Rachael nodded, not daring to interrupt again.
“Then I shall proceed. As I was saying, the Dark One threatened everyone equally, but for some reason his power was focussed on the seat of the Empire. Midoka was doing its own research about how to banish Him, but since they weren’t His main concern, they weren’t in a hurry.”
“So, Midoka just left the Empire to die?”
Kiana shrugged. “I don’t know, Rach. It’s not my story, remember? Plays tend to exaggerate. Midoka probably has a very different version. They might not have known at all. Besides,” she said and cleared her throat again, “you’re interrupting.”
“My apologies.”
“The sorcerers were running out of time. No one knows what exactly the Dark One was after since the sorcerers destroyed most of their evidence, but thanks to what Vail told you, we know they needed a dragon to banish him. I’m assuming no dragons were offering since the sorcerers went ahead and destroyed everything. Legend says such vast amounts of the gift were necessary that they couldn’t control it. They sealed the Dark One on Kaethe, but in doing so they destroyed their country. Some say it convinced Tramura that magic was evil, since the sorcerers took out part of their northern border. Some say it strengthened Vistria’s belief that magic was the Maker’s creation, since it was powerful enough to destroy a whole country and take out part of their border. Some say it changed Rifarne’s mind altogether, and they decided that Tramura had the right of it, that outlawing the gift was the right thing to do.
“It seems too long ago for that though, don’t you think? Rifarne hasn’t been friendly to the gifted, but it never outlawed the gift as it did right before you killed old Aeric. That’s more recent.”
It was Rachael’s turn to clear her throat. “You said something about the Dark One?”
“But I digress. The Dark One was sealed right here on Kaethe, and his servants, the Mothers, were sealed with him. The peace the natives had known ended when the demons enslaved them, slowly preparing for the day the Dark One would be freed once more.”
Rachael frowned. “And then Aeron came and made that dream a reality.”
“That’s right. You know what I think the worst part of this is?”
“That Kaida could have helped but didn’t?”
Kiana stopped, her eyes wide. “What?”
“Long story. I’ll tell you when we find somewhere to sit.”
Rachael’s legs were burning from the climb down the temple. Now the adrenaline was wearing off, the blisters on her hands were beginning to ache too. She’d be sore for days, if she was lucky.
“I’ll hold you to it,” Kiana said. “The worst part is that the people here didn’t know what was happening. They likely had no idea what the empire was planning. They got up one morning, went about their lives, and then bam, demons everywhere. Their happiness was over. Just like that. No warning, no offer of help, no chance for them to get to safety first.”
“You don’t think the sorcerers warned them?” Rachael asked.
“Would any have stayed if they’d known what was coming? It’s possible that the sorcerers tried but the natives didn’t want to hear it. This was their home, after all. How would you feel if someone you’d never met showed up one day and told you to leave the only home you’d ever known because of some evil you’ve probably never even heard of?”
Rachael didn’t want to think about it. In a way, it was like what she’d gone through, except Blackrock had never been a home to her, and she’d heard of King Aeric and his laws. That, and she’d chosen to leave.
“So, this was the mildly depressing story, was it?”
“Oh yes,” Kiana said. “I’ve got worse. But first you need to tell me what this is about Kaida not—”
A screech tore through the forest not far from them. They froze.
“Get behind me,” Rachael said.
Kiana didn’t look happy about it but didn’t argue. Rachael drew her sword, hoping the might of Cephy’s army hadn’t caught up with them. It was too dark to see. Were the shadows right ahead of her moving?
“Rachael?”
“Not now.”
“Turn around.”
Rachael spun around and faced three demons, misty tendrils forged into longswords. Six weapons between them. Only one in Rachael’s hand.
“I don’t like these odds, Rach.”
“And what do you want to do about it?”
Running wasn’t an option. There was no guarantee that more demons weren’t hiding twenty, ten, five steps away.
“I wish I’d whittled me a shiv now. Or two, come to think of it.”
“Just stay behind me,” Rachael said. “Let me know if any more are coming.”
The first demon lunged. Rachael brought up her sword just in time. It glowed in her hand, a fading reminder that some of its enchantment was still intact.
Rachael shoved her blade into the place where a human’s heart would have been. The Mother screeched. Embers sparked through its dark form, and it burst into flames.
The other two demons screeched in response. They came at Rachael as one. She stepped aside, barely dodging the first one’s attack, and lashed out with her sword. It cut the demon low where legs might have been. The creature hissed in anger.
Both demons raised their swords at the same time and drove them towards Rachael. She rolled out of the way, felt the impact of the weapons as they hit the ground. The infernal swords disappeared and reshaped inches from her face. Rachael looked up to meet the black-burning eyes of two grinning demons.
She jumped to her feet and lowered her sword. She hoped they weren’t too intelligent to take the bait.
Their grins twisted into something abstract, swallowing their eyes and reaching right up to where their Mists evaporated into the air.
They lunged.
Rachael twisted, turned her back on them for only a second as she spun around behind them—
And sliced.
Her sword’s enchantment burnt through them so fast they died with their screams silent in their throats.
