Unraveling Stories - Chapter 28

<-Chapter 27

 

"Snow White's red, red apple; Juliet's sweet, sweet poison; feast to the memories."

 

With Firmeza liberated, a palpable air of burgeoning hope hung over the Empire. Even people in Trinan waited with their breath held for the next step. The entire country knew what was next: the checkpoints.

Word was spreading even further than the borders of the Empire. It had reached the other societies of the world. Melodina was still recovering from its own inner turmoil, but watched intently for the outcome. The City-States and the Moors even further to the west remained mostly ambivalent, though they did pay attention. Foresalia watched attentively. If Tyrian Southerwind won, and the Empire was lost, the king in Foresalia had absolutely no desire to start war with a man who had single-handedly revolutionized a country. Fight against destiny? No one was that insane.

People worked hard and fast at the Liberation Army base. The three gossips pulled in as much information as they could on the checkpoints and their multitude of specialized defenses. That information was fed to Merlot and Zinfandel who teamed with Rourke to go through every book they could to find an answer. Rourke was a happy camper with that system; it gave him free access to more books to read. Laia just laughed at him.

As the information came in, meetings were held from dawn until dusk. Raven attended all of them. If she wasn't standing on a chair to watch them talking over the maps, she was under the table reading her Faerie book. She was fascinated to learn about her own race, and she really hoped that her bloodline had longevity. Faeries with longevity could live up to a thousand years. Some were even nearly immortal. She wanted a lot of time with her mommy and daddy.

The first real bit of news that hit the meeting room ended up having nothing to do with the checkpoints. Ted came bursting into the meeting room and blurted, "Albanion married Blaine!"

"Here comes the bride," Ewan muttered, "all covered in blood."

"Let me guess," Kyle said curtly. "It's being touted by Albanion as the great romance of the millennia, how after so long he finally found true love. Where's Shots? Someone needs to shoot me before I choke on the hypocrisy."

Only the two Lower Generals at the table looked remotely pleased with the news. They both remembered when Albanion's first wife had been alive. The Emperor had loved her very dearly, and their happy marriage had been salt in the wounds of those who couldn't be with loved ones because of 'distractions.' That Albanion was now married and miserable was, perhaps pettily, satisfying.

"There's something more," Ted said. "One of my contacts in Trinan saw a man in Blaine's tower."

"A butler?" Cassie asked.

"It was the middle of the night, and he wasn't wearing a shirt. There's this new blond general in the Imperial Army. That's why the units were called back. He first took over the Prime Duke's duties and is now slowly taking over General Southerwind's duties, but the consensus is that he's not nearly as good as the High General is. The name was . . . Reyu. Strange name. Rather old-fashioned, actually. Merlot says it was in style about a thousand years ago. Guy must have one hell of a family history."

Matthias lightly tapped a finger on the table. "So Blaine marries Albanion to secure her position and then promptly makes the new general her lover. Perhaps part of her lethality is that very cleverness. She knows full well what she's doing. Now she has the Emperor and the, potentially, new High General under her control."

"And she removed the Prime Duke from the picture entirely, shortening the number of people she needs to keep under her heel." Ewan snorted, hard. "No sadness for losing that ass, though. He was not much better than the Emperor. Is he alive?"

"He had a heart attack."

"How convenient!"

Tyrian held up a hand to forestall more commentary. "How is my father?" he asked softly.

Ted hesitated and then sighed. "Terrible, Lord Tyrian. He has been utterly devastated by all these events. He has not left the castle. Few have seen him at all."

Unease churned in Tyrian's stomach. That didn't sound right at all. His father had never suffered in silence before. He could clearly remember when his grandmother had died, how Donald had vented all his grief by intensely training. Even if he took into account the fact that Donald loved Annareal a great deal, it just felt out of character. "Something's wrong," he said softly.

He instantly had everyone's attention. Gordon and Samantha were also frowning. "It's not like General Southerwind," Gordon said softly. "When I saw Lord Tyrian's reaction to losing Lady Annareal, my first thought was 'oh, he doesn't handle things the way his father does.'"

Tyrian closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them again. "Ted. Get a message to my father. Tell him that he is a grandfather and that I'm not going to let him hide like a coward and shame my daughter's legacy."

Ted's brows shot up. "Er, as you command, Lord Tyrian." He hurried out, and the pigeons fluttered along in his wake.

Even Matthias and Cassie looked at Tyrian warily. "What do you hope to accomplish?" Matthias asked quietly. "I thought you did not want to face him in battle."

"I don't." His hands curled together under the table. "But there is something wrong. I don't know what. I suspect Blaine, and no doubt rightfully so. Father . . . he was teasing me when I turned eighteen. He said that if I would take pity on him, he would like to be a grandfather before he was too old to play with his grandchild. It wasn't saying much; he's only forty. But I know that if Blaine did something, this might give him the will to fight against her. I am not losing my father."

The distinct ring of steel in his voice was a testament to his powerful will and intense nature. If the power of a Kaiten Star's spirit alone could make things happen, Donald Southerwind would be on their side in no time.

Thinking about ages and the time that had passed, Cassie found herself a little surprised to look at a calendar and realize she had turned twenty a few days back. She had been so caught up in everything that she had completely forgotten her own birthday. For the next few months, Tyrian would be two years younger. She could only pray that the war ended before his nineteenth birthday, though the symbolism of it was oddly apt.

She was brought back to the conversation as Matthias said, "Resuming our discussion about Alphin, we can't be certain of what the external defenses consist of. They are kept inactive unless an army is physically approaching. The same is true of other checkpoints. Zinfandel informed me that she has some books on the origins of the checkpoints on their way to her from a secret source in Trinan."

"So we have to show up and see what we're facing right there in the open. You and Cherry will have to almost literally fly by the seat of your pants," Ewan summarized.

"In a nutshell, yes." Matthias looked at Tyrian. "You do not need to worry, Lord Tyrian. We won't let you down."

"I never thought you would."

