Chapter 6: Liberation's Steady March
Dreams Become Screams
The road beyond Ivory was all rocks and shrubs, in stark contrast to the well-worn road leading to the village. If it weren't for the clear delineation between halfway walkable stones and jagged boulders, I was certain we'd lose our way. Not that the mountains lingering ahead of us would actually allow us to miss the path.
More than once I caught Eliana whispering to Tareth that she worried we might have missed some turn off. I couldn't help echoing the sentiment, though I kept it to myself. Despite the extra weight of the warhammer, my feet were light, so I felt a touch guilty even considering telling them we should be looking for alternate routing.
During the sun, we'd walk our miserable pace along the path. During the night, we'd make camp on whatever was the least horrifying spot near us. There was never a best option, but there always seemed to be one that we didn't all mutually hate.
The worst part of the journey was that the otherwise mar-by-eve path eventually turned directly eveward, putting the sun directly in front of us as it set. Of course that was mitigated sun by sun as we drew closer to the Aerie, which rose higher into our field of view and eventually blocked our view of the sun, casting a golden white glow along the mountains.
So after eight suns, we began making camp as soon as the mountains lit up. We wouldn't get much light beyond that, so there wasn't much point pressing on.
My dreams each night were a muddle of images. Blue-haired women – whom I recognised from my dreams of Gormlaith – and dread goddesses – only two of whom I knew – all in counsel together in various arrangement. There were only nine of them total instead of the expected ten, but I couldn't sort who was missing.
Each morn, I awoke in a sweat and rushed to deliver my notes to Eliana, who was waiting with a smile as she cooked breakfast. Micah giggled at the rhythm of it, going so far as to say that Eliana and I were the true star-blessed lovers, and Tareth was simply a road hazard on our journey toward each other. Needless to say, the future Mrs. Primrose was scandalised by the implication.
Something like the twelfth or perhaps the thirteenth night, I had the most vivid dream yet.
Gormlaith and her lady had been summoned. The place was unfamiliar, and describing it was beyond me. There were rocks. Trees. Animals. It was as nondescript as any place could be.
"Why are we not at the Crucible, sister," Gormlaith's snow-haired Lady addressed a crimson-haired goddess whose violet eyes burned with rage.
The other goddess took Gormlaith's Lady by the hand and led both women down a dark path. "Blessed and wise, my sister," she said with far more calm than was proper for her haste, "you have seen through me as always. We cannot attend the Crucible. It has been taken. As has my Mavi."
Gormlaith's Lady stopped in her tracks. "Vaelis," she said with a demanding tone. "Tell me what you mean by this."
"A shadow has been cast, long and far. The Crucible has been taken. All I have is to run, dear sister." Her words dripped wrong. There was a pain and poison in them.
"You are not my sister, not my counsel," Gormlaith's Lady stood, resolute. "Reveal yourself."
Whoever it was, they dropped the form of the goddess Vaelis, revealing nothing but the absence of light. Shadow. Pain. Hunger. Gormlaith knew instinctively this was the darkness Afina had warned her of.
"Gormlaith, my dear one." Gormlaith's Lady shoved the Mavi aside. "You must go. You must leave me. Run."
She ran with everything she had, desperate to escape, praying that her Lady would follow. The shadow meanwhile consumed Gormlaith's Lady. It absorbed her hands and arms and snow white hair. Her body and heart tried desperately to survive. She was consumed. And her name stolen. Destroyed.
I awoke, throat bloody, coughing and barely able to catch my breath. Eliana and Micah kneeling over me. They looked worried, both of them.
"Don't try to speak, Nyx," Micah cooed. "You've been screaming for hours. Take a moment. Rest."
As I rose to sitting, Eliana put a cup in front of me. "Don't swallow this, only rinse your mouth and throat. It will help."
The cup held salt water with some sort of herb. It was cooling as it burned every part of my palate. I carefully allowed some of it to linger on the back of my throat before spitting it all back in the cup.
"Good girl," Eliana whispered as she took it from me and tried to hand me the journal. "Write what you can. If you need my help, let me know."
"The goddess," I croaked as I pushed it back at her, "she was betrayed. Something wearing the form of her sister. She called it Vaelis before she found out. Violet eyes, blood red hair. She was Linna's Lady."
Eliana scratched out the words on a new page. As I took a moment to breathe, Micah shoved me. "I told you not to speak. You're worse than Dee, Nyx."
"I'll take that as a compliment," I offered around the burning in my throat before turning back to Eliana. "Gormlaith and her Lady weren't at the Crucible though. It happened elsewhere. A trap."
