He was starting to sound like the girl, Atoi. “I suppose there’s no harm in telling you. I am Crystalyn. I hope your horse is going to be fine.”
“Oh yes, the mare blames me for some reason,” he admitted, laughing easily. The big question is whether you’re a Light User or a Dark User. Which one is it? I must know before I decide if a friendship is merited.”
Crystalyn wasn’t certain how to respond. “Uh, I haven’t decided.”
Darkwind beamed. “I was hoping you’d say that. As I said, your use of the Flow was impressive. We could certainly use one such as you within the Dark Citadel; all would hold you in the highest regard. Many soldiers and servants would obey your slightest whim. Please, consider this an offer to fight for the greater power. Dwell on it. When next we meet, I’ll be awaiting your answer. I’m certain you won’t disappoint.”
Crystalyn stared.
A soft moan brought her attention back to the girl lying in the dirty alleyway. Fingers clawing at the ground, Atoi’s legs straightened then went still. She was coming around, but Crystalyn had a few moments before she regained consciousness. Darkwind’s weird offer had her interest; she wanted him to go on.
“What do you…?” Crystalyn froze. An empty alley spread out before her, even the street beyond seemed deserted. Darkwind had vanished. Crystalyn felt a spark of annoyance. He could’ve at least spoken a farewell.
She put the matter from her mind and looked to Atoi. Prodding the prone girl with the tip of her boots brought Atoi’s eyelids open.
Her eyes wild, Atoi sat up, and then laid her small head in her hands, whimpering. Crystalyn kept silent, keeping a firm eye on her.
Atoi moaned through her fingers. “What did you do to me? I should’ve known you lied about your strength when you didn’t die from the poison except, that should’ve killed you anyway. Jewel has taken down Users aplenty. I don’t understand,” she complained, releasing another moan.
“Did you say, User?”
Atoi’s head rose to regard her, a frown furrowing her pale brow. “Yes, a User of the Flow.”
“It wasn’t wise of you to attack me then, was it?”
“No. Are you toying with me? Why haven’t you sent me to stand before Onan?”
What odd things for her to say, Crystalyn thought. Atoi certainly didn’t sound as young as she looked. “Can you stand? I wouldn’t recommend you try anything, though. My patience is wearing a little thin. I have questions. You’ll provide answers.”
Clamping her mouth closed, Atoi struggled to her feet. “My body hurts much like a falun tree fell on me,” she said, her voice filled with wonder. “I have great interest in how this was accomplished.”
Crystalyn didn’t offer an explanation, or aid, when Atoi staggered and nearly fell. Miss Dagger with her strange way of speaking needed to know they were not friends and she wasn’t here to help her in any way. Besides, falun trees were a mystery to her. She’d seen many images of trees in holographic images, but she didn’t remember anything with that name.
“How did you do that? Anyone with some ability can tell when a User is manipulating the Flow; their eyes have flecks of color the same color as the power they have an affinity for if they have been Using for some time. You must have Used for a long time now with the power you are able to draw. The more you Use, the greater the saturation, the stronger you are. I looked deep into your eyes; there was no color. Only the black and white pattern hanging in front of you, who are you? What are you?”
Crystalyn ignored the girl’s questions. What was she going to do about her? Ah, yes…Atoi didn’t know it yet, but Crystalyn’s time spent at the Administration Farm, and then lockdown inside Low Realm, was going be bothersome to the girl. She decided it was time—no, past time—to put on her empress demeanor and read her little attacker the rules. Wear the right emotional demeanor and people will respond. She really could use some loyalty right now.
Closing her eyes and lips to slits, partly due to her migraine, and partly to make her point, she planted her hands on her hips. “I want to get something straight right now Atoi, for the first and final time. I don’t trust you. I may never trust you. Your trust is irrelevant. What is relevant is your utmost cooperation. I have questions. You will provide the answers no matter how trivial it sounds. Most important, you will be my guide until I release you. Do you understand?”
Atoi’s emerald eyes widened, her little arms dropped to her side and she stood immobile for a while. Finally, she stirred, inclining her small head.
“Good. Listen close. You don’t have a function in life except to attend me in all things, whatever my mood. Am I clear?”
