Bliath: Shattered

by Theresa Caligiuri

  Vance’s hand came up to his face, his eyes were closed and he was pinching the bridge of his nose, as if his head had just begun to pound, “Fera, your timing sucks, not that you could have helped it I am sure.” His memory skipped back to his little form curled up against Riel, while Fera was in her stomach.

  “Umm, I am sorry.” Fera wasn’t even sure what she was apologizing for.

  Vance cleared his head, it was so easy for him to forget she knew so little about this world, about her, from what he could gather, her father had hoped she would still be in Thoren right now, safe and happy and Markus would help her with her Ascension. How to explain this to her was his main concern, if only Desree was here. “Ok when you turn 18, your magic if you have any, and clearly you have a little something there, will come into its adult power, it means with her mix of blood you will slow to a crawl when it comes to aging, it also means you are of age, to marry, you are an adult, I mean I am sure you get it, if you were back home, they probably would be announcing your betrothal to whomever, and a big party right?” The last few lines came out bitter.

  Fera laughed, “I am pretty sure from the recent turn of events, that they would just feel luck for me to make it to 18, I knew about the aging thing, I never have been betrothed to my knowledge, besides if there was a party, I'm sure I would not have fun - crowds kinda freak me out. So what is the difference between adult magic and well, what I have now?” In her head she was kind of worried about more magic, she thought she had more than enough, and after the barn incident maybe too much.

  “Fera it is not a bad thing, it might even help you, it gives you more control in some ways and makes it so no one can bind your magic in you. It is like it fully becomes yours.” Vance was hoping where ever they got to, be it Dwarves or Elves, they have a patient teacher because this is stuff he was taught early on.

  “Ok, that is all well, but why would we need to find shelter?” Fera was trying not to be frustrated, but she felt a lot like a child, it seemed like she just kept knew things flung at her like she should know them. She felt even more like Markus and her father were keeping things from her.

  Oren broke into her mind, “You have to stop, this doubt, you are you, and you are amazing in every way, a lesser person would run away, you are facing what you need to be facing, and that is people who have answers to questions that will cause pain, but need to be answered. As for you birthday, when the 23rd hour hits, since that is the hour you were born on, you since have Elven blood in you, will glow for about an hour, and anyone or thing nearby with magic in them will feel the pulse you give off, and it might give you away.”

  “Great so if I wasn’t enough of a freak before, let’s add glowing to the list.” She was more than ready to be done with all of it.

  Vance stopped, as did Fera and Oren, he was looking at her, “So the ass told you, well one less question for me to explain.”

  “Enough, ok you need to be nice, if you can’t fake it, he is in no way shape or form doing anything to you, and he is even snarky when it comes to you, you both are acting like children, geesh! I think we need to stop and eat, because I am going to write that donkey jab as you turning into a grumpy princess when you’re hungry Vance!” Fera’s eyes narrowed on Vance, and then shot the same glare at Oren, it was clear she was mad, but even she didn’t know which way to send the anger to.

  Fera and Vance settled down, with more bread and cheese, and like before Fera shared her food with Oren. They had traveled far, and it was warm enough out that they all had a good sweat, Fera lifted her braid, her hair was sticking out everywhere, she felt just plain grimy. In the silence of their snacking they could hear a stream close by. Fera, sucking up her annoyance at Vance, she explained she thought they all should go wash up, and water the horses.

  Chapter 24

  Vance noted when they got to the water that it was more like a running brook than a stream.

  Not that Fera knew the difference, but she felt the urge to argue that it was a stream, she hoped that the cool water had the effect of easing her bad mood, and everyone else’s too. Kneeling at the edge she plunged her cupped hands in and splashed her face, if she had not known true magic she would have sworn the effects of the water were just that.

  “You know from this point on it is going to get colder, and if and when we hit the Mount Glangak, your grandfather’s mountain range, it will be winter,” Vance’s attempt to make nice again.

