved that little girl himself.

  Even if that meant he had been the one killed by the dragon instead.

  The dragon remained there, and Rase fell to his knees and spread out his arms. “Kill me too!” he shouted. “I demand that you take me as a sacrifice!”

  His voice cracked, and tears streamed down his face. His body shook, but he did not blink, did not shy away from the monstrosity before him.

  “I know… I have faith…” Rase’s voice cracked again. “I have faith that good choices… they make good people, and I… I know I made terrible ones… Not just after pa died… even before he had been killed…”

  The dragon flared his nostrils. Twin plumes of black smoke trailed ever upward. He stared at Rase, not moving, not blinking either.

  Rase swallowed hard. His arms hurt from being held out like this, and his knees were digging into the sharp ground, but he didn’t mind. In fact, he welcomed the pain.

  “If I could go back,” Rase said, “if I could know now what I didn’t know then… if I knew then what I know now… I would change everything. Everything. Faith… good…”

  The dragon finally moved. He opened his mouth, and he belched fire.

  Rase closed his eyes, thinking of his ma and his pa and his sister, and his last thought was that he had faith he would see them again and his last act?

  A tearful smile.

  37

  Prince Marcellus Gallus

  The Vincanans rose a bit closer to the Tenoch warriors, but he urged them to head slightly south of where they should go.

  When they camped that night, Vivian broached the subject. He sat on a log away from the fire and the other warriors. Only a few were mingling with the others, but that even one was he counted as a blessing.

  The princess stood before him. “Why are you pushing us away from returning to the castle?”

  "I would have us go and see Rapid Falls before returning." He shifted to one side so she could sit beside him if she so chose.

  She lifted her eyebrows, and only then did she sit beside him.

  “The town means something to me,” he muttered.

  “So I have learned,” she said dryly.

  “You know much about me,” he said. “Do you ask to know all of my comings and goings?”

  She snorted, and he had to laugh.

  “What is so funny?” she demanded, crossing her arms.

  “You are.”

  “Elaborate.”

  "I can picture you as regal as can be in fine clothes and fancy gowns, and yet you are comfortable here, with warriors, snorting."

  “I do suppose that snorting is not precisely ladylike,” she allowed, “but the thought of my wishing to know your every move is simply absurd.”

  “How so?”

  “You can do as you please, and I do not care what you do.”

  “I can say the same to you.” He handed her a piece of his meat.

  She did not take it.

  “I saw you gave most of your food to the others,” he said, forcing her to take it.

  “The dragon is killing so many and destroying so much that I fear we will soon have a famine. All of the fires everywhere could cause a drought as well.”

  "You seek to start to conserve food now before either plight is truly in hand?"

  “If I can become accustomed to working hard with less sustenance now, if and when those plights occur, I can make do with less so that what we have will last longer.”

  He touched her wrist to guide her hand up to her mouth. “You can manage to eat this, can’t you?”

  “Of course I can,” she retorted with a wry twist to her full lips.

  “Do you wish for me to feed you? Is that it?”

  “That is highly unnecessary,” she retorted, and she shoved the entire sizeable piece into her mouth.

  He suppressed a laugh at her reaction to the idea of his feeding her, which called to mind another conversation they had.

  “I would be most disgruntled if a famine or drought affected grapes.”

  “You can feed them to yourself,” she retorted.

  He roared with laughter, delighted she knew precisely that which he had been referring to.

  "It is a shame about Hartwin," she murmured once he composed himself and herself as well as she had laughed too.

  “He deserved his death,” Marcellus argued.

  “I suppose, but the way those men fought for him… You do not think he had influence over them?”

  “You mean aside from promises? Magically?”

  Vivian shrugged and stared off toward the warriors. “I do not know,” she murmured, “but his men all laid down their weapons after he died.”

  “That does happen when the leader falls in battle,” he pointed out.

  “I suppose, but now, we will never know.”

  “You seek knowledge in all things, don’t you?” Marcellus asked.

  “Not every detail concerning you,” she murmured, turning to gaze at him. She swallowed.

  Marcellus forced himself to look away. They were sitting too close together, but the log was only so long. This was not proper. He was engaged to another, to her sister.

  But they were merely talking.

  “Did you happen to see a redhead with magical abilities?” she asked, changing the subject.

  “I did.”

  “How did he acquit himself?”

  “He did well, from what I saw. Quite well.”

  “Not too overzealous?”

  “No.”

  “Not headstrong?”

  “Why all these questions?”

  “Girdie is in Ulric’s militia.”

  “Rosalynne’s personal guard has his own militia?”

  “Ulric is truly a remarkable man. He’s quite accomplished. He was not truly trying to spar me, for whatever reason, so you have not seen him in action. He is a wonder.”

  Marcellus flared his nostrils. “I see.”

  She shoved her shoulder into his. "Are you jealous that I gave another a compliment?"

  “You have never complimented me.”

  “Haven’t I? Let’s see… Where to begin…” She tapped a slender finger to her cheek. “You aren’t barbaric like some think the Vincanans are.”

  “I can be,” he said with a grin.

  “You ar
e tall. Tall is good.”

  “Because I can control my height,” he said dryly.

  “You are cunning and strategic. You don’t take risks where they are not warranted, and you will do whatsoever is necessary, and I do mean whatsoever is necessary, for your people.”

  Marcellus knew then that which she meant, and he turned to stare at the fire, unable to meet her gaze.

  “That is a good thing,” she murmured as she dropped a hand to his shoulder. She leaned against him as she stood, using him almost as if a walking stick to help her up. “I am off to patrol.”

  “See to it that you sleep.”

  “I would prefer to sleep in the castle.”

  “Is that so? I would have assumed you would rather sleep under the stars.”

  She glanced up. Clouds covered most of the sky, but the moon shone down on them well enough.

  “For the most part, yes, I prefer to sleep out of doors. I merely wish to return to my sister.”

  “She is fine,” Marcellus murmured.

  "I hope you speak the truth of it and not merely what we both wish to be true." She nodded to him, almost bowing her head, and off she went, leaving Marcellus to his contemplations.

  At the sight of Rapid Falls south of Arlington River, Vivian, who rode alongside Marcellus at the head of their warriors, turned to him. Marcellus had thought the knights had rebuilt the city up after the dragon attack and the battle with the knights from Tenoch, but there was more damage that had to be corrected. They were still very much in the process of setting things back to rights.

  “Thank you,” she said warmly. “The knights will stay here and help to rebuild the city.”

  “I am certain the—”

  “Marcellus!”

  A small blur raced to Marcellus and plowed into him.

  He chuckled and bent down. “Phillipe, how are you?”