Bloodline of a Tempest

Chapter 11

The Watchers, just like the mages, did the king's bidding. Those beings, described almost in a knight-like fashion, looked everything but. They were dangerous, Nema realized when all four of the fire-feeders dropped their weapons and now kept their arms where hooded riders could see them.

The Watchers patrolled on the outskirts of forests and villages, keeping their eyes on the roads and borders. All she ever found about them in the books was that they were soldiers of the Tarrian origin, their power was of the binding sort – momentary, rather than of a permanent kind and that no weapon could kill them, probably because those who wrote the books didn't want to encourage any kind of attempt on king Castor's men.

Old Man didn't trust them. He said one should never put his faith in a hired sword. He also said she should run for her life if she ever encountered one.

Now it was too late for running.

'Nema, just make sure you don't move,' Demian said, his eyes fixed upon the hooded riders that kept emerging from the woods until they were surrounded by them. Nema knew little about the men from the four Tarrian's moons. What she initially thought were their horses, appeared to be some sort of lizard-like creatures,mostly hidden with the black cloaks of their masters. All she managed to see of the riders were fists holding the reins covered with grey silvery scales.

'Lorn,' Demian called just as loudly as before, 'take the girl and go north. The Watchers won't look for you.'

Lorn scoffed. 'You made me swear, Dorian. Remember?' He said tiredly. 'If I break my oath I won't reach that hill alive.'

The fire-feeders were a strange lot. Even surrounded by more than two dozens of the scariest creatures Nema ever encountered, they saw fitting to have a little discussion.

'I release you from your oath,' Demian said, never taking eyes off the hooded riders. Nema was a bit confused about why they kept this still. They certainly didn't come here for a staring contest.

'Ax and Dener are the witnesses,' Demian said. The next words he spoke Nema didn't understand. It was some sort of a rhyme, the words were singing and soft like a poem. A poem in the forbidden language. She heard Master Wer read his students one of those. The next morning he was gone.

She realized it wasn't a poem when Lorn let out a painful cry.

'Stay on your feet,' Demian warned, 'or they'll kill us all.'

Lorn growled. 'Have you ever been released from an oath, Demian?' He said bitterly. 'It hurts just as much as it hurt when you made me swear it.'

'Go now.' Demian said. 'Find our men at Seren and tell them the captain said to go home. Ax, Dener, you go too.' He said. 'Crawlers are here for me.'

Nema didn't hear their response. Dorian grabbed his sword from the ground and charged at the Watchers, a wall of fire rising around him. Lorn was pulling her away and no matter how hard Nema kicked and screamed soon they were riding away.

'I'm not leaving him!' Nema screamed.

'Don't be a fool, kid,' he said, 'you have the chance to save your self.'

Nema jerked again and managed to slip down. The horse didn't go that fast so she didn't break anything.

'Where are you going?' Lorn shouted after her.

Nema turned. 'Aren't you coming back, Lorn?'

'No, I'm not,' he said, his face unreadable.

Nema looked him square in the eyes. 'I always thought there was more to you.'

Lorn grinned. 'Only a fool doesn't believe his eyes, kid,' he said and rode off. When she turned around he was gone.

When Lorn took Nema away there was a great commotion – drawn swords, fire and screams. Now there was nothing but the eeriest silence.

When she emerged from the forest Nema froze. Demian, Ax and Dener were lying face-down on the ground, unmoving as if they were bound by a rope. The Watchers stood gathered around them, in that same formation as before, unmoving, mute, on their terrible beasts. She was firmly clutching the dagger in her hands when she ran out of the cover, keeping her eyes half-closed until she reached Demian.

'Go back,' he cried when he saw her. 'They'll kill you if you get in the way. Go, Nema, there's nothing you can do now.'

Everything seemed too odd – they weren't bound but they couldn't move and Watchers watched but didn't attack and no one seemed to take notice of her presence.

'Here, take my blade,' Nema whispered, keeping her eyes on the hooded soldiers.

'I said go back to Lorn!' Demian's voice boomed.

She had never seen him this furious.

'They are blind and deaf,' he pointed at the Watchers, 'they won't be able to detect you until you reach the border.'

'Oh,' Nema finally understood. Somehow everything seemed less terrifying when she knew that she was invisible to them.

'Tell me what to do,' she said, kneeling in the grass beside him. Ax and Dener seemed unconscious. Demian kept his head turned to the side, looking up to Nema, his arms twisted on his back.

