Maw of the Devourer, page 4
With another shiver and feeling the light rain soak through her clothes, Riti watched Stormrider emerge from her Storm.
Stormrider was as vaguely human as something could be. She was the rough draft of a woman, with the shape and body of a person, but no finer features; no face, hair, nor definition in her body. Her lower half was a funnel that connected to the ocean, drawing the water that swirled through her body and gave it form. Stormrider glided forwards, with the grace of a dancer on the ballroom floor, and stopped only a few metres away from Riti.
It was hard to tell, given the rain and distance, but Stormrider seemed to carry something in her arms.
A blank head stared at Riti, or at least she assumed it did since Stormrider was looking in her general direction. Riti heard more than a few gasps behind her as the guards saw their goddess for the first time. Stormrider never interacted with her people, only ever deigning to allow her Chosen the chance to see her on very rare occasions.
Feeling a terrifying lack of confidence, Riti bowed. “Stormrider, I greet you. How may I serve you?” Riti shouted over the sound of rain and the occasional peal of thunder. She had no idea what to say, or whether the goddess had even heard her.
Regardless, Stormrider glided towards Riti, tilting her blank head down at the bundle in her arms. As her goddess came closer, Riti let out a shocked gasp when she saw the boy held in Stormrider’s arms. He was young, likely early teens, and the rain plastered his blonde hair to his head. The boy’s golden complexion had paled and, even unconscious as he appeared, he seemed too slow with his breathing.
Riti looked up from the boy to Stormrider. She was within arm’s reach of her goddess, the closest she’d ever come, and Stormrider held out the boy to her. Gulping, Riti reached for the boy. Her arms met with Stormrider’s as the goddess handed over her burden, and it felt like a powerful wave hit her arms. Riti stifled a pained gasp; Stormrider’s surging waters scrapped along her arms like a blade. She accepted the boy from Stormrider, stumbling under the weight of him until she settled him into a better position.
Looking down at the boy in her arms, it wouldn’t have surprised her if he was dead—but she still felt his chest rise and fall occasionally. The motion of Stormrider gliding back towards the Storm drew Riti’s attention back to her goddess. Stormrider halted about five metres away from her and cocked her head.
“Raise the child well, Chosen,” a voice said. It sounded like crashing waves and carried across the wind to Riti’s ears. “He is my champion. Serve me and raise him.” Stormrider turned to leave, then halted once more. As if it was an afterthought, her voice carried to Riti’s ears. “He is Squall.”
Stormrider glided back into her Storm and the wall of heavy rain flowed back out to sea with an unnatural swiftness. Riti stood there, awkwardly cradling the boy, with her mouth agape.
She had never heard Stormrider speak. Never. As far as she knew, no one had heard the goddess speak before.
Riti stood there, watching the occasional bolt of light that denoted the Storm’s progress. After a few minutes, Maeve’s hand landed on her shoulder. The older woman looked down at the boy in Riti’s arms pointedly. “We should probably get out of this rain, ma’am, and see the boy warmed up.”
Maeve’s words woke Riti from her shock, and she nodded. “Clear a path through the crowd and get the carriage ready.”
Maeve moved to do as she had ordered and an escort of guards was suddenly surrounding Riti, ushering her forwards. She didn’t relinquish the boy to the guards until they reached the carriage, even as her arms burned at the effort of carrying him. With Maeve’s help, Riti climbed into the carriage and set the boy down next to her. As they bundled him up in dry blankets for warmth, Riti noticed something.
The boy had the wave patterns on wrists, just like she did, but his patterns wrapped up his arms to his shoulders. With a frown, she checked his eyes and found that they were the same swirling blue as hers. But they swirled so intricately that Riti swore she could make out actual crashing waves in them, even unconscious as he was.
Riti leaned back, holding the boy steady with one arm and wondered at just what had happened this evening.
