by Eric Vall
“It does appear that way,” he scoffed, then crossed his arms. I saw him wince out of the corner of my eye, and it was only then I saw that he had a gash on his arm. He caught my gaze and laughed a little. “This is nothing. I’ve dealt with worse.”
I also laughed, then groaned when the motion shook my injured shoulder.
“Looks like I wasn’t the only unfortunate one,” Varleth noted with a smirk. “Still, I see why the Headmaster wanted us to team up. This particular band of thieves was rather nasty.”
“So,” I drawled and grinned, “what you’re saying is that you couldn’t have done it without me?”
“I didn’t say that,” Varleth snapped, “but the help was certainly appreciated.” He stepped away from me and made towards the door, so I guessed that meant we were done here.
“Thanks for the help,” I turned back to Ruby and blew her a kiss. She blushed, and I trotted after Varleth. Best to leave before any authorities showed up.
The trip back to the Academy was silent, not that I minded. It was a nice night for a carriage ride, and certainly less conspicuous to have two men with blood on their cloaks roaming the streets.
My mind wandered back to Varleth’s past. So he really was a gypsy. I could swallow that. In fact, it was pretty cool. What unsettled me a little were the stories the thieves at the bar shared. Had he really killed someone and cursed another man’s family? I hadn’t heard of magic like that before. For all I knew, it was actually possible.
I kept my thoughts to myself as we traveled, and then well after we had arrived at back at the Academy, too. It wasn’t until we both realized that we were going the same direction to get to the infirmary that we conceded.
“I meant what I said, summoner,” Varleth started, and my head perked up.
“Oh? About what?”
“Headmaster Sleet was right to pair us.” He gave a short laugh, but his eyes were warm with a smile. “You’re probably the only one, other than Kenefick I’m sure, that would be able to keep up with me in a real battle.”
I blinked a few times, then laughed quietly. “Likewise. Those gypsies really taught you some good stuff.”
He fell quiet again, and I got the impression that the gypsy thing was a sore subject. He didn’t have to talk about it if he didn’t want to. No need to make things more strained.
“I was exiled by them,” he confessed.
I looked at him curiously as we walked side by side. It was a nice night out, the perfect time for a walk, normally.
“What?” I asked, not certain I fully understood what he was saying.
“By the gypsies,” Varleth clarified. “They didn’t like my magic, but it wasn’t always that way.”
I stared slack-jawed as we weaved through the halls. I had run into a few gypsy bands in my travels with Maelor, and they were always fascinated by our summoning magic. It was far different than their charms and potions and alluring dances, though.
“I wonder what about it made them not like it,” I pondered aloud.
“It’s dark,” Varleth shrugged, “not the kind that people call witchcraft with all the effects and sparkle. My magic was meant to destroy, not lure people in as they do. Gypsies make lonely men and weary women forget their woes for a short time. Me? I suck the souls out of monsters.”
I had to laugh at that. “I could see why they wouldn’t think you’re a good fit for a gypsy.”
Varleth smirked but dropped his head to stare at the ground.
“I was like you. No real home, no real family. The gypsies were all I had. They raised me on what coin they could and I eventually learned to earn my keep.”
I raised my eyebrows. I wanted to question what he meant exactly, but it didn’t seem appropriate. I let it slide.
“Why tell me all of this all of a sudden?” was the question I actually asked. It was already bizarre that he and I be paired off in a training match per the headmaster’s request, and now we’re talking as though we’re friends. Had I finally won Varleth over? Probably not, but I could hope.
“You feel it too, the shift in the winds.” His voice dropped, and gone was the nostalgia of his gypsy days. “Something is coming, summoner. We need to be ready.” He looked at his hands, then balled them into fists in front of him.
“Yes, I do feel it,” I confirmed solemnly.
“We’d best take care,” he warned before he led us into the infirmary. As soon as we were both in, though, we stopped dead in our tracks at the voice that hit our ears.
