“Did he tell you?” she asked.
“He told me that you were important,” said Hal. “And that I needed to protect you.”
She exhaled, and it almost seemed like a sigh of relief.
“Hold on,” said Hal. “I feel like there’s more to this than I’m being let in on.”
“Please.” She reached over and squeezed his hand. “Let’s just focus on the assignment for now, okay? I imagine it’s going to be interesting for you, seeing one of your fellow countrymen.”
Hal didn’t object to her deflection and pushed his curiosity aside.
“Yeah,” he said. “I thought the Sand Way was supposed to be impassable, cut off by the desert and sandstorms.”
“It is,” said Laurel. “Whoever crossed it must have a serious motivation. Or incredible luck.”
CHAPTER 12
It was a bright and sunny day outside, perfect for traveling and heavily contrasting against the ruined state of the city. Hal walked across the castle’s courtyard with Laurel. She’d dressed in her cloak again, this time with a green tunic underneath it and black riding pants.
“I’ll ride Toothy,” said Laurel. “We’ll have to see if the castle’s stables have any spare horses that you can borrow. Most of them are being used in the defensive effort for scouting and transporting supplies.”
“No need,” said Hal. “We can walk.”
Laurel frowned and shook her head. “It’s miles from here to the Woodsman Forest.”
“We only need to make it out of sightline of the city,” said Hal. “Then Karnas can carry us the rest of the way.”
Laurel stopped in her tracks. Hal looked over his shoulder at her, smiling a little at the expression on her face.
She looks like I just told her to swallow a toad.
“I… I’m not so sure,” she said, clearing her throat nervously. “I don’t think Karnas could carry the both of us…”
“He’s gotten bigger in the time since you’ve been away,” said Hal. “Trust me. He’ll have no problem with it.”
“But we might be seen…”
“It’s not that much of an issue if we’re heading west,” said Hal. “There’s nothing out that way other than the forest. No villages, and even if we are seen, they’ll just think we’re elves on a scouting mission.”
“But…” Laurel winced. She was clearly working to keep her composure. The old Laurel would have thrown her maturity aside and complained, and Hal could see the conflict playing out inside of her.
“Trust me,” he said. “It’ll be fun.”
He grinned and put an arm around her waist. Laurel only let him keep it there for a few seconds as they stepped onto the city streets before pulling herself a respectable distance away.
Meldence’s recovery was still ongoing. Most of the bodies had been taken care of, and now a mixture of rebuilding and fortification was taking place. Hal saw cautious optimism on the faces of the people he passed by. Some of them probably held out hope that the war with the elves could be resolved through diplomacy, given that the city hadn’t been seized or razed to the ground.
“How is he even going to know how to find us?” asked Laurel.
“He has his ways,” said Hal. “He’s got good eyesight. Or a good sense of smell. And he said he’d be watching.”
“That’s not reassuring,” said Laurel. “It could take a while, and Maxim Cedric is expecting me to make contact today.”
“We can always find a nice, secluded hill to wait on,” said Hal. “Maybe come up with something we can do to pass the time?”
He smiled mischievously at her, and Laurel rolled her eyes. They passed through the city gates and out onto the road. There was only a footpath leading west, meandering through the hills toward the Woodsman Forest.
The walked slowly, enjoying each other’s company. Laurel had pinned her hair up into a neat bun using two wooden sticks, and Hal was tempted to reach over and pull one of them loose. She seemed to sense his intention as soon as he reached out with his hand, smiling and pulling slightly to the side.
“You’re such a child,” said Laurel. “You should learn to take and follow orders better. Like Busher does.”
“I’m coming along for the sake of diplomacy,” said Hal. “Didn’t you hear the Maxim? I’m Lord Halrin of Emerald Valley, now.”
Laurel rolled her eyes. “Something tells me that Fool’s Valley is going to stick, once the court gets wind of you.”
“I’m fine with either, as long as I get to keep calling myself a lord,” said Hal.
