by Cole Pain
They began to walk in the darkness. He felt as if he should do something to protect her, but there was no threat. He moved closer anyway, the nothingness disturbing him. Something so beautiful shouldn’t be in a place so dark.
“Others make me ugly. They use me for glory, fame, or wealth. You use me for love. That’s why you’re my Chosen. You only use me in love.”
Ren looped her hand through his arm and pondered her words. “Not all the time. I collapsed part of the castle in anger. I lit the fire on the wolf in rage.”
She stopped and turned to face him. Her silver eyes glowed with extreme power. “You’re wrong. You collapsed the castle because of your love for a man killed. You lit the fire on the wolf because of your love for a man about to be killed.
“Continue to fight this way, Ren, for only love can defeat those who strive to control me. Before you strike make sure you do so out of love. If you begin to use other emotions like hate, lust, envy, or desire you’ll fail. Sometimes you’ll strike in anger, or shun the one you strike at, but if you remember the love inside, if the love inside is what drives you, all will be well.”
As they continued to walk in the darkness the last of her words lingered in his mind. He thought of Aidan. “Can you tell me how to use the power to help those I love?”
The Quy shook her head. “No. You use me, but I don’t know how you use me. I’m not alive, but I exist. That’s why I can’t fight for me. You must fight for me.”
“I’m fighting for you to be in the world again?”
“Yes and no,” she said. “Yes, you fight for me to be connected to the minds and hearts of people. But no, you have already given me that. Soon this nothingness I’m in will be light as people begin to use me for good. You fight for that to happen, for this to be light. Others fight for this to be darkness.”
“Would the darkness hurt you?”
“No, I’ll still be the Quy. I’ll still exist. I’ll feel no pain, but I know others will feel pain. You’ll feel pain, and I don’t like the thought. If this place becomes darkness it will be just that – darkness. But there’s no laughter in the darkness and there’s no joy in the darkness. I’m not who I want to be in the darkness. I can’t see what I want to see in the darkness. If complete darkness finds this place I’ll become darkness, and light will cease to be.”
Ren’s heart constricted. He didn’t want the musical beauty standing before him to become darkness. The thought terrified him. “What can I do?”
She stopped and turned to face him. “Be you, my Chosen.” Her brow lifted in hope. “For you are the one who can defeat the darkness.”
“I’ll try.”
“Don’t try,” she said, losing her smile. “You must do. If you do not, all those you love are lost. In a way, I’m lost. But you underestimate you. You don’t see the love that drives you. Others do, that’s why they follow.”
The Quy stepped forward, silver eyes intense. “Only one other has ever seen me. That means your feelings are so strong they hurt you in here.” She placed her hand over his heart. An array of emotion built within him: all his love he held for his kingdom, his mother, Michel, Aidan, the men with him. They overwhelmed and comforted at the same time. Then the pain came, the pain his love brought: the death of his men, Aidan unreachable, creatures attacking those he held dear. The pain ripped through him with breathtaking surety.
“The emotion stronger than love is the pain love brings,” she continued. “Unless one is strong enough to release the pain to pursue love again, nothing can equal it. Together, love and pain produce the strongest emotion of all and can overwhelm anything evil produces.”
She began walking again, but this time more slowly, as if anticipating her imminent departure. He fumbled for his next question, not wanting her to leave. “How did I come to see you?”
“Strength in your love. When you conjured fire your mind snapped. You instinctively reached inside yourself and found me to preserve the power inside you. No wizard, sorceress or mage has ever sparked fire. Doing so drained you almost to the point of death. Due to your strength and instinct you reached for me to have me help you rebuild your strength, to save your life.
“When you learn to use me and grow in the strength of your emotions, this ability won’t affect you as it has now. You’re still unused to me being inside you and the energy it takes to use me.”
Ren thought of Neki. “So, Neki is safe?”
“Not yet.”
Ren stopped in mid-stride, but when he gazed into her eyes her look melted his fear.