Because Alex's army units included two magic and two ranged, Tyrian brought two of each of his as well. He assigned unit leaders without much thought behind it, automatically assigning positions based on the strengths of his Stars, something he knew intimately. The regime of war had become so second nature to him that he no longer even acknowledged there was any other way of life. It was too painful to do anything else.

He was just getting ready to mount Fay when Raven came running through the middle of the courtyard and skidded to a stop beside him. He knelt down to her height and ran a hand over her hair. "I'll be fine," he promised softly.

She shook her head, her eyes distressed. "I feel like something is bad, Daddy. I can't remember what I heard, but I heard something." She held out a pin that had a spray of rubentia flowers on it. The tiny vibrant red desert flower was where the city got its name. "Please wear this. Gramma helped me make it. It will keep you safe."

He didn't question her instincts or her need to protect him. He pinned the small clutch of flowers to the side of his shirt. None of the Stars wore uniforms into battle, and that was what made them distinct. Not a single one wore anything alike, though there were assorted similarities between same-type warriors. In fact, most wore something loosely based on what was considered the traditional style of clothing for the weapon they used.

He hugged Raven and then nudged her back out of the way as he swung up onto Fay's back. "Be good," he told her. "Mind your grandmother."

She nodded and ran over to where Serentia and Tavi stood. Both little girls huddled against Serentia's legs, and she did not blame them. It was hard to watch someone they loved as much as they loved Tyrian ride into battle and not be able to protect him.

The Mechanoportal was in fine working form and didn't seem to be spewing smoke that morning, for which all soldiers were grateful. It was only a matter of moments before all eight units landed in the fields that led to the coastal city known as Alphin. They had opted to land out of immediate range for fear of instantly triggering any number of dangerous traps that might be placed around something as valuable as a checkpoint city.

As they approached, no one noticed anything unusual at first. One soldier in every unit had been assigned the duty of lookout and was the person most intimately acquainted with reading the land and sky. Something was off but not necessarily instantly wrong.

All of that changed within a heartbeat. The army crossed some sort of invisible barrier and every flower in the land began spewing a sort of green fog into the air. There was no immediate response from most people, but anyone wearing a relic was instantly affected with everything from sneezing to violent nausea.

"Back the mages out!" Matthias ordered sharply into his Voice Relic. "Everyone else retreat!"

The Liberation Army backpedaled as the two magic units disappeared from the field. Lane willingly resisted the transport and instead used his Wind Relic to keep the fog from getting to him. Even still, his stomach churned and a headache pounded behind his eyes viciously as he tried to make it across the field toward his Kaiten, arguably another at the most risk.

They managed to get away from the fog, and those wearing relics sat down hard in the grass. Fear rose sharply inside Matthias as he swiftly looked around and took stock. It was not hard to determine that those of the highest magical capacity had been the ones affected the worst. Laia, riding with Samantha, was completely incapacitated. She had lost all ability to walk or ride, and Ewan was carrying her to a safer location while Samantha checked her vital signs.

A sudden thud followed by Cassie screaming Tyrian's name froze everyone on the field. Without even really being conscious of it, Matthias rushed his horse toward where Tyrian's unit had been. When he saw the tableau, he paled sharply. "Lord Tyrian!"

Tyrian had fallen off Fay's back and was lying in the grass. He looked as pale as salt. Cassie knelt beside him with Dylan, who had been in the unit as well. The swordsman looked as terrified as Matthias felt. "What happened?" Matthias demanded.

"We don't know! He seemed fine initially as we were retreating. Some nausea, a headache. Same as anyone else. But then he suddenly went white and collapsed." Cassie's voice was even, but tears shimmered across her eyes. She pressed a hand to Tyrian's forehead and hissed softly. "He's burning up."

"Let me through!" Lane shoved past the soldiers and knelt beside them. He instantly lifted Tyrian's relic hand to look at the mark. When he saw the pale and fading image, his breath hissed out in a string of curses in another language. "His relic is poisoned," he said flatly. "It's called Soul Fog. It goes directly to the magical capacity of a soul, and it poisons from inside out."

"I didn't think it was deadly!" Dylan snapped. "I've heard of Soul Fog being used in battle before. It incapacitates mages. No one has ever died from it, and you can't tell me that Tyrian and Laia aren't at risk of dying!"

"Laia will recover eventually. She was speaking coherently, if sluggishly, and stayed conscious. Think of it as her having caught a particularly nasty influenza. Tyrian is different." Lane's hands curled into fists at his side. "Don't you idiots realize what the Devourer really is? It's a parasite! If it wasn't for Tyrian's iron will, it would have consumed him a dozen times by now! The influenza that Laia caught is much more deadly in Tyrian. With all his strength suddenly gone, the Devourer leapt to consume him. All his focus is on fighting the relic, and that means nothing is left to fight the influenza. One or the other is going to kill him unless we do something!"

A rising tide of terror began to move through the soldiers. The Stars still on the field shoved their way through to join the others. "Laia has been recalled to the base," Ewan told Matthias curtly. "She was coherent, but there was absolutely no strength left in her physically or magically. Halkern says it could be weeks before she recovers. Our other mages and Magicians are suffering from much milder symptoms. A week or less and they'll be back to normal."

"How'd you escape it?" Cherry asked Lane.

"I recognized it the instant it appeared. I used my Wind Relic to keep it off. I was trying to get to Tyrian to protect him when I heard him fall." Lane shook his head sharply. "We have to purify his relic, and through it, his soul. It has to be done with another Pure Relic."

"Then do it!" Ewan snapped at him.

"I can't! Both the Wind Relic and the Devourer have negative charges inside. They repel. I can't do anything for him at all."

"Miranda!" Matthias said. "The Echo Relic?"

"Negative charge." The frustration was in Lane's voice. "But maybe together we can do something, anything."

Cassie, who had been silent the entire time, asked softly, "The Pure Shrieking Relic. Is it positive or negative?"

