The Beggar's Wrath
Page 27
Baern nodded, but his face had fallen. “I’d asked her that. At first she tried to wave me away, saying she didn’t want to lose the most competent and well-versed necromancer the Tower’s had in centuries—”
“Well, she is quite good, that is true.”
“It is also total nonsense. Naeve kept denying there was more to it, but in the end, do you know what she said?”
Mardaley shook his head, but some of his friend’s sadness had now spread to him.
“She said…You know why.”
“I…ah. An aloof Archmage, a dashing student…a tryst and a child. Poor Naeve.”
“Yes,” Baern sighed. “Poor Naeve.”
“Did she pardon them?”
Baern shook his head. “She can’t, it’s in the open now. They’re both banished from the Tower.”
“Damn,” Mardaley growled. “And I suppose the boy’s parents also disowned him?”
Baern nodded.
“Damn,” Mardaley sighed. “And history repeats itself all over again.”
Baern smiled. “Oh, I don’t think so. Naeve’s determined to help that girl. And she’s going to, one way or the other.”
Silence fell upon the pair as Mardaley pondered his friend’s words, until at last, he grinned.
“You know what?” he said. “Enough talk of doom and gloom. How are things in the highlands these days?”
“Oh, I am so glad you asked!” Baern said brightly, and together, both walked as the conversation turned to idle banter and luscious gossip.
*****
Like most places, there comes a time, deep at night, when the Shimmering Tower becomes still and silent, with precious few about. This night was no exception. Save, this night, there was one more about, one whose ghostly frame would fade from view at the slightest sound. But for this one person, the risk of being seen paled against the need to be out and alone, alone in her thoughts. And as Anieszirel floated through the night, her arms wrapped about her, her thoughts heavy with the day’s events, she found herself grateful to be free of everyone, free of the child.
Except, she was not alone.
“Hello, Sister.”
Startled, Anieszirel faded from view as she turned, only for her to catch sight of another ghostly form. It was an orc, whose cold piercing eyes stared right at her, even as she stood invisible.
“Etri?” Anieszirel breathed as she faded into view. “What are you doing here?”
“I couldn’t keep him away however hard I tried,” another voice drifted from behind Anieszirel. But this was a voice that brought a smile to her lips and tears to her eyes.
Slowly, Anieszirel turned.
“Tess,” she said, smiling as the spectral form of a human woman came into view.
Grinning, Tessia held out her hands to Anieszirel. But Anieszirel shook her head, keeping her arms folded about her as she lowered her gaze, her tears running free.
“Oh come, Ani! Let me hold you once more!”
Again, Anieszirel shook her head.
“Shall I come to you, then?”
Once again, Anieszirel shook her head.
“Then come! Or must I beg?”
Giggling, Anieszirel raced forth, and the pair hugged each other as if they’d been apart for an eternity.
“You wear the form well,” Tessia said as they parted.
“It is not hers to wear,” Etriazrine growled.
“Ignore him, he’s just fractious. As always.”
Giggling, Anieszirel turned to stare at her brother, but she couldn’t hold his gaze long, and was soon lowering hers to the floor. But that was only for a moment, and soon she stared at Tessia once more, her brow furrowed.
“Why are you here? Why now?”
Tessia smiled. “The boy.”
Anieszirel’s furrows deepened. Then, as she realised the meaning behind Tessia’s words, her eyes went wide.
“You know who he is?” she gasped.
“Not who,” Tessia replied, shaking her head. “What.”
“What is he, then?”
“Your salvation.”
Closing her eyes, a slow smile parted Anieszirel’s lips as she shook her head. “Still talking in riddles, I see.”
Tessia smiled. “Allow me my little pleasures.”
“Shall we get on with it, please?” Etriazrine muttered.
“All in good time,” Tessia replied, her eyes still upon Anieszirel, her serene smile unruffled by her brother’s gruff demeanour.
Anieszirel stared from one to the other.
“How is he my salvation?” she asked. “Did you not see what he did today?”
Tessia shook her head. “That was not the boy, Ani. There is more to this than you realise, more to this than you see. The boy is as much a prisoner in that body as you. But Father has given you a task.”
“Me?”
Nodding, Tessia gently clasped Anieszirel’s face in her hands.
“Ani, we miss you. We miss you dearly.”
Etriazrine scoffed at this.
