by C. K. Rieke
“Very well,” Veranor said, clutching the hilt of his sword. “I’ll take an army if you wish. I’ve already sent out packs of my Scaethers to patrol the sands to find Lilaci or the girl, but I will go myself if that would please you.”
Dânoz’s voice shot through the room like lightning and thunder. “You will take no army, you will take none of your trickster mages . . . But you will not go alone.” His eyes were glowing a brilliant blue that seemed to weaken Veranor.
“Tell, me Great Dânoz, King of all Kings,” Veranor said. “Who do you wish for me to take to find and bring you your Dragon’s Breath? I will take the greatest warrior on the sands if you wish.”
“No,” the Great God Dânoz said. “Mortals have failed enough, you will be accompanying one who does not fail— cannot fail.”
Veranor, the queen and all of the soldiers in the room watched as Gorlen, the Witch Queen, took a sulking step forward. Her long legs moved seductively under her long, black dress, her long golden hair flowed behind her. Veranor dropped to a knee, out of respect or fear wasn’t evident. The soldiers in the room did the same, and then the queen dropped to a knee, the first time she’d done that in her life. Veranor lifted his head to watch as the other five gods loomed behind the Witch Queen. Then the five of them turned away from those in the room, as if walking out of an exit, then a bright burst like lightning shot through the room, blinding all with its brilliant white light like the midday sun. Once the light faded and all were able to look around the room again, they saw the gods had vanished, presumably back to the palace at Arralyn off the eastern shores of the Arr.
The gods were gone, except one, Gorlen— who stood before them, not shimmering in silver light, but appearing as a normal person, yet none in the room were fooled. Gorlen, perhaps the most feared of all the gods, walked over to the queen, who was still kneeling, and placed her thumb and forefinger on the queen’s chin, and then let the back of her hand caress the side of her cheek. The queen was terrified the Witch Queen was placing a spell of poison on her, and the soldiers looked at each other, unsure of what to do.
Gorlen stared wickedly into the queen’s eyes, which were beginning to well up with tears.
The tension in the room grew like a thick fog, as Gorlen loomed heavily over their queen. Veranor then shot up to his feet abruptly, and the Witch Queens eyes shot over to him.
“When do you wish to leave, your majesty?” he asked the god.
Her hand not-so-gently pushed the queen’s face to the side and she walked back to the center of the room.
“We will leave in due time,” she said. “I have other desires to fulfill before we head out into the dire sands.”
“Yes, your majesty,” Veranor replied.
With that, the Witch Queen elegantly strolled out of the throne room, so quickly hardly anyone noticed her leaving, it was like a doe darting with great agility and stealth through a forest, disappearing just after seeing it.
Veranor turned to follow her out the door, his long cloak’s tails whooshing behind him on the stone floor.
“Veranor,” the queen called out abruptly.
“Yes, my queen.”
“Do us all a favor,” she said, “—and don’t fail this time. For all of our sakes.”
“Yes, my queen.”
Part II
Poison and Arrows of White
Chapter Eight
“My feet hurt.”
“What, you want to stop? The sun is still high.”
She stopped walking, the shoulders of the little girl slumped. “I’m hungry.”
Fewn gave an irritated sigh. In the rustling winds on the rocky desert plains, her hair was still pulled tightly back, and the sun highlighted the deep scar on her chin. Her tunic blew to her side and she walked over to the young girl, trying to hide her face from the biting sandy winds. Fewn pulled down her pack from her shoulder, it was made of tan Iox leathered skin. She reached in a pulled from it a piece of cactus pulp they collected days before. She cut a one-inch piece from it and gave it to Kera who took it eagerly.
She popped it into her mouth and began to chew. Fewn and Kera had both dropped in weight in this unfamiliar desert to them. They had been heading northeast and were in the Gorx region of the sands. Still northwest of the city of Voru. They hadn’t seen the Scaethers since that last sighting while they were still further south in the Dakaran region. Over the last few days their conversations had grown fewer, and Kera’s spirits had begun to wane.
“I want some real food,” Kera said, chewing on the stale cactus.
“We will find some soon,” Fewn said.
“I don’t have the energy to walk every day, all day, Fewn. How much longer is this walk going to go on? I didn’t even walk like this back when I was with the others.”
Fewn didn’t respond, she just looked down at the girl with blank eyes. Kera couldn’t tell if she was thinking, or just hungry and desperate herself.
“I thought you were trained to find food and water in all the deserts,” Kera said. “You’re going to let me die out here? I can’t just have a couple of drops of water a day. You really haven’t thought any of this through, have you? Do you even know where we are going? I know you won’t tell me, but do you know yourself? Are we just going to walk to the sea, and turn around?”
Fewn didn’t respond still, but Kera could tell she was growing angry by her darting eyes and furrowed brow.
“What would you do if I just turned and started to follow my footsteps backwards? What are you going to do if I went back to find her? You probably don’t even like hearing her name— Lilaci.”
