Voidhawk: The Elder Race

by Jason Halstead

  She turned around, looking at them all and then catching Rosh’s eye last. She met his gaze and stared for a long moment. Long enough that he had to break it when he was overcome by a fresh fit of coughing.

  “Rosh!” Willa gasped, rushing over to him. She clung to him and buried her face in his chest, ignoring his blood that dirtied her. “You stupid bastard! How dare you save me and… and…”

  “He saved me too,” Bailynn said, resting her hand on Willa’s shoulder. “I was possessed and the others would have killed me, but Rosh stopped them.”

  Willa turned away, not relinquishing her hold on the big man but at least giving Bailynn her attention. “I will put my life in his hands again.”

  She handed the ring to Rosh, who took it with a hand that trembled. He stared at the ring and then closed it in his hand. “Willa,” he gasped, his breath coming harder to him, “stand away… I don’t have much time left and if the bookworm’s right, this ain’t no place to be.”

  She nodded but could only bury her face in his chest again. He bent down and kissed her, leaving a bloody mark on her forehead from his lips. “Dex, take her.”

  Dexter and Jenna came forward, firmly but gently pulling Willa from him. Dexter paused and stared at him, then, realizing he did not have the words, he just nodded.

  Rosh returned the nod, then smiled. “Think of all the trouble I’m saving you.”

  Dexter let Jenna pull Willa on her own. He offered his hand and was surprised at the strength remaining in Rosh’s grip when the larger man shook it. “Get out of here and kill me some elves,” he growled, fighting back another spasm of coughing through sheer willpower.

  Dexter was the last person to leave the tower. He gave Rosh a last glance and saw him place the ring upon the altar, then pick up the hammer. Rosh raised the hammer overhead in a salute. Dexter waved and was gone, trotting after the others.

  A few moments later they heard the sound of metal striking metal. It was followed so closely by a low pitched clap of thunder that they felt more than heard it. Brilliant light erupted out the archway and windows of the tower. Within seconds the dark hued beam of energy reversed course, blasting a pure golden ray into the heart of the black sun above them. Dexter picked himself up, realizing that he was laying on the ground now. Looking around he saw the others had been knocked from their feet as well.

  Willa was silent, though her tears fell steadily. The others watched, struggling to overcome being stunned by the strange blast. Of them all only Bailynn failed to rise. She lay upon the ground twitching and convulsing, as though she was caught in the fit of a seizure. Logan picked her up easily and looked to the others, then back at the tower.

  “Is… is that it?” Willa whispered. Her eyes begged for answers, answers Dexter couldn’t give. “Is he gone?”

  “Let’s go,” Dexter said, the words tasting bitter in his mouth. “He’d be disappointed in us if we’d have gone back.”

  “What are we to do now?” The normally quiet Jodyne asked. “Sure enough he had the charm of steerage rat but he could fight. There’s elves enough for all of us and more to spare, how are we to get past them?”

  Her question was answered not by Dexter of anyone from the Voidhawk, but with the sound of metal striking metal. From the tower they heard it first, then all around them the sound echoed forth. In the distance they heard shouts that turned to screams. The statues they had passed time and again were no longer still.

  Dexter cursed and drew his sword, putting himself in front of his crew as the silent guardians that had stood around the tower walked towards them. He raised his weapon, figuring his magic blade alone gave him a chance. Jenna grabbed his wrist and hissed for him to be patient. The sentries passed by them, paying them no more heed than they might have to a tree.

  “Can’t they see us?” Dexter whispered, turning slowly to stare at the backs of the metallic sentinels.

  “They must know we’re not the enemy,” Bekka said.

  “Sounds like the elves aren’t so lucky,” Xander said, listening to the distant sounds of fighting and dying.

  “Serves ‘em right,” Willa sobbed.

  Jenna looked uncomfortable, but said nothing. She caught Dexter’s eye and looked up, towards the stairs that would lead them back to the Hawk and beyond. He nodded.

  “Let’s go,” he said. “There’s nothing more to be done here.”

