The Lost War (Hectic Series: Book One)

Chapter 4

The day Kim gave Max Carver the document was the day she betrayed herself for the sake of the Alliance.
He had smiled proudly when she handed him the paper with her signature.
She had stared back in return. "I do this, I give you part of my world, for my people. Because I am trying to prevent a war. Do not make the mistake of thinking that I do this out of the kindness of my heart."
His smile stayed, but the look in his eyes faded. "You're a smart girl, Kim. My people look forward to working with you." His eyes had lingered on hers a moment longer, and then he had carefully folded up the paper, slid it into his pocket, and walked down the steps of the palace.
"Carver," Kim called, almost out of impulse. Why she was continuing a conversation with
him was beyond her.
He turned slowly. "Yes?"
"How did you get here?"
He smirked, reached down into his shirt, and pulled out a gold necklace. Dangling on the delicate chain was a cross. "Faith, my dear." He mumbled something under his breath and then, in a blinding flash of light, was gone.
Kim blinked.
Stood there stupidly for a second.
Reached out, ran her hand through the space he had been moments before, half-expecting to be sucked into some weird portal.
And then, completely awestruck, she turned around and made her way back inside.
Faith.
She didn't know any type of faith that could do that.
Now, settled back in her office, she tapped a pen against her cherrywood desk.
Oliver was at his house and had been for the last week or so, leaving Kim to send out four soldiers.
"Each of you take a Wryvex," she had said, "and send word to the Kings and Queens. They are to alert the Hectics and report to me for a Council meeting immediately upon arrival."
That had been four or five days ago. On Wryvex they could make the journey in ten. It would take a few days to gather all of the Hectics and another ten to make the return journey.
That left Kim with twenty five or so days to anxiously await their arrival, worrying away in her mind when she knew that in reality there wasn't a whole lot more to be done.
She'd tried researching the Sky Hole again and had come up with, surprise surprise, nothing.
She continued tapping the pen, biting at her lip as she usually did when she was thinking or worried or both.
The Caves.
It came to her suddenly, without any warning, and it was absolutely brilliant.
Of course, she thought, of course.
The Caves were a series of libraries carved into the Rang'Shada mountains. They were ancient. Kim had been there only once, and the small portion of what she had seen had been huge. There were thousands, maybe millions, of books tucked into those stone walls. One of them had to have some information on Marcus that they could use to figure out the sky hole.
And it would give her something to do while she waited for the Councils.
They would have more than enough time to make the journey if they took a Wryvex. And by "they" she meant Oliver.
Kim went into her bedroom, which was connected by a small hallway to her office, and pulled a canvas pack out of her closet.
She changed out of her Empress dress and into traveling clothes: dark green pants and a dark green, long sleeved fitted tshirt with a black cloak. She rolled up two blankets into her pack, slung it over her shoulder and made her way down to the kitchens.
The Palace was a huge rectangle. In the west wing was Kim's office and chambers, the library, and the kitchens. To the east was the servants and cooks quarters, and in the middle was the throne room.
There was an array of small staircases and hidden passages leading to other, less important rooms, such as supply closets and such.
Because the Palace was so big, even walking from one end of the East wing to the other could take a while, if Kim had to bother with staff asking her how she was and did she need this or that or a billion other trivial questions, as she always did, and so she took a shortcut.
She pulled a torch on the wall and a section of brick swung back to reveal a network of passages.
Kim navigated through these to the kitchens, where another section of brick swung back and she stepped into the aroma of spices and cooking food.
The kitchen was an open room with white floors and walls. Stoves lined one wall, coolers and cabinets and cookware on another.
The cooks were so busy they barely noticed her entrance way in the back corner.
Kim spotted the head chef, a small woman with feathery blonde hair and light blue eyes, frantically whisking what appeared to be cake batter. Kim kept to one wall as she made her way over, trying to appear as inconspicuous as possible, although quite a few cooks dropped to their knees as she passed.
"Excuse me, Ms. Mary."
She swung around. Ms. Mary was a small woman who didn't even come up to Kim's shoulder (although Kim herself was pretty tall), and she wore a white apron and puffy chef's hat. There was batter and flour smattered all over her.
"Empress! My, my..." She went to drop to a knee in salute and Kim hurriedly gestured for her to stay standing.
"There's no time for formalities," Kim said, aware that she was breaking a strict social code, although it was one she didn't really care for, "I'm going away on a trip for about three weeks with Oliver. I'll need provisions, please."
The tiny head chef's eyes lit up. "Ah! Yes, of course. Follow me now." She led Kim into the back pantry where she shuffled cans and bags of bread and dried vegetables around with a single flick of her finger.
Kim held her pack open while packages of food and water flew into it.
When it was full Kim pulled the drawstring tight and slung it over her arm like an oversized duffel bag.
"Thank you, Ms. Mary."