He paused as he thought about it. "Positive. It would certainly be able to aid Tyrian, but it hasn't been seen in a few hundred years. The nature of the Shrieking Relic is to create silence that nullifies sound, so you can't even sense it, no matter how powerful you are." He suddenly stopped as another thought occurred to him. "Wait. How did you know about the Shrieking Relic?"

She looked at him, and a spirit that was not much less for strength than Tyrian's stirred in her eyes. "It has been in the possession of the Monk Clans, passed down from leader to leader, for those hundred years you mentioned. It has never been worn. No leader ever felt the need for it. My adopted father is currently its keeper."

"That's the eternity you said was yours to claim," Dylan said softly. "If you were strong enough. Why wouldn't you be, if it is rightfully yours?"

"There is a trial for me to face." She gently brushed Tyrian's hair from his eyes. She could feel the battle waged within his soul, but she would never let him be devoured by his relic. She would never let him go. "It may bring me to the breaking point. It may break me entirely. I still have to try. I will go now." She straightened.

"Hold up!" Leonard held up a hand. "Not alone, you won't. We're going to support you. Your father owes us some army units, and we need to collect on that debt too."

It was against the rules to bring in outsiders, but the rules could go to hell. Cassie nodded instantly. "We will bring Tyrian there as well. We have a clan doctor, Doctor Kelan, who will be able to care for him while I face my trials."

Matthias nodded briefly. "You, Leonard, Ewan, Dylan, and Lord Lane will take Lord Tyrian to the Monk Clan stronghold. While you are there, we will research how to either get around the Soul Fog or find another way into the city entirely. Hurry," he urged softer. It made him sick to think none of them had realized just how heavy Tyrian's burden was.

"What's the quickest way to get there?" Ewan asked Cassie as he lifted Tyrian. He instantly grimaced. Tyrian weighed less than the last time he had been carried, and that was not a good sign at all. Perhaps his lack of hunger was as much a product of the relic as it was the stress of the entire situation.

Cassie didn't get a chance to answer. A swirl of clouds appeared in the air and Miranda tumbled out. She was right over Leonard, but the mayor was quick on his feet and caught her before she fell far. "Honey," he told her, "your aim needs improvement." He gently put her down.

She waved her hands in agitation and narrowly missed hitting Lane in the head with her wand. Luckily, he was well used to her and smart enough to move out of the way. "The soldiers coming back said you were going to take Lord Tyrian somewhere and I was hoping I could make it faster because I really don't like him being sick and if where you're going is somewhere you've been before then I can transport you!"

"It is," Cassie told her. "It's my hometown. The Monk Clan Stronghold. Do you know where it is?"

"No, but that's not important. Long as you know where it is, I can send you." She swung her wand in a looping arc that narrowly missed hitting more than one person. "Here we go! Hang on tight!"

There was a bright flash of light that made everyone blink rapidly as everything around them started looking like a double—or an echo—of itself. When the light faded, they stood at the edge of what looked like a small city in a mountain valley. As the others continued to stare in fascination at the lingering double-echo, Lane said, "And now you know where the relic got its name. It'll fade quickly enough."

It had cleared just as a young man suddenly appeared from out of nowhere, and he wore the familiar gear of a monk. "Master Cassie!" he said sharply. "Why have you brought these outsiders?" He planted himself physically in the middle of the path to block them. "Leave!" he said heatedly. "You don't belong here."

"Ernest," Cassie said softly, her voice cool, "get out of my way. I wish to see Doctor Kelan, and I wish to speak with my father."

He shook his head. "Master Kotan will not permit you to come into town with these . . . these heathens!"

"Stand aside." It was no less than a sharp order. "Stand aside, Second Class. You would prevent us from bringing in an ill man just because it isn't protocol? You are an embarrassment to our code."

Ashamed color climbed his face as he actually saw that the very large man was carrying another person. In fact, when he looked a second time, the color left his face as he recognized Tyrian's dark hair and green scarf. "Doctor Kelan!" he shouted as he whirled and ran into the city. "Hurry!"

"He's not very controlled for a monk," Dylan noted.

"He's only a Second Class. He has a long way to go." Cassie lifted her chin and led the way into the city. "Stay with me."

The others, even Lane, couldn't help but look around curiously at the city. It was even smaller than Teasarn, and built with a style that none of them had ever seen. The buildings had been elevated and made from interesting pieces of round wood. Many children ran around, but it was obvious that every person who called the city home was either a monk or a monk-in-training.

At the end of the city, against the mountain, sat a much larger building. Cassie glanced toward it but diverted to go into one of the regular buildings first. Inside, Ernest stood talking to a man in his mid-twenties. He wore the familiar white coat of a doctor. "Doctor Kelan," Cassie said. "Please."

"Bring him in," Kelan urged. He looked at Tyrian's face as Ewan put him on one of the medical beds and promptly grimaced. He recognized Soul Fog poisoning. "I've never seen a case so severe." He spotted the flowers pinned to Tyrian's shirt and also recognized them instantly. "Well, interesting."

"What?" Cassie asked.

"Those flowers. Rubentia are a flower known to negate the effects of Soul Fog. They might well have saved his life." He picked up Tyrian's wrist to check his pulse and saw the state of the Devourer. He also recognized the relic symbol. "I see. Ernest, fetch the Land and Water Relics from the cabinet."

"Why me?" The monk gulped as Kelan glared at him. "Yes, sir." He hastily scrambled over and opened the cabinet to pull out the two relics. He handed them over and asked, "What for?"

"They're positively charged," Lane said. "They might help stabilize the Devourer long enough for Cassie to get the Shrieking Relic."

Ernest bristled. "You told them about it?"

"Would you shut up?" Cassie snapped at him, causing his eyes to widen significantly. "I don't have the time for you to play stupid games. Tyrian needs me to save him, and I'm going to do whatever it takes."

"You're sleeping with him!" It was an accusation.

"I'm marrying him!" she shot back.

