Allies & Enemies

by Cheryl S Mackey

  Too late. Jadeth’s shaky smile faltered, her eyes widened.

  “Dehil, look out!” her scream shattered the night.

  Dehil’s smile never wavered, his sky blue gaze steady on Jadeth. He kissed two fingers to her, and whispered words none but her heard.

  He stepped beneath the counterweight just before it slammed into the desert floor. Dust exploded, the crack of rock masking all sounds but Jadeth’s cries.

  The elevator ricocheted into the wooden platform at the top of the cliff with a shuddering crack of wood. It swayed, and threatened to tip, now only anchored by the one remaining counterweight wedged against the platform. For a long moment, they stood in shocked silence punctuated with keening sobs.

  “We need to get off of this thing,” Ivo muttered. He grabbed Jadeth’s arm and tugged. She let him pull her upright and away from the edge, her head down and red hair hiding her face from the world.

  Light flickered, fluttered, and then steadied from within Emaranthe’s curled fingers. The weakened light puddled at their feet, illuminating the rickety wooden floorboards and five stricken faces.

  Jadeth swayed, her face pale in the golden firelight. Her shoulders hunched inward and her arms wrapped around her middle as if to contain the screams of grief the only way she could. The fall of her red hair hid her face, but not the soft sobs.

  “Jadeth, he—” Ivo sighed, but stopped. He didn’t know what to say. At a loss, his helm and gloves hit the platform at their feet, making everyone jump. “He—”

  Across the elevator, Jaeger remained silent, head bowed, his chest heaving with exertion. Only the fist clenched around the railing betrayed his inner thoughts.

  “No!” Jadeth exploded into motion, flinging her arms wide and knocking Ivo’s hand away. She spun on her heel and bolted onto the plateau. She halted, her back to them.

  “No,” Jadeth repeated. She straightened and tipped her head back to the stars. Ivo frowned and shot a quick glance at Jaeger, who released the crushed railing, and joined them.

  “What do you mean?” Jaeger asked as he moved to stand beside her. The air grew chilly this far from Emaranthe's lamp, and Jadeth shivered, as Ivo appeared on her other side.

  “I mean, if— no, when— that jerk comes back…I will kick his ass,” she bowed her head again before adding so softly that the brothers at first didn’t think they heard correctly. “And then kiss him.”

  Emaranthe stumbled off the elevator, shaking hands clutching the hovering light as if it alone could hold her up. Gabaran followed, his unnerving eyes dimmed. When she didn’t move closer, Ivo turned and lifted Emaranthe to his chest. She shuddered before letting her rigid back relax into Ivo’s strong warmth and burying her face in his neck.

  He turned and led them away from the platform, the small flickering fire cupped in Emaranthe's hands lighting their way. The darkness was as tangible as their grief; a void held at bay by the warm glow. At the base of a rock outcropping, they stopped, too weary, sore, and heartsick to continue in the dark.

  “We can’t tarry here,” Ivo swallowed. “We need to find the map.”

  Emaranthe slid free of Ivo’s arms and knelt. The small fire shifted onto the ground and burned steadily, surrounding them in a golden puddle of light as Ivo, Jaeger, Gabaran, and Jadeth sank to the ground with tired groans and pain tightened faces.

  Emaranthe didn’t sit. She stood gazing down at the small fire with enigmatic eyes. A light wind, dry and cold, teased her grimy hair into drifting about her pale face like a silken cloud. She blinked and tears rolled down her cheeks.

  “Emaranthe?” Ivo inhaled sharply as she turned and looked at him with those eyes. She blinked at him and then looked across the campfire to where Jadeth sat mute, her sapphire eyes anguished, tears streaming down her cheeks in dirty trails.

  Emaranthe stumbled around the circle and threw herself down to the ground next to Jadeth. She flung her thin arms around the Elf’s shoulders much as she had so long ago when they’d first met. Jadeth sniffed at the memory, a sad, half laugh, and hugged her back. They didn’t speak. They didn’t need to.

  Emaranthe’s whisper sent shivers up Ivo’s spine. “Jadeth, he will return to you. Have faith.”

