Empyreal

by Helsel, Spencer

  “Your affection for this human is the cause of our misfortunes, Nessus.” The first voice was harsh and biting. “You should not continue such an association.”

  The second speaker ignored the comment. “You retrieve the Numen. I will stay by her side.”

  With a hard clap of many footfalls, someone departed.

  She slowly came to. Dani winced as she opened her eyes to the harsh light of day. White clouds dotted the sky beyond the spread of branches. She blinked. Where the hell am I?

  A face moved into view; out of focus at first, but slowly sharpening into Nessus.

  “Are you alright?” he asked.

  “Where am I?” she groaned, her lungs painfully taking a breath. Her right arm ached. Her ankle felt worse.

  “My home.”

  “Your home?”

  She sat up, which was excruciating all on its own. She lay in the middle of what constituted the centaur’s home. It was a tent or something to that effect; animal hides stitched together over wooden posts to form walls, with a flap for an entrance and a wide space the size of a tiny corral. Off to one side were folded sheets and cushions for sleeping and a table for eating, with a small garden full of vegetables and a fire for cooking. No chairs, obviously.

  Vines grew from the amaranthine posts, holding plates and cookware like natural hangers. The tent had a flap pulled back at the top, allowing the warm glow of the sun to pour through.

  The only clothing Dani wore was the blanket. She quickly yanked it up to cover herself.

  “Breathe easy, Dani.” Nessus cautioned. “You were attended to by the female healers of my village. Your honor is intact.”

  “Um, so no one saw my…you know…?”

  “No.” He extended her folded raiments to her, dried. “My kind believes in a code of honor. We would not disgrace you by laying you bare without consent.”

  “Does anyone consent to that in your village?” she managed the smallest of smiles.

  The centaur turned his back and allowed Dani to redress. Her raiments smelt fresh and flowery. Did centaurs have laundry detergent? She doubted it, but hey, they forged chain-throwing arrows, so what could stop them from inventing modern conveniences?

  “I’m done.” She announced, once redressed. Nessus turned back. “How long was I out?”

  “A day.” He offered her a bowl of water. “Drink. You must be thirsty.”

  “No, thanks, I’ve had enough water.”

  He didn’t smile at her joke. He was more serious; not that he was ever jovial, but he seemed tense. Scared.

  “Nessus,” she hesitated, “I heard you got in trouble because of me. I’m sorry.”

  He bristled. “You are not the reason.”

  “Yes I am. You saved me and they punished you. They told me they’re sending you to Hell to fight. Is that true?”

  He frowned, ignoring her question. “Please drink. The water is flavored with special berries from the Vale. It’ll provide you some strength for your return journey.”

  “My return journey?”

  The flap entrance pushed aside and the centaur Dani knew as Buer cantered through. Unlike Nessus, who wore a simple tunic top, Buer wore full armor and carried his sword. Nessus backed away from him.

  “The Numen have arrived.” Buer told them.

  Dani perked up. “Numen?”

  From behind him, Ethan and Kleos stepped through. Both were unarmed, but Buer gave them a wide berth.

  Buer spoke to them in grunts of disgust, “As you can see, she is alive. Our fisherman pulled her from the river half dead. It would be of great kindness that you take her from our lands, ne’re to return.”

  Dani didn’t like his tone. “What’s your problem?”

  Buer regarded her coldly. “I take no issue with you.”

  “It sounds like you do.”

  “In truth? Aye. Due to you, the Council selected our village for deployment to the Fiery Underworld. Do you know what you have done, stupid girl?”

  “Buer!” Nessus scolded, but one look from the armed centaur cowed his protest.

  “You Numen dictate and you do as you please with no regard for any of us. Even ones as low as you in your society cause havoc wherever you go.”

  “Hey! I’m not the one sending you to Hell!”

  “No, but your relationship with Nessus caused it to happen. There has always been a divide on this mountain; we do not enter your Citadel and unless for the Trials, you do not enter our Vale. Our societies stay separate, but you hold the power. Now our men must leave our mates behind. For Nessus,” he shot her friend a cold look, “this is of little consequence. With no family and only that caladrius for comfort, he leaves little behind.”

