The Aspect: The Cessation's Harbinger Read online

  “Oh yes, I’ve never felt that kind of emotion from her before.” The two shared each other’s company for the remaining ride to shore. Tempest drifted in and out of sleep as the Queen crooned to the movements of the massage. When the boat approached its destination, the sailors called out to one another as they prepared to dock the boat. Tempest jerked awake at the sound of the quick shuffling on the deck. He sat up, yawned, and stretched before slapping his cheeks in an effort to wake himself up.

  “Sleep well?” Queen Maileath asked.

  “I’ll take any I can get,” Tempest said, jumping up to his feet. He turned and pulled Queen Maileath up with him. She let out a moan of surprise as he lifted her with ease. “Thank you for earlier…it helped.” Queen Maileath brought her hand to her heart and bowed.

  “Anything that I can do to help ease your burden. Know that I am always here for you.” As Tempest turned to head toward the debarkation ramp, Queen Maileath slid her hand down his arm and pulled on his hand. “Before I go, I would like to ask you for a personal favor.” Tempest turned back around, his eyebrows drawing together.

  “What is it, your majesty?”

  “I want you to strongly consider making Saïgra a companion.” Tempest placed his fists on his hips and shook his head. The déjà vu crept along his spine like an unseen spider. The scene was exactly playing out like the time he met with Queen Na’esta.

  “I don’t want to have this conversation,” Tempest said, turning away.

  “Okay, I’m sorry. Saïgra just needs someone there for her, someone other than me.”

  Tempest stopped and sighed before turning back to the Queen. “It’s not like it’s my decision, your majesty. I like Saïgra, I really do, but I barely know her.”

  “I know, all I am asking is for you to be open to the idea.” Tempest turned away and waved goodbye as he walked toward the middle of the starboard side where Riika and Ella were already waiting. The two had long faces and bags under their eyes. Like the common cold, once one person yawned, the rest caught it. Tempest glanced to his left as Saïgra approached. She stretched her arms overhead and rubbed her eyes.

  “Did I miss anything while I was out?”

  “No,” Tempest said. “It was a pretty uneventful ride.”

  “I didn’t realize how tired I was,” she said, catching Riika’s yawn. “I slept like a log.”

  “Wait,” Riika said, scratching the side of her face. “Don’t you always sleep like a log?”

  Saïgra smiled like she was intoxicated. “Hmm, I guess I do.”

  After disembarking from the boat, the group joined Queen Vatia in a guarded convoy. When they left the secure area of the docks, Tempest and Queen Vatia were able to get an excellent view of the city while his companions continued to rest. The city streets were ladened with fires and anarchy as the citizens began their revolt. Carriages were overturned, debris was lit, and mobs of people created barriers for their return to the castle. City guards were already on patrol, arresting and subduing the most destructive of the rioters.

  Tempest turned to the Queen to ask about the status of the city. However, the Queen’s sharp brows and pursed lips told him it would be best to keep his questions to himself. As the convoy reached the walls around the castle, the convoy crawled to a halt. Lines of soldiers blocked off thousands of protesters as they shouted at the convoy. Ella, Riika, and Saïgra became alert because of the increasing volume as they pressed into the higher density of the crowd.

  “What’s going on?” Riika asked, wiping her eyes as she looked out of the side opening.

  “There are protests and rioting happening all over the city,” Tempest said. “This is the civil unrest Queen Vatia mentioned earlier.”

  “Why are they rioting and protesting? Is it because of what happened?”

  “A city like Halairim only works because the people here have faith in the hydra,” Queen Vatia said. “When that faith waivers, the city turns on its saviors…” Queen Vatia trailed off as she stared out the window. The vestige of the security of her city passed her by as nearby flames reflected in her eyes.

  She let out a sigh and turned back inward. “This has been the first major attack on Halairim in hundreds of years. Many believe Halairim to be untouchable, that the protection provided by the hydra is absolute. This attack proves otherwise. Because of this, the people are frightened. Others are taking advantage of the chaos for personal gain. We must show the people we have a handle on the situation. That’s why it’s important we hear what the lead investigator has found.”

