The Atheil Chronicles: A Call to Fire

Chapter 34

    She was looking into his eyes, the irises swirling and shifting as if flames were truly alight within them. Her hand caressed his shining cheek, the touch sending tingles of electricity through her fingertips and straight into her very soul. "I would rather die than stay away from you." She said fiercely, and then she was pulling him toward her, needing to feel his lips on hers. As their mouths met in a fury of passion, a harsh voice rose up in the deathly silence of the forest.
    "So be it." The voice said, the rumbling words bouncing off of the trees as they seemed to magnify.
    The man reacted instantly, reaching out to pull her into his arms and lifting her as waves of blackened flames roared to life around them. She heard a woman screaming somewhere in the distance, though she didn't dare to turn and look. In a flash, the forest was full of the flickering flames, scorching the ground in an instant and beginning to devour anything in their path. It was as if the forest was suddenly caught up in a mighty gust of wind as an unbearable heat began to roll off of the blazing black inferno. She shut her eyes, sure they'd be lost to it.
    Then she felt him start to run, his legs pumping so fast that they almost seemed to fly. The thick smell of smoke began to fade as he put more and more distance between them and the flames. She opened her eyes, the brilliance of him almost overwhelming her. His sharp angular cheekbones seemed to stand out even more against the white of his skin as he clenched his jaw in unmasked anger. She felt her slender hands come up to clutch at his shoulders and he looked down at her, his usually red and orange flaming eyes now filled with blue and white flickering flames that reflected his fury.
    The silvery flowering tendrils of her cloak streamed behind him as he ran, drawing her eye. She turned to it, gasping. The flames seemed to be giving chase, jumping from tree to tree as if they were alive and sentient. Everything they touched seemed to whither to ash within seconds, crumbling into nothingness on the scorched earth.
    At the look of fear on her face, the man looked behind him and suddenly stopped. His shoulders were tight as she saw resolve cross his unearthly beautiful features. "Run." He said, setting her down on the ground gently. He took a step away from her. "Run and do not turn back. He is coming."
    She swallowed as the smell of smoke mixed with deteriorating plants and trees grew closer, a cloud of billowing black smoke rolling through the air toward them even as she watched. "GO!" He yelled, and now his voice was no longer his own, but something more.
    She didn't hesitate this time. She turned and ran as fast as she could, leaping over fallen branches and rocks as the sounds of the crackling flames got quieter behind her. She saw a blaze of light flash around her like a bolt of lightning and she stopped, turning to it. In the distance she could see the man standing firmly in the same spot, shining brilliantly as if he held the light of the stars themselves within him. A glowing sword was in his hand, the same blazing light shining off of it as it was him. She was staring at him, awe stricken, when a towering wave of ink-black flames rose up before him. As it began to fall over him, she let out an ear-splitting scream, the sound cracking through the air like a whip.
*        *        *        *        *
    Ariana heard a loud crashing from the next room and she opened her eyes quickly, trying to sit up. She was still too weak and she fell back onto the bed roughly, hitting her elbow on the frame of the bed and feeling a tingle of electricity shoot up her arm. She cursed, looking down at her feet to try to will them to move quicker. At some point, Rael must have dressed her, putting her in a fluttery white nightgown that flowed down in waves to her ankles. She reached down, throwing the fabric there aside so that she could force her legs to the side of the bed.
    More crashing noises could be heard outside and then a woman began to scream. The hair on the back of her neck stood up at the sound and she threw herself up into a standing position, leaning heavily on the bed as she got her balance. Ariana looked around the room for something to use to defend herself, seeing nothing until her eyes fell on the familiar black leather scabbard leaning against the wall next to the nightstand. She stumbled to it, silently thanking Tyrynion for finding her sword and leaving it with her before he departed. Her fingers had just wrapped around the grip of the sword when the door to the room burst open, cracking along the hinges as it slammed into the wall. She twirled to face it, the sword held out in front of her as her eyes locked on the person standing in the doorway.
    Morgrean was stepping into the room, his violet eyes locked on her like a predator watching its prey. A snarl rose up in him as he spread his lips in a fanged smile. "Miss me, Princess?" He asked, moving closer.
    Ariana felt her throat constricting as she watched him, her hand beginning to shake under the weight of the sword and her own fear. "No." She said shakily, trying to step back and feeling the bed frame hit the back of her legs. "No, you can't be here." She knew that the terror was evident in her voice but she didn't care; this had to be a nightmare. She couldn't go back with him again.
