by Owen Black
Alia placed the key in Felia’s hand and watched as his mother went to work on the shackle. Just as she heard the unmistakable sound of the latch clicking free Alia realized what would happen next. She sprinted across the room toward the swords, just as Thane wrestled free of the chain. In the blink of an eye, and without a hint of his intent, he vanished and then appeared beside the small table where he quickly grabbed the swords. Alia reached out to him and barely touched his shirt when suddenly, without warning, they were gone.
***
The darkness released its grasp on her mind and Trussil slowly opened her eyes and took in her surroundings. The rain pelted her face as it fell through the trees overhead and she could feel the wet ground beneath her back. She was in the forest near Avryndale although this provided no comfort for she had no idea how she had arrived.
Hearing movement nearby Trussil quickly sat up, instantly sending a fiery pain through her left side that caused her to cry out in agony. She reached for her shoulder and found a massive gash from where her feathers had been ripped earlier.
“Take it easy,” a man said. “You have a nasty wound there.”
Alarmed, she turned and saw a stranger looking down at her. Atop his pleasant face, which currently held a curious smile, was a bright red clump of hair that sent her mind spiraling backwards as she struggled to place the familiarity she felt for the stranger. He was adorned in long brown pants and a thin white shirt that clung to his muscular frame, soaked by the water that continued to descend upon them.
“Who are you?” Trussil asked. She then remembered the attack and panicked, “You’re the vulture that attacked me!”
The man folded his arms and looked around. He then knelt down beside her and said, “I killed it actually, at least I’m pretty sure I did. A spear through the belly probably did the trick.” He then leaned in and reached for her shoulder. “Here, let me take a look at that wound.”
She pulled away. “Who are you? One of Airulli’s men?”
The stranger laughed. “Hardly!” he declared. “Quite the contrary, I was hoping to run into him and reward his hospitality. I don’t suppose you know where I can find him do you? Hiding from the battlefield I take it? Or did he send his dear sister to do the dirty work?”
The man’s sarcastic tone shocked Trussil. His tone was that more of a boy than a man, perhaps he was younger than he appeared.
“He is here,” Trussil said softly while her mind sped through distant memories. Lightning struck in the form of a realization of who stood before her. “Merik!”
Merik smiled and stood up. “Funny, I thought you had forgotten me.”
“Forgotten? Hardly. But how? You…you…”
“Died? No. Cast aside maybe. Forced to leave my home and abandoned by my family and friends. Yes. But dead, no. Not yet any way.”
“Help me to my feet,” Trussil said. Merik then held out a hand and pulled her up. She then continued, “How did you survive? What happened? You look older-“
“It’s a long story, perhaps for another time.” He then looked to the sky. “Listen, I need to get back to the fight. Lucky thing I recognized you when I did. I’m sorry you are on the wrong side of this affair.” He then turned to leave.
“Wait! You can’t go back out there. Help us, help me. Please.”
A look of amusement blanketed his face. “You are kidding I hope. Fight with Airulli? Never. Actually, he will be shocked to learn that the weak, broken outcast he discarded is now the leader of the flock currently dispatching his men with ease.”
“How could you do this to us? Why? What have these people done to you?”
Merik pondered her words then replied, “Done to me? Nothing. Our kind survive by hunting, it is who we are. We make alliances when necessary. Granted, Fatalis did not exactly portray what we would be fighting correctly. We thought we were taking out a legion of barbarians, not chubby farmers.”
“This is my home now Merik. I helped build this place and these are good people. They would have never cast you aside. I left the day you jumped from that platform. I too died that day. My whole world changed.” Her eyes watered with tears that mixed seamlessly with the rain that trickled down her face. “Please. Please help us.”
The smile on Merik’s lips slowly faded and for the first time he looked at her with sympathetic eyes. “You were good to me Lady Trussil. You were the only one, but you were good to me.”
“This is my family Merik…my life. You don’t know how hard it was for me to return to Ovion and ask for help. That is how much these people mean to me.”
Merik looked to the clouds as if pleading for guidance from above. The rain cascaded down upon his face while he pondered his next move.
Agonizing moments slipped by that seemed to last forever. He then returned his gaze to Trussil.
“I cannot fight alongside Airulli,” he said before raising a hand to quiet Trussil. “However, I cannot cause you suffering either. There will be consequences for me. Fatalis will come for my head but I will take my men and leave.” He then stared into her eyes and his tone became sharp. “Listen to me now. My troops are just a small piece of what he has. Even without them your people don’t stand a chance. You should come with us. You will die if you stay here.”
Trussil shook her head. “I cannot leave. This is my home now. I will stay to the end.”
Merik shook his head then turned to leave. A funny smile then marked his lips and then he looked over his shoulder and asked, “Still teaching?”
“Of course. What else would I do?”
“Good.”
Before Trussil could say anything else, the man hopped into the air and morphed into a large red and brown-feathered hawk and shot into the air above and, in a matter of seconds, vanished through the thick treetops.
