Game of Survival

by T R Tells

  Thea looked up at the revelation and couldn’t find the words to speak. Kalevus rose from his seat and started to walk down the carpeted steps toward Thea. His white cloak trailed behind him, dressed in silver armor, but it flowed too evenly to be so. It was as if this man in front of her was walking gracefully on water.

  ***

  When Kalevus reached her, he examined her features: as if she had suffered a great deal of trauma, her nose was slightly crooked, and she had bruises on the side of her head. Dirt and several scratches adorned her reddish-brown skin, and her clothing was frayed and in poor condition.

  As Kalevus looked upon this young girl, who couldn’t have been older than seventeen, she had a look of fire within her that would let anyone know she was a force to be reckoned with and would kill if need be; but, there was a soft exterior behind those tortured eyes. It reminded Kalevus of someone he dearly loved and missed.

  Sister, you always manage to take over my thoughts, once again - How I miss you. Perhaps this girl knows of where you are?

  In most cases, Kalevus would have beheaded anyone bearing the mark of the demon snake, Gargan. But it wasn’t the strength of the barrier that kept the detrimental presence out, it was the willpower of the Roma girl that kept Kalevus from cutting her head off.

  "Make sure our guest gets a clean shower and her wounds treated, then after you will give her clean clothes and fill her belly." Kalevus directed his Kingsland Guards who nodded without hesitation or argument. "You may rise, Thea. My Kingsland Guards will direct you to a room and my maidens will take care of you. Do make yourself at home."

  Thea slowly stood to her feet, she didn’t understand what his angle was, but if it meant she was still breathing Thea was happy with Kalevus decision. “And, what of me going home?”

  “We will talk about that at a later date, you have my word.”

  Thea unknowingly wrinkled her brow, having had trusted far too many men to believe anything they had to say. The only man she would trust was Jiran.

  Kalevus, however, smiled as if sensing her apprehension. “My word is my bond. We Horian do not lie.”

  "Doesn't seem like that applied to your brother." The words slipped out of Thea's mouth before she even had a chance to process what she was saying. She pressed her lips shut and heard the thumping of her heart through her ears as she watched Kalevus expressionless face.

  "That, I am afraid, was unfortunate. Dark forces corrupted my brother, and he let it feed his jealousy and ego. I apologize if he has now made you distrust our kind. I can assure you that you are safe unless you prove to be a threat to my people."

  While Kalevus remained an air of calm in his voice, Thea could tell that the last line of his sentence was meant to say, ‘tread lightly on what you say the next time.' She gulped and nodded not wanting to piss the Horai king off further.

  “Good, I shall see you at dinner.”

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Maggie was in her room playing with Kadda with one of her ragdoll toys. Kadda reached for the toy and mimicked Maggie’s movement as she danced with the material doll.

  “You’ve got it Kadda, now wave the dolls hands like this,” Maggie told the little girl. She grabbed the doll’s arms and moved them up and down. Kadda tilted her head to the side, watching Maggie, before replicating the same movements. She was an intelligent girl and even if it was brief, Kadda often communicated with Maggie via images. While it wasn’t speaking, Maggie couldn’t have been happier with Kadda’s improvement.

  It was times like these that Maggie wanted a child of her own.

  She loved Kadda just as much as Thea did, but she knew that if it were in the future for her to have kids, it would happen. She just hoped that it would.

  There was a light tap on the window, making Maggie turn her head to see a raven on the ledge. Quickly, Maggie got to her feet and went over to the window and opened it. Usually, if no one didn’t come personally, a bird would be sent with a message to the Meretrix.

  Maggie pursed her lips together and made a vibration sound with her lips, cooing the raven. She stretched out her hand and the bird hopped onto Maggie's palm. A rolled-up parchment was secured tightly on its thin leg. She released the lettering from its leg, before sending the bird back into the skies to its master.

