Avalyne Series 02: The Easterling

by Linda Thackeray

  Still if she was to die, then Melia was grateful for this final glimpse into the past, of seeing her parents together just once. They were so happy and she wondered if her mother wrestled with the dilemma of a having a mortal lover the way Aeron was now. She doubted it. Ninuie’s smile of adoration at her father told her that nothing mattered but their time together. Hezare was laughing with joy while Melia wept in sadness, knowing he would never be as happy again.

  He loved his daughter but not enough for his broken heart to ever heal.

  The scene before her suddenly melted away, colours bled into undistinguishable swirl, like someone had thrown a bucket of water at a paining. Melia blinked to refocus but when she opened her eyes, she knew that she looking at something different. The tree was gone but in its place was a small house that sat by the banks of the Yantra with a window that faced the Baffin in the distance. There were small blue flowers in the garden and the cottage reminded Melia of those she had seen in the Green.

  Ninuie was smiling as she walked down the path leading away from the house and stumbling after her, taking clumsy steps was a child with dark hair and bronzed skin.

  Melia felt her heart stop beating when she realise she was looking at herself as a child. She was very young, not much more than an infant but she was loved by the mother who watched carefully over her. It came to Melia then, that these were Ninuie’s memories, buried deep inside her mind until Melia’s reminder of who she was awakened them. The memories were tumbling forward faster and the kaleidoscope of emotion that came with them were converging in a potent mix that made Melia's head swim.

  Blackness swept over them and the sunlight disappeared from the sky. It became cold. So cold that Melia could feel the chill right through her skin. Tendrils of ice wrapped itself around her spine and made her tremble. She had reached a state of mind where these rapid images no longer disorientated her. There was darkness all around her. The atmosphere was pregnant with sinister intent and the trees that surrounded them no longer comforting but ominous. The thunder of paws were heard in the distance, gaining momentum with each passing second. It grew from a faint distant sound to a loud, pounding thunder that made Melia wince at its impact upon her ears.

  Ninuie was running.

  She was running on bare feet, her dress trailing behind her as she ran desperately through the tall grass, breathing hard, her face revealing her terror. Dark hair followed her as relentlessly as her unseen pursuers. The scene was visceral. It was primitive with fear and it was happening right before Melia's eyes. Ninuie looked over her shoulder, trying to see if they were behind her but she could not sight them Yet both she and Melia could hear them. She could hear them closing in. Suddenly, Ninuie tripped over the exposed root of a tree, the sudden stop after running so fast ensured she took a nasty tumble.

  A cry of anguish escaped her lips as she tried to get to her feet but realised that her foot was injured. Dirt covered her face as well as scratches and bruises as she hobbled forward unsteadily. She was sobbing pitifully, frustrated by her injury and the growing realisation that she was not going to escape. Melia wanted to help her but she was only an observer to events that were already years in the past. Fate could not be altered, no matter how painful it was to watch.

  ‘I went to find my sisters,’ the creature before Melia stunned her by speaking.

  The river woman appeared lucid for once, her gaze still fixed on what was happening before them.

  ‘I was going to tell them goodbye.’

  Melia did not speak but her eyes asked the question why.

  ‘I was going away with him, with my man,’ the creature explained as if she were in a daze. ‘I was going to follow him to his land because I could not be without him. I knew it would not be forever because the man would not last, not him or the daughter I gave him but I loved him so, I would have gone anywhere to be with him.’

  ‘What happened?’ Melia found the strength to ask finally.

  Ninuie turned her eyes to the scene once more and the running paws pounding in their ears soon evolved into the explosion of black emerging through the trees. Melia almost screamed herself when she saw them and imagined the horror Ninuie must have felt being hunted by them. Melia had never seen the things that ran her mother down but she knew instantly what they were. The description Arianne had given her and the reputation of these beings left an indelible impression upon the mind.

  Armoured from waist up, their fingers tapered into the claws of a wild beast, while their lower half was bare, exposing the powerful legs of their feline bodies. The tail was coiled with a poisoned tip and their human mouth’s revealed serrated teeth. Their eyes glowed red through the eyelets in their helmets and their breath were snorts of vile grunts. These were Balfure’s most loyal servants, supposedly Syphia’s lesser children. These were the Disciples.

