The Brightest Shadow, page 46
She turned and gave the group a cold stare, then walked away. Safakiv stepped out of her way and made a grandiose gesture for her to pass, earning him a glare. Though Slaten wanted to follow her, he didn't do so fast enough before Safakiv rounded on the others and shook his head.
"Boys, I agree that females should go back to the pits. But that doesn't mean being a complete idiot. And it doesn't mean healers."
"But... she treated us lik-" The Deathspawn who started to speak was cut off when Safakiv struck him in the face.
"Real soldiers know you don't fuck with healers. When you have your guts spilling out of your stomach, you don't give the tiniest of shits about who can put them back in. You want every damn healer you can get at their very best." He whirled on the next man, jabbing his finger into his chest. "You do not. Fuck. With. Healers."
They grumbled but reluctantly agreed, starting to move away. Back to work, even. Slaten considered how much effort it would be to kill them individually and make each death look like an accident. Safakiv would be suspicious, but perhaps he could be removed as well.
Slaten would have kept planning, except when he thought of Iralin he felt an intense urge to kill her as well.
Stumbling after her, Slaten pulled back his sleeve and bit into his arm. No, that wasn't right. Was it happening again? Down here it seemed easier to think, yet he didn't want to stay in that corridor with any of them. Doing his best to focus, Slaten set aside all thoughts of killing and just hurried to catch up to Iralin.
She was making swift progress, already up one ladder before he caught sight of her. The haze in his mind grew worse as he approached the surface, but Slaten did his best to ignore the growing confusion. He managed to catch up to Iralin near the entrance to the mine.
"What happened?" As soon as he spoke, Slaten realized that he should have apologized or offered some sort of comfort. But from the icy stare Iralin cast him, it might not have mattered.
"They lied about a serious injury in the mines."
"Does that... happen often?"
"No. Not here." She turned to face him just at the entrance. "I do not want to talk to you, Slaten."
He nodded and accepted that... until she stepped out into the sunlight and he felt a surge of hope. Slaten moved after her, wincing as the sunlight swept over him. The sky was filled with white clouds that burned intensely white and he felt a familiar presence in his heart.
"Run!" Slaten grabbed Iralin's arm and she whirled to grasp him with sein in her hand, until she saw his face. He bit his arm again, tasted blood, and wasn't sure how much of it was sein. "Don't be here when he arrives!"
After only the slightest pause, Iralin did just that. For now, he was alone, but it wouldn't last long. Slaten closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to ignore how hot the sun felt on his body. He wouldn't let himself succumb to it, not so easily. His mind struggled to identify the threat, yet screamed that he had to resist something formless and terrible.
When he opened his eyes, he saw a point of light moving toward him. Slaten turned to look, knowing what he would see... yet not expecting a familiar face. Rhilanor? The Rhen man looked the same, but his eyes shimmered white and his bearing had changed. As he approached, Slaten struggled against the urge to cry out and join the others following him.
"Ah, Slaten. Please join us." Rhilanor smiled at him and started to turn away. Slaten swallowed and his voice came out in a rasp.
"Rhilanor?"
That made the Hero pause, then turn back to him. "Yes... I am. I am... the Hero Rhilanor. O-of the Kelfaa." After a moment of uncertainty, he nodded. "I think I was always chosen to fulfill the Legend, I simply did not realize it before now."
"How?" Slaten swallowed, his throat completely dry. "How did you realize?"
"I..." Rhilanor closed his eyes. "I was meditating, thinking of... of how unfair all this was. I realized that if I wanted to return home, I would need to fight. All of us would need to fight. The city just came to me."
"The city?"
Instead of replying directly, Rhilanor smiled at him. His eyes shone with inexpressible emotion. "It's beautiful. The tapestry of everything, laid out before me. We all have our part to play, yes. It is time for the Hero to slay the enemy."