Atoi’s jaw dropped. Nodding, she remained silent.
Crystalyn held back a smile with some difficulty. “Good enough. Now, I know you have credits. I’m famished, and if I’m not mistaken, it’s about to get dark. Do you know a place we can go to eat, girl?”
“I…uh, yes, I do know a place. I have coin, if that’s what you mean. I think I need to wash up anyway. So do you. That blood stain stands out on your…uh…tunic? What kind of clothes are those?”
“I told you, I ask the questions. Don’t make me repeat myself. Let’s go, I’ll stay right behind you.”
Atoi spun and led the way through an iron-banded wooden door set in a wall of the alley.
Suppressing a sigh, Crystalyn followed. The large bloodstain discoloring her hoody was an issue she hadn’t thought of.
RUMBLINGS
The dwindling light outside produced a greater radiance than the smoky room they entered. Round tables and low-backed chairs fashioned from dark wood crowded the interior. A dark-stained, long table placed in front of a stone fireplace extended along a wall. No one sat at the rectangular table, even though the high-backed wooden chairs beckoned to the weary. At least, they looked inviting to Crystalyn.
In contrast, the round tables sported patrons. A few of them glanced in Crystalyn’s direction before quickly turning back to their private matters. Lit candles at each table accounted for the feeble light and some of the smoke. Oil lamps mounted near doors, lit, loose-leaf cigars, and tamped pipes contributed to the rest. Wooden booths lined the walls along three of the great room’s periphery. Most had occupants.
Raucous laughter and the dull clack of filled metal mugs banging together, Crystalyn attributed to a group of longhaired, clean-shaven men, and boisterous women, some wearing armor. They mingled with swarthy townspeople wearing silken leather, who sat alongside tradesmen wearing gaudy tunics and robes.
The low crescendo of many conversations droned throughout the room. Snatches of bodiless voices drifted to her ears. “I’m telling you,” a female voice thick with frustration, said. “Listen to me. I just left the front. We’re losing ground every few bells!”
“What am I going to do now?” a nasal male voice asked. “The blasted Dark Citadel grows bolder, yet the Circle of Light does nothing.” Crystalyn’s ears perked. The boy, Darkwind, had mentioned a Dark Citadel in the alley, but the nasal voice said nothing else. “Somehow, the Dark Users have doubled their power in the past season alone,” a swarthy man said quietly from a table nearby. “Never in my twenty seasons as captain have I lost so many good men in one skirmish. Yet, it’s happened twice in this blasted war. The last one nearly took my life. Perhaps it would’ve been better if it had,” he added, looking into his pewter mug and trailing off.
There it was. As plain as the man’s mug. Rumblings about some war going on, and Crystalyn had dropped the two of them right in the middle of it, providing Jade had transported to this world at all. Please, Great Father, help me find her here. Her luck seemed to be running where it usually ran, in the wrong place.
Atoi slipped across the great room, headed for the sole empty booth tucked away in a corner.
Crystalyn rushed to follow. Two table lengths from catching her, a massive body slid from a darkened side booth. Crystalyn pulled up short. The humanoid barrier blocking the way had to be female. But was
she human? Bare, well-toned thighs rose past Crystalyn’s stomach. Clinging to the upper thighs, a leafy green dress snaked to mid-breast where golden hair cascaded past a generous bosom complementing muscular arms and toned hands. The woman towered beyond the meager lamp light, hiding her neck and head in shadows too deep for Crystalyn to see through. A voice drifted down from the shadows, brusque and melodious at the same time. “You’re with the Child of Dark, are you not?”
“If you mean Atoi, yes. Why do you call her that?”
“You’ll come to know in time, possibly. She may not allow it. Right now, I would ask acceptance for my companions and myself to join you and her. Is this permissible?”
Crystalyn glanced at the booth the woman had vacated. Two large shapes sat at the back. “I suppose you may, if it’s not too long.”
“Excellent. Lead the way.” The great body stepped to the side.
Slipping past before the big woman changed her mind, Crystalyn plopped into the booth opposite Atoi. “Make room girl, we have company.”
Atoi sat up straighter, looking to where Crystalyn indicated with a wave of her arm. “What are you doing here? Are you following me?”
