She glanced over at me, her eyes bright and alive. She smiled.
A clattering of hooves could be heard from a distance, fast approaching. As the sound grew louder, I saw a rider holding up a burning torch, its flames lighting up the darkness around him.
“Commander Tejus!” the messenger cried, pulling his bull-horse to a stop in front of me. The creature reared up, almost knocking the sentry off. He regained his balance, turning to join us as we continued to ride.
“The Memenion kingdom comes not far behind! They’re joining us—three hundred in all, guards and ministers mostly.”
“Thank you,” I breathed, tension easing from my body as I heard the long-awaited news. “Ride ahead, light the way.”
The messenger nodded, pride evident on his face as he kicked his bull-horse to the head of the line.
“Did you hear that?” I called back to Ash, riding behind me.
“I did,” he replied, and I could hear the grin in his voice. “I’ll pass the message on.”
Soon I could hear cheers going up from the back of the line. We were no longer alone. I called again for the pace to pick up, and the answering cry and thunder of the herd sounded almost jubilant.
Not long after, we were met by Queen Memenion’s army coming from the east. They carried banners high above their heads, the insignias of not only the Memenion kingdom, but Hellswan too. In the hazy light of the dawn, all were lit by a fiery red, the ground trembling as the bull-horses galloped toward us. Alongside the army, fanged beasts raced toward us, perhaps ten or twenty in total, their howls ripping through the air, their silken coats gleaming. My mouth parted in astonishment—these creatures hadn’t left the safety of their forests in years.
“Emperor Ashbik, Commander Tejus!” Queen Memenion called out to us as she approached. “It’s a good day!”
Our army came to a halt, and I smiled at the queen. I recognized her dead husband’s armor, as well as his weaponry sheathed at her back and waist. The fanged beasts ran amok around us, scaring the bull-horses till they whinnied and reared.
“Are these your pets?” I asked with bemusement – wondering how on earth she managed to domesticate and train such deadly beasts as these.
“They are now.” She whistled, calling them back to her. They retreated at her command, coming to stand protectively around her bull-horse. “They left the forests when the earthquakes started – out of fear and hunger they’re willing to be loyal. We shall see how long it lasts!”
I recalled Queen Memenion always being a little eccentric – and her fearlessness had always impressed me.
“Thank you for joining us,” I announced sincerely.
“The pleasure is mine. Queen Trina is going to die today, and her blood will be spilled in my husband’s name.” Her eyes flashed with rage. I nodded, only capable of conceiving a fraction of her loss—not just her husband, but her beloved son, all to the clutches of the Seraq queen.
Their army joined ours, and we rode onward still, fast approaching the palace. Once again, my thoughts drifted to what King Memenion had said to Ash—that I wouldn’t be able to kill Queen Trina when the time came. I had briefly considered that he might have been right, but now I knew differently. She would die so that Hazel could live, and she would die so that the sons and daughters of Nevertide who had been slain by her hand would not be lost in vain.
Hazel
The air grew drier as we entered the Seraq kingdom. The morning sun was now blazing down on us, the palace in the distance appearing to ripple slightly in the heat.
“Can you see if anyone’s there?” I asked Tejus, pulling out a water flask from my saddle and taking a much-needed gulp.
“It looks abandoned,” he replied with a frown. “But it could just be a barrier that I can’t see through.”
I was starting to feel edgy, like we were missing something. The stillness of the kingdom and the palace up ahead just didn’t feel right. Like everything here had been abandoned days ago.
“We’ll ride to the top and disembark,” Tejus commented, pointing to the path that led to the exterior grounds of the palace.
“Watch out for nymphs,” Ruby muttered.