Though Slaten desperately wanted to ask more questions, the clouds had filled his mind and it was difficult to think. He still struggled, though he didn't know why. The empty fear was beginning to retreat into the back of his mind. Yet as honored as he felt to have the Hero speaking to him, his questions and memories of Rhilanor stuck in his mind, sharp fragments that refused to disappear.
Rhilanor frowned slightly at him in concern and started to say something. At that moment, a Coran man rushed up to them, panting for breath. When they turned to him, he triumphantly raised his hand and revealed a thin silver spindle.
"I found it in the offices! This one can take us out of here!"
"Truly?" Rhilanor took it, examining the strange object carefully. "It is difficult to believe that the Deathspawn can travel across the entire world in an instant with these..."
"This is our way out!" The man regained his breath and took the spindle back, eagerly gesturing with it. "I've mastered the art, I just need to change it so that it takes all of us. In the blink of an eye, we can be away from here!"
"As helpful as that would be... no. No, I feel there is a great danger here. How many can you take without changing anything?"
"You, me, perhaps two or three others. That's all, the way it is now. But I'm sure I can do more, Hero! Just give me time!"
Rhilanor straightened his back and shook his head. "I do not want to leave loyal followers behind to be recaptured by the enemy. Perhaps it could be used as a last resort, but..."
The long bellow of a horn interrupted them. Everyone looked for the source and they found it quickly: an army was approaching on the horizon. A Deathspawn army. Rhilanor turned to face it, eyes blazing, but it was obvious that they were outnumbered.
"It's too late for us!" The man with the spindle let out a cry and whirled on Rhilanor. "You have to live, Hero! I'll take us away from here so that we can fight again!"
"Wait, n-" The cry was too late, the spindle had already been snapped in half.
Reality seemed to draw inward... and then contorted violently. The man's upper half had vanished entirely, leaving the bloody stumps of two legs. Slaten stared at the ends, torn as if some great force had ripped the rest of the body away. The moment that the man had died, something had jarred every part of his body in a way he'd never felt before.
But the others seemed to have moved on, ignoring the body. They marched after Rhilanor as if nothing had happened. Slaten saw Celivia in the crowd and she stared at the bloody legs for a time, but soon even she was pulled after the Hero.
The Hero turned to face the oncoming threat, raised a hand over his head, and shouted in a booming voice. "Our time is now! We have gathered together and nothing can stop us!" Everyone gave an answering roar and moved after him, marching away from Ith Ire.
They left on foot, marching out toward the enemy, and Slaten went with them. His arms were trembling so hard that countless small injuries had burst open and blood had covered his arms, but he wasn't sure why.
~ ~ ~
When it began, Kolanin felt the horror deep within his soul. Just when the camp seemed to be unifying, it all came apart again. He knew that he should get up and act to stop it as quickly as possible, yet he stayed in place, staring at the papers covering his desk. So many attempts to change the patterns. Were they all rendered useless each time another hero appeared?
In the past he had felt rage, but now there was only weary sorrow. When he did manage to get to his feet, he moved as if he was a much older man. No one else was in the main building, so he limped down the stairs alone and walked out into the central grounds.
There was a small mansthein army approaching, Aryabaus marching in the center of it. Unannounced, which would have upset Kolanin if he wasn't so tired. They didn't seem to have fought along the way, so it was likely no disaster, just another force attempting to control the delicate balance. If it was a balance at all and not just his delusion.
That army was charging forward now, screaming war cries. The enemy. The other enemy came out from the buildings of Ith Ire, screaming back. A glorious figure moved at the head of the group, urging them onward. He looked familiar, but Kolanin no longer had the strength to remember names.
This battle would cripple them. He could see that no one would step in between those two forces and stop them. At best someone could kill the Hero quickly, but the fighting would continue for some time after that. Though not all the humans were among the army, a large percentage would still die. Kolanin numbly noticed that this time there were no untrained civilians or children among them. Not that it meant anything.
