by DM Fike
Several of the Elders made the same circular motion over their face as they had at the start of the meeting, muttering “Dear Omni” under their breath. The center Elder composed herself first. “If what you say is true, we are indeed in desperate times.”
“If what he says is actually true, which I can’t believe.” the far-left Elder interjected. “The knight offers no proof.”
Isolde stamped her foot, sending a shock wave throughout the floors of the amphitheater. Stone axes flew around her head, but she ignored them, pointing a finger at the belligerent Elder. “Are dragons not proof enough for you? Do you normally see them flittering across our skies like songbirds?”
The far-left Elder curled his upper lip at Isolde. “I suppose you believe yourself to be an expert on dragons, given your propensity to flout international code and visit forbidden areas on a foolish whim.” When Isolde’s jaw dropped open, he continued, “Aye, we all know about your many ‘adventures.’” He gave the center Elder a quick grimace. “If it weren’t for some decisions on this council, you would have been locked up long ago.”
“Isn’t that where this child should be now?” the far-right Elder asked the captain of the guard. “Why did you bring her here with the representatives from Emerged Falls?”
The captain of the guard gave a salute. “Because her grandfather demanded it.”
Isolde rounded on the Elders. “Papeo wanted the Elders to hear the truth!”
But the captain shook his head. “He invoked Isolde’s…birthright.” The word came out almost as a curse.
The Elders snapped to attention at this, shock clearly written on their faces. The center Elder had a resigned look on her face, her voice tinged with a hint of a sigh as she asked, “He does realize the implications of such a declaration?”
The captain nodded. “He claims to, Elder.”
Wide-eyed, Isolde glanced around the room from the captain to each of the Elders. “What implications?”
The center Elder ignored Isolde’s confusion, focusing her attention on Kay. “Although I understand your grave concern, I cannot pledge anything from Craeg without the direct consent from the Earth Titan. The best we can do is let you and your contingent leave immediately.”
“But that violates the lockdown,” the far-left Elder argued.
The center Elder turned to him, her annoyance showing only in the slight clench of her jaw. “Not the spirit of the Earth Titan’s order. She wished to protect us from dragons, not our allies.”
The far-left Elder glanced at each of the other council members. “Am I the lone voice of reason here? Will no one else challenge this lunacy?”
In response, the other three Elders shifted forward, facing in the same direction as the center Elder, bowing toward Kay.
“Fine,” the far-left Elder spat. “Put foreign lands, human ones at that, above our security. You will have to bury our dead along with the rest of us.”
“Enough,” the center Elder said, her voice only slightly elevated but with a powerful force that rattled the stone seating around them. Bits of rock on the floor skittered like dice around Avalon’s feet, and her teeth rattled with the magical force.
Cowed, the far-left Elder straightened to face the trio, nodding his head toward them ever so slightly.
The center Elder took it as consent. “Sir Marcus, Covert K knight of Emerged Falls, you are free to go with your companions. But I warn you, if you tread again within Craeg borders while the Earth Titan’s lockdown is in effect, we will be forced to imprison you as trespassers, possibly charge you with treason.”
Kay bowed his head, not happy with the results but resigned to it. “Understood.”
A guard latched onto Isolde’s arm, but she shooed it away. “Wait!” she cried out to the Elders. “I am a citizen of Craeg. You can’t charge me with trespass for being here.”
The center Elder addressed Isolde, her eyes softening in pity. “Isolde, your grandfather, the boulder elf shoemaker Gepet, has invoked your birthright. By claiming your heritage under Lord Shivant Emerson, you pledge your loyalty to Emerged Falls.”
Avalon’s muscles clenched as she absorbed this news. Next to her, Kay jerked his head around to stare at the center Elder and then Isolde. He, like Avalon, seemed shocked at the news.
