“My name is Marnella Ardstone,” said the woman. “Halrin, I know who you are, and I know what you’ve been through. Elyse has been keeping me updated on your progress.”
“Elyse killed my family,” said Hal, through gritted teeth. “She killed everyone I loved! And you expect me… to do what? To help you?”
“Things aren’t always simple, Halrin,” said Marnella. “And I am asking nothing of you, right now, other than to escape the Upper Realm, as you were already planning. I’m asking you to let us keep you from being captured and enslaved by Empress Kay. Is that too much of a request?”
There was a note of sarcasm to her last question. Hal didn’t look at her, and he didn’t respond.
“You’ve been in Zelnata for what, a week now?” asked Marnella. “No doubt that was enough time for you to see the way things are here. Let me ask you, Halrin – Do you think the humans and maug in the Upper Realm deserve to be enslaved?”
“Of course I don’t,” said Hal.
“What about the Dragongrounds?” asked Marnella. “Was that fun for you? Being forced to kill other slaves for the amusement of the elven lords. Do you know what a night harem is, Halrin?”
“Yes,” he said. “I do.”
He remembered the slave that had looked like Laurel and wondered how many other girls were serving similar roles, on that very night.
“The elves will never view humans as their equals,” said Marnella. “The only thing stopping them from expanding from the Upper Realm down to the surface is their lack of numbers. But if Empress Kay got her hands on you, Halrin, and figured out how to use you as a weapon, that might not matter. All of the people you know and care for down on the surface would succumb to a similar fate.”
Hal breathed out through his teeth. He was still angry, at Cadrian, at the Ardstones, at the elves, at anyone who it even partially made sense to be angry at. He wasn’t ready to sign on to their cause, even if it was a justified one.
“I’m not asking you to do anything yet,” said Marnella. “I don’t have time to explain everything to you right now, Halrin. Take this, and escape. That’s all I ask.”
She pressed something into his hand. It was a crystal, cold and hard against his palm. He frowned and raised an eyebrow at her.
“It’s a two-way crystal,” said Marnella. “I can use it to get in touch with you and vice versa. Once you’ve gotten to safety, if you’re curious about what you can do to help, channel your will into it and focus on me. It might take a couple of tries for you to get it to work.”
“And if I decide that I’m not interested?” asked Hal.
Maybe all I’m interested in is getting back to my life.
“In that case, just make sure you stay out of Empress Kay’s reach,” said Marnella. “It’s easier said than done, mind you. She will come after you, Halrin.”
He didn’t say anything. He looked over at Willum, who was peering out through the open door.
“Marnella,” said Cadrian. “We need to keep moving. You’ve had your time with him.”
Marnella nodded. “Right. Stay safe, Elyse. The Empress already believes that you’ve returned to the surface, so your disappearance shouldn’t be too conspicuous. And remember, if it looks like the two of you are going to be captured…”
She trailed off, but from the way Cadrian tightened her grip on the dagger, Hal understood her implication. Cadrian would kill him before she’d turn him over to the Empress. She took him by the shoulder and began pushing him toward the door.
“Hal,” said Willum, as he passed by. “Take care of my sister. And don’t let her keep worrying about me.”
“I’m not sure that I can stop her,” said Hal. “But I’ll see what I can do.”
CHAPTER 42
Cadrian led him through the dark, pushing him into a dirty, old looking crystal carriage. She closed the door behind him, fiddled with the control crystal for a minute, and then they were off.
A deathly tense silence settled on the air as they sat across from each other on separate benches. Hal wanted to shout at her. He wanted to make it clear how much pain she’d caused him, and how much time he’d spent dreaming of revenge. But it seemed more pointless to him than ever, so instead, he held his tongue.
She’d win if I attacked her right now.
He told himself that if he stood a chance against her in a fight, he’d kill her right there and then. It was a hollow thought, however, and he wondered if there was any truth to it. Hal didn’t like killing, and what Marnella had told him had muddied the waters of his conviction. Would killing Cadrian put others at risk? How much was the future of the slaves in the Upper Realm dependent on people like her, people willing to do whatever it took to further the cause of freedom?
