Chapter Eleven: The Battle of the Birthing Grounds
Ryvolim
And so, I found myself here once more.
Standing on the fringe of the forest that separated two Enforcers’ regions, I look out over a cracked and blasted land, grateful that Doldimar had kept such destruction to one portion of Auden this time. He’d certainly spread ruin like this over the whole of it in past cycles. I wasn’t sure what had withheld him from doing the same in present day.
I was glad this journey was almost over. Keeping to a bright and happy façade had been wearing on me, which hadn’t been helped by how little time I’d had to myself over the last week. I’d found enough of it to let my magic’s energy drain run its course, but besides that, there had been no time to drop my disguise, and unlike other instances where I’d done this, my pretense had been exhausting this time around.
If that weren’t enough, I’d been so busy and had such a lack of alone time that I’d been unable to speak with Creation since taking Da’kul. I needed to question them. They were keeping something from me, and I knew it. So, the fact that they’d been complacently hovering at the edge of my vision for the last week and I’d been unable to do anything about it hadn’t been pleasant.
All of which had made me irritable. I’d been fighting to keep the others from noticing my growing bad mood, but I wasn’t sure how successful I’d been with it, especially with the spies in our midst.
Rising from where the others had been discussing the plan into the ground once more, one of said spies, Little, headed toward me with a mischievous grin in place. Great. What sort of trouble was that kid about to throw me into?
As he came closer, I withheld from making a face at the stitches holding his face together. When he’d returned to Tiro, Little had gone to Chela for treatment, and while she was one of the better healers among our people, I could have done a better job than her. I hated that the necessity of my deception had ended with this young spy receiving less than the best treatment for his wounds.
As he joined me, Little said, “Relax. I won’t bite you. And drop the fake smile, would you? It’s clearly hurting you to wear it.”
I snorted at that.
“Noticed my tension, did you?”
Laughing, Little said, “I’d be surprised if any of us could relax, given what’s coming.”
He waved toward the cracked, dry land in front of us.
“But no. This tension’s been riding you for a while now, hasn’t it? Rhylix.”
Freezing, I turned to the spy in slow motion. Had Oswin shared my secret with his subordinates? I thought I’d impressed the importance of keeping it on him!
“What did you call me?” I said. “My name is-”
“Rhylix,” Little said. “Don’t try to deny it. I know it’s true, although you shouldn’t worry about the others seeing through your pretense. Your persona’s convincing! It almost fooled me, and I have a gift for reading people. But then, I was given some warning to look for you.”
“Really,” I said with my voice empty. “Who did that, might I ask?”
Because if someone unknown had figured out my deception, it could get… bad for me.
As if he hadn’t heard what I’d said, Little asked, “Back in Da’kul, how did you convince so many people that they saw your corpse? Did you doctor a body to look like yours? Or maybe you ingested an easily reversible poison. And why would you make people think you were dead? Was it to gain some sense of safety, or was there another reason?”
Gods, that had been a lot of questions, and far too many of them had struck close to the truth.
“None of that is your concern,” I said before repeating. “Who warned you about me?”
“Oh, you know. The one who did this.”
When Little waved at his face, I sucked in a gasp.
“Doldimar?” I somehow said.
Oh Alouin, what else had that bastard revealed to this spy?
“What did he say?” I snapped.
Shrugging, Little said, “Merely that you weren’t dead, despite what I’d heard. He gave me a message for you. It went, ‘Arivor has received your letter and says hello’. What’s that supposed to mean, do you think? And why does Doldimar know who you are?”
So, my message had reached my old friend. Sure, I’d happened across that straggling Conscripted soldier after I’d told Raimie about the Eternal War, months ago, but on hearing about how the citizens of Tiro had massacred the remnants of Teron’s army, I hadn’t been sure if the hapless kid had survived. I was glad to hear he had.
And horrible as it might be, I was glad to hear from my friend as well because if he’d received my letter, then Arivor knew an end might be in sight. Maybe that would give him a small amount of comfort.
