by B. T. Narro
Behind me now. I got the beast’s chest this time, but it didn’t fall. Closing in on my trapped sword, I noticed two terrislaks preparing the white claw on their first finger to pierce me. The damn things were as long as my torso, causing the first pinch of fear since this had begun.
I cut down one terrislak in my way and rolled forward to get through the legs of the next as it grabbed where I’d just been, pulling my free sword behind me with py. I was close enough to my other sword now that it only took a heartbeat to lift the hand covering it.
An instant after I got py around my weapon, I drove it into the calf of the terrislak I’d run beneath. Lightning struck as the creature started to collapse, blinding me for a blink. The beasts seemed even more disoriented, a few falling over and splashing up mud, the tone of their shrieks rising.
Thunder boomed as I ran to the terrislak I’d stabbed. I ripped the sword free from its calf and stuck both blades into their sheaths. Two white claws narrowly missed me while I ran up the creature’s back. It screeched from being impaled by its own kin. Another white claw came down just beside me, immediately slowing the thrashing of the terrislak below my feet.
I’d gotten py in place beneath my arms by then and hoisted myself high into the air. The terrislaks wailed and reached up, running after me as I flew past them to the west. Some jumped, others threw mud, but most followed me without letting me out of their sight. They collided with each other and began to fight, aggression getting the better of them.
Then I noticed a terrible sight. A terrislak on the far end of those remaining had entered the pines. It must’ve seen someone, and it would be within the first village in an instant. Two other terrislaks caught sight and followed. Even if I could get there in time, I would bring the rest with me. There was nothing I could do but slay those chasing me.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
If my clothes weren’t already soaked from the rain, they would’ve been from sweat and terrislak blood. I felled the last two beasts from my knees, completely enervated. I didn’t even have the strength to pull my swords free before they collapsed, which took about the same amount of effort as standing.
I fell forward into the mud. I turned my head and sucked in air. You have to get up. There are still terrislaks within the village.
Three had entered through the pines and nothing had come out. I rolled onto my back. The rain splattered against my face and into my mouth. I drew many more breaths before I could sit up, then even more before I could stand.
I staggered over to the last two fallen terrislaks, their carcasses on top of my short swords.
“Damn.” I wasn’t getting my weapons out until I regained more strength.
I listened but couldn’t hear any screams from the village over the sound of the storm. I put my hands over my head, my chest burning, my legs shaking. Hurry up, I demanded.
Finally I felt I had enough strength for my task. I got py beneath a beast’s shoulder, then hoisted it up and rolled it over so I could yank out the sword beneath it. Then I did the same for the other.
I’d just begun staggering toward the pines when I noticed a small crowd had gathered. They couldn’t have been there long. Most were gawking at the scene behind me, some looking straight at me as if I were just as otherworldly as the hundreds of bloody terrislaks that lay in the mud.
With great effort, I kept my back straight and walked until I was close enough to speak. “Are there any left?”
“We killed three of them,” answered a man with a bow, his weapon identical to twenty more in the hands of others. “Two of us died.”
I walked through the pines, acutely aware of the crowd following me. The shocking sight stole my breath. Every home for fifty yards in each direction was nothing but rubble. Three carcasses lay scattered, the fletching of countless arrows jutting out.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t stop them,” I said.
The same man spoke as before. “You have no reason to apologize.”
“Are you human?” another asked me.
“That was pyforial energy you used to lift the corpses, wasn’t it?” someone else asked.
“Yes, I’m human. Yes, that was pyforial energy. I’m with King Quince’s army, sent here to help.” It wasn’t the exact truth but simpler than anything else I could’ve said.
“Thank the gods.”
“Thank the king,” I corrected. “But there’s still a threat out there—ten thousand Southerners. I need to check if they’re coming here. Have any of you seen my horse?”