  Keshira met them halfway up the flight of steps. She was bloodied in a dozen more places, but she still moved and showed no signs of slowing. Dexter just waved his head in disbelief as she fell in with them without complaint. Her clothing was beyond tatters, only a few scraps remained to hang from her right shoulder and another torn loop hadn’t yet pulled free from around her right ankle. Her skin was covered in blood, much of it hers, but her magical nature spared her the inconvenience of death short of total destruction.

  Dexter paused as they passed the road that led to the docks. He stared down it, seeing the slaughtered remains of elves scattered about. “I mean to go back up and see if them ancient elves got anything to say,” he said. “The Hawk could stand some company, any takers?”

  Jodyne nodded. “Had my fill of this place,” she said. “I’m for the ‘Hawk.”

  “I’ll go with you,” Willa said. “The sooner we’re quit of this place the better!”

  Dexter winced at the hurt she was showing. It was why he discouraged relationships on a boat or, really, in general. There was no telling what could happen or when a man could return to port. Jenna caught his eye and she gave him a glare that let him know she knew what he was thinking. He grinned and hurried to the steps that would lead them back up towards the garden and beyond.

  Along the way they saw no sign of the statues. Of the elves there were plenty of signs, all of them bloody. It wasn’t until they reached the garden that the change that was overtaking the city was beginning to become apparent. The statues of animals and wildlife were changing. At first Dexter thought they were melting, then he realized that it was not melting so much as the metal was changing. It was transforming back into whatever material it had been before. Trees were becoming wood, squirrels fur and flesh. Everything was slowly returning to its natural state.

  Atop the final stairs the metal guardians stood in silent salute to them. The ground was littered with the blood and bodies of fallen elves, but it had been cleaned from between the row of statues. The diamond and the column it rested upon were gone as well, though no seam or depression indicated it had ever been. Behind it the doorway stood open and inviting, though the room beyond was plunged into shadow.

  Dexter and Jenna approached it but hesitated. A few more steps and they would cross the threshold, but all they could see was blackness within. They looked to one another and nodded, then made to take a step.

  “Dare not to cross the threshold of the elders without invitation.”

  Jenna and Dexter stopped, staring around for the source of the voice. It came from within the darkness, but they couldn’t place it. It was different than the voice they heard in the diamond, but still one neither of them knew. The others behind them fell silent, staring around them and no less curious.

  A shape materialized out of the darkness. Whether it was man or woman they couldn’t tell. Even elf or human was anyone’s guess. Once it left behind the cloak of darkness it remained concealed within a silver cloak of the finest silks that included a hood over its head.

  It paused at the threshold, then stepped over almost hesitantly. The figure paused, feet and hands hidden by the voluminous robes. It turned away from them partially, then turned to look up, gasping at the sight of the slowly brightening sun above them all.

  “My blood warms to see such a thing,” it said. The voice, though peculiar and oddly accented, seemed masculine. He turned to face them and reached up to its hood. The arms of its cloak fell back and revealed fingers so long and skinny they seemed almost skeletal. His head was similar, when revealed. Thin golden hair framed an emaciated face.
His eyes, bronze and ancient, possessed a power that warned them not to cross him. “Much thanks are owed to you. Mine and my people’s.”

  Jenna bowed deeply. Dexter, catching himself quickly, followed suit. He motioned behind him, needlessly, for the others to do the same.

  “Rise you up and tell me what you are known by,” he lifted his hand in a manner of one who is accustomed to being obeyed without question.

  “Dexter Silvercloud, Captain of the Voidhawk,” Dexter said, eager to speak and establish themselves as the heroes of the day. “This is Jenna Darkwind, my first mate,” he said, motioning to her. He paused then smiled at her before adding, “She is also my…”

  “Consort,” Jenna supplied with a barely contained smile. Dexter could see she was enjoying this, even if calling her a consort at any other time might have earned him sharp words and sharper treatment behind the door of their room.

  “My second in command, Rosh Evensun, gave his life in this task,” He continued after a moment in a somber voice. “It was he who struck the blow that returned life to your sun.”

