Reign of Darkness

by Michaela Riley Karr

  “You have no idea how much I appreciate it,” I said through gritted teeth, trying to contain the level of my voice until we were well away from their slumbering newborn.

  Evan tracked silently behind me, ever the quiet twin, but as soon as we were maybe halfway between his house and mine, I whirled on him, fuming. I shouted, “Do you ever get letters from Frederick?”

  My brother eyed me with those Allyen eyes of his and reached up to stroke his smooth chin. “Every once in a while, but I think he writes you more than me. I’m not very talkative. Is this about something he wrote to you? What’s wrong, Lina?”

  “Everything!” I screeched, throwing my hands up in the air just like Kylar did whenever he had a tantrum. “I’m just so fed up with this whole situation! I don’t want to leave, but we have to, and Sam refuses, and now Frederick is calling me out for continuing to farm! That’s like him telling you that playing the violin is stupid and useless!”

  Evan’s eyes narrowed. “I see your point,” he said glumly.

  “Ugh!” I groaned loudly, threading my fingers through my hair repeatedly still it stood on its ends. Then, I let my head hang. “Help me find my sanity again, Evan.”

  “Well, letting you try to pummel me has always helped in the past,” my brother chuckled, knowing I would leap at the bait.

  I quirked my brow. “Try to pummel you? How about knock you flat on your rear?”

  “I’d like to see you try.”

  Smirking, I reached for the bright red sash around my waist, getting ready to ball it up in my hand and grow my sword magically before a flash of light knocked my hand out of the way. I looked up at Evan in confusion.

  “Magic only. You rely on that thing too much,” Evan stated plainly.

  “Fine. Doesn’t mean you’ll win though.”

  With that, Evan pulled an orb of almost sparking, white light out of nowhere and fired at me. I leaped into the air, letting it soar past just underneath me, and charged my own weapon to sling back. Evan dodged it, of course, but there was no mistaking the sly smile that spread across his normally stoic face.

  At first, my mind actively thought through each of my moves before I did them, but eventually, it fell away into nothingness. My body settled into an automatic rhythm as the sun made its usual journey across the skies. Charge, fire, dodge. Charge, fire, dodge.

  Evan knew I needed to blow off steam, so he valiantly kept up the fight, even though I was sure he was tired as we neared the first hour. As time wore on, I came to realize that Frederick probably had no idea that what he wrote was hurtful. He didn’t get it. Yet, while I came up with multiple flippant, rude responses that would likely make me feel better and show him how much of an oaf he was, I knew that I wouldn’t be sending any of them.

  Instead, I knew I would be sending one that compared our farming to his acting as prince for his people. I hoped that would give him the ability to understand.

  Stinging pain woke my mind from its thoughts, and I found myself stumbling to the ground. I shook my head to reorient myself, having gone far too deep in my thinking for multi-tasking to really work. One of the knees of my trousers was ragged with singed, scarlet flesh peeping through. I shuddered to think what it would have looked like if Evan and I didn’t tone down our power for our little sparring matches.

  “You good?” Evan called from his end of our imaginary arena. I could vaguely detect a winning smirk on his face.

  I immediately jumped to my feet, ignoring my stinging knee. “Right as rain!”

  Just as I began to summon a new ball of light, unwilling to let my brother claim victory, a new voice reached my ears. “Is this what the Allyens do during their time off? Try to kill each other?”

  Both Evan and I dropped our hands and turned toward the source. Standing along the beaten path between our shacks was none other than Rachel, my outrageously tall, red-haired friend who also happened to be the next Clariion, leader of the Ranguvariians. She didn’t look amused as she measured the two of us up, complete with my scraped and slightly burned knee. That bossy, demanding voice came too quickly, even if I did know it was only out of concern. “What on Nerahdis are you two doing?”

  “Uh… Just keeping ourselves limber, that’s all,” I lied as I shrugged. Evan walked toward me as I continued, “So, what are you doing here? I normally don’t see you on letter drops.”

  Rachel sighed, her blue eyes sad, “I just got back from my grandfather. I’m sure you know what I’m going to say.”