  Maggie looked down at her hands and unfolded the wrapped parchment. It had a marked S on the front, letting her know that someone needed the Sicarri’s aid. Maggie bit her lip, on the one hand, she didn't want anything to do with the brothel as things were finally starting to look up, but there another part of Maggie felt guilty that someone out there needed her help.

  Kadda looked up at Maggie with wide innocent eyes. Maggie smiled at the little girl and went over to her to rub her curly locks before heading over to the side of the bed to read the message.

  She couldn’t let anyone suffer. What kind of person would she be if she did?

  ***

  Thea wore a long white dress that fit her perfectly. A physician had come to her room and checked her wound before she went into the bath, now she was waiting to be called down for dinner. Thea sat down on the edge of the king-sized comforter and placed her hand in front of her.

  There weren't any windows to look out, leaving Thea to look at the gray mountain side of the room. But despite the area encased in nothing, she didn't feel trapped as she did back at the Meretrix.

  "Kadda . . ." Thea squeezed her eyes tightly. It had been so long since she held her little girl and a heavyweight crushed her chest. Not only that, she lost her sister whom she had for just a split moment.

  She gripped her hands into a tight fist, but after seconds, she snapped her eyes open as she remembered something that Gaius-Sey had told her. Roma's had the innate ability to look into the memories of those living and dead, if Dominya was still alive, that is.

  “Okay, just relax like you always do . . .” Thea told herself and relaxed her muscles free of the tension within her.

  It was easier to focus on Dominya's face now. She still looked the same as before, except for the tired lines underneath her eyes and several small scars on her arms and face. One, in particular, was on the left side of her eyebrow.

  Thea could hear the sound of her sister's voice as she sounded rejoiced. After so many long years of not hearing her sisters voice, a tear escaped her eye and a warm sensation traveled up the length of her spine. She could see Dominya's appearance inside of her head, seeing the very details, but then nothing. Everything went pitch black.

  Dominya? Thea called out for her sister, but she heard nothing — only the sounds of echoing wind in the background.

  A rapping on the door startled Thea. She opened her eyes and looked to the doorway to the far right. When Thea got up to open the door, a Horai woman stood on the opposite side of the door with her arms placed behind her back.

  The woman’s eyes glowed a fluorescent white. She had long green hair pulled to the side in a ponytail and bowed before speaking.

  “Dinner is ready, Thea Frey.”

  “Thea is just fine, please,” she said to the woman, who nodded in agreement.

  “If you follow me.”

  The Horai woman turned away from Thea and she followed her down the hall and down stone steps. The hallways had torches hanging on the wall and there were dark green curtains with the Horian’s insignia of a wing merged with a tree that imprinted on it.

  Thea followed closely behind Dora, but her attention focused on several paintings that adorned the walls. There were some of The Twilight Vale of Audalis from a bird’s eye view, Thea could see the castle in the side of the mountain from her position. There were also photographs of people, who Thea assumed, were once leaders.

  “Are these the past Kings?” Thea asked.

  Dora didn’t stop or look at, as she answered Thea, “Yes, Horian’s live longer than Mundanes and Magi. Which gives us the longest cycle of 200 years, longer if our god, Eir, grants it. It is why you only see four rulers, Kalevus is the fourth.�
��

  Thea looked down at the line of Horian royals. She went from the first portrait that was painted in grayscale colors dated below the painting on a gold plaque his name: King Griffin, year 46. He wore a gray plated silver armor as he gripped his sword in front of him, staring directly at Thea with rich jade green eyes. Beside him was a Horai woman adorned in a beautiful white dress and a young boy in a blue velvet suit. Unlike the mother and father, the boy had onyx black eyes.

  “Who is the boy in the picture and why doesn’t he have green eyes like all Horai?” Thea asked, this time, Dora turned to look at King Griffin’s picture.

  “That is King Bellevue as a boy. Royals eye color turn jade green when they peak adulthood. Those of no royal blood have a yellowish-green or white eye color.”

