Pyforial Games

by B. T. Narro

  She did want that; at least part of her did. But abandoning Sumar would be a thousand times worse than leaving a rhyme unfinished. The deaths of three scouts, possibly more, were on her conscience. Every time she remembered, she would feel a wrench to her heart.

  “I don’t want to go to Ovira until we’re done here.”

  “Then I’ll stay, but you should remember there are no rules to what we’re doing.” Steffen glanced around in a way that made it seem like he was about to divulge a secret. “Which leads me to something I think I have to tell you.”

  Shara huddled closer. No matter the situation, she couldn’t help herself. She loved secrets. But then she noticed him showing reserve, leaning back.

  “You can tell me,” Shara encouraged.

  A familiar voice came from behind her. “Steffen?”

  Shara turned to find Laney approaching. The one-armed woman, two years her elder, gasped at the sight of her, and a burst of excitement went through Shara’s body.

  “My gods, Shara!”

  “It’s wonderful to see you, Laney!” Shara hugged her friend, painfully realizing she didn’t have many in her life who would let her squeeze them as tightly as she squeezed Laney.

  She was glowing with a beatific smile when they ended their embrace. With kempt hair cut straight at her shoulders and clad in a blue army uniform, Laney finally gave off the appearance of strength.

  “I thought you’d been killed,” Laney said. “What happened?”

  Shara frowned as she realized she’d have to retell the same story she’d told Jaymes. It wasn’t that she didn’t enjoy Neeko coming to her rescue. It was remembering the weeks she’d spent alone with Swenn and Jonen, the constant worry of pain and rape churning her stomach. Even worse was the fear that Neeko would arrive and be killed.

  Sometimes as she thought about Neeko, she felt a small shock to her heart and she yearned to see him, to touch him, to kiss him. She knew they would see each other again, but she didn’t know when.

  While Jaymes had stayed stolid during Shara’s tale, Laney appeared on the verge of tears. Shara eventually finished and shared another embrace with her friend.

  “Where’s Neeko now?” Laney asked.

  “It’s complicated. We need to meet with him and Cedri, but Jaymes won’t let us go until we tell him where Neeko is.”

  “When I heard about the king’s order to kill Neeko, I asked others if they would kill him,” Laney said. “Because I would never!”

  “I know you wouldn’t.”

  “But those I asked said they would follow any order. It made me so mad I screamed at them. Then I screamed at Jaymes.” She looked down, embarrassed. “And I cried. I know I’m not supposed to.”

  “We all cry sometimes.” Shara had spent every night during her capture shedding tears. She would never tell Neeko, though. He thought she was strong. “Has Jaymes been difficult?”

  “No, no!” Laney shook her head vigorously. “He speaks with me every day as we walk. He talks to me about battle.” She paused for a breath. “He called me heroic…once.”

  Shara smiled. “You are heroic.”

  Laney grinned back. Suddenly, her eyes bulged. “My gods, Darri! We haven’t spoken about that rat!”

  Shara glanced at Steffen, who answered for her.

  “He’s dead.”

  “What?” Laney whispered in disbelief.

  “That’s why we’re here, Laney,” Shara explained. “And to see you, of course,” she quickly added. “Neeko told me to tell you he intends to keep his promise of being at your side when you need him.”

  Laney blinked for a moment. “Well I don’t see how that’s possible anymore, but I appreciate the intention.”

  They spent the morning walking with the army and telling Laney about the incident with Darri during the night. Shara let Steffen explain, for she still didn’t feel convinced Darri had done everything he’d died for and she didn’t want Steffen to realize her suspicions. Then they explained their mission to take down King Marteph and his two most revered priests.

  By the end of it, Shara had plotted out what she was going to tell Jaymes so that she and Steffen could leave. It would mean lying to the army commander, though.

  She asked Laney, “What does Jaymes do to people he catches in a lie?”

