Iron Clash (Legend of the Iron Flower Book 7)

by Billy Wong

  Running to catch up to the old one in the lead, Rose said, "Wait, what happened to telling the frog-men they needn't fight?"

  "I sent one of my wives to tell them the news, and to leave the humans in peace."

  Though she didn't sense any deception in his voice, she was curious about the hurry he and his followers appeared to be in. Following his long strides beyond the town's edge, she asked, "Where are you going, that demands such haste?"

  "South. The voice request our aid."

  "What is this voice? Is it some master of yours?"

  "Not our master, but our friend. One we thought long dead."

  "Kayla?"

  "It feels like her, yes. But they killed her, the traitors... perhaps, the gods have deemed her worthy of a new life."

  Now Rose was getting confused. Traitors? But hadn't Kayla been killed by Deathend in their last fight? Finn came up beside her, and she turned to him. "Geez, I don't know who's right anymore..."

  "Huh?"

  "I mean, about the past. The woman in my dreams told me one story, but the giant just contradicted it. Unless one of them is lying, it seems that Kayla died two different ways."

  "But it doesn't matter that much, does it? She's dead either way. You said the thing in your dreams isn't really her anyway, so if anything it's probably the liar."

  "I still want to know the truth. I mean, it could help us be prepared for whatever this evil is that I might face—and also, the old giant said something about being asked for help by a voice he thought to be Kayla's."

  Finn frowned. "That can't be, could it? I mean, every old hero can't come back to life."

  "Why not? She was a great mage, and we've already seen a few of those revive."

  "If Kayla came back, would that really be a bad thing? She was on the good side."

  Rose nodded. "That's true. But it still worries me—seems like something like that would be a sign of big changes to come, and big changes rarely occur without strife."

  "I guess you could also say the fact she's asking for help might be a bad sign, huh?"

  "Yeah, that too." She looked at him and smiled. "But we did save the town, so for now let's go back and celebrate."

  Finn wrapped her in a big hug. "For once, you don't even have the wounds to warrant me not playing rough." He lifted her onto his shoulder and carried her to the inn while people gawked. "So rough is how I'm going to play!"

  #

  The frog-men visited shortly thereafter, giving a quick apology to the people of Culn before leaving with the giantess who had told them the error of their ways. Apparently, they would be following their "gods" south to their cause's aid. Of course, an apology wasn't going to do much for those who had died, but then there'd been casualties on both sides. Rose and Finn themselves had been responsible for many of those.

  Shortly after the frog-men departed, Mick came to visit the couple in the inn while they drank. "You did it! I know you've heard it a lot today, but thanks again for all your help in getting those slimy monsters to go away."

  "You're welcome," Rose said, not meaning it that much. She didn't feel too proud of what she and Finn had done for Culn. They'd killed some less than vile creatures and watched them leave with their gods, but she wasn't sure if they had made that much of a difference at the end of the day. If they hadn't been here, the giants might still have awakened and taken their servants away with them. But their stand against the frogmen's attack had probably saved some human lives.

  Seeing her disinterest, Mick took on a glum look and walked away. "You're acting more apathetic than he expected," Finn said, "or I did for that matter."

  After finishing the large fish she had been picking apart, she guzzled down a full mug of spirits. "It just feels so pointless, everything we did. I mean, we fight, kill a few misguided frog-men... and then their gods awaken and lead them away?"

  "It's better than if that hadn't happened and we had to kill all the things, right?"

  "That's true. Make me feel kind of useless, but I suppose I should be glad everything worked out for the best."

  "I don't feel useless." He winked. "I knocked on the ice, remember? Maybe I woke that elder up early, and saved us some more interracial strife."

  "That's the hopeful way of looking at it."

  "Rose, you did talk to the giant and remind him about the frog-men—who knows if he would have bothered with them otherwise. More concretely, you did stop their attack twice, once with your words and then your blade."

  She only felt worse upon hearing that. "Yeah, but when I talked them into not attacking the first time, it was with a promise I failed to keep out of ignorance of what they meant about disturbing the gods' rest. I let the fishermen back on the lake thinking I understood something I didn't, and because of that a bunch of people died."

  Finn wiped tears from her face. "I didn't even think of it that way. But it's still their fault for jumping to violence over a little thing. You needn't take the blame for the frogs' action."

  "I know, not entirely at least. I am mad at them about that, and if I had my way everybody would think before rushing into a fight." She paused and sadly shook her head. "But then, there's a lot of things I wish for but can never have."

  "Like what?"

  "You know, world peace, brotherhood among men, good food every day—the usual unattainable garbage."

  "You forgot security in life."

  Rose managed to giggle and still cry. "Security's kind of low on my wishlist. I've gotten used to a dangerous life."

  "I suppose I'm not that concerned with security myself. Sounds like it would make for some boredom."

  "Yeah, but that's us. We're not exactly ordinary folk. I think for people with less power to affect the world, a secure life is respectable to hope for. You know, we do have something I wouldn't give up for anything else, not even my dreams for the world." She burped, felt a bit of self-consciousness that was quickly lost to her buzz.

  "Our children?" Finn guessed.

