Shadow Assassins (The Second Realm Trilogy) (25 page)

She watched the two find their rhythm with the music with a fluttering heart. Talented mages they might be, but war was unpredictable. Should they face a sword or an arrow at the wrong time tomorrow, one of the two mages in front of her might be taken from this world – if not both of them. She might be taken from this world. Atrimalous would protect her, she knew, but there was no predicting what would happen tomorrow. She couldn’t even stand the thought of Atrimalous or Leta – or
any
of her friends, for that matter – sustaining injuries in the battle to come. Anything beyond that?

She shuddered.

“Kaydee,” Leta called. When Kaydee looked up, Leta held a hand out to her, even as she twirled around. “Come dance with us. Leave all those worries behind.”

The ice mage must have seen the fear in Kaydee’s face. Kaydee glanced at Leta and tried to smile. Her heart still beat uncomfortably as she stood up but she pushed all of those worries aside, for the moment.

Fearing the battle to come was no way to spend the night. The Kkyathi had something good going, she realized. Tonight was about celebrating life. That was what she should be doing, instead of worrying herself into a frenzy.

Feeling foolish for getting up and dancing with them, Kaydee closed her eyes and got lost in the music. She moved to the music as Leta and the other women did, fluid and alive. Even with Atrimalous scowling beside her, she couldn’t help but smile. Tonight was about celebrating life, after all. The rest could wait.

Kaleb and Marco had stayed out with the elf and werecat warriors for the majority of the night, testing their weapons and showing the others how to use them. They got lucky. Aside from some awkward handling of the new weapons, there was no misfiring of the weapons brought in from the First Realm. The elves handled the transition beautifully after they got used to the new weight and feel of the compound bows and how they handled arrows.

When the party of warriors had returned to the camp, the celebration had begun to die down. Warriors settled down for the night. Although they were different, both the Kkyathi and the Oraldine elves had nightly rituals before a battle in the morning. The Kkyathi prayed to their Moon Mother, as they called their deity. The Oraldine checked their weapons and prayed to nature and earth spirits to bring them life and victory in the battle to come.

Kaleb and Marco found their companions near each other, in two separate spots. Evangeline slept on the ground, leaning on an arm to cushion her head. Prince Erik was still awake and he sat on the wooden bench above her, watching over her with an expression that could only be described as affectionate and protective. His gaze instantly flashed to the two male Shadow Assassins when they approached.

“Sorry,” Marco whispered. “Not trying to wake her up.”

The prince nodded. “Get some sleep, you two. Big day tomorrow.”

“Yeah, you get some sleep, too.”

Marco settled on the ground next to Evangeline, using the bench to prop himself up. He ended up falling asleep in a slumped, almost sitting position. Kaleb settled beside him. He was tempted to go find the chieftain’s tent and sleep there, like he had before, but it felt wrong with his team nearby. What kind of friend and teammate would he be if he abandoned them for something more luxurious?

Not that there would be much reason to go there now. Kikkaho had vanished, without
so much as a goodbye. He couldn’t help but feel hurt by it, but it wasn’t as though she had seen him.

He must have fallen asleep at some point because the next thing he knew, people were milling about. There was noise in the air, the general sounds of the village waking up. There was a low murmuring of voices as the people awake tried to not stir those who still slept, although the clanging of metal armor and weapons rang through the air. Soon, the smell of cooked meat wafted throughout the camp and more people stirred, craving breakfast.

Marco awoke from beside him. “Something smells good.”

“I wonder why.”

They both looked up. Above them stood Evangeline and Kaydee. They both held bowls of some kind of meat and vegetable stew, one in each hand. One they gave to their companions and the other they ate from.

“So are you scared about what’s going to happen?” Evangeline finally asked the others.

Kaydee nodded instantly, but the two men exchanged uneasy looks.

“Yeah,” Kaleb finally said.

“Same.” Marco echoed.

“What are we going to do?”

Kaleb spoke up first. “Stay together. That’s all we can do.”

Evangeline nodded in agreement,
then glanced up after swallowing a bite of the stew. “What if we went to get that book Erik spoke about? If that Liliana person is responsible for attacking us at the portal, shouldn’t we investigate that? What if she
is
attacking other people as they try to cross over?”

“It’s worth a shot,” Marco said. “And we’re heading there anyway.”

Kaleb glanced at his friends. “Alright. Let’s talk to the prince, then, so he can show us where it is.”



The talk with the prince was successful. Prince Erik agreed to escort them into the castle, as cautiously as possible. With the sudden attack that was going to happen, it wasn’t as though they could calmly walk through the maelstrom and into the castle.

Once they had come to an agreement, they focused back on what was happening around the camp grounds. The camp ground was significantly more silent than the celebration that had happened the previous night.

