The Ajoiner Realm (Defenders of Radiance Book 1)

by Rebekah Carroll

  Lillian tugged her hair and swallowed. She wanted to tuck herself behind Warren and disappear.

  How did this even happen? The entire walk to the council, Lillian tried to think. The feeling inside of her twisted and spun distractingly with each step she took. She didn’t know how to explain what had happened to her. She feared no matter what she said, the council would still find fault with her.

  “We charge you with affiliating with necrosing magic,” the raspy man said.

  Lillian’s throat thickened. What was she supposed to say? Was she supposed to say anything?

  “Permission to explain,” Warren said.

  Lillian turned to him. He stood with his chin high, not succumbing to the overwhelming presence of the council.

  “Proceed,” a woman said.

  “Lillian was attacked last night by a kellnox.”

  “That’s absurd! Our patrols have reported no sightings of the Darkness within the city perimeter,” a nasally woman exclaimed.

  “It must have slipped in between patrols,” Warren said.

  “You’re suggesting a creature of the Darkness had the forethought to learn our patrol’s routes and infiltrate our city?” the raspy man asked. “Surely you, as a man who dwells on the surface, already know that the Darkness is overwhelming in strength and numbers, but lacking in intelligence.”

  “I fought the kellnox myself. This...thing…it’s not like any kellnox or drevic I’ve seen before. It was larger, had red eyes, and lacked a head wound. Furthermore, it seemed intelligent.” Warren paused. “I believe that creature could be what is turning humans into kellnox.”

  The council burst into disarray. Member’s shouting over each other at Warren. Lillian ducked behind his arm.

  “Explain yourself,” a man with a booming voice demanded over the others.

  “It seemed to be in the process of casting a spell on Lillian. It was about to strike her when I intervened.”

  “Absurd,” one nasally woman cried.

  “Where is this creature now?” a man asked.

  “My team and I tried to find it, but it escaped.”

  “So you have no way of proving this...extraordinary beast exists?” the booming man asked.

  Warren took a breath. “No.”

  Lillian didn’t know how Warren could speak to the masked council. Her knees quivered and her tongue thickened awkwardly in her mouth.

  “The council has heard your defense, Warren. You are dismissed,” the raspy man stated.

  Warren lingered, mouth agape. His eyes shifted to her for a second. He seemed worried, but he bowed to the council and strode out of the room.

  “Do you wish to present your case to the Dsyniict Council?” the raspy man asked.

  Lillian’s heartbeat reverberated through her chest, shaking her ribs.

  She nodded.

  “Speak,” a husky-voiced woman said.

  “I, um, I don’t know what to say,” Lillian mumbled.

  “Speak clearly,” the nasally woman demanded.

  Lillian flinched. She wrung both hands through her hair.

  “Something entered my home and attacked me…it was a nightmare. Please, I didn’t do anything.”

  The longer she stood before the council, the faster her heartbeat. The evil churning inside of her slashed through her like a hurricane. Why did Warren have to leave? She felt like she had at least some control when he was near.

  “What were you doing when you were attacked?” a tenor voiced man asked.

  “I had just gotten home. I work at the library.”

  “Why did the creature attack you? If it is intelligent, why did it choose you?”

  Lillian stared at her feet. Why did it attack me? Of all the homes on the waterfront, why had it chosen hers?

  “Answer,” the booming man barked.

  “I don’t know!” Lillian yelped.

  “What do you know?” The booming man asked.

  “Nothing. Please, I don’t know why it attacked me. I don’t know. I…” Lillian sucked a breath in, trying not to sob, but failed. Hot tears streamed down her cheeks.

  The feeling inside her rioted her panic.

  Something is wrong. This isn’t right. What is inside me?

  Lillian gripped her sides.

  “Control yourself!” the nasally woman ordered.

  Lillian jerked her head up and stared at the masked figures. Focusing on them, and not the feeling inside, slowed the storm slightly.

  “You don’t know anything?” the tenor man said.

  Lillian shook her head.

