Savric tapped the page and the words faded. A moment later, new words appeared. “In most human affairs, the äəllfin choose to abstain from taking sides. We are a highborn and proud people. However, I do not share the sentiments of my kinfolk. As you know, most of the jobs I do revolve around humans and their affairs. After I meet with Rayah I will take your concerns to King Zaridus. Let me know the moment you have further information. -Morcinda”
Hopefully King Zaridus will heed her words more than he did mine.
Savric returned the fountain pen to its pouch and closed the book. Many prophecies foretold of a time such as this, but words on paper never do reality justice. They also never specified that this affliction would only come up on humans. Savric feared the events of the coming months and the helpless feeling growing deep within. In the end, how would any of them survive? How could anyone fight an infection on such a large scale?
He peered over his shoulder. Dozens of people still poured from the ship he’d arrived on.
As far as he could tell, no order had been established in Celsus Litus like it had been in Tyrosha. Fires burned across the city, lighting up the night sky. Locating Qotan, Reni, and Eshtak again would prove difficult until they moved outside the city.
Savric sighed deeply. Have we already lost the fight before it has begun? Such thoughts were unbecoming of him, and he chided himself for it. I shall solve one problem at a time.
He stuffed the book back into the folds of his robes, grabbed Qotan’s staff, and marched down the dock toward the horde of infected. A single question burned in the back of his mind.
To whom do they serve?
Chapter Sixteen
Aria stood in the center of the atrium with her hands raised above her head. The wind pulled at her hair and fluttered it at her back. Cinolth stood in front of her, a mass of muscle and devious cunning.
“Concentrate on your surroundings,” said Cinolth. “Tell me what you feel.”
Aria closed her eyes. “I feel the sand between my toes and the rocks around me. The trees speak to me in a language I don’t understand, and the wind beckons me.”
“Good. Concentrate on the wind. Imagine it flowing underneath your feet and pushing up against the bottoms of them.”
Aria stood there and willed the wind to blow against the bottoms of her feet. The chilled air tickled her toes, and her legs trembled.
“Good. Now, imagine yourself light as a feather and allow the air to lift you off the ground.”
Aria gazed skyward and gave in to the sensation of weightlessness. The sky above moved toward her, and she gasped. Her concentration broken, she crashed to the ground in a heap.
Alderan cheered from afar. “Good show, sister!”
Cinolth growled with disgust. “You must concentrate, or this won’t work.”
“I know what I’m doing.” She sat up and pulled her hair back. “It just scared me a little when I realized that I’d actually risen off the ground.”
“Then do it again, but this time don’t give in to your foolish fears or let it break your concentration.”
“Fine.” Aria stood, closed her eyes, and summoned the wind once again. The air caught under her feet once more and lifted her off the ground. She opened her eyes. The ground was several feet below her. She wasn’t sure what to do from there though.
“What now?” she asked.
“Do what feels natural. Walk through the air or allow the wind to help you soar. Just remember that every moment you’re in the air, you’re expending mezhik. When your mezhik expends you’ll tire. When that happens, you’ll be vulnerable to attacks. So make sure you understand your limits and how to determine when you’ve reached them before it causes you to become weak.”
Aria settled back on the ground and giggled. “I never thought anything like that would’ve been possible. I wish I had these powers when I was a girl. Life would’ve been so much fun.”
“Papa would’ve been alive still too,” said Alderan. “You could’ve killed all of those gnolls that destroyed our village.”
“You could’ve too, Alderan. Come over here and practice with me.”
Alderan stood and Cinolth growled. Cinolth took to the air with whooshing wings, kicking up a cloud of dust in his wake. He quickly disappeared into the night sky, a shadow in the darkness.
Alderan coughed and fanned the air. “How do you put up with him?”
Aria shrugged. “He’s not so bad once you get used to him. Besides, it’s good to have him around for protection.”
“Protection?” He turned in a circle, arms raised. “From what?”
“Everything.” Her stare hardened until his smile faded. “There are threats all around us. We are constantly on the defensive. I nearly died three times just getting to the castle. We were attacked multiple times. Twice in the carriage and then again in the wastelands. If it hadn’t been for Karraar, I’d be dead.”
Alderan ran his fingers through his hair. “I can understand you being attacked while traveling, but here in the castle? Where would this threat come from? Who would want to attack a lord and lady?”
Aria scowled, more at the world than Alderan. “People vie to gain the power that Pravus and I possess. Jealousy is a driving factor and a great motivator.”
She’d missed him so much. How she’d survived all those months thinking him dead escaped her. She never wanted to be separated from him again, and she’d do just about anything to make that happen.
Unless he becomes a threat.
The thought jarred her and left her unbalanced. She plopped down in the sand. Alderan joined her on the ground and took her hand in his. He squeezed it, but not very hard.
She leaned her head on his shoulder. My little brother. How could he ever be a threat?
Alderan lay back and pulled her down with him. “Will you always be by my side?”
“Where else would I be?” She laughed. “Someone has to save you from yourself.”
He frowned. “You’re not the only one who thinks that. You’ve always been stronger than me.”
