by A. Evermore
Ely, Keteth is dead, we won! She smiled, wishing she could see her friend.
Issa slid into the cool water, feeling very much alive as she submerged her head into the cold. She checked Asaph’s back was still turned before she slipping off his shirt and her underwear. She set about scrubbing them against each other. They would need soaping really but she had forgotten to ask for such things. For now the water would have to do.
From the pool she watched him standing patiently. She should have been friendlier but she felt too embarrassed. She hardly knew the man and already he had seen her mostly naked. She didn’t really want anyone looking at her naked when she was unconscious, or conscious for that matter, even if she knew them.
She watched Asaph’s turned back. Though she preferred dark-haired men like Rance and Tarry, Asaph was undeniably attractive, tall and broad-shouldered, chiselled chin and eyes so blue they were like the sky on a clear day. Perhaps that was why she was so embarrassed. When he was near she felt dizzy. She needed clear thinking to control her emotions, which wasn’t possible when he was close, so she ended up saying all the wrong things and feeling awkward. She chewed her lip as she tried in vain to sort out her emotions.
There was so much she had to do, so much she had to be, the whole world was at war and losing… It seemed pointless, maybe even wrong, to imagine what a life with Asaph would be like. She almost laughed aloud. On Little Kammy I was almost begging Ma to be married, now the very thought of a husband seems silly.
Tarry had been the closest to a boyfriend she had had, and they probably would have gotten married and lived out their lives on Kammy. How different my life has become, I could never even have imagined. Rance had done no more than flirt with her and now he was dead. Could she really risk anyone getting close to her? Could she bear it if they did and then died horribly? Perhaps to think of Asaph in any way other than a friend would be a distraction and a worry she didn’t need.
She tugged on a strand of hair as she thought, wrapping it around her finger as she tried to understand her feelings for him. If the Maphraxies really are hunting me, which they probably are now Keteth is dead, I cannot bear the thought of him being harmed because of me. She sighed, feeling relieved through logic. Maybe in a different life, in a different time, they could be together but not this one.
That settled, Issa turned her thoughts back to washing and dunked her head under a few times, feeling her long hair swirl about her shoulders and back, the salt and dirt and dried blood washing away. So much had happened since she had left the shores of Little Kammy. Through all the things that had occurred she had changed greatly, it was almost as if she had become a different person. Now she had an inner strength and a hard resolve; before she had been naive and ignorant and very much afraid.
Even now she could feel the power of the Flow that surrounded her. Imagine what it must have been like when the Flow was full and untainted, when the orbs had not split the magic of Maioria apart. I cannot imagine it! Maybe it felt like when the power of the dark moon filled her, exquisite, divine, omnipotent.
She focused upon the Flow and opened herself to it. The Flow pooled within her, the energy of the plants, the trees, the water, the rocks, all had their own magic that flowed around and through her. She could hold more but did not, Freydel had said others attuned to it would feel another within it. She wondered what her limits were but was reluctant to find out; she wanted no limits. She felt something move in the Flow, a golden like light that pulsed and then dimmed. She released the Flow abruptly and looked up startled into Asaph’s blue eyes.
‘What’s wrong? Is everything all right?’ he asked worriedly.
‘Yes, everything is fine, why?’ she folded her arms over her breasts. Could he have sensed her enter the Flow?
‘I thought I felt magic, here, coming from you. I thought you were in danger,’ he sighed in relief and then looked at her wistfully, ‘I did not know you could use magic until I saw you and Keteth.’
‘I did not know that you could feel it. Can you wield it too?’ Issa asked.
‘No, well, yes, but only when I am a dragon. I can still sense it though but it is greatly diminished.’
‘Freydel the wizard taught me,’ she explained, ‘well, the ability was there, so he said, he just helped me open the door. I have been able to control more each day, somehow. How could you tell I was using it?’
‘Freydel the wizard?’ he was surprised she had met him for Coronos had spoken of the great wizard on many occasions, ‘Coronos often said that he may very well be the most powerful wizard in the Known World now.’
