The Secrets of Brymar (The Elitherian Fragments Book 1)

by James Coy-Dibley

  “More of them come from the building,” Rachel whispered as she released another arrow, piercing the first creature to blindly emerge from the dark doorway in the side of its head. “Stay behind me.”

  A few others ran out, too, though they were quickly killed between the four with their bows. They all wielded the same swords and black armour with the crest on the front, a couple of them holding black shields, too. None wore masks, though a few of them had thin black helmets on. Tattered rags covered the archer’s body that fell from the rooftop with dark blood pooling around it; the two different creatures, the archers and swordsmen, clearly worked together, but the assassins were nowhere in sight. The final creature from the building limply fell on the ground and the silence returned once more.

  “Stay here,” Rachel ordered as she advanced forward. After reaching the courtyard, she motioned for the brothers to follow.

  Rachel saw Orthol and Gringal descending the rooftops while Elizabeth approached them, still with an arrow readied and a blank expression. But after only moments, her expression hardened as she released another arrow towards the dark doorway ahead of her. The arrow sung through the air, just missing Rachel’s head, and collided with another barely visible creature inside the darkened doorway; it fell forwards upon its own jagged sword. Elizabeth released another arrow, this one a reaction shot flying to the rooftop above, which moved too quickly for the eye to detect. Another tall archer fell motionlessly from the rooftop and struck the hard ground, barely missing William.

  “You have keen senses,” Rachel said as she reached Elizabeth.

  Elizabeth revealed no emotion as she withdrew another arrow. “You learn a lot when all you know is survival.”

  Orthol and Gringal ran into the courtyard and saw the bodies. “This place is crawling with them,” Orthol announced under his breath. “We see others among the rooftops across the whole district, at least twenty or so.”

  “Did they spot you?” Rachel asked.

  “I don’t think so, but I’m sure they heard the bodies fall.”

  They walked to the edge of the courtyard and took cover, their backs against the wall with the marble tiered fountain down the staircase. William thought of Richard. It was good he didn’t have to see all of this. He hoped his brother was out of the city by now and on his way to Skee, to a more peaceful place where Porter would no doubt feed him and give him water. The warm thoughts eased his mind a bit; he wished that he was there, too, that all of them were safely in Skee. This whole night reminded him too much of the fear he felt on the night his mother was killed, the chaos around the palace as they tried to escape.

  William peeked over the wall and into the courtyard below. “I see a few of them moving around down there.”

  Rachel pulled him back down, hard. “Stay down,” she barked at him with fire in her eyes. Max put a hand on William’s shoulder, too, validating her tone. For Max, it was different. He was an experienced warrior; he had seen battle during the wars with the Navarine Kingdom, but William knew nothing of battle before today. Rachel released her tight grip on his shoulder. “You can’t do that kind of thing,” she added.

  “I see them, too,” Elizabeth said, using her silver sword as a mirror to see them around the corner, where the staircase leading down started. The others could sense she counted her opponents. “I count at least ten or so.”

  “And you are sure there is no other way out of this district,” Max reiterated.

  “Walls surround the rest of the district with this staircase the only way in or out. It’s by the design of the city.”

  “Then we must…”

  Another loud horn boomed through the streets, the tone so low that the ground shook beneath them. It struck fear into their eyes as a clamour of hideous groans arose from across the entire city in response. William clenched onto his sword as tightly as he could. The prolonged tone continued to vibrate around them, so loud it even blotted out his heartbeat, until it finally abruptly ended. They sat there in uncomfortable silence.

  Rachel stared at the other Arraci and Max. “I don’t recognise that calling.”

  “I do,” Elizabeth said as her anger built. “It is them, the Fortari. I heard those sounds in the forest when I ran.” They could see the fury in her eyes. “I heard them as my father was killed.”

  “They must be calling for reinforcements at the safe house,” Max called out.

