Crimson Warrior

by Amanda McLaren

  I took the stupid meat and nibbled at it, then drank the tea. Curling up into the sleeping bag again, wrapping around Sanquility, I quickly found sleep again; a nightmare-filled sleep that I could not escape.

  “NO!” I heard my scream as I shot out of bed to early morning. Sanquility was to her feet in a second.

  She peered at me, rolling with concern. “Xia?”

  “…All night…” I whispered to myself. “All night I dreamed about death and blood.”

  “You’re having nightmares?” She cocked her head to the side like a dog.

  “…No. I’m remembering the monster I was.” I stood shakily to my feet, shivering with the sweat from my dreams. “There were times when I’d lay waste to entire villages to find her…”

  “Find who?”

  “I don’t know – I, I can’t tell. She’s always so indistinct; a wisp in the smoke, a feeling in my heart, a touch on my skin…the blade across my throat or through my heart. I was always looking for her. I wanted to be with her, in life after life. Then…I didn’t remember. It was locked away, and…I started fighting for Fay. It’s like no matter how many times I live, I have to fight. I must be stronger. I’m…I’m always after the Azhi.”

  Anshumali wrapped her arms around me. “Kariken, please…try to consider that you’re one of the Seven Warriors. All these nightmares…all these memories…only somebody as old as Them could have lived so long in so many different bodies. Your soul is immortal, even if your body is not.”

  “Then where are the other six?”

  “Well, I can tell you who three of them are.”

  I cocked an eyebrow.

  “Fay, Sybel and Ryeger.”

  “No way,”

  “Yeah, and maybe Chrono. Maybe he and you never got along because he’s so interested in Fay. It’s your job to protect her, after all; maybe you see love as a threat to her safety.”

  “So who would be the others?”

  “I haven’t a clue. Maybe we’ve not met them yet. They may arrive for the battle.”

  I scoffed at her. “The warrior of Shen and Alatek were separated.”

  “You had a dream about it.”

  I shrugged. “It wasn’t quite right, then, because I had the dream about us.”

  Anshumali gave me a small kiss. “I’m a wolf, aren’t I?”

  I snuggled into her. “You’re my wolf. Alatek can’t have you.”

  She chuckled a little. “Alright. Redemption’s here, so let’s go. Think about it, love. It makes sense.”

  So I thought about all my dreams and nightmares, about my life and friends, about my sister and her lover.

  “Okay…if we find the other two warriors, I’ll believe you.”

  //Thank you Kariken. //

  “We’re not far now; there are the mountains.”

  //Good. Let’s try to make it to where Mist Peak Village was. Frozen Fang Peak is where you and Fay were taken to be sacrificed to the Fallen One. //

  “Dahaka won’t get my son!”

  //I’m not sure that’s the plan, but He certainly has something to do with it…//

  “I don’t see how Quinn kidnapped him. He’s so good with the sword.”

  //So are you, and he bested you every time. Besides, all he has to do is tell him he’s his father. Every boy wants to get to know their fathers; especially ones who just found out who their mother is. //

  What have I done?

  There wasn’t anything more I could do than hope we got to the peak in time.

  The pounding rain made it almost impossible to see as Mi’roc landed on the peak. The ground was flat and rocky, meaning Anshumali had to help me off. Al’re met me there, growling at something I couldn’t see through the storm’s aurora. I unsheathed my blades as she became a wolf.

  “Can you hear or smell anything?”

  She listened and sniffed at the air. //I smell sulfur and hear voices; it sounds like somebody’s arguing. //

  “Sulfur?”

  //Dragons smell like sulfur. They eat sulfite to breathe fire. //

  “Why do they need to eat rocks to breathe fire?”

  She shrugged. //I just know if they run out of sulfite, they have no fire. Instead they start spitting acid. //

  “How delightful. Let’s go dance with a dragon, shall we?” I signaled my dog and wife to stay very close to me as I pressed onward very carefully.

  //I smell Vortix! // Sanquility whispered.

  “Lead me to him!”