“That was a jest, Alderan.” She latched onto his arm. “You’ve always sold yourself short, but you’re far stronger than you know.”
“I am?”
No matter his meaning, Aria took those two words as more of a statement than a question. She let them stand, and the silence grew between them.
A vast sea of stars spanned farther and deeper than she could ever see, twinkling in rhythm to music only they could hear. Her mind drifted to thoughts of what life might be like after the war. If Cinolth got his way, only a handful of humans would remain. Would she be content with that?
Do I have a choice?
Fingers snapped. Twice. “Aria.”
Her eyes burned. When had she last blinked? She did so several times before her eyes finally blurred with moisture. She sat up. Pravus approached from the northeast path, a glowing ball of red light preceding him.
Pravus stopped in front of her and offered her his hand. “Come with me.”
She looked back at Alderan. He still lay in the sand, a smile on his lips. He waved her on.
“Have no fear, I’ll still be here in the morning.”
She scowled at him. “You’d better be.” She took Pravus’s proffered hand, and he pulled her to her feet.
Pravus addressed Alderan. “Master Credan will show you to your bedchamber when you’re ready. You’ll find him waiting just inside the southern doors.”
“Very good. Thank you for your hospitality.”
Pravus nodded curtly and then led Aria back the way he’d come. Aria glanced over her shoulder and smiled when Alderan waved. She mouthed him “goodnight” and turned her focus to Pravus.
“Where are we headed?” she asked.
“To plan a war.” A hint of a smile touched his lips. “We march tomorrow at dawn.”
Her stomach twisted in knots as fear and anticipation battled for dominance.
<
br /> And so it begins…
† † †
Pravus stood over the table, eying several maps of the Ancient Realm. Elatos, the southernmost city of The Three Kingdoms, lay directly north of Galondu Castle and Atrum Moenia. The distance between them measured roughly 430 miles. It would take several months for an army to traverse that kind of distance. He didn’t like the thought of waiting that long to claim the throne and his place as ruler of the Ancient Realm, but what choice did he have? No other route would get them there any quicker.
Credan stood on the other side of the table, next to Aria. “When do you plan on marching north, my lord?”
“Tomorrow. We’ve wasted too much time already. Summon those who are loyal to me and have them gather their men outside the northern walls of the castle by sunrise tomorrow.”
Credan bowed. “My lord, consider it done.” Credan left the room.
“We begin our march toward Elatos five hours from now?” asked Aria.
Pravus eyed Elatos and shook his head. “No, twenty-nine hours from now. However, it will take a considerable amount of time to get there.”
Aria picked up a miniature soldier and rubbed it with her thumb. “I have good news, my love.”
He looked up at her. Whatever she had to say curled the ends of her lips upward, enhancing her beauty. “And what is your news?”
“I’ve convinced Cinolth to join his army with ours.”
Pravus stared at her for several moments. She’d confirmed the rumors of the dragon having an army and had convinced Cinolth to join forces. Her interference alleviated his need to beg for the same result and prevented him from showing any signs of weakness. He resisted the urge to smile.
This could not have worked out better.
“An unnecessary alliance.” He looked back down at the maps. “However, it may afford us a quicker victory.”
“Without question.” Aria slammed down the miniature soldier. “His army is one hundred thousand strong.”
Pravus swallowed hard. How had Cinolth gathered such a great army in a single day? He felt his father’s kingdom slipping away once again.
Cinolth must die once victory is assured.
“In light of your news, we will gather our forces with those of Cinolth’s here.” He pointed to a spot on the map just northwest of Duos Flumen. “Make sure Cinolth understands this. If he’s foolish enough to attack the Three Kingdoms without our army, then he will have done nothing but destroy the cities. We must be there to claim victory.”
Aria moved a miniature dragon onto the map and placed it on that spot. “Cinolth is anything but foolish. He will heed my words.”
Pravus cracked his knuckles and steepled his fingers. “Good. We cannot afford any missteps. I’ve waited far too long for this moment.”
Pravus studied the maps a few moments longer. Elatos would be the first city to fall. Then Borza and finally Vallah. He’d rather cut right to the heart of the Three Kingdoms and attack Vallah straight away, but the Orbis Mountains made such an attack nearly impossible. King Zaridus would have several weeks to gather his army by the time Pravus’s army reached Vallah, but it would prove futile. King Zaridus stood no chance against an army with a dragon, especially one so fierce and ruthless as Cinolth. The war would certainly end just as quickly as it started.
Excitement tingled his fingers and toes. “I sense my father’s bones stirring in their grave. House Rosai begins its ascent tomorrow.”
“He would be proud of you, were he here.”
Pravus nodded and moved on to another section of the table with detailed diagrams of Elatos and all its defenses. Aria followed him.
“You’re certain these diagrams are correct?” asked Aria.
“To the last detail. I paid good coin to get them drawn up and even more to verify their accuracy.”
“Cinolth will need to see these before we attack.”
“Yes, and there will be plenty of time for him to do just that when we meet up outside Duos Flumen.”
“Very well.”
Beast trotted into the room and nuzzled Aria’s open hand. “There’s my good boy,” she said.
Pravus sneered at the dog. “Traitor.”
