Empyreal

by Helsel, Spencer

  It was crazy to think that, despite looking a little older than her, Ethan was over thirty years old. Forty or fifty, if she did her math right.

  “Anyway, I worked on a boat for a guy my uncle knew. We were at sea when it happened.”

  “Happened?”

  “The solar eclipse. My Guardian took me off the ship in the middle of a storm. I guess everyone assumed I fell overboard and drown.” He paused, eyes up to the sky in thought. “I always wondered if I hadn’t been where the solar eclipse happened, would I have still become a Numen? Was it fate?”

  He shrugged and kept going, walking her back to the pavilion. He stopped on the threshold.

  “You didn’t have to walk me, you know.” She said. “I would have been fine without an escort.”

  “Who said I thought you needed one? Maybe I just wanted to.”

  Was he hitting on her? She didn’t mind it, considering he was cute, resting brooding face or not. His cherub curls were endearing. He didn’t have to be tall and imposing to be good looking.

  “And though I didn’t have to walk you, it made me feel better.”

  “Why’s that?”

  His frown deepened. “Dani, you’re the only woman in this city; only Numen one, anyway. People will resent that. You’re competition.”

  Competition. Gifted girls found her competition. Numen men found her competition. Who said I want to compete with anyone?

  The mood broken, she frowned, too. “I thought all the Novices are supposed to be trained to fight as one? A family or something?”

  “If you believe that, you’re more naïve than I took you for.”

  Suddenly, Ethan wasn’t a welcomed presence because of the inconvenient truth. “Good night Ethan. Thank you for the walk.”

  “You’re welcome. Don’t forget to be at the Vale tomorrow. It’ll be,” he devilishly smiled, “interesting.” He bowed in that weird, formal way every Numen did—touching two fingers to his forehead—and then he departed.

  Her bird waited by the bed; its judgey stare on her as she lay down, pulling the covers up to her chin.

  “Nothing happened.” She told it. “He just walked me home.”

  The bird cocked its head sideways, the stare much more intense.

  “Don’t look at me in that tone of voice.”

  Then she passed out.

  ______________________

  Morning came. She snapped awake, shielding her eyes from the bright morning light. Her avian protector looked up from its perch as if to say tisk-tisk, you were out late last night with a boy.

  “Don’t judge me, Iago. I will flambé you Cajun-style.” A new set of brown raiments lay in a neat pile next to her. It was slightly creepy someone left her clothes, but it was also nice to have a fresh set. Was this an everyday thing? Who brought them? Elves?

  Were there elves? She’d seen stranger things here.

  She changed clothes, tied back her hair like Roxelana showed her, and laced her boots. It was odd, but she didn’t hear the trumpets of Morning Lauds. Weren’t they supposed to be sounded at six?

  Unless they already did and I slept through them, she thought. If I did that then—

  “Oh no!”

  Bolting up, boots on, she ran across the dirty square and sprinted up the path. At first heading for the bridge, she remembered that they were supposed to meet at the entrance to the Vale, wherever that was. She found an off-shoot path that led away from the cliffs and scampered up it at a dead sprint. The path led uphill. As she crested, she could see the entrance to the Vale.

  She’d never been here, but the sight wasn’t as impressive as some of the other places in Empyrean. It was a simple open patch of grass without much fanfare. There were twelve columns arranged around it, with the usual overgrowth of vines and a single archway at the edge of the sheer cliff. Beyond it: nothing.

  And standing in twelve neat groups were the other Novices. Late in two days. She cursed to herself and ran to join them.

  Elder Heman stood at the front. Everyone turned as she huffed up, taking her place at the back of the nearest aerie. But her late arrival hadn’t gone unnoticed.

  “Novice Daniella!” Heman barked. The Novices in front of her parted and she came face to face with him. “Front and center!”

  “Thanks guys.” She mumbled, giving them ugly looks as she walked between them. Dani stopped in front of him. “Yes?”

  “Yes, Elder.” He corrected.

  “Yes…Elder?” She bit her tongue. No use pissing him off.

