An Apocalypse Rising Ch. 10

Drexa drew closer to her. "What happened?"

"She exposed me to a spell. She tried to break me again. She tried to make me her pet again." She shook her head. "No. I am the person I choose to be without you, vile bitch. At least Drexa is honest. You couch your evil in such fine morals. Go to the depths."

"This is still mine to win and for us to share. Go. Draw the mages. Hear his love scream enough and he will do as I wish."

Bryana nodded. "Let me kill her when it's done."

Drexa would have given anything at all, much less this nothing. "She is my gift. Go."

Bryana shifted her weight to leave and Drexa looked at her stunned as metal bit and the knife slipped under her ribs. Blood lust fueled Drexa's response as air fled from her chest. Red fire burned into Bryana's belly, burning still as it drove her to the wall. Kes looked on in bewilderment as the impossible happened, paralyzed by the sight of her all-powerful Mistress displaying her mortality.

Freed and driven by a feeling she would later look upon as what the beasts Drexa had created must have felt inside, she pulled her mother's dagger from its sheath at her thigh and loosed the rage at all that had been done. Neral lost and the sight of Bryana's blackened body and sank the dagger into the soft of her belly before Drexa pushed her away effortlessly with magic.

Neral hit the floor and her vision swam for a moment before she shook herself aware and looked at Drexa, watching as she grinned, pulling Bryana's blade free and tossing it aside. "Do you think your metal matters? Your entire army could come to try to hack me to bits," she hissed, pulling Neral's weapon from herself with no sign of pain, hands already at work closing the worst of her wounds, "and I would blast them apart. You are petty nothings and unworthy of blue weaving window."

Neral's brow knotted.

"Green along the house river?" Confusion colored her features as she realized she was not being understood. "Green along!" Now she realized she didn't even understand herself. Confusion fell to horror as she perhaps found some inkling that something was tearing at the connections of mind and body from the inside that she could not understand. And that ability to fashion a coherent thought or understand was already all but gone.

Neral smiled, watching Deres and Maylin's weapon rip at her. Drexa fell back, trying to grip one of the tapestries for support as both fell, her eyes fixed on an ever more distant point. Another sword hit the floor and Neral stepped back, her own at the ready before seeing Kes on her knees, shaking and crying soundlessly in her own version of her Mistress's state.

Ignoring her for the moment, Neral rushed to Bryana, fighting crushing grief just looking at the wound. Cradling her, Neral called to her in frantic plea as Deres, Maylin and the others rushed in. They were bruised, battered, and spent, but they lived. The mages were ready to strike while Abren focused her anger and her blade on the still frozen Kes. "She turned. She gave us to them. Delles fell because of her. She swallowed hard. "I almost did."

Neral didn't look away. "I know. Come help Bryana."

Deres and Maylin rushed to Bryana's side, hands conveying energy to the wound. Bryana's eyes found focus on Neral as they worked. "She helped us," Neral said in a faint whisper. She saved me."

Her hand touched Neral's cheek with near reverence. "You really are a stupid bitch, Neral. Rushed headlong, didn't you?"

"You know me." She tried to smile. "I do that sometimes."

"I do know."

Deres looked down at her and a piece of Neral died when she saw tears fall. "It's too much to fix in too little time, my love."

For an instant she hated him. "What do you mean too much to fix in too little time? You're mages. You have power. You're a healer. You healed me. Make her well.

He looked at her, anguished. "What happened to you is not this. Half a dozen mages working in harmony, yes, but...there isn't time."

"It's all right, Neral," she said in a whisper.

"It's not." She brushed that blonde hair, some of the anger finding a new target. "Why didn't you protect yourself?"

"I was...using my magic for other things."

"What? What could possibly be more important than not getting burned through?"

Deres smiled holding Bryana's hand tightly. "She was protecting herself.

Bryana nodded to him and managed a grin for Neral. "At least when I die I won't have to kiss you again and forever worry about what spell you will slip me. I couldn't let her come back to hurt you or anyone else. I couldn't let Drexa try to bring her back. It took all I had to do that."

A tear fell on Bryana's cheek and Neral wiped it away. "Stay. Please."

