Beyond the Hell Cliffs

by Case C. Capehart

  As the Councilors fled quickly through the back of the hall, eager to get away from the unruly Stone Seer, Chief Xenon gave a mischievous smile to Isidora and commanded the guards to see her to a private room inside the Annex and guard her until she could stand trial.

  As she was led out into the hall, two armed Sabans bearing the crest of the First Regiment approached. One of the Faeir guards stepped forward with Filth.

  “Change of plans, Sergeant. We have found this Stone Seer to be guilty of murdering the Mage, by his own admission. Please take him into custody.”

  The Saban sergeant looked at Filth and back up to the guard. “He’s one of those Stone eyes, right? Can he even stand trial properly?”

  “We would suggest that you waste little time trying him, sergeant. His magic is chaotic and we have already seen that he is a deviant. Take no chances with this one, for your own safety.”

  “I appreciate the warning. I’m certain the king will take the Council’s wisdom into account in his decision. You understand, however, that we will most likely execute him, correct? King Helfrick is extremely upset about Pyrrhus’s death.”

  The sergeant hesitated for a moment. “I knew Pyrrhus, as well. Excuse me for saying, but Faeir don’t get much better than him and most of my comrades think the same way.”

  “Pyrrhus had a special talent for diplomacy with the Sabans and I assure you, he is missed by us as well. Do what you find necessary to the traitor. We will shed no tears for him.”

  “Yeah…” the sergeant replied. He took Filth by the arm and pulled him away from the Faeir guards. “Let’s go, asshole. You’ve got a date with a few friends of the man you killed.”

  Before Isidora could be escorted away, Filth turned his head and locked eyes with her. His tight-lipped mouth curled into a slight smile. Then he was gone, off to face untold pain at the hands of vengeful soldiers and a public death. Isidora could not believe what had just happened. No matter what kind of danger she faced, Filth had always found some way of rescuing her. And she had not even hesitated to take advantage of his sacrifice; to cast all of her blame onto him in order to save her own neck.

  The room was horribly small and vacant of furniture, but decent as far as holding cells went. A bed, running water, lavatory and some fruit in a gaudy bowl atop a cabinet were all that was afforded to her. Filth would not receive as much in the underground prisons.

  A Faeir guard was posted outside of her door. She let the feelings inside her vent out slowly, controlled, so that he would not hear her. Faeir were supposed to have command over their emotions in order to make the magic work and Isidora felt ashamed of the things she thought in that room.

  It should not have been so difficult to condemn Filth. He was a Stone Seer and though his magic was extremely practical, it was not worth her life. She should have been able to take it a step further and throw all of the blame on him. Why did she care what happened to him, if it kept her neck out of the noose? Why was she so infuriated at the loss of him?

  It has to be the humiliation I was subjected to! I’m this upset because of what they have done to me. I have been only loyal to the Council. Those cretins used me! They knew that I would do anything they asked, no matter how dirty and they took full advantage of me. Then they cast me aside, throwing me to the wolves the instant I was a liability!

  Isidora snatched the bowl of fruit off of the cabinet and threw it at the wall. The glass shattered and juices splashed outwards with the impact. She had not even thought about it, simply lashing out in anger without a purpose. She couldn’t stop there; her body would not let her.

  A flick of her hand caused the sink to explode, water bursting from its restrictive pipes at her furious command. She had been made a fool, lost every ounce of her reputation and would be outcast from her people, at best. Even if she was cleared of all charges, she could never recover from this and the Chief Councilors would make sure she was excommunicated from the Cathedral and all of the colleges. What good was begging them, if her unyielding loyalty was not enough to convince them of her importance?

  No! I will not beg! I will never beg them! I will not even kneel; not once!

  “Councilor, what are you doing?” the guard yelled, opening the door and storming into the room. “Stop this fit, this instant!”

