Sol

We were on day two of travel since we had left the first town we had encountered since returning to Illuria. My feet were sore and blistered by the rocky road, if it weren’t for Melinde and her healing they would have been a bloody mess. I now understood why Landwalkers wore shoes, though if I were to put on a pair again they would feel extremely claustrophobic.

I gritted my teeth and bore the pain; I knew it was worth it to reach Naomi and confront Lemuete. Was my aunt was still there, still serving him. Was her banishment the reason why she had joined the demon? Would I be able to save her?

She couldn’t return to Geyser, then again I don’t think I could return either. I had killed my husband’s guards and nearly killed him. Even though I had been possessed at the time, my people would still see me as the criminal. What punishment would Vael give me?

He had his heir, so he didn’t need me for breeding. I had very little combat training and even less political training so I was useless as an advisor. With such low value to him, he could easily sentence me to death as his right as my husband. The only thing that could prevent his blade from touching my neck was the fact that I was now Eminence and the prince needed me for his political cause.

If Vael didn’t love me anymore, he could easily divorce me as he had his wives before me. I was just the third wife; I could see how much he still loved Ai and how hurt he was that they weren’t together. He almost never spoke of Syr, their marriage more political than romantic, but what was I to him?

Had I been a “safe” choice for him, someone he didn’t love and had no political motives? Could I believe that he had noticed me five years ago and had secretly loved me after his first marriage failed?

“Sol?” Melinde said as she sat on her horse. I looked up at her, noticing the circles under her eyes. We all were tired, the miasma sucking out our strength even as Fix healed us. “You’ve been quiet for a while now.”

“Yeah…”

“Do you want to talk?”

I looked sideways at Lasaro. He looked so exhausted that I seemed hyper by comparison. Was the Bone God still punishing him?

“Don’t worry, we don’t need to talk about anything personal, if you feel uncomfortable about it.”

I shook my head. “No, I don’t mind. I was just thinking about Vael.”

“You’re husband?”

“I’m his third wife. After killing some of his guards, I don’t know if he’ll divorce me too.” I rubbed my arms. Was I silly for thinking about this?

“Oh!” she exclaimed. “Why do you think he’ll divorce you?”

“Why wouldn’t he? This is the second time that I’ve killed one of his subjects and on top of that I almost killed him!” I gripped my sleeves tightly resisting the urge to scratch my arms in frustration. “I don’t want to lose him.”

“I can’t imagine what you’re going through.” She placed her hand on my head.

“When this is over I’m going directly to the capital.”

“You don’t want to see your husband?”

“No,” I said shaking my head. How could I face him after what I’d done? If I never returned he wouldn’t be put in a position to have me punished to satisfy the people.

“I know it’s not my place, but you should return to your husband. He wants to see you and asked me to bring you back,” Lasaro said.

I was about to respond when the road became silent.

The horse had been plodding along pleasantly beside me then suddenly reared back, its mouth open in a soundless scream. Melinde managed to hold onto the reins and keep her seat as the horse began to kick and buck. I wondered what had spooked the horse when I saw red bloom from its chest like a flower. Light Foot then bolted to my left, knocking Lasaro and me to the ground as it sailed oved the ditch and raced down the hill we had crested.

I forced myself to my feet, my legs feeling like lead as I crouched and looked for the source of the bullets. (Tempest and waves), I growled. Lasaro was backing down the hill on his hands and toes and followed. I had been in doubt before, but now I knew for certain that the demon knew we were here.

How many rifleman were hidden on the other side of the hill? There were dozens of tall bushes and trees for them to hide behind and pick us off if we tried a frontal charge. I looked for Melinde’s horse, but she and it were no longer in sight. My whole body was shaking and I could feel a cold sweat trickling down my back. My leg throbbed where I had been shot months ago and my breath caught in my throat.

I didn’t want to be shot again, I didn’t want to see anyone else shot. I still remember holding Ryaa’s limp body in my arms and praying for him to be saved. It wasn’t fair that I had tried to save his life only for him to die saving mine. I looked around for him and noticed that he was gone, maybe he had followed after his sister when the horse bolted.

I pressed my palms into my eyes and took a ragged breath then a second. I needed to move, the longer we stayed in one position, the more likely that the men would try to flank us. I looked at Lasaro who was kneeling beside me. His hand was pressed to his right side. I slid over on my bottom and pointed to his side. He moved his hand to reveal a splotch of blood. Panicked I pushed his arm up and pulled aside the torn fabric of his robe. The flesh beneath was torn, the bullet had only grazed him.

I sighed in relief and pressed my palm to my eye. I needed to calm down.