Tejus rode back down the line, dividing the army into two groups. The first group accompanied us, and the second fanned out to guard the palace while we went to investigate. When we reached the top, I wearily climbed down off the bull-horse. My hunger was starting to rage in the pit of my stomach, and it was taking all my energy to keep it contained. I hoped that Queen Trina and her Acolytes would be here—not just for the sake of the children, but selfishly, so I could have someone to feed off of. My legs felt like they were going to buckle as soon as my feet touched the ground. I’d forgotten what it was like to ride a horse for such a long time, and my thighs ached from the exertion.
We entered the first courtyard on foot. I’d never seen Queen Trina’s kingdom up close, and was amazed to find that it was beautiful—extravagantly so. Ruby had mentioned the lavish quarters, but I had only half believed it until now. It was like her kingdom was a world away from what I’d seen so far in Nevertide, more like an illustration from Arabian Nights than a sentry fortress.
Ash, Tejus and Queen Memenion used True Sight to see what lay within the walls. The other guards and ministers spread out around the courtyard, looking for any other soul that might still remain. One by one, they started to shake their heads, looking at one another in frustration and bafflement.
“Nothing?” I asked, walking up to Tejus.
“Nothing,” he confirmed. “I’m going to dispatch a group to go inside, but I can’t sense any barriers—I think it’s truly deserted.”
Where the hell is she?
“Help! HELP!” A cry shattered through the air, coming from the side of the courtyard that backed onto the cliff edge. Tejus and I ran forward, peering down through a columned arch to the ocean that lay below.
On narrow steps, carved into the cliff face, Jenus was stumbling about. He did his best to press against the wall, but his feet fumbled, causing rubble to clatter down beneath him, dropping soundlessly into the ocean.
“What’s he doing?” I asked Tejus. I couldn’t see why he was calling for help—there was no immediate danger other than his own idiocy. “Is he wounded or something?”
“I don’t think so.” Tejus looked disdainfully down at his brother, who had now caught sight of us, waving his arms in the air.
“PLEASE!” he cried. “Tejus, brother, help me!”
“Oh, for God’s sake,” Tejus muttered, sighing in frustration. “What’s wrong?” he called down.
“The wind! It’s fearsome here—I’m afraid I can’t hold on for much longer!”
I looked doubtfully over to Tejus. It didn’t seem windy to me. At the end of the stone steps that Jenus had come from was a small viewpoint, decorated with potted plants and an outdoor bench. It hardly seemed perilous. Maybe Jenus had truly lost his mind.
“Ugh, maybe we should help him.” I sighed. “He might know where Queen Trina is.”
“Or send us on a wild chase when we’re already running out of time.”
Good point.
“Well, we can’t just leave him here, can we?” I asked, hopefully.
“We can.” Tejus shrugged. Then he smirked in my direction. “How hungry are you?”
“Famished.” I grinned.
“I’ll be back in a moment.”
“Be careful,” I warned, wondering if this was an elaborate trick of some kind…
Tejus nodded, but he was already starting down the steps. He descended them with ease, and soon reached his brother.
“Thank you! Oh, brother, thank you!” wailed Jenus.
Geez…overkill much?
With a huff of irritation, Tejus grabbed hold of his brother’s arm, hauling him up the rest of the way. Rather than help Tejus, Jenus went limp, making the process ten times harder for his rescuer. I rolled my eyes. This farce was the limit—we were wasting time.
&nbs
p; I stood back as Tejus appeared in the archway, flinging his brother’s body to the floor.
“Where is she?” Tejus demanded, looming over a shaking Jenus.
“Where’s who?”
Jenus started to cringe away from his brother, as he noticed Tejus’s icy glare.
“You know who! Queen Trina. Where is she? Where are the children?”
“If I tell you, will you take me away from here? Please, Tejus, I implore you. The queen—she is capable of great evil! Don’t leave me with her! She has manipulated me—possessed me, encouraged me to commit sin upon sin!”
I eyed Jenus with disgust. I was convinced that he was lying, and trying to bargain with us when the kids’ lives hung in the balance made me despise him more than I thought possible. I didn’t believe Queen Trina would ask him to do anything that he wouldn’t happily do with a smile on his face.