  They drew apart after a long moment and Emaranthe made her way back to Ivo. Without hesitating, she fell into his outstretched arms. He pulled her close and buried his face in her wind-tossed hair with a groan. Shaking fingers smoothed the wayward strands from her face and his arms tightened around her until her trembling body calmed.

  “I’m so sorry, Emaranthe. I know that wasn’t fair. I just—” Ivo whispered. He pressed a kiss to her forehead. She studied his face carefully in the shadowed light, watching and waiting. “I just couldn’t bear the thought of you getting hurt again. I can’t lose you.”

  “It’s okay. I know you did it to keep me safe,” Emaranthe smiled as tears blurred his handsome, agonized face before falling. “And I love you more for it.”

  His arms spasmed around her slight frame, his breath catching on an inhale.

  “I hate to break up the hugfest, but now what?” Jaeger grumbled from the edge of the firelight. He dragged his helm free and let it fall to the ground with a clatter. His whole body hurt, but he forced his screaming muscles to move. Beside him, Jadeth sniffed and sat up straight. Gabaran stiffened, his lowered head hidden in his large hands.

  “He’s right. We have a mission,” Jadeth exhaled and swiped shaky hands over her cheeks, scrubbing away the tears. “He didn’t help us, for us to throw it all away now.”

  “One thing is sure; we can’t do anything right now. Daylight will help us decide our next path,” Ivo said. “Thanks to Gabaran the sentries never raised the alarm and we are in a position to strike when the time comes.”

  The encampment covered roughly half of the plateau and appeared largely deserted. Within the distant rows of tents, faint glows emanated from roughly a half dozen. The night and Gabaran’s skill with the bow had kept their intrusion a secret. So far.

  Emaranthe twisted in Ivo’s embrace to listen to the conversation. She closed her eyes and dropped her head so it rested on his chest. Drained of most of her energy again, her thick eyelashes struggled to remain open. Through the dented, bloodstained armor, she felt his warmth, his breathing, the steady rhythm of his heart; and it relaxed her, comforted her more than anything else could.

  “What if more guards appear?” Jadeth asked. She licked her lips and flinched as her tongue hit a cut. “We can’t fight like that again for a while.” Her eyes roved over Ivo’s face, then Jaeger’s, and finally Gabaran’s, seeing the myriad of cuts, welts, and bruises in the flickering light.

  She’d learned long ago that minor wounds like these were better left to heal on their own.

  Jadeth twitched. The memory was still strong even after all these years. The smell of blood, the screams, the steady thrum of marching feet on the forest floor...

  Western [WU1]Trade Route, Two hundred and fifteen years ago

  “Duck!” The tiny girl cried out over the clatter of swords and shields. She flung her hands before her, desperation tightening her face as fire erupted from her palms.

  The jet of fire swept wide, blazing a scorching trail above the heads of the two males, barely missing them. Out of pure luck, the flames reached the front line of the rebels, sending a half dozen to the ground, rolling and screaming, as flames spread and burned.

  The two males leaped up and assumed a defensive stance as the remaining soldiers ignored their dying comrades and advanced. The two men held their ground as dozens of bowstrings were drawn tight and held steady.

  Thirty to three.

  Hardly fair.

  Jadeth studied the unfolding scene far below her hidden perch in the high trees. She tilted her head as a leafy branch swayed in and out of her field of vision in the stiff afternoon breeze, and watched.

  The first line of rebels was down, now smoldering heaps littering the forest floor. Behind them, thirty more formed well
-organized ranks with shields, spears, and bows. The rebels were a tightly knit bunch, the former army of the Free Earthlander Militia, now lowered to rebels in a war they would never win. The arrival of the Immortals pushed their usefulness into nonexistence, sharpening more than a few tempers and swords. The foolish rebels were more bound to clash with Immortals than the true enemy these days.

  Jadeth dropped to a lower branch and sank into a crouch above the blonde girl. A child? No, very young for an Immortal however, something she had never seen before. The gods had first chosen grown males and females to be the Warriors and Guardians, those most able to fight an untouchable enemy. Never before had she seen or heard of a female so young taken by an Immortal soul. She appeared to be perhaps eighteen summers of age, and untrained in her fiery gift.

