Spirit Followers

by Lydia Redwine

  Apollyon waved a hand, motioning for those speaking to silence themselves. “You may ask why.” Gnosi’s leader rose slowly, his robes brushing the stone floor beneath him. “Our nation has a secret buried somewhere. Where exactly that is, none of our people know. Our quest is to locate this secret…artifact…one which will grant our realm great power and an advantage over the rest of the nation. One problem stands in our way, however, and that is the Spirit Followers who are indeed alive and well though hidden away.”

  Apollyon paused to slip his gaze to Riah. “My son has done away with those of their ways in our realm.” Riah did not divert his gaze from Apollyon as all eyes turned to him. Except Saffira’s. Her gaze was fastened on nothing in particular.

  Apollyon slid down the three steps leading to his second throne. His next words brought chaotic sounds from the men and women gathered before him. “In order to successfully execute a plan of eradicating the Spirit Followers, we have created an alliance with the leaders of Medulla, theShadow Bearers east of us and…my my most esteemed guest.”

  The roars sounded when Medulla was mentioned. They only increased when “Shadow Bearers” was said. The councilmen bounded from their seats, protesting loudly. Riah remained seated and silent, and because he did, he noticed the two figures in robes gliding from the shadows of a corner to be seen by all present.

  One was Leviathan and the other…

  Riah’s mind flashed back to when he had entered a dilapidated fortress he had been sure would tumble upon him. The pale as ash, bald Shadow Bearer with enormous black eyes and a gaping mouth without teeth, was before him again. He was just as terrifying to see now as he was when Riah had walked into his presence, requesting his allegiance and followers for an army.

  The Shadow Bearer of the Air was now prowling behind Apollyon, draped in tattered, gray robes. Leviathan stood regal and still as a statue beside Gnosi's leader. Imposingly, he gazed from that single eye of his with annoyance at the clamorous councilmen. "It is not your decision!" Apollyon roared.

  The silence was vanquished instantly. Perhaps it was due to Apollyon’s command for silence, but Riah was convinced the sudden presence of two Shadow Bearers before them had them stuttering back to their seats.

  Leviathan spoke first. "I am the guest you all have been spreading nasty rumors about. Wait…" he paused, pretending to think. "Actually, some of them are quite close to the truth. I have slain children, but I do not drink their blood. Human blood tastes too…metallic.” The Shadow Bearer cracked a wicked smile at the gaping onlookers.

  Riah stole a glance at Saffira, for he was curious to see her reaction. Saffira did not return his gaze but looked steadily at Leviathan. Fire was fused in her eyes, and the boiling anger in her was barely contained. Riah swallowed around the sudden lump forming in his throat. And suddenly he realized that the fearing mounting within him was not at how his friend would react, but at what his father and the Shadow Bearers would do if she reacted. His tore his eyes from her as the third Shadow Bearer began whispering to Apollyon and Leviathan.

  Over the next several moments, Apollyon laid out the plans of the Spirit Follower eradication. They spoke of battle formations and such. This information was irrelevant to Riah, for he was not being asked to fight for them. His mind grumbled at the thought.

  Finally, Leviathan interrupted the spewing questions of the councilmen saying, "Our army will depart to the southern realm tomorrow. We will attack in three days' time."

  Riah lifted his eyes, becoming suddenly curious. “Attack on the south was never in the plan.” he said silently. Leviathan’s keen, glittering eye landed on him as if he had heard the silent utterance.

  Riah refrained from shuddering as the Shadow Bearer’s bone-chilling whisper slithered into his mind. The voice blocked all else from his ears. “The plans haven’t changed. They were always as such. But that didn’t mean you knew...you never had to know. It was not your part to know.” A deep laugh rumbled in Riah’s ears even as Leviathan’s expression remained impassive.

  “Is that clear Lady Saffira?” Leviathan questioned suddenly. Both Riah and Saffira were startled at the question directed specifically at her.

  “Yes,” Saffira said clearly, clenching the arms of her seat.

