Power and the Dark Divide : Book Two, page 25
Like his cousin Gor, he was a substantial man, much larger than Reinhart himself. Reinhart took in his fine leathers and black-furred cloak. A blue-eyed fox head was displayed on the king’s left shoulder, and it did look eerily humanoid, like the black-furred ryad Endra had disintegrated at Henrith.
“Thank you for taking the time to see me, King Lear.” Reinhart bowed. “I come with tidings of a great war that is about to break in Icclessia.”
“Yes, I’ve heard. Reinhart, is it? So, you claim a great war is brewing across the fjord. I’m curious as to why you think I would be interested in joining. Why would I not be content sitting here in my castle, safe and far removed while my enemies destroy each other?”
Reinhart took a reassuring breath. Hope this works. “Safe and removed is quite right, great king. Removed from any promise of valor and glory at ridding the world of a brutal tyrant who has plagued your kingdom for generations.”
The king’s golden brows slowly crept up. Gor clapped a hand painfully on Reinhart’s shoulder, smiling broadly. “I told you this one was fiery, cousin.”
“Aye, that you did, Gor.” The king was smiling as well now. “Come, Reinhart. Come, sit and drink—tell me a story of this coming war.”
Chapter 36
Settias
Afew days had passed, and they were well over halfway to the Steel Fort.
This was just as exciting as Settias had anticipated. Some of these females were shockingly attractive and equally fierce. The two leading the charge at this point were mirrored images of each other: one with stark white hair, and one with jet black.
Camp was made for the night, and Settias was currently watching a guarded discussion between two brown-haired water-wielders, who—if he was being honest—didn’t spark much interest in him. They were fine, just a bit timid for his taste. Not at all like Endra Brightwood.
That female’s blazing orange glare could strip the hide off a chimera. Her black hair was so rare for the light fae, but not as rare as her lightning. Settias knew two lightning-wielders back at court, yet neither of them looked like Endra. She was incredibly alluring.
“You know, the queen would probably be fine with you sampling the wares a bit,” Rist commented, looking over the light fae females before them.
“You’re so romantic,” Lerana quipped.
“You’re a—” Rist cut off at Lerana’s glowing blue stare. “You’re just so fun and easy to talk to.”
Lerana nodded. “That’s right.”
Rist shook his head at her.
Younglings. His kurikai were younglings.
Settias watched Koi and the white sphinx of Kalenthia attempting to have a conversation. He’d never seen anything like it. The sphinx’s melodious voice seemed to sooth Koi; the gorilla had taken to him immediately. Koi was currently signing to the winged lion. Settias doubted the sphinx knew any kind of sign, but it was fun to watch the two familiars try and work it out.
“I’m just saying, you never know who someone truly is until you sample their flesh.” Rist shrugged. “It’s just a fact. Besides, a few of those females look like they could ride with the best of them.”
“That kind of talk is exactly what we’re trying to convince them we aren’t like, Rist,” Lerana said. “And you’re mated. What would Neera think?”
“Quiet, please,” was all Settias said. He was muffling their voices with his magic, but his vibrations could only dampen so much.
“I am mated. And Neera would agree wholeheartedly with everything I just said.”
“Even the bit about sampling the wares?” Settias asked in spite of himself.
“You aren’t mated,” Rist said. “You’re still free to do what you wish, for a little longer at least. Besides, Neera and I like to sample other wares on occasion. Together, of course. But there—all I’m saying is it would be fine for you to, Settias.”
Lerana rolled her eyes; Settias sighed. “I think not. My days of lust-fueled escapades are behind me. It’s the simple life for me now. One of these beauties is going to make an honest male out of me.”
Rist and Lerana shared a wry look, clearly holding in their laughter. “I have a hard time seeing that, brother,” Lerana said, nudging his shoulder as she crossed her ankles. “I’m telling you, though, my gold is still on Vestra. She would make for great mate material.” She fluttered her eyelashes.
“I like the red one,” Rist said.
