by Ben Alderson
“Because Gordex is in a terrible mood and has been since he was forced to put you down. Take a guess as to who is getting the brunt of that mood? Me. I don’t care if you want to heal, but I do care that his attention is put back on you.” Marthil thrust the vial again. “Don’t make me force you to take it.”
“And I should trust you with whatever is in this? What if you are just trying to kill me yourself?” I said, knuckles white as I held onto the vial.
“Trust me, when I kill you, it will be messier than poison.” She took steps forward until the slip of light from the missing bricks in the ceiling illuminated her sharp face. This close I could see the few freckles that dusted the skin beneath her eyes. “I’d tell you what I am going to do. But then again, what would be the fun in that?”
I snatched the vial from her hand. “And I almost thought I found trust in someone.” I held my ground. Gordex had Marthil’s Heart Magick yet she still used it with ease. If she tried anything, regardless of the Druid’s link, I would show her what mine could do.
“Take the herb. Heal so you can get back to normal, and Gordex can take his woes out on you. I miss it.”
She turned and moved for the door. As her spindly hand reached for the doorframe I called out.
“What is it? The herb.”
“Forbian. Grown personally for you. One drop in the morning and another at night, that is all you will need.”
“I know about Forbian,” I snapped.
“Then you will know that it stays in your system for a while. Don’t take too much. You might get a taste for it.” Marthil winked in jest and skipped from the room, leaving me with the vial and the sleeping king.
I POPPED THE cork of the vial the moment I stepped through the doorway to my room. Marthil had said to only take one drop, so I took two for extra measure. Maybe it was my own rebellion or just the throbbing of my wound that urged me to do it. But the moment the sweet liquid coated by throat, cooling its way down into my stomach, I felt the effects.
A rush of numbness spread across my body. I gave it a few seconds before touching the bandage. I expected to feel the same discomfort that had replied every other time I’d touched it. But this time, I felt nothing. I prodded again, hardly feeling the own touch of my finger against the numb skin.
“Strong stuff,” I mumbled to myself, closing my eyes against the wild rush of my light head.
It was known that shifters did not succumb to the side effects of Forbian. To anyone else, it would put them to sleep as it worked on their ailments. But for me, being Dragori, I was untouched by the curse of drowsiness. It was the very same as when Gordex had spilled it into the food during the feast when I first arrived in Olderim. It seemed like someone else’s history I peered into. So much had happened since that it was hard to remember that it was in fact I who went through it.
Opting to keep the herb close, I corked the vial and placed it in the pocket of my trousers.
The rest of the day passed without any interaction. I could hear the shadowbeing guards beyond my door, shuffling up and down the corridor. But that was it. Petrer didn’t return, nor Marthil. When the sky darkened with welcoming night, I almost got into bed when the three loud raps startled by lapse in comfort.
I stopped moving, my gaze pinned to the door. Should I call out for them? Before I made my mind out a voice called for me.
“May I come in?” Gordex called serenely from the other side.
Even if I wanted to refuse, it would have been pointless. Gordex would do as he pleased. I knew that by now.
“Yes.” I kept my reply short.
It was not common for Gordex to be alone when I saw him. Seeing his sole presence made me panic. I took deep breaths as the door opened and he stepped inside, turning his back on me to close it again.
“Petrer passed on the report that you finally awoke today,” Gordex said, taking a few steps forward and stopping with his hands behind his back. He was dressed in all black. The robe had a slight sheen to it which, I saw as he got closer, had symbols stitched on in a different material. Gordex raised his open palm and a flame spluttered into existence. The orb of fire, Hadrian’s fire, jumped from Gordex’s hand and split midair in two directions. Each flew towards an unlit pillar candle at either side of the room, creating new light. “And I know Marthil’s message reached you about the feast this eve. Yet you do not seem to be ready.”
“What can I do for you?” I ignored his comments, only getting to the reason why he came to visit me. He’d never done this, only the first time I’d awakened after Marthil had stopped me from escaping alongside my friends.
