by JD Franx
“Where is he? Where's your mate?” she screamed. “Tell me, or I'll skin you alive. I could use a new cloak!” The creature huffed and a distorted laughed crawled from its throat. “Fine, I'll get him too if he keeps chasing me. So long, dog-bitch” Desiree spit, pressing down with all her weight, but a set of teeth clamped tight to her neck halting her kill. The pressure increased quickly, until both sets of canines pierced her flesh, stopping an inch deep in her throat. A growl rumbled from her captor's throat, vibrating the flesh of Desiree's neck, forcing her to release the female as the second werewolf carefully eased her off of the pack leader. The white female snorted and pulled itself off the ground onto its hind legs, towering over Desiree as the male shook her neck, pressing her to her knees. The female bent over, looking into Desiree's pale blue eyes. Their noses almost touching, the female growled, her black lips curling off of four inch long canines. The teeth in her neck eased and disappeared.
“If you wanted to find me so badly, why run from my family here?” a male voice asked from behind Desiree only seconds after he released her neck. He shifted to Human-form a little too fast. Impossibly fast.
“Not exactly running from you, dog,” she sneered.
“Ah yes. You're encounter with the mad alchemist. I caught the scent of vaporized assassin on your clothing. You must know by now that the crazy fool isn't chasing after y...” Desiree frowned. The creature clearly sensed it, the voice remaining behind her. “Of course, of course... You survived, but your mentor did not. So you run from the Broken Blades then, won't guild loyalty protect you?”
“Yrlissa Blackmist is dead. Guild law means little lately. For some,” the assassin answered.
“So run.” The alpha male chuckled. “Not the smartest move, but the only one, I guess.”
“You're smart for a smelly mutt, but I'm not... Wasn't looking for you, just passing through your territory...” Still nose to nose, the female alpha growled, bumping Desiree with her wet nose and huffing in her face. The nauseating stench of rotting meat made her eyes water, but she'd smelled much worse—swallowed worse only minutes ago.
“Yes,” the male continued, finally walking into her view. She was surprised at his youthfulness, almost too young for an alpha. His black hair, tipped with flecks of white, matched the dark pelt covering his body earlier. White and Black, female and male; the perfect werewolf match, explaining his youth compared to the scarred, grizzly female; their brindle pups would be incredibly powerful shifters. “You're heading for DormaSai. You assassins really aren't the brightest bunch are you? Most people in Talohna go out of their way to avoid us.”
“Had no idea this was your territory, dog. Still wouldn't have stopped me. Merethyl has too many guild killers in the Southern Kingdoms these days.” The alpha male laughed, deep and throaty, but it was a female voice that answered, again from behind.
“This isn't werewolf territory, my dear Blade. It's mine.” Desiree swallowed hard, her mouth drying with excitement. The points of her daggers gently poked the underside of her arms. The blades had finished growing, finally. “You should be more respectful to my friends,” the voice carried on. “After all, they're just following my orders. Strangers aren't welcome here, killers least of all. You must have heard the rumours.”
“I... have...” Desiree said. Her esoteric senses flared as a warning to what stood behind her, she pulled her tongue from the roof of her cotton-filled mouth. “Still didn't stop me. I believe I said that... witch.”
“Your senses are well-honed. Though not many people would speak to me like that,” the woman said. Desiree could hear the woman move, her footsteps light, balanced. Something she'd expect from the a skilled fighter, not a witch.
The alpha male snorted. Desiree watched him carefully as he breathed deeply. As if not satisfied, he approached, kneeling at Desiree's side. Grabbing her dark ponytail, he pulled her head closer, breathing deep. Her skin twitched with revulsion as his nose nuzzled her ear and he inhaled her scent. “I smell no fear, Mistress,” he said, releasing her ponytail and rising to his feet. “Only charred Elvehn flesh and organs.”
“Of course you smell no fear, Torgo. A Broken Blade assassin fears only their own. You don't scare her, even that crazy alchemist didn't scare her, though he wasn't the easy target you expected, was he, my dear?”
“Obviously not.”