But ‘shock’ didn’t do Isolde’s reaction justice. She paled, the blood draining from her face, as the impact of that statement registered in her brain. The stone axes floating around her head began to vibrate like a tuning fork, and given how the guards around her reached to steady them, it wasn’t likely from their magic. Her knees trembled, and the very pillars of the amphitheater hummed as Isolde’s untethered earth magic seeped into the floor around her.
The center Elder raised a hand, ceasing the vibration. “Isolde, daughter of Lord Shivant Emerson, you are no longer a citizen of Craeg. You must depart immediately or suffer consequences of trespassing on boulder elf lands.”
CHAPTER 12
ISOLDE MADE ONE feeble plea to see her grandparents, but the Craeg guard would have none of it. They led the trio directly to the front gate, pushing past the curious gawkers that had gathered outside of the obsidian temple. Avalon scoured the crowd, hoping to catch a glimpse of Papeo. She would have even welcomed Mamie. Unfortunately, she saw neither of Isolde’s grandparents as they were escorted directly over the granite slab and outside of Craeg’s walls.
Two guards continued to trail them as they walked the dirt path toward Jentry, claiming they had orders to escort them directly to the boulder elves’ border before they would turn away. The guards followed behind, allowing Avalon to throw a comforting arm over Isolde’s stiff shoulders.
“Hey,” Avalon whispered as Isolde stared blindly ahead, mechanically taking the steps that would lead her away from the only home she had ever known. “Are you okay?”
“It makes a sort of sense actually,” Isolde softly replied, more to herself than Avalon. “My grandparents wouldn’t talk about my father, and Mamie hated Lord Emerson in a way I could never understand. Now I do. He effectively took her only child away from her when my mom died in childbirth.”
Avalon had no words, so she merely squeezed Isolde’s shoulder.
As if recognizing Avalon’s presence for the first time, Isolde grabbed onto Avalon’s tunic. “Do you think Lord Emerson knows?”
“Doubtful,” Kay interjected behind them. He had placed himself between the two women and the Craeg guards. “He would have claimed you, if he did.”
Avalon snorted. “Because Shivant’s a super truthful guy, right?”
Kay looked ready to protest but then thought better of it. Shivant had kept many secrets from all of them: sending Desert Rose out illegally to spy on Bedwyr against the other Guardians’ judgement, not revealing he had held a piece of the Jaded Sprite Statue for his own scientific research. Plus, he was a well-known ladies’ man to boot. His past habits left something to be desired.
“I know how it must appear,” Kay conceded, “but Lord Emerson has sired at least two other out-of-wedlock children. It is no secret. He supports them financially, although he has no role in their upbringing.”
“It’s true,” Isolde assured a skeptical Avalon. “Lord Emerson is famous for it, actually. It has caused something of a stir among the human nobility, who find it scandalous.”
“I bet,” Avalon said, thinking of the strict roles that people adhered to in Jentry. “But if Lord Emerson doesn’t care, why the secrecy? Why did this have to come out now?”
“Maybe it’s not Lord Emerson’s secret,” Kay pointed out. “It could be Craeg’s. The Elders acted as if they preferred to keep the matter mum.”
Isolde nodded. “That also makes sense. There’s enough hatred of humans in Craeg that the Elders might not want to admit that one of their own had ‘betrayed’ them.” Her face flushed as a realization hit her. “But surely many boulder elves knew the truth. No wonder I was an outcast, despite my magic abilities. And the shame Papeo and Mamie must h
ave endured.” Her eyes watered.
“It’s not your fault,” Avalon reassured. “You had nothing to do with any of that.”
Isolde’s fists clenched at her side. “I wish I could have just talked to them. Asked them why they didn’t tell me. I deserved to know who my father was.”
Avalon didn’t reply, but she had a good idea why Isolde’s grandparents kept their secret for so long. Isolde obviously had headstrong tendencies and would have been unable to contain her curiosity. She would have sought out her biological relatives, and Mamie probably could not accept that.
“Whatever their reasons, I really do believe your grandparents thought they were doing what was best for you.” Avalon’s mind wandered to her own tarnished image of her father. Could she say the same of him?