“I have been meaning to come and check on you myself, but I have been awfully busy since your outburst. I apologize for my tardiness.”
His kindness was fake and reeked of malice. “There is no need for your visit.”
“Oh, there is a need. I thought I would come and collect you myself to ensure you do not miss the feast this evening. Eating will only help you regain some strength. Look at it as my own way of apologizing for stabbing you. Truly, I do not want to see you hurt, Zacriah. You may not believe me, but I really do not.”
I couldn’t ignore how honest he seemed to be.
“If you don’t want to see me hurt, why bury a knife in my side?” I asked, squinting in his direction. I wanted to test just how far this kind nature of his would go.
Gordex chuckled, hand over his pinched mouth. “Perhaps. Come now, let us walk and talk. I am beginning to enjoy your company.”
“I’m not hungry,” I said, holding my ground.
“Then you can watch me eat.” Gordex waved a hand to dismiss my attempt at refusing his offer. “You are not missing another meal.”
I had two choices. One, to go with him and sit through whatever meal he had planned. Or I refuse, but I could already imagine how that would go. So, I picked up my ego from the floor and followed him out of my room, still keeping some distance between us.
We moved through the ruined palace in silence, stopping only when we reached the door to the dining hall. I could have walked this route with my eyes closed. It was the same place my shadowbeing guards would flank me to every morning since Gordex took control of the city.
It had been a beautiful room, draped with curtains of ivory and ocean blues that had once covered the walls and spilled across the slabbed floor in waves of material. Those had been ripped down and tossed into the flames days ago. Now I could only see hoary stone walls. The large rug had been left untouched, as well as the large dining table made from some type of sturdy wood. At the head of the table was a grand window that looked upon the city below. I could imagine how stunning the views would have been. Queen Kathine and her small family could have watched their people from this vantage point. But that view was no longer a happy one. It was empty, broken and lifeless.
“Please, sit,” Gordex said, pulling a chair back for me.
I slithered across to him, shoulders hunched. “Will no one else be joining us?”
“Not tonight. I felt that it was important we have uninterrupted time with each other. There is a rift between us that I would like to spend time mending.”
The chair squeaked as Gordex pushed me towards the table. His strength was physically hidden beneath his large robe, but it was there none the less. My neck jolted by the sudden movement, hands grasped the table to still my violent shake.
“I don’t see how that will change.” My reply was ice cold.
“Much can change, Zacriah. You see, I need your cooperation, not your resistance. I have plans, and I am prepared to do anything to see them through. It hurts me to say this, but you are standing in my way. I do not know how many more times I have it in me to forgive you.”
My brows creased. “I’ll never help you.”
“And why is that? Why the resistance always, Zacriah. You are stubborn; it does not suit you.”
The doors opened behind me, and four elves strolled in. I didn’t need to turn to know they were stil
l alive, unmarked by Gordex’s power. Their skin was flushed, dirty but full of life. I tried to get eye contact with one of them, but each kept their heads down as they laid out the trays of food between us.
“Zacriah?” Gordex said, resting a hand on my knee to get my attention.
Immediately I jolted back, chair squeaking and hand flying to push his away.
“I want to go back to my room,” I said.
“Sit down.”
“No—”
“Sit yourself down!” Gordex voice burned with heat. “I will not ask you again.”
Shaking, I complied.
“You truly have forced my hand, Zacriah. I have tried kindness with you, but that clearly is not enough motivation. But I have other means to make you cooperate.” He reached for a bowl of charred meat, allowing the juices to spill down his dirtied fingers. But not long before his tongue caught every last drop from spilling onto the table.
Just as Petrer had threatened in my room, Gordex too said the same thing.
I spared the food a glance but couldn’t find it in me to eat. Gordex had no problem ripping into the meat with his teeth like an animal. But he never spoke with his mouth full. No matter how deranged he looked whilst he ate, he would pick up the table cloth and dab the corners of his mouth before he carried on.
