Chapter 7
Life Exchange
Rhalyf was in his element: the thick of battle.
Magic swirled around him like a storm. Plasma.
Lightning. Fire. Ice. The Leviathan were so thick on the platform–evidently having poured in from the rift–that it looked like there were no walls.
Even the train tracks were obscured with a sea of shadowy coils.
His magic struck out at anything that came within range.
Ice coated smoky scales, which he shattered with a blow of Lament.
Fire raced along black bodies as if they were soaked in flammable oil.
The Leviathan let out shrill screams and thrashed, which spread the fire even farther, embers leaping onto other Leviathan like happy sparks.
Plasma bloomed and vaporized Leviathan where they slithered.
He let out a victorious laugh as fangs dropped like rain in a thunderstorm all around him. He glanced over his shoulder at Aquilan who was against his back. The Sun King grinned at him. Brothers in arms. Battle bonded.
And this may be the last time we fight together. The last time he smiles at me. Next time he may be sending his spells towards me, not to protect me.
Rhalyf’s grief had his smile faltering.
Why did I lie? Why didn’t I tell him who and what I am from the beginning?
But he had the answer to that, Because I had no choice! He truly wouldn’t have let me live long enough to tell him my name let alone my story!
Why didn’t I tell him after that? In the decades we’ve been friends? Just let it slip that those rumors about me having Kindreth blood were under blown? That I’m a full-blooded Night Elf. See what happens when I drop my glamour?
The answer to that was more complicated, but it boiled down to, I didn’t want to chance losing him and my new life. Why rock the boat? Being Kindreth was never going to affect him or anyone else! Except I was wrong. What if Vex is here because of me?
Aquilan’s fingers danced through the air and a dozen arrows of light appeared and shot towards their Leviathan targets with unerring accuracy. Shrieks of agony were cut short as the darkness was conquered by light and fangs rattled onto the tile floor.
“Brother, boost me!” Elasha called to Darcassan.
Darcassan turned towards his twin, dropped down on his haunches and made his hands into a step. She leaped onto them and he threw her up into the air. Her twin daggers–the Flames–spun around her as she twirled, cutting the coils that slithered above them on the ceiling.
For his part, Darcassan sent out a wave of force towards an oncoming set of Leviathan who were surging down the platform towards him.
They went flying back and were pinned against the wall.
With a roar, Snaglak smashed one of them flat with his club while Glom sliced through the other with its sharp claws before swallowing both fangs that fell.
These physical weapons weren’t what was actually hurting the Leviathan.
They weren’t physical creatures. It was the magic in the beings who attacked that was made manifest through those weapons that killed the Leviathan.
It was ironic then that human weapons likely could work against the Leviathan, but not in human hands.
Helgrom was not to be overshadowed as he spun like a crazed top with his hammer extended out hitting Leviathan after Leviathan and sending them flying away to impact the ceiling, wall, floor or other Leviathan and dying with a puff of smoke and rattle of fangs.
But it was Declan that was truly breathtaking.
Rhalyf had to be honest that he’d never seen such skill with a simple blade.
Thankfully, Declan was not using Ardreth as even Aquilan would likely recognize a Niri blade and would realize that there was nowhere under Declan’s clothes that a long sword could have been hidden.
Yet it was almost pointless to hide anything any longer.
There was no way that a human could move the way he did, let alone kill Leviathan.
It was a dance. Declan soared, flipping head over heels in the air, tossing the blade from one hand to the other as the Leviathan surrounded him.
When Declan came near a wall, the floor or even the ceiling, he would simply push off of it and continue spinning in the air like flying. Maybe he was flying.
And death would follow.
Declan killed more than double of all of them put together.
His expression remained utterly unreadable.
His face was smooth and seemingly calm as if he were in a transcendent state where he wasn’t fighting for his life–and their lives–but lounging by a peaceful stream.
No anger. No fear. No joy of killing either.
Hunter. No, more than that. But what? What else would Vex’s son be?