“Geldria?” Lerana said. Rist nodded. “That muscle-bound firebrand? She seems like the type to cut off pieces of you in your sleep if you wronged her. And with her minute-rending you wouldn’t even see it coming.”
The group chuckled, and Settias said, “I’m inclined to agree with Lerana on that one.”
Rist just shrugged again. “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what the rest of the journey reveals.”
Endra
Endra was deep in lok turei when a scream rang through the Mirwood. A battle cry.
Endra’s eyes shot open; she had already instinctively reached for her bow. She snatched up her quiver of arrows, glancing around to find the camp in disarray, her fellow recruits preparing for battle. And only the recruits. No dark fae, no familiars, no queen or Tristan. Endra’s breathing quickened, her senses screaming. What is this? A betrayal? An ambush?
A reptilian scent reached her. Strange bipedal creatures were flooding the camp, making guttural growls and clicks. In the muted blue moonlight, Endra made out five-foot-tall scaled reptiles with feathers at their heads, spines, and elbows. The claws were what she noticed next. They were long and fierce, probably capable of eviscerating an elf in an instant.
Mist raptors—roving packs of fierce lizards who feasted upon slumbering prey in the waning hours of the night. Unfortunately for these ones, the elves were no easy target. A spiral of thick green flame completely engulfed one of the intruders. It screeched, and the rest growled in unison.
Endra fired a lightning-tipped arrow into a raptor’s eye, and all hell broke loose. Magic exploded around her—fire, water, earth, wind, light. Vestra skewered one beefy-looking reptile to a maple tree with ice arrows. Geldria began crushing skulls and necks with her quarterstaff. Sendana caught a raptor in the neck with a blazing blue arrow, setting its head on fire. Elemental arrows raced across the camp in all directions as Endra glimpsed earth wielding vines and branches smother one raptor entirely.
Endra peppered a few more with arrows before one reached her campfire. Pavrir sang as she unsheathed him, crackling orange energy coating the blade and her arm without so much as a second thought—a new feature from her Trimethian crystal. Endra reveled in the thrill of battle as she split the skull of the charging raptor, its brain matter sizzling from the heat of her magic. She dodged another reptile’s considerable jaws and bisected her opponent with no resistance from the superheated blade.
Her sword danced orange in the still night air, beautiful as she then used the crystal in its hilt to siphon the energy of the forest and send a jagged bolt of her essence into another raptor across camp. The entire left side of its face disintegrated, and Endra realized she had just achieved what she had been training so hard to do for weeks now.
She didn’t have time to ponder it. Sendana had a creature on the ground and was cooking it alive. Endra couldn’t tell if the thing was growling or screaming as it died. Next to her, Vestra froze the head of one of her attackers solid. It crashed down to the forest floor and shattered upon impact.
Endra dashed into the fray. She slid beneath a pouncing raptor, casting her lightning into the thing’s underbelly. It cried out in horror as its most tender bits were stripped of flesh. Endra sprang back to her feet and kept moving, lassoing a creature’s head with a lightning whip before superheating her essence, effectively beheading it. She cut and stabbed and dismembered, sending waves of her magic into her foes. It was a bloody mess. The smells of battle floated around her.
She caught sight of an elf surrounded by raptors. The female was casting light from her palms, holding her own, but seemed unsure of her magic. Endra leapt onto the back of one of the reptiles, sinking her lightning-edged blade into its neck. It crashed down, and two more charged her from behind, even as the original three moved in on the elf nearby.
Endra cast a shimmering shield and sent the two creatures into convulsions as they tried to break through, but she couldn’t get to the light-wielding female in time. Just as she cried out, certain the elf was about to be devoured, a wisp of green energy blinked into existence. A small, rippling portal, only open for a moment, revealed a glimmering crescent-shaped dagger. The curved blade spun through the night in a blur, cutting the throats of two of the attacking raptors. Endra watched in astonishment as the dagger then blinked back out of sight in a deep purple swirl of energy.
