Chapter Thirteen
THE GENERAL
“Ow, you’re hurting me!”
I immediately loosened my grip on Korin’s arm. I closed my eyes and groped for patience. We stood in the middle of Aphellion, having portaled there from the middle of the Perellian Forest.
My simmering worry over Korin’s whereabouts exploded when I saw her occupying the same space as the king’s spy. Foka. Ruin was in Yarit. I would hunt her down before she had a chance to get near Korin again.
Korin massaged her arm. “That woman saved me from a hamadryad. Why are you so angry?” She stood rigid, her arms crossed against her chest.
I suppressed a snarl. I didn’t want to scare the girl, but she had no idea the amount of danger she had been in. If I had shown up much later, things might have turned out significantly worse.
I swiped my hand down my face. “You can’t befriend everyone you meet, Korin. The world is not a safe place.” My voice emerged stilted through my clenched teeth. This child would drive anyone off a cliff of sanity.
She had the nerve to scoff at me. “You’re way more worked up than you need to be. Everything turned out fine. She even made me a flower crown.” She gently fluffed the braided circlet now thoroughly tangled in her hair.
I hadn’t seen a flower crown in years. I peered closer, but Korin jerked back. Confusion and defiance bolstered her.
“Ahh, you found her!” Sonora swept over, interrupting us. She tsked Korin for disappearing right after their magic lesson. Korin had more mothers and fathers than she could count. Including me, I suppose. Her parents died when she was very young and we all stepped in to fill the gaps.
In moments like these, I wondered if we had missed some crucial developmental stage these last twelve years regarding common sense and an understanding of the world.
Sonora whisked Korin away before we could finish our standoff.
I continued to fume as I turned toward my home, sequestered near the base of the mountains.
Anger boiled as I marched up to my study.
My spies in Maripol had not reported movement among the Scourge.
The king kept them cloistered within his realm, allowing no one but his dreki to leave Haluma and see what lay beyond the boundaries of his realm.
I could distract myself with adjusting the new map of the Perellian Forest, particularly after this most recent land shift from the earthquakes.
By the time I reached the second floor of my home, my breathing had become labored. I ignored it.
The chaos of the last couple days settled in as I sunk heavily into my chair.
Grief at losing Ilayah hung heavy in my chest. She was the last of the elder Primes.
Ilayah had escaped the first round of recruitment into King Nolan’s original Vestal Anchor program.
But in the end, she had been abducted and drained anyway.
I couldn’t protect her from her end, but I wouldn’t fail her legacy. Her death only spurred my resolve.
Then there was Ruin… who was no doubt currently under Nolan’s orders to investigate Yarit.
She had already been sniffing around about the Crimson Wolf.
Her presence was a distraction, and one I would need to remedy.
My purpose and focus had always been, and continued to be, for my people.
I would not allow Ruin to jeopardize anything, especially if she posed a threat to us.
Frustration had my fist slamming against the wooden desk. Korin would need security now, and that probably wouldn’t go over well.
I’ll put Sonora in charge of it.
I unrolled the working map I had of Yarit.
Carefully, I erased the area where I’d found Korin.
I closed my eyes and visualized the topography.
Slowly, I inked new lines along the paper, forming trees, hills, paths, and rocky outcroppings.
The dryads could let me know what else had changed later so I could fill in pertinent details I might have missed.
My hand trembled slightly with each brushstroke.
I gripped the pen firmly, steadying the tremor.
Eventually, I lost myself in the calming process of drawing.
I yanked out another piece of paper and sketched out the silhouette of a woman.
It was always just beyond my mind’s eye.
I tried to add as much detail as I could.
But as with all the ones before it, I didn’t get enough of a vision to complete it.
It was a compulsion to draw her. It had been ever since I was young.
This time, I got a little more of her nose, a bit more of her hair.
It landed on the pile with all the others.
I stared out the window, and my mind wandered. I was no oracle, but I couldn’t stop the recurring dream of me and Elyon, the great god. I had it again the night prior. The residual mystery usually lasted days before I moved on from it. Until it happened again.
He came as he always did—a study in contrasts.
He loomed tall and formidable with an air of violence, but his voice boomed with gentleness and care that loosened my defenses.
His dark hair blew in phantom winds making the strands shift into multicolored hues as if it couldn’t decide which color to commit to.
His light eyes swirled and an indigo eagle flew overhead.
His skin pulsed as if lightning flashed in his blood.
It was he who named me the Liberation’s leader. The night after my first dream, my adoptive mother, Ilayah, had come to me with a vision of my future. It was from that moment on that I began training for my current role.
As with all of these dreams, this one held remnants of grief for a family I never knew.
My interactions with Elyon left a residue of longing I couldn’t place.
The dreams solidified my purpose as the final Liberator.
Too bad he couldn’t just tell me how I was supposed to accomplish that.
At least I woke with a sense of rightness for the path before me.
Before I awakened, he drew his line of protection across my brow.
I could feel the ghostly impression of his touch even now.
My heart skipped a beat causing me to cough. I had waited too long. I hastily moved maps and communications and tankards around, searching for one of my vials. A pen fell to the floor, rolling in a lonely arc toward the wall.
My eyes landed on a thin glass bottle, corked and full of my tonic. I popped it open and drank the liquid. It coursed thickly down my throat, leaving a familiar tingling in its wake, as if infused with too much spice.
My head fell back against the chair while I waited for the elixir to fill my blood.
The effects from these tonics were steadily decreasing.
My body slowly demanded more. I glanced down at my arms. My mouth went dry.
Gray veins had formed darkened trails down to my wrists, now slowly disappearing thanks to my tonic—a new symptom I’d have to tell Sieren about.
Our timeline just moved up. I dropped my arms in my lap, my shadows gliding around them. I had no desire to see the truth beneath my skin.
The veil was deepening, and Nolan was creating more drekis than ever before. The Liberation needed an alliance with Queen Thaleia to give us a true chance. I just had to figure out how to get into her realm and secure her support before time ran out.