by B. T. Narro
“I don’t believe you, Jenna,” Syrah said. “You wouldn’t order the death of Three Tooth. Only he would.” She gestured at Leon.
“I didn’t order the death of anyone,” Leon argued. “I mean, yeah, I killed him, but he was a bit of a moron, wasn’t he?” Leon sounded like a different person, his tone lacking confidence. I figured Remi’s statement had gotten to him. Could it be he was finally realizing that he didn’t always have to be such an ass?
Syrah’s eyebrows were still dark, not gray like the rest of her hair. They lowered over her eyes.
Leon continued, “Three Tooth would still be alive if he hadn’t tried to fight us while we were capturing him. His death is on him. Like I said, he was a bit of a moron.”
Syrah glowered at Leon. Then she looked back at the four men behind her. A couple of them shrugged while the other two nodded. Eventually she turned and spoke to us again. “I suppose he was a moron.”
I had a breath of relief.
“So why exactly are you here now?” Leon asked.
“The reason we’re here is because there’s only one thing we hate more than someone coming in and trying to take over the city,” Syrah explained. “And that’s dark mages coming in and trying to take over the city. We know you’re waiting for reinforcements. They were originally coming here to get rid of us, weren’t they?”
“They were,” Jennava said. “But after this army of Rohaer showed up, we were going to deal with them first. It’s too late now to receive aid from our troops. We have to act on our own because Valinox has assured us that our sorcerers will die if we delay.”
“When?”
“Can we move this along?” Souriff interrupted. She had been looking more and more impatient as she had been waiting silently.
I wondered if there was another reason Souriff had finally come. Perhaps she needed something from us.
Or from me specifically? She had shouted my name earlier.
“Are you, dare I say…” Syrah was looking at Souriff from the sides of her eyes. “The demigod of dvinia?”
“I am. Are you and your thieves going to help, or am I going to have to deal with you after all of this is over?”
Syrah continued to watch the demigod cautiously, but slowly her gaze returned to Jennava. “We expect something in return.”
“How many are there of you?”
Syrah whistled.
Men and women equipped with bows showed themselves around the edges of buildings. They crept over the streets like a swarm of insects. We had gathered a large audience by now, most clearly afraid at the sight of so many armed people. There had to be at least a hundred of them. A few of the townspeople let out shrieks as they hurried out of the way.
“By the devil’s tail,” Hadley muttered to me. “I can’t believe so many of them could remain in hiding. The king should’ve sent tax collectors rather than Leon and the others.” She raised her voice as she asked Syrah, “What were all these people posing as?”
I was a little surprised her mind went there above anywhere else, but she did seem to have a valid point, the more I thought about it.
“Tavern workers, bar hands, beggars on the street,” Syrah answered. “A couple have real businesses and help out the rest with ‘work,’ ” she explained. “We’re sacrificing a lot by showing ourselves here in front of everyone.”
“You’re sacrificing nothing,” Leon said. “If we die, then all of you will be next, and you know this. Now keeping that in mind, what do you want for your help?”
“Not so fast,” Syrah said. “I’m pretty sure you were about to come looking for me. Enlisting our help was your only chance if you could not wait for your army, as you have described. Now keep that in mind when you offer a reasonable reward. Otherwise we will flee the city and make our home elsewhere.”
Leon had already discussed what would be offered to them, but he seemed to be putting on a show as he gave a pained look at Jennava.
Souriff let out a sound of frustration as she whisked through the air and landed in front of Syrah. She grabbed the woman, picking her up by her arms as if she weighed nothing and carried her back to set her down in front of Jennava.
“You women will decide on something right now,” the demigod demanded. “Then you will shake hands and we will clean up this mess in the forest.”
“I’m sorry to speak against you, demigod,” Syrah said a little bashfully as she took a single step away. “But we need more than a handshake. We need an agreement written and signed by the king.”
“You fu—!”
Jennava interrupted Leon, “We don’t have time for that.”
“The demigod of dvinia could fly over to the castle and get it for us,” Syrah said.
Souriff pulled up the leader of the thieves by her shirt. “You are a criminal, are you not?”
The many members behind looked as if they were undecided about using their bows, most fiddling with their weapons.
“I will answer if you set me down,” Syrah said with some anger.
Souriff dropped her roughly, but Syrah landed gracefully.
“We have spent years trying to stand against Cason and his dark mages while Oquin Calloum did nothing. We’ve lost many members, but we have recruited others. We may take things we need, but we care more about the future of Lycast than most of the other people in this city. Now that demigods have shown their involvement and Rohaer approaches our doorstep, we don’t want to keep hiding. We want to help, yet we expect to be compensated appropriately. We will fight with you, but not unless we are promised that things are going to change.”
Jennava said, “When this is done, you will meet the king in person. You will discuss terms with him. I’m sure he will want you to sign an agreement through ordia, but if you agree to that then your reward could be something as important as acting as lord of the city, with the rest of your members as constables. I presume this is something you’ve wanted for some time?”
