by DM Fike
Rapsin paled but argued nevertheless. “Who are you to judge human tradition?”
Desert Rose leaned forward so her dainty nose came close to his round one. “To Sadus with your vile traditions.” Ice crystals formed on his skin where she touched him.
Rapsin cried out in pain.
A flurry of pale blue flew down from the sky. “Stop!” Kay commanded as he landed, coming down next to them.
“Marcus!” Kay’s presence startled Desert Rose, who immediately let go. That caused a chain reaction of Rapsin losing his grip on the bucket, which had also become encased in a prism of crystals. It fell to the ground and shattered, leaving stiff, barely twitching red leeches scattered like blood clots across the ground.
“Look what you have done!” Rapsin sobbed as he surveyed the damage.
Desert Rose smirked. “I’ve just saved your people from your malpractice.”
Kay grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her back before she could invade more of Rapsin’s space. “Enough,” he said.
Desert Rose rounded on him next. “You do not understand the situation. The misogyny of humanity has finally gone off the deep end. They do not believe I’m with Emerged Falls. They—” she paused, clutching the top of her spine.
Kay rushed forward to steady her as she faltered. He caught sight of the ugly purple bump that had formed at the base of her neck. “Sadus. What happened to you?”
“Boxer happened.” Desert Rose pushed him away, regaining her balance. “I’d probably still be unconscious if it weren’t for a real healer.” She pointed at Gonait so that Rapsin would understand the insult. Gonait bit her lip as Rapsin’s face mottled a deep red.
Kay shook his head, trying to pull Desert Rose aside. “This is not the diplomatic way to handle this.”
“There is no diplomatic way to handle this. Lives are at stake, and I don’t have time to protect fragile male egos.”
Rapsin’s face had twisted into ugly rage. “I don’t know what kind of in-fighting is happening amongst you Other Race and I don’t care. You have brought dragons down upon Jentry, and we will not stand for it.”
Desert Rose shot Kay an I-told-you-so glare. The fairy knight furrowed his brows but led Desert Rose away from the scene. “Come,” he called back to an unsure Avalon and Isolde. “We must regroup before we decide how to proceed.”
“You have brought doom upon us all!” Rapsin bellowed after them. Avalon caught one more glance of a trembling Gonait before the crowd swallowed her up too.
CHAPTER 13
NO MATTER HOW close Avalon got to the fire, she couldn’t get warm. The deep chill had settled too far into her bones, providing her skin only the most superficial warmth and leaving the rest of her tired and worn. Next to her, a silent Isolde and brooding Desert Rose seemed encased in similar moods, their eyes as lost in the flickering flames.
They had made a camp not far outside of town, scavenging a few essential supplies from a demolished house on the way out of Jentry. Night had fallen, and the season had brought with it much colder nights than Avalon had ever experienced on Llenwald. In between tending minor wounds and forcing down a few bits of hard tack, Kay and Desert Rose had exchanged stories on what had happened to each of them individually after Hamad. Avalon had not been surprised by much of it, since she’d heard snippets already from everyone. Isolde, for her part, gave only the briefest retelling before becoming uncharacteristically quiet and sullen.
Afterwards came the question of what to do now. Desert Rose wished to return to Emerged Falls as quickly as possible. In the end, though, Kay won out with Jentry. Their troubles weren’t likely to end with a single dragon attack, and Kay wanted to give them one final chance to retreat to the relative safety of Emerged Falls. Despite Desert Rose’s objections at the futility of such a plea, Kay went back to Jentry to offer them refuge.
That left the others to camp for the night, not knowing when the fairy would come back. Avalon attempted to make small talk with Isolde, but the day’s events had clearly taken its toll on the elf. Having no real desire to talk to Desert Rose, who likely would have rebuffed a conversation anyway, that left Avalon to stew in solitude as complete darkness surrounded them.
Avalon held her hands out to the flames, wishing to send it coursing through her veins even though she shouldn’t. She marveled at the irony. It wasn’t that long ago that she’d wished she could get rid of Miasmis and any trace of magic she possessed. Now, crippled by Bedwyr ripping Braellia out of her, Avalon had her wish. She could not use magic without major injury.
