by Jada Fisher
Just for a short while, everything seemed to be okay. It felt like the world was back to normal, and Tuni was able to put all those worried, nagging questions out of her mind, let go of her worry and her pain and just enjoy herself.
She was happy.
But in this world, those things didn’t last long.
A terribly cold wind suddenly blew through the village, and they all realized that it wasn’t a natural one. Tuni could almost see the shadows swirling in the air. The bonfire was suddenly snuffed out, sending up ash and glowing embers. The villagers gasped.
Tuni’s skin pebbled with gooseflesh. She knew what this was. She knew what was coming.
The singing and dancing halted, and everyone looked around with confusion. Asoka’s expression, however, was horrified, because she knew what was coming.
A swirling, inky portal up in the middle of the village, and the pale Sage of the Dark emerged, her tattered black robes swaying in the wind and her small feet crunching against the grass gracefully—but there was nothing graceful about her face.
Her eyes seemed even more sunken, the pouches below like bruises. Her skin seemed even whiter, and though it was hard to tell with her robes, it seemed like her arms and legs had lost some muscle. Bishta the Black had not been a physically imposing figure before, but she appeared almost sickly now.
That didn’t take away from the magical dread that wafted off her in thick waves. Sickly or not, she could and would kill them all.
Tuni wanted to be optimistic. They’d beaten her back before, and she looked even worse this time, but so too was Asoka after all her magic she’d used. They had more fighters now, so maybe Bishta could be overwhelmed by sheer numbers. It meant putting the tree folk at risk, but it was worth it if they ended this right now, right? They could save the world today, end this mad saga and put everything right again.
But then Bishta did something they weren’t prepared for. She brought reinforcements.
Without a hint of enjoyment, she raised her arms, and the portal expanded until it was a wall of black behind her. Shapes shambled and swam out of it—the roiling shadow spirits that had attacked before. This time, Tuni didn’t have any Lady’s Light to ward against them. She didn’t know how they’d defeat them.
The shadows weren’t alone, though. Others came with them—tall, long-limbed creatures of darkness that were similar to the shadows, but their bodies were more solid; their skin was static, it didn’t shift. On their heads were the skulls of various animals. They were ghastly.
Tuni could only think of one thing that would have been worse and that would be the demons, but none of those came, thankfully. She figured that they probably took a lot to summon, and Bishta wasn’t all-powerful. In fact, she looked awful, even worse than when she last came, which made sense, since she’d expelled a lot of magic to fight them, and then had been injured by Asoka.
Even so, black magic seemed to roll off her like steam, and her pupils were completely black. The reinforcements of dark beings would make up for whatever she lacked.
Once all the creatures were through the portal, it closed with a sickening slurp, and Bishta smiled.
All at once, the monsters surged forward.
They were all so stunned. No one moved. They should have run, screamed, fought, did something, but they were all paralyzed by fear and confusion. Even Tuni, even Dorrick and Shandi.
The only one who moved was Asoka.
The Sage of the Seas raced forward, staff in hand, and slapped it into the ground with all her strength. A wall of water appeared and encircled the village, or most of it. Just as the creatures were about to hit the water, it became a shield of ice. They slammed against it, causing it to crack, but they didn’t break through—not yet at least.
Asoka looked back at them, her eyes wide and her body shaking with effort.
“Toon, get everyone out of here!”
Tuni snapped out of her paralysis. “But what about you?”
“Do it! They’ll just get in the way.”
She gulped, but she knew Asoka was right. This wasn’t a battle the tree folk could fight, let alone win.
Ash’yali was close enough to hear, so when her eyes found Tuni’s, they both nodded with understanding. Ash turned to her people and waved them back. “We have to go now! Everyone, come on!”
There was a moment of stunned confusion, but then the monsters hit the ice wall again, causing more cracks, and that did it. The tree folk broke into action and ran for the trees, some disappearing within their depths while others melted into the earth.
