by Nichelle Rae
Why were the Salynns here? The question echoed in my mind as I drifted off into sleep.
I awoke a few minutes later as Rabryn halted Forfirith. I sat up from Rabryn’s back. He patted my hands again before he dismounted. I looked around and found myself in a wide open grass clearing with trees encircling us about a half a mile away. A small creek, from which the horses were already drinking heavily, ran horizontally in front of us. I dismounted Forfirith to let him go. To my left, standing tall and proud against the light grey sky, was the tallest peak of the Mongerst range, Rocksheloc Mountain. Beldorn was there right now, waiting for us, and we were late. It had been two weeks and five days since we’d left The Pitt, and we still had two days travel to go. Beldorn wasn’t going to be happy.
So much had happened though on this forsaken journey. Goodness. All I wanted to do was give the necklace to Beldorn and have him find the owner, but I knew he wouldn’t let me do that. I looked over my shoulder towards the group as they sat on the ground, all of them with different looks in their eyes. Ortheldo was standing by the creek, bending over Urylia’s head to wash the foam from her mouth, his eyes on me. I quickly looked away from him as I recalled the feel of his lips against mine. Though it had been quick, and my magic had really done it, it was beautiful.
I gazed at Rocksheloc again. From out of nowhere, a thought hit me. I had been in control of myself when I killed those Legan’dirs! My magic hadn’t taken me over! I had done it! My legs started to shake as a feeling of security washed over me. I had control of my magic! Why? Why, all of the sudden, had I not been put into that detached mindset? Would it stay this way? Could I have control of my magic? An odd mixture of terror and happiness came with that thought.
Snapping back to my immediate situation, I turned to face the party that had followed me from Narcatertus, all my other questions returning. Who had Rabryn killed, and why was he a danger to me? What was the Deralilya? What had I whispered to Ortheldo and Addredoc? What had I been talking about in saying to the Salynns “Nice to see you in this world?” And how did my brother suddenly know how to use his magic to heal me and lift me off the ground as if I weighed nothing?
Other things, too, plagued my mind, even if perhaps they weren’t as important as these questions: The two men I loved betraying me. My desperate attempt to die. Addredoc thinking I was selfish. But I had to concern myself with the bigger issues I was facing right now. I still didn’t know why the Gods had left me with this task, as if I were only a pawn, a subject of Their cruel entertainment. And I knew more crap was coming—I could feel it.
I sighed and looked down at my ripped and blood-soaked outfit. Well, actually Addredoc’s ripped and blood-soaked outfit. I looked at the group again and decided I’d have to change later because my questions were too pressing at the moment. I crossed my arms as I walked over to the group and stood just outside their circle. The only one still standing was the Tan Stranger. Why were they all here?
“Thank you all for coming to my aid,” I said bowing my head in annoyance and some shame. “Is anyone hurt badly?”
Addredoc smiled up at me nervously, probably due to our last encounter. “It’s nothing that can’t be handled.”
I nodded and gazed at the biggest mystery before my eyes, the Tan Stranger. She seemed to be glaring at me with those dangerous eyes. In fact, she looked about ready to rip my head off. I looked down at her belt where a thin wooden paddle rested, its edge sanded to a thin, almost sharp edge. Why wood?
I looked up into her eyes again. “Steel is more effective, and less messy.”
Her eyes went wide and what I could see of her face was bright red. She shook with barely controlled rage, then pointed an accusing finger at me. “I don’t have a steel weapon because of you, Azrel! You’re too busy getting in your own damn way to give me one!”
My rage spiked in turn and I let my expression show it. No one talked to me like that. “Excuse me?” Suddenly, everyone stood, the rest preparing to tear us off one another in case a fight broke out. Even Ortheldo rushed towards us from the creek.
It took a few moments under my stare, but her confidence waned. Apparently she hadn’t expected me to respond like that. Perhaps she thought her intimidation would break me down into tears. She didn’t know me very well.
My eyes narrowed. “What’s your name?”
She held her head high and glared right back at me. “Acalith.”