  “Stop, you say?” she asked, turning on the guard. Without warning, the gushing water shot up from the floor and wrapped around the Faeir’s head like a wet towel. “Now you wish me to stop? You tell me to do this. You tell me to do that. ‘All for the good of the Council,’ you say. “You have our permission,” you say!”

  The Faeir tried to summon his magic, but he was not a veteran and he certainly was not as experienced with killing as Isidora. Panic struck him, as it did most of her victims, and he inhaled. The water shot down his throat like an arrow loosed at his lungs, amplified by Isidora’s magic. He dropped to his knees and the water swirled at her command and destroyed his insides.

  “Your hesitation makes you weak. Like all Faeir, you are too cautious; too fearful of consequences… too uncertain. See what kind of power I am capable of, when I have resolve?”

  She spoke to a corpse. The water that leaked from his mouth and nose was full of blood.

  Isidora ripped her robes from her body and exchanged them for the partially-soaked robes of the dead guard. Commanding the water back down the pipes, she shut the door and left the room behind, quietly, pulling the hood up over her head.

  No one said anything to her as she departed the Annex. The Faeir were not a terribly social people and unless they were hailed and therefore obliged to exchange pleasantries, most were more than happy to ignore any passerby’s.

  Isidora was not challenged by anyone as she passed through the inner city. She did not go by her apartment. It was too much of a risk and she needed nothing from it. The guard at the west gate stopped her, as no one was allowed to pass through after nightfall, but she was able to persuade him, thanks to the festivals taking place. She passed through, promising the young man a favor he could call in at any time and out into D-Town.

  Finding her more trusted contacts and calling in all of her favors, she secured Saban clothing, a cloak with a roomy hood and passage with a caravan of merchants. At dawn, she climbed into one of the carriages and left Thromdale behind. No one spoke to her and she stayed within the shadow of the carriage as the group of merchants took out towards the Central Plains. She did not even look out the back of the carriage as they passed beyond the districts. She did not want to see the place that had forsaken her. It would only remind her of the grim fate her Stone Seer would be facing before the sun set.

  Inside the dark, rumbling vehicle, she brushed the water from her eyes and tried to relax her aching jaw. She had nowhere to go and no one to keep her safe. Setting foot inside any city or large village would be suicide after word from Thromdale spread. The idea of trying to survive on her own, evading patrols and other Faeir in the Central Plains was terrifying. For the first time in her life, Isidora was adrift with no purpose and no goal. She had nothing to work toward except taking her next breath and eating her next meal.

  In a few days the Saban Merchants would reach whatever village they were headed toward and her fare would be used up. She would have no money and no contacts and being so close to the capitol, she would not be able to spend more than a night before someone came looking for her. They would look in every town and send out messages to every noble to be on the lookout for her. The only place where she would be free of suspicion was the Wilderness.

  Despite being released from the threat of a new war every few decades, it was still a terrifying place for any Faeir. Isidora closed her eyes and began to nod off to sleep. Her last thoughts were of the Council and Filth… and that she would never make it all the way south of the Pisces, even if she tried.

  Chapter 34

  Raegith spent an entire day grieving the Empress. That was all the time he afforded himself. It took another eight days to reach Lo
rd Kensei’s dominion and he spent that time thinking only on revenge.

  It was no longer enough for him to carve out a place for outcasts like himself. It took Kalystra’s death to convince him how foolish that dream was. As it was in the Pit, anything he wanted would have to be wrenched from the dying grip of his enemy. Just like in the Pit, he would have to steal land from Rellizbix through attrition; to make the Northerners hemorrhage so badly that they could not even stomach the idea of engaging him. It was Rellizbix who kindled the hatred in his heart and they would be the ones who were incinerated by the inferno it had become.

  His hate made him brash. As soon as his small group became hunted by a grabber, he baited the creature and trapped it in a circle of torches. Inside the circle, giving the beast just enough darkness to survive, he broke formation and attacked it. He came away bleeding and bruised, but with the monster’s lifeless head in his hands. Using the night vision of the grabber helmet, he led the group through the night so that they could rest peacefully in the day.