  I shook my head, willing it to not be true. “No, Rhydin hasn’t come yet, we still have ti-…!”

  “It’s time to go, Lina. No ifs, ands, or buts.”

  Chapter Two

  M y hands clenched into fists as I roared obstinately, “No! We still have a chance! We shouldn’t have to leave if Rhydin doesn’t know we’re here!”

  Rachel reached up to pinch the bridge of her nose, her blue eyes fluttering shut. “I don’t think you understand…”

  “I know what’s at risk-…”

  “No, you don’t, quite frankly!” Rachel cut me off, her face flushing red. I could tell she was about to launch into a speech when a couple of Rounans caught her attention as they walked the nonexistent path back to the heart of the compound. She eyed them warily, and then turned back to my brother and I. “Let’s speak somewhere more private.”

  When neither Evan or I moved, Rachel groaned, stomped forward, and latched onto each of our wrists, hauling us back toward my house. The thawing prairie grass squished underneath our feet as a cool breeze signified the coming of evening, but my mind barely registered it as it raced to come up with any sort of excuse to stay in the compound longer.

  As Rachel tugged open the door and released Evan and I, she finally spoke, “I don’t think you two realize the gravity of how disastrous it is that Rhydin is emperor.”

  “You think we don’t?” I groaned. “We’re having to possibly abandon our people to save our children, and you think we don’t understand the gravity of the situation?”

  “Sit,” Rachel murmured darkly. As soon as we did, she continued, “What you’re having to do, I will admit, is inconvenient, yes. But, you both seem to forget that there is another people group on this continent that will literally die if Rhydin’s magic even touches them.”

  I crossed my arms stubbornly. With Sam’s worry over the Rounans, and mine over the Gornish, I had slightly forgotten about the Ranguvariians. An image of the finger-width burns on Jaspen’s face and Bartholomiiu’s marred throat flashed in my memory. All simply because Rhydin touched them skin on skin.

  Rachel lowered herself into a chair, her fierce resolve slowly melting. “This is the second time my grandfather, Clariion Arii, has seen Rhydin become emperor…and things are playing out exactly the same as they did last time. And I mean exactly. When Rhydin came to power the first time three hundred years ago, he started off small like this, doing all the little things that people wanted. But, it wasn’t long before he began targeting his enemies. He created the first Duunzer within a year of becoming emperor, and he nearly exterminated my people with it. When you destroyed Rhydin’s second incarnation of the Einanhi dragon, Lina, you avenged thousands upon thousands of Ranguvariians.”

  “He’s not going to create Duunzer a third time, is he?” Evan asked hesitantly, fear clouding his eyes. I remembered how Evan was taken by Duunzer’s Darkness while he was in Auklia, and I wondered what he was remembering.

  “My grandfather doubts it,” Rachel conceded, “The people have seen Duunzer, and it would ruin their trust in Rhydin if he used it now. However, my people are still terrified, and rightly so, that their extermination is forthcoming” – she turned to me, her eyes wide and sad – “There’s mass hysteria in our camps, Lina. I’ve never seen it like this. Everyone is leaving and getting as far into the mountains as physically possible, hoping the magic-less zone will protect them. They know it’s imminent, Lina. I need to get you all to safety, too.”

  I sighed loudl
y, considering my options. “I hear what you’re saying, but-…”

  “Lina, I told you. I need to get you all out now!” Rachel said firmly. “I know you have this fantasy in your head that Rhydin will somehow reveal himself to the whole continent as evil, but let’s face it. That’s not going to happen anytime soon! Even if it does, it’s not going to be before Rhydin or his forces discover this compound! You cannot convince an entire continent that they need to change their minds!”

  My brow furrowed, but I swallowed my angry, hateful words. “Just give us one more month.”

  “Not a chance. Start packing.”

  “Two weeks?” I gambled.

  Rachel looked like she was going to pull her eyes out of their sockets. “One week.”

  “Done.” I grinned at Rachel, but it quickly vanished.

