by Nichelle Rae
“Any pure Evil being can feel the presence of an equally pure power of Good—like the healing gem. The opposite is true—a being of pure enough Goodness can sense something of pure enough Evil. The two extremes are constantly at odds, and each is like a force of invisible pressure on the other. The pressure increases as the two pure forces get closer together. Unfortunately, this ancient natural law makes the jewel easy for Evil to find.”
“Well, that explains why the Legan’dirs lost interest in me after I threw the necklace in the creek,” Ortheldo said. Beldorn nodded. Ortheldo blew out a breath and ran his fingers through his hair. “Well, that was quite a bit of good luck that the water washed it down where Rabryn could find it.”
Beldorn nodded again. “Indeed, some Good forces were with us on that account.”
I rolled my eyes. Good forces? Good luck? Good spirits? That was all a bunch of ridiculous nonsense! Evil came from anything good that happened. For heaven’s sake, The White Sword of Goodness was hanging at my belt, and nothing good came from that thing!
“Great,” I said bitterly. “So, let me see if I have this straight: I have to try to find a person I’ve never met or seen before, with no idea who the person is or where to go. All the while, every evil creature in existence is on the hunt for this necklace, which, by the way, is easy for them to find. Plus, this necklace is dying and we have no idea how long it’s going to live.” I raised an eyebrow and crossed my arms. “Is that about right?”
Beldorn nodded.
I let out a hollow laugh. I couldn’t believe this. But apparently I had no choice in the matter, so I might as well get on with my death.
I gave another hollow chuckle of disbelief. Death. The possibility wasn’t as terrifying as it should have been, but I had nothing to live for. I might as well die trying to restore honor to my father’s name. Heck, this was the largest shred of hope I’d had since he died.
“Alright.” I held out my hand to Beldorn and he handed me the necklace. “Well, I’m gone.” I pocketed the gem, then turned and went to Forfirith.
“You’ll need help!” Rabryn cried as he jumped to his feet.
I smirked at him over my shoulder and shook my head. “No, I won’t.” I approached my horse, still drinking at the stream. “I’ll do this myself, thank you very much. That way only I’ll have the risk of dying.”
I turned my horse to head up the hill. The next thing I knew, Ortheldo stood in my path with his arms crossed stubbornly. Then my brother appeared beside him in the same manner. “I have not searched for you for the past nine years only to see you for two days then have you leave.” Ortheldo tightened his jaw and glared at me. “I won’t lose you again, Azrel. I’ll die first.”
I tore my eyes away from him and looked at Forfirith. I felt bad about what I had to say next, but I couldn’t let him put himself in danger. He had searched for me for years, and I didn’t want to leave him anymore than he wanted me to leave, but I couldn’t let him come with me on this.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “You’re going to die either way, but I’d rather it not happen on my watch. This is my responsibility.” I tightened my jaw. “The last thing I need is someone’s death on my conscious!” I realized my words came out more harshly then I intended, but I stayed hard. “Especially the deaths of a friend and relative.”
I saw Ortheldo clench his teeth, and he slowly closed his eyes. He took in a deep breath through his nose and slowly let it out. That’s how he kept his patience in check; I’d seen him do that before. My father often would be teaching him something new, and if he couldn’t get it right he would do that…and then try again.
When he opened his eyes, he looked at me with a steady gaze. “I’m going with you, Azrel, whether you like it or not. If I die, at least I won’t die alone.” He narrowed his eyes, daring me to argue with him.
I sighed and looked at Rabryn. He shrugged carelessly. “You’re stuck with me, too, sis.” By his shrug and his careless manner, he was letting me know that I could argue all I wanted, but it wouldn’t do me any good. I’d seen him do that before, too.
I looked away from them, annoyed. Why did they want to come? Now I was going to be worried sick for both of them the entire time. It didn’t matter. I could tell immediately that they weren’t going to care about what I had to say in protest. I knew them both too well to take that look in their eyes lightly. I probably could have talked them down if I really wanted to, but it wasn’t worth the effort. I supposed the company would be nice. Besides, neither Ortheldo or Rabryn really had anywhere else to go.
