Shadow Assassins (The Second Realm Trilogy)

by Vazquez, Melissa

  Surprisingly, when they reached the village entrance of Oraldine, there were bright orange tents up. Those hadn't been there last time Marco and Evangeline had been here, but they brightened Kaleb's day up.

  “The Kkyathi are here!” he said triumphantly.

  They had been allowed into the city after one of the warriors guarding the village entrance recognized Marco and the horse he rode. The three crossed into elf territory easily, watching as the men and women of Kkyathi merged into this village, refugees as Kirrah had hoped for.

  It was right after Kaleb had that thought that no one else but Kirrah herself emerged from a tent. She looked worse for wear, with a large cloth bandage across her left cheek and down her arms. If there were any below her armor, Kaleb couldn't see it.

  “Kaleb!” she called when she saw him.

  He dismounted his horse to walk up to her. “Glad to see you!”

  “Glad to see you put a good word in for us,” she replied, smiling slightly.

  He noticed the smile wasn't as vibrant as it had been before. This one was a little more haunted, a little more ominous than before.

  Dreading the answer, he asked, “So what happened to the village after I left?”

  The question made Kirrah's fragile smile shatter apart like dropped glass. As she sighed, she took on the expression of someone who hadn't slept well, worrying over her people.

  “It was awful, Kaleb. They wanted to arrest us over nothing. When we refused to comply, they attacked. The warriors tried to protect those who couldn't fight but there were so many deaths.” Here, her voice cracked as she stifled a sob. “I thought we would lose everyone, but the elves showed up fast after that. They helped ward the knights off, but we still lost about half our tribe...”

  “Your sister and father?” he asked.

  “Safe. Kikkaho insisted on evacuating my father as soon as the fight started. She arrived here right as the elves were leaving.”

  That was a relief. As cold hearted as it made him seen, he was glad that Kikkaho was safe, above anyone else in the tribe. She had been particularly nice to him. Still, he held his arms out to her as a gesture of comfort.

  “I'm sorry for your loss. The tribe's loss.”

  She seemed confused for a moment as to why he had spread his arms, but she let him hug her before her arms wrapped around him, too. Then, as if embarrassed to be caught at a vulnerable moment, Kirrah cleared her throat and stepped back.

  “I'm glad you and your friends showed up. We could use some help around here.”

  The next few hours were devoted to checking in on the Kkyathi. Evangeline stood by Kaleb's side, but Marco slipped off, looking for Camira. He found her by the stables that Rain Mist had come from. She was feeding a pure white filly.

  “Hey,” he said to her.

  “Marco!” she cried in surprise as her head lifted up. “What are you doing here?”

  “One of my friends helped the Kkyathi get here. He wanted to check on them.”

  She let the filly have the rest of the apple she held and made her way towards him, looking resplendent in her white gown. She no longer looked like a lost child of the forest, as he had first met her, but a woman of a regal tribe. A circlet of carved and highly polished wood garnished her hair and a string of pearls were at her throat.

  “I'm glad to see you here with us again,” she said as she approached.

  “I'm glad, too,” he said, suddenly breathless. “Why don't you show me around a little?”

  

  The sun was beginning to set over the elf colony and Evangeline was beginning to feel lonely. Kaleb and Marco had connections here, but she didn't, not really. Still, she helped Kaleb out, not wanting to draw attention to her pity party. She wanted to be back in Moonriver, talking to Erik, who had stayed behind, or even her mysterious twin sister.

  She was at the edge of the colony, near the village gates, catching a moment by herself when she thought she heard horse hooves. The guards heard the commotion as well. They had glanced in the direction of the noise, holding long spears ready for use.

  Evangeline ran through the village gate and into the woods around her. The guards were supposed to stay at the colony but she was free to move elsewhere. Her legs carried her as silently as she could through the forest as she followed the sound.

