Divided (88 page)

His jaw was working, and Ryo was asking a question.  But she
couldn’t hear any of it.  She didn’t have time to hear any of it.  Finally, Lee
nodded his head and started towards his horse without a word.  “Aela!”  Ryo’s
words finally pierced into her unending anguish, though they reached her for
only one reason.  Her eyes tore down to Leif, still broken and dying on the
ground.  Her lips pressed into a line, and tears stabbed into her eyes.

Slowly, she turned to face her eldest brother.  Throwing her
arms around him, she spoke quickly and assuredly.  “I have to go.  I have to
stop this.  Please, please, take care of Leif,” she begged.  Her voice
wavered.  Leaving Leif was not anything she could have imagined doing a few
moments before she’d read those words.  Leif had a chance, though… and…

At once, Ryo pushed her back and glared into her eyes with insistent
fury.  “No!  I’m going with you!  He’s my brother, too, Aela!” Ryo reminded
her.  She knew that Ryo’s pain must be nearly as great as her own, even though
he had not read the words.  Her behavior left little to be discerned. 

“I know,” she choked.  “But Leif… I can’t abandon him.  And…
you don’t understand what… I have to go to Taeru.  But, you… your men need
you.  Leif needs you.  Please, please, don’t let him die, Ryo.  I love him.”

“You
what
?” Ryo was staggered, and his body swayed as
though he’d just been struck by some mighty blow. 

There was certainly no time to explain this, and Aela shook
her head to indicate to Ryo this fact.  Lee called from the outside, signaling
that he’d mounted his horse and was waiting on her.  That meant he knew where
to go.  “Please, Ryo… do this for me.”  Her words were sincere, and her eyes
continued to blur with tears.

At last, Ryo offered a slight nod, and he glanced warily
back to Leif.  Her brother was in pain, and he wanted to go, but he loved Aela
too.  And to leave Leif would be to kill Aela indirectly.  “Be careful.  Bring
him back.”  Ryo said softly.  “I’ll do my best here.”

“Thank you, Ryo.  Stay safe.”  Ryo walked her out to the
front of the building with a wary expression on his face.

When they reached the door, Ryo glanced up towards Lee—Aela
was just about to reassure her brother when Ryo reached towards his back and
removed his metal shield.  “Here,” he snapped.  “Protect them.”

With a flourish of motion, Lee caught the shield and eased
it onto his own back.  “As you say,” he said, and there was genuine respect
lingering somewhere in his neutral voice. 

Lee extended his hand down to Aela, and then he pulled her
onto the horse in front of him.  Apparently, he didn’t trust her to hang on at
the back.  She didn’t have time to be bothered by it.  “Hurry, Lee!”

Before she’d finished speaking, Lee’s heels had dug into the
horse, and her body was jolted to attention as the horse galloped along the wet
street.

“The courage to step forward and fight for what they
knew was right was a trait shared throughout every hero.”

-A Hero’s Peace v.ii

Taeru had slowed the horse to a canter by the time he
reached the grove.  The walk that had felt so short when he had been with Calis
felt as though it lasted an eternity on the back of the cream-colored horse. 
The rain had soaked him to the bone, and his body trembled at the dropping
temperature.  He was sure that he had never faced weather so cold, or so
destructive.  He had to pause numerous times throughout the journey to steady
the horse.  The creature was positively distraught by the time they reached the
grove.

Once he had made the turn towards the forest, he had known
that going to this obelisk was his only option, despite the overwhelming sense
of dread that filled his system the moment he came into direct view of the
obelisk.  However, the anomaly now towered towards the sky, overtaking the
entire forest with its frightening vision.  Now, only a few paces from it,
Taeru’s body shook without his volition. 

Whether the cold or the sight of the thing was to blame, he
wasn’t sure.  In fact, he assumed that it was a terrible mix of both.  Allowing
the horse to stay a ways behind, he started forward.  The obelisk was opened
like a peeled fruit.  Two sides of the violet crystal sat opened, to the side,
revealing the black crucifix that he had seen in his dreams.  The tendrils
moved about the structure like snakes moving along the surface.  A surface that
wasn’t quite solid. 

Drawing both blades, Taeru stepped forward, into the field,
with narrowed eyes.  After the first step, a distinct sound, one that seemed to
be a voice speaking to him from far away, distracted him.  “You came,” it
whispered.  Taeru’s ankle was suddenly twisted, and as he looked down, the very
creatures that had been inhabiting the city began to spring from the ground. 

They sprang up, and as in his dream, there seemed to be an
endless amount.  All the ones that he had seen in Telandus could not have
compared to the ones before him now.  Holding his swords forward, Taeru
narrowed his eyes, teeth grinding together.  “So be it,” he snarled.  With a
long, menacing screech, that seemed to be the sound of every monster in the
clearing calling at once, they charged him.