  "Them too, of course. But I was going to say, our love. We have such great memories together, and as long as we're together, we'll keep making more."

  "That makes three." He gave her a questioning look. "Great memories, huh? Even after all you've suffered?"

  "The suffering's far outweighed by the joy. Besides, even if there are some things I regret, the pain is part of what makes me what I am—enduring it helped make me strong." She grinned. "Though I might not mind losing some of the physical scars." Especially those inside, which might shorten her life.

  "You're beautiful, Rose. But I think it's time for the beauty to go to bed."

  "Already? You can't be suggesting we sleep, it's still early."

  He stroked her cheek, and said in his best attempt at a husky voice, "I don't mean for us to sleep, when we go to bed."

  "I don't think I'm going to be up for that tonight." The deadly frog-man raid, and her incompetence in preventing it, still weighed heavily on her mind.

  "Stop blaming yourself for everything that goes wrong. You tried."

  "Yeah, but few would think much of a person content with just trying and failing."

  Finn gazed piteously at her face. "You're always so full of guilt, and you're only twenty-five. Sometimes I'm afraid all of it will ruin you one day."

  She had to admit that often, it felt like nearly too much to bear. But seeing her husband's worried expression, she smiled. "Don't worry, I haven't let it put me down yet, have I? Yeah, I feel pretty lousy when I fail. But I never forget... there's always another day, and another chance to make a difference."

  #

  For the first time, Kayla spoke first in the dream, and in fact her words had already reached Rose's mind before she and the bloodstained landscape appeared around her. "Why didn't you listen to me?!" the walking corpse demanded, sounding flustered.

  "Didn't you say you were evil?" Rose asked, meeting her furious eyes. "I've got some news you might like to hear, or not. The real Kayla's alive, or just about, an
d as I see it, you're still dead. Looks like good wins again."

  Kayla's features drooped like she was going to cry, and Rose stared in surprise. "I-I guess this is what I get for trying to be mysterious, eh? I didn't... didn't mean it when I said I was evil, though I'll admit I've done less than stellar things. But I was trying to save you some trouble when I reached out to you today. I wish you hadn't ignored my advice... Kayla hasn't come back. And you know how I know? Because I really am her... dammit."

  Hearing the sadness and regret plain in her voice, Rose's suspicion dwindled. "What exactly is going on, then? Why would you have me stop your allies, and what were they talking about when one of them said traitors killed you?"

  "All right. I'll tell you all of it." Kayla sighed. "I said I fell to evil, which I did by dying here against Deathend. As for 'my' beginning here, that wasn't really me, but the evil that used my body—though it would be remembered in my name. Many of the deeds that made me a legend, I didn't do. It certainly wasn't me who conquered what you call Kayland now and named it after myself. The elder race you met did once follow me, but after I was gone, they continued to serve my physical shell and did things I never would have approved of.

  "In the end, it was the wiser ones of their race who rebelled against the faux me and defeated it—at the cost of their own lives. They were slaughtered after by their kin who mistakenly thought they had murdered me, when I'd long been dead. But their sacrifice was not in vain, because they kept the evil one from doing any more harm than he already had in my guise. Yet now it seems he has returned to prominence in the world, and I fear what he will do this time."

  Rose supposed the frog-men must have talked to those giants who realized Kayla's possession, and not realized what happened after to them. "Okay, so something evil took over your body after you died and used it to further his own plans. But what was he, and where did he come from? By the way, you've been awfully vague. You were a warrior, not a prophet, and I'd like if you would stop discussing such serious matters in riddles."

  Kayla looked away. "I'm sorry, I don't usually speak in such cryptic manner. It just really embarrasses me to talk about it. He was... my son."

  With a start, Rose asked, "Your son took over your corpse to take your place? How? Some sort of soul-switching magic? But why? I know you had a lot of prestige, but he should've had some claim to inheriting your official position—why would he have to do it in such a grotesque way?"

  "Well, first of all, my official position wasn't so great. I was no queen or anything, just the champion of the Mage-Sentinels who guarded this continent in our day. He would have done better for himself with the reputation I'd gained in battle than just my role. But moreover, he couldn't have filled my role because he didn't have a human body. I call him my son because he was created from a part of me, just as is a flesh and blood baby. Only, his seed came from my mind."

  Rose felt a chill through her body at the dead heroine's words. Soul manipulation magic. She'd seen the tragic results of such tampering in the past, and could only view any such practice with disgust and fright. "What did you do, and why? Were you unable to have children the natural way?"

  "No, that wasn't the reason. I didn't create him to be my child. I did it to make me stronger, so I could do what I needed. Among my peers, I was regarded as potentially the strongest, the warrior and mage with the most natural talent in all the land. A child of destiny, some said. But there was a problem. I hadn't the stomach to kill men, and so all my ability seemed a waste. I was too soft—or too good, one could say.

  "It wasn't a real hindrance, at first—I hid behind my fellow Sentinels, and in most battles they carried the day without me just fine. But then Deathend came in all his might with his immense armies, bent on putting another continent under his reign. I resolved to overcome my distaste for blood, but no matter how much I tried to steel myself I always broke down before I could take a life.

