Firefly Island, an Epic Fantasy

by Daniel Arenson

  She felt a pang of panic. How had this happened? She could not remember. The last thing she recalled, she was entering a drinking contest with some old, clanless warrior. Everything after that was a blur. Only a dull, nervous knot in her belly hinted that something was wrong, something terrible had happened. But Taya could not recall what. At least I am alive, she thought. I must get myself out of here.

  She stirred slightly. The wreckage trapping her creaked and shifted, showering dust and splinters. Taya froze. The structure was unsteady, she realized. The pocket of air that shielded her from crushing death might collapse if she moved. She grimaced, and her head pounded harder. She felt nauseous. The structure creaked and shifted further. It could collapse any moment, Taya knew. She had to get out fast. Hurriedly, she mustered her magic, a feat that made her head explode with pain. When the tingling saturated her, she turned into a turtle.

  For a second, the heap above her held, creaking. Dust rained, and the structure shifted the slightest. Taya whisked into her shell as the heap collapsed above her.

  The sound was deafening. Dust tickled her nostrils. Furniture crashed against her shell. For long moments benches and stools tumbled and rearranged themselves, wooden beams snapped, splinters flew. Finally, slowly, the din died. Taya breathed out in relief. The unsteady pocket of air was gone. Now, the structure was more compact, and she could move safely, without fear of unsettling the delicate construction.

  She turned into a snake and slithered past splintered furniture, dusty furs, shattered plates, collapsed walls, a broken stone oven, heavy clay churns, and naked deadfall. Finally, she emerged onto the surface of the wreckage, under a cloudy, snowing sky. She resumed her human form.

  The sky.... It had been so long since she’d seen it. Taya stood breathless for a moment, gazing in awe at the cobalt clouds, the falling snow, the ravens circling the early sun. The sky. She had never seen such a clear, perfect view of it. Where was the leafy canopy she had always known?

  Taya tore her gaze away from the wonder above and looked over the village. Then she understood. The trees were all chopped down. The once-elevated village lay in ruins on the ground.

  Taya saw no one. Gingerly, she limped down the heap of the collapsed building, wincing from pain. Her head still pounded, and her left leg was one big bruise. She could still not recall what had happened. Holding her bone knife before her, she walked amid the fallen village—a great jumble of wood and rope, all silvered with snow. She noticed that the snow was heaped strangely in places, soft mounds like graves. Taya knelt by one such hummock and cleared the snow away.

  It was a dead body. Whether it had been a woman or man, Taya could not tell. It had been too badly beaten. Taya blundered several paces backwards, fighting down nausea. Doggedly, refusing to tremble, she began moving from body to body, searching for survivors. She found none. All the villagers had been slaughtered, children and adults as one. Many of the bodies were pierced with stone splinters. Stonesons, Taya knew. Stonesons had done this.

  Then, slowly, she remembered. Last evening. The drinking contest. Bug had spoken of Stonesons. So the old warrior had been right. Stonesons had come to the Forest, and had come to kill. But why? Such pointless carnage.... These Stonesons were not warriors, Taya thought in a sudden cold rage. No Forestfellow warrior would kill mothers and children. No, these Stonesons were no more than murderers.

  So this is who Aeolia fights, Taya realized. These are the beasts that hunt my friend.

  Suddenly Taya froze, fear stabbing her belly. The mad King Sinther had declared war on Esire solely to catch its Firechild. Could it be that Lale was doing the same with the Forestfolk? Had the Stonish prince invaded the Forest solely to catch Taya, she who had nearly killed him? It was possible, Taya thought. Lale might have learned she lived here and destroyed the village to find her. If that was so, he might have learned of Yaiyai as well....

  Taya grimaced. Not Yaiyai, not her clan.... Taya couldn’t let this grim fate befall her home. She had to warn them to flee. Unless she was too late already.... If she was, she’d never forgive herself.

  Taya summoned her magic. She jumped into the air, turned into a hawk, and began to fly, leaving the ravaged village behind.

  Gliding under the snowing clouds, Taya spotted more pockets of destruction in the Forest: more toppled villages, more heaps of bodies. The icy air smelled of blood. From the distance came a rumble like thunder, and Taya saw thousands of birds fleeing. This was the Stonish host, Taya knew, the invaders who were destroying her land. She had to reach Yaiyai in time. She no longer cared that they had exiled her. They were the people she had grown up with, and she must warn them.

