by K. Ferrin
[ 21 ]
They walked through the day and well into the evening, coming out of the high mountains and moving into a wide plain. They did not come across a river, however, leaving Magicless once again in the throes of self-doubt. He said nothing to the others. He hadn’t told anyone he was targeting a river, and he sure wasn’t going to tell anyone now, especially given Tredon’s perpetual dark mood. The others set up camp but Magicless sat staring at the nonsense squiggles on the map, willing his thoughts to reach Noz. Why’d you pick me? Why me? He wished he could do a reaching himself so he could take over Noz as Noz had taken over Alekka and ask him what he’d been thinking. He must’ve cracked under torture to pick me for this, he thought, frustration getting the better of him. And now we are lost and I have no idea where we are. The river should be right here!
He’d earned the confidence of the others when he’d successfully gotten them out of Noz’s valley. They stopped questioning him altogether once it’d become obvious they were out. Tredon still scowled at him but said nothing. But that might change once they realized that, once again, Magicless didn’t know for certain where they were or if he was following the map correctly. Tredon and Ashier went off hunting, Leali and Elisa wandered off in different directions to find some water, and Alekka and Jobin chatted amiably nearby as they gathered wood and started a fire. Everyone was smiling and happy to be back on the road, heading toward their goal. Except we’re not heading toward our goal. We’re not heading anywhere. We’re lost!
Finally the scent of cooking meat pulled him out of his increasing misery. He joined the others for dinner, listening and smiling and nodding at all the right times but saying little. At last, the stars were high in the sky, and he could seek out refuge in his bedroll. The others stayed up chatting for quite some time, but Magicless stared up at the stars and wondered how he’d break the news to the others, and flinched at how Tredon would surely laugh at him for it, or worse.
Eventually he fell asleep. He awoke some time later to the pleasant surprise of Alekka’s warm body curling up next to him. He rolled over to cup her against him and settled once more into sleep.
He woke again sometime later to urgent whispers and rustling.
“Well, how long has he been gone?” It was Ashier’s voice. Something in his tone made Magicless immediately come fully awake.
“I don’t know, you idiot. I was asleep!” Hissed Leali.
“Well how do you know he’s missing, then? When did you last see him?” Ashier asked.
Magicless pushed himself up to sitting and looked at the two of them crouched next to two empty bedrolls.
“Well, we were—you know. And then we fell asleep. I woke up about twenty minutes ago feeling cold, and he wasn’t here. I thought he’d gone to pass water but it’s been too long.”
“Well, maybe he’s doing something that takes a bit longer, Leali.”
“Do you think I’m an idiot? I’ve been quietly calling for him. If he were doing that he’d not be so far away that he couldn’t hear me, he’d have replied. He’s gone. Something is wrong Ashier, I can feel it.”
Magicless stood up and moved to where the two were squatting. Alekka, feeling him move away, came awake. “What’s going on?” She asked groggily.
“What’s happening?” Magicless echoed, directing the question at Leali. She looked at him with narrowed eyes but answered.
“Tredon is missing.”
“We don’t know he’s missing...” Ashier began.
“Yes he is,” Leali cut in, “and stop acting as if I’m a child in a panic. I’m not a child, and I’m not panicking, and I know something is wrong.”
“How do you—”
“Magicless, I’ve already covered this all with Ashier. Ask him if you want to know more about it. I am going searching for him instead of wagging my tongue while he could be in trouble.” Leali flung her things into her bag as if she were hacking at an enemy with one of Magicless’ swords.
“Hold only one minute, Leali, we’ll all go with you. You’re very likely right. Tredon wouldn’t wander away from camp in the middle of the night without some compelling reason.” Magicless looked at Alekka and she nodded, quietly moving across their campsite with her customary quiet grace to nudge Jobin and Elisa awake. “Wake up you two,” he heard her whisper. “We need to leave.” Then she moved toward her bedroll and began packing up.
Magicless joined her, grumbling but mildly worried all the same. No one had heard a thing, but something had pulled Tredon away from his bed in the middle of the night. Suddenly, Alekka grabbed Magicless by the arm and went perfectly still, her eyes unfocused. “What is it, Alekka?” He asked, and as he watched her face tendrils of unease unfurled in his gut as she stared vaguely into the space around them. His hands kept moving, gathering their things together, but his eyes stayed focused on Alekka.
