by Nichelle Rae
“I don’t feel anything,” he exclaimed. “No pain, not anything.” His brows suddenly dropped. “Well, that’s not entirely true,” he added. “I do feel hungry.” We all laughed. He smiled at me with such warmth and gazed into my eyes so intently I felt my insides turn to liquid. “Thank you,” he said. My heart skipped a beat at the sound of the soft, genuine gratitude in his voice.
“That was incredible, Azrel!” Rabryn exclaimed behind me. “Do you think you could make breakfast appear on the table, too?” We all laughed again.
“I could try.”
“Actually,” Beldorn interrupted, “I think it best to turn back into your regular form now, Azrel. You should not use this gift frivolously. Remember, it still must be kept secret.”
He seemed a bit worried. Though something deep inside me told me to listen, I really wasn’t in the mood. “Just a moment,” I said with a mischievous smile.
I took my sword in my hand and pointed it in the direction of the kitchen. The fire intensified around the blade, then a flash of bright light filled the kitchen and dining room. The light was quickly followed by the sweet smell of food wafting toward us.
I gazed at Beldorn with a sly grin. “You don’t really think I’d cook breakfast the hard way, do you?”
Beldorn lips tightened, and the stern expression came back. I ignored him again. It served him right for yelling at me earlier and forcing me to reveal my secret to Rabryn. I arched the sword in front of me again, and the white fire came forth and returned me to normal.
“Let’s eat!” I said cheerfully. Maybe my powers weren’t so bad.
Wait! What was I thinking? Reality iced through me and I vividly remembered my father and what my magic had done to him. Nothing good came from this magic, this power. Sure, I could heal, but I didn’t like the idea of using my magic even for that purpose! What was I thinking putting breakfast on the table?
My face turned grim as I scolded myself for using my magic so carelessly. That shouldn’t have happened, and it would not happen ever again! I wouldn’t let it. With my teeth clenched, I angrily sheathed my sword and scowled down at it. I could only wonder what horrible thing was going to come of my mistake. For all I knew the food was poisoned.
Rabryn went to his room for a set of clothes for Ortheldo to wear. They were way too small, but Beldorn fixed that with a quick spell. Then Ortheldo picked up the mysterious necklace from the short table and pocketed it, and we went into the kitchen to eat. It wasn’t very extravagant but looked delicious nonetheless. We all agreed that Ortheldo would explain everything after breakfast.
Beldorn didn’t eat. He stayed quiet and gazed out the window. The windows in the kitchen, to my dismay, had been opened when I’d made breakfast appear. But I didn’t think too much of it. I was still too busy kicking myself for using my magic at all.
Ortheldo sucked down his breakfast faster than any man I’d ever seen. I wondered how long he’d gone without food before we found him. He was in good spirits despite what he’d been through. I wondered if in healing his physical wounds I also healed the emotional turmoil of yesterday’s experience. Or maybe he was just being a pleasant guest and hiding his emotions. Either way, it was a nice breakfast. When Ortheldo had eaten his full, he sat back in his chair and sighed. “Thank you, Azrel. That was wonderful.”
I stood with a smile and took his plate. “You’re welcome.” As I took Rabryn’s plate too, I stopped for a moment to gaze back at my friend. That strange, good feeling at seeing him still burned inside me. In an instant I saw him as he had been when we first met, and then as he’d been the day we parted on the river, to what he was now. It had been nine years since I last saw him, but it felt like no time had passed at all. His eyes were still the same, his smile was still the same. I suddenly realized I was staring at him and practically jumped out of my skin to look away quickly, but as I passed him on my way to the washbasin, he gently took hold of my elbow, stopping me. Beyond my own doing, I turned to look down at him. He had a smile on his face and he squeezed my arm reassuringly.
I suddenly became very aware of him. I felt something—something strong that blocked out my entire past for a moment. I felt his eyes on me, and my heartbeat quickened as we looked at each other.