  “You are late, Novice.”

  “I woke up late.”

  “Is that an excuse or just stating a fact?”

  She bit her tongue harder. “That’s what happened. I was up late last night.”

  “Doing what?”

  “I couldn’t sleep.”

  “So you’re late and up past curfew.” “There’s a curfew? You all need to be clearer about that.”

  She said it before she thought about it. A few boys behind her giggled. Heman’s glare twitched.

  “Novice Daniella, I would expect someone who is about to take on the mantle of Heaven’s warrior to be more serious.” He said with unveiled anger. “I would expect someone who cares for their brethren to take that responsibility in a way befitting the destiny given to them. As I can see, that is too much to expect from you.”

  “It is apparent that you care very little for those you entrust with your protection and would likewise rely on you to protect them. Only someone as infantile as to show up late in two days would rely on others to fight their battles for them.” He paced around, disregarding her. He spoke to the rest of the Novices. “Each of you accepted your place amongst us. Each of you is to be a guardian to humanity; gifted and mundani. Weakness has no place amongst you. Each of you,” he proclaimed, “can only be as strong as the man on your left and right. Weakness won’t just divide. It will kill.” He turned back to Dani. “I can see you are not of the caliber as the rest of these men.”

  Her hands squeezed so tight she felt like the blood vessels might pop. They burned.

  Heman turned away from her. “Get back in line, Novice.”

  Dismissed, she had a hard time not stomping back to her place. She wouldn’t let this go, but this wasn’t the time to make a stand.

  “Weakness, strife, disloyalty; these are the means by which any army is broken. Your brothers are your strength. The man beside you is the one you must trust. Break that trust and you will break on the field of battle. You are strong. Rely on that strength.”

  He pointed to the Vale and the Citadel beyond.

  “This is your first lesson. You will learn to use your gifts and work together. Those who learn survive.”

  Heman floated from the ground into the air. He hovered over them, speaking loudly.

  “You are your worst enemy; your doubts, your fears. Those will kill you faster than a demon ever will. You must put that fear aside to become what you will be.”

  Heman waved with his hand. Just beyond the archway, the top edge of the cliff collapsed in upon itself. The stones fell and reformed, and where there had been a simple rock-face before was now the entrance to a switchback leading down the cliff into the valley.

  “Your task is simple: survive.” He told them. “To the west and the setting sun is the Vale Bridge and beyond that, the falls where the Crystalline River ends. Another entrance to the Vale into the Citadel lies on the other side of the river. Those that work together survive. Those that do not will die. This will not be just a trek into the woods. The Vale has its own perils. You have until the sun sets in the west over the river gate.”

  “Or what?” someone asked.

  Heman’s smile looked like he smelled the worse stench imaginable. “You do not want to be in the forest at night.” Summoned out of thin air or hidden in the veil, dozens of crates appeared next to the Vale entrance, each one a different size and shape. “We would not send you unarmed. Your Guardian chose a weapon for you. Retrieve it. The box
will only open by your hand.”

  Heman disappeared. The Novices rushed forward to grab a box. As Heman promised, they only opened for the right person. Some tried for the biggest boxes first, but they wouldn’t open for them. Once someone found theirs, the lock came apart. There were dozens: silvery-bladed swords, axes, spears. Dink had a bow; Nathaniel a large broadsword. Andreas hefted a gigantic battle-axe from one of the largest crates. Forged from adamantine, each one shone in the sunlight.

  In the mayhem, Dani couldn’t get near a crate. It was like Christmas, but secret Santa played a practical joke on her. Novices tossed only empty containers her way. Once or twice she got her hands on a crate but it wouldn’t open. It wasn’t until the others were armed that she got in and searched through what was left. It was humiliating. Most were empty.

  She still scoured the pile and heard laughing. Andreas, large axe over his shoulder, watched in amusement. She gave him a look that reflected a particular finger.

  She finally found one unopened container. It was small, maybe a little bigger than a shoebox. Inside, she discovered a double-edged dagger in a sheath as long as her forearm from tip to pommel. In comparison to the other weapons, it wasn’t much. She tucked it onto her belt.