His mouth opened and then closed several times in utter shock. He had never seen her like this before. "What's wrong with you? You should never have gone to the capitol! It's completely ruined your life!"

Ewan had had enough. He grabbed Ernest by the back of his scarf and lifted him a foot off the floor. As the monk kicked and flailed, Ewan snarled, "Kid, you have one hell of a big mouth, and coming from me, that's saying something!" He swung him around and forced him to look at Tyrian. "Just look at him, would you?"

Ernest didn't want to look at anyone, but Ewan wasn't putting him down anytime soon, so he gave in and looked at Tyrian. Emotion immediately punched into his heart. He could just somehow see that Tyrian needed Cassie. And he couldn't shake the feeling that Tyrian needed him too. He stopped struggling and lowered his gaze. "What is that?" he asked, visibly subdued.

Ewan put him down, suspicions confirmed. Those of the Destined Stars who had been around the longest were beginning to recognize each other in the way Raven did because of her age. "Destiny," he said simply. "Tyrian's our Kaiten Star. We share the skies with him. You were born under a star, meant to be there to support him. But it's more than that. He loves us as much as we love him. If he believes in you, then you can do anything."

Ernest said nothing. He had nothing he could say. He felt small and petty. Cassie barely spared him a look as she headed for the door. "Ernie," she said softly, "his life is priceless. Do we have an understanding?"

He straightened up and bowed deeply. "Yes, Master Cassie."

"Is there anything we can do?" Leonard asked Cassie.

"Just stay here and protect Tyrian." Without looking back, she walked out of the doctor's office.

In a murmur, Leonard said, "I can't imagine why she's the Kentei Star."

Even Ernest had to agree with that.

 

©Stacy J. Garrett. Do not reprint or redistribute without permission.

Chapter 29->

Unraveling Stories - Chapter 27

<-Chapter 26

 

"The wheels spin and I am where I began; nothing changes."

 

Tyrian woke the next morning to the sound of knocking on the bedroom door. With a mutter, he pulled the pillow over his head. On a delicate yawn, Raven asked Cassie sleepily, "Why's Daddy hiding?"

Dryly, her mother answered, "He hates the morning."

There was another knock and Raven scrambled up. "I get it!" She narrowly avoided kicking both her parents and would have fallen over the side of the bed if her wings hadn't caught her. She scurried to the door and opened it to find Serentia on the other side. "Hi!" she said. "Who're you?"

Serentia felt a smile tugging at her lips. "I'm Serentia," she said as she knelt down. "Interestingly, I was here to ask Tyrian and Cassie if they knew where you were, little one. I went to your room, but you weren't there. You panicked the guards when they realized you'd gotten out."

"Oh." Raven rubbed at her eyes. She liked Serentia's smile and manner. "I had a nightmare." She brightened. "Guess what!"

"What?" Serentia itched to pick her up for a cuddle.

"Tyrian and Cassie are going to adopt me, so they're my daddy and mommy now!"

"Oh my." Not entirely surprised, she glanced up to see Tyrian standing at the edge of the short wall. "Congratulations," she said dryly. "You may say goodbye to what remains of any sanity you have."

"That makes you her grandmother almost, doesn't it?" he asked calmly.

Raven brightened. "Can I call you Gramma?" She hugged Serentia happily around the neck, delighted to be finding the family she had always wanted. "Do I have a Grampa too?" she asked Serentia seriously. "Uncles? Aunts? Cousins?"

The gardener blinked and then began laughing. "We're all doomed. She's too much like you, Tyrian." She stood with Raven held securely in her arms. "You have a Grampa Liang," she said gently, "but he's not my husband."

Raven blinked. "Why not?"

"Out of the mouths of babes," Tyrian murmured. Taking pity on Serentia because she looked flustered, he told Raven, "Liang and Serentia are like my mom and dad in the way I'm your dad now. Liang helped raise me, and Serentia has been like a mother. I don't call them 'Mom' and 'Dad', but that's what they're like. So they're like your grandparents. And if you assume that we're all family, you have a lot of aunts and uncles and cousins." Marian would be wrapped around Raven's finger before the day was done.

"Let's go get you cleaned up!" Serentia looked at Tyrian gratefully and then turned back to Raven. "You're older than my daughter, but about the same size. Tavi says you can have some of her clothes to wear."

Raven cocked her head. "If you're my Gramma, and Tavi is your daughter, then she's my aunt, right? I'm older than my aunt." She contemplated that and nodded. "Okay, that's fair."

Tyrian managed to keep the grin off his face until the door had shut behind them. As soon as it was closed, he promptly started chuckling. He turned to look at Cassie and found her grinning at him. "I dread the day when she is old enough to be courted," he confessed.

She laughed at him. "Why should you? She'll be swinging a battleaxe by then, and I have no doubt it'll be enough to intimidate everyone in a five-mile radius even if her father's legend does not." She got out of bed and went to wrap her arms around his waist with a smile. "And that's providing anyone manages to get past 'Uncle Ewan' and 'Uncle Kyle.'"

He snorted softly. It was indeed a good thing Raven had so much of his personality. She would be smothered by her overprotective family if she didn't. He still wasn't sure how he so easily accepted the way his Stars were always protecting him and overreacting to danger. He was just glad he could accept it. They weren't likely to ever stop.

Because it was a new day, and a war was waiting, they got dressed and headed down the elevator. Tyrian told the guards at the bottom, "Cassie and I are adopting Raven. She'll be coming here a lot. I know you don't bar the Stars from entering, but even if I've said I don't want visitors, she is permitted anyway."

Puzzled, one asked, "How did she get up there anyway?"

"She flew over the balcony." Tyrian smiled wryly when they both winced. "At least she can't fly sideways yet." When she could, there would be no stopping her if she had her mind set. It could be left for debate as to which parent she was more like in that.

