'I must speak with Colnba!'
Liacoren's strident tone cut through Colnba's concentration. Blinking he looked up to see one of the human slaves that carried messages looking distressed as Liacoren barged past her and into his room.
A deep frown darkened the elvan mage's expression. 'Your ill manners are only exceeded by your self-importance, Liacoren.'
Catching the slave's attention, he sent, 'Be calm. You are not at fault. Take a message to the kitchens for a meal for me in an hour and take time to eat. That way you will be safely out of her way when she leaves.'
'Ill manners?' Liacoren sneered. 'You're the one who believes himself so important he can ignore sendings from the Great Lord's mage.'
'I am occupied by tasks set by that self-same lord. Would you prefer I deprioritise his requests and see to yours?' Colnba retorted archly. Inwardly sighing, he resigned himself to the dual of words Liacoren always waged whenever she managed to hunt him down.
Day 14 – Twilight
North Kenar Woods
Akileena stood stock still as he took in the scene before him.
Soldiers lay dead, some on top of each other in a rough circle about the slave tied to the poles. The slaughter was not what made him pause.
Next to the slave was the warrior responsible for all the death. Although, one could be forgiven for mistaking her for a god of vengeance with the way her flame-streaked hair flashed in the fire-light and those blades sliced through mortal flesh with the ease of harvesting wheat with a scythe. For a long moment he considered reaching out to touch her. If only the act was not so likely to kill him.
'Sariah…' he murmured.
For it must be Sariah. He had not seen her for, Akileena shook his head, it would have been before his daughter was born. This must be her, because he was in no doubt, the warrior delivering death so efficiently through the camp was blind. Akileena looked around the tree branches above — where was her hawk? He had to know that before he moved because if he could avoid the hawk's notice, he would stay alive longer.
'Where in the great sages have you been?'
'Get in your tent, Lord Kennelm. The warrior has the ability to see the whole camp, if you are in your tent, she cannot see you and you have a greater chance of staying alive.'
Nathan looked about to argue with him, so Akileena stopped looking up and met his gaze, 'If you do not get in your tent, you will most certainly die.'
Just then, Rochester tried to use his talent to restrain the warrior. The human mage put all his concentration into the act. Akileena was sure young Matthias thought he was a safe distance away, but the warrior closed it very swiftly. So absorbed by his task, the mage did not realise the danger he was in and her sword sliced him open diagonally across the middle.
'No!' Akileena breathed. 'Get in your tent!' He yelled at Nathan.
The Thane, having seen Rochester cut down, finally retreated.
Using his talent Akileena looked for the hawk. Upon finding him, Akileena placed a cloud of talented shadow over the hawk, rendering it blind.
The warrior did not slow down. And now she was heading for him.
How did she know where he was?
The hawk must had spotted him before he blinded him. If he moved, perhaps he could escape her.
Akileena started running in a wide circle. He was right, she slowed as she tracked him by hearing. Having confirmed she could no longer see him, Akileena stopped and used his talent to essentially make himself disappear to her senses, enclosing himself in a talented bubble so she could not hear his breathing or smell him.
The soldiers took advantage of her stillness to surround her, but she could still hear and smell them. After she took down three in swift, efficient movements. They backed away.
'Lower your weapons. You are surrounded, nothing will be gained from further death,' he sent to her.
'Stay out of my mind, mage!' the warrior spoke aloud, but did not raise her voice.
Despite speaking aloud, her seething anger roiled through his mind. That would because of the link he made in order to speak to her through mind-speak.
'To speak aloud will be my death, please forgive me, but I will not cease my intrusion. You are here for the slaves, I understand your goal, but you have failed, Sariah. The cost has been high, but you are, indeed, outnumbered. Listen for yourself. As I speak the Thane's reinforcements, whom he had hidden away from the camp as a measure against an ambush such as this, now approach. I have ordered them to surround you, but to not attack. Do not die this day, Sariah. Riqumorgia would be devastated to discover you threw your life away due to your own obstinacy.'
Please see sense, Akileena thought privately because taking her down was going to be terrible for him, but his daughter's life would be the cost if he did not stop her. He could feel her rage, using her name and referring to her father had not had the calming effect he had hoped it would. She saw it as a further intrusion, one she would not brook.
Akileena watched with amazement as Sariah suddenly turned, seeming to look straight at him. It was then he realised the hawk had somehow freed itself from his talented shadow. She could see him again. And she was coming right for him.
Day 14 – Twilight
Denas
Malithorn looked up from the papers on his desk as Liacoren entered the room.
'Mamana,' he greeted softly, using a term of affection that meant mother. His birth mother had been assassinated when was just three, and since then, Liacoren had filled the role. Malithorn did not remember his birth mother at all, but then, he had hardly spent any time with her as nannies usually took care of him. Liacoren had been an entirely different, she believed a mother and child should not be separated and had taken him everywhere she went.
Liacoren walked around his desk and placed a hand under his chin, lifting his head so she could kiss his forehead. 'You seem to be in a more cheerful mood,' she observed.
'I have been at this tedious task for hours, mamana. You are a thoroughly welcome distraction.'
