“Kali said they would be attracted to their maker,” the Dena’ina leader commented, following her gaze to the ones trickling south at an ever increasing pace.
“Alright,” Katya assumed a businesslike tone, “who knows this area well enough to give us a guess as to how long it might take them to reach the border?”
Slade took a hesitant step forward, watching her as though she might bite his head off any second. His new contriteness was rather annoying. She was not about to forgive him his betrayal. She widened her eyes in a sudden movement and jerked a tiny bit towards him threateningly.
He flinched away. “I would estimate it will take them no more than five days to reach the edge of the Lost Lands. They will go by both the Myaamia and the Gwich’in, though depending on how far they spread out, they might not hit either one.”
Katya was silent a moment, and she chewed her lip. It was a habit she had picked up trying to emulate emotion, and she found that once she started, it was hard to stop. “That doesn’t give us much time. I know that Layna and Gryffon need to take care of the outbreak that Kali caused in Treymayne, but given how well the cure worked in the palace, that shouldn’t take more than a day. They should be able to transport up here by tomorrow night or the day after at the latest.”
“Won’t they be exhausted after all those transports?” scoffed the Kanza leader, “What good will they do us then?”
“You don’t know Layna and Gryffon,” Katya informed him smugly. “You were lucky to have overcome them with the combined magic of all the tribes together.”
He didn’t comment, but continued to stare skeptically at her. It didn’t matter, she wasn’t about to waste breath trying to convince the stubborn man. He would see for himself soon enough.
She turned back to Slade. “Are there any areas then that they’ll be in about two to three days from now that we could use to our advantage?”
“I think so-” he started, but couldn’t finished his sentence as something small and fast whipped out of the brush and straight towards him.
A flaming serpent, only about three feet long, covered in nasty-looking spikes, and zooming through the air with bat-like wings. The creature let out a high-pitched whine which soon crescendoed into a pitch that their human ears couldn’t detect.
Unfortunately, it appeared that others of its kind could hear it, and soon they were surrounded by four of the feisty little hellions. They slithered through the air, and in and out of the tight group of people, who drew their weapons and readied spells to fling at them.
She felt the familiar tightness of Marak on her arm as she drew her knives from their hiding spots and let one fly into the nearest creature.
It let out a shriek as it died, and caused the other three to wind around one another in sympathetic agony. This turned out to be a mistake on their part as they had five mages ready to launch spells at them as soon as they presented a target. Which the roiling ball of flying snakes conveniently provided.
The five spells hit them simultaneously, and these didn’t even get the chance to emit their final wail. They burst apart and the pieces fell to the ground, fluttering in the light wind.
They all watched until the last of it had hit the dirt. Katya looked up and smiled.
“Four down. Some-odd hundred to go.”
CHAPTER 14
Layna awoke the next morning much refreshed. Though the news from Katya had worried her immensely, her exhaustion had overtaken her long before she could work up too much anxiety over it. As the morning wore on, it was easier and easier to listen to Gryffon’s optimistic suggestion that perhaps nothing had come of the warning after all. She had, he pointed out, bothered them late at night to let them know of the danger. It seemed likely that she would have contacted them again had it turned into anything worse.
Regardless, they still had the issue of making sure that the cure spread throughout the city, and making sure that it made it to the outbreak in Treymayne. Just as spreading the chokeroot to all of their citizens had proved difficult, she was now worried that it wouldn’t spread to all of its citizens.
“But the original curse spread to all of them, didn’t it?” Gryffon said. “The chokeroot didn’t get out to everyone because it depended on them actually coming to us to get it.”
She cocked her head to the side in a half-nod. “That’s true,” she granted him, “but the majority of it also spread while no one was the wiser. Now that everyone is worried about it, they’ve all shut themselves in their homes. Not that it matters anymore as far as getting infected – any who can get it have gotten it – but also out of fear of the Bricrui. And for that, I really can’t blame them. If I was still just a maid, I would probably be at home covering my head in a blanket somewhere.”
“I highly doubt that,” Gryffon rebuffed her. “You have far too much of an inquisitive nature. And no common sense sometimes.” He grinned at her and gave her a quick kiss to cut off any response she may have had to the remark.
They finished their morning routine and wolfed down the breakfast that had been left for them, and made their way to the Council chambers. They would leave the task of organizing the spread the cure in the city to the Council, while they ensured its taking hold in Treymayne.
Already they had dozens of volunteers from the cured in the infirmary to go out into the city and ‘infect’ people with the new anti-curse. It heartened Layna to hear that so many people were willing to come together and help solve the crisis. Though there had been a few people who had polluted her faith in the goodness of her people, like Telvani and the Bricrui fights, times like these reminded her of what her people were truly like. Layna was still over-whelmed by the amount of support and thanks they had showered upon them and Phoenix, even knowing that it was them who caused it.
“It wasn’t Phoenix or you who have caused any of this,” Gryffon said exasperatedly when she voiced these thoughts. “It is the Forgotten tribes who made the mistake of listening to a crazy evil person that began this mess. And the mess before this one was due to the fact that we mistakenly trusted a crazy evil person.” He smiled at her dryly. “Hopefully, when this is all over, we can stop with the whole crazy evil person business and just all get along.”