And she’d never felt so helpless.
“We should set a watch schedule.” Desert Rose turned to Isolde. “Will you take the first watch?”
Isolde remained oblivious to anything outside of her mind.
Avalon sighed. “She’s in no condition to take watch.” Desert Rose frowned as Avalon gently coaxed Isolde on her side and arranged a scratchy blanket around her quiet form.
“She could at least put herself to bed,” Desert Rose grumbled.
Avalon brushed back a loose strand of the elf’s hair from her forehead. “Isolde lost her home and her identity all in one day.”
Desert Rose shrugged. “Her body’s whole. That should be enough.”
Avalon stifled the urge to wring Desert Rose’s neck, mostly because she knew who would eventually get strangled. “Not everyone is a soldier.”
“We may well all be soldiers, if Scawale uses the Child’s powers at her command.”
While Desert Rose had a point, Avalon refused to acknowledge it. “I’ll take the first watch. You and I can rotate shifts.”
Desert Rose huffed disapprovingly but did not disagree. Instead, she found a suitable place to sleep not far from the fire and spread her own coarse blanket over her, dressed in a thick jacket and trousers they had found in Jentry. Avalon envied how quickly both her companions fell asleep, their heavy breathing signaling that no horrors from the waking world had followed them.
* * *
Toward dawn, Avalon wasn’t sure what woke her from sleep. She had no dreams, not of Mt. Hornley nor of Braellia. Yet something inside her brain clicked, forcing her awake.
She did not lift her head as she stared at the near dead fire. Her limbs had gone numb from cold, the blanket doing only a bare minimum job of keeping her internal heat from escaping. Desert Rose should have kept the fire going, but she huddled not far away around the campfire, clearly asleep.
“My apologies,” a soft voice whispered next to her. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
Avalon jerked around in surprise, her arm whacking Kay’s knee. The fairy nearly dropped a hefty piece of wood on her head for her clumsiness, but he managed to catch it by the edge of his fingertips.
She winced as he laid his load harmlessly to the side to gingerly rub his kneecap. Avalon felt grateful that the early dawn hid her reddened face. “Sorry,” she whispered.
He gave her a crooked smile. “At least you’re getting better at defending yourself.”
They lapsed into silence as Kay added firewood to the flames like a chef dishing out spices to a delicate recipe. He used a large tree branch with one charred end to stir the bits around, encouraging the fire to roar back into life. Heat crept back into Avalon’s core, seeping toward her extremities as she held them out to the fire.
Once the fire had returned to its former glory, Kay withdrew the end of the stick so it become a staff-like torch. He used it to light his way back into the forest.
“Where are you going?” Avalon said, trying not to shout, but her voice ringing out louder than she intended. Desert Rose stirred in her sleep.
Kay brought his finger up sharply to his lips. He made a motion that Avalon stay put as he disappeared into the woods. She ignored his command. Kay threw his hands up in surrender when she caught up to him.
“You needn’t come,” he said in a normal tone of voice once out of earshot of camp. “I will only be gone a short while.”
“Where
are you going?”
“A rendezvous point with any Jentry refugees who would accept Emerged Falls’s sanctuary. Don’t get too hopeful, though. The healer from before seemed adamant that no one would associate with ‘Other Race.’” Kay scowled at the word. “Especially since it was supposedly our fault for attracting the lightning dragon.”
Avalon shoved her hands under her armpits for warmth. “Why would you go if you don’t think anyone will come?”
“Because it’s my duty.”
They wandered side-by-side into an open field sloping back toward the valley. The clouds from the night before had vanished, moonlight waning as streaks of dawn lit the sky. Brittle flowers, dried up for the season, crunched under their feet. Before long, a dirt road cut through the field ahead, wide enough to accommodate several horses across. Frosted stones lined the edges, the ruts creating deep rivets that held barely iced-over puddles.