‘Er, yes, maybe. He never really talked about himself. He was the first to find me after Keteth attacked us. Somehow I made it to Celene, I think the Wykiry helped. He saved my life. I probably would not have survived another hour.’
She realised then how little they had talked and how much had happened since they were last together. Why had he never bothered to come to find her? She thought angrily. She remembered now why she had slapped him, feeling somewhat more justified for doing it.
‘What happened to you, then? You found me in the Shadowlands only to plunge us into the jaws of Keteth! Why didn’t you come and find me on Celene?’ she asked, anger tinged her voice.
‘No, it wasn’t my fault, that’s not how it was,’ Asaph began, he was not about to let her pin unwarranted blame on him. ‘We only just escaped Keteth, only just! If it weren’t for Coronos and his orb then we would not be here either. The Wykiry came and took you to safety and then the orb could not reach you. I fought Keteth and would have lost were it not for Coronos and the orb. After then I would have died of my wounds if it weren’t for these karalanths and a travelling seer. For days I wandered a terrible place… They thought I would die. Don’t you remember coming to me?’
She saw his anguish and immediately felt guilty. ‘Yes, I remember those dark corridors…’ Asaph within Keteth’s death embrace… she shuddered. ‘You called to me,’ she whispered, ‘I think the ring has a part to play there, and I had to come, I could not leave you. What if I had not gone to you? Zanufey was with me then, I am sure. In a way I think it was the Raven Queen who came to you and not I…’ she trailed off.
‘You and she are the same, one day you will realise that,’ he said. ‘If you had not slain Keteth we would both now be enslaved,’ Asaph added softly, suddenly noticing how the water rippled out around her slender pale shoulders. She looked so vulnerable trembling in the water that he wanted to jump in and hug her, tell her it was all right. She would probably slap him again if he did, being naked and all, so he just smiled lovingly.
Issa felt her cheeks reddening, he was looking at her funny so she looked away.
‘I am truly thankful beyond measure that you are here, fit and well. I thought I would never see you again. And you know I would not have survived the Shadowlands for much longer,’ the thought of that ghostly wraith-filled place made her shudder. ‘Thank you for finding me there,’ she said and smiled back.
‘A pleasure, hopefully we can do it again sometime,’ he said and chuckled. She laughed too but then his face grew serious, ‘though, in truth, I have dreamt of you my entire life. Don’t be alarmed, I don’t fully understand either. There is a lot we have to talk about, but maybe we should leave that for another time, before you go cold and wrinkly,’ he grinned.
She remembered with a start that she was naked in the pond and the water was only just covering her breasts. With a mortified gulp she submerged herself completely.
Asaph turned away before she could see his face turn red this time. The sight of her had his pulse racing for he found her beautiful and it was hard not to stare, hard not think about anything else, the way the water rippled around her...
‘Can you pass me the blanket?’ she asked meekly behind him, ‘just put it on the rock by the water.’
‘As you wish,’ he reached for the blanket and glanced at her, unable to stop himself. But she had her back turned so he left the bl
anket by the rocks and walked away.
She wrapped the blanket around her, careful to cover as much skin as possible. He took his dripping shirt from her outstretched hands and suppressed a smile when she held her head high and imperious as they walked back towards the village.
‘It’s the best I could do without soap. I’ll need to find some new clothes,’ she said, looking somewhat worried.
‘Maybe we should go naked like the karalanths,’ he grinned. Only some of the deer men and women wore short hunting-type tunics and he doubted she would go bare-breasted, the look on her face confirmed it, much to his dismay.
‘I’m sure we’ll sort something out,’ he smiled reassuringly but all he got was another “hmph.”
There was something different about her, Asaph thought as they walked, something had changed, though for better or worse Asaph could not tell. It was in the small things; the way she tossed her head, the way her eyes shone from within; the smile upon her face that spoke of untold secrets like an understanding of ancient knowledge. There was a subtle yet strong power that exuded from her and he wondered if others could feel it too.