A trembling under their feet caught them off guard. Kay leaped into the air, sword in hand and wings flapping, taking the lead from the two women. He scoured the empty branches of the Wazan forest for a threat, and when he could not find one, he turned to the guards. “Explain the quakes!”
One guard pointed down the path in front of them, toward a break in the trees with gurgling water. “Your dragon corpse is stuck in our river. It’s blocking the flow down to your precious human town. We’re removing it before it floods and we are once again accused of harming Jentry.”
Kay soared ahead as Avalon and Isolde trotted downhill, the sound of rushing water intensifying as the path approached the river. Once there, Avalon could make out other Craeg guards on either side of the muddy riverbank, their legs spread apart in a sumo stance. They churned their arms as if rowing a boat simultaneously. “Heave!” one of them cried, and they strained, jaws clenched, bodies tightening even though they did not touch any physical object.
The quakes intensified. Water from the river gushed upward. A gnarled claw poked into view, shiny like a wet coin as the guards worked the dragon’s body from the river.
“Keep moving,” one of the guards behind them barked. Kay glared but motioned a gawking Avalon to continue moving forward. Isolde didn’t even notice the exchange.
They forged their way down the trail until they crested a small hill. In the distance, smoke rolled up from the smoldering remains at the edge of Jentry. The Craeg guards halted, stomping their feet in the gravel to alert the trio ahead.
“We have reached the edge of Craeg territory!” one announced. “Heed our warning. No one—human, Emerged Falls knight, or otherwise—is welcome back onto our lands until the Earth Titan lifts the lockdown.”
The guards let their gaze linger a few seconds more on Isolde. Isolde shrunk a little into herself, her face pale. But without further exchange, the pair turned on their heels and marched back up the hill toward Craeg.
Isolde stared after them. “I can’t believe I’m not allowed to go home.”
“It’s just for the lockdown,” Avalon attempted to reassure her.
“Is it?” Then, Isolde too, flipped around in the opposite direction, running as much away from her emotions as Craeg.
Avalon shot Kay a helpless expression. “What can I say?”
Kay sighed. “It’s one of those unfortunate situations where there are no words.” Then he motioned for her to follow the boulder elf on to their destination.
* * *
Jentry looked like a war zone. They entered near the outer limits, where the lightning dragon had scorched rows of houses. Once-beautiful fields lay charred in patches from ricocheting explosive debris. Some of the ruins smoldered, a morbid marker of recent events. Not a person stirred among the ruins, the only human forms shrouded underneath thick blankets and tarps, unmoving.
Isolde cringed at the bodies. “Dear Omni.”
Avalon stepped through the ruins. “Gonait!” she called, but no one stirred, not even as she made a beeline for the woman’s former home.
Once at Gonait’s house, Avalon grimaced, thinking of Cathal’s defiant face as the lightning demolished the street. She wondered if the bleeding orphan kid had survived his wounds. Pushing these terrible thoughts aside, Avalon tiptoed through jagged debris toward the backyard.
Kay noted her leaving the relative safety of the street. “Where are you going?”
Avalon pointed to the stable, standing in stark contrast to the flattened houses. “Desert Rose is in there.”
Kay immediately took to the air, bypassing the hazards on the ground to hover next to Avalon. “I thought you said she was safe,” he frowned as Avalon made it to the door.
“She should be.” Avalon gestured toward the flattened boards of Gonait’s house. “She could have been in there.”
Pushing the flimsy stable door open, Avalon peered into the dusty gloom. Kay pointed out the obvious first. “Desert Rose is not here.”
Avalon stared at the two empty hay piles that had served as patient beds before. Everything else about the small room appeared normal, down to the rusted woodstove and shelves of salves. “She was here before the dragon attack.”
“Where could she have gone?”
Faint shouts echoed from somewhere deeper in town. They both spilled back out into the street. Kay took to the air, scanning the rooftops toward the clamor. “I see a crowd!” he cried. Then he zipped forward, wings flapping in wide arcs around his dirtied uniform. Avalon and Isolde jogged after him as best they could on the junk-filled road below.