He and Cassie were halfway to the meeting room when there came a flutter of wings and Raven suddenly latched onto his shoulders. "Daddy!" She held on as he continued walking. "Gramma says that since I'm growing, we need to get me more clothes. She says I'm growing like a weed. I'm a Faerie. Do we get that big?"

"Well, Faeries are smaller than average among all races, but you're not going to be that small. I think most Faeries average around five-two or so, male or female. I can't say if you're small for your age or not, since relative to other children, you're going to be small anyway." He spoke to her as he would an adult, knowing her intelligence deserved the respect.

The rest of those in the meeting had already arrived when Tyrian and Cassie walked in with Raven. Ewan instantly grinned. "Tyrian, you have a growth."

"But a cute one," Kyle said with a matching grin.

Liang just smiled. Serentia had told him what had occurred, and it did not surprise him at all. He had seen the look on Tyrian's face when he had met Raven. The tiny girl in a dress the color of pink roses was the princess of the castle, and she had been from the moment she had arrived. "Hello, Raven," he told her when she looked at him. "I'm Liang."

She brightened. "You're my grampa, right?" She released Tyrian and flew woozily across the room to hug Liang. She could fly up and down and forwards. Flying backwards would follow the side-to-side motion. "Can I call you 'Grampa'?" she asked. Very seriously, she said, "I know you're not supposed to be old enough to be a grampa, but that's not important, right?"

She was so much like Tyrian that he couldn't help but love her immediately. "Right," he said softly. He hugged her for a moment and then let go so she could fly back to Tyrian.

Halfway there, she lost stability and would have landed on the table if Ewan hadn't quickly caught her. She appeared positively tiny beside him, but she looked at him without a single concern as she dangled in his hands. "I'm not small. You're big."

Kyle coughed into his coffee. Matthias, rather wisely, hid a smile. Ewan could take no offense. "You are correct," he told her, though he kicked Gordon under the table when the general smirked. "My name is Ewan. You remember Kyle from yesterday." He turned her around. "That's Matthias, Gordon, and Samantha." He put her down on the chair beside him. She could see onto the table if she stood rather than sit.

There wasn't a single thought in anyone's mind to exclude her from the meeting. Her age did not mean she didn't have a right to be there to help her Kaiten, especially because he was also her father now. If anything, like Cassie, Liang, and Marian, Raven now had more right to be there.

"Can I see a map?" she asked Matthias.

"Certainly." He handed her one of the smaller ones. He then smiled at Tyrian and Cassie as she began to avidly study it. "A future Scholar, Lord Tyrian?"

He smiled. "She wants to learn to use a battleaxe."

Every person at the table winced. Raven just ignored them as she contemplated the map. What was scary about her wanting to use an axe? She wasn't going to be that small forever, and it would make up for the height difference. And it would be fun.

"How are you this morning?" Gordon asked Tyrian.

"Better than can be expected." He glanced at Raven and then back. "I'm learning to accept that there's a balance for everything." His eyes briefly flicked to Cassie. "And the excess energy was gone even before we found out what had caused it."

"I imagine it was," Samantha murmured.

Cassie felt her cheeks warm slightly. Tyrian just smiled. "So, Firmeza," he said. "That's our next goal, correct?"

Matthias nodded. "Indeed. There's only one way to access Firmeza, and that is from the eastern side. They're backed up near the Y Border. Too far north or south and we enter into the territory of a checkpoint."

"As soon as Firmeza has been reclaimed," Cassie said quietly, "I wish to take a brief journey back to the hidden city in the mountains where the Monk Clans reside. If we are going after Alphin first, I can journey to that battle, and as soon as it ends, I can head into the mountains. We were promised units that have not been delivered." Something powerful moved in her eyes. "And I am rightfully owed something that I am ready to claim."

"Done," Tyrian said instantly. He covered her hand with his. "I will go with you." He brought her fingers to his lips. "I really should have a chance to meet your father before we get married and force him to accept me in his family."

"Hot damn," Gordon said. "Does that mean it's official at this point?"

"It does indeed." Tyrian laced his fingers with Cassie's. "I think that means we have a plan for our next few steps. We take Firmeza, and then take Alphin. When it is secured, Cassie and I and no doubt a few others will travel to the Clans and make the alliance formal. As soon as we return, we can look at Betane."

"There's something funny about the cities," Raven suddenly said.

She instantly had everyone's attention, and both Matthias and Ewan leaned closer to see since they were on either side of her chair. "Like what, Raven?" Matthias asked. "Do you see something we haven't?"

She grabbed the pencil on the table and drew very careful lines connecting the four checkpoints. The very spot where all four connected was the exact location of Trinan and the castle. "Was it on purpose?" she asked.

Gordon slowly shook his head. "I do not know. I don't think either Sam or I ever noticed there was such a thing."

"Indeed, I did not."

Matthias sat back with a thoughtful frown. "I think that is something for Grace to look into. I want Kell to look into where the Dragonist Clan stands in all this. If we're in the mountains already, we might as well make contact with them too. They would be very powerful allies, and having aerial capabilities in combat will put us ages ahead of the Empire."

"Dragonists?" Raven's ears perked up. Seeing it, the others smiled. The long and pointed ears marked her Forest Faerie blood and gave a greater range of hearing. No one had realized they could move independent of each other.

"Dragonists are a specialized classification of combatant, as well as an actual title," he explained. "They are warriors on par with the skill of the Commune of Soldiers, so they are talented in battle like Ewan, Kyle, and General Yureny. But the Dragonists have a powerful alliance with the assorted Dragon clans across the world—hence the name. They form partnerships and work as units. A Dragonist is therefore technically two warriors in one, though the Dragon he or she works with might actually be adept as a Magician or Healer."

"Oh, I met one!" She brightened. "He was really nice. His name was Ryu. He came to the palace a few months ago. He had a meeting with . . ." She wrinkled her nose as she thought. "The general with the pretty face."

Samantha tried not to smile. "Alexander Renduex?"