The two raptors dropped, and the female was able to blind the remaining one with her golden light. It fled, screeching.
The royal magic casters of the Kaelenwood made short work of the remaining mist raptors after that. Pride flooded Endra’s veins as she sliced open two more; she was traveling with some of the most talented casters in her entire forest. The one she had attempted to save, though, seemed a little timid.
She glanced at the blonde-haired light wielder. “You alright?”
“I am now, thanks to you. I’m Ariel.” The female seemed shaken. “What was that purple and green energy you sent out? I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“That wasn’t me,” Endra said, looking around the camp for the elf she suspected had actually saved Ariel. As she had seen before, there were no royal guards—no Xerelda, no Verandir or Tristan or Theodus. The females were alone. Endra narrowed her eyes, suspicious.
Applause rang out in the quiet night, and the dark fae began to break cover. Settias walked out of the thick of the brush, clapping. His mismatched eyes shone brightly, the same colors as those mysterious portals that had saved the female next to Endra.
“Very well done, I must say,” he called. “I do believe the queen will be impressed with what you all have accomplished.”
“This was a test?” Vestra Azalea demanded, hands firmly on her hips.
“You could call it that,” Settias replied. “The queen wanted a demonstration of your magical capabilities—and not just in a quaint little show next to a campfire. You should all be proud of what you did here.”
“A few of us were nearly slain,” Vestra said, fuming. Endra definitely liked her.
“You were never in true danger,” Settias said, the playfulness now gone from his tone. “I swear to you, I would not have let harm befall any of you.”
Endra eyed the male, who once again gave off no sign of deceit. It was clearly his magic that had saved Ariel. He must have been a void-wielder, but not just any tree-strider like the ones she had come across in Kalenthia; Settias seemed to be able to create rifts at will. Like what a minute-render was to a seer, perhaps? The male seemed to be able to manipulate space around him in a way that Endra had never thought possible. A hunter with that kind of ability would be formidable indeed.
She remembered his statement about having slaughtered more people than the three of them had ever met. Endra had to admit that, with magic like that, he may not have been exaggerating.
Sendana
Sendana was gathering water from a winding stream the following morning, just out of earshot of the camp, where her companions were eating breakfast. The water looked safe enough to drink; it was dark, but so was everything else here.
She breathed in the smells of the forest, still surprised by how natural the environment was this deep in her enemy’s territory. The earthy aroma was fresh and clean and pleasing, and it felt good to be alone for a moment. She still couldn’t believe what the dark fae had done the night prior.
Sendana had grown accustomed to being alone since losing her kurikai. Though she took solace in Endra’s company, the sadness was still as vivid as the day she had lost them; she just hid it well.
Her younger sister, Tilde, crossed her mind, as she did at least once most days. Dread still gripped her heart every time, shortened her breath. Growing up, Tilde had often dragged her out to play in the rivers surrounding Pine Ridge. She had been so lovely, full of life and wonder in their youth, but now Sendana could only see her sister’s face pale and bloody—lifeless, as it had been at the Ridge when she had found her. Sendana closed her eyes tightly.
“Fancy seeing you here,” she heard a male say.
It startled her. The voice was somewhat far off, maybe a hundred paces downriver, and he clearly wasn’t speaking to her. It was Settias, she realized, squinting through the trees.
“Is that your best line?”
That’s Endra’s voice. Apparently, Sendana wasn’t quite as alone as she had thought.
“Was it bad?” Settias asked.
“Yes.”
Sendana found herself focusing her hearing. She didn’t consider herself a snoop, but they seemed to have no idea she was here, and… well, she couldn’t quite help herself. She craned her neck. Endra Brightwood was sitting further down the same creek.
“Well, I’ll have to work on that,” the hunter said.
Endra sighed. “Can I help you?”
“I don’t think I need help with anything,” he said playfully.
Sendana could practically feel Endra’s eye-roll from here. “Are you really doing this?” she asked. “Is this really something your prince would consider appropriate?”
“What, talking?” Settias said.