Aria peered up at Pravus, a hint of steel in her eyes. The edges of her mouth curled upward. “Are you talking about him or me?”
Pravus shrugged and focused on the diagram of Borza. “Take your pick.”
Beast whined. Aria bent down and hugged him. “Papa doesn’t mean it. He’s just jealous that I love you more than him.”
Pravus stiffened. Does she?
He stole a glance at her. It didn’t matter. Regaining his father’s kingdom far outweighed any thoughts as to whether or not his wife loved him. Besides, he had far more pressing matters to sort out.
Like that damned dragon.
But how could he remove Cinolth from the picture? He loathed the dragon and the influence he had over Aria. It sickened him.
Aria’s my wife and mine to control, not Cinolth’s.
Only one being existed that Pravus knew of that could take on Cinolth, other than Cyrus: Käíeƨ. Her mezhik ability, dark and beautiful, came directly from Diƨäfär himself. What he wouldn’t give to wield her power.
Once this is over, I will find a way to drink her blood.
Like a spring renewed, the thirst he’d all but forgotten swelled inside of him. His vision darkened as his eyes narrowed into slits. He stared at Aria. At the vein on the side of her neck. It pulsed with life. Power. Mezhik. His hand reached for her throat before the impulse registered in his mind. Aria looked up. Fear flashed in her haunting, green eyes like miniature bolts of lightning.
Pravus struggled within himself. Fought for control.
I cannot take her blood. It will kill us both.
But the thirst couldn’t be reasoned with. A sacrifice must be offered. Soon.
Pravus stormed out of the room, leaving Aria gasping in a state of shock. He stalked the corridors, a predator on the hunt. The castle teemed with people ripe for bloodletting. The next person he encountered would relinquish their life and bolster his.
† † †
Alone in the atrium, Alderan still lay in the large circle of sand at its center, staring up at the massive dragon poles. He wondered how big some of the dragons had to have been in order to need such large, thick poles. Cinolth was big enough, his head nearly the size of Alderan’s entire torso. Aria had said that Cinolth would continue to grow for several more months, until he reached the size he’d once been. The thought terrified him.
Until he’d met Cinolth earlier, Alderan had never imagined dragons to be sentient creatures, let alone ones so cunning and deviously intelligent. According to Cinolth, the dumbest dragon could easily outwit the smartest human. Given Cinolth’s loathing of humans, Alderan didn’t buy it. He did wonder if other dragons still lived or if Cinolth was the last of his kind.
Alderan wove his fingers together and placed his hands behind his head. The glorious sea of stars shimmered, blurred, and then faded as his eyelids grew impossibly heavy. He closed his eyes for a single moment, and when he opened them again, he found himself trapped inside a living nightmare.
Before Alderan could even warn her, a stray arrow caught Aria right between the eyes and dropped her like a sack of turnips. Pravus stood next to her, his face ashen. The center of his forehead turned red and then blood gushed from a hole that hadn’t been there a moment before. He dropped to his knees and then fell face first in the mud next to Aria.
Alderan rushed toward Aria, tripping over the trampled grass, mud, and broken bodies as he made his way across the valley floor. A shadow covered the land between them and grew rapidly. Alderan stopped abruptly and looked skyward just as Cinolth came crashing to the ground a few feet in front of him. The large dragon snorted smoke, and then grew still, the fire in his red eyes extinguished.
One arrow. Three deaths.
A man whose face
Alderan recognized but couldn’t place walked up next to him, his white shirt billowing in the wind. The man held a strung bow in his right hand. “My arrow stayed true.” Tears glistened in his eyes.
The arrow wasn’t stray, thought Alderan.
This man, whom he knew, had killed his sister. Alderan turned to the man, rage in his eyes. “Why did you kill her?” he growled.
“Sacrificing my daughter was the only way to kill Cinolth and end this war.”
Alderan staggered backward and dropped to his knees. “Your… daughter?”
The man bent down next to Alderan. “Yes, my son.”
The sky blackened as did Alderan’s heart. Mezhik tingled in his fingertips. “I’m no son of yours!”
Alderan thrust his hand straight into the man’s chest like a sword and ripped out the man’s beating heart. He squeezed the heart until it burst and tossed it to the ground. The man toppled over and grew still.
Alderan rose to his feet and scanned the field. He alone stood. Soon, he’d be the only one left alive as well. He walked through the valley, turning each body over as he checked for survivors. When he found one still alive, he thrust his dagger into their ear and said, “Your death will be forgotten.”
Alderan jolted awake, a hand upon his shoulder. He blinked several times before his eyes finally focused on the face of a balding man with wire-rimmed spectacles.
The man smiled and stood. “My name is Master Credan.” He proffered his hand. “I believe it’s time I showed you to your bedchamber.”
Alderan’s pulse raced. Sweat beaded his brow and wet the pits of his arms. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get the image of Aria out of his mind.
He closed his eyes for a moment. I won’t let them kill you, Aria. No matter what.
Alderan took Credan’s hand, and the man hauled him to his feet. “Thank you. My name is Alderan, Aria’s brother.”
Rended Souls Page 17
