by K. E. Young
She gave an aggravated huff, poked him in the ribs, and swung out of bed. Samra wrapped Sara in a robe and hustled her to her bath with an amused glance as he belted out a full-throated laugh. Sara's light laughter trailed after her.
Sara: 38th of Hunting, 3837
I knew Kaio was clowning with me to keep from dwelling on what was to come. I also knew I had a better idea of the dangers of the day than he did.
My heart beat a little too fast with anxiety as I thought on the day's task. I reminded myself, I can do this.
I bathed quickly and dressed with Samra's help. My shoulders still didn't work so well. Samra dressed me in a lovely deep purple velvet gown in a Drakkeni style I didn't recognize. "Samra? Is this one of Lady Zenra's gowns?"
Samra smiled shyly. "No, my lady. You spend all day at the archive working and I have free time. I've been working on it for three days. I wanted you in your best for today. It's all I can do to help you. The word about what you and the others are doing today has spread. The soldiers and mages never drink the night before an expected battle, so even if no one said a word, we all would have known today is the day."
She looked into my eyes earnestly. "Kaio is so worried about you. He knows you can do it. He has so much faith in you and he hopes this Task doesn't hurt you too much, but he also knows the Goddess wouldn't have given you a Task that was easy. Tasks never are. So few of the Goddess's helpers ever see happiness and he wants more for you."
I put my arms around her and hugged her. A wave of determination swept through me. "I'll make her give us happiness. I deserve it and so does Kaio. We will succeed today. I've already faced the valbore once. It will not break me." I let go of her and stepped back when she nodded. "I'll be tired afterward. We all will. Have a nice hot cup of tea ready for me when we get back."
She nodded and gave me a brave smile. "Yes, my lady. Your breakfast should be ready. I ordered something special."
We didn't speak after that. I hurried to the dining tent. Sure enough, breakfast was ready and it was indeed special. The palace chef had outdone himself. I couldn't help but think of the last meal given to a condemned man. To my surprise, Ren joined us for the meal, quietly seating himself next to Zenra.
Zenra looked tense and a little pale. She put a brave face on but her hands kept straying to touch Ren or Kaio as if to reassure herself they were still there. Everyone was tense. I couldn't blame them. Ren had told me of what they had gone through to defeat the valbore in the past. Deep down, everyone feared the good luck they'd had so far would end, that the deep losses they suffered twenty-four years ago would happen again. The last time they had faced a valbore they had lost not only an Emperor but a large portion of an entire generation. Dragos had lost his father. Laras and Zenra had lost both a sister and a father. Many of those who were to face it this time had lost family, fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters. Not all of the Drakkeni soldiers were male and mages were often female. A valbore didn't care who or what their victim was though.
After breakfast, I got enthusiastic hugs from both Laras and Zenra. Calum and Thorn were both there to wish me luck when Kaio and I exited the tent to meet up with the Emperor and General Istanetlu.
Samra was right. Word had spread. Everyone seemed to line our path wishing us luck. The number of people who expressed faith in me surprised me, faith that I, a woman, could defeat a valbore. It made me feel stronger. If they had faith in me, maybe I should too.
15: Valbore
Kaio: 38th of Hunting, 3837
Kaio could see Sara grow with every step. With every expression of trust and faith the people gave her, she became the woman he knew her to be. She was finally accepting her strength and worth. The woman who would meet the valbore would not be the broken thing the Arboren had bonded to it. Samra had whispered to him of Sara's oath to make the Goddess give her happiness and he believed she could do it. He had hope. He had trust.
They took the better part of an hour to reach the area cordoned off for dragons to land and launch. The warriors stationed there saluted and kneeled to Sara.
Kaio transformed and picked her up gently. Laras and Ren joined him aloft and they flew towards the center of the city, landing in the square closest to the sewer entrance they would use. Ren split off, heading towards the Waste. Other dragons joined them with another string of dragons coming in from the Waste camp evacuating the prisoners housed there. The final efforts against the valbore would make the entire waste dangerous for those without the magic to shield themselves from the overload. Other strings of dragons flew towards the Waste to prepare for the second phase of the conflict. Some had already been flying for hours to get into position.