  Their prey screamed at the sight of them and she was running again, despite the injury to her foot though she was not as fast as she could be. The desperation in her eyes was wide and frantic, especially when she knew that she could not escape. They spread out and surrounded the terrified sprite easily, circling her in a ring of doom.

  Melia’s despair at being unable to help was devastating because this was a story already written. She could change nothing.

  One of the Disciples broke the ring and thundered towards the frightened woman, tossing something into the air. Melia had trapped enough animals in her time to know what it was. The net fell over Ninuie and sealed her doom as easily as it sealed her in its meshed confines.

  ‘They drove me from the river,’ the creature resumed speaking. ‘They forced me away from my place of power. I was helpless in the Wood, they knew that.’

  ‘Mother,’ Melia whispered, finding it strange to say but knew they had bridged an important gulf. ‘We can help you, we can find some way to return you to yourself.’

  ‘I had forgotten all of it,’ the River Daughter answered. ‘I forgot until you reminded me. I forgot my name and I forgot the man.

  Melia did not know what to say to that.

  ‘He is dead, is he not?’ Ninuie asked.

  ‘Yes,’ Melia nodded slowly.

  ‘He died believing I abandoned him,’ Ninuie whispered, her sorrow was inconsolable.

  ‘Yes,’ the watch guard answered because there was no avoiding it.

  Ninuie was silent for a moment before her eyes rose to meet Melia's again, ‘I am myself here because of you my daughter. You make me remember but I feel the wizard's power growing within me. It makes me want to hurt you, it makes me want to destroy you. I will not be able to endure for long. You feel it do you not?’

  Melia was weeping but she understood. ‘Yes, I do.’

  ‘I should never have left him,’ Ninuie lamented. ‘I lost him the moment I chose to leave our home, long before the Disciples took me, before the wizard destroyed me.’

  ‘There must be some way,’ Melia pleaded. ‘There must be another choice.’

  ‘No,’ Ninuie shook her head. ‘The time for my choices is past. All there is left is the end and I must find it. I will remain myself as much as I can when we return but you must do what is necessary.’

  ‘I cannot!’ Melia wailed, ‘I cannot do that!.’

  ‘Please,’ Ninuie begged her. ‘Send me to the man. Send me to Hezare.’

  *****

  Aeron felt as if he was dying.

  In almost a thousand years of existence, he had never felt as terrible as he did at this moment. His limbs felt like stone and each effort to move made him reconsider the entire notion as pain coursed through him. It would have been so easy to let go, to let the fatigue claim him and succumb to the inviting numbness that was sweeping over his body. However, he would not yield to anything when he did not know how his Melia fared.

  Opening his eyes, he saw her still caught within the grip of the creature that was her mother. She had stopped struggling but they were both staring at each other as if entranced by each other’s eyes. Aeron suspecte
d something was taking place between them but he could not even begin to guess what that might be. Conserving his strength as much as he could, he crawled towards her across the debris-covered floor.

  The air was thick with smoke and he wondered if Tamsyn still lived. A moment later, his question was answered when he saw Edwyn spinning in the air before the Mage landed hard against the floor, not far away from him. Edwyn's energy seemed to have drained with that final assault and he moved no more. Aeron watched as Tamsyn stepped forward, his eyes wet with tears as he approached his friend. The elf hid his shock for he had never seen Tamsyn weep for anyone and realised how difficult it must have been to put down brother like a rabid animal. Aeron prayed he would never have to make such a choice.

  ‘Tamysn!’ Aeron let out a gasp, snapping the wizard out of his grief and returning the remaining Mage's mind back to their present circumstances.

  ‘Prince,’ Tamsyn hurried to the Prince and bent down to help him to his feet. ‘Those creatures tried to feed off your life force. You need to rest and recover your strength.’

  ‘I care not for that!’ Aeron gasped, ‘Something is happening between Melia and that thing!’

