Chapter Nine

Tremors

“Arianna, slow down!” Nalithor called after me as we sped through the rain-drenched forest surrounding Eormir. I skidded to a stop and pivoted to look at him. When he caught up, he slowed to a walk and released a heavy sigh, shouldering his spear. Brown blood dripped from the tip of the blade, sizzling when it met the forest floor. “The beasts aren’t going anywhere. We don’t have to rush.”

“Hmmm? If we walk it’ll take until dusk to get there.” I gave him a puzzled look as he smiled and placed a hand on top of my head. “We wanted to be back in Eormir by nightfall, right? In that case—”

“I am not as familiar with the forest as you are, Arianna,” Nalithor pointed out, chuckling as he ruffled my hair. “Once we reach the plateau we can run. For now, I would like to take a slower pace.”

“You didn’t have a problem when you chased me before,” I commented dryly.

“It also was not raining then.” Nalithor laughed. “I thought our men would have driven all the beasts from the forest by now. We’ve killed dozens a day since taking the city.”

“Well, our people aren’t doing much to hide their magic from the beasts. I’m not surprised their presence is attracting more than usual.” I grimaced as we began walking through the underbrush. “I’m more worried about the number of beasts on the western half of the island. It’s always been quite bad, but what you showed me seems like a little…much.”

“If we take too long we can stay in Auvry’e overnight,” Nalithor suggested, taking my hand in his. “I’m sure Corentine would like to see you now that you’re here, and I would like to see you give her an earful for—”

Nalithor sighed heavily when the roar of a beast nearby drowned out the rest of his sentence. He released my hand and we both readied our weapons before charging off in the direction of the roar. I summoned a platform of shadow in front of us, allowing us to spring over a felled tree and up toward the beast’s shoulder nearest us.

“Don’t let it bleed on you,” I called to Nalithor as I summoned flames down the length of Eoraso. “We’re going to have to dissect this one to find its heart or brain. Where shall we start?”

“I have a better idea.” Nalithor raised one hand and closed his eyes, channeling the power of fire within himself. I winced and glanced away when a pillar of blue-white flames engulfed the beast completely.

When Nalithor’s magic dissipated, only a pile of ash remained.

“That’s no fun.” I pouted, looking over at him.

“You did say you wanted to reach the other half of the island sooner rather than later,” Nalithor pointed on with an amused smirk. He clenched and unclenched his free hand a few times, resting his spear against his shoulder again with the other. “I believe I am growing used to the Mists. Though, I am not convinced that is a good thing.”

“We’d better find the source before you become too accustomed to it, then,” I murmured, frowning at him. “After all, your lack of familiarity with the Mists was supposed to help lead us to it. Since you’ve been in the city for a while now, I have to assume that the source isn’t there.”

“I agree.” Nalithor nodded, following me toward the nearby tree line. “Given the number of beasts beyond the plateau, I am inclined to believe it is there somewhere. I’ve never seen beasts congregate in such a manner, and you’ve mentioned numerous times that they’re drawn to magic or aether.

“We’ve given them plenty of bait, and I doubt you and Darius were able to maintain such potent shields as children—let alone whilst sleeping. In which case, something more appetizing has to have kept the beast’s attention.”

“I don’t know, I have it on good authority that I’m pretty appetizing.” I grinned at Nalithor when he swatted at me with his tail.

“Behave,” Nalithor stated dryly. “You may be a fox, but I don’t intend to take you in a forest, in the middle of a downpour, like some wild animal.”

“Ah well, I can wait if I have to.” I laughed, darting ahead of Nalithor again. “One thing is for certain, and that’s that we need to kill the beasts. Once we do, we won’t have long before they begin to repopulate though.”

“Djialkan, have you any theories on where the creatures come from?” Nalithor asked, glancing up at the fae-dragon gliding above our heads.

“None. The manner in which they appear makes little sense,” Djialkan answered, swooping down to perch on my shoulder. “Whether they burst out of the ground or ‘pop’ into existence, there is little warning to make judgments off of.”

“But there is some warning?” Nalithor probed.

“A distinct but subtle tremor in the aether.” I slowed my pace as we reach the tree line, a frown forming on my face. “Is that…sky?”

A sliver of blue was clearly visible through a break in the clouds. I stared blankly at it, not sure if I was truly seeing what I thought I was. Nalithor came to a stop beside me, his eyes narrowing as he followed my gaze.

“I get the strangest feeling that we should hurry.” Nalithor glanced to the side at me, then returned his gaze to the far edge of the plateau. “That tremble of power feels vaguely familiar.”

“And rather similar to a certain deity that claimed he couldn’t come to this rock with us, right?” I heaved a heavy sigh and then looked at Djialkan. “Do you know anything about this, Djialkan?”

“No, but it is quite possible that you are correct.” The fae-dragon squinted in the direction of the Sihix Forest and then to the west. “It struck me as strange that Sihix would not come to Eormir himself and return this piece back to the surface.”

“He hasn’t been looking well as of late, either…” I murmured, tilting my head.

