Krystal’s hands were on my cheeks. She stroked my face with her thumbs. “Don’t. You did what you had to do. There’s nothing to forgive. It was Renak’s fault.”
I smiled, remembering how she could always make me feel better and how much I missed her. My smile disappeared. “No. It wasn’t him. It was Premier.”
“Premier?”
“Yes, I’ve thought about it for days. Renak warned me about him. He was puzzled by what was happening to the nexus’s light. Premier must have planned this—all of it! I’m sorry, princess, I should have foreseen.”
“I know you made a vow to Stradus—”
“But I’m making a new one to you,” I said. “The next time I see Premier, I
will
kill him. I would have killed him the second I saw him had I thought he would do this to you. Your safety means more than anything to me.”
“I know.”
We stood there, not saying a word. I was thankful that she was alive and would recover, but there was something else on my mind.
“Your father doesn’t want me to see you anymore,” I said.
She had a sad look on her face. “I know. I also know that if you touch me, I’ll die.”
“What are we going to do about us?”
Krystal held her breath. “Let’s worry about getting you out of here—then we can focus on that.”
I remembered the king’s words about there being other men, and how I wasn’t the first. Now would be the perfect time for her to cut any ties with me. As devastating as it would be, I wouldn’t blame her. She had a kingdom to run and responsibilities to tend to. We’d had a lot of fun, but I always thought it could be more than that.
“As you wish.”
“Good,” she said. “I’ll try to get you more food sent down here. For good or ill, this will be over in a couple of days.” Krystal looked exhausted. She had come back from the verge of death, and now had to defend me to her people and her father. “I’ll do my best to make sure you’re set free.”
“Thank you.” She went to leave, but I stopped her. “And Krystal, I’m sorry...for everything.”
Krystal placed her hand on the cell’s bars, her back to me. She turned, then ran towards me, throwing her arms around my neck and squeezing me. She pulled my hood up and kissed me on the cheek with the fabric between us.
“I know you are, Hellsfire.”
She pulled away, and I watched her go. I couldn’t help but wonder if that was a goodbye kiss.
----
Three days later, six guards came and I knew it was time. They drew their weapons when they opened my cell. I left it and they surrounded me, then escorted me out of the dungeons. We walked up the stairs, and when we got to the top, the morning light blinded me. One of the guards pushed me from behind and we continued on.
Everyone got out of our way as they led me down the keep’s halls. They stood to the side, stared at me, and whispered. It reminded me of when I left Masep. I tried to read their faces, but one of the guards said, “Eyes front.”
As we moved down the stone halls, I knew where we were headed—King Furlong’s audience chamber.
The chamber was crammed full of people. They stood a respectful distance from the king, but crowded along the walls. The king sat on his throne and Krystal stood behind it. Guards littered the place. Nobles in their fine clothing waited in groups. My friends were there too. They nodded in greeting, and I walked up to stand before the throne. All conversations halted, and the silence in the chambers was deafening.
“Your Majesty,” I said and bowed.
The king scrutinized me, but didn’t say anything.
I glanced at the princess. She couldn’t help me now, and I couldn’t read past her royal mask. Did she know the outcome? Would I be executed? Would I even allow the sentencing to come to pass? The king didn’t have a way to shut off my powers. He couldn’t stop my magic, not outside of the enchanted cells. He would have been better off leaving me there to rot.
I shook my head. If I didn’t accept the king’s sentencing, she would get blamed for it. I didn’t know if she’d ever wanted us to be together and possibly something more, but I knew I did. I also didn’t want her to remember me killing her soldiers. I would accept the outcome, whatever it might be.
“Wizard Hellsfire,” King Furlong said in a booming voice. He leaned forward. “You have been found guilty of committing crimes against Alexandria. You have trespassed and you have been a danger to the princess. Those are very serious crimes, the latter often carrying with it the penalty of death.”