"Yeah! They had a meeting. The general saw me in the hall after and he smiled. He had a nice smile, not like the Emperor. And he told me that everything would be okay." She nodded firmly, not noticing the sudden speculation on faces. "The Dragonist came out next. He also smiled at me. I liked him too. He even let me meet his partner! Her name was Celestial. She had pretty white hair and she cast magic. And she made such a pretty white Dragon! She said when everything was safe that she and Ryu would come take me for a ride."

"Interesting," Tyrian murmured softly.

Matthias looked at Raven very seriously. "You have given us some very important information. I think there may be more still that you know and just don't realize. If at any time, you think of something, or you remember something when we're talking, tell us."

"Alex was meeting with the Dragonist Clan." Gordon tapped a finger on the table. "Interesting, indeed. And to tell Raven everything would be okay . . . Also, that Ryu, telling Raven that everything would be safe."

"Raven," Cassie asked her daughter, "did you feel the same sort of way near Alex that you do near Gordon or Samantha? Or Ewan and Kyle?" At the nod, she asked, "Did you feel that near Ryu?"

Raven tilted her head, one ear quirked. "Yes."

"We were fairly sure General Renduex and the other generals are Destined Stars," Liang noted. "But if a Dragonist is also a Destined Star . . . we can't dismiss how Raven felt near them. Like calls to like."

"And that means we do, indeed, want to make contact with them." Matthias crossed his arms as he thought. "Particularly when the Dragonists are known for standing up for the rights of people, just as the Monk Clans do. I believe during the coup in Melodina a few years back, the Dragonists aided the side of the people. They didn't win, but they made an effort."

"Did you ever meet Blaine?" Tyrian asked Raven.

She wrinkled up her nose. "No. I ran if I saw her. She was ugly."

It was a curious statement to hear when Blaine's only redeeming quality was her beauty, but Tyrian still had Ben's memories swirling in his mind. He knew Blaine's true self. That a child, a Faerie child, could see through the illusion to reality was not a stretch. Raven was very special for many reasons.

"Firmeza, then." Ewan didn't bat a lash as Raven climbed onto his lap to look at the map in front of him. It was covered with the notes he had taken over the course of the meetings. "It holds six personal units, all close-combat. Guarding the city are ten close-combat units. Shit, why don't we just go in and kick their asses?"

"That's a bad word," Raven told him.

"Then don't repeat it until you're older."

"The idea has merit," Matthias said. "We've played so many tricks and used so many clever tactics that to hit them with blunt force would be a trick of its own. They would be expecting a surprise and perhaps not focus as fully on the fight as they should. They might think we intend to pull back at the last minute."

"We've got plenty of strong unit leaders. Strictly speaking, close-combat leaders don't have to be that close." Kyle was mostly thinking out loud. "Hell, we could plant Emma or Olan in a unit and take advantage of stealth arrows. It's not illegal."

"The important thing is to limit damage to the city." Matthias nodded. "That is our plan, then. We're going to overpower them. Lord Tyrian, neither I nor Cherry will ride this time. We would be a hindrance, and I think you will do just fine without us."

"How come the units in the city don't just . . . kick the bad guys out?" Raven pointed at Ewan's map. "You have a 'six' in the city, and a 'ten' around it. Wouldn't the surprise make up the difference?"

"Your child is beginning to frighten me," Samantha told Cassie.

"She takes after her father," was the dry retort.

"You know . . ." Matthias contemplated Raven. "It wouldn't be a trick to rally the units inside the city. We could catch the Imperial units in a crossfire and perhaps force a concession before things get too bloody. Soldiers are willing to give their lives in battle for what they believe. It is up to us to make sure that they do not fall when there is no need."

While the others began to assemble the unit leaders and prepare the troops, Tyrian went to find Ted and Tod. The latter was happily flirting with Grace at the pub, and she kept fluttering her lashes with a dexterity a younger woman would envy. Kell, sitting a few tables away, looked like one grumpy old informant. He even harrumphed when he heard Tod praise Grace's eyes.

"Sorry to interrupt," Tyrian said dryly, "but I need your assistance, Tod. We need to get a message into Firmeza."

"I'm your man, then!" He blew Grace a kiss and then got to his feet to follow Tyrian out of the pub. Once outside, he laughed richly. "I must say, I'm having the time of my life. It's just like old times!"

"Well, don't push it. I'd like Kell to avoid a heart attack."

"Oh, pish. He's strong as a mule. Stubborn too. Now, what message am I delivering? My buddy Tad lives in there, so it'll get in right as rain without a single suspicion. Actually, you'll want to talk to him. Trouble comes in threes."

So did good things, and Tyrian found all three gossips to be not only lively, entertaining, and useful, but knew they were always honest and never malicious. If you caught a rumor from one of them, you could be sure it was true. "Here's the plan."

 

* * * * *

 

Firmeza stood in a condition not dissimilar from Dry Basin. The pointed difference lay in the response of the Imperial Army that had captured it. For the most part, they simply did not care. They had their orders and followed them. It didn't matter what happened to these ignorant citizens as long as the Emperor continued to pay the army. If he was gone, then so went the lifestyle. Lady Blaine had assured them that it was so.

Others within the Imperial Army were not that certain. They were sickened by the events, tired of fighting against the will of the people they were sworn to defend. Cities cheered for the Liberation Army. Wasn't that a sign of needed change?

It was nearly a relief to see the Liberation Army suddenly appear on the field. They appeared with only ten units, all close-range, and the lieutenant in charge of the Imperial Army was instantly suspicious. Where was the catch? Since when did the Rebellion try to match brawn instead of brain? The lack of a strategist on the field seemed to imply they really were there to blunt force it through, but Tyrian Southerwind was no slouch in the strategy department himself.

 Both General Yureny and General D'terio were on the field as well, and they led different units. For some of the Imperial army, it was a disgusting sight. For others, it was a sign that the time had come for things to change.

