by Ben Alderson
Nyah audibly swallowed before answering, “Queen Kathine and a handful of the locals...”
No one spoke. There must have been thousands of elves living in Kandilin.
Nyah choked on her words as a cry overcame her. She shook her head and coughed, tears pooling her emerald eyes. “I’ve never seen anything like it before. So much blood and destruction. By the time I got free, the riverways were stained gold—"
“And Nesta?” Emaline whispered, eyes red-rimmed.
Nyah shook her head. “The council was attacked. I was right there with Nesta when it happened. She gave her life to save Cristilia.”
My heart sank into my stomach. Hadrian released a labored breath.
We drowned in moments of silence. Nesta was the first to show me great kindness in Kandilin. She’d died saving the council she mistrusted. Fate was unfair.
Emaline’s lips quivered as she inhaled sharply.
Nyah reached for her again, but Emaline pulled her hand away. She looked up, anger rippled from her in waves. I felt her building pressure as if the moisture in the air quivered with her.
The squeak of the chair caused the hairs on my arms to stand.
“Emaline?” Hadrian said as she stood abruptly.
“Leave me,” she growled. “Like you should have done in Kandilin. I could have been there.” She was shouting now. “I could have been there to help her, save her.”
I flinched under her cry.
“I will not forget this,” Emaline said, eyes burning across the group.
We watched her walk for the stairs; even Illera stood as she if call out for her, but she promptly slumped back down.
“What on this earth was that about?” Hadrian said, face paled.
“They are—were very close. The reason why Emaline didn’t want to leave Kandilin for this quest in the first place. Nesta told me all of this after you left,” Nyah said. By the look on our faces, she guessed we had not been told. "You didn't know?" she asked.
"It was not for us to know," Hadrian responded. "Emaline was not ready to tell us."
It made sense as to why Emaline had been so reluctant to come.
“We need to give her some time,” Hadrian said, his gaze stuck to a spot on the table. “Grief can’t be rushed or ignored.”
Nyah cleared her throat. “I will visit her shortly as I have something to give her.” She pulled out a silver chain from her pocket that I recognized instantly as Nesta’s necklace. The same silver acorn hung on the chain. “Nesta would want her to have this.”
Overwhelmed with Emaline’s sadness, I grabbed for Nyah. “I am so glad you are safe. I don’t know what I would have done if you were hurt.”
Nyah shared a look with me, one that spoke many words. “The Druid is not ready for me. When he is, I will show him what a mistake that would be.”
“Tell us everything,” I said. “His soldiers. Anything you might remember that could help us.”
Nyah placed the necklace down and turned to Illera. “Why don’t we ask one of his soldiers since we are so lucky to be graced in one's presence?”
Illera looked up for a beat but quickly retreated into her shell. This was not the girl I had known from Horith. Quiet and unkept. This girl was broken, lost, disturbed.
"Nothing?" Nyah hissed.
"Zacriah asked you, Nyah. Leave Illera alone… for now." Hadrian stood, standing in the way of Illera.
"But—" Nyah started.
"I said for now," Hadrian finished.
Nyah looked at me for confirmation, and I nodded. Then she began to tell us all she knew.
“But before I left Queen Kathine, we created a mental tether, something Gallion taught me. It allows me to communicate with her. From the last bit of information she gave me, it would seem that the Druid and his army of shadowbeings have disappeared from Kandilin. Griffin riders have scouted the town from the skies and report it to be empty. All sign of life has left with him. No word has been mentioned of him until today.”
“And the civilians of Kandilin? The dead?” I asked.
“Are no more. They rose during the fight, filled with whatever power the Druid has.”
"This tether, can you communicate with her even now?” Hadrian interjected.
"She is sleeping. Why? What is on your mind?"
"Are you certain Kandilin has been abandoned?" Hadrian ignored her question.
She nodded. "I believe in what my Queen tells me."
