by M. L. Greye
“I’m not sad.” The words sounded weak, even to his own ears.
She grunted. “You’re right. To be sad would need to involve emotion. You’re just empty.”
All too swiftly the pain surfaced. Will had to bite his tongue to keep from letting the pain reach his face. Olinia didn’t need to see it. But she must have noticed something because she took another step towards him and breathed, “Tell me, Will.”
“Tell you what?”
“Everything and anything.” Olinia was now inches away. Will could smell her scent, a sweet blend of roses and rain. “Tell me why you’re sad.”
His eyes slowly moved across her face, taking in her features. The pain was making his throat burn, but he wouldn’t cry. He couldn’t cry. The tears wouldn’t come. “My family was killed, three months ago.” It was the first time he had ever said it out loud. “If I don’t smile it’s because I don’t think to smile.”
“Ohreen doveem naunt,” she whispered. “I’m sorry.”
He shrugged. “It’s over. I need to move on.”
“Then, stay,” Olinia whispered. “You came to the Other Worlds for a reason. Don’t you think you should find out why?”
Will furrowed his eyebrows. “Give me until the end of the rain. I’ll decide by then.”
She pulled a face, but nodded. “Alright, I’ll give you until the storm clears.”
* * * * * *
Four days later, the storm gave way to moonlight. The first few peaceful beams that managed to sneak through the thick branches were a pleasing sight to the ancient forest. They were also welcomed by Will and the two Other Worlders. Upon learning of the rain’s end, Olinia suggested that the three of them leave the confinement of the Hidden Mansion for some fresh air. Although Zedgry had hesitated, no one disagreed. Now, on the forest’s floor, Will was leaning back against a root, as he had been the day he’d first arrived. He sat near Zedgry, who sat whittling on a stick he’d found, using a small dagger. Olinia was lying on some velvety moss a few feet away. She was watching the stars through a space between the branches.
“I love it here.” Her voice made Zedgry’s head lift.
“Do you?” Will was finding himself more and more at ease with the princess and her twin.
She pushed herself up. “Yes, Will. Despite what you may think, I really do love it here.” She paused, glancing back up at the sky. “I’m going to miss it.”
“You’re leaving?”
Zedgry nodded. “Sadree and Denon told us while you were asleep. We leave in a week.”
“For where?”
“Evedon,” Olinia answered. “We’ve been seventeen for a while now. It’s time for us to start gathering the Silver Hearts.”
“When was your birthday?” Will asked, wondering if the Other Worlds even used the same calendar system as his world.
“March twenty-ninth.”
Will nodded. So it was the same, but not necessarily the same time. When he left Trenton, it was February. Olinia cocked her head to the side. “When’s yours?”
“October fifteenth.”
“So, you’ve got a few months then?”
Before Will could reply, a loud, high-pitched shriek broke the quiet of the forest, followed closely by the eruption of a hairy form toward Olinia. Will and Zedgry leapt to their feet, but Zedgry was quicker.
“Roll away!” Zedgry yelled to Olinia as he dove for the black beast.
There was no time. The creature gnawed into her right shoulder. Olinia screamed as it began to drag her away from the moss. It didn’t get far. Zedgry jumped onto its back and dug his knife into its head. The thing shrieked again, releasing Olinia’s shoulder. Zedgry struck at it again as Will dropped down beside Olinia. She was unconscious. Will ripped the sleeve off of her gushing shoulder. Behind him, the creature shrieked again. Will turned in time to watch it collapse.
Will stared at it. The thing was a mix between a possum and cat, except its gleaming white teeth resembled that of a snake. Its speed had reminded Will of a viper. Will watched as Zedgry yanked his dagger from its skull. “What was that?”
“The reason why I didn’t want to go out yet,” Zedgry retorted, wiping the purple blood off his dagger in the moss. “It’s a Beltok. They come out for food after storms.”
“We’ve got to clean out her wound.”
“It won’t help.” Zedgry slipped Olinia’s necklace off from around her neck. It was a clouded blue stone, shaped like a prism about the length of her palm, dangling from a silver chain. Zedgry stood. “The Beltok’s poison will make her bleed to death. She needs a Healer. Can you carry her?”
