Vulture (37 page)
Authors: Rhiannon Paille
Tags: #juvenile fiction, #Legends; Myths; Fables, #Norse
She tightened her grip on his tunic to steady herself. “Ro tulten amin,” he whispered, melancholy tainting his words.
She glared at him, frozen in fear. “Tell me I can stop it.” A whimper rose from the back of her throat, and she fought to hold in her fear. Her stomach roiled. He was dying, and it was all her fault.
The cold closed in, frostbite pressing into her bones. She cringed at the sensation of ice filling her body, fighting against the heat of the Amethyst Flame. She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate hard enough to heal him, hard enough to stop the mark from spreading, changing him. He pressed his cheek to her cheek, his lips near her ear.
“You can’t.”
She didn’t think she could feel worse, but he pulled back, his eyes full of shattering terror, and kissed her harder and more passionately than he ever had before. He wound his fingers into her hair and broke the barrier between them, pressing his body against hers. She let go of his shirt and wound her arms around his waist, crushing him to her as hard as she could. His lips moved along hers. The mark was spreading, the Vultures covering them in a thick cocoon until she couldn’t feel him anymore. She kissed him as his body disintegrated in a fanfare of icy darkness. She kept her lips pressed firmly to his until his hands left her, waving away in the violent wind.
She pitched forward in the snow, unable to hold herself up, and rolled onto her back. It seemed subtle to her, but a sonic boom erupted from the inside out, and in that moment the storm doubled, the temperature plummeted, and the land froze over. Her amethyst eyes stared at the sheets of snow. Her lips buzzed with the feeling of his last kiss, a kiss she didn’t deserve. Self-hatred pooled into her, burning worse than she imagined, hurting more than anything she’d ever felt before. Her mind circled around one thought. Cassareece gave her exactly what she wanted, exactly what she wished for.
Krishani wasn’t a Ferryman anymore.
* * *
43 - The Golden Pocket Watch
The snow was cold on her face. Cold and terrible, it covered her, buried her in the depths of her own faults. She couldn’t see the sky from the storm anymore. He was too late. When she’d made the volcano explode, he wasn’t there. Rock and molten lava shot into the sky, memories behind her liquid amethyst eyes.
She’d betrayed them.
She’d betrayed him.
She’d betrayed herself.
She’d destroyed the only thing she’d ever loved.
Her fingers turned blue and purple as the cold worried at her fragile body. Frost gathered on her fair skin and numbness burrowed into her bones. Her vacant eyes remained open as it happened, the cold inching up the sleeves of her black dress, pressing into the last of the warmth she held inside herself. It nipped at the Flame, threatening to snuff it out forever. She let the cold crawl into the knots in her stomach, let it pour through her veins, let it stop the only noise beating in her ears—the traitorous sound of her heart.
The girl she used to be was far away, lurking in the depths of a wondrous place she could never call home. Her days of talking to trees and blooming flowers seemed blissful. And days of lips and hands and hips pressed against her seemed unjust.
The unnatural wrath of the Valtanyana was unstoppable. Nothing but the utter surrender of everything she was would hold them at bay.
Her skin burned as the cold pressed in deeper, winding its way into her nerves. It made her feel like she was on fire. The Flame inside was fighting against the currents of destruction washing over her. It was only now as the cold rushed through her veins that she saw how impossible it had been from the beginning.
The trees were right; it was never meant to be.
The Valtanyana treated her as though she were a thing—a candle in the darkness, a talisman of ancient power, a cauldron of wealth. She was worth more without her eyes, her limbs, or her beating heart. And they were willing to take those things away from her. They wanted to turn her into their weapon.
Silent and obedient.
Destructive and vengeful.
She drew a shaky breath, tasting the cold in her lungs. It made her gasp for breath. She found the last bits of air in the dead of the storm. Hot tears streaked down her cheeks, stinging her face as frostbite hardened into a river of ice. She faded in and out of consciousness, death so close she felt it on her blue lips.
There was a reason the Valtanyana lusted after her with an insatiable hunger. It was incomparable to the way they sought the other Flames. They had a sick, masochistic obsession that drove them to covet her. It wasn’t until she was clinging to Krishani, begging him to tell her how to help that she understood why.
She was the weed, a weed that grew from the inside out, hiding in the cracks of her Flame. Icicles formed on her eyelashes, and her eyes blazed with the fire of the Flame. All of its essence was drawn into her irises. They burned with the last truth she would ever hold, a truth that would haunt her until she could make things right. She longed to go back to the beginning, to relive the life she had before the cold poured into her veins, stripping her bare, leaving her naked and judged.
She needed to remember who she was before she killed him.
• • •
Footsteps crunched the snow, flat traction-less shapes of soles appearing in the flaky whiteness. Tor neared the girl, her eyes frozen open, the liquid amethyst locked inside. Her arms were splayed at her sides, fingers curled inwards, ice encrusted to the outskirts. She was a beautiful blue angel—lips bruised purple, cheeks pale blue. He sighed at the sight of her, life still pulsing through the shell of a dead body. The storm waned considerably, the sky a light gray, the air moist with wisps of soft flakes. He crouched at her side, brushing snowy curls of black hair out of her face.