After a moment, I managed to smile and walk away to put the dirty dishes in the washbasin. I moved fast and awkwardly, not understanding this emotion, and not knowing how to deal with it. I bit my bottom lip as I put the dishes down in the basin and grasped the edges of it to keep from screaming out the feeling inside me, a feeling I couldn’t understand, a feeling I couldn’t even describe. I swallowed hard, pushing back the emotions that flooded through me at the sight, smell, and touch of Ortheldo. I could hardly keep from shaking.
I’d composed myself the best I could with the image of his face burned into my memory. I turned back, attempting to keep my expression and voice neutral as I pulled up a chair close to him. I couldn’t contain my curiosity any longer. “Alright, now tell me everything that has happened to you since we unintentionally parted on Ambuel.”
I expected his tales to be positive, but his face clouded over, suggesting the opposite. Memories of hard times skimmed across his eyes, and he bowed his head trying to hide them from me. My smile faded. I unconsciously took his hand into mine. He’d been through so much already, dating way back to the treatment from his brother. I hated to think that he’d been through even more hardship. I wished it were in my power to protect him from everything bad. I wished I could take away all his hurt and sorrow and never let harm come to him again. But wishes were for fools.
Rabryn saw the change of our moods and leaned in closer to listen to what Ortheldo had to say. Beldorn stood and went to the window, still looking out expectantly, though I knew his ears would be turned in our direction.
Ortheldo sighed as he looked down and took both of my hands in his. “I searched for you for a long time after you fell. I went up and down the Ambuel, finding no sign, no hope that you were alive. But I knew you had to be, or else we were all in big trouble. A world without the White Warrior would be a dead world.”
I shot a glance at Rabryn to see if his ears perked up at the mention of the White Warrior, but there was no change. No, he had no idea what I was.
“I had already gone without supplies or food for days, but I was going to get to you no matter what it took. I had to. I kept searching until my legs couldn’t hold me up anymore. When I finally lied on the bank prepared to die, the Gleo`gwyns found me.”
I didn’t know what to do with myself. How could I react to that? Emotions gathered and formed a lump in my throat. He’d searched for me until he’d been near death! Guilt rippled through me as I wondered why he would do such a thing. Something more prominent rang in my memory, though—about Gleo`gwyns. After a moment, I recalled the pack of rainbow clad riders Beldorn and I had passed on our way into eastern Casdanarus.
“They saved my life,” Ortheldo continued. “When I was well, and knew more about them, about how they traveled the lands all the time, I asked if they’d seen any sign of you. They had nothing solid to tell me, but they did mention very quiet rumors they’d heard about ‘a young woman of the wild,’ ‘a lady born of nowhere,’ and other things of the sort. I had a feeling the rumors were about you.
“I followed the rumors until they brought me to Galad Kas,” he continued. “You’d left there months earlier. They said you were on your way home with the Wizard Beldorn, but of course I didn’t know where your home was because the maps your father drew were with you when you fell into the river. I felt so hopeless. I should have been content knowing you were in the good hands of a Wizard, but—.”
Ortheldo paused and sighed. He looked down at my hands holding his and caressed the backs of them with his thumbs, then looked up into my eyes. This special look he gave me stirred emotions I couldn’t begin to explain, except to say that they felt wonderful. When he looked at me, it was as if I was the center of the universe, the only person in t
he world he cared to see in that moment. My heart pounded and ached at the same time.
“I still missed you like mad and feared for your safety every day. I promised myself I wouldn’t stop searching until I found you.” He smiled. “It took me nine years, but I finally have—completely by accident, of course.” He and Rabryn laughed.
I couldn’t laugh with them because so many feelings were going through me. I felt overwhelmed and dizzy. He’d searched for me nonstop for nine years of his life? It sent my mind reeling! Why did he do that? How could he have been so bent on finding me that he was driven to do so for years! Not months— years!
Rabryn’s voice broke the silence. “Ortheldo, how did you come about the necklace and our woods?”
Ortheldo exhaled and leaned back in his chair. Before answering, he rubbed his face with his free hand, then dropped it back on his lap, his other hand still holding mine. He shook his head slowly. “How I came across The Pitt is a bizarre story.” I leaned in even closer. “I was searching for you when I remembered your father saying that The Pitt was significantly hidden in woodlands. I’d already been down this way and searched every forest that I came across, including this one; I didn’t find anything. I swear some magic protects The Pitt. Otherwise I should have run right into it years ago.”