  Thea nodded and focused her attention on the next painting. It had a bronze background of King Bellevue and he too wore plated silver armor. One hand rested at the hilt of his sword and the other had his hands through his long green hair. The year dated beside his name was 246. A Horai woman dressed in a gold dress, that seemed to glitter even from the photograph, and one arm wrapped around her husband’s front. In front of them were three children, a young girl, whom Thea couldn’t help but feel like she knew the girl from her pale skin to her bouncy green curls, but Thea couldn’t place the image to a name. She was in the middle between two boys.

  One boy, just about the girl’s height, had his hair pushed back evenly in a comb over, his smile broad and comprehensive. The third, slightly taller than his siblings, seemed to be distant from the two. He was a few inches away from his siblings. His hair was wild and in disarray and his lips turned in a frown. His ebony eyes glistened like the night sky, but in them held an unemotional gleam in them, and his chiseled nose made him appear older than his siblings.

  “Donnie?” Thea whispered, craning her neck to the side, to look better at the Horai prince that had similar features to her friend.

  “Thea Frey, we should keep going,” Dora said interrupting Thea’s pondering as she peeled her eyes from the photo. She looked back several times, wondering if it was merely just a coincidence.

  When Thea stepped into the hallway, she saw two large gold doors. Two Horai Kingsland Guards grabbed the edges of the door and pulled it open. A tram of white light cascaded onto the floor upon its opening. Thea saw a large white table in the middle of the room. The walls were made out of fluorite, giving off the iridescent glow that she had seen.

  Thea stepped further into the dining room and saw Kalevus at the other end of the table. No one else was sat at the table with him. He had a cup in his hand as he gently brought it to his lips, but as if Kalevus knew Thea's presence was there he opened them and trained his eyes on her.

  “Good, you have made it,” Kalevus said, “Thank you, Dora, you may tend to your duties again.”

  Thea turned around to see the Horai woman, Dora, bow gracefully before walking out. As soon as she left, the doors closed behind her.

  “You must be famished, Thea. Please, take a seat.”

  Incidentally, Thea’s stomach grumbled and stirred. She walked over to the middle part of the table and pulled out a chair to take a seat. The moment that she took her place, she saw movement from the corner of her eye.

  If she had not seen it herself, she would have never caught it. The cavern wall to the side had materialized to an entrance where servers were carrying hot, steaming plates of food.

  “That door, it appeared out of nowhere . . .”

  The servers who had placed the dishes in front of Thea lifted the cover off the plate, a meaty, delicious smell, wafted up her nose. A trail of drool trailed out the side of Thea's mouth and she hastily wiped it away.

  “Perceptive, good,” Kalevus congratulated her being aware of her surroundings. “I assume that Gaius-Sey told you about what powers The Twilight Vale of Audalis?”

  Thea nodded. "He did." She grabbed a fork that was beside the plate and stabbed into the meat. It immediately broke apart, and when she placed it in her mouth, the meat's juice oozed into her mouth and easily dissolved.

  She had never tasted such fantastic food before.

  “It’s the cosmic energy that gives the Horian their magic. It is similar to the Roma’s affinity to pick up negative and positive energy,” Kalevus said, he picked up his fork and began eating again. He took tentative and slow bites, while Thea, after the first bite, shoveled the food into her mouth.

  “Careful, you don’t want to choke,” Kalevus said, he watched Thea’s cheeks growing big the more she stuffed her face.

  Thea, mid-stuff, stared at Kalevus. She blushed a deep shade of red, embarrassed for her eating habits. Thea slowly chewed and swallowed, before taking the cup that was in front of her and pressing it to her lips.

  The taste of bitter wine still made her tongue tingle, but she was used to the lingering sensation that made her insides filled warm. On days when she was "working" Thea would get drunk, so she wouldn't have to recall any of the men she had sex with.

  “When will I get to leave for home?” Thea asked, once her mouth was free of food. “I appreciate what you have done here for me, but there is someone I need to get back home to.”

  “What did you see?” Kalevus interrupted Thea. She looked at him quizzically.

  “What?”

  “You had a vision just before entering Audalis, Gaius-Sey said. I am asking you, what did you see?”