***
Blending in as one of their own, the wolf worked his way through the hoard as he methodically stalked his prey, pushing through hungry soldiers in both human and animal form, all biting and chomping at the air as they longed to taste flesh. Unable to wait for their opportunity, some had even turned on their own, unable to control the need to kill building within. Such was the life of the carnivore. Blood ruled everything.
Mordigal’s senses were overwhelmed, filled with the sounds and smells of battle and dulled by the constant downpour. As he pressed onward through their ranks he realized that at any moment one of them could recognize him and alert the others. Fortunately, most of those present were mercenaries, recruited after he had left. Nonetheless, if he was spotted, he would be swarmed before he could even raise a dagger.
He tilted his head when a familiar odor struck him. He turned to the right and worked his way through the angry soldiers who scoffed at his efforts. Then, as quickly as it had appeared, it was gone. He had to find it again. He pushed on and quickly detected it once more, this time much closer. He picked up speed and pondered his attack.
He peered through the carnivore horde and spotted Fatalis just up ahead. With just one death the army would crumble. He could not fail.
As Mordigal moved in, a figure stepped from the crowd and blocked his view of Fatalis. Even before he looked at the face he knew it was Ash. Mordigal took a step back and growled.
“Hello dear brother,” Ash said, holding a sword to his front.
Mordigal shifted to human form, lowered the hood of his cloak and quickly scanned the soldiers around him. None had paid them any attention, yet.
“My fight is not with you Ash. Let me pass.”
“Let you pass? The man who betrayed me and killed the woman I loved? You really have lost your mind.”
“Are you talking about Ellyn?” Mordigal asked.
“Yes Ellyn. And how could you turn on your own kind? For that bird?”
“She was pure evil Ash, her heart was black. The only love she had was for herself. I turned her away many times but she only wanted the Alpha.”
Ash shook his head. “Maybe so, but you could have just left. I would h
ave been made Alpha and she would have wanted me, even with this,” he said before he touched the long scar that marked his left cheek. “Even with this she would have wanted me.”
“I had no idea Trussil was here until we came that day. It wasn’t me that alerted them Ash. They must have spotted someone else. I would have warned you. I never intended to hurt you.”
“Maybe not but I will never forgive you. You will pay for what you did.”
Mordigal looked through the rain at his brother’s angry glare. He knew that he the last of his family was now lost forever.
“Fatalis is a madman Ash,” he said to his brother. “Look at this, look at what he has brought to slaughter these people…and for what? What harm have they done to him?”
Ash pointed his sword at Mordigal. “You will have to go through me brother.”
“I won’t fight you,” he replied and showed his empty hands.
“Then you will die quicker than I thought.”
Mordigal backed up and quickly looked around when Ash moved toward him. He did not want to fight but he needed to leave before the soldiers noticed the confrontation taking place in their ranks.
Suddenly Ash yelled and sprang forward with the blade lifted above his head then swung down when he drew near his brother. Mordigal spun to avoid the blow at the last moment with his rain-soaked cloak following closely behind. In a blur he was behind Ash and without hesitation he sliced low, quick and true, then backed away.
Mordigal watched his brother collapse to the ground screaming while he clutched his left calf. His severed Achilles had retracted into his leg and although not fatal it was certainly a crippling wound.
Pity tugged at Mordigal’s heart when Ash struggled to his feet while the rain continued to assault him from above. He hated to leave his brother like this but he needed to find Fatalis. He turned to leave.
“Don’t you run from me!” Ash yelled after him.
Mordigal continued away, knowing his brother could not keep up. As he reached the small clearing where Fatalis had been he realized his prey was gone. He quickly scanned the soldiers nearby. Nothing.
“You coward!” Ash screamed.
Mordigal sighed and looked at the ground, then back to his brother who was creeping toward him, dragging his wounded leg behind. Once more he turned away, eager to leave the conflict behind him.
“I will find her,” Ash called after him. “I will track your precious love down and slit her throat. I will do to you what you did to me. I will get my revenge. You can’t run forever!”
As the words struck home, Mordigal’s heart sank and a rush of sorrow overcame him. He looked to the sky, through the falling drops of rain and the mass of dark clouds that slowly moved across. His mind wandered through the past, picturing things as they were long ago. He remembered playing in the woods with Ash when they were young, the fun they had together and the moments they shared. Their lives had changed so much. Mordigal loved Ash dearly despite his flaws.
Shaken from his thoughts by the yells of battle around him, Mordigal turned and faced his brother. He would make it quick.
Chapter 38
The rush to Thane’s senses started with silent blackness, disrupted only by a deep boom that seemed to shake his spine from head to toe. It was an unfamiliar sound, similar to thunder yet different. In the seconds that he pondered its origin, the boom echoed in his ears once more only this time he appeared just in time to see the source of the curious noise.
He stood before the massive gate that led into Avryndale, a towering wooden representation of the skilled craftsmen of their kind. The only entrance to the village, it had been careful formed and shaped to withstand an incredible assault. As they toiled over its surface, cutting and sanding, carving and hammering, it was doubtful that even the most grim-thinking worker could have imagined the force that now put it to the test.
