Page 36 of Sea of Stars

Vellswar sighed. “Brutarians were the most devoted. Divinares took advantage of this devotion and enslaved them. But they didn’t come to the conclusion that you were a devil race. Instead they thought the Lords were punishing them. They didn’t understand why, so they abandoned prayers and eventually religion altogether. Now all they believe in is vengeance. They fight and die in battle for honor between them. But they know that their abandoned faith makes their death final. They have no aspirations for an afterlife. They live a brutish existence filled with anger in their hearts and a thirst for blood.” Vellswar stopped talking, probably seeing that his words were terrifying me. “It doesn’t matter either way. The good can turn evil and the evil good just as easily. As long as you act honorably such ideas shouldn’t bother you.”

“Do you believe in the Lords?” I whispered. My throat felt dry. Vellswar had basically just said that seeking vengeance damns you to hell. I tried to focus on our conversation so that I wouldn't begin to second guess my decision to kill Mortwar again.

“I do believe that there are Lords. But I do not worship them on my knees with my hands raised above like some. All I know is that I fear them. I fear their power and their wrath. I still believe that your race was originally sent here to unite the brutarians and humans. It’s about time you follow through with your destiny.”

I finished my soup quickly and excused myself from the table. I closed the door behind me, jumped onto a barrel, and hoisted myself up on the roof. It had become my after dinner ritual when I was alone with Achates. I sat on the roof and looked out towards the desert once again. The owls surrounding me seemed restless. They shifted their feet and turned their heads around. Just like Chinook, they slept at night. I looked at the one closest to me and patted his head. They didn’t know how to be owls, they still acted like the divinares they used to be.

My fingertips drummed against my thigh. I was as restless as the owls. I had to stop Mortwar from killing innocent divinares. It didn't matter if I ended up in the fires with the Fuorster because of my vengeance. And if Vellswar’s predictions were true, I had to stop Mortwar from trying to eradicate the human race as well. The fighting needed to end before there was nobody left. I had two old warriors on my side, my grandmother who didn’t fight, and a bunch of owls. I knew I needed an army to advance against Mortwar, and I didn’t have one. But I couldn’t bear waiting. I shivered remembering the images of the whippings from my dream. Mortwar was their leader, and if I could assassinate him, then maybe they would stop this madness. Maybe the anger in their hearts would fade and their sense of rightness would return. The Lords would rejoice and they would no longer want to punish the three races. I was being optimistic, but I was too scared to not be. I had to go tonight. When everyone went to sleep I would take one of the owls and fly until I found Mortwar’s army in the forest.

I leaned against the owl next to me. “Tonight we fly,” I said, patting his head. I waited for him to peck the top of my head to let me know that he understood, but his body remained rigid. I moved away from him and noticed all the birds were staring toward the left. They must have heard something that my hair hadn't picked up. I ducked down, hiding behind their feathery bodies.

Soon I heard the whispers of men’s voices. The owls were completely still and silent, so I copied their form. I knew that the men had to be out in the fields, behind the last of the tall grasses. I slowly stood and peered over the owls. The men's heads were bobbing over the grass in the far distance. Their height told me that they were most likely humans. There had to be about a dozen of them. I crouched back down and closed my eyes, trying to hear their quiet conversation. Their tone seemed rushed and I couldn’t hear what they were saying. I got up and looked once more. This time the men were only a little closer. Their pace was uneven and slow. I quickly counted, and found that there were fourteen of them.

I leaned forward, letting my hair fall over my shoulders. I closed my eyes again and listened intently. After a moment, I finally made out a few words.

“Are you sure this was the path?” whispered a rough, scratchy voice.

No one spoke for a long time. But then a strained voice answered, “I’m certain”. The words were followed by a string of coughing.

I stared over at the group of men. One man’s head lolled between the shoulders of two taller men. His shaggy black hair stood out in the green grass.

