Arianna's Lotus [http://i.imgur.com/oOhwKDZ.png]

Chapter Five

Lurking in the Mists

A prickle traveled down my spine when I sensed something malicious. I cracked an eye open and glanced around before cautiously rising out of bed. By the sound of things, our airship was still gliding smoothly on its way to Eormir. We’d already been in the air for well over a day and were meant to arrive toward the end of our second day of flight.

Something told me the nagging presence at the back of my mind was the Mists.

After hastily dressing in imperial attire, I left my quarters and wandered through the ship. When I reached a window, a frown crossed my face and I picked up my speed. ‘Clouds? In the Mists? Since when?’

“Good morning, Your Highness,” one of the guards spoke as I approached the bridge. He bent into a deep bow. “We have just entered the Mists. If naught else has changed, we have a few hours yet before we reach Eormir. Perhaps you would like to have your breakfast in the lounge?”

“No, I need to see the Mists.” I gave him a pointed look. After a moment, he sighed, straightening, and placed his hand against the door. Draemiran writing glowed on the metal surface briefly, followed by an audible click. “Thank you.”

“I will have breakfast sent to the bridge for you, Your Highness.” The guard bowed again as I passed him.

I murmured more thanks before fully entering the bridge. The crew briefly saluted me before returning to their duties. Their captain shot me a questioning look, but I simply shook my head and moved toward the windows. The solid sheet of transparent crystal formed a semi-circle and gave me an unobstructed view of everything in front of our airship, and a little of our flanks.

As the guard had stated, we had most certainly entered the Mists. The violet sky churned around our airship, lightning arced between the various clouds, occasionally striking rods on our ship.

“Are your instruments picking up any oddities compared to the empire’s original readings of the Mists?” I asked, glancing over at the captain. He promptly looked toward several members of his crew and demanded reports from them.

“We’ve detected beast-like aetheric signatures within the clouds, but haven’t seen anything yet, Your Highness,” a woman spoke, saluting me. “The storm should pass—”

“The Mists have never had clouds before,” I cut her off, causing her to falter. “Flying beasts have always been a problem, but only closer to the island as far as we’re aware.”

“Run your scans again and compare them to the readings documented by the first scout team to come across X’sh…Eormir,” the captain ordered his crew. They all scrambled to work, while he rose to his feet and joined me by the windows. “No clouds, you said, Arianna-jiss?”

“None. Even when it rained or stormed, the sky was always a solid violet,” I answered, before motioning toward the rip-like feature in the sky. “That is how we tracked the time of day. When it sets, it’s night. When it’s visible, it’s day.”

“I’ve made a few dozen trips between Eormir and Dauthrmir since we discovered the island,” he frowned, stroking his beard. “The clouds are a relatively recent development. I would have thought they’d obscure that thing.”

“…is it closer than it appears, then?” I pursed my lips, returning my gaze to the tear. He was right—we shouldn’t have been able to see it through the clouds.

“We get no readings from it, Your Highness,” one of the crew called. “Your food is here—perhaps you should sit?”

“Hmmm?” I glanced over my shoulder to find Ijelle, Satrr, and Lalira striding onto the bridge with a food cart. The captain gave me an encouraging nod before returning to his seat. “Where’s Eyrian?”

“Cleaning his armor—the Mists have him on-edge,” Ijelle replied, grimacing as she looked past me and out the window. “Can’t say I blame him. I feel the same way. I’ve never felt so…hated by something I can’t see.”

‘If the Mists are tied to the Blood Magic that was casted while the country was still on the ground…’ I considered as I took a seat. ‘Well, that could explain the hatred toward Devillians. Though, it would also mean it somehow knew that Darius and I weren’t Human all along. I’m not sure I like that notion.’

“Tea,” Lalira spoke simply, coming to stand in front of me. The young girl had finally begun to pick up words here and there, but we still couldn’t hold anything resembling a conversation. When I smiled and thanked her, she just giggled and left to hide behind the food cart.

“Where’s Fyris?” I questioned next.

“Helping the cooks—anything to get her mind off the presence, she said.” Satrr shrugged, a crooked smile on her lips. “We were thinking about finding a way to occupy ourselves too, but we’ve already cleaned our armor, our weapons, practiced what we can while on an airship…”

“…so, we figured we’d come keep you company,” Ijelle finished, grinning. ‘The little one there seemed like she wanted to come see you, too.”

