by C. K. Rieke
“You don’t think I know that,” she shot back, with a harsh whisper. The whisper didn’t appear to work though, as the others all looked over at her. Veranor leaned back. “I’m fine, leave me alone.” Lilaci stood and walked away from the fire. She didn’t want to admit it to herself then, but she was worried. What if when I need my magic most, it fails me because I can’t even move my hands without it feeling like they are on fire? I know I’d push through it with everything I’ve got. But what can I do if this aging increases even more quickly than it is already? I’ve got to do something.
She felt someone walking up behind her, she could tell by the sound of the footsteps it was Fewn. She felt her friend’s fingers wrap around her arm, and move to her back, where Fewn began to wash her hand over her back.
“What’s wrong, Lilaci?” she asked, standing closely next to her.
Lilaci looked down at her hands that ached like hot pins were being driven into their bones. A thought came to her then, I wish Roren was here. He’d know the pain I am going through. We’d be able to get through it together, but he’s gone...
“Lilaci,” Fewn said again, leaning her head toward Lilaci. “Tell me, what’s wrong? What’s bothering you? You seem distant.”
She tried to choke it down, but tears welled up in her eyes. She blinked heavily, and the tears dripped down her cheeks, and she wrapped both arms around Fewn, in a rare show of vulnerability for the always-strong Lilaci.
“I’m worried,” she cried, “and... I miss him so much...”
Fewn tightened her hug back on her friend. “I know. I miss Roren too.”
“It’s not fair he was taken from us. He was there since the beginning with Kera. He was supposed to go to the end of this journey with me.” Fewn didn’t respond, she only rubbed her hands on Lilaci’s back as she continued to release her grief. “He’d be in this same predicament as me, and we could figure it out together.”
“He died in the noblest way possible for his cause,” Fewn said, “he died saving you. Know that in the afterlife he is smiling down on you. He’s proud of how far you’ve gone, and he’s going to be watching you the rest of the way. And someday... A long time from now, you’ll see him again.”
“He...” Lilaci sobbed, “he loved me. Why didn’t I see it then? I wish I could have just one more conversation with him. But it’s too late for that. I missed my opportunity, and now I have to live with that.”
Fewn didn’t respond then, maybe she didn’t know what to say, but she continued to hold Lilaci, and that seemed to be enough. Lilaci then released her hold on Fewn, stood back, and wiped her eyes. The tears help wiped the dry sand from her cheeks. A soft burst of lightning lit the sky and clouds to the east.
“There’s something else,” Lilaci said after taking a deep breath to steady herself. “It’s about Lezeral.”
“What?” Fewn asked, with a raised eyebrow.
“I’m beginning to worry about the merit of this journey she’s aiding us on.”
Fewn was taken aback. “What? Why would you doubt the queen?”
“The pixies,” she said in a low voice. “The pixies told me there was going to be a traitor. Perhaps they were wrong, or they were referring to something that already happened and passed. But with my... aging... I fear there is truth in their words. Who else could they be referring to?”
Fewn thought for a minute with her fingers caressing the deep scar on her chin. “It could be just a single soldier in this caravan. Or someone we are yet to meet in Scindír or beyond. Why does your mind go to the queen? Are you getting paranoid in your old age?” The joke hung heavily in the air, and Fewn scanned Lilaci’s face for an inkling of humor. She found it in the form of a smirk that Lilaci tried to keep dormant, and she pushed Fewn back by a brush of the shoulder.
“Ha-ha.” She laughed as a kind smile spread across Fewn’s face. The smile warmed her heart... and then something strange happened. Something strange, yet familiar.
The sky was filled with storm clouds far off in the distance, and a dark desert lit only by starlight and the occasional flicker of lightning from within the clouds. But Lilaci’s focus was on the desert floor, not the storm clouds above.
“Lilaci?” Fewn asked in a soft voice, as Lilaci walked past her toward the clouds.
Her eyes were fixed upon the horizon, where the black sands met the deep, dark blue sky. As her eyes tried to focus, she found that the sky began to darken further. “Do you see that?” Lilaci asked, leaning forward under the night sky.