After a moment, she refocused her eyes and said, her voice strained, “We need to hurry. He’s in real trouble. He’ll not make it if we dally.”
“Not make it?” Leali stood up straight, alarm writ clear on her face. “What do you mean not make it? Like... die? How can that be? He’s strong, he’s—”
“There are things in this world far more powerful that even our strongest mages, Leali. I’m not sure, but I think Tredon has found one,” Alekka said.
“Can you tell where he is?” Leali flung her pack to her shoulders, ready to bolt.
“Only generally. Follow me, but keep your eyes open. I don’t know exactly where he is. Look low. At the ground. I think.” Alekka took off in a low run, a brilliant magelight moving along the ground ahead of her. Magicless cracked his neck, heaved a sigh, and took off running just behind her, sharing her light. He pulled his sword from its scabbard, wondering if he’d ever get to go a full day without feeling its heft in his hands again.
“Why the ground?” Magicless kept pace with Alekka, his eyes scanning as far as the scattered magelights allowed his vision to go. He’d never seen such enormous and bright lights before.
“I don’t know, exactly,” replied Alekka, feet barely making any sound as she sped alongside him. “He felt...low, somehow. And he was thinking about going down into something. Maybe a cave. I’m not sure how to explain it better than that.”
“What has him? Do you know? Tredon’s dangerous when he wants to be...”
“Only when he uses his powers, Micah,” Alekka interrupted him. “If he chooses not to, then he is as vulnerable as someone without magic or sword.”
“But if he were in trouble why wouldn’t he use his powers?” Magicless asked.
“I don’t know. But I don’t think he thinks he’s in trouble.”
Magicless said nothing as he considered this. What could pose such a dire threat to a powerful mage and yet at the same time somehow make him think he was not in any danger at all? He searched his mind and came up empty. “Something that is not what it seems to be...” he murmured, and in a flash, he and Alekka had it. “Illes,” they said in tandem.
“It’s the Illes!” He shouted to the others. “This is what Noz warned us about. Do any of you know anything about them?”
“Only what Noz told us through Alekka. That they are not what they seem,” Elisa answered.
“I’ve never heard of them other than from Noz,” Ashier agreed.
They kept moving, searching for much longer than Magicless would have thought necessary. “We’ve missed him. It’s impossible he went this far!” Leali was sounding increasingly frantic.
“We’ve not missed him Leali, I’m certain of it. We need to hurry, though,” Alekka said.
“How can you know?” Leali asked.
“I can feel him still. He’s fine right now. Happy, even, which leaves me very concerned. We need to find him quickly.”
Magicless heard the low gush of rushing water. “A river. We’re at the river,” he said, relief flooding through him. This must be Avery Grove, the river he had hoped to find before they made camp. He felt a flash of re
lief that he’d read the map correctly after all. They came around a bend at a swift walk, scanning the ground around them. In the dim light of the magelamps he could make out the river’s wide span and the silvery green grass lining the sides. Spanning the river was an ancient stone bridge with four pillars holding it well above the high water mark and a domed cover extending the entire length of the bridge.
Magicless skidded to a halt, certain he’d seen something as he’d moved around the bend. He grabbed Ashier as he came by, pointing. “Move your light, there!”
Ashier glanced coolly down at Magicless’ hand on his arm, but moved his light as directed.
“There!” Magicless pointed to the corner of the bridge where an enormous tree curved from the base and climbed high into the night. Jutting out from under the tree were two feet wearing Tredon’s boots.
“Tredon!” Leali yelled and jumped toward him, but Elisa grabbed her by the arm and held her back.
“Wait, Leali,” hissed Elisa. “Noz told us to beware of them, that we couldn’t defeat them.”
“I don’t care, I won’t just let him go, Elisa!”
“I’m not asking you to let him go, only to consider for a moment!” Elsa replied urgently, holding strong to Leali’s arm.