'Nema,' he said, his raspy voice quieter than before, 'it's over. They found us and bound us and we're done.'

'What do you mean you're done?' She cried. She kept glancing at the eerie riders, every time surprised anew with their stillness.

'They won't let us alive,' Demian said simply, 'and there's nothing you can do to stop them. Now, be a good girl and go home. The great adventure is over.' He shocked her by smiling.

'Oh, no, you won't!' Nema shook her head. 'You're not going to send me on my way. Not like this.'

Demian was looking up to her in a way that broke her heart – his dark eyes still with the finality of this moment. Nema brushed away a stray strand of his black hair and he leaned into her touch, so very gently. 'I've found you too late,' Demian whispered.

'Please stay with me,' her eyes filled with tears.

'I don't want you to watch,' Demian warned but she couldn't move. Her eyes were wide open when one of the Watchers made a tugging motion with his hand. She realized what he was doing only when Ax's body twisted a few times and he moaned. Only when he stopped moving Nema understood the fire-feeder was dead – that creature killed him with a pull of an invisible string.

'No! No!' She cried when another Watcher moved his scaly arm and Dener jerked with the same movement as if the rope around his neck was tightening. 'Leave them alone!' Nema was on her feet with the dagger in her hand but she could do nothing. They couldn't see or hear her and she doubted it would make any difference if they could.

When Dener cried out something inside of her cracked – like a hardened shell around the molten metal.

'No!' A scream tore out of her. It felt like all her rage and helplessness were fuel to that fire that was building up inside of her. Nema felt light-headed, her vision strangely distorted. 'Leave him alone!' She was dizzy and her limbs felt heavy.

When one of the Watchers turned towards Demian, Nema finally saw the end of the rope in his hand, a dark tread as if made of condensed darkness that led all the way to Demian. Now she realized why his body was in that position. His legs were bound above his knees, his wrists close together on his back. One part of the rope was tied around his chest, ending around his neck where the smallest tug of the creature could snap his neck broken.

The creature was now twisting its wrist until the rope was tight like a bow, his eyes empty and soulless.

Demian was staring at the creature's eyes as if daring his to kill him, his defiance unwavering.

In one moment of terror Nema realized she was about to lose him.

'Let. Him. Go.'

The voice that came out of her didn't sound like her own. Watcher's eyes turned to her.

The wind suddenly picked up the dry leaves, swirling them in the air. The forest was shaking, the trees bending and swaying against the violent gusts of the wind.

When she looked up, the Watchers were now staring at her. Almost thirty creatures were slowly advancing in her direction, their ropes ready in their hands.

She couldn't see Demian.

The storm was raging around them, the forest vibrating with its anger. Nema was slowly moving backward, feeling something like a hum behind her back.

When the humming grew too loud, she finally turned to see something that looked almost like a veil, a seven feet tall passage behind her, shimmering brightly in the night air.

'Oh!' Nema gasped. It was a portal.

'Come,' Demian appeared beside her. He grabbed her wrist and the next thing she knew she was face down in the tall grass, fragrant with the scent of wild roses.

It took her awhile to move. 'Demian?' She called feebly. Her entire body felt as if every little bone inside of it was cracked broken. 'Demian?' Nema managed to sit up.

She tried to strain her gaze – everything seeming like a delirious dream. Nema looked down to see her palms shining so bright as if she held two stars on them. When she saw Demian lying a bit further from her she managed to close the distance, keeping her palms downturned, for the light was blinding.

'Demian?'

He wasn't moving. Nema was afraid to touch him, the rays of light dancing on her skin so bright it illuminated the forest like in the middle of the day.

'Demian, please!' Panic made her heart beat erratically. Nema kept looking about her like a wild beast looking for an escape route. But there was no road out of this – there was no escaping from herself.

'Something is trapped inside you.' His words came to her mind.

Nema looked down at the glaring light still dancing on her palms. She pressed her hands against the ground to drown the glare.

'Demian, please wake up,' her voice was now less than a whisper and she held on to something that was less than a hope.

Demian's eyes opened, his gaze peaceful like the Quiet Sea on the south. He was looking at her like she didn't have to explain, like he already knew everything there was to know.

'We have to leave,' he said, trying to sit up. Despite his effort, Nema noticed how his face twisted when he tried to move. There were angry red marks around his neck and his wrist, his skin bruised.