I looked back at them and shrugged a shoulder. “Let’s go then.” I started leading Forfirith up the hill.
Ortheldo grinned and nudged my smiling brother with his elbow. Both were rather proud of themselves for winning me over. They really hadn’t won anything, though. I was just too tired to have a long, drawn-out argument.
Beldorn was the last one up the hill with Lómarandil, and we mounted our horses. “We will ride the rest of today so we can distance ourselves from The Pitt. Then we will rest for the night.”
We all nodded, and Beldorn and Ortheldo kicked their horses into a full gallop toward the opening in the trees. Rabryn and I lagged, gazing after them. I looked at my brother. Fear was written all over his face.
I rested my hand on top of his in comfort. He immediately turned his palm up and clutched my fingers firmly in response. “Are you okay?” I asked. He licked his lips and nodded as he stared at the opening of the woods, the end of all he’d ever known. “Are you sure? It’s perfectly natural to be scared. I was terrified when I left the cave where my father and I lived. It was the only home I’d ever known, and, well,” I glanced down, “all of the sudden I was forced to leave it.” We looked at each other and he smiled a soft smile of gratitude. “I know you’re scared,” I said gently. “But we’re in this together, Rabryn. Everything will be okay.” His smile widened a little and he nodded. We squeezed each other’s hand reassuringly before looking toward the opening again.
He blew out a breath through his pursed lips. “Let’s go then.”
I smiled. Then we both gripped our reins tightly in both hands and dug our heels sharply into our horses’ sides. Immediately they bolted toward the opening to the outside world.
Rabryn’s apprehension rose as we neared the opening. It kept building and building until it was so thick, I started to think Rabryn would stop Eleclya and not go through with it. A few feet from the opening, I heard him take a deep breath and hold it.
Finally, sunlight exploded on our faces and a free breeze whipped our hair to the side. In that moment, every single negative feeling I’d ever felt in my life seemed to blow away with the breeze.
I was free!
All the despair, all the anger, all the dread and hopelessness faded. The wind seemed to kiss my cheeks, welcoming me warmly back into the world. The Pitt no longer caged me in. I was out! I smiled and let the wind rush over my skin as I closed my eyes and raised my face to the bright, beautiful sun. Nothing could touch me in this moment. Right now, I was one with the wind. I was unrestrained, and I felt like I could fly.
Without realizing it, I let out a loud scream of exhilaration. I stood in my stirrups and bent over Forfirith’s neck, gripping the reins tight. “Ya!” I yelled to speed him up. I let out another scream as I blew past Beldorn and Ortheldo. “Waaooo!!” With a toss of his mane and a powerful neigh, Forfirith ran even faster! So fast we ran! He seemed to be enjoying the feeling of freedom as much as I was. “That a boy! Ya!” I screamed as we rode further and further away from my prison. Nothing in this world could hurt me right now. I was free!
As much as I wanted her to, as much as I tried, Azrel never belonged in The Pitt. Her upbringing was so dynamic it sparked her fiery nature. The Pitt, because of its simplicity on top of the people’s scorn for her, was the worst place for someone like her. She told me once that it made her feel like a caged animal. She wasn’t so much an animal, but she had an amazing spirit. Because of that w
ild spirit, she was a caged animal in a sense.
It made me sad knowing The Pitt had wilted her spirit over the years. But it was far from dead. I saw it start to come back to life, and we were only a day away from The Pitt. Nothing pleased me more now than to see my sister in good spirits.
It was just me, Azrel, and Ortheldo right now. Beldorn had ridden ahead on his own so he could reach Rocksheloc and have the maps prepared when we arrived. I watched Azrel now as she stood in the distance with Forfirith. The moonlight glittered on her face, giving her features a fair silver tint. My keen eyesight allowed me to see that she was smiling and feeling very content with her newfound freedom as she talked to the horse.
Yes, my sister was talking to the horse. I made a note to myself to ask her what she was saying to him, and of course to make fun of her for it. But she was at peace for the moment, and that made me smile, though it did nothing for my inner fear.