  Setting her nose to the ground, she slunk forward with her hocks raised. I raised my weapons; Al’re gave a whimpering growl. Out of nowhere, a ball of flames whirled right passed my ear. Anshumali took to the sky as I rolled out of the way. Al’re guided me as I zigzagged across the rocky surface toward the ball of fire. The next thing I knew, a huge black mass slammed into my stomach, sending me flying across the stone.

  It took me several minutes of simply lying there to breathe properly. Sitting up, I saw Al’re ripping into a huge black cat-shaped creature.

  Shadow cats?

  Anshumali landed beside me, sniffing me all over. //Bruised, but okay; you’re one lucky girl. You’re only a whisker away from a boulder breaking your skull. //

  “What was that?” I huffed as she helped me up.

  “You, my love, have been struck by a dragon’s tail. It’s the dragon who said you were a Guardian.”

  “Where’s Vortix?”

  //I think Quinn has him, but I can’t see them in this downpour. I’ll distract the dragon. You get the boy. // Without waiting for an answer, she took off.

  “Wait!”

  //Get the boy! // She called back. //I won’t have a repeat of last time we met him! //

  I pressed into Al’re’s mind. “Find Vortix!”

  ~Vortix? ~

  “Yes, my boy.”

  ~Boy I bit? ~

  “YES!!”

  Al’re wagged his tail and headed off immediately. I followed behind as fast as I could. “Mom?! Mom, is that you?”

  “Vortix!” Seeing him now, I shot after him, cutting him free. Anshumali landed. “Where’s Quinn?” I asked the boy.

  “He took my blood, hair and urine and gave me to the dragon. I don’t know what happened after that. He was reading out of some books that were written in a funny language. It looked a little like what Sanquility writes in.”

  Those books are written in Azhi?!

  Anshumali shook her head. //It’s time to leave. If I try to continue this, he’ll either kill me or realize what I’m doing. //

  Mi’roc landed practically on top of us; I put Vortix on him before getting on myself. Anshumali snagged Al’re by the scruff, making him growl.

  “Behave for San, dog.” I corrected hastily; he snorted, but didn’t struggle as we took off. I heard the dragon’s scales on the stone as he searched, but we’d be gone before he realized the Azhi had abandoned the fight and his prey had escaped.

  We didn’t stop riding until Mi’roc practically crashed and Anshumali was beyond exhausted. Vortix still was the one to start the fire, since I struggled with it and the Azhi was so tired she was asleep as soon as she was human. She’d laid her head in my lap.

  I heard him chopping vegetables too for supper.

  Yeah, last time I made supper I burned myself…

  Al’re got up to start pacing the outskirts. He’d growl, return to me and whimper.

  “Al’re, lay down.” I griped, finding it odd that he had so much energy. He lay down for a minute before getting up and doing it again.

  Redemption nickered, sniffing the dog. I’d never seen the two interact. Al’re whimpered; the unicorn scooted closer to the fire. The dog returned to his pacing.

  “Damn it, dog. Come lay down.”

  If something’s wrong, he could get hurt.

  Al’re growled at something off in the distance.

  “Al’re! Come here, now.”

  “What are you yelling at?” Anshumali growled groggily from my lap.

>   “Al’re won’t sit still. Even Redemption’s stayed, and I’m worried. If he wonders off, he could get hurt.”

  “Put a tether on him. Maybe something’s gotten too close.” She sat up with a yawn.

  A chill ran down my spine. I looked around; my eyes froze on a strange, twisted form. What was that? Something…cold. Very cold and very…mean.

  “What’s that, Sanquility?” I made a rough gesture toward it.

  San looked for a while. //Um…there’s a boulder…and a fallen tree…//

  “Well, trees and boulders are everywhere. I wouldn’t be pointing at them, would I? It’s right on top of the boulder.”

  Impatience filled her tone. //There’s nothing there, Kariken. //

  “Damn it, San. Don’t play games with me. Its aurora is white like Sybel’s ice magic. But it doesn’t have the wise blue, mixed with angry red.”

  Sanquility sat straight up. //I seriously don’t see anything, but I can’t see wraiths or holy magic either. //

  Unease prickled through me.

  Vortix shifted on the fur he’d sat on. “Is something wrong?”

