Hana sat on a bench near the castle, closed her eyes, and leaned back. Lilith would be here soon. This was where the Prince took Malena after all. And it took effort to reach her mind out all the way to the castle guard, but he was scanning the horizon because Lilith had been there earlier.
Suddenly, she felt Malena’s hate like a great fire. If she wasn’t careful, she could’ve got caught up in it herself, so she blocked it off. Then, she heard the thoughts of the prince, ‘No. No! I’m sorry! I don’t want to die!’ And then there was nothing.
Hana felt a sinking pit in her stomach. Now she knew two murderers. Did she have a bad taste in friends or something? With these and the ones in her past, it couldn’t be a coincidence any more.
Suddenly, she heard an explosion above and looked up to see Lilith shoot by. The guard she’d been scanning before wasn’t there anymore. There was only blood and charred rock, and when she scanned for his mind, she felt vertigo and confusion.
She locked onto his mind as he accepted his death, and saw a few of his memories flash, mostly happy memories of friends and family. They were too fast for her to keep track of now, but she could parse it all later. She would parse it all later. Not doing so would be the ultimate disrespect.
Of course, the other flight mages flew over to see what happened and checked the body. One of them was apparently a girl that had at least been dating the guy based on her emotions. From one of the memories from the guy, Hana saw it was a secret they kept from their employer.
‘Uhh, I thought he could take it. Oops.’ Hana heard what Lilith said through her telepathy much more than through her hearing, and grit her teeth. That liar! Lilith just hoped that would happen, but she was more than ready to kill him! She said those things would probably kill people earlier!
Hana got up and walked closer so she could feel them better, but the girl’s wrath practically blinded her from everyone else once she spotted Lilith and flew up.
‘No, don’t!’ Hana pushed her thoughts out, ‘don’t get in her range!’
But it was too late. The girl ignored Hana’s thoughts in her rage, and was struck by Lilith’s lightning. There wasn’t even enough time for her to live her last memories. She was gone in an instant.
‘I’m sorry,’ Lilith thought, ‘I really didn’t mean to.’ And then, she flew away, though the other mages chased her with a few arrows while keeping their distance. Well, at least now she regretted killing, once she saw first hand what it meant. Hana could only hope Lilith would live with that regret.
She watched them go, then started walking back, shaking a bit. Now what!?
According to Lilith’s plans, she’d probably be gone for good, hiding away in her adit. However, Solis would probably question everyone around Lilith now because of the Prince’s death. That meant Hana, Silene, Jate, and Ethen too, since they all knew about the adit. They’d only have a few options now: confess and risk getting Lilith executed, tell the truth about Malena and risk war, lie or refuse to talk hidden and risk getting executed alongside Lilith, or run.
She heard the minds around her before: the people of Solis were annoyed with the foreign knights for taking their work but were polite because of the king. If Malena’s murder was made known, some of them would lose their fealty and would start killing the knights in secret. Even if the blame was placed on Lilith and it got out more that Lilith and Malena were best friends, some of them would still lose their fealty, and people would die. Many Voldian knights had accepted they would likely fight these people long ago, so all they needed was a trigger. She realized now that this place was a powderkeg, and once everyone’s attention was no longer on Lilith, it would blow.
However, if Lilith wasn’t caught, then the people’s attention would be on her for as they could keep it, and potentially no one would die. So, running seemed like the best option if she wanted to make sure no one got hurt, which was annoying, because it was probably exactly what Lilith wanted.
So she ran back to her dorms. The people around her might’ve thought it was strange for her to be running from an explosion at the castle, but she was able to make sure they had a hard time paying attention to her. She got back to her dorm without issue.
---
Once Hana ran inside her room and saw Jatte, she didn’t waste time with words at first and simply replayed the scenes one by one: the dead prince, the dead guards, Lilith flying away, and her thoughts on what that would mean for them. “I don’t want them to get executed, so I think we should run,” she said.
Jatte frowned. “Wait, how long would we be leaving?”
Hana shrugged. “I don’t know. A long time probably.”
“But my family was going to visit!”
Hana grit her teeth. That was unfortunate. “Write them a letter maybe? Do you want to visit your family and risk our friends getting executed?”