I didn't miss how she referred to Kathine, nor did Hadrian, but Nyah's plain expression suggested she had not realized she said it. Her Queen. Hadrian looked away, leaving that comment untouched.
Nyah turned her face back to Illera. "You know, one touch and I will see just how trustworthy this elk-murdering demon is."
Hadrian knocked twice on the table, distracting Nyah from Illera. “No matter what has happened before today, Illera fought by our side and will thus be treated with respect. She could have turned on us during the fight, yet she did not.”
Nyah turned sharp to him. “Have you forgotten what she’s done? What part she has played in this?”
Hadrian closed his eyes. “I have not forgotten, but I have forgiven. I trust that once she has rested, she will gladly tell us what she knows. Is that correct, Illera?”
She nodded. “I know you do not trust me, and I do not blame you for feeling that way. All I ask is for you to give me the chance to make things right. I will tell you all I know. There is not much to tell, but I vow not to hold anything from you.”
“Maybe you can start off by explaining why you’ve decided to go against him.” I could see Nyah struggling to keep the rage from her voice. “Just a suggestion.”
“I don’t believe in killing.” Her statement was honest and matter of fact. “One moment we were in hiding and the next I stood in the middle of hell. All around me, his power devoured the holy men and woman of the temple. Destroying, killing, murdering. I couldn’t watch. He wanted me to do it, to help his efforts, but I couldn’t. He was too busy to notice when I slipped into the temple and hid. That’s all I did. While those above me screamed and begged for their lives, I hid in the heart of the temple. When you found me, I thought they were still part of his army. I thought he was coming to punish me, do to me what he’s done to so many.”
Illera shook as she spoke, her eyes muted and a light sheen of sweat coated her pale forehead. Her disheveled appearance only intensified as she went over the events at the temple. She looked up at Hadrian, eyes burning with a strange emotion. “I was wrong. I felt powerful and lacked any sense of what was right. There is no excuse for why I did it—”
Hadrian raised a hand to silence her and placed it on hers. “Do not explain yourself, Illera. Many actions are made in fear; I do not blame you for doing what you had to do.”
“You are wrong. I did not act out of fear. I did it because of my status. Finally, I was being treated with respect. I wanted to prove to the King, to Alina that I was worthy of the way they treated me. I did it because I thought it was right.”
“You see where you went wrong. That is an important step,” Hadrian said.
I bit down on my tongue. “You saved my life back at the temple, consider whatever was between us resolved.”
Pure relief coated her face. “I will do anything to help you.”
“I believe it,” Hadrian said, smiling through his blue gleam.
“I have heard something that might help,” she said. “The Druid has found something. Something that is keeping him distracted. I have seen the power it has, what it did to the temple. You saw it.”
Hadrian shared a look with me, his forehead creased. “Do you know more? Have you seen it?”
She shook her head, her hair falling over her shoulders. “No, whatever it is, he is keeping it close to him.”
“How big is his army, Illera?” I asked.
“A small group of shifters from Olderim,” she replied. “And the rest—the dead—he uses them as his army just as you’ve
witnessed. If it’s his power that slays them, he can use them to do his bidding.”
It would make him unstoppable. For we are the few, and he is many. Whatever the dark, unexplainable power the druids had over death could overwhelm us. Our cities and towns had been built on the bones of our ancestors. If the Druid could use them, only destruction would follow.
I leaned forward, my elbow resting in a puddle of Nyah’s ale. “Where is he hiding?”
Illera’s ocean eyes glazed over and she seemed to stare off into another world. “I do not remember. He doesn’t trust anyone. Perhaps he knew I would rebel against him. After the battle on the ship, those who survived were taken to a place with no name or light. Just the dark."
“You remember nothing?” Hadrian questioned. "Nothing at all?"
She shook her head again. “Just that it was cold. Very cold.”
ILLERA WAS EXHAUSTED. Days of hiding within the temple ruins had taken its toll on her. She took a spare room with Nyah, leaving Emaline to have time alone in the third bedroom. With the healer still with Jasrov in the room we occupied earlier, it left us to sleep on benches by the bar. I didn’t mind.
