3. Chapter 3 #4
A swift glance at a nearby tree, then back at the farthest row of hunters, indicated more than enough darkness. Leaping forward, Ashmedai dropped into the tree’s shadow like submerging in a deep lake, reemerging in a blink where additional shadows existed behind Levi.
“Quick!” Ashmedai sprinted after him.
Levi whirled, tension gripping him as tightly as he gripped his newly acquired daggers—but then he smiled.
A shadow jump could be dangerous with so much uncertainty and moving bodies, but the risk had been worth it.
“Cast an illusion to block the way of the rightward heading jackalopes,” Ashmedai explained, taking hold of Levi’s elbow to keep him moving forward.
“B-b-but what should I—”
“Whatever first springs to mind. Hurry!”
The panic that had once again risen in Levi gave way to resolve, his eyes focusing forward through the rushing hunters and scattering animals to where Pentelyn was quickly catching up with the jackalopes heading right.
Then the crystal on Pentelyn’s belt flickered.
Levi flung his arms outward, fingers flaring, other than the thumbs and pointer fingers keeping their grip on his daggers.
Light seemed to dance at his fingertips, but it didn’t shoot forward to travel the expanse between him and the jackalopes.
There weren’t even any telling flickers where the illusion began to form.
Suddenly there was simply a horse, not unlike Braxton’s mechanical horses, but this one looked flesh, like Ashmedai hadn’t seen in a thousand years.
It was all white, rearing in warning in the jackalopes’ path like a bright beacon in the darkness.
The herd stumbled to a halt and changed course in the other direction.
“Brilliant!” Ashmedai squeezed Levi’s elbow. “What made you think of that?”
“I-I don’t know.” Levi smiled shyly.
As the two herds of jackalopes got more within range, Yentriss started firing with her longbow, taking out several with hardly any effort before their pace grew faster at the sign of imminent danger.
The jackalopes that had initially gone left were far enough into a clearing that Amuro dropped to all fours, sprinted ahead of them, and leapt into their midst, spreading his mist to put them to sleep. Those jackalopes were easy prey for the rollhounds after that.
The remaining section of the herd was scattering, running in between the hunters, so that even Levi would soon get the chance to show his skills with a weapon.
Ashmedai didn’t expect much, but as he released Levi’s elbow and drew his sword, he became transfixed watching Levi dash forward without hesitation, whirling impressively with both daggers to fell one jackalope, then two.
Then three.
“Pentelyn!” Amuro’s call pulled Ashmedai’s attention away from Levi, and he searched for where the harpy had gone.
Only she was still heading right , following a lone jackalope that hadn’t turned with the rest.
“I can catch it!” she called back, not bothering to look behind her.
Had she not seen her crystal’s glow? But then, Ashmedai could no longer see it flickering, which didn’t make any sense when Pentelyn hadn’t altered course.
Then Ashmedai saw why—her crystal was on the ground, flickering against the trunk of a tree. She’d dropped it and didn’t realize!
“Pentelyn!” Ashmedai cried louder than Amuro, but she didn’t seem to hear him.
She was flying faster, aiming to get ahead of the jackalope.
Ashmedai could see some of the crystal perimeter on either side of her, but too far away for her to notice.
In front of her was nothing, or the remaining crystals must have all worn out, which meant there would be no way to know when she came upon the barrier, until… .
Ashmedai didn’t think; he simply dove into the nearest shadows, having only guesswork to guide where he might pop up that would be far enough in front of Pentelyn despite her momentum, yet not across the barrier where Ash would become little more than his namesake.
As the darkness that enveloped him returned to the sight of the wood, Ashmedai spotted Pentelyn coming right at him, just as the jackalope darted past his feet.
“Stop!” he commanded her, and the harpy jerked backward so suddenly she nearly fell out of the sky. Ashmedai spun, and it was only an arm’s length behind him that the jackalope leapt—and never landed.
It disintegrated into particles of dust.
Before Ashmedai could turn around, he heard a thud, unsurprised to find that Pentelyn had landed, panting and staring in horror at how close she had come to disappearing.
Ashmedai sheathed his sword and pulled a brightly glowing crystal from his belt to drop behind him. He immediately returned his gaze to Pentelyn, hoping to soothe—
“Gazellians!”