***
Azure stood in the meeting hall of the small village of Lenn, strumming her lyre in front of the crowd of villagers gathered before her. Though the villagers claimed it was a hall, the building was actually little more than a barn with a small part sectioned off for gatherings. They used the rest for storage and the whole place smelled of hay and animals. It wasn’t too bad as long as Azure avoided the fresh dung that the horses had made earlier that day.
Lenn was small, even by Azure’s standards. There would be less than a dozen families living in the village, by her guess. Extensive fields of wheat spread from the village centre, far too much for the small population. Once again, she played songs for a meal and a place to stay—after having bargained hard with the village chief. The old man hadn’t been greedy for not wanting to give her proper payment, but had instead insisted that she stay for longer than one night. They’d compromised with Azure promising to perform again tomorrow morning for the children, rather than let them stay up late into the night. It had been a refreshing and flattering experience for her musical skills to be in demand.
Azure plucked out the last notes of her song, having wizened up and chosen something without lyrics to end the night. She’d been singing for a couple of hours already and her voice felt hoarse. But she hadn’t wanted to finish early when the villagers so clearly enjoyed her efforts. It wasn’t that late either, but the villagers had warned her how they would need to call it a night early, since farmers rose early.
Looking out at the crowd of faces enjoying her performance, they reminded Azure of the reason for her visit. It had been the rumours about weird noises heard in the night that had first brought Lenn to her attention. After her quiet questioning, some villagers had claimed to have heard the sounds of dying animals coming from the nearby woods. Often close to the edge of the trees. As much as she wanted to lie to herself and claim to be only passing through, Azure knew that she had to investigate—and remove—the threat.
Azure took her bow to enthusiastic applause. The villagers slowly dispersed and made their ways back to their homes. Azure turned to see the old village chief walking up to her with a full plate of food in hand. He handed her the plate with a quick word of thanks and left her alone. Azure cocked an eyebrow at the heaping of food on the plate, but knew better than to question generosity. While the village of Lenn didn’t seem that well off, its people were certainly nice and willing to thank her for something as simple as a song. That made her desire to help them surge.
She sat down on the ground, leaning back against the barn wall, and ate her dinner. As the food filled her belly and the surrounding noise hushed to a comforting quiet, Azure relaxed. The village was quaint and peaceful—if she ignored the rumours. Once she finished her meal, she decided she didn’t feel tired enough to sleep and that she could use some time to practice on her lyre.
Azure stood up, brushed the hay from her trousers, and picked up her lyre. She walked away from the village, keeping her distance from the closest houses to not disturb anyone. When she found a patch of flowers, she sat near them and strummed softly. Despite having already played for a couple of hours, and feeling a little pain in her fingers, it was nice to practice. She needed it, regardless of how she scrounged her way through life on her current abilities. If she really was going to stick with this attempt at minstrel life, then she needed to be better to actually make a living off of it. But that was something to think about later.
Azure sat there, slogging her way through a new song by her vague memory of hearing a woman play it back in Lorne. After two hours passed, and her fingers were begging for an end to her practice, Azure finally stopped. She looked up at the starry sky, eyelids drooping, when a familiar voice caused her to jump.
“That was quite rude of you, you know?” Veyor stumbled up behind her, clothes dirty from the road—though there was a bemused grin on his face.
Azure’s heart sank. Of course, he’d found her—the man always did. Especially when she didn’t want him to, which was also usually when she needed him to. Even though she had Untethered sparingly to make good time and outpace him, Veyor had caught up to her and arrive at Lenn only half a day later. The bastard probably had risen earlier than she’d expected and had realised that she’d left him in Lorne immediately.
He knew her too well.
“Fancy meeting you here,” Azure said. “Have some business in the area?”
“I’ll ignore that.” Veyor set his pack down on the grass, including an axe and a spear that was messily attached to it. He lowered himself next to her with a grunt, quickly laying back into the grass with a yawn. “Just don’t go running off again. Nearly wore me out having to push so hard to catch up, you know?”
Azure rolled her eyes. “You’re far too young for a hard couple of days on the road to break you.”