“You going to answer my questions?” Little said.
As I looked him over, I understood why he seemed so agitated. I’d had what must seem like a secret correspondence with the enemy. He was probably questioning whether I was a traitor.
Sighing, I said, “Raimie knows everything there is to know about me, including any relationship I might hold with the Dark Lord. If he’s seen fit to keep details about that from you, then I don’t see why I should share my secrets. You seem trustworthy, Little, but the things in my past have a tendency to get good people killed. I don’t want that for you, if I can help it.”
Cocking his head, Little examined me for a moment before nodding.
“I can accept that reasoning,” he said. “You going to be ok if Raimie ever decides to spill your secrets to me?”
That was an easy question to answer.
“I trusted Raimie with the secret of my primeancy for months,” I said. “If he decides others can know a secret that’s even more deadly, then it will be for a good reason.”
And… there was that smirk again.
Clapping my shoulder, Little said, “Good to know, Rhy. And thanks for shaaaaring!”
As he sang those last words, he spun back toward the others, and I rolled my eyes. I didn’t know how I’d gotten myself surrounded by a bunch of snarky assholes, but it… it wasn’t that bad of a spot to be in.
I hoped we could get through the coming battle with all of us intact.
For several more hours, we waited to hear the inevitable boom and crash of Marcuset’s bombardment, coming from the nearby Birthing Grounds. Each of us prepared for violence in the way that worked best for us. For me, that was to sit quietly, empty of thoughts, and wait.
When a rumble was eventually transmitted to the group through the ground, each of us was on our feet almost immediately, and we left the cover of the trees.
Little led us to a nearby trapdoor, hidden amongst the wild scrub and cracked earth. Its disguise was so effective that I might have missed it, if not for the spy’s direction.
I was the last one down the ladder, squeezing through the crack of its sinkhole with difficulty. Resisting the urge to light the space with Ele—Kylorian and Hadrion still thought I was an average human, after all—I instead descended the ladder in pitch-black, and at the base, I regrouped with the others. Raimie and Little advanced on the cave’s next opening, frantically waving the all-clear after a moment.
I’d been sure that we’d run into enemies while in the cave system. During a bombardment, these underground spaces would become the safest place to wait the siege out. Kiraak and Conscripted soldiers should be packing these halls, but even still, we soon emerged into sunlight without incident, which made me uneasy.
Was Adrinosk merely being flippant with his subordinates’ lives, or was this somehow a trap? I didn’t know how the Enforcer could have learned about our plan. We’d been extraordinarily careful with keeping its details secret, but still, I couldn’t help wondering about that.
Outside of the caves, the absolute noise of the bombardment made any conversation impossible, not that any of us would have risked doing that while so close to the enemy. The ground shook beneath our feet, which had me shooting a glance at the cliff’s edge. This close to the wall, our little group of saboteurs should be safe from all sorts of projectiles, especially since Raimie had ordered Marcuset to focus his bombardment on the center of the Birthing Grounds, but who knew how accurate those crude weapons of war could be? Hopefully, we wouldn’t get swiped off the face of the earth before we'd finished our side of the plan.
Little left us shortly after we reached the open air. Earlier this week, he’d shared his plan to resolve some unfinished business in the Birthing Grounds before meeting up with us once he was done, which had me worried. Why would we let a teenager, no matter how skilled and confident, wander alone through a horde of the enemy and during a battle no less? But Raimie had easily given Little leave to do as he liked. Even Oswin, who seemed to be overly protective of his youngest subordinate, had seemed unphased by this idea, so I’d had no ground to stand on with making a protest of my own. Hopefully, we’d see the spy once this was over.
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Once we’d gotten into place, Raimie rested a hand on the wall, and shadows flickered away from that point of contact, racing up the cliff in a jagged zig-zag. At each place this line leveled off, portions of the cliff face cracked and lifted away from the rest, anchoring themselves into a ninety-degree angle.