The large woman wearing the green dress sat next to Atoi, facing her. Broad in face and nose, the woman was attractive, in a big sort of way. Delicate cheekbones complemented her fine eyebrows and eyes…there was something about her eyes.
“Our business isn’t with you this time, Child of Dark,” an elderly woman clad in a long, white silk dress said as she sat down beside Crystalyn. Smaller than her companion, the old woman still forced Crystalyn to look higher. Wrinkles lined her weathered, motherly face, and her eyes…Crystalyn gaped. The old woman’s eyes were a lustrous, glowing white, with no visible pupils or irises.
Crystalyn looked at the big woman across the table. Her luminesce eyes shone from the darkness, facing her direction. Crystalyn had little time to gape; a third companion squeezed himself in next to the old woman. Shorter by several inches than his companions, the man’s bulk still loomed over the booth. He held his broad jaw higher than most, and his deep, brown eyes regarded her, revealing little of what they wanted. At least he had normal eyes.
“Please, allow me to enlighten you who we are,” the large woman across from Crystalyn, said. “I’m known as Lore Rayna,” she said, gesturing to herself. “The elder beside you is the Lore Mother or simply Mother. The choice is yours, but do address her properly as one or the other. Our protector sitting next to the Lore Mother is Cudgel,” she added, flashing a quick smile toward the big, muscular man.
Crystalyn stole a closer look at Cudgel. The man’s auburn beard made his broad face appear wider, yet his hair was a thick, fiery red. Sitting rigid, his pale brown eyes regarded her with open suspicion. Taken aback, Crystalyn looked away, toward the one speaking the introductions.
Lore Rayna had fallen silent, facing her expectantly. “Oh! My name is Crystalyn Creek. It’s nice to meet all of you. I believe you already know Atoi?”
“We have known her for some time. For this moment, we’re interested in you, dear,” the old woman said, her vibrant tone belying her age.
Varicose veins branched prominently from her forehead to her deeply sunken cheeks. The old woman’s mouth and lips had stretched so taunt Crystalyn felt it must hurt to converse, though she’d shown no sign of pain. “Me? There isn’t much about me to cause so much interest.”
The Lore Mother laughed, a vibrant laugh, sounding strange coming from one with so many seasons. “Don’t be coy, dear. I know when there’s something special about someone. Particularly one with your…shall we say, strong Flow capabilities?”
“I knew it!” Atoi exclaimed.
Ignoring the outburst, the Lore Mother went on. “Besides, one does not usually sit speaking with an old woman like me while displaying such a large bloodstain spread across a waist as small as yours. In most cases, it would require seasons of advanced study to save someone with a wound that dire. Much longer than you’ve lived, I’d imagine.”
Crystalyn kept silent, though she wondered how the woman knew she’d healed herself if that was what she meant.
“Let’s talk about your apparel. I’ve never seen a tunic cut like yours, and I know a lot about clothes, believe me. It’s a fancy of mine. Your clothes have an almost otherworldly feel about them, if I may be so bold to say.” Before Crystalyn could answer, the Lore Mother turned her wizened face to Atoi. “I’m sure that’s not all, is it, Child of Darkness?”
“What are you talking about, insane old woman? Did I not tell you to stop calling me that?” Atoi said, her emotionless face contradicting her words. Sitting back, she dropped her left hand to her side.
For some reason, Miss Dagger’s petulance irritated Crystalyn, and the little girl was too quick to reach for her weapon. “Watch your tongue, Atoi, and keep your hands on the table.”
Atoi put her hand beside her other one on the table. “I do not know why the old woman keeps saying such things. What do they want with us? Make them go away.”
Lips pressed together, the old Mother’s pale, luminesce eyes bore down on Atoi’s young frame. Presented with a side view of the woman’s eye, Crystalyn saw only white. She wondered how the woman or Lore Rayna could see at all. Several heartbeats passed before the Lore Mother went on, her voice almost inaudible. “Tell me, little one. Did you create that ugly red stain on her attire?”
Atoi hesitated, looking at Crystalyn.
“Go on. Tell her the truth. I think she knows, anyway,” Crystalyn said.