“Well, Acalith”—I rested my left hand on the hilt of my sword—“perhaps you’d like firsthand a lesson in just how much more effective steel is?” It was deathly quiet for a long moment, but I finally stared those defiant eyes down to the ground. “I didn’t think so,” I declared. “Now tell me who you are and why you’re following me.” I looked at the Salynns, meeting each of their eyes and letting them know I was wondering the same thing about them.
Rabryn then stepped forward. “Um, Azrel? She saved your life on a few occasions. I think you could be. . .”
I shut him up immediately with a dangerous glance. He softly cleared his throat and stepped back. I looked at Acalith again. “Well?”
“I am the Deralilya,” she said simply.
“Yeah, I got that much in Narcatertus. But since I don’t know what the Deralilya is, that doesn’t help me very much.” I looked at Ortheldo, “And I don’t know how you could possibly know what it is when I don’t!”
He went stiff for a moment, looking like he was grasping for an answer, but then finally shrugged one shoulder, a clear indication he was about to lie to me. I’d learned that telltale sign long ago. “Your father told me some war stories, and the Deralilya came up a few times.”
My eyes went wide. “What does a Deralilya have to do with my father?” Ortheldo went pale and looked about to panic. I looked back at Acalith, but she was gone. I looked at Ortheldo again. “What does she have to do with my father? And if she does have anything to do with him, how could you know about it and not me?”
Ortheldo shrugged again. “He just mentioned it casually when he would tell me stories.”
“Don’t give me that! You grabbed my arm and looked like you were going to go mad with excitement and terror when the Deralilya was mentioned. Why would you react that way if my father only talked about it ‘casually’?”
He swallowed and was silent again, as if waiting for an answer. Then his face brightened and he shrugged his shoulder again. “Well, the mention of the Deralilya brought back sudden memories of him.”
I didn’t buy one word of that. Mentioned casually? I doubted it.
Thinking it was safe, the rest sat back down on the ground, Ortheldo joining them. I wanted to stay standing, but the weight of my two-day ride was starting to hit me, so I sat as well and glared at the entire group. “Someone better start explaining this insanity to me.” All eyes went down.
I waited, then shuddered from a sudden chill. The torn and blood-soaked area of my clothing was making me cold. A cloak was thrown over my shoulders. I looked beside me to see Ortheldo smile gently at me. Goose pimples formed on his arms and he pulled his sleeves down.
I clicked my tongue in annoyance and rolled my eyes as I moved closer to his side, putting half the cloak around his shoulders. He smiled at me as we pulled the cloak closed tightly around us as best we could.
I blushed at the feel of him so close to me. “Um . . . I’m sorry that I . . . well, for what happened in Narcatertus. I had no right to do that.”
“You’re sorry?” I nodded. “I’m not.”
I glanced up at him and saw a kind smile on his face. I quickly looked away from him without returning the smile, then looked back. “What did my ma . . .” Something felt wrong about saying it this way, but I had no better way to say it. “What did my magic whisper to you in Narcatertus?”
He was quiet a moment as he looked at me, his eyes taking on a faraway look as if he was paying attention to something somewhere else. I glanced at the group and noticed that Addredoc had the same look in his eyes, as if he
was seeing through the grass he was idly picking at.
I looked back at Ortheldo with my brows drawn. “Is the question really that difficult?”
He blinked and finally focused on me. “What?” He looked away quickly. “No, I’m just a bit confused as to why you need to ask me that.” He looked at me again. “After all, you whispered it to me, didn’t you?”
I flushed and looked away. “Um, well. Yes, I suppose.” I had whispered it to him, but . . . no, my magic had whispered it to him. “Well, I forgot. Remind me.” I looked from him to Addredoc. Addredoc turned red and glanced nervously at Ortheldo, then his parents, and then Rabryn, as if he didn’t know what to do. I felt Ortheldo go rigid. Rabryn started chewing his bottom lip.
They were keeping something from me.
I jumped to my feet, throwing off the warm cloak. “I want answers and I want them now!” I screamed. My fists were tight and my muscles ached with tension. My jaw hurt from my teeth clenching hard enough to break. This was insane! What was the big bloody secret? I hated it!