Lasaro began tracing something in the dirt. I watched intently realizing he was drawing a simplified version of the hill we were on and the trees around us. He pointed to me then the top of the hill. He drew a small stick person then a bigger one with an arrow pointing from the former to the latter. He pointed to himself, his father and my mother, and then drew an arrow circling around the hill.

I nodded in understanding and grew to my giant size. My stomach twisted and rolled as I stood and walked to the top of the hill. I felt bullets cut into my skin like needles, but I stood firm and covered my eyes with one arm and began walking down the other side of the hill.

All I had to do was distract these men. I wished that the curtain of silence had not fallen around us so that I could use my siren’s voice. I felt like we were at a disadvantage facing the fallen Silent God.

Spots fell before my eyes and I fell hard on my knees. My tongue was tender and bitter in my mouth as I clutched my jaw where the blow had landed. I glanced to my left and saw a large man with yellow skin and black hair. He carried a tree trunk in his hands which he had used to club me in the mouth.

I spat out blood and gritted my teeth. I had hoped that this fight would be easy, but I was wrong. Hopefully Melinde was safe and getting far away from this fight. I could only imagine what this man would do to her.

(Alright ugly, let’s see how strong you really are), I said into the silence. I could feel my throat vibrate, but still couldn’t hear my words. I raised my fists and entered a defensive stance that I had been taught years ago. I remembered my scuffle with Cia and forced that memory down; this was different.

The man swung the trunk and I leap backward. My right foot slipped then rolled under my leg causing me to stumble into the ditch. (Hounds!), I cursed as pain shot through my ankle. The man didn’t give me time to recover and leapt forward, swinging the trunk down over my head. I raised my arms and the wood slammed into my forearms numbing them on impact.

Using my good leg I pushed up and threw the weight of the tree to my right side before delivering a jab with my elbow to the man’s nose. I felt it connect and the man stumbled back for half a step before swinging the tree at me again. I didn’t have time to get out of the ditch so I shuffled toward the hill, dragging my lamed foot. All the while I could feel the sting of bullets colliding against my skin as the man in front of me continued to pursue.

He alternated between swinging and jabbing with the trunk and it took nearly all of my concentration to block and keep from falling over. My eyes scanned for openings, but his movements were controlled and furious.

Where was Lasaro? Why hadn’t he become gigantic? Sweat dripped into my left eye, but I resisted the urge to wipe it away. My chest ached and my limbs alternated between hot and cold as I blocked. I was getting frustrated only blocking so I grabbed the tree after I dodged then braced my knees. I pulled with all of my strength and the wood slipped from his hands. He immediately lurched forward and grabbed me by the collar. He belched a foul yellow cloud into my face causing me to cough violently and release the trunk.

A kick landed on my ribs and I collapsed while trying to catch my breath. I felt his foot connect with my sternum so I grabbed his ankle and squeezed. I was rewarded by snap of his bones as I crushed them between my hands. It seemed that even though he had gained more strength with his size, his strength still couldn’t compare to that of Waterfolk.

I pulled on his leg as he gave a silent yell and watched as it popped out of the socket when I gave a sharp yank. He collapsed to one knee, blindly grasping at his leg. My arms shook as I pushed myself to a sitting position and looked at the man struggling to crawl away.

(Bastard!), I shouted at him even though I knew he couldn’t hear me. I stood up and limped forward and bent to grab him when his body began to morph. His limbs inflated like a bladder and elongated. His head swelled in an almost comical fashion until it was twice the size it had been when he first attacked me.

His bulbous hands wrapped around my neck and I kicked him in the groin as black spots clouded my vision. He curled in the fetal position and I backed away.

How was I supposed to take him down now with his increased strength? I didn’t have a weapon to use and I still didn’t know where Lasaro was. I found the tree trunk where it had been discarded and picked it up with both hand then brought it down hard on the man’s head. I put my weight into the swing and watched as the wood splintered and cracked as it collided with his temple.

He dropped with a thud that shook the ground beneath me. It was then that I noticed that the bullets had stop cutting into my skin. My mother caught my eyes and waved toward a clump of trees. I followed her and found Lasaro kneeling over a bloody body. His chest heaved as he gasped in silence. He waved weakly at me then his eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed.

I froze in disbelief then released my giant form. I limped to him and held my hand under his nose. After feeling his breath on my fingers I checked for more wounds and found another bullet entry at his left hip. I immediately began applying pressure to the wound while looking around for more men.

One by one I identified three more bodies strewn in various positions around the road. It seemed like Lasaro had ambushed the men and cut them down before they had more time to react. Melinde was still nowhere in sight and the green robe that Lasaro wore was becoming maroon with each passing moment.

