The Knife's Edge

Chapter Sixteen

LEGENDS

Vera left the camp and walked east.

Her boots crunched on the dry leaves, peeking out from her dark dress. A modest collar revealed faint green veins on her slender neck and chest. The dress was well fitted, flaunting her perfect curves. A strip cut from the side revealed glimpses of her pale, slender legs. It was something she wouldn’t have worn in the Citadel, but she was altogether different now.

Above, the canopy was thick. It was part of the reason hiding from him had been easier, but it made it difficult to tell the time of day. Between the branches she caught hints of the brightening moon.

Her meeting with her companion should be now.

Not far behind, her niux made camp within a small clearing. The contrast between the inviting woods and her cruel, nightmarish beasts almost made her smile.

Two massive vergs, even larger than the rest, were constructing a crude fire, snapping huge limbs from nearby trees. Though fairly intelligent creatures, they looked almost awkward with the act. The beasts ate their meat raw and saw better than most creatures in the night. She had told them to build it without explanation, for she knew the shadows were not only their allies. While they hunted, he also hunted in the darkness. Meanwhile, the others, six saeroks, tall lanky beasts made of raw sinew and thin hair, and four other hulking vergs fought over the remains of their last kill, tearing and shredding into the disgusting carcass of a werebear. She put the noise and commotion of the camp out of her head, dismissing it, when the woods rustled. She stopped.

“You can come out now.”

The biggest wolf she had ever seen stalked out of the shadows. It stopped in the middle of her path. “Mistress,” it snarled, dark fur ruffling in the wind.

Sitting on its haunches the wolf stared her in the eyes, now of equal height. She knew that her attitude, and the lack of fear she emanated was part of her control over the beast. If she let it waver, she wondered if the creature would attack her, or if they had gone beyond that. So close, she sadistically imagined the creature lunging and she knew its speed. She imagined her neck caught in its vicious teeth, the press of its barbed teeth on her soft skin.

“You’re late, my pet,” she replied.

The wolf bowed its head lower.

She continued walking and the creature slipped in at her side like a shadow. “Speak, precious, what news of the boy?”

“The boy...” it growled.

“Yes?” she questioned, turning to look. Already, disappointment spiraled through her and it began the moment she sensed Drefah’s presence. The boy was not here and neither was the sword, and that was all that mattered. All else was worthless news.

Suddenly the forest shifted, and a wind tore through the woods, wracking the trees and howling. If Vera had a pulse, it would have quickened. She sensed Drefah’s fear as well, watching the hackles rise on its massive body. “What is that foul smell?” the wolf asked.

She eyed the woods calculatingly. “It’s him.”

“Who?”

The muscles in her jaw twitched. “Kail. The legend.”

Drefah had no idea who she spoke of, but his snarled heightened. He took her words seriously, as he should. The frightening bay of wind grew louder. Though in reality, it wasn’t the sound, but the feel of the wind. It felt powerful. More powerful than all of them. Her pet’s snarl grated her nerves, and the mere thought of him vexed her.

Vera turned and saw the same fear echoing through the camp behind her. Vergs stiffened and saeroks loped, climbing trees as they watched the woods in fright. It bothered her that she had weeded out every single coward from the bunch and still they trembled like barn mice at his presence. Granted, he had killed four of them already. Not to mention, their fear was instilled in their blood, something born in the Great War, but it still annoyed her, like a sharp splinter she couldn’t pry from beneath her skin.

“Tell me how you lost the boy,” she said.

“A Nameless and its niux, under orders of the Great One, tried to steal the boy. But in the process, the boy was flung over the side of a great cliff. The fall would have killed any human. I searched, but found nothing, not even a scrap of his scent.” The wolf sounded especially irritated about the last part. Its large ears wilted as it spoke, as if it had failed her, and it had, though not entirely.

“It is not your fault, my pet,” she said softly. It seemed appropriate, and her hand absently grazed its waist-height black fur. “They hid his smell with the spark. The old man did. It was nothing you could do.” She scooped a handful of dirt and let it fall to the ground. Simple magic, she thought with a slim, but impressed smile. She looked up, glimpsing the bright moon through the canopy. “I underestimated them, this time. The one who cast the spell was not from this land. I should have anticipated that the prophecy did not reach the Great One’s ears only. I had heard whisper of a prophet from Eldas, a human-blooded cur, but dismissed it as rumor. The man was likely sent as his guardian from beyond the black gates with the knowledge of the prophecy.” She did not mention that she had heard that the prophet was the queen, and her death a timely, fortunate part of the Great One’s ultimate plan. Sometimes she wondered if his plans were the result of coincidence or much more.

The wolf growled in affirmation. “It is as you say. The old man did not move like any human I have seen. He might be elf blood.”

Vera shrugged. “Elves, humans, it does not matter. The man’s power is minimal, but his knowledge is what I fear. We must assume now that he knows everything about the power of the sword and the boy.”

“But, mistress, the boy is dead.”

“No,” she hissed. It was the first time emotion had entered her voice and the wolf flinched under her hand. “The boy is alive. He will not die until I twist the blade in him with my own hands.” Her fingers clenched, grasping his fur. “I want to feel my dagger slide into his heart as I watch the life vanish from his eyes.”

“Why do you hate him? He is a mere human,” the wolf said.

She turned to the massive wolf, her violet eyes flashing dangerously. “I don’t. He was everything in the world to me once.”

“And now?”

“Now he simply stands between me and the sword,” she stated matter-of-factly. “And the sword will be mine.” Nothing would deprive her of that. Not a fall, or the Great One, not legends. Not even you Kirin. She turned with a wicked smile. “Do not fret, my pet. I know where he is heading, and the boy does not know the darkness of what he holds. We shall see him soon.”

The wind howled, and this time she laughed, answering the legend’s call, power filled her voice, overwhelming the sound of the wind.