Monsters & Mist

by Taylor Fenner

  Carina eyes it wearily, “Those have been responsible for the deaths of many of your people.”

  “This one is a bit defective,” Andromeda sighs. “It refused to meld to my soul after only a few hours.”

  Carina snorts, “It wouldn’t. It goes against your very nature to slaughter your own people. The sword knew that even if you didn’t at the time. It will do well as a sword though. I do want you equipped with some of our weapons, however. I anticipate a gruesome war to come.”

  “Has there been news from the surface?” Ezra looks up and asks.

  Before Carina can answer the double doors burst open and an unfamiliar Perscesian stumbles in supported by two guards. Daegan instinctively steps in front of Andromeda but she grips his bicep, standing on her toes to peer around his broad shoulder.

  “What is the meaning of this intrusion?” Carina demands coldly.

  “Your Majesty,” the man gasps, struggling to lift his head. “My name is Guther and I hail from the Western Reaches near Shroudania. Something awful is happening, a sickness is spreading through the families there. It’s fast moving and has resulted in death in all cases so far. The Reaches’ physicks believe it is a toxin introduced into our food supply.”

  Andromeda gasps and behind her Ezra inhales sharply in alarm. Daegan grabs Andromeda’s wrist and grips it tightly, protectively.

  “What?” Carina roars as she launches to her feet. “How long? How many affected?”

  “The sickness appeared within the past two days, Your Majesty.” Guther looks up but his eyes are vacant and sightless.

  A line of blood trickles from the corner of his mouth which he quickly wipes away. “Thirty Perscesians have perished so far, half of which were children under the age of ten and half of the other half some of the elder members of our village.”

  “And the physicks believe this toxin was spread from Shroudania?” Carina’s pallor whitens as she inquires.

  “Yes, Your Majesty.” Guther nods, his head falling to his chest but he is too weak to raise it again. “All those affected consumed fish near the surface of the sea bordering Shroudania. It’s as if they dumped tainted fish into the water purposefully.”

  “Take this man to the university infirmary at once,” Carina orders one of the guards. “I want them to identify the poison and confirm its’ source came from tainted fish.”

  “Of course, Your Majesty,” the guard bows while still supporting Guther.

  “And you,” Carina turns to the other guard, “send a messenger to the Western Reaches. Tell them that no one — and I mean no one - is to eat anything near the contaminated area until further notice. All those strong enough to travel are to come to Faeloria immediately. Also, I want a kingdom-wide message distributed that all women, children, elderly, and frail are to travel to the nearest city immediately. Call the banners immediately and double our armies. I want a full assemblage when we surface in Vacantia. All able-bodied men, boys, and women are to be conscripted into our armies and all ships are hereby commandeered on my order.”

  “Yes, Your Majesty.” The second guard bows and rushes from the room.

  Ajax enters the strategy room in the guard’s wake. His uniform is pressed and gleaming in the morning light streaming through the windows on the far wall. Ceti and Antila enter the room flanking their father outfitted in form-fitting fighting leathers.

  Sensing the tension in the room Ajax immediately goes to Carina, “What is it? What has happened?”

  Carina rubs her temples roughly, “Shroudania has just committed an act of war against us. It is clear that they are joining forces with Queen Lyra. The lines have been drawn and I am being forced to act. Children have been poisoned in the Western Reaches.”

  “No,” Ajax replies, stepping back and blinking as if he’s misunderstood.

  “I have called the banners,” Carina murmurs in reply.

  “I will gather the Legion,” Ajax vows as he squeezes his wife’s shoulder tenderly. “Come along Ceti, Antila. We must prepare the draco mares and the weapon and gather our ranks.”

  “What’s the legion?” Andromeda asks feeling, for a moment, forgotten in the excitement.

  “The Legion are the elite branch of the Perscesian army. In conflicts with the Landborn the Legion surface astride the royal fleet of draco mares, large serpent-like beasts with thick black scales and wings, incredible wings that have a span of the length of the Internment at least, that allow them to soar through the skies in battle. In water the draco mares breath flames into the waves until the water bubbles and boils melting flesh from the bones of sailors before the creatures set fire to whole ships.” Daegan explains quietly.