  The abrupt sound of clashing metal jerked her attention to the two males. They had engaged the rebels. They fought savagely, inexpertly, with swords and no armor or shields. She dragged a long red braid over her shoulder and chewed the end as she watched the skirmish from her perch. Why aren’t these Immortals at The Unknown City?

  The dark-haired one crouched then leaped high. He landed in the midst of the enemy with an earth-shaking roar. The nearest rebels fell as his sword hacked and slashed in a blur of cold metal. The lighter-haired male pushed past the first line, somehow avoiding being impaled by the sharp length of the spears.

  The move to push deep into their ranks seemed to unnerve the rebels. They didn’t know how to advance on an enemy embedded within them. Before long, the chaos of cries and blood splatters faded just enough for the men to retreat to the watchful girl. The rebels had lost more than a few good men, but their ranks were quickly filled in and soon the front line was re-established.

  Nearly growling, the two men fearlessly faced the wall of shields and bristling spears.

  She watched as the young woman swept up a long, twisted tree branch and held it high. Flames swirled and flickered, enveloping the staff. Heat waves rippled around her as she moved closer. The two Immortal men staggered on their feet, fatigued, bloody, and beaten. Their weapons shook in their hands, their arms weakened with exhaustion.

  “No,” Jadeth gasped. The slow creak of bowstrings being drawn tight filtered through the canopy. She stood and leaped to another branch, a warning on her lips even as the first archer loosed his arrow. “No!”

  It whistled as it pierced the shadows of the forest and sank with a bone-crunching thud deep into the blond male’s left shoulder. He staggered, blue eyes wide with shock, as the force sent him reeling.

  The darker haired man turned, his eyes wild with anguish and rage, when the blond man fell beneath the arrow.

  The girl screamed a keening wail that pierced Jadeth to her soul. “Nooo!”

  Without thought of why she was doing it, Jadeth reached to the shadows at her back and hefted a mighty hammer. She launched herself from the safety of the trees and into the heart of the standoff below.

  The air glowed green as she landed hard in front of the fallen man and the dark one. A brief glimpse of pained, green eyes, of jagged, bloody cuts, and bruises was all Jadeth saw before the rebels attacked. She spun the hammer and swung it wide. It jerked, numbing her arm, as its broad head met soft flesh and bone. Swords slashed the air inches from her long ears. She ducked and spun again, sweeping the glowing iron hammer low. The sharp iron points jabbing at her tumbled away with their owners, but more took their place. She danced aside with impossible agility and swung again with a snarl. The hammer exploded the outstretched arm of a rebel, sending him sprawling, screaming. Gore splashed the trampled forest floor.

  Everything blurred. Time stood still. The dark haired one quickly joined her and charged the line of rebels. Fireballs whipped past them with inches to spare, stirring sweat-dampened hair with each thundering rush of heated air. Swords, blood, screams, fire... until Jadeth remembered the archers. They had not released any more arrows. Pulling the hammer from the gut of the rebel sprawled on the ground, she scanned the darker shadows of the dense forest. Motionless, barely visible, the bowmen waited for their chance. Waiting for them to what?

  Be too tired to fight.

  “No,” the girl cried out. She swayed to a halt beside Jadeth, seeing the same. “No!”

  Bowstrings creaked.

  “No!” The girl flung her arms up. Flames leaped out of the ground, forming a blazing wall of fire. It rose high into the canopy then curved back over them in a burning dome. She glanced at Jadeth, agony and despair molten in her haunted gaze.

  “Take them and go, please,” she rasped, coughed. Smoke churned, blanketing the dense forest. “Save them.”

  “I am not leaving you,” the darker male growled over the crackle of flames and the shouts of the enemy on the other side of the wall of fire. He sheathed his sword, his own injuries unfelt. His green eyes were terrible to behold… anger… fear… pain… despair...

  “Take them, please go,” the girl cried out, turning to Jadeth. Her arms trembled and tears tracked down her grimy face. “I can’t hold it much longer.”

  Bowstrings twanged.

  “No! We won’t leave you,” the blond male said. He struggled to his feet, swaying unsteadily against the darker one, blue eyes dull with pain.

  The arrows hit the wall of fire and ignited. Most burst into ash but some pierced through the inferno and peppered the ground between them, trailing fire like comets. Heat waves roiled and the smoke thickened.