Will lifted her easily. “Where do we find a Healer?”
“Evedon.” Zedgry raised his hand with the stone and stuck it into the air in front of him, sliding it downward. Will stared as light streamed out of the line Zedgry had created with his hand.
“What did you do?”
“I opened a portal.” Zedgry slipped the necklace over his head. “The shimmer stone allows us to travel through worlds.”
“Is it Eveon too?”
“No.” Zedgry shook his head, sheathing the dagger into his belt. “It was my father’s.”
They stepped through the portal, Will first. Zedgry waved his hand over the portal, causing it to disappear. Will blinked up at the normal sized oaks he stood beneath. Here, instead of moonlight, the sun peeked through the branches. He glanced around and realized that they were in a small grove, standing in the middle of a gravel path.
“There’s got to be a town nearby.” Zedgry began down the path and Will trailed after him.
They stepped out of the grove to a field of tall grass. Will noticed that it was twilight. It would be dark soon. He felt his tunic stick to his skin and looked down. He was covered in Olinia’s blood. His mouth tightened. Her body was like ice against him. “Zedge, she’s cold.”
“It’s the poison. I don’t think she has very long until-” Zedgry cried out in surprise.
Will stared. Zedgry was hanging upside-down from a tree they were passing beneath. “How the-”
“It’s an Eveon trap,” Zedgry muttered. “It’s for animals.”
“Cut yourself down.”
“Eveon rope can’t be cut.” Zedgry grunted. “You’ve got to find a Healer, Will. I think there’s a village nearby.”
“How much longer does she have?”
Zedgry frowned. “I don’t know.”
Will shifted Olinia to his back. She hung limp over him. “I’ll be back.”
He doubled his pace in the direction they had been heading. The sun was setting behind a range of distant mountains, casting the world into shadows. Will crested a low hill, and was greeted with a small village. He made a run for the nearest cottage. At its front door, Will kicked it with his foot. When he heard the latch unlock, he stopped and waited.
A tall man with jet-black hair and a candle in his hands yanked open the door. “Reen alenenon vonethdee.” The man said, his words sounding more like a curse than a greeting.
“I can’t understand you,” Will replied, panting. “She’s hurt. She needs a Healer.”
“What-”
“She was bit by a Beltok.” Will cut him off.
The man reached behind the door and pulled out a dark brown cloak. His candle seemed to have disappeared. “She needs to see Fuladrik.”
Will had to nearly run to keep up with the man’s agile steps. He was grateful when the man stopped at the front of a silvery mansion. As the man led Will up to the door, he called out, “Fuladreek, eelenee tena deenec!”
Lights were lit, spilling into the courtyard through the windows. The large front doors flew open, revealing a man in deep blue robes and gray streaks through his black hair. He took one look at Will before gliding towards him. The man gently removed Olinia from Will’s back, and turned on his heel, his robes flapping behind him. Will watched as the man disappeared inside.
“What’s your name?” Will heard the Eve ask.
“Will.” He tu
rned. “Will Patten.”
“Your friend, what’s her name?”
“Olinia Reien. Will she live?”
“Fuladrik is one of Evedon’s finest Healers. He will work hard to save the princess.”
Will blinked. “You recognized her name?”
The man smiled slightly. “The Reiens are High Royalty. How could I not?” Will nodded once, not sure of what being High Royalty meant in the Other Worlds. The Eve must have noticed a change in Will’s face because he said, “If you are ever in need of aid, please ask. My name is Dallyn Paran of Willowvale.”
“Thank you.” Will nodded again.
“Dallyn,”
Will turned to find a young woman who appeared to be around Olinia’s age, standing in the doorway. “Thank you for escorting them to our home. Father sent me to assure you we will take care of our guests from here.”
Dallyn bowed. “I’ll come by tomorrow. Even-tide, Arynn. Even-tide, Will Patten.”
“Goodnight,” Will heard himself reply.
“Will Patten,” Arynn said. “Come inside. I can show you a room in which you may wash and rest.”