  “No one lies to him,” she answered. “Except Darri…and you already know what happened to him.”

  Shara rubbed her brow, a headache setting in. Eventually she recalled that Steffen was about to tell her a secret before Laney came. She asked him about it after Jaymes came by and took Laney from them.

  “I forgot,” Steffen said.

  Shara knew it was a lie; this man didn’t forget anything. She was already having trouble trusting him, and this just made it worse.

  The Southern capital was hundreds of miles away. Steffen obviously wouldn’t go all that way if he could help it. Once they found Terren, he’d attempt to convince Neeko to give up this difficult mission.

  Shara couldn’t let that happen. She needed to finish what they’d started.

  CHAPTER SIX

  SHARA

  Darri’s body was placed upon a pyre. An officer commanded three mages to light the heap of wood. They didn’t wait for the fire to burn away all traces of his existence, as Jaymes gave the order to march moments after the flames roared loud and high. No one said a word for the accused traitor.

  Shara spent the day walking with the army while surrounded by men in armor, rarely spotting a woman. Shara knew the army employed no female swordsmen, so they had to be mages. If any of them saw her and Steffen attempting to escape, a well-placed fireball could mean their end. The archers were even more frightening. There must’ve been nearly a thousand of them.

  It wasn’t until midday when the army stopped for a rest. It was Shara’s opportunity to speak with Steffen without being overheard. They sat close together and murmured, keeping watch for eavesdroppers.

  “We have to lie to Commander Jaymes,” Shara said. “It’s our only option.”

  “Lying is one of my worst talents.”

  Shara frowned. “I’m not skilled at it, either, but I believe I can be convincing enough. If he asks you anything, all you know is that we were supposed to kill Darri and then meet Neeko in the hills, where we left him. You know nothing else about where he might be.”

  “I won’t mention Aylinhall.”

  Laney was approaching, using her teeth to rip off some jerky.

  “Jaymes told me to fetch you.” She spoke with a full mouth.

  Shara and Steffen rose and walked with Laney. It appeared she was leading them toward the front of the army.

  “Did he mention anything else to you?” Shara asked, hoping for a better sense of Jaymes’ mood.

  “No, and he wouldn’t answer any of my questions about you or Neeko.”

  “What did you ask?”

  “If he would kill you under any circumstance.”

  Kill me? Shara swallowed a gulp of air. Laney had always been brusque about death—mentioning Shara’s poisoning many times with too much detail.

  “You should at least say, ‘order our deaths,’ ” Shara advised her.

  “Oh, I will next time.”

  Hopefully we won’t talk about my death a next time.

  Steffen asked, “What sense did you get of his thoughts?”

  “None! No sense! His mouth never moves except to talk.”

  Laney rambled on about being bored and forced to walk beside the commander. At least she didn’t seem nervous about heading into battle. She was still focused on getting her first kiss, clearly undeterred by the king’s rule against it.

  Soon Shara came to realize that Laney, like a child, didn’t quite understand the extent of marching to the South. It was no wonder that Jaymes kept her by his side each day, preparing her for battle. With her current maturity, the sight of an enemy army might make her knees collapse in fear.

  Shara saw Commander Jaymes just ahead, conferring wi
th an officer. “Laney.”

  Her thin eyebrows went up.

  Shara wanted to offer her the chance to come with them. A battlefield was no place for this woman, just like Shara knew it was no place for herself. Laney didn’t want to fight among thousands of men, hundreds dying all around her. She just wanted to live, and eat, and laugh, and love someone.

  Shara felt herself filling with empathy as she took Laney’s single hand. It was painful not to offer the woman a way out, but as much as Shara cared for her, she couldn’t risk entrusting Laney with her plan of escape. Perhaps one day they could come back for her.

  “Has Jaymes said what they’re going to do with you once the war is won?” Shara asked instead.

  “I’ve been scared to ask.”

  “Shara!” Jaymes called, beckoning them.