  Nessus flinched with shame, not looking Buer in the eye.

  “For those of us with family, they lose much. You take no blame Daniella of Empyrean? If you cannot see your fault,” he leaned down, “then curses be upon you and your kind!”

  She couldn’t look him in the eye.

  “Drink and be gone. We do not appreciate intruders.”

  She wanted to explain herself. She wanted Buer to know it wasn’t her fault. But even as she formed her snide comeback, she realized it was pointless. Who was to blame? The Council? Sure, but what good would that do? Nessus? She wasn’t throwing her friend under the bus.

  Instead she drank her flavored water. It made her feel better. Dani handed the bowl back to Nessus. “I’m so sorry.”

  He only nodded, accepting it. Ashamed, she followed Ethan and Kleos out under the watchful gaze of Buer.

  Nessus called out to her as she departed. “Dani?”

  She paused at the entrance. “Yes?”

  “Tell Caesar good-bye for me?”

  Her heart ripped in two. “I will.”

  Buer saw them out. Outside, the open clearing next to the river dotted with similar hovels to Nessus’s. Each one housed a centaur family; each decorated differently with diverse skins and ornaments. They all resembled large yurts with walls, some larger than others and covered with various helpful plants.

  When they emerged, a small herd of children with upper bodies of pre-teens and lower bodies of Shetland ponies galloped by. It was startling. She’d only seen the warriors before. Women tended to fires, hung clothes on clothes lines, and galloped down to the river to bathe or catch fish. One centaur spoke to a wolfling-cynocephali, haggling over a trade. A group of hunters with bows and spears returned with a keresh carcass hanging on a spit between them.

  More than one centaur shot her an ugly look as Ethan and Kleos led her away from Nessus’s hovel. Centaur soldiers glared from under helms as they trotted by in formation, the cadence caller keeping time while also managing to grunt a nasty-sound in her direction.

  “When are they leaving?” Dani asked Ethan.

  “Soon.”

  “I thought they wouldn’t leave until Spring.”

  “When Alecto departs, so will they.” He told her. “Her interference with the attack on your home caused concern about her favoritism towards you. When she leaves, so do they.”

  “All because of me.” She muttered miserably.

  He tried to cheer her up. “Their families will remain safely here in Empyrean. We’ll protect them. They have that.”

  “But with everyone they love being sent to literally the worst place in existence, I doubt that does much.” She shook her head. “How did you find me?”

  Ethan gritted his teeth. “I scouted the Vale for you. I needed help, so I called on Kleos. We were flying over when the centaurs hailed us.”

  “I didn’t want you to look for me.” She scowled.

  “I had to.”

  “No, you didn’t Ethan.”

  They headed downhill towards the river’s edge. As they walked, it was his turn to scowl. He angrily stomped ahead.

  “He was worried.” Kleos confessed.

  “Yeah, well, I didn’t ask him to be.”

  “It is my experience that being worried about someo
ne isn’t usually by permission.”

  The centaur village and Nessus disappeared behind them. They were silent. Unfortunately for Dani, walking in silence gave her time to think and gave her time to feel more guilty. She hated overthinking things and this was why!

  “He’ll come around.” Kleos tried to cheer her up.

  “Yeah, well, I’m used to him pretending I don’t exist.”

  Kleos shrugged. “At least you know it’s pretend. That makes the cold shoulder easier.”

  “No, it doesn’t.”

  “So, can I ask how you ended up the in the river?”

  Ugh. Dani almost forgot about that. “I found a place to live and then got evicted.”

  “Evicted?”

  “I found a cave up there.” She pointed back upstream to the Dalles. “Someone was already using it.”

  “Someone? Dani, no one has ever been up there.”

  “Well, someone was; a Numen or gifted or someone. All I know is he really didn’t want visitors.”

  “So you’ve seen the source of the river? What is it?”

