Gatewright, p.28
Gatewright, page 28
Jittery, I took another breath, and followed Riven out of the gate. Calin took up a position at my left. No one else joined us as we left the security of the camp and slowly walked across the clearing toward the treeline.
Calin had described his vision in painstaking detail during the journey north. He had witnessed the enemy appear from the western tree line, moving out of the shadows, so that is where we planned to confront them. Hopefully they wouldn’t attack a priest, a Kusay, and a “human”. We just needed to get close enough to talk to them.
Thirty feet. Twenty.
Any moment we could be attacked.
Kaebris suddenly emerged from the treeline, followed by two more adail, one a kawoli and another an atsili. My heart skipped a beat. I should have been able to see him. Knowing that a nagali had already messed with my mind before I’d even figured it out unnerved me.
“To what do I owe the honor?” He didn’t smile, but cocked his head slightly. I remembered to breathe.
“I should say, to what do I owe the honor?” Riven smiled broadly at him and I shivered. There was nothing friendly in his expression. “You trespass on my lands.”
This was the part where Kaebris turned around to let the Queen deal with politics, right?
He laughed instead. “Your hair alone declares you outcast. And your body declares you Exile.”
My heart rate spiked, hammering loudly in my ears.
“He is not. This was a crime committed against him,” Calin clarified.
Kaebris twitched slightly. “You are of Becot?”
“Yes. I am the elohi ras of the Delque temple. You are trespassing.” The normal playful temperament of Calin’s movements was gone, replaced by a stern gaze and iron bearing. His confidence was infectious.
Kaebris squinted at him, and Calin paled. Shit. Jack seemed to think his brother could stand up to him. Was he wrong? I tensed, ready to gate them both out if Kaebris made any type of aggressive move.
The gaze broke, and Kaebris stepped back slightly. He took a moment to regain his balance. “And well trained against nagali, I might add.”
I let out the breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.
Calin’s posture straightened, bringing him to his full height. His eyes bored into the nagali. “The Great Mage does not leave her disciples powerless to the transgressions of the misguided.”
Silence spread between the hosts; each calculating their next move.
“Do you declare these lands for Kusay, then?” Kaebris raised his eyebrow, strolling forward.
Riven struck a wide, ready stance directly in front of his encroaching foe. “No. I declare it in the name of clan Xantae by right of residency.”
Kaebris froze. His adail companions gaped in shock. A bird sang in the trees nearby, the only sound breaking the profound silence.
This was about the reaction I’d received when I’d first suggested they create their own clan. Except the outcast’s shock had been followed by the mad hope that it could possibly work.
As the silence dragged on, Kaebris recovered first. Comprehension fought disbelief, followed by a flash of inspiration crossing his face. “Then I challenge your claim.” Kaebris grinned at Riven. “Elohi ras, you stand in witness. I challenge your claim for the right to bring all these outcasts home. We will put them back where they belong. Do you accept, Xantae Vaal?”
No, no! What was this? No one had talked about a duel! Jack said that if Kaebris took the bait, that he’d give the problem back to the Queen. That perhaps it would become an issue for the Council. Sponsored by a priest, and a ras at that, we had some form of legitimacy. Kaebris wouldn’t want to report that he’d killed one of his clan’s most prominent priests. Single combat? What was this, medieval Europe? Somehow, I wasn’t terribly surprised to find that Jack had lied again.
Riven bowed, with one hand over his heart. “Accepted.”
Fuck you, Riven!
Kaebris eyes shot up suddenly. “Your human is extremely loud. She is not pleased with our arrangement.” That was an understatement.
Riven shrugged. “This shouldn’t have been unexpected,” he lied.
I fumed in place. I was going to kill him if he didn’t get himself killed first.
“As the challenged, I name the terms. I choose we fight here, and now.”
“My adail may serve as our circle?” Kaebris asked formally.
“Yes, so long as they serve honorably.”
Kaebris’s eyes narrowed at the implication they would not. He turned to the woods, and jerked his head, and twelve more fey emerged from the woods. They all wore the beads of the adail, but not nearly as many as Kaebris and his two companions did.