The woman stepped in front of Desiree, the alpha female relinquishing her guard in order to make way. “I'll bet dear old Merethyl Bellas neglected to tell you and your mentor what you would really face. Am I right?” Desiree frowned, saying nothing. “Let me guess... Bring her some crazy old fool, an alchemist, and easy target, not even a corpse. Bring him back alive, easy job, easy money. I bet she even dropped the guild's tax for this job. Yes?” Desiree's frown deepened. The witch's words were almost identical to what Merethyl had said during their contract briefing. “Your head council member didn't exactly have your best interests in mind. Did she?”
“Not this time, witch.”
“I promise you, my dear, Merethyl knew exactly what she was sending you into. So you must be a Yrlissa Blackmist loyalist then.”
“My loyalty lies with the guild, witch. Always.”
“That's too bad for you, Desiree Star.” Desiree frowned, regardless of the rumours, there was no way this witch could know who she was. “Yrlissa Blackmist was my friend. If you knew her at all, you'd know my real name.”
“Your real name won't frighten me either, witch.” The moment she said it, the rumours Desiree had heard around the guild struggled to drift back through the exhaustion haze covering her brain.
“We shall see, my dear.” The witch leaned over. Desiree felt the woman's breath tickling the soft hairs by her ear. “I can see you struggling to pull my name from the depths of your burnt out memories, child. Let me help you.” As if a spell slammed into her mind, the rumours and innuendo stormed back, as clear as the very first time she heard them, especially the stories Desiree had heard during her initiate years.
“Impossible...” she whispered, trailing off.
“My name is Ella Navasha. But most people call me Ella the White.” Desiree turned, bravely smiling over her shoulder at the powerful witch, doing her best to keep her bladder in check.
“Talohna's only angel-blessed witch...”
Ella's voice dropped even lower. “Because a witch has the power of the White, does not mean she is blessed by an angel. Angels don't like giving mortals power—unlike demons, what power an angel gives up is gone forever, but they can be tricked into surrendering it or it can be taken when you kill one.” More memories, rumours, myths, swirled inside Desiree's head, leaving her with the truth as her only option.
“If you really are Ella Navasha, then you should know that my dead mentor and myself were both trained by Yrlissa.”
“But I do know that, my dear. Why do you think we're here? Merethyl already knows you're alive, you were branded a day ago. Look,” The woman stepped around her and lightly lifted her left hand, like all Broken Blade assassins, the black magical tattoo of two opposing blades, one broken and one whole, marked Desiree's palm.
“Jafin Berr,” Ella whispered, pressing her right hand to Desiree's left palm.
“Dammit! What the fuck, witch?” Ella released Desiree's hand, her spell completed. The tattooed blades were broken in numerous places, as if shattered by a hammer.
“You've been branded a traitor by your guild. Only those hunting you can see the brand. It is how the Broken Blades hunt their own so easily; how does a Blade run when they rarely realize their guild wants them dead.”
“I, I didn't know...”
“Because you've yet to reach the rank of guild assassin. You still should have known Desiree Star. The magic imbued in that mark no longer works. Your heightened speed, reflexes and stealth are gone. A werewolf, even an alpha, should never catch your kind. You want me to believe you're loyalty lied with Yrlissa? Come with me now and I'll make sure Merethyl never tracks you
down. Not until we're ready for you bury that broken blade in her neck.”
“How could you possibly offer such a thing? Even if all the rumours about you are true, it'll take me four hundred years before I could rival Merethyl as a killer.”
“Oh, my dear, you have so much to learn. Come with me and have faith that my name carries with it no rumours.” Truth seemed to layer every word, but still Desiree had doubts.
“Have faith?!” she yelled. “I'm marked for death by Talohna's best killers. Killers who don't have targets, but corpses, because a contract is only fulfilled when that person is dead. Even Yrlissa Blackmist wasn't good enough to survive Merethyl. Give me something or kill me now, I'm not afraid to die!”
“Fair enough, Desiree Star,” Ella said. Leaning closer once more, she whispered. “I trained Yrlissa Blackmist. So many years ago, you wouldn't even recognize your own guild.”