  When she had tracked the sound to a pathway, she hid behind a massive tangle of bushes and peered around. There were dozens of horses, all following in a straight line, ordered by the men who rode them. The men wore the same familiar armor she had seen in the Emeralde Kingdom. The sight froze her.

  Some of the men looked worse for wear, definitely battle worn and bruised, but they kept up with their group. They were walking right by the elf colony as if it wasn't there. That was odd. If they were right next to the colony, wouldn't they attack?

  She backed up as cautiously as possible, keeping her retreat hidden in case someone looked her way. When she was far enough away and hidden, she ran back to Oraldine as fast as possible.

  The guards were alarmed at the sudden company in the woods, but when she said that they weren't heading for the colony, there was confusion.

  “We do have enchantments to ward off unwelcome guests,” one of the guards confessed. “Are human minds so easily manipulated that they miss our village so easily?”

  “And if they are not heading towards us, where are they going?” another asked.

  “What's out there?” Evangeline asked. “What else might get their attention?”

  The first guard looked troubled. “The only thing I can think of is Moonriver Academy, to the east of us.”

  That got her attention. Was it possible that an entire battalion was heading towards Moonriver? She had seen the damage that had been done to Kkyathi. If something that powerful was heading towards Moonriver, the others had to find out.

  Leaving the guards to conspire with themselves, she ran back through the village, searching for Kaleb. He found him talking to a beautiful woman with long, dark hair. He seemed surprised at her apparent alarm. Once she had explained what she had seen and what the guards said, he and his female companion both gave shouts of alarm.

  “I have to inform my sister!” the woman said. “If they have left our home then we can go back.”

  Kaleb watched the woman go, then turned to Evangeline. “You're sure of what you've seen?”

  “Positive. There had to have been over a hundred and some looked as though they had already been in battle.”

  Kaleb cursed. “We need to head back to Moonriver.”

  It took a short while to get a hold of Marco and update him on the situation. He didn't look too happy about being pulled away from his female companion but agreed to go back with them.

  An idea came to Kaleb. “The two of you head back on horseback. I'm going to fly ahead and see where these guys are, exactly. If they're not heading back to Moonriver, I'll find you.”

  They nodded. It was agreed that the horse gifted to Marco would remain with the elves once more until he needed it. The two horses on loan from Moonriver and Prince Erik were then prepared for riding, before mounted by Evangeline and Marco.

  Kaleb focused on a bird form once more. Instead of going for his normal falcon form, which he used when he wanted to fly faster than normal, he headed for a form that exhausted him faster, but gave him faster speeds. Soon enough, he was in the body of the spine-tailed swift. He took off as fast as the bird's body would allow him to, following the trail Evangeline had told him about.

  Marco watched him fly off. “So I guess we have to go back, huh?”

  He didn't sound too happy about it.

  Evangeline sighed. “Yeah. You know, this is the time where a car would really come in handy. All this horseback travel takes too long.”

  He gave a small laugh, trying to say cheerful. “Well come on, what's one more ride?”

  They left Oraldine behind, finding the same path that they had used to get to the elf colony in the first place. F
ollowing the trail, they made their way back to Moonriver. The sun traveled with them as they walked, streaking the trees with a golden orange glow. Getting out of the forests before night fell was a good idea. They hurried their horses on from the slow trot to something faster.

  They had just crossed the halfway point from Moonriver to Oraldine when a fast-flying bird flew through their path, circling them twice.

  “Kaleb?” Evangeline asked.

  The horses stopped and they let the bird land, then transform back into their breathless friend. Kaleb looked beyond exhausted, but panicked.

  “They're almost at Moonriver,” he said, panting somewhat. “We need to hurry.”

  That got them going. The horses were ordered to go at a full run. With no horse for Kaleb, he simply ignored the exhaustion running through his body and transformed into a horse. Able to keep up with the others, he led them through the forest in the fastest route possible towards Moonriver.

  He just hoped that they didn't arrive too late.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Kaydee returned to the land of the living on a scream that ripped the night apart.