“You were there and then you were here. There is still happening, but here is so fast, one heartbeat there can be years here. Neki isn’t safe yet. But don’t worry. You’ll go back to your men in the same heartbeat you left. Our talk is but a breath in your time, but that breath is long enough to give you what you need to live.” She stopped and held out her hand. “Now, give me your sword.”
Ren looked at her in confusion before handing over his sword.
The Quy took a step back. Her hair flowed around her shoulders, leaving her neck exposed. The small smile playing on her lips took his breath away. He vowed to lay down his life to protect her from the darkness.
“I may never get another opportunity to help you. I would like to give you something to assist you in the days to come and remind you of me.”
Ren forced his lips to move. “There’s not a chance I could forget you.”
Her titillating laugh sent shivers down his spine. She held the sword straight above her, silver eyes glowing with power. Ren took a step back as he watched the blade grow longer and more lethal. The hilt bubbled with texture, the “T” becoming two silver dragons’ heads: one with white-hot eyes and the other with twin pools of darkness. Their mouths opened into a roar and their scales reached back to merge with the handle. The blade separated at the dragons’ scales, becoming a hollow teardrop that slid down the blade, forming an equilateral triangle between it and the silver dragons’ heads.
The Quy began to sing. Her voice was so crystalline it sounded like the wind rippling among the tips of the tallest tree, bending the branches with gentle persuasion and caressing the leaves with its breath. It was so rich Ren could barely make out the words, but the more she sang the more distinct the words became until the tenor of her voice seared into his memory, repeating over and over words he would never forget:
May Choice, Chance, and Fate be with you
For all three play a part
Always choose the right
And when you roll the dice
Let life’s kiss prove your heart.
When the sword was whole the Quy opened her silver eyes and looked at Ren. “Kneel, my Chosen.”
Ren knelt without question, putting his right fist over his heart in the sign of complete submission.
He felt the cold blade of the sword hit his left shoulder and then his right, marking one who is to fulfill a quest.
“Mark my words, my Chosen. Love and pain go hand in hand, but hate exists through both. Beware of hate, for when hate consumes the soul darkness takes control.”
He was frozen in place by her words. Her voice lingered in the nothingness.
“Arise, my Chosen.”
As he looked into her eyes he felt her charge making the power grow stronger inside him. The sword disappeared. He felt its weight around his waist and glanced down at the sword’s crest. It had two parallel lines slanting upward, with a third connecting the two, forming a backward Z, the symbol of victory. It glowed silver in the void.
The Quy walked forward and kissed him on both checks. “Victory, my Chosen.”
Ren felt his love for her heighten as his vision began to blur. The silence of the void shifted and a whirlwind of sounds roared past. Ren opened his eyes to find Galvin and Michel leaning over him.
“Ren, are you all right?”
Ren nodded and pushed himself up. The fire surrounding them had grown taller and its flames were white.
�
�The wolf you lit on fire fell into the flames, Ren,” Michel said. “When your magical flames exploded the circle the other wolven ran.”
Ren turned, observing the waist-high white flames, a knot of fear in his chest. Markum lay paces from him, unconscious. Neki knelt beside him, pouring water over his head. Galvin followed Ren’s gaze.
“Markum was too close to the flames. He was thrown backward.”
Ren closed his eyes. He could have easily killed them all. He didn’t understand the Quy or how he was using it. He needed to find the One. He needed to understand his own strength.
Markum stirred and Ren let his fear drain from him. Neki looked up and smiled. The wound on his shoulder seeped blood, but it didn’t look severe and would heal soon enough.
His men were safe. That was all that mattered.
Ren rested his hand on the hilt of the Quy’s sword. He could still feel her power lingering in the blade. He unsheathed it and examined the hilt. At the top, next to the crest, was the symbol for Choice: three arrows intersecting, meaning every decision you made directed you a certain way, either toward or away from the path you need to follow. Below Choice was the symbol for Chance: two astragali, or pieces of bone, carved with dots and used for gambling. Six dots showed on each astragali, the sonnez throw, or the luck roll as it was known. Finally, next to the beginning of the dragon’s scales rested the symbol for Fate: a seemingly three-dimensional spiral, starting wide and collapsing inward, meaning at any point you start there was only one way to go.