The alpha female shifted back to her human form, muttering. “Fuck me.” The transformation took mere seconds.
Desiree didn't know who to stare at, the werewolf who changed ten times faster than any other, or the witch claiming to be over five thousand years old, at least. Finally, she found her tongue.
“Why? Why me?”
“Yrlissa's loyalists outside the guild who have already undergone your training don't exist. Blade initiates receive training unlike anywhere else. You were trained by Yrlissa which means the months you suffered building poison resistance—not every Blade gets that. The years of agony you suffered learning to ignore pain, your stealth skills, your magic. Everything! The best way to kill Merethyl Bellas is from within, but serious threat from outside her guild is the best way to keep her distracted...”
“A fucking distraction,” Desire said, spitting at Ella's feet. “Fancy work for a sacrifice. Fuck you, witch...” Ella's hand snapped out, wrapping around Desiree's throat so fast she never saw the woman move. Currents of sparkling energy crawled under and along Ella's fingers as she chanted slowly. Like little blue worms of lightening, they slid into Desiree's throat and cheeks. It tingled at first, but quickly surged with intensity. Her eyes popped open, beyond her control, as the current locked her teeth together, nipping the tip of her tongue. The scent of charred flesh drifted up her nostrils making her gag, but even her stomach refused to obey the commands of her mind as electricity invaded her entire body.
“Interrupt me again and I will fry you from the inside out. Show me such disrespect again and I will turn your entire body inside out while you remain alive. Am I clear, Desiree Star?”
Desiree felt the current tormenting her body lessen enough for her to nod.
“Good,” Ella said. The current increased again. Every muscle in Desiree's body went rigid, aching from the pressure put on every muscle and nerve. “I don't sacrifice people for any reason, not anymore. I was going to tell you that you'd have your chance at Merethyl, a distraction is useless if the threat is not real. Yrlissa's faithful would be there to back you up should you need them. Do you understand?” Desiree nodded as Ella's spell lessened once more. “Now get up, we have work to do and you have a years worth of training ahead.” Ella removed her hand from Desiree's throat and she crashed to the ground twitching from the after effects of the spell.
Struggling to her feet, Desiree couldn't help herself. “What work?” Ella gave her a look that let her know she was pushing her luck, but answered anyway.
“I need your skills. We have to hunt someone down while you train to become an even better killer.
“Who?”
“Not really a who. My dear, more of a what.”
“What then?”
“A DeathWizard. We are going to hunt Talohna's only living DeathWizard.”
“Fuck that. Kill me now. I'm not going to die trying to kill a fucking DeathWizard, my soul...” The alpha female's backhand came from nowhere, knocking Desiree back to the leaf mold. The power was incredible.
“Respect, my dear. Second warnings are not something I give. Besides,” Ella said, helping Desiree back up, “we're not hunting him so we can kill him. We're going to help him, if we can find him in time.”
CASCADE CITADEL, CORYNTH
“You will step down and surrender the throne Joran Bale!” Though the meeting hall was filled to capacity with nobles from all over the Blood Kingdoms, less than half cheered the demand made by Duchess Vakaran. “You have no heir. By the laws of the Bloods you must pass the throne to the Grand Duke.” Only recently handed the crown of duchess, by her dying father, the inexperienced twenty-year-old was well known and respected amongst the Blood Kingdoms' nobility.
“There is no need for the throne to pass,” Grand Duke Sheering answered. “Not yet.”
“Princess Corleya went south, everyone knows the truth. King Bale can deny it all he wants, but it means she's dead, or far worse if she's in the hands of the Wildlands' Tribes.”
King Bale frowned. “My daughter is not dead, Duchess. So, no, I don't have to do anything, least of all surrender the crown that has been in my family for over a thousand years.”
“Then you run the risk of starting a civil war,” the duchess barked back. The clear threat brought four Pillars of Rule to their feet. The third Pillar, the Wizard, was the first to stand.
“You speak words of treason, Tania Vakaran,” he said. “Be careful how you proceed, inexperience is no excuse for your behaviour in court. The king has broken no laws and no terms of succession-surrender have been met.”