Magic around The Pitt? “My father said the same thing.” I didn’t realize I’d spoken that aloud until both Rabryn and Ortheldo looked at me.
“What did he tell you?” Ortheldo asked.
I shrugged. “Just that he was desperate to find some secluded race to live with peacefully. He said that if he hadn’t found The Pitt he probably would have died of madness or killed himself because he couldn’t be alone anymore.” I hoped I’d chosen my words carefully. I didn’t want to let Rabryn onto the fact that my father was temporarily immortal and lived for thousands of years.
Ortheldo looked back at the tabletop as if seeing through it. “I was nearly dead as well.” He looked at me thoughtfully. “Maybe the magic only allows beings in life threatening situations to see it or enter it.” It was a possibility. “When I first entered the woods, my attackers—those who caused the injuries you saw—were in pursuit only for a short while. Soon after I entered the trees, they stopped and searched as if they’d lost sight of me. But I could see them as plainly as they should have been able to see me.”
Now that the possibility presented itself, it only made sense. It seemed ridiculous now to think that there wasn’t a magic barrier around The Pitt! How else would these people have lived so long in perfect solitude?
Then again, Beldorn came and went as he pleased, and his life had never been threatened before entering. Maybe he used his own Wizard’s magic to pass through with no trouble. How odd that I’d lived here for eight years and never knew that magic surrounded the borders. Rabryn had lived here all his life, so he had to be more shocked than I was...or was he?
Rabryn’s face was impassive. He didn’t seem at all impressed that magic of some sort seemed to protect the lands of The Pitt. Had he already known, or did he just not care?
“So how did you come across that necklace?” Rabryn said at long last.
“That’s even more bizarre,” Ortheldo said, shaking his head. “It was a couple months ago, and I had fallen asleep. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, except that it was the deepest and the most restless sleep of my life. I could swear that somehow, I had passed into another world, a world beyond this one. It was no dream, that’s for sure.” He paused as his eyes took on a faraway look. “I was standing in a place of green light, and in the distance, something started coming toward me. It was small and stood out against the green surrounding me. ‘Take it,’ a voice said. It developed more shape as it drew closer, and I realized that it was the necklace. ‘Take it,’ the voice said again. Suddenly I realized it was your voice.” He looked at me. “It was you with me, somewhere in that other world.”
I flinched. “Me? I never left here.”
Beldorn broke in without turning from the window. “You might not have physically left, but your subconscious can leave you when you sleep.”
I smirked at his back. “Have you gone batty, Old Man?” I waited for a response but got none. He didn’t even move. He just stood there, silent as stone, watching and waiting.
I turned back to Ortheldo and saw that distant look in his eyes again. “I ran forward through the green light with nowhere really to go, blurting out so many words of greeting and telling you how I missed you. But everything moved so slowly. I finally reached the necklace and grabbed it. I looked around for you, or at least for someone to question, but saw only green light. But I heard the echo of your voice once more.” His eyebrows dropped in disturbed confusion. “You said, ‘This has been lost and I entrust it to you. Find me. You must find me or we all die. Head west and I will meet you there.’”
Ortheldo looked back at me, and we stared at each other intently. That exciting feeling came back when I saw that special look in his eyes. I didn’t realize he was holding both of my hands until he caressed them. “When I awoke,” he said, “I thought it had all been a very realistic dream, but then I realized I was holding the necklace.” He looked from me to my brother. “Of course, after that I headed west, but I wasn’t alone anymore. Something was pursuing me all the sudden. I could feel it in my bones. I wasn’t sure what it was, but its presence grew stronger as I rode farther west.” He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “As soon as I set sight on your woods again, I was attacked by two Legan’dirs.”
I sucked in a breath and my eyes got so wide I was surprised they didn’t roll right out of my head. Beldorn even turned around at the mention of Legan`dirs. We knew what those were! They were the foul souls of evil things, more ancient than time. They were the very first creations of the Shadow Gods!