  “Let me go see what it is. I’ll act like I’m going to collect fire wood.”

  “Nope. We need more wood if we’ll last all night.” I stood and did my best to lazily stretch. “You said there was a fallen log? Where’s it at?”

  “It’s three paces in front of you.” The Azhi snarled impatiently.

  //What are you doing? //

  “If it’s smart enough to know to hide, what makes you think it can’t understand us or realize these scars mean I’m blind?”

  //A mouse knows when to hide, Kari! //

  “Do mice preform ice magic?”

  //No. //

  “Well there you are.”

  Unsheathing my blades as if simply chop the wood, I casually walked toward the tree. To my shock, Al’re tripped me. I barely caught myself in time not to introduce my face to the ground.

  “Al’re?”

  He leaned against me, growling at the thing on the rock. Reaching into the dog’s mind, I saw a twisted creature. It was in the basic shape of a cat but with bat like wings and snake fangs. The claws were twice the size they should be. It was the size of a damn wolf.

  Al’re saw it clear as pebbles under spring ice.

  With focus I aimed between the eyes, steadied my hand and flung the blade as hard as I could. There was a yowl like a screeching cat before the air shimmered. Sanquility and Vortix both leaped to her feet with a shout of surprise.

  She came over to stare at it in disbelief. A wave of unease and regret washed from her to me.

  “Let’s eat and move on. Fast.”

  “What? It’s dead, San.” My son sounded as confused as I felt.

  “I don’t know how you saw this, love, but you just killed an Ice Witch’s familiar.”

  “So?”

  Vortix asked quietly “What are witches? And what’s a familiar?”

  Sanquility ignored his question for once. “The Winter King isn’t just a replacement second to the Fallen One. He’s the one responsible for Ice Witches. They’re humans who have given their soul to him. He twists them into his minions.”

  “So we have to worry about witches now? They’re like a step up from mages.”

  “Thanks for ignoring me.” Vortix shouted at us, waving his arms in the air.

  “Well, except they haven’t souls and they’re half insane.” San replied dryly. “Now pack everything up. The food is done enough for you two to eat it.”

  “Whatever.” My son stomped off to help with the task.

  We packed up hastily. The moment we’d finished our food, she became a black wolf and took wing as I mounted Redemption. This time I put my boy on him as well. We moved as quickly as the other animals could follow.

  Instead of placing Vortix on the exhausted Gryphon, we rode together on the unicorn. Sanquility flew behind us alongside Mi’roc, allowing him to fly and land as he needed now, carrying Al’re in her mouth. My son and I rode hard and long for three days, eating and sleeping in the saddle as well as we could.

  On the third day, Sanquility hailed for me to stop at the river, and she’d meet us there at dusk.

  I was so sore getting off our mount my lover had to hold me up for several seconds and help me walk. Vortix was so excited to be off the Unicorn that he began to do cartwheels and immediately practice with his sword. Al’re lay at the river banks panting. Since my son was so busy with his training he wouldn’t notice, the two of us washed one another.

  The water was chill on my sore skin. As Anshumali washed me slowly I let it soak into me to soothe the ache. It was strange to simply relax here like this. It was nice to listen to the wild animals and the gurgle of the water.

  “You seem relaxed.” Sanquility noticed.

  “Yeah.” I sighed with contentment, sinking to my neck in the water. “This is nice. Three freaking days of riding is exhausting.”

  “The land will start getting rough.” She told me quietly. “And colder. So you should remember to wear your cape more often. Even Vortix is wearing the one I gave him.”

  “Thanks mother.” I teased.

  “Do mothers do this?” She leaned over to give me a kiss full of love. There was no lust in that kiss; just a soft, loving kiss between the two of us. When Sanquility pulled away I forgot how to open my eyes – which made her laugh in endless amusement. “Leave you breathless, did I?”

  “Yes.” I told her very simply. “You did.”

  Redemption whinnied from the banks. We looked up to see the Unicorn flanked by the winged horses, throwing his horned head and pawing at the ground. His ears were flat. Suddenly the Unicorn lost his temper and bit at one of them.

  “Damn winged ponies are even annoying the Unicorn.” I shook my head in frustration. “Well, I’ve relaxed enough. Why don’t we go groom the beasts?”

