Chapter 3 - The Last Messenger

Chapter 3 - Elu

Elu stopped an hour south of Hylt, knelt, and dropped the boy’s limp body onto the sand. Dense clouds strangled the moonlight, and the dunes surrounding them remained hidden. Out here in the desert, away from the oven of the city, the temperature remained cool. 

Blood saturated Elu’s Ru’et, but he couldn’t risk removing it so close to the city. Most of the blood came from the unconscious mage he’d just dumped onto the sand. The wet stickiness of the boy’s blood made his skin prickle, and he wanted to vomit. Things had escalated quickly in Hylt, and he’d almost been too late to play his part.

Elu turned to his right and looked at the girl that had caused most of the carnage. “You almost killed him, Mia.”

“He moved faster than I expected.”

Elu swallowed his response. The girl was a judge, not a fighter, and he should have warned her. “Why the second arrow?”

“He’d almost convinced them to run. You took too long.”

Elu ignored the implied blame. She was right.

“I accidentally hit his lung. How did he survive?” Mia asked.

“They’re hard to kill, even with mageblood weapons. This only worked because he is arid.”

“Arid?” Mia asked.

“He’s magical, but he can’t produce magic. The well is dry or doesn’t exist.”

Mia set her bow and quiver down along with the sack containing the dagger and club. She rubbed at the blood-caked sand that covered the boy’s chest like a shirt.

“His wounds are gone,” Mia said.

Elu had removed the arrows from the boy’s body while still in Hylt. The process had proved more difficult than he’d expected, especially the chest arrow. Dark blotches on the boy’s skin were all that remained of the terrible damage the arrows had caused.

“It’s slow, but some arid can absorb energy from their surroundings. The boy had enough to heal himself,” Elu said.

Elu sat cross-legged in the sand near the boy’s waist. This had been a disaster.

“I’m sorry,” Mia said.

Elu could count on one hand the times he’d heard the seventeen-year-old apologize. Seeing her without her Ru’et reminded him how young she was. Too young. He might have had a daughter her age if Lyllyn hadn’t been murdered. He clenched his hands and heard his knuckles pop. Now wasn’t the time to sink into the past.

“Are you up for this?” Elu asked.

Mia nodded.

They were past the point of second-guessing. Elu took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

Elu raised his right hand and pointed south. “The Abbey of Sorrow is over those dunes. Bring the Abbot.”

“And when he asks why?”

Elu leaned forward and pushed the boy’s shoulder, rolling him onto his right side. In the middle of the boy’s back, an area the size of a fist had been wiped clean by Elu an hour earlier. A pattern, just visible in the weak light, stood out; two circles, one inside the other. The innermost circle, no bigger than a pinky nail, looked completely black.

“Tell him the Covenant has been broken. He will come,” Elu said.

Mia paused as if she meant to say something and then shook her head. She walked around the boy instead of jumping over him and jogged south toward the Abbey. In a few heartbeats, she’d disappeared.

Elu released the boy’s shoulder and let him fall to his back, hiding the mark that changed everything. He grabbed the boy’s hand and applied pressure to a nerve in the boy’s wrist. With his other hand, he pressed the nerve at the base of the boy’s skull.

The boy jerked as his nerves overloaded and sent a jolt of energy to his brain. Elu leaned back as the boy moaned, pushed himself up, and sat cross-legged across from Elu, head down. The young mage massaged his cheeks and moved his jaw back and forth and then looked up at Elu. Predawn light seeped into the eastern horizon, making the boy easier to see.

Elu gasped when he saw the boy’s eyes. Out of habit, Elu lowered his head in respect. Impossible!

Elu forced himself to look again. It wasn’t a mistake. The boy had the dark blue eyes of a Ki’Van. Another unexpected complication.

“What’s your name?” Elu asked.

“Aael,” Aael said and then cleared his throat. “Thanks for saving my life.”

The color of the boy’s eyes exposed painful memories, and Elu fought to regain his composure.

“What makes you think you’re out of danger?” Elu asked.

“What kind of person saves a life, only to take it later?”

Elu frowned, though it was hidden behind his Ru’et. “There are three kinds of people: the living, the dead, and those longing to die again.”

Aael shook his head. “There are only two kinds of people; lucky and unlucky.”

Elu studied Aael, surprised by the boy’s response. “Aael the unlucky, how does a northern arid boy end up so deep in the desert?”

“Why do you think I’m unlucky?”

Elu twisted, reached into Mia’s quiver, and retrieved the two arrows he’d removed from Aael’s body. He held them up for the boy.

Aael took an arrow and smiled. “They were upset with me for stealing these.”

“Stealing them? They impaled you.”

Aael nodded. “Next time, I’ll carry them in a bag, less blood that way.”

Elu laughed, surprised again. “You’re skilled at diversion. Have you attended the Spires?”

“Why are you interested in me?” Aael asked and then pointed at the bow and quiver. “And where is the girl?”

Elu tilted his head. “We are both full of questions. Let’s barter. Answer for answer.”

Aael nodded.

Elu organized his thoughts. “Why are you this far south?”

Aael shrugged. “I was born here. You called me a northerner, but I’ve never been past Hylt. My family lives in the Abbey.” Aael held up the arrow. “I added the fletching to this shaft.”

Elu wondered again how the boy and his family had remained hidden for so long. Curse the Council for getting involved and sending a judge. There was nothing to decide; mages should always be killed. And he hated this deception.

“Why did you save me?” Aael asked.

Elu began to lie. “I didn’t intend to. I was there for the girl. The first shaft she guided into your…that you took from them, drew me. The second arrow let me pinpoint her. She is powerful and will be useful if she can adjust to the monks. You were a surprise.”

