I started to gain better control of when I was coming in and out. The earth beneath me was hard jagged rocks. I struggled to twist onto my back and in the closest moment to the ground I could manage I turned to smoke.
I heard a loud whoosh and felt myself going out in all directions, then I reappeared from a foot or two above the ground and dropped.
I cried out in much more than pain. The ledge was impossibly high above me, so that I could not tell if anyone was looking down, but I knew that this would work well in reverse.
Groaning in anger, I pushed up on my hands and looked towards the dessert. The sun was close to setting over the fields of radiance; the mountain that had once housed the granted animals loomed to my left. There was nothing else as far as I could see besides distant mountain peaks.
I realized then that there was nothing in my hands. I began to frantically feel inside my clothes and around me for my crown. I rose to my feet so I could look beneath me, but it was nowhere. My chest began to rise and fall uncontrollably. Instead of looking further, I put my head in my hands and began to shake. I thought inconsolably of Cyric—because I knew it was him that I was searching for and not the crown—and I tried to understand, and I tried to imagine a way that all I had just seen could be a lie. But there was no way out of it. Tobias was dead; Cyric had stood by and let Lox kill him.
I recalled the empty darkness in his eyes and thought I would die of despair. Instead I felt an unexpected longing. Something that had been pulling at me ever seen Uldin Keep had been destroyed. With the wind and stillness around me my mind was free to consider.
Our cities were gone, but Shaundakul was not dead. If there was a hope for my people, there was only one place I could imagine it laid. In Yanartas. With our allies; the Warriors and the chimera. I had not allowed myself to consider it because of Cyric, and then I had hoped that Tobias… But now I was sure that there was no one left in Akadia that I could reach to help me. And Cyric’s opinion didn’t matter anymore.
I looked up at the ledge above as my hands tightened to fists. Had any part of me wanted to stay, I was not free to listen to it. I was responsible for the people of Shaundakul, and I had to free them.
Taking a deep breath, I looked across the desert and tried to determine the direction leading to the ocean.
*
CYRIC:
*
I could feel nothing as I descended the steps towards the desert floor. My breath was short though I had taken a lift down most of the way at Lox’s instruction. He’d told me to see if she was still alive. I kept seeing her face as she fell over the ledge.
I pushed through the door at the end of the final stairs and stepped onto hard rock. The sun blanketed the uneven land before me, a soft whistle blew across the desert. I could see no one. I looked up to determine the location beneath the ledge, then started walking towards it.
The rocks were like knives sticking up through the earth. I tried to climb past them without using my hands and stumbled twice. The third time I landed in front of a bright shining band. I picked it up and rose to my feet.
I stared at the crown—plain as it was without her—for seconds. Then I heard a scuffling sound. I ducked behind a rock, holding tight to the crown. I peered over its edge.
My body relaxed when I saw her, though somehow I’d never thought she was dead. She stood facing away from me; she didn’t look hurt, which I could only imagine had something to do with her powers.
I prepared myself to go out and get her, to use force if I had to. But then her head turned, and I saw her face. She wasn’t crying as I had expected. Her expression was serious, but her eyes were bright and turned toward the sun. I looked that way but saw nothing—not whatever she did.
Eventually she looked down at the ground, then she threw her hood over her head.
She started to walk. I didn’t try to hide as she passed me; the crown flared in my hand at her nearness, but she didn’t see me anyways. I squeezed the crown tighter as she got farther and farther away. It reformed itself in my grip. I waited for her to look back, but she never did.
*
I found Lox where he said he’d be in the war-room. He wasn’t alone, but when he saw me he sent the men closest to him off to other duties. I ascended the steps, then held the crown out for him.
“Dead?” he asked.
I hesitated only a moment, then nodded.
He looked disappointed, but unsurprised. It took me off-guard when he asked me, “You said you’d known her for a long time. Did she mean anything to you?”
