102. Rorax
“Your fourth trial is simple. Lead your team into one of the five dens of the felidra. Find a chrysalis, pick it up, and carry it out of the den. Once the chrysalis has been placed securely on this pedestal, you will be finished with the trial.”
The Guardian pointed a wrinkled finger at a thick stump that was the same height as her knees.
Rorax rolled her shoulders back, watching the Guardian announce the rules before they hiked up to the colonies. There were five separate dens in this part of the mountains, and whoever pulled the longest straw had first choice of which den they went to.
Rorax stood in a line, shoulder to shoulder, with the other four surviving Contestars. Stella, Enna, Briar, and Isgra.
She looked over to her team where Kiniera, Jia, and Milla stood, also attentively listening to the Guardian. Jia stood with her long, silver hunting bow strapped to her back. Kiniera had a long, ice-covered scythe gripped in one hand, her ice magick causing frost to creep up and over her fingers and wrists, climbing up slowly towards her elbow. Milla had matching goldsteel katanas that rose over her shoulders. Rorax prayed that the woman knew how to use them.
As the three of them stood together, panic threatened to break out of the box where Rorax had so firmly locked it away before she forced herself to return her focus on the Guardian.
“We are going to pull sticks to see who goes first,” she said, just as Lamonte stepped forward, his hand wrapped around a fistful of smooth sprigs. “The Contestar who pulls the longest stick will decide which den and which order she wishes to compete in first.”
Rorax’s shoulders tensed as Lamonte offered his fist out to her. If she pulled the shortest, she was all but dead. Being the only Contestar unable to use magick to defend herself against the felidra was a massive disadvantage, and one of the only ways she would be able to make up for it was the element of surprise.
Rorax reached out with slightly shaking fingers and pulled the one closest to her. It slid against the smooth, brown skin of Lamonte’s hand. Not the longest stick, but not the shortest either.
Fuck.
Enna, Briar, Stella and Isgra pulled next. Briar got the longest stick, then Enna, Rorax, Stella, and finally Isgra with the shortest.
Rorax was placed right in the middle; the felidra might not know exactly what was happening by the time she arrived. She might have a chance. Might. If the Gods were with her and she was unfathomably lucky.
Rorax closed her eyes and breathed in a long, slow breath trying to calm her heart that was thrashing against her ribs with anxiety. She tilted her face up to the sky. She wanted to feel the sun on her face, and the wind in her hair before she went and died in a cave.
Rorax turned to her team, but someone grabbed her wrist and yanked her back.
“Take this.” Briar held the longest stick in the air, right in front of Rorax’s face. Her face was set with determination; her scar pulled tight across her features.
Rorax squinted her eyes at the blonde in suspicion. She didn’t think Briar was trying to sabotage her, but Briar also had the best positioning out of all of them. “Why?”
“You know as well as I do that whoever gets the longest fuckin’ stick has the highest chance of makin’ it out of here alive.” Briar said, slowly like she was talking to a child.
Rorax nodded. “So why are you trying to give it away?”
“Just take it.”
Rorax’s eyebrows pulled together. “Why?”
“My magick manifested on time, like it should’ve,” Briar raised Rorax’s wrist and shoved the long stick into her hand. “Yours is late. You’ll be a sittin’ duck out there at third place.”
“I’ve got the best team. Their magick makes up for what I lack. Take it back.” Rorax said, trying to snatch Briar’s hand.
“No.”
“Take it.”
“I will not,” Briar said, holding her hands up and taking a step back.
“Briar, don’t be thick.” Rorax could feel everyone’s eyes on her as she snarled, but she didn’t care.
Briar tucked a lock of short, white-blonde hair behind her ear and pointed a stiff finger at Rorax’s chest. “You’re the best chance we’ve got of gettin’ us outta the Chosin’ in one relatively whole piece, once you find a way to get us outta this magick. You’ve gotta be alive to make that happen, so yeah, I’m givin’ the long stick to you.”
Rorax gritted her teeth and wrapped her fist around the little useless piece of wood as a flush of inadequacy ran through her chest. “What if I can’t figure it out. What if you die out there, you stubborn cow?”