The Kkyathi were solemn as they made final war preparations. Half of the werecats were wearing armor and had weapons ready. The other half, who would be the ones transforming into feral form, stood beside them in little more than cotton dresses or loincloths. The two groups stood in neat lines side by side each other, before Kirrah. She stood at the head of the line, holding a bowl full of liquid red. What it was, none of the Assassins knew, but it must have been some kind of paint. With care, she streaked the red across her warriors’ faces in varying patterns, swirls and stripes, before she wiped her hands on a cloth tucked into her belt. She took each warrior’s moon-disk into her hands, kissed it, then kissed the warriors on the forehead. The marked warriors in turn formed new lines, still separated by who was in armor and who was not, off to the side.

Beside the Kkyathi, the Oraldine elves were going through their own pre-war ritual. D’jerik strode among his warriors, a small basket of white feathers hanging on his arm. He spoke hushed words to them and tucked a feather into one of the braids the warriors wore.
After he had walked by each warrior, the warrior secured the feather further into their beaded and braided hair.

D’jerik approached the Shadow Assassins after his warriors had been adorned and offered them a feather as well, except theirs were secured by a small leather thong that formed a necklace.

“Take these as a sign of fortune from the Oraldine elves,” he said, his voice grave. “We wear feathers to remind us to be swift in battle, on our feet and with a weapon. Take one as a sign of good fortune and honorary membership into our tribe.”

Marco took the necklace offered first. “You have our thanks.
From the bottom of our hearts.”

D’jerik regarded him for a moment. “I can see why Camira chose you.”

He glanced up, startled.
“Chose?”

The elf’s gaze held something else within that strength, something like regret. “Yes. When this is over, maybe you can see for yourself what I mean.”

Didn’t that just make Marco’s heart beat faster? He nodded quickly, but couldn’t stop the small smile from crossing his lips. “Thanks.”

The warrior nodded but didn’t say anything else. Instead, he left the four Shadow Assassins and went back to his tribe.

Before his companions could tease him, Marco pointed out the Moonriver army. “Look, even they’re ready!”

They turned. The Moonriver army wasn’t any more than a rag tag band of survivors in mismatched armor and a slew of recovered weapons that had been used to kill their classmates. Despite that, they still stood straight and proud, as if they were more than ready for this day. The group stood in rows of four, side by side. At the head of the line, Dante paced, as if impatient to get moving. That was, until she surveyed her army and saw the unease on their faces.

“You can leave if you wish,” she spoke up, over their low rumbling of voice. That got their attention enough to make them stare at her. “I’m not going to force any of you to fight. If you’d rather stay behind, I won’t hold it against you.”

“Why would we do that?”
rose the high-pitched voice of the same half-demon girl who had proposed to kill the king. From somewhere within Moonriver’s ranks, her voice rang out, “We
chose
to do this.”

A general rumble of agreement rose from the ranks. Closer to where she could see
, Dante saw several people nodding their heads, looking determined and ready to fight. Their resolve strengthened her.

“Right, then.
We’re ready.”



The three unified armies exited Kkyathi territory with a great roar. It was unsure of where it had started from, but the great war cry that rose up rippled through every warrior, whether they be Kkyathi, Oraldine or the mixed Moonriver. The war cry echoed throughout the Kkyathi territory, ringing through the trees. It reverberated through the warriors, filling them and inspiring them to put one foot in front of the other, towards imminent battle. It was with this war cry echoing through the trees that the warriors set off from the camp ground.

At the head of the procession, the Shadow Assassins rode on horseback with the prince, Dante, Kirrah and D’jerik. Evangeline felt uneasy as they rode in front of hundreds of armed warriors. They would face the first wave of opposition, if there was any opposition to be faced.

She glanced around at her companions. Each of them had someone to help look after them. Kaleb and Kirrah rode close to each other. Same with Kaydee, Atrimalous and Leta. Marco and D’jerik were somewhat apart, but close enough to acknowledge the others’ presence.

And she had the prince. She glanced at Prince Erik, whose face was nothing but a mask of calm. How could he seem so sure of himself? She and her friends were riding into what could possibly be death, and he looked positively calm.

Then again, the others looked calm as well. Kaleb had the red markings of the Kkyathi on his face. Each of the Assassins wore the Oraldine feather. Kaydee was gripping her feather tightly in one fist, but other than that, she appeared calm. She had two lethal guards. Nothing to worry about, really.

Evangeline glanced at her sister.
Funny. Before, when they were separated, Evangeline didn’t have any idea that she had a sister, much less a twin. With Dante so close, she felt the oddest connection to her. It wasn’t as though she could get into her sister’s mind and thoughts, but she just felt her there, felt her strong, sure presence even when she focused on the road ahead of them.

Dante’s strong presence helped settle Evangeline a little. A streak of pride ran through her that she would have a sister who was just as strong as she was – if not stronger. There was no doubt in her mind that Dante would be able to handle herself in battle.

Her thoughts cut short as they emerge out of Kkyathi territory.

“The Emeralde Kingdom is before us,” Dante shouted to the procession behind her. “Ready everyone?”

Another great war cry rose up from the three unified armies. The warriors behind her were nothing more than a deadly surge of energy, ready to go into battle.

The procession crossed into the Emeralde Kingdom with a faster, more sure pace. As they made their way closer to the castle, Evangeline sent up a silent prayer for her friends and the warriors around her.
Keep us safe, please. Keep us safe and keep us strong in the battle ahead.

