A Dark Tide (Book of One) (22 page)

"What was it like for you," Ariana asked, and Laurana laughed.

"The healers were in such terror that they had to ask the trees to bind me in hard sap, for fear of what I might do," she said. "After Quenta was born, I spent the next few years making amends with them."

"I hope I haven't offended the healers who are tending to me," Ariana said. "They watch over me diligently, and I can tell that they truly care about their work."

"I have heard no complaints from them," Laurana said. "If I do, I shall let you know so you can apologize to them later."

"I will do my best to make sure it isn't necessary, but I still don't see why I have to stay in bed like this." Ariana sighed. "What if I promise not to get involved in any fighting?"

"Hopefully there won't be any fighting here in the city," Laurana said. "Quenta is leading thousands of elven warriors to stop the enemy as we speak."

"I hope they succeed and that they save the forest," Ariana said. "There is a tree that I know far to the southeast, where I lived with Keira when I first came here, and I would be heartbroken if he were harmed. I feel just as protective toward all the trees, and I am furious at what these creatures are doing."

"The people are confident that the enemy will be driven from the forest," Laurana said, and Ariana looked at her, tilting her head a little.

"You do not seem so sure," she said.

"I am responsible for all of the forest and its many people," Laurana said, pushing aside her doubts, since she knew Ariana could sense them. "I will feel better once the forest is safe once more."

"I will feel better when that that Calexis is dead and the throne is restored to me," Ariana said. "Then you can be sure that Maramyr will no longer makes war against its neighbors. It was a peaceful land before my uncle and that priesthood took over."

"I know this to be true," Laurana said as she took Ariana's hand for a moment. "And I am sure it will be again."

"I promise it will be," Ariana said. Laurana smiled and rose from the side of the bed.

"Rest now," she said. "I will speak with the healers. Perhaps they will relent and allow you to walk around a little."

"Thank you, Laurana," Ariana said and Laurana smiled, then she turned and made her way to the door as Ariana called after her. "And the hunter, don't forget about the venison. Please and thank you."

Laurana left, and Ariana sighed, then she laid her head back on the mountain of pillows against which she was propped and she stared that the ceiling and rubbed her tight, swollen belly. With everything that had happened and in her worry and her anger about the forest, as well as the frustration at hearing that the elves had refused the help she had offered, she had tried to ignore the strange feelings in her body, even when they had become obvious, both physically and now with her odd behavior. Ariana suddenly realized that she really was uncomfortable and that she did hurt all over, no matter how hard she tried to pretend otherwise. Without raising her head, she reached over and grabbed the remaining piece of bread from the table and stuffed it in her mouth, chewing on it and hoping that someone would bring her something more substantial soon, and preferably something raw and bloody.

Calexis cut the meat with her jeweled dagger, then she stabbed the bloody morsel with the sharp point and took it between her teeth, staring at Aaron the whole while. He sat, unmoving, at the far end of the long table in the vast hall, which she had redecorated after the fight between the finalists of the tournament. Now the carved, wooden panels and stonework were shades of black with highlights of grey, and heavy, wine colored window coverings, which made the room very dark, almost like night, even though it was still light outside. Flames flickered upon an elaborate candelabra that sat upon the table between them, and Calexis was sure she could see the power glimmering in Aaron's eyes as he watched her eat.

"It is a shame you are not hungry," she said. "The meat is truly delicate, and the wine is worth dying for." She picked up a goblet and swallowed some of the rich, red liquid, then she smiled. "Well, perhaps not, but it is quite good."

"It is strange, but I no longer need food or drink," Aaron told her. "I do enjoy it, but I would much rather break bread with friends and people I care about."

"You wound me," Calexis said as she sliced another piece of meat, and popped it in her mouth with her dagger. "We could be friends, the two of us, or allies if you prefer. I would like that very much. Perhaps you would at least consider it?"

"Why would I agree to align myself with you?" Aaron asked as Calexis poked her dagger into a piece of fruit that lay in a bowl atop the table.

"It would be much easier than the alternative, don't you think?" Calexis flicked her dagger and sent the fruit flying across the long table and Aaron caught it in one hand, without even taking his eyes off her. She picked up her wine and took another sip, while shaking her head. "You really must relax, my young man. We are simply talking. Talking is useful, if we are to find some solution to our little problem."

"A solution?" Aaron was skeptical.

"Well yes," Calexis replied, staring down at her plate and toying with the cut of meat and the blood that pooled around it. "It is very troublesome that you continue to resist me and I would rather not force you to my will, for it would be such a bother. Perhaps there is something I can offer you in exchange for your help."

"
Do not listen to her, Aaron. Her every word is a lie,
" Stroma echoed.

"What is that?" Calexis asked, looking up, her eyes blazing.

"What is what?" Aaron asked, and Calexis leaned forward, with her hands on the edge of the table.

