Avalyne Series 01: The Queen of Carleon (28 page)

To look at this thing that had been K
eira, Arianne tried to understand what she was looking at. There were parts of her that resembled one creature but there were other parts were similar to another. Her dark flesh looked like leather hide, her legs had brittle dark fur. Her hands had now become claws and her lips widened across her face, turning blood red to reveal teeth that were serrated and sharp. It struck Arianne at that moment who she was or rather what she was.

Once that understanding filled her mind, it made all
the other pieces of the puzzle fit seamlessly into place.

‘You are Syphia,’ Arianne stated without question. ‘The Dreaded Mother of All.’

Oh the irony of it, Arianne thought fleetingly as she descended into despair. All this time, they had thought the Enemy was a man and how foolish they had been to never consider that she might have been female and among them. That was why her mother could not tell her for certain how the Enemy would watch her because the Enemy was a Primordial and not even an elf had been
able to fight them without the help of the Celestials.  

‘
Oh Gods,’ Celene exclaimed her face turning white. ‘This is Mael’s consort?’

‘
I WAS HIS QUEEN!’ Keira or rather Syphia roared and her hair swirled about her as if they were the physical manifestation of her emotions. ‘I gave him his army! The wyverns, the trolls, the caracals, the spiders and the shifters! Every foul thing that inhabits your nightmares, I gave birth to them!’

‘
What have you done with Keira!’ Celene demanded refusing to feed her posturing though inwardly, she was terrified at how quickly things had spiralled out of their control. ‘The real Keira!’

Celene’s instincts told her that there was no hope, that Keira was dead but she had to ask, she could not abandon Keira to that reality if that was even the slightest chance that their friend was alive,
somewhere
.

‘
The real Keira?’ Keira or rather Syphia laughed. ‘The real Keira is buried somewhere in the Green. I cannot remember where exactly I interred her but she is there nonetheless since no one has yet to find her.’

‘
The Green...? You killed her before going to Carleon?’ Celene’s heart sank knowing that it was too late. That it was always too late for poor Keira.

‘
I did not kill her,’ Syphia replied with actually sounded like an attempt at sincerity. ‘I did not have to. When I happened upon the poor Mistress of Furnsby Farm, she was already dead. Balfure’s Disciples were extremely thorough when they used the burrowers on her.  It removed the need for me to do the deed myself.’

Arianne’s eyes widened when she realised what that meant. How long this creature had play the part of Keira Furnsby.
‘But I...’ her voice withered in her throat because the truth was now revealed in all its dismal glory.

‘
It was not Keira I took to Eden Taryn, it was
you.’
She said aghast.

‘
You elves,’ Syphia snorted with derision. ‘Did you think you had the skill to save
anyone
from the cerebrii? The Disciples used it for good reason, there is NO cure for it. The burrowers were my children and I did not birth them to leave survivors. Keira died before her husband returned home to find her and I who had been watching your beloved Dare since the revelation that the exiled heir was found, saw my chance and took it.’

‘
You have been playing the part of Keira for all these years?’ Melia asked what Arianne had already guessed.

‘
Why not?’ Syphia asked. ‘I have lain with a god and with other Primordials to create perfection. It was easy to play the part of the wounded wife, needing the attention and care of a husband so wrought with guilt he would explain away any change in her behaviour as the result of her torture. It was remarkably easy to play the role required and it was not entirely unpleasant. These humans are far more interesting than the elves ever were.’ She said snidely at Arianne.

This was the darkness that she and the other elves had sensed in Keira, Arianne realised. What they had thought to be a blight upon her soul because of the
burrowers’s poison in her veins was only a ruse to hide the fact that she was a Primordial. Perhaps the greatest one of them all. Arianne wondered if she had really been able to trick Lylea and Tamsyn too? After all, her mother did send her to find the Sword of Antion, the weapon that had supposedly slain Syphia all those ages ago.

‘
Why?’ Celene demanded because like Arianne, she was furious at being duped but also saddened that the friendship they had shared during this quest was a lie. The realisation was a hammer blow to their spirit which she supposed was precisely what Syphia had intended. ‘Why would you do this?’

‘
Why not? What better way to keep an eye on the happenings in Avalyne once I had the undying gratitude of the king for saving his life?’ Syphia retorted. ‘I will not explain my reasons only to say that after your war mongering grandfather,’ she shot an icy glare at Arianne, ‘wounded me, I needed to heal and retreated from the world. So I slept, for all the ages that followed the war until this one. Imagine my disbelief when I awoke to find Mael had been banished into the Aether by the Celestial Gods and his underling, was now seeking to usurp him? I could not let that happen.’

‘
And so what, you seek to steal Arianne’s child to bring him back?’ Melia asked.