How long could this go on? Would the Hero keep reappearing until every last human in Ith Ire was dead? If so, would that be the end of it? Or would the violence simply drift onward, bringing its brilliance to the next village until the entire world lay dead?
Laughing bitterly, Kolanin began to walk toward the battle. It was going to end swiftly. As invincible as the Hero always seemed, he was facing Aryabaus's elites. Long before Kolanin got close, he saw them finally grab the Hero's limbs and pin him in place. Aryabaus stepped forward, his long thin blade whipped out, and the Hero's head fell. The body dropped soon after, and many on the field of battle collapsed.
As he approached, Kolanin saw many of the fighters look toward him. As if he had any answers. Most of them quickly looked away, the anger in their eyes dying. Kolanin ignored them and focused on the figure in black armor.
Aryabaus turned from the bodies and smiled grimly. "Seinan Kolanin. It seems that I have come just in time."
Perhaps. Or perhaps it was no accident that the next Hero had appeared just when the army arrived. Kolanin ignored the cold feeling in his stomach and managed a smile. "Thank you for your help, Koreinan Aryabaus. To what do we owe the pleasure?"
"I have brought these forces to reinforce your own. My concern was that the Coran resistance is growing more bold in its strikes, but I see you have problems of your own. I will not question the wisdom of those above us, but I hope this little experiment is worth it."
That was the point where he should have said that it was, pointed out something that they had learned. But it meant nothing. Compared to the Hero attacking Bundlin, they might be containing the violence, but it wouldn't be good enough. Kolanin felt weary down to his bones, yet he somehow managed to answer. "I hope so as well."
"I will stay until the fighting is over and the prisoners are contained. Then I will leave and take my elites with me. Apologies, but they are needed for many other battles."
"I understand, Koreinan Aryabaus. Thank you for your assistance."
Another Hero dead. Peace maintained. Kolanin smiled bitterly and welcomed the new army.
Chapter 34
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"If active selection of officers is not permitted, creating any manner of stable structure at this location will prove impossible. Since I presume that no rebirth facilities will be authorized, at a bare minimum we require a method of gaining Catai support. Please note that I cannot advise strongly enough against using this position as punishment for disruptive soldiers, as their behavior will have a magnified impact here."
- Commander Kolanin, head of operations at Ith Ire
-
The sky roiled and Tani did her best to ignore it. She remained in control of herself - it was only the wind. She felt every moment that passed through her mind, not letting any slip away. There was no need to second-guess herself, only to focus.
And she needed to focus, because Jaer's hands rushed at her in a relentless assault. When his arm thrust out it was easy to sweep it aside, but it was barely away for a moment before it struck at her again. She was giving ground every step and still barely defending herself.
One of his legs lashed out, nearly catching hers. Surprising, given how he usually fought with his hands. She knew it was probably a distraction and prepared to deflect his next strikes, but just wasn't fast enough. This time he was the one to strike her arms down. She tried to grapple, but his other hand had already reached out, touching her forehead.
She pitched to the side before regaining her footing, resisting the urge to let time slip away. Tani smiled as she managed to endure it and Jaer didn't hesitate for a moment, still attacking, testing her from every angle. Several more times he managed to slip through, more of his sein invading her body.
Eventually she could only stand in place, pouring all of her attention into resisting the streams of sein that tried to reach her mind. Jaer saw she was at her limit and stopped, letting her concentrate fully. Trying to fight his sein with her own was useless since Jaer was so much stronger than her. But that didn't mean she had to let it have power over her mind. By the end there was sweat pouring down her forehead, but Tani still felt every heartbeat.
Finally it all passed through her. Tani gasped for breath and staggered back a few steps, but her mouth fell open in a grin. Not far away, Jaer gave her a pleased nod.
"You did not just let me succeed this time, did you?"
"No," Jaer said. "I was holding back my speed, but no more so than before. And I held nothing back when it came to our central exercise."