  A week to pack up our meager possessions and explain to Sam that our time had run out. That we wouldn’t be here for harvest. That there wouldn’t even be a harvest.

  Evan cleared his throat. “Where will we go?”

  I hadn’t even considered that. All this time I had battled so hard to stay as long as possible or figure out what we were going to do that I hadn’t even thought about where Rachel and the rest of our Ranguvariian protectors, the Alyen nou Clarii, planned on taking us.

  Rachel’s eyes darted downward. “It’s confidential, for now. We’ll tell you when we’re en route. To maximize safety.”

  Evan huffed, scratching the back of his neck, “It’s like the war all over again.”

  Rachel muttered indignantly, “Contrary to popular belief, the war never ended.”

  “Don’t. Say. It.”

  Sam was sitting on his stool at the rickety table. He had been inhaling his supper, consisting of stew that was really more of a broth considering our low reserves, until I finally told him what Rachel had told me. It had festered in my mind for around three days as I tried to find the best way to tell Sam. Tell him early, to help him get used to the idea? Or tell him late, so he didn’t have time to argue his way out of it? I made it three days before I caved.

  Now, Sam gripped his spoon so hard I could see it begin to bend, and his other hand came up to cover his eyes. I could only assume he didn’t want me to mention that I had been right about wasting the money on the crop seed.

  I worked my fingers awkwardly, as if rubbing all my knuckles would somehow make this easier. I mumbled, “We still have a few days to figure things out before we have to-…”

  “I’m not going.”

  My fingers dropped, loose as noodles. “What?”

  Sam met my gaze sadly. “I told you, Lina. I can’t leave my people.”

  “We don’t have a choice,” I responded, and then hesitated. I grew quiet. “Even if Rachel allowed it, would you really stay with your people over staying with me?”

  My husband’s eyes widened considerably, their gleaming brown flashing in the firelight. “N-No! That’s not what I meant!”

  I nodded slowly. A couple of seconds of silence went by before I lifted my bowl to my lips and drained the rest of my broth-like stew.

  “Lina, you know that’s not what I meant,” Sam pleaded, nearly dropping his spoon as he reached out and held onto my hand tightly.

  I sighed heavily, “I know.”

  Sam looked down at the table, studying the knots and gnarls in the aged wood. After a moment or two, he spoke firmly, “I will go with you. But we hide my people first.”

  My brow furrowed, “What do you mean?”

  “You said the Ranguvariians are headed to the mountains because magic doesn’t work there. That maybe they’ll be safe there from Rhydin. A lot of Rounans have been heading to Caark and other discreet locations across Nerahdis, but the mountains are a lot closer,” Sam said rapidly as the ideas formed in his mind. His eyes met mine with solidarity. “It’s time to disband this compound. And we have four days to do it.”

  “What about other Rounans across Lunaka? Across Nerahdis?” I asked.

  Sam’s expression fell a little. “We’ll have to hope that news of the mountains travels verbally or that others have already thought of it. It’s too dangerous to send letters this time. One of Rhydin’s Followers could easily intercept it, and then the mountains wouldn’t be safe anymore.”

  “True,” I murmured, trying not to act too bewildered that we finally had a plan. “Will four days be enough time to evacuate the entire compound?”

  “It’s gonna have to be,” Sam declared, the tiniest of hints of frustration in his voice that immediately filled me with guilt as he stood from the table and dumped his bowl in the wash basin. He quickly threw on his cloak and headed toward the door. “No time to lose!”

  I watched him disappear into the dark evening, wondering how many households he would go to before he came back to sleep. My eyes wandered to the blanket partition between this room and the bedroom as I rose and washed our bowls. It wouldn’t take long to pull together our few belongings. Most of what each of us owned that was worth taking was a set or two of clothing and a handful of mementos, documents, or toys.

  My heart ached when I realized we wouldn’t have the capacity to take all our farming tools that we had acquired over our years of starting over in the compound. Farming as I knew it likely wouldn’t even be possible on the rocky slopes of the mountains or the beaches of Caark.

  For the first time, I found myself afraid of leaving.