  Once the caravan made it through the castle’s walls, it was a brief ride to the front of the complex. As the group reached the top floor, the activity was buzzing with various guards and staff who were scrambling to coordinate the efforts to control the situation in the city. Cladius met them at the top of the lift and handed Queen Vatia several parchments, which she hurriedly read through before snapping her finger and turning them into ash. As they rounded the corner of the conference room door, Sophia was standing over a pile of books with hundreds of parchments spread across the table. Noticing the new arrivals, she leaned up and clasped her hands.

  “Wonderful, now that everyone important is here, let’s get down to business.”

  6

  Unbecoming of a King

  Sophia spread out the parchments on the table, making sure everything was clear from her view. Everyone was standing around the table waiting for her to begin except for Headmistress Krenik, who was busy scouring through a tome that was nearly as large as she was.

  “All right, now that we have heard the recounts about the events that occurred at The Academy, here is what we have. Currently, we have no way to correlate the two incidents that have occurred; however, the timing of both attacks seems more than coincidental. Based on the eyewitness accounts and the dispositions given by those involved in the attack yesterday, we are looking at a kidnapping attempt rather than an assassination. Here’s why.”

  Sophia turned and rummaged in her bag, pulling out the magical devices that Tempest’s attackers used the previous night. “We recovered several magical artifacts from the crime scene. The first item was a circular ball that released kyger spores when a button was pressed. The second item was these manacles, which have the ability to drain both mana and stamina depending on the wearer and their magical source.” Seeing the Queen beginning to reach, Sophia shot out and grabbed Queen Vatia’s hand with bird like reflexes. “I wouldn’t do that, your majesty. His Eminence can attest to the weakened state it will put you in.”

  “She’s right, your majesty,” Tempest said, watching Queen Vatia slowly retract her hand and rub her wrist.

  “The third item was their helmets,” Sophia said, pointing further down the table at the sculpted helmets for the various species that wore them. “They, along with their garb, created a seal around their necks, allowing the mask to filter out the toxins in the air. This is how they avoided being affected by the kyger spores. Also, by our own testing, they have lenses in them that allow the wearer to see in low-light and give them darkvision.

  “I’d love time to examine the equipment, if possible,” Ella said, pointing to the helmets.

  “Don’t worry, Lady Fleetfoot, I am sure there will be plenty of time for that,” Sophia said with a grin like she expected the response. “Now, finally, there is the fourth item.” She held up a silver amulet resting on a metal chain. “This is a communication device. If you hold on to the amulet, you can speak telepathically to anyone else with one. And before you ask, we’ve had someone listening for any communication since the incident. So far we’ve not received any communication leading us to believe these are limited to the individual members of each squad and their commander.”

  “So, we have a well-organized, well trained, and well-funded group who knew exactly where the Aspect and his companions were going to be,” Queen Vatia said, tapping the table. Everyone turned their head toward the choking mousefolk. She struggled to breathe and beg
an beating her chest to try to clear the obstruction in her airway. Ella reached over and began patting her back in an effort to help, but Headmistress Krenik waved her off as she began to get her breathing under control.

  “Sorry about that,” she said, still coughing. “I thought I heard you say Aspect.” Tempest leaned over and waved at Headmistress Krenik. Her eyes went wide, and her lower jaw stuttered as she realized the significance of the situation. She scurried on the floor, placing her face on the ground as she addressed him.

  “Forgive me your Eminence. No one told me I was in the divine’s presence. Please pardon me for my ignorance.” He rolled his hands under her own as she peered up into his beautiful eyes. The dim light of the chandelier above cast a mirage of a halo around Tempest’s head.

  “It’s quite all right, Headmistress Krenik. You’re doing more than many, given today’s events. Please continue with your research and pay me no mind.”