If Hadrian was close, I wouldn’t care where we slept.
Hadrian had quickly fallen asleep on the bench we previously sat at, warmed by the open fire the Innkeeper kept alight for us. No one asked questions about Hadrian’s gleam, but it didn’t stop the looks every now and then.
I stayed awake until those eating and drinking left for their dwellings and the Innkeeper locked the door. Only then did I feel comfortable enough to lower my guard and rest.
But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t sleep. The fire died to a faint glow, and the only noises from within the Inn were the creaking of its walls. I gave up on the idea of sleep and opted for a walk. Anything to shake the unease from my body.
The Inn was small and narrow, and I had soon explored every inch of it. I gazed out the window and looked upon the open lake. My body craved space and fresh air. I unbolted the door and left, sparing a glance back at Hadrian, who slept without stirring. I went out in the night’s embrace and headed down the long wooden jetty that reached out the back of the Inn. My bare feet hit the damp wooden panels and creaked with each step. Once I reached the end, I perched down. My nose filled with the bursts of salt and the slow lull of the singing ripples. I dipped my feet into the lake, my toes only just reaching the cold water. Then I closed my eyes and gave into the nightly breeze. Giving into my magick was warm and familiar. I held onto the silvery strings of breeze that wrapped around me as I spun them, twisting and turning until the water splashed with my disturbance.
I was transfixed by the reflection of the night sky that bounced from the lake’s glassy surface. Losing myself in the view, it was hard to distinguish where the night met the water. Clouds floated softly across the lake, covering the bright disc moon and distorting its reflection.
“That fox hasn’t left his side the entire time.” Nyah walked up behind me, encased in a large cloak. “She almost nipped the tips of the healer’s fingers when she got too close.”
She sat beside me, wrapping half of the cloak over my shoulder, so we were both protected from the subtle chill.
“Bell didn’t try that with you when you touched Jasrov at the temple,” I replied, resting my head on her strong shoulder. “She must like you.”
“Clearly, she has good taste in people.” Nyah’s presence was just what I needed, even if I didn't know it.
A messily excuse of a laugh burst from my lips but died once it reached the cold night air. I could have sat with Nyah in silence, enjoying her familiar warmth all evening. I had not realized just how much I had missed her in the past days, not until the empty part of me filled when I saw her on the ruins of the temple.
“How did you know I was out here?” I asked.
Nyah pulled a face with one brow raised. “Oh, I don’t know. Might have something to do with my empathic abilities.”
She knocked my shoulder and smiled, but I found it hard to respond with one.
“So much has changed in such little time,” I said, trying to hide the shake in my voice. “I can’t help but feel so defeated.”
Nyah held her legs close to her chest and released a heavy sigh. “I know the feeling.”
“We finally find the Keeper and get insight to the location of the Staff, but then Queen Kathine calls off the quest without another thought. We can’t just give up. I must find it.”
Cristilia’s story had not left the back of my mind. All that power. All that destruction.
“We have to go to Lilioira. I know you believe this Staff will help Hadrian, and I am sure you are right, but we must return to the Queen. It is not worth the risk to find it.”
“It is a risk I would take.” I chewed on my finger to still my worry. “Have you seen Emaline?”
Nyah shook her head. “I was going to visit her, but she didn’t answer me. She will need time to come to terms with what has happened, so I didn’t want to push it. I am a stranger to her.”
“She hates us now. Although, I get it. Without us turning up, maybe Nesta would still be alive.”
“What Emaline and Nesta shared was special. This will be hard on her. Let her take it out on you if that makes her feel even the slightest bit better. That is what friends are for.”
I sighed. “She never told us about Nesta. I didn’t even know they knew each other.”
“And it is not my story to tell, but the relationship they had was special, beautiful. Something not even I could ever hope to experience.”
Some unknown feeling tugged at my heart at the mention of Emaline. I looked back to the Inn to a window where Emaline’s room would be. There was no light inside.
