Justice (9 page)

12 - Terra

Krishani looked at the white mist in front of his eyes. It messed with his perception. On the one hand the mists were like limbo—murky and painful—on the other, these mists were the gateway to the Land of Men, and when they cleared, Avristar would be a distant memory. If the men hadn’t dropped Krishani in Avristar the words of the Great Oak would have never come true. He wouldn’t have had to surrender at all, but he never would have met her, or fell in love with her, or known her. Somehow not knowing Kaliel was worse than loving her and losing her. The stabbing pain of the Great Oak’s words still lived in his heart.
Wither in desolate loneliness and bring the forests to their eternal slumber. Triumph in faithful patience and bring the forests to their endless summer.
He had no patience for the path of the Ferryman, but he had to give the Tavesins the chance to explain. Why had they taken him to Avristar? Why conceal his identity and pass him off as a Child of Avristar? He thoroughly appreciated the twist of fate, but if they knew the reason for his return, they might think they made a grave mistake.

The mists began to fade as the boat drifted into unruly water, shaking tumultuously. Krishani shuddered as a gust of wind stung his cheeks. The mists lifted into the air, revealing black water around them, thick as tar. He heaved a sigh of regret. The last rays of sunset rested in the west behind them. It lit up Pux’s mangled features. The feorn had his head down and was trying to curl himself into a ball.

“I see the shore,” Mallorn called.

Krishani stood. Sure enough he could see the banks of the island ahead of them, trees leading into a thick forest. Mallorn turned, but Krishani realized he should get the bag, so he did and slung it over his shoulder.

Pux kept the blanket wrapped around him. “How are we traveling?”

“By foot,” Mallorn said with a note of sourness in his tone.

The shore grew closer, and the boat landed in the rocks. Mallorn was the first out, splashing into the ankle-deep water and trekking over the boulders to the grassy shore. He climbed up first with his heavy bag and glanced back. Pux and Krishani trailed along behind him.

Pux reluctantly rose from the boat and stepped into the rocks. He pulled the blanket tighter around his shoulders and tugged it up as it graced the surface of the water. He stumbled over his own feet as he grasped Mallorn’s hand and joined him on the grass.

Krishani followed, but he clumsily stepped across the rocks and dug his hands into the ground as he pulled himself ashore. Gouging pain struck his chest as his knees hit the land. He pressed his forehead to the grass, breathing steadily as tremors of ice washed over him. Terra was dead, empty. He took it for granted—whispers in the wind, dull hums in the forests, cackles in the fire. Avristar was alive, every rock, tree and flower full of her spirit. Terra wasn’t like that. The grass was just grass, the trees silent, the rocks ominous. Terra reminded Krishani of the dead bodies he had seen in dreams; frozen empty shells.

Every tree in Avristar knew who Kaliel was.

Krishani pressed his palms into the grass and tried to feel for some kind of heartbeat, something to tell him the land was alive, he was wrong. There was a hand on his shoulder.

“You won’t find it,” Mallorn said.

Krishani choked in a breath of the toxic air and pushed himself to his feet. Pux stared at the sea as the gargoyle pushed off the rocks and the boat faded into the mists. Above the swirling wisps of smoky fog the sun finished setting.

“How will I go home?” Pux asked.

Mallorn’s face hardened. He glanced at the trees of the foreboding forests and stalked towards them without an answer. “Nightfall comes. We should be on our way.”

Krishani hung his head and grabbed the bag. He fit the strap across his mid section and nodded at Pux to go ahead of him. He only took one glance back at the lake. If he lingered any longer on the shores he would likely dive into the black water and swim to his undoing.

They skipped over the awkward jagged rocks between the trees, treaded over solid plateaus and crept through tall grasses in the meadows. The jaunt was exhausting and if the land wasn’t emotionally treacherous, it was physically treacherous.

Pux slipped and slammed his knee into a rock. He cried out and Mallorn glanced at him as a bird flapped away from the trees. It was no secret there were wild animals in the woods, creatures that wouldn’t understand the finely-tuned energy patterns of the ancient elven warrior and his companions. Pux grumbled something unintelligible as Krishani pulled him up by the elbow.

Pux shook his head. “I don’t like these lands either.”