Kiana ran over to her. “Rachael, that was remarkable! We need to talk about feinting, though. You could have got hurt.”
She panted. Her muscles ached, but she was happy. “It worked, didn’t it?”
Kiana frowned. Her smile betrayed how she really felt. “Yes, but you should leave fighting dirty to the pros in the future.”
Rachael sheathed her sword. “Let’s keep moving. No story this time though. I’m worried that’s what attracted them.”
One hand remained near her sword. She didn’t trust the fight was over; if three demons had found them, others could do it too.
Chapter Twenty-One
Cale held onto Kaida’s scales like his life depended on it. Despite the spells she’d placed to keep them all safely on her back, he didn’t feel protected. Every time her wings went up, his stomach plummeted. Every time her wings came back up, his stomach somersaulted and nauseated him. He tried to focus on the islands as they came into view, but the vast ocean below them didn’t help his nerves. When he thought something moved on the island closest to them, he snapped his eyes back to the dragon’s neck in front of him—better to fixate on something steady before he got more light-headed. When they got closer, he focussed on the dense forests, but he felt like he’d fall if he concentrated on anything but the scales in his hands, so his eyes didn’t sway for long. He was perfectly fine right here, on the massive, solid beast under him.
Kaida’s heavy feet set down and dug into the ground. Cale jerked forwards. Dust whirled up around them and trees shook from the impact. The moon had cast an eerie glow over the forest and temple when they arrived over Kaethe. Now they had landed, the branches swallowed the pale light. Cale was relieved to be on the ground again, and even more so when the area was empty of demons. Their plan appeared to have worked.
Still, his hand didn’t sway far from his sword. He doubted their luck would last.
Reeve was quick
to jump down, followed by the others and finally Cale, who tried his best to look like a strong leader who wasn’t desperate for solid ground under his feet. He wasn’t convinced his legs would ever stop shaking.
The clearing was small and barely fit Kaida in her dragon form, but it was better this way. A small space would attract less attention, and the surrounding trees were spread farther apart than the rest of the forest. If anyone approached, they’d know.
“Right.” Cale dusted himself off, unsure what to do with his hands now he no longer held on to the dragon’s scales. “We need to act quickly but carefully. It’s important we get to Rachael and move her back here as soon as possible. If anyone spots us, this mission is over. Cephy can’t know we’re here.”
His Sparrows nodded. Not one of them looked scared. Even Desma, still an unknown to him, stood tall and proud, daggers in her hands and confidence in her eyes. Just like Kiana. The reminder stung; perhaps the Mothers had taken her here too, but it was too much to hope for. Cale needed to focus on what he did know.
“Kaida and I will enter the temple. Rachael is most likely inside, but so are Cephy and Lis, never mind most of the Mothers. If we run into Cephy, Kaida will be able to help.”
But it couldn’t come to that. There was no telling what the girl might do. What she had become.
Reeve frowned. “We won’t be entering the temple?”
“Too many people will attract unwanted attention. We’ll stand out as it is, we can’t risk it.” Reeve looked disappointed, but he’d follow orders. If Reeve was going to complain, he’d do it once their mission was over and he had the time to vent. Cale had a different mission for him. “You and Ludo will go to the village. The chance Rachael is there is small, but if she is, I want my best tracker on it. I know you haven’t worked together much before, but I’m confident you’ll make a good team.”
Ludo grinned. “Yes, s—Cale!”
“So, I’ll just be here, guarding the camp?” Lon asked, arms crossed. “With her?”
Desma gave him her best glare. “Don’t worry, birdie, you have nothing to fear from me.”
“I need someone here in case Rachael has somehow escaped and finds this camp.” In truth, Cale didn’t trust Desma enough to make her a more vital part of this mission. He trusted Lon to keep an eye on her. “You won’t stay here all the time, however. I need both of you to scout the area, see if there’s any sign that people have come through.”
Lon nodded. “Can do. And if one of us finds Rachael?”
Kaida held out six small orbs, tiny enough to fit in any pocket and unassuming enough not to rouse suspicion. At a glance, they looked like marble stones, no more important than any gem. “Alert the other teams with these,” she said. “Whisper your name into it and the others will warm to the touch. Reeve and Ludo are already familiar with their magic.”
Reeve acknowledged it with a grunt and shoved the orb Kaida offered him into his pocket.
“Don’t try and find the other teams,” Cale said. “Come back here immediately. Once we have Rachael, our top priority will be to return to this camp and get the hell off this island.”
“And if there’s an emergency?” Ludo asked.
Cale swallowed. “If you get surrounded, one of you can distract the demons while the other escapes with Rachael. If Rachael isn’t with you—” Sometimes, he cursed being a leader. “If Rachael isn’t with you, fight well.”
“Always,” Reeve said.
“Always,” the others mirrored.
He wondered if Desma regretted her decision to join them right about now, but the Krymistian girl looked fiercer than any warrior he’d met.
“If I don’t return, there are two books in this satchel.” He held it up for all to see and handed it to Lon. “Hide it in this camp and give it to Rachael if I can’t. Don’t risk losing it in the forest or to the Mothers.” Vail had thought the tomes important, and Kaida had gifted Rachael the Tome of Ar’Zac Dar herself. He needed to get them back to Rachael, whether he was alive to do it himself or not.
