Page 48 of Sea of Stars

A whistle cut through the air, making Mikado’s ears rise. “Crap,” I said. Mikado stopped, turned, and trotted back towards Harish. Denton sheathed his sword and we both jumped off Mikado’s back.

“What the Fuorster is going on?” Denton said fiercely.

Harish looked from me to Denton. He seemed to understand that I hadn’t told Denton anything. “Your Highness, what in the world? Have you lost your mind? Maybe we should stop and rest for the night.” Harish’s voice was laced with false concern.

I had my hand tightly wrapped around the hilt of my sword. I was already a dead man. Harish had made that pretty clear when we had stopped to rest. He had grown up with the humans, so he basically was one. Humans were cowards and liked to slit people's throats while they slept. Harish would do to me what the first King Septon had done to Griswar.

“Denton, he’s working for King Septon II,” I said without taking my eyes off Harish.

Harish pulled out his sword and I hoped Denton was getting his blade ready as well.

“He was sent to kill the leader of the divinares.” And just so there was no confusion, I added, “Mahlia. He’s going to kill Mahlia.”

Chapter 18

Harish stood his ground with his sword raised. “You just need some rest. You hit your head really hard on that rock,” he said gently.

I glanced at Denton for a second and could see his sword was still in his belt. “Denton, arm yourself!” I demanded. I could tell I was sounding increasingly more frantic with each word I spoke. I was playing right into Harish’s trick. “He attacked me in the water. If you hadn’t found us he would have killed me on the riverbank.”

And then Harish made a vital mistake. He looked over at Denton to read his thoughts instead of quickly responding that I had no idea what I was saying. I heard a whooshing sound as Denton pulled his sword out of its sheath. I was lucky to have him on my side, even if he was only a decent swordsman. We outnumbered Harish, but neither of us was as strong or large as he.

I could tell that Harish was weighing his odds as well. “Look, do you think I really want to murder some girl? I don’t have a choice. King Septon II will kill me if I don’t do what he says. Just calm down. We can talk this over.”

I didn’t believe a word that came out of his mouth. I ran forwards and I could see out of the corner of my eye that Denton was following my lead. Before I reached Harish, Mikado rose on his hind legs and roared. I fell backward, landing on my butt. Mikado dropped down to all fours and lunged towards me. I hadn’t thought about Mikado. Of course this would be the time for him to seek revenge.

I kicked sand into the air as I used my heels to slide back just enough to miss Mikado’s claws swinging across my sightline. I rolled over and stood up, kicking sand everywhere. I heard the clash of Denton's and Harish’s swords and knew I was alone in my fight against the beast. So I did the only thing I could think of. I got up as fast as I could and ran.

After just a few steps, I felt Mikado’s claws sink into the back of my left leg. I stumbled forward. His claws slid down the rest of my calf and out. I twisted my body and grabbed two handfuls of sand. Mikado slobbered as his large snout lowered toward me. I quickly threw the sand, aiming for both his eyes. I didn’t wait to see if I had hit my target. I turned and attempted to stand while I flailed more sand behind me. Mikado's howl ripped through the air, making my hair vibrate uncomfortably.

I could only hobble forwards since my left leg was badly injured. Using my arms and good leg to move away from Mikado, I couldn't help but realize that I resembled the beast on all fours. I heard his paws swish through the air as they descended upon me again. I felt his claws scratch my back. They grabbed onto my shirt and lifted me, tossing me through the air. I landed on my side. My leg burned as sand began to enter the cuts. Mikado was pawing at his eyes, which were probably as irritated as my leg.

Lumbering forwards on all fours like a mountain dweller, I headed back toward Denton and Harish. Denton’s shirt had a streak of red across the chest. He barely parried Harish’s next strike. The ground seemed to rumble again, causing me to land face first in the sand. I turned and saw Mikado charging at me. He was moving so quickly that it had seemed like he had made the earth shake. Suddenly I could feel the breeze he was causing by his swift movement. I felt his shadow over me. His claws once again grabbed the back of my shirt. I was tossed high up into the air.

Mikado roared as I flew still higher. My shirt was growing tighter, putting pressure on the front of my torso. I looked up and saw the broad white wings of a familiar bird. “Chinook!” I called. “You saved me!” I sighed with relief. Chinook must finally understand that everything I did was only to help Mahlia. When I captured her on my way to the castle I told her why I had to keep her with me. Mortwar would kill me long before Mahlia was ever able to arrive to Divinoira on foot. If she had Chinook to fly on, though, Mahlia would get there too soon. It would have ruined my whole plan. I had shown Chinook the Assassin’s Dagger’s prediction. She seemed to understand.

Below me, I saw the hodgepodge group from the castle immerse themselves in the fight below. For a brief moment, Denton and Harish joined forces, fighting against the two old divinares. Chinook swooped down slightly lower to see the battle. The four divinares slashed and dodged each other’s blows. Then the large Brutarian came into the scene. He picked up Harish and Denton and knocked their heads together. He let both bodies drop to the ground. Denton lay there, lifeless.

“Denton!” I called from above. The party below looked up and saw us. “Chinook, take me down there!”

The old man below seemed to hear my words. He looked up at us and nodded his head. Chinook and I began to descend. When we were still pretty high up, I felt Chinook’s talons move, releasing me. The wind whipped across my face as I fell toward the sandy earth. “Chinook!” I called, but she flew below quickly, landing on the ground, watching me fall. She hadn’t understood my intentions after all.

***

“Come on,” I said, pulling on my brother’s hand. I had recently hit a growth spurt and was now almost a foot taller than him. I stopped and turned toward my little brother. “Jeremody, we have to keep moving before the sun comes up. Jeremody please,” I added when he didn't start walking.

“Tell me the story again,” he protested, folding his arms across his chest. He could be very stubborn when he wanted to be. It was freezing and I knew Jeremody could feel it too. His nose was red from the cold and he was shivering slightly. He looked comical, so small, yet so demanding with his arms like that. He didn’t need to explain, I knew the story he was referring to. No matter how many times he heard it, he still got excited.

“It’s not even a story, just a rumor,” I sighed.

Jeremody continued to stand there with his arms crossed.

“Fine, fine,” I conceded. I got down on my knees. “Hop on my back, though, we have to keep moving.”

Jeremody ran over and jumped onto my back, clasping his small hands around my neck. A light snow had begun to fall and the warmth of Jeremody’s breath on my neck was comforting. We had left our village weeks ago. The snow, however cold, was a good sign. We had to be getting close to Vengeance Peak. Any day now it would rise up before us, showing us the way to the brutarian camp.

“A long time ago, all divinares were born with the gift of the Moira. They had visions of what was to come. And when they grew old, and their skin grew weathered, the most important visions would appear as symbols on their skin; their life’s purpose, their fate.”

Jeremody giggled. He took pleasure at the idea of wrinkly skin glowing with strange symbols. I cracked a smile. It was a silly notion.

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