"Foolish woman," Eliana chastised as she finished writing, "talking despite your condition. No matter. I'll mix up something you can drink that should help a lot."
She left me alone with Micah.
"Did Dee wake up screaming from dreams of people long dead?" I needed to lighten the mood a little. "Or is that just me?"
They smiled before turning a fake angry expression on me. "Don't try to change the subject, Nyx," they said, "or I'll get Tareth in here. And then you'll be covered in sweat and tears. That big lug has been bawling over the fact we couldn't wake you."
"If there was any real risk to your threat, that might work," I said quickly, "but I know as well as you that I'm already covered in tears. Else I wouldn't smell Eliana all around me, and her eyes would not have been red and puffed."
Micah's concession was enough. "Those two seem to like you, Nyx. Though I couldn't imagine a good reason why."
"You and me both," I admitted. "At least we understand each other. Mutual malice makes for maximal merriment, you know."
Their laughter told me they were far less worried. "Well, we'll wait a while longer and rest here this evening. It's already half-sun, so we won't make much progress anyway."
I'd slept half the sun away while I saw the death of a goddess. That was something I'd have to sit with for a while. Had I dreamt it on repeat? Or was I forgetting something in the dream? I had the vague notion that that the dream had gone far longer than what I recalled from it.
"Lafleur is a big scary place, Nyx," Micah said softly, pulling me from my thoughts. "Don't go it alone, or it will tear you to pieces."
Flames, Feared
A small forest stood – importantly, it not longer stands – at the foot of the mountains that play home to the Aerie. The forest was something like twenty miles of dense hardwoods and softwoods intermingling in the beautiful weather brought to them by winds unable to surmount the great range beyond them.
Of course, our road took us directly through the woods, which would further limit our available sunlight.
"I'm sure it'll be fine," Tareth said, ever the optimist as we stepped past the first trees, "I mean, it's just a forest." The wavering of his voice would almost have made me laugh were I not in the same state of mind.
"You don't believe that, big fellow, and you know it," Micah was a sharp one, and quick. "That's okay, though. I don't think any of us want to walk through twenty miles of that."
Their shared concerns weren't about the appearance of the forest but about the experience of it. Even the leaves seemed to scream at us that we were unwelcome, but we had little choice in the matter. The forest stood between us and our destination. Onward meant through.
"I for one," Eliana took a bold step forward, placing her at the front of our group, "find the place delightful. Not much different to our family's vacations in the forest near Blue Stone." She turned about, walking backward as she addressed the rest of us. "So step lively everyone. The sooner we get through this delightful place, the sooner we can escort Nyxara back to Greywatch Spire, perhaps bringing Micah along to stay and keep her in line."
Three jaws dropped in synchronisation at her exceptionally light attitude. She closed the gap and stood close enough to cheekily smile and plant a gentle kiss on my forehead.
"Well, I suppose it can't be helped," she said with pretend resignation, "since the three big babies are scared of a few trees, you will all follow me closely. I shall hold your hand," she took my left hand in her right, "and your hand," she took Tareth's right hand then, "and you shall hold Micah's," she winked at me then began pulling us all along.
No one denied her. No one fought it. We were under some manner of bewitchment, or so it seemed. So we walked on in silence almost to the middle of the forest before she stopped in her tracks and forced us to make camp.
"For tonight, we'll need a smaller fire," Eliana continued leading us through our actions. "Catching the whole forest ablaze would be a dreadful shame."
"What is your deal, El?" Micah was the first for whom the spell seemed broken. "You're a quiet and proper lady until we arrive at a horrid spooky forest, when you become a regular outdoorswoman. Explain."
Eliana set a hand to her hip. "I told you, Micah," she said lazily, "I have vacationed in the forest near Blue Stone with my family. That should be more than enough explanation."
"Sure," Micah was unconvinced but dropped it nonetheless. "I'll build the fire."
The rest of our sun was uneventful with the exception of a potentially comical mishap that resulted in only two functional tents being erected. Micah had been sleeping in their own up to that point. And no amount of convincing would have the circumstance changed to allow Micah comfort and separation.
I would be having words with Eliana about that if we ever had a moment of privacy again.
Smoke roused me from sleep. Partly the smell of it, partly the coughs it drew from deep in my chest, bringing back the burn of my recent nightmare. Micah was still deeply asleep, and I had to crawl over them carefully to leave the tent and see what might be wrong.
The entire forest was ablaze.
My initial worry was that the fire may have thrown sparks, but we seemed to be within a region of the forest uniquely unaffected by whatever had sparked the flames. In all directions, it seemed to press in on us.
Our campfire stood cold, a black mark on the forest floor. The wildfire seemed to be steadily working its way toward our tents, albeit far more slowly than would be reasonable. Something was holding it back.