He and Pentelyn’s attentions both shot back toward the rest of the hunters.
Gazellians were an edible and highly desired game, but they were also some of the most dangerous animals that inhabited the Dark Kingdom, no longer mere gazelles but bearing the hunger, fangs, and temperament of rabid wolves.
A dozen could be seen, heading parallel along the barrier from the opposite direction Ashmedai and the hunters had come from, meaning they were stampeding right for them.
The hunters dispersed like falling drops of water, giving as wide a berth as they could, with magic and weapons ready to defend, not attack, for a stray arrow now might draw the whole pack to devour whoever fired.
Which was when Levi’s hesitation returned at the worst time, for he stood frozen, still too much in the pack’s path, and one of the gazellians veered toward him with a snap of its jaws .
Ashmedai had as much time as he’d had to save Pentelyn, maybe less, so once again, he didn’t think. He dove into the shadows, appearing out of Levi’s own shadow in front of him, and stopped the gazellian with the only recourse he had left.
Arching his arms upward to summon every immediate shadow to him, Ashmedai became the very darkness itself and swooped forward onto the charging gazellian like a black wave.
He never had and never would explain to any of his people what it felt like when he did that—not even to Braxton—because it was nourishment, like devouring something using bare hands and teeth. Because it tasted and felt incredible.
Because he hated how much he enjoyed it and longed for more the moment he reformed into his humanoid self on the other side, leaving behind an empty husk like the gazellian had been dead and decaying for weeks.
There was good reason Ashmedai preferred to use his sword.
The one consolation was when Ashmedai glanced behind him and didn’t think Levi looked afraid or disgusted, even though Levi had never witnessed that part of Ashmedai’s power before. Levi’s expression was utter awe.
A few of the fleeing gazellians fell behind after being startled by Ashmedai’s attack, and Yentriss struck them down with arrows without alerting those that continued onward. The hunters had many prizes in exchange for their close calls, though Ashmedai would never say it was worth it.
Once the dust settled and the hunters gathered closer to one another, the others noticed Pentelyn returning from where a brightly lit crystal still glowed on the ground, her own that she’d dropped blinking against a tree until she retrieved it.
Amuro raced to her side, and it was clear in moments that everyone knew what might have been.
It was understandable to be shaken, but Ashmedai had never seen Pentelyn look quite so distressed, near tears as Amuro, her husband, gathered her close. She was usually as calm and seasoned a warrior as Yentriss.
“You’re positively pallid,” Ashmedai said, going to her swiftly. “You’re all right, aren’t you? No harm done, save a scare? You’ve had close calls before.”
There was something Pentelyn didn’t want to tell Ashmedai. He could see it in the way she avoided looking at him with any of her many eyes, though he’d known her since near the beginning, when she had been the first cursed-born child.
Amuro was the one who answered, gently holding her to his side. “Penny’s pregnant,” he said, drifting one of his lizard hands low over her stomach. “We’re so sorry, Ash. We didn’t want to say anything when there were already so many—”
“ Amuro ,” Pentelyn hushed him.
“So many what?” Ashmedai pressed, but the pair looked at each other and kept quiet.
Ashmedai’s people never kept things from him. Or at least, he had never known them to before. The recent years had been harder on everyone, and as Ashmedai had said to Levi, he had been far too much a hermit lately, other than to attend to obligations he couldn’t ignore.
“Never mind. You needn’t say anything you don’t wish to. But being with child, and after a scare like that? You should go see Luccite immediately.”
They both nodded, and Amuro said, “I’ll take her there now. Thank you, Ash. Thank you for saving them.”
Them .
Ashmedai would gladly lay down his life for any of his people, but the guilt that accompanied knowing he might not have gotten there in time was so much greater when it could have been two lives lost.
As the couple headed out of the wood, most everyone else was acting less spooked than they plainly were, starting to gather up the day’s kill for skinning and butchering back in the city.
Several of them passed Ashmedai strained smiles or fleeting looks, even with all the rollhounds returned to help keep guard.
The people were terrified, and it was obvious something else was going on.
Ashmedai would need to call another city council meeting sooner than usual.
The only exception to the palpable unease was Yentriss, who never failed to maintain a clear head.
And thankfully, she was distracting Levi.