Gelal and Urash were waiting when they arrived. The General was shouting orders and warriors were setting up a large tent and cots while healers conferred. They had set up braziers to warm the tents and healers were already at work preparing restoratives. The mages and the warriors feeding them energy would need their help to recover.
Urash approached us. "The mages holding the veil open for you are each paired with two warriors to feed them energy and hold a shield protecting them. Ren's group is already placing the special spells in the Waste and mages have prepared the modifications to the trap spell below according to your directions. Since we work well together, I will be the confluence of those feeding energy to you. Gelal and Laras will handle our shielding. Kaio is your support.
"There is one tiny change in the plan. Gelal suggested we use lanterns rather than mage lights. He argues that if something disrupts the mages' attention, we would be in the position of fighting a valbore in the dark. Disruption is unlikely, but it still seems a prudent move. If nothing else, it saves a little power."
Sara gave him a hard, determined look. "Sounds good. Let's finish this. I'm as ready as I'm likely to get."
Gelal glanced over and gave her a savage grin. He always hated the waiting before battle. He raised his voice over the chaos. "Pay attention! It's time! You all know what you have to do."
Sudden order coalesced from the chaos and warriors fell into place flanking the waiting mages, unlit lanterns in hand. The line of mages and their warriors trooped into a building and down to the sewer. Sara and her retinue followed.
Sara: 38th of Hunting, 3837
The tunnels were as dank and dark as I remembered, but part of the preparations had been setting up lanterns to light the path so this trek bore little but the scent to remind me of the last time I was in these tunnels. I could hear the valbore screaming its hate and fury and it made my skin crawl. However, this time I could tell it also screamed in pain and I felt a trickle of pity. It wasn't much, but it helped protect me from the force of the rest of it.
The room where the valbore awaited them was still lightless. Each warrior lit the lantern he or she was carrying before marching in and taking up position. In the center of the room was the valbore. Its presence felt wrong. The human mind tried to deny its existence, leaving a nightmarish void in the world where something should have been. It hurt to look at it. Like looking at the sun for too long, it didn't even register anymore. The spot burned out of vision. Wrong.
The mages and their warriors took up places around the room circling the screaming valbore. Sara stepped forward and the warriors' shield spells snapped into place to ward the mages. The designated mages then put into place their modifications to the trap spell. Leaving the valbore trapped in place, unmoving, but no longer tied to the center of the world. It would be considerably harder to maintain, but necessary for what was to come.
I could feel Kaio at my back, his presence a reassuring warmth in my soul. Gelal and Laras's shield came up and Urash's smooth warm energy joined with mine. I wrapped my determination around me and reached out to the valbore with my magic.
Kaio: 38th of Hunting, 3837
The screaming of the valbore drove into Kaio's skull. He could see why Sara found it so terrifying. Fear showed on all their faces without a doubt. Only Sara, Gelal, and Uras
h exhibited more grim determination than fear. Sara's expression matched the determination he felt through the bond and he took heart from it. Sara's magic reached out and wrapped around the valbore. Its screaming rose sharply in pitch and volume, causing all to wince in pain, then suddenly fell silent. The valbore hung still in the air, focused solely on her. Kaio could feel the struggle in her mind as the valbore fought her control. He sent his love and faith in her through the bond. She would win. He knew it.
The struggle slowly died out and Sara nodded to Urash. He signaled to the second set of mages. Their power hammered at the face of the universe, opening a rift in the world. Sara's power again reached out, this time to drag something into being. She superimposed this over the docile valbore and it screamed again. Again, she asserted her control and then she reached into the very being of the valbore and changed it.