They were far enough from the city to be out of direct view. Hal stepped in closer to Laurel, setting his hands on her hips. She looked at him, smiling a little. He kissed her, and felt her lips moving hungrily against his.
“We probably have time,” said Hal. “What do you say to sitting down on top of a hill, for a bit?”
Laurel’s hands ran through her hair. He let himself exhale against her neck, planting another soft kiss there.
Karnas shook the ground as he landed, reminding Hal of another similar, recent interruption. He pulled back from Laurel a little, looking at the dragon and smiling.
“Never mind,” said Hal. “Looks like our steed has arrived.”
Karnas brought his head down and in close to the two humans, nuzzling into Laurel until she started petting him.
“Lolo!” said Karnas. “Hally…”
“I really don’t know about this, Hal,” said Laurel. “There are just… too many ways it could go wrong.”
“Nothing is going to go wrong,” said Hal. “Right Karnas? It’s safe riding you, even if we’re both on your back.”
“Safe…” said Karnas. “Lolo… not worry…”
“We’re headed west,” said Hal. “Toward the forest way over there.” He pointed west. “Can you take us?”
“Okay…” said Karnas.
“What more assurance could you need?” Hal took Laurel by the hand and half led, half dragged her around to the side of the dragon. He climbed up onto Karnas first, and then offered her a helping hand.
He expected Laurel to keep up her resistance, but she steeled her expression and nodded. Hal could see her forcing herself to be brave, and it reminded him of how much she’d matured since coming to the capital. She could push through fear, through doubt, and commit herself to action.
I’m proud of her. She’s grown so strong.
He helped her up onto the dragon behind him. Hal hung onto the scales on Karnas’s neck, while Laurel had her arms looped around his waist, holding on to him so tightly that it almost made it hard for him to breathe.
Karnas stretched his wings, gave them an exploratory flap, and then leapt into flight. Hal heard a quiet, high-pitched gasp from Laurel as they lifted into the air. Karnas continued flapping, gaining height until they could see the Meldence below them, Lake Krestia to the north, and the sprawling grasslands to the east.
“Nice view, isn’t it?” asked Hal. He had to shout to be heard over the rush of wind and rhythmic beating of Karnas’s wings.
“…Incredible,” whispered Laurel. Karnas banked into a turn to set them on a westward trajectory, and she let out a small squeal, hugging tighter to Hal. Her tunic was thinner than it looked, and Hal could feel the points of her nipples pressing into his back. It made him wish they’d had just a few more minutes before Karnas’s interruption…
“How long will it take?” asked Laurel.
“Not long,” said Hal. “An hour, maybe. Faster if Karnas finds a suitable air current.”
Karnas flapped his wings, raising them a little higher into the air. Laurel rested her head against Hal’s shoulder. He could feel her breathing against his cheek, fast, almost panicked. He took one of his hands off Karnas’s neck to set on top of hers, giving a small squeeze.
CHAPTER 13
The Woodsman Forest slowly came into view over the course of the next hour. It was well deserving of its name, a thick collection of dense foliage and some of the tal
lest trees Hal had ever seen.
It was the type of woods that would have been hard to clear without a concerted effort on the part of a large, determined group of people. A place that only woodsmen could take advantage of.
An old stone arch bridge spanned the river that cut the Woodsman Forest off from the grasslands. Hal squeezed his arms against Karnas’s neck, signaling the dragon to descend. Karnas was careful when he had passengers, and the landing was gentler than the ground shaking descents that he performed on his own.
Hal hopped down first, and then helped Laurel. She took a few steps on shaky legs before getting her bearings.
“Alright,” she said. “I doubt whoever it is we’re here to find will be too far into the forest, given how expansive it is. We should be ready for an encounter as soon as we cross the bridge.”
Hal nodded slowly. “What do you mean by that?”