  Andromeda shivers as she imagines the beasts. She turns in time to see Carina considering her.

  “Take Andromeda with you, my love.” Carina orders Ajax. “She will ride beside you and lead the Legion.”

  “But she has never ridden a draco mare before.” Ajax protests, looking at Andromeda with distaste. “She will be a liability to the fleet.”

  Andromeda frowns at the man responsible for giving her life. “I’m not a weakling.”

  “She’s our daughter,” Carina arches an eyebrow as she stares stoically at her consort. “In her I can see my spirit and your bravery. Trained or not, Andromeda will be an asset to the fleet.”

  “Beg your pardon, Your Majesty,” Daegan pipes up. “I must captain my ship, the Internment, in our journey to the surface. I don’t know that I can properly guard Princess Andromeda if she accompanies the Legion.”

  “Never fret Captain Brykmaker,” Carina soothes his worry. “Andromeda will be with her father and a thousand others highly trained in aerial combat. She will be safe among them while you attend to your crew.”

  “Are you quite sure, Your Majesty?” Daegan asks. “I would not want to abandon my post and leave the Princess vulnerable.”

  “Andromeda will be perfectly safe,” Carina nods encouragingly.

  “Very well,” Daegan replies reluctantly.

  “Andromeda, you will accompany Ajax and your sisters.” Carina nods to Andromeda. “They will get you properly attired and armed.”

  Andromeda looks between Carina’s eager face and Ajax’s dark scowl as she forces herself to cross the room to where Ceti and Antila linger.

  ❖

  A cry part marine life and part avian rattles the walls as Andromeda follows Ajax, Ceti, and Antila into a cavernous building at the edge of the city, far from the bustling harbor. The sight inside takes her breath away.

  The draco mares, which earlier sounded like the creatures of nightmares, are startlingly beautiful in their ferocity. The beasts’ massive, bony heads are tucked into necks longer than the tallest man as they slumber. Their massive bodies are curled inward as some lay on their sides revealing large taloned feet tucked under long, membranous wings edged in sharp spikes. Red fins ridge the animals’ necks from the top of their horned heads to their massive shoulders. Glimmering black scales cover sleek, powerful bodies with barbed tails that curl like thick coils of ropes behind them.

  As Andromeda studies the creatures, the one nearest to where she stands cracks open one massive, cat-shaped eye. A thin black pupil bisects the yellow-green iris that takes up the animal’s entire eye. Andromeda shivers slightly, feeling the beast’s awareness of her studying her in the same way she studied it. A thin blue forked tongue slithers from the creature’s mouth teasingly before disappearing back between sharp, jagged teeth.

  “Wow,” Andromeda breathes.

  “Beautiful, aren’t they?” Ceti whispers as she comes up to Andromeda’s shoulder.

  “I’ve never seen anything like them before.” Andromeda murmurs quietly so as to not wake the rest of the sleeping draco mares.

  Ceti turns to Andromeda and gives her a once over. “Your pants are good. They’re a tough material which is less likely to be torn through, but the shirt is too thin leaving you vulnerable. I have the perfect jacket. It’s whale hide so it will keep y
ou protected and keep you warm.”

  “Thanks,” Andromeda smiles gratefully as Ceti goes to a bank of cubbies and retrieves a silver jacket. The jacket is heavy as she slips her arms into the sleeves and fastens the front up to her chin.

  “All right, now weapons,” Ceti taps her chin as she circles Andromeda. “You have a sword which is good. You’ll also need a launcher and some net-bullets. They’re these great, compact spheres filled with nets formed of mist and seaweed. When launched from the launcher they descend over your intended target trapping them and keeping them immobile until you can dispatch them with your chosen weapon. I prefer a nice dagger to the throat but everyone’s different. Father uses axes and Antila prefers throwing stars.”

  Andromeda listens closely as Ceti brings her to the wall of weapons and shows her how to use the launcher. It hangs heavy on her right hip opposite her sword. She also grabs for a bow and quiver, figuring they will be an advantage for aerial attacks from her place on the back of the draco mare.