  The girl flinched when an arrow grazed her shoulder, leaving a torn sleeve that seeped red. She stumbled, righted herself, and pushed at the wall with gloved hands. The fire brightened, burned harder, and the snapping and popping flames drowned out the cries from the other side. The tiny girl pushed again, her hands shaking with the effort of maintaining the magical wall of fire. Bowstrings creaked again. Jadeth inhaled.

  No. Not like this.

  “Go, take him, I’ll get her,” Jadeth screamed over her shoulder at the dark male. She flung her hammer into the shadows behind her where it vanished with a green shimmer. She wound an arm around the girl’s waist, hauled her off her feet, and broke into a run just as a second volley of arrows rained down around them. The fiery wall flickered and faded.

  Jadeth twisted and ducked as the arrows peppered the ground, scattering ash and smoke. The darker male fell into a limping run beside her, the blond heaved over his shoulder. They ran, ducking low branches and leaping rocks. The narrow trail twisted and turned, ranging out to hug the rocky coastline before sweeping inland and widening. A long meadow, green and shrouded in fog, became their refuge when they jogged to a halt, panting for air. Sides aching, lungs burning, Jadeth set the pale girl down.

  Jadeth watched her turn and stumble toward the two men and sink down on the ground beside them.

  “Jaeger, can you hear me?” the dark one shook the blond’s non-injured shoulder. No movement… no answer. Jadeth knelt beside the wounded man.

  “Jaeger?” the girl whispered and shook his arm.

  Jadeth blinked against a sudden rush of tears.

  Why would she cry? She didn’t know him… any of them!

  “Let me,” Jadeth said. She inhaled and slid her hammer free from the shadows again. The girl gasped when the broad two-sided head glowed green.

  “You’re a healer?” she asked.

  “I…am,” Jadeth whispered. She licked her dry lips and set the hammer down beside the injured man. “I need to remove the arrow first.”

  The dark male stumbled to his feet and paced around the huddled group.

  “We thank you. Please, can you help him?” he asked. He stopped long enough to trade worried looks with the girl. Jadeth noted that his eyes burned with pain and fear when they touched on the wounded man and the girl. He worried about them obsessively.

  Jadeth ripped the man’s shirt where the arrow had pierced the tunic and dug deep into the firm muscle. She tugged the arrow free with a sharp twist. Blood welled and streamed from the deep wound. Wordl
essly, she lifted the glowing hammer high over the wound. The bleeding slowed, then reversed course. It slid back into the blackened, circular wound, and the hole grew narrower and narrower until it vanished, leaving only a puckered scar.

  “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you,” the dark male whispered. He sank to his knees. Jadeth glanced up at him, puzzled. His thanks were unexpected and heartfelt.

  “You are welcome. Who are you?” she asked. “You have no business fighting these battles untrained.”

  “Wanderers in search of a home,” the girl replied. “We seek peace in a world gone sour with evil and hatred.”

  Jadeth inhaled sharply when the girl looked up and smiled, her eyes no longer a fiery gold but a soft honey brown. She was petite, not even five feet tall, and pale, thin, and looked ready to collapse right there.

  “My name is Emaranthe. Thank you for saving us, saving him,” the girl added. “This is Ivo and his brother Jaeger.” She gestured to the dark one, then the blond.

  Ivo said, “We have avoided the wars for many, many years in a desperate hope.”

  “Peace is only won, not found. And especially not here, I’m afraid,” Jadeth replied. She studied the ragtag trio and found herself unable to tear her gaze away from theirs. Such grim hope reflected in their eyes, such terror and longing. “The lands from here east are held by the old militia. Their patience for Immortals is long diminished. Our perceived slights are too numerous to count, apparently. They would rather fight the ally than the enemy I fear.”

  “Ein-Aral is so big, so vast,” Emaranthe gazed off into the distance. The dark shadows beneath her eyes were telling. “Would that we could live free of fear and sorrow. We have looked for many years and still we are trapped within our cursed calling. Do we dare to continue to hope?”

  Jadeth nodded, her red braids catching the fog-shrouded sunlight. “Yes, but hope is not here. It doesn’t linger in the wilds, but within the guarded ranks of The Unknown Sun.”