Gods of Shadow and Flame

by M. H. Johnson

  At that moment Latif presented them with a finely constructed silver bowl, within which were the red gold apples Malek found such a delight to nibble upon.

  “Please, help yourselves. Have you had them before? They are referred to as Calenbry Sunsets. It is already considered a favorite apple with quite a remarkable history behind it. The blend of crisp, tart, and sweet is remarkable, and it fares equally well in pies as it does eaten in the hand. We have hopes that one day it will make fine ciders and brandies as well.”

  Malek bit deep of the delicious Sunset, reveling in the juicy fare, the crisp sweet flavor setting his mouth a tingle with happiness.

  Morlekai couldn't help but give a pleased smile. "We are indeed well aware of the joys of these apples. Though rare indeed they are at this point, grown only within the tiny orchard at the Royal Ladies Academy. Frankly, I'm surprised to find even an obvious entrepreneur as yourself already reserving fields to grow orchards of Calenbry Sunsets."

  Latif grinned, and again Malek forced himself to look away, refusing to fall for those beautiful blue eyes and the gentle smile that shone with the beauty of a soul far fairer than his own brooding darkness. “Amazing, isn’t it? Multiple generations, a single grand orchard, the only one of its kind in all of Erovering. Grown in a handful of nights by the first druid to walk these lands in a thousand years.”

  Malek couldn’t help but smile at that. “Jess will be happy to hear that you are so fond of her apples.”

  Latif blinked. “You know her?”

  “Indeed he does,” Morlekai assured. “He is her shieldbrother, in fact. They shared many adventures together before the wiles of fate took them upon different paths.”

  Latif's gaze was one of genuine admiration, favoring Malek with a deferential bow. "Honored company indeed! When you next see your shieldsister, please let her know how grateful I am to her and her mother for allowing me to obtain seeds and cuttings. Frankly, I know many a lord who would guard their personal orchards with the utmost jealousy, assuming the seeds themselves will always crossbreed in unfavorable ways. Yet the Calenbrys have been most generous both with their cuttings and the apples as well, your shieldsister even sending me root poultice which she assured would help graft the cuttings to ready rootstock, and by heaven's grace, its effect was almost magical! I had feared that I had waited too long to embark upon my project this year, yet remarkably, all of my cuttings have taken hold, and by the angels' mercy they shall all survive even this bitter winter. Your sister's letter did but counsel me not to be afraid to plant seed and cutting alike; that hers was a strong, hearty breed, and the flavors would breed true, even if grown from seedstock.

  Malek smiled and nodded. “That’s Jess. Not a selfish bone in her body. She’s not one to hoard her treasures. Rather, I think she envisions a day when the land entire is full of her garden’s offspring, rich and heavy with the bounty of her fruit and blossoms.”

  Latif smiled in happy accord. “Like an ancient greenmage in truth. And one day, I hope, my orchards will be heavy with a rich harvest of her luscious Sunsets, as fine an apple as I have ever had, and one that will hopefully let my future family know prosperity and stability for generations to come.”

  Morlekai grinned, lifting his wine cup. “Cheers to that, my young friend. May your cuttings bear you future harvests full of sweet promise! And may your descendants never face hardship in the lean years to come.” All of them lifted their cups in turn, even Nadia giving an approving nod as she suckled her babe.

  Relaxed and at ease, the young couple began to converse more openly then, and Malek got a sense of how much it really cost to run a farm as big as this one. And with so much of his admittedly fine farmland being tied up for years before the apple trees would finally be ready to bear fruit, they found themselves relying on Latif’s skills as a healer to make ends meet in the meantime.

  Lucienda gave a sympathetic smile. “It is a most beautiful farm you own, dear Latif. But unless you have been raised in a fine house such as this or ever managed an orchard before, it is hard to fathom all the costs you are suddenly responsible for, all the hungry mouths you find yourself responsible for feeding.”

  Latif took a deep breath before sighing and nodding his agreement. “You have the right of it, Del Lucienda. I make a bit of coin as a healer, but truth to tell, with the blight that hit the grain farmers last year, most families even here are barely able to make ends meet, and so don’t have a lot of coin to spare.”