“It’d just be Lilith, right? No one knows about the Prince and Malena but you and me, and she killed that mage…” She slumped as her voice trailed off. Hana could tell she was imagining Lilith dead, because of her. “I… I’ll write the letter.”
“I’ll come back later then.” Hana ran out.
…
Hana knocked on Silene’s door next, and transferred the same thoughts to her when Silene opened the door.
“Oh, that’s… sad,” Silene said.
“So I’m guessing you want to go hide with Lilith because you said the prince should be killed earlier?”
Silene shook her head. “No, I want to convince the people here to stand up to Voldia.”
Hana shook her head in turn a little at first, then more. “No. You’ll definitely die. Even if you’re loved by the community, the guards here won’t hesitate to kill you.”
Silene blinked, then hesitated for a while. Hana saw thoughts of various people she met in plays and in parties she went to. Then, there was a memory of her turning invisible in front of the baleen dragon earlier, before she gave a small smirk. “Well, maybe I can come and go.”
Hana thought for a moment. “Maybe. But I think you should check that you can with someone like Jatte watching you to be safe. So that means you should leave with us.”
Silene paused for a bit before nodding. “Okay.”
“Alright, head over to my room where Jatte is then,” Hana said before running out of the room.
…
Next, she went downstairs, to the lower dorm where Ethen was staying, before knocking on his door.
“Oh hey!” Ethen smiled.
Hana responded by blasting his mind with the events that just happened with Lilith. “So, stay or go?”
Ethen took a moment to stabilize himself after the blast to his mind, then shook his head, looked back and shrugged. “Ow, but that’s also simple: I can’t fight the Solis army by myself, so we go.” He shook his head as he picked up his backpack and walked out. “Lilith needs training to be non-lethal by the way. Deaths like that happen otherwise.”
---
Hana ran into Lilith and Malena’s room last, with Ethen unlocking the door from the other side, and they gathered a few things. Hana mainly gathered Malena’s and Lilith’s other outfits, some bathroom supplies, and their books, putting as much as she could fit in her backpack before heading out. Then she ran across the hall back to Jatte.
“You can carry me and the egg right?” She asked.
Jatte nodded.
“I might be able to carry Hana for a while if that gets too heavy,” Ethen offered.
“Well, let’s go,” Hana said. “We don’t have much time.”
“Make sure to go straight up,” Ethen said. “Head to the clouds so we won’t be seen leaving Solis.”
They all ran to the window, then flew out as a group.
---
Alec held an official report of the events in his hand as he walked back from the castle to the adventurer’s tavern. Cormac and Liosa were dead, killed by Lilith who invaded the castle to take away Malena. Cormac died from some unknown explosion, which meant Lilith likely perfected her ball lightning, and who knew how dangerous that could be. And Liosa died when she got too close and was electrocuted.
The report also detailed the chase and how she and Malena breathed through some device a they went above the clouds, where the other mages couldn’t follow.
He grimaced the whole time. Lilith was exceptional and he’d trained her well, but he also trained Cormac, and now he was dead. It felt wrong.
But even though he wanted to hold his head in his hands, he couldn’t wallow in his feelings yet. He was at the entrance to the tavern now, so he walked in and made his way to the bartender, then showed him the report. “We lost two regulars today.”
The bartender scanned the report, his smile fading, before he nodded solemnly, pulled out a sheet, and crossed two names off. Then, he poured out a beer for himself. After that, he banged his fist on the counter and yelled, “everyone!”
The whole bar quieted down and turned to look.
“A toast and a moment of silence for Cormac and Liosa, who died in the line of duty defending Solis castle!” He held his beer up for several seconds.
“No way…” someone said.
“But I just spoke with them yesterday,” someone else said. “They even chose the safe jobs…”
The bartender kept his beer up until the complaints died away and there was near silence, and then finally drank.
The rest of the bar drank in near unison, including Cyla. Alec knew Cyla hadn’t met them yet, but the next part would hurt her too.
The bartender continued, “They died when someone some of you knew: Lilith Smit, attacked the castle to take Malena away from the Prince. Lilith hit Cormac with some bomb, successfully broke in and killed the Prince, then electrocuted Liosa. After that, she used some device to fly over the clouds, above the other flight mages, and flew to the mountains past the farms.”