  A rustling of sounds from the courtyard below caught their attention. “They are leaving to answer the call,” Elizabeth said, still using her blade’s reflection. “I see no one left in the courtyard.”

  “Then we must run to meet them,” Orthol said.

  “And kill them,” Gringal added with bloodthirsty eyes.

  Elizabeth stood. “They’re gone.”

  Rachel ran down the steps first with the others closely behind. The water of the fountain wreaked a vile stench. The once perfectly crystal clear water now reflected a grotesque, light green tinge, soiled by the foul creatures around it. The distinct sound of battle from the markets below shattered the silence and caught their attention. Rachel diverted from the staircase to the Caisen District and rushed to the other end of the courtyard, peering down at a large group of fighters in the markets. They charged towards another group of figures, and Rachel squinted to see through the darkness.

  “Another fight,” she called out to the others as they stood beside her and looked. Figures swarmed around the empty market stalls and fought vigorously. She saw that a small group of fighters stood at the centre with the creatures surrounding them. “They’re Arraci and…” her voice trailed off as she focused on one individual, beginning her strides towards the fight. “Aroden is among them!”

  Without a word, Orthol and Gringal charged down the staircase releasing arrows into the attacker’s backs. Rachel and Elizabeth quickly joined them while the brothers followed. Only a group of twenty or so creatures fought in the markets, though their numbers quickly dwindled from the flank in the back. From the centre of the fight boomed Aroden’s voice, shouting orders as he mercilessly struck down the enemy.

  The last creature fell from an arrow to the head.

  “Aroden!” Rachel shouted as she approached. “What are you doing out here?”

  “My sons,” Aroden muttered to himself. “Where are William and Max?” Before she could answer he saw them. He walked up to each of them and embraced them. “You disobeyed my orders,” he angrily exclaimed, though his tone quickly softened. “I am relieved to see the two of you are alright.”

  “Richard is fine, too,” William blurted out.

  The stress melted from Aroden’s face for only a moment. “He lives? How do you know? Where is he?”

  “He’s in good hands,” Max assured.

  “Where is Richard?” Aroden ordered again.

  Max motioned towards Elizabeth, who stood patiently behind them. “He’s with her…friend, Victoria.”

  “A complete stranger,” Aroden shot back.

  Elizabeth shook her head. “He’s safer than all of us right now,” she calmly assured. “She leads him out of the city through the caverns. They’ll meet us in Skee.”

  “She saved our lives, father,” William defended her. “We trust her.”

  Aroden gave a suspicious eye. “I’ll trust you when we see Richard in Skee.”

  “We must leave, Aroden,” Rachel repeated.

  “We cannot,” he answered. “Brian and Adriana travelled back to the house when we returned, thinking you were all still there. They must have been attacked and called for aid.”

  “Adriana is there?” Max looked across to the marble stairs Adriana had ascended earlier that day. “Then we must go to them.”

  “But that call also signals for you and your sons to leave the city immediately,” Rachel addressed Aroden. “You are the priority. We must ensure your safety. You know they would say the same thing.”

  The frustrated rage in Aroden’s eyes built. He knew she was right. “Lead us ou
t of the city,” he ordered.

  “We cannot leave them,” Max argued. “We must…”

  “They’d be furious if we broke the protocol and came to help,” Aroden answered while turning towards Zed’s house. “You know that’s true.”

  “I will go for them,” Max declared. “I owe the two of them everything.”

  William grabbed his arm. “Max…”

  “No,” he interrupted his brother, pulling away his arm. “I must do this, but you should proceed to Skee.”

  Aroden hesitated but shook his head. “No, we will wait in Zed’s home,” he said, understanding Max’s urge to help them. “We will not leave this city without you.”

  Max conceded a shallow nod. He saw the conviction in his father’s eyes, the principle in his tone. He wouldn’t be convinced.

  Aroden approached his son. “But if you arrive and see no safe way to save them, you have to turn around,” he said. “Don’t die as a hero.”

  Max nodded.