Tuni ran to Dorrick, who was helping Shandi to her feet. She grabbed his shirt in her fist and pulled him close so that their noses were almost touching.
“I’ve got Shandi. You stay here and protect Asoka as best you can.”
His brows pulled together, his lips set in a deep frown. “What? Tuni, I don’t—”
“Your knight sword is anointed with warding oils, right? So that means you can at least hurt these monsters. Protect her, please!”
Dorrick’s expression softened. “Okay, Tuni.”
She released his shirt, hands trembling. “Thank you,” she whispered. “I’ll be back. Stay alive!”
And then Tuni had an arm around Shandi and helped her stagger away. Shandi gasped and wheezed but she stayed upright, though it was clear how much pain she was in. Tuni wished that Shandi could get the rest and magical healing she needed, but this wasn’t the time.
Ash ran toward them just as the monsters hit the wall for a third time. This time, it broke with a resounding crash. Tuni couldn’t risk a glance back, but the shock on Ash’s face was enough.
She stumbled into the two sage’s assistance and grabbed their arms. “What do we do?”
“Just get us out of here. Everyone needs to get to safety.”
Ash nodded grimly. Without another word, she pulled them behind her, and they were swimming through the earth, through roots and dirt and water, and Tuni’s stomach flipped. Her wound pulled against the sensation, the magical healing protesting. She didn’t remember this method of tree folk travel hurting so much, but maybe it was because she had no time to prepare.
When they emerged from the earth, they found most of the tree folk waiting for them. Some had no doubt scattered elsewhere, but most of the surviving villagers were there, looking around with disbelief and fear.
Tuni didn’t blame them. How much did they have to go through? Their village was attacked and burned by the knights, then their warriors went to battle not once but twice, and when they finally thought they’d won, they got attacked again, this time by a magical force that they couldn’t hope to defeat.
“Is that everyone?” Tuni asked, her head on a swivel as she searched though the faces.
“We were the last to leave,” Ash replied. “Unless someone was hiding, but otherwise everyone should be safe. Besides…” She looked away quick, because Tuni knew who she meant.
“I need to get back!” Tuni said, her voice on the verge of breaking.
Ash, however, was not about her run back into danger so easily. She hooked a barky hand around her elbow and pulled Tuni back.
“You’re still recovering, and I don’t know what you can do against those…those things.”
Tuni jerked her arm free and glared at her tree folk friend. “I don’t care! I can’t leave them there to fight alone.”
She didn’t care if there was nothing she could do against those monsters. Maybe she couldn’t fight them, but she could distract them, give her friends the openings they needed. And if need be, she could at least try her bow and knife. Bishta was human in the end, and Tuni could kill her, even if it was exceedingly hard.
“I can help them, no matter how hard it is.”
“Tuni…”
“Ash, I won’t leave them. I have to—”
A scream pierced the air, sucking the breath from her lungs and words from her lips.
The scream cut through the wilds, sending goosef
lesh down Tuni’s arms and making her heart twist.
It was one of intense pain, one filled with such anguish that Tuni didn’t even stop to consider what it meant. Her legs carried her before she could blink, and she was sprinting with all her worth. Shandi and Ash called after her, but there was nothing stopping her.
Please be okay, please be okay, please be okay!
Her chest hurt, and her lungs were going to give out she was running so hard. Tears blurred his eyes, making the world fuzzy all around her. but she didn’t care, she had to get back, get back to Dorrick and Asoka. They had to be okay.
Through her anguished tears, she didn’t see the root jutting out of the ground, and her foot snagged on it. She crashed hard, her arms and legs screaming as she stumbled through brambles and rocks. That fall worked to reinvigorate all her wounds and pains, and she roared as she pushed to her feet.
Before Tuni could take another step, someone rushed to her side, and she almost swung at them—until she noticed the familiar little flowers sticking out of their toes. Ash’yali.
The tree folk girl gasped for air as she put her hands on her knobby knees. Tree folk lungs were stronger than human lungs, but she’d also used a lot of energy shsaliting before she’d run after Tuni.