  “Oh wow, I have never seen snow! What about the Elven homelands?” Fera got the sparkle of excitement in her eyes.

  “You might want to ask, no one has been in there for a long time, I have never been past the border,” Vance gestured to Oren.

  Fera shot Vance a quick look, and the second she got away from Oren, she was going to ask Vance what crawled up his butt when it came to Oren, she turned back to Oren waiting to hear.

  “Fera, really name calling is not sticks and stone, he is just mad that I have got to spend years with you.” Oren’s thoughts came across walking the line between confident and cocky, “Now as far as weather, it's charmed, the whole region, where the farming happens it stays sunny and warm but not too hot and rains three times a week. The other areas weather depends on what is going on, but mostly it is nice. Elves love nature, it is ingrained in us.”

  “They both would be nice I suppose.” Fera really didn’t know what to expect, her best and worst possible outcomes were both probable.

  A large shadow loomed over head, and in a split second Fera was face to face with a dragon, she froze, Oren and Vance were on the other side of the massive beast and Vance grabbed Oren’s reins and was having trouble holding him back.

  The Dragon’s voice echoed in Fera’s head, it took everything Fera had to stay on her feet, it reverberated down her spine, “Small one, you should not be out here alone.”

  Fera, drawing up as much courage as her mind allowed, thought what would Markus do at that moment, and addressed it aloud, “Could you be more specific, I mean not to offend oh bright scales, but to you we are all small.”

  A laugh or at least what Fera thought was a laugh, it sound like a deep shaking growl,

  “You, daughter of Riel, Daughter of Goodale, Princess of all, you are greatly sought. You have a muchness for such smallness, they did not see that. You do not fear me, Fera?”

  Choosing her words very carefully and thinking back to what Vance told her, “Fear is relative, I shall fear you when you give me cause to, for if you wanted a snack I wouldn’t be here talking to you. Plus now if you eat me, it will be rude to play with your food. May I have the pleasure of your name, since you seem so familiar with mine?”

  The rolling rumble laugh came out again, “I go by many things, but you may call me Nuna, I do not intend to eat you or your guide, I am the one who helped you but not so long ago. I shall not keep you, but they are all hunting you, each wanting something different, what is the lesser of all evils for you? Much to think about small one. If you need shelter tomorrow go more North, you will find an abandoned Elven post in a tall tree, follow the Giant under the rock by the night sky to find it. Much luck to you oh so ill-fated one.”

  She was gone as fast as she came, Fera touched her face, she knew the blood would be coming out of her nose, and her head hurt, Vance ran to her side, helping her sit, and Oren dipped his head down nuzzling her neck. When she regained enough sense to talk, she explained what Nuna had said about a giant under a rock. Vance got it right away, it was a star grouping. Now they knew where they were going.

  As they were preparing to leave the brook, Vance could tell Fera was still very shaken, he knew he was about to cause more harm than good, if only to himself, he grabbed her hand, and when she spun around, he wrapped his arms around her, and she let a sob lose and the dam that held her tears back broke. He stroked her hair and let her cry, she needed to cry, keeping it in would only break her, change her, and the thought of her being altered in any way that was truly not her, caused his heart to constrict. He
gently kissed her forehead.

  After a few more moments past, he spoke, “You just stood your ground with a dragon, and I think she likes you. I mean she didn’t eat you, but then again I hear if you eat a maiden you’re hungry a few hours later. Shh you’re going to be ok.”

  Fera glowered at him, her honey eyes with the mix of emotion she was so desperately trying to keep harnessed, she was trying to think before she spoke, but it was hard, “Vance, I have lost everything in a matter of days, my father, my tutor who was like an uncle and great confidant, my home, and a sense of who I am and who I am expected to be, I have not had time to process this, and then there is you, who looks at me with such, I don’t know, and holds me and protects me, who even has kissed me, even if it was in limbo, but then acts like I am a pain in his ass and looks in pain to touch me now, like I might hurt him or give him cooties, I am being hunted, I talked to what I thought was an extinct or imaginary creature, so what gives you the right to tell me I am going to be ok, I am so far from ok.” The last part became strained and the air started to get warm, her energy was building and she had no clue.