“It is,” she answered quickly.
“So long as you and the others agree to serve the king and the people of Koluk,” Jennava said, “then I imagine his majesty will be happy to present this reward for your service. But hear me when I tell you and yours that the fighting will be tough. Rohaer’s troops have Endell Gesh and Valinox with them. They’ve had plenty of time to prepare traps, and they have our prisoners with them. At the mere sight of us, they might attempt to kill our sorcerers, who are very important to us. We must save them. Do you and your members understand this?”
“Of course we do. No one knows traps better than us. We’ll have your sorcerers back before supper.”
The rest of us didn’t seem to be so sure, however. I made my way toward the demigod.
“Souriff, there’s nothing stopping Valinox from ordering the deaths of our sorcerers—our friends – as soon as he sees us coming. If anyone could do something about this, it would be you.”
“He won’t order the death of anyone. We took an oath in front of our father that we would not kill. And ordering the death of a prisoner is basically the same as killing.”
“What if he’s no longer afraid of Basael?” I asked. Everyone around us quieted as they listened. “It’s pretty clear to me that he has been pushing his limits as much as he thinks he can get away with,” I continued. “He carried someone through the air and set her down behind me the last time I saw him, and this person attempted to kill me. Before that, he threw me into the air while wishing me dead. It doesn’t seem as if Basael has done anything to him yet. Only Gourfist awoke, but ordering the death of my friends would do nothing to awaken Gourfist again, and Valinox knows this.”
It frightened me that she didn’t answer, her lips pursing as if she thought I might be right when I had hoped I was wrong.
“He believes he can win without breaking his vows,” Souriff said. “Therefore, he won’t order the death of anyone. If that changes, then we have to be afraid.”
I hated to disagree with the demigod, but I did. “I
apologize, Souriff, but I think you might be wrong. He has probably already told Endell Gesh to give the order to have them killed. It would happen as soon as he saw us coming.” I pointed to the sky. “He could be watching us right now, invisible.”
Souriff looked up. “No, I would feel if he was using the kind of power necessary to hold himself in the air nearby.”
“Still—” I began.
“I will not forfeit my life for a few human sorcerers, or this war will be lost. I will find Valinox and stand against him when it is time. That is all you will get from me.”
I had spoken with Souriff during my training before leaving to travel across Lycast. She had given up the better part of an hour to work with me on my dvinia, though she did so with great annoyance. She had been more impatient than Leon, always speaking to me as if I might prove to be a waste of her time. I didn’t know if living for centuries made every demigod so irritable, or if it was just Souriff and Valinox, but I found myself wishing that this was a war purely fought between humankind.
“It’s time to plan,” Syrah said.
I let go of my annoyance as my fear returned. With Souriff’s selfishness, we needed some way to free our sorcerers during our ambush, or I would never see them alive again.
The plan had better be good.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Eden had almost made it to Koluk, but she had barely slept in the last two days. She’d eaten one enormous meal, when the large cat she rode upon had found a kill that he could not finish. He had slept while Eden made a fire to cook the leftovers, but that was some time ago. Now she was hungry again.
She would’ve taken the time for a bath had any of her numerous pets led her to a river, but little streams and shallow ponds seemed to be the source of water for most creatures in Curdith Forest.
Right now Eden was filthy, her dark hair matted against her head, but she was close to Koluk. She had seen the city in the distance as she came through the trees on the back of a cantar. That was when she had finally gotten off and said goodbye to her pet. She had walked through the forest the rest of the way to be where she was now, just a couple miles away.
She had more control on her own feet, and her legs needed a good stretch, anyway. She had a feeling she might be running sometime soon, depending on what she saw when she finally came across Valinox again.
She didn’t know exactly what she would do in Koluk. It wasn’t as if she had any coin on her. She liked to think she might find one of her friends, like Ali, and turn herself in. But she was scared. They might kill her before she could explain herself, for what she did to Remi.
Eden was furious that Valinox had left her to die. Maybe she could figure out where her friends were staying in Koluk and leave a note, apologizing. She could give them time before she showed herself to them.
It might not do any good.
Maybe the only way she would live through this war was to continue to offer support to Valinox. Could she really live with herself if she did this, though? It was different when he used to stick to his promises, when he made the war seem like it would take a matter of weeks. He had been wrong, and there had already been so much death and pain. She was tired of feeling responsible for some of it.
Before she made her decision whether to venture into Koluk, she wanted to find the large group of soldiers and sorcerers she used to be part of. Perhaps she could find out something and use it to bargain her way back into the good graces of her friends.
Eventually she found the group just a mile from the edge of the forest. Valinox was speaking with Endell Gesh in the midst of the small army. Eden almost stepped in a bear trap as she stayed behind the trees and observed without being seen.
It looked as if they were prepared for imminent combat. Archers stood in formation at the center. Tents had been taken down.
Then she heard a voice she hadn’t expected to hear. It was Michael’s. What was he doing here?