“See what?” Fewn asked and leaned forward herself to inspect what Lilaci was gazing at.
“Do you see that light?”
“What light?” Fewn continued to scan the desert.
“Out there,” Lilaci said, pointing directly east.
“What light?” Fewn asked, still looking, but then her search stopped as her eyes fixed upon the horizon. “Oh, I think I see it... it’s very faint though.” Two minutes passed, as they stared at the light. “What is that?”
Lilaci hesitated to respond. She watched the small light as it approached slowly. As it crept toward them, and as the surrounding light of the desert began to fade to a deep, dark blackness, Lilaci began to wonder. Is this my chance?
“We’ve got to tell the others,” Fewn said, not turning away from the approaching light. “That’s no star, but whatever it is, is alive.”
“No,” Lilaci said, her shoulders lowering, and her feet inching out to a stance that showed Fewn she was preparing an attack. Fewn did the same and grabbed her sword. As Fewn began to unsheathe it, Lilaci put her fingers lightly on the back of her hand.
“Not yet,” Lilaci said, “wait.” The light advanced toward them, and the closer it got the more it appeared to be floating, like a willow on the winds.
“What is it?” Fewn asked, looking to Lilaci for some answer.
Lilaci finally turned her head and whispered to Fewn, “It’s one of them. A Garen Pixie.”
Fewn didn’t reply, but stared at the pixie with a newfound intensity. “If we kill it. It’ll lift the curse, correct?”
“That’s what Burr said, and Veranor confirmed it,” Lilaci said. “If—”
“If what?” she asked with her brow furrowed.
“If it’s the right one,” Lilaci said. “If it’s the one who cursed me.”
Then, the light began to grow, and twirl around itself as it approached. “There’s...” Fewn said. “There’s more than one. It looks like... three.” Lilaci’s gaze hardened on the three twirling lights. “Do it. Do it now! Send out your flames.”
“Just a little closer,” Lilaci said, her lead foot inching forward.
Another minute passed as the lights clamored closer, each flying around the other.
“Lilaci, now.” Fewn’s fingers wrapped tightly around the grip of her sword. “Do it now.”
“Just a little bit more,” Lilaci said, “just a little closer. They’re quick. I need them just a little...”
Then, from behind a man’s voice yelled out from the caravan. “Lights! Over there!”
The pixies went into a spinning flurry in a second, and began to jitter nervously, and then aggressively. The darkness of the surrounding sky began to fade, and Lilaci could see the pixie inside the glow of their light, with their elongated human-like bodies with their wings that resembled more of a bat’s than a bird’s.
“Lilaci, now!” Fewn yelled, pulling her sword from its sheath and pointing it out at the pixies.
The hot, raging fury of the Sanzoral shot out of her chest and ripped through her shoulders, arms and then fingertips—sending the violet roaring tempest at the pixies. Lilaci saw the fear shoot into their eyes as the fire burst toward them. She shot the flames at them as powerfully and fast as she could, sending out the pillars of flame right at them, but their small wings went to a quick flutter.
The three pixies darted out to the sides, separating from each other, heading out in different directions. One to each side, and one dir
ectly up. Lilaci leaned back slightly and sent the fire flowing from her right arm directly up, and the fires quickly engulfed the pixie as it shrieked a high-pitched cry, and then it fell limply to the sand.
“The others!” Fewn hollered. “Get the others!”
The two remaining pixies flew like the wind, zipping quickly away in opposite directions, and Lilaci’s hands flew to action. The two bursts of purple flames split in two directions, following the trails of the pixies as they panicked to fly away. The light of the fires lit the sands in a dazzling purple glow. Lilaci paid little mind to the sounds of the man scrambling back at the caravan, or her friends who were already at her back, ready to join in the fight.
“Hurry,” Fewn said, “they’re getting away.”
“Kill them, Lilaci!” Burr yelled behind her. “Kill them all!”
Lilaci’s hands twirled around, trying to follow the zig-zagging, elusive flying of the pixies, as they not only flew off to the sides, but their lights were fading slightly. They were flying away.
“Get them, Lilaci,” Kera’s soft words appeared behind her.
“They’re getting away,” Gogenanth said. “Focus.”