  “What do you think?” Laney whispered as they walked.

  Shara looked at Steffen, hoping he would offer to take Laney to Ovira, but he seemed not to understand.

  “I don’t know,” Shara lied. She believed prison would be Laney’s fate if no one interfered. And she knew Laney well enough to know what that would mean.

  Suicide.

  Jaymes dismissed his officer and showed Shara a cold stare. “I’ve given you enough time, Shara. Tell me where Neeko is.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Where were you to meet him?”

  “Among the hills, where you found our horses.”

  “I know this already.” Irritation hardened his voice. “Where were you to meet him if you became separated?”

  Shara felt her heart speeding up as she prepared the lie. “We never discussed it, but I believe he went to Cessri.”

  “Why Cessri?”

  “It’s the nearest town where both of us have been together before.”

  He seemed to believe her, his even stare unchanging. “Where would he go in Cessri?”

  “Either the house of his late aunt or Pig Belly’s Inn, where I worked briefly.”

  “You’ll stay with us until we get there.” It was an order, but spoken so calmly it sounded closer to a suggestion. He strode off and yelled for his officers to announce the end of lunch.

  Laney leaned into Shara and gave her as firm a squeeze as she could with one arm. “That was a lie, right?” she whispered.

  Shara held back a tear as she lied to her good-hearted friend. “No. It was the truth.”

  “You’re going to let them kill Neeko?” Laney was in disbelief.

  “Cessri isn’t on their path to the South. I’m hoping Jaymes will only send a few men and Neeko can escape.”

  “But then you won’t ever see him again.”

  I will see him again. She would do anything to make sure it happened. “I’m sure we’ll find a way.”

  “I would like to see him again as well…alive.”

  *****

  By sunset, Shara was so fatigued her body felt as if it weighed twice as much. She and Steffen had some food left, but they needed to ration it. Jaymes had only offered them water. It didn’t help that they hadn’t had a wink of sleep the night before.

  Jaymes gave them no tent to sleep in, instead leading them to a spot on the ground in the center of camp. Shara sat, fighting back her weariness so she could strategize with Steffen.

  “Escaping is our only option,” he said. “I’m not marching all the way with them into battle when they don’t find Neeko.”

  Their horses were held with the other animals, guarded by vigilant bowmen. “Well, we won’t be riding out of here.”

  “Then we’ll sneak out.”

  She relaxed her sore neck to let her face fall into her hands. She took a few breaths, pushing away the urge to lie down and sleep. Then she looked up at the gray sky.

  “Hopefully these rain clouds will prove for a dark night.” And hopefully Jaymes won’t have us killed if we’re caught, which almost certainly will happen.

  Hours later, the fires began burning out as every soldier retired to his or her tent; the women paired with each other. Shara hoped Laney’s partner was a caring woman. She would be hurt that Shara had lied and left, but it was too much of a risk to fetch her.

  “Something’s wrong,” Steffen whispered as he glanced around. “No one is staying out here to watch us.”

  “It’s either a trap or a blessing,” Shara observed.

  They walked east as leisurely as they could, taking paths that put them behind tents when they had the chance. The farther they went, the less likely their lie of wanting a stroll would work.

  Soon the only tents in their way were short enough for Steffen to see over. “It looks clear,” he whispered.

  Another hundred yards and they would be at the edge of camp. There were no fires left, hardly enough light to see the ground. Filled with adrenaline, Shara had to resist the impulse to run, for she certainly would trip.

  At twenty yards from the edge of camp, they broke into an unplanned sprint. They sped past the last tents, Shara ready to hold back a shriek in case her foot slammed into a rock. But nothing hindered them, and soon the army was at their backs.

  They ran without pause until the muscles in Shara’s legs burned as if filled with embers. “I need to slow,” she huffed out.

  Steffen panted as well. “Doesn’t look like they’re following us.”

  They found a copse of trees and took a rest. “I think Jaymes let us go,” Shara said.

