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Chapter 35 - Where there’s smoke

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The Silverborn reached Naisha’s border on the dawn of the third day.

Tayne stood in his stirrups, hoping against hope for a sign of Skye. The faint emerald trail they’d followed originally worried him. The direction had been off, veering east or west before tracking back towards Naisha. The closer they got, the more it swayed, until an hour ago when it’d disappeared all together.

Had she even made it here?

The doubt whispered through his mind, battling against the gut feeling that knew she was nearby. The feeling tingled through his fingers like he could reach out and find Skye’s essence.

He withdrew his hand from the air in front of him and clutched the leather reins. Wing tossed her head and looked back at him, curiosity in her eyes. He stroked her neck, tangling his gloved fingers in her mane.  

There was something else, he realised. Wing knew it too. She shifted, constantly on edge.

The air seemed... wrong somehow. Like the sky was holding its breath. Thick grey clouds hung over their heads threatening rain, but even they seemed reluctant. Tayne shook his head, banishing the thought.

Luke came up behind him and punched him in the shoulder. “We’re not going to find her unless we keep moving, buddy.”

“I know,” said Tayne. He ran his fingers through his hair. “Something’s wrong, Luke. Can’t you feel it?”

Luke bit his lip, unusually serious. “Yes. Something happened here. Something dark, like we’ve never seen before. Nothing’s ever felt like this.”

Tayne lowered his head and nudged Wing forward. A few moments later, the familiar sound of hooves on grass and stone followed behind him.

He led them through the glade of trees, past the ruined outpost where Skye had taken him. He spotted the dirt where she’d traced the keystone pattern and made him repeat it countless times until it was etched into his memory. Nearby, he saw the keystone which guarded Naisha. He looked at it from Wing’s back, suddenly reluctant to approach it.

Instead, he looked to the sky. The clouds seemed heavier. A storm was brewing, yet there was no humid smell to declare its arrival. No thunder rolling in the distance. Tayne tilted his head to listen. Silence met him.

He looked around. There should have been some kind of sound. Thunder, a breeze, anything. Aside from his own breathing, there was nothing. No birds or small animals. No bushes rustling.

The trees were still. Nothing changed, moved, made noise. It was like a bubble had been placed around Naisha, stopping time and space inside it.

No amount of power can stop time. You’re being stupid, he told himself, rolling a shoulder to stretch his clenched muscles.

Luke pointed to his left. “Tayne, look.” 

Tayne twisted in the saddle to see what had caught Luke’s attention. A curl of smoke wisped through the air, only visible a few metres about the tree tops.

Skye.

Tayne turned Wing and squeezed her sides. In a heartbeat, they were racing through the trees.

She’ll be okay. Don’t jump to conclusions.

Wing’s agility was unmatched by pursing Silverborn as they tried to keep up. She leapt and dodged the obstacles in her path until she burst into a clearing where the smoke was no longer obscured by trees.

Wing came to an abrupt halt and Tayne was catapulted out of the saddle with a shout of surprise. No amount of limb-flailing saved him. He hit the ground hard, cape tangling around his arms. By the time he was standing again, Luke was beside him and gripped his arm.

“Just think; you could have happily rolled all the way down if your horse wasn’t smarter than you.”

Confused by Luke’s words and slightly disoriented, Tayne blinked hard and looked up.

Inches from where he’d fallen, a chasm split the earth. Trees that’d been firmly rooted in place lay scattered and upended at odd angles, their branches snapped and broken. Beneath them chunks of ground, shattered into huge boulders metres thick, rested to form an irregular staircase to the previously hidden floor below.

Naisha.

In the sky, an abyss of darkness hovered over the centre of the destruction. Purple tinged its edges, black coloured its centre and it radiated evil. Shadows moved just beyond vision, lurking in the maw. Even through his gloves and sheath, Tayne felt his blade cool.