Veyor stroked his beard dramatically. “But I’m older than you, so I’ll always be able to complain about how you young’uns go running amuck.” Veyor motioned to her lyre. “Not going to keep playing?”
“I was just practicing, hardly a performance worth listening to.”
Veyor rolled onto his side, looking directly at her. “You were learning and getting better, which is a pleasant thing to hear. Far better than listening to the same old ditty for the umpteenth time.”
Azure ducked her head at the genuine light in Veyor’s eyes. “Careful now, Veyor. That almost sounded like a proper compliment.”
“Slowly. Did I forget to mention that you were getting better slowly? Like, snail’s pace kind of slow.”
Azure shoved him, sending him rolling away down the slight decline they sat on. Veyor tumbled off with a chuckle, pushing himself along to make it look like she had shoved him harder than she had. When he finally rolled to a stop, he threw up his hands in mock anger and stomped back up to her. He settled next to her again and an awkward silence built up between. Their casual greeting was over, and now it was time to get to business.
Azure sighed and asked, “Is there any way that I can convince you to leave?”
“I just got here,” Veyor said. The laughter drained from his face when he saw her serious expression. “No, simple as that.”
“You don’t need to be here!”
Veyor shook his head stubbornly, “Neither do you, but we both know that doesn’t change a thing.”
“I’m just passing through,” Azure lied.
“As am I. For as long as you are here.”
“I can handle myself. I don’t need your help!”
“Yes, you can,” Veyor said, “but I also know that you’ll throw yourself into danger that one person—even someone as remarkable as you—won’t be able to handle.”
Veyor’s patient tone irritated her. She wasn’t a child that needed to be watched over—even if he was probably right. Still, admitting that only irritated her more. “Ugh, just leave. I can handle this myself—”
“KREE!”
A piercing, whining cry cut through the night. Azure off turned towards the sound and stared at the woods to the north. Then she glanced at Veyor, sharing a look with him. Without words, both of them leapt to their feet. They sprinted towards the noise, trampling flowers and grass on their way. They reached the outskirts of the village, where the settlement met the sparse trees that marked the edge of the woods proper.
“KREE!” The shriek sounded louder and closer than the last.
Azure stopped a short distance past the last house, not daring to face whatever had made those cries this late at night. Veyor stepped up next to her, his axe held calmly in his hands. It surprised her he’d thought to bring the weapon, and she cursed herself for not having anything other than the dagger on her belt.
There was sudden movement between the trees and the sound of something crashing its way through the undergrowth towards them rang out. A moment later, a deer burst out from the woods, crying in distress. Behind it was a dark shadow that leapt onto the deer, bringing it down. The deer’s cries cut off as a beast the size of a large dog snapped down on its throat and crushed the deer’s bones.
It took Azure a moment to recognise the features of a rodren on the beast. It was hard not to view the beast as a cross between a giant rat and a wolf, with some relation to a reptile mixed in. Large scales broke the rodren’s dark, matted fur across its back and sides. Each scale was tough enough to deflect thrusts from a spear; Azure knew from experience that they were more like natural shields. It was possible to pierce the beast’s flesh in between the scales, but that proved difficult in the heat of battle. Especially when a pack surrounded her in the past.
When the deer stopped moving, the rodren lifted its head from the animal’s throat and stared at her. Its snout pulled back into a snarl, baring the beast’s bloody teeth as a growl built in its throat. The rodren stood over its kill, watching them. Azure reached for her dagger, nodding gratefully to Veyor when he stepped in front of her with his axe held at the ready. If they were going to be attacked by the rodren, the larger weapon would fare better than her dagger. Still, she had to ignore the flash of annoyance that she needed his help already, despite claiming that she would be fine.
They stood there for a tense moment, matching the rodren’s stare. As the seconds passed, Azure felt the sweat form and drip down her face. There was a certain anticipation to moments like this that sent her heart soaring, like she stood in the middle of open plains just as a storm was about to hit. Nothing could ever match this feeling or the thrill of battle that she secretly longed for.