Calin grabbed my arm and hauled me away from Riven. “You have to stay calm,” he hissed.
Calm? “Do not tell me he planned this.”
Calin gave me an apologetic glance. I forced myself to breathe. He was right. The balance was not in our favor. If I made myself a liability for Riven, I could get him killed. All of us depended on him right now. I’d come up with this damn idea in the first place. He’d known what it meant, and he’d agreed.
Calin continued to pull me until we were a good forty feet away from where Riven and Kaebris turned their attention inward, preparing for their fight. Riven outweighed his opponent, but Kaebris moved with a practiced control I’d only ever seen in fighters. Age, experience, training, and talent heavily favored the nagali. I admired Riven’s courage – it wasn’t just a show. I felt no fear, just resolve and anticipation from my lianyos. The adail broke into two lines, which gracefully moved to form a perfect circle. I tried not to think about the fact that it looked like they’d done this many times before. The three atsili looked slightly nervous, and encouraged their companions to continue to back away until Calin and I were only feet away from their perimeter.
Riven met my eyes. I gave him the only thing I could offer: my confidence and respect. I nodded once, and he returned the gesture in acknowledgement. I steeled myself as he turned away, stretching gently as if preparing for a physical match. Kaebris rolled his shoulders and neck.
“The circle is formed.” One of the adail signaled both combatants.
Riven and Kaebris nodded.
“May the Great Mage smile upon the worthy.”
Kaebris shifted his weight, intently waiting for the first signs of the flame that would inevitably erupt from Riven. Well, I’d wanted to see a nagali match. But this wasn’t what I had in mind. What if Kaebris was a nagayos? Could Jack reverse the damage?
“Calin, is this to the death?”
He didn’t answer.
The host waited for the inferno that was the hallmark of the atsili. In battle, their strength was passion, pure destructive force. As I’d learned earlier today, a single atsili could destroy entire formations with the roar of their flames, but I sensed none of this from Riven. His heart spoke to me of patience and calm alertness. His mouth began to move silently. I could not make out the words, but the movement was steady, repetitive, as if he was reciting a mantra.
Riven’s movements changed drastically from when I had seen him fight before. Against nagali, there were no columns of fire or shifting stone. Elaborate forms and timing were secondary to the ability to keep his center. The battle was won or lost inside his own mind.
Riven sent a few beautiful fireballs toward his opponent, but his heart spoke the intent of control, not destruction. They were a fraction of what I knew he was capable of, and intended only to draw his enemy in. Kaebris was incredibly agile, dancing around the billowing flames. They did not damage him, but each was one more motion, one more effort, that he had to make. Eventually, if the nagali stayed on the defensive, he would slip.
I turned my attention inward, listening to the bond. All I could sense was intense focus and anticipation.
Kaebris hissed, and planted his forward hand on the ground in front of him, springing forward and letting a gout of flame pass over him, slowly working his way closer to Riven.
As the distance closed, Riven’s focus became more strained. His expression contorted with the force of the words he was silently screaming. His fires became staccato, larger eruptions alternating with weak flames. Confusion and alarm echoed through the bond from Kaebris’s invisible assault. He stumbled slightly, and the nagali sprinted for him, tackling him. Kaebris triumphantly grasped the atsili’s head as his eyes bored into him.
Time seemed to slow; the anticipation I had sensed in my lianyos changed to exultation in an instant. He had been waiting for this moment. Nagali were at their strongest when they could make physical contact, but none of us expected that an atsili would attempt to channel his fire the same way. The amulet on Riven’s chest shone brightly, heat making the air around him shimmer. His lips stopped moving, and he smiled. His wrath lanced through me, and I gripped Calin’s arm hard. I could not tell if it was mine or his, it didn’t matter anymore. Everything I had felt from our bond changed in that moment; instead of the warmth of his magic flowing into me, I felt energy being pulled like the sea rushing out in a current.