His sword moved without thought.  The pain of his lingering
injuries vanished into a far off distance as he swung his sword into the flesh
of the creatures surrounding him.  And surround him they did, they converged at
his back so that he was forced to spin, constantly, to ensure that he was not
destroyed.  His first sword moved up, then down, then across, while his other
complemented it, parrying the blows that he could not dodge.  His body had
recovered nicely, and he found that stepping out of the cumbersome creature’s
path of destruction was fairly easy.  He pushed onwards, knowing that to remain
where he was would be suicide.  If he was going to put an end to this, then he
would have to reach that obelisk.  Cutting right, he sliced a fine line across
one of the creatures’ necks, and then he pulled the sword back to stick into
another’s chest.  His second-hand sword cut next, finding the next target with
deadly precision. 

All the practice he’d had with Aitken flashed before his
eyes, and anger flared up in him like never before.  A little boy—just a little
boy—and Aitken had been hanged because of Taeru’s failures, and because of a
deal that had been made centuries ago.  Why ought Aitken be held accountable? 
If anyone had been hanged, it ought to have been Taeru—not Juliet and her
little boy.  Another growl crossed his lips as his sword hit hard into the head
of another creature.  They were endless—he could have swung blindly and struck
something with each blow, but he did not swing blindly, for that would have
surely meant his death.

And he had not come so far only to be murdered by creatures
only paces before his destination.  “Aleia!” he shouted, though all he could
see were the creatures coming at him.  His sword cut through them in an
infinite loop of motion.  A claw would strike along his side, and his sword
would move up to meet the chin of the monster that had performed the injury.  His
body would run out of stamina eventually, and he knew that, but he kept going. 
“Aleia!  There is no war!  You are going back on your word, which is to defy
your right as a Magister!” he cried.

Once more, a creature ran a talon along his back, and once more
he ran the creature through a moment later.  Noticing a tree near enough to run
to, he did.  Hoisting himself upwards, he could see the monsters spreading
their wings, attempting to reach him.  The first one rose up initially, and he
caught its wing with a dual strike that landed the creature back atop its
comrades.  Rather than worrying with the ones directly below him, Taeru sprung outwards,
deeper into the crowd of monsters.

The further he went, the stronger his desire to run became. 
The obelisk howled closely, and the creatures became fiercer, determined to
keep him at bay.  But he fought, despite the blood that leaked from old and new
wounds, and despite the way his still-recovering fingers ached to stop.  He
beheaded another of the creatures and took another step forward.  One of them
lunged towards him, knocking him to the ground and sinking its teeth into his
collarbone.  He growled, kicking upwards and knocking the thing back.  Swinging
his sword outward, he caught another creature that attempted to land him in the
same position.

A few more swings, and he stepped across an apparent
threshold.  The moment he reached the other side of it, the creatures seemed to
back away.  He glanced back, and his body staggered at the lack of adrenaline. 
Blood spilled down his arms and legs, and smeared liquid from the creatures
splashed along his face.  Only when he took a breath and glanced towards the
obelisk did he see her.  The same woman from his dream, standing only a few
paces from him.  Aleia the Magister of Direction and Manipulation.

Red lips that seemed to drip with lust smiled at him, and
her hair wound backwards, stopping just short of the obelisk.  Her body was
like a smaller version of the obelisk, though the vines twisted about one
another to form an almost human body.  She stepped towards him, and in spite of
himself, he stepped backwards.  “Aleia,” he said as rain, blood, and sweat
poured down his face.  “Stop this.  There is no war.  I have upheld the pledge
my ancestor made to you.”  His eyelids fluttered in pain, and his body twitched
in fear.  “Stop this.  Remove these creatures from Telandus.  You cannot hurt
the residents there without going back on your word, which is a debasement of
who you are, who the Magisters are.  N-not just Telandus—remove them from
Elyst!”  His words were spoken in a serious growl.

The moment he spoke the word ‘Magisters,’ one of the vines
from her body shot forward to wrap around his waist.  Reacting at once, he
swung one of his swords and broke the vine.  She let out a howl, and then with
a grimace, she nodded.  “You ask that I remove my creatures, then?  From
Elyst?” she asked.  The voice was like a thousand monsters speaking to him at
once, and he flinched way from it.

“Yes, you must,” Taeru said earnestly.  “There is no war. 
You must see that, my Lady.”  She was a Magister, and he ought to regard her as
one.  Perhaps if he did, then she would realize that she was breaking an oath
that all Magisters ought to have. 

“Must I?” she asked, or rather, the thousand voices that
spoke from her vile mouth asked.  Taeru let out an unsteady breath, but he
nodded his head without wavering.  He could see the vines of her body moving,
slowly, and he knew they were not done with him yet.

His jaw clenched, and he squeezed his swords a little
tighter.  “Magister Aleia, I implore you.  Keep your word.  The citizens of
Telandus are not bad people, nor are the ones of Cathalar.  You manipulated
Lavus, and you know that.  They are not without love, or faith, and they do not
deserve your wrath.”  The more he spoke, the weaker his words sounded.  He
believed what he said, but he feared this creature before him, and he feared
her deeply.

“You speak the truth, false prince,” she whispered.  Taeru’s
body quivered at her words.  False prince.  Though, he supposed that was
accurate, if he was indeed an illegitimate child of his mother.  Fair
enough—she could insult him, but she had to go through with what she had
promised all that time ago.  “Very well.  I will withdraw my creatures, and
they will not harm another member of Elyst.”

