Shadow Queen (5 page)

“Ilsie says a lot of things, Ethen. Like how
I should be a good girl and learn the healing arts and not worry my
head about fighting,” said Astrid. She spat in the dust, disgusted
at the thought of being forced to live such a simple life. “No,
we’re going in there. And when we come out, we will be worthy of
the name
Warrior
.”

Ethen gave a weak grin, a ray of hope poking
through his doubtful thoughts. “Oh, all right. After all, I suppose
being ripped to pieces isn’t so bad.” Astrid cuffed him in the ear,
putting him in motion. It was still a hefty walk to the mouth of
the canyon.

They passed over jagged rocks and tangled
brush, watching the cluttered ground for desert vipers. Rocks were
a favorite hiding place for the smooth red snake.

After an hour of hobbling along the
treacherous ground, they reached the gaping mouth of the canyon.
Its sides rose up far above their heads, piercing the thick gauzy
clouds that hung low in the sky.

Astrid didn’t notice any of the usual animal
life that would inhabit a place like that. There were no rock
lizards, no sand sparrows, not even a nest of storm crows. The
belly of the canyon was still with the kind of silence that made
Astrid clutch at her hunting knives with white-knuckled fists.

Astrid met Ethen’s worried gaze. She could
tell he too could sense the unease. He slid his bow from over his
shoulder and notched an arrow on its string. They positioned
themselves back to back, each waiting for the silence to be
broken.

Step by step, they crept further into the
canyon. Astrid would lead then slowly revolve to the rear, letting
Ethen take the lead. She remembered when Warrior Vintas taught the
class this tactic, emphasizing how it allowed the company to keep
fresh eyes on their surroundings. Tired eyes often played tricks on
the warrior’s mind.

After what seemed like hours of their slow
winding dance, they reached the end of the canyon. A large clearing
stretched out before them, its walls curved and peppered with
holes. The ground was littered with pale white stones. They stood
out against the deep red sand, setting Astrid on edge. They crept
closer to the middle of the clearing. Suddenly, Astrid realized why
the white stones had seemed familiar. They were standing on bones,
piles of white gleaming bones.

Ethen stumbled, choking on his words. “Are
you seeing—”

“—They’re bones!” Astrid grabbed his wrist,
ready to run, when a soft clacking and hissing froze her in
place.

Only one monster made sounds like that. She
had heard the warnings of the Great Sage to the young children by
the fire. She thought they were nothing more than stories. After
all, no one had seen a Slasher in years. Yet here was one dangling
above their heads, venom dripping from its pinchers as its hundreds
of legs wiggled in the air.

Astrid ducked her head as the Slasher lunged
forward, digging her knife into its soft underbelly. Sickly green
spewed from its wound, sizzling in the dust. The Slasher hissed and
reared up to face its prey. It was nearly a head taller than
Astrid.

Ethen loosed an arrow into the Slasher’s jaw,
turning its pained squeal into a gurgle as its acidic blood fizzed
from its throat. He let fly two more sturdy arrows, sending the
beast toppling over. It rolled into a quivering ball, crooning in
defeat.

“Let’s go!” Astrid barely spoke before a
choir of hissing and clacking slid in all around them. Slasher’s
crawled from their holes, their legs a flurry of movement as they
rattled their thick black shells.

“This is suicide!” Ethen notched another
arrow, unsure of which creature to hit first. “You better be
thinking of a way to get us out of this!”

“Quiet, I’m thinking!” Ethen rolled his eyes
at her response, unleashing arrow after arrow. Most bounced off the
Slasher’s armor without even a nick. A couple arrows hit soft flesh
but not enough to make a difference.

Astrid stepped back and stumbled on the
writhing wounded Slasher. Suddenly, an idea sprang to mind.
“Ethen!” She wedged her knifes under a large scale and pried it
lose. The pale flesh underneath bulged with puffy black veins. “GET
BACK!”

Ethen jumped behind her as she raked her
blades across the Slasher’s exposed flesh. The veins burst open,
spraying the approaching Slashers with a frenzy of green acid.
Shrieks ripped through the air as the acid seeped into the cracks
of their armor and devoured the flesh inside.

Suddenly, a deep rumble shook the
bone-littered ground beneath their feet. A low hiss flooded the air
from behind them. Astrid could see the giant Slasher’s shadow creep
over their heads. She felt her blood run chill through her body.
They had disturbed a Brood Mother.