Step by step, a stair rose from out of the wall.
I didn’t know when Raimie had learned how to do this with Daevetch, not that I kept track of his progress in that area. It frightened me how well he took to those types of magic application.
When the last step slotted into place, it didn’t take long before soldiers peered down at us from the top of an intimidating drop. One of them hesitantly put his weight on the first floating step, and when he didn’t plummet to his death, more soldiers followed his example. As Raimie’s army flowed into the pit, the bombardment above slowed down, which gradually reduced the ringing in my ears.
After a while, Raimie retracted his hand, ceasing Daevetch’s flow from him, and a knot in my gut loosened. I knew that dark energy didn't affect my friend as much as every other Daevetch primeancer I’d met, but the day would come when Raimie would wield those shadows and subsequently refuse to let go. I hated imagining what would happen to our friendship when that eventually happened.
Turning to me with a crooked smile, he wobbled in place, and I reached out to steady him. With the glaze in his eyes retreating in increments, he raggedly laughed.
“Sorry, Rhy. Holding that much power can be… intoxicating at times,” he said. “Letting it go usually leaves me dizzy.”
I could imagine.
“Are you all right to move on?” I asked. “We could take a break, if you need it.”
Glancing at how many soldiers had already descended to us, forming up in ranks nearby, I wasn’t sure how true that claim was.
“There’s no need. I can carry on, no problem,” Raimie said.
Pulling away from me, he slapped my back a few times.
“Good luck?”
My friend looked nowhere near recovered from his Daevetch use. Frazzled and distracted, Raimie probably couldn’t defend himself from even the mildest of attacks, but if we were to succeed with this plan, he needed to quickly reach the center of this place. I’d have to trust that he knew what he was doing. That effort was helped by the spy, hovering at his king’s back.
“You’ll watch him?” I asked Oswin.
“Like a hawk,” the spy said.
So, I let go of my concern.
“Good luck to you as well, my friend,” I said. “See you soon.”
After a smile and a wave, Raimie, Oswin, and Hadrion plunged into a break between the barracks, although buildings quickly concealed them, and chewing on his lip, Kylorian stared at the site of their departure for a moment. Gods, he must be worried about his brother. I wished I could reassure him that everything would be fine—if Raimie let anything happen to that kid, I’d be shocked—but it didn’t seem wise.
I led the way to the closest cave in the cliff face with Ren’s adoptive brother on my heels. Not only would an Enforcer like Adrinosk hole up in the safest place possible during an attack, but I could feel several sources of Daevetch coming from this direction.
I was surprised that all three of the Enforcers had gathered in one place. Of course, the one in charge would seek safety in times of chaos—Doldimar’s reign made it difficult for reckless Kiraak to rise into the rank of Enforcer—but those who were visiting…
Usually, they followed the higher calling that all Daevetch primeancers responded to. Their primary drive was Chaos, Corruption, Death, and more. Given that, I’d thought that Foln and Arabelna would be out here, drawn to the scene of carnage and—in their eyes—fun unfolding around us, but what I was feeling through my Ele source insisted that this assumption was wrong, for once.
Even with that bit of magic to help me pinpoint the Enforcers’ location, they still took me by surprise. As I skulked around a corner into a new section of the caves, a Daevetch bolt flew for my head, and shoving Kylorian out of the way, I rolled into a crouch with my sword and dagger already drawn.
“You all right?” I asked.
“Yes, thanks.”
Near where the Daevetch bolt had cracked a cave wall, Kylorian had already straightened from his stumble with his weapon raised.
“Where did that come from?” he said.
“From one of them, I suspect,” I said, pointing.
Three men and two women had occupied the cavern we were standing in front of. I wasn’t sure which of them had thrown the bolt, not with all five of them lounging as if without a care. Two were playing dice in one of the cavern’s corner while another of them watched, one was flipping through a book at a lone table, and the last of them was casually tossing a knife over his face from where he was lying on a cot. Two of the men had nothing but squirming vines beneath their skin while the other three showed no signs of Corruption, only the black eyes that marked every Enforcer.