    Morgrean's eyes lit up with pleasure. "You did miss me." He said, cocking his large head to the side, his bat-like ears flopping as he did so. "My my," he said, looking her up and down, "someone has undone my work, I see." He made a tsk tsk noise in his throat, raising an eyebrow as he surveyed her. "I'm going to have fun doing it all over again."
    Ariana barely suppressed the tremors that she knew were trying to escape her. Her heart was racing now and, as the adrenaline began to pump through her body, she felt her bravery starting to return. Somehow, she managed to still her shaking hands and dropped the sword so that the point was aimed right at him. "You won't touch me." She said, and she was surprised to hear the fierceness in her voice. Morgrean was too.
    "2 days away from me and suddenly you've forgotten everything that I taught you?" He wasn't smiling anymoremand Ariana saw the fading light from the windows reflect off of his bared teeth. "Put the sword down." He growled.
    "NO." She yelled. Her heart was beating so fast that she could feel the pulsating motion in her neck just below her jaw. She jutted out her chin. "If you want me, you'll have to kill me first. I'm not going back there." She felt a cool feeling in her abdomen as she thought about that place, that cold dark room and the torture that she had endured there. She shook her head, her light auburn hair flying around her as she did so. "I won't ever go back."
    Anger flared up in Morgrean's eyes and he curled his lip, a snarl escaping from it. "You will." He said, then he turned his head to look over his shoulder. "Deslich!" He yelled, making her jump at the suddenness of it. She didn't even have a second to register what he had said before the familiar red eyed goblin came into the room, dragging a bloody and beaten Rael behind him by her wrist.
    Ariana made to move forward but Morgrean's gaze stopped her in her tracks. She took a shaky breath, lowering the sword only slightly as she gazed at them. Deslich looked exactly as she remembered him; hairy head with large, bat-like ears and a nasty scar running over one of his glowing red eyes. His long black talons were dripping with blood as they dug into the skin of Rael's wrist. Ariana's eyes moved down to look at Rael and she had to keep herself from gasping out loud as she saw what they had done to her. Her gorgeous golden bronze skin was riddled with talon marks, the ripped flesh slowly oozing blood as she lay limp on the floor. One of her legs was broken, the area between her knee and ankle sitting at a strange angle as the bone stuck out of the skin there. Her eyes were closed but Ariana could see her taking heaving breaths and knew that she was alive and conscious.
    She brought her eyes back up to Morgrean's and there was a burning hatred in them as she focused her gaze on him. "What have you done to her?" She asked, and she couldn't help the pitch change that came into her voice as she said it. Rael had been so kind to her, nurturing her and showing compassion when she had desperately needed it. It was destroying Ariana to see her like this, especially knowing that it was her fault that it had happened in the first place.
    Deslich gave a malicious smile. "Just taught her some manners, that's all." He said, jerking her arm and making her let out a shriek of pain.
    Ariana swallowed and turned to Morgrean. "Stop this. Let her go and I'll come freely. No fighting or anything."
    Morgrean laughed and the sound cut straight through her like shards of glass to her heart. "I don't think you're in much of a position for negotiation, Princess." He said, obviously pleased with his power move.
    She thought about this, her mind whirring as she tried desperately to come up with some plan to get them both out of there safely. Ruenen, she thought suddenly. She had forgotten about Rael's brother who lived there and she swallowed, putting on her best poker face. "You won't get away with this." She said, her voice deadly serious. "Rael has a brother and he's going to be home any minute now. Just let her go and leave this instant."
    "Oh really?" Morgrean said, turning to Deslich in mock horror. "Did you hear that, Deslich? We better run before the Elf comes back to chase us off." He let out a spine tingling bark of laughter and Ariana saw Rael's face suddenly flinch into a grimace of pain.
    Realization dawned on her even before Ruenen strolled into the room, stepping around his sister without so much as a downward glance. Ariana looked at him in disgust, which he seemed to take in stride as he came to a stop next to Morgrean. He was the exact likeness of his sister; tall and slender with deep golden bronze skin, long, wavy chestnut hair that he had pulled back at the nape of his neck, and shimmering eyes. However, she saw that, instead of the deep olive color of Rael's eyes, his were the color of steel and they were looking at her with an equally hard expression.
    "Don't look at me like that, girl. I never agreed for you to be here. I tried to have you sent away but no one would listen to me." His voice was as captivating as his sisters, though it was full of clear disdain.
