Light of Epertase 01: Legends Reborn (6 page)

“Of course, I’m sure. I am the prince. I am untouchable.”

“So you say. Very well. I will see you soon.”

Elijah looked for the castle’s peak and a direction home. Though the trip took three times as long as it should, he reached the castle’s perimeter before morning. The moon was hidden by clouds and the shadows were as black as the deepest pit.

A stranger startled him from within the shadows. “Rough night, P-p-prince?”

Elijah spun with his hand on the hilt of his sword. He saw no one so he ordered, “Show yourself, stranger.”

A more-dead-than-alive-looking man stepped into the poor street-torch lighting. His thin, gray hair hid part of his gaunt face. He wore no shirt and his skin was covered with festering, seeping scabs. Some of the scabs appeared to crawl over his skin but Elijah convinced himself the alcohol and darkness were playing tricks with his mind.

“What do you want from me, leper?”

“I only request a moment to s-s-s-speak.”

“Make it quick.” Elijah slid part of his sword out of his sheath to show his seriousness.

“I can help you,” the stranger said.

“You?” Elijah chuckled. “Help a prince? How would that be?”

“I’ve heard whispers throughout Thasula of your d-d-d-displeasure over your military obligations. I understand why you’d be angry; you’re b-b-better than those soldiers. You shouldn’t have to b-b-be at their l-l-l-level.”

“And?”

“I have a talent – one that can help you end your pathetic military servitude.”

“You don’t say?” Elijah asked. “And how would you rid me of my burden?”

The stranger’s grin cracked his raw cheek and pus trickled down the side of his face. “Leave that to m-m-me.”

“What do you ask in return, creature?”

“Just some f-f-f-f-f-freedom to explore certain, how should I say, activities in your kingdom?”

“What kind of activities?” Even as he asked, he had a sick feeling of the stranger’s murderous intentions.

“Just some occasional fun within the kingdom for me and my friends without your soldiers’ prying eyes.” He didn’t wait for an answer before backing into the shadows. Elijah had a sinking feeling that he had made a deal with evil.

Rasi’s heart beat like a hummingbird’s as he stood in the dark bedroom. The wait had been long and the night longer. Daybreak drew near. He wondered why his prey hadn’t yet returned and worried that his surprise would be spoiled. He meditated to calm his breathing but found it difficult as he envisioned the murderer’s throat between his fingers.
He will feel what she felt,
he thought as he made a fist.

He was giddy with the anticipation of almost a year’s worth of planning coming to fruition. He clenched his jaw to fight back his smile. He had never enjoyed killing, even at war, but this night he would savor it. He could afford no pity, knowing that what lie ahead would be hard and messy and satisfying.

There would be no escape for him this night but he did not care.

His revenge was near and, for the first time in his memory, his stomach didn’t twist and tear at his intestines. He wondered if his solitude had made killing easy and hoped that it hadn’t.

Footsteps from the hall made his heart skip. By the time the door rustled, his hands were shaking like in a seizure.
Steady,
he told himself. Before the door opened, he pictured the girl’s dead eyes one last time and her last breath. He filled his lungs, then pursed his lips together and slowly blew out his breath with a sigh. Now, he was ready.

The light from the hall poked through as the door creaked open. Rasi waited behind it, silent. Excited. A thin piece of wood separated him from his sweet vengeance and he almost blew it with a quivering breath.

Elijah told a guard goodnight from behind the door, sending shivers up Rasi’s spine. That voice and the anger it garnered had kept him warm many nights. His revenge was within reach.

Elijah’s foot appeared in the doorway. Rasi clenched his fists. Elijah’s foot froze before taking his final, fatal step.

What is he waiting for? He couldn’t have heard me.

Elijah yelled, “Caimen, get help,” and pulled his foot away.

Rasi ripped the door open. Elijah tried to run but Rasi’s straps enveloped him and yanked him into the room. Rasi kicked the door shut. The straps pinned Elijah’s arms to his side. His eyes bulged with beautiful terror as he was pulled face-to-face with his death-dealer.

This is what I’ve been waiting for,
Rasi thought. It was as perfect as he had dreamed. A growl left from deep in his gut. Each of his breaths sprayed spittle through his clenched teeth and onto Elijah’s stunned face.

Elijah begged for mercy until his windpipe squeezed shut beneath a strap.

Snap his neck! Do it now!

Elijah gasped and clawed at the straps in magnificent impotence. Rasi clenched his jaw until he feared his teeth would break.

But then, just as vengeance was so near, the straps released their prey.
No! What are you doing?

Elijah coughed and scurried across the room.

A quivering voice from behind broke Rasi’s trance. “Who is there?” the voice shouted.

Rasi ignored him. His straps recoiled for their next fight.
No, no, kill him first! You’re blowing it. Let me die. Just kill him.
But it was no use. His straps lashed out at the attacking swordsmen.

Elijah’s still-breathing body infuriated him. Nothing else mattered, not his life, not the guards, nothing but sweet revenge.