“Are you going to attack me again?” asked Cadrian.
Hal didn’t look at her.
“You’re good at keeping silent,” he said. “At keeping secrets, too. Why don’t you just keep your mouth shut, and make this trip easier for the both of us?”
He glanced over at her in time to see an odd expression on her face. It almost looked like his words had affected her. She looked pained, perhaps even a little guilty but only for an instant before she mastered her emotions.
“We’ll be there soon,” said Cadrian. “Put this on.”
She pulled something out from under her bench and tossed it to him. Hal recognized it as he turned it over in his hands. It was a cloud catch, and it instantly brought back memories of the Dragongrounds, and of fighting for his life. Of Thirty, and how sure he’d been that she was going to betray him. And now here he was, trusting someone who actually had lied to him and murdered people he loved.
The crystal cart let out a screech as it drew to a stop. They were far outside of Zelnata, and looking out the window, Hal saw the massive wall that encircled the edge of the Upper Realm. The wall was unlit, and it was too dark for him to make out any details, but it stood out against the horizon as a black shadow obscuring the stars, its top running parallel to the ground below.
“How am I supposed to get over the wall?” asked Hal.
“We’re going through it,” said Cadrian. “There is a hole at the base that we can use to gain access to the surface.”
Hal nodded, following behind her as she climbed out of the carriage. There was an instant when she was turned away from him in which he had the opportunity to attack her, if he wanted. He didn’t, and the moment passed as she turned back to face him, holding the dagger.
The area looked as though it had once been intended for outdoor storage, with wooden boxes stacked alongside rusted metal lattices with wheels on the bottom. As the two of them approached the wall, it became clear that the plan had run into a snag. Two figures stood in their path, waiting for them. One of them held a glow wand that illuminated her face.
Gardius. How did she know we’d be here?
Hal heard footsteps behind them and glanced over his shoulder to see two more elves moving to cut off any opportunity for retreat. He heard Cadrian inhale sharply. She rolled the dagger in between her fingers, and then passed it over to him.
For a morbid second, Hal considered plunging the weapon into her chest. He shook the thought off, knowing that it would be a pointless gesture in the face of his own death. Gardius stepped forward slowly, stopping to summon her green, runic trident and the matching armor that went with it.
“Elyse Ardstone,” said Gardius. “And you. The slave from the Dragongrounds. My oh my, how the pieces are fitting together. I thought I had an inspired runaway on my hands. Not a conspiracy involving an entire faction of humans.”
“How did you know that we’d come here?” asked Cadrian.
Gardius laughed. “The Empress has known about this escape route for some time. She expected that, if the Heart Holder really was in the Upper Realm, they would find their way here. You can fault Empress Kay for many things, but she does not lack for intelligence.”
Cadrian said nothing, but her expression was
as hard as steel. She reached down to her sword and slowly drew it, stepping back with one leg to adopt her favored fighting stance.
Seeing her stand like that triggered a dozen different emotions inside Hal. He almost moved in closer, almost put his back to hers to shore up their defenses and keep either of them from being blindsided. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Not with what he knew now, even if it reduced their odds of making it out alive.
“You’ve made a grave mistake, Gardius,” said Cadrian. “I hope you were not expecting an easy victory.”
“Four against one doesn’t seem like a grave mistake to me,” said Gardius. “Rather, it seems like an inevitability.”
Hal wasn’t sure how he felt about not being included in her math. He tightened his grip on the dagger, feeling certain that he would have no reservations against killing, this time.
“You forget that I’ve spent time on the surface, Cadrian,” continued Gardius. “I know how the minds of cattle think. I enjoyed myself down there, but I also treated it as a study, of sorts. Of the behavior of the beasts.”
“Oh, I’m aware.” Cadrian smiled, and it was a cold, humorless expression. “It’s part of the reason why your death will be celebrated amongst my kin. What was it you did again? Using view crystals on people after turning them into husks? Streaming from their perspective as they go on to murder friends and family?”