Ortheldo suddenly stood, taking the position of gentle but firm authority that caught me off guard. “I’ll only speak to you if you calm down.” I forced myself to relax, figuring his request was reasonable. He nodded his head to the side. “Let’s take a walk.”
I heard Addredoc gasp. He made a move to stand and protest but Ortheldo’s expression became dangerous. “Sit down!” He commanded, snapping his head toward the Red Wizard. Everyone, even me, jumped at his tone.
The glare on his face and the hard expression of authority in his stature sent flames licking down my spine. I wasn’t expecting that kind of response from him. I had to clear my throat and look away in order to breathe properly.
“Azrel,” Ortheldo said gently. I looked at him. “Come on. I have a lot to tell you.” He looked at the group. “Addredoc, teach Rabryn more while we’re gone.”
“Yes, sire.” Addredoc replied.
Ortheldo froze and slowly turned to look back at Addredoc, echoing my own trademark gaze, wide eyes and teeth clenched. Addredoc cowered. Clearly he’d been unaware of Ortheldo’s hatred of his own history.
“Don’t ever call me that again.”
“I’m sorry,” Addredoc said half frightened, half confused.
Rabryn rested his hand on Addredoc’s knee, leaning in towards him to explain Ortheldo’s reaction. Ortheldo guided me away from the group and we walked along the creek towards the trees.
Chapter Two
Azrel
We walked in silence for about a half hour. Several times I was tempted to ask what it was he needed to tell me, but I feared pushing him too hard. Besides, water had a calming effect on him. He was probably just clearing his head, deciding how to go about telling me. I remained patient, staring at the creek.
We soon entered the trees that surrounded the clearing. It was so breathable, not like the cluttered, dismally dark forest Forfirith and I had ventured into when we met the Legan’dirs. It wasn’t bright really because the sun was still hidden by clouds, but it was well lit and air flowed easily and calmly. Another twenty minutes passed. Just as I began to get impatient, he suddenly took a gentle hold of my arm and guided me up a small hill of land closer to the creek. As we crested the small hill, I smiled. A lovely little cove setting spread out before my eyes.
To my left was a five-foot rock wall that went across the stream and then curled on the far side, bending in towards us and almost completely encircling a single large flat rock. The stream trickled through small hidden openings in the rock wall, surrounding the lonely rock in the middle with a natural moat before continuing to flow downstream. Green moss covered the rock wall. The rock in the middle was edged with moss and tiny colorful dots of different flowers.
Ortheldo guided me over the stepping stones leading across the creek to the large flat rock. After he pulled me onto it, I continued looking around, in awe of the private beauty around me. I suddenly felt very safe. “This is beautiful.”
“I was hoping you’d like it.” We smiled at each other. “This is my favorite place in Casdanarus. I feel safe here.” I blushed slightly as he echoed my own thoughts.
“Why did you bring me here, though? It was quite a hike.”
He shrugged. “I just wanted to share my favorite place with you.” I continued enjoying looking around the area, mostly so he wouldn’t see my face turn red. “And this was also where I was sleeping when I was given that necklace.”
I snapped my head to look at him, forgetting about the beauty of this place, and returned to the harsh reality of that confounded necklace. “Really?”
He nodded, then sighed heavily and gathered my hands into his. “Azrel, you know I care about you, don’t you?”
I almost flinched. “What?”
“You know that, don’t you? That I care deeply for you? I need to know that you understand that. I need to know that you understand I would never say or do anything to deliberately hurt you.”
“Yes,” I said. My answer even surprised me. “I know that.”
“You know that?”
For a moment I was lost in his periwinkle eyes, eyes that were pleading with me to understand and trust him. For a moment I wished I could just melt into his arms and feel safe again. His arms offered protection of a kind I’d never felt before. For a moment, I realized he really did care about me.
“Yes, I know that,” I said more honestly.
He was my best friend. An irreplaceable bond had held us together this long, even though we’d been far apart for a long time. No one could replace my Ortheldo, nor did I want anyone too. He was my friend, my companion . . . my love.