  Finally, after an hour of flight, when her head felt ready to split with pain and magic, Taya flew directly above the Stonish army. They wore gray uniforms over the gray, hard armor of the Northerners. They marched between the trees like an oozing puddle of dirty water. Forest animals fled from their advance. Taya pulled her wings close to her body and dived down above the head of the army. There she saw him marching—Lale, prince of Stonemark.

  Taya flapped and soared, caught an air current and glided forward as fast as she could. Lale had not yet reached Yaiyai, but he was less than an hour away. If Taya were to evacuate her village, she had to hurry.

  Finally she reached Yaiyai, and memories of more innocent days pinched her heart, days of boredom and childhood, before she had met Aeolia and Lale, before Ayat had driven her away. She had been living in exile for weeks, and now she was back to save a home no longer hers.

  She flapped down onto one of the village’s bridges, just outside the clan’s Core. No one was in sight. Taya turned back human. She walked briskly along the swinging bridge toward the bone house, determined to warn her mother and help her organize an evacuation. She opened the door without knocking.

  Cloaked in the shadows inside, bedecked with the holy charms of the shaman, sat Ayat.

  “Hello, Taya,” the evil twin said with a sweet smile. “I didn’t think you’d dare show your tattooed face here again.”

  Taya fumbled with her tongue. “W-what are you doing here? Where’s Eeea? Why are you wearing her charms?”

  Ayat rose to her feet. “When we heard about the Stonesons, I convinced the old woman that for the duration of the threat, I must rule the village. I do, after all, have military training.”

  At that moment several bare-chested clansmen, Ooor among them, entered the room carrying trays of berries and nuts.

  “Ah, thank you, my servants,” Ayat said with a smile. “A berry, if you please?”

  Ooor held up a clump of berries, and Ayat plucked one into her mouth, sucked on it a moment before chewing and swallowing.

  Taya did not know if to laugh or cry. “You’re having the clansmen serve you now?!”

  Ayat shrugged. “The Forest’s Firechild deserves some respect.”

  Ooor stepped forward from the group of clansmen and pointed at Taya.

  “What is she doing here, Your Majesty?” he asked Ayat.

  Your Majesty?! This time, Taya knew she should laugh, that under any other circumstance, she would have laughed. But no mirth found her now. Not today.

  “Listen to me,” she said to Ayat. “The Stonesons will be here any minute now, and they will destroy the village. We must flee.”

  Ayat raised an eyebrow. “We? Since when do you include yourself as part of this clan?”

  “Enough of your bantering!” Taya said. “This is a grave matter. The clan has only moments to flee before Lale arrives.”

  Ayat smiled condescendingly, like an adult at an erring child. “We will not flee. We will stay here and fight the invaders.”

  Taya clutched her head. “You don’t stand a chance against the Stonesons. There are thousands of them, they have destroyed the Forest’s western packs, nothing can stop them. Even Healers don’t dare fight them. Don’t you know that no army has ever faced a Stonish infantry and won?”

  The men in the room shifted uneasily,
mumbling. Ayat’s eyes flicked nervously, but theirs was a different fear. Taya understood. Her twin was in no real danger. At any time, Ayat could turn into a bird and fly away. But the Stonish menace had given her power. Their invasion had granted her rule of the village. As long as the Stonesons threatened Yaiyai, Ayat would rule it. Evacuating the village would be forfeiting her suit of charms.

  “She speaks nonsense!” Ayat said, her shoulders squared and fists clenched. “Don’t listen to her, men. Remember she’s an imposter!”

  Taya spoke mildly to her twin. “If the Stonesons find us here, you’ll have no clan to rule, for they will destroy it. Don’t kill our home.”

  “Silence, doppelganger!” Ayat screamed. “We are not cowards like you. We will fight. We will beat the Stonesons.”

  The men in the room cheered. Ayat marched to the door and stepped outside. She stood on the bridge and cried for all the village to hear.

  “The Stonesons are coming! We fight them now.”