  She stuttered; her eyes sparkled with admiration. “I-I don’t think I could do that,” she said, letting out a small laugh. “I mean, I will do everything in my power to assist you, your Eminence.” Her hands slowly slid off of his large fingers, never taking her eyes off of him as she made her way back to her seat.

  Queen Vatia cleared her throat, garnering everyone’s attention. “Now, where were we?” she asked, scanning over the parchments. “Right, do we have any leads on who or what the organization is?”

  “We have two avenues we are trying to pursue. The first is where these magical devices came from, which is a pretty easy guess considering the elves have control over all the magical device production. I’ve reached out to our emissaries at Aerlanthir to help with the investigation, but so far there has been no comment,” Sophia said.

  “That leaves us with two determinations, both which are troubling. Either the elves are involved or someone else has managed to figure out how to produce magical artifacts.” Queen Vatia leaned up and began pacing back and forth. Her face riddled with concern. “What’s the second lead?”

  Sophia lifted the magical amulet, once again, bringing it to everyone’s attention. “This sword on the amulet is unique. Headmistress Krenik and I have been scouring texts looking for references but haven’t really come up with anything. I have our team of scholars looking at it in the castle archives, but the loss at The Academy is definitely going to slow our progress.”

  Riika stood and leaned over the table, her eyes squinting at the small amulet. “Hold on a second,” she said, turning toward her back. Riika retrieved a bloodied cheese cloth and slammed it on the table. Headmistress Krenik’s squeal echoed throughout the chamber.

  “Riika, please don’t tell me you have been carrying around a dead person’s arm in your bag the whole time,” Ella said.

  “Well, their arm looked weird, like the guy we killed, and I figured you’d want to examine it, eventually.”

  “You’re not wrong,” Ella said, hovering over the arm. “That symbol looked familiar. Here, take a look at this.” Ella unwrapped the bloody forearm that the portal had severed. Its skin was pitch black like coal, and the hand only had two thick fingers and a thumb. However, the actual surprise was the silver tattoo that was on the creature’s wrist. It was a fist holding the same dagger that she had seen etched on the silver amulet.

  “Well, it looks like we have found our correlation,” Sophia said, crossing her arms.

  “Yeah, but what does that mean?” Tempest asked. “Does that mean the people who kidnapped me are the same people that attacked The Academy, Ashwreath, and the apians?”

  “It certainly implicates that.”

  “But why?”

  Sophia shrugged and smiled. “You answer that, your Eminence, and you can have my job,” she said jokingly. Her laughter fell on deaf ears as Tempest paced around the room.

  “The attack on The Academy I can understand,” he began. “It’s literally perfect. Most people see The Academy as this fortress of magical and intellectual power. It has all the best minds, greatest sorcerers, and some of the eldest artifacts on Iðna. No one would dare attack a place like that, unless they had the means to do so. So, they swoop in, wipe everyone out, and take all the spoils.”

  Tempest stopped and waved his arm out at the group. “But Ashwreath and Honeybrooke, why there? Then there’s me. Why would they want to kidnap me, and how did they even know I was the Aspect in the first place? We have told no one about it except for Queen Kiri, Queen Alyndra, and The Firegrove. I think there are a lot of unanswered questions that we need to address.”

  Sophia walked over to Tempest and put her hand on his shoulder. “One question at a time. Trust me, these things usually start small, with every question answered opening up to another question. Once we peel back the layers, we’ll eventually make it to the core. Just keep your chin up.”

  Tempest let out an enormous sigh and nodded.

  As the two confided, Ella leaned over the table and noticed a missed detail about the amulet. She reached out and picked it up off the table. As she examined the amulet, an idea popped into her head and she got to work. She pulled out a circular cork top container she used mostly for her alchemical bombs. Then she pulled out some reagents from her main pouch along with a glass dropper.

  Over the next few minutes, she ground up her ingredients with a mortar and pestle before pouring everything into the glass container. The amulet was the last thing she added before plugging the top with her thumb and shaking everything together. The reaction occurred as soon as she added the amulet. The bubbling mixture overflowed before turning the water black. When it finished bubbling, she pulled the amulet from the vial, dried it off with a cloth, and handed it back to Sophia on the chain.