“Hey, you two!” Orenn called out and waved from the other end of the hall. He still moved a little sluggishly as he approached us, but that could have been from being in bed for weeks.
“Glad to see you moving about, friend!” I called back, joy replacing the feeling of foreboding in me. “How’re you feeling?”
“I feel great!” He threw his arms out and laughed. For what it was worth, he did look better. The color was back in his face, and his cuts and bruises had healed up nicely now that the tonics and magicks had done their work. Hell, he might have even looked better than he had before.
“How long until you’re cleared for squad duties?” Varleth asked.
I rolled my eyes, but it was nice to see that he did care about people, even if he didn’t want to get too attached. After his tale about the gypsies, I could see why he’d been hesitant to let anyone get close to him. The only people he could call family had abandoned him.
“He’s ready to go,” Meriden said as she came around the corner with her clipboard and smiled warmly. “Other than feeling a bit slowed down, he’s as ready as he’ll ever be.” She turned to Varleth and me. “You two, on the other hand, need some cleaning up.” I laughed sheepishly, and Varleth stared a hole into the floor in embarrassment. “Come on, up on the beds. You know the drill.”
No sooner did Meriden get us all fixed up did Nia burst through the door with Arwyn with panic-stricken faces. Varleth, Orenn, and I hopped to our feet in an instant.
“There’s been another pyrewyrm attack,” Arwyn announced.
“Where?” Meriden gasped.
“A little town in the north called Bathi Highlands.”
My mouth went dry and my stomach lurched. No. No, anywhere but there, where Maelor and Cyra were. My skin felt clammy as the color drained from my face and I sank back onto the bed. The room spun. Did it always spin like that?
“Gryff?” Nia’s voice was gentle, concerned, and barely able to cut through the screams that echoed in my head to move and do something. Everyone looked at me, and I swallowed thickly.
“Bathi Highlands. Maelor is there.”
Chapter 17
I paced back and forth across the airship with my nerves on edge. My stomach lurched at the idea that something awful had befallen Maelor or Cyra. My only hope was that they hadn’t reached Bathi Highlands yet. It was still a day’s ride by train, so there was a chance they were still commuting.
“Gryff.” Nia placed a gentle hand on my arm that tore me from my thoughts. “Everything is going to be all right.” Her expression was kind and optimistic.
We both knew the risks that we took as mages. There was always a chance that things were going to go south. That was the simple truth, the ebb and flow of what we did. I sighed and finally sat down, though I bounced my heels rapidly, not quite able to sit entirely still. Varleth and Orenn sat across from me with equally worried expressions.
“You said you fought one of these things while I was still out,” Orenn started. “What was it like?”
“Grueling,” Varleth offered, but that was all he said before he sank his head down. He hadn’t said much since we’d given the stone tablet we retrieved to Meriden to pass on to Headmaster Sleet. There hadn’t been time to formally present it, but I figured that was okay.
A few feet away, Arwyn sat with her legs crossed proper and her arms settled in her lap. Her lips were a thin line of worry.
“Last time, we were lucky to have the aid of a second summoner and a
nother elementalist,” she added. “Layla was a sub, though, so now we’ll have to devise a new strategy for this fight.”
Arwyn was right. We had been incredibly lucky for her foresight to seek out Almasy’s aid during the last encounter, and I kind of wished that Layla was a permanent member of the team. I had monsters that could be of use, but there wasn’t time for me to ask Layla if I could borrow her venotox, or ask Arwyn to bend the rules so that my other lover could come with us. Well, I couldn’t have even borrowed the venotox, since it was bound to Layla.
As Arwyn continued to fill in Orenn, my mind went back to my conversation with Maelor and Cyra in the pub. Bathi Highlands was home to a crystal mine. Cyra and I had been on the same train of thought that there were possibilities to find summon crystals that we were unlikely to find anywhere else. It was a shot, and where there was a shot, there was hope.
My mind then shifted gears to what Maelor had said about humans being a food source for the monsters, that once they felt there was an insufficient supply, they would move on and find a way into the Enclaves, and that scenario was already well underway.