“We both know you’re doing more than talking. You’re courting.”
“How do you know I wasn’t ordered to do this by the prince himself?” Settias retorted. “Maybe he would like to know how you all respond to innocent flirting. So far your scores are negligible, by the way.”
“Do you enjoy tormenting me?”
The male shrugged. Sendana couldn’t see his face, but she thought she could sense his provoking smile.
“You know, after that stunt with the raptors you’re lucky any of us speak to you at all,” Endra said, clearly frustrated.
“I would like to reiterate that none of you were in any danger during that trial.” Settias sat down next to her.
“So you say.”
Settias lay back in the grass, granting Sendana a better view of his features. He was incredibly handsome, with his bright eyes and sharp features. If he hadn’t been her mortal enemy, Sendana would have swooned over a male like that.
“I give you my word, Endra. I would never let harm befall you while you are under my protection. On my honor, I want nothing but peace with you all. You were never in danger.”
His statement held much more sincerity now. There was a pause before Endra seemed to accept it hesitantly. “What would you ask of me, hunter?” she said. “Ask your questions and leave me in peace.”
“My job is to get to know you all, so that my prince may gather all the available information for his decision.”
“‘His decision,’” Endra mimicked, shaking her head. “We’re just wares to you, aren’t we? You’re here to determine the best product for your liege to purchase.”
“Are you against the process of this pairing, Endra Brightwood?” His playful demeanor was back.
How long do I sit here? Sendana asked herself. She wanted to get up and leave, as this somehow now seemed an intrusion, but if they heard her move they would know she had been snooping. She felt stuck. So, she waited.
“I think it odd that the prince should choose his favorite from the lot of us, yes.”
“If your queen had any heirs, this pairing would be quite different. As it stands, the crown of Mir wants to ensure its line stays strong, so here we are. A choosing.”
“So romantic,” Endra drawled.
Settias chuckled. “Fair enough. In all honesty, this entire situation is quite odd for us as well.”
Endra eyed him. “Well, you certainly don’t show it.”
“We like to have fun here,” he said, waving a hand, that bright smile stretching from ear to ear.
“Somehow, I have trouble seeing General Garesh having fun.”
This earned her a full, booming laugh. It startled Sendana and she shifted, snapping a branch. That drew their attention.
Oh, goddess. Sendana coughed, pretending she had just filled her waterskin and was now standing to leave.
When she spared them a glance, the pair were looking right at her. Settias just smiled that frustratingly handsome smile, and Endra’s brows lifted. Sendana waved at them, wincing. Sorry, Endra.
She headed back to camp, leaving that awkward situation behind.
Chapter 37
Xerelda
The Steel Fort looked nearly the same as the last time Xerelda had set eyes on it—at least from the outside. The interior, she suspected, would be newly decorated, as a terrible explosion had leveled much of the keep on her previous visit. The guards she had brought from Kalenthia flanked her as she stopped before the familiar mother tree. Now that they were in the thick of the Mirwood, her retinue was understandably tense.
Dark steel fortifications were set into the soil, nearly ten feet tall, around the stout mother tree. Xerelda looked up at the unique specimen. The deep emerald leaves and the drooping branches gave the distinct impression of a massive willow—a willow tree encased in steel. More dark metal was affixed to the tree, like layered armor on a titanic, green haired warrior. This mother tree, black-barked and ominous, was where Xerelda and Rhiannon had attempted an alliance through marriage once before. The resulting attack had cost them both their heirs and sparked a new level of hatred between the two races that eventually had led to the Dark Wars.
There was one new feature to the village, however. Much like at the capital city of Mir, named after the god of desire and gravity, there were floating boulders aplenty. They hung suspended in the air, well over a hundred of them, above the royal company as it made its way into the Steel Fort. It was undoubtedly a show of force; Xerelda knew her cousin well. She could almost hear the female saying, “Make one wrong move, step one foot out of line, and your precious light elves will get squashed under a thousand tons of earth.”