  Taya watched in anguish. The clansmen still thought her a witch, and now they worshipped Ayat like a goddess, their devotion fueled by fear. Common sense was no match to naked emotion, Taya realized. She would simply have to fight with them. This was her home, and she could not desert it, even if it had deserted her.

  A crowd gathered around the bridge, standing on surrounding walkways, peering from windows, dangling from branches.

  “Get your weapons!” Ayat called. “Climb down to the surface. We face them there.”

  Taya rushed forward and grabbed Ayat’s arm. “We’ll be butchered on the surface!” she said. “If we fight, we must fight from the trees, shooting arrows down onto them.”

  Ooor pulled Taya away. “Don’t touch our shaman, witch.”

  Taya shook herself free. “Ooor, please, listen to me! We are tree people. We must fight from the trees. We cannot battle an army face-to-face.”

  Doubt filled Ooor’s eyes. Before it could take hold, Ayat shoved Taya away, nearly toppling her off the bridge.

  “You know nothing,” Ayat said, but doubt danced in her eyes as well. “The Stonesons would simply cut the trees down.”

  Taya shook her head. “Not when pelted with arrows.”

  Ayat bit her lip, and her eyes clouded with fear. Obviously, she had realized her mistake. But instead of conceding defeat, the twin snarled and clenched her fists.

  “We fight on the ground,” she said stubbornly.

  “Don’t be so proud!” Taya pleaded. “It’s okay, you made a mistake, don’t let it kill our clan.”

  “You just want to steal my place!” Ayat screamed. “That’s what you came here for, isn’t it? To make everyone think you’re the better shaman. Well you’re not. No one will listen to your ideas, they’ll listen to mine! We fight on the ground.”

  Taya sighed. Short of killing Ayat—which she couldn’t bring herself to do—she saw no solution.

  “Then I fight too,” she said.

  Ayat looked about to refuse, when suddenly her eyes thinned shrewdly. “All right, you want to fight? Go ahead. In fact, since you seem so eager, I command you fight in the front line.” She leaned forward and whispered. “Only this time when Lale’s blade pierces you, don’t turn into a worm again. I think two of us is more than enough.”

  With that, she spun around, marched back into the clan’s Core, and slammed the door behind her.

  The clansmen scurried into storage huts to grab pointed sticks and wooden shields, no doubt carved only in the last day. Taya drew her bone knife and joined the men climbing down to the forest floor.

  The men arranged themselves in a wall, pointing their spears west, their faces grim. Many stared at Taya scornfully. She tried to ignore them. They had all heard Ayat command she fight, so they would not try to banish her, but still their distrust hurt. I’m here to fight for you, Taya wanted to shout. You can show some gratitude. But they only glowered at her, sure she was a witch.

  “Does your new shaman not fight?” Taya asked Ooor, who stood beside her.

  Ooor shook her head. “The spirits have spoken to her and told her she must supervise the battle from above.”

  Taya was somehow not surprised.

  A fluttering sound came from above, and Taya raised her eyes to see a thousand birds fleeing. Between the trees she descried routing squirrels and deer. Soon, a rumble like a storm came from ahead. The men glanced at one another uneasily, tightening their grips on their spears. Taya took a deep breath and widened her stance, ready to fight. A small voice inside her whispered that she was insane to stay, but Taya ignored it. This was her home. She had to protect it.

  The rumble grew louder and louder, thousands of boots marching in unison. War drums boomed like thunder. The sound grew so loud it was deafening. Taya wanted to cover her ears to block the maddening din.

  And then she saw them, gray shadows swarming from the woods. The clansmen gasped around her, but Taya barely heard them. Her gaze was locked on the advancing army. This was what a real army looked like, she realized. For the first time in her life, she saw chain mail and helmets, made from the strange, hard material Talin called “metal.” For the first time, she saw thousands of men marching in perfect precision. No wonder the western clans had been crushed, Taya thought. No wonder Bug had fled. A sudden thought flashed through her mind, surprising her: By the spirits, only Aeolia can save us now.

  The Stonish army was close now, so close Taya could count the rings in their mail. She snarled and raised her knife. The men surrounding her grunted and pointed their spears.