“You make it sound so much less fascinating then it really is,” said Gardius. “Well, I suppose not everyone can have an open mind about these sorts of things.”
Gardius advanced in an explosion of movement. She whipped her trident forward, stabbing with all the momentum of her body. Cadrian had no means of countering the attack with her sword, and tried to spin out of the way. One of the trident’s tips caught against her tunic, pulling loose flesh and blood along with cloth as Gardius continued by her.
Hal dropped into a fighting crouch as Gardius came within his attack range. She paid him almost no attention, turning to face Cadrian and exposing her back. Hal hesitated, suddenly unsure of what it was that he meant to do.
Should I attack now? Does Cadrian, of all people, deserve my help?
Cadrian went on the offensive, attacking with a quick, overhead cut she clearly expected Gardius to block. Gardius raised her trident to catch the edge of Cadrian’s blade. Cadrian snuck forward, slamming her knee in a desperate bid to score a hit on Gardius’s stomach and make use of her size advantage over the elf.
Gardius blocked the attack with the shaft of her trident, and the weapon absorbed the force surprisingly well. Cadrian was forced to pull back, slashing the empty air as she retreated out of the trident’s range.
“Betrayal must be bred into your bloodline,” said Gardius. “How many times have the Ardstones gone down this path? It was what put Empress Kay on the throne to begin with, if you recall.”
“It’s not betrayal to fight for the sake of one’s own people,” said Cadrian.
What is betrayal? Would you explain it to me, Cadrian?
Hal almost asked the question out loud. He felt childish, watching Cadrian fight and not being sure whether he was rooting for her to win. A loss on her part would almost assuredly guarantee his own death.
The other three elves who’d come with Gardius were also watching the fight. They were far enough from Hal to keep him from being able to strike at them with his knife. He took a slow step toward the nearest one, watching to see how much attention he was being paid.
Cadrian and Gardius exchanged a furious series of strikes. Gardius wielded her trident almost as though it were a pole axe, swinging it to club into Cadrian’s sword, and only rarely attempting to use the points. It was a smart tactic, and Hal watched as it paid off. Gardius countered one of Cadrian’s slashes, spun her weapon, and found a shallow stab into one of Cadrian’s thighs. Cadrian countered with a cut across Gardius’s midriff, which was mostly absorbed by her runic armor.
Hal moved as both women were pulling back, striking while the others were still considering who got the better of the exchange. He stabbed one of the elves in the back twice in quick succession, and then pulled the sword loose from his dying opponent’s grip. The handle was smaller than what he was used to, but the blade was almost the perfect length, slightly shorter than a typical longsword.
“Fools!” shouted Gardius. “Hold him down!”
One of the other elves charged Hal. He blocked an overhead cut and feinted to the side. The last elf in the group as also moving toward him, and Hal knew he would stand no chance at fighting both at once.
A burst of red light flashed in the corner of Hal’s vision, and a fireball the size of a skull struck the elf flanking him full in the chest. He glanced toward Cadrian and saw the ruby she wore in the ring on her finger giving off a residual, crimson glow.
The remaining elf attacked him, shouting as he swung his sword in a series of desperate attacks. Hal warded off each one carefully, playing it safe and applying much of what Cadrian taught him. Now that it was an even fight, he could take his time and wear his opponent out.
He dodged back out of range of an overhead cut, and then rolled under the elf’s next horizontal slash, catching his opponent completely off guard. Hal slid his sword through one of the cracks in the elf’s armor, impaling him and ending the fight. He caught a glimpse of the life fading from the man’s eyes, and the thin line of blood dripping from one of his nostrils.
Cadrian was still fighting for her life against Gardius. Hal pulled his sword free and approached the action. Gardius had them both on one side, which prevented them from being able to flank her.
“Enough,” said Cadrian. She took a breath and raised the hand on which she wore her rings. Hal watched the deep, yellow topaz burst into vivid brightness as Cadrian began to focus on channeling an earth elemental spell. He remembered something important an instant too late.