  "My allies were being sorely pressed by Deathend's forces, and in desperation I searched inside myself for any trace of the killer's spirit needed for this fight. I found it, and with my magic drew it out. You must be wondering how that would help, aren't you? Simple, really. I isolated it from my conscience so that it could grow and grow, and once it was strong enough, give me the will to fight. When he was with me, he pushed my doubts away, so that I could do whatever it took to restore the peace I cherished."

  "Like the Clarities," Rose whispered in part awe and part dread. "You're saying you invented the Clarities?"

  "What are these Clarities you speak of?"

  She explained about the spiritual symbiotes created by mages after Kayla's time, in the last days of the Old World, to boost their mental powers. The symbiotes also had the side effect of making their hosts more single-minded and ruthless in the pursuit of their goals, as Kayla said her "son" had to aid her. Rose had faced them once, more than half a decade ago. She dreaded the thought of fighting such foes, which could turn good friends into enemies she might be—and had been—forced to kill, again.

  When Rose was done, Kayla cracked a bitter smile. "No, my son wasn't such a being—though I'd say their creators might have taken some inspiration from me, in terms of the name as well as the function. But he wasn't a disembodied spirit, exactly. I housed him within a corporeal object—that is, the weapon of my choice. My trident, Clearsky."

  Rose recognized the name. The "ultimate weapon" which had fallen into the hands of the treacherous Prince Victor, after he'd won it at a goddamn auction no less. He hardly deserved the favor fate appeared to grant him, although it seemed almost redundant for him to wield it. He hardly needed a colder mind. "I've heard it called the ultimate weapon. Why? Physically, it seems no match for say, Deathend's flaming blade."

  At her mention of the Fanteian conqueror, Kayla grinned. "You're unbelievable, you know? I beat him and died. You did it, and survived."

  "I almost didn't, though. Can we get back to the matter at hand?"

  "Clearsky isn't bad in terms of piercing things, but his real power lies in his voice."

  "I've never heard it talk."

  "No, he doesn't do it out loud. He speaks to bonded allies through their minds, and like the Clarities you mentioned boosts their ability to fight. Only he can do it with more than one person at a time."

  Rose swallowed at the thought of what that might mean in a war. "How many at a time?"

  "I'm not even sure. From my experience, I would wager a lot. I know he was bonded to all of our giant allies."

  "How is it you know so little about your own creation—your son, as you say?"

  "Magic is an imprecise science. His power surpassed all my expectations, certainly. He helped me so much in battle, and yet I was always afraid. He doesn't just help those he bonds to, you see—he controls them. Oh, he won't make it obvious if he can help it. But if you try to go against his wishes, you're in for a fight. One thing I can say, is that you can resist him. I don't know for sure how they were able to do it, but some of the elder race did rebel and defeat him in the end."

  "But they didn't destroy him. Why didn't they?"

  The dead woman shook her head. "They probably thought to the very end it was something inside me that was trying to play with their minds. After all, Clearsky commanded using my voice then."

  "So they left him alone after defeating your body. Kayla, what do you think Clearsky is up to now?"

  "He has to have a primary bonded partner to act as his mouthpiece."

  "Prince Victor," Rose breathed. "Their goals should fit well together—he already wanted rule of Kayland. What does Clearsky want?"

  "The world, or however much of it he can take, I suppose. He was born of me, though the worse parts. Like me, he would have a desire for peace, if not the kind we'd like. More the oppressive, domineering kind."

  "They're probably already moving towards war. Do you think he'll attack soon?"

  "He's called the elder race to wake. He probably isn't far from making his move, once he ga
thers his allies."

  Rose frowned. "Should I try to chase after the giants and persuade them they're being duped?"

  "I doubt you'll be able to catch up to them with their head start."

  "Are there more members of this elder race? How many?"

  The sight of tears coming to Kayla's eyes moved Rose. She knew what it was to have to oppose people you didn't want to see hurt. "There aren't that many left, I'm sad to say. All the fighting, against Deathend, then 'me,' then each other after my body's downfall—it almost wiped them out. I doubt more than a hundred made it through the wars to rest in wait for a better time. Even so, they're extremely powerful, especially in your magic-deprived age. Just a few of them would make a great difference in any army these days."

  "I can imagine. With Clearsky calling, would the rest of them have awakened yet?"

  "There are four places I know the Ulir—the elder race—had prepared to hide themselves. Of those, the one you just saw was closest to Clearsky. As his call grows weaker with distance, no, I think it will be some time before the others wake... but perhaps not a long time. If you want to catch them before they go to join his cause, I'd suggest you hurry."

  "Where are these places?"

  Before Kayla could answer, Rose felt the world shake, then the dream faded away.

  #

  Rose awakened to find Finn's huge arm draped over her and their blankets displaced, and realized she'd been shaken out of her dream by his slumbering movements. She thought briefly about waking him to chide him for disturbing her at an inopportune time, but decided against it and closed her eyes. Soon she went back to sleep, and when she returned to the dreamscape found Kayla regarding her with bemused eyes. "There you are. I've been waiting for you."

  "Yeah, sorry about that. My husband woke me. Where do these giants sleep?"