I felt myself responding in ways hard to control. My eyes darted different directions: the tapestry, the other soldiers in the room. “I won’t miss her,” I answered.
Lox held my gaze.
After what had happened in the temple, I had no idea where I stood with him. I assumed nowhere—since, thanks to Tobias, I’d been made to look disloyal for not telling Lox sooner who Ellia was.
Lox scoffed. “A foolish waste. She would have become an honored ally to Akadia. I’ve truly known nothing like the stubbornness of Shaundakul.” He hesitated. “I assume you took care of the body?”
“No one will find it,” I said.
He nodded. Then he touched the crown in my hand. “Keep it. Or get rid of it if you like. It doesn’t matter anymore.”
I wrapped my fingers over it.
He opened his mouth as if he was going to say something else, but before he could a soldier approached us. The soldier started asking Lox about some battalion or another in the western lands.
Without thinking very much about it, I descended the stairs and found myself wandering the streets of Akadia. It had grown dark while I’d been inside. Soldiers roamed in packs, with handmaidens laughing around them. I walked until I was inside the training grounds. It was unlit except for a few torches so I couldn’t see much, but my ears told me that no one else was there.
I headed for the nearest practicing dummy. It sat at the entrance of a shallow cave in the rock wall of the grounds. I unsheathed my sword and rolled my shoulders, then I stood back a step from the dummy and tested the distance between us.
My first hit I saw Tobias standing with his sword drawn in the temple. My next I saw him laughing next to Ellia at his party. Then I heard him speaking to me. “You don’t have to do this, Cyric.” My lunges grew quicker. I felt his blade in my arm. I saw his features shift as Ellia screamed.
“Run, Ellia. Run.”
Other voices joined his.
“Stay away from her, Dracla. You’re the son of an outcast.”
“You’re not fit.”
“It’s in his blood. He won’t be able to help it. Murderer.”
Son of a murderer.
Murderer.
I dropped my sword and fell to my knees.
I watched the life leave Tobias’s body.
Everything was dark. I couldn’t see the sky. It was supposed to be dark. I wasn’t meant to see anything else.
~ ~ ~
PART TWO
Sorrow, sank deep inside my blood
All the ones around me, I cared for
And most of all I loved
But I can’t see myself that way
Please don’t forget me
Or cry while I’m away
—I Won’t See You Tonight Part 1, Avenged Sevenfold
~ ~ ~
CHAPTER ONE
ELLIA:
*
The first town I reached was not far beyond the borders of Akadia.
I had been lucky. I’d passed a farm and bartered with a woman there to exchange my Akadian dress for a common tunic and a pack. I hadn’t thought until I’d left to ask for food because I’d been distracted—it was the type of thing that Cyric would normally have taken care of—but fortunately the small Katellian town of Cathum was not far from where the farm had been.
As I stood before it, I could not help but think it more closely resembled the pig pens of Shaundakul than any city I’d ever entered. M
ud was everywhere, and the clucking of hens, and the snorting of hogs. But the people went on as if they were operating the most vital operation in all the lands. There seemed to be only one main street; all the merchants were lined up along in. Beyond a gate I could see a stone manor that I assumed housed the lord of the city.
I walked inside the walls with little notice from the guards. They wore a mixture of turquoise and green, the colors of Karatel, lords of the plains. Though too new a country to have a granted animal of their own, their land covered more than Akadia and Shaundakul put together.
It was good news to have entered a town that belonged to Karatel because they were allies of Shaundakul; I had even been to their palace once. But as I walked past the gate, I noticed soldiers in red and yellow mixed in with the others. That was not all; there were banners with the colors of Akadia hung from the walls of the city. I didn’t know what it meant, but I pulled my hood further over my face.
Each merchant I passed was busy selling. I looked for what type of food would be best for a journey, though I had no idea exactly how long my journey would take. I paused at a produce stand. It held all types of fruit. The girl beside me touched an orange, peach, and apple, then picked up a plum and bit directly into it.
