by Eric Vall
The woman who approached us was richly dressed in pale blue silks that clung to the generous curves of her body and complemented her golden skin. Her pale pink hair fell in thick waves down her back, and large diamonds glimmered at her temples. More jewels dripped from her fox ears and along her slender neck. The wealth of Hatra was obviously displayed on this beautiful woman, and I knew she wasn’t just some pretty face we’d run into.
“Well met, Lord Evan.” The finely dressed woman smiled gently at me as she curtsied to me gracefully. “I am the Lady Sarnai, wife of Lord Tristan.”
Sarnai had been the name next to Tristan’s in the genealogy I’d read. This was the woman who raised Ruslan to be the wise leader he’d turned into.
“Well met, Lady Sarnai.” I bowed back to her and smiled at the woman I knew to be my grandmother. “It is a pleasure to meet such a gorgeous woman as you are.”
“My, you are a charmer!” Sarnai laughed pleasantly as she brought up a slender hand to hide her full lips. “I can see My Lord’s blood runs strongly through you.”
“I don’t know if that was a compliment or not,” Tristan snorted as he offered his arm to his wife, and she joined us as we walked down the hallway.
“How did you know my name?” I asked as I kept an easy pace next to the two foxes.
“My Lord sent me a message,” Sarnai explained as she brushed a stray lock of hair away from her face. “He informed me we had an important guest present today. Of course, I rushed as quickly as I could in order to meet this time travelling son of Hatra.”
Ah, the message fox from earlier probably found her or split off into two foxes.
Partway down the hall, I started looking at the paintings that adorned the wall and stopped in front of one of a woman in a moonlit garden. She was eerily beautiful, with full brows above her large eyes and even fuller lips set in a half smile. Her eyes were strange, though, and they shifted between pink and purple as the light fell on her painting.
“She’s beautiful.” I stared at the oddly familiar woman in the painting and tried to remember where I’d seen her. “Who is she?”
“The Lady Ihsan,” Sarnai answered as she stopped next to me. “She was sent to His Eminence as a bride five hundred years ago from the House of Hatra. He’d stopped accepting concubines, but he brought her into his harem, and she was elevated to the status of consort.”
“Is that odd?” I asked as I tore my eyes away from the painting and looked at Sarnai.
“For someone who hasn’t accepted a new bride in over two thousand years or even had a consort?” Sarnai sighed as she placed one hand on the dark frame of the painting. “Yes, it was quite the strange event. She became our Queen, but at great cost to herself.”
I was surprised by that tidbit, that meant the woman in the painting could be Alyona’s mother by birth or one of her mothers by marriage. But there was something more to her. The expression on her face almost reminded me of the Dark Lady of the Nine Heavens.
“What happened?” I questioned as I turned back to Sarnai and Tristan. “Did she die or fall sick?”
Tristan glanced between his wife and me for a moment before he seemed to come to a decision. His face was set in stubborn determination as he looked back at the painting, and I wondered if he’d grown up with the Lady Ihsan and knew her well.
“This is a secret known only to the Nobles of the Sword,” Tristan said as he led us away from Lady Ihsan’s painting. “Lady Ihsan is with child, but she has been asleep for one hundred years already. No one knows when or if the child will even be born. If she ever gives birth, the child will inherit all of Rahma and the White Jade Sect. That child would be the first one born to His Eminence.”
That explained it, the Lady Ihsan had to be Alyona’s mother. She was the only child of King Rodion and had been declared as heiress to the kingdom before she’d even been born. But Julia mentioned helping Alyona’s mother give birth to her even though she should have been in the Mihireti Mountains.
Something strange was going on with the White Jade Sect, and I had a feeling it had to do with the corruption Alyona hinted at. A fierce anger rose up inside of my chest as I decided I would wipe all the corruption from Rahma for Alyona, and I would make my princess a throne from their corpses.