  She glanced sidelong at him. “It’s kind of hard to explain. It comes out of the sky.” She tried to put it into words. “It’s like…it’s like it just appears.”

  Kleos smiled. At least, she thought he was smiling. It was hard to tell.

  “Why is that funny?”

  “It’s not.” He told her. “It’s nice. It’s water from Heaven.”

  “What’s so great about that?”

  “Dani, our whole existence is because of a celestial war that split Heaven in half and an impossible mission to stop demons. It’s nice to know something pure still exists; not ugly or disgusting or broken. It’s nice to think that when they die,” he looked up into the sky, “our loved ones aren’t gone.”

  She doubted that, or at least doubted the source of the river meant anything like that. Heaven didn’t seem real. How could something so pure exist with so much crap down here? It was an odd thought for someone like her.

  Dani asked, “So what’s the plan? Are you guys taking me back?”

  “Ethan wants to drag you back to the Arn, since he figures you won’t go quietly.”

  “He figures right. Why would I? For the second Trial?”

  “The second Trial is over. After that stunt in front of the Council? Hopefully you didn’t expect something else.” Kleos rarely sounded snarky. This was one of those rare moments. “The Council declared you a failure in the second Trial, but I think that was more for show. You are the first person to refuse to participate. Hellfires! You’re the first person to ever run away, as far as I know.”

  “So no one else is missing?”

  “No. Why?”

  Then who attacked me last night?

  They reached the river. Ethan extended a bag to her. “Here.”

  Dani hesitated, accepting it. Inside was some cooked and dried meat, freshly picked vegetables and bottles of elixirs. “What’s this?”

  “I already figured out you weren’t coming back.”

  He was definitely angry, but it was more than anger; worry, probably a little annoyance. She rarely didn’t annoy someone.

  “Are you?” he asked. “Are you going to stay out here?”

  She nodded bitterly. “I can’t go back.”

  “We can protect you.”

  “If you believe that, you haven’t learned anything.” She braided and tied back her hair like Roxelana showed her. “It’s not safe for me there. Breaking into my home, setting me up to fail; it’s only a matter of time before someone succeeds.”

  “Dani, you could have died out here.”

  “Would anyone care if I did?”

  “I would!” He said it and blushed with embarrassment.

  But she shook her head. “I can’t go back.”

  “If you fail all three Trials, the Elders will come after you. Or, at least, they won’t stop anyone who does.”

  “No one needs me around.”

  “I do.”

  Dani felt her heart summersault into her throat. “Ethan…”

  “If it will get you to come back, I’ll say anything. Dani, please, don’t do this.”

  She shook her head again. “No.”

  “Then what are you going to do?”

  “I’m going to stay here until I know what to do next.”

  “That’s insane.”

  She folded her arms, all the warm and fuzzy gone. Ethan was a warrior, but he was stupid when it came to women. “I’m not going to change my mind.”

  “Why are you being so hard-headed?”

  “Why are you being such a jerk?” she shot back.

  Silence. Neither of them was backing down.

  Dani was the one to walk away. “Both of you go.” she said, taking her fresh clothes. “And don’t come back! I mean it this time!”

  “Don’t do this Dani!” Ethan called after her.

  She ignored him. It hurt her to do that.

  ______________________

  She was sick of being weak. She was sick of being an outcast. But more than anything else, she hated living in the woods like animal. She was pissed. She wanted to take it out on someone and she had an idea who.

  She climbed back up the mountain into the mist, scaled above the spray and walked to the mythical falls that Kleos believed were a sign from God, or Heaven, or whatever. The sun dipped behind the Dalles again. She scouted the cave for signs of life and the mysterious intruder. She had no weapon, but she wasn’t leaving. Her things were inside. If she was going to last out here, she needed them.

  Whoever he was, the mystery man either meant to kill or scare her off. Either way, he wasn’t friendly. Dani waited for over an hour for him to appear. The sun set completely, but he didn’t. Finally, unable to wait any longer, Dani climbed down. She couldn’t wait forever.