She was the one thing he counted on in his hour of dire need. And she was broken. He thought about the prophecy from the First Era. Without the Amethyst Flame and the Tavesin Ferryman, the Lands Across the Stars would always war. Their union was a fragile paradox. On the one hand, their love would win the war to end all wars.
On the other, their love would destroy everything.
He wasn’t sure where he would go or what he would do. The Valtanyana would strike, and she wouldn’t be there to fight them. She’d made her choice and she chose them. He didn’t have hope anymore.
Kaliel had failed.
He pulled out a golden pocket watch and opened the face. Below the glass plating were symbols. They weren’t human symbols, but they mimicked them. He heard the tick-ticking above the whistling winds rippling across the surface, kicking up snowflakes, forming them into dunes. The storm may have moved on, but it left a thick sheet of ice over everything that used to live there. It would take years for the land to repair itself, for life to bud amidst the endless winter.
He could send aid, and he could fix the land.
He couldn’t win the war.
He pressed the pocket watch into her tiny hand and curled her frozen fingers around it. Seconds passed, and he waited. There was a buzzing sound followed by an involuntary gasp. The essence of the Amethyst Flame coiled around the arm of the fragile girl, catching speed, folding itself into the chamber of the pocket watch. He hung his head when the last of her essence embedded itself into the watch, the lid snapping shut.
She never wanted to be a prisoner, but she didn’t have a choice anymore. Being his prisoner was better than being theirs. He stood and glanced at the sky, his gold lightning eyes crackling with a faint fire burning with sadness. He slipped the pocket watch into his breast pouch and twirled his cane once, disappearing from the sparkling, snow-covered land.
* * *
The Guide
Timelines
First Era (Circa, 250 million years ago—65 million years ago)
The Lands Across the Stars were in their birth and growth stages, the Valtanyana was forming and gaining more and more power. The Flames were created by Toraque (Tor) of Avrigost, the final member of the Valtanyana. Aria, The Amethyst Flame and the other eight Flames fought against the Valtanyana and won, locking them away in Avrigost.
Second Era (Circa, 65 million years ago – 5000BCE)
Toraque (Tor) of Avrigost takes over as the High King of the Lands of Peace, ruling a Golden Age. Factions of Daed warriors rise up to oppose High King Tor, but without the rest of the Valtanyana backing them, they are nearly powerless. High King Tor gives Aria, The Amethyst Flame and the other eight Flames new lives. Aria is reborn as Kaliel of Evennses.
People
Kemplan (kemm-plan)
The Great Librarian
High King Tor (toar)
High King of the Lands of Peace, born in Avrigost as the twelfth member of the Valtanyana.
Kaliel of Evennses (kal-ee-elle)
Aria, The Amethyst Flame from the First Era. She’s been reborn as a Child of Avristar, a second chance after all of the destruction in the First Era
Krishani of Amersil (krish-aw-nee of am-er-sill)
Kallow, The Ferryman from the First Era. He’s been reborn and sent to Avristar by his ancestors the Tavesin Family from Terra (Earth), the Lands of Men
Pux of Evennses (puhx of evan-sess)
A feorn (half man, half wolf) considered invalid, but in fact is a hidden genius
Lord Istar, Sovereign of Avristar (is-star)
Appointed in the First Era, is married to both Avristar herself and Lady Atara. Krishani’s second elder.
Lady Atara, Sovereign of Avristar (at-are-ah)
Appointed in the First Era, married to both Avristar herself and Lord Istar. Kaliel’s second mentor.
Luenelle of Evennses (loo-en-elle)
House Master at the House of Kin, Evennses.
Desaunius of Evennses (dess-aw-nee-us)
High King Tor’s former betrothed, originally from Tempia, fled to Avristar due to the wars with the Valtanyana. Kaliel’s first mentor.
Shimma, Daughter of Lord Istar of Avristar (shim-ma)
Witch, half human, half elven. Istar’s youngest daughter, grew up in Avristar, escaped to Nimphalls, Lands of Men, returned due to the unrest in those lands.
Kuruny, Daughter of Lord Istar of Avristar (koo-roo-nee)
Witch, half human, half elven. Istar’s daughter, grew up in Avristar, escaped to Nimphalls, Lands of Men, returned due to the hex placed upon her by the humans.
Kazza, Daughter of Lord Istar of Avristar (kaz-zah)
Witch, half human, half elven. Istar’s eldest daughter, grew up in Avristar, escaped to Nimphalls, Lands of Men, returned due to the growing unrest in those lands.
Mallorn the Kiirar (kee-rawr)
Fled to Avristar from Talanisdir, Lands of Immortals due to the wars with the Valtanyana. Kaliel’s last mentor.
Benir of Amersil (ben-eer of am-er-sill)
Member of the Brotherhood of Amersil, loyal to High King Tor. Krishani’s friend
Grimand (grim-ahnd)
Elder in Evennses, Pux’s mentor
Elwen Tavesin (el-wen, tav-eh-sin)
King of part of Terra, Watcher to the Ferryman / Valkyries. He trains them.