“I hope so,” Layna sighed. “It would be nice to actually get to enjoy some of the perks that supposedly come with being a Queen. So far, I haven’t had the pleasure of indulging in many of them.”
“Well, good,” Gryffon poked at her, “I don’t want you becoming all soft. I have to keep my Queen on her toes.”
“Ha ha.” She kissed him again. They had reached the Council chambers and she regretfully pulled away. She pulled open the door and they went in together, Layna taking a deep breath before doing so.
When they had the Treymayne Ieldran in the mirror, they relayed the good news. The entire Council burst into applause, extremely unlike them, revealing just how much strain everyone had been under.
They agreed to a course of action to spread the cure and arranged for her and Gryffon to go to Treymayne with Phoenix to make sure that it spread as quickly as possible there as well. Layna felt a guilty twinge every time she thought of what they were taking away from her daughter. Hopefully someday she would forgive them.
They decided that rather than transport directly into the zone where Heinrich had started the disease and then let it loose, they would travel in by horse. The Ieldran was becoming more and more supportive of the merger between them as time wore on, and they agreed that it was time to start convincing their populace as well. Having Phoenix ride through healing people before their very eyes would go a long ways towards accomplishing this goal. It made Layna a little nervous, parading her baby around the countryside. Just as they had no choice but to sacrifice her talent, it really was necessary to cement their loyalty to her, both for the sake of the merger, as well as her eventual rule. Who knew what problems the lack of talent might cause, but if she had already won the hearts of the people, there would be nothing to worr
y about.
The Council insisted upon an amount of fanfare that made Layna tap her toes with impatience. There were lives at stake. Every second could count, the difference between life and death for some of the infected could be a matters of moments. She tried to hurry them along, but to no avail. The success made them cocky and they let thoughts of how such a parade could benefit Gelendan rather than focus on the real purpose of the trip: To save the Bricrui in Treymayne.
Soon – though not soon enough for her – they were on their way. Layna had been stuffed into one of her most fancy traveling dresses and she felt as though she might pass out from lack of breath, the corset was so tight. She was not used to wearing one from her days as a maid, and it took some practice to be able to breathe while wearing one. It was a good thing that her magic had come back, otherwise she would have felt extremely vulnerable.
As it was, she kept an eagle’s eye on Phoenix, never letting her out of her sight, even when Gryffon was parading her through the crowd. As for him, he had cleaned up pretty nice himself, and though she always kept tabs on Phoenix at the same time, found herself drawn to admire just how handsome a man he was.
At first, the effects of their parade was more curiosity than anything, there weren’t any of the infected this far out, so the passers-by just wanted to know what all the fuss was about. Announcing that they were on their way to cure the Bricrui did get a response, but without the accompanying demonstration, it didn’t have quite the same effect. It did, however, garner them quite a following.
As they moved farther in, towards the area where it had been started, they started to come across some of the infected. The results were similar to those they’d witnessed in the infirmary. A weight Layna hadn’t realized had been there until now lifted from her shoulders. She had been half-worried that it had been a fluke, and that it wouldn’t really spread, or that Phoenix’s cure would ‘stop working’.
It started with a sudden shout of surprise as someone along the street looked, astonished, at his hands. He drew attention from others who watched as his lesions, previously filled with puss, began to disappear. He looked up at their parade in wonder, and Layna made sure to hold Phoenix out in front of her so that they would know that it was her.
People started pouring out of houses and buildings, rushing to them. The guards closed in protectively, but Layna motioned them away. With a very strong magical shield in place around Phoenix, she dismounted and brought her along the edge of the crowd. People’s hands stuck out towards them, trying to touch them as they passed. Layna let them brush against Phoenix gently, and as soon as they felt the magic working, they withdrew their hands, looking at them in amazement.
The effects were instantaneous when Phoenix had direct contact with the person, and as they moved farther and farther into the infected zone, the crowd grew larger and larger.
Eventually, they reached an area that was filled with Bricrui too far gone to be saved. Before they could turn back, smothered behind by the throng of followers watching their movements with awe, one came towards them, red eyes blazing.
Layna readied her magic, hesitant to blast the creature while the crowd looked on, but not willing to put Phoenix’s life in danger. The Bricrui came at them slowly, wary of the number of people, hissing and spitting at them all, but unable to deny its instincts. It drew closer, reaching out its hands towards them, just like those in the crowd, but not for redemption. All it wanted was blood.
A split second before she decided that her daughter’s safety was more important than her image in front of these people caused her to lash out at it, it suddenly stopped.
It straightened, and cocked its head to the side, like a dog surprised by a sudden noise. Then, it started to shake violently, its eyes rolling back into its head as it changed back to a more normal, more human, appearance. When it opened its eyes again, they were clear of blood, and they met Layna’s for the briefest of moments. She waited in tense anticipation, knowing what was coming next.