“Then you’ll keep tryin’.” Briar’s face was calm and determined, and so, so trusting to someone who might not deserve it. “Maybe one day that effort will help future people get themselves out of this nightmare. I believe in you to at least make that happen, Rorax. So, take this bloody stick, and go get a chrysalis.”
“Try not to kill any of the felidra,” Kiniera muttered, as they prowled through the forest. “The felidra have long memories. We want to be in and out of this as quickly as possible.”
“What happens if we accidentally do kill one?” Milla asked.
“They remember,” Kiniera drawled, “They will bring other felidra to familiarize themselves with your scent, and they will attack on sight for the rest of your life.”
Milla frowned, adjusting and tightening the straps holding the katanas on her back. “Marras help us.”
“I’m not sure even the Gods would help us against the felidra,” Rorax sighed. Rorax had chosen the closest den and they were almost there. Rocks and trees held the signs of nearby big cats. There were long scratches in the bark and rocks, and the occasional skeleton of the giant moose that heavily populated this area of the Jagamines.
Rorax climbed over a giant boulder, her leather armor gently scraping the surface as she fell to the other side of it. Milla dropped down in the dirt next to her.
“We have an incoming target,” Milla snapped, pointing a finger into the air where a giant felidra was flying straight towards them.
The earth shook as the felidra landed in front of them only twenty feet ahead and stretched out its giant wings from its back.
Felidra were a lot like their griffon cousins. The big body of a big cat, and wings that stretched the length of three full grown men. The difference was that griffons heavily populated the Jagamines in the South instead of the North. Felidra hadn’t evolved an eagle head, keeping all their feline features and instead of feathery wings of their griffon relatives—their wings were leathery and dragon-like. Felidra technically had four wings. One giant set, and a smaller set attached right under the first layered over the top set on their back.
Aesthetically, the bottom set of wings made felidra resemble a butterfly when they were fully exposed. Functionally, the extra wing made them more precise in their aerial movements than either dragons or griffons.
The felidra that faced them now had the body of a snow leopard, his wings blue and black. It curled its upper lip over large canines. “You are moving too close to a nearby felidra den,” the felidra said.
Rorax stepped forward, her palms outstretched, trying to placate the big cat. “I am a Contestar of the newest Choosing. I was tasked to collect a chrysalis and return it to camp.”
The leopard snarled again. “We have lost many of our cubs to the Gifted. Countless.”
“If I do not complete this task, I will die.”
The felidra obviously didn”t care, it didn”t even hesitate as it pounced.
Jia sliced her hand up in the air, and a pillar of ice sprouted from the ground, knocking the oncoming felidra off course and sending it careening to the trees on the side.It recovered quickly, and lunged at Milla, who drew her katana’s out just in time to block the claws arching for her neck. Milla rolled away at the same time a vine of ice wrapped around the felidra, spreading over its short white fur with quick ropes, anchoring the beast to the forest floor and enveloping it, even as it struggled. The felidra roared once before ice muzzled it.
Rorax turned to Kiniera, who had her arm outstretched towards the felidra. Ice covered her fingertips, and her normally pale blue eyes were a deep turquoise as she used her magic to control the beast.
The felidra was breathing hard in a furious panic, and even though it couldn’t open its mouth fully, it curled its lip over its sharp canines in a promise of death when it broke free of its cage.
Kiniera ignored the cat and turned her back on it once it was subdued, facing the mountain. “We must be getting close. We should hurry, he will melt through that fast enough.”
They continued to climb, further and further until they came to a cave. It looked natural enough, the only marker that gave it away was a series of crude runes that had been etched into the side of the mountain above the cave entrance.
Rorax stepped lightly, silently prowling over the large granite stones that made up the entrance of the den and keeping a lookout for any guards, but there were none. It was deserted outside. She led the way to the entrance of the cave, and when she didn’t hear or see anything from within, they all slipped inside. The cave simply led to a tunnel wide enough to accommodate four felidra abreast and lined with witch-light sconces. Smaller passageways led away from the main tunnel, but some instinct deep inside Rorax told her to stay on the main path for now. Felidra wouldn’t likely keep their young near the entrance of the cave. No, they would be deep and protected.