“Hey, what do you think you’re doing?” the fruit-seller shouted, “you haven’t paid for that.”
The girl patiently chewed then flung out her hand as she swallowed. “You think I’m about to pay for something I haven’t tested?”
“You’ll pay for that piece you’ve ruined!”
She threw the plum at him and he barely brought his hands up quickly enough to catch it. “It’s hard as a rock and sour,” she said. “Try being patient if you expect people to want to buy it.”
“Hey, I didn’t pick them; I deal with a farmer.”
“Then find a better farmer.” She was already walking away.
The fruit-seller looked bewildered. His gaze stopped on me. Eyes wide, I bowed my head and quickly moved on to the next booth. It was a rice booth. The same girl was already there, but this time when she picked up a grain of rice and popped it in her mouth, the seller didn’t object. I tried not to react to the crunching sound it made. The rice was as inexpensive as anything I had seen. I looked down at myself. The last things I had to sell were a bracelet and necklace from Akadia, which I’d wrapped around my wrist. I pulled my bracelet off and held it out to the seller. “How much rice might this buy?” I asked.
He narrowed on it for a moment, then weighed it in his hand.
“I need a bowl and spoon too,” I added. I noticed the girl still standing close; I thought she was watching our exchange.
The man scratched his beard. “With the other items, this would get you…mmm… about half a pound.”
“Only that much?” I frowned. I reluctantly unwrapped the necklace from around my wrist, then set it in front of me. “What about with this?”
His eyes grew a little wider—so that I thought this was fortunately more valuable than the bracelet. He cleared his throat. “Ah, em… that’ll get you another pound.” He started filling a bag. He put the bowl and spoon inside it. “If you have anymore, I can give you a deal.”
I sighed. “No, I don’t…. I suppose a pound and a half would be enough to get me to the nearest port? I’m trying to reach the ocean.”
“That really depends on which port you’re going to. The closest is Loone, but it only has local fishing ships. If you want to cross the ocean, you’ll have to head to Habner. That’s quite a distance. You’ll need a lot more rice than this. Are you sure you don’t have anything else to barter with?”
I shook my head.
He shrugged, then he held out my bag.
“Thank you,” I said. I reached for it and I was about to ask him for more specific directions to Habner when the girl beside suddenly reached out and grabbed my bag of rice and jewelry both from the seller’s hand.
Before I could tell what was happening, she was racing off down the street.
“Hey. Thief!” the seller shouted. He kept yelling until soldiers came from their nearby posts. They headed off after the girl.
All I could see of her as she ran was a long black ponytail whipping behind her. Knowing nothing else to do, I started to chase after her too.
The crowds made it hard to move but they parted for the guards, so they caught up to the girl in no time. Just when I thought they had her, she propelled herself up on top of a barrel, then a booth, and finally atop the city wall. The guards looked furious. The one that addressed her was Akadian.
“Stop—Katellian thief!”
She leveled her glare and waved the bag of rice. “A Katellian I may be, but a thief I’m not, though you seem to say both with the same amount of regard.”
Without warning, one of the guards shot a crossbow towards her. She did a spin to avoid. They shot again and this time she did a cartwheel. Another guard climbed up onto the wall. He swung his sword and she ducked. She winced exaggeratedly at the crowd that was watching and some of them laughed. She hopped sprightly out onto a wood beam. The guard followed and stabbed. She threw the rice bag in the air, then jumped to the beam beside her. The guard stabbed again, but this time when she jumped, he tried to shift enough to cut her. Instead he wound up losing his footing and falling into a half dozen of the other guards below. The girl landed on the first beam, caught the bag of rice that she had thrown in her hand, and then bowed.
The crowd went wild with cheers and clapping. Even I couldn’t help but giggle.