“You’re good with those daggers,” she said as Ashmedai approached them. “Long range can also be useful, but illusions might not always save you. I could teach you the bow, see if you have any aptitude, so you’re even more prepared next time.”
Ashmedai was going to cut in and say that he thought that a marvelous idea, only to watch Levi’s expression go slack, his violet eyes drifting from Yentriss to stare at nothing.
“Levi?” she said sharply when he didn’t answer.
“Hm?” Levi snapped back like coming out of a trance. “I’m so sorry, Yentriss. Yes, I would very much like to learn the bow from you. I think the hunt must have left me a bit jittery.”
“Jitters will do you no better than paralysis,” she said coolly. “We’ll have to work on that. Ash,” Yentriss said as she noticed him.
He smiled to be cordial, but responded with a subtle nod to dismiss her, to which she went off without comment to help the others.
Levi’s gaze was drifting again.
“Levi?” Ashmedai took his hand.
Levi jumped. His eyes looked damp.
“Was it another daydream?”
“I-I…. Yes?” he answered, more like a question.
“What did you see?”
“I didn’t. I mean… I don’t think I saw anything, but after Yentriss offered to teach me the bow, I thought I heard another woman’s voice.”
“What did she say?”
“She said… ‘ Son , there are many things you still need to learn.’ I don’t know why it’s affecting me so much. I don’t even understand why I’d imagine such a thing. Because Yentriss is Kenner’s mother, and I never had one of my own?”
There was no easy answer, so Ashmedai settled on, “Perhaps.”
Levi sniffled. “I’ve had others this week, even the other day before I gave you your belt. I didn’t want to worry you. I was hunting deer.”
“There are no deer here anymore.”
“I know….”
Ashmedai wasn’t sure what to say.
“I really did enjoy helping with the hunt for the most part.” Levi mustered a smile. “It was thrilling. You were remarkable.”
It had been a long time since Ashmedai had seen the most powerful part of himself as anything but vile. “I was going to say the same to you,” he deflected. He meant it after all—Levi’s illusions and his dancing daggers.
“I should get back,” Levi said, “maybe catch up to Pentelyn and Amuro to accompany them out of the wood. It’s later than I told Braxton. Will you…?” He gestured after the couple, looking hopefully to Ashmedai that he might join them too.
“I wish I could, but there is much I need to attend to here. Tomorrow?”
Levi nodded, wiping at a stray tear that streaked down past one of his lines of stitches. There weren’t many on his face, though the most notable stretched outward from the edges of his mouth.
Ashmedai would have gladly wiped that tear away himself. He would have liked to keep hanging on to Levi’s hand, which he still held. Since he had to let it go, he lifted it to his lips and kissed the back of Levi’s fingers.
Indigo was becoming Ashmedai’s favorite color.
Ashmedai did have much to attend to, but not only helping the hunters and ensuring that the open part of the perimeter was replenished with fresh crystals.
There were too many mysteries blossoming, and while he might need to wait for a council meeting to discover more about Pentelyn and Amuro’s, another was that Braxton was clearly not being honest with him about Levi, and he couldn’t decipher that mystery on his own.
As soon as everyone had returned to the city, Ashmedai headed for Luccite. Pentelyn and Amuro were just leaving, and although Ashmedai was curious and wanted to wish them well, he stayed hidden in the shadows. Once they were gone, he slipped into Luccite’s shop, as undetectable as a gust of wind.
Luccite was both healer and alchemist, though with a different focus than Braxton, so her shop had any number of tools, potions, components, and tomes.
And, since she could see so well in the dark with her slitted cat eyes, there was little need for brighter crystals as lights, keeping the atmosphere calming.
Ashmedai wished he felt calmer now.
The panther-like woman noticed him only after a floorboard creaked, her ears twitching just before she turned to look at him. She was especially short, one of the shortest in the kingdom, but though she had to look up a great distance to meet his eyes, that in no way diminished her presence.
“Ash. To what do I owe the honor so late? Concerned about Pentelyn?”
“Very, but that’s not why I’m here. I need your assistance concerning Levi.”
“The construct? Why not ask Brax? He made him.”
Ashmedai strode closer to her, keeping his expression severe and his voice low, despite them being alone. “There is something Brax isn’t telling me, and I don’t know what or why.”
Luccite’s eyes danced with curiosity. “Then bring Levi to me.”