  The Stonesons stopped. They stood silent and still as a wall. A horn trumpeted twice: two short, brisk blows. The Stonesons drew their swords as one, the unsheathing steel hissing like wind. The horn blew once more—a long, bloodcurdling blare like a scream. The Stonish army rushed forth.

  Screams erupted, armor clanked, wooden spears snapped like twigs against metal. Blood soaked the leafmold. Taya became a panther, sudden battlelust consuming her. As men died around her, she leapt from Stoneson to Stoneson, hamstringing them or biting under their arms where their mail was weak. A stone dart pierced her hide, but Taya didn’t notice the pain, she was so taken by feral fury.

  It was only minutes into the battle, and already half the Forestfolk lay dead in their blood. Several minutes more of this, Taya knew, and there would be no clansmen left standing. The Forestfolk seemed to have reached the same conclusion. Many were fleeing, only to be shot down by stone darts. Taya had to do something.

  She turned back human and shouted at the top of her lungs, “Into the trees!”

  She hopped onto a rope ladder and began to climb. The surviving Forestfolk followed. Stone darts flew around them, and one sunk into Taya’s calf. For a moment she was tempted to become a bird and flee, but then she gritted her teeth and continued climbing. She had to save her people.

  When the Forestfolk were all up, and the Stonesons were climbing after them, Taya severed the rope ladder. The climbing Stonesons fell to the ground.

  “Quick!” Taya commanded. “Get the hunting bows!”

  As the Forestfolk rushed to do her bidding, the Stonesons produced axes and began chopping at the trees. Hurry up, Taya prayed, hurry up hurry up hurry up.

  The Forestfolk returned with the bows. Poisoned arrows rained upon the enemy. At such a close range, most slammed through the chain mail. Several Stonesons fell. The clansmen cheered.

  “Spread out around the village!” Taya shouted. “Shoot any Stoneson you see. Don’t give them leeway to chop the trees.”

  Taya grabbed a bow and shot rapidly, excitement burning through her. The village women soon arrived to help, and when no bows were left, they tossed clay pots and cooking stones. Dead and wounded Stonesons began piling up. They could not approach a tree to ax it without being pelted.

  On the bridge beside Taya stood a thin, wizened woman tossing down flower pots. Taya frowned. She had never seen the woman before, yet something about her intense, green eyes seemed familiar. Then T
aya realized: it was her mother. She had never seen Eeea without her charms before. She looked so... ordinary.

  “Mother!” she said.

  Eeea turned to face her. “Hello, Taya. My real Taya.”

  Taya felt a lump in her throat. “So you believe me! You know it’s really me.”

  Ooor, standing beside them with his bow, spoke slowly. “I think I know it too, now. Taya. The real Taya.” He raised his voice. “This is the true Taya! The true Taya is saving us!”

  The clansmen echoed his call. “The true Taya! The true Taya!”

  Tears blurred Taya’s vision. Until this moment, she hadn’t truly realized how she loved her home, the home she had once thought so dull. It was both the greatest and most terrifying moment of her life.

  A shriek came from behind. “No! I’m the true Taya!”

  Taya turned to see Ayat. The twin’s face was flushed with anger.

  “You left these men to die,” Taya said, “while you stayed here in safety.”

  “Don’t listen to her!” Ayat screamed. “Men, kill her!”

  The clansmen hesitated. Ooor spoke for them. “We follow her now. She is saving us.”

  With that the clansmen recommenced shooting arrows.

  Ayat roared like an enraged beast. She hopped into the air, became a wolf, and thudded into Taya’s chest.

  Taya drew her magic. Before the wolf could rip out her neck, she turned into a frog and hopped away. Ayat growled, became a bear, and caught Taya in a crushing hug. The bridge swayed madly. Locked in Ayat’s furry grasp, Taya became a porcupine and bristled her quills. The bear howled and dropped her hurriedly. Taya had scarcely hit the bridge, before Ayat leapt into the air above her. In midair, the evil twin bulged into an animal Taya had only heard of in the fisherfolk’s tales: a walrus.

  Taya became a grasshopper and leapt away, and the walrus slammed into the bridge. The bridge collapsed in an explosion of splinters. Walrus and grasshopper crashed down onto the ground. Around them the Stonesons gaped. Arrows rained.