‘
Of course,’ Syphia retorted as if this was no great mystery. ‘When the Gods send you to the Aether, they destroy your body and leave you formless. I knew I simply could not conduct the resurrection spell that was created by his servant and simply return him to the world. I needed a receptacle in which his soul can be contained.  However it could not just been
any
receptacle, it had to be something that could be special and what better vessel could there be than the crowned prince of the newly freed kingdom of Carleon? With Carleon’s resources and the army I will allow him to add to his own, he will build an empire that will cover all of Avalyne with his rule.  All I had to do was wait until the exiled king to show himself and begin his campaign against Balfure.’

Arianne let out a strangled cry and sunk to her knees, her hand on her mouth as she realised the intricate web that Syphia had weaved. The web that she was caught in. Like a spider, she thought, like a spider Syphia had been, watching and waiting for Dare to appear to claim his kingdom, uniting them all and driving out
Balfure, saving her the effort of doing it herself. Now all Syphia had to do was take their child and she would win without a single battle being fought.

‘
I will not let you touch my child! I will kill myself first!’ She raised her grandfather’s sword to fight.

Suddenly something emerged out of the snow behind her with such speed that she barely had time to turn around. She saw Celene attempting to intervene but the Lady of Gislaine was quickly overcome by the snow creatures that had suddenly evolved out of mounds and stalagmites. The size of men but covered with dark, grey fur, they bared their teeth as the overwhelmed Celene with sheer numbers, grabbing her arms and legs to wrestle her to the ground.

‘Celene!’ Arianne screamed and went for her weapon but the beast behind her was too quick and her arms were pinned to keep her from using her sword to any effect.

‘Let go of me!’ Arianne heard an indignant cry but realised that Syphia’s creature would not release his iron grip.

Melia saw Celene being attacked and had snapped out of her shock long enough to shoot a bolt at the attackers surrounding the Lady of Gislaine. One bolt struck its mark, spreading crimson over grey fur as one of these creatures, shifters she suspected howled in pain, trying to claw at is back to remove the hated projectile.

‘That is enough from you!’ Syphia hissed and Melia turned just in time to see the Primordial closing in on her. Her hair long serpentine hair wrapped itself around Melia’s throat and lifted her off the ground, making her gasp as she tried to free herself. Then as if she were a horse flicking away a fly with its tail, Melia was flung across the corridor. She landed hard and did not move once her face hit the snow.

‘
MELIA!’ Arianne cried out helplessly watching her friends fight to save her and fail.

‘
Enough of this,’ Syphia said to her minions now that the three were subdued. ‘Take the Queen to Sanhael. I feel our future master quickening inside her. The full moon is almost here. ‘

‘
Please,’ Arianne wept desperately, ‘you have me, let them go! They are no use to use!’

‘
I do not think so,’ Syphia gave her a look of disgust. ‘These two will not go on their merry way if I release them. They will try to save you, no matter how futile the effort may be. Besides you are wrong,’ she smiled cruelly at Arianne. ‘I do have a use for them. They are my Berserkers.’

Arianne’s eyes widened, as she understood.
‘NO!’

Unfortunately, as she was dragged kicking and screaming away from Celene and Melia, it appeared that there was very little she could do to stop them or save herself.

PART SEVENTEEN
ESCAPE

A great feeling of dread overcame Aeron when he and the Company were following the path apparently cleared by Arianne, Celene and Keira during their journey towards the pit.

In an effort to close the distance between themselves and the Queen, it was Tamsyn who decided that a faster method of travel needed to be found after their encounter with the shifters in the forest.  Although sceptical at first, largely because he had never seen the creatures described by the magii and growing more and more concerned with what his wife was facing, Dare finally acquiesced to Tamsyn’s suggestion.

It was said that the griffins that dwelled in the high peaks of the Jagged Teeth were created by Mael during the Primordial Wars and were kept enslaved
to service of the dark god. The Celestial Enphilim had freed them, allowing the creatures to fly free for the first time in their existence. In gratitude to he who had given to them the freedom of the sky, the griffins swore allegiance to Enphilim and the Order of the Magii whom he had originated.

When the griffin arrived, they were a sight to behold. Their wings spanned fifteen across and their bodies were that of a great cat, with powerful back and fore legs. Their amber pelts rippled like gold silk fluttering in the wing and their heads were that of majestic birds of prey, with beaks capable of rending flesh with frightening ease. They came within a day of
Tamsyn’s summon and when they arrived, were more than willing to assist in ferrying the company to the Frozen Mountains when they learned that plans were underfoot to restore their old captor to power.

Thanks to the
beast, they were able to cross Angarad in faster time than it would take if the journey were carried out on horseback. In a matter of days, they were crossing the lands that would otherwise have taken weeks.  The griffins had set them down at the top of the Frozen Mountains and it did not take them long to descend its heights and find the trail that Arianne, Keira, Celene and apparently one other had taken to reach Mael’s Pit.