  “Still, you were involved in a necrosing ritual. We cannot allow you to stay within our city. That creature may have targeted you specifically. Even if you were not a specific target, the Darkness has touched you and there may be...consequences of that act. Lillian Lithgrow, you are hereby banished from Illithium. You may gather supplies as you leave,” the raspy man stated.

  Lillian’s lip trembled, tears brimmed her eyes. Banished? Everything she knew was here. How was she supposed to survive in the outside world? If it was as horrible as it sounded, she would die before the day was done.

  “You are dismissed,” the husky-voiced woman said.

  Lillian shattered. Moving on wobbly knees, she shuffled to the door.

  “What happened in there?” Warren asked.

  He stayed? Lillian wanted to collapse into his arms and weep.

  Banished. I’m going to die.

  Lillian stared at the ground for a long time.

  “Lillian?” Warren touched her arm.

  She inhaled. “The council banished me from the city.”

  “What?” Warren exclaimed.

  Her tears splashed on the ground. I’m really going to die.

  “How long do you have?”

  “Effective immediately.”

  Warren was quiet for a while. Lillian could practically feel him thinking. Glancing up, she caught him rubbing his face with his free hand. His brows pinched together.

  Could he really be this concerned about me?

  Lillian remembered there was another member of his group missing. Suddenly, Lillian felt guilty for allowing Warren to help her this far. She might be facing a death sentence, but his friend shouldn’t have to suffer.

  “It’s okay. Thank you for everything,” Lillian said.

  Warren pulled his hand away from his face. Lillian looked up at him, feigning bravery.

  “There has to be something I can do to fix this,” Warren said.

  Lillian shook her head. “Go help your friend. It sounds like she’s in a lot of danger.”

  “So are you.”

  “I’ll be fine.”

  “Do you know what’s out there? Banishing you from the city is a death sentence!”

  Lillian’s lip quivered.

  “Maybe I deserve that sentence,” Lillian mumbled, casting her eyes to the ground.

  What had she done that was of any worth in the city? Organizing books was hardly any call for renown. So many people had rejected her. Maybe it would be better if she was gone.

  “What?”

  Lillian inhaled a few times before she spoke. “Maybe I deserve that sentence.”

  “Hey.” Warren cupped a hand under her chin and lifted her face.

  His hands were so warm. It was both comforting and disconcerting. Her heart screamed louder. She tried to keep her eyes down but eventually looked him in the eye. His face filled with compassion.

  “I don’t believe that, and neither do you.” He pulled her closer to him. “No one deserves to die alone in the dark.”

  She cried harder and collapsed into his chest.

  What am I supposed to do? I don’t want to die. Lillian crumpled fistfuls of his cotton shirt in her hands.

  I don’t want to die, please. I don’t want to die.

  Lillian hated herself. She hated that she was keeping Warren from finding his friend. She hated that she couldn’t pull herself together. She hated that she was getting snot al
l over Warren’s shirt.

  Despite hating herself, she couldn’t pull away. She couldn’t let him go. Warren stroked her hair comfortingly, but didn’t tell her everything would be fine. She desperately wanted it to be fine, but how could it be?

  “Come with us,” Warren urged quietly.

  Lillian looked into his face. “What?”

  “You have an incredible skill as a healer, and my team can offer you protection.”

  “You want me to come with you?”

  Why would he offer to protect her, an obviously damaged woman? Sure, she had studied the healing arts since she was little, but she wasn’t all-knowing. She made mistakes. How could he want her?

  “It will be tough and dangerous, but I think our chances of making it through this war increase if you come.”

  “I don’t know,” Lillian said.

  “I do. I need your help.” Warren looked so sure.

  Lillian stared into those steel blue eyes. They earnestly asked for her help. They seemed blind to all the reasons to leave her and begged her to come with him. Warren didn’t seem like the type of man who would put energy into useless things.

  If a man like him can have such confidence in me, maybe he’s right. Lillian wasn’t sure she believed the thought yet, but she didn’t want to die.

  Lillian nodded. “Okay.”