Liacoren leaned on his desk. 'Hmmm, perhaps not for long.'
Malithorn leaned back, shaking his blond fringe back, his green eyes met hers. As a child, he'd always liked how they had the same colour eyes. Although her hair was a dark brown and her skin olive rather than pale, it made it easier to pretend she was his mother.
'Right now, I cannot believe that,' Malithorn protested light-heartedly.
Smiling, Liacoren brushed his hair back. 'You need a trim. I'll arrange it for tomorrow.'
'Have you come just to avoid whatever subject you wish to speak to me about?'
His comment made her laugh softly. 'No,' she asserted, 'you need a trim. But to disprove your assertion, I think I have found you a wife.'
'Ah, now the reason for your hesitation is obvious.' Malithorn smiled so she would know he had not lost his good humour. 'Do I get to meet her before you decide she will suit me?'
'Of course, my kingling. That is precisely why I am here, to ask if you will consent to a meeting. Last we spoke of the matter, you had little wish to be involved, but I know how much you wish to honour your father and—'
'I know, I know. I need an heir and for that, I need a wife. Where is she then?'
'In my quarters. I wanted to secure your assent before I brought her. I will send for her now.'
Malithorn gave Liacoren a moment to send and then asked, 'She is talented?'
'Yes. If you recall, we discussed introducing talent into the Abbarane bloodline. I also made sure she was not too talkative and, hopefully, you will find her agreeable to look upon.'
As Liacoren's quarters were next to Malithorn's it did not take long for a knock to sound on the door. Liacoren pushed away from the desk and went to the door. Malithorn found his curiosity spark and he rose, stepped out from behind the desk himself.
A tall, blonde woman gracefully glided into the room. Now, this was interesting, Malithorn, thought. He had not thought he would actually find her attractive, but she was. S
he had the strangest, but most beautiful eyes he had ever seen. They were a dark-blue with what looked like purple flecks. Not like the elvan, there was too much blue, but with a very similar enigmatic quality to them.
She met his gaze only briefly and then bowed her head as she curtsied. 'My great lord,' she murmured.
Malithorn looked to Liacoren and dipped his head in acknowledgement of her success.
Day 14 – Twilight
North Kenar Woods
Just as Sariah started heading towards the elvan mage, she realised that if what he said was true, he best course of action was to get Sentary and get out of here. Kaydyr took off so she could determine whether the mage was telling the truth and whether she had time to get Sentary before they surrounded her. To her dismay, Sariah could see that, although she was not quite surrounded, there would not be enough time now to get Sentary free and get him to Treya, who was waiting nearby, but not near enough.
'Treya, soldiers will be closing in on me soon. Let them take you. I will be captured, but I will escape and want you close.'
Sariah turned her attention back to the elvan mage. Well, if she was going to be captured, she would make sure the mage could not prevent her escape. She dropped one sword and gripped the other with both hands. Raising it, she charged.
Pain collided into her consciousness and made her falter.
The mage was doing it, she knew it.
Hatred filled her.
Pushing through the pain, Sariah kept going.
This cowardly traitor would not stop her.
As the warrior kept coming, Akileena increased the level of pain he was sending through her senses.
By Fate's curse, she was strong willed!
He upped the pain levels again.
Finally, she faltered again, but did not stop.
Akileena felt tears slip down his cheeks. The pain he was filling her with was reflecting back to him through the link he had created to perform the move.
She was mere paces from him now, the sharp blade starting to descend in what would be a killing strike.
'I am so sorry, Sariah,' he whispered into her mind.
Akileena pushed the pain into every corner of the warrior's mind.
Abruptly the pain stopped as the warrior fell unconscious.
Akileena breathed a sigh of relief. The sword had missed him by bare inches.
He looked down at her, a deep sadness filling him. Perhaps it would have been kinder to kill her. Because she was Nathan's prisoner now.
Akileena thought of his daughter and wondered what it would take to earn forgiveness for all the harms he had done in her name. He pushed the thoughts aside, turning his attention to scanning the bodies about the camp. An aura caught his attention. One of them was still alive.
'Thank Fate,' Akileena breathed. Rochester was hanging on. He rushed over to him and immediately started healing the mage. He looked for the other two mages as he did, but both Yuliryn and Levance were gone.
Looking over the numerous dead, Akileena was stunned by how one warrior was able to be so devastating. No, he corrected himself, not one warrior, but this warrior. This warrior whom he had known once when she was just a shy, little girl hiding behind Riqumorgia's robes, too afraid to return his greetings when Riqumorgia introduced them. Ko-renti warriors, they caused this kind of devastation on their own all the time. That was why Abbarane forces made use of spears and lances and other distance weapons. But Akileena could not shake his memory of young Sariah, so fragile-looking, so harmless. How had she transformed from that innocent child into this death-dealer? And would his daughter undergo a similar transformation because of her imprisonment and this cursed war that was ended, but without end?