  Tamsyn glanced at the exchange between mother and daughter, trying to determine what was taking place. Placing his hand on Aeron’s chest, he closed his eyes and used some of his own magic to help the Prince recover. Not enough to heal him completely but enough to ensure Aeron could move a little better. The elves had remarkable powers of recuperation and it required only a little jolt for Aeron's natural abilities to exert itself.

  When Aeron felt some measure of strength returning to him, he pushed away from the wizard to approach Melia. However each step forward came at a price and the Prince knew once he had submitted to the will of his exhaustion, he would be quite immobile for some time. His hands grasped tightly the sword in his hand as he strode purposefully towards Melia, ignoring the pull of exhaustion upon his limbs.

  ‘Careful Prince,’ Tamsyn warned as he hurried next to Aeron's side. ‘Their minds are linked. You may kill one and harm both.’

  Aeron stared at him in frustration, ‘this cannot go on! Who knows what this link between them is doing to Melia.’

  As soon as he said those words, both the creature and Melia returned to life. The River Daughter relinquished her grip on Melia's arm, causing Melia to stumble backwards a step or two. She was panting as if trying to recover from an extraordinarily strong dizzy spell.

  ‘Melia!’ Aeron called out and started towards her, his teeth gritting against the pain.

  Melia wanted to answer but her mother's voice kept her from doing so. Ninuie stared at her, appearing as if she were still herself but the grip was tenuous and the ability to hold back the tide of murderous hatred was waning fast. Even now, Melia could see the darkness creeping into her eyes again. They did not have much time.

  ‘Do it,’ Ninuie begged, her voice strained as if she battled even through her words. ‘Do it now before I harm you! I cannot endure any longer!’

  ‘No,’ Melia started to sob, crying out against the unimaginable course she had to take. ‘Do not ask me this!’

  ‘It must be done!’ Ninuie pleaded. ‘Release me while you still can!’

  Melia blinked her tears away, knowing Aeron was there and spat out the words as if she was expelling bile from her throat.

  ‘Finish her Prince. Finish her!’

  Aeron did not understand what had transpired between mother and daughter but he recognised the anguish he heard in Melia’s voice and was willing to spare her duty demanded of her. Taking a deep breath, Aeron raised the sword in his hand and swung hard and true. The blade sliced through air, making a slight swoosh of sound before the Prince pulled it back with expert handling. For a moment, no one uttered a word and all that could be heard in the room was the crackling fire.

  Ninuie's head came away from her neck and tumbled to the ground before her body went slack and followed it to the ground. Melia did not look, she refused to. Aeron sunk to his knees as the last of his strength was dwindled and not even Tamsyn’s efforts on his behalf were able to overcome the effects of the River Daughter’s attacks. He cursed his inability to move because Melia was sobbing uncontrollably into her hands, breaking his heart with each sound she made. He wanted to comfort her but he could not even crawl towards her in this lamentable condition.

  ‘Melia,’ Aeron croaked as he rested on all fours, aware that soon he would meet the ground.

  She turned to him, her face filled with sorrow but was moved into action when she realised how badly harmed he was by the battle. She dropped to the floor next to him, wrapping her arms around him in an embrace she never wanted let go. As weak as he was, just feeling him against her was enough to sooth Melia's sorrow. She knew deep in her heart that he had been right all along. Ninuie needed peace and now thanks to him, she was.

  ‘Thank you Prince,’ she whispered as she held him in her arms. ‘I could not have done it.’

  ‘I would spare you that anguish my love,’ Aeron whispered weakly. ‘I would never have let you bear that burden.’

  ‘I love you,’ Melia said softly, holding him even tighter.

  ‘I love you Mia,’ he answered with a weak smile. ‘Your mother's soul will find her way to the Stars.’

  Melia nodded and hoped that perhaps Ninuie would find Hezare there too.

  Chapter Nineteen:

  Returning Home

  Three thousand years ago, at the height of the Primordial Wars, the Celestial God Enphilim created the Order and appointed his most loyal serafs to walk Avalyne as the mages.