He set a hand on the hilt of his sword. The last thing he wanted was to enter into conflict with people from his homeland, but he wouldn’t hesitate if it came down to protecting Laurel.
“I don’t think it will come to violence,” said Laurel. “Just let me do the talking and serve me as a bodyguard.”
“Fair enough,” said Hal. “Karnas, you can hang out here if you want, or circle overhead. We’ll be back in an hour or two.”
“Watch you,” said Karnas. He flapped his wings and took to the air, circling as he rose into the sky.
“Come on,” said Laurel. “Let’s go.”
Her confidence had returned to her in full, and Hal almost felt like she’d slapped a bridle on him. He walked alongside her over the bridge. The water below them sang as it flowed over rocks and around bends in the river. The air was cold, but not quite cold enough to freeze their breath.
Entering the forest was like stepping into another world. The canopy was thick overhead, allowing sunlight through in shafts that seemed purposeful in how they illuminated patches of the pine needles carpeting the ground. The air smelled like sap, and it was eerily quiet, as though the birds had all left for the season.
“It’s beautiful here,” said Laurel.
“You think so?” asked Hal.
She nodded. “It makes me wonder what it would be like to have a homestead in the woods, instead of in a valley.”
“Probably a lot less convenient,” said Hal. “But I get your meaning. There’s something different about this place. Peaceful.”
There’d been a path through the trees once, but it was only obvious for the first few hundred feet. Hal and Laurel kept heading in the same general direction, the trees growing larger and closer together with every step.
Hal felt a sudden stab of caution as they passed by a tree that had fallen onto a large boulder, easily three or four carriages in size. He grabbed Laurel’s arm with one hand and reached for his pistol with the other.
“Don’t,” came a commanding voice. “Keep your hands where we can see them.”
Several figures emerged from hiding, some of them from behind the boulder, others from behind trees or bushes. They were all holding pistols or rifles, weapons that were all but unknown in Krestia’s Cradle. Hal felt familiarity and nostalgia surging through him as he recognized the style of their clothing.
These are my people.
The man who appeared to be the leader of the group stood out from the rest, as much for his appearance as the way the others deferred to him with their gazes. He was completely bald, and had suffered serious burns to his face and neck. It left him looking deformed, with half of his face looking scarred, almost melted.
“I am Ambassador Laurel Ancina,” said Laurel. “I came on command of my Lord Maxim to make contact with a group of travelers rumored to be from the Collected Provinces. Might you be who I’m seeking?”
The scarred man was staring, not at Laurel, but Hal. It made Hal feel like going for his gun, but he fought back the reflex.
“Weapons down,” said the scarred man. “It’s okay.”
“What?” Another man with glasses and a baby face spoke up. “What proof do we have that she is who she claims to be?”
“It doesn’t matter,” said the scarred man. “I have all the proof I need.”
He sheathed his pistol and grinned at Hal. His lip only rose up all the way on one side, and it made the expression seem more like a sneer.
“Halrin…” said the scarred man.
Hal stared uncomprehendingly at him. “Who are you?”
The scarred man chuckled and gestured to his face. “Is it that bad, or are you still half-blind from all the time you spent in the library, poring over those books?”
The words hit Hal like a punch to the stomach, except with numb shock in the place of pain. He took a staggering step forward, his eyes wide, mouth agape.
“…Mauve?” His voice was shaky with emotion and disbelief. “It… can’t be. Mauve!”
Mauve laughed. It was a deeper, scratchier laugh than he remembered, but the joy on his face was familiar, even through the scars. They crossed the distance to each other, hugging and patting each other on the back. Mauve had survived the massacre. Hal still had people left, back home. He pulled back so he was looking at Mauve again.
“…Lilith?” he asked, his voice hopeful, almost begging.
If Mauve managed to survive the flames, there was no reason she couldn’t have. Hal didn’t care about scars or what she looked like, only if she was alive. He’d spent so much time in Krestia’s Cradle, lost and hopeless. Lilith being alive, back across the desert, would change everything.