  There was a flurry of activity around her. The man and woman who had been sitting calmly around a campfire were suddenly up, as if they had been shot, instantly alert. The man instantly drew a sword but the woman's eyes lit on Kaydee instead.

  She saw the two before her and fixated on the weapon. Her mind flashed back to that awful coliseum and how she had killed that fire mage. All she could see, hear and smell was that horrendous place filled with death and suffering. Another scream bubbled from her lips but this time the woman dove at her, her hands covering Kaydee's mouth.

  “Are you stupid? Stop screaming, unless you want to attract every bandit this side of the Isle Dark!” she hissed.

  Once the screaming had died down to a confused whimpering, the woman removed her hands and asked if she was okay. Like Kaydee could really answer that. Was she okay? She had just been forced to participate in one of the most barbaric things imaginable!

  “Better?” the woman asked, voice low.

  Kaydee drew in a shaky breath and nodded slowly. Her voice sounded weak when she spoke. “I'm sorry.”

  “You're fine. Just don't scream like that again,” the woman said. “Damn near gave me a heart attack. My name is Leta, by the way. Leta Gerard. We rescued you from the Death Games earlier.”

  She remembered. Kaydee remembered the commotion the two of them had caused. The woman, Leta, the ice mage who had frozen the guards where they stood. She glanced over at the man she had witnessed killing effortlessly, demanding to know where some woman was. Was she the woman? It was an absurd thought but the glimmer of hope blossomed in her for the first time in days.

  “Thank you,” she said, belatedly. “Where are we?”

  “Outside of Govoya, thank God. My companion Atrimalous, here, caused a city-wide riot when he interrupted their precious death games. We've been on the run for a while. Most of the people stopped chasing us outside the city walls but there are always those stubborn people.” Leta's eyes glimmered in the firelight. “Apparently, you're the one Atri has been looking for.”

  The man beside her, Atrimalous, instantly snapped at her for use of that disgusting nickname, as he put it. When he turned to Kaydee, all he said was, “I was supposed to rescue you, that's all.”

  “Well, thank you for it,” she said, meaning every word of it. She tried sitting up slowly and realized that there was a thin knit blanket over her. Under her was a horse-hair blanket protecting her from the hard dirt ground. “Er, where did you say we were, exactly?”

  After remembering that the ancient seer had said that this girl was from the First Realm and not the Second, Leta said, “We're in the Second Realm, on the Isle Dark. Currently between that barbaric city Govoya and our hometown, Siiati. We've been traveling by horseback for a good portion of the day. You've been recovering through all that time. Personally, I wish I could sleep through all the racket, but then again, you did have a trying day.”

  It was a day she didn't want to think about. It wasn't the way she had imagined her trip to the Second Realm going, either. Dirk had never mentioned anyone kidnapping and selling her to a barbaric sort of game.

  “I need to find my friends,” she said suddenly. “But I don't know where they could be.”

  “Are they from the First Realm, too?”

  She was surprised that this strange woman knew, but nodded and described her friends to them. When neither Leta or Atrimalous could recall seeing anyone who looked like that, her shoulders slumped in disappointment.

  “Don't worry,” Leta said. “The Second Realm is big. If you found us, I'm sure your friends are in good company, too. Now, why don't we get some food in you?”

  Kaydee glanced towards the campfire, where a small rig had been set up to hold a pot. The faint smell of vegetables wafted over to her and she realized that she was starving, having had so little to eat on that trader ship.

  Leta was kind to her, offering her a bowl of food and an invitation to join them at the fireside. She couldn't have been that much older than Kaydee but she was motherly, or at least sisterly, to someone who was a total stranger. The kindness was a vast change from what she had been exposed to in the past few days. When she asked if everyone was like the men she had encountered, Leta shook her head, explaining that the Gypsa would sell their first born child for the right price. The Gypsa fed into a lot of the so-called prisoners at the Blood Coliseum, as it was called. The announcer was correct in a way, the Coliseum was used to put prisoners to death, but lately, with under-the-table types of sales like what Kaydee had been roped into, there were a lot more innocent people being put to death for crimes they didn't commit. The citizens of Govoya didn't care who was innocent or not, as long as they got their daily bloodshed.