A boy pointed, the same one I’d seen running out of his farmhouse with his bow while his mother yelled for him to return. “It ran off that way.” His shirt was torn open, stained by what had to be terrislak blood given that he was still standing.
I thanked him, but just before I left I noticed the guard Crall had sent arriving at the scene. His eyes gaped as he looked around. I left it to the villagers to explain.
I retrieved my horse and rode a mile north, emerging from the barrier of trees around the villages. I tied my mount to one and took to the air.
Evening has come, I thought as the land shrunk beneath me. It’ll be another dark night.
I went high enough to find the hills that five thousand of our men had chosen to stand upon to defend our land. Those still standing were clad in black armor, human carcasses and blue shields scattered at their feet. The battle had come and gone.
I couldn’t tell how many enemies had survived, but it was at least a few thousand. I had no chance against that many.
I came back down, mounted, and rode. I worried about Rao, but I didn’t have time to go back for him yet. I needed to find out what Marteph’s army would do next.
It was night by the time I reached my destination, a tall tree upon a low hill north of the villages. It would give me the vantage point I needed to spy on my enemies with my seescope in the morning. I settled in and dreamt of killing terrislaks.
In the morning, I saw the Southerners had descended the hill to the west instead of south, continuing for a few miles before they’d made camp. Thank the gods, they would go around these villages.
So their target ultimately had been Quince’s men. It made sense; they would’ve lost the attack on Glaine, and flattening these villages would’ve been messy and pointless.
As much as I despised Marteph and his fire priests, I had to admit their strategies were smart. Now they would be returning to the South, presumably gathering for another strike, perhaps the capital this time.
Gods, this war was still just beginning. I rode back toward Maywair as I thought about how to fix that.
I wanted to march into their capital and end it myself. It was a childish fancy. Winning would take so much more: many small victories, elaborate strategies, time…so much time.
Say I did somehow get to the Southern capital and kill King Marteph. Would that end the war? I’d read enough about the royal families by now to know King Marteph and Queen Wendi had a four-year-old son. The throne would go to him, though Marteph’s younger brother, Brimber, would be the one ruling until the boy came of age.
Brimber was certainly not a man who wanted to be involved in war. He enjoyed feasts, dancing, and playing the lute. He used to paint until Marteph disallowed it after seeing depictions of sacrifices with meticulous gore.
I’d seen my own share of paintings depicting a sacrifice. Women in white hovering in front of a waterfall with a celestial glow. Men standing on the precipice of a volcano, its lava reaching up, a light shining down onto the sacrifice from the sky. None of them were like Brimber’s work that showed a woman’s body breaking apart between the waterfall and the lake. Or a man in agony as he was about to hit the lava, his flesh already melting off his bones.
The war actually might end with Marteph dead, so long as his venerable priests didn’t assume control of the army, which was always a possibility.
After an hour of searching for Rao in Maywair, I couldn’t find him and began to worry. I started knocking
on doors to ask if anyone had seen him. Apparently word of the terrislaks or my pyforial energy hadn’t yet reached Maywair, for no one seemed to comment on anything but the rain, usually adding a complaint about the king after finding out I was part of his army.
I figured none of them knew what it was like to live in the North long before Quince took the throne, when a complaint about the king meant your neck in a noose. Quince was a fair ruler. I held no ill will toward him for allowing the terrislaks to attack. It was an impossible decision, though I’m not sure how different I would’ve felt if the thousands living in these villages had been killed.
Another hour passed as I searched. I feared Crall had taken Rao. There was only one way to find out.
I arrived at the lord’s fence and was greeted by Payce.
“Have you found out if the terrislaks are coming?” he asked while leading me to Crall’s door.
“They came and they died.”
He studied my eyes as we walked. What was he looking for?
“I don’t understand the joke,” he finally said.
“It isn’t a joke. Two people died. Many houses were ruined. Crall’s other guard should return soon. I saw him arrive as it ended.”
“There mustn’t have been many of them.”