Death it was then. I held my head high, praying that I would have one last chance to talk to Krystal, and that my mother wouldn’t take my death too hard. From the corner of my eye, I saw a couple of the nobles smile in triumph. The fire inside boiled, threatening to burst out.
I clenched my fist and squashed my magic. Now was not the time.
“As you wish, Your Majesty,” I said and bowed.
“I’m not finished,” the king said. “You have also saved my life and rescued Alexandria from the clutches of the wizard Premier. I have taken that into consideration. Because of those things, I sentence you to banishment from Alexandria.”
Banishment? My friends looked relieved, but my heart was in pain when I looked at Krystal. I would never be able to see her again. In some ways, it would be easier if I was to die.
I bowed. “Thank you, Your Majesty.”
“Gather your things, Hellsfire. You are to leave as soon as possible.” The king motioned to one of the guards, who came over and unshackled my wrists and ankles. “If you are ever found in Alexandria again, you will be sentenced to death.”
“I understand.”
King Furlong rose and left. Krystal gave me one last look before following him. All around me, people conversed in hushed tones. One woman and man shook their heads in disgust before walking away. Another woman gave me a stare colder than winter. One man pointed, his finger shaking in anger. Those standing nearby tried to calm him down.
My friends made their way over to me. Jastillian clapped my back and said, “I suggest we hurry, lad. If things are this bad in here, they’ll be worse outside.”
“Thanks for staying,” I said. “I really appreciate it.”
“I just wish there was something more we could do,” Prastian said. “I have your belongings. The princess made sure to get them to me.”
“Thank you.”
We departed the room and went to the rooms the elves had stayed in. I got my potions and purse back. I guessed it no longer mattered that I couldn’t test a couple of rituals on Krystal to see if we could ever be together again. While we were getting our things, Demay and Behast left to get our horses and supplies ready. They would meet us at the city walls. Prastian, Jastillian, and I then made our way out of the keep.
As we left, I kept peering down the hallways in hopes that I would see Krystal again. Prastian said I shouldn’t search for her, despite how much I wanted to. I knew I couldn’t touch her, but I needed to say goodbye to her one last time. Everyone I passed stopped and stared at me. Servants paused with their trays in hand, guards stopped sparring, and gardeners ceased pruning.
We walked down the hill towards the surrounding castle walls. I kept glancing back, still hoping to see her. I gave up when we were near the exit. She couldn’t come to see me. There were ramifications if she did. I kicked the ground, scattering some small rocks. I guessed what we had was nothing more than fun, as the king said. Perhaps not saying goodbye was for the best. I had no idea what I would say to her anyway.
“Hellsfire,” Prastian said. “Sharald could use a wizard’s services, especially now that the Great Barrier is gone.”
“I believe Erlam would pay more,” Jastillian said, raising his bushy eyebrows.
“They would have to,” Prastian said. “If you have Hellsfire study old, boring artifacts and sites.”
Jastillian laughed. “The future is in the past. Give me those boring books. They’re far less dangerous than the people you deal with.”
Prastian was about to say something, but then stopped. His ears twitched. “I believe we have company.”
Krystal held her skirts up with one hand while she ran down the hill to us. We bowed when she reached us.
“I wanted to see you before you left.” She didn’t look at me, but at Prastian and Jastillian. “I wanted to remind you that we will soon send our own expedition into Southern Shala, and since you’ll be there before us, we will appreciate any information you can share.”
“Of course, Your Highness,” Prastian said.
My friends moved away and gave us privacy. Krystal and I stared at each other, but didn’t say a word. There was so much I wanted to tell her. Things I should have told her before I left for Masep. It all seemed pointless now. I was banished from Alexandria, and I couldn’t even touch her without killing her. I would never see her again.
The princess jumped at me and wrapped her arms around my neck, hugging me tightly. “I’m going to miss you, Hellsfire.”
My body froze, knowing this was entirely inappropriate, but I also knew this would be the last time I would see her. I bit my lip and let myself be taken into her arms. I closed my hands around her waist and inhaled the sweet scent from her hair. “Not as much as I’ll miss you.”