The engagement commenced, and it became nearly a bloody free-for-all. Unit matched to unit, and the Liberation Army slowly began to overpower the enemy. Things moved ever quicker as Imperial Army soldiers threw down arms and surrendered even before their unit was defeated. Some even removed their emblems, switched sides, and promptly helped fight against their former allies.

The lieutenant's unit had secretly been filled with mages among its close-range soldiers. He moved swiftly and steadily toward Tyrian's unit with the intent of taking him down. When he was still just out of range, there came a shout from within the city and six more units appeared on the field. All six wore the emblem marking them as city militia.

The Imperial Army was not only overpowered, they were also outnumbered and surrounded. The lieutenant saw a red haze of fury. In that fury, he rushed several of his men across the field toward Tyrian. The Kaiten Star looked at him and lifted his relic hand. The symbol of the Devourer appeared in the air, and it was large enough to be seen by all. Black waves of energy appeared in the middle of the lieutenant's party and rolled upward until all the soldiers were encased in the black dome. When the light faded, not a single soldier remained.

Any enemies left on the field threw down arms. "Laws of engagement," Tyrian said quietly, steel in his voice. "You may stand and fight for the people you swore to protect, or you may retreat to Trinan and cling to the false promises of a woman who is as evil as Beelzebub himself."

When all was said and done, the Liberation Army gained five units. The rest of the soldiers that were still standing retreated back to Trinan. The captain riding at the front of Firmeza's militia saluted Tyrian crisply. "Lord Tyrian, we were glad to answer your call. We are also glad to lend our strength to yours to bring back peace to our land!"

"Leaving one unit here," Myr said to Tyrian, "doesn't that mean we now have thirty units?" She whistled softly. They had expanded the castle with the intent of holding fifty thousand units. They were already at thirty, and there were other cities and generals that would be joining. She frowned. "We need a bigger castle."

Tyrian smiled wryly. "Indeed. Well, there's room. We can push the walls out further when we get there. Hopefully, we will have professional builders by then." He dismounted Fay and handed her reins over to a soldier. Cassie and Myr followed him as he headed for the city and made their way through the field of soldiers who were beginning to tend to the fallen as well as incorporate the newly acquired forces.

Like most of the towns in the Empire, Firmeza was a cross between a desert town and an oasis. Copious amounts of drought resistant trees had been planted around buildings to offer relief from the sun. With the exception of the upper class portion of town, the city showed the signs of abuse and neglect. People were already rushing to repair and revive; boarded up homes were being opened once more and shops actually put up 'open' signs.

Myr spotted a scroll shop and brightened. "Lord Tyrian! Look!" She grabbed his arm and pointed at the universally recognized shop sign with the scroll etched into it. "Now we have another source to buy scrolls from! Lupine has tried to keep up, but it's been hard."

Tyrian eyed the shop speculatively. "Let's go in," he said.

The inside of the shop was incredibly well stocked, which didn't come as a surprise since business would have been suffering. It was also warm and welcoming with the little tingle that meant a lot of relics existed in the same place at the same time. The long counter at the end of the shop was covered with scroll racks, and each rack had been organized by element.

The young woman behind the counter had the pointed ears of an Elf, yet she had a shorter height that meant some other blood had mixed in to her bloodline. She was frowning as she looked at a record book, but when she looked up and saw the three in her doorway, she promptly smiled. "Welcome! I'm Melianne. Are you from the Liberation Army?" She broke off as she saw Tyrian's green scarf and the relic on his hand. "Oh. Oh!" She covered her mouth with her hands. "Oops."

"This is Lord Tyrian!" Myr said cheerfully. "The monk is Lady Cassie. I'm Myrroria."

"It's an honor to meet all of you," Melianne said sincerely. "And thank you for routing those jerks out there! Some of them were actually nice, but there were some that I wouldn't trust any further than I could throw my shop!"

"Rightfully so," Cassie noted. She glanced at Tyrian and inclined her head as if asking a question.

Tyrian nodded slightly. Melianne was indeed a Destined Star, just as his gut had told him she would be. "Melianne," he said gently, "I could use your help in this war." When she stared at him, he gestured to the shop. "We have a limited supply of scrolls, and without a Relic Master, our soldiers have no way to equip relics without trying to get to another city and back quickly. It's been more expeditious to just stock scrolls. But the other cities are struggling to keep up with demand. We need our own Scroll Master."

"Oh. Oh my." She didn't know what it was, but something about him made her feel as if he really did need her help. She needed to be there to help him make it through this ordeal, to help him fight for all of them. She nodded firmly. "Alright! You can count on me, Lord Tyrian! I look forward to keeping up with the demands of the Liberation Army a lot more than I did selling stuff to the Imperials!"

"We'll even pay you," he agreed dryly.

She giggled, unsurprised he would know that the Imperial Army demanded free supplies as if it were their due. "But not the full price. That'd be silly." She held out a hand. "I'll get my stuff together to get out to the base!"

He took her hand and his relic glowed softly. An answering star glowed from her shoulder, and she stared at it in shock. She was a Destined Star? Was that why she felt as if she was needed? How had she been chosen as one of the blessed ones?

Myr stayed to help Melianne start boxing up things, and Tyrian and Cassie caught some soldiers outside. They were from Firmeza, but they already wore Tyrian's colors. They promptly went to help Melianne as well. It was one more thing that could be crossed off Tyrian's mental list, and it made things a little easier. Anything he could need, Destiny would provide. It almost made up for everything.

Much to his surprise, a massive library had been built in Firmeza. He spotted it as he and Cassie were on the lookout for Tad. Libraries were a rare commodity in the world and typically reserved only for the biggest of cities. To his knowledge, Trinan was supposed to have the only library in the Empire. In a way, he wasn't surprised to discover another one. People in the capitol liked to pretend they were the only ones to have a lot of things.

Cassie followed with a smile as he headed into the library. He had such a curious mind! She couldn't imagine where Raven had gotten it from. Truthfully, even though it had been barely a day, she didn't really remember that Raven was not theirs by blood. In another couple years, she would probably forget entirely. Serentia and Persephone had teasingly told her how lucky she was to get out of childbirth, but Cassie envied them more. She would have loved to carry Raven and give her life.