  Leviathan’s eyes narrowed as he examined her. Even Riah felt unease as he continued to rove his eye over her. “As a matter of fact, I do not think it prudent to have Lady Saffira join our ranks,” Leviathan’s eye flicked to Riah before he addressed Apollyon. “Yes, I am aware that she is a proficient fighter, but she is not a desirable addition to our forces.”

  Apollyon did not reply directly. He only narrowed his eyes, obviously filled with confusion. Saffira was a favorite of Apollyon’s. Nevertheless, he trusted that Leviathan’s reasoning was to benefit their endeavors. “Very well,” Apollyon sighed. He motioned to Saffira. “You are dismissed.”

  “I wish to stay until the end of the council if it pleases you, leader. Even if I am not joining the ranks”

  Leviathan cut her off. “Leave. Now.”

  Saffira stuttered. Only then did she cast a pleading expression in Riah’s direction. He veered his head aside so he could not view her. A moment of silence passed in which everyone but Riah kept their gazes fixated on Saffira. Finally, she rose and with head held high marched from the building. Riah felt the fury seep into him in her wake.

  He half rose to chase her down, to apologize for Leviathan’s choice, but the Shadow Bearer kept him pinned with a daring look.

  Silence passed for a lengthy time before Apollyon resumed the meeting. “As for the prisoners Lady Glista has delivered to us, they are being confined until time is made to question them.” Both Apollyon and Leviathan’s eyes slipped to the woman clad in raven black. She sat across from Riah in the center of her row with her white hair framing her flawless face. Riah did not miss the elongated gaze she held with Leviathan. The later seemed to give her a slight nod of approval to which Glista returned with a small smile.

  The council meeting ended another full hour later while the three Shadow Bearers assembled on the dais, received, answered, and avoided questions from the councilmen. These questions, Riah realized, he already had the answers to. Only one remained: Why had Leviathan insisted upon Saffira being excluded from the meeting?

  A sickening shudder trembleddown Riah’s spine, settling in his stomach. The only answer is that Leviathan had somehow discovered Saffira to be their enemy.

  Cam must have fallen asleep with her head resting on Peter's

  shoulder, for when she awoke, he was still beside her. The day had passed and night fell through the window in their cell. Saffira would be here soon. Earlier that day, she had slipped away to come and see them. She had told them that over the two days of their imprisonment she had managed to locate keys.

  “Apollyon knows where the people of Mirabelleare located. He expects the Spirit Followers to be in Cinis Lumen too. He will attack in three days’ time,” she had told them.

  “Good,” Peter had mused. “They will be safe if they remain where they are.”

  “Where are we going once we escape?” Cam had inquired. “The Black Mountains. Tell them they must remain far from the south, and we will trust that Tyron’s army will prevail against Apollyon.” Saffira’s words had been anxious. She told them she had heard all this during that day’s realm meeting held by Apollyon himself. “Shadow Bearers, armies, they’re coming.” Saffira’s words still played through Cam’s mind as she and Peter awaited her arrival. Their escape would prove perilous.

  “Good thing you slept,” said Peter in a soft whisper. “We’ll be on the road most of the night.”

  “Did you sleep?” Cam asked as she scooted into a more upright position.

  "Some." This meant none at all, she guessed.

  Cam's stomach grumbled. Neither one of them had eaten for several hours. Cam felt neither fatigue nor coldness, however. "Our neighbor's noise kept me up," Peter murmured at last. Cam listened for a mo
ment at the moaning noises from the cell next to them. She could not see the prisoner for the barrier between them was stone.

  The next moment, the rattling of keys on a ring and the lock on the chain assured Cam and Peter of escape. Saffira swung the cell door open and fell into Peter’s arms, embracing him tightly.

  “Come with us,” he whispered into her hair. She shook her head, pulling away from him.

  “I can’t. They still think I am on their side. I can use that.”

  “Will you join them in their march to Cinis Lumen?” Peter inquired.

  Saffira shookher headwith a tighteningofher jaw. “They won’t let me.” Shepausedto thrust smallbags offoodinto their hands and to throw cloaks over their shoulders.

  “But I will remain here. Riah will behere, and perhaps I will find exactly who Apollyon’s guest is.”

  “Is his name Leviathan?” Cam said it more as a statement than a question.