Aeron could sense the evil emanating from the canyons beyond the mountains even before they took to the hewn path created by Celene to the lair of the wyrms and the wyvern. The elf had no doubt that whomever this Enemy was, they were close. Who knows what terrible things had lingered in the depths of the world since Mael’s exile into the Aether.

‘We must hurry,’ Tamsyn spoke up, his eyes misting over as if he knew something that they all did not.

‘
Why?’ Dare asked first. ‘What has happened?’

‘
I am not sure,’ Tamsyn replied, lying. He knew precisely what had taken place; he could sense it even from this distance. Telling Dare would serve no purpose other than to send panic through the heart of the King and the Lord of Gislaine. To Tully, he had no idea what to say for there were some things that needed to seen to believe and what the Magii now knew about Keira Furnsby could be delivered no other way. ‘We must hasten our pace.’

‘
I agree,’ Aeron commented and broke into a jog to make his point. He could see the edge of the patch but what lay beyond the thorny barrier caused his mouth to fall open from shock.

‘
By Gods!’ He exclaimed.

All these surprises were starting to bother Dare greatly and his anxiety was increasing by the minute.
‘What is it now?’ He demanded, not knowing how much more of these cryptic exclamations he was going to take.

‘
Look!’ Aeron pointed out as they stepped into what could only be described as a field of slaughter. Dead wyrms laid strewn about the bloody field, bodies cleaved in half, speared and slashed. It was a grisly scene of death and if that was not shocking enough to the senses, the wyvern that lay in the middle of a drying pool of blood was. The creature was buzzing with flies and other insects, its entrails exposed from its split belly. The smell produced made someone gag, Dare thought it might have been Merry.

‘
It’s a wyvern!’ Kyou exclaimed. ‘I did not think that there were any left! I thought they were destroyed during the Primordial War.’

‘
They were,’ Tamsyn answered, his expression grave. ‘These are not ancient creatures, these are
young
. This wyvern is not from the war.’

‘
My wife was definitely here then,’ Ronen studied the slaughter around him and did not know whether or not he ought to be proud of her efforts or furious that she was placed in such terrible danger. ‘I recognise her handiwork.’

‘
Celene has many talents,’ Dare frowned as he examined the beast and was grateful to say that it was definitely dead. Now on top of all the other reasons that he wanted to find Arianne safe and sound, Dare wanted to hear all about how they had managed to slay a wyvern of this considerable size. He was proud of all three women while at the same time terrified as well. ‘I had no idea wyvern slaying was one of them.’

‘
It seems they are more resourceful then we gave them credit for,’ Kyou replied rethinking his views on the lady’s ability to defend herself.

‘
Celene we already knew but Arianne has her own strength,’ Aeron replied, recalling how Arianne had rode to Eden Taryn with Keira.

‘
The tracks are confusing to read,’ Aeron remarked as he turned his attention to the ground that was not smeared in blood. ‘However, all three survived the encounter. There are prints leading to that cave.’ The elf walked on ahead and started climbing the rocks into the cavern.

‘
I believe your wife and her friends have acquired the Sword of Antion,’ Tamsyn explained as he climbed into the cavern behind Aeron. The jewel poised on the edge of his staff began to glow and light filled the cavern to show the sight that had greeted the women who had taken their rest within its walls.

‘
It was here?’ Aeron declared, looking about the place with clear revulsion after seeing the bones of the animals and men who had met their end as the meal of the wyvern who had inhabited this cave.

‘
For almost two millennia,’ Tamsyn answered casually as Dare and Aeron went to the far end, where they found further signs of their loved ones.

‘
They rested here for awhile,’ Aeron explained, his fingers gauging time by the cooling embers of the campfire.

‘
Well killing a whole bunch of wyrms and wyverns can do that,’ Tully found himself saying to no one in particular still unable to believe that Keira had taken part in all this carnage.

‘
Someone was hurt,’ the elf picked up the crushed remains of vegetation and took a breath of it.

‘
I know this weed,’ Dare stated as he took some from Aeron and breathed in its unique scent. ‘It is used for minor ailments.’

‘
That’s good to know,’ Ronen declared, breathing easier after the elf’s initial announcement of someone being hurt. ‘So they found the Sword of Antion and kept going?’

‘
Towards Mael’s Pit,’ Dare said with a nod, ‘towards the Enemy.’

*******

She dreamed of Ronen.

She dreamed that he was near and that he was seeking her through the mist. It was good to see him, even if he existed to her within the boundaries of the dreamscape. She gazed at him with love and pride, noting that he was dressed for battle, sword hung proudly at his hip, braces on his arms and
a shield with the Dragon of  Carleon slung across his shoulder. Watching him as he drew nearer to her reminded Celene why she loved him so. They were two warriors who had spent their entire lives fighting one battle after another.