The library was even bigger inside than it looked from the outside. The ceilings stood at over twenty feet high, and the bookcases went all the way to the roof. A balcony ran around the room at about ten feet in the air, and ladders could be used to reach every possible shelf. Smaller bookcases were spaced across the floor and formed into rows and lines. There was a large area with tables for study, and a professional copyperson sat to the side to make a duplicate of passages from books for Scholars and researchers.

Tyrian spotted a book that had a Faerie on the cover and picked it up curiously. It was a history of the Faerie race written by actual Faerie researchers. It chronicled all types of Faeries, covering every element, and also noted the common traits among the various subspecies. He had always found it fascinating that the most versatile of races—the Humans—were the only species without subspecies. Perhaps it was that fact that lent to their versatility. "Raven would like this."

A young face wearing glasses suddenly peered over the top of the bookcase. "It has some violence in it. Most racial histories do. Not suitable for kids."

"My daughter has seen more than her share already. She's very smart for her age." Tyrian glanced at the face and began smiling. The speaker was probably not that much older than Raven, so it was very much a case of the pot and kettle. "May I check this out?"

"Well, of course—gah!"

The face dropped suddenly out of view amid the sound of a chair falling. It was followed by a thud. Tyrian and Cassie rushed around the side of the bookcase to discover the boy had landed on the floor in relative safety, though he was rubbing his hip. He shoved his glasses back onto his face from where they had slid off and sighed. "Hi."

Tyrian wisely hid a smile as he knelt to offer the boy a hand up. "Hi." As he tugged the boy up, he asked, "Are you a researcher-in-training?"

"Yes, sir." He eyed Tyrian, already thinking of the things he wanted to write when he wrote the story of Tyrian Southerwind. He was more personable than Merlot had been expecting, and though he was supposedly not yet nineteen, he looked and acted with a maturity beyond his years. It would be worth noting. "My cousin, Zin, is the primary researcher here." He winced as he heard footsteps. "Speaking of."

A brown haired whirlwind came around the side of the bookcase and propped her hands on her hips. "Merlot!" she scolded. "How many times do I have to tell you to not stand on chairs! That's what we have ladders for." She blew out a breath and then looked at Tyrian and Cassie. "Welcome to Firmeza's library, Lord Tyrian and Lady Cassie! I'm Zinfandel." She caught her cousin in an affectionate headlock. "This is Merlot. He's my apprentice, but he's really smart. He'll be a great researcher."

Merlot looked up at her with hero worship in his eyes. It was clear he loved his cousin a great deal and the affection was returned. Zinfandel was probably only a year or two younger than Tyrian, so it said a lot for the family line that she had already become a full researcher.

Ask and ye shall receive. Both were Destined Stars. "How attached are you to the library?" he asked softly.

The cousins exchanged a smile. "Not that attached," Zinfandel said gently. "We would be honored to come fight at your side, Lord Tyrian. If you need any information, we can find it." She held up her right hand to show a Listening Relic. "Recorded within our relics are every book in this library. We can call up copies of any text. If we can't find it, then it doesn't exist."

"Thank goodness!" he said with feeling. "We have a Scholar on hand, but without a researcher, we were limited in what we could find. I even have an immediate task for you. Please start researching information on the prophecy of the Kaiten Star. I'd like to start knowing as much as everyone else does."

Neither cousin could blame him. Being the last to know something about yourself would not be pleasant. "We're on it!" Merlot said firmly. "We'll find ourselves a nice place to set up shop and we'll bring a bunch of our books too."

"No chairs," Cassie scolded him.

Zinfandel giggled as Merlot scowled. While they got to work, Tyrian and Cassie headed out of the library with the Faerie History book tucked safely into Tyrian's backpack. They both knew that Raven would love it. The idea of reading it to her one evening when they had a brief respite was appealing.

"Where do you want to live?" Cassie asked softly. "When this is done. We both love the Empire, but I know you won't be happy in a city. I don't think you ever were."

"Those days growing up in Teasarn were my happiest days. I suppose I'm a farm boy at heart." He would have tucked her under his arm, but she wore her full monk gear and he didn't want to block her access to the hidden places where she stashed her throwing stars. He had already learned the hard way that she would guiltlessly knock him flat to keep him safe if she couldn't reach her projectiles. "What are the mountains like?"

"Beautiful," she said simply. "There's this one place where the sun rises and sets on each side of a hidden niche. You have to be deliberately looking for it to find it. I found it a few years ago. Stayed there for a few days to live off the land. It was wonderful."

"How would a home fit there?"

"I think it would fit well. We can spend some years traveling with Raven and then we can have our home until she is ready to fly on her own. I will be leader of the Monk Clans in not too long a future, and being close would be convenient." She looked up at him, wanting nothing more than to hide him away in her secret retreat so that he was always safe and smiling. "Does that suit you?"

"It does indeed." He brought her fingers to his lips and then leaned down to softly kiss her. Public displays of affection were usually frowned on by monks in full gear, but he didn't really care what the rest thought as long as she was happy.

"Ahem."

At the elderly voice, he sighed and lifted his head. "You had better have a good reason." He glanced to the side, saw the old man with pigeons on his shoulders, and sighed a second time. "You have a good reason."

"I think I like you." Tad nodded firmly. "So you're Lord Tyrian. I'm Tad. I'll be joining you at the base. Between me and my buddies, we can get your messages out to anywhere, and we can bring in messages too! I can also help twist Kell's arm." He wiggled his brows. "I courted Grace once too."

"I've decided," Cassie told Tyrian. "I want to be Grace when I grow up, too."

He grinned. "With the pointed exception of being married well before seventy?"

Her eyes twinkled, the blue chips sparkling merrily. "Naturally."

 

©Stacy J. Garrett. Do not reprint or redistribute without permission.

Chapter 28->