The bar was stunned. This was the second time one of their own attacked innocent people after Blaise, and this time it was far worse. A foreign Prince was dead, two people they knew were dead, and the culprit, the pupil of one of their best, had escaped.
“Are we at war?” Someone asked, worried. But others around the bar seemed eager.
The bartender shrugged.
“King Solis is working on making sure we aren’t,” Alec said. “All the blame is being put on Lilith, not Solis. She made a move against both Voldia and Solis, and made herself an enemy of both. I doubt she’ll last long.”
“Wasn’t she your student?” A woman asked.
“Yes,” Alec said. “I should’ve trained her better.” He sighed. “The punishment for regicide is execution though, and there are no exceptions. I’ll bring her in, even if she’s my student.”
“Oy I don’t care about the fuckin Prince!” A large man yelled. “Kid was a spineless prick!”
“Yeah!” Another man yelled, “bring her in for Cormac and Liosa! Try her for those two. Not that shit.”
Alec shook his head. “It’s a matter of royalty now. The charge she gets for the prince will be far greater than for Cormac and Liosa.”
The bar grumbled.
“If anyone wants to join me, I’ll be heading back to the castle to help lead an official search,” Alec said. “Or, you can form your own search party. The reward for bringing Lilith back, dead or alive, is one hundred gold.”
The bar was silent as they considered. Many shrank back in their seats. They weren’t flight mages or even powerful mages, so they wouldn’t be able to handle Lilith if she fought back. And while one hundred gold was enough to last a lifetime, it was also only a few times more than the price for taking out a red dragon. However, Cyla ran up and joined Alec, as well as a toned couple that Alec knew used to sit with the two that died.
“We’ll help,” the guy said. “I won’t guarantee the ‘or alive’ part though.”
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
“It’s not right,” the girl said. “They were such a cute couple.”
Alec nodded, and looked over the bar one last time before he started walking out with the three others.
Once they were outside, Cyla spoke up. “That can’t be true, right? Lilith wouldn’t do that.”
Alec shook his head. “Eyewitness reports from all the other mages defending the castle say she did.”
Cyla looked at the ground as she walked for a while in silence. Of course, Lilith’s betrayal hit her the hardest. “Why?”
Alec took a deep breath. “I can only speculate on her true motives, but I saw her at Malena’s wedding. Malena was Lilith’s roommate, and Lilith was glaring at the Prince pretty much the whole time I was there. I’ve also heard complaints about that Prince from random people he ran into, so I don’t imagine that marriage would’ve been a happy one.”
“So she was just protecting her friend then?” Cyla asked. “Isn’t it the Prince’s fault?”
The couple stopped and glared at Cyla. Alec turned as well.
“I know you trained Lilith personally, but she’s an enemy of Solis now. We have to find her for the kingdom,” Alec said.
Cyla furrowed her brow. “I don’t care about this kingdom! I care about you guys!”
The couple stepped forward, their hands balled into fists, but Alec held his arm out and stopped them. “Are you going to help us?” he asked.
Cyla paused, looking down. “Help you what? Kill Lilith for revenge?” She stepped back and shook her head. “No one here even cares about the Prince. What sort of punishment would she get if it was only those two, and the prince didn’t matter.”
Alec frowned, but paused to think. “She’s a powerful flight mage. Officially, the most likely charges for their murders would be prison for life, even though it’d be execution for someone else. However, if there was a war or another threat to the kingdom, she could fight for her freedom.”
Cyla shook her head more as she stepped back. “None of this is right.” She unfurled her wings and swung them down, taking off.
---
The wind blew away Cyla’s tears as she flew, gliding around the same church towers she’d flown Lilith around earlier. She wanted to see her, to ask her why, but Alec was just going to have her executed? That wasn’t right. Lilith killing wasn’t right. The prince attacking Lilith’s friend wasn’t right. Not a single thing about all of this was right.
She landed on the very top of one of the church towers and looked around. She could see the target they’d practiced at for flight class, where they played together, including the small crater impact that was Ethen’s ‘gift’ to Lilith.