  Saffira’s brows furrowed. “Yes…”

  Peter grasped his sister’s arm. “He was the one in Mingroth...this father.” Although Cam did not know what he was speaking of, Saffira’s slow nod was enough to know that Peter thought Leviathan quite dangerous. Peter’s own expression was stricken. Was it shock? Or just an immense amount of concern? “Flee through the forest on the east side of the castle. There will be two horses on a seldom used path leading up into the mountains,” Ira said as turned back to her brother. “You know the way from here don’t you?” Peter nodded.

  Next, Saffira handed them each a knife which they placed within their baggage. Their rescuer held a torch as she led them down the vile smelling corridor. Although neighbor’s disruptive sounds had ceased, Cam glanced into the cell as they passed.

  A gasp of astonishment and horror escaped her lips. She halted on the spot and then nearly collided into the bars, her hands grasping at them. Peter and Saffira whirled around, looking confused.

  The figure in the cell was laid upon a small patch of straw. His face was barely recognizable under bruises and dry blood clinging to filthy, wrinkled skin. The lips of the person moved slowly in an attempt to form words. Blood pooled to his side, and his eyes met Cam’s in desperation. Grandfather.

  Cam began banging on the bars and sending curses under her breath. Peter’s hand clamped over her mouth andhemade an effort to pry her from the cell “Let me in,” shepleaded, almost cryingafter Peter uncovered her mouth. With a sigh, Saffira unlocked the cell door. “Wehaven’tmuchtime,” shesaid. Camcollapsedon her knees before Grandfather, grasping his stiff, worn hand.

  “Cam,” he said, in a rough, husky voice as she scanned his form anxiously to examine his copious wounds. Even though she desperately wished him to be whole, she knew he was fatally injured.

  “He’s almost gone,” Peter murmured, kneeling beside Cam, confirming her fear.

  “Youcan’t,” shesaid weakly, tears streamingover her cheeks as she clutched his hand tightly.

  “Cam,” Grandfather said, reaching up to stroke the side of her face. “The Spirit Followers are good people. Fight with them. Don’t let Apollyon win-”

  She cut him short. “Did Silva and Kazbek do this to you?”

  "They were deceived." Cam was nearly sobbing, imagining the horror that anyone would let their own father die in such a manner. "I love you, Cam. And I love your sisters." The life left his eyes, and he closed them slowly. His chest heaved for a moment but eventually ceased. His body was cold.

  A sister taken, Kane and Khatara murdered, now Grandfather slipped from her.

  Peter and Saffira gave Cam only a short moment to release tears before pulling her up and half pushing her through the passage. Saffira assured them that there were no guards near the dungeons or even in the castle as they were preparing to set off for battle within the next couple of days. “If I could, I would try and delay their departure so that your head start would be prolonged…” Saffira told them.

  “I wouldn’t let you risk that,” Peter said as he went to grasp her shoulders tightly. He then pulled her into his arms for a long moment. This was where they would soon leave her. Cam was still weak from crying, and tears still poured over her cheeks as they stood in the lit main hall of the castle.

  “Youcannotleave throughthefront door. You’llbeseen bythose outside and there are no safe side doors.” Before Saffira could give them another alternative, distinguishable voices drifted from a nearby room.

  Thumping of boots on hard flooring sent rushes of fearful excitement through Cam. Saffira grabbed her arm and pulled her towards a door in the hall. Just before two men strode through a dining room door and into the hall, Saffira jerked the door open and they fell headlong into darkness.

  Cam stumbled over Peter in the dark. He was still weak enough to have fallen on impact from Ira’s forceful push into the hiding place. When Cam was on her feet and had helped Peter up, she heard Saffira groping in the dark.

  "I found the stairs," she whispered loudly. Cam knew where they were now and where they were headed. Saffira instructed them to crawl on hands and knees up the stairs to prevent the risk of tripping. She ascended first with Peter and Cam directly behind. After a long two minutes of climbing the hard stairs, they reached the top and stumbled into the moonlit, open tower, the highest tower of the castle where Cam had first begun her training. In the corner, a chest draped in dust and cobwebs was pushed against the wall. Saffira kneeled next to it and pried the lid up. She searched hurriedly through it and finally pulled something out. She held the object up triumphantly. It was a rope.