Tredon was clearly not struggling. His boot-clad feet were moving, but they moved slowly, relaxed, as if he were casually rubbing his feet against another’s as he sat flirting with them at a tavern. The muffled sound of his voice could be heard through the damp earth—gentle, teasing, friendly. Not terrified. Not angry. He was not fighting.
“What do we do?” Elisa asked. They all stared at Tredon’s boots and looked blankly around at each other.
“We mean no harm. There is no need to fear.”
They spun toward the unfamiliar voice, and Magicless felt all the air leave his lungs. He’d thought Noz was ugly when he’d first seen him, but this creature outstripped him by far. It was tall, taller than any of the mages, and vaguely female in shape. Dull strings of grimy hair sprouted from its bulging skull in patches, some short and spiky and others falling in dingy tangles down past its shoulders. Its eyes were a rheumy blue, reminding Magicless of a drowned animal that’d soaked in water for days before being found. Its skin sagged on its form, wrinkled as if from long exposure to water, and looked slick with slime. It was naked, and blobs of flesh hung on its chest that Magicless supposed were breasts. And the smell—he could not describe such a stench. Rotting, dead fish, left ashore for days in the hot summer. He swallowed hard against the rise of bile in his throat.
He looked frantically at the others, and felt his fear turn quickly to confusion. The others strained forward toward the thing, their faces alight with desire and longing.
“Welcome to our home. We live in this grove, at the crossing of this river. We love visitors.” The creature moved closer. “I am Felana. Please. Come.” She motioned them all toward the tree under which Tredon’s boots still moved languidly.
Her voice grated against Magicless’ ears; somewhere between the creak of an old tree and the gurgle of a frog crying for a mate in the spring. It made him think of damp rot. Mushrooms. The dungheap at the back of the horse enclosure back at his family’s farm in Aclay.
The others sighed with pleasure in unison, jostling to be the first to enter the hole and join Tredon. Magicless stared in alarm and then shouted as he saw that Tredon’s boots had almost vanished underneath the tree.
“Tredon! He’s almost gone. Come on, we’ve got to pull him out!” Magicless leapt toward the tree and grasped at Tredon’s boots, pulling back with all his might. From within the earth he heard a surprised and angry shout, and Tredon kicked back at him, struggling to free his feet from Magicless’ grasp. He was pushing himself deeper, not being pulled in. He wanted to go.
Magicless sat back hard and his friends pushed him roughly aside as they moved closer to the tree, kneeling to follow Tredon’s path.
He scrambled to his feet. “What are you doing? Ashier!” Ashier was moving past him and he turned to look at Magicless.
“Are you mad, man? Look at her! I’ve never seen such luscious beauty. And she wants me, Magicless. She told me so. The others think they’ll get her first, but she said it would be me.”
Magicless recoiled, realization dawning in him, so slowly that he felt like kicking himself. They did not see what he saw. They were embroiled in some spell. But it didn’t affect him. I’m magicless, he thought with an edge of hysteria.
The stench of the creature wafted heavily over him and he shuddered. “Why do you not see?” the thing croaked at him. “You must go. You’ll ruin everything.” It moved toward him, its hands reaching out. He looked at his friends in desperation. Tredon’s boots had vanished completely under the tree, and Leali was buried head deep in the hole, the others lined up behind her, jostling for their turn.
“No!” He shouted. He sprinted to Ashier and yanked him to his feet by his hair. Magicless dragged him toward the creature. “She is not what you think she is. Look!” He twisted Ashier’s head, forcing him to look at the creature, and with his other hand he reached out and touched the thing, laying his palm flat against its revolting flesh, praying his touch would do what it’d done in the meadow outside Noz’s house when Tredon’s bolt of lightning had fizzled out when it touched him.
Ashier’s nostrils flared and his eyes opened wide in shock. He scrambled backwards, falling to the ground and scrabbling on his hands and knees to put distance between himself and the creature. Magicless let him go, keeping his hand firmly against the creature’s flesh. It struggled, its flesh slippery and difficult to grasp, but Magicless held it tight. “What is that?” Ashier shouted.