  “Are all men from the North as insane as you?” Goji asked him as they trekked on through the early morning.

  “Just me. The men from the North are cowards, Goji. They are deathly afraid of us in their ignorance.”

  “Us, you say?” Goji asked, giving him a quizzical look.

  “Raegith is Greimere to the core, Goji,” Hitomi chimed in. “Pay no attention to the outside look of him. On the inside is a demon straight out of the Pit.”

  “I don’t doubt that you were committed to the Empress and her idea of the Empire,” Goji said, addressing Raegith again. “Others will, though, and once word of the fall of the Empress reaches our village, the Rathgar stationed there will be more unruly than they currently are. They may make trouble for you and your women.”

  Goji’s worries were not unfounded. The group passed through fields of blue-green mushrooms as they entered Shimada Village just as the Lokai farmers were coming in from the day’s work. They all looked uncertain and scared and one of the women told Goji about the situation inside the village.

  According to her, the Guard Captain, Higerth, had placed the village under martial law once word of the Citadel had reached them. Many of the women who were picked for the all-female brigade were placed under arrest for heresy and Kensei’s attempts to have them released were fruitless. The Captain, no longer under control from the Empress, had taken control of the village away from Kensei and was using his Rathgar soldiers to control the people.

  “It sounds as if Higerth is taking this opportunity to lay claim to Shimada,” Goji whispered to Raegith as the entered the populated area of the large village.

  The houses here were much different than the shacks in the Citadel. Everything was constructed from hard, tubular mushrooms that resembled bamboo. The streets were clean and mostly free of beggars and urchins and the smell of grilled meats and vegetables wafted through the air. Ignoring the dreadful atmosphere put off by the frightened villagers, the place would have been quite peaceful and serene. Raegith wondered what the place had looked like before and how it was so different from the cramped, dirty alleys of the Citadel.

  Goji steered them away from the main street and took them through a passage between two buildings that lead underground. Using an emberstone, he guided them through the underground passage and up into a building closer to the center of the village. Two Lokai in similar dress as Goji immediately appeared, dark daggers in their hands.

  Goji had them stand down and quickly took the group into the building and through a hall to a doorway. Inside, Kensei meditated in front of a shrine with several burning incense sticks. Goji halted the group and simply waited without moving.

  “You have returned at a most dire time, Goji.” Kensei spun on his knees and faced the group. “But you have brought a strange company… and the Northerner, I see.”

  “I found them outside the Citadel as it fell. The Empress is gone and the Citadel lies in complete ruin. What has happened here, Master?”

  “I’m sure you’ve figured it out already, Goji. Please, see to the needs of our guests, but keep them hidden and away from the windows.”

  Goji bowed and lead the others away from the room. Kensei spoke up just as Raegith turned to follow the man.

  “Not Grass-hair. I would like to speak with him privately for a moment.”

  “I don’t leave his side,” Helkree growled immediately.

  “You’re in the same building, Helkree. Just give me a few minutes.” Raegith placed his hand on her shoulder and nodded.

  “You were still inside the Citadel when it fell, were you not?” Kensei asked as Raegith approached him in the shrine room. “You were still in the Palace, even?”

  “When the attack hit. The Empress forced me to leave, under orders to the Infernal.”

  “Doesn’t that seem a bit odd to you… that the ruler of the entire Empire would make such a sacrifice?”

  Raegith did not respond. He had no answer for the Lokai elder. He had given up trying to rationalize the misfortune that constantly befell those he cared about or why he kept escaping death to live with the memories of those who did not.

  “I don’t see any of us surviving much longer now, Grass-hair. If things are as Goji says at the capitol, then soon all of the dominions will be in civil war with each other. Here, in Shimada, the Rathgar stationed to protect us are taking over. The Captain, Higerth, will either force my farmers to march against the other villages or simply enslave us and barricade themselves against invasion.”