“One last thing,” Kaida said. “I will cloak each of you with an intricate spell. It will not last all night, but it will give you up to five hours of relative safety.”
Reeve snorted. “Nothing’s simple, is it?”
“I thought it best not to take chances tonight,” Kaida said.
They all held still—Cale imagined Reeve held his breath, too—as Kaida wove ribbons of light around them. An odd lightness filled him.
“This is all I can do.”
“Thank you, Kaida.” If it wasn’t for her, they wouldn’t stand a chance. He’d try to remember it more often and put his grudge aside, at least until they were back in Rifarne and they could go back to hating each other without endangering the mission. “Now, we all have jobs to do. Hunt well, Sparrows, and if worst comes to pass, fight well.”
The teams went their separate ways. Cale couldn’t shake the feeling that not all of them would leave this forest.
Chapter Twenty-Two
The villagers were scared, Reeve saw that much even from their hiding spot inside a bush. It was a small village—Reeve guessed barely a hundred inhabitants—and they didn’t leave their homes much. When they did, their steps were quick and their eyes restless.
And the air reeked of blood. A lot of people had died here recently. No wonder the remaining residents looked like they were at the end of their sanity. There were no other signs of a fight, and the survivors didn’t look injured. Not survivors, then—they hadn’t fought, they just hadn’t been killed. Why the smell of blood, then? Had someone murdered so many just to make a point?
Whatever had happened, it was over for now. There was nothing here.
Reeve scoffed. “Cale could have given us something more important to do.”
Next to him, and very close, Ludo shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t mind this.” Ludo moved closer until their legs almost touched. Reeve felt the warmth through their trousers’ fabric.
It was lucky the demons didn’t see heat.
“Oh?” Reeve looked away from the village’s nothing and at Ludo. “And what have you observed since we’ve crawled into this shrub?”
“Hmm, let’s see. I’ve noticed that you no longer move away when I come closer.” Ludo grinned. “That’s pretty successful.”
Reeve turned his attention back to the village square—if he could call the open space that. He didn’t blush. He was a grown man, for Maker’s sake, and far too old for this. Still, it wasn’t easy. Adults were supposed to be better at… whatever it was he and Ludo were doing.
“Look.” Ludo pointed at the stairs leading up to the temple. Three Mothers floated down, their unnatural Mists trailing behind them.
“What do you think they want?” Reeve asked.
“Beats me, but I bet it has something to do with why the villagers look so skittish every time they leave their shacks.”
Reeve frowned. “They live in the shadow of that temple, Lu. They are closer to the Dark One than anyone has been for Maker-knows-how-long. Of course they look skittish.”
“Yes, but if this were your life, don’t you think you’d get used to it eventually? This is all they know.”
“But they aren’t idiots, Lu.” But Ludo had a point. How much of his life, like his inability to talk to Ludo about his feelings, would look odd to someone else but was normal for him? That’s different. I question my difficulty of talking to Ludo. “They must know something is going on.”
Ludo didn’t take his eyes off him. “I like that.”
“You like scared villagers?”
“I like it when you call me Lu. I’m not sure when you started but keep going.”
Reeve wanted to inch closer. Just a tiny bit, and their legs would touch. They were hidden well in their shrub, no one would know. No one would see.
Reeve swallowed. No. If he was going to be honest with Ludo and do this, whatever it was, he wouldn’t do it in secret. He was bad at it, not ashamed. Ludo de
served better than sneaking around. Reeve wouldn’t be Ludo’s dirty secret.
Unless Ludo liked it that way. Reeve supposed he could play along if—
He focussed on the Mothers. If he was going to explore that line of thinking, it wouldn’t be while he was on a mission.
The demons floated to the square and spread out. Each entered a different house. Did he hear crying? Reeve had never heard the monsters speak; he doubted they had come to talk.
“What are they doing?” Ludo asked.
Reeve inched forwards, but hidden behind the village, it didn’t make much of a difference. Kaida’s spell kept them hidden, but what would happen if they got too close? Would the Mothers see them if they stood right before the demons, or were they invisible?
They needed to get closer. There were only three of them, and Reeve had Ludo. They could take the Mothers.
But if only one escaped or they were somehow linked, they’d know Cale had arrived with his Sparrows. Cephy would know Rachael had backup. He couldn’t risk it. Not for the lives of some villagers who had been doomed since birth.
A scream tore through the air. Ludo tensed.
Reeve put an arm before the Tramuran. “We can’t. Too much is at risk.”
Ludo grinded his teeth but didn’t argue. Reeve knew the struggle; he wanted to help too.
Rachael’s safety came first, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t get closer.
“They must think Rachael is hiding here,” he said.
“What makes you think that?” Ludo asked.
“The stairs are right there, and I can’t imagine Rachael sitting still waiting to be rescued. She didn’t even know we were coming. What if she has escaped?” His heart beat faster. “What if they’re right and she’s hiding right here?”
Ludo paled. “And the Mothers are looking for her.”
They had to infiltrate the village, not just watch from the shadows.
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