“Lalira,” I called, watching her perk up and peer at me around the edge of the cart. With her attention on me, I pointed at the platters on top of it then at her. “Hungry? Eat.”

“Eat?” Lalira tilted her head for a moment before her eyes lit up. She promptly shoveled as much as she could onto her plate, then shot me a questioning look. “Sit?”

“Sit.” I nodded, pointing at one of the chairs next to me.

“Yay!” Lalira cheered, running over to hop into the chair closest to me. She nearly dropped her food in the process but managed to save it just in time.

“You two as well,” I stated when I caught Ijelle and Satrr both hesitating.

“Still want us to keep an eye on Fyris and Lalira while we’re in Eormir?” Ijelle asked, shooting me a small frown. After a moment, she handed me a plate of food. “Here, doubt you’d be able to grab food while holding that tea.”

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“Thanks.” I accepted the plate and balanced it on my lap. “You and Satrr need to keep watch over these two for me, yes. Eormir isn’t a safe place, and who knows what nasty things could still be lurking in the castle. I doubt Nalithor and his men have managed to clean out everything already.

“Can’t have them wandering in the city unattended, let alone go outside of the city. I want them protected at all times.”

“Yet Lucifer thinks it’s safer to bring the youngling along?” Satrr frowned.

“Well, he had a point.” I shrugged, twirling my fork in my free hand. “If our enemies wanted to lash out or try to leverage us, kidnapping the faithful, promising student would certainly be one way to do so. I’ll probably ask Nalithor about keeping her in his domain for a while. The Vulin would be delighted to have a guest, I think.”

“You don’t want to do it yourself?” Ijelle arched an eyebrow. “I thought you were growing attached.”

“…I’m not, and if I did, nothing would get done.” I shot her an irritated look. “I don’t plan to be idle while in Eormir. If I’m supposed to stay by Nalithor’s side ‘at all times’ then I’m going to make damned sure we are working on the multiple problems in the region. Perhaps even tackle the beasts first. I’m overdue for a good hunt.

“Until then… Captain, if at all possible I would like for your crew to run their instruments the entire remainder of our trip. Once we arrive, I would like copies for our scholars in Eormir, as well as some taken back to the Claws in Dauthrmir.”

“Worried about the change in the Mists? Me as well.” He nodded from his seat. “You and yours will have all the information we can get you. We’ll be staying in Eormir for a few days before making our return trip—I’ll make sure each shift continues collecting data.”

“Thank you.” I nodded to him before turning my attention to my food.

Despite the maliciousness of the Mists, nothing of note happened the rest of our flight to Eormir. I spent most of my time on idle chatter with Ijelle and Satrr, then Eyrian and Fyris as well once they joined us. They were all on-edge because of the Mists, and for a much different reason than me.

I had grown used to the odd presence of the Mists, and the way it attempted to dampen the powers of those within it. It was this new development of clouds that made me so uneasy. That, and the knowledge that the beasts had spread further throughout the mists.

‘Are the Mists weakening…or strengthening?’ I pursed my lips and nudged at the Mists with my darkness. The feel of its aether made my skin crawl. ‘No, definitely weakening. But why? Did whoever created it decide X’shmir is a lost cause? Or…did they find what they were looking for?’

“Arianna?” Eyrian nudged me, startling me from my thoughts.

“Sorry, what?” I shook my head slightly.

“We should be coming up on the island soon,” Eyrian offered, motioning out the window. “You leave anything in your quarters?”

“No, I decided not to unpack anything from my shrizars,” I answered with a small shrug. “I’m ready to disembark as soon as—hmmm…”

“What?” Eyrian frowned.

“Captain, which side of the island are we approaching from?” I shifted in my chair to look at him.

“From the southern edge of the plateau, Your Highness.”

‘That’s odd…’ I tilted my head, letting my eyes unfocus. My power spread throughout the Mists, probing at the obscured island. Once I confirmed my initial suspicion, I spoke again, “Nalithor isn’t in the city right now. It seems that he’s likely in the Sihix Forest. I suppose we will have to wait within Eormir proper for him. Was he not told we were coming?”