She couldn’t quite see him from her current location. There were too many trees in the way. She didn’t want to get closer, as Valinox probably had scouts making sure no ambush could surprise them, but she had to see what Michael was doing.
She located the one ranger in Rohaer’s group, who was far from her, watching the other side as if expecting people to come from that way. She kept an eye on him as she moved around the outskirts of the camp, getting closer to Michael’s voice.
“All right, all right!” yelled Michael from a little ways off. “You made your point!”
“And yet you’re still talking,” said an unfamiliar man. “I told you to shut up.”
“Ow!”
Eden knew it was a risk to get this close, but she didn’t feel like she had a choice. She looked around to check for scouts, then watched the forest floor for traps as she scurried around the trees for a better angle.
She found Michael trapped in a cage. A large man poked him in the leg with a sword a few times. Every time, Michael screamed.
The man seemed to be enjoying himself. “I’ll stop when you manage to keep from yelling,” he said with some humor in his tone, drawing a yelp from Michael every time he stabbed him.
Must be a dark mage. They enjoy anything that makes them feel powerful, like being an ass.
Eden’s skin crawled as she felt like she would be discovered at any moment. She wondered if Valinox had told his followers to kill her on sight.
Eden could see the side of Michael’s face from her vantage point. He made an expression she hadn’t seen from him before, one of anger.
Michael blew the dark mage back with a gust of wind. The spell was strong, surprising Eden, as she watched the dark mage tumbled backward. He appeared shocked as he got up and looked over at Valinox.
“I thought you said the wind mage was practically useless,” the man complained.
“Useless?” Michael exclaimed. “Then why don’t all of you kiss the ass of the useless master of wind!”
He bent over in the small space that his cage allotted, pushing his ass against the bars. Then he farted. It sounded like a quick blast of a trumpet.
Eden had to cover her mouth as she laughed. She ducked back behind the tree.
When was the last time she had laughed like this?
Back in the castle, she realized. During the night leading up to me inviting Michael into my bed.
She felt a chill down her back, tears wetting her eyes. How could I be so stupid to give that up?
Some of Eden’s fondest memories were of that night, with Michael. She wouldn’t soon forget the way he’d looked at her, blinded by what she’d first thought was attraction. She had since come to realize that it was more than that. He liked everything about her.
Because he didn’t know her.
She had taken one of Michael’s hairs and handed it off to Valinox the next day. He had cursed Michael and casted an illusion on himself to appear like Michael. Eden didn’t know much about illusions, still. They required the hair or blood of the target, as well as the note uF, which was too high for her to reach. She could at least perform curses, but they didn’t come naturally to her. Valinox had instructed her every time and left it up to her to practice.
She had accidentally cursed herself when trying to curse Aliana one night. Fortunately, she had cursed herself accidentally before and had enough willpower to lie. It was how she had been able to deceive the king as well, when he’d had everyone cursed.
But her only lie to the king that night was that she knew nothing about the traitor. Everything else she had told him had been true. She did wish that he was her father, as she had stated. She liked to imagine what kind of life she would’ve had.
The dark mages were not amused by Michael’s flatulence. In fact, the man who had been poking Michael with his sword earlier seemed to take it personally as he trudged toward Michael with his weapon up.
“Stop,” Valinox ordered.
Eden didn’t want to risk watching while the demigod had eyes in her direction, so she ducked be
hind the tree again.
“They stay alive unless the others come,” she heard Valinox say.
“What about this one?” someone called from a different direction.
Eden took a chance looking around the other side of the tree. The man was gesturing at a different cage a little ways off. Eden gasped when she noticed Aliana inside.
How many of them were captured, and how?
“We could have a lot of fun with her,” said the man pointing at Aliana.
Endell was the one to answer. “She will die with the others if our demands are not met.”
“I don’t know,” muttered the man, creeping closer to Aliana. “Seems like a waste.”
Aliana swore at the lot of them, shaking the bars of her cage. It was a standing metal box with one possible opening, a big brass lock on the outside. Eden peered around the rest of the encampment. Reuben was in another cage, meaning three of them had been captured. They were spread out from each other.
Then Eden realized she was mistaken. There was another sorcerer who had been captured as well. Charlie was tied up to a tree the farthest from everyone.
Eden’s heart sank. It was probably because of the information she had provided to Valinox that he knew Charlie was a metal mage. Otherwise Charlie might’ve been locked up like the others and he could’ve freed himself at the right time.
Valinox had mentioned just earlier that others might be coming. Eden had to assume that meant Jon, Remi, Kataleya, and most likely Leon and Jennava. There were bear traps hidden all around the outskirts of the encampment as well as strings pulled across the bases of trees, designed to trip people charging in. Valinox surely meant to kill the prisoners as soon as the others were sighted. But if they could be on their way, then why wasn’t Valinox in the air looking for them?
Sure enough, Valinox soon went invisible. He was too far for Eden to feel the enchantment, but she had to assume he was taking himself above the forest to watch for the other sorcerers.