    She shook her head. "So you decided to turn me in to him," she jabbed her sword in the direction of Morgrean," and betray your own sister, all in one go? Sounds like you definitely have your priorities straight." She was so angry at the injustice of it all that she couldn't keep the loathing from seeping into her voice. There was some part of her that wanted to just wake up from this nightmare but she knew that it would never work; this was really happening.
    He let out a huff of resentment. "I tried to tell her that Malor is going to win this war in the end and that we're better off being on the winning side when that happens." He looked down at her pitifully. She refused to meet his gaze, her olive eyes trained on the ground below. "She's always been in love with that fool, Tyrynion. It clouds her judgment."
    "So what, you just waited until he left and then went and got these two?"
    He nodded. "As soon as I heard Tyrynion tell my sister that Malor wanted you, I knew I had to alert someone. Then the idiot went and told me the name of Morgrean, here, and even where to find him." He laughed, the sound careless and cruel. "It was just a matter of getting them back here when I knew Tyrynion would be gone."
    She was stunned. She felt as if her whole world view was being called into question, even as she stood there. How could he so casually throw another life aside and, at the very least, if he didn't care about a stranger, why would he do that to his own sister? "Well," she said, a cold note to her voice now, "I bet you think you're clever for that. You've basically just sentenced your own sister to death. I hope you can live with that knowledge for the rest of your long, long life."
    The smug look on his face faded for a moment, a look of uncertainty crossing it, and then he turned to Morgrean. "You said my sister would be spared." He said, still not looking down at her. "Will you be true to your word and let her go now that I've given you the girl?"
    Morgrean bared his teeth in a horrifyingly evil smile. "We don't let traitors go free." He said, watching as the words hit home. Ruenen's face paled. "Why would you ever believe that someone who was aiding the enemy would be let off so easily? You're as much of a fool as your pathetic sister is."
    Ruenen swallowed. Things were clearly not going according to plan for him and he was only just now realizing his mistake. "But you said-"
    "I said," Morgrean interrupted him, "that I would be lenient for her betrayal." He clicked his tongue at him. "And I will be; she will be given to Deslich here to do as he pleases. Just so you know, he enjoys playing with his food before he eats it." He said, and there was a malicious glint in his eyes as he gazed at him.
    Ruenen took a step back, horrified, and then looked over at Deslich and his sister. Rael's face was rigid with terror, a cut below her eye bleeding so profusely that it was leaving blood stained tracks down her face like tears. Deslich was watching Ruenen in satisfaction, clearly enjoying the idea of tormenting him with his sister's fate. Ruenen looked to Ariana, who gazed at him with no pity in her eyes. He deserved whatever punishment he was giving to himself right now and whatever guilt he was being wracked with as he realized what his treachery would truly cost him.
    He looked back down at his sister and there was pain behind his steel gray eyes. "I'm sorry for everything." He said, his voice suddenly meek and lacking the cockiness from earlier. "I was a fool, Rael." He said, and he took a deep breath, his hand moving ever so slowly toward the hilt of his sword. "Forgive me." He said, whipping his sword out just as Morgrean drove his own wicked sword right between his ribcage and into his heart.
    Ruenen gasped as blood began gurgling up through his mouth, his body going slack as he started to lose control of the strength in his legs. He was still trying to fight off Morgrean, swinging his arms weakly in an attempt to hit him. In the next moment, Morgrean stepped away from him, pulling his blood slicked sword out of his body in one smooth motion and watching lazily as Ruenen fell to the ground in a heap. He was dead before he even reached it.
    For the first time since she had been dragged into the room, Rael came to life, screaming and trying desperately to crawl toward her brother. Tears were now falling freely from her eyes and mingling with the drops of blood already flowing down her face. Deslich kept a firm grip on her wrist, laughing wildly as she continued to fight her way toward the body of her brother. After a minute or two of this, she gave up, sobs wracking her thin frame as she let her body fall to the ground at Deslich's feet.
    Tears had sprung to Ariana's eyes as she watched this, her heart aching for Rael. Even though Ruenen had betrayed both of them, she understood that you can't just stop loving someone because they've done something bad. His betrayal was so fresh that Ariana was sure that Rael still hadn't even processed it yet and now he was dead and that was all the closure she would ever get. She turned her tear streaked face to Morgrean, her sword sagging in her hands as the hope faded from within her.
"I won't go with you." She said weakly, and not very convincingly. She was trying to be brave but the adrenaline was wearing off and the reality of the situation was hitting her. There was no way out.