The adail transformed from immobile statues to exemplars of alarm in an instant, as the rushing magic around Riven was channeled to his purpose. For a terrifying breath, he hovered on the brink of transforming his own body into the flames he controlled. Light shown in his eyes, barely contained fury breaking down the barriers between his spirit and his fire.
Riven reached out, grasping Kaebris’s own head, and with a guttural cry of rage, his hands flared white. Kaebris screamed as white light and flame erupted from his mouth and eyes. Flames raced down the nagali’s body as if he’d been covered in gasoline, exploding into a roaring inferno. Riven disappeared from my sight, and I felt desperately for the bond to ensure he was alive. What I found was cold satisfaction of his anger.
The flames spent themselves nearly as quickly as they’d begun, leaving Riven covered in a thick layer of ash with no sign of Kaebris. I shuddered. He lay still, breathing slowly, reminding me of when I’d pulled him out of Azry just yesterday.
I moved to go toward him, but Calin pulled me back. “They need to declare the victor first.”
Calin’s voice had broken the stunned silence of the adail.
“Xantae Vaal has been shown favored of the Great Mage,” one of them finally said in a choked voice.
I ripped my arm out of Calin’s grasp and sprinted to Riven’s side. He sat up slowly, trying to wipe the ash from his face, but his sweat only made it smear. I shoved my horror down and offered my hand for him to help himself up. He quickly glanced at the still-motionless adail surrounding us and rose to his feet without accepting my help.
“Did you plan that?” I demanded. I’d come up with the idea of a new clan. Not the part where Riven would be forced to defend it.
“Yes and no.” His mouth twitched in a poor attempt at a smile. “Single combat, yes. Kaebris – the fire – no.”
One of the atsili adail approached him cautiously. “We accept your right as King of Clan Xantae, and beg your forgiveness of our trespass.”
My eyebrows shot up. If the adail didn’t seem so authentic, I would have thought he was mocking him.
“The blood of Kaebris satisfies the crime,” Riven replied grimly. “Leave and do not return.”
The adail gave him a wide berth, disappearing back into the forest. We waited a full minute after the last of them left before we released a collective sigh of relief. Honor was a fickle thing. So long as they held their honor higher than their regard of Mikiril, the outcasts were safe.
Calin laughed, a hint of hysteria in his voice. “I can’t believe that worked. The Great Mage strike me down if I ever doubt her intent again.”
Riven met my eyes, but no joy lurked there. I’d just watched him burn a man alive. “Let’s get back,” I offered.
We walked in silence. A few of the outcast gave us ragged cheers when we came through the gap in the wall, but they seemed as unsettled as the adail. Jack watched us, face unreadable. I followed Riven as he crossed the camp, a destination clearly in mind. Without breaking stride, he walked straight into the lake, fully clothed, immersing himself fully in the water.
I waited patiently on the shore while he bathed, scrubbing his face until it was raw and red. He tossed me his shirt at some point, and I focused on getting the last of the ash out. I desperately tried not to think of it as Kaebris’s remains.
When he finally emerged, he took the sodden shirt and squeezed the rest of the water out. I couldn’t help but notice the raw burn where the amber necklace had laid against his skin. He tossed the shirt over his head and exhaled slowly. I took closer stock of him, and noticed for the first time that his hands were as blistered as his chest. Ow.
He must have felt my concern, and seated himself next to me on the boulder I’d claimed. The peace of the forest welcomed us from the chaos of the past hour. The water lapped gently at the shore, and distant, giddy laughter echoed from the camp. Eventually, Riven broke the quiet. “I don’t know what happened. Atsili don’t do that. Not even adail.” He swallowed.
I put my arm around him, and he closed his eyes, leaning against me. “I know the feeling.”
I heard footsteps, and I looked up to see Jack’s approach. He considered us for a long moment before he spoke. “The outcast here have declared for Clan Xantae. They will come to your aid to retake Peregare.”
Riven straightened, and I let my arm fall from his back. He nodded slowly.
“Jan, we need to return to the human realm,” Jack advised, a hint of apology in his tone.