The fires burned wildly in the air as they shot out at an incredible distance, following both lights as they faded away in the distance. Lilaci’s hands felt as if they were actually on fire, yet she continued pushing with the full force of the Sanzoral, letting her fires reach out as far as they had before, farther even. She sent a swath of sands out at the lights of the pixies out in the distance, but after the sands fell back to the ground, Lilaci could still see their lights flickering far off. She felt a hand fall on her shoulder. Lilaci let out a heavy sigh and turned to see Fewn with a somber look in her eyes.
“I let them get away,” Lilaci said, as the fires faded away and her arms returned to her sides. “That was my chance, and I let them get away...”
“We may see them again,” Fewn said, taking her hand back from her shoulder.
“No,” Lilaci said, lowering her head. “No, I don’t believe we will. I’ve sealed my fate.”
Chapter Eighteen
Lilaci didn’t get a wink of sleep that night. Laying on her back with her hands behind her head, with a thin, tan fur laying over her body, she listened to the smoldering, hissing fire next to her while she looked up at the stars. A sky with an infinite amount of them, endless and stretching on forever. Fewn had stayed up with her for a couple of hours after the others had retired to their wagons. She did her best to console Lilaci in her failure, but Lilaci knew the mistake she’d made would cost her dearly.
The early whisper of the morning sunlight started to glow from behind her, and she heard the knight who’d been on watch back at the other fire stir, and stoke the fire, in preparation to warm some water for morning tea for the others. Weariness had washed over Lilaci during early morning hours, but the grasp of sleep evaded her. There was still a long road to travel, and the odds of finding the Garen Pixies was almost non-existent, she thought. The one that she’d killed had been burned away to its frail skeleton, and the curse seemingly wasn’t being lifted from her. It did cross her mind, I wonder if that was the one that cursed Roren—doesn’t matter though. He’s dead now.
The thought of her passed friend made her sit up, wiping her tired eyes, trying not to dwell on it. I’ve got to be strong. Even if I have to live with this curse until I die an early death, I’m still going to see this all to its end with Kera. If this is my destiny, then so be it.
She stood and stretched her arms out to her sides and above her, her shoulder blades popping slightly. Turning, she walked over to the other fire, the soldier gave her a subtle look of surprise.
“Can I help you with something?” he asked, the growing light of the fire reflected on his face and dark eyes.
“Just waiting for a sip of tea,” she replied, walking over and squatting by the fire.
“Hmm, it’ll be ready shortly,” he said. Lilaci and the others, even though the queen had sworn the Queensguard’s loyalty to protect them, hadn’t communicated much with them. “We’ll be off soon after sunrise. You can rest in your wagon if you wish then, we’ll watch the caravan. You don’t have to walk, if you don’t want to. You can trust us.”
She eyed him, scanning for the truth in his words. And she did believe him, there were no signs of lying in his voice, or none on his face. She nodded. “I may do that.”
As the pot of water rippled from the heat, he opened a pouch of floral-smelling contents, and dabbed it over the water. The tea leaves hit the water and let out a sweet aroma which perked Lilaci up, brushing away her tiredness temporarily. He twirled the pot, letting the flavors of the leaves steep. He reached over and grabbed two clay mugs out of a group of a dozen and filled them. He held out one for her, and she rose, grabbed it, and went back to squatting by the fire.
Blowing on the hot liquid, the steam rolled over the lip of the mug, and she brought it up to her lips, delicately sipping it. She smiled. “Thank you.”
“Honey?” he asked, holding out a small orange jar with a cork sitting halfway out of it.
She reached out to take the jar and noticed something strange happening in the air above them. The guard noticed it straight away too, and he continued to hold out the jar of honey in a momentary pause as they both looked up at the early morning sky.
As they’d entered the vast stretch of the desert known as the region of Killien, sparsely scattered dried up trees and shrubs cast long shadows upon the sands. They’d decided to camp in the middle of a flat valley between the sand-blown dunes that rolled along the horizon. Above, clouds flowed slowly across the soft-blue sky, with their cotton-like linings glowing in a soft warm orange. Yet—at the center of the sky above, like a pinprick directly above, a sharp-green glow emanated.