Rorax glanced back at Kiniera and pointed to one of the smaller passages leading away from the main tunnel. “Fill these.”
Kiniera studied the hallway and grinned. “Good idea, Greywood.”
Kiniera held out her hand palm down, her fingertips pointing to the dirt, and as she raised her hand, and two-foot-wide wall of ice filled the entrance of the hallway.As they moved past, Kiniera filled in the different branches of the cave’s hallways with thick blocks of ice.
“Should we spread the magick so Kiniera doesn’t burn out?” Milla asked, looking over her shoulder at Jia.“Don’t you hold Ice Magick?”
Kiniera snorted, and Jia shook her head. “I only hold enough magick to conjure four or five of those barriers without issue.”
“I hold enough power to fill this whole damned cave with ice and still have magick left over,” Kiniera said flatly. Her voice was dead, as she stated this fact. Power was never a source of pride for Kiniera, Rorax had always sensed that there was something about holding so much magick that caused Kiniera emotional turmoil, but she had never known why.
Milla looked at Kiniera with new interest.
“What if the chrysalises are through there?” Milla asked, placing her palm against one of the barriers.
“Then I remove the ice, and we search inside,” Kiniera said, as she finished one hallway entrance and then turned to the next. “Until then, very few felidra have the strength or the magick capacity to blast through this much ice. It will keep us from having to fight an army to get out.”
They continued down the main tunnel until it led them into a room that looked like a crude throne room. There was a cast iron chandelier bolted to the ceiling, and in it were witch-lights, enough to cast the room into a bright glow. There was a stone chair large enough to fit a massive felidra, and on the steps leading up to the throne, were three armored felidra soldiers waiting for them.A panther was crouched on the right, on the left was a snow leopard, and in the middle was a tiger, all equipped with massive, colorful wings.
“I thought I could smell something foul,” the one on the left grumbled, the white snow leopard, shaking out its long fur as it hungrily assessed them.
“Ring the alarm,” the tiger said to the panther. “Get the king back here, now.”
“And scare away our dinner?” The snow leopard cooed, baring its sharp canines. “I don’t want to share.”
It crouched low, its golden yellow eyes bouncing from one of them to the other as if deciding which of them it wanted to make his lunch. Rorax crouched low, getting ready for a fight.
Before it could pounce, however, a large ice barrier erupted from the floor, arched over the felidra, and touched the wall behind them, trapping them inside a bubble of ice. There was a roar of outrage and the sound of three heavy bodies as they hurdled themselves against Kiniera’s magic unsuccessfully.
“They are making too much noise,” Rorax hissed, “they’re going to alert the whole cave we’re here.”
“We don’t have time to fight them,” Kiniera snapped. “But they must have been guarding in the throne room for a reason. There weren’t any guards stationed anywhere but here. Find out why.”
“I’d bet a gold coin that’s why,” Milla said, pointing over their shoulders to the back wall where the backside of the throne to where there was a narrow passageway was hidden in the shadows.
“Good eye,” Rorax praised as they jogged across the room, ignoring the sound of the felidra trying their best to claw through Kiniera’s ice.
They passed through the doorway and through a short hallway into a large holding chamber. The room was filled with rows and rows of stone tables holding nearly thirty chrysalises containing the unborn felidra. They were the size of large loaves of bread and came in various; green, blue, black, brown, grey, spotted, orange and red. All different and all eerily beautiful.
Jia whistled and Milla gasped in delight, and even Rorax felt tongue tied. She had never seen a felidra chrysalis in person before, and they were beautiful.
“Grab one, let’s go,” Kiniera growled, snapping them all into focus.
Each chrysalis was placed on beautiful, embroidered quilts, and Rorax ran her fingers over the stitching as her eyes swept over the different colors and patterns of each chrysalis. She looked around the room until one caught her eye. It was the exact same size as the others, the same shape, but this one was black with a golden band running over the middle.
“How about this one?” Jia stepped closer to one up front that was draped in a golden blanket, but Rorax threw an arm out to stop her and shook her head.
