A to Z Challenge. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR -- POWER

           He left the sounds of clashing swords and shouts behind.  His instincts demanded he return and face the immediate foe, but he forced himself onward.  The Sylvan would take care of Ahriman’s followers.  He needed to reach the faint light flashing in the distance.

            Nándor knew Ahriman and Garrick were there.  And Ruya.  His hand clenched on the grip.  Ruya.  

            He slowed his horse as he approached.  There.  They stood high above upon an outcrop.  

            Dismounting, he sneaked toward them, using the shadows as cover.  They vanished from his sight as he moved around to the stairs and began to climb.  He hesitated with each step.  He did not want to alert them to his presence by stepping on the dried remnants of the xeric plant life.

            At the landing’s precipice, his head was just visible, but he had a clear view.  He watched as Ahriman caressed the stone reverently.  “I will have my wish.  I will have the means to rule my people.”  

He lifted the stone to eye level, peering deep into it.  The light painted his face sick lavender.  The stone’s thrumming grew louder as if it acknowledged Ahriman.  It set Nandor’s teeth on edge. 

            “Now witness the rise of a new king.”  Ahriman set the stone in the depression on the xanthous pedestal before him.  

A deep rumbling began as violet light raced down the pedestal and around the circle.  The thumping heartbeat grew louder.  Ruya cried out and gripped her head as Garrick held her upright.  

Nándor held back.  To attack now was folly.  To have the full advantage of surprise he needed more distraction.  

“Take her to the pedestal and put her hand on the stone.”

Garrick hesitated.  

“Do it.  Now!” Ahriman ordered.  

Garrick half dragged her there.  She protested as he lifted her hand to place on the stone.

“Stop!” Nándor shouted.  He strode toward them.  “Let her go, Garrick.”

Ahriman rushed and yanked Ruya from Garrick’s grip.  “Kill him.  I’m too close to my goal to see it thwarted.”  

            He did not spare a glance to see if Garrick obeyed.  He took her limp hand and slammed it down onto the stone.

             Nándor’s “NO!” echoed out in tandem with Ruya’s piercing shriek.   
  

Ribbons of purple power shot down into the ground from the podium.  The stone circle shattered as light flared from underneath.  The ground rumbled as it cracked, crunching and grinding.  Air exploded from underneath, spewing xanthic dust into the air.  The entire circle fell away.  

The intense vibrations sent pebbles and dirt hurdling in manic bounces.  Nándor lost his footing on a loosened patch.  He had remained upright by sheer force, but it was a near thing.  He gritted his teeth as agony sliced up his side.  Hot and wet trickled down his skin as he gained his balance.  

He waited for the bite of his cousin’s weapon.  Only Garrick was not attacking him.  He grappled with Ahriman a few feet away from the podium.  “Get Ruya!”

His eyes widened in horror as he reached her.  Her body arched back even as the hand grasping the stone strained.  Blood ran down her nostrils and the corner of her open mouth.  Her eyes, open and unseeing, were dilated so far that the only a thin strip of color remained.  

            An energy shock went through him when he took her wrist.  He wrenched her hand away from the stone.  Ruya slumped in his arms.  He moved her out of danger, setting her down gently.

           Ahriman and Garrick’s swords clashed. Furious blows rang out in quick succession.

           Then the unthinkable happened.

©djinnia 2014

A to Z Challenge. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE -- SNARE

            They split their force into three groups.  The main group would travel the main thoroughfare while the other two groups would wend like wraiths down side streets.  It let them hide their number as well as flank the enemy if they attacked, and they knew attack was inevitable.    

They knew Ahriman was smart enough to set his men to waylay them.  This place was ripe with ambush spots especially in the wan light.  The enemy also knew the ground, which gave them an advantage.

            Whitherward they went as night devoured the city despite having no plan or information.  They all knew the stakes were too high not to risk it.

            Although he stayed focused on the surroundings, Nándor’s thoughts wandered to Ruya and what she had endured the last few days.  He wondered if her lips would curl in that winsome grin ever again or if it had been crushed.  

            His lips thinned.  What did his wastrel cousin do to her?  If he harmed her . . .  Just the mere speculation had wroth anger festering in his blood.  The wound of betrayal pained him as deep as the wound he carried.  

            His woolgathering ceased when a subtle shift had his is eyes darting toward the gap between two buildings.  The enemy readied themselves.  

The near invisible, silent command to prepare was issued.  Eyes scanned the shadows, waiting for the enemy to strike first.

Like locusts they swarmed, surrounding the Sylvan.  They came from every opening, their voices raised in war cries.  Swift and fierce swords flayed and legs kicked out. 

Foes fell before the skilled Sylvan, creating an opening for Nándor to escape and continue.  This delay cost him time he needed.  Only he stayed with them.  

A flash of light distracted Nándor.  “Ruya,” he whispered before blocking a blow.

Tién smashed her foot into the face of one attacker as she swiped her sword at a second.  When she saw him turn away to take on another man, she urged her horse toward him.  “Go!” Tién shouted as she faced another enemy, wresting his sword out of his hands with hers.

He started to protest, but she pointed her sword toward the unblocked path. “Your battle is with your brother. You must stop him.”

Nándor urged his horse forward, taking one last glace at the wight Sylvan.

©djinnia 2014

A to Z Challenge. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO -- DISCLOSURE

            Two vigilant trackers rode point following faint vicissitude of passage.  They were hours behind the other group, but they made steady progress gaining on them.  The astute ability to anticipate the others’ movements allowed for faster travel. 