The duchess refused to back down. “There is no heir in this court, Pillar. Therefore the Bale's cannot sit on the throne.”
The second Pillar added her support for the king. “As Priestess of the Pillars of Rule, I can assure you that no laws have been broken. This monarchy is not in forfeit until the true heir's dead body has been produced. Missing is not dead, Duchess Vakaran.”
Focusing her rage at the king, the duchess pushed harder. “You would rather risk war than step down from the throne, Joran? The law is clear, regardless of what your Pillars say. No heir, no throne. I am not alone, you wouldn't win a vote of succession...”
King Bale leapt from his throne, fury radiating from his very being. “I will not surrender this throne until I have seen my daughter's body before me, and if you want to play war, little girl, then gather your bannermen and the other high nobles who will follow you. I fought and won two wars by the time I was your age and I've fought against the most powerful necromancer who has ever lived and not only survived, but won that war too. I didn't order my bannermen to fight for me, they followed behind me right to the very front lines of the worst wars in this country's history. War is a game I know all too well! Decide Duchess Vakaran, because this debate is over!” The king's first Pillar, the Knight, drew his sword, wrapping his hands around the pommel. A hush of quiet panic permeated the Hall of Nobles. Holding his sword to his chest with the blade pointing down, the Knight descended the raised dais of the king's throne. Heavily armoured in enchanted plate, his heavy boots struck the stairs with a hollow thud as he approached the Duchess. Swallowing hard as the mysterious knight came to a stop in front of her, the duchess went pale with fear.
“King Bale has issued a challenge of war to a high noble. Do you accept, Duchess Tania Vakaran?” The Knight gently placed the tip of his sword at the Duchess' feet and held the crossbar, offering her the handle. The assembled nobility watched with held breath as the Duchess chewed her bottom lip, finally, she sighed, surrendering.
“No, your majesty. I won't condemn our people to war. Not now. I hope your daughter is alive, King Bale. I do. But it has been a month and the chances of her survival lessen every day. At some point you will have to step down, even if she's not found.” The First Pillar lifted his sword. Re-sheathing it, the Knight turned and returned to his seat at King Bale's side.
King Bale stared at the duchess, his eyes cold and emotionless. “You still make demands of your king? If you were not your father's daughter, I would have you executed at dawn for this treas
onous debate. For the little bit of life left in Sterling Vakaran's body, I won't do that, but do not push me. I have more important things to deal with than this gathering you've incited. It could have waited until the noble's court next week. If you are going to take over your father's lands and responsibility, I suggest you learn how to behave, Duchess, or else hand your Duchy to your younger brother. Now go home.” The six Pillars of Rule stood, signalling the end of the gathering. As the second Pillar, the Priestess, raised her hands above her head in prayer, the Wizard and the Knight moved to the left and right hand side of King Bale.
“May the gods bless all your travels,” the Priestess said, “so you arrive home to your families safely.
As the royal court cleared the main meeting hall of the Cascade Citadel, King Bale and the Pillars of Rule waited until everyone had left.
“It won't keep those against you quiet for long, your majesty,” the Wizard said.
“I know, old friend. Let's just hope Giddeon returns soon, and with good news.” The fourth Pillar grunted her doubt. The Spy had returned only moments before the gathering convened and had yet to report.
“If the Mistress of Secrets has something to add,” the Corsair said, “then perhaps she should say it.” The sixth and final Pillar of Rule's dislike of the Spy was more than obvious. It earned him a sideways grin.
“They are already moving,” she said. “The wind whispers, but the Grand Duke refuses to meet with the conspirators. It is possible that he will remain loyal.”
King Bale snorted his disagreement. “No one remains loyal when they have the chance to be king.” Turning to the Spy, he added, “Is the Duchess at the head of the these nobles who move against us so quickly?”
The Spy shook her head. “I now not. I've yet to get someone inside the inner group. They're careful, your majesty. Very careful. Someone with power and intelligence is at the head of these traitors.”
“If my daughter isn't found soon, they won't be traitors. They'll be within their right to demand I step down.” King Bale rubbed his forehead, the stresses of the day showing clearly.