Kay stopped at the first fork in the road, pointing right. “This way leads to other human settlements and on to Emerged Falls.” He gestured to the left. “The other goes back to Jentry. The refugees, if any, will come from that side.”
Without the steady rhythm of walking to keep their minds occupied, an awkward silence fell between them. Kay cleared his throat. Avalon stretched her arms, then sneaked a peek over at his face. Their eyes met, and they yanked away in embarrassment.
“I…” they both said simultaneously, then halted, as they realized they had spoken in unison. It took them a few false starts before Kay convinced Avalon to voice her thoughts first.
Avalon stared up at the fading stars, taking courage when one shot across the sky, leaving a streak behind it. “I’m sorry I dragged you into this,” she said. “Every time we meet, something bad happens.”
Kay balked. “I do not accept your apology. Nothing that has happened has been within your control.” He held up his fingers to count them off. “Bedwyr experimenting on your family. Nobody following you around to serve his own ends. The Child of the Statue living inside your mind.”
When he faltered at the fourth finger, she added, “Desert Rose trying to kill me.”
Kay begrudgingly nodded. “And Scawale now summoning dragons.” He finished his hand with all five fingers splayed. “None of that is your fault. The truth is, you have handled everything with grace, especially considering that not long ago, you knew nothing of this world.”
“Still, that had little to do with you.”
Kay rested one hand upon the hilt of his sword. “You may laugh, but I believe this is some kind of fate. That I am here to help you, however I can. In fact, General Emerson tried to dissuade me from this Jentry mission.” When Avalon’s eyes widened in surprise, he continued, “It’s true. He wanted me to stay in Emerged Falls and train a contingent of troops. Not long ago, it would have been a great honor, a privilege that he had never bestowed on me before. It’s a goal I have dreamed of ever since I was a child.”
“Then you should have stayed.”
But Kay shook his head. “My gut told me to go. That you were out here somewhere, that this is where I needed to be.” He clenched and unclenched his fingers around the sword hilt. “I knew you needed me.”
“You did this because you believe in fate?” Avalon asked incredulously.
Kay laughed unexpectedly. “If only my mother could see me now. She warned me that fate would hit me one day and force me to make choices I did not dream possible. I always scoffed at that silly notion.”
“It is silly and stupid,” Avalon agreed. “Fate doesn’t force anyone to do anything. We make our own choices. ‘Fate’ doesn’t make us free from the responsibilities of our actions.”
“True. I didn’t mean to imply that everything that we will ever do is pre-determined. More that Omni has a higher purpose for us. That sometimes we are asked to do something bigger than we can comprehend.”
“I’m that bigger purpose to you?” Avalon struggled to understand.
Kay hedged. “Aye and nay. It’s a bit hard to explain, I guess. I suppose this is as new to me as it is to you.”
Avalon disagreed. She didn’t feel any higher calling. She felt like a victim of circumstance, acting in the moment and forgetting the past so she could make it through one day to the next. But the one thing that had been getting her through everything was the fact that she wasn’t completely alone as she fumbled along.
That someone out there still cared for her.
Avalon braced herself to bare her soul to Kay, how thoughts of him had aided her through the roughest parts of this incredible journey. How when all hope seemed lost, she focused on him. She took a deep breath and took a half-step toward him.
Kay’s head snapped to the side at something past her shoulder. “Omni be praised.”
Avalon whipped around to follow his gaze.
Beyond a rolling hill, a wagon became visible, then two. Then more. As a caravan approached, more and more figures emerged onto the field. Men, women, and children, all dressed in the peasantry garb of Jentry.
Gonait led the way, her thick skirts swishing in the gentle wind.
“They came,” Avalon breathed in awe.
Kay’s face lit up as he jumped into the air, wings flapping. “I suppose duty has purpose after all,” he said before rushing across the distance to meet them.
Avalon folded her arms against the chill, watching him go. This is why she admired Kay, she reminded herself. He lived under a code despite evidence telling him not to. He kept to his principles. Watching him greet the weary citizens of Jentry with open arms, she forced her insignificant feelings back inside her with a dry swallow.