Her strange hand lifted, and with a strange spark, he could
feel the lift in the air.  As he looked around, the strange plants that had
represented the creatures slowly began to disappear in whirls of black energy.  Taeru
breathed warily, and he looked at her.  “Th-thank you,” he murmured.  He had
not expected it to go so smoothly.  Inevitably, though, the storm began to slow,
and the moon in the distance eased back to white.

Still, she remained where she was, staring at him with
yellow eyes.  They were invariable, and he took a step backwards.  He drew another
quick breath, and he stared at the ground.  Things were returning to normal,
but something felt wrong as he stood there.  The obelisk wasn’t disappearing. 
“Are you finished, child?” the voice asked.

He shook, but very warily, he responded.  “And you swear
that none of them will be harmed?  That the citizens of Cathalar nor Telandus
will be harmed by you or those things anymore?”  His voice was steadied as he
finished.

“I swear,” the voice said. 

“Then, yes, I am finished.”

All at once, she laughed, even as the sky continued to
clear.  The vines along her body were twisting maliciously, and Taeru felt his
skin beginning to prickle with concern.  “There is one thing you forgot, little
boy,” she whispered.

His eyes widened, and he staggered backwards, bringing up
his sword.  “What?” he hissed.  The woman, or thing, was still staring at him
with those yellow eyes. 

“You… child, are not a real citizen of Telandus or Cathalar…
you are the closest thing to the man who made a fool of me all those years
ago.  The one who made a fool of me again, with your nonsense prancing around
Telandus.  And it is you, little prince, that I want more than anything… and it
is you… that I will have.”

The vines began to move again, even as Taeru’s eyes widened
in disbelief.  He supposed he had forgotten that aspect, though he still more
or less considered himself a citizen of Cathalar.  He had publicly renounced
that title.  Perhaps the Magisters also listened to that sort of thing.  He
held his swords outwards, even as the white-haired woman began to transform
before him.

Slowly, slowly, she formed into something else entirely. 
Like one of the creatures that she had vanquished, but larger, and rather than
legs, she had a tail.  She was a snake, with strange arms that reminded him of
the tendrils from his dreams.  The ones around the obelisk. 

Snarling, he turned.  There was no way he could defeat her,
after all, she was a Magister, and he had managed to save Elyst—now he just
needed to save himself.  He moved as quickly as he could, sprinting back out
into the grove with desperation.  As he ran though, the ground shook, and
within moments the lady turned monster exploded from the ground before him.  He
staggered backwards, and with a solid thrust, he slashed through the top of her
body.

The sword cut, and he felt the flesh beneath his blade, but
as soon as he finished—it seemed to return to its ordinary state.  The tail of
the creature snaked outwards so that Taeru had to leap back towards the
obelisk.  One of his swords cut across the tail, and he pushed himself towards
her again.  Trying another cut to the side, he caught closer to the top of the
monster, and this time she released a shocked howl.  So, she could be hurt. 
“You are injured,” she informed him.  “You cannot fight forever.”  From the
ground, perhaps an extension of her strange body, one of the white vines shot
upwards and caught him by the ankle.  He brought one of his swords into the air
and then cut down with a hard slam.  The vine shriveled at once, and he was
free for only a moment before one of the vines from the snake’s body shot
outwards and wrapped around his wrist.  The amount of pain that accompanied the
strike was mind-numbing, and his hand reflexively dropped its weapon. 

Another of the vines grabbed it and flung it far across the
grove.  He stared at it, drawing back with shock.  He still had his other
sword, though, and he cut the new binding and sliced across the snake’s body
again.  Again, she shrieked, but withstood no irreparable damage, it seemed. 
Another of the tendrils shot out, grabbing his sword, wrenching it from his
grip, and tossing it with the other.  He was weaponless.  Like his dream.  His
eyes widened, and kicking outwards, he knocked the snake away from him.

Then, with the momentary freedom, he moved towards the
swords.  Though when another of the vines tangled around his waist, he kicked
it off, somehow, and questioned whether he ought to want the sword or the
exit.  As he moved towards the back of the grove, however, the tail of the
snake caught around his waist.  It dragged him backwards, and he used his
fingers to dig desperately into the snake’s flesh. 

It squeezed him tighter in response and slammed him into the
ground.  “Foolish little boy.”  His hand shot outwards, clawing into the dirt. 
This was like his dream, only this time, he knew he wasn’t dreaming.  He cried
out, well aware that there was no one here to hear him.  “And once I harvest
you, child, I will find a way to destroy Elyst.  It will only be a matter of
time.”  Taeru shook his head, thrusting out another hand, which created
crevices in the dirt when he was dragged backwards again.

When he stood, fighting against the pull at his waist, the
vines tightened, and a horrifying pulse of agony shot through his body.  Just
like in the dreams.  He took a step forward though, fighting with every piece
of him.  His injuries ached, his body begged for relief, but he took another
step.  A whooshing sound was his warning before a black tendril wrapped around
his arm and drew it back with agonizing force.  He snarled, trying desperately
to keep moving in a direction that he couldn’t go.