  25

  C assidy tried to keep calm, but his heart pounded in his chest.

  The sun peeked through thin layers of clouds, but hadn’t yet reached the deepest corners of the forest that whispered like women on a street corner. He didn’t know what he would do if Vallerie died out there without him...alone. Too many monsters lurked in the forest, promising painful deaths.

  “We’ll find her.” Warren put a hand on his shoulder.

  Cassidy pulled his hood over his head and led the way into the forest.

  Lillian rode at the back of the group with Emron. The woman intrigued Cassidy. Her gaze rarely rose from the ground, unless Warren was there, then she rarely looked away from him. He stared at the mane between Dusty’s reddish ears. And why did the Darkness come for her? Cassidy shivered at the memory of the kellnox. Did they target her, or was she just the first they tried to turn? His stomach clenched.

  Lillian was the least of his worries. A thunderstorm boomed within him. I lost Vallerie.

  As he searched the ground for Echo’s tracks, Lillian asked Warren about Vallerie. Though her voice was a thin whisper, Cassidy eavesdropped on the soft conversation with expert ears.

  Warren explained that Vallerie was part of the team. Cassidy’s fists clenched Dusty’s reigns.

  Was? She still is!

  He glared at Warren, but something caught his eye before he retorted. A hoof print in the mud. He stopped breathing as his eyes followed the prints. Lillian asked about Cassidy’s relationship with Vallerie, and Warren told her they had been married. Anger flared through Cassidy’s body.

  “We still are,” Cassidy called back. “I found Echo’s tracks. They went this way.”

  I’m comin’ Val.

  Spurred on by hope, Cassidy followed the hoofprints, praying he would find the horse and her rider safe. The tracks wove in and out of swampy water pools and wet earth. Judging the distance between each print, Cassidy knew that when Echo passed through the area, she had been calm.

  Cassidy scowled. So then what happened? As the team searched for the answer, minutes dragged into hours, and Cassidy ground his teeth to nubs. He had to find his wife, and all they had to go on were evenly spaced hoofprints. He ran a trembling hand through his hair, then snapped upright in his saddle.

  Echo’s prints had suddenly changed. They flung dirt trails behind her, showing her pace had increased.

  “Echo bolted!” Cassidy spurred Dusty onward, chasing the tracks to a solid land mass.

  Onward the tracks raced, trailed by that of kellnox and drevic prints. No. Echo was too fast on solid land, Val was okay. She was pursued for about a half mile, then the kellnox and drevic tracks veered away. Val had kept her pace up for several more miles, then slowed down. She’d found safety.

  So where had she disappeared to? Cassidy’s heart ached. She has to be all right.

  “Cass,” Warren called. “Up ahead.”

  Cassidy’s gaze darted to the location Warren pointed. His blood froze. A large corpse lay on the ground.

  No, please no.

  Cassidy jumped from his horse, ignoring the shot of pain running through his leg, and moved to the creature. He ignored the carcass of a kellnox and ran straight to the horse. It was Echo.

  The mare’s skin had sunken and turned black. Maggots and flies proliferated the area. The terror within him and the fumes of decay made him want to retch, but he had to stay. He had to look at the saddle, even if his precious wife was there.

  Much to his relief, she wasn’t. They searched the surrounding area and found her trail leading away from the scene.

  Standing up, he looked across the river. She was alive. He felt it. She had to be alive.

  “Cassidy, we should make camp for the night soon,” Warren said.

  After what they had just found, the thought of stopping drove Cassidy mad. He knew she didn’t have any maps with her, she always kept that kind of stuff in the right-hand saddle bags, the side Echo had fallen on. She was alone and on foot. And without a guide.

  “We haven’t found her yet.”

  “We can’t help her if we run ourselves ragged.”

  “The longer we wait, the worse her condition could be.”

  “Once it gets dark out, it’ll be impossible to accurately track her.”

  Cassidy looked toward the sun. They had little light remaining, and they needed an hour to set up camp.

  “I have to find her.”