As the divide between them dwindled, Celene began walking towards her husband, wanting to feel his strong arms about her and tell her that he was with her and what came after this, they would face it together.

When he said those words to her, Celene believed they could defeat anything…

‘
Celene!’ A sharp prodding in her side made the mist around them dissolve, taking Ronen with it.

Celene returned to a reality where there were no ethereal mists swirling around her or the presence of her husband. Instead she was met by rather cold, wet and slimy rock scraping against her cheek, the stench of a stable that had not known cleaning since the Dawning of Man and the understanding that she was going to die.

She sat up abruptly as her most recent memories flooded into her mind and she saw that she was in a small room that appeared to a dungeon of some description. The room was in a serious state of disrepair. Its walls were marred with mighty cracks and the ceiling was half missing. Beyond it, there was no sky, merely darkness devoid of starlight.

Her head throbbed and her effort to reach for it brought forth the discovery that her hands were bound behind her back. Celene attempted to stave off panic at this discovery, especially when she looked around and saw that the room, save herself and Melia was empty. Arianne was not with them.

‘Where is she?’ Celene asked once she managed to sit up to face the watch guard.

‘
Syphia took Arianne with her,’ Melia announced shortly. ‘The shifters brought us here.’

‘
I have heard of these creature that are able to change shape,’ Celene muttered as she shook away the disorientation from being rendered unconscious. ‘But I thought they were legend.’

‘
They’re real enough,’ Melia retorted bitterly. ‘They are probably more of Syphia’s children.’

Syphia. Celene closed her eyes, still unable to believe they had been duped for so long, that all this time the Enemy they had travelled so far to confront had been amongst them all the time. It made Celene want to kill something but at the moment, her rage was impotently trapped within their prison.

‘They were waiting for us,’ Celene hissed under her breath. ‘She must have told them which way we were coming.’

‘
Probably,’ the watch guard nodded, finding no reason to disagree.

She had not known Keira long enough to feel the anguish and betrayal that Arianne and Celene no doubt felt.
She wanted to offer Celene her sympathy at the loss of the friend who was never really a friend but there was too much to do right now.

‘
So where is this place?’ Celene took the opportunity to study her surroundings more carefully.

Through the crack in the ceiling, Celene saw the outline of a city. Its spires and columns were broken and it was clear that some terrible catastrophe had befallen it to be in such a state of dilapidation. Some of the buildings had crumbled away completely; exposing suites and rooms that were covered within with mosaics and withering tapestries. Moss and lichens grew over the gray stone with vines and cobwebs overhanging balconies and other high places. It did not require Celene to see much more to understand that they were presently being held in one of the ancient cities of the Sunken Lands.

‘This is Sanhael,’ Melia responded attempting to loosen the bonds around her wrists but to little avail. As it was the outcome of her efforts made her skin feel raw and tender, forcing her to stop before she was further injured.

Sanhael. This was the birth place of the elves. From here, they had been given life by the Supreme who charged the
Celestial Gods as the shepherds of Avalyne, to guide and nurture all that grew on its earth. Here, the elves had built the first great city before war and loss had driven them to hide behind the Veil. The first blood Mael had drawn in declaring his war against the Gods was to take this city and slaughter all who lived within its walls. Once he had claimed it for his own, he made Sanhael the seat of his power and from here, launched his offensive against all of Avalyne.

‘
Sanhael?’ Celene exclaimed, supposing she ought not to be surprised that they were brought here. If Syphia intended to resurrect Mael, it stood to reason that she would do it at the former seat of his power. She strained to see through the small hole in the door of their cell. Beyond it she could hear the movement of their captors with no effort made to conceal their identity. Her heart clenched inside her chest as she recognised the meat of their conversation because while the substance of their language eluded her, she knew the tongue being spoken.

The brutish speech of Berserkers.

As if aware of her realisation, Melia answered coolly, ‘we’ve been given to them.’

‘
Given?’ Celene’s eyes widened as she stared sharply at the watch guard. She knew what that meant of course but a part of her was still refusing to believe it.

‘
Apparently the Berserkers are in need of distraction,’ Melia swallowed, her face showing her clear revulsion of their intended fates. ‘The Enemy has given us to them to
entertain
them.’

‘
I would die first!’ Celene spat in horror. She could not even begin to imagine such a gross violation of her body and for the first time since this all began, she started to feel currents of real terror surging through at being forced to endure such a thing.

‘
You will die anyway,’ Melia pointed out wearily. There was a brief pause and she spoke again, this time her voice was lowered almost to a whisper, ‘We may be able to use it to our advantage.’