Without thinking, she grabbed Ethen by the
arm and threw him out of the Brood Mother’s way. She felt the
pinchers lash around her waist and squeeze. Ribs popped and snapped
as the air was forced from her lungs. The Brood Mother shook her
limp body about and then tossed her aside.

Ethen ran to her side, his hands quaking as
he dug into his near empty quiver.

“Run Ethen, run…” her voice wheezed from her
gaping mouth.

Ethen reached for his last arrow and let it
fly. It skidded off the towering Brood Mother like a fly. He let
out a cry, falling to his knees. More hisses fluttered from all
directions.

So this is what it’s like to die,
thought Astrid as her vision dimmed.

Before her sight darkened, the hisses
suddenly turned to shrieks. Bright red flames crept up around them.
The warmth brought a smile to her quivering lips.

Then she saw him.

His skin burned fiery bronze. A crown of red
and gold feathers flared out from his brow, making him look fierce
as a hawk. The tips of his wings brushed against the flames as he
stretched them wide.

Astrid could not turn away her eyes. He had
the beauty and danger of a phoenix, however he was something
entirely new. He wore nothing but a pair of tattered britches that
were speckled with burns and haphazard patches. The razor talons on
his feet dug into the sand as he walked toward her. He kneeled down
and locked onto her fading gaze.

His eyes were red with ice blue piercing from
their center. They burned with sadness.

He opened his mouth to speak, but she could
not hear his words.

Astrid fell into the darkness, his face
lingering in her dying mind.

Luthen looked out over the approaching
desert. He sneered, disgusted by the ugly landscape.
Soon
,
he thought
, I will be rid of this miserable island. Then it’s on
to bigger and better things.

He hated Lythia, with its landscape overrun
with humans, dwarves, and other riffraff. It was certainly nothing
worth conquering.

But there were others worthy of his rule.
Other people and other worlds.
Other times
… he had seen
them. And Wilhelmina had the power to bring them to him.

Though Luthen had only been dead for a small
amount of time, or at least it seemed small in Death’s realm, he
had learned much. Seducing Wilhelmina had been the easy part. She
was lonely and angry at Death, feeling she had been cheated into
his service. It was simple to convince her that she should be
ruling in Death’s place. She even agreed to allow Luthen to rule
the worlds of the living.
Together, we will unstoppable
, he
had said. Wilhelmina was held captive by his every word.

Luthen smiled, reveling in his wicked
thoughts. What Wilhelmina did
not
know was that he planned
to kill her as soon as her role was complete.

***

Astrid stirred from a deep, restless sleep.
She felt the warmth of a nearby fire on her face. Her hands
struggled against the weight of a heavy fur blanket. She pushed
hard against it and raised herself up.

Her vision slowly fell into place. Fuzzy
shapes snapped into focus. She was in a cool, dry cave. The small
fire burned in its roughly hewn hearth, casting shadows on the red
rocked wall.

A shadow stirred from behind the fire. Astrid
cowered from the movement, her hand fumbling for a weapon. Strong
arms wrapped around her struggling body. She cried out, her voice
exploding from her chest in a jumble of words and screams.

“
Shh!
Silence, little one. No harm
will come to you here.” His voice was warm and smooth like the
rustle of desert sand.

She sank deeper into his arms, too weak to
fight. She could feel the fever creep back over her clammy skin.
The fire-lit cave blurred and slipped back into the darkness.

Astrid’s sleep was haunted by unfamiliar
faces. They drifted through the inky black, their eyes hollow and
their mouths full of sorrowful howls. She found herself falling
past them. Her hands reached out to them and only grasped air.

A bleak and rocky horizon reared up beneath
her. It grew closer as she plummeted toward its broken maw. Her
mouth hung open, caught up in a jagged scream. The force of her
body slamming into the rocky ground sent her lunging from her bed
of furs.

Dappled sunlight cascaded across her shaking
body. She had never felt so fragile.

“I almost thought you’d never wake up.” Ethen
greeted her with a wide smile, the worry fading from his gaze.
“Luka healed you—it was amazing! But there was nothing much he
could do about the fever besides waiting it out. I almost
thought—”

“—Ethen! Stop rambling and help me up.”
Astrid shot him a quick smile as she reached out for his hand.
Ethen jumped to steady her as she pulled herself to her feet. The
thick fur cover slid away leaving her shivering in her sweat-soaked
under clothes. “Where are my things?”