“Well, most of us,” Tessia added as she nodded at Etriazrine.
Smiling, Anieszirel raised her hands to Tessia. “I’ve missed you all so much. You have no idea how much I’ve regretted what I did. I want to come home, Tess. Please. I just want to come home.”
Her smile growing, Tessia took a step forward. “Then listen close, Sister. That boy is your way home. Your task, should you complete it, will grant you safe passage back to us. Save the boy, Ani, and he will save you!”
Anieszirel shook her head. “How can I save the boy if I can’t even save myself. He threw me aside like I was some rag doll! He is beyond me, I—!”
Without warning, Tessia touched her forehead to Anieszirel’s, forcing the chronodragon silent and still. It was only for a few moments, but it felt like an eternity, and warmed Anieszirel’s heart no end.
Then, Tessia raised her head.
“You are weak, Ani, a pale shadow of your former self. Your strength will return, and, in time, you will have strength enough to save the boy.”
“But, I can’t face that thing! Even in my prime, my power would never have matched it, I—”
“Your task is not to face it. Your task is to free the boy. Free the boy, and everything else will fall into place.”
“How?” Anieszirel demanded. “How can I free him from…I don’t even know what that thing is!”
Tessia nodded. “You’ll find a way. You always do.”
Sighing, Anieszirel squeezed her sister’s hands. “You think so?”
Tessia smiled. “Father does.”
“What is that thing, anyway?”
“You must find that out yourself.”
Anieszirel arched a regal eyebrow. “Truly?”
Tessia smiled.
“And I suppose I must find out myself why Tip is also trapped in that body?”
Tessia’s smile grew.
Scoffing, Anieszirel dropped her hands to her side. “Wonderful.”
“Giving up already?” Etriazrine muttered.
Anieszirel moved to respond, but a thought struck her.
“Both of you don’t need to be here to tell me this,” she said. “What else aren’t you telling me?”
“Plenty,” Tessia replied as she too lowered her hands, “and Etri is here to make sure I don’t let anything slip.”
“Like what?”
Tessia shook her head. “You needn’t concern yourself with that. Focus on the boy, and all will be well.”
“And if I fail?”
“If you fail and the creature claims you,” Etriazrine sneered, “Maena will unmake you.”
“What?” Anieszirel exclaimed, turning from Etriazrine to Tessia.
Tessia, for her part, glared at Etriazrine before turning to Anieszirel, placing a hand upon her sister’s shoulder.
“But you will not fail,” she said. “You. Must. Not. Fail.”
Then, she placed a hand upon Anieszirel’s cheek. “You will not see us again until
this is all over.”
“We shouldn’t even be here,” Etriazrine growled.
“How’s that?”
Tessia smiled. “Father promised Maena he’d keep away.”
“Ah,” Anieszirel said, smiling. “That’s why you can’t tell me what’s inside Tip. Maena’ll see that I know and know you came.”
Tessia nodded. Then, her smile faded.
“We miss you, Ani. Do not fail, not on this.”
With a hardened jaw and a fierce gaze, Anieszirel nodded. “I won’t.”
Nodding, Tessia began to fade from view. “I believe you.”
Once she was gone, Anieszirel turned to Etriazrine.
“Tessia thinks you’re worth saving,” he said. “But left to me, you’d rot here for eternity.”
“I truly am sorry, you know,” she said.
“I don’t care,” he replied, and also faded from view.
His parting words hurt Anieszirel, but her heart was too full of hope for the pain to take hold. Taking a deep breath, she stared skyward.
“I won’t fail, Father. I won’t.”
In response, she saw an image in her mind’s eye. Her father, the great wyrm Cerunos, nodding at her. Grinning from ear to ear, Anieszirel too began to fade. If she were to free Tip, she’d need her beauty sleep first.
About The Author
J.B. Drake is a London lad with a head full of ideas and a heart full of stories, stories he now wishes to share with any who would wish to read. The Beggar's Wrath is the second installment of his Unbroken Bond series, and is right now penning the very next installment. Or at least he should be!
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Table of Contents
Prologue
A Nightmare’s End
A Warm Welcome
Life Anew
Beware A Mother’s Love
Daggers In The Dark
Setting The Bait
The Trap Is Sprung
Vengeance And Slaughter
Farewell, My Love
Epilogue
About The Author