Just as the rodren’s muscles tensed, and Azure’s breath caught in anticipation, another cry rang out from the woods. The rodren turned its head towards the sound. Then, still snarling at her and Veyor, it lowered its head and bit into the deer’s neck. With tensed muscles, the rodren pulled the deer backwards, its eyes never leaving her. The rodren disappeared into the tree line and Azure let out a long breath.
Once the beast had disappeared from view, Veyor turned to her with a relieved grin. “We’re lucky that the rodren got called back and didn’t attack us. I might have stepped up, but there wasn’t a guarantee that I’d be able to get it with my axe before its teeth got me, you know?”
Azure nodded. “Lucky for us, even if lone rodren aren’t known for attacking larger numbers.” Veyor rolled his eyes at her apparent lack of concern. “But packs rarely come this close to settlements, right? Not even small ones like Lenn.”
“You’re right. If they’re coming this close, then it won’t be long before they realise humans are easy prey as deer and they attack the villagers.”
He looked at her expectantly, and Azure hated that he knew exactly what was going through her mind. She really didn’t want to do this, but there was no other path in front of her. She sighed and asked, “Can you help me hunt the pack?”
“Deliberately throw myself in front of many carnivorous beasts, each one ready to tear me apart and eat me?” The smile slid from Veyor’s face and he looked at her seriously. “Sure. I figured it would come to this, since you always find trouble. I even prepared a spear for you since, no offense, but a dagger is not a very intimidating or useful weapon for what you want to do.”
Azure distractedly nodded, though she barely listened as Veyor recommended they bed down for the night and get some rest. His last words just echoed in her head. A spear. She was going to have to hold one again.
And that terrified her.
CHAPTER THREE
Lyon stifled a yawn as he walked through a market in the Outer District of Solare. The early afternoon sun beamed down on his back and he felt a slight sheen of sweat coat his brow. Solalyn walked beside him—the two of them travelled incognito to enjoy the sights and not attract attention. The market bustled with activity; hawkers at stalls announced their goods and a healthy bubbling of haggling sounded out across the market.
The Outer Eastern Market was one of many across Solare, but that didn’t mean that there were any fewer people overflowing it. Lyon pushed through the crowd, grunting at the effort to make space for him and Solalyn to pass through. Only the occasional person showed their irritation at Lyon’s passage, but they stifled their complaints when they saw the swords at his belt.
Once they passed through the centre of the market, the crowd thinned enough to only be slightly uncomfortable. It was still unpleasantly hot, and there were far too many people for him to guard Solalyn properly. Even if their attire spoke more to minor nobles than an imperial princess and her guard, Lyon still had to be alert in case any threats appeared.
But that hadn’t stopped Solalyn from dismissing her personal guard again. She claimed, perhaps rightfully so, that they’d find more information if they did not parade around as royalty. Lyon would be more than enough to guard her, not that she couldn’t do that herself. That had clearly annoyed her guards—not that they weren’t used to the treatment by now. The guards’ inability to object had left him Solalyn’s sole defender in a large crowd of people. That dampened his excitement to further his investigation for Lith. A week of searching with Solalyn’s resources had amounted to nothing.
It was Solalyn who had eventually suggested that they should wander the markets in case they heard any rumours. It was a slim chance, but Lyon appreciated the chance to relax. At least, as much as he could while guarding an imperial princess by himself and after the frustrating week he’d had.
They neared the end of the market when Solalyn asked, “How about you help me pick out some gifts for my family?”
Lyon was certain that royalty wouldn’t care for the things one could find at a common market, but he had learned not to argue with Solalyn about these kinds of things. It only led to wasted time, as she would force him to go along with her idea, anyway. They made their way through a few stalls, stopping under the hopeful eyes of the merchants to inspect their wares. Solalyn picked out a few simple pieces of jewellery before settling on a simple iron bracelet with a setting sun etched into it and a green tinged metal ring. The jewellery didn’t look like something any royalty would wear—they weren’t half as gaudy and intricate as the pieces worn at court. But once again, Lyon knew better than to comment.