Fewn’s eyes grew cold then, and her lips turned downward.
“She’s going to come after me. You know she survived those caves. She’s stronger than you know.”
“Well I’m stronger than you,” Fewn finally said.
“Because you’re older than me!” Kera yelled out into the desert winds. “If I were as big as you, I’d hit you so hard, it would . . . It would . . . Hurt a lot!”
“I’m lucky we’re not the same age then. I don’t want to hurt a lot.”
“I can’t wait to see the look on your smug face when Lilaci comes for me. You think you’ll be able to beat her? Have you ever beaten her?”
“Look at our situation,” Fewn said. “You’re with me, aren’t you? Doesn’t that mean I’ve beat her? Of course it has! Now stop saying her damned name!”
Kera looked up at her menacingly, wishing she could do something to harm her captor.
“Now rest here, I’m going to go off and look for something to eat, hopefully find a sacred source for some water. And don’t even think about running off, remember, I’m older and faster. I’ll find you and I’ll end up binding your arms tightly behind your back next time we walk. How would you like that? You know what— just give me those.” She pointed down at Kera’s small canvas boots.
Kera hadn’t considered running off, because she knew she couldn’t hide from the expert tracker, and her feet ached from the blisters. So, she sat and pulled them both off and handed them up to Fewn, who looked pleased with herself with her decision.
“Now stay,” Fewn said, pointing at Kera as a mother would do to her child.
Fewn quickly disappeared behind a set of tall tan rocks.
Kera covered her head and eyes with the hood of her tunic, unfolded a thin, nicely decorated tapestry on the sand and laid down on her side. She closed her eyes and tried to think of a better time.
As duck rolled in with its cool breeze, Fewn returned. Kera noticed her soft footsteps in the rustling sand, but pretended to be asleep, as she was still frustrated with her captor.
“Brought some food,” Fewn said as she dropped a heavy animal carcass onto the sand next to her. “You want to start the fire, or should I?” She received no response from the child laying next to a mound of small boulders. “I know you’re awake . . .”
Kera rustled delicately under the tapestry, as if she was stretching out he
r limbs in her slumber.
“Fine, I’ll do everything, you just lay there,” Fewn said as she began scanning the area for kindling and wood. In this part of the desert wood was sparse, but dead plants were abundant, especially in Aturum. “I’ll be the only one to do anything for us.” She sighed as she cut a hip-tall dead plant just above its roots with her sword. “You know, you can be mad at me all you want, but you should be grateful for all the things I do for you. I haven’t seen you hunting for food or searching for water.”
The young girl didn’t move underneath the tapestry.
Fewn tossed the yellowing, dead plant towards the center of the cluster of rocks they were encamped within. She went and cut more dying plants from their roots, throwing them towards where she planned to make the fire. A tumbleweed suddenly rolled past from behind one of the large rocks and Fewn quickly grabbed it.
Minutes later, with a spark of flint and steel, smoke began to rise into the cooling air above. Kera’s eyes were open, yet she lay silently, as if asleep.
Fewn, while tossing bits of dead leaves onto the small fire began to hum a tune, it was soft and slow. Her humming grew from a melancholy, low beat to a louder, more focused tone. Kera found herself wrapped up in the flowing song, but she resisted the urge to hum along. Yet, as Fewn hummed, and the normally abrasive person that Kera despised sang, she appeared to have transformed into something else entirely. Kera’s disdain passed in the mist of the lovely song, and she flopped over to her other side, so she could watch Fewn as she sang.
In the dusk of the night, three candles glow
With the whipping winds, their fires grow
At the candle’s base, three orphans cry
For their mothers passing, too young she died
For years they walked the sands,
Wishing hell upon these wretched lands
Which took their most loved from their hearts
And left them with little more than wicked arts
The three babes grew up with blackness in their souls
Wishing, waiting to stoke the darkness of black coals
Dark magic they learned, from a foul name
Dark magic they used, with tongue of dark flame
Despair they wrought, and hatred they spread
Infamous they became, with many innocents left for dead
Til one day, a knight of gold knelt before the three
They told the man, ‘You’d be wise to flee’
‘We are death, we are plague, you’d be best to hide’
Yet the knight replied, ‘I have come with something I must confide,”
‘You three have lost your way, becoming what you despise
‘I have come to guide you back to where there is reprise,’
‘You see, your father I am, after ages gone,
Yet, here I am before all damage is done.’