  “It’s made from an alloy I do not recognize. This might be a lead you can follow up on.”

  “How did you figure that out?” Sophia asked.

  “The way the light shined off of it was casting an unnatural purple hue.”

  “Oh, I just figured it was because it was magic.”

  Ella chuckled and shook her head. “No, that’s a common misconception that a magical item looks magical. They usually look very mundane, and it’s hard to tell the difference unless you have the ability to detect magic. However, it’s rather easy to tell if an item has magical abilities if it has magical runes that are carved in it like those manacles or Lightning Breath.”

  “I see that Academy education is coming in handy.”

  “Yes,” Ella said, dropping her head into her hands as she leaned over the table. “But it seems like a lifetime ago.”

  Sophia twisted the amulet back and forth, trying to see if it would create a pattern. Unfortunately, it didn’t.

  “I think I get what you’re implying, Lady Fleetfoot. If we find out where this alloy is made or where to find it, then it could lead us to our next step.”

  “Precisely,” Ella said.

  Sophia tossed the amulet up, caught it in her hand and then slipped it into one of her jacket pockets. Everyone’s head turned toward the balcony as a faint draconic roar sounded off in the distance. Sophia began hurriedly throwing a bunch of the parchment into her bag. “I think that’s my cue,” she said, slinging the bag over her shoulder. “I’m going to follow up on this lead, personally. Headmistress Krenik, if you’d be so kind to join me, I could use your expertise on discussing the symbol with the scholars downstairs.”

  Headmistress Krenik glanced across the room before letting out a small laugh. “I think it might be best for me to keep reviewing the books here for a bit longer.”

  Sophia walked around the table before stopping at Headmistress Krenik’s chair. She slid it out with ease, putting her hand on the small of her back. She pointed over at Tempest as she spoke. “Headmistress Krenik, you are the best expert we have on these symbols. This is a matter of great importance to his Eminence. I’m sure he would be grateful for your continued assistance.”

  “Oh, um, yes,” Tempest stuttered. “Headmistress Krenik, it would mean
a lot to me to have your continued support.”

  Headmistress Krenik bit her lower lip as she looked at Tempest and back to Sophia. She slowly closed the tome that sat before her and jumped off her chair. “I’m ready to go when you are,” she said.

  The group watched as Sophia and Headmistress Krenik bowed before taking their leave. Queen Vatia, Ella, and Riika all sat down for a moment of respite. Queen Vatia called to the nearby help and servants began handing drinks to all the attendees.

  The day’s morning sun peaked through the horizon, causing a calm orange glow inside the room. A shadow covered the glare, followed by the sound of massive flaps. An intense heat filled the room from the balcony, followed by the entrance of an unfamiliar face.

  Where Queen Vatia wore an ensemble of gold and white, everything about this man was red. His long red hair created a mane for his pointed beard. The scales along his arms and legs matched the deep blood-red of his full plate armor. His two horns shot above him, creating a height much taller than he was, but it was his wings, just like Queen Vatia, that really gave him his size. He was the tallest being in the room and the size of his arms and thighs exhumed strength. His gold eyes were as piercing as his gaze.

  When he spoke, the bass of his voice pressed into the group’s chests as it echoed throughout the chamber. “Vatia, I am sorry my love; I came as quickly as I could.”

  Tempest looked around and noticed his peers were bent over grunting as if being pressed down from an invisible force above. The man scanned the room and locked eyes with Tempest. His lip furled before turning back toward the Queen, releasing everyone from his aura. Tempest went by and checked to make sure his companions were all right, all of them clutching their necks from the obvious strain of the moment before.

  “I am all right, King Orum, no need to be concerned for my wellbeing,” she said as she accepted the man’s light kisses on her cheeks. “However, as you no doubt saw on your flight in, we have quite the calamity on our hands.