“You think someone has been trying to kill a Lari’xan?” Nalithor growled, his grip tightening around his spear.

“I think we have plenty evidence that someone has been trying to seal, if not outright destroy, the Lari’xan,” I replied pointedly. “It’s not an ‘if’ at this point. In which case, perhaps slaughtering the beasts shouldn’t be our main priority. That tremor of power isn’t coming from his forest.”

“Meaning some part of him was separated from his domain and his body alike?” Nalithor’s brow furrowed as he sank into thought. “Being away from his domain shouldn’t matter under normal circumstances.”

“His power is growing weaker and so too are the Mists.” Djialkan growled, his claws clenching painfully around my shoulder. “This cannot be a coincidence. Sihix has somehow been used to create the Mists, and the power disappearing from his domain could be tied to his body attempting to keep itself alive.”

“Then we had best make haste.” Nalithor nudged me briefly before beginning to walk across the plateau. “He must have been playing off his condition before when he said that you would ‘get around to it eventually.’”

“Their sudden insistence on returning the fragments to the surface, and borrowing my power to do it, makes more sense this way too.” I grimaced, falling into step with Nalithor. “Muddy or not, I think we should run. How about I summon us a path so we don’t slip?”

“That would be best.” Nalithor slowed for a moment, summoning full plate armor around himself. He gave me a pointed look before pulling on his full helm.

I took the hint and summoned full plate armor as well and shifted away from my Rylthra form. Splashing mud on my furry tails sounded like a terrible idea, and if we were going to deal with multiple beasts at once I couldn’t focus a portion of my power on deflecting the grime. Not if I wanted to fend off multiple beasts and search for whatever fragment of Sihix we needed to find.

“Alala will arrive in Auvry’e soon and will await us at its border with her parents,” Djialkan informed us. “If it is truly Sihix in some form, he will need to be treated within his own domain at once.”

I made a motion with one hand, summoning a strip of darkness stretching from us all the way to the plateau’s edge. Nalithor shot me a mildly puzzled look before testing it with one foot. When he pulled his armored boot back, shadows stuck to his foot like honey.

“That should do.” Nalithor nodded to me.

“Then let’s get going.” I hopped up onto the strip of darkness and glanced at my fiancé briefly. “I’ll let you deal with any flying beasts, and I’ll focus on the landbound ones. When we can, Djialkan and I will locate Sihix. If there’s other threats…well, we’ll kill those too.”

‘We’re in agreement then.” Nalithor nodded, and without another word we both took off at a run across my darkness. ‘Djialkan, relay our change of plans to Eyrian and make certain he doesn’t bring Satrr, my sister, Lalira, or himself to the forest. I won’t have them corrupted by an unstable Lari’xan.’

“Of course.” Djialkan snorted, leaping from my shoulder.

‘Don’t hold back,’ I warned Nalithor. ‘If we really are pressed for time, we can’t afford to worry about damaging the area.’

‘One of us will need to have enough power to defend whomever transports Sihix,’ Nalithor countered, making me grimace within my helmet. ‘You have better control of your power while in the presence of the Mists. I will transport Sihix, you can slaughter the beasts.’

‘Fine,’ I replied, springing off the side of the cliff without hesitation. A tremor of both rage and delight ran through me when I saw several beasts nearby. ‘Other side of the lake. Let’s carve a path.’

I landed on the head of one beast and drove Eoraso into one of its eyes, killing it almost instantly. A barrier of ice sprung up between me and one of the other beasts as it swung at me. The spikes on the other side of the barrier pierced the creature’s hand as I leapt away.

‘Kill only the ones in our way,’ Nalithor spoke with a dangerous growl.

‘Agreed. We can kill the rest later.’ I summoned a spike of ice and sent it flying through the neck of another beast. Now that we were beyond the plateau, I felt the pull of Sihix’s power more distinctly. It was absolutely his power, and it was fading. ‘Djialkan, can you contact Yiltanys from here?’

‘No.’

‘Nalithor, open a portal to your domain so that Djialkan can reach Yiltanys, I don’t think we’re going to be able to wait.’ I glanced toward him when he growled again. ‘I’ll start clearing a path while you two see to that.’

He nodded to me briefly and I set off at a run toward the lake, cutting down every beast that crossed my path. When I cleared the trees, I bared my fangs and hissed with displeasure. On the far side of the lake, resting on a small island, was a glimmer of purple crystal growing at an alarming rate. Strands of sickly golden power beat at the crystal like whips, failing to break or otherwise penetrate it.

But the crystal was failing.

“Stop them!” Yiltanys snapped from behind me. I glanced back at him and grew still when I spotted the unconscious Sihix limp in his counterpart’s arms. “Both of you. I do not care how much power you must use.”

‘…Arianna?’ Nalithor murmured.

‘You heard him.’ I shook my head slightly and breathed out a small sigh, loosening the bonds keeping my form and my power in check. ‘I’ll freeze the lake and create us a path.

‘Don’t take any prisoners. We can’t afford to.’

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