  Of all of them, it was Edwyn who was the most passionate about their cause, the one who saw Avalyne as a place of beauty to be saved at all costs. In that he was not so different from Balfure but Edwyn believed in the Creator’s purpose that paradise included the Sacred Three. During those tumultuous years when they spread across Avalyne to fight Mael and his Primordials, Edwyn was Tamsyn’s closest friend and when he was disheartened, it was Edwyn’s voice that gave him hope. When Mael had sent Balfure forward to hunt them down one by one, it was Edwyn who had led the charge to fight back.

  However, there came a time when there were too many burials when not even Edwyn’s words could alter the fact that he and Tamsyn were all that was left. How many times had he and Edwyn presided over the funeral of yet another one of their number, murdered by Balfure or some other member of Mael’s Dark Three? When he had decided to sleep, Tamsyn did so with the knowledge that at least he would be spared burying any more brothers.

  Not for the first time, Tamsyn knew he had taken the coward’s way when he chose to hibernate in the tower of the Jagged Teeth for two millennia. His feelings for Lylea had created confusion and instead of confronting those emotions, Tamysn had chose to hide away and never realised the price for his weakness until now. Alone, Edwyn’s passion had run amok and led him to this terrible end. Instead of remaining at his side to weather the future and temper that passion so easily exploited, Tamsyn had abandoned Edwyn to his fate.

  He would never be able to forgive himself for that.

  Standing over the ruined and broken body of his friend, Tamsyn wanted to weep as much as Melia was weeping in Aeron’s arms at this moment. He knelt down beside the dead man’s body and brushed a hand across Edwyn's hollowed cheek, knowing he was dead. Edwyn had given him no choice but to deliver that final blow which brought a merciful end to his friend’s tortured life. Although the quality of Tamsyn’s mercy would be a subject to plague the Mage’s nights for many years to come.

  ‘I am sorry old friend,’ Tamsyn whispered softly. ‘I failed you.’

  There was no time for even a burial because the fire was raging out of control in the hall Edwyn had used for his hatchery. Tamsyn would have at least like to have given Edwyn the formality of a burial but the smoke and heat gave him no such time. The cocoons were all ablaze, Aeron’s efforts had succeeded in putting an end to Edwyn’s monstrous creations. The smok
e stung his eyes and he could see Aeron struggle to remain conscious because the elf wanted to comfort his lady. Yet even as he held her, Tamsyn could see it was a battle Aeron was losing.

  Elves were durable against most attacks and healed quickly though they could be killed like any mortal. The creatures attack upon Aeron was severe even for his immortality and Tamsyn knew the wizard would have to aid his recovery or there was every possibility he may not recover. It was the least he could do for Halion's son after failing Edwyn so utterly.

  ‘Tamysn,’ Melia cried out when she felt the Prince’s strength give out and he started to slump in her arms. ‘We must get him out of here, now.’

  Tamsyn nodded and rose to his feet. The watch guard seemed more composed than a moment ago but the wizard suspected the urgency of the situation had caused her to shunt away her grief for now. It was as if her heart had hardened against the pain and was allowing nothing to breach it while they were still in jeopardy. He hoped she did not do the same to her Prince. Of the two of them, it seemed that Melia was the one who was the more practically minded and her ability to sacrifice her mother to save Ninuie meant Melia was more than capable of giving up Aeron to save him if necessary.

  Whatever the cost to them both.

  Crossing the floor quickly, Tamsyn hurried to her and helped with Aeron. Melia was unable to continue holding him up and had to set him down so she could collect their things. Aeron was now unconscious to the smoke around him or the flickering shadows of the fire dancing across his face as he lay across the debris covered floor. Melia fastened his bow across her back and retrieved his weapons before Tamsyn joined her and she was able to get him back on his feet.

  Both watch guard and Mage began to cough as they left behind the burning hall with Tamsyn being able to do nothing more for Edwyn's dead form than to give him a farewell glance. They emerged from the hall and left the blazing hatchery behind. Whether or not it would spread to the rest of the city was uncertain but at this point none of them seemed to care. The darkness here needed purging and if it was a cleansing fire did the deed, so much the better.