He could go home. He could rebuild with her. He could apologize to her, for making a promise that he hadn’t managed to keep, despite how easy it would have been. Or, he could bring Lilith here. Introduce her to Laurel, and a new world full of possibilities and adventure.
It’s like a dream. For her to still be alive…
“Hal…” Mauve shook his head. “I’m so sorry. I was the only survivor.”
The stupid agony of those simple words was almost too much for Hal to bear. His voice caught in his throat as he tried to lie, to tell Mauve that it was okay, and that he was just glad that someone had survived. A noise somewhere in between a sob and a groan escaped on his exhale, and he closed his eyes. It was as though someone had torn the wound of Lilith’s death open, stabbed a knife into it, and poured salt into the resulting gouge.
“Halrin,” whispered Laurel. She’d come up beside him at some point, and set a hand on his shoulder. It helped more than he’d expected it to. Hal cleared his throat and forced composure back into his expression and voice.
“Right,” said Hal. “Mauve. My brother. I can’t tell you how much it means to me to have you here.”
“You have so much explaining to do,” said Mauve. “How in the world did you end up in this land? And how did you survive, in the first place?”
“The dragon,” said Hal. “It carried me here. It’s a long story, but it wanted me alive.”
“We have time,” said Mauve. “I want to hear all of it.”
“How about we head back to Meldence, first?” asked Hal. “It’s more comfortable there. And I have just as many of the same questions. What are you doing here, Mauve? And how did you get here?”
“There were reports of the dragon heading to the east, across the desert,” said Mauve. “It took some doing, but I managed to organize an expedition to go after it. Got myself elected in the process.”
He grinned at Hal, who shook his head and smiled back.
“Officially, we came here to take a survey on the land across the desert, if it truly existed,” said Mauve. “I guess we also came to rescue you, as a result. And of course, to take vengeance against the monsters who wronged us both.”
Mauve’s expression hardened, becoming something that was unnerving, even to Hal. He suddenly felt as though he was looking into a mirror, even though Mauve’s face was more physically different from his own than it ever had been before.
Revenge. Is this what
it looks like to someone on the outside?
“We already got one of the world blasted monsters,” said Mauve. “Or we captured it, at least. A juvenile, not fully grown. It managed to escape, but we did some damage to it, maybe enough to kill it anyway.”
Hal had an unwanted realization as the pieces of an old puzzle fell into place. When Karnas had come to his rescue during his escape from the Upper Realm, the dragon had been malnourished and badly wounded. Hal had assumed he’d never know the full story behind the dragon’s injuries, but everything fit. How many other juvenile dragons were there in Krestia’s Cradle?
Before he could finish processing his conclusion, the tops of the trees above them exploded with orange light. Sparks and flaming embers fell in a shower around Hal and Mauve. The rest of the party from the Collected Provinces took cover behind the boulder, and Laurel drew in close to him.
The ground shook as Karnas landed in the middle of the falling, flaming shards of wood. He opened his mouth and let out a savage roar unlike anything Hal had ever heard out of him before.
CHAPTER 14
Mauve leapt backward, falling into a Kye Lornis roll that Hal knew all too well. He had his pistol out, and was pointing it at Karnas, steadying his aim. Hal shouted a wordless warning, but Karnas was still roaring, drowning out all other sound.
“Hurt… me!” cried the dragon. He exhaled flames toward the boulder and the rest of Mauve’s group. The fire splashed across rock, missing its intended targets.
Mauve fired his pistol. Hal was caught off guard by how loud the gunshot was, and again by how little of a result there was to show for it. He’d grown used to his magic and Flame Shot over the past few months, and using a pistol with an actual bullet and black powder seemed like a crude imitation of what he could manage.
“Stop!” he shouted, this time putting himself in between Karnas and Mauve. “You don’t understand! Mauve, Karnas!”
Eternal Palace (Sexcraft Chronicles Book 4) Page 7