“Oh!” Ethen scrambled across the cave to heap
of clothes in a far corner. Astrid’s legs buckled, sending her
swaying. She tilted toward the ground but was caught by a strong
grasp. The dappled sunlight was suddenly blotted out. She turned
her gaze toward the shadow. Pure yellow morning light danced around
the silhouette’s outline. Feathers burned bright red around his
face, framing it in soft flames. The blaze continued down from his
head to his shoulders. From his shoulders, great wings hung
unfurled in a fiery stance.

“Luka! Look, she’s awake,” said Ethen as he
hurried over to Astrid, his arms full of ratty desert garb. “Do you
need help with these?”

Astrid tore her eyes off Luka and glared at
Ethen. “I can dress myself,
thank you
.” She pulled away from
Luka’s grasp and snatched the bundle of clothes from Ethen’s arms.
The room swirled around her head as she wiggled into her britches
and buckled her jacket.

“Maybe you should sit down,” said Luka, his
hand reaching out to steady her.

Astrid shrank away from his touch. “I’m fine.
Really,” she said, lowering herself to the rumpled bed of furs.
Astrid narrowed her focus to the task of pulling on her boots.
The last thing I need is for these two to baby me
.

“Ethen, have you told him?” She looked up
from her boots, her hands resting on the buckles. Her eyes darted
to Luka, his fiery face unreadable.

“I didn’t think it was important—”

“—Of course it is! Why didn’t you tell
him?”

Ethen’s face turned sour. “I thought you were
dying
. It didn’t exactly seem like a good time to bring it
up!”

Luka cleared his throat, drawing their
attention to him. “Pardon the interruption, but what the hell are
you talking about?”

Astrid glared at Ethen as she gathered
herself to stand. Though her feet were uneasy, she rooted them
firmly against the rocky ground. She puffed herself up, trying her
best to appear fierce. “We’re taking you back to Limra,” she said,
her voice firm as stone. “Now, we can do this the easy way or the
hard way, it’s up to you.”

Luka flared his wings as he burst into a fit
of laughter. “Oh, please, I’d prefer the hard way,” he said,
shaking between laughs.

Astrid’s chest sank while her face reddened
with rage. She shot Ethen a hard look to silence his own wayward
giggles. He looked away quickly, muffling his disobedient mouth in
a trembling hand.

“Look, I’m serious. You’re needed in Limra.
It’s urgent.” Astrid looked hard into Luka’s eyes, searching for
any part of him she could reach.

He stifled his laughter and drew his wings
closed. Sunlight poured in from behind him, glinting on his ruby
feathers. “There’s nothing left for me there,” he said, his voice
strained. “I left that place long ago. I don’t plan on ever
returning. It seems as if your journey here has been wasted.”

“No!” Astrid grabbed at his arm as he turned
away. His eyes snapped to hers. They were full of hurt and a hint
of something darker. “Listen, I’m sorry. I haven’t even thanked you
for saving us… for saving me,” she said. His skin was warm and soft
in her hand. “I know you’ve been here a long time, hiding from the
world. You have a great gift. You don’t need to hide anymore.”

She could feel Luka staring deep into her as
he weighed her words. “I will leave, but only for you.” His eyes
tore themselves from her gaze and lingered on the dying fire.

Astrid nodded, perplexed by his sudden
agreement. “We will leave soon. It’ll take the greater part of the
day to ride back.”

“You’re not possibly thinking about riding a
glider
all the way to Limra, do you?” Luka’s brow furrowed
as he crossed his arms over his broad chest. “You can barely stand,
let alone stay upright speeding across the desert.”

“He’s right, you know,” said Ethen as he
fastened his jacket shut.

“Well, what do you
suggest
I do?”
Astrid glare traveled from Ethen back to Luka.

Luka shrugged his shoulders and unfurled his
wings. “How about this?” He grabbed Astrid and gathered her up into
his arms. “I’ll drop Ethen off by the gliders and follow him the
rest of the way,” he said, allowing Ethen to grab onto his arm.
Luka cast Astrid a sly look as he strode to the mouth of the cave.
“You might want to hold on tighter than that.”