“It’s a demon portal, or the remnants of one,” said Wrain, approaching behind them. “I’ve never seen one quite like that. They usually require a kind of attachment to the earth and enchanted pillars to ensure it doesn’t spread or tear the Mortal realm wide open.”

“So...” said Luke with a twirl his blade. “The fact that this one’s hovering several feet in the air and is doing its own thing is not good for us.”

“I suppose that’s one way to put it,” said Wrain.

“Well I suppose you could compare it to Donovan in a children’s house, sucking the life out of everything but I thought it best to keep it related to our current situation.”

Tayne glanced at the pair. Luke was worried, whatever air he put on. The tightened edges of his mouth said what his words did not. Wrain... was being Wrain. Calmly assessing the situation and putting up with Luke. If he had quirks when he was worried, Tayne had yet to learn of them.

He found his voice and came to a decision.

“Luke, you hold this area with Tyrol, Koda, Riggs, Milne and Zeforr. I’m not sure if there’s any other way out other than there,” he said, gesturing at the caved in ceiling of Naisha. “The rest of us are going in to find Skye and get her out again. Understand?” The group nodded, although Luke looked unhappy. “Let’s go.”

Descending the rubble was difficult. Pieces slipped out from under Tayne’s feet and more than once he lost his balance. Somehow, they made it to the bottom with only one Silverborn needing to be sent back up after twisting his ankle. Tayne offered a quick prayer to the deities that it wasn’t him.

They spread out into a defensive formation, Tayne at its head. They passed the buildings Tayne remembered from Skye’s dream, nearly all of which were in ruins. It became apparent that the entire roof hadn’t caved in as they continued on into a cavern, where oddly coloured lights flickered and fought back the darkness. It was enough to see by, and for that they were grateful.

Tayne traced a talon scratch along a wall. What happened here?

Wherever he looked, there was blood. Whether demon or elven, he knew not, but it was everywhere. It decorated the walls like paint. Tayne stepped around a larger pool of dried blood with a grimace. Not many people were capable of surviving such an injury, and he doubted the shadow Sentinel would have provided the kind of care they needed.

The Silverborn continued into Naisha’s heart.

Tayne tried to analyse his surroundings but found it to be a near hopeless task. Every structure was the same -- ruined. The ones that still stood had jagged edges and broken framework stained a dark purple. Wooden beams smouldered, the embers flaring to life as the Silverborn passed.

Tayne rounded a corner and found himself staring at the building with the crescent shaped windows, although the flowered vines were nowhere to be seen.

His eyes travelled lower. His body went numb.

He couldn’t help it. He turned and retched, a hand against a wall for support. It was all he could do to stop himself collapsing.

“Deities save us,” whispered a Silverborn behind him. “How can we fight against this?”

Hundreds upon hundreds of elves. All utterly still and motionless in perverted positions, tortured or placed after death. Paths twisted and wound through the corpses, trails of blood criss-crossing their lengths where it leaked from the bodies, most of which were piled on each other for space. Some near the walls were propped up against it and impaled with spears or swords like a living dartboard.

Tayne stood completely still, his mind trying to process what his eyes were showing him. He dragged his gaze across the ground.

Red-brown trails of blood led to most of the elves, and Tayne realised why he hadn’t seen any bodies along the way. They’d all been dragged here to die, but to what end, he was blind. He surveyed the scene with growing horror, his hand trying to shatter the hilt of his sword in its grip.

Silverborn collapsed around him, a few falling victim to their stomachs and heaving onto the ground. Others dropped their swords or fell to their knees, but none of them kept forward.

The silver haze returned over his vision. Tayne drew a deep breath, the rank air staining the insides of his lungs and curling his stomach. He knew what he had to do. It had to be him to start.

Please, please just let Skye not be among them. Please let her not be here yet.

He found his way on to a path with corpses for edging, placing his feet carefully. Bile rose in his throat. He swallowed. Each face he checked became burnt into his memory. Their flat eyes haunted him even when he looked away. Every green streak with brown hair made his stomach do flips.