  “We will.” Warren put a hand on his shoulder.

  Cassidy ran his hand through his hair, then unceremoniously dropped his arm and swatted his good leg. His jaw hadn’t unclenched since they’d left, and now they had to stop for the night? Vallerie could die by the time they fell asleep.

  He knew Warren understood his desperation. He wanted to find Vallerie too. She was still one of his team members, and more importantly, his friend. But she wasn’t his wife.

  Cassidy glanced at Warren, signaling he understood the decision, even though he hated it.

  “We’ll press on for a little longer, but we’ll have to make camp soon,” Warren said.

  Cassidy nodded and returned to tracking Vallerie.

  V allerie sat in a corner with her arms resting around her knees. From the back wall to the front wall, the prison stretched only a few feet longer than her arm span and was seven feet across. The ceiling loomed a few feet overhead. She wasn’t sure, but she thought it had been a few days since they had imprisoned her.

  She’d been trying to figure out a way to escape, but had had little luck. The beasts detaining her seemed to have a brain after all. Their locks were decent, and they kept her under guard. Absentmindedly, she reached for the chain around her neck, then slipped her wedding ring onto the tip of her finger and pressed it against her lips.

  A screech of stiff hinges, followed by the clang of the iron door, forced her attention away from the ring. Dense footfalls approached her. She rose and shuffled to the barred gate. The adrax stopped outside her cell. It was the red-faced one.

  “You. Human—you think you smarter than me?” The brute grunted in fragmented phrases.

  Vallerie leaned back. It was uncommon for creatures of any humanoid race to learn how to speak the tongue of men.

  “Where did you learn to speak so well?” Vallerie asked.

  “Books no taste good. I read. Learn funny words,” the beast said, pleased with Vallerie’s compliment.

  “What books?” Vallerie asked, trying to distract the adrax from his true purpose.

  “All kind. Long. Short. They make big fire too,” the brute said. “Make big fire soon. Have tribe feast.”

  Vallerie got the f
eeling the adrax intended to eat her as the main course.

  “What feast?” Vallerie inquired.

  “I become tribe chief. I strong,” the adrax grunted. “I leave. Prepare with tribe.” With that the brute left.

  Vallerie stepped back into the corner and sat, hugging her knees to her chest.

  Cassidy, please hurry.

  Lillian exhaled softly at the thought of resting. She’d spent the entire day watching the forest pass by. She glanced at the back of Emron’s helmet to be sure he wouldn’t see her peek around him to look at Warren. The way Warren’s broad shoulders rocked fascinated her. He looked to the side, banishing Lillian’s gaze back behind Emron.

  She sighed, again. Her back groaned, and she needed to stretch her legs, but she didn’t want to slow everyone down. She hoped she wasn’t a burden for them. But what if she were wrong about coming with Warren? She didn’t want to make a mistake because of her desire to be with him. It didn’t matter. She was here now, so whatever happened would happen, regardless of how much she worried. She would be most useful if she was calm and focused, though that was easier said than done.

  With the last hour of light upon them, the team stopped. Warren and Emron gathered wood and set up a fire, leaving Lillian and Cassidy with little to do. Lillian watched Cassidy slump against a tree and sink to the ground. He looked so sad. It hurt her. One hand held his wedding ring, the other rubbed at his wounded leg. Lillian didn’t know how to help him with his grief, but she could at least help his leg.

  “Sorry to disturb you,” Lillian said, “but I noticed your leg is bothering you again.”

  Cassidy looked down where his free hand was rubbing his irritated leg.

  “Riding is rough on it, but it’s fine,” Cassidy said, releasing his leg.

  “I know a bit about healing. May I look at it?”

  Cassidy shrugged. “Go ahead.”

  Lillian examined the patch job done by the healers back home. They had rushed several steps and slapped a bandage over the injury, trying to get him out of the city faster. Though her supplies were limited, she could ease the pain.

  “It looks like they missed a sliver of something. Hold still.” Grabbing the tip of the fragment with a pair of tweezers, she plucked it out.