  Morlekai gave a solemn nod. “But being of a kind temperament, you have waived the cost more than you had thought you would need to. Sick people cannot decide to get better simply because they are poor, and to leave them to worsen and perhaps die is a burden you wouldn't want upon your conscience, or your soul. So I suppose you have earned many friends with your kindness, many good people who will be more than happy to do you a good turn one day."

  Latif gave a surprised nod, obviously touched that Morlekai understood his situation so well. “You have the right of it, Del Morlekai. I’ve done a lot of good I can be proud of. I never shirk my duty as a healer to help even the sickest, even the poorest, as best I can. But alas, it does little to help with my costs.” He gave a wry shake of his head. “I thought I did quite well for the couple adventures I had survived, but I did not expect I would be needing to touch that coin, save in emergencies. Now, seeing how costs do mount when one is the head of even a modest household, I can only hope it will hold out until my orchards proof the worth of their long investment.”

  "Between four and eight years. That is how long you will have to wait for your cuttings and seedlings to reach maturity and bear you a decent harvest of Calenbry Sunsets," Malek noted, Latif and his wife sharing a worried frown at his words. "And that is assuming her apple trees mature and harvest at the same rate as most varieties. Her trees have only been in existence for a season or two, she having grown them from seedling to maturity in a handful of nights, by dint of her gifts alone."

  Malek’s smile was sympathetic. “I am sorry, Latif. I’m not sure she would have wanted you to risk all your farm’s prosperity on what will be a beautiful orchard I have no doubt, but with no way to know when they will blossom and bear fruit outside of her sphere of influence? You have taken a gamble, my friend. I do hope it pays off most handsomely for you both, and the baby.”

  Latif sighed. “I know, honored Malek. I know.” He managed a helpless little chuckle. “But it had seemed like such a grand idea at the time! Here I was, a newly retired adventurer who finally had woken up to the fact that there was more to life than chasing mad dreams, when the most important dream I could ever hope to embrace was right before me.”

  Nadia's gaze softened at her husband's words and she rested her head in the crook of his arm as their daughter cood happily. He gently kissed his wife's smiling cheek, running fingers through rich dark curls before continuing. "So there I was, shaken but finally awakening from that hunger that grabs us all, I think, having found a dream far more precious to replace the one I felt slipping away from me. Somehow, with Nadia to inspire and encourage me, I had found the strength to refuse to Delve, even when the desire for it went from nostalgic ache to a hunger sharp and fierce. And miraculously, with my beloved steadfast by my side even as I acted the boor, those dark cravings eventually eased, and I was able to find joy in the simple pleasures of life once more."

  Latif shook his head ruefully. "I felt like I had finally awoken after a yearlong fever dream, sane and truly myself for the first time in a long time. And even as I saw my friends gaze at me almost pityingly as I collected my Guild credit and made my leave, ever hungry as they were for their next adventure, so I too found my heart going out to them. Caught up in their mad dreams of glory and wonder they were losing themselves, slipping out of the world entirely, in ways I can't even put into words. And I dread the day I will wake up and not even recall the laughter of an old friend as we once shared drinks celebrating our survival of yet another foray into the Dark, as we ca
lled it." His gentle gaze grew haunted. "I dread to think there may already be friends I've already forgotten, as the gods above sponge them from the minds of men, kept alive only in the bard's tales, even as they are lost to those realms of Shadow and dream that so entice us, only to claim all of us in the end, body and soul."

  He blinked then, grimacing apologetically as he recalled just who his audience was. “By the gods, I’m an idiot. Please forgive me, my friends. I did not mean to offend.”

  “Nor did you,” Lucienda softly assured. “You but speak the truth. For there is doom in the Shadowlands, one we all risk, every time we adventure into those realms.”

  Morlekai nodded. “And we who have Delved so many times before, deeper than most, are stronger than most. We do not plan to fall any time soon.” His gaze turned considering. “Tell me, good Latif, for all that you fear, and rightly so, that endless Delves can doom any man, do you think that any particular trip to the realm of dreams will doom our veteran party?”