“She is going to need time,” Nyah whispered.
“It seems time is the one thing we do not have to spare.”
I had so much I wanted to tell Nyah. So many words to spill.
“Hadrian knows his father is alive,” I said, and a weight lifted from my chest. “He asked the Keeper, and she confirmed it.”
“You think he is going to try and find him?” Nyah asked, resting a hand on mine.
“I know he will. That is what I would do, would you?”
“Hadrian, in a sense, has not seen his father since his mother passed all those years ago. Now we know the man he has lived with, ruled beside, was not his true father at all, he will want to find him. But that is his choice, not one you can influence.”
She spoke the truth, something I’d imagined many times in the past hours.
“I would never stop him from searching,” I said. "If that is what he needs to do, then I will never stand in his way."
“That is why he holds such love for you; he knows you support him through thick and thin,” Nyah replied.
I just hope we have enough time to find the Staff first.
Hadrian had not mentioned it, but I could see his struggle. His burning skin and tired eyes told a tale of a boy in pain. Whatever the Heartfire was doing to him, it must be bad. I wanted to ask Nyah but couldn’t bring myself to admit it aloud.
We sat like that for a long while, exchanging stories of the past days. I told her of the Mer creature that attacked us and how we stumbled across Jasrov. I told her of the Keeper and the Goddess, leaving out the mention of her face being on one of the Goddess’s three heads.
“We will need to seek someone who knows Eldnol like the creases in their hands.”
“But why the need for secrets and cryptic images; what is the Goddess hiding from me?” I asked. She’d shown me brief images and feelings when I asked for the Staff’s location. It was dark, the air was hard, and snow-shrouded my vision. But the castle, like the points of two swords reaching for the sky and made of black stone; that image was clear. The Staff was there.
Nyah knocked my shoulder in comfort. “The city of Lilioira is large and filled with many who could help. When we leave tomorrow, if weather permits, we will arrive in t
hree days. I will help you find someone in the city who will help make sense of the images the Goddess shared with you. Until then, you really should get some rest."
I looked at her through my pale lashes. "Will you do your thing and help me sleep?"
She stood and raised a hand to me. “Happily.”
After we entered the Inn and Nyah helped ready my mind for sleep, my final thought faded to the Druid.
His face morphed in the dark of my closed eyes and smiled as I fell into sleep.
THE FEW HOURS I slept made me feel worse off than I had before them. I woke, body stiff, on the bench opposite Hadrian, whose back was facing me. Nyah towered above me, nudging me with her freckled hand. A jaw breaking yawn didn’t help me stir, but when Nyah nudged me harder, I managed to open my resisting eyes.
“Whaaah,” I grumbled, rolling onto my side.
“The Queen’s promise of travel has arrived.” Her ginger hair was pulled back into a bun on the top of her head. A single curl escaped and rested across her cheek.
I mumbled a response even I couldn’t understand.
“Get up and be quick about it. We should leave as soon as possible.”
My voice was rough and strained. “Have you even slept?”
Nyah smiled and knocked a gentle punch on my arm. “We will have plenty of time to catch up on sleep on the way. I will meet you outside. The sailor whose boat we are borrowing needs payment. I better go before he thinks we have tricked him out of it.” She sauntered off, the door to the Inn slammed closed behind her.
My mind wanted to ask after Jasrov and Emaline, but Nyah was gone before I could open my mouth.
My body was tense from the hard night's sleep. I stretched out; my bones clicked and groaned in protest. Hadrian also stirred to life, turning towards me with a smile.
“Bright morning, Petal,” Hadrian said. A crust of dry saliva was stuck to the side of his mouth, and his short hair was a tangle of messy clumps. I couldn't take my morning eyes of the muscle in his arms as he stretched. “How did you sleep?”
“It could’ve been worse,” I replied, my mouth cotton. I could’ve used some Butter Mellow from yesterday to help battle the morning breath.