He glanced down at his bloodied tunic. He opened his mouth to give his consent, but then remembered Zedgry, who was still dangling from a tree. “I can’t yet. My friend got caught in one of your hunting traps.”
The Eve blinked, and then put two fingers in her mouth, letting out a high whistle. A white horse clopped into the courtyard. “Take him to your friend.”
Will frowned. The horse wouldn’t help him free Zedgry. “I can’t cut Eveon rope.”
“Then I’ll free him.” She ran past Will and mounted the horse. “Where is he?”
“Just over the hill,” Will pointed.
“Go inside. My father will find you.” With that, she tore off over the cobblestone road.
* * * * * *
It hadn’t been thirty minutes since Will had left him, but to Zedgry it felt far longer. His head throbbed with each heartbeat, and his legs had lost all feeling. Worry for his sister had kept his thoughts busy enough to a point, but even that was leaving him now. He’d tried to untie himself, but the rope had held fast. Zedgry was just about ready to curse all hunters, Eveon included.
“You are an unusual sight.”
Zedgry blinked and then glanced down. An Eveon maiden stood below him, holding the reins to a white steed. “Please,” his voice cracked. He cleared his throat and tried again, begging her in Eveon, “please, help me down.”
“Teenawnae lee,” she ordered the rope.
The rope slowly lowered him to the ground and released his ankle. Zedgry lay where it had left him, waiting for the roaring in his ears to cease. He clamped his eyes shut. All she had told it was to release him. Why hadn’t he thought of that?
She laughed lightly and he felt her kneel beside him. She lifted his head onto her lap and began massaging his temples with her fingertips. “Wends always find it so difficult to adjust to our customs.”
Zedgry opened one eye. “How’d you know I’m a Wend?”
“Only Wends have your eyes. Dark brown.”
He let out a groan. “I think I may die.”
“It will pass.”
“What’s your name?”
“Arynn of Willowvale,” she replied. “My father is treating your friend.”
Zedgry sighed in relief. Will had found a Healer.
“Are you ready to get onto my horse?”
“I can try.” Zedgry pushed himself up and felt immediately dizzy. He groaned as he fell right back onto her lap. “Not yet.”
It took Zedgry about fifteen minutes to get onto the horse behind Arynn. By then, the dizziness had left him. They rode to her home at a trot. When they came to a stop, Zedgry looked up and found himself in the middle of a courtyard. It was spacious, able to comfortably fit at least six carriages within its stone walls. The courtyard was shaped as an octagon. An archway of stone stood behind Zedgry, marking the entrance from the road to the grounds of Arynn’s home. Tall torches, the height of a man from their base on the cobblestone pavement lit the courtyard’s interior. Each one was placed in a separate corner.
Groves of old willows grew just outside of the stone walls that enclosed the courtyard. The willows surrounded the courtyard, their long branches drooping over some portions of the courtyard’s wall. In the center of the courtyard stood a lone willow, still in its youth. A circle had been cut into the cobblestone around the willow, giving the willow room to expand its trunk. Arynn rode past the young willow and up to the front steps of her home.
Two Eveon men emerged from around the corner of the home upon their arrival. One took the reins of the horse after Arynn dismounted and the other helped her down.
“Take him to his prepared room,” Arynn told one of the men. She smiled. “He needs rest.”
“Thank you, m’lady.”
She curtsied and Zedgry watched her climb the stone steps leading inside.
* * * * * *
Sazx Tharrne, Second to Thyrnion, Captain of the Nagreth, glared out into the rain. It was twilight, but the thick clouds blocked any final beams of sunlight. He was in Otinin, an Eveon world. It was the first world he would search for the young princess and the supposed Key’s heir. He was to give careful attention and analysis to gossip, rumor, and whispers.
Dagon had bestowed the quest upon Sazx’s shoulder, an honor that spoke of Dagon’s great regard for him. Nagreth below his station were envious of the responsibility, wishing they had the trust that Sazx could almost wallow in. Sazx grunted. He would have gladly traded places with any one of them. Dagon’s quest was a waste of time. The princess had managed to remain hidden throughout the majority of her life without casting so much as a shadow to prove she was still alive. What made Dagon think that he would find her now simply because his Vrylaen Stone showed him her face? Sazx wiped the water from his eyes. Not even his wide-brimmed peasant’s hat kept his face dry in this downpour.