  “I will go with you,” Rachel said. Orthol and Gringal stepped forward, too, along with a handful of other Arraci. “We are with you.”

  “Go,” Aroden said while pointing. “We will be in the house.”

  Everyone started moving except for Elizabeth. William walked up to her. “Come with us,” he said, noticing her uncertainty. She walked beside him towards the house. “You will be welcome.”

  Before they ascended the steps and walked into Zed’s home, they watched as Max and the others returned to the marble tiered fountain, the Arraci picking up arrows from the deceased bodies along the way, and towards the Caisen District. The civility of Orwell, the charm and allure, had all crumbled this night. Once a place of great wealth and opportunity for the Brutean Kingdom, a place where they’d always cherished visiting, had morphed into a foreign nightmare that simply wouldn’t end.

  And now Max walked right back into it.

  Chapter XVII

  “What do we do?” Adriana shouted to her brother as the arrows torrentially rained on them.

  Brian shook his head, slightly flinching as an arrow thudded directly into the wall behind him. “We cannot move until their volleys cease.”

  “They will run out of arrows eventually,” she said.

  “I hope.”

  Arrows soared through the open window, plummeting into the back of the room. One of them bounced from the back door’s metal handle, falling to the ground in front of them. Brian looked at it and used his foot to carefully retrieve it. He closely inspected it, running his hand over the dark wooden shaft, analysing the black feathers and strange black metal tip. The others looked at it too, a new kind of arrow. Even the black shafts of each arrow bore the crest of their enemy, and the pointed tip was ever so slightly curved; a cruel addition for those unlucky enough to be impaled by one.

  Adriana took it from her brother. “A strange arrow,” she said while looking at the end closer. “We have never seen this material used for the tip, and I know of no forests that yield black wood for the shafts.” She paused, working her way up the arrow. “And these feathers are from no bird that I know of,” she added.

  Brian shrugged.

  Another Arraci spoke up. “I’m not sure if this wall will hold out for that much longer,” he said while shifting uncomfortably. “One of the arrows just pierced through the wood beside me.”

  “Can you knock the arrow back out?” Adriana asked while throwing the arrow in her hand away. “Can you dislodge it?”

  “Well, I suppose I can,” he answered with an inquisitive look. With his blade he pushed the arrow out of the hole. A thin beam of silver moonlight passed through it. “Why?”

  “Can you see through the small hole?” Adriana followed.

  The Arracian used the side of his blade and directed it towards the hole, causing the beam of moonlight to reflect on the ceiling. “Barely,” he nodded, understanding her logic. “I can see a bit.”

  “What do you see?”

  “At least thirty or so of them are assembling on the street outside with swords and shields,” he answered. “And the building opposite to us is crawling with archers inside and on top of the roof, all with black bows and these arrows.”

  Adriana carefully turned around with her bow over her head and an arrow readied, aiming out of the broken window directly above her. “Can you direct our shots?” she asked.

  “I can try.”

  Adriana fired her shot first, which soared out of the window and over the roof of the opposite building, missing all of the archers. “Direct my next one,” she ordered, determined to finally act.

  He used his hands to measure the distances for his directions. “Down and to the right,” he said. Adriana’s second arrow whizzed out of the window and was followed by a decisive thud and groan. “A hit,” he said as the body flew off the building and hit the ground.

  “This can work,” Brian nodded as he readied an arrow, recalling the trajectory of Adriana’s last one. The Arracian continued to peak through the wall with his blade and directed Brian’s next shot through the window, which struck another rooftop archer in the head. “Those that can reach, release an arrow through the windows and recall the trajectory,” Brian ordered. “The next will be guided to meet a target.”

  They fired a single shot, six of them, and waited for instruction; by chance, their first volley managed to strike one of the enemies. The Arracian used his blade as a mirror again and returned with distances for each one of them. They released their orange-feathered arrows in sync, each of them hitting a target but one, and the incoming arrows started to wane.