  “Great honors we shall bestow upon him,” the wizened elf said. “A special place in our annals will we give him.”

  Dexter smirked in spite of himself, then held up a hand, “My apologies…I can see his face at hearing he earned a place of honor in an elven history. He and the elves didn’t get on so well.”

  The elder frowned. “Much time has passed. Tell me of it, please, after I know of your companions.”

  Dexter nodded. “My helmsman, Bekka, and my wizard, Xander. Logan here is our healer, and he carries with him a girl named Bailynn, she was hurt when we reloaded your sun.”

  “Reloaded… yes, that is fitting. Bekka, come forth please,” the elf said.

  Bekka walked forward, bowing her head to him as she did so.

  “Elven blood runs in your veins, mingled with other?”

  “My mother was human,” she said. “My father, she claims, was an elf that served as an officer on a ship she was a captive aboard.”

  He frowned. “Far have they fallen — to see blood lines crossed is testimony.”

  Bekka nodded to him again and, sensing she had been dismissed, tried to back away.

  “Your blood is no fault of yours, hold your head high,” he offered her.

  Bekka stumbled and smiled.

  “Bring forth the girl,” he said next.

  Logan carried Bailynn and held her before the elf. The worst of her spasms had passed, but still she twitched.

  He passed a hand over her, calming her with some unseen power. She rested in Logan’s arms, breathing evenly and easily. The elf looked up at Logan and his eyes widened as his nostrils flared. Logan muttered his thanks for giving her peace. He showed no signs of seeing the elf’s strange reaction to him.

  “This girl, she is touched by elven magic?” The weathered elf said, turning to face Dexter and Jenna.

  “She is what they call an elven slayer,” Jenna explained. “My people created her, taking a young human girl and twisting her with their magic. She is a weapon capable of great harm. She was sent to kill me.”

  “Yet with you she travels? Works with you?”

  Jenna nodded. “We captured her and kept her safe until we found the ring that controlled her. It was that ring that Rosh destroyed.”

  He nodded and looked back at her. He passed another hand over her and she stiffened, then relaxed into an even deeper sleep. He looked at Logan again, a look on his face that seemed as though he expected the man to say something. Logan spoke, but only to thank him for helping Bailynn, then he returned with her to his place behind Dexter and Jenna.

  “You accepted the quest as well, what boon would you have?” He asked, staring directly at Jenna.

  Jenna’s lips parted in surprise. She laughed bitterly, then her cheeks flushed slightly. Dexter stared at her, amused at her reactions. He knew she was letting her guard down to show such emotions to the thoughts that ran through her mind.

  “Undoing the damage done by our kin will take time,” he said, which confused Dexter and the others. “Your other wish can be done… are you certain of it?”

  Jenna turned to the confused Captain and stared fondly at him. She wiped away a tear as she turned back to the ancient elf and nodded.

  “Very well, it is done,” he said, smiling. “Would that there were more with your heart.”

  Jenna blinked then looked down at herself. Dexter could only wonder at what was wrong with her. She looked the same to him. He was about to ask her when she turned to him and smiled again, her eyes wet and her look one filled with hope. His question died on his lips, realizing whatever it was she might not want to share in front of the others. It seemed personal.

  “Captain, what thanks can we give you?” The elf asked, pulling Dexter away from his confused thoughts. “Eons of self-imprisonment we have endured because we would not destroy our kin, nor those that would be eradicated by such war. Mayhaps we chose a coward’s way – that remains to be seen.”

  “Jenna can tell you much of the elves of this day,” Dexter offered. Jenna nodded, anxious to assist.

  “In time we will hear it all. Time that is better served by haste. Tell me, Captain, what of your fallen?”

  “My fallen? Rosh? What of him?” Dexter asked, confused.

  “His injuries are grievous, he will expire soon,” the elf said, drawing gasps and dropped jaws from the Voidhawk’s crew. “Earned a boon you have, will you use it for him or for yourselves?”

  “He still lives? You can heal him?” Dexter gasped.