“I have a question for you, Zacriah, and I know you will answer it. Tell me, do you think your family misses you? Do you think they would want to see you as soon as earthly possible?”
Shivers ran up my arms. I looked up through my lashes to Gordex, who smiled like a waiting cat. I was his mouse, and he had just made his move. I gripped onto the edge of my seat, wood threatening to snap beneath my vise grasp.
“You see, it would not be impossible for me to retrieve them. In fact, I cannot help but think it might be a fantastic idea. I am sure you would just die to see them safe and sound. Do you have anything to say to that?”
Tears pooled in my eyes as I looked upon this physical representation of evil.
“Oh, Zacriah.” Gordex picked his napkin up and extended it over to me. “Do not cry. I thought this might make you happy here.” His voice dipped with sincerity. Even his face melted slightly as he offered me his napkin. “I will give you tonight to think about it. Come morning I will have a task for you. You can either comply and do as I ask. Or, you know what I will be forced to do.”
“I hate you,” I said, lips trembling. If I bit any harder into my lip I would have ripped it into shreds.
“Of course, you do.” He smiled. “Now eat up, I am going to need you on top form in the morning. You have a busy day ahead.”
**
The narrow pathway of stone and earth that once led to the gates of Lilioira no longer existed.
I’d not ventured this far from the city since I’d arrived, alive and together. Now I stood at the mouth of the walkway where we dismounted the horses and looked upon the rubble of rocks that blocked it. Marthil had done this. It had her magick written all over it.
When Gordex had asked her to stop anyone coming in or leaving, she must have taken it literally and brought down the mountain walls on either side of the walkway, blocking the stretch to the gates. This meant there were only two ways in and out. One was from the air, flying over the mountain face, but that was a treacherous journey. One griffins could do, but armies would not be able to follow. Slaughtering the griffins within the city was one of Gordex’s first tasks. He’d gloated about it for an entire day after he spilled their blood across the stables in the south of the city.
That left only one other way out of the city. Cristilia. Her Morthi abilities could create a shadow portal as she had done to get the Druid into the city in the first place. But she’d been locked up beneath the palace and not seen for days. Gordex had expressed his concern with her using that power to escape. Now it was locked within the Staff of Light, stolen from the woman that once used it. She was powerless now.
Whatever tunnel Tiv had taken to get Illera, Nyah and Emaline from the city was now blocked and out of the equation. That too was down to Marthil. I often wondered where their path had taken them to, but the answer was not important to me. Not as important as knowing that they did get out and were not in Gordex’s unrelenting web.
By the time Marthil had blocked it with rock and earth, it was never an answer I could get. Unless I simply asked Nyah. Again, I was not prepared to risk communication with her with the Druid close.
“Took you long enough to get here,” Marthil hissed. “Didn’t Gordex ask you to be here by first light?”
Last night, after he’d finished eating, he had told me what to do. Go to Marthil or force my hand to retrieve your parents. I didn’t know how honest his threat was, and I wasn’t ready to test it. Though, I wanted to see them beyond belief. The urge was stronger these days, so much so that it caused me physical pain in my chest.
“I would have been here sooner if you hadn’t destroyed the path,” I replied, sharp. After last night’s meal, I’d gone to bed with a pounding head and anxious heart. It was an easy decision to make when I woke up. I would do as he asked. I would not allow my family to be used as pawns in this game.
I awoke to a note from Gordex telling me to meet Marthil at the city entrance in the mountains, but it said no more.
“Sounds like you have got some balls back. The Forbian is working then?” Marthil asked sarcastically. It had been. By the time I woke this morning, the wound had healed more than it had in the days before, and it was almost impossible to see any scarring. The herb had worked quickly. I’d taken another drop when I awoke, even though I didn’t need it.
“What is it we have to do?”