"If I could, I would. I do not wish to disappoint you. And I would wish for as many more days as I could get, but I made my choices for those I love. And, above all that...I did the right thing. Before that night in your room changed me, I hadn't done that nearly often enough." Her voice quivered. "I shall miss you both."

She gestured for Deres to come closer and their lips met. "I know that..she was first. Know that I was never bothered by it, Easy to share when we both loved her so."

"And I you. Easy to share, indeed, even when it seemed like it was just the two of you. I loved watching that."

"Your place never wavered, even if I did enjoy stealing her away from you now and then just to do it."

Neral kissed her, and Bryana's hand touched her again. "'I love you' is not enough."

She forced another breath. "In this life...and the next."

Neral nodded, clutching her more tightly as Bryana slipped away. When there was nothing more to hold onto she wailed into the pit of anguish. Knowing that Deres was there and that he shared every bit of the loss was the only thing that made it bearable. Looking around she saw eyes around her in shared grief that left her feeling exposed as much as comforted. "I'm sorry, sir," Dion said with sincerity.

Breathe."What...ummm...happened out there?"Breathe.

Deres forced words from himself to answer her. "There was no end to them, so...mother and I started sealing the tunnels. Then they just...started attacking each other and dying." He looked at Drexa panting, staring at nothing she understood. "Worked on her as well as them."

She could watch the pain between them no longer. "Move aside, Deres," his mother said, iron will showing with every word.

In what was almost a reflex response from childhood at that tone, he moved away and Maylin took his place, roughly pulling the pendant from Bryana's neck, snapping the clasp as she marked Bryana's body with her fingers.

He watched, only recognizing pieces of her movements, "What are you doing, Mother?"

She worked. "I can give her life."

Neral was at a loss. "I thought you couldn't treat this?"

"Words matter, Daughter. Deres was correct. I said I can give her life. Forbidden magic, even in Adar, doesn't mean unknown. It was discussed...in theory only, an an ethical exercise. Imagine someone in the community sucking life from others to sustain themselves? To save another? One of my instructors taught me much in secret just so knowledge would not be lost. I can give her the life of another."

Neral stared into Drexa. "She deserves it for what she's done."

Maylin continued to work. "Not her. I wouldn't attempt it to a mage from a mage as soiled as she is."

"Then who?"

"Me," as though the answer were obvious.

Deres was dumbstruck. "You can't." He looked to Bryana and ached anew.

I'll do it."

"I will." Bryana's words in the cave would not leave her mind. Some part of Neral wondered if they were what the little negative voice that lives in every soul believed. "I will, so she knows that I loved her."

"That kind of misses the point, Daughter. I've had a long, full life of adventure. I have a son I could not love more." Her words carried the weight of someone who simply accepted the nature of life. "A parent passes and a child moves on. There is balance in that," she looked to the two of them, "and one life spares three."

"I'll do it."

All turned to see Kes still on her knees, disheveled and hollow-eyed. Abren stood over her, waiting for the slightest provocation, "I'm dead anyway, isn't that so? Once she dies...I can't live without her, right?"

"I expect that is so," Maylin told her flatly.

She rose slowly and turned to Abren, "I'm so sorry." She extended her hand and Abren stepped back. The rejection was like a slap to the face, but she nodded in understanding. She began to pace the room, words rushing from her. "I wish I were one of the empty things, then I wouldn't remember or care, But I had to be me enough to pass, so I get to remember." It elicited a bitter laugh. "I remember what I did to Delles, Goddess, Delles is dead because of me. I even remember what Pel did."

"And I still feel her." Her fingers hurriedly climbed the air in front of her, "like insects biting at me. Or like...like little whispers in my ear. Goddess save me, I want them."

She stopped, looking down at Bryana's lifeless form. "Even if you could cleanse me of that, I have no honor left. I gave it away. She wept. "I gave it away." She sniffed and forced the emotion back. "If I can die and salvage something from this, let me. Please."

Neral and Deres looked to Maylin who was contemplative for a time before answering. "I expect there's enough of her left not totally consumed by the corruption so that she could. That she is willing aids us that way."

"If it's your wish." Deres said, while Neral simply nodded.

"One thing first." She hurriedly moved to stand over Drexa, driving her boot into the witch's belly, bringing the first sound from her in several minutes before Kes spat upon her. "Fucking mage."