“My Lords, if you will excuse me.” Sarnai dipped into a graceful curtsey, and the diamonds in her hair sparkled as they caught the light. “I must see to the organization of supplies if we are to survive this impending attack. May the gods bless you both and guide you.”
I blinked at her words before I dropped into a quick bow. My bloodthirsty thoughts and anger had taken over my mind, and I hadn’t even noticed we’d come to a large door carved with moons.
Sarnai walked away gracefully, and I placed my hand on the carved doors. There was something inside of the room that thrummed with a brilliant power similar to Alyona’s pristine purity.
“You sense the power, don’t you?” Tristan looked at me with a half smile on his face. “There’s a mirror inside the room, created by His Eminence and gifted to Hatra so her Lords may reach him at any moment.”
So, it was King Rodion’s power I was feeling and not Alyona’s. It didn’t matter. Alyona wasn’t born yet, and she was waiting for me in the future. I had to save my city from the demons and find my way back to her and Laika.
“Then let us speak to him.” I pushed on the doors, and they swung open easily underneath my hands. “Hatra’s survival depends on us and whatever happens in there.”
Chapter 15
“When you said mirror, I didn’t think it would be this large,” I muttered to Tristan as I walked into the room.
“Well, our gracious ruler doesn’t do things by halves.” Tristan shrugged as he closed the doors behind us. “Inconspicuous isn’t a word in his vocabulary.”
“You’re telling me,” I snorted as I looked back at the mirror. “That thing’s huge. I was expecting a hand mirror or something.”
The mirror inside of the room was large, larger than I could have ever imagined. It spanned the length of the entire back wall, and the surface was like aged silver. It didn’t even look like there was an actual mirror inside of the dark bronze frame. It was more like a frosted window pane, but there was something about the mirror that made me think it wasn’t just a mirror.
“A hand mirror would be convenient,” Tristan admitted as he crossed his arms next to me, “but this was built into the very foundations of the Lunar Palace, so changing it would not be simple. I have seen smaller mirrors before, though, such would not be appropriate for communicating with His Eminence. This one looks into His Eminence’s private study.”
I nodded absently as I stared at the mirror. On the surface was the frozen image of the very king I’d met just hours earlier, before I was thrown back in time by whatever magic was inside of the catacombs. I couldn’t see any differences between this King Rodion from a thousand years ago and the King Rodion I’d met in the present day. He looked exactly the same, like he hadn’t aged a single day.
“Do all the Nobles of the Sword have such grand mirrors?” I asked as I glanced over at Tristan for a moment. “Does His Eminence trust them all with giving them a look into his life like this?”
“I know many Nobles of the Sword have similar mirrors to this one, though none so grand.” Tristan’s eyes flicked over the surface of the mirror, and his emerald eyes darkened in thought. “Few have been granted with such intimate trust, or so I’ve heard. The size of the mirror and its clarity shows how much the King values your House and your fealty to him. It’s said Hatra’s mirror is one of the largest and clearest.”
“So, the king has an immense amount of trust in our House,” I murmured half to myself as I tilted my head in thought.
“He does.” Tristan ruffled my hair just like Ruslan would, and pride was evident in his voice.
“That’s impressive,” I hummed and looked back to the mirror. Then I noticed the king’s image was dressed in gleaming armor
made out of orichalum.
So, that meant the mirror was showing me an image of the king at the Breach. There was no other place he would wear such powerful armor casually, but that did make me wonder how powerful the demons that poured out of the Breach were. King Rodion’s body was immortal, just like Alyona’s, so it was impossible for his existence to disappear from this world. But, did that mean the demons from the Breach had enough power to cause even him to bleed?
No one had been able to permanently seal the Breach because of the sheer amount of demons constantly pushing against the magical array, even when powered by the almighty King Rodion.
But that had been before I’d appeared in the world of Inati. Maybe I would be able to bring a fresh perspective to the situation.