“There was no warning—Lucifer thought it best to surprise him,” Eyrian replied dryly, causing me to roll my eyes. “I second the notion of waiting in Eormir. Some of the castle staff should already be aware of our pending arrival. We can take a look around the city on our way, if you like—and if the locals don’t cause trouble.”

“And if they do cause trouble?” I shot him a pointed look.

“Then I’ll execute some of the bastards myself.” Eyrian shot me a fang-filled grin.

“They may not even recognize her,” Ijelle pointed out, putting an arm around my shoulder. With her free hand, she nudged one of my cheeks. “I mean, the whole mask and hood thing—and now she has horns and a tail too. Those super cute fluffy ears, too, if you go with that form… Please go with that form? Please?”

“Which form?” I attempted to free myself from her grip.

“The fluffy one!” Ijelle grinned.

“She means your true form,” Eyrian stated dryly. “I concur—your people who have been stationed in Eormir haven’t yet had the chance to see their princess. You should take this opportunity to appear in formal capacity. I’m assuming you already planned to, given your choice of robes.”

“Yes, that was the plan.” I escaped Ijelle and rose to my feet, shaking out my robes in the process. Whatever I’d planned to say next fell away from my thoughts as Eormir came into view through the Mists. We were far closer than I expected, and by the shouted commands at the helm, followed by an upward lurch, our crew agreed.

“Our apologies, Your Highness,” the captain offered as Eyrian and Ijelle caught me. “We’re getting incorrect readings from almost all of our instruments. We shouldn’t have been this close to the island for another hour.

“I’d advise you all sit down. We’re going to begin landing preparations.”

“What’s wrong?” Eyrian lowered his voice so that only our immediate party could hear him.

“The aether has changed drastically,” I replied before glancing off to our left. “Look at the portion of the island beyond the plateau.”

“Are those…” Satrr’s eyes widened.

“I’d say you’ll be getting your wish for a hunt,” Eyrian remarked, a lopsided grin spreading across his face. “Looks like our newly acquired territory could do with some cleansing.”

“Fire?” Lalira’s quiet voice drew my attention away from the flock of beasts circling the western half of the island. She pointed toward the plateau, a look of concern on her face.

“Beast corpses, by the look of it.” Eyrian narrowed his eyes briefly.

“You can make it out from that far?” I arched an eyebrow at him.

“Draekin have better sight than most.” Eyrian shrugged. “N’tarsorn are close. Not sure which of our races win out.

“I see what looks like paws sticking out of the fire, and I doubt anything other than beasts has anything that huge.”

“Fire?” Lalira asked again, her worry growing.

“Good fire,” I replied after a moment, hoping she’d get the idea. Lalira frowned for a moment, looking as if she was thinking.

“Food?” She tilted her head.

“No.” I shook my head in response. “Beasts.”

Lalira gave me a funny look that made it clear she had no idea what I was saying, so I sighed. After a moment of thought, I summoned darkness in each palm, forming one to look like a beast and the other to look like a small group of people. When the “beast” ate the people, she shrieked.

“Beast.” I pointed at the dark blob with my now-free right hand.

“Beast…” Lalira repeated, then muttered some word I couldn’t hope to pronounce. She seemed to notice and pouted. “Beasts… Hunt? Fight?”

“Yes, we hunt them.” I nodded to her. She nodded back at me and seemed to relax.

“Why would they be burning the corpses?” Satrr frowned. “Usually we just sort of…leave them where they fall. Especially with such large ones.”

“The ground slants in the direction of the city. Burning the corpses would reduce the risk of corruption being spread by the rains,” I replied after considering it for a moment. “Looks to me like they’re attempting to truly incinerate the corpses.”

“Agreed.” Eyrian nodded. “The clouds would have given them reason for concern, especially if they’ve been here since Nalithor and his men arrived. There’d be no way for them to predict when the rain will actually begin.”

“And the island is actually valuable property now.” I snorted, crossing one leg over the other. “Let’s get to the city as quick as we can once we’ve landed. I doubt the forest surrounding it is beast free. No matter how long of a killing spree I went on, I was never able to clear it of threats.”

“Won’t hear me complain.” Eyrian nodded.

‘Now then…to reach out to Nalithor or surprise him?’ I wondered, tapping my claws against the armrest. ‘He should have sensed me by now. In which case…he must be too exhausted to tell I’m actually in Eormir.

‘A surprise it is, then. I’m sure I have something appropriate to wear.’

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