Turning to her friends, she said all that she could think of to say. "I'm sorry for the choice I made. I'm sorry that I...betrayed you all. In the moment..."

Abren faced her own demons. "It was...difficult to resist."

Kes looked hopeful for some small bit of peace to take with her. "Can you forgive me?"

"Not today. It is all too raw," she told Kes before her voice reflected some of that hopeful tone, "but...someday."

That seemed good enough for Kes who nodded and managed a small smile before moving to lay next to Bryana, her words tentative and fearful, not for herself, but for others. "General? I know that, no matter what reason you tell them we went through this, you have every right to tell my family of my betrayal, even if the why is muddled, as that much is the truth, but I beg you to spare them that."

"Tell them anything. Tell them I slipped on a rock and fell off a cliff. Tell them I choked on a piece of bread for all it matters, but, please, do not make my House have to contend with my betrayal."

"I will be able to tell them that you died so that the rest of us could come home. The particulars belong to us." No one in the room questioned those words as Neral gripped Kes firmly under the elbow, one soldier to another. "Know that we will honor your name as long as we live." Tears threatened to fall again, but her will kept them at bay. "Deres and I thank you for restoring our life to us."

She looked to him to see him smile almost shyly, her eyes studying his. "It was a good journey with you. You're not all fucking mages."

He shrugged. "Some of us earn that just like everyone else." He paused. "Thank you."

She lay flat and waited, Maylin holding the pendant in the air between the two spoke. "I have never done this before. I don't know if there will be pain."

She stared up at the ceiling. "No matter. If there is I've earned some."

"Be clear of her," Maylin told them all as her eyes closed and she slipped into a chant. Deres and Neral stood away to their right and watched. Neral owed Kes that if nothing else. And she found herself piecing together a prayer. Or perhaps it was pieces of several half-remembered ones that somehow made sense together. Neral hoped that if there was a Goddess to hear, that she gave credit for sentiment.

She looked on with that mix of awe and hopefulness as one snow white wisp of vapor rose from Kes to the jewel that was now so bright it looked as though it could melt before the wisp of life transitioned and vanished into Bryana. More life trailed after, dozens of lines of force unbound themselves from Kes, winding together, all drawn to the stone before moving with unity and melding with Bryana, the vicious wounds to her belly healing so quickly Neral could watch the progress. Maylin shook and continued to speak in tongues as Kes stared up at the ceiling, lips parting and eyes carrying a sense of wonder at something only she could see.

Her chest fell for the final time as the last trails of the essence of life made their way to Bryana whose chest began to rise and fall in rhythm. Neral dared to be happy even in the face of Kes' sacrifice. Maylin fell forward, bracing herself on an unsteady hand before letting the pendant drop. Deres went to her, but she quickly waved him off. "I will be fine."

He went to Bryana, looking at pristine skin where the torn flesh once was while Neral touched Kes, skin now white and slightly drawn. As one of her final duties to one she commanded, she passed a hand over Kes, closing her eyes and marking a close to at least that end of her journey. May the Goddess restore your peace.

She could not help but be drawn to the familiar voices that sang to her ear and misted her eyes.

"Everything will be explained later, my heart," Deres said firmly but gently. "Now, I'll carry you from here and we'll go home."

"Nonsense." She tried to rise and every muscle protested, pushing her to the floor.

He smiled at her, unable to stop touching her. "I will carry you until you can carry yourself."

"Listen to our mate," Neral admonished softly.

She looked to him, rolling her eyes without actually doing so. "Yes, Master."

"If only you meant that more."

"I mean that in every way that matters to you."

As Neral listened to the music Maylin was on bended knee looking at Drexa with disgust. "All you have done and you did not care. All the pain caused and you did not care." She stood, looking down upon her in every way and drawing power to herself. "The only thing I regret about this is that I cannot see you know what is coming."

Drexa made no sound as a blinding white consumed her, leaving nothing behind once it dimmed but Maylin looking upon the empty space with satisfaction.

Neral gave the place one last look as she and her troops gathered themselves and fell in behind her while Maylin spoke. "The lava will be useful."