She turned to look at their school. After training, if Lilith wasn’t building something crazy like a copy of her wings, she’d head back to that tall building, or head out for supplies and then come back. One time, she even saw her with one of her friends, carrying a bunch of wood as she flew out of Solis.
Hold on, she didn’t head in the direction of ‘the mountains past the farms’ then at all. No, it was practically a right angle to where the report said she left, wasn’t it?
Cyla looked down at the students around the school before opening her wings. Maybe they could confirm her thoughts.
---
After a few stops in the forest to catch their breath, Hana and Jatte held one side of the egg as they flew beside Ethen and Silene, until they finally spotted the adit and touched down at the mouth of the cave.
There was a large pile of wood and planks just inside, and beyond that was the partially built waterwheel, where they heard Malena and Lilith speaking.
“No, you need to rest!” Malena said.
“I need to make stuff,” Lilith replied. “If they find us and I haven’t made anything new, we’re gonna lose.”
Hana rushed forward, opened the door to the watermill, and ran inside, followed by the others.
“Oh hey Hana!” Lilith smiled brightly up at her from her blanket, even though there was blood around her and stitches in her arm and leg. “You’re here!”
“I had no choice.” Hana glared back. “None of us did. We could only let you two get executed, let ourselves get interrogated, or run here.”
Lilith frowned and shrank back. “Oh.” She blinked. “That makes sense. I’m sorry.”
“Are you sorry about the two innocent people you killed!?” Hana raised her voice. “They weren’t bandits or trying to kill you! They were just doing their jobs!”
Lilith looked down, then back up. “I had to,” she said in a small voice.
“Really?” Hana raised an eyebrow. “You couldn’t, I don’t know, make some distraction for the guy to investigate? Fly out of the girl’s grasp.”
Lilith glared back up and shook her head. “No, I couldn’t, and your ideas would’ve ended with me or Malena getting killed. The castle guard would’ve been trained to deal with distractions like that, and if I let that girl live, just one of her punches could’ve killed me.”
“You can’t lie to me Lilith,” Hana glared down coldly. “You didn’t even consider the idea of a distraction. You just charged in without thinking. Because that’s exactly what you’re remembering right now!”
Lilith looked away. “The prince was already on her. I didn’t have time to plan.”
“Yep,” Ethen spoke up. “That’s just how it is. You have to practice if you want to use any strategy in the moment. Otherwise, the safest bet is to go for the kill.”
Hana side eyed him before turning back to Lilith. “Their names were Cormac and Liosa. These are their dying memories. If you really think killing them was necessary, then carry them with you.” She forced the memories out of her head and into everyone around her.
---
Lilith saw a strange ball of light, then felt vertigo, numbness, and confusion as she fell, her body torn apart. Only It wasn’t her body, but the guy that was standing on the ramparts.
As she fell, she saw his memories. He was a kid that grew up on the farm. His mother was grinning from ear to ear when he made a small burst of air move some leaves. He was holding a book she purchased for him so he could move up in the world.
Then, he was practicing fighting in school, making sure he got every movement right. He pulled back a bow and aimed to a target, barely managing to hit the board, let alone the center.
Later, he was grown, and managed to hit the center in front of a younger Alec, who smiled. “You’ll make a fine adventurer.”
His next memory was at a bar, at the same tavern Lilith sometimes went to, and he looked across a few stools to see a beautiful woman sitting alone, so he got up and walked over. “Hey bartender,” he said. “I’ll pay for her too.”
She looked up and smirked, levitating a few chunks of brass around her hand. “It’s been a while since anyone bought me a drink here. You sure? I’m dangerous.”
“Sounds exciting,” he said. “Oh! Is that telekinesis? I don’t feel any air.” He stared at the brass.
She blinked. “Yep. I take it you’re pretty new here. Welcome, I guess.”
“Sorry, it’s just always air. I’ve never seen telekinesis like that,” he said, still excited.
“You and everyone else here.” She shrugged, letting the brass fall into her hand. “So, what jobs were you thinking of taking?” She changed the subject.
The last memory was of him looking up at her tear streaked face before everything faded to black.