"Empress, if I may be so bold as to ask where you are going?"
Kim stopped and turned back in the doorway, appraising the small chef for a moment. "The Caves."
"Oh, goodness! No one's been there in years. Why-"
"I'm afraid that is classified. Now if you'll excuse me, I must be on my way." Kim turned, leaving Mary standing in the pantry, awestruck at the thought of traveling to the Caves, and made her way out to the stables.
She stopped outside the stables, far out onto the back grounds of the Palace, and heard the horses whinnying from inside.
She whistled one high, long note, and from the towering surrounding trees swooped down a massive lizard-like creature.
It landed gracefully in front of her.
"Leleh," Kim said softly as she reached her hand out. The Wryvex pushed her head into Kim's open palm. Her sandy skin was rough and dry.
Leleh was big, about six feet long, and her wingspan was maybe twelve feet wide. She walked on her tiny back legs and thumbs, which stuck out of the tops of her wings. Her neck and beak were long, and her forked tongue would periodically slither out between her lips. She lashed her tail like a whip in a friendly gesture.
Kim swung a leg over as Leleh bent down and stroked the line of purple fluff down her neck. "Up," she said, and the Wryvex launched into the air.
Kim gripped the leather reins looped around Leleh's neck as best as she could, but she had no fear of falling off. She'd ridden Leleh enough to know that even if she did fall off the Wryvex would undoubtedly catch her.
Leleh climbed up and up with each beat of her wings. The wind tugged at Kim's hair and clothes, but it felt delightful.
There was nothing quite like flying through the sky on a Wryvex, if you knew what you were doing.
Kim clicked her tongue and gave a quick yank on the reigns, and Leleh turned left and began falling steadily back down to the ground.
They made it to Oliver's, which would usually take an hour walk at best, in under ten minutes.
"What...what's all this?" Oliver asked when he saw Kim standing at his doorstep in traveling garb with a humongous bag of provisions.
"Road trip. I think we might be able to find some good information in the Caves while we wait for the Councils," she said.
Oliver leaned past her, peering at the lizard-like creature slithering on his front lawn. "I'm not flying on that."
Kim rolled her eyes and tugged on his sleeve.
"Yes you are."
"But Dex-"
"Dex will be fine, you've left him before."
Oliver managed to pull the door shut before Kim dragged him out onto the front lawn.
Kim gestured for Oliver to climb on, who stared at her as if she had asked him to cliff dive. He looked terrified.
"Not on your life, Kimberly."
Kim understood his fear, she really did, but how else would they get to the Caves in time? "Then stay here, I'll be back in three weeks time, soon enough for the Councils to arrive."
She flapped her wings, hovering s few inches in the air. Leleh began beating her wings.
Oliver bit his lip. "Wait! I'm coming."
Kim helped him up onto the back of Leleh. "Thank you," she said.
He clutched the reigns in his hands, Kim holding his cane.
"Okay," he said through clenched teeth. "Go."
Kim shot into the sky.
Leleh launched up into the air, gliding forward rather than rocketing straight up this time for Oliver's sake.
"Where are the safety ties?!" He screamed as the ground spun away.
The wind was blowing towards them, causing Kim's hair to fly in her face, and she shook her head to clear it. She yelled over the wind, "there are none! If you fall she'll catch you."
"That's not a comforting thought!"
When Kim didn't reply he stared nervously ahead.
Oliver seemed to relax the longer they flew, although whenever Leleh turned he would turn his head to look at Kim,
who was gliding next to them, as if for reassurance.
When Kim announced they were going to stop for the night Oliver said, "Okay! Okay! I want to get off!"
Leleh landed amongst a grove of pine trees. It was dark by the time they had their stuff laid out, and Oliver searched for firewood.
Kim noticed, out of the corner of her eye, Oliver petting Leleh's head with a bundle of firewood braced against his hip.
As they sat around the fire Leleh settled down not too far off, purring contently.
Kim threw a strip of dried meat over her shoulder for the Wryvex, who chirped a thanks.
"How much longer?" Oliver asked as he picked at a handful of flower seeds.
"About a week. I don't know how long we will have to stay in the library until we find something." She hoped it wasn't too long.
"What about the Dark Lands? I mean, if the city's still standing, which I think it should be, we could go right into Marcus Central."
Kim had thought of this herself. The city should still be standing, even after all this time. The library, after all, had lasted that long. "If we must go there we will, but I'm not too keen on heading into the starting point of the Lost War."
"Me neither, believe me. Just a thought."
Kim nodded absently. After a while she threw dirt onto the fire to kill the flames but keep the cinders warm.
She had a hard time sleeping.
Her mind kept drifting back to what Kara Mason had said in her dream; And you are one of them. One of the demons.
She feared what that omen implied.
A war, she knew, was upon them, and she knew what war did to people. To everyone.
She wondered what war would do to the demons.