I knew he was right. To keep up my disguise as a normal human to the rest of the world, I had to at least be present without disappearing for days at a time. My mother would be frantic by now. The last thing I needed was for her to call the cops. I stood.
Riven rose with me. “I’m going with you.”
I took a breath, about to argue. I thought better of it and listened to our bond instead.
I wasn’t going to win that fight. And frankly, I didn’t want to.
After saying our goodbyes, we struck out for our portal. The November light was fading quickly and I hastened my pace. I should have made a small gate to peep through once I was confident we were in the right place, but I was tired. I just created a full size gate and stepped right through.
The child that paused from pedaling on her bicycle stared at us with wide eyes. We were jumping through in the middle of her driveway. It didn’t seem nearly so concealed now that the sun glared harshly at us, even as low in the sky as it was.
“Shit, shit, shit.” I waved my companions through the gate and shut it behind me, then tried to give the child a winsome smile. “We’re superheroes,” I told her in way of explanation, and fled for the car before she could say anything. I crossed my fingers her parents would simply think she had an overactive imagination.
I narrowly avoided crashing twice on the drive back to Charlottesville. My head swam with exhaustion. Gatewright survives attack, dies in car crash.
“Clan Xantae?” Riven asked me, amused, on the doorstep to my home. “So that’s where you got the idea.”
I nodded. “Yeah, Emma and Rose came up with it.” I held the door open for him, expecting him to follow, but he didn’t.
His eyes sparkled. “I think I prefer Xantae Riven over Xantae Vaal. Jack, does this mean you’re done with Becot now, considering your holdings are at Clan Xantae? It is Xantae Jack now?”
Jack twitched for a moment, then a slow, cold smile spread across his face. “Well, if I am, I hold seniority over you, Riven.”
“Where the fuck have you been?” Rose yelled at us, sprinting down the stairs. “Your mother has been frantic. I lied and told her you were sleeping off a stomach bug, but I think she finally won’t listen to me and is on her way here. Jack, why haven’t you picked up your phone? Seriously!”
“Sleeping actually sounds like an amazing idea. I think I’ll go do that.” I left the fey at the door, leaving Jack to introduce Riven. As I closed the door to my bedroom behind me, I could hear Rose exclaiming over Riven’s haircut (“what demented stylist thought that haircut was a good idea? Get in the bathroom and let me fix it.”).
When was the last time I’d slept in my own bed? Last night I’d been driving around North and South Carolina. I stumbled toward my pillows and collapsed into the welcome softness of my mattress. The night before had been… the day before Thanksgiving. I’d slept in a hotel in Charleston. The night before that? Yeah. That was the night of the fight at the gas station. Had it really all happened so fast?
My mother showed up five minutes later, and I kindly obliged Rose by pretending to be asleep. I let her fuss over me to her heart’s content, making me a broth and toast for my “upset stomach”. The smell got my stomach rumbling, and I remembered I’d had nothing except the plate of food Riven had given me and a few bites of soup since Thanksgiving dinner. I begged for more, and convinced her I was well enough to eat the plentiful Thanksgiving leftovers Rose had brought back with her. If nothing else, my sudden, ravenous appetite convinced her I was on the mend.
Chapter Thirty
My mother gone, the food coma overtook me and I slept soundly. Until the nightmares returned. The first time, I was able to shake my head, take a breath, and fall back sleep. Perhaps it was my own fault for oversleeping, but when I woke with a muffled cry in the pitch blackness of my strange bedroom, the panic had my heart hammering like I was going to die.
I heard a thump from the living room, and my panic rose like a fever, distorting thought. Was there an intruder? I started to scramble out of the covers. I had to be able to make a gate and escape.
The door opened, and I took a reflexive step back. If I hadn’t been lianyos, and known it was Riven, I might not have recognized him. His hair was short, in a human style. He’d lost his fey clothes again, and only wore a pair of sweatpants likely borrowed from Jack, based on how loosely they fell on his hips. His hands were wrapped in cloth bandages, a visual reminder of the destruction he’d wrought just this evening.