And then she wasn’t Cornac any more, but Liosa. Lilith felt the all encompassing wrath the girl felt before she leapt at her, only to feel an intense flash before there was nothing. Liosa didn’t even get to experience her last memories like the guy did, which somehow felt worse.
Finally, Lilith was back in her body, sitting on her blankets beside Malena. She could feel the tears running down her cheeks. She was the cause of that tragedy, wasn’t she? Was she in the wrong? Was she evil?
She shook her head. The Prince was going to ruin Malena’s life, and likely the lives of others in the kingdom since he had control of the Voldian knights that had infiltrated Solis. He was evil, and Voldia was evil for sending him.
Lilith looked up into Hana’s own watering eyes. “I had to.”
“I get the Prince,” Hana said. “But couldn’t you have just flown around? Something else?”
Lilith glared and shook her head. “No.” She stood up, putting less weight on the leg with stitches. “I can’t go back in time and figure out what wouldn’t get me or them killed. And if anyone’s responsible, it’s the Prince.”
Hana held her gaze. “A lot of people back in Solis hate you now.”
“That’s fine,” Lilith said.
“If we went back and gave you up, we could have our lives back,” Hana said.
Lilith’s glare turned to a look of betrayal as she stepped back.
“Stop this,” Malena said, looking at them both. “That’s more than enough.” She turned to Hana. “Hold on, you know the truth, don’t you?”
Hana paused, then nodded.
“So you know I was the one that killed Prince Keith,” Malena said. “I’m not going to betray Lilith to save my own life and let her get executed for a crime she didn’t commit!”
Hana looked down. “If we stay here, they’ll eventually find us, and there will just be more bloodshed.”
“No,” Lilith said. “I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen.”
“How?” Hana asked. Then, in Lilith’s mind, she saw strange ideas of things she’d never seen before: blue, floating materials, a complex brass contraption with pistons that worked to spin a central wheel, and long lengths of wire connected to other materials.
“I don’t know,” Lilith said. “But I’ll work on it.”
Malena stepped forward and looked around at the group. “I agree with Hana that we should carry their memories. Their deaths were tragedies, but I also agree with Lilith that it was necessary. And now, we can’t go back. Lilith and I will definitely be executed if we do, because I won’t live a life based on a lie. The rest of you, I couldn’t say. Maybe you could betray us like Hana suggested and live, maybe not.”
Hana looked down.
“I don’t want Lilith to be executed…” Jatte sighed.
“So we’re either going to have to stay in this cave or turn her in,” Silene looked away. “I’m going to miss everyone back home, even if I am able to sneak in.”
“I don’t wanna die either,” Lilith said to Jatte.
“I’m with Lilith and Malena,” Ethen said. “I don’t think it’s right that those two died, but sometimes people die when they fight. If everyone’s going to cry about it and make them into martyrs, then they’re in for a rude awakening if Solis ever goes to war.” He grimaced. “I didn’t think the people of Solis would be as weak as their king, but I’m glad some aren’t.”
“Weak!?” Hana turned and glared at Ethen. “You think they’re weak for caring about human life!?”
“No.” Ethen shook his head. “They’re weak because they let Voldia attack them and bully their people, and now they’re going after the first person to fight back because they made innocent people guard a trash Prince.” He glared intensely at Hana. “These deaths are on their hands.”
“You’d blame an entire people?” Hana continued glaring back.
“Yes,” Ethen said. “There’s no ‘eye for an eye’ thing going on like you said earlier with us. The problem isn’t us. If more Solis people die now like those two, it’s because they lost their courage, and with it their sense of justice and their wisdom. If the Voldians die, it’ll be because they lost all of their virtue.” He threw his arms out. “How am I supposed to care about two kingdoms that threw away everything good about themselves! I thought Solis was strong! That’s why I traveled there to improve my training! I’m glad I at least met a few people that kept their virtues.” He looked at Lilith and Malena.
Jatte stared at Ethen for a moment, then sighed. “I want to see my family and friends, but I don’t want Lilith to get killed, and I’m not going against Ethen.”
Silene frowned. “I’m not going to turn in all of my best friends.”
Hana’s shoulders slumped. “Can you at least promise me you’ll try not to kill anyone?” She asked and looked around.
Lilith and Malena nodded, and so did Jatte and Silene, but Ethen was frowning.