“Scouts suggest we will be having some visitors this morning. And it is our job to make sure they get the warmest of welcomes when they try to get through.”
Visitors? My heart almost stopped.
“Once they get in, they will have a shock seeing what I have done to the passageway,” Marthil said. “And what I still have to do.”
We both looked in towards the dust ridden, rock covered passage way as the banging of something against the metal of the gate sounded in the far distance. Whatever was being hit against the gate was enormous. It made the ground vibrate beneath each hit.
“You decided to leave half the path open?”
Wind rushed around us this far up. I peered back down over the city and my stomach leaped.
“I have my reasoning.” Marthil smiled, rubbing her hands together. “When they, whoever it is out there, takes down the gate and gets through. I’ll bring the rest of the passageway down on top of them.” A chilling horror spread over me. Her plans were premeditated. “I’m only sad that I’ll not see their faces when they finally realize what waits for them.”
I looked towards the hollow banging. A trap. What if it was Nyah, Illera and Emaline? Hadrian or Gallion? Possibilities flooded my mind, sparking a slither of hope. What if this was their attempt to break me free?
“I can’t let you do that.” I didn’t look at Marthil when I told her.
“Can’t you? Oh, I think you can, and you will,” she replied.
“Marthil.” Slowly, I faced her. “I’ll not stand back and let you do this.”
In that moment the threat on my parents disappeared from my consciousness. A strange, dark anger bubbled within me, starting in the pit of my stomach. I couldn’t let Marthil kill anymore. I wouldn’t. The thought that my friends, no, my family, might be beyond those gates about to walk into a trap was enough to let me sink my claws into the building anger and reign it for my own.
Wind twisted on the ground at my feet as I clenched my fists. It spun into small vortexes, enough for Marthil to look down briefly. Her smile faltered as she watched my power; the banging of the gates echoed my own pounding heart.
With a flick of her hand, the sand and dirt that was caught in my twisting wind stopped dead and was pulled from its grasp. It hovered beyond my air under Marthil’s control.
/> “You really want to try this?” Marthil warned, fingers clenching into fists as the earth gathered around her hands. “I don’t know how well wind will fair when stopping an avalanche of mountain. I think I’d bet on my magick above yours.”
I readied my power. “Isn’t the trick when winning a bet, you always choose the underdog?”
My sarcasm was wasted on Marthil, as she shrugged, a blank expression covering her face. “Who knows? No one ever told me…”
A loud screeching had me clapping my hands over my ears. It rang across my mind, blinding my senses. I could see out the corner of my eye Marthil also cowered, her mouth open in a shout of discomfort.
Whoever desired entrance beyond the gates succeeded in their wish. The gate was down. The pounding of footsteps echoed within the passage way. Marthil straightened up, face white with panic, and pressed both hands onto the rock face. I barely moved an inch to stop her when the ground began to shake, and dirt rained down above us.
SCREAMS OF TERROR spoiled the skies. It was a short burst of noise that ignited my own horror as I watched the rock tumble down from the sheer mountain face.
Then there was only silence. Bursts of dirt and dust rushed out of the passageway, coating Marthil and me and blinding our vision. I managed to cover my mouth with my hands, but my eyes were not so lucky. Grit scratched at them as more waves of it billowed out. My skin stung beneath the dirt’s wrath.
I couldn’t see Marthil in the cloud of her own destruction, but I could hear her coughing heavy yacks as she tried to rid the earth that invaded her lungs. I called for my air, which responded with its own rage. In moments, I cleared all dust and grime until my vision was clear once more.
“What have you done!” I shouted, heart pounding in my throat. I could feel the odd anger burning in me again. My palms pushed into Marthil’s shoulder, and she stumbled steps back.
“I only completed the task that our master bestowed on us,” she replied, physically shaken by her own power. My head snapped back and forth between Marthil and the rumble-covered pathway. Even now small rocks followed suit, rolling down the mountain to lay atop the bigger boulders and rocks that had fallen first.