‘Our father you cannot be, for our family is all passed,
Your lies only fuel our fire for your death at last,’
‘Your mother is gone, taken too young, yet here you have a choice to make,
Strike me down, your only father, if you wish for devil’s sake,”
‘Yet know there is more than loss and hate in this life,
There is love and hope every day, every night,’
‘You must make the choice to reap life or loss,
While young, old, innocent and brave will bear the cost,’
‘So what choice make you, my daughters three, more chaos or love,
Yet know that you shine in the light of the gods above,’
The three daughters thought long, ‘With a father we’ve been blessed,
If your words be true, then our souls are at rest,’
‘For all we wanted was our mother back in our arms,
And to fill our hearts with revenge from her harm,’
‘We choose a life of love, with a family reborn,
Should you forgive your three daughters, born of wicked scorn,’
‘The four embraced, yet with flash like lightning,
The father slayed the daughters, with a wrath so frightening,’
In soft whisper, one of the daughters cried,
‘Father, why? Because of you, your family has died,’
‘Young, you were, yet evil you were raised,
Remember you may not, with your hearts of black rage,’
‘Your mother was a witch, spreading awful, dark fear,
She forced me away, so wicked children she could rear,’
‘Yet, her daughters grew stronger than she knew,
and one night while she dreamed, her daughters’ desires grew,’
‘You three slayed your mother,
So that you would bow to none other,’
‘Evil you’ve become,
Yet now justice has been done,’
Long nights of fear and terror had ceased as the witches had been slain,
And songs of a champion of gold now became,
The knight had ended the plague, yet dark were still his remaining years,
Nightmares of killing his only family would never disappear,
A hero he’d become, yet no glee found him in his life,
For he lost his only daughters, and his only wife.
There was a long, silent pause after Fewn had finished singing. Kera had since, stopped humming as the song turned somber. They listened to the crickets as they chirped. They here the cracking and hissing of the fire, and Fewn leaned over and pulled the animal carcass towards her and began to skin the coarse brown hair from the animal, the size of a large cat.
“Where did you learn that song?” Kera asked. “It’s so sad.”
“Sad?” Fewn asked in surprise. “You find it sad? I think it’s wonderful.”
“Wonderful? How can you think that? It’s tragic, a whole family killed themselves.”
“No, the father purged his family of evil, sure he felt remorse, anyone would, but what would you do if evil was imbued in your legacy? What if your daughters were murderous, torturing, witches?”
Kera had no answer.
“He shouldn’t have married a witch to begin with,” Fewn said. “That was his first mistake, and one he had to pay for.”
“You think we all have mistakes to pay for?” Kera asked. Kera was thinking that Fewn’s biggest mistake was betraying Lilaci and wondered how much Fewn would have to pay for that mistake.
“Why would you think you have things to pay for? You’re only just a girl.”
“I think my biggest mistake was trusting you.”
“Why would you say something so hurtful?”
“Don’t you remember that you took me? I swear, Fewn, you’re infuriating. What’s your plan now? Taking me on a walk around the desert before you take me to The Six?”
Fewn sighed and tossed the animal’s fur to the side.
“Honestly, Kera, I don’t know— I don’t know what to do. I feel like every decision I’m making is the wrong one. I know what taking you to the city means, and I know what not taking you there means.”
“So, we’re just going to walk until you figure it out?” Kera was starting to believe that perhaps Fewn was coming to her senses. Maybe she was remembering her promise to help protect her.
“I don’t know yet! Leave me alone, I’m trying to cook you some food.”
“Well, let me know when you figure it out, I can’t wait to hear what you’ve decided of my fate.”
Fewn stuck the animal and hoisted it over the fire. Another tumbleweed rolled into view and Kera ran off to fetch it.
While she was away, Fewn stared hard into the flickering flames. She whispered to herself, “What are you doing Fewn? Do you want to become the witch or the knight?”
Chapter Nine
A thick, rolling gray fog crept through into the night, and with it a cold chill. The dawn was a dull haze all around them as Fewn rolled out of from under her thin knit blanket, and Kera nestled into tighter to her covers. Fewn went over to the
smoldering embers of the fire and stoked them with her sword. A musty smoke rose from the ashes. She knelt and checked the remaining meat she’d cleaned from the bones and left at the edge of the coals to dry overnight. Feeling the pieces of sinewy meat between her fingertips, she lifted it to her mouth and bit into a corner of the elongated strip of meat. Pulling back on it, she was unable to bite down enough to break a piece off, so she put it onto the side of her mouth, and with her stronger molars, eventually broke off a bite, yet struggled to chew it.
“Damn, it's like chewing leather,” she sighed. “Better than nothing. You awake? Best to be on our way, this fog makes for good cover.”
Kera didn’t move, pretending to be asleep.
“All right, a bit longer you can stay there, but then we’re off.”
“Whatever you say,” Kera murmured from under the tapestry of red and orange.
They were off again on the sands within an hour, and neither spoke to the other as they packed up, left the camp, and made their way into the gloom. Kera began to rub her arms to warm herself. Fewn trudged on, carrying most of the equipment on her back. They walked hours that day, their feet making way through a scattering of sharp rocks on the desert floor, and the gray haze remained a curtain to hide their path from wandering eyes. Their only interaction during that walk was that of Fewn reaching over and handing Kera strands of the dried meat from the day before. It wasn’t much, but it gave her to the strength to continue on, although neither knew where their destination truly lie.