“Two hundred, I’d say.”
“Two hundred! There are less than two hundred bowmen in these parts. There couldn’t have been that many terrislaks.”
He wasn’t opening the door as he waited for me to respond. “I killed most by myself. The villagers killed the others. Can you let me in?”
Payce blinked at me for a while. Eventually he laughed and slapped my shoulder. “I’ve never met a liar as skilled as you.” He unlocked the door.
Lord Crall came to meet us in the entrance room, giving me only a moment to eye his gem-encrusted shield on display. The sight made me cringe.
“I was hoping I wouldn’t see you again,” he said.
“The terrislaks are dead,” I informed him. “Marteph’s army is going around your land on its way back to the South. It’s safe here for now, but I recommend speaking to your people about learning how to use weapons. This might not be the last battle that happens here.”
“You expect thanks for these ridiculous lies? Terrislaks,” he scoffed. “Unless this rain stops, we’re all dead anyway. So are you leaving now?”
“I’m looking for a boy, nine years old and wearing a frayed coat too large for him.”
Crall showed no hint of answering.
“A brown coat,” I added. “Like his hair.”
“Haven’t seen him.” Crall’s voice rose as he pretended to be calm.
“I’m not leaving until I find him.”
His animosity came back to his face. “How do you know him?”
“I met him near Lanhine a while back. I’m not going to let any harm come to him.”
“He’s not here,” Crall said snidely. “Go back to Quince and tell him to start the sacrifices before his whole kingdom starves.”
“Neeko!” It was Rao’s voice.
I was just about to run toward it when Crall pointed at me. “Don’t move.”
I could hear the sound of struggling from one of the rooms, Rao screaming, “Let go!”
“What are you doing with him?” I asked.
“Taking care of him until he’s an adult, you fool. He’s one of my children.”
“And what punishment do your children get for running?”
Crall pushed his lips together. “That’s none of your concern. Now I’m demanding you leave. By law, you have no right to be within my estate without my permission.”
“Let me speak with him first, then I’ll go.” And I’ll take him with me.
Rao’s voice stormed out louder, “Let go of me!” I heard furniture knocking around. He ran into the room, chased by two servants with scared looks on their faces.
“Sorry, sir,” one woman said as Rao dodged Crall’s reaching arms and ran behind me. “He broke free.”
“Where is Brijit!” Rao shouted at Crall. “Did you kill her?”
Crall looked like my father had when he was about to throw something. “If you don’t come here, your punishment is going to be much worse.”
“Answer his question,” I said.
“Brijit is fine.”
“Bring her here then, and I’ll leave after I see her.”
“You’ll leave now and stop making demands. Payce, bring Rao to me. If Neeko resists, kill him.”
Pace reluctantly drew his sword. “Let me have the boy,” he ordered me.
No doubt Crall would give Rao the punishment of his life, maybe even kill him.
“He’s coming with me,” I replied, “and we’re not leaving until we see that Brijit is safe.”
“Neeko, don’t make me do this,” Payce uttered.
I felt sorry for him but not sorry enough to change anything. I eased Rao toward the wall to give us space.
“Do what you have to do,” I said.
Payce walked toward me. I lifted my arms to ensure Crall would see I was responsible for the pyforial energy that wrapped around Payce’s throat. He dropped his sword and tried to grab it, his face panicked.
I became vaguely aware of Rao pulling on my belt. “Stop, he’s nice!”
I was too busy threatening Crall to respond. “This is what I’m going to do to you unless you get Brijit.” His face soon showed the fear I was looking for and I let go of Payce. The poor man collapsed to his knees as Crall turned and fled, tripping over a chair before making it out of the entrance room. I somehow doubted he would be coming back with Brijit.
I helped Payce up. “I’m sorry about that.”
He shook his head and forced out words, his face showing pain. “No, you did the right thing. I’m fine.”
“Where is Brijit?” I asked.