  Vance felt the shift, he was staring at Fera, waiting for her to go off, but it just kept building, he looked at Oren, and he knew the horse could sense the change too, he motioned for Oren to get back, Aloine was far enough away, Oren moved as the energy started to snap and crackle.

  Fera looked at Vance her eyes now wide with terror, he told her to let the energy go, but she couldn’t, her skin seemed to start to glow, Vance didn’t know how much she could take. She inhaled sharply, and sparks were flying wildly around her, she let out a whimper, it clearly was burning. Vance couldn’t take it anymore, and he knew what he was about to do would call trackers to the area faster than he had hoped, but it was the best option. Fera in any kind of pain was hard to think of much less watch. He pulled Fera too him, and began to draw her energy and let it mix with his, she closed her eyes in relief. The storm clouds came rolling in, he leaned down and whispered in Fera’s ear to keep her eyes closed, she turned to the sound of his voice, her lips met his, first by accident, but soon reaffirmed their position. The lightening was striking madly around them. Fera brought her arms up around Vance’s neck, and he pulled her even closer, after a few moment the lightening stopped, but they were very much clinging to each other.

  It was Oren’s thoughts thrust into Fera mind that brought her back to reality, “Next time tell Flash, I want a storm warning!”

  Fera looked at Oren confused, but then saw burnt patches on the ground and on some of the trees where the lightening hit.

  “Vance, what did I, you, or we do?” She didn’t know to be in awe or scared.

  Vance drew in a ragged breath, and raked his hand through his hair, “Yes, you, me, we. Fera, we need to go, and fast again, if I promise to explain some things to you when we make camp tonight, can we just focus on the fleeing part for the next little bit, please?”

  “Fine.” She sounded more defeated, then ok with having to wait.

  Chapter 25

  As promised they rode in silence, for the first half Fera had to lean down on Oren, her head pounded, her body hurt, and she felt raw from the energy. She sat up around sundown and took a good look around, the trees were changing, getting denser, taller, and bigger, the air was changing too, it was cooler, and the smell was different. She didn’t want to bother Vance, she felt Oren’s wall was down, so she asked him instead, “Where are we, do you know, have you been here before?”

  “Yes A’mael, Devendra Forest, I journeyed through here to come to you, it is a strange place, once inhabited by many things, history says when these ancient trees were not yet seen a battle raged between the Elves and the Dwarves for this land, it was long and bloody, the guardians stepped in, and created the mountains for the Dwarves, a protected area for Elves and made this forest as a reminder of the horrible loss, every tree was a life lost. The creatures that called it home a short while ago, got caught in the war that is causing you so much pain, they were forced to pick a side or flee, most fled.”

  “Oh that is horrible. The way everyone keeps describing the Elves, is a cold, calculated, race that push their own agenda without consideration of and for others? Is that how they will expect me to be?” This was one of the questions she wasn’t sure if she wanted an answer to.

  Oren softly chuckled, “For the most part the High Elves yes, sadly, the other classes are a mixed bag, but in general, as a race they are more controlled then most humans. I expect if you were to go there, they would very much want you to act like a High Elf and even more controlled giving who you are.”

  Fera’s face bunched up, “Oren, I am not sure I can do that, how do you shut most emotions out or lock them in? I should just prepare myself for them to hate me if or when we get there?”

  “A'mael, anyone who would hate you should be banished from Bliath, but you will fare better if you check them back, just when you are not among your trusted, think of it as a game, you must never give yes or no answers, be indifferent about almost everything, and talk in half-truths and partial lies.” Worry crept into Oren’s mind.

  Fera thought his mind was cute when he was worried, “Oren what does A’mael mean, and why do you call me that? Don’t get me wrong I love when you speak in Elven, but I have little clue to what you are saying. Things are going to be different.”