  But getting to Aylinhall wouldn’t be as easy, she realized. They didn’t have much food. Luckily, Jaymes had allowed them to fill their water skins. However, without horses, it probably would take them four days to reach the town.

  Don’t leave, Neeko. We’re going to be late, but we’re coming.

  Her longing to see him was so intense it was as if they’d been parted for weeks.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  NEEKO

  A pain unlike any Neeko had experienced split his skull. It felt like a dagger tearing through his scalp. He fell to his knees, clapping his hands over his temples. It did no good. A scream ripped out of his throat. And just as suddenly as the agony began, it stopped.

  “Try to refrain from yelling.” Cedri spoke in a cold, remorseless tone. “We don’t want to draw attention to our room. If you can’t endure it, just say so.”

  “You said you were going to start off light,” Neeko complained. “The scream was out of surprise.”

  “That was light. It was far less than what I’m capable of. The pain you felt in your head—I can make you feel it in your whole body.” Neeko climbed up from his knees, using his bed for support as she continued to chide him. “And you said you could handle anything without screaming.”

  “I wasn’t expecting that. My gods, Cedri. Do you know what it feels like?”

  “Charlotte did it to me many times. Part of my psyche training was learning to resist.”

  Neeko cringed at the thought of feeling that kind of pain more than once.

  He’d agreed to help Cedri when she told him she needed to train if she was going to improve. It had been two days since they’d left Shara and Steffen, and now they had a room at Grodger’s Inn. They would stay at Aylinhall until Shara and Steffen arrived. However long that may be.

  “You have to train by hurting me?” Neeko asked rhetorically, knowing there must be another way.

  “Yes,” she said, surprising him. “I mostly improve at what I practice. If I detect or sway your emotions, I won’t get much better at causing pain.”

  “Then let me get some food in my stomach first.”

  With hard eyes and lowered, blonde eyebrows, Cedri had a face that showed irritation quite plainly whenever she felt it. “That means I must go out and get it.”

  Unfortunately, this was true.

  Neeko had learned much about Aylinhall before arriving, all from books Shara had recommended during their time in the castle. Aylinhall was the last of the Northern cities to be formed, created after the terrislaks destroyed Talmor Forest, turning it into Talmor De
sert. People going around the desert used the land that became Aylinhall to rest and trade with other travelers. Eventually people settled there, selling goods to those passing by. Farmers took to the fertile soil around it as a town formed.

  These days, travelers still used the town for a place to rest and restock. But Neeko had no idea that all the travelers would bring news to Aylinhall so quickly. Everyone they met mentioned a sixteen-year-old who used pyforial energy to slay hundreds of terrislaks in western Rhalon. Some even knew Neeko’s name and that he had short, dark blond hair.

  One of those people was the innkeeper at Grodger’s, who’d asked if either of them had heard of Neeko, the pyforial mage.

  To anyone who asked, Neeko was known as Jon, the name of his father and the one that came to his mind the first time he was questioned. He feared what would happen when Shara and Steffen arrived. They would need to speak with the innkeeper to find the right room. He imagined many different conversations that all resulted in the innkeeper figuring out he was Neeko.

  He wouldn’t mind the fame if there weren’t hundreds, possibly thousands of pyforial mages all over Sumar, in hiding, who were looking for him. Of course there was also the entire Northern army. Jaymes had sent out thousands, forcing him and Cedri to ride to Aylinhall. So the commander certainly was taking King Quince’s decree seriously.

  Cedri didn’t speak much to him during their trip. If she feared for Shara and Steffen like he did, he couldn’t tell.

  Jaymes wouldn’t have sent out men to look for him without first encountering Shara and Steffen. The best case Neeko could imagine was that the commander had seen Shara after they’d already killed Darri. But even then, Jaymes at least would be suspicious they’d committed the act. He would question them. What would he do if he thought they were guilty?