Kay raced his way into the intact part of town. Avalon lost sight of him as he navigated through the rooftops, but she kept running in his general direction. She recognized this part of Jentry as the market she had explored with Gonait earlier. The first rows of buildings had no people, a ghost town with doors open and carts left to fend for themselves in the street. In contrast, Avalon could plainly hear the cries of people not far off. She reasoned Kay would go there too. The din grew louder until they rounded a corner and came upon the town square.
Everyone in Jentry must have crammed themselves into the open space. They huddled in bunches, many of them hugging each other and crying, more sitting on any bare patch of earth that would allow them to rest. Hair covered in soot and ash, some people seemed almost zombie-like, accentuated by wails from those who clearly could not be consoled. The front of the courthouse gates had become a makeshift hospital, the injured moaning in the street, matted with blood, as the less shell-shocked people tried to help them.
Avalon scanned the scene, looking for Kay, but instead recognized a familiar brown dress with frazzled braid bouncing among those who could not stand. “Gonait!” she called, rushing ahead, Isolde not far behind her.
Gonait twirled around, her face streaked with black lines where she had wiped her face with soot-laced fingers. She broke out in a smile despite her weary eyes.
“Avalon!” she cried. The two embraced, a jar of ointment still clutched in Gonait’s hands between them. “I believed you dead!”
Avalon pulled back. “So did I there, for a moment.”
Gonait suddenly stiffened, trembling with shock. “Y-you went after th-the…” She glanced at the sky, clearly ready to bolt.
Avalon moved into her line of sight. “The dragon is dead.”
“Oh, praise Omni!” Gonait’s hands flew out, and she lost her grip on her jar. Avalon caught before it smashed to the ground.
Avalon placed the jar gently back into Gonait’s hands. “Did you heal the orphan, Gonait?”
“Who said anything about healing?” a voice boomed to Avalon’s right. She turned around to find a squat man with a crooked jaw glaring at her. With robes like a friar monk of old, he held a bucket full of something dark red and squirming.
“Heal?” Gonait chirped, voice high-pitched and nervous. “I’m not healing anyone, Rapsin, just helping out, as I promised.”
“And who cares if she is?” Avalon pointed at the rows of unattended injured lining the square. “It seems like there’s enough work to go around.”
Rapsin glared at her. “I’m Jentry’s healer, not this little housewife. You think a squeamish woma
n could administer these?” He reached into the bucket and pulled out a fat, slimy blob. It wasn’t until Avalon recognized the thin suction point and antennae that she realized he held a leech.
Avalon sucked in her breath. One of the few lectures she’d attended in her college history class had talked about how medieval people had used leeches to treat all sorts of ailments. She also knew how much destruction they could cause to someone who had already lost a lot of blood. “You can’t use those!”
Rapsin sneered at her. “You prove my point, denying generations of proud human medicine.” He wagged a finger at Gonait as if she were a mangy dog. “What do you know about healing?”
“More than you, little man.”
Isolde recognized the voice as quick as Avalon. “Lady Desert Rose!”
They all parted to find Desert Rose, hair for once a complete mess with bits of straw sticking out of it, glowering at Rapsin. She wore her Earth jacket and suit pants, spattered in blood, and also held one of Gonait’s jars. She towered over them with her regal height.
Rapsin cowed a bit before Desert Rose’s bitter gaze, re-focusing his attention on Gonait. “I thought I told you to keep that Other Race away from here.”
Gonait’s mouth opened and closed like a fish, unsure of how to proceed.
Desert Rose had no such hesitations. She stalked toward Rapsin. “I am a Covert K knight of Emerged Falls. You will not address me with such filthy slurs.” She grabbed his arm holding the leech bucket before he could jerk away, fingernails tightening painfully into his flesh. She wrinkled her nose in disgust. “And your worms are an archaic form of healing that has long since been debunked as harmful.”