This same sequence played out multiple times. Kaio lost count. Each time the valbore was different, more solid, and more real, less a denial of the world. When Sara finally turned from her work, a solid darkness rent with streaks of what was almost light had taken the place of the valbore. A Val'Ar Arboren existed for the first time in almost five thousand years. Horribly overpowered, as Sara had explained to him the night before, but still a true Val'Ar Arboren, their ancient enemy.
It waited patiently for her orders, but you could still see the roiling underneath as it tried to break free. It may be a Val'Ar Arboren, but it was still insane. A moment's inattention and it would break free. It still hated and it wasn't tame.
Sara turned to Gelal this time and nodded with a sad expression. Gelal looked grim and signaled to the warriors closest to them.
Kaio found himself seized and swiftly bound, ropes holding him tight. He shouted his surprise as Sara turned to him with tears running down her face. "I'm sorry Kaio. I have to, there's no other choice."
"Sara! What's going on?" Gelal and Urash both looked grim and a wave of terror swept through the bond. Sara stepped closer to the Val'Ar Arboren and Kaio realized what she meant to do. "Sara, No! We'll find another way! Don't! NO!"
Sara opened herself and it dived into her. She was its one route to freedom.
Kaio reeled in shock. The sheer rage and hate of the valbore overrode his perception of the world. The pain it had suffered throughout its existence, the madness. His dragon revolted at the sensation coming from his mate and he lost all touch with reality. His existence became a hellish mix of Sara's pain, the valbore's rage, pain, and hate, and his dragon's fury, fear, and sense of betrayal.
Urash: 38th of Hunting, 3837
Urash looked at his cousin with pity. Kaio struggled in his bonds and screamed incoherently in frenzy and desperation, all sanity gone. Sara was crying as she struggled with the valbore in her mind.
The mages had modified the trap spell again, this time to trap the valbore even while it rode Sara. This time, the trap spell used her own skin as a boundary, locking her feet in place. A trap extended to Kaio to prevent it from using their bond as a route out. If she gained ascendancy, then the mages would drop the trap so she could carry the Val'Ar Arboren to the Waste. If all else failed, then they would send it back to its prison in ahaynu.
They all prayed Sara would be strong enough because if she weren't, then she and Kaio would be its first victims.
Sara: 38th of Hunting, 3837
The valbore fought for dominance. It attacked me with its searing pain, its tearing hunger, its burning rage, and its corrosive hate. But I had experienced pain and hunger and rage and hate in my life. It couldn't attack me with anything I didn't already know intimately. I already knew the pain would end. It always did one way or another. It tried to make me fear, but I had lived in fear. I had also lived in loneliness, sadness, hunger, and torment. I had lived a nightmare worse than most could even imagine. It could not give me anything I hadn't experienced and lived through. I was stronger than it was. I had stayed sane while it had not. It could not break me!
I accepted its pain and gave back to it the knowledge that its torment had ended. I gave it back the knowledge it was whole. It no longer experienced tearing pain at its very existence. I gave it compassion. I gave it pity. In a way, I even gave it love.
The Val'Ar Arboren shattered inside, its hate broken on the anvil of my grace. The storm faded into a sad peace as it sobbed and whimpered in confusion inside me. It was adrift. Bereft of all it had ever known.
I took a deep breath and looked at Urash. "I'm still here. How is Kaio?"
He almost sobbed in relief. "He's not doing so well at the moment. We had to knock him out before he damaged himself."
I mourned inside, certain I had lost Kaio's trust, perhaps even his love. "I hope he can forgive me. We should do this as quickly as possible." My head hurt.
Urash looked concerned. "Can you hold it long enough?"
"I think so. It's quiet for now."
"Do you still want Kaio with us?"
"Yes, please. I need him. And maybe if he's there he'll understand why I had to do it."
Urash nodded tiredly and turned to Gelal. "Phase two."