Neral nodded, needing no further explanation. "We will find Delles and take Kes with us. They can rest with Pel. Bury this place."

"As we speak, Daughter," she answered willing the planet's fire forward.

They stayed for hours until the tomb was sealed, buried in liquid fire and Neral watched it with Deres and Bryana who was now able to stand, even if it was between them for some bit of support and in the midst of a graveyard for Drexa's things.

"I never expected to walk out the front door," Dion told them with some surprise.

Anna looked to her. "How could you not? We are the best of the best."

Dion thought about it. "Undeniable." Putting her hand to Neral's shoulder she had to remark, "She favored us today in many ways."

"True."

"Should I save you a place at services?"

She sighed with resignation and amusement looking over her shoulder. "Perhaps just to be with a friend."

"I'll take it."

"Hail to you," a strong, gravelly, male voice called to them.

They turned to see a tall male with some silver in his black beard, his skin only slightly lighter than his beard, his eyes dark enough to almost earn the term black themselves. With him was a slightly shorter woman with light brown hair that cascaded down her shoulders and pale green eyes. The black and brown robes with silver trim implied some station while the cut was similar enough to Deres and Maylin's choices that Neral didn't need to be told they were Adaran.

"Hail to you," she said, keeping the tone she used with diplomats she couldn't wait to be done with.

The man spoke again. "I am Xern and this is Tebia. We come from...a far place. We have heard stories of things ravaging the land. Do you know anything of whether these stories are true?"

"Maylin Xon," Tebia whispered after eying her. "I recognize her."

"It's about time," she said in exasperation.

"Maylin Xon," he repeated, "are you well?"

Neral had no patience left. She had been through too much and lost too much. They all had. She laughed as though she had heard the greatest joke ever told. "They don't care about you. They don't care about any of this," she said, sweeping her arm outward.

Maylin simply looked at her.

"Don't you see, Mother? Their access to magic was interfered with. Do that and they come looking."

"You lost sense of the line, so you came to investigate." Deres was his own version of disgusted and the looks on the faces of the two confirmed the suspicion.

Tebia looked around and asked, "What can you tell us?"

Her response was cold after realizing Neral was right. "I will return home and explain in due course. In the meantime, my family and friends want to go home."

The exclamation was loud and crisp.

They walked over the grass towards the mages. "Good to meet you," Neral said, walking between them as an unstoppable force, her body alone pushing them aside, her people behind her.

"You're welcome, by the way."

***

Collecting the horses was a simple matter and, in much the same way they entered a new land, with Maylin ahead, talismans in hand, they came home. They all spied the road ahead leading them to the bustle of the city and the spires of the estates that formed a ring around the it with Queen Evaline's castle over them all.

It had been decided that truth enough was that Neral had heard rumors of raiders outside the borders who were becoming increasingly emboldened by a lack of response. Searching them out and ending them before they threatened the outlying villages led to the losses. It wasn't uncommon enough to be unknown and wouldn't be questioned on its face.

"I am sorry," Bryana said to both Dion and Elan, her eyes having been conspicuously downcast for most of the journey back.

"I told you in the cave that I forgive you," Dion answered plainly. "I meant it then. I meant it even had I not watched you die and heard what you thought would be your last words. You were a victim just the same."

Elan echoed the sentiment and added, "If you need me to accept your apology to feel at peace, consider it so." Her eyes looked coyly at Deres. "It worked out well enough in the end."

Deres sensed that it was directed at him. "I could simply have you return to Vin and your life."

"And I would obey because I am yours. But, if my preference matters, I would prefer that you not do so."

Abren rode just behind Dion, listening to the exchange. Having heard the story and understanding the necessity of binding her mind to save it, she could not shed her own discomfort. "Are you happy, Elan?"

She nodded. "I was lost anyway. I felt it. I knew it and there was no caring. I just...wanted a voice to obey. I wanted that mind that and voice to shape me." She grinned at his back. "I am his and I am still myself. There was no better outcome to be had and I am happy with it."

I was moments away," she said to no one in particular. "I don't know how long, but not long."

Neral peered at her from over her shoulder. "If it were difficult to fall she could not have amassed an army. I know how easy it is. I was moments away...more than once."

Bryana looked away again.