"I recognize that voice," she hissed. "It is one I know all too well."

"What voice is that, your own?" Aaron asked.

"Do not think I don't know," she spat, glaring at him angrily and leaning forward even more, as though she might leap toward him. "It is Stroma."

"Stroma is already dead," Aaron told her. "His thoughts might linger, but he is gone."

"Oh?" Calexis said and she leaned back again, sitting down and regaining her calm. "Stroma speaks to you, does he? And what has he told you?"

"He has told me enough," Aaron said. "I can tell you that he does not trust you, nor do I."

Calexis sighed and she cut another piece of meat, this time letting the dagger scratch against the plate.

"It is true," she said. "We have had our differences in the past, Stroma and I, but with him gone and the other gods weak and ineffectual, there is nothing that threatens me, so what reason would I have to lie to you?"

"Perhaps you don't even know whether your words are true or not," Aaron suggested.

"Whatever do you mean by that?"

"The shadow already destroys you." Aaron watched as the dark energy flowed around her, slowly consuming her essence, even rotting the food she ate. "It is madness to allow yourself to be consumed by such a power."

"The dark power is mine to control," she said, her voice suddenly loud and powerful, echoing in the cavernous hall. "It flows within me as your power flows within you. I am the shadow and I am the darkness. Do you understand?"

"It will destroy you," Aaron told her again. "And when you have destroyed all life, what will it feed upon then?"

"There will always be power in the world," she said. "The difference is there will be no willful beings and creatures to deny me what is mine, to deny my hunger."

"And when will you be satisfied?"

"I just told you," she said. "When all life is subject to my will, then I will be pleased, for what purpose is there in the existence of the weak but to serve the will of one who is greater? The purpose of life is to die, and all light will eventually succumb to darkness."

"Will it?"

"It is the truth," she said. "The light is nothing without the darkness."

"Or is the darkness nothing without the light?" Aaron asked.

"You wish to play a game of words?" Calexis laughed. "How amusing. We can pretend to be mages and quibble over how many spells can be cast all at once from the tip of a finger."

"There would be no point," Aaron said.

"Well spoken," she replied. "My, you are a clever one."

"I do not think of myself that way," Aaron told her. "I simply try to do what is right."

"As do I," Calexis replied. "I do what is my right."

"If it is your right, then you can choose to do otherwise, can you not?"

"Of course," she said. "I can choose to do whatever I want."

"Then you could choose to stop this madness."

"What madness is that?"

"The destruction of life," Aaron replied. "There is no reason for it."

"Is that what you want?" Calexis asked, her voice turning to honey. "Tell me, who is it that you want to live?"

"Everyone," Aaron said, and Calexis burst into laughter, and she took another sip of her wine before responding.

"Everyone will die," she said. "Even gods can die. You said it yourself. Stroma is dead."

"Why not let people live out their lives as long as they can?"

"You wish for me to wait?"

"What does it matter?"

"I have waited long enough, and I will not be denied," she said, her tone turning harder. "It would be easier if you would simply accept your role in this."

"What role is that?" Aaron asked.

"You would make a fine consort," she said. "With your power and mine, we could rule the world."

"Only to destroy it?"

"To take power. It is a glorious thing, to drink it in," she said, then she fingered the stone on he pommel of her dagger. "I noticed you carry a godsword. What do you think is its purpose? Why do you think the gods of old created such weapons?"

"I know what they did," Aaron said. Stroma's memories had shown him the visions of the wars that had been waged over such power. "Many of them also gave up these weapons and sacrificed themselves to stop the shadow."

"Stroma has shared many things with you," Calexis commented.

"A few things he did not intend," Aaron said. "You did not know of this?"

Calexis hesitated a little.

"Of course I knew," she said. "I am a god, and soon I will be the only god that remains. Then my power will be unchallenged."

"And then, the shadow will destroy you," Aaron said.

"The power of the shadow is mine," Calexis said, her eyes flashing once more. "Perhaps you are not as clever as I thought."

"I already said I do not think of myself that way," Aaron replied.

"It does not matter," Calexis said. "I can find cleverness elsewhere if I should desire it, and I find it often becomes tiresome, a mere display, and nothing more."

"Then why all this?" Aaron asked, looking at the table and the untouched feast before him.

"It is my will," Calexis said, smiling with her eyes half closed as she sipped her wine. "I was curious about your mind, and now I am no longer, though I am curious about the rest of you. It will be interesting to see how long you can resist my power. I can already tell that you can barely help yourself." Calexis stood and, with one hand, she knocked the dishes and food from the table, then she crawled up on top, placing her wine down next to her. "Come, Aaron. Use your power against me. Let us do battle, you and I, and then, when you have fallen, I will take you as my slave, and you will worship me for eternity."

"I worship no one," Aaron replied with an edge of steel in his voice.