Krishani looked away at a group of thin birch trees. He was too lost in his own thoughts to speak to him. “Aye.” He pushed the feorn forward and continued moving across the land.

• • •

Mallorn fervently continued into the forests. He didn’t bother to stop for water or bread. His lungs begged for rest, but the burning pain made him feel alive. He was still partially injured from the blade that had cut into his lower back, but he stifled that wound with the promise the enemy would be brought to his knees. It was one of the only comforts he had now that Avristar was in the throes of chaos due to a lord of the Valtanyana. Crestaos wasn’t the only lord, but he was one of the most powerful of those ancient beasts. When Talanisdir was at the mercy of the Valtanyana it had been a woman named Rahedra who wrought havoc and forced war. He was much younger then, and a lot more naïve. He felt triumph for the lady’s vanquishing, but never fully understood how she was defeated. Now that Crestaos had proven his return, Mallorn feared the others coming forth from the shadows of Avrigost.

He paused and looked at the sky, noting the position of the single moon. “We need to make camp soon,” he called to Krishani and Pux, who shuffled slowly through the moss and lichens littering the unclear path.

“I’m famished,” Pux grumbled.

Mallorn stopped on a large rock. It was uneven, slanted to one side, but it provided an ample look out.

“This will do.” He climbed down and circled it. On the other side the rock hung over tall grass in a small clearing. They could easily conceal themselves in the thick grass and position themselves under the rock for shelter. Mallorn dropped his bag and began scouring the land for immediate dangers.

• • •

Pux sat down beside Krishani. He fell exhausted onto his side, using the damp and muddy blanket to cocoon himself in warmth. “Oh,” he moaned. “Forget the food, I feel sick.”

Krishani dropped his bag, opening the drawstrings to reveal the loaf of bread. As silly as it was, it reminded him of Kaliel, mostly because it was from Avristar and also because she would often watch him in the kitchen slaving away with Hernadette and the other servants. He broke a less than modest piece off for himself and left the rest in the cloth. Part of him was exhausted from the hours of trekking through the unforgiving woods, but another part of him couldn’t feign that sleep wouldn’t be enjoyable.

Mallorn returned, dropping a handful of sticks and small rocks on the ground. “This will have to do,” he said. He bent down and opened his own bag, drawing out the flint stone. After arranging the stones and wood he struck the flint and sparked a flame. It devoured the twigs instantly and within minutes it turned to smoke.

Krishani grimaced as he took a bite of bread and explored what else was in his bag. By the looks of it, an extra set of gray robes, the usual blankets and tools. His hand closed around a dagger and he thought about pulling it out, but left it. He stared at the dismal remnants of the fire and at Mallorn, whose face was hidden by shadows. He imagined a defeated expression on the elder’s face.

Krishani gritted his teeth and stood, taking the last bit of bread in his mouth. He swallowed hard. “I’ll see what I can find.” He ducked into the waist-high grasses and turned towards the path they had emerged from. The meadow might have been small, but the forests around them were thick. After scouring the ground for nothing he could see with his naked eye, he sighed and turned to the trees. Most of them were birch trees with fantastic wood-burning qualities. His hands curled around the trunk of one and moved into the skinny branches. There was no pulse in the land, no voice. He pulled on the branch inconsiderate of its emotions and heard an almost silent crack. He pulled downwards, listening to the branch whine as it dislodged from the tree. It slid off the base and Krishani noted it was quite long, many twigs extending from it. He ignored the purposeful damage and walked back to the rock, plucking the twigs from the limb. He rounded the rock and set the bundle gently into the grass. Without thinking he pulled a few large strands of grass out of the ground and twisted them into the center of the rocks.

Mallorn watched with dissonance as Krishani made do with the dry grass and branches. He tapped the flint against the rock and sparked the fire. It came to a startling blaze and Krishani glanced at Mallorn. The elder had a forlorn expression on his face. He waited a few moments until the fire was stable. Krishani settled into the dried mud and pulled a blanket out of the bag. Mallorn silently followed and both of them pushed their backs against the rocks, the fire between them, the feorn asleep in the corner.

“Why did you come with me?” Krishani asked after a long pause. The fire crackled quietly between them, causing shadows to cast half Mallorn’s face in darkness, the other half in bright orange light.

Mallorn sighed and looked at the grass. “I don’t blame you for what happened to Kaliel.”