Talina Tavesin (tal-ee-nah)
Wife of Elwen Tavesin. Elven heritage, from Nazole, considered noble rank.
Bethula (beth-oo-lah)
Human, works in the barns with the animals.
Hyatt (hi-at)
Bethula’s husband, works in the barns with the animals.
Jack
Bethula and Hyatt’s son, Pux’s love interest.
Aulises (ow-lih-sees)
Thief’s daughter from Amaltheia, possessed by Kaliel, The Amethyst Flame.
Folki (foe-kee)
Skinny villager from Terra
Snorri (snore-ee)
Large villager from Terra
Ferrymen / Valkyries
Children from twelve chosen families appointed to keep the Vultures/Wraiths at bay and send souls to the Great Hall. All chosen boys are Ferryman, all chosen girls are Valkyries.
Krishani Mekallow Mekelle Tavesin
The Ferryman in the First Era, reborn on Terra but grew up on Avristar. Ferryman of Terra, successor to Davlin Tavesin
The Valtanyana (The Powers That Be)
A brethren of eleven powerful kings and queens whose only goal is to gain absolute power over the Lands Across the Stars
Crestaos (cress-tae-oss)
Former ruler of Draconis, Lands of Immortals and Lord of the Valtanyana
Morgana (more-gan-ah)
Former ruler of Terra, Lands of Men, and Lady of the Valtanyana
Cassareece (cass-ah-ree-ss)
Former ruler of Nazole, Lands of Immortals and Lady of the Valtanyana
The Daed
A group of anarchists from the Lands of Men, Lands of Immortals and Lands of Beasts and the loyal followers of the Valtanyana
The Horsemen
A brethren of four horsemen raised by Morgana to wreak havoc on Terra. Also known as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
Vultures / Wraiths
The embodiment of darkness itself, created by the corruption of humans, the Vultures devour souls.
The Flames
A collection of nine weapons created to defeat the Valtanyana. Also known as the hand-crafted jewels of the universe, each of them is one of a kind
Kaliel, Amethyst Flame of the Apocalypse (kal-ee-elle)
In the First Era she was a girl, reborn on Avristar, versed in psychic, healing and transmutation.
Klavotesi, Obsidian Flame of Justice (claw-voe-tess-ee)
In the First Era he was a scythe, reborn on Amaltheia, can see deepest darkest secret, acts as judge, jury and executioner
Clamose, Azurite Flame of Knowledge (clam-oh-se)
In the First Era he was a crown, reborn on Nimphalls, Lands of Men, absorbs knowledge through touch, empathic
Places
Isle of Avristar (see map)
Orlondir (Oar-lawn-deer)
Royal City, located in the center of the Isle of Avristar.
Elmare Castle (elle-marr-ee)
Located in Orlondir, it’s where Fire Festivals happen, and where the Lord and Lady live.
Mount Tirion (teer-ee-on)
Located to the East of Elmare Castle, it is where the Gatekeeper lives and where Avristar herself can be summoned.
The Waterfall
Located at the border of Orlondir and Araraema, it’s an unnamed river that leads to the lake surrounding Avristar.
The Lake
Less of a lake and more of a sea, it’s endless until someone activates the mists that allow the kinfolk to travel to other lands (like the Lands of Men)
Nandaro
Located in the North, it is host to villages of Centaurs, Kiirar, Shee, Feorns, and others who are considered permanent residents of Avristar. They often stay to their own affairs.
Gargoyle’s Keep
Located in Nandaro, these are the Northeast shores, where the boats go to and from Avristar. They are often manned by a gargoyle, and most travel at night when gargoyles aren’t stone.
Mallorn’s Cabin
Located in Nandaro, very close to the Northeast Shores.
Terra, Lands of Men (see map)
Tavesin Castle
Home of Elwen Tavesin, Talina Tavesin, and a few hundred humans
Cabin by the Lake
A single cabin tucked away before the mountain ranges
Village by the Cove
A village of nomad primitive humans
Gotts River
A main river channel
Lands Across the Stars (see map)
The Great Hall
Center of the Universe, often thought of as a hollowed out planet. The Great Library takes up a large part of The Great Hall. Home to High King Tor of the Lands of Peace.
Lands of Peace
All Lands Across the Stars who have pledged allegiance to High King Tor and who benefit from his generosity and protection.
Lands Across the Stars
The Universe (usually meaning planets that are scattered across the sky.)
Lands of Men /Avristar
Home to Humans, Earth is over there somewhere too.
Terra (tara)
Earth, circa 7000BCE
Amaltheia (am-al-thee-ah)
The Obsidian Flame lives here.
Nimphalls (nimb-falls)
Shimma, Kuruny and Kazza lived here.
Lands of Immortals /Avrigard
Home to Elvens, Fae, Draconians and other creatures who live for a long time.
Lands of Beasts /Avristyr
Home to demons and nasty creatures.
Land of the Dead /Avrigost
That place nobody ever talks about. It used to be known as Land of Kings.
* * *