  “The winged horses don’t like me.” Sanquility groaned. “How about I get the fire going instead? We’ll have a hot meal tonight.”

  With a smile, I gave her a peck on the lips. “Alright. But only if you make the beds tonight and tie our pack animals to something that won’t run off to some unknown corner of the earth.”

  “What’s Vortix going to do?”

  “I started the fire and collected wood while you two were getting freaky. I’ll tie the winged horses too, if you want to stay in there and get sick.” He stated from a warm fire neither of us had noticed.

  We got out, helped one another dress (to Vortix’s displeasure) and sorted out the chores between the three of us. By this time the heat of the daylight was fading. Both of us were glad of the fire’s warmth.

  ~*~

  Anshumali woke to a chill night with a start. The air tasted of frost and magic. Pulling herself out of bed, the wolf peered around with narrowed eyes. She couldn’t see anything at all. Al’re was sitting by the fire, growling at the air.

  It’s how he behaved with the familiar.

  Anshumali tip-toed warily out of the bed. Kariken grumbled and reached for her, but the wolf woman sent waves of comfort through her. The human warrior slipped deeper into sleep. Releasing her true form, she sniffed the air. It gave her nothing new; the tuff between her shoulder blades rose, then the fur along her spine.

  “Guide me,” The wolf told the dog roughly in his own language. “Find the bad kitties.”

  Al’re’s eyes darted back and forth; he gave a whimpering growl. “Everywhere, mate of master.”

  Horror gripped her as the crimson eyes gleamed in a tight circle around them.

  We’re surrounded!

  Before the wolf could react, they all moved at once. Pain laced through her; then cold bled into her very bones. A woman cackled in the darkness that ensued.

  Cold. So very cold. Anshumali pried her eyes open, feeling them stick together. Ice had formed on her fur and her limbs wouldn’t obey. Before the wolf was a throne of snow and ice. Before the wolf was a throne of snow and ice, s
eating the most beautiful woman Anshumali had ever seen.

  Skin paler than the frost around them; eyes the color of the winter sky. Her hair was black as ebony, and her lips stained red. She wore a pure white dress that formed to her figure. Gems lined a crown on her head. This woman…this queen…was so regal; so defined. Yet Anshumali’s first thought was far from this stunning beauty.

  Where’s Kariken?

  “Like your little home, puppy?” Her voice was devoid of emotion. “I made it just for you.”

  Anshumali’s jaws were literally frozen shut.

  “Oh, such pretty black fur.” She went on with a humorless smile. “Master says I can keep it. I’ll make it into such pretty clothing. A little too warm for my tastes, though.”

  I like my fur just fine – attached to me.

  The wolf growled a low, deep growl.

  “That human of yours…that little pet…too bad I was to leave her. She would have tasted so nice in a stew. Master will be so happy with that boy for a pet. He’s so smart. He’ll be a good witch, and will serve master so well.”

  San’s stomach flopped and churned at either idea. She pried her jaws open. “You will die.” She snarled.

  “Naughty, naughty” She waved her finger as if disciplining a child. “It’s not polite to speak to your betters.” Wraiths of ice bound the wolf’s mouth again. “Now hush. I want to enjoy my supper.”

  Supper?

  The cackle sent shivers down Anshumali’s frozen spine. Two humans were tugged in at the end of a rope tied tightly around their wrists and necks. The twisted woman’s familiars threw them at her feet. The humans’ pleas filled the Azhi’s ears as the woman carved them up alive and devoured them piece by piece.

  The Black Wolf couldn’t look away.

  ~*~

  Walking up alone with only a thread of a link between Sanquility and I sent my heart racing. I grappled in vain to find her mind as I paced the camp calling for my son. Vortix wasn’t answering, and there was no way to strengthen the telepathic link. I could hardly tell she was alive; let alone if she was unharmed or where she had gone.

  This is no time to panic. She’s never done this to me before, but I can’t panic. She’s alive and that’s better than…the alternative. Is Vortix with her? Or is she looking for him? Maybe he’s looking for her? No, that wouldn’t explain our shattered link.