  Latif shook his head. “No, Del Morlekai. One such as you? I expect to be in the game for a long, long time.” He chuckled then, eyes alight with playful jest. “Rumor has it that you are timeless, in fact. That adventuring has stopped your body from remembering its years, and every trip into the realm of dreams you survive puts you that much farther from Father Time’s gaze, ‘till eventually you will become eternal, a living god, never to age and never to fall in Shadow. Assuming you aren’t already, in fact.”

  Morlekai frowned. “What exactly are people saying about me?”

  Latif shrugged and smiled. “Among the tall tales I heard, it's a toss of the coin as to whether the blood of angels or demons flows through your veins. Or perhaps you are the cloaked avatar of all adventurers, here to guide those of us bold enough to dare enter the Shadowrealms.”

  Morlekai abruptly laughed so hard that tears flowed from his eyes.

  Malek blinked, surprised his leader thought the playful Guild gossip so funny.

  Lucienda gently squeezed their leader’s arm even as her piercing gray eyes locked with Latif’s own. “Latif, answer me true. Do you have sufficient coin to maintain your newly acquired lands, your fine home, and your family, all those mouths to feed, for the next eight years?”

  Latif grimaced, a pallor coming to his features as he was forced to shake his head. Nadia’s angry glare had returned even as she turned back to her husband, squeezing him tightly to her side, and assuring him that they would manage, that somehow they would survive.

  “Are you truly sure of that?” Morlekai asked quietly. “I have no doubt word is already out about the tremendous fortune your future orchard of Calenbry Sunsets will one day be worth. I can see barristers being all too easily swayed to seize your lands under any pretext, on any default on Crown taxes or any other debts owed, far faster than such men would dare take steps against nobles in truth, or even bother troubling themselves over the difficulties of less fortunate men.”

  Latif seemed almost to wilt under the weight of Morlekai's words. And as much as Malek hated to admit it, what his companion said made perfect sense. Well did he know the dark games of intrigue and treachery played in circles of influence. Why should it be any different with nobles looking to profit upon the backs of vulnerable commoners? Especially when people forgot those commoners were once Guild.

  “There is another way,” Morlekai said. “Join us, Latif. Join us for one final adventure. One that touches only the sweetest, gentlest realms of Shadow. A daydream more than a nightmare. For what we seek, my friend, is a treasure both priceless and precious, and one far more aligned with the heavenly songs of the stars above, than the dark yearnings of deepest Shadow.”

  "No!" A fierce, bitter cry from Nadia, eyes already red with unshed tears. Her daughter sensed something was amiss, and immediately began to fuss, her mew quickly becoming a distressed cry. "He is not going back! Do you think I am blind to your attempts to entice him? Do you think I can't sense you playing upon old hungers? For glory and gold, for some imaginary beauty that is only dreamed, never captured? That terrible yearning that drives so many of you to extinction?"

  She shook her head at the horror of it all. "I know your kind! None of you are fools, though you're too graceful to say it. You know the role I once had at the Guild." Her voice turned low and rough with emotion. "You all damn well know I used to soothe the hungry passions that radiated from your kind in waves after you all had… Delved." She shook her head. "I won't tell you the number of times I lay in my bed, silent with unshed tears, sore from mad passions and strength barely kept in check. Strength that could have torn me apart." Her smile turned bitter. "I won't tell you the Spring Delvers, young bucks full of youth and promise and hope, who had treated me with gentle kindness and promised to love me as more than a single night's fling… only to disappear from everyone's memory, even my own, till I looked back at my diary, old entries I had made weeks or months before, and realized what I was reading!"

  She grimaced even as Latif held her, gently stroking her back even as she shuddered in his arms. "I finally found one man whose love I could believe in! Who didn't care that I had a past, and when I swore he would be the only man I'd ever again allow into my bed, I kept that oath, and he believed in me!"