“No, this one . . . this is it.” She tipped her head down to the black and gold wrapped cocoon.Jia just shrugged as Rorax moved over to it and gingerly slid her hands over the smooth surface.
“Great, you’ve got it. Let’s go, Greywood,” Kiniera snapped.
Rorax carefully picked it up and tucked it in the crook of her arm like a sack of flour.
They ran out as fast as their limbs would carry them out of the cave. The felidra were all alert now, some having heard the distress sounds of their comrades. At almost all the passageways that had been blocked by Kiniera had the sounds of snarling, roaring, and digging coming from the other side as they ran past them. Rorax’s heart pounded in her chest like a handful of thunder as she sprinted for the way out, they were so close to the exit now she could see the light from the outdoors.
She had never been so thankful to feel the sun on her face before as the four of them streaked out, but they didn’t make it five steps outside when a horrifying roar sounded above. It was so loud and angry it vibrated in Rorax’s chest, and all the birds resting in the trees surrounding the cave flew from their perches. She didn’t dare look up as she curled her arms around the chrysalis, clutching it tightly to her chest.
A giant moose carcass dropped from the air and landed behind her, spraying her back with blood and decay.
A felidra smash landed to the ground next to her, and the force of the wind from the impact sent her flying. She twisted her body in the air to shield the chrysalis’ fall with her body, grunting in pain as she landed mostly on her shoulder and skidded over rocks on her back until she slid to a stop.
She scrambled upright and ran a trembling hand over the surface of the black chrysalis in her arms, feeling for damage. It didn’t have even a scratch on it.
“Release the chrysalis, or your comrades die.”
Rorax whipped her head around, and the air in her lungs turned to ice as thick as Kiniera’s walls.
Twenty feet away from her, Jia lay face down but struggling. One single black claw, the same length as Rorax’s hand, curled around Jia’s neck.Panic seized her throat and as Rorax’s gaze slowly tracked up the muscular limbs of the largest felidra Rorax had ever seen. Her whole body went cold with fear.
Full grown felidra were usually around the size of the Umber’s famous desert elephants. But this felidra was bigger. Much bigger.
Jet black, short fur covered the entire panther-like body before meeting the giant, gold and black wings that were fully extended. The dragon-like wings were so overwhelming and so beautiful that Rorax had to take a staggering step back.This felidra’s wings were colored black and shimmering gold, the design on them reminding her of the monarch butterflies around the Realms.
The felidra snarled, bringing Rorax’s attention back to its lethal, snarling face. “I am Kaslikar the Third, King of the Felidra, and the chrysalis you are holding is my firstborn heir.”
K??n help her. Rorax felt like she might faint; her arms and knees went weak, and for a moment the world around her blurred. Rorax had fucked up. Jia was going to die. She had chosen the wrong chrysalis. With a frantic glance around, Rorax saw that Milla was in a similar predicament, a long claw holding her throat on the ground. Kiniera stood, her Ice magick swirling around her. Kiniera stared at Rorax and gave her a small shake of her head to confirm that her magick would not be fast enough to save Jia, or that she thought that using her magick on the king was a terrible idea.
The king crouched its feline body lower, its ears pressing into the back of its head, its golden eyes tracking her with lethal intent. “If you drop the chrysalis, or cause any damage to it, I will slaughter you, all four of your comrades, and the entire camp at the base of the mountain.”
Rorax forced a breath into her lungs, forced herself to stand straighter, and leveled a look into Kaslikar’s golden eyes. “If you kill them, I will crush this chrysalis.”
A growl erupted from behind Kaslikar from a felidra Rorax couldn’t see.
“Let. It. Go.” Kaslikar used his other paw to rake his claws down Jia’s side. She screamed in agony as it cut through the surface of her flesh across her ribs, causing blood to run from the short wound. It was only four inches long, but with one more long swipe down her side her intestines would be spilled.
“Stop. STOP,” Rorax shrieked.
Rorax summoned Glimr and poised the tip to jab up into the chrysalis.
