Legends of Marithia: Book 3 - Talonsphere (5 page)

His father laughed. “Have fun! Yuski and Anakari have been practicing since the sun came up. I overheard them gossiping about how late you are running. Seems you’re being outdone.”

He felt his cheeks flush and he descended the stairs with renewed purpose, knocking Queen Andrielle into the wall.

Shit!

His eyes widened as he helped her to her feet.

“Well! I see someone is excited to start their day,” she said, brushing the dirt from her shoulders.

“I’m terribly sorry, Your Highness. I really should be more careful.”

Vartan kept his head low and continued on, cursing at himself for being so careless. He emerged from the royal quarters and rushed to the training hall. He pushed open its oversized doors and watched as a startled Yuski dropped her sword beside the training dummy. “Vartan, you scared me. We’ve been waiting for you all morning.”

He looked to the many barrels around the hall.

So, they managed to do what I asked. I will practice with those later.

“My apologies. You started without me?”

Anakari chuckled, her eyes shimmering with a white glow. “One of us has. Weapons aren’t exactly my area of expertise. But I can be of service.”

She narrowed her eyes as she focused on the training dummy, mumbling a spell under her breath. The symbols on her body shimmered. The dummy jerked into action, launching itself from its chains, and shaking its head before running to a wall full of weapons. Using both arms, it picked up a sword and approached Yuski, taking a swing at her. She backed out of the way and retrieved her sword.

This will be an interesting training session.

Anakari was still enigmatic to Vartan. He was keen to see what she could do. The most powerful of magic is activated with emotion at ones core, not controlled with words.

“Impressive!” Vartan said, “But you should learn to fight with a blade, Anakari. Come join us and pick up a sword.”

She nodded, releasing her spell as she approached the weapons rack. The dummy crumbled to the floor. She picked up a gleaming weapon from the rack and approached them. “These are
blunted, right?”

Vartan nodded before drawing a blade of his own. Pulling out a second sword from the rack, he grabbed it by the blade and passed it to Yuski. “Standard training rules.”

Anakari stared blankly in their direction. He realised that they had no idea about training.

“No blows to the head, face, or
sensitive
areas.”

Yuski remained still and watched him closely. Anakari nodded and held her sword to her side, the weight forcing her to clench her left hand. Vartan approached and lifted her weapon, placing both her hands around its hilt. “Hold it like this, and use simple movements. Don’t try anything too fancy.”

Vartan thought back to his own initial training. It was long ago. Deep under the surface of Trahoterra, he had trained in the dragon’s caverns. Karven had cast a spell to slow down their time in the real world; it was much like the time he discovered the district of pleasure in the interstellar trade city, She’Ma’Ryn. He recalled the agonising frustration and tiring exercises as the great dragon trained him in the art of magic. Much like how he had learned to activate the power of the dragon blood flowing through his veins, Anakari had to tap into her inherent powers.

After all, if she was indeed sent by the gods to help us, she should have powers which extend far beyond her known magical abilities
, he thought.

She probably does. Can I wake up now?
Keturah said.
I’d shut down earlier at your request, but it seems you don’t need privacy anymore.

How did you know that, if you really shut down all your senses? Were you listening in earlier?
Vartan thought.

He felt a wave of embarrassment as his truth talisman’s emotions flowed into his own.

“Vartan, my prince, are we going to practice? Where is your head today?” Yuski said, tapping her head with her sword.

The prince remembered the words of the dragon king, in his initial training. He had been trained over many years as a knight of Greenhaven, but learning to use magic was something he had never prepared for.

Clear your mind and allow yourself to give in to the powers within you.

Repeat all of these spells after me.

Again, and never forget them. You will not be carrying a tome in battle!

Allow your body enough time to recover between spells.

Again, again, again!

You must remember the words until the spells become a part of you.

What or who do you fear? You must let go of your fear.

Vartan smirked at Anakari, tapping his own skull with his blade. “When we begin, I want you to clear your mind. Try to think of absolutely nothing. In this case, just focus on your sword.”

She nodded and followed Yuski, circling around Vartan.

Shanka squawked as she flew to the sill of a broken window. Vartan was reminded of the death of Makya, and how they had to train harder to defeat their enemies.

“Begin,” Vartan said. He spread his legs wide and brought his sword to a vertical position on his chest. He closed his eyes and shifted his focus to his remaining senses. This sense of calm allowed him to focus on nothing but his enemies’ movements and helped him predict what they would do next.

The instant they moved, his eyes flickered open.

Yuski swung her sword and then steadied it horizontally with both hands, staring down her target. Anakari watched both of them, her face paling by the second. A gust of leaves blew through the partly opened windows, floating in the air between them, then descended gracefully to the wooden planks beneath their feet. Vartan listened to the gentle patter of the leaves sliding along the grooves in the wood.

Yuski gritted her teeth and charged at his left flank, swinging her sword toward his back. The floorboards shook violently from her attack.

He twisted to the left and brought his blade up to meet hers, the force of the blow threw her off balance. She stumbled backward and blew her dishevelled hair off her face. Vartan nodded as he stared at Anakari. She came at his front, lunging at his chest. He blocked her blows with ease. She dropped the tip of the sword to the ground and wiped her moist brow.

“Come on! You can both do better than this. Is it me you fear? Or yourselves?”

The girls shared a glance and their eyes hardened. They engaged him from opposite directions. Vartan twisted around at incredible speeds, blocking them both.