  Her eyes reddened, tears flowing freely down her cheeks, her hands soothing her child of their own accord. “I thought I would die from worry, bursting in sobs at odd moments, my friends gazing at me so pityingly, that last time Latif went into the Darkness. I was so afraid he would lose himself in that nightmare realm, that I would never see him again!”

  She smiled then, through her tears. “My heart felt alight as if I was soaring upon angels' wings when I heard news of his return. Loved, redeemed, forgiven. The night he came back to the Guildhall, triumphant and full of song and good cheer, he and his two companions having found any number of precious gold trinkets and tomes in that final journey to Shadow. Treasures he was able to turn into good gold coin, over a hundred crowns to his name!”

  She roughly rubbed away her tears, calm once more, her husband holding the baby with one arm even as his other squeezed her tight beside him. She relaxed, melting into the comfort of his presence. “I heard the mad tale they told the bard and scribe so dutifully recording their story. I saw their eyes mist over as they recounted how two of their companions went down, dying to nameless creatures of horror and living darkness, my Latif barely able to heal one of the two fellows with him sufficient he did not also die in that hellish place.” She shuddered. “I poured my heart out to him. Both that night when he was drunk on the thrill of his craving and survival both, and when he awakened days later after his long sleep. I told him how much he meant to me, how terrified I was of losing him forever. I reminded him of terrible truths in the cold light of day, the madness of the dream gone at last from his gaze, no Guildmates to goad him into new danger. I reminded him that two of his four comrades that he had always journeyed with had perished to the dark madness below us. Men he was once thick as brothers with, and now he didn’t even remember their names.”

  She gazed accusingly at Morlekai. “He didn’t even remember their names! And you would have him go back to that? To risk his life, his very soul, to that madness once more?”

  Morlekai spared Nadia a single commiserating nod. “There is risk in all things. And it saddens me whenever a Delver must pay the ultimate price. Spring Delvers, with no veteran to lead them. For that travesty I mourn as well.”

  He turned his gaze to meet a solemn looking Latif's. "So. You earned over a hundred gold on your final Delve, and at last had enough to start life anew, and someone worthy to embrace your new life with. That is a wonderful end to your tale, young Latif. But unfortunately, life's tale does not finish its telling until our last breath. And though your chapter adventuring with the Guild had much promise, you have committed a foible no young man is entirely free of. The temptation to make the most of an opportunity when it presents itself, even if it means gambling everything
on the perfect dream. To make the most of a new home, to make the most of new opportunities, investing it all in lands as fertile as any to be found outside the Calenbry estates. Daring to put it all in a venture that may reap you enormous rewards one day, and with the blessings of a girl as dear to your heart."

  Morlekai paused a moment, gazing thoughtfully at the room, before turning once more to the young man before him. "However, if you cannot keep yourself fully afloat for four more years or longer, you risk losing everything. Everything you've fought so hard to claim, the life you've made for yourself here. Gone. Just like that. Into the purse of a gloating lord who thinks himself your better, and is more than happy to throw it in the face of the Guild."

  Latif grimaced, but did not deny it, expression almost haunted. “What would you have me do then?” His voice was soft, almost plaintive.

  “Latif! We need not do anything! We will be okay. Hells, we can sell half our orchard if we must, and still have enough to survive the lean times to come.” Nadia gazed imploringly at her husband. “It will be fine, my love. Trust me!”

  Latif took a deep breath, gazing intently at his wife, gently stroking his little one's cheek, the bright-eyed girl cooing once more, happily grabbing her father's finger and gnawing contentedly away. "This land is for our little Belle and her sister on the way. This is our gift to them. Their inheritance. I will not subject it to sale or surrender, nor will I allow it to be taken from under our very feet if I can help it!"

  Morlekai nodded in approval. “One hundred gold. A fine pot to have earned, young Latif, but not nearly so much as you deserve.”

  Latif took a deep breath, boldly locking gazes with the man before him, intimidated not at all, it seemed, by Morlekai's crackling potency, the inhuman power Malek swore he could smell radiating from his friend's very pores. The essence of darkest Shadow, and something more, something potent and terrible, bringing odd flashes of fancy or memory that would torment Malek's dreams, did he dare think long upon it.