"You will, my sweet, foolish boy," she said, and her skin began to shift and her teeth became sharper as she crawled toward him.

Calexis knocked the candelabra from the table and the room became much darker. An instant later, she was directly in front of him, her tongue licking his lips as her dagger thrust toward his neck. Aaron released the power in his body, sending a wave of energy toward her, and throwing her tumbling backward. Calexis landed in a crouch upon the table, hissing at him with a reptilian tail twitching behind her, then she smiled and leapt toward him again. This time, Aaron dodged, sliding his chair back from the table and half drawing his sword as her dagger stabbed at him. The silvergold blades sparked and Aaron pushed her away once more and pulled his sword free from its scabbard. Calexis landed on her feet this time and the two of them stepped slowly around one another, moving out into the open floor of the room, walking circles in the dark.

"Your sword is useless if you do not use it as it was intended," Calexis said.

"I do not want your power," Aaron told her, and she attacked him again.

"Then you make things easier for me."

Calexis disappeared, and Aaron searched the room, using all of his senses. Then, seemingly from nowhere, she reappeared behind him, her dagger under his chin and her fingernails digging into his chest. Aaron spun, using the power stored in his body to speed his movement, and he knocked the dagger away and slashed at her with his sword. Calexis danced out of the way, easily avoiding his blade. She attacked him again, and he caught her dagger with his sword in one hand on an angle, sliding her blade down his and with his other hand he struck her in the center of her chest, releasing another wave of energy and flicking the tip of his sword at her as she was knocked away. Calexis hit the wall hard and the stone and wood crumbled and splintered. As she stepped forward from the shadows, she touched her jaw and saw dark red blood across her fingers.

"You cut me," she said, licking the blood and closing the gash across her jaw with her power. "I will have to make you suffer for that."

Calexis took a step to the side and disappeared again, but Aaron was ready for her this time, and he moved, just as her blade stabbed toward his ribs. She ducked down as he slashed at her, then she spun around and punched toward him with both hands on her dagger. Aaron sidestepped and the blade caught him on the arm and he felt the icy cold of the silvergold weapon as it drained power from him. He let his momentum carry him away from the blade and slashed at Calexis again, this time slicing a gash across her back. She screamed furiously and tore the sheer black dress away as she transformed even further, then she dropped into a low crouch.

Her body grew larger and she was covered with armored reptilian scales as shiny, black horns sprouted from her head and fangs pushed against her thick, swollen lips. Aaron felt what little light was in the room suddenly become dim as shadow and darkness swirled around Calexis. She turned and glared at him, then she leapt, like a beast, unnaturally fast, her claws grabbing Aaron and her dagger cutting into his arm. The weight of her body hitting him carried him across the room and Aaron felt his bones crunch as he hit the heavy, stone wall with a smash. Reeling, he could feel her hot breath on his face and the icy cold of the blade touching his arm, draining his power even more.

"You are an insolent one," she hissed. "You will learn obedience."

Aaron sent out another burst of energy, more powerful than the last, and he felt Calexis shudder from its impact, but she held on and kept him pressed up against the wall. With his fist curled tight around the hilt of his sword, and focusing the power infused in his body, Aaron smashed her shoulder and threw her to the floor. He sidestepped her tail, which swung around at him as she spun and dashed toward him again. He deflected her dagger with his blade and tumbled over her, landing on his feet as her momentum carried her past him.

Claws raked the stone floor as Calexis skidded to a halt and she rose to her feet and transformed even further. Her claws lengthened and her body became longer and more serpentine, with armored scales shining in the near darkness. She let out a guttural growl, her mouth a row of razor fangs and the dagger in her hand began to increase in size, becoming a much larger weapon, even bigger than a normal sword, scaled to fit the creature she had become. As Calexis stalked toward him, puffs of purplish black smoke began to seep from the corners of her mouth, and she noticed Aaron looking at the oversized blade in her clawed hand.

"You didn't know these weapons could change their form," she growled.

"I didn't know you could change yours," Aaron said. "The forked tongue is about the only thing that is true about you."

Calexis hissed and dashed toward him, swinging her sword in a powerful arc. Aaron deflected it with his own, ducking under the blade and slamming his shoulder into her midsection. He brought his sword around and slashed her along her leg, but the edge of his blade only scratched the armor of her scales. She twisted around slashing at him again and Aaron narrowly ducked the sword, and he dodged again as her attacks came in at him blindingly fast. Aaron could barely keep up, and it was more a testament to his training than his power that he managed to avoid being cut. Calexis was not as skilled with a blade as he was, but her power more than made up the difference, and Aaron could tell that he was beginning to weaken as he used more of the power he had gathered in his body. He felt his own energy at the core of his being, calling to him, and he felt the shadow within him flicker in excitement at the mere thought of it, but he resisted the urge. He knocked aside another attack and danced away, then he turned and stood his ground once again.