I was terrified.
I was very comforted that I had her with me, but I couldn’t stop my heart from pounding and my legs from shaking. The thought of having nowhere to go, nowhere to turn, no place to call home was beyond frightful. It was something I’d never faced. I knew the people of the mob saw me for what I truly was, a Salynn, and I also knew they didn’t like it. My heart sank at the realization that the people I knew and grew up with all hated me now. I shuddered at the memory of what had happened. It was horrifying to see all the familiar faces of that mob, faces I knew so well, twisted with such hatred.
I knew Azrel blamed herself for everything that had happened, but no one was at fault. It was just an ugly turn of chance, and there was nothing to do about it except deal with it. That was one thing Azrel taught me at a very young age. She used it to explain by telling me how she had dealt with her mistreatment in The Pitt. “Chance is what makes life hard, but there’s nothing you can do about chance except deal with what it gives you.”
I was trying to deal with this ill turn of chance, but I was failing miserably. The very air that blew around me felt strange and alien. I felt like I didn’t belong here. Even the ground I sat on felt unfamiliar. My home was hundreds of miles away. Everything I’d ever known was hundreds of miles away.
“What are you thinking about?”
Ortheldo’s voice made me jump and spin to face him. I hadn’t realized he’d sat down next to me. I turned my eyes back to Azrel in the distance. “Just thinking,” I replied, not wanting to let on that I was afraid.
“Scared?” he asked.
Apparently, I didn’t have to let anything on. I smiled and glanced down. “Terrified.”
He surprised me by saying, “Me too.”
I looked at him in surprise. I felt relieved that I wasn’t the only one, but I didn’t know what he had to fear. He’d been in this world before. “What are you afraid of?”
Ortheldo shrugged casually. “A few things,” he replied. “Failure mostly.” He looked out into the darkness toward Azrel. “What about you?”
I drew my knees up and took one of my hands in the other, my arms resting on top of my knees. “Not too much…just everything.” We both chuckled. Before I realized it, I spoke again. “I’ve never left home in my life. The outside world has always rattled my nerves.”
He nodded. “It’s a scary place out here.”
“Thanks for the comfort,” I droned sarcastically.
He smiled. “Sorry, but to say anything else would be a lie. It’s not all bad out here, though. You can take comfort in that.”
I nodded. “Thanks. I will.”
There was a silent pause, then, “Is she talking to that horse?”
I laughed heartily. “Yes, yes she is.”
Ortheldo smiled and looked at me. “I wonder if she expects an answer.” Both of us laughed.
“Children,” Azrel’s voice rose up across the distance, “you can stop talking about me now!” Ortheldo and I stopped laughing instantly and looked out at her with wide eyes. How could she have possibly heard? She was too far away!
I looked out toward her again. “We weren’t!”
“Don’t try to lie to me, little brother,” she replied. “You never could manage it. Besides, I could hear you as plainly as if you were standing right next to me. And no, Ortheldo, I don’t expect the horse to answer me.”
Ortheldo gazed out at her with a wrinkled forehead. “Light Gods, that Sword must have heightened her senses to your level.”
His words gave me an opening to speak the question that had been burning on my tongue since Azrel turned into that white figure at the house. “What is she, Ortheldo?” He didn’t answer me right away. I turned to find him looking at me a bit perplexed. “That white person she turned into—the White Warrior, I think you called it. What is that?”
He gave me a small and kind of sad smile. “I don’t think I’m the one you should be asking, Rabryn.”
I nodded and looked back at Azrel. I hadn’t expected Ortheldo to tell me, but there was no harm in asking. Azrel and her horse started back toward us from the creek. I wondered if she would tell me if I asked. For some reason, I didn’t think so. She didn’t like the magic she possessed. In fact, she seemed to hate it with every fiber of her existence. Yet she always carried that sword at her belt. Not a day had gone by in eight years that she went without it. But if she hated it so much, and it caused the scorn of The Pitt, why had she bothered?