She jumped back onto the city wall and raised her voice loudly. “Whoever believes it is the starving traveller or peasant worker that is the thief rather than the merchants who underpay the farmers and overprice their stock, be comforted by your Akadian protectors.” She wrapped her hand around the nearest red and yellow Akadian banner and yanked it down. “I’ll be comforted by the fact that ten of them can’t even seem to catch one peasant girl.”
With a viscous smile, she dropped the banner down on top of them. Then she walked to the edge of the wall, tipped her head, and disappeared off the side of it.
The people of Cathum clapped; even after she’d gone they erupted into laughter over the guards, who were all stumbling beneath the large red and yellow banner. I saw two of the turquoise and green Cathum soldiers ignoring the scene resolutely while wearing smiles. I grew a similar grin—at least until the crowd started to disperse—then I realized that I was now foodless and lacking in anything to trade.
I frowned and started to turn around but the realization had barely hit me before I felt a something heavy land inside my arms. It was the bag of rice tied off with my gold bracelet and necklace. I looked up and saw that in the shadows between two stalls stood the girl with a deep blue, almost black cloak and hood draped over her.
I quickly hid the treasure beneath my own cloak.
“He was cheating you completely,” she told me. “A bracelet like that is worth more rice than his booth could hold. Next time, cut off a quarter inch of it and get three pounds at least.”
I blinked a few times, but couldn’t think what to say.
“I’m sorry I had to scare you,” she said. “I know what it’s like to be on your own for the first time.” Her smile tipped. She glanced carefully at the crowd behind me. “Look, the rice isn’t all he was lying about. If you’re looking for a port you should head to Loone. It’s not a fancy town, but you can charter a captain to take you wherever you like from there. And the sailors are the best in all of Karatel.”
She glanced behind me at the crowd again; this time I turned as well because I was worried for her. A guard was passing behind me. He took one glance at my light hair and moved on. I turned back to the girl. “Do you know how to get to?…”
She was gone. I ventured into the shadows a little, but I didn’t see her.
In the cover of my cloak I opened up the small bag of rice she had retrieved for me. I smiled. For the first time since I’d started my journey
I thought maybe I really would be able to reach Yanartas without help. Or rather… at least without Cyric’s help. I tied the bag tight, then went out to get directions to the nearest crossroads. From there I would take the road to Loone.
~ ~ ~
CHAPTER TWO
CYRIC:
*
I emerged from the obstacle course a dozen yards in front of the others. I felt the sun on my face and looked back with a smile. Most of them were still stuck in the low mud holes at the end of the track. It was a different course than I had run in the new recruit’s race, much harder, and dirtier. I was covered in mud but thankful they’d had us take our shirts off. The possibility of going to the nearby fountain to rinse off was closed to me thanks to the pack of handmaidens crowding it. Just looking that direction got me a handful of waves.
I waited at the finish line to greet the first soldiers that emerged.
“Lose the smile, Cyric,” Volan complained.
Salthor was fourth to come out. “How did you get so far ahead our first run? I’m starting to think you practice these things while we’re all asleep.”
“Or else you’re just slow,” I said.
They hunched over with panting, or headed to the fountain. I knew I was in trouble when a big guy named Hulsar dug out. “Dracla!” he shouted and rose to his feet. He had mud covering his face and a bruise over his eye. When he saw me, he pointed. “You bloody cheater!”
I ducked and rolled before he’d even gotten close enough to hit me. I’d gotten used to predicting whenever this was about to happen over the past few days—and not from training. Besides I’d guessed that Hulsar was the type to get all bent over a little trip.
“Stay still and fight me,” he shouted.
He bent over and rammed at me. I dodged him again and this time he fell headfirst back into the mud at the end of the course. I stood tall and laughed, but out of nowhere another one of the soldiers knocked me from the side. I fell to the ground. He straddled me. I recognized him as another soldier I’d “offended” last night at dinner. He hit me twice. A crowd started to form. Then I heard a loud whistle.
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