A frown pulled at my lips. I knew that there had to be something we didn’t know, something that was missing from the equation. The pieces were there, but they just didn’t quite fit. Something had to connect them, and we hadn’t found the link yet.
Orenn whistled low when Arwyn finished her tale.
“Sounds like a piping hot mess if you ask me.” He grimaced and shook his head. “I’m glad you all managed, though. That’s one hell of a fight.”
“You’re telling us.” I barked out a laugh, but the mirth was faked, and it was obvious. Still, I lifted my head and gave him what I hoped to be a convincing smile. Orenn chuckled, so I guess it worked.
“We don’t know what we’re walking into,” Arwyn added firmly. “Be prepared for anything. It won’t be much longer.” I didn’t like the sound of that, but we all nodded and made our simultaneous equipment checks as a silence fell over us.
I felt like I was stuck in my own personal Shadowscape. Time seemed different where I was in comparison to the outside world, but I refused to allow it to keep me as its prisoner. I had to believe that there was a chance that things weren’t as grim as they could be. I had to have faith in my team and in myself that we could reverse whatever damage might have befallen the village. As I had learned with my encounters with the people of Bedima, we were strong.
I glanced at each of my teammates. Orenn sat with his elbows on his knees and his muscular body hunched over as he idly picked at his thumbs. I was impressed he had made such a strong recovery in such a short amount of time. I knew he was strong, but maybe he had more strength than he had let others believe. He had one hell of a will, that much was obvious.
Varleth sat beside him, arms crossed over his chest and his whip-thin body tensely leaned back against the wall. I thought back to our conversation in the arena and realized I had a whole new perspective of him. I was able to see the subtlety in his emotions now. Though he wasn’t vocal nor was he particularly expressive, his care for others was well hidden and deep seeded in his veins. His problem wasn’t that he didn’t care, but that he cared too much. Not the worst problem to have if you were a normal person, but as a mage and a banisher, it might have been one of the worst traits to inherit.
Beside me to my left, Nia had her eyes closed. Her breath was even, calm, and I actually felt the tension leave my body as I watched her. She was such a strong girl, and I was lucky to have her by my side. I put my hands over hers, and though she didn’t open her eyes, her lips upturned into a quaint smile and she squeezed my hand. I squeezed back.
On the other side of Nia sat Arwyn. Although her posture would lead one to believe that she was completely fine and had things entirely under control, her sweet eyes failed to hide the turmoil she felt. She drummed her fingers against the hilt of the sword that sat across her lap. I couldn’t tell if it was due to nerves or the itch to grasp it and bury the blade into a monster, but I knew Arwyn was deadly with that thing.
The last time we approached a pyrewyrm, it attacked us before we ever got to the Enclave, but this time was vastly different. No, this time, our ship just stopped, seemingly frozen in mid-flight. There was no turbulence, no stutter in the engine that anyone could feel. We were already rising out of our seats to look out the portholes when the pilot came into the cabin from the cockpit.
Immediately, I noticed that it wasn’t Almasy. This was a girl in a white and blue uniform with short, fiery orange hair. Freckles dotted her chipmunk cheeks, and her nose was as cute as a button. She saluted us formally, then allowed her panic to settle on her features.
“Squad, I think you all should see this.” Her voice held a tremor, and I had a suspicion that was something that wasn’t normally there.
“What is the matter?” Arwyn inquired, and the pilot, Erin by her nametag, waved for us to follow her. With an exchange of glances, we filed down the hallway and into the cockpit where we saw what was easily more grotesque than the most horrific scene that I ever could have imagined.
Giant wings sprouted from the little mining town and glowed an eerie shade of red. Chains dangled from those wings and a broken halo hung from the sky around it, as the air hummed along the near stagnant wind. Above the village, bound in the aforementioned chains, hung the pyrewyrm. It was lifeless, and simply oozed dark essence from its wings. It was impossible to see the little town at all.