  "Oh," Thea started. The image of the blood red sky reappeared in Thea's mind. She could almost hear the thunder growl angrily and the piercing lightning glowed an ominous light. She shook her head free the horrible images.

  "The sky . . . It was almost as red as blood, and there was thunder that was almost deafening to the ears."

  Thea stopped and looked at Kalevus to see what he thought about it, but his facial expression had not changed from previous. He only watched her as he spoke.

  “Go on,” he urged her to continue.

  “That was pretty much it. It sounded like there was a war raging in the sky and then a black hole appeared from out of nowhere. I didn’t see what came out of it though.”

  The room was silent, and no one spoke for what seemed like forever.

  When Kalevus moved his hands, Thea watched his movements and saw him clap them together. From the doorway, a servant came through and took his place over by the king.

  “We are finished here. I am taking Thea to the Fjόr Chambers.”

  Thea frowned. She didn't know where the Fjόr Chambers was, but she wasn't about to go anywhere until she knew she wasn't in any danger. As if Kalevus had heard her thoughts, he looked in her direction.

  “Do not be afraid. The Fjόr Chambers is where the very source of our magic comes from – come and follow me.”

  Kalevus stood up from his chair and Thea followed suit.

  “Why are you showing me where your crystal lies? I’m only an outsider.”

  Kalevus smirked at Thea when he turned to her. “If you were a threat, Thea, you would have been killed on the spot. I am showing you this in hopes that the future can change.”

  Kalevus and Thea stood across from the wall. Thea was about to ask what it was they were waiting for, but like before, a chasm suddenly opened that led down.

  “Watch your step, it is a long way down,” Kalevus said. He walked down the steps and Thea followed him.

  When the two were inside the cave, the door to the outside shut behind Thea, making a thud sound as it closed. To Thea’s surprise she was not enclosed in darkness, the cave walls illuminated a faint blue that made it possible to see.

  "Fluorite," Thea whispered, remembering what Jiran had taught her.

  “Correct. This isn’t ordinary Fluorite though. It is blended with magic to protect us from the negative entities that plague and will plague the entire Fractured Realm.”

  Thea was caught off guard for a minute by what he said. “Wait, you said will plague soon."

  Kalevus briefly turned around to
look at Thea with a distinct look in his eyes. "You had the vision, didn't you?"

  “Yes, but I didn’t think . . .” Thea paused. She didn’t know what to think. Every vision that she had had came true, but she would never have thought the end of the world. "Why is this happening?"

  "And that is why we down here," Kalevus said, Thea could see an opening and a bright blue light on the floor of the cavern. When the two stepped through the mouth of the cave, Thea's mouth dropped in shock.

  Floating ten feet off the ground was a giant blue crystal and smaller crystals surrounding it. It was almost as big as the inside of the cave and stretched as tall as Thea could see at the top.

  Thea couldn't explain it, but a tingling sensation went throughout her body that riveted with energy.

  “That energy you feel, that is the magic that pours throughout the Audalis. It is what powers the Equinox barrier, as we speak, blocks out the negative energy cursed throughout the Realm.”

  He turned around to face Thea.

  “You see, the end of days is coming, Thea Frey. The Great Battle is upon us. The land will be split apart and be replaced with fire, the sea will forever rage and the plagues will ravage Middilgard and every other land – the vision that you saw is a battle to the end between gods and demons. Only those who have the mark of the demon snake Gargan will be able to live out their glory under the new world – the perfect world as He designed it.”

  Kalevus looked at Thea with a determined gleam in his eye. "The mark you carry, Thea Frey of Roma, is the Ouroboros mark. He needs strong but weak-willed souls filled with darkness and despair, loss, death, and heartache. I knew you were one of them the moment I saw you, just as my brother fell from grace.”

  Thea’s heart sank. The Great Battle? Demons and gods? Thea felt at the back of her neck, where the mark was imprinted. Was Hel a part of this? All this time she was merely just a pawn in not her survival, but another key in making sure the perfect world is created.