  She crept to the cave, careful to avoid slipping on the rocks. As she passed under the falls, the light sifted around in brilliant spectral colors. She could see inside as she came around the bend. Her clothes, her torch, all her belongings lay at the back.

  And between her and them was the man.

  He squatted inside, waiting. Their eyes met. When he stood, he looked maybe a little older than her; eighteen, maybe nineteen? And she wasn’t sure if ‘he’ was the right word, anyway. His face was thin, but beautiful. There was a blush to his cheeks and softness to his eyes. The length to his eyelashes didn’t strike her as manly. He had an ethereal beauty that made her think girl. His hair curled; black and highlighted with blondes and browns. And his eyes were the color of the sky; clear as summer morning.

  He wore only trousers, leaving his wiry chest and large feet naked. He saw her, making no expression as he stepped into the open. His arms were incredibly long like a swimmer’s. Toned. He was like a child in a man’s body.

  Dani held up her hands. “Whoa! Hey! Look, if this is your cave, you can have it. I don’t want it. All I want is my stuff and I will go.”

  The boy, or man, or whatever, said nothing.

  “Okay, Strong-and-Silent. Look-it, I know a Guardian you should meet. You two can have an epic staring contest, but in the meantime, all I want is my things.”

  Again, nothing. He made no move towards her but no move away, either.

  She took a step in. “Look, just—.” She stopped when he also took a step towards her. “Hey, all I want is what is mine! Back off!”

  She took another step. He took another step.

  “I don’t want to fight.”

  One step for her. One step for him. He moved gracefully.

  She took a step to the right and he mirrored her.

  “Are you a Numen? Gifted? Did you leave the city, too?”

  He didn’t answer. There was something sad about his eyes. The way he looked at her wasn’t predatory. But their previous encounter didn’t make her feel any safer with him. He was Tarzan with the scrawniness of Jane.

  “Just back off.” She warned him. “I get my things and
we both go on our merry way. How does that sound?”

  She took one more step to the right and again, he moved right. Nope. There was not going to be any merriment.

  After all she endured, after all the things she went through, after all the crap, she was tired. She spent months fighting for her life and reputation. She wasn’t going to keep up with it. So when he stepped in front of her, now both of them only feet apart, she knew the expression on her face was one of pure irritation.

  Forget this, she thought.

  Then she ran at him.

  Chapter Thirty-Two He was strong and he was quick. So Dani had to use the one advantage she had left: surprise.

  The strangely beautiful man came downhill at her. The moment before they collided, Dani stopped and planted her feet. When he attacked, she spun her hip into him; a body throw. Mastema taught it to her to use against people larger than her, which was almost everyone. The turn allowed her to wrap him with one arm and throw him around, tumbling him down toward the mouth of the cave. It worked, but he rolled quickly to his feet again.

  Dani kicked. He blocked and struck to her mid-section. His hands were like bricks. He picked her up and hurled her backwards farther into the hollow. She landed hard, unable to roll and took the brunt across her shoulder.

  She scrambled to her feet, now able to get to her clothes and equipment. Unfortunately, she still had him. The two paused, gauging one another. Neither would rush into this fight again.

  She seized the long-stemmed torch. It wasn’t lit, but she could still bash him with it. “Back off.”

  He didn’t. His feet clattered almost soundlessly on the rocks as he charged uphill. It was like slow motion; legs pumping, arms swinging, face serenely calm. Dani arched back with the torch and swung. He rolled his shoulders under, each muscle snapping out of the way of the blow. He came up and struck to her face, forcing her to drop it.

  He seized Dani around the back of the neck with both hands, pulling her down into a knee-strike. Dani brought her hands down, blocking the blow. She shoved into him, pushing him back and brought her heel up. She connected with his chest and knocked him backwards.

  Running on exhaustion, she jumped and struck to the knee, trying to collapse it. Her attacker, however, was one step ahead and jumped back out of reach. He swiped with his forward hand, backing her away, keeping her at a distance. Dani kept her hands up, taking the blows across her protective forearms. Round and round they went.