He glanced around, confirming Crall wouldn’t overhear. “In the basement.”
“Is she hurt?” Rao asked in fright.
“No, but she’s not being fed enough. I’ll take you to her.”
He led us through the same doorway where Crall had gone, moving quickly yet cautiously. A stairway brought us to a door with a feeding hole and he unlocked it in a hurry. He then took a lamp from the wall and carried it forward into the darkness.
“Brijit?” Payce called.
“I’m here,” a girl’s voice answered dutifully.
Light fell upon her in the corner of the room. She stood at the end of her straw bed, in the small space between it and the wall.
Brijit glanced at us like a pet that had been tricked one too many times to trust its master anymore. She seemed older than Rao, a whole head taller yet so thin she probably weighed less than he did.
“Who’s with you, Payce?” she questioned.
“It’s me, Rao.” He stepped forward. “I came back to take you out of here.”
“M’gods,” she whispered, then ran and threw her long arms around him. “It is you. Every night I dream about how I should’ve gone with you.”
“Now you can.”
Brijit showed Payce a confused look.
“He’s helping,” Rao said, then pointed at me next. “So is Neeko.”
“I’ll take you both to Antilith,” I said. “Payce, you should come with me back to Glaine. The king needs more good men. He’ll enlist you to use that sword to defend his kingdom, not some worthless lord.”
“Better than staying here only to be thrown out as soon as you leave, presumably with a bolt in my leg.”
“Let's hurry!” Rao called out in excitement. “Get your belongings, Brijit.”
She went to her wardrobe, the thing nearly empty, grabbed the cluster of threadbare fabric piled at the bottom, and stuffed it in a bag.
“Where is Lord Crall?” she asked.
“Somewhere in the mansion,” I answered.
“He said he’d kill Rao for leaving and he’d kill me if I tried.” Brijit’s shaky voice told me this was a fear that cross
ed her mind frequently.
“Neeko will make sure nothing happens to us,” Rao assured her.
We hurried up the stairs and back toward the entrance room. In the doorway stood Crall, a crossbow aimed at me.
“Try to move and I’ll shoot.”
“That could’ve been quite helpful against the terrislaks,” I mocked. “Maybe two of your people wouldn’t have died if you’d brought it to the fight.”
He ignored me. “Taking a lord’s child is punishable by death.”
Figuring he was the type of man to shoot after a statement like that, I didn’t wait another moment. I sent the pyforial energy I’d been gathering forward, giving no hint of my attack as the wall of clear energy rushed at him.
It first hit his crossbow—the bolt came loose, shooting up at the ceiling, then coming straight down as the py continued past the weapon. The energy crashed into Crall’s arms, then his chest, slamming the crossbow and his limbs against him as well as his back against the door. Bouncing off, he fell forward and the crossbow toppled toward me, ripping up his expensive rug before landing near my feet.
I took it and used it to shatter one of his glass cases against his wall, giving me access to his shield encrusted with sapphires, rubies, emeralds, and other gems I didn’t recognize. I pried out five of them with my dagger and pocketed them before Crall, groaning, came back to his feet. He looked around for another weapon.
The front door opening froze us all. The guard he’d sent to check on the terrislaks stepped inside and his eyes found Crall first.
“It was true,” he said. “There were hundreds of them, but they’re—” He stopped suddenly after glancing at us, specifically Rao.
“We’re leaving,” Payce said. “And you’re coming with us.”
Crall showed a moment of aggression as he moved toward the doorway, but he must’ve immediately realized that even if one armed man was on his side, this fight was still lost. Subdued, he moved aside before I threw him out of our way.
“I’ll have ten men ready to kill you the next time I see you,” he threatened. “You as well, Payce, and you too if you leave.” He pointed at his other guard.
Payce motioned for the man to come with us, but he shook his head, showing disappointment. Outside and back in the cold rain, Payce took a horse from Crall’s stables.