We clung to each other for several long seconds, the only two people in the world. That warm feeling in my heart would never burn as bright without her.
Krystal let go and put a gloved hand to my face. I nuzzled up against it. “Take care, Hellsfire, and be safe. Goodbye, hero.” She pulled her hand away and walked back toward the keep.
My fingers lingered on the cheek she had touched. “Goodbye, beautiful.”
“Come on, lad,” Jastillian said. “If we were in Erlam, I’d buy you the strongest drink in all the land. One you could drown your thoughts in.”
“After you vomit,” Prastian said.
Jastillian laughed. “Well, there is that. I’m sure you can handle it, Hellsfire.”
“If you want something sweeter that doesn’t leave a massive headache, there is a place in Sharald I can take you to,” Prastian said. “It lacks the strength of the dwarven drink, but it makes up for it in taste.”
“Thanks,” I said. “I’ll have to take you up on your offer.”
As we approached the castle’s walls, Jerrell and half a dozen guards blocked our path. I worried they were going to try something before I left. Prastian and Jastillian tried to step in front of me in case they did, but I stopped them.
“Hellsfire,” Jerrell said. “Not all of us agree with the king’s decision.” Those with him nodded, but those still at their posts glared at me. “You fought with us and helped us seize Alexandria back from Premier.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“Take care, Hellsfire.”
“You too.”
I took one last lingering look at the keep. “Take care, Krystal,” I said under my breath. I pulled up my hood and disappeared into Alexandria.
On the way south, we stopped in the elves’ home of Sharald. While Prastian, Demay, and Behast needed to report to King Sharald and we also had to resupply, we went there for another reason—information.
Alexandria was founded after the War of the Wizards to guard Northern Shala from the creatures in the Wastelands of Renak. Because the city was built after the Great Barrier was erected, its library focused on the history of the war and information on Northern Shala and the Wastelands. It held very little information about Southern Shala.
Sharald was an ancient city, far older than Alexandria. Even before the Great Barrier was erected, Sharald had established itself as one of the first major cities in Northern Shala. The first King Sharald had even met Renak once. Though we didn’t know if any information we gained in Sharald would still be useful, it was still the best place to start.
We were still heading towards Southern Shala, but my plan was to go to Fairhaven, the city where the Elemental Council should be. They had to be warned about Premier and about Renak’s threat, and they might have a lead on where the
Book of Shazul
was. I also wanted to ask them about a cure for Krystal. Even though she and I couldn’t be together, I still wanted to see if there was any way to reverse the curse. Better yet, I could find Premier and torture the information out of him.
While I considered Prastian, Demay, and Behast to be close friends and had cherished their company, expertise, and advice, there were times when I remembered they were elves and how different they were from me.
When we traveled through the forests, because of their green skin color, the elves appeared to vanish. They walked with ease and surefootedly, too, barely making a sound among the leaves, fallen twigs, and brush. The elves were so comfortable with the forest that they had constructed Sharald around that idea. Unlike the humans or dwarves, who bent the land around them, the elves built their entire city around the forest so they wouldn’t damage it.
We approached Sharald by strolling along the well-traveled path leading to the city, the soft grass brushing our feet. Occasional shafts of sunlight pierced the cool, leafy canopy above us. Trees a hundred feet high loomed above us, their limbs as big as my waist. Nestled in the limbs were homes and shops. Rope bridges with wooden slats were strung between them. I would have worried about the group of four elven children chasing each other across one of them, fifty feet above the ground, but I knew from my last visit that those rickety-looking bridges were pretty strong. Still scary, though, if you weren’t born an elf, lacked balance, and hated heights.