A rolling wave short forward through the ground, headed toward where Gardius stood. She sneered as it approached, pulling a purple crystal free from her belt and holding it in the direction of the oncoming spell.
The earth wave reversed, heading back toward Cadrian and Hal at twice the speed it had gone out. Hal attempted to jump over it, but it only managed to trip him up further. He hit his head hard as he came down, feeling twice the fool for falling for the same trick a second time.
“A reflect crystal,” said Gardius. “A gift from my brother. Such things are not outside the reach of my family’s wealth.”
Hal saw Cadrian stumbling to her feet, but she was too late. Gardius had already moved to stand over him, the tips of her trident pressed down on his throat. Hal felt furious, both at her and at himself. If he’d been thinking clearly and not hoping for Cadrian to lose, he would have had the sense to share what he knew about their opponent and prevented this.
“You won’t be needing this,” said Gardius, stabbing the trident through the cloud catch on Hal’s back. The points tore through the fabric, creating three rough holes and making it useless for its intended purpose.
Cadrian was glaring at Gardius with more intensity than Hal had ever seen from her. The ruby on her finger exploded with light, and her eyes turned crimson red as she entered a full on Ruby Trance.
“Release him,” said Cadrian, her voice cold and commanding.
“We both know that’s not going to happen,” said Gardius. “I’d consider sparing his life, if you disarmed yourself. Your weapon and your gemstones.”
Cadrian took a slow breath. Hal knew her well enough to recognize the signs of her struggling to control her emotions. Gardius had them beat. There wasn’t anything left for either of them to do.
“This was a hopeless encounter, from the onset,” said Gardius. “You stood no chance. If you’d arrived a few minutes earlier, perhaps…”
She trailed off. Hal caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of his eye, and then something warm and wet dripped down onto his face. Her rubbed at it with the tips of his fingers, which cam
e back red.
“Stupid bitch,” muttered Zoria. She stood directly behind Gardius, her knife wet with blood. Gardius crumpled forward, bleeding heavily from the wide slit Zoria had opened in her throat.
“Zoria…” Hal pulled himself up to a sitting position, staring at her in disbelief.
“I followed you, master,” said Zoria. “Did you expect anything less? I guessed that you’d be taking the crystal cart and snuck onto the roof of it while you were both inside the abandoned building.”
Hal felt a smile creep across his face. He reached out to pull her into a hug, and then hesitated, looking down at all of Gardius’s blood that had gotten onto his clothing.
“You could have acted a little sooner,” he said.
“I needed to make sure that Gardius ended up dead.” Zoria licked her lips and nudged the body of her rival with a foot. “Revenge. It feels… every bit as sweet as I imagined it would.”
She let out a shivering sigh that sounded so satisfied that it was slightly unnerving, and then nodded toward Cadrian.
“Well, master?” asked Zoria. “Would you like your turn?”
It took Hal a second for her meaning to register. It was just the two of them and Cadrian. As powerful as his former teacher was, she would stand no chance against them both, especially after depleting her gemstones. He could kill her, if he wanted to. He could finally take his revenge and end a chapter of his life that had gone on for far too long.
Cadrian was watching him as he watched her. Their gazes met, and Hal stared into her hazel eyes, suddenly unsure of what he really wanted. There was nothing in her expression, no outrage, no anger. No longing for forgiveness, and no guilt over what she’d done.
A roar came from overhead, shattering the moment. Flapping wings buffeted all three of them with a gust of wind strong enough make them stagger. Flames followed an instant later, sweeping over the ground and forcing Hal to dive off to the side.
He peaked his head out from behind a smoldering wooden box and took stock of the situation. The dragon had landed in between the three of them. Zoria had been knocked unconscious from the initial impact. She lay prone on the ground behind it, mostly hidden by another collection of boxes, but with an open route back toward the crystal cart open if she managed to awaken and retreat. Cadrian was to Hal’s left, on the other side of a burgeoning wall of flame. She was gesturing at him, frantically trying to communicate something.
Dawning Ceremony (Sexcraft Chronicles Book 3) Page 23