He didn’t die right away, however, as the one in the cell had. He gasped for breath and looked around at the circle of people who had come to stand around him. His gaze was uneven and wandering, as though he was intoxicated.
Phoenix wriggled so badly in Layna’s arms that she was forced to set her down. As soon as the baby’s feet hit the ground, she was on her wobbly way over to the man. Layna moved forward to scoop her up, but a gentle restraining touch paused her. She looked quizzically back at Gryffon, who shook his head slightly at her. So, she just watched with the rest of the crowd to see what Phoenix would do.
She walked right up to the man, oblivious to the fact that he had been a snarling beast only moments ago, and laid her pudgy little fingers on his cheek. His drooping eyes flickered open and focused on her.
His lips cracked into a smile and it was clear to all those watching that he whispered the words “thank you” to the little girl. Then his head dipped backwards, his eyes closing, and his chest stopped heaving up and down with his breath.
Princess Phoenix stayed with him a moment, uncharacteristically still for the child, as though she could sense that it was the right thing to do. Already she was acting like a Princess. Layna felt a surge of pride run through her. She may have started out a maid, but her daughter was born royalty.
The crowd was silent. Then, out of nowhere, a woman began to wail hysterically, and the throng parted to let her through, as she clawed her way between them. She rushed to the man’s side, and began sobbing loudly while kneeling next to him. She rocked back and forth, oblivious to the many faces around her, watching her grief.
Layna fidgeted uncomfortably, despite Amelia’s voice in her head that Queen’s ‘do not fidget’, and looked around. She did not want to just leave a pile of dead bodies in their wake, left for their relatives and loved ones to find. Spying an empty cart, attended by a man watching them curiously, Layna went over to him. He watched her sideways, glancing this way and that around him, wondering why she would be approaching.
“Is there any way I could convince you to let me buy your cart?” she asked him softly. He seemed to be in awe of talking to her.
“Of course, Your Majesty, you can have it.” His eyes had grown wide and he gestured for her to take the cart.
“Thank you,” she told him, “I shall try to return it afterwards, but cannot promise anything.” She waved one of her attendants over, who gave the man more than the cart was actually worth. The man looked down at the money, and back up at her, confused.
Her guards caught on more quickly, however, already moving to hook the cart to horses. Layna halted them.
“No,” she held up a hand as they grabbed the reins of her own horse, fully decked out for the parade, “Use mine, I want it to be the center of attention.”
“Mine too,” Gryffon stated, bringing forward his own elaborately garbed horse. Though the cart was a bland and undecorated thing, with the two magnificent horses pulling it, it seemed grand.
The guards then gently removed the wailing woman from the man’s body, offering comfort, and laid his body out on the cart. Layna would turn their parade into one of a hero’s sacrifice. She wanted these people to remember that the Bricrui had been people, people who had been forced to give up their lives because of the curse.
Several people came forward with flowers and laid them over the cart. Layna looked around, wondering where they had come from, and noticed that several children were running back from the edges of town, bunches of wildflowers in their arms. They must have also read Layna’s intentions and started off as soon as they figured out what she was up to.
The flowers made the procession much more beautiful, and as they moved slowly into the worst part of the town, encountering more Bricrui, more flowers were added as more bodies piled on.
The number of people they hauled along behind them was alarmingly abundant when they reached the other edge of the town, and Layna pulled aside an older woman who had been part of their procession since the
beginning.
“Could you tell me if there is a cemetery?”
The woman looked at her appraisingly. “Yes, this way.”
They followed her into the countryside a ways, the mass of people still plodding along behind them. When they reached the site, the man who kept up the sacred place came out of his house. He was covered in pustules, which disappeared at their approach. Layna waited for his attention to come back to them after watching in amazement as his body healed before his eyes.
“We would like to bury the dead of the Bricrui curse, if we could,” she appealed to him.
He looked around at the great amassed crowd, then to the many bodies on the cart behind her.
“I would happily provide a place for them all,” he said, “But I have only the one shovel, I’m afraid. It will take me some time.”
There was a rustling in the crowd, and once again they produced just what was needed. Many people came forward, suddenly carrying shovels, and stood before the man.
“Just tell us where to dig,” they stated.
The man was rather taken-aback, but did not hesitate to show them the ground which could be dug for the graves. With so many people digging, Gryffon included, they had the graves dug in no time.
The guards reverently placed the bodies into the earth while the crowd looked on. Layna tried to think of something to say, but found that words eluded her. The people were all eerily quiet. When the last of the bodies was underground, and the man who ran the cemetery pounded the last marker into the grave – Layna was pleased to see that every one of them had been recognized and given a name – they all stood back.
No one moved or said anything for several long moments. Layna thought about calling out for a priest, but didn’t want to break the silence. Then Phoenix, who had been standing next to her, holding her hand to keep her balanced, moved forward once more. Layna walked with her, catching her now and again as she came precariously close to toppling over, and watched with everyone else to see what she would do.
Light the Reign (The Forgotten: Book 3) Page 19