I tore my gaze away from the homes in the trees and brushed aside the long branch of a cedar tree. Not all of Sharald’s buildings were high above the ground. We traveled along a road that was wide enough for two carts to roll alongside each other and walked through the marketplace. An elf in front of a forge stopped hammering and wiped his sweaty forehead. Not far beyond the marketplace was the archery range. The small elves took aim with their bows a hundred yards away from their targets. All their shots struck the center of the target with repeated accuracy.
As fascinating as Sharald was, it was always their royal castle that I admired the most. I was probably the only one who could truly appreciate it, because I saw the powerful and ancient magic that had gone into its construction, and still radiated from it to this day.
The castle’s magic struck me well before we reached it, growing more powerful with each step. I turned to my friends, wondering how they could be oblivious to such a thing.
The large dome-shaped building towered in the middle of the city. When we reached it, its potent magic enveloped me, washing over me like a morning’s shower.
All people had a piece of mana inside them that they carried around. Elves primarily had green mana—the mana of the earth and land. That was the reason they were so good with the land. The dome beat with that mana as if it was the heart of the city and its people.
I gazed at the hardened vines and twisted branches that wound their way into the dome. Before we entered, I traced my fingers over them, wondering how such a grand place could be crafted. This ancient castle had been standing since the War of the Wizards, yet none of its branches were rotten or brittle, and none of its green color was lackluster. I slapped my hand across the intricately woven branches, feeling the sting of the blow but also how strong the structure was.
We met King Sharald in his library. The king had maps unfolded and scrolls unrolled, and books were scattered across the tables. We learned that from the time the king had received Prastian’s message, he had been preparing for us. He and his elves had been scouring the archives for every bit of information about Southern Shala they thought might help in our mission.
“Where do we go?” Demay asked, scrutinizing the old map of Southern Shala spread on one of the tables “It’s so big.”
“We’ll have to get through the Ennis Mountain range first,” Jastillian said, crossing his arms. “I can guide us through part of it, but after the place where the Great Barrier once was, I have no idea where to go. We could get lost navigating those cave networks.”
“Isn’t there a pass we could try?” I asked.
“We could, but it’s treacherous. Worse than the Daleth Mountains, and I’ve only been over partway. I have no idea how bad the other half is, or if it’s guarded. The caverns would be better. No one would see us if we crossed that way, and it’s safer.”
“Good thing you came here then,” King Sharald said, and smiled. He unfurled a map and placed a candlestick on one edge and a closed book on the other. Sharald motioned with his hand for us to come closer. We all peered at the parchment. Mountains were etched into it, and cave systems were tracked and labeled.
“The Ennis Mountains,” Jastillian said, tracing his fingers over the edge of the map.
“Exactly,” King Sharald said. “This map will guide you through the caves to Southern Shala.”
“I suggest you head to Fairhaven,” the king went on, thrusting his finger into Southern Shala’s map. “It was once a major city.”
I nodded. “That’s where the Elemental Council and magical school was.” It was where I intended to go to warn Southern Shala of Premier, but also to get some guidance and help. I held no allegiances to either Sharald or Erlam. My goals might part us, and while I would miss my friends, Fairhaven was the place I needed to go.
“Exactly. There were also a great many elves there once.” Sharald looked at his elves. “Make contact with our lost cousins there. They should be bound to help their fellow elves. I want you to gather as much information about them and Southern Shala as possible. Make them allies if you can.”
Prastian nodded. “As you wish.”
“Thank you for your help, Your Majesty,” I said and bowed my head.
He put a finger up and gave me a mock angry look. “What did you say?”
“Sorry. Sharald.”
“Better.” Sharald smiled. “It’s been a pleasure, Hellsfire. This is a great opportunity to reconnect with people from the south. We have so much to learn from them, and them from us.” King Sharald took a deep breath then coughed. His eyes bulged against his elastic skin.
Prastian rushed to him as support. “Majes—Sharald, are you all right?”
Sharald wheezed for breath. He stopped, then gave a grin that made him look thirty years younger. “I will be, cousin.”