  “Come on, I’ll show you how to saddle the draco mare.” Ceti leads Andromeda to a tack area. “You’ll be riding Jidhu. That’s the bull that was eyeing you up when we first came in. He’s a year old and quite stubborn. He hasn’t had a rider assigned to him yet but I can already tell that he likes you.”

  “How can you tell?” Andromeda asks as she glances over her shoulder and finds the creature still watching her.

  “Well,” Ceti thinks for a minute. “He didn’t barbecue you for waking him up.”

  ❖

  “Whoa!” Andromeda’s shriek echoes off the buildings in the city center of Faeloria as her draco mare extends his massive wings soaring higher above the city. She struggles to hang on to one of the animal’s raised spikes as Ceti bobs calmly beside her on her own draco mare. “This is nothing like riding a horse.”

  “A horse?” Ceti furrows her brow in confusion. “Oh! You mean one of those monstrous land creatures with big feet. I’ve never ridden one. Have you much experience riding these ‘horses?’”

  Andromeda stifles a laugh shaking her head, “No, not since I was a girl. My father sold his after he left his job as a traveling merchant and moved Midgella and I to the coast.”

  “What did he do for work after that?” Ceti asks keeping her tone neutral as she shoots a glance at Ajax. The muscle in his jaw popped the moment Andromeda referred to the man who raised her as “my father” lending credibility to Ceti’s theory that he was merely hurt that Andromeda had such affection for her landborn father.

  “Nothing,” Andromeda replies quietly. “He was too ill after that. It was up to me to provide for our family. I did a little bit of everything — from working for the village blacksmith to helping the fishermen sell their daily catches and even helping teach the village children to read. Midge helped out when she could assisting the village healer. She’s particularly skilled in helping with difficult births and has extensive knowledge of medicinal herbs.”

  “There are no physicks in the village you came from?” Ceti asks incredulously.

  “No,” Andromeda shakes her head laughing at the thought. “The coastal people were too poor to be able to afford a healer and anyway they prefer to stay within the walls of the capital city.”

  “That’s horrendous,” Ceti shakes her head angrily. “Health is not just for the wealthy, surely their training taught them to heal the sick and the poor.”

  “I don’t think they much care,” Andromeda replies chagrined.

  “Even more reason to raze the capital to the ground.” Ceti grins wickedly and urges her draco mare faster.

  They pass over the harbor where hundreds of ships have amassed and from above the crew and soldiers look like hermit crabs scuttling across the sea floor. Andromeda urges her draco mare down as she searches for The Internment amongst the ships and laughs giddily as Daegan and his crew look up as the shadow of her mount sails above them. She blows him a kiss teasingly as her draco mare flaps his mighty wings to rejoin the rest of the aerial fleet.

  Ajax leads the way to the surface with Ceti and Andromeda flanking him and a full legion at their backs. The armada sets sail below them, their ascent slower with the weight of the crew and soldiers they carry. Andromeda’s heart flip flops in her chest with every meter they draw closer to the imaginary barrier between the Perscesian kingdom and the Vacantian coast. Andromeda doesn’t know what she’ll be arriving to after hearing what Daegan and Ezra have reported; between the villages burning and Lyra’s reign of terror the world they arrive in could be unrecognizable from the one Andromeda left when Daegan carried her into the sea.

  With maybe thirty feet to the surface Andromeda notices her air intake begin to change. The water flowing into her lungs feels wrong and a feeling resembling iron bands wrapping round her chest grips her as a pressure builds in her head. Andromeda digs her knees harder into Jidhu’s side urging him to move faster toward the surface as she starts to feel dizzy.

  At last when the draco mare bursts through the surface with Andromeda still clinging to his back she gasps sending water sputtering from her lips as she sucks in as much air as she can without choking. The bands on her chest release and the pain in her head explodes in a film of a kaleidoscope of colors over her eyes as Andromeda clings to the beast. Around her the rest of the legion pops above the surface stretching as far across the sea as the eye can see.