The nearer he got to the centre, the more tainted bodies lay around. There weren’t many, but enough to tell him that they’d fought back. He noticed a third of the elves numbers were dressed in some kind of armour and numerous weapons were thrown carelessly into a corner.

What in the hells happened here?

Tayne passed by one, a girl smaller than Skye with a red streak in her hair that lay in isolation to the rest. She was covered in lacerations with a dagger still sheathed in her thigh. The bile returned. Demons didn’t use weapons of steel; they didn’t need to.

Did he offer them some kind of twisted hope? That if they turned on each other, he’d let them live?

The thought and its consequence sickened him further and he retched a second time.

The girls left arm was bent unnaturally sideways under her head, a fractured pillow of bone and flesh. Gently, Tayne lifted her head and placed her arm beside her, finding death’s hold was yet to set in. He lingered before rising.

Find rest, wherever you are.

He wasn’t sure why he did it. Perhaps just to prove to himself that things could change. Painful memories didn’t need to last forever; arms didn’t need to remain in unnatural positions even after the soul had passed on.

Tayne stood, the movement difficult. There was a weight on his shoulders that hadn’t been there before. Scuffled noises made him turn to see Jesse, Wrain and three other Silverborn following his lead and moving among the bodies. Jesse’s face was white, the horror written into his features. Wrain’s expression was set in stone.

Does nothing affect him? Or is it just that this is nothing compared to the horror he’s witnessed?

The thought didn’t make the dead surrounding him easier to accept.

Jesse was the first to reach Tayne. When he stopped, he pressed his hands to his forehead and started to shake, stooping toward the ground. Tayne gripped him by the arm. Jesse looked up, the glassy hold over his eyes fading.

“How...” began Jesse, but Tayne shook his head.

“I don’t know, Jess. This is why the corruption has to stop. This here is what we work to prevent. If you need to go to the surface with Luke, I won’t hold it against you, but we need to find Skye,” he said. It surprised him how calm his voice was. It reminded him of Skye -- the guarded and walled off one they’d first rescued. Was this how she’d felt? Like if she succumbed to it, she’d never get out again?

Jesse pointed over Tayne’s shoulder, who turned to look.

Against the wall of the building with the crescent shaped windows, was Skye.

Wrapped in a ragged Silverborn cape, her sword and dagger were drawn but hung limp in her hands. She pressed her head to the singed wall, her eyes closed. She trembled, apparently unaware of their presence. Four tainted lay dead at her feet.

Tayne  ran towards her. He was vaguely aware of someone following him but paid them no mind, intent on closing the distance between him and Skye.

He’d found her. She was alive and apparently free, in body at least.

“Skye!”

Her head snapped around. The ferocious green eyes locked on to him. She pressed back into the wall, arms and blades lifting in warning and growled.

Don’t even try, it said. I’ll kill you if you come near me.

Tayne sheathed his own blade and gestured behind him for whoever it was to halt.

He knew this look, the stance and its warning. He’d seen it when she’d awoken after being removed from Darni and pinned him to the ground. The feline, predatory actions masked the fear and hurt threatening to bubble over and spill.

And so, hands open, arms in front, he approached her, never breaking the contact of their eyes.

“Skye? It’s me, Tayne. We want to help you.”

She pressed herself further against the wall. Tayne swallowed, trying to hide his dejection at her response. She saw his movement and raised her dagger as if to throw it.

Tayne took another step forward. “We came looking for you. You promised me you’d let me in, but you left without telling me. Remember? When we first met; you told me my mind felt like hers. I promised that I’d never harm you like they did.”

The dagger lowered an inch. Tayne rushed on, desperately trying to reach her.

“I told you once that I’d stand by you no matter what happens, and I mean it. I’m with you, Skye, and I’ll never leave. I’ll always be here for you, no matter how dark it gets, I’ll find you and we’ll get out of it together.”