Another war cry rose up from the armies as they gathered speed in their steps. The Emeralde Kingdom was ahead of them, ripe for the taking.

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Erik had mentioned to Kaleb and Marco that he wished he could see into his father's mind and see what drove him into the madness he was lost in. That made Marco step up, even if it was hesitantly.

“I'm not promising anything,” he said slowly. “I can't change what's in his mind or anything...but I can at least try to see what's going on in there.”

“It won't hurt him, will it?” Erik asked.

Marco shook his head. “It's all in his mind, nothing done physically. He may not even notice I'm peeking around in there.”

Erik agreed and Marco stepped forward.

In truth, Marco had very little knowledge in what he was doing. His powers were mostly used to manipulate physical objects. He had never invaded someone's mind, although he did occasionally grasp what people were thinking. He figured that all it took was practice. How hard could it be to peer into the mind of a man whose mental abilities were already failing?

Not that he mentioned any of this to the prince who stood beside him. He placed his hands on the King's and closed his eyes.

His powers flowed over the King, searching for a way in. He was drawn to the King's thoughts quickly and followed the flow of thoughts, letting the flow lead him. He knew none of this was happening physically, but in his mind's eye, he saw his power flowing freely, into the King's mind. He knew he couldn't manipulate a living object in the same way he could an inanimate one. Anything living was beyond his control, to a certain extent. He could sense the King's thoughts, all of them in rapid-fire precision. That was what he was looking for–

“Stay out of his mind, magic user!”

“What the!”

The connection was broken as soon as he had heard the voice in his mind. It was the same sort of voice he had encountered as he and his friends had first crossed over from the First Realm to the Second Realm – that ominous, vaguely female voice that spoke in two voices, one he could understand and the other he could not.

Erik was beside him, supporting him and helping him stand up. He hadn't even realized that he had fallen on the floor until then.

“What's the matter? Did you see something?”

“No, I...” Marco regained his balance and turned to his fellow Assassins. “Do you guys remember the first time we crossed to the Second Realm and that thing attacked us? And we heard that weird voice?”

As his companions gave their murmurs of agreement, he shook his head in thought. “I just heard that voice again when I was trying to look into the King's thoughts. It told me to stay out of his mind.”

That got their attention.

“It can't be the same person, can it?” Kaydee asked.

“Does it happen when you peer into anyone's thoughts?” Evangeline said right after.

Marco shrugged. “I don't know. I've never really used my powers for this.”

“Look into my mind, then,” Erik spoke up quickly. “See if the same thing happens then.”

Marco nodded and reached for the prince's arm. As contact was made, he focused his powers onto Erik, in the same fashion that he did with the King. This time, the connection was made faster, without the hesitancy he found with the King's mind. His powers washed through Erik's mind and hundreds of thoughts came at him at once, too fast for him to sort through at first. Stronger emotions tied to a memory or a thought made the image linger longer. He saw most recently, the struggle with his father.
The invasion of the kingdom. A kiss from Evangeline?

Marco pulled away quickly after that. It was as though Erik knew what memories Marco had seen; he cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Was it the same?”

Marco shook his head. “No. There was no interference this time.”

He glanced back at the King and tried once more to get into the King's thoughts. This time, all he felt was raw anger and it felt as though he was physically being pushed away from the King.

“Damn. Whatever it is protecting the King, it won't even let me in anymore. It's pushing me back.”

“What has invaded my father's mind?” Erik asked. His eyes were wide with worry. “Is it what is making him ill?”

“Possibly.
I really think it's that Liliana chick you were talking about–”

“How dare you address me with such
familiarity!”

The thundering voice caught everyone off guard. It wasn't a voice only in Marco's mind this time. Everyone in the room heard it. They all shuddered as something ominous entered the royal chambers. Nothing physical had entered, but everyone felt its presence. Dark, evil, depraved; it crawled through the room as though it were a snake.

“You do not know who I am, mortal from the First Realm. How dare you address me by name, as though you were familiar with my presence! Cease contact with this man. The King is
mine
to be had.”

“Release your hold on my father!” Erik shouted.

At this, the voice laughed, seductively feminine and still full of malice.
“Fool. You think you can order me around, little prince?”

“Release him!”

“I control every breath in his body. Why do you think I would want to give that up?”

Before Erik could demand any more, the King's body stirred. He sat up from his plush bed and stared around in confusion.

“Erik?” the King asked. His voice sounded frail, as though he had aged another twenty years.

“Father!”
Erik rushed to his father's side. “Are you okay?”

The King's eyes were wide in confusion. “I fear I have done something terrible. Help me, my son. Help–”

The King cut himself off before the plea for help could be finished. Erik tried to get his attention but King James only stared absently past his son, as though he were not there. When Erik tried to touch his arm, the King changed in appearance. Instead of the haggard, aged king, his face warped and became ugly with a dark, evil anger. His expression changed from confusion to an angry snarl. With a growl that was more animal than human, he lunged for his son, grabbing Erik by the throat.