Slowly, I slid from the roof and tiptoed toward the door. I turned the knob with the slightest of clicks and walked in to look at my army. Augury was sewing, Vellswar was dozing in a chair that was comically small for him, and Achates was talking to himself as he cleaned the dishes from dinner.

I cleared my throat, but only Augury looked up at me. “We have company,” I said.

“No one comes this close to the desert at night,” Augury replied, turning her attention back toward the fabric.

“I counted fourteen humans coming this way from the east. They lo

ok tired and one of them is injured,” I said, ignoring her.

Achates was drying his last dish as he turned toward me. “It looks like we have live practice tonight,” he said with a glint in his eyes. “Wake up you old coot,” he added and slapped Vellswar in the back of the head. Vellswar yawned and opened his eyes. Apparently slapping a brutarian was more like a light nudge, because Vellswar didn’t seem to care.

“Humans from the east,” Achates said, pointing out one of the dusty windows. “You coming Augury?” Achates asked as he made his way to the door.

Augury stretched and stood up. She pulled two daggers out from under her long skirt. “Just to keep you out of trouble,” she said, smiling at him.

“You’ve done this before?” I asked, staring at the expert way she held the small knives.

“If we hadn’t both been good fighters, neither one of us would be here. And I definitely wouldn’t have gone into the mountains by myself,” she added defensively.

I nodded my head, dumbfounded. I didn’t know why I hadn’t thought about that before. Either way, I was thrilled to have another expert fighter on my side.

Achates opened the door and we all marched out, four against their fourteen. I gulped, thinking about the odds. Before I could stop him, Achates called out, “We know that you’re out there, you mangy curs!” He laughed gleefully. Augury scowled at Achates, Vellswar stood there towering over the rest of us menacingly, and I tried to remain standing despite my shaking knees.

The heads bobbing over the grass in the distance all disappeared after Achates' catcall. The grass continued to sway and all I could hear was the wind around my hair. A moment later a human walked out of the grass with his palms outstretched, showing he had no weapons.

He looked directly into my eyes as he spoke: “It’s true, is it not? You have the gift to lead us out of this darkness? I am here to serve you if it is so,” he added.

I sighed in relief. My legs stopped shaking as I realized there would be no fight. I smiled at the young man and nodded my head in agreement.

A smile broke over his face as well. He got down to his knees and bent forwards, bowing. I began walking towards the man but Achates grabbed my wrist, holding me back. The man on the ground coughed loudly and the grass started swaying behind him. A moment later almost a dozen arrows whizzed up into the air, arching high. And then they were falling toward us at an alarmingly fast speed.

Achates began barking orders, but I couldn’t make sense of his words. I looked toward the house, but I would never make it. Augury and Achates crouched behind a barrel. Augury was screaming, staring at me, tears running down her cheeks. She was trying to fight Achates grip because she wanted to try and save me. Time seemed to slow as I watched more arrows shoot into the sky while the first round was descending. They were only a second away now. I would just have to dodge whatever arrows came my way. I wrapped my arms over my head, even though I knew the arrows would go right through my small arms.

Before I could dodge the first arrow, it disappeared from my line of sight. I blinked and saw it in Owly’s beak. The rest of the owls flew off of the roof, similarly whizzing around and grabbing the arrows with their talons and beaks. Several of the owls snapped the arrows in half. The arrows fell, broken, to the ground. Owly and a few others held the arrows taut in their beaks and dove toward the group of humans. Cries erupted from the grass. I could tell that the arrows were piercing the hearts of our enemies.

Soon men were being lifted up by the owls’ feet, high into the air and then dropped to their deaths with a sickening crack. These owls were impossibly fast and strong. Owly zoomed high into the air and dropped the man that had bowed before me. I heard the man's bones crunch. I continued to watch Owly crush the opposing forces, awestruck, when suddenly an arrow shot into the sky and sunk into the side of his body. With a sad caw, Owly burst into dust and got swept away in the wind.

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