The name Legan`dirs was ancient Salynnian for “Phantom Riders.” They were spirits that knew no boundaries, no limits. They could pass through solid objects with no effort, yet wielded solid weapons that could harm flesh. What they did was for the sole purpose of their own benefit. They didn’t even serve the Shadow Gods any longer, but the filth of their very being directed their actions toward dark purposes anyway.
“How did you survive?” My voice was a whisper of shock. My disbelief wouldn’t let me speak louder.
“That’s why I strongly believe some active and intelligent magic surrounds The Pitt.”
Now it was beyond any doubt that Ortheldo was right—otherwise he would be dead right now. Why wasn’t he dead? The Legan’dirs should have killed him instantly! I didn’t understand why the creatures would torture him with the lashes and clubs at all. They could have easily killed him.
“I ran from them as fast as I could toward the woods, hoping to hide somewhere in the trees. Legan`dirs are fast beasts so obviously, they caught up to me quickly. They brought out whips and clubs from inside themselves and put them to use. I fell to the ground often, but I knew I had to reach the woods to have any chance of survival. Once when I was knocked down, I was so weary and in so much pain I didn’t think I’d be able to get up again. That’s when, for the second time, the Gleo`gwyns were there to aid me.”
Thank the Sky Sanctuary for the Gleo`gwyns! I made a mental note that if I ever met them I would thank them immensely for all that they’d done. Ortheldo should not have survived this.
“The Gleo`gwyns surrounded the Legan’dirs, allowing me enough time to run to the woods and escape. I think some of those men may have died while helping me,” Ortheldo said sadly. I was about to comfort him but he quickly continued. “I was only a few yards from the opening of your woods when I heard your voice call out to me.”
My eyebrows dropped again. Why was he hearing me all over the place?
“‘Throw it in the stream,’ you were telling me. Your voice was so quiet and distant, it was as if it was being carried by the wind alone. It wasn’t sharp and clear like when you gave me the necklace. Anyway, I looked to my right and ou
t of nowhere a stream was flowing where there had been land before.”
“That’s Blind Creek,” Rabryn said.
Ortheldo paused and looked at him, then nodded thoughtfully. “Very fitting. Your people named it well.” His eyebrows dropped in curiosity. “Is the stream also hidden by the strange magic that protects The Pitt?”
Rabryn nodded. “The magic is intelligent, as you guessed, hiding the stream at will. It also expands and moves, enveloping people in life threatening situations and hiding them from pursuit, like it did for you. Or it gives people an opening to enter The Pitt, like it did for Azrel’s father.”
My eyes grew wide. He knew! Rabryn knew a magic barrier protected the woods, and he never told me!
“I think it’s time you told Azrel your secret, Rabryn,” Beldorn said without looking our way. I snapped my eyes to my brother again. What?
Rabryn looked from the Wizard’s back into my eyes. He was hunched over in his chair, his elbows resting on his knees, and he gazed up at me from under his eyebrows with…was that a smile on his face?
My jaw went slack. He had kept a secret from me? We had lived together for eight years! I saw the boy grow up! What secret could he have possibly kept from me? He was a simple person of The Pitt. Nothing exciting or interesting happened here, and there was no need to keep secrets. Yet he had!
Ortheldo glanced from me to Rabryn, wondering what was going on.
Rabryn shifted his sly gaze from me to Ortheldo, “So you saw the stream. Then what happened?”
He was keeping me in the dark! I was going to murder him! I wanted to know his secret! I snapped my mouth shut, though. I could only take one thing at a time, so when Ortheldo glanced at me wondering whether he should go on, I tore my eyes away from my brother and nodded at him.
“Well, before I could question where the water had come from, I chucked the necklace into the stream and continued running. Soon after the Gleo`gwyns retreated, with good reason. The Legan’dirs were on my tail again, but I had enough of a head start. I kept desperately looking for a place to hide but found nothing great. They followed me for a short time, as I told you, but after about a half a mile they seemed to have lost all instinct of where I’d gone. They were looking every which way for me, even as I stared straight at them.