His eyes glowed with warmth and pride as he took my hands up to his lips and kissed the backs of them. “I’m glad to hear you say that.” He gently pulled me down to sit on the rock with him. Then he looked into my eyes. “Azrel, most of what I’m about to tell you is based on very educated guesses. Rabryn, Addredoc and I have talked all of this over and over again and we all agree on what we think is happening. Rabryn is the one that figured most of this out, and I don’t doubt his conclusions for an instant.”
“What conclusions?”
“Azrel,” he began softly but firmly, “you have to promise me, on our friendship and on your father’s grave, that you will hear everything I have to say. You have to promise you won’t go off ranting and screaming until I’ve told you everything I need to. Can you promise me that?”
His words were starting to make me tremble, but I forced myself to stop. “Ortheldo, just tell me already.”
“Not until you promise.”
“Okay, okay! I’ll hear you out. I won’t speak unless you give me permission.”
He nodded and seemed to relax. “Back in Oaksher, after your encounter with Ibalissa, do you remember what we talked about? Our suspicions about what could be wrong with your magic?” I nodded. “It’s true. Rabryn and I were right.”
No!
“The White Warrior told us herself. It’s what she whispered to me and Addredoc in Narcatertus.”
I felt like the creek below the rock was sweeping me away to a world I didn’t care to be a part of. He was telling me that I was mad!
“Your magic has become the White Warrior; it’s become a separate person inside your mind.”
I wanted to scream and lash out at him. I was just on the verge of punching my fist through the rock when he quickly held up a finger. “You promised!”
Breathing heavily, I stared at him a moment, contemplating whether or not to keep that promise. I wanted to hear the rest of this, so I forced down the words with a heavy swallow.
“We figured it this way. The White Warrior gave me the necklace . . .”
“How?” I barked before I could stop myself.
He narrowed his eyes at me a little playfully, as if there was something funny about what he was saying to me. “I suppose I’ll let that go even though I didn’t give you permission.” I wanted to strangle him for trying to
be cute right now. “Back in The Pitt, do you remember when Beldorn said, ‘Your subconscious has the power to leave you when you sleep’?” I couldn’t speak through my clenched teeth, so I only swallowed. “When you are asleep, your subconscious is the most active; it’s when everyone’s subconscious is most active. The White Warrior is in your subconscious. Because of that, she is able to magically leave you, somehow, to visit her protectors. We’re not sure about the details of how this works, but four of those protectors are back in that clearing.”
“Protectors?” I asked.
“Later,” he said. “Just know that Acalith, Addredoc, Meddyn, and Thrawyn are all here to help you.”
Really? I wanted to say, is that why Acalith looked like she wanted to rip my throat out?
“The White Warrior can leave you and give her followers orders while you all sleep.”
“Everyone has to be asleep?”
“Stop talking out of turn. I was getting to that,” he said, still trying to be playful. “She takes them all to this ‘other world’ as we’ve come to call it, which is a void of endless green light. Rabryn and I got a small sample of it in Blesska.”
I was trying really hard not to scream. My subconscious was harboring the White Warrior, my magic, as another person? And it left me at will to pay people visits? It was unconceivable! I couldn’t be that abnormal! I couldn’t be that insanely strange!
“It was in this world of green light that she gave me the necklace, hiding her face so I wouldn’t think I’d gone mad seeing you give it to me.” He moved closer to me. “She sent us on this journey for a reason! We think it was for a reason beyond finding the necklace’s owner.”
“What reason?” I choked out, my voice coming out surprisingly hoarse.
He again moved closer to me, looking into my eyes intently. “Can you deny that since this journey began that your magic has gotten stronger?”
No, I couldn’t deny that.
“She sent us on this journey to reintroduce herself, and you, back into the world. She needs you to remember who you are and what purpose you were born for. She needs you to face circumstances that will force you to use her, your magic, so you two can become one again. You still have a horrible evil to defeat and she needs both of you ready for that challenge. That’s why we were sent on this journey.”