But it is not like I knew her before, anyway. Whether it had always been there or not he could not tell but the girl he loved, who had called to him in his dreams all his life, was now a woman, a woman of untamed ability and he was in awe and fear of her. Would he ever be a part of her life? When the world was at war, would their treacherous paths through this lifetime be at each other’s side like he wanted? It was a question he could not answer.
She had stopped to return his stare.
‘Asaph? Are you all right?’ she asked, ‘you seem lost or something.’
He took a while to respond. ‘You are different to when we last met, somehow. Your demeanour, your eyes, it’s like you have become alive, more alive, or discovered some great ancient mystery. Maybe it is the goddess in you. I’m not explaining it very well,’ he shook his head, feeling like an idiot.
To Issa it normally would have sounded silly, but something in the weight of his words struck a chord within her and for a moment she remembered the all encompassing consciousness that had been hers in the anointing at the sacred pool through the sacred mound. That consciousness had been wide, expansive, all knowing and complete; her mind had been a vessel filled full with the divine understanding of eternity.
‘I saw the mind of divinity,’ she replied softly, barely able to touch upon what she had seen. ‘I saw whole peoples upon many planets rise to wondrous heights and beyond, and some fall. I saw worlds created and destroyed whilst others lived on eternally. I saw beings made of light and love who can never die and I saw the darkest horrors who know only to bring death. I saw it all, I was it all, I created it all and all in the blink of an eye.’ Emotion overwhelmed her and she felt a tear fall down her cheek. Asaph reached up and touched it, she saw the dragon stir within his eyes as he gazed at her.
Asaph’s ancient, immortal, dragon-self understood more than his limited human mind and tears filled his eyes. ‘I can but catch a glimpse of what you speak,’ he whispered in wonder. ‘You are my goddess,’ he whispered, wanting nothing more than to touch this living goddess and she did not resist. He drew her close and they embraced.
Together they shared a moment in eternity, like a pearl of light held between them both. They stood there holding each other and it seemed the world stood still. As the moment passed they realised they stood in the village and karalanths passed them with knowing smiles.
Issa reluctantly drew away from his embrace. Would there ever be time for them she could not say. She gasped, suddenly remembering the Orb of Water. How in all Maioria can I forget a thing of such great power and importance? Oh please don’t say it has been taken.
‘Is everything all right?’ Asaph asked.
But without answering she ran back to Triest’anth’s house, struggling with the blanket that covered her. Asaph ran to catch up. She burst into the now empty hut and frantically searched around the bed but there was no sign of the orb.
‘If you are looking for the orb then Coronos is looking after it for you. He wants to talk to you about it,’ Asaph said. Issa sunk down onto the bed with a sigh of relief, suddenly feeling dizzy and weak.
‘You are pale again and you sure could do with some food, and some clothes. I’ll sort it,’ Asaph said and hurried out the door.
‘Yes, some food would be nice,’ she nodded.
Asaph had only been gone minutes but he returned carrying a tray laden with bread and fruit and a mug of something hot with leaves floating in it. He set it down beside her bed and hurried off again. She sat cross-legged on the bed and hungrily tucked into the food. He was gone longer this time but when he returned he held a bundle of clothes.
‘I got what I could but it wasn’t easy,’ he said sheepishly, ‘as you know, they don’t seem to wear many clothes.’
‘Thanks so much,’ she smiled uncertainly. Reaching into the pile she pulled out a soft leather top, like the karalanth huntresses wore. ‘Hard-wearing for sure but there is not too much of it,’ she mumbled.
‘It’ll look great on,’ he said.
She raised an eyebrow and he swallowed nervously, looking a little red-faced.
‘It’s a girl’s size, apparently, the karalanths are somewhat er... broader than us mere humans,’ he explained.
Next she held up a finely woven square of mid-blue cloth and looked at him questioningly.
‘Er, well we can turn them into, er... riding trousers. They are surprisingly good with the needle, so Triest’anth said, and make all sorts things like, er... sacks, and er... blankets. Hah!’
Issa sighed, he was doing a poor job of convincing her but he’d done his best and she was being ungrateful again. ‘Thank you, I’m sure we can make them fit,’ she said, and smiled weakly.