  The Arracian prepared to look through the hole again with his blade, but flinched quickly as an arrow barely missed entering through it, chipping off another piece of the old wooden exterior wall and making the hole larger. The Arracian looked up to the twins, who shook their heads.

  “At least it’s easier for you to see through now,” Brian shrugged, though the other Arracian saw no humour.

  Adriana felt an unexpected anger swell.

  She stared directly at the wooden wall behind her, as if seeing right through it to the enemy on the other side of the street. Brian touched her arm, but she swatted him away. Behind the solid wall erupted movement, the blue hues saturating her vision once more, and the faint blue outlines of archers and swordsmen appeared across the road. A low-toned chanting was all she could hear, no longer the thuds of incoming arrows, the call from her brother, or the beating of her heart. She pulled back an arrow, aiming it out of the window above her and pulling back the string as far as her arm would allow, and released the orange-feathered arrow.

  It whizzed through the window and struck its mark, the thud as loud as the colliding of two rocks. Brian watched his sister as she continued to release arrows out of the window; she stared only at the wall as her illuminated blue eyes guided each shot to strike the blue outlines of the enemy. The Arraci could hear the archers from the rooftop strike the ground from each successful hit. The low humming relentlessly continued in Adriana’s mind, surrounding her and plunging the world into tunnelled focus. But then the voice returned – the same ominous low voice that spoke to her before.

  “Protector of the realm, your skill proves worthy of the Sages of Arborough.”

  “Who are you?” she managed to call out. “Why do you torment me?”

  “We know not yet your purpose or fate; only time will reveal them. Your actions will define you, and the Sages might yet find a use for you.”

  “No!” Adriana screamed at the top of her lungs. “Who are you? Leave me!”

  Her vision returned to normal and she dropped her bow. Her brother stared worriedly at her, unable to do or say anything. The rest of the Arraci stared at her too. After her barrage of arrows, only a few arrows entered the house from outside; she’d dispatched most of the archers, to the surprise of the other Arraci and her brother, though more likely to the surprise of the archers hit.

  “I know you to be skilled, sister,” Bri
an stuttered, “but what was that? How did you hit a target unseen to any of us, yet with such perfect accuracy?”

  “Because I did see them,” she shot back. “My vision changed once more. Did you not hear me screaming to the voice?”

  Brian shot a confused look. “You said nothing, Adriana. You remained silent.”

  “No, I…” she paused. “I said nothing?”

  “You said nothing, sister.”

  She buried her head in her hands. “What’s happening to me?”

  Brian shook his head, unable to summon words.

  “I see the sword-wielders approach,” one of the Arraci said as he briefly peered through the hole in the wall, with few if any arrows still hitting the wall behind them. “They prepare to attack.”

  “I can hear them,” Brian added, withdrawing his blade. He redirected his attention away from Adriana. “I can fight on these terms.”

  “As can I,” she said firmly, a spark of anger returning to her eyes. She looked to her brother and nodded.

  The steps continued to louden until stopping on the other side of the door. Before it swung open, a loud, deafening, deadly screech originated from across the street followed by a bright flash. But these shrieks sounded like pain, and the Arracian looked through the hole again with his blade. He spotted atop the roof a few of the remaining archers with gaping holes in their chests. They plummeted to the ground below, which horrified the other swordsmen around the bodies, and forced an uncoordinated charge towards the house, fleeing in terror from their own unknown assailant.

  In one frenzied burst the front door flew open, and the disoriented attackers poured inside. Adriana claimed the first kill, impaling a creature through its light armour in the abdomen. These untrained enemies proved no match for the Arraci. But where the enemy lacked in skill, they made up for in number. It seemed an endless stream of them kept coming. Two bodies fell in the doorway, slightly impeding the enemy’s charge. As another swordsman tried to rush through, the creature abruptly fell forwards after a tangible thud to its back. It fell to the ground with an arrow protruding from its upper back, an orange-feathered Arracian arrow.