(Tempest and waves, where is she?)

I began coughing again and covered my mouth. When I pulled my hand away I saw black blood.

Melinde

The horse nearly tossed me off its back as it reared back. I held on tightly to the reins and locked my knees to keep from sliding off. The animal then lurched forward and began to gallop away. I looked over my shoulder and saw Lasaro and Sol on the ground for a brief moment until they were hidden by the swell of the hill.

The terrain we had been passing through had been grassy and rocky with only a few bushes and trees after leaving the farmlands. This area looked like it had once been farmed, but now was overgrown and abandoned. The scenery rushed by as the horse continued to rush further and further away from the others. No matter how hard I tugged on the reins it refused to stop its charge

(Whoa!), I shouted and realized why I had felt so unnerved, I couldn’t hear the horse’s breathing or its hooves hitting the ground. I debated on how I would stop the spooked animal when I saw a shape rise up from the grass and leap into the horse’s side, knocking it and me to the ground.

I felt my leg snap under the weight of the horse and yelped in pain as fire spread up my thigh and spine. The weight increased as the beast that had ran into us stood on the horse’s chest, snarling and drooling onto my chest. My vision darkened around the edges as the dog-like creature barked into my face spraying spittle. It looked like a giant wolf with a black coat covered in yellow pustules that oozed and popped. I felt my stomach turn.

(Get away you mutt!) I growled at it. I wished that I could hear my own voice, but I knew it would do little to deter the animal. At that moment I wished that I had the strength of the Waterfolk to go with my transformation, but unfortunately the Grace only granted me the ability to breathe and swim under water.

I reached for Fix then pulled back my hand swiftly as the dog lunged for it. Its black fur took on a greenish hue as it returned to growling over me and feinting with its fangs close to my throat. I soon realized that he was keeping me trapped here, probably for someone I couldn’t see.

A shadow passed over my eyes and for a moment I thought I had gone blind until I my eyes adjusted and I could see that it was a man standing over me. He had short brown hair and his eyes shined like twin pale green moons.

“Hello,” he said.

My eyes opened wide in surprise. Why could I hear him but nothing else? Was this a trick? Was he the source of the silence? My eyes narrowed.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“Come out, I know you’re here,” he said.

My brows pinched together. What was he talking about?

Fix began to glow beside me. A white mist rose out of it and took the form of a woman with white hair, white skin and silver eyes. Even the robes that she wore was white. She was stunningly beautiful as she hovered over my weapon staring coolly at the man.

“I vowed that if I saw you again I would kill you,” the woman said. The man smirked and grabbed her by the throat. I immediately felt a painful pressure around my throat in the same area.

“You’re not strong enough. I’ve learned from my last mistakes. Your mother can try all she wants to kill me…” He opened his mouth and inhaled the woman. She screamed as she was devoured in front of me. “But she’s too weak,” the man finished.

My body felt as if it had been lit on fire and I screamed. My fingers clawed at the dirt and clawed at my skin as I looked around wildly for relief from the pain. I had never felt such pain before, not even birthing Rolan had I been in this much agony. I ground my teeth and tried to swallow back my screams as tried to find something to focus on.

The man turned his attention back to me and the silence returned. He picked up Fix from the ground and that was when I noticed that the spear had changed. The symbols on its shaft had disappeared and the wood looked like it suffered from rot and the tip rusted and riddled with holes.

Before I could react he stabbed me through the throat.

“I am not such a cruel person to let you die alone,” the man said. “Say hello to my sister for me.”

He sat down beside me as I lay pinned and trembling beneath the horse and spear. My body felt cold as I stared up at the blue sky above me. The pain felt distant, like it was happening to someone else’s body. Even so, I felt hot tears run down my cheeks.

I had promised Arno and Rolan that I would return, but now it looked like I wouldn’t be able to. Where was my Mistress? Was she really going to let me die when we were so far away from our goal?

I willed my hands to move, picturing them grabbing the spear and pulling it out of my neck, but it just remained a fantasy. I was paralyzed. All I could do was lay down and cry while my life drained away.

What would the Mistress say when I entered her halls? Would she be disappointed in me or would she welcome me with open arms?

My thoughts strayed to Ryaa. Where had he gone? I would think that he would stay with me when I was dying. Was it too much for him or had he gone for help?

The sky turned black and the sound of the wind filled my ears. It wasn’t fair for the day to be so peaceful when I was dying.

I heard a faint noise, like the sound of trumpets. Was the Mistress welcoming me?