CHAPTER 14
GONAIT HAD HEARD Kay’s final plea of sanctuary and refused to stay in Jentry. She resolved to leave, alone at first, but then one of her neighbors decided to join her. Then another. She laughed describing it later, how all the people she had treated over the years scorned Rapsin and the rest of Jentry’s leadership to seek refuge away from the dragon-torn town. Her individual act of defiance resulted in roughly seventy people cramming supplies into whatever wagons they could scavenge and meeting Kay and Avalon at the assigned meeting spot at dawn.
Desert Rose barked orders to get everyone on the road. Their journey became complicated, however, with six severely injured people nestled carefully inside the wagons. They had to stop often so Gonait could administer aid. One of them, Avalon found with relief, was the caramel-haired orphan, unconscious but no longer actively bleeding. Hauling these people also meant slowing their pace to a mere crawl, barely making any headway to their destination, surrounded by excitable children and jittery adults.
Camping out that first night, Avalon bit back her frustration as she dished out watery soup to feed the masses. They couldn’t have been more than a handful of miles away from Jentry. She had covered three times the distance on uneven terrain before. She handed a bowl to Kay as he paused to deliver firewood.
“How many days to Emerged Falls?” she asked him.
Kay wiped his brow with his shirt sleeve. “Ten days perhaps.”
“Ten days?” Avalon exclaimed.
“Maybe eight, if we can pick up the pace.” He put the bowl to his lips and slurped it down.
Avalon couldn’t believe his nonchalant attitude as he downed his meal. “Aren’t you at all worried a dragon will attack us before we get to Emerged Falls?”
A stern voice interjected into their conversation. “Better a long journey than a trail of graves.” Desert Rose strolled past, holding glass jars of Gonait’s ointment in her hands. Bandaged around the neck, she appeared more frail than usual, dark circles under her eyes.
Kay grimaced at her tired form. “You’ve been walking all day, against Gonait’s judgment. You should rest now.”
Desert Rose shrugged, an action that caused her to wince. “Someone has to aid the injured. The elf is barely coherent.” She gestured toward Isolde, who listlessly stoked a fire.
Avalon stiffened at that judgment. “Is
olde’s been through a lot!”
Desert Rose thrust her chin at Avalon, “And you standing about chit-chatting instead of feeding hungry people. People depend on you. Get to work.”
Avalon grimaced as Desert Rose stormed off. Kay adjusted the firewood in his arms and said, “Her delivery lacks finesse, but she is not wrong.”
Avalon made a face as Kay left earshot. “‘But she is not wrong,’” she repeated with a mocking accent. “Desert Rose is pretty much the poster child for wrong.” Yet, Avalon hustled over to the soup pot to hand out more bowls.
The second day of travel, the children could no longer keep up. The townsfolk had to rotate which children could ride in the wagons so as not to tire out the horses, requiring more stops. And then a wheel broke in the afternoon, causing a delay that ended in an early night.
By the third day, everyone was in a foul mood. No one thanked Avalon as she passed out soup, and even the normally cheerful Gonait consumed it with little relish. A husband-and-wife pair got into a shouting match, one wanting to travel back to Jentry, the other insisting on moving forward to Emerged Falls. The camp seemed to split in two, taking sides as to whether they should return to their homes or move forward.
Fortunately, that’s when a Covert K knight on horseback arrived.
An Aossi with dark purple curls galloped toward them from the main road, the sun sinking below the mountains. Gauntlet raised, he hailed them with a signature “Ho!”
“Ho!” Kay and Desert Rose emerged from different corners of the camp, hands raised in response.
Avalon would have recognized him anywhere. “Vernal!”
Vernal ground his horse to a halt as he recognized Avalon and Desert Rose. He turned to Kay with mouth agape. “Sir Marcus! Where did you find these ladies?”
Kay laughed, grabbing him by the hand and patting him soundly on the back. “You are a welcome sight, Sir Vernal! What lucky fortune brings you to us?”