  “Thank you for rescuing me,” Kaydee said once more.

  “Thank Atrimalous. He's been on a hunt for you for the past few days.”

  She turned to him. “Why were you looking for me?”

  The man looked surprised at being addressed, but his amethyst eyes narrowed. “If I hadn't, you would have died,” was his only answer.

  Kaydee looked like she was expecting more of an answer, but Leta told her not to mind his behavior.

  “He's a man of few words, you see. I'm lucky if I even get an insult out of him.”

  Kaydee saw Leta's smirk, but there was also a truth to those words that she could see. She ate her vegetable soup silently, thinking that the two in front of her had a long history that she was intruding on. Either way, she was grateful that they had found her. If they hadn't, she would have joined that fire mage soon after in death. If she had collapsed while still fighting, she would have been dead in three seconds...

  “Don't think about today,” Leta said, seeing the expression on Kaydee's face. “You've had enough to worry about. You're safe now and that's what matters. Eat up.”

  After their meal had been consumed, Leta cleaned up around the campfire, then turned to Kaydee. “Get some sleep soon. We're riding to Siiati first thing in the morning.”

  Kaydee nodded faintly, watching as Leta pulled a small sleeping pack from her horse. The pack consisted of no more than a similar horse hide blanket, wool cover and pillow but it was enough for her to get comfortable on the dirt ground. Soon the ice mage was asleep beside the fire.

  Kaydee tried to follow suit but sleep wouldn't come to her. Try as she might, when she closed her eyes, all she could see was that awful tournament. She saw people with fear in their eyes and death on their hands running in all directions – to the next opponent or away from the others. Worse than that, she saw the fight with that fire mage in horrible slow-motion, from every conceivable angle. Over and over again she saw his angry, scared face in her mind, saw the way he stepped forward, meaning to kill her. No matter which way her mind played the scenario, there had been no way to escape without killing her attacker; and although she knew that,
she couldn't help but feel as though she had done something horrible, by taking his life.

  Eventually, replaying the day's events in her mind grew old and she sat up in her blanket. Night had fallen, darker than she had ever seen it before. In Moonlight Hills, city lights fought the darkness. Even at the darkest time of night, there was always a faint glow of the city on the horizon. Here, there was nothing to fight the darkness around her but the good-sized campfire. Overhead, stars shone brightly and proud next to the large moon. Kaydee couldn't remember seeing the moon with such clarity and detail, with how obscured it seemed back home.

  Chilled by the thought of her separation from home, she glanced around, trying to dispel the thoughts. Atrimalous still sat by the campfire, his back turned to the warm orange glow. He wore his cloak for warmth but the hood was down, so she could see his face. She had never seen someone with his eyes, the bright amethyst color unknown back on the First Realm. There was such familiarity to his face but she couldn't place it, didn't even know where to start. She was certain that she had never seen him before, had never met him before today, but he seemed like an old presence to her, like a long-forgotten friend or lost family member. The familiarity was confusing.

  It was as if he had felt her staring at him. He turned, startled to see her staring at him. “What is it?”

  She didn't know how to answer him at first. “Er, I couldn't sleep.”

  “Couldn't be worse than me,” he said, his voice reaching her even though he spoke quietly, almost to himself. “I almost never sleep.”

  She stood up, drawing the blanket around her as she did. With the heat of the sun gone, the desert around her cooled rapidly, bringing a surprising bite of frost to the night. She made her way to him, still curious as to why he had bothered to save her as he did.

  “Not that I'm ungrateful,” she added after she asked him about it again. “I just don't know why.”