"Good." Tani walked to the nearest boulder and picked up one of the cloths, wiping herself off. "I know that wasn't the main point, but I feel that I've become much better at hand to hand combat as well. I don't think I've ever practiced it so much before now, since I couldn't use my knives to keep you at range."
"You have improved, yes, enough to face untrained soldiers. I would caution you against attempting to use your hand to hand skills too boldly, much less against an opponent trained to fight with their body. Such arts are not something that can be truly grasped in a hundred days."
She nodded, accepting the reminder. Without any direct threat to her life in some time, it was easy to slip into a training mindset where there was less at stake. But the idea of improving those skills excited her: since she used ranged weapons, warriors would always be rushing her, so having fallback techniques when they reached her was critical. Her master was skilled with those as well, they had just focused on throwing and the sickle knife so she could concentrate her efforts.
"This is... our last training session together, is it not?" Tani wasn't sure how she knew, but she was mostly certain of it. When Jaer nodded, the last doubt slipped away.
"The news I have heard troubles me. I will be traveling where you do not wish to go, faster than you can follow. Your place is still here, in the Chorhan Expanse."
"And my friends? We still have heard nothing of them?"
Jaer turned away from her. "No, I have learned of their location. I did not wish to tell you, because this Legend consumes all that it touches. But now... if you die, you will die as yourself. You have the right to make that choice and take those risks."
"Then where are they?" Tani threw aside the cloth, turning to him eagerly. Jaer still refused to look at her, only extending his arm in one direction.
"The location is called Ith Ire, and it lies only a few days of travel to the east. Last I heard, it was lightly defended in terms of numbers, but its forces included several Catai."
"Then you changed our route on purpose."
"Yes. I cannot say that I know you well, Tani of the Nelee, but after our travels together I felt certain that you would go to your friends." Jaer walked away from her to where his pack lay and bent down, retrieving a bundle wrapped in maroon cloth. "These are for you. A gift."
Tani unwrapped the bundle carefully and gasped as she saw the steel glittering within. A set of knives to replace those she had lost. When she lifted one, it immediately felt right in her hand. The edge looked to be of excellent quality. As she looked closer, she saw that unfamiliar letters had been etched along the blade. "Are these from Salenkh?"
"No, that is a gift I cannot give. These knives were forged of steel from Wahleen, far to the north. I do not think you will find superior steel on this continent, at least not steel that can be purchased. They will serve you well."
"Thank you, Jaer." Tani set down the knives, then jumped up and hugged his back. He didn't react for a moment, then gently touched her arm. After the brief touch, he pulled away.
"Please be cautious, Tani." He turned to look out over the grasslands in the direction he had pointed earlier. "You have gained a deeper knowledge of yourself, and you are close to discovering more of your own strength. But in the short term, all too often understanding is broken by brute force. You have great potential I do not wish to see snuffed out."
"I will do my best to remain alive."
It would have been too much to hope to receive much affection from him, but Tani would have been surprised if she had. She returned to the knives, reverentially placing them in their sheaths. Now fully armed again, she felt able to take on whatever she would find there. Tani picked up her pack from beside his and turned back to him.
"Any final words of wisdom?" She spoke with a wry smile, but to her surprise Jaer stared back somberly.
"Honor is a chain we use to bind ourselves. Sometimes chains are what make us human."
She didn't know how to react to that, the words settling heavily between them. From a Nelee master, she might have disregarded such words as another aphorism. They clearly meant something to Jaer, though she was certain that he would refuse to explain if she asked. So instead, Tani merely extended her hand, palm up.
His hand slid over hers and he bowed, deeper than he should have to an apprentice. Then he turned and swept away, striding into the grass and winds until he was gone.
Chapter 35
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"Due to its latitude, central Breilin does not experience ordinary seasons. Instead, the weather adopts two central patterns: rainy or dry. Droughts are a problem during the dry seasons, but the land can flood during rainy seasons. The patterns vary, but are generally divided into long and short dry and rainy seasons that alternate throughout the year."