           Nándor and Tién rode together. Her visage vivified by the humorous childhood story she told him, which had him chuckling.  Only the vim quickly left his face when unpleasant thoughts returned. 

“You are thinking about them again,” she chided.  

His lips tightened before he blew out a heavy breath.  “Yes.  My vexatious cousin and the Lady Ruya plague me.  I don’t understand what caused this venal act.  I’ve always watched his back as he has watched mine.  He’s been more my brother than even my own.”  A hand went to his throbbing side.  “The varlet will have much to answer for when I see him again.”

  Tién had no time to answer.    
         

Their scout had backtracked to the main group causing them to halt.  She pointed to the rock in the distance.  “They stopped there not long ago.  A second group joined them from the direction of the dark city.  They joined forces and went toward the city once more.”

“How many?” one of the Sylvan asked.

“Twenty horses.”  Holding out her hand, she revealed a ribbon.  “And I found this.”
 

“Ruya,” Nándor whispered.  

*****

Ruya rode on Garrick’s lap, her head too heavy to lift.  She clutched at Garrick’s clothes as her stomach churned. 
 

Ahriman’s vulpine features filled her vertiginous vision and surrounded by a swirling violescent aura of her megrim.  “Does it bother you?”

Ruya said nothing.  

“I’m truly sorry for your discomfort.  It cannot be helped.” 

The verisimilitude of his statement made her already sensitive skin crawl.  His next words shot ice shards through her heart.  “The mithridate Alim gave you opened your mind to him.  I suppose the pain was inevitable.”

“What do you mean?” she forced out of her tight throat.

He grinned.  “My plans have always consisted of you, Lady Ruya.  Once I heard rumors of an augur of extreme power, I knew the time was at hand.”  When he saw her confusion, a vehement laugh escaped.  “You don’t understand, do you?”

Ruya cringed into Garrick’s chest.  She did not want to hear anymore, but she gave a small shake of her head.

“Your coming to Phaeris is no accident.  I knew Nándor would go to the Aerie.  I knew he would speak to you because I made sure you were the augur I consulted.”  His dark eyes glittered.  “Your gift fails to show you the most important details.  It has always ever been you.

“Garrick was traveling to the Aerie to take you.  Only he was surprised when you and Nandor walked into the inn.  It made things so much easier.”

Ruya did not have the strength to push away from Garrick at learning of his second betrayal, but the muscles in his arm tensed where they touched her back, shocking her.  Was it guilt or something else?

Ahriman’s verbose commentary continued.  “Who do you think hid the book at the Thorn?  I did.”  He thumped his chest.  “I knew when I found the book Alim would translate it and use the potions there.  It was so easy to tamper with them.  That fool didn’t even realize.  He thought my interest was in the lapidary.”

A manic grin spread at her horrified expression.  “You’re asking yourself how, yes?  How did I know you would take it?  Quite easily.”  His gaze flicked to Garrick.  “He knew which vials to steal if you did not succumb to your abilities.  He would have slipped you the potion on your journey.

“He has guided your journey every step of the way.  He has been invaluable.”

Turning her face away, tears fell, hidden in the arm.

The sun dipped low in the sky when Ahriman halted.  “Behold the once great Phaeris.”

Ruya lifted her head enough to take in the fabled city.  White granite hills, painted the hues of the coming sunset, rose like warriors, encircling it.  The vicinage was eerily similar to the dream.

“Years of planning and so many trips to prepare, but now it is finished.  Erra will be reborn.”

©djinnia 2014

A to Z Challenge. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE -- DESERT

             Four days of scorching heat, burning sand, and undulating air.  Four days of avoiding the ugsome companions she was forced to travel.  Only Garrick kept her safe, and she was grateful.

            It had been only the night before.  Esben had grabbed her arm and dragged her toward his tent.  Garrick ripped her away, ordered her to the tent, and had an all-out confrontation with Esben.  Today, the umbrage was palatable between the two men.  The silence made the long road even longer.

           Surprised that they stopped so early in the day, she looked to Garrick.  He had dismounted and pulled his horse into the umbriferous rocks.  She followed suit, studying the enormous formation of sharp, black stone.  In the sea of shifting umber sand, it rose like mountain.  Its shadow stretched far, giving them a retreat from the unrelenting heat.

           She sat on a relatively flat rock and took the time to fix the loose hair getting in her mouth.  When she went to grab the ribbon beside her, a hot gust of wind blew and pilfered it.  

            A hand gripped her arm as she made a move to capture it.  "Leave it."  

           Ruya started to protest but the steel expression halted her.  "I said leave it, princess."

            “Why have we stopped?” 
    
            Garrick gazed out over the horizon.  “We’re waiting for Ahriman.”

***** 

            The shadows had marked the hours as they shifted direction.  A cold chill crawled across her body when a dark splotch appeared on the horizon.  She knew who approached.  Knots formed in her stomach as it churned.  Clammy sweat and a sour taste in her mouth had her forcing back a gag. 

            She was so close to it.  The pulsing beat drew near as Ahriman drew near.  

            She wanted to clutch her head, rip out her hair, and ululate until her throat was raw.  Only that would be untoward to show weakness here in the company of such men.

            No, she was stronger than that, but the ubiquitousness of that thing would test her resolve and will.  

©djinnia 2014