“But you were angry.”

Mallorn shut his eyes, a mournful expression crossing his face. “I was afraid for her. She was so …”

Krishani smiled slightly. “Unexpected.”

“Uninhibited.”

“Inescapable.”

“Inquisitive.”

“Unexplainable,” Krishani finished. He looked at Mallorn and found understanding in the old man’s returned gaze. He wasn’t better, but felt less inclined to rip his insides out. It was different being on Terra, like he could be anonymous to a point. Nobody knew who he was or what he had been through. What he had done. The lack of scrutinizing gazes was a blessing in disguise. They wouldn’t even suspect him if he caused it to rain or cast lightning on their trees. The humans probably wouldn’t care; their trees didn’t talk.

“There was no one like Kaliel in all the lands. That is fact,” Mallorn continued.

Krishani shook his head. “I won’t let the Valtanyana win.”

Mallorn narrowed his eyes. “Does that mean you accept your fate?”

Krishani moved his gaze to the fire. “I want Crestaos dead. Even if I have to kill him myself.”

Mallorn let out a shaky breath. “You should be wary of your words. None of us are strong enough to face the Valtanyana.”

Krishani looked at the grass. “I have nothing to lose.”

“Crestaos … isn’t the only one Tor trapped in Avrigost,” Mallorn croaked, stumbling over his words.

Krishani’s head snapped to the old man as he shifted his weight on the ground. “How many more are there?” His heart began drumming wildly in his chest, fear pooling into his arms and legs, making his knees tremble.

Mallorn nodded and reached for the bag. “Would you hand me the bread?” Krishani turned behind him and handed him the cloth with the bread inside of it. Mallorn broke off a small piece and took a bite. Krishani waited in anticipation.

“We call them the Valtanyana, but they go by different names in different places. There were eleven of them.” Mallorn took another nervous bite and chewed on it for a long time.

Krishani found himself awed. Not about the Valtanyana, he had heard those stories before, but it had been thousands of years since they were silenced. The stories were told because of the disarray they left behind. Factions of the Daed in the Lands of Men still believed in them, waited for their return. Nobody in Avristar thought it was possible. He put his hands in front of the fire to warm them and saw the black marks trailing up the back of his hand, the wisps of darkness almost reaching his wrist. He let out a guttural gasp and shoved his hands underneath him. “There were so many.”

Mallorn nodded. “Tor was supposed to be the twelfth, but by the time they found him, he was different. He rebelled against them. And he won.”

Krishani let the words sink in, but all he could hear in Mallorn’s voice were more odds stacked against him. Crestaos swept through Avristar without a second thought to the people and he found Kaliel in the blink of an eye. The kinfolk and the elders were powerless against him.

Kaliel was never strong enough to beat him.

And there were more like him out there.

“How many of them have escaped Avrigost?”

Mallorn shrugged. “I don’t know. The Daed have existed since before the Valtanyana were defeated. I suppose Crestaos was released by one of their factions.”

Krishani took a deep breath. “Isn’t Tor aware? Isn’t he going to do something about it?”

Mallorn shifted his weight on the stone and pulled the blanket over his shoulders. His grayish white hair was frayed around the edges and hung loosely to his shoulders. He looked so different on Terra. His skin was whiter, full of wrinkles, his nose gaudy and huge, eyes sunken into their sockets, clouded blue. “He has warned the Lords of the Lands there isn’t more he can do.”

Krishani pulled his knees to his chest and rested his forehead on them. “How did Tor defeat them? Didn’t he have an army?”

Mallorn shook his head. “I don’t know his secret. I realize, however, that he was unable to kill them, and that’s why Crestaos has returned.”

Fear seeped into Krishani’s heart. He wanted to be at the top of the mountain when it exploded. He wanted to live out the last minutes of her life with her, but instead the last memory anyone had of Kaliel was lost with the beast that forced her death. As much as he hated to admit it, he wasn’t angry with the feorn. Pux wasn’t the last person to see her before she died; he was just the last person she knew. He was angry with Crestaos, angry with him for forcing her to sacrifice herself. Crestaos was the only other person who knew what she was like in her last moments of life. Krishani felt a sudden urge to find him, quelled by the thought Crestaos might not be the only enemy anymore.