Elu opened his Void, the darkness in his center always hungry. He cast it outward, and when it struck Aael, the boy shivered. Elu pressed his lips together. How had the boy sensed the Void? Elu’s Void spilled around Aael, whose presence felt like a vibrating bell, and across the landscape. In moments he detected three people, less than a mile away, headed toward them. He didn’t have much time.

Elu focused on Aael. “I’ve never seen a mage with a scar, including the arid like you that I’ve ki…encountered. How did you get the one on your back?”

Aael’s brow furrowed, and he twisted to touch his back. He gasped in pain and let his arm fall to his side. “You mean these brown spots on my body?”

“No. I mean the scar on your back. No one has ever mentioned it?”

Aael looked down, his cheeks red as he hugged himself. “Because of my…condition, I keep myself covered. I’m only shirtless in the dark, or inside the house. No one has ever said anything.”

Elu could feel the trio on the other side of the dunes. “The Abbot is near. Ask your last question.”

Aael bit his lip. It was obvious the boy had more than one question. Aael stared at him. “Who are you?”

“A rescuer of the unlucky,” Elu responded.

Elu laughed at Aael’s frown, the boy not happy with his evasion. “You wear your emotions, young one. But you’ve been honest with me.”

Elu stood in one fluid motion. He bowed to Aael and spoke in a somber voice. “My name is Tr’Elu, last of my line, Keeper for the Ry’phy, Commander of the Black Prism, Master of the Seven Rings, Lord of Niall Erenn…and rescuer of the unlucky.”

Magic radiated toward them from the man that accompanied the Abbot and Mia. The energy vibrated across Elu’s outstretched Void. Hate and rage exploded in his mind, his stomach knotted, and adrenalin surged into his body. He stepped into a defensive posture and prepared to kill the man. What was the Abbot thinking? He knew how Elu felt about mages.

The magic struck Aael. It was slight, a mere trickle of energy, so light it was hard for Elu to determine the color.

Elu watched as Aael’s face relaxed. Yellow magic then, very dangerous. Yellows could alter your perception of things, calm you, terrify you, remove their presence from your mind and move about unnoticed—a Ghost Mage.

The three came into view, the Abbot’s thin frame a contrast to the tall muscular Ghost Mage who walked ahead of Mia.

When the Ghost Mage saw Aael, he broke into a run, dropping to his knees when he reached the boy. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. He saved my life,” Aael said and pointed at Elu.

The Abbot arrived and stood to the left of the kneeling mage. The Abbot bowed to Elu, clenched his left fist in front of his chest, and covered it with his right stiff palm.

Elu tried to relax. The tall mage must be Aael’s father. The Abbot and his monks were another source of frustration because of their ridiculous ways. But the Abbot had gone too far this time. Pacifists could be tolerated, but to harbor the enemy was inexcusable.

Elu returned the bow, but both his hands were clenched, knuckle to knuckle. For him, only fists held value.

“In darkness we begin,” said the Abbot.

“In darkness we end,” Elu replied.

“It’s good to see you Keeper,” the Abbot said.

Elu nodded. “Too many circles have passed, Fyth. You look well but keep dangerous company,” he said and stared at the mage that talked with Aael.

The Ghost Mage looked up at this and stood. “I mean you no harm, Keeper. My name is Caden, and I want to thank you for saving Aael. I owe you a debt.”

Elu’s throat constricted. How dare this animal speak to him. “I want nothing from your kind!”

“Elu, he’s not like the others,” Fyth said.

Elu faced Fyth. “You’re a fool to believe that. The boy is marked. Why did you break the Covenant?”

Fyth licked his lips and glanced at Caden. He took a deep breath and faced Elu. “It’s complicated. He was not mine to give. I wasn’t even sure it was a mark. It was discolored…”

Elu slashed the air in front of him. “It matters little now. I found this girl in Hylt. She holds darkness.”

Fyth turned to Mia. “How did you avoid the priests of Raln’s Hand?”

“I haven’t been here long,” Mia said.

“Can she be saved?” Elu asked.

Fyth faced Elu. “We will try.”

Elu studied the Abbot for any signs of suspicion. If the Abbot learned what Mia was or what she was there to do, it could destroy generations of cooperation. Elu nodded and strode to Mia, who stood behind and to the right of the others. “The Abbot will help you. Do as he says and you may amount to more than a paid assassin. Respect what is inside you.”

Elu turned east and strode away before he lost control of himself. This had been harder than he’d anticipated, and little had gone as planned. Mia wasn’t ready for this, and he’d just turned his back to a living mage, something he’d not done in more than a decade. 

And the boy had Lyllyn’s eyes!

“Stio safhios aque, ptotuum na Vosin. Cui lan marcuel shalleonn?” I know your people, your purpose. What does the mark mean? Caden asked in Kysh. 

Elu stopped when he heard the question, spoken with an odd accent in the Shade’s language. That Caden knew the language didn’t surprise Elu, but knowing to talk to him in it meant that Caden was more dangerous than Elu first thought. It meant the Ghost Mage really did know who the Shades were.

Without turning, Elu responded. “Ay aoys?” His age?

“Se decym,” Caden said. Sixteen.

The timeframe matched. Within a year of Elu’s world falling apart and the Messenger marks stopping.

Elu forced himself to ask the last question. “Arue paitus ebachaell ara sobrigail al frestum Raln?” Was the boy marked on his birth day by a servant of Raln? 

“Yes,” Caden said.

Elu’s head sank. The sun broke the horizon and flooded the desert with light. The temperature instantly rose to uncomfortable.

Elu looked up at the rising sun and started to walk. “Your son is marked a Messenger. Its black center means he is the last. It means we’re all going to die. We are all going to die by his hand.”