“Where ARE they?” Tejus roared.
“A promise that I will be protected, and then I shall tell you!” Jenus beseeched him, spittle forming at the edges of his mouth.
Ash and Queen Memenion came closer. I had hardly been aware of the group that had formed around us, but they all stood watching the wretched creature on the floor as he wriggled like a worm on the edge of a hook.
Tejus looked at Ash, who nodded, looking at Jenus with the same disdain and hate that the rest of us were.
“Fine. You will come with us, and have our word that you can join us at the summer palace.” Tejus barked out the promise.
“That you will protect me. Promise that you will protect me!” Jenus cried.
“Fine, you have our protection.”
Jenus sighed, closing his eyes briefly. I swore if I saw a hint of a smirk across the sentry’s face I would smack it right off him, but he remained earnest, staggering to his feet with a grateful expression.
“The cove—she’s at the cove with the rest of the Acolytes. If we hurry, we can still save the children.”
Tejus turned to the guard nearest him. “Tie him to one of the horses. Tightly. We need to leave immediately.”
Three guards moved toward Jenus. As we walked back to the waiting army, I heard Jenus’s wild screams. “I don’t want to be tied up! Release me!”
I had no idea if they were genuine or not, but either way, he was getting what he deserved. I would be riding next to him as we made our way back to the cove, finally satisfying my hunger.
“What do we do now?” I asked Tejus. “I’m worried that we’re not going to make it in time.”
“We just have to hope that we will. We should fly though. It means dividing us, but we’ll have to risk it. Hopefully we’ll be able to create a diversion at least.”
“Agreed,” Ash replied from behind me. “We won’t make it there on time if we don’t hurry.”
I ran to keep up with Tejus. His long strides and haste to get to the cove outstrode my much shorter legs…and, increasingly, my complete lack of energy.
“Tejus, I can’t fly with anyone. I’m too hungry.”
“I know, it’s all right,” he replied, momentarily slowing down. “You can fly solo—I’ll control your bird like last time. Take some of Jenus’s energy before we depart. He’s not going to be of any further use otherwise.”
I nodded, heading back in the direction of the guards.
It was feeding time.
Rose
I paced up and down the chamber, waiting for Mona, Nuriya and my father to return. They had been discussing the stones with some elder jinn in The Dunes whom Nuriya had a decent relationship with—we were hoping they might know what creatures were contained in the stones. Corrine, my mother, Ben and I were due for a meeting with the fae elders once my father returned to join us. We would be asking them the same questions, in the hope that at least one of them had some recollection or knowledge of what creature was considered so deadly that it had to be locked in a stone for all eternity.
All of the delays that had taken place since I’d received the phone call from Caleb to stop opening the portal had made me more and more anxious. If the threat was that bad, then each day that we left the kids alone would put them in more danger. What if we were too late?
Don’t think like that! I chided myself. There was no point expecting the worst. I just had to trust that the kids knew how to survive—against the odds.
“Your father’s on his way.” Caleb entered the chamber, looking stressed.
“And Sherus?”
“He’s brought some of the elder members of his council to join us. Apparently, none of the other kings recall the stones—they had completely forgotten that the star existed at all.”
“They forgot they put fae on a star to wither away to nothing?”
“Tell me about it,” Caleb muttered.
As much as I felt for the plight of the Shadowed, I wished we hadn’t brought it to Sherus’s attention. We’d be in the blocked-off dimension by now, trying to find the kids.
Nuriya entered the room, looking as harassed as Caleb did. Nuriya’s regal stance had dropped slightly—the jinni looked tired and defeated.
“They know nothing.” She shook her head in irritation. “Absolutely nothing. At first I thought they were being deliberately obtuse, but we questioned them for hours. Not a soul knows any more than I did—just that the star exists, and the creatures trapped within the stones are dangerous.”