✽ ✽ ✽
I looked out through Gelal's claws at the Waste as we circled in to land. It was dead and lifeless. Even more so here than where the camp had been at the ruined fort. They had evacuated everyone from the fort in preparation for what was about to happen. Mages had begun dismantling the protections in the city and people were returning to their homes, hoping I succeeded, but it didn't matter if I did or not. The valbore would no longer be a threat to them, not this generation at least. We had planned for every possible outcome.
Urash carried Kaio who was still unconscious. The link through the bond was dead to all appearances and I mourned its loss. I knew he loved me, but could he forgive what must feel like betrayal?
My skin buzzed with the energy of the valbore I carried. A sunburn that touched all flesh and bone, not just the skin.
I could feel the Val'Ar Arboren looking out through my eyes, its hunger tracing through every thought. It knew what would happen and welcomed it. Still, I couldn't trust it would remain so placid. It wasn't sane. I doubted it ever had been. Besides, it was starving and hunger had caused even sane men to act irrationally.
The first wisp of conflict occurred as a warrior helped me descend from Gelal's paw. I froze for a moment or two as I focused on the struggle and fear played across the warrior's features. I smiled tightly at him and said, "Don't worry, I have it."
"Yes, my lady. I do not envy you."
I almost laughed, but I suspect he wouldn't have taken it well. He had no idea, and with luck, he never would.
Gelal transformed and took my arm. "This way, Lady Sara. Everything should be ready." He led me gently towards the ring of mages already in place. As in the sewer, there were warriors ready to supply them with extra energy. This time, the mages were providing the shielding. That special shielding I had labored for hours to design. This shielding was critical. If the mages failed, my efforts so far would be in vain.
It didn't take long for everyone to find his or her place. I was in the center with my dangerous cargo, cargo that was more restive by the moment. Urash took up a position in front of me with Kaio lying at his feet. A tangible reminder of why I was doing this.
To my left, I saw the ruins of a city perched at the top of a cliff. I smiled at the sight of it. It seems the city did continue at the base of the cliff. I had wondered. Its ruins were little more than piles of rubble around us but there were hints of its former glory. It had been a magnificent place.
I nodded to Ren and my special shield took shape. I had designed it myself and spent hours agonizing over it. The idea was simple, and Ren proclaimed the design both simple and elegant. A shield unlike any this world had ever seen. It anchored in the center of the world and stretched below the earth to the edges of the Waste. We had stationed mages and their supporting warriors at precise intervals throughout the Waste to act as conduits so the energy spread over the en
tire Waste evenly. It centered where the Accusers had created the valbore a thousand years ago. The shield was to direct the Val'Ar Arboren's energy into this thirsty land, giving it a place and a purpose. A fitting cenotaph.
Ren signaled me all was ready and I nodded, focusing inward.
Urash: 38th of Hunting, 3837
He and Gelal were observers to this part of the plan. They watched as Ren gave the signal and The Val'Ar Arboren slowly pulled away from Sara and took form in front of her. As in the sewer, the mages had trapped it in place, preventing it from breaking free.
Urash regretted the necessity for Sara to act as a steed. He suspected he would have to blur those memories for his cousin. He was no longer so nonchalant about the task since he knew what he would find in Kaio's memory. If only he could blur his own memories of those memories. They were second-hand and ephemeral because of it, but they still felt real in his nightmares. He would never again be the unfeeling Emperor he had been so far. Sara's memories had changed him. He knew what suffering was now. He also knew what love was. She had shown him that too.
Somehow, he thought if they all lived through this, he would be a better Emperor. He would certainly be a better person. She had given him what he needed, even if she couldn't give him what he wanted. She had also given him an enemy.
Dragos: 38th of Hunting, 3837
Dragos watched as the valbore withdrew from his heir and coalesced in front of her. She held herself with determination and calm. Here she stood proud and tall, a very different woman from the one who had crept through the halls of his palace. Kaio had been good for her. She wasn't much younger than he was, but he still felt a paternal pride in her. This is what Kaio saw in her. This was the person she should have been.