Atoi’s lifted her tiny head slightly. “Okay, fine. I did not do it with purpose.”
The old woman went on, her raspy voice lowered. “Your dagger injects the magical properties equivalent to tree dragon’s blood deep inside your prey, does it not?”
A sharp inhale from Lore Rayna and Cudgel brought to mind they and the Lore Mother were part of a trio she knew nothing about.
Cudgel spoke for the first time, his deep voice a rumble. “Wise Mother, how can this be? A splash of tree dragon’s blood will kill a warrior in a score of breaths!”
Lore Rayna interrupted. “Do you think she is the one, Mother?” Her large eyes remained fixed on the old woman. At least her head faced her, anyway. It was difficult to tell. Lore Rayna could’ve been staring at her, for all Crystalyn knew.
I—” the old woman began, and then clamped her mouth closed.
A buxom barmaid wearing a black skirt barely reaching her upper thighs, and a matching vest that left her shoulders and most of her chest bare, appeared at the open end of the booth. “Can I get you all something to drink?” she asked, flashing a small, tired smile meant to include the entire table. Balancing a large wooden tray full of empty tankards and glasses, the barmaid glanced at Atoi, her blue eyes neutral.
“Yes, I want—” the little girl began.
“Go see to the Gray Dust envoy, Dawn. I’ll see to this table,” a gruff male voice commanded.
Shrugging her bare shoulders, the woman sauntered toward a boisterous round table.
A balding man of average height, sporting a black mustache replaced the barmaid. A leather patch covered his right eye. Trailing out from under it, a jagged scar festered. “Well now, isn’t this cozy,” the man said, looking at the three big newcomers in turn. His one blue eye slid past Crystalyn without pausing, a stained rag draped over his right shoulder. “I don’t need another trouble table, not this night. With all the trade envoys in town for the Snow Melt Festival, I have my hands full with everyone as it is, yet problems have plagued you three all week. Now here you are at the little one’s booth. Why is that?”
Cudgel’s red, bushy eyebrows pulled together, his gruff face darkening with each word the man spoke. In contrast, Lore Rayna’s broad face smoothed as serene as a porcelain doll made to resemble a noble woman prepared to withstand the ages if handled with care. The Lore Mother’s face resembled weathered stone.
“Don’t answer that. I know you won’t anyway,
but I’ll find out eventually. You know I will. All that happens in this forsaken town ultimately finds its way into the Muddy Wagon Inn, where I decide what to do about it,” the scarred man said. Pausing, he fixed a penetrating stare at the end of the booth. Crystalyn tried not to gape. His good eye looked right at her, this time. “Except, I don’t think I know you, which I find quite curious. A new visitor never escapes the local townsfolk’s gossip, particularly one as young and beautiful as you.” His large muscles bulged as he lifted the rag from his shoulder and daubed along the scar’s visible portion.
Crystalyn didn’t know how to respond. Silence blanketed the booth.
“She’s with me,” Atoi said after a time.
“I know she’s with you. She’s in your booth, isn’t she?”
“No, I mean, she’s staying with me. I brought her into town, and did not want to parade her around, so we arrived…my way,” Atoi said, her voice getting softer with each word.
Fixing his unblinking stare on Atoi for a long moment, Hastel’s eye narrowed. “Very well, but if she’s staying in your room, it’ll cost you extra. You know that. See me in the morning. As for the rest of you,” he added, glancing around the booth. “You’ll also need to see me in the morning to go over your accumulating debt.” Turning on his heel, he stalked off into the crowd.
“Blast him!” Cudgel hissed through his teeth, his deep voice echoing around the booth. Balling his beefy hand into a fist, he thumped it on the table, causing his chain mail shirt to clink softly. The table bucked. “One of these times, I’m going to relieve him of his good eye, then stand him near a cliff and enjoy watching what happens next.”
“Leave him…for now. We have larger concerns. The opportunity for your loving ministrations shall happen in good time,” Lore Rayna said, a half-smile on her lips. “Right now, we have a different purpose.”
Beyond the Sapphire Gate: Epic Fantasy-Some Magic Should Remain Untouched (The Flow of Power Book 1) Page 4