Behind him, Magicless saw the others turn toward the sound. One by one, he watched the illusion fall away from their faces, expressions moving from mindless rapture to cold terror in an instant. Alekka moved toward him, magefire in hand, while Elisa grabbed hold of Leali and hauled her out of the hole in the ground. Leali came out kicking and hissing, but Elisa forced her to turn to the creature as Magicless had done to Ashier. Realization settled onto her features, and without a world, she turned and blasted the tree with a thick bolt of lightning. The creature continued to writhe in Magicless’ grasp, but he held on as tightly as its slippery flesh would allow.
“Step away, Micah!” Alekka shouted at him. “I’m going to roast that thing where it stands.”
“Do it, Alekka. Do it with me standing here.” Magicless knew he couldn’t release his hold on the creature. If he did, they’d all fall back under its spell.
“I’ll kill you, Micah. Step away!”
“You can’t harm me. If I let go, you’ll fall under its spell again. Toast the damn thing!”
She hesitated.
“I’ll let go before your magic hits, just kill it!”
The thing gave an enraged hiss and tried again to pull out of his grasp. It was surprisingly strong. Magicless lurched to keep his hold on the creature, grasping its arm tight in both his hands. It began jerking and shoving anew—Magicless lost his footing but clung desperately to its arm.
“Alekka, now!”
He heard it coming, and smelled it, too. A crackling like the sound bacon makes when tossed into a hot pan, and the ever-present sharp scent of ozone. He was certain it would fizzle harmlessly when it touched him but flinched nevertheless, preparing himself for the feel of lightning searing his flesh.
The creature screamed in agony as Alekka’s magic burned into it, but Magicless felt nothing. It fell limp beside him. He turned towards Alekka, grinning at her excellent aim, but before he could even catch his breath he heard furious hissing from all around him and spun to see other creatures emerging from the wood. Too many of them.
Time slowed to a crawl. Another explosion lit the night, and the tree groaned as it fell into the river, narrowly missing the stone bridge. He saw Ashier and Leali swarm toward the base and furiously dig Tredon out of the hole. Elisa stood nearby watching, shielding
Jobin with her body, and Jobin—Jobin was staring at Alekka, his mouth formed into a rictus of terror, his hand pointing.
Magicless yanked a knife from his boot and launched it at the creature behind Alekka, but he knew as soon as it left his hand it’d never get there in time. He ran, heedless of the magic streaking through the cool night air as the others unleashed their powers on the other Illes, but he was too late. The creature’s hand settled onto Alekka’s shoulder, and her scream ripped through the air. She collapsed as Magicless’ knife buried itself in the creature’s throat. It fell with Alekka, landing atop her, and Alekka screamed again, weaker than the first. A cold blade of fear sliced through Magicless’ belly.
Elisa raced toward Alekka, beating Magicless there by a breath. “Don’t touch it!” he commanded, and she pulled back as Magicless got there. “I think its touch does something to mages,” he said as he shoved it off Alekka. She didn’t move and didn’t make a sound.
“Help her!” he shouted at Elisa as he pushed the creature further away. Gods, please help her…
Elisa knelt beside Alekka, placing both hands on her body. She gasped, pulling away. She looked at Magicless with wide eyes. “I can’t. I can’t. She is—she’s torn somehow. But not in any way I can fix. She bleeds, Magicless, but not blood. Her magic is bleeding from her like blood from a severed limb. I can’t—”
“Bring her to me.” The voice held a ring of command that stilled everyone. A roaring hiss broke through the sudden silence and the Illes faded from sight, back into whatever holes they’d emerged from to attack them. Magicless tore his eyes from Alekka, pulled his knife from the creature’s throat, and stood to face this new threat.
Blue eyes glowed from out of a finely scaled face. The figure was the size and shape of a human. Wet hair clung flat to its head. It stood quietly at the edge of the water, one arm extended, holding a tall staff. Fishlike fins stood out from each arm and from the back of its calves, and its fingers were webbed.
“I can save her, but you must bring her here. I cannot leave the water.” The voice was soft and deeply masculine—Magicless could feel it resonate inside of him. The creature looked at him, non-threatening, as if it knew the decision lay with Magicless alone.