“Calm down,” was all she managed between gulps of air.
“I have to get back! You heard that scream!”
Ash stood straighter, her heavy breathing slowing. “I know. What I meant is stop running and let me get you there faster, you idiot.”
Tuni’s cheeks flushed. “Oh.” She swallowed hard. “Yeah, okay, let’s go.”
Ash shook her head with the barest of grins, which was enough, given the circumstances. She took Tuni by the wrist and ran. Their legs melted into the earth, and Tuni’s weary body breathed a sigh of relief as it swam though the wilds.
As they approached the battle, muffled yells and blasts of magic reverberated around them, but it was fuzzy, distant, unclear. Tuni knew that in seconds it would smack into them with the utmost clarity, and it would sound awful. She braced herself for it.
But she wasn’t ready.
They came out of a mushroom stalk, one of the large ones that ringed the village. She and Ash stumbled a bit, weary and trembling. Ash dropped to her knees, her body spent from running and shsaliting twice so quickly. Tuni wanted to help her, but then her eyes tore away from her friend and the panicked grunts of Dorrick caught her ears.
She turned and gasped at the sight.
The remains of the ice wall were strewn about and melting fast. The village was reduced to rubbles, as many of the trees—those that hadn’t been burned in the knights’ attack—had been felled now. Swept away by waves. Some were charred, some had chunks blown out of them. All of it equaled destruction of the highest order.
None of it mattered to Tuni. All she saw was her friend, standing alone in the middle of it all.
Asoka was hunched over, knees on the ground. She clutched her staff weakly in her right hand, but in her left, the bad hand… It was gone.
Blood poured from where her arm stopped just below her elbow. One of the strange skull-headed ghouls stood over her. It had a terribly carnivorous head with plenty of teeth that were stained red. If Tuni didn’t know any better, she’d have guessed that it was drakonoid of some kind.
No doubt the blood on its teeth was Asoka’s.
It opened its maw, ready to strike, to end her right there and then. Tuni was screaming and running for her mermaid friend, but she knew there was no way she would make it in time.
Asoka looked back at her, eyes wide and scared, obvious even from a distance.
No!
The ghoul attacked, but it missed its killing blow because Dorrick barreled into it with a resounding roar and took it off its feet.
Tuni just about had her heart fall from her chest with relief. Dorrick’s head was bleeding and he had one eye shut, though Tuni couldn’t tell if it was damaged. She ran with Ash on her heels to Asoka’s side.
“Asoka!” she cried.
She dropped to a knee beside her friend and reached a hand to the bloodied arm but recoiled when she saw how terrible the wound was up close. Bits of muscle and bone could be seen, and the blood flow was tremendous. Asoka was growing paler by the second.
Tears flicked in her eyes. She didn’t know what to do. She had nothing to staunch the bleeding, or any other sort of medical supplies or potions that could help. Asoka had her magic, but they were in the heat of battle and she probably didn’t have the strength. How will we get out of this?
Asoka looked at her and somehow smiled. “It’s-it’s not as b-bad as it looks.”
The tears fell then. Tuni clenched her fists and tried to compose herself, but it was no use. “Idiot, yes, it is!”
“Hold on, I can help,” Ash declared.
Ash grabbed a fistful of the fuzzy lichen that covered her torso like clothes and ripped off a chunk, crying in pain from the effort. It was more than just clothes, probably more akin to mer scales. Tuni protested, not knowing what the intent was for her to hurt herself, but then she watched with stunned eyes as Ash shoved the lichen onto the bloody stump of Asoka’s arm. The mer yelled in anguish but then that fell to a gasp as they saw the lichen stay there.
“Our lyvelich can absorb blood. And it has curative properties that could help the healing process.”
Tuni blinked. “You… You just…”
“With a wound so great, she’ll need more proper care, or magic, but this should at least keep her from bleeding to death.” Her gaze went beyond them, her face falling. “At least until we die for real.”