‘I’ll wait outside’ he said and dashed out of the door.
She wrapped the blue blanket around her waist and tied it like a skirt, it would do for now, and slipped the top over her head. The strings that tied it immediately entangled about her arms.
‘Argh,’ she gasped, somehow managing to tie her hands together.
After several minutes of breathless struggling she wrenched it down. She sat down for a minute panting, then tried to adjust it how the karalanths wore it. For such a small thing it was remarkably complicated. She pulled the strings at the front closed. It exposed her midriff, making her feel a little vulnerable, but it was otherwise soft and comfortable against the skin. Luckily it was summer otherwise she would be freezing. It would do until she could buy some other clothes.
Buy… The thought of money sent her to her bedside. Her blacksmith’s belt was there beside her bed and a quick search revealed her money pouch still inside one of the zips. Well that was a relief, she thought. At least she could buy some clothes and food if needed. She strapped it around her waist, feeling protected and warm now her midriff was covered. She smiled, everything was all right again and she could even fit in with the karalanths wearing one of their strange tunics.
She went outside. Asaph was sitting on the grass polishing his sword. It was not the sword she had given him to fight Keteth, the sword she had held in her hands after her anointing. Whose sword that was and where it had come from maybe Asaph would know. This sword was plain and simple but looked solid and strong.
‘Where is the other sword? The one with the red pommel?’ she asked.
He stopped rubbing the blade with the cloth and stared off into the forest. ‘Coronos says it is somewhere hidden in Draxa, the capital of Drax. Or at least it should be. It is my greatest desire to go there, to see my birthplace, to find the sword,’ he looked back at her and then stared her up and down.
The way he stared brought crimson to her cheeks. She smiled shyly, secretly enjoying the way he looked at her.
‘I can sew them for you, Asaph said you might need help,’ a voice said timidly from behind, making Issa jump. She hadn’t even heard the karalanth wom
an arrive, so quietly had she approached. The karalanth had wrinkles around her hazel eyes and grey in her light brown fur and hair, hair that fell half way down her back.
‘I am Lys’ynth’ she bowed slightly.
‘I am Issa. Thank you for the clothes,’ Issa said, smiling and held out her hand in greeting. The karalanth looked at it quizzically and then embraced her. Surprised at the warm gesture Issa tentatively returned the embrace.
‘Right, I’ll go find Coronos,’ Asaph said, making his excuses to leave as Lys’ynth busied herself adjusting Issa’s clothes.
‘It is an honour to welcome guests to our home, particularly one blessed by the goddess,’ Lys’ynth said.
Issa felt uncomfortable at that. She felt powerful in her visions and dreams, and especially when the dark moon was with her, surrounding her with the presence of the divine. But when those things were absent she felt very different; weak and indecisive, insignificant and very normal – a far cry from the dragon-scale armoured Raven Queen she was supposed to be. Did everyone really think she had jumped straight out of the scriptures?
Maybe it was enough that they believed in her, even if she doubted. I only hope I don’t let them down. After all she had killed Keteth and Zanufey did speak to her. Even as she pondered an image flickered in her mind.
She stood atop a hill overlooking a vast valley plain. She was the Raven Queen, dressed in dragon leather armour and wearing a crown of feathers upon her head. Her heart was hard as steel as she stared down upon the dead and dying. Men and women from all races wore black-iron Maphraxian armour though their faces and bodies were normal and not twisted and misshapen like the Maphraxies she had seen before. They moaned and cried out in pain but she did not care for them, they were Maphraxie.
The image was gone as quick as it had come leaving her shaken as always. But it was not the strange image of the human-looking Maphraxies dying in pain that got to her, it was her own self. Will my heart become hard and indifferent? Must it if we are to succeed? Would she become so cold and hard? The answer seemed to be yes, she had to, that was what logic told her, and she didn’t like the feel of it at all. Maybe I must be the cold and darkness before I can be the warmth and the light. She suddenly wished she were someone else, someone normal. Someone who could spend a life with Asaph, someone who was not the Raven Queen. If only someone else could be chosen.