I had stood for almost a minute before taking action. There wasn't much I could do for the fire, but I might be able to do something for my companions.
Rushing first to Eliana and Tareth, for their tent was closer to the encroaching inferno, I awoke them with a roar, startling them to their feet. Blessedly, they were not in a state of undress, and they were quicker to act than I was.
That was the moment I noticed. The warhammer seemed to glow despite the light of the flames around us. When the fire pulsed closer, the warhammer seemed to glow a bit brighter, and the fire would recede some of its advance. But I didn't have much time to consider it. There were tasks to complete.
As I moved to wake Micah, Eliana and Tareth began working toward something, which they seemed to be in agreement about. Micah, to their credit and simultaneous detriment, managed to sleep through several shouts and an attempt at shaking them awake. I was certain they would forgive me the violence, so I reeled back and slapped them. It was at last enough.
"Nyx, unless we are under imminent threat of mountain landaax, you will be paying dearly for —" they stopped speaking as the smoke reached their nose. "That's not good."
Micah was up and out of the tent, taking in the scene. They seemed to be calculating something as they looked about. Ignoring Eliana and Tareth, Micah took my hand and dragged me to a nearby tree not yet burning.
"Stand here. Don't move. When I tell you to move, you move. Not a second sooner."
I didn't question them. Why that particular tree? I still don't know. Why was I expected to stand there? Also a mystery. Micah set about some business without me.
Eliana and Tareth stopped in their tracks – I realised they had been working at digging a fire trench, for all the good it would do with the fire already in the trees – and stared first at me, then Micah, who was meanwhile stepping back to our tent.
"Dee's flower was unwieldy," they said loudly enough for me to hear, "let's see if yours is any kinder." With a single hand, Micah lifted the ivory warhammer nearly effortlessly and began swinging it about. I hadn't the slightest clue what they were on about until the first tree began to lean.
"Lovebirds. Pack camp. Get ready to run and stand with Nyx."
The great tree that they struck began to fall quickly in my direction. I realised then what Micah was planning and stood at the ready.
"Catch and swing!" Their shout was unnecessary, as I knew my role. "And don't forget what Mill showed you!"
Gormlaith's warhammer met my grasp and seemed to move without my intervention as it struck the log and I pushed cold-flame behind the strike as I had learned from Mill and Pot. The angle was perfect to burst through several rows of trees, tearing them down as it went.
"Everybody move!" Micah screamed as they picked up the last few things in camp and scrambled toward the destructive path I'd just torn with their help.
We had to run for everything we had, getting singed lightly at every step as flames tried to encroach upon our path.
"Good swing, baker girl," Micah said between heavy breaths.
The distance to safety was nearly ten miles. I was shocked Eliana made it even halfway before Tareth picked her up. Red in the face though he was, he didn't slow or complain. Micah, meanwhile, didn't seem the least bit perturbed.
I collapsed at the foot of the mountains when I was certain I'd gone far enough I wouldn't be caught up in the fire. The warhammer sat next to me, pulsing with delight. To say I was tired of the five-fold goddess-cursed thing would be an understatement.
"What in Lafleur was that?" I asked Micah directly. They shrugged, but I didn't let them avoid it. "Did you know the whole time that you could handle this nuisance so smoothly, or was it a spur of the moment thing?"
"It's more than that, Nyx." They were blushing sheepishly. I had to fight myself to avoid giving in to it. "I told you though. Dee was ... she was a lot like you."
"Show me. What else do you know?"
They walked over and picked up the warhammer with the same practised ease. "So, that black flower Dee left behind. She used to do something with it. The thing never worked for me, but I've a feeling."
I watched in disbelief as the ivory warhammer that had been a lodestone on my heart changed shape in Micah's hand. It went from a laughably malproportioned cudgel – for them anyway – to a beautiful white flower, delicate and ethereal. A snowpetal. What had been all ivory and power was now green, velvet, and cream.
Something tickled my awareness as I remembered a dream long forgotten. Five sisters. Five flowers. Five weapons.
Fighting back my exhaustion, I leapt up and took the flower from Micah. "Explain."
"It reacts to cold-flame."
On instinct, I pushed my white cold-flame into the blossom, and the weight shifted instantly. The stem became a beautiful haft, carved with Old Fleurian poetry. The leaves marked subtle points where stones sat recessed. The blossom itself became something altogether new, and yet its familiarity sang to me. This wasn't the warhammer that had harassed me for multiple moons. This was mine.
"Tell me, Micah," I said, holding back as much as I could. "Tell me everything you remember about your wife."