“What does it say?” Galvin asked.
Ren’s eyes flickered to the sword. Ancient script was carved on the silver blade repeating over and over a phrase Ren instantly recognized: Truth Above All. Ren lifted the sword until the light of the twin moons illuminated the script with vivid detail. A warm breeze blew past and Ren thought he heard the voice of the Quy rising above the treetops.
- - -
The circle of fire roared around them. The whiteness of the flames had faded and the wolven hadn’t returned, but they had gathered more wood anyway. No one wanted to take any chances. The only one who slept was Neki, and although the grin normally dominating his features was gone, he slept peacefully.
The Quy’s touch and voice still lingered in Ren’s mind, but now he had even more unanswered questions. Ren shifted on his pad and looked up at the synergy constellation. He didn’t know for sure, but he thought two of the stars were more aligned with the center. He wondered whom the three outlying stars represented and when or if he would ever find out.
Ren lifted his sword. The impressions of Choice, Chance and Fate called to the light, causing their emblems to blaze with golden fury. He wondered what the guardians of the Oracle would tell him if they were here.
Ren sat up, surprised at the thought. The prophecy book slipped off his stomach, pages flipping in the slight wind. The kota stirred beside him but didn’t wake. Ren absently rubbed her neck in silent reassurance.
Since the quest began, he hadn’t thought about the ancient temple where Choice, Chance, and Fate resided. When magic was first born the Maker had sent the Oracle to the Lands to help guide humanity. Although it was once a permanent temple, after the Dark Ages it disappeared and only showed itself to a select few. The Oracle hadn’t been seen in four centuries, but with the rebirth of magic the Oracle was sure to return.
Ren fingered the hilt of his sword. The Quy had put Choice, Chance, and Fate’s emblems there for a reason. He needed to seek the Oracle. Although the Oracle only appeared to a select few, he was the Chosen. Choice, Chance, and Fate may grant him entrance.
The Oracle would have the answers to the questions he desperately sought. The beings could tell him where to find the One and how to release Aidan. The quest was too important to deny searching for the Oracle.
“Ren, there’s another prophecy.”
Ren turned to find Markum staring down at the open prophecy book, a look of pure horror on his face.
On the page opposite the main prophecy more writing had appeared. It didn’t look as methodical as the first. It was scrawled in haste, like someone had been fearful of losing the thought before putting it into words. There were even notes scribbled in the margins as if the composer of the verse had to decipher to whom or what the verse referred. In one margin there was a count of years totaling three hundred ninety eight, the exact time since the Wizard War.
Michel rose to his feet. “What does it say?”
Ren scanned the words as the men moved closer. Ren recited the verse out loud:
The dreamweaver will remain in death
When magic will choke his mind.
And he must choose only one
Door to open wide.
For if the wrong one he chooses,
The darkness will settle in
And the Chosen’s heart and soul
Will be forever cold.
The dreamweaver could only refer to one person.
“Markum,” Michel said, placing a concerned hand on the seer’s shoulder. “Prophecy clouds the truth. It’s probably not as bad as it sounds.”
Chapter 17
“Similian,” thought the Bane.
The Bane had just woken up, but Sim would rather he stay asleep. Foreboding was in all his talk.
Sim heaved a dragon’s sigh. “Yes?”
“Where are we now?”
“We’re over Stardom.”
“Stardom?” Aidan stirred.
Sim’s heart ached. He didn’t know his heart could do that. He was jealous of this Ren, he knew. Sim wanted Aidan to forget Ren so they could talk of lakes and rivers and flying above sunshiny fields.
“Similian, the more she looks though your eyes, the more she breathes your air, the harder it will be for her to resist your influence. You don’t want her to lose her identity.”
“Please, I won’t become the dragon. I need to know if Ren escaped.”
“You must fight to keep your identity, my child,” the Bane reemphasized. “The dragon is much stronger than you. If you give into every urge you’ll be forever lost inside Similian. If your whole self wasn’t with you, you already would be.”