  “It means,” Oren mused, “I have given you a nickname to tell you what you are to me and I much dislike calling you what everyone else calls you, I want to be set a part.”

  Fera smiled, “Yes but what does it mean?”

  “It means you should learn Elfish.” He replied with his usual confidence.

  “Have you two ever thought that having a secret conversation, in some circles might be considered rude?” Vance intruded half joking, but still giving them a slight glare.

  Fera decided to tease back, “Some may also consider interrupting rude.” She gave a polite smile,

  Vance feigned surprise, “Don’t look now, Princess your royal is showing. So do you care to share your conversation?” His eyes locked on hers, and a dazzling smile formed on his lips.

  His smiles were making Fera’s heart skip beats, “The fact that we are in Devendra Forest, that it marks the site of some epic battle, how I should learn Elfish, and that in the end I act nothing like an elf and they are not going to care for me. If you must know, and it was you who said to ride in peace?”

  “I just, I just needed to clear my head, and put my thoughts in order and come up with some kind of plan. Fera, we are running blind here and we are not even sure to what or where, we have not had a moment to slow, and when we do, we put on a light show for them to track us. My mind needed a regroup. It is time to make camp, and get another early start, so we can make it to cover tomorrow night. Oh and by make camp tonight I mean no fire, and unpack the bare minimum in case we need to go.” His tone was light but you could tell it was true.

  They found a small area that was less dense, and true to what he said Vance left his horse mostly tacked, Fera though, was at a slight loss, Oren liked to sleep lying down, and they both like to curl up with each other, she just stood there staring at him.

  “Fera” Vance’s voice shook her out of the stupor, “Everything ok, are you sensing something?”

  She shook her head no, “I just, umm he likes to sleep lying down, and I sleep next to him, I feel safe that way.”

  “As you should,” Oren’s confident voice leaked in.

  Fera reached up and put her hand on his neck, and he let out a sigh like that is what he needed.

  “You two have a strange relationship, makes sense since he is a strange horse, just untack him and if something happens we will have to make do.” Vance rolled his eyes, he knew once he figured out what was up with Oren, things would change and it would be for the better.

  Once they were all settled down, Fera snuggled into the side of Oren, and Vance on his makeshift roll out bed, he stared at Fera waiting
for her to rapid fire questions at him, but she just stared up at the stars.

  “Anytime now Ace,” Vance playful said, but Fera just looked at him with sad eyes, “What is wrong?”

  “Every time someone explains something to me, I either feel stupid, or hurt even more, and sometimes I know I have to hear things that I might not want to but need to, I mean lately the questions come easy and the answers hard, and I don’t know, I am just sorting through in my head what I need to know and what I want to know, and how the answers might affect me at this point,” Fera sighed.

  Vance motioned for her to come sit next to him, even though she hesitated at first Fera gave in and moved next to him, he took her hand, Fera looked down then back at Vance, “So you're touching me now?”

  “Well, it seems your questions are finding their way back out. You want me to answer that or was it rhetorical?” Vance smirked, and Fera melted a little on the inside, she loved that look on his face, it was like his charm was peeking through. She smiled back and nodded.

  “Very well, but first I want you to know I will never lie to you, and I will try to explain this to you the best I can.” Fera nodded again and Vance let out a sigh, it was now or never he thought and hoped she would not think him crazy. “My energy is controlled most of the time, but when my emotions are heightened or intensified, I lose control, you have little control, but that will come with time and practice.” He paused again to make sure she was following what he was saying. “I know our magic, or the energy of it recognizes each other, and are connected to each other somehow, so it only intensifies the feelings I am feeling, and reacts to yours or yours reacts to mine and together they become highly unpredictable and unstable. I am afraid that it will hurt you, or someone else. You saw the lightning back there, I mean by myself I can do that but not to the intensity we caused together. Do you understand?” Vance was slightly blushing and was hoping the cover of night was hiding it.