Thane gripped the swords firmly, one in each hand, as he stared at the massive wooden creation, waiting for the next blow. Although his vision was somewhat clouded by a strange light blue haze, his eyes were keenly aware of every detail of his surroundings, from the dust that fell as the stalwart gate shook to the voices of the villagers that scurried around him in the search for safety.
A tug at his right arm that was accompanied by the melodic words of a young woman briefly shook his concentration. Frantically she pulled and yelled at him, trying to capture his attention. He jerked his arm free and brushed her off without a glance. His focus remained forward, fixed on the gate.
Another voice called to the girl from somewhere above. It was a voice Thane recognized but he did not recall the name. His memories, for some reason, were lost.
The girl cried as she left his side and scampered away and somehow cracked the trance that blocked the rest of the world from his mind. A part of him longed to call to the girl, reach out and comfort her tears yet he dared not look away from the door.
He struggled to regain focus as he wondered briefly what fate has befallen his parents or what would become of his friends if he failed. As if in response to his wandering mind a tingling sensation trickled through his limbs and washed all concern from his thoughts. His moment had arrived. Nothing else mattered.
His heart beat wildly and pushed blood through his body at an astonishing rate while his muscles twitched with anticipation. Yet somehow, bathed in a magical presence, his breathing was calm, even when a crash shook the gate yet again and caused a crack to appear in the center. Spreading from top to bottom, it was a fracture as black as night and it threatened to burst at any moment and unleash the devils of hell upon them.
With the rest of the villagers in hiding, or watching from the walkways atop the wall, the entrance to the village was now deserted except for Thane. He now stood alone, filled with a magically gift that he could never understand.
He felt the weight of the swords in each hand. He heard his breath echo in his ears. He felt the rain trickle down his skin. Then he saw the gate burst open, sending splinters flying into the air as the end of a tree broke through before it was withdrawn, leaving a gaping hole in its wake.
Thane did not flinch as the carnivore army poured through the opening. The dampness that covered him was only the rain for even as they raced toward him he did not perspire. In the face of the worst kind of horror his thoughts remained steady. This was his stand.
The first soldier that reached him was a small dirty man carrying a short sword. Without hesitation the soldier leapt for Thane’s throat, anxious to deliver a fatal blow. The blade sliced through the air and was indeed a well-placed strike, or would have been had Thane not vanished before impact and appeared just to the side of his attacker. In one quick motion Thane sliced the man through the torso, sending his body crashing to the ground in a lifeless heap.
Thane thought nothing of his action. There was no remorse for the dead. He looked to the next target. Then vanished.
***
Frightened, Alia crouched down on the walkway and closed her eyes as Joli had directed. She dared not look. She knew that all around her, littering the platform and on the ground below were bodies of archers and other villagers that had fallen victim to enemy arrows. Where there were no bodies there were pools of blood mixed with rain. Death was everywhere.
As she fought back tears Alia felt ashamed. Faced with violence she realized that she was not brave at all. She was just a helpless little girl, useless and scared, hoping to be protected by Joli who had called her up from the ground just seconds before the army had broken into the village.
She was trapped now along with the surviving archers atop the platform and, although the ladders had been kicked down, the carnivores would reach them eventually. Despite the screams around them her eyes remained clinched shut. As she peered into the blackness of her lids she wished she could just imagine it all away. If only she could.
Alia felt Joli’s embrace, welcome and unexpected comfort offered by a stranger in a time of desperate need. Alia was amazed that the
woman had remained calm despite the fact that she and the other archers had run out of ammunition long ago. Her bow having been discarded Joli now clutched a small silvery dagger, the only thing standing between them and certain death.
Lost in despair, Alia was startled when she heard the woman speak.
“This is incredible,” Joli said aloud to herself. “So fast.”
Confused by the words, Alia opened her eyes and looked at Joli. The woman’s jaw was agape and her eyes fixed on the ground beneath them where the army was seeping into the village through the breech in the gate. As she had expected, bodies were scattered everywhere, victims of the brutality of warfare.
To her surprise, although they were flowing steadily through the opening, the bloodthirsty carnivores failed to progress into the village. In fact, none of them had advanced more than a few feet. She then realized that the corpses strewn about the entrance were not those of villagers but those of the enemy. She was stunned.
Alia struggled to comprehend what was taking place as she watched the incredible scene unfold. All around the courtyard the carnivore soldiers fell as quickly as they entered. She then spotted the source of the butchery, a flickering figure that bounced from one victim to the next as they poured into the village. She strained her eyes to focus but each time she saw the shadowy killer, poof, he was gone again.
The figure appeared behind them, beside them or in front of them, moving at an unthinkable speed as if time itself had frozen for the unseen force and allowed it to slash and cut its prey down mercilessly, slaughtering the carnivores in their tracks.
“What’s happening?” Alia asked, unable to take her eyes from the violence unfolding on the ground below.
“It’s Thane,” Joli replied in awe. “Look at him...amazing.”
The girl was shocked. Not so much by the reply, but because she herself had not realized it sooner. Just minutes before Thane had ignored her cries and pushed her aside without a glance. She had thought he had gone mad, perhaps collapsed under pressure in the face of death. But now, as Alia stared in awe, she witnessed the true power that he possessed.