Something irked me about that sword, but I couldn’t guess what. All I really knew of it was that her father had giving it to her just moments before he died, and it possessed some white, fiery magic. Not for the first time, I sighed in frustration at how little I knew. I’d missed so much growing up in The Pitt. Something told me I should know what that sword was and what the White Warrior was, but I didn’t. I wasn’t even allowed to know why the magic barrier around The Pitt had had to be strengthened after Azrel arrived. Beldorn had only said, “You’ll find out someday, my dear boy, just not today.” I was only nine years old at that time, but I wish I knew now. If something was hunting her, or if she was in danger of some kind, I wanted to know.
Azrel approached and put Forfirith with the other two horses. Then she came back and plopped down on the ground in front of us. With an exasperated sigh, she tossed her arms up in the air and threw herself onto her back in the grass. She gazed up at the night sky, her arms behind her head, knees drawn up, and a soft smile on her lips.
She was so incredibly beautiful, but beauty meant nothing to her. In a way, I wished it did, just so I could tell her how jealous the women in The Pitt were of her. I once overheard a group of women talking about Azrel’s looks. They said she had cast some spell on herself to never age and that, by far, she was the most beautiful woman who lived among them. It was true. The people of The Pitt, especially the women, were very plain or homely looking. But in comparison to Azrel’s stunning beauty, they were just ugly.
She sighed wistfully. “You know, I can’t remember the last time I just rested in peace and admired the stars.”
I turned my eyes upward. I couldn’t remember if I had ever admired the stars. They were so easy to take for granted. I caught a glimpse of Ortheldo out of the corner of my eye. He wasn’t looking at the stars at all; he was looking at my sister. He stared at her with a soft smile and the most loving, affectionate look I’d ever seen in a pair of eyes. It was nice to see someone besides me giving a damn about my sister.
Ortheldo was a strange character, and I was really looking forward to unraveling his mysteries and secrets in time. I respected him a lot and I’d only known him for three days. The fact that he searched for Azrel for nine years made me like him even more. He cared for her a great deal, and that was important to me. Not many people cared for my sister.
Azrel sat up with a heavy sigh, resting her forearms on her knees. “Okay, Ortheldo, you’re going to have to boost my memory of travel and direction.” Ortheldo smiled broadly at that. “How do we get to Rocksheloc?”
“Crox Path,” he said without a
thought.
“Okay. Yeah, I remember Crox Path,” Azrel said. “And that would be...” her voice drifted as she sat in thought. “I want to say northeast of here.”
Ortheldo beamed proudly. “And you would be correct.”
Azrel gave a jerking nod of her head. “Very good. She froze suddenly. “Wait,” she said and looked at Ortheldo skeptically. “Crox ends at Narcatertus, right?”
“Yes, it does,” he replied. The corners of her mouth turned down tightly in a look of dismay and dread. “If we keep northward of the Path, we can avoid it,” Ortheldo added, seeing her reaction.
“Okay, good. We’ll do that then.”
“What’s wrong with Narcatertus?” I found myself asking before I could help it. I felt so foolish and out of place already, and the last thing I wanted to do was draw attention to my ignorance.
“Oh, it’s nothing really Evil,” Azrel began, then she paused abruptly when she caught my eyes. She studied them for a moment and smiled. “Don’t feel foolish for asking questions, Rabryn.”
She could always see what I was thinking when she looked into my eyes. She’d done it since forever, so it didn’t shock me anymore. It actually made me feel good that she knew me that well. She could answer my questions or make me feel better without me saying or doing a thing.
“Narcatertus is a human city,” Azrel said, “full of very dirty, rough, and rude people. There are a lot of disruptions and crime, but nothing truly Evil.”
Ortheldo took a deep breath. “Alright, you two go to sleep. I’ve got first watch.” He stood and rested his hand on the handle of a gorgeous sword that Beldorn had packed for him on Urylia. The hilt was gold with Salynnian inscriptions. I felt a pang of shame at not being able to read what should be my native language.
“I’ll take the last watch,” I said.
I felt sudden tension thicken the air and looked up to see Ortheldo and Azrel exchange an odd look. Azrel then looked at me and shook her head. “You don’t have to take a watch, Rabryn.”