Similian heaved a grunt. “To forever be Similian isn’t a bad thing, Bane.”
Sim landed in an apple orchard on the outskirts of the city. “Focus, dear one, and you’ll see.” Sim bent to pluck an apple off one of the pink-blossomed trees. It was sweet, and some juice dribbled down his chin. He grinned as he thought of Mezuzah licking it off. He must find Mezuzah soon. It was, after all, still mating season.
He felt a slight tickling as Aidan moved inside him. He scratched his side, knowing it wouldn’t do any good, but feeling the need to do so anyway. Heartbeats later Aidan looked through his eyes. The walls of the city were right beside him. He smelled the heavy scent of man but it was days old. No man had been in the orchard for some time.
Aidan sighed and Sim could almost sense her sadness. He wanted her to be happy inside him, but she was making it difficult. Although she laughed it was restrained, although she spoke nicely she was distant. But it still felt good to have her looking through his eyes.
The bees swarming around the trees made the air come alive with a rhythmic undertone. Sim looked around, allowing Aidan to observe the landscape. Not too far in the distance redwood trees started and continued north and west. The paths on this side of the city were well traveled, and pebbled roads led to both Crape and Ketes.
Sim drew another breath, granting a bee access to his nostrils. He snorted it out.
“My child, this can only cause you harm in the end.”
Sim scowled. The Bane always took the fun out of everything with warnings about the future. The future wasn’t here. The present was here. Sim thought the present entirely better than the future.
“Sim, will you move closer to the orchard?”
Sim was about to step forward when he caught Ren’s familiar scent. Aidan would recognize it. Now she had a dragon’s sense of smell.
; Aidan drew a sharp breath.
“What?” Sim quickly moved past the place that smelled of Ren.
“Ren’s alive, Sim! Please, follow his trail!”
Sim didn’t want to find Ren. Man was man. Ren was man. Man was something he never sought. He wouldn’t harm this Ren, but he wouldn’t help him either, although Mezuzah would like him more if he liked Ren. Sim scowled. This was getting complicated.
“Please, Sim.” Aidan’s voice betrayed intense emotion. He didn’t understand how someone could feel so much for another. Dragons never showed that kind of weakness, except to their young, and that was more from pride than anything else.
“My child, you shouldn’t weaken yourself. It will take everything you have to retain your identity.”
Sim almost breathed fire. Why did the Bane have to be so negative?
“I have no identity without him.” Aidan retreated back into the darkness. “We are linked, he and I.”
“You’re Sim the Vicious!” Sim released an internal roar. “Do you know how many people would love to be Sim the Silver?”
“Similian, behave,” the Bane chastised. “My child, then you wouldn’t want to disappoint him. Don’t give in to urges to see with dragon’s eyes, and don’t upset yourself. The more you focus on Sim the less of you there will be.” The Bane paused. “Do you mean a one to one link?”
“Yes.”
“What?” The Bane almost shouted. It was an odd sound. Sim had never heard the Bane raise his voice. The Bane always spoke in an even-tempered, almost tired drone that irritated Sim. Sim stopped moving. He let the bees begin to swarm around him as he listened to Aidan’s tale. The Bane remained silent, but Sim could feel his mind at work.
“Oh dear,” the Bane thought when Aidan finished. “I hadn’t foreseen this.”
Sim rolled his eyes. How many times had he heard the Bane speak about things he had foreseen? Sim had accepted the Bane into his body because of things he said he had foreseen: greatest dragon, most loved dragon, Sim the Silver. Sim had yet to see any proof of the Bane’s words. Although he knew he was the strongest dragon in the Lands, the most cunning, the most daring and the most dashingly handsome, he wanted more. Sim had always hungered for more. He wanted to know everything. He had thought the Bane would give him more wisdom, but all he had given was mystery, never finishing answers, or answering in a way that created more questions. Sim felt the Bane retreat and repressed a dragon’s sigh. Sim was accustomed to the Bane leaving comments unexplained. Aidan was not.