More and more guards spilled into the room, backing Rasi against the wall. “Get behind us, sir,” one of them ordered.

Rasi scanned the dark room for escape. The guards closed in but they were hesitant. Rasi’s straps lunged at the closest of them. A ray of dim sunlight shimmered from an open window to Rasi’s back.

“Kill him,” Elijah screamed, his voice scratchy and damaged.

One of the guards attacked. A strap flung him to the side like he was weightless. The hallway announced reinforcements with pounding feet.

Next time, Elijah.

Rasi ran toward the open window. A guard cut him off. Rasi tackled him through the window and toward certain death. One of his straps grasped the sill, jolting him to a stop. The guard screamed the three stories to his bone-cracking end.

Rasi looked up at the sill in time to see blood spray from the end of his strap. It let loose. He crashed to the ground next to the quivering guard, his straps helping to break his fall. He scrambled to his feet. His lower back tightened and he groaned as he hobbled through the Royal Gardens.

“There he is,” someone shouted from the window. “Fire!”

An arrow plowed into the dirt beside him. Another one whizzed past his head, close enough that he felt its wind. He saw the wall and his escape ahead.

He glanced over his shoulder as the soldiers poured from the castle. With the wall and freedom within reach, he leaped against it. His straps stretched for the top.

An arrow shattered against the stone beside his waist, but he ignored it, focused on his goal. As he hoisted to the top of the wall, he hesitated, his heart screaming to go back for more. But he knew better. He leaped into the air. White-hot pain shot from his thigh. He let loose a grunt loud enough to let those bastards know they got their target.

Hitting the ground sent another wave of searing pain through his body. He tumbled onto his face with his hand firmly around the arrow.

“Rah,” he grunted. Salient raced along the wall like the loyal steed he was. Rasi grabbed his mane as he passed and pulled himself onto his back with the grace of a wounded mountain lion attacking its prey. With a grimace, he snapped the arrow’s barb from the front of his thigh. Every bounce, every movement, every surge of blood through his femoral artery sent pain shooting through his pelvis and into his abdomen. He wanted to vomit with each grind of the arrow against his femur. He bit his lip and squeezed his fists tight into Salient’s mane.

He crossed the Great Plains into the forest of Concore as soldiers on horseback spilled from the gates. He knew he could lose them once he reached the mountains. And, with his head start, that is what he did.

Two days passed.

Impossibly, someone found his cave. He hung, suspended from his straps a mere hand’s length from the ceiling. How did they find him? His unwitting prey meandered below and Rasi cursed himself for not being more alert for intruders. He glanced at his sword leaning against the wall and wished he had more warning before he took his elevated perch. The crackle of his fresh fire would surely tell his intruder that he was near. He was going to have to fight, that much he was sure.

He studied the thick, bundled trespasser, wondering how long he had before the reinforcements arrived. He doubted Elijah would be foolish enough to send a single assassin, even a highly skilled one.

Rasi waited. Slowly, the trespasser crept within range.
A little farther …
He extended his arms for the pounce.

Then, the stranger, unknowingly saving his own life, called out, “Rasi?”

Terik?

Rasi lowered behind him without a sound. He tapped Terik’s padded shoulder, causing his friend to jump, fumble for his sheathed sword, and spin with attack on his mind. He lowered his sword with a relieved sigh.

“Rasi, why are you still here?” He took a deep breath while grabbing his chest as if his heart was about to stop. “You promised you’d go back to Puimia.”

Rasi shrugged his shoulders. He grabbed a tree-branch-turned-walking stick and limped to his fire.

Terik sat down across from him. “You really did it this time,” he said. “What were you doing in the castle?”

Rasi pictured Elijah’s terrified face and snickered. He scribbled in the dirt with his stick: “Revenge.”

“Revenge? You were found guilty of murder. King Cecil had no choice but banish you. It pained him, too.”

Rasi raised his brow and cocked his head.
Not Cecil. Elijah.

“Why, Rasi? Why did you kill the king and queen?”

What?
He shook his head. “No, no.”

“They say you killed them both. Then you attacked Elijah.”

Rasi kept shaking his head. He couldn’t believe Terik’s words.

“They say the young princess found their mutilated bodies. Poor young thing. No child should see such a sight. Why did you do such a thing?” Rasi saw anger rise slightly in Terik’s face. He said, “I swore to protect the king and queen and you betrayed them.”

Rasi buried his face into his hands.
I drew the guards away. I caused this. Cecil, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for you to die. I wanted to make Elijah pay. Oh, what have I done?

“Rasi, you won’t be safe anywhere. I cannot help you. I won’t.”

Rasi rose to his feet, his straps tensing above him and crowding his friend.

For the first time since Rasi had known Terik, he saw fear in the man’s face and realized he and his straps were the cause. He turned away with his head lowered. He heard Terik back toward the mouth of the cave, hesitate, and then disappear.

I will never forgive myself.