Who was I kidding? Invasion ideas were already half forming inside of my head. All I wanted to do was lead a force into the demon world and massacre all the demons so they would never harm what was mine again. Complete annihilation was the only answer I could see. There was no way for demons and mortals to coexist.
The scales had been wavering, only just maintaining their equilibrium, but they tipped the moment I came into this world. The demons would stand no chance against me when I brought an army to their doorstep.
“Who can go and fight at the Breach?” I asked, and ideas floated in my mind as I weighed my options. “Are they drafted from the cities?”
“There are volunteers who come from all over Rahma,” Tristan explained as his ears twitched, “warriors, mages, and cultivators who have pledged themselves to the protection of our world. Those are trained by His Eminence’s generals and the Nobles of the Sword. Along with our duty of protecting our lands, we must also send warriors to fight at the Breach.”
Then Tristan stepped forward, placed his hand on the frame of the mirror, and drew in a breath. As he exhaled, the surface of the mirror crystallized for the merest of moments before it disappeared, and then the image of the king shifted.
King Rodion opened his eyes, and a somewhat tired expression appeared on his face.
I was surprised someone so powerful and otherworldly could appear so human. I guessed guarding the Breach was more tiring than I’d thought, and he trusted Tristan more than I’d realized.
“This Lord respectfully greets His Eminence, the glorious sun of Rahma.” Tristan clasped his hands in front of him and bowed his head. “May the gods continue to bless and grace the sun that protects us all from the darkness.
“Lord Tristan,” the king greeted, but then his multicolored eyes shifted to me. “And who is this? I did not know you had an heir already.”
My heart stilled in my chest. The look the king pinned me with wasn’t as odd as the one he’d given me in the present, but it was like I was being stripped down to the bone and he was looking through my past. His terribly wise eyes glinted with a pained realization, and he closed them for a moment.
I bit my tongue as I realized this reaction was why the King Rodion in my present had seemed to recognize me. He remembered me from this moment, and maybe he was even the reason why I was in the past.
Suddenly, I released a breath I wasn’t aware I was holding. It was like I’d forgotten air was necessary for my survival. Like something far older had been inside of my mind, and my body had already forgotten the bliss of living.
“This is a son of Hatra who has yet to be presented to His Eminence,” Tristan replied, and his ears twitched as he glanced between King Rodion’s face and my own. “But that is not why I’ve contacted you. My king, Hatra will be attacked by demons.”
“A demon attack?” The king’s curiosity shifted immediately toward seriousness as his body stiffened. “Has a rift opened near the city?”
“Not yet.” The words slipped out of my mouth quickly as I interrupted the two men. “But there will be an attack that will devastate Hatra el Shamash.”
“What do you mean by ‘yet?’” King Rodion tilted his head at me as his brow furrowed. “Has there been a vision?”
I opened my mouth to reply, but then I hesitated. Faking a vision might help convince the king of the seriousness of the situation, and I could deal with whatever consequences there were afterward.
If I even had to deal with them. I didn’t know how long I would be stuck in the past, anyway.
“I had a vision of Hatra’s destruction,” I declared with confidence as I met the king’s eyes. “Her walls will soon fall against the might of a demonic horde, and her people will be slaughtered. The city is already preparing for the attack, but I ask that His Eminence send whatever soldiers and mages he can spare.”
Rodion’s brow furrowed, but before he could respond, someone called his name.
Through the mirror, I saw a young aide in black robes run into the room and stop in front of the king. Sweat dripped down the youth’s forehead as he bowed quickly.
“My king!” the aide panted as he tried to keep his composure. “The cities of Atheson, Imunving, and Veta have been attacked by demons and black magic.”
I thought back to the map of Inati I’d seen and remembered the placement of the cities the aide mentioned. They were three port cities on the north western most point of Rahma, the area was more of a peninsula than anything else, and there had been dozens of smaller villages around the outskirts of each city.