The wildling followed her gaze and her heart sunk. Bishta was striding toward them like an avenging wraith. Those creepy ghouls flanked her, one skinny and tall and the other built like an elephant beetle. Both had broken carnivore skulls. Black mist still rolled off Bishta’s skin.
Nearby, Dorrick still battled the ghouls and shadows. His sword worked against the shadows, dispelling them with each easy slice, but the ghouls were another matter. His blade would cut them, send them back, but they’d just cry and come again. So, all in all, they were in a very bad spot.
Bishta touched a part of the broken ice wall, and it crumbled easily at the brush of her fingertips. As she got closer, she sneered.
“I see you’re still alive and well, wildling.”
Tuni gulped but tried to put on a brave face even though she was trembling so bad. “You haven’t killed me yet.”
Bishta cocked her head and smirked. “Perhaps not, but your little mer sage is in no position to heal you this time.”
Shut up! Tuni grimaced and quickly nocked an arrow, letting it loose without hesitation. But it didn’t do anything, and Bishta didn’t even have to move. The arrow disintegrated into ash as it hit the black mist roiling off her skin. She grinned wickedly, and in that moment, Tuni knew that there would never be any reasoning with this sage. There was no saving her, no bringing her back from the darkness.
No, Bishta the Black was long gone. What was here now was a monster that would not stop until the world was reset to her desires, which meant all of humanity would be dead.
“There’s nothing any of you can do,” she said. “Wildling, I appreciate your passion and your loyalty, but it is misplaced. Asoka the Aqua, you are young, full of life and joy and love and you would have made a great sage. For what I must do, I am sorry.” Her gaze flitted to Dorrick, and her frown deepened. “As for the city knight, I have nothing but disgust for you.”
Between breaths, he made a very rude gesture at her.
Ash frowned beside Tuni. “I guess I haven’t made an impression on her.”
Tuni was glad to see that she still had a sense of humor, though she feared it would fall on deaf ears.
Dorrick came in front of them after he managed to destroy another ghoul with a sword through the skull. Perhaps that was the weak point, but there was still half a dozen of them, and then the dark sage herself. Dorr
ick raised his sword to protect them, even if he and they knew it was a fruitless gesture. Even so, Tuni stood beside him, bow raised. He glanced at her and nodded, a small smile appearing. She returned it, glad that she had him back for this moment.
“I commend your bravery,” Bishta said, coming to a stop. “But now it is the end. I shall end the line of sea sages, and I will be one step closer to resetting the world.”
Tuni frowned. End the line? Did she have a way of keeping Asoka from reincarnating? If so, then all was lost.
Bishta lifted her left hand, and without even muttering a spell, the black mist began to rush all around her and down her arm until it condensed into a large orb of pure darkness. It hovered just above her palm, but even from a distance, Tuni could feel the power of it. On impulse, she shot her arrow at it, but it simply disappeared into the black as if it had never existed at all.
“Nice shot, but it is useless. This is the end.” She raised her arm in a throwing motion, and they all braced themselves. Tuni had no clue what this would feel like, but whatever it was would kill her.
This is the end, she thought as tears raced down her cheeks. She and Dorrick kept their bodies in front of Asoka and Ash. If need be, they would take the brunt of this attack. Maybe Ash and Asoka could run. It would buy them some time—very little of it, but it was a chance at least.
Bishta cocked her arm back, but before she threw the ball of darkness, she arched an eyebrow and stopped. “Oh?”
A fierce wind suddenly whipped through the village, but it was not like the wind that heralded Bishta and her forces. No, this one was warm and filled with bits of grass, leaves, and pink flower petals.
A whirlwind of flowers. A rush of hope and light. Tuni’s heart lifted, and she somehow found a smile creeping onto her lips.
Finally, she’s back!
The flowers and wind receded, and there she was, her short leafy skirt and top and her pointy green hat atop her mop of blazing red hair. The steward of the wilds, of the earth, who wouldn’t let her own friends and students die so easily.