The two of them stood there, looking up at the light, in a momentary pause, trying to figure out what the light was. It quickly came evident to Lilaci what it signaled.
“The light,” the knight said with his eyes opened wide, “it's growing.”
Lilaci watched as the small circle that was the green glow began to grow quickly, but not growing out in a circle, it began to expand like a sort of cobweb. The sharp points that grew from the singular light were like green spider legs, woven together with thin strands of webbing. With the way it was spreading out and coming down, it looked as if its movement was to envelop the area in its green glow.
“What is that?” the soldier stumbled back over the empty mugs at his feet.
“We’re under attack!” Lilaci called out, unsheathing Blackfire in her right hand, and Dragoneye in her left. She heard shuffling from inside the wagons, and the soldiers stirring from behind.
“What is it?” Veranor asked as his head poked out from the flaps of his wagon.
“Reevins!” she called out. “They’re casting a spell overhead. Kera, come to me.” Kera leaped from her wagon and ran to Lilaci’s side. “Do you have the stones?” Kera nodded. “Then grab your dagger and keep close to me.”
The green-glowing, transparent web had grown halfway to the ground as the others ran to Lilaci’s side. Each of them with their battle-ready expressions. Glaring eyes, furrowed brows, and even Veranor with a slight smile and teeth showing. The soldiers took longer to gather, but they formed their ranks in front of Lilaci and the others. Perhaps they are here to protect us, and Lezeral was telling the truth.
The glowing web had nearly touched the sands in a perfect circle around them that was cast out a half mile in every direction, and that was when Lilaci saw her. A single Reevin appeared on the horizon to the south, then more appeared behind her. Based on her size compared to the others, she stood at least a full two heads taller than them. The others also wore their normal wizard-like cloaks of black or red fabric, but she wore a sparkling green dress that ran from high on her neck down to her wrists and flowed past her feet. Atop her head was a crown of black wood with white diamonds. Her eyes glowed a dark green glow, w
ith a single dot of white in each eye.
“What is that?” Burr asked, his sword was swaying eagerly from side to side. “She don’t look like any Reevin we’ve seen. She looks more like a sorceress from the Undersands.”
“She’s a Reevin, be assured of that,” Veranor said. “But she’s no ordinary wizard. That’s Erdüm Ordündine. She’s their queen.”
“Their... queen?” Kera gasped.
“Erdüm has come as a last effort to claim the power of the Sanzoral that Lilaci carries,” Veranor said as a bead of sweat crawled down his brow. He looks nervous. I haven’t seen this side of him since the last time we were in the presence of the gods. Is he scared?
“We need to kill her quickly,” Gogenanth said, moving forward, eager for the charge against her.
Then more Reevins appeared behind her, dozens in fact, all waving their staffs of varying design above. A green glow emitted from above them that rolled up into the air like a thick fog.
“It's them,” Ezmerelda said, looking up at the green dome that had formed all around them. Lilaci could tell the Queensguard were listening in on their conversation, as they may not have expected the Reevins to appear in such numbers.
“We’ll kill them too,” Gogenanth said. “We need to rush off now. Someone stay with Kera. Lilaci, we’ll need you with us.”
“I’ll stay,” Fewn offered. Lilaci nodded at her, then turned her look to a couple of the soldiers that were all in a defensive line in-between them and Erdüm, who continued her slow walk straight toward them—toward Lilaci.
“Let’s go,” Veranor said, scowling and snarling. “Now!”
His boots went to leave the sands where they stood, but he found his legs were unable to lift themselves. Lilaci looked down at his feet to see a thin webbing crawling up from the sand, spreading itself onto his boots, holding him down. Worry shot into her as her gaze turned to her own boots, to see the same was happening to her. She struggled, using her sword to try to cut herself free, but her blade washed harmlessly through the webs, like she was trying to slash through a mist. It occurred to her to remove her boots, and break free of the webbing, that was growing thicker and stronger, but it began to shoot up to her knees. She was stuck, and the worry worsened when she looked to see the panic in Kera’s eyes as her legs were being overcome by the webbing. In fact, all of them were being taken by it. They were all stuck.