“That’s more than most of the fae knew,” Caleb retorted.
“Where’s Mona?” I asked, noticing the absence of the witch.
“She’s gone to check on the portal. She will return in a while,” Nuriya replied, turning toward the door as my father appeared, his face stern and his blue eyes wary.
“The fae elders will be here shortly. Sherus and Lidera are bringing them here.”
I nodded—hopefully we would know something soon.
“I’ll take my leave,” Nuriya announced. “I’m not overly fond of fae.”
I looked at my dad. That wasn’t a good idea. I wanted the queen to hear what they had to say—hopefully it might jog some of her memories, maybe she might be able to recall more of what her grandfather said to her.
“Please, Nuriya, stay. We’re still in need of your counsel. You understand the ways of the fae better than we do,” my father requested.
“I do not understand the ways of the fae.” The jinni sighed, looking at me and then back to my father. “But I see that you probably do need me. The fae are tricky creatures.”
I smiled with relief.
A moment later, Sherus and his sister entered, followed by four other fae, instantly recognizable as the elders. Their faces looked like bark, cracked, wrinkled and rosy, as if they’d spent ten lifetimes in the wind and sunshine. I wondered how old they actually were, but figured it would be impolite to ask. Corrine appeared behind them, keeping her distance from the elders as she came to stand next to me.
“These are the elders,” Sherus announced, “the oldest generation of fae.”
He bowed low as they came into the room, and we all did the same—it seemed appropriate faced with such ancient men.
“Well met, creatures of The Shade,” muttered one of the elders, his voice raspy and quiet.
“Elders, we have asked you here to discuss the stones—the stones which are guarded by the Shadowed, one of which recently emerged from a portal in the ocean. We wish to understand more about them and what they contain,” my dad said respectfully.
The elders nodded, contemplating my father’s request. After a long pause, one of them replied.
“We don’t know what creatures are held within the stones. It is something that was never shared with us or our forefathers, those who sent the Shadowed to guard them.”
Sherus looked as surprised as the rest of us.
“I don’t understand,” the fae king probed. “Why would they guard something they knew nothing of?”
“It was in exchange for a gift,” another elder intoned.
“A gift from the jinn
tribe that trapped the creatures in the first place,” another elder replied.
“Which jinn tribe?” Nuriya asked.
“One long before your time, daughter of the Nasiris.”
“What was the gift?” Sherus asked.
The elders all smiled at their king.
“The waters of immortalitatem,” they replied simultaneously.
Sherus nodded, understanding what the elders meant, but none of us did.
“The immortal waters, as they are now known, are a way of preserving life,” Sherus explained to us. “Few of the fae wish to use it—we live many years as it is. It is considered sacred…I did not realize it was a gift from the jinn.”
The elders nodded. I looked at Nuriya, who glanced back at me in confusion. Clearly she’d never heard of these waters either.
“It is strange that I have not heard of this,” the jinni replied slowly, looking at the elders with mistrust.
“It is a magic now lost to your people, I believe. The tribe that bestowed us with the gift died out long ago—they did not use the waters either, having no need to prolong their existence. Only one is reputed to remain alive…but she has not been seen for over a millennium.”
It was a lot to take in. Aside from the bizarre revelations that the elders were providing us with, it still didn’t seem to be getting us any closer to understanding what was in these stones. The only lead would be the long-lost jinni—but if she hadn’t been seen in so long, what would be our chances of finding her in a matter of hours?
My dad was clearly thinking along the same lines as I was, as in the next moment he changed his line of questioning.
“We were thinking of opening the stones, in a controlled environment,” he announced. “Enabling us to understand what they contain, as well as what our chances might be against them if this dimension is revealed to be populated by these mysterious creatures.”
“It is sheer madness!” Sherus replied, clearly still convinced that we should leave the portal shut for all time.
“It is risky,” one of the elders replied. “I would show more caution than that.”
A Rip of Realms Page 15