  “How many Lokai do you have here in this village? Surely you outnumber the guards.”

  “It is not that simple, Grass-hair,” Kensei sighed. “The Rathgar are warriors and we have been banned from learning our traditional combat techniques for centuries, you know this. The guards hold fear over my people, enough to cripple an uprising.”

  “What about the men like Goji? What about the females that were sent here for the new brigade you volunteered to garrison?”

  “I have trained a few youths in the ways of our ancestors, but it is not a style suited to open combat. Even if Goji were able to assassinate Higerth, his men would rip this place apart to find the culprit and kill many innocent men.

  “The females who showed up for garrison were immediately imprisoned for heresy. The screams coming from the stockades testify to the horrid fate they have met. Some might still be alive, but I doubt any of them are willing to fight.”

  “The guards imprisoned women acting under orders from the Empress?” Raegith asked. “We need to help them.”

  “I’m afraid they are beyond our help,” Kensei replied. “Rest tonight, Grass-hair. In the morning Goji will lead you out with the rest of the farmers to avoid the guards. You do not want to stay here any longer than you need to. You have many women and a knack for survival. Best for you to find somewhere safe and ride this war out.”

  Raegith nodded at the old Lokai and left him. He found the group eating at a table in the dining hall. Goji and Kimura were deep in conversation and Raegith remembered that she and Makat were both from this area.

  Raegith looked at his Helcats. Including Beretta, they were six females who had all broken the law forbidding them from combat. They had survived an encounter with armed soldiers from Rellizbix and travelled across the west lands over a week without losing any to night beasts. They were a solid group and a testament to the potential of the old ways of the Empire, before they had been broken by Rellizbix.

  “How’s your bloodlust, Hel?” Raegith asked, seating himself next to her and pulling a grilled onion slice off of her plate to drop into his mouth.

  “Unsatisfied. Who am I killing?” she replied, blocking his next attempt to snatch her food.

  “The guards think they can lay claim to this village and anyone in it. It will probably be the same everyowhere else now that the Empire has collapsed.”

  “I hate the guards no matter where they’re at, but they outnumber us and they have weapons.”r />
  “The women who were sent to this town for the Brigade are still here, imprisoned. If we can get to them and arm them, we can have a chance. An example needs to be made.”

  “How about if I drag Higerth out into the middle of the village and rape that mother fucker in front of all of his buddies?” Helkree asked with a devious grin.

  “I don’t think that would accomplish what we want. Also, I think it’s a little unhealthy that rape is your first idea for this.”

  “Sorry. Sometimes when I think about killing people I get horny and I’m not really sure what to do with that. No, it’s fine, I won’t rape the guy… but that would be funny as shit, I think.”

  Chapter 35

  It was early in the morning, just as the sky was lightening, when the six from the Citadel made their way through Shimada Village. Kimura had stayed behind, still in bed with Goji after seducing him the night before. He would not have liked the plan Raegith was enacting.

  Two guards lounged inside a shack by the stockades. The building was little more than an enclosed courtyard with shacks at the corners. The walls were solid and the ports along the side had been covered with tarps, as had the front entrance. Whatever was going on inside the prison, the guards did not want anyone peeking in on it. At the front entrance sat a guard shack, where one sat slumped against the outside wall and the other snored loudly behind a desk.

  Hitomi and Helkree made quick work of the two guards, subduing them silently and hiding them under the table. Raegith, Fenra, Beretta and Indie went through the building and out into the yard to check on the prisoners.

  Raegith stood in the opening of the yard, staring out on the scene inside the prison. Females of all races were strapped to poles or suspended from them. The smell of blood and filth was overwhelming and carrion birds picked at the corpses and those who were too weak to fight them off. There were at least fifty that he could see just in the yard, but to the sides were cells with more bodies in them.