Kaslikar’s golden eyes went wide, his paw stopped, and his tail whipped in agitation behind him. “A Sestera blade.”
“Glimr is bound to me.” Rorax pressed her knife against the smooth skin of chrysalis and saw Kaslikar stop breathing. “Gods, I don’t even want this fucking chrysalis,” she hissed.
“But you have come here to steal it nonetheless,” Kaslikar snarled, his upper lip curling up over his long canines, his whiskers fluttering.
Rorax ground her teeth.“I was to steal it, on a trial for the Choosing. I had no choice.”
Kaslikar lowered his giant head until it was in her face, his hot breath blowing the strands of her hair away from her face, smelling of blood. “The Choosing? The Guardian had her Contestars try and steal from me? I should kill you and your companions right now.”
Rorax tightened her limbs. “Do it. Kill us all. But your unborn son will follow us into death.”
Panic flashed in the golden pools of Kaslikar’s eyes.
“Let me get back to my camp. Let me lay the chrysalis at the Guardian’s feet, and then you can have it back. The rules are that the Contestar needs to lay the chrysalis on a stump next to the Guardian, and then my trial is over, and I will have no further use for it.”
Kaslikar’s eyes flashed, and his tail twitched again behind him. “That is all?”
“That’s it. Let us fly on your back to return to camp. I will lay it down, and then you return home with it.”
“None of the Gifted have been on a felidra since the War of the Wings.” Kaslikar snarled down in her face, his breath smelling like blood.Kaslikar considered her for a moment, his golden eyes flashing back and forth from her face to his unborn child, before he snarled, turning back to his men, giving them a nod of his head.
“I will give you each a felidra to ride, to accompany you back to the Contestar camp. Your soldiers will stay in the air until we touch down.”
Rorax nodded. “Then you can scoop the chrysalises off the Guardian’s stump before anyone touches them.”
“You ride with me. If there is even a shadow of deceit, your soldiers will die.”
Rorax nodded her consent, staring at the very scary pool of blood that was starting to accumulate under Jia. “I understand. Let’s go.”
Kaslikar bent down, and Rorax wasted no time.
“You trust me on your back?” Rorax asked as she swung her legs up and over Kaslikar’s giant back.
“You would not survive the fall if you were to kill me in the air, and I will make sure my heir arrives safely,” Kaslikar snarled, and with one powerful thrust they were airborne. “Do not drop my son, Contestar.”
Rorax clung desperately to the king’s short fur, her thighs pressed into the sides of the big cat, feeling the muscles underneath her work to keep them all in the air. Rorax looked over her shoulder to see Jia, her unconscious body slung over the back of the yellow spotted felidra.
The flight back to camp was short, and the soldiers scrambled into defensive positions until Kiniera flashed her magick down on them, signaling it was them.
As soon as they touched down, Rorax slipped off the king’s back and sprinted to the Guardian’s stump. The Guardian was standing over the stump, watching carefully with yellow eyes as Rorax gently placed the chrysalis on its surface.
Rorax looked up at the Guardian who was looking behind Rorax at the small contingent of felidra that she had brought with her. “Roraxiva Greywood, you have hereby completed your fourth trial successfully.”
Relief made her limbs heavy as she turned to the nearest soldier. “Get Jia Frostguard to the nearest healer’s tent. Now.”
A ripping sound came from behind her and Rorax looked over her shoulder to the chrysalis just in time to see it break open, and a tuft of black hair pop out of the top. The chrysalis cracked again and a head, small and covered in slime, strained out its fibrous constraints. Rorax jolted as a pair of two clear, golden eyes pieced into hers.
Rorax felt something inside of her shift.
The vertical slits in the middle of the cub’s golden irises dilated in the sudden bright light, and it tilted its black head to look at her more fully. Familiarity rang in her head and in her soul, causing her to take a staggering step back. She knew those eyes.
Rorax opened her mouth, but before she could say a word, a giant silvery head nearly the same size of Rorax’s whole upper body moved in front of her and pressed hard against Rorax’s chest, forcing her back a few more steps.
Rorax didn’t see the cub again as its mother gently grasped her son in her maw and lifted him away.