  Andreas assumed command. “Alright! We stay as a single group! Strength in numbers! We head down to the shores to the river and follow it. Straight shot. Any questions?”

  She couldn’t help it. Her hand went up.

  “Questions that actually matter?” he clarified.

  “Hey! Idioto,” she called from the back, “don’t you think that following the river is just a tad bit too easy?”

  A hundred and forty-four pair of eyes turned to look at her. Dani folded her arms in defiance.

  “You got something to say?” Andreas demanded.

  “Other than that’s the stupidest plan I’ve ever heard of? Not really.” She stared him down. “They gave us weapons and told us that the jungle down there is dangerous. Why? Just so we walk down to the river and follow it? You expect that to work?”

  “Do you have a better plan?”

  “Instead of blindly plunging into the Hundred Acre Wood from Hell without a real one? Yeah. How about we take time, use our vantage point here, and make a real plan.”

  Andreas scowled. “You know, we can sit here all day and bicker like a bunch of girls, but we’re burning daylight. You heard Elder Heman: we don’t want to be in there at night. So I’m going to ignore you and hope everyone else is smart enough to do the same.” He started down the slope. “Anyone else coming or are you staying behind with this freak?”

  Novices followed. Dink gave her a sad smile and followed with Bouden. Even Nathaniel didn’t stay too long.

  She took one last look at the Vale from the top, glancing upriver at the Dalles; the supposed place disgraced Numen fled to. Just below it, smoke trails billowed from the trees.

  She followed. Strength in numbers. How long would that strength last?

  ______________________

  The forest was unbelievably green. It had a canopy twelve stories up with tree trunks so thick you could drive a truck through them. Branches with leaves as broad as dinner plates cast green hues and sporadic sunbursts down around them. The forest was wet and mossy with trunks dark shades of brown. Boulders the size of houses and tree roots like monstrous snakes made the going slow. It quickly became obvious this wasn’t going to be a simple hike.

  Struggling to keep up the pace, those with the largest weapons tired out before they even got out of sight of the cliffs. The swords and spears weren’t heavy unless you had to carry them for a while. And climbing made things worse. Even Dink struggled with his bow and quiver. Only about an hour or two in and this was a nightmare.

  Andreas continued to lead but Dani could see their straight shot to the river wasn’t so straight. They could hear it, but where the hell was it? Sound bounced off the trees, making it impossible to get a good direction.

  “Are we lost?” Bouden asked, wiping his forehead matted with hair and sweat. He carried a single-edged saber, the scabbard catching on almost everything.

  “No.” Andreas said shortly, but looked around worriedly to get his bearings. “We should be near it.”

  “Should be?” Dani grumbled. She was doing better than most, but if anything bigger than a pigeon came their way she was done for. “Maybe we should have studied the forest before we started?”

  Andreas scowled at her and pointed. “The sound is coming from this way. We’ll get there soon.”

  And then more walking. A lot more. It was ungodly muggy. The Novices sweated, even with the enchanted raiments supposedly designed to keep them cool. Dani put up her hood. It gave some relief, at least.

  Nathaniel sidled up beside her. “Nice braids. New look?”

  She glared. “Shut up.”

  “How’s it going?”

  “How do you think it’s going? I’m a leper.”

  “I think your skin is flawless.”

  “Shut up, Nate.” She punched him in the shoulder. “How’s it hanging with the boy band?”

  “My aerie? Not bad. Andreas is…well…”

  “A piece of mierda on rye?”

  He laughed. “A diarrhea sandwich for sure, but he’s alright.”

  She shook her head sadly. “You and your boys club.”

  “What does that mean?”

  She didn’t get a chance to answer. A Novice shuffled past her, but only a few steps ahead something hit him. He shot sideways off the ground and into a tree, pinned there. The force of the collision knocked him out. Behind her, Dani heard another yelp and a Novice fell out of sight.

  “What the hell was that?” Andreas demanded, axe up.