I stared at the king of the elves, worrying about him. Would I lose him too? I had already lost Stradus and Krystal and I didn’t want to lose Sharald. He had pledged me support in helping Alexandria in the recent battle, and he understood me better than most. He didn’t judge or want anything from me. I kept failing people who trusted me.
Sharald stood to his full elven height. “Tomorrow, you leave for Southern Shala, but tonight, relax. I’ll see to your supplies. You have a long journey ahead.”
King Sharald left. Prastian and Demay followed him. Jastillian, Behast, and I all dispersed and went our separate ways.
It wasn’t long before Prastian found me again. He led me to one of the venerable trees around Sharald. There were five of these great trees around the city. They stood out like pillars. Smooth staircases were carved inside the large trunks. There were other ways to get above the city. You could scramble up the trees or climb ladders, but if you were carrying something heavy, or if you weren’t born in a tree, this way would be easier.
We climbed those spiral staircases. I stopped every so often to gaze out the open windows to admire the city. I wondered at it, seeing the city on the ground disappear while the one up above came into view. It was like stepping into an entirely different world. There were no roads, only rope bridges connecting everything.
We didn’t climb the entire tree. We exited when we were twenty feet from the ground. I grasped onto the rope bridge until my hands drained of color. I lacked the surefootedness of the elves, and the bridge seemed far too rickety for my size. Prastian strolled across the bridge while I tiptoed onto it, worrying about how my weight shifted the bridge with each step. I felt like a leaf being blown in a wind, the way I swayed. Prastian looked back with an amused expression on his face.
At the end of the bridge was an elven tree pub. Prastian stood outside, unable to stop smiling as he waited for me to catch up. The pub was carved into the large trunk of the tree. The sign of a mug and a frothy drink was carved above the entrance. Prastian opened the door for me and I went inside.
The first thing I noticed was the smooth floor. I sighed when I realized that it was sturdy enough that even a large human like me wouldn’t fall through. The view from the windows along the sides reminded me how high up we were. I could spy other bridges and houses throughout the thickness of the trees. The sun radiated from the clear sky above.
In the pub were six other elves. Five of them were scattered around the room, drinking and talking in small groups. The sixth was the bartender, at the far end behind the carved wooden bar. She finished crafting her concoction and served it to one of the customers. We walked to the bar and she gave me a youthful smile, but her light green eyes held wisdom. Because of how slowly they aged, it was always difficult to tell how old an elf was.
“And what would you like?” she asked.
Prastian stood next to me and said, “Eliana, I want you to give Hellsfire a Forest Sunset, and make it as strong as you can.”
Eliana’s ears perked up. “Are you sure? I know he’s a wizard, but he’s still only human.”
“I’m sure. I’ll see you later. Take good care of him, Eliana.”
“I will.”
I sat down on the stool and hunched over the bar, watching as Eliana reached underneath and pulled out two flasks with elongated necks. One bottle swirled with green liquid as bright as spring’s grass, with a minty scent. The other was like a bog, its dark green muck sticking to the bottle. I turned away in disgust. She poured the two liquids together and the thicker liquid crushed and overpowered the first one.
Eliana stirred the drink and pushed it forward. “Here you go.”
I raised an eyebrow. “What’s in it?” I tried not to wrinkle my nose at it.
“Elf secret.”
“Why’s it called a Forest Sunset? It doesn’t look like one.”
“Drink it.”
“All right.” I lifted the glass to my nose and stopped. The rancid smell made me want to put it back down. Eliana’s eyes were intent on me as she waited for me to swallow. I trusted Prastian and didn’t want to show any disrespect so I took a sip. Maybe it was one of those things that smelled bad but tasted good.
It wasn’t. I couldn’t stop gagging and I put the drink down, having barely taken more than a sip. It was like drinking mulch. I shook my head. Elves must have different tastes than humans and enjoy eating leaves.
Eliana laughed at me and took the glass away. She wiped up a few splatters that had struck the bar. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t resist.”
I wiped my tongue with the back of my hand. “What do you mean?”