  She threw it over the balcony edge. Saffira held it in place as Peter climbed over the edge to slide down the rope. They might just escape in one piece Cam surmised. The thundering of boots on the stone stairs startled her to a point she cried out. She was looking into Peter's tense face when she clamped a hand over her own mouth. Peter grabbed hold of the rope and in the next instant disappeared over the edge, down into darkness. His landing was muffled by the sounds of guards shouting as they ascended the staircase. Saffira knew he had landed, however, because the end of the rope was lighter.

  Torch light appeared around the corner of the tower opening. Cam’s heart thumped wildly against her chest, and beads of perspiration poured down her face, mixing with the remaining hot tears. Ira was shouting at her to climb over and take the rope. As she clamored over the edge, the guards appeared, and Cam realized with despair that there would be no time for Ira to escape with them. Cam looked longingly to Ira who was screaming for her to flee.

  Cam’s attention was diverted to a figure who was towering almost as high as the tower’s cover. She drew in her breath sharply, for she recognized him as Barak. The next instant Cam screamed, for Saffira had suddenly pushed her from the tower’s ledge, knowing she had a firm handle on the rope. Cam fell into darkness as wind pounded her from all directions. The next instant, she realized that her hands were no longer clasped around the rope. She hit the ground and rolled in the turf a little way. The grass was soft and damp beneath her, but everything hurt, including her hands which had been ripped by the contact with the rope.

  Peter’s hand wrapped around Cam’s arms and he pulled her up. They held each other, fighting the cold. Screams from above them made them shudder. “They have her, Peter,” she exclaimed huskily, pulling away from him. The screams were suddenly cut off and silence emitted through the night air. Cam linked eyes with Peter for a brief moment. His eyes filled with tears which slid down his cheeks. He swallowed around the apparent, aching lump in his throat.

  “They won’t kill her. They can’t,” he choked over the sobs. “She has information that could help them.” They then shared a despairing look. She would be tortured.

  Both of them managed not to break down at the possibility. They fled to the spot Saffira had told them they would find horses. They rode through the night and after a while it didn’t feel like fleeing. It felt as though they were riding towards help, towards hope.

  “I suppose I have lived long enough
to tell of the evil races of the Infernal Cities and of our own world. When I was a girl, the first generation of Shadow Bearers were born from the Shedim, also known as the spirits that were banished from Caelae with their Fallen Prince, and the mortal women. That is why Elyon sent the flood. I survived the wiping of the Between Realm and the Crown of Caelae with me. The first generation of Shadow Bearers was wiped away in the waters, and the Shedim involved were thrown into an abyss called the Shadow Prison.”

  -The Scarlet Spy

  Thirty-Four

  Cam’s muscles were stiff and aching when the dim light of dawn

  peeked through the Black Mountains. The mountain’s label described it well, for the range of peaks were indeed black, like the sides of volcanoes. The craggy rock of their sides contrasted greatly with the snow-white points. Gray fog hung in the air. It took a considerable amount of strength for Cam to keep her eyes open. Her horse followed Peter’s lead, but he too looked exhausted.

  A crow swooped in front of them and later a raven. The birds were waking for the day and presently the song of a mockingbird broke through the still quiet of the mountains. More joined into the melody. Both Peter and Cam were silent as the latter began to wonder again, as she had for the past few hours, what the dwelling place of the Spirit Followers would be like. “What will the people be like?”

  So far, there had been no sign of civilization. Perhaps they were hiding. They must have been. They had to stay away from those who wanted their lives at the brink of a sword; from those like Silva and Kazbek.

  This prospect still astonished Cam.

  Forests began to appear on both sides of the path. After leaving Gnosi, Cam and Peter had traveled over unsheltered mountain paths under moonlight and later on into dense fog. Now they were back among the trees, but this forest didn’t feel the same as others she had been in. Forests were places she and her sisters formed their own worlds and chased the wildlife. Those places were alive. This seemed dead. The trees stood tall yet gloomy, for they were soon to die. How long had it been since the beginning of autumn? It could nearly be winter.