Our enemy, found.
At the table, one of the women casually flipped a page in her book.
“One of you take care of them already,” she sighed.
As if on strings, the two men who’d been playing dice shot to their feet, unsheathing their weapons, but none of the other people in the room moved. Did they think two Overseers would be enough to stop us?
“What do you think, Kylorian?” I said. “Can you distract those two?”
“I was expecting to fight regular Kiraak, but… I can handle a pair of Overseers for a little while,” Kylorian said. “Not sure if I can kill them, but I can certainly distract.”
“I’ll kill the Enforcers quickly, then,” I said.
“Are you quite finished?” one of the Overseers drawled. “I’m so hungry to see your blood. I can’t stand it!”
Recoiling, Kylorian said, “That’s… disgusting.”
But then, he attacked. I followed him into battle, but as I approached the pair of Overseers, I also flicked Ele at the man on the cot, Adrinosk most likely. He flinched away from the bolt before tumbling to the ground.
“Malkenthas, that one’s mine,” he growled.
Which had the Overseer who’d been swinging for my head stop halfway through that arc, forcing him into a stumble. Taking advantage of the opening, I slashed at his thigh. It was the best I could do, given how three primeancers had already begun rushing me, but hopefully, it would slow the Overseer down enough to give Kylorian a chance.
Any worries I might have had for my companion were wiped away in the onslaught of the Enforcers’ fury. As I should have expected, they didn’t coordinate their attacks with one another, bearing down on me with all of their strength instead.
When I used Ele to duck their strikes and therefore watch them make frantic readjustments, amusement tugged on my mouth. They obviously weren’t used to encountering a challenge, which was perfect. This should actually be fun, for once.
For a while, we simply played with each other, or that was how it seemed to me. I was trying to kill them, of course. Raimie’s plan required these Enforcers dead as quickly as possible for it to work, but it took me a while to find an opening in which to strike, and during that time, I let myself enjoy the fight.
At some point, Kylorian finally turned his back on me, and I swept an obvious wave of white light at my opponents, one that bowled them over. Before they could regain their feet, I rushed forward to behead one of the women.
As I was finishing with that, a flash of movement caught my eye, and I twisted, but not before cold steel pierced through my shoulder, which was a problem. The sword I’d been holding clattered to the ground, and snarling, the man who’d stabbed me brought his blade around in what should have been a killing blow. Backpedaling, I barely avoided that scythe of death. I used my dagger to block his next few, bone-shuddering strikes, each of which numbed my hand, and all the while, my injured arm dangled at my side, useless.
While caught in this blur of desperate movement, I noted the last living woman sprinting out of the cave before the fight for survival dragged my focus back to it. I’d have to go after her soon but first…
Considering how heavily his sword was raining down on me—like a hammer on a nail—Adrinosk must be getting frustrated, and my good arm had started tingling with pins and needles. Still, I clung to my dagger, aware of how quickly I’d die without it.
I wasn’t sure why this was happening, but what had kept me in perfect health for millennia was taking its sweet fucking time with healing my injured shoulder today. Almost, I shouted at Creation to tell Restoration that it should hurry the fuck up. I couldn’t take another death, not so soon after the last one and certainly not now. I’d opened my mouth to beg the splinter for help when light flashed around me.
Thank the fucking gods.
Catching Adrinosk’s next blow on my dagger’s cross guard, I punched him in the face, reveling at his surprised jerk backward. Stumbling, he clutched at his nose with shock freezing him solid, but that was fine. It gave me time to retrieve my sword.
When he got ahold of himself, Adrinosk pressed his attack, barely giving me time to defend myself, but now that I was back at full health, his skill wouldn’t be enough to save him. When he overstepped with a blow aimed at my stomach, I deflected it and buried my dagger in his eyes, one after the other. He dropped his weapon to claw at his face, screaming, and I quickly circled him to end his suffering.