  The water beneath Andromeda begins to ripple casting rings upon rings upon rings across the water as Jidhu tenses and the world shifts beneath them. A faction of the legion scatters left and right leaving a large crater of space open in the middle of the sea as The Internment and the Perscesian armada spring from the sea like wooden whales leaping into the air before landing buoyantly on the surface.

  Andromeda can just spy Daegan standing on the bow holding onto the rigging. He yells something to his crew that Andromeda can’t understand as Ajax clicks his tongue to get her attention.

  “We go ashore,” Ajax says simply as he jumps from his draco mare’s back and walks on the surface of the water toward the shoreline. Ceti and Antila follow his lead and Andromeda glances wildly about, disbelieving that she too could do the impossible and walk on water before tentatively sliding down from her mount’s back.

  The water is solid beneath Andromeda’s feet as strong and clear as glass. She doesn’t dawdle to marvel at the sight of her feet standing above the waves as she hurries to catch up to Ajax, Ceti, and Antila to get to the shore as quick as possible before the spell is broken.

  The sounds of the sea and the surf and the wildlife rushes back to Andromeda as Daegan, Carina, Ezra, and a handful of Carina’s guards cut across the sea to shore in a small boat. Two of the guards leap from the boat to assist Carina onto the shore as Daegan anchors the boat with a thick rope around a boulder. Ezra jumps to the shore leaving Daegan standing alone waiting to disembark.

  “Are you all right?” Daegan whispers to Andromeda when he gets within earshot.

  She nods, “I’m fine. Smooth sailing?”

  “No complaints,” Daegan smiles tightly as his gaze cuts to Carina. She’s watching them inquisitively.

  “How far is the Warrior encampment from here?” Carina asks Andromeda.

  “Not far,” Andromeda shakes her head. “Just over that rocky outcropping and a quarter-mile eastward from there.”

  “Lead the way then, daughter,” Carina steps aside so Andromeda may lead their little troop toward the unknown.

  ❖

  Daegan sticks to Andromeda’s side as they climb the rocky terrain. She hears Ceti and Antila grumbling about the rocky terrain behind her but Carina and Ajax hush them and tell them to be alert to the slightest sound. None of them know what they are walking into. Andromeda doesn’t know what Thane will think of her now that he knows her heritage and Carina and her people are what he’s been raised to hate and kill since he was a little boy.

  The march to the encampment is eerily quiet and Andromeda feels more than hears every snapped
twig underfoot.

  The silence is shattered when they are spotted by scouts in the Warrior watchtowers who sound the horns to announce their arrival. Andromeda feels the others cluster closer on all sides as they stand before the stone gates waiting for entry or attack. At her side Daegan tightens his grip on the hilt of his sword.

  The gates open slowly with a groan, their movement stilted by every tug of a Warrior on the ropes within the encampment. The gates open only wide enough to allow two heavily armed figures to pass through, swords at the ready. Thane - and Prince Cygni.

  “Andromeda.” When Thane sees her he sheathes his sword and crosses the distance between them in the blink of an eye. He wraps Andromeda in a tight hug lifting her off the ground and pinning her arms to her sides. He holds onto her for longer than is appropriate.

  With his face still buried in the crook of Andromeda’s neck Thane doesn’t see Daegan draw his sword and aim the tip of the blade at his carotid artery.

  “Put her down,” Daegan snarls as Cygni casts his own blade in Daegan’s direction to defend Thane.

  Slowly, cautiously Thane lowers Andromeda to the ground and steps back raising his hands innocently.

  “Are you all right, Princess?” Daegan asks Andromeda without tearing his distrustful glare from Thane.

  “I’m fine,” Andromeda crosses her arms over her chest annoyed by his reaction. “Put your sword away. Thane wouldn’t have hurt me. If he wanted to kill me he had plenty of opportunity to get rid of me when I was one of his trainees.”

  Daegan reluctantly lowers his sword as he steps back to her side.

  “Princess, huh?” Cygni lowers his blade and scrutinizes Andromeda. “So Thane’s theory was correct. You are the missing Mistborn Princess.”

  “I am,” Andromeda raises her chin daring him to say anything against her true heritage. “And the preferred term you’re looking for is Perscesian.”