Up ahead of Sazx on the side of the road, stood a worn sign, its letters barely discernable, telling him there was another four miles to go before he reached the next village. Sazx let out a low curse and urged his horse forward at a faster pace. He was eager to get out of the rain.
Sazx wondered how long Dagon would keep him on this fool’s quest. He hoped after a month of no success, Dagon would release him from the duty, permitting him to return to the Vrenyx. Sazx frowned. He hoped.
The last four miles seemed to drag on and on, and his brown mare seemed to be in no hurry, as if she were actually enjoying the rain that splattered down her back. Sazx swore. It was during moments like these that his hatred for his authority and position were most acute.
He had never once asked to be placed beneath Dagon’s watchful eye. Dagon had chosen him on his own accord. Sazx had truthfully not desired to be any higher than the lower Nagreth. Yet, at a young age, Dagon had made him Third, causing him to become one of the most powerful men in the Vrenyx.
As Third, Sazx had only had three men above him, the Second, the Captain, and Dagon himself. Beneath him, as Third, were officers of insignificance. Dagon only paid attention to the upper three, the men who would lead his Nagreth until they retired, if they lived that long. The previous Second, the man above Sazx, had died three turns earlier, which had moved Sazx up higher in both the eyes of Dagon as well as power.
Sazx wiped at his eyes again. Only a little ways further and he would be out of the mud.
5
---------------
Tiara Anteal ran through the large front lawn of her home, frantic to find her mother. She could already hear the terrified cries of her neighbors. How much longer did they have? An hour? Thirty minutes? Tiara shook her head to clear it. She had to keep her mind focused – she’d save the fear for later.
She reached the front door and groped for the doorknob. “Mamma!” She shouted, shoving the door open. “Mamma, it’s true! The Kendrens are here!”
A few days before, rumors of th
e Kendrens entering her world had spread through town. Some of the older generation had grown worried, but most had believed them to be nothing more than empty rumors – tricks from maybe Hadeshorn, the only other city with a population large enough to rival Tiara’s Graymark. But then, just two hours before, the first of the Kendrens had been spotted below the Harborlon Mountains. The mountains were only a three-hour journey on horse from Graymark. The Kendrens were well on their way to Tiara. Her city would fall – she had no doubt of that – and she would be forced to live under their rule, in terrorizing captivity.
She’d been taught that the Kendrens were evil men – their leaders the three brothers who had dethroned their sister, Queen Lorianna, and later joined with the Vrenyx. Tiara felt sick at the thought of her beautiful world of Drivian suddenly being subjected to Kendren destruction.
She slammed her home’s front door behind her. “Mamma!” With no answer and an inability to stand still, Tiara sprinted up the stairs to the second floor, calling out for her mother again.
A hand from behind pulled her to a stop, halfway up the stairs. Tiara glanced down at her mother, surprised she hadn’t heard her. “Mamma, we must go.”
Avlin nodded. “We don’t have long.” She began past her, continuing up the staircase. “The Kendrens have begun their Drainers. They must know that some of us still live here.”
Tiara stared at her. The us
her mother referred to were the few retired Equilan that remained unnoticed in Graymark, friends of her mother and like her mother. How had the Kendrens discovered them when not even the locals of Graymark knew of their existence? Tiara trailed after her mother.
“Are they coming for you? To use you?” She couldn’t hide the disgust from her voice. It was a well-known fact that the Kendrens sometimes captured Eves and Equilan, torturing them to do their bidding. The Kendrens preferred Equilan to Eves. Apparently, Equilan were easier to control, being only Saerdian despite their gift. Equilan only had one gift, a strength they treasured. It was what set them apart from other Saerds. Tiara’s mother’s gift was probably what had kept them hidden for so long. She was able to muddle the thoughts of Saerds, making them either forget what they had seen or think that the images were just a dream.