    Morgrean narrowed his eyes at her. "Enough. Do I need to show you another demonstration of my seriousness, Princess?" He snapped his talons together and suddenly Desclich pulled out his own jagged edged sword and pressed the metal to Rael's throat. Ariana saw a trickle of blood run down her chest and into the front of her dress as Rael whimpered in pain. Morgrean turned to her. "It's your choice. I care not about the Elven woman but it seems like you do."
    Rael was looking fixedly at Ariana from the ground, her olive eyes hard and determined. "Let me die." She said, her voice barely a whisper. "Flee from here."     Deslich pressed the sword harder against her throat and a rivet of blood appeared below the shining metal. Ariana watched as pain crossed her face but her eyes remained determinedly locked on Ariana. 'Go,' she mouthed, closing her eyes as she waited for her inevitable death. Something in her seemed to relax, almost as if her fear was suddenly gone and had been replaced by calm resolve.
    Ariana felt her lip tremble as she lowered her sword. She sheathed it and set it on the bed behind her. When she turned to face Morgrean, she tried to keep the quiver from her voice. "I will come." She said, and Raels' eyes flashed open in front of her.
    "NO!" She screamed, and Deslich hit her across the face with the pommel of his sword, seeming to shut her up, at least for the moment.
    Morgrean smiled, pleased. "I knew you'd come to your senses eventually. I didn't want to have to scar that pretty face of yours-not yet, at least." Ariana's insides turned to ice and she swallowed. He turned down to the cowering figure of Rael and kneeled in front of her. "Where do you keep your drugs for sleep, Healer?" He asked her.
    She didn't meet his gaze, pointedly looking down at the ground. When she took too long to answer, he smacked her hard. She cried out, reaching up a shaking hand to touch her face. Eyes still down, she finally replied. "In the top drawer of the dresser over there; the pale yellow pills."
    Morgrean nodded contentedly, moving over to the dresser and beginning to root through the contents. As he looked through the drawer, he absentmindedly raised his hand and shoved everything off of the top of the dresser. Glass and medicine flew everywhere, shattering in an explosion of tiny glass shards that bounced off of the wooden floors. Ariana's eyes were fixed on Morgrean as he finally found what he was looking for. He came back with the familiar bottle from the day before in his hand, uncorking it and pouring several pills into his black, fuzzy palm.
    He looked up at her, his violet eyes glinting with malice. "You'll take these, NOW."
    Ariana felt her heart begin to race even faster than before, her fight or flight instinct trying to kick in. She knew what taking those pills would mean, she knew what would come next. She felt like pleading for her life but she also knew that it would not do any good and that it would just please him more. She could see Rael struggling in her peripheral vision, still clearly trying to tell Ariana to run. Her breath hitched in her throat as she stared at the small yellow pills in his hand. Hot tears threatened to spring to her eyes.
    Morgrean thrust the pills toward her again, his face growing more cruel in his impatience. "Do it now or I'll have him slice her head clean off." Behind him, Deslich pulled Rael up against his chest by her hair, baring her neck and pressing the blade on the mark that was already prominent there. Rael's broken leg was flailing uselessly beneath her as she tried to regain her footing and failed.
    Her heart beating in her ears, Ariana took in a breath and held out her hand to him. He slid the pills into it, snarling at her in satisfaction. She reached over to the nightstand, picking up the glass there in her other hand. As she did so, Deslich released Rael and she fell heavily to the ground, trying to prop herself up so that she could watch Ariana. Her eyes were screaming for her not to do it but Ariana only closed her own as she threw back the pills with a long drink of water.
    She only opened her eyes again when she went to set the glass down, immediately zeroing in on Morgerean. He looked positively giddy at his victory, sheathing his sword at his side as he watched her. "Don't worry," he said, taking a step closer to her as the world began to blur around her, "I'll take good care of you until we go to see Him."
    Ariana was beginning to sway, her whole body being taken over by the intensity of the drug. She couldn't speak as her tongue began to feel heavy and weighed down, just like her limbs. She tried to move away from him but she started to fall. Morgrean closed the distance and scooped her up into his arms, smiling down at her. She could feel the pressure of his talons against her back as he reached down to carefully grip her scabbard in his other hand. "Sleep tight, Princess." He said, his voice sounding distant now as she began to fade away. "I'm taking you home."
    Her arms sagged in her shoulders and then she felt her head roll back, her eyes turned up toward the ceiling. It swam in her vision until black started creeping in along the edges. She didn't know if her eyes were open or not anymore, she couldn't feel Morgrean's hands on her body; she knew nothing. She was already gone, falling into the darkness below.