Chapter 5
Day 15 – Late Afternoon
North Kenar Woods
Brynn turned from the scene below with disbelief and swore under his breath, and with much more vehemence than he had the previous times. Sariah was resting on her knees with her back to a tree. Her wrists were tied and those bindings were secured by a second rope. The guards had strung that rope over a branch and then secured it to a nearby tree. This allowed the warrior to stand or sit, but not move too far from the spot where they put her. It also meant they could release her from the second rope without untying her wrists. He was not angry at her, she had been anxious to protect her brother, which was understandable. If he had been in her place, he doubted he could have held out as long as she did, her trail suggesting she had watched the camp for days. He smiled sadly, they thought the 'great' Saviour would come, instead they got Sariah — twice more fury and honed skill than they anticipated.
Despite Sershja's best efforts, they were not able to catch up to her in time. In part it was because he could not risk pushing Sershja too much after using his talent to extend the charger's stamina. Doing this excessively would weaken Sershja and risk his life. Brynn had also had the misfortune of having to wait out several patrols. At night, when the soldiers tortured the slaves, Brynn would intervene, slipping into the victim's consciousness and removing them from the pain. He did not begrudge them this relief, but he found the process quite exhausting, especially with having to avoid Nathan's mages, including Akileena. He may have subverted Akileena's will once, but a second success was not likely. Akileena had reinforced his personal barriers and planes-bound wards. By using empath planes, there was little risk of detection, but his ability to heal through these planes was greatly restricted.
His repeated attempts to mind-speak with Sariah had been turned away. From what he perceived of Sariah's emotions, even if she did talk to him, convincing her to wait would have been like trying to persuade Sershja there was such a concept as eating too many apples.
Brynn glanced up at the sun, it was later than he realised. The soldiers had almost finished administering aid to their wounded and burying their dead. Thus, it would not be long, now, until the infamous Thane of Ancoulan turned his vicious attention to Sariah. Brynn needed to decide on a plan. Returning to Sershja's side, he fed the horse some grain, leaving him some apples too. Then, taking an apple for himself, he settled against a tree and considered what to do. He did not notice that Sershja kept an eye on him as he ate or that one of the apples 'accidentally' rolled into the grain... with a nudge from Sershja.
Brynn bit into his apple thoughtfully while he reviewed what he knew. As he rode to catch up to Sariah, he had finally contacted Riqu. But he did not ask him to intercede with Sariah; it was unlikely the warrior would change her mind, she was determined to go after her brother alone. Instead, he had asked Riqu about House of Debanikay. The rebel leader had told him that the house held similar values on freedom and justice as the may-en-ghi. They even adopted may-en-ghi behaviours such as communicating entirely by mind. The House of Debanikay had been amongst the most passionate and fiercest rebels and, as a result, almost all of their direct bloodline had been killed. Riqu thought Malithorn had killed the last of the Debanikay heirs but conceded that rumours placed some alive and in captivity. Brynn had not confirmed this, preferring to release only parts of his plan as Riqu needed them as a measure against the possibility Riqu was captured. The rebel leader had also told him that Sentary's group had been targeted by a mage known as Malithorn's assassin. This, Brynn now knew, was Akileena. It was known that Akileena's family had been captured some twenty turns ago. Those same rumours said the family had suffered terrible and prolonged deaths. Riqu said Nathan must somehow know that Sentary's group was connected to Brynn, why else would he target that specific group? Brynn agreed; Malithorn's mages could walk the paths as well as any rebel mage. It was feasible they had discovered Sentary on the paths, linked him to Sariah, and Sariah to Brynn.
Finishing the apple, Brynn closed his eyes and shifted to a plane that gave him access to the paths of Akileena's past. The may-en-ghi had showed him these planes, a kind of communal memory shared by various life forces. The hostage used to gain Akileena's compliance was his daughter. That was why he had sent Basch
ia and her companions to Riqu, as they provided the only means to extricate Akileena's daughter without Nisari and Colnba realising it until it was too late. Andarin's injuries made it necessary to rescue him too. Andarin's barriers were similar to Brynn's, which he had learned from the may-en-ghi, making it impossible to heal Andarin without a may-en-ghi guide.
It was time to pass on the final instructions to Riqu, so everyone was in place at the right times. Brynn reached out to Riqu. 'Riqu?'
'Brynn. I have arrived in Denas.'
'Has my friend made contact?' Brynn asked.
'About an hour ago. Her link was more refined than I have felt in turns. It's almost as if she is not elvan,' Riqu replied with an amused tone.
'What an interesting notion,' Brynn responded vaguely. Riqu had trained under may-en-ghi before the war and knew not to mention them directly. 'Your second team, heading to Venshui, how are they faring?'
'They will not reach the city until highest moon,' Riqu sent, 'I have warned them to take all precautions with their ally. The team leader I chose is reliable and worthy of such a trusted position.'
'I value your foresight, Riqu,' Brynn sent with a feeling of appreciation.
'I gather,' Riqu added, 'that you sent us here to extract someone.'
'Indeed, it as you perceive. I need you to extract two elvan from Denas. The release of one is a matter of honour and strategically essential. The other is a matter of conscience. Firstly, my friend will take you to where they hold Akileena of the Debanikay's daughter...'
Prophecy's Quest Page 16