And if Rhalyf had hoped that in the madness of battle that Aquilan wouldn’t notice Declan’s abilities, that was blasted away when he saw Aquilan pause, open-mouthed, as Declan speared one Leviathan with the kitchen knife while dropping to his haunches as another attempted to encase him in its coils followed by a graceful swing of his blade slicing those coils in half.
Then Declan was up into the air again. Flying. Killing. Death and grace incarnate.
Not human. And there’s no denying it any longer.
Rhalyf wondered what he could do to shield the young man from Aquilan’s hatred of Kindreth. Declan was the Night Prince. He was Rhalyf’s cousin. Family was usually a double-edged blade with Kindreth, but he liked Declan. And he knew that Finley loved Declan.
I don’t believe that Aquilan would go after him like he did Vulre.
Declan is already in his heart. He wouldn’t do that!
Rhalyf thought hopefully. Yet Declan is Kindreth.
Maybe if I reveal myself then his hatred could go towards me and Declan could escape and…
escape where? Escape how? He has no idea who and what he really is.
He has no experience in going to different planes. He can’t do this alone!
He had no answers. He wished he could talk this out with Finley. He needed the young man’s steadying comments. But Finley was safely hidden away. And as long as the fight continued, the longer both he and Declan could remain safe and hidden in a way, too.
Yet the end to the battle came in moments and all at once.
As the Leviathan’s numbers dropped, they must have sensed their total destruction was near so they decided on one final, coordinated attack to try and take Rhalyf and his friends down in an orgy of coils and claws.
All of the Leviathan converged upon them like a wall of black on all sides.
Rhalyf formed a shield that encompassed all of them just as Aquilan sent a wave of light outwards that shredded the darkness.
Rhalyf closed his eyes as the golden light suffused him, nearly getting past his Adiva, but it didn’t hurt.
The light was not meant for him. Only for their enemies.
When the light died away, Rhalyf opened his eyelids slowly, blinking to adjust even his enchanted eyes to the much lower light. The blue-white flare of the rift was long gone. It had closed sometime during the battle. Whether it had led to Illithor, they evidently would never know.
Rhalyf took in the tableaux before him. Aquilan still had his right hand upraised from which a single spark of light resided.
Darcassan and Elasha were leaning heavily upon each other.
Snaglak looked disappointed that the “fun” was over while Glom continued to hoover up fangs.
Helgrom was staring at Declan. His eyes darted from the young man to Rhalyf and back again as if to tell him something. But what?
Declan stood, still and elegant, with his hood back and the knife still glittering in his hand. He wasn’t even breathing hard.
“Lord Declan!” Elasha cried out. “You’re–you’re… human? But you can’t be.” She was referring to his ears. For the first time his hood was back revealing rounded ears and not pointed. “You can’t be human–”
“Humans are full of surprises, aren’t they?” Rhalyf laughed brittlely. “Because, of course, Declan is human. He’s–”
“I am not,” Declan said those three words softly, but they cut off all discussion.
What are you doing, Declan? But even as he thought that, he already knew. Declan was telling the truth. Something that he should have done–needed to be doing–right now.
Aquilan stepped towards Declan, but the young man held up a hand to stop him. Aquilan reluctantly stopped, but the look on his face was anguished and desirous clearly of nothing else but to comfort Declan in this moment of revelation.
“You… sort of look human,” Darcassan squinted at him.
And Rhalyf wanted to curse at him. If not for Darcassan they would not be in this mess in the first case! Declan’s secret–his secret–could have been held for a little while longer while he figured out what to do. But now? Now all was lost.
“I am not human,” Declan repeated. The words clearly sounded alien to his own ears, but he pushed through them.
Declan lifted his head to meet Aquilan’s gaze. His eyes were not red. That was a small wonder.
“I need to apologize to you, King Aquilan,” Declan continued, his voice somehow distant and formal as if he were already imagining a vast gulf between them. “I never meant to lie to you or mislead you into thinking I was human. But it was not clear to me until very recently that I am not.”
Rhalyf’s eyes shot to Aquilan. Was the Sun King angry? He wasn’t demanding answers. Instead, he looked empathetic. Gentle. Kind. Understanding.
He already guessed Declan was not human. But he hasn’t realized what Declan is let alone who he is.