“What is it, demon gates or fallen mages?” King Rodion asked, and the tiredness on his face disappeared and was replaced by determination. “What have the marshals and the Nobles of the Sword reported? Surely, someone must have felt something. Cities of such size couldn’t have been attacked without someone seeing something. I don’t care if it was an ill omened wind or a dark cloud on the horizon, there is no possible way they could have been blindsided.”
“Demon gates, sire,” the young aide gulped as his face only continued to pale. “It was reported massive winds have begun to rampage over the cities, and the ocean waves have grown turbulent. Many boats were sunk before they realized what was behind the strange phenomena. A massive demon gate opened in the sky over the three cities, and an estimated force of seven hundred thousand strong are to emerge, perhaps more. The demon gate continues to expand with every passing moment.”
“To lead a force of demons that size would require a Demon Lord.” King Rodion sat down in a nearby chair and rubbed his forehead. “What are they after in those three cities? An army of demons seven hundred thousand strong … the people will be massacred.”
Tristan stiffened at my side, and suddenly, a wave of epiphany washed over me.
I already knew what Tristan was going to tell the king, and I realized there was nothing I could change. I was living a self fulfilling prophecy. The only reason Hatra had been able to survive, few as they were, was because of my warning. The White Jade Sect would never have been able to save the city. It had been my traveling back in time that gave the city even a small fighting chance.
“My king, I ask that you protect Rahma and all of Inati,” Tristan intoned, and a muscle twitched in his jaw as he clenched his fists. “Hatra will be honored to shed her blood for the good of the world.”
“Tristan, Hatra’s sacrifice will not be in vain.” King Rodion bowed to the two of us as his image began to stiffen. “Your people will be remembered as heroes who saved three cities.”
And that was it. The fate of my city was sealed.
The image of the aide faded away from the mirror, and only the frozen visage of King Rodion remained on the silvery surface.
Tristan and I walked out of the room in silence, and the heavy doors slammed shut behind us.
I understood the king’s logic and knew he’d made the right choice in the long run of things. If those three cities fell to the demons, possibly millions would die compared to the thousands in Hatra, and those legions would spread throughout the country.
A demon gate of that size had to be closed no matter what the cost.
In this situation, the cost was Hatra, but I would do everything in my power to mi
nimize the casualties.
“So, we’re alone against the demons.” Tristan brought up his hand to cover his eyes as he slumped against the door. “This was a well orchestrated attack on their side, we were all caught unaware.”
“No, you aren’t,” I growled as I let lightning crackle threateningly on the surface of my hand. “You have me, and I will bring them down. They will rue the day they decided to attack our city.”
“You’re right.” Tristan shook his head as he smiled at me. “I despaired for a moment, but even if Hatra falls to the demons, you’ll be there to raise the city back up.”
I smiled back, and it was a violent smile that promised a deadly end for thousands of demons.
The military preparations for battle took only a few hours, and the thousands of citizens within the city were already being evacuated into the underground safe houses. Soon, they would all be safe underneath the city.
Tristan ordered for a page to bring armor for me, but I’d refused and told them to leave the armor for the soldiers. My refusal had earned me an odd look from the page, but Tristan only nodded with approval. I’d either earned points with my grandfather for my apparent courage, or he could sense my power level was enough that I wouldn’t be easily harmed.
I was standing next to Tristan on the rooftop of one of the city towers when the battle for Hatra began. We’d been going over the defense measures when an enormous magical array darkened the skies above our city. Even though we’d been watching and waiting for the demons to pour out of the sky, they were a nigh unstoppable horde that covered Hatra’s gleaming protective barrier.
The demons that poured out from the enormous array were similar to the ones that attacked Valerra. They were hideous creatures with disfigured limbs, and they dripped putrid blood from their gaping mouths with every movement. The droplets of blood sizzled as they fell against the city’s protective barrier.
Tristan had told me the barrier was one of the blessings left behind by the Moon Princess, and as long as the Sword of Hatra remained in the city, the barrier would never fall.