Yuski growled as she swung her sword again, then threw a side kick to his ribs. He stumbled back from the blow.

Vartan grinned as he said, “
Now
you are fighting!”

Anakari swung from her right and then left, alternating her blows. Yuski slashed wildly at him from the other side. He rolled out of their way and drew a second sword from the weapons rack. Another gust of wind sent leaves flying over his shoulder. Shanka took flight from the window and alighted on the rack of swords.

Vartan spread his arms and swords out wide, he leapt into the air and somersaulted forwards, meeting their blades in his descent. He held them both back, focusing his attacks on the elf, ensuring to hit her arms repeatedly with the surface of the blade, not the edge.

“Sorceress, is this really as good as you can get?”

Anakari winced and stepped back. She growled as her eyes glowed bright white and symbols pulsed on her skin.

“No spells allowed in weapons training!” Vartan said, darting backwards and assuming a defensive stance.

“This is no spell. You want a fight? Then fight with a god!” Anakari said.

Anakari’s voice was different to her own.

His cheeks flushed and the realisation hit him like a punch to the face.

I have awakened her.

Vartan prepared himself for the worst. He had a feeling that this was not going to be easy.

Flicking her wrist, Anakari threw her sword in the air. She performed a spinning kick and landed hard on wooden planks. Dust blew upward from between the cracks and she caught the blade by its hilt.

“Anakari?” Yuski said, staring intently at her companion.

Ignoring her question, the sorceress flew through the air and engaged Vartan’s blades. She moved with such grace, it was as if the air offered her no resistance. Vartan struggled to defend himself. One of her blows caught his cheek and drew blood, a bright trail running down his chin. This was no longer a training exercise, or at least whatever was inside Anakari thought it wasn’t. His heart raced as he realised that he was facing a serious adversary.

“Anakari, stop!” Vartan said. He tasted blood in the corner of his mouth and steeled himself.

Vartan leapt backwards, focusing on the soul of Mazu within him. He opened his eyes, now glowing a dazzling blue, and saw the room through Mazu’s power. The water in Anakari and Yuski’s bodies flowed rapidly and he pushed his fist through the air and knocked Anakari backward to drift along the floor.

“I don’t want to hurt you. Please stop,” Vartan said.

Anakari’s voice curved with a lace of curiosity. “Mazu? Brother, what are you doing here?”

She leapt upward, gliding through the air. The speed of her movements were too quick for Vartan to focus on. She twisted in the air, a whirlwind building around her. Vartan and Yuski were blown off their feet and became projectiles. Shanka became involuntarily airborne.

The magical power being unleashed in the room overwhelmed Vartan’s senses, and his vision blurred. For the first time since he was nearly killed by Kassina’s hands, he felt the icy grip of fear around his heart. He knew he had to do something, and his mind scrambled for a solution.

Vartan spread out his arms and screamed as he clenched his fists. Every barrel in the room exploded violently. The water that had been inside them burst forth, soaking them and the entire room. Vartan narrowed his eyes and focused. The droplets froze in the air and they were held in their positions. The wind continued to build around the training room, sending cold chills up his spine.

He crossed his arms and burst outward. They were all thrown against the walls as if a fireball had exploded in the centre of the room. The icy water flooded the floor, and although his teeth were chattering, the cold was welcomed by his bruised body.

He looked over to see Anakari’s eyes normalise, and the glyphs on her skin darkened. Rubbing her head and nursing her left elbow, she stood wearily and spoke with chattering teeth. “What just happened here?”

It was in that moment that Vartan realised that he not only had an immense respect for her power, but he was truly afraid of her losing control.

Chapter 4 : Dark Reign

“Twinkle twinkle, little star.

How I wonder who you truly are.

I’ve seen glimpses of your light.

Watched the spirits that you fight.

I await a destined fate.

Who will find me, before it’s too late?”

(Talonsphere)

I
t was a shocking descent into the darkness below Eagle’s Drop. Tusdar knew that the vampire army had been eradicated in the recent battle of Greenhaven, and that their city was all but deserted. Almost every vampire in their realm had been called to the battle and met their end.

It would have been a surprise for the Zhendurian guards to hear Tusdar and Mestal’s frantic screams after they leapt from Eagle’s Drop. They must have closed the gate and raised the bridge when the storm broke.

The muffled rattle of the freed chains was heard over the howl of storm winds. The drawbridge had barely opened up in time to release the bats that would catch vampires and bring them into Zhendur. This was no ordinary day; they had already fallen too far. Bats struggled to catch their bodies as they plummeted toward the entrance. Elite guards were permanently stationed at the entrance. They were heavily armoured and brandished oversized crossbows with enchanted arrows that emitted an apple-green smoke.

Funny how even as an immortal, I had just feared death,
Tusdar thought.

The guards stared with pale faces at Mestal and Tusdar being lifted to the entrance and dumped before them unscathed. The vampires dusted themselves off and looked past the guards to see what was almost a ghost town. Mestal was the only pure vampire, and descendant of royal blood, who remained alive.

That should put her at the top of the food chain.

Mestal spoke firmly. “Our Lord Aryun is dead.”

As she stood to her feet, the guards bowed down before her.

Tusdar marched through the gate, seeing the empty guard posts. His body groaned after his ordeal, but his mind was at peace. He found it disturbing to walk into such a large underground city and hear no movement.

Mestal turned to him and whispered, “They’re hidden, defending the city.”