  He nodded. “All things are possible, so long as life burns in his chest. With life will come a price, one he must pay.”

  “What price?”

  “That will be his burden to bear, not yours. His to tell as well, should he wish. Tell me Captain, do you wish him restored or would you rather have riches undreamed? A ship with framing of starsilver, unbreakable? Freedom for the construct bonded to you? Choose wisely but quickly, ere your choices are lessened.”

  Dexter turned, looking at the others in surprise. He wondered how the elder had known of the desires that weighed upon his mind. He had spoken of them to no one, yet the elf shared them without thought or concern. Dexter frowned, then felt Jenna’s hand wrap in his. He glanced at her and felt her smile as she squeezed his hand.

  “I’ll live to regret this,” Dexter muttered to himself. He raised his head to look at the ancient elf before him and said, “I’ll take Rosh back. After this he might feel obliged to mind my orders.”

  The elf nodded. A moment of silence passed and then another shape emerged from the darkness. A large shape that grew increasingly familiar to them all. Rosh stepped free, his clothes no less dirty but his pallor restored. His eyes narrowed when he saw Willa and Jodyne missing, but the bull rush of the remaining crew buoyed his spirits. Dexter alone stood back, staring at the elder in blatant admiration.

  “Go now and rest. Return when you are well. We will discuss what must be discussed,” the elder said.

  Dexter nodded and went to join the others in welcoming Rosh. Jenna pulled him aside before he could get there. Her eyes flashed mischievously, “Did you have to pick Rosh? Now he’ll never let Bekka and I live down that kiss.”

  She turned away, winking and laughing at the expression on his face.

  Chapter 5 – Out of Time

  “Been two weeks of nothing, now this?” Rosh burst forth, spraying pieces of food on his plate and the table in front of him. “Captain’s got the right idea this time.”

  Dexter glanced at the large man sitting at the far end of the Voidhawk’s table, surprised. Seldom had Rosh agreed with him, and even more so since the elves had brought him back from the brink of death. Willa, sitting next to Rosh, was nodding her head in agreement with her lover.

  “Captain, may I-“ Logan began, offering a counter-argument to Rosh’s. He was interrupted by the first mate before he could say any more.

  “The Capt
ain’s the Captain because this is his ship. If he says we don’t take the job, then we do what he says,” Jenna said, staring at Logan and then moving her angry glare to Bekka and Bailynn as well. The others were in their rooms or at their stations; the small table that served as the Voidhawk’s galley could comfortably seat no more than six.

  Dexter stared at Jenna, surprised. She spent the most time with the elders, as the elves they had awoken were called. He expected she would be jumping over the chance to do their bidding.

  “I ain’t slaving away for no elf,” Rosh muttered.

  “You’ll do what I tell you,” Jenna hissed.

  “You ain’t the elfs I was talking about,” Rosh growled back. “You been getting awful cozy with ‘em though.”

  “That’s enough,” Dexter snapped. “If we do the job, you’re working for me, not them. If we don’t do the job then you’re still working for me and not them. Happy?”

  Rosh snorted. “Least I ain’t got to worry about who my girl’s spending her free time with.”

  At once Jenna and Dexter both rose. Her elven complexion already pale, now it was ghostly as her hand went to the knife at her side. Dexter’s mouth beat her to it by a few blinks of the eye. “Take a walk Rosh. Go mind the ropes or something, see to it they been stored right.”

  Rosh took another bite of food, staring at Jenna all the while, then he slowly stood up. Willa cowered beside him, looking fearfully at Jenna and Dexter.

  “Now!”

  Rosh glanced at Dexter and nodded just enough to be noticeable, then he walked past them heading onto the deck above. Everyone relaxed once the large man was gone, though the tension was far from relieved.

  “You’d think he’d be more thankful,” Bekka speculated.

  “That’s enough,” Dexter snapped. He stared them all down. “He’s got his reasons for thinking, just like we all do. Don’t make him or us right nor wrong. I ‘spect we can put up with just about anything so long as everyone does what they’re told.”