  It was late in the night by the time I settled Kylar and Rayna to sleep, packed our possessions into an old rucksack, and gave up on waiting for Sam before going to bed myself. Even though my eyelids screamed for sleep and my mind felt foggy, sleep evaded me. I must have fallen asleep at one point because the moons had shifted westward when I jolted forward, the hairs on the back of my neck standing rigid.

  I breathed rapidly, my senses overloaded and confused by all the magic in the air. My hand fumbled in the dark to find empty space next to me on the hard, straw tick. Sam had never come in.

  Without daring to light a lantern, I leaped out of bed, pulled my trousers on up over my night shirt, and shoved my feet into my boots. A red glow was now seeping through the window which only sent more chills down my spine.

  I tripped over something in the dark as I hurled myself toward the window and slid the threadbare curtain aside a fraction of an inch. Tall, menacing flames were licking their way through the compound. Yet, a simple fire wouldn’t be coupled with so many presences that my mind couldn’t sort them out.

  Where was Sam?

  Someone barged through our door loudly just as I summoned my sword from my sash, but it was Rachel who found her throat at my blade when she pulled the blanket partition down completely. Her blue eyes turned icy as she halted. “Really, Lina? It’s me!”

  “Sorry! Just…what’s going on out there?” I lowered my blade guiltily. The stench of ash and something else was beginning to reach my nostrils. “I can’t sense anything for certain. Have you seen Sam?”

  “Rhydin’s Followers are attacking. I didn’t see Sam, but I came straight here from my camp over the hill to get you and your children out of here before it’s too late.” Rachel strode forward quickly and didn’t so much as hesitate before she scooped Rayna out of her bed. I waited for the chiding about how we could have left days ago, but it never came. For once, Rachel appeared frazzled. “Jaspen and my brothers are on their way, but I need to get these two out first. Stay right here, I’ll transport Kylar next, and then you!”

  I opened my mouth to object, but Rachel hurriedly brought forth her great, Ranguvariian wings, made up of brilliant feathers that looked more like suspended glass shards, and wrapped them around her and my slumbering daughter. With a flash of light, the two were gone. I gazed at Kylar, still asleep, but I had no intention of staying put. Five agonizing minutes ticked by before Rachel reappeared just long enough to lift Kylar from his blankets. Then, I slung the rucksack of all our worldly goods across my shoulders, hefted my sword, and rushed out the doorway witho
ut looking back.

  In the other directions, the Lunakan prairie was dark and silent as a tomb, but the direction of the compound was another story. Fire turned the shacks into black silhouettes and flames danced in the windows and among the grasses outside. Black ash fell from the sky, and my ears registered the cacophony of screams just before I began to sprint in that direction.

  Evan exited his shack just as I reached it, Cayce and their month-old newborn Aron not far behind. He appeared just as bewildered as I felt with my magic unable to discern anything in the chaos of presences.

  “They’re here, aren’t they?” he asked quietly.

  I nodded shudderingly as I tried to suppress my panic. “Rachel took my kids to safety. She said Jaspen, Luke, and James will be here soon. I have to go find Sam.”

  “He’s not with you?” Evan questioned worriedly.

  “No, he went to tell the Rounans to evacuate last night, but I-… I need to go find him. He might be in trouble,” I said so fast I tripped over my words.

  “I’ll come with you.” Evan drew his sword from his scabbard. I thanked him, and after telling Cayce to head to my house to find Rachel and be transported to safety, the two of us took off.

  I tried to match my breaths to my footfalls as my twin and I raced toward the burning heart of the Rounan compound. The few shacks left strung along the way were completely abandoned, and I could only hope that Sam was able to give them a decent head start. But, judging by the screams I heard in the distance, he didn’t make it to all the houses in time. I inwardly chided myself for not helping him spread the word while we had a chance. Who could have known that we had four hours instead of four days?

  A dark figure sprinted out from around the next Rounan shanty, and my magical compass focused in enough that I could discern a portion of Rhydin’s ancient, cruel presence. Einanhi. One of Rhydin’s magically-created humanoids.