No time to celebrate. I joined Kylorian in his fight.
To my happy surprise, the kid had performed adequately in the time it had taken to finish the Enforcers. With his tendons sliced clean through, the Overseer I’d started this fight with was down for the count, unable to reach his feet anytime soon, but the second one was still in the fight, allowing Kylorian not a single opening. Watching this, I knew that even with the kid’s impressive display of skill, the fight would soon be over if I weren’t here to help.
I blocked a strike coming for Kylorian’s head, yanking him behind me, and with his eyes widening, the second Overseer glanced around the cavern, taking in his fallen companions with tightening shoulders.
“What the hell?” Kylorian shouted. “I had that!”
Sure you did, kid.
“I need you to track down the Enforcer who fled,” I said instead. “Maybe you could defeat this man, but I can finish the fight more quickly. So, go. I’ll catch up.”
“But!”
“Do it, Kylorian!”
The kid might mutter something crude under his breath, but he did as he’d been told. As he left, the Overseer tried to throw a knife after him, but I blocked that potential blow.
“Your fight’s with me,” I said.
Circling me, the Overseer said, “But why should I fight you? You’ve already defeated the others, and each of them was stronger than me. If we fight, I’m going to lose, without a doubt.”
That was a good point, but what other resolution could come from this ? Corruption had infected the Overseer, and much as it pained me, that meant he had to die. Ele and consequently, I couldn’t allow a Kiraak to survive, and Kiraak couldn’t return to what they’d once been, or… I’d thought they couldn’t, until recently.
Slowly, I said, “You could… not fight, but I’d find it strange if you did that. I’ve never known one of your kind to surrender.”
Growling, the Overseer bared his teeth.
“That’s only because surrender means death!” he snarled. “I’ve done unspeakable things to the Audish population. What could I expect besides death if I gave myself over into their hands?”
He wasn’t wrong. The Audish people could be incredibly vengeful at times, but that wasn’t always the case and- and-
I knew this Overseer hadn't had much of a choice about whatever evil things he'd done. I’d like to see how someone once under the control of a primal force handled a life spent free of it.
So, I said, “I have a friend, another primeancer. He can take Corruption away from you, making you human again. If they knew that Daevetch no longer controls you, those you’ve hurt in the past might be more inclined to forgive you. Maybe you could work toward reconciliation with them instead.”
Pulling back, the Overseer stared at me with his muscles seemingly locked in place.
After a moment, he said, “If this is so, I’d like to be the first Kiraak you’ve known to surrender. To stop me from attacking you, though, you’ll need to knock me out. You haven’t killed Foln, my Enforcer, and her command to eliminate the Dark Lord’s enemies is still firmly embedded within me.”
“I figured as much,” I said.
But I only took one step forward to do that before pausing.
“Are you sure?” I asked. “Raimie tells me that the process of clearing Daevetch from the body can be rather unpleasant.”
With a harsh laugh, the Overseer said, “It can’t be any worse than what Doldimar did to make me a Kiraak.”
I shrugged.
“Very well.”
With that, I shot Ele into the Overseer’s eyes before inducing sleep, and from the way he collapsed, it was a miracle that he didn’t land on his sword. After checking that he hadn’t been hurt, I turned to the last person left alive in the room.
“What about you?” I asked.
“I don’t… know,” the crumpled Overseer panted. “I want to be free but…”
He gestured at his legs, which might never be repaired, and I understood. Was living with such a restriction worth it when your past would always be there to haunt you?
“If you’re not sure, then I’ll make the choice for you,” I said.
When the man nodded, I sent him into as deep of a sleep as his comrade. I was the champion of Ele, yes? So, no matter how much Creation might growl behind me, muttering things about ‘eliminating the enemy’, I’d still preserve the life that I’d found here.
After doubly reinforcing the Ele holding my prisoners in slumber, I raced after Kylorian. This place only had One Enforcer to guard, and once she was dead, it would be ours.