“Maker,” Orenn gasped, “what the hell is that thing?”
And that’s when it hit me. My stomach dropped as Varleth, Nia, and I exchanged a look that shook us to our cores.
“That’s the angel-looking monster we saw in Bedima,” I said softly.
On cue, we heard the monster speak, though we couldn’t make out its face amongst the feathers and mists of darkness. “You were warned.” Her icy voice dripped with allure, like a lullaby laced with a nightmare. “This world is mine.”
“This world belongs to the humans!” I yelled defiantly, unsure if my words would even be heard. “This is our home!”
The essence that swirled around the dead pyrewyrm like a fog suddenly rushed toward the ship. We were instantly engulfed in darkness, and I had to bite back the sense of dread that washed over me. How powerful must this monster be if it was able to sacrifice one of its own kind with its will?
Though still stuck, the airship rocked in place, and I couldn’t help but be acutely aware that this whole airship crashing dilemma was becoming a reoccurrence. I groaned and looked from one end of the ship to the other. Erin gripped the wheel of the ship, though it didn’t do much to counter the motion. There had to be a way down that didn’t involve a crash landing or the ship crumbling beneath our feet.
“I don’t suppose we have parachutes, huh?” I asked Arwyn, and Nia gave me a strange look, as though my idea was crazy enough that it might actually work.
I shrugged. I thought it was a valid suggestion.
Apparently Arwyn did as well because she nodded and pointed toward the back of the ship. “There are parachutes, yes.”
“That would put us miles from the village,” Varleth interjected.
“We don’t have a choice, do we?” I retorted and started for the back of the ship. “We can’t get anywhere near that thing by standing around, and we’re sitting ducks up here.” I opened up one of the supply closet doors and found several packs of parachutes shoved on the top shelf.
“What do we do about the essence?” Orenn asked. “From what you told me, that stuff will kill you before you ever hit the ground.”
“Maybe Nia can use the wind to blow it out of our path.” Arwyn looked to Nia, who nodded in response.
“Of course.” I nodded enthusiastically. “We know the essence has a physical form, and it seems to move like any other thick fog.”
“It will be difficult to make sure there is enough of a constant gust to ensure everyone can float to safety,” Nia considered, “but I think
I can manage that. If you’re right, Gryff, it should dissipate and disperse once the wind hits it.”
“Excellent,” I commented as I handed out parachutes. “The question is, can you do it for all of us, including yourself?” It was a genuine concern. If she couldn’t, not only were we at risk, but she risked mana depletion. I’d seen her like that once before already, and that was more than enough.
“Of course I can, farm boy,” she replied with a confident wink.
“That’s my girl,” I said with a smile.
“Nia will jump first.” Arwyn spoke with her hands and pointed to the ashen-haired elementalist. “She will create something of a wind funnel that will wrap around her and prevent her from falling too fast, followed by Gryff, Varleth, Orenn, Erin, and myself.”
Of course, Arwyn would make herself go last. She always put the team before her, and this mission would be no exception.
We strapped on our parachutes, and I took a deep breath. Nia stood by the emergency exit door and focused her mana in the palm of her hands.
“You ready?” I asked, and when Nia nodded, Orenn opened the door.
I had expected to be drawn toward it as soon as the door was released, but I remembered that we weren’t in motion, and thusly, we didn’t run the risk of being sucked out of the airship. In fact, we had all gripped onto something tight as a knee-jerk reaction, and so we shared bemused smirks when we realized what we had done. The joke was soon gone, however, and our game faces were back in place.
“See you on the ground.” Nia smiled at me, then she fell out the door. Instinct rushed through my veins and I nearly lunged for the opening before I caught myself. I did get the best view as Nia tutted her fingers and flailed her arms as winds exploded from her palms, until finally, the black essence around her began to thin and disintegrate.
“Your turn, Gryff,” Arwyn said from behind me.
I nodded. No problem. I took the same stance as Nia had before me, and despite what every instinct in my body told me to do, I jumped.