  Dink drew an arrow into his bow as if he knew what to do with it. Nathaniel’s sword came up clumsily. Dani’s knife was out, though she felt useless with such a small weapon.

  Another cry. A Novice landed against a rock; out cold.

  “Where are they coming fr—uuhhhh!” Someone yelled, and then he was gone.

  The Novice on the tree was pinned to the trunk by thin, silvery cables no wider than a necklace chains; chains that thin shouldn’t be able to hold him, but then again, they were made from the same silver substance as their weapons. Adamantine. The stuff was unbreakable.

  She heard a whipping sound and watched as an arrow shot from the woods, struck another Novice and exploded into chains that bound him shoulder to ankles. He fell to the ground and struck his head.

  They came through the trees. She couldn’t see them clearly, but they fired arrows while in motion. One second they were there, then the next they were gone. Another arrow, another whip of adamantine cables, and another Novice was down.

  “Archers!” she warned.

  “Run!” Andreas screamed, taking off.

  Everyone ran, fleeing the same way. And then arrows came from every direction.

  It was a trap.

  Dani grabbed Nathaniel and pulled him back. Instead of running with the group, they darted another way. She heard a thunk as an arrow bounced off the tree near them. The whipping chains sliced past. She ducked, looking back. Nearly a dozen Novices lay prone or pinned at the mercy of whatever shot at them. They couldn’t leave them.

  But a near miss forced her to abandon the idea. Helpless, she and Nathaniel took off.

  More Novices hit the dirt or pinned to rocks and trees. Lester catapulted off his feet and was lashed upside down by his ankles against a trunk. He flailed, trying to free himself, screaming. A second shot got his upper body and there he hung.

  Dink was ahead with Bouden. An arrow lanced out of the forest and latched Bouden’s feet. He went down hard.

  “Bouden!” Dani ran for him, even as another arrow whistled past. She slid across to him. “Bouden! You okay?”

  “I can’t get loose!” he failed to undo the chain. “It’s got me hooked!”

  Dani tried to cut the bindings. Unfortunately, unbreakable steel against unbreakable
steel didn’t work very well.

  “We need to get him out!” Dani warned. “Dink! Use your bow!”

  “And do what?”

  “Shoot!”

  “At what?”

  “At anything! Buy us time!”

  Dink drew an arrow, aimed and fired. The bolt sung through the trees. He fired again, this time in a different direction. Four arrows in random spacing, just hoping to throw off their attackers. His hand shook but he tried to keep steady.

  Dani’s fingers flew across the metal rope. It was designed with ball- bearings on the end that wrapped tightly on impact. Take one of them to the head and it was lights out. Or worse.

  She got them loose as Dink let fly two more arrows. She heard a startled scream. He surprised someone. Dani pulled Bouden’s feet loose as quickly as she could and when he was clear, he scrambled up.

  “We got to move!” Nathaniel warned. “Now!”

  “Where?”

  They heard clashing blades and screams in the distance.

  Bouden pointed. “Everyone ran that way!”

  “So we don’t run that way!” Dani was up, sprinting the other direction. “Come on!”

  They joined in behind.

  They ran towards the cliff she could see through the trees. Only a few dozen yards and Dani leapt over a large stone to crouch down. The three boys hid beside her, pressing their backs against the boulder.

  “What the hell are we doing?” Dink demanded. “We should be running for our lives!”

  “Shh!” She warned. “Those things are still out there!”

  Quieter, he hissed. “Yeah! That’s what I’m saying!”

  “No, no, no!” She told them. “Whatever they are, I think there was more than one and,” she glanced over the boulder, “I think they wanted everyone to run in the same direction. They attacked from one side and got everybody to stampede. They wanted to run us down.”

  Bouden groaned and shook his head. “We used to do that in Wyoming. It’s how you herd cattle: keep them moving in one direction. They’re easier to control that way.”

  Dani peeked again. She could see Lester still pinned to a tree. He was very much alive and conscious, but he couldn’t free himself.

  He started shouting. “Help me! Somebody help me!”