“I think I’m the only one that got training to do that back home,” Ethen said. “And I’m not always going to risk my life for someone else.” He sighed. “But if I can get away with it, then yeah, of course.”
Hana nodded. “Okay. I’ll try to make sure you’re in a position where you can ‘get away with it’ then.”
“It sounds like we’re staying here,” Malena said. “In that case, we should get to work. Hana’s right that we’ll be found eventually, but we can work to make sure we make it through this, and maybe even make sure there’s as little bloodshed as possible.” She looked around. “We have three flight mages, a telepath, an inventor, an expert in nature that can go nearly invisible, and me. Lilith can make stuff with what she has here for now, but she might need supplies, and I’m going to need information. It’s risky, but all five of you could help us learn what’s going on.”
Malena looked around. Ethen and Silene nodded, though Silene looked sad, but Jatte and Hana were almost too demoralized to move. Lilith herself was injured, so she’d definitely be staying.
“What do you want me to do?” Ethen asked.
---
Cyla was circling high above the forest. She’d asked a few students earlier, and they said they saw Lilith and her friends fly off in this direction. But where they were along the path, she didn’t have any idea. That was why she was circling overhead and looking for any signs of movement.
She noticed a red dragon peering down through the trees, and then she saw, heading straight towards it, were two fox eared beast-folk. She might’ve felt a duty to save them even if they didn’t remind her of Lilith, but now she definitely had to.
She dove down in front of the dragon as it crouched, stood on top of a tree, spread her wings out fully, and yelled, “hey!” Then she shot a blast of air at it with her magic.
The dragon reeled back, then sized her up for a moment before turning and flying away.
Cyla breathed a sigh of relief and jumped down to be beside the two, using her air magic to keep the branches from scratching or stabbing her. “You two almost got eaten, you know that? What are you doing out here by yourselves?”
“Thanks,” the man said, then paused. “We were heading somewhere. Sorry, it’s kind of personal.”
“Well you’d be kind of dead without me,” Cyla said. “So maybe you should tell me. If we’re heading in the same direction, I might be able to help you get there safely.”
The couple looked at each other. Then, the woman spoke to her, “We’re heading towards the mountains. If you can protect us until we get there, we’d be grateful.”
Cyla squinted at them. A pair that looked like Lilith, headed to the mountains she was flying towards? Jackpot.
---
Dr. Crowe read the report he’d been handed at the main table in the castle research lab, then held his face in his hands. That dream wasn’t abstract at all, it was Lilith’s plans! If he’d reported it, then maybe the attack wouldn’t have happened.
‘No,’ He thought, shaking his head and remembering seeing the great being made of light in Lilith, then out of her body in the infirmary later. The one she called ‘Wispy’. ‘If the castle guards couldn’t even handle Lilith now, then we won’t stand a chance against that thing.’
He looked up from the report to the Solis mages and Voldian knights around him.
“So, do you know anything?” One of the mages asked.
He shook his head. “I saw the dream of her planning that out and thought it had some abstract meaning. I’m sorry, I should’ve reported it, but even then I’m not sure it would’ve been taken as a serious threat.”
A few of the knights glared at him after he said that. “Do you know where she could’ve gone?” One of them asked.
He shook his head again. He knew she was probably at the adit, but telling them that would just lead to them getting slaughtered. The monster wouldn’t even have to come out since Lilith could just wait for them and shoot down. He could replicate her work eventually, her ‘scuba tank’, but these soldiers were too hasty.
He could tell with his telepathy that some of them thought he was lying, so he pushed against their doubts slightly with his mind before he spoke against them. “This is partly my fault. I’d like to help in any way I can, so my research and my skills are all yours.”
But what could he do exactly? He didn’t want Solis to be destroyed, but nor did he want to lose access to the one that gave him so many new ideas to try and understand.
“Thank you,” one of the mages smiled, though the knights still glared at him with suspicion.
He frowned as he thought. That monster might’ve been able to crush Solis now, but Solis would also have Lilith executed along with that monster if they could. If he lost Solis, he’d be failing in his duty to keep it safe. If he lost the monster, he’d be losing all of its potential with it. Both of those were worst case scenarios to him.