She was silent for a long moment. Each eternal second, nothing existed but her for Tayne. He took a final step forward, his hand reaching out for hers. “You’ll always have me,” he said quietly, unsure if she could hear him.

Something sparked in her eyes, a golden fleck in her otherwise emerald aura. Recognition.

 “Tayne...” Her lips formed his name and she ran to him, her dagger and sword lying forgotten on the ground. She crashed into him and his arms enveloped her. The unexpected force pushed him to his knees. He cradled her head with one hand, the other wrapped around her shoulders and pulling her to him. For the first time, she didn’t pull away.

“I... I’m so sorry, I just couldn’t...”

“You have nothing to be sorry for, Skye. Nothing. This isn’t your fault.”

Skye broke down. Months of uncertainty, doubt and fear stained Tayne’s cloak. Tayne pulled her closer, his chin resting on her head. The light from her teal streak flickered around his face and his cheeks dampened with a mix of sorrow and relief.

We found her.

Skye lifted her head from his chest. Her words sank into one another, each one soft, deliberate and broken.

“I... didn’t get here fast enough, I wasn’t strong enough and they took control of me -- they moved me away, t--they didn’t want me getting here. Tayne they’re dead, they’re all just dead. They’re dead because I wasn’t here, because of them, but I wouldn’t have made it anyway without them.”

 “Shhh. Who are you talking about? Who didn’t want you here?” he asked.

“The forest, the trees, all of them. They didn’t want me here; they kept trying to pull me away. I thought I could handle them but I couldn’t. I couldn’t do it.”

He pushed her away gently to look at her. “Perhaps the deity knew something you didn’t? Maybe if you’d been here, the Master would have killed you too?”

“What good is magic if I’m never allowed to use it except for trivial things?” she said, her voice flat. She gave him a blank stare. “What good is it if I can’t stop this?”

“You will. You’ll stop it,” said Tayne. Skye snorted, a harsh kind of disbelieving laugh, but remained silent.

“I can’t even control a tree.”

Tayne continued while standing, pulling her gently to retrieve her blades. “You’ll learn. Then, you’ll stop the corruption from spreading, from ever touching another soul. It doesn’t seem like much now, surrounded by this, but you will. And we’ll be by your side every step of the way.”

Skye dropped her gaze but accepted the blades, sheathing them. “Am I a bad person?” she asked almost inaudibly. “I used to wish them death by demons when they taunted me. I used to wish they were all just... gone.”

“And does it make you happy seeing them so?”

She shook her head. “No. I regret that I ever entertained the thought.”

“Then no, you’re not a bad person.”

“It still doesn’t--“ she began.

“I found one!”

Both Tayne and Skye looked toward the source of the shout. Hope blossomed in Tayne’s chest, his heart beating faster at the side of a crouched silver-clad body. Skye’s fingers squeezed his hand.

“Here! Tayne! I found one -- She’s alive!”

Skye was off like a shot, Tayne on her heels. The silver haze over his vision turned blue in part where Jesse was crouched over a body.

Jesse’s babble was nearly incoherent. “I just decided that I’d uh well check and see that you know well maybe he might have missed one and well I just she’s breathing! Just a few seconds ag-- There! Again!”

Skye grabbed the female elf under her shoulders and dragged her away from the pile of dead elves. She rested the elf’s head on her knees and clutched the sides of her face, her eyes darting around her body, fingers tracing the wounds.

“It’s Kya. I don’t believe it.”

The words fanned the flame of hope. The elf’s chest rose every ten seconds or so, but her eyes were closed and she wasn’t responding. The pallor of her skin was deathly. Unlike the red-haired elf, Kya was suited in hardened leather armour. Demon claws had raked through her shin guards and chest plate, but other than that, she seemed to be whole.

But she was almost gone, minutes, if not seconds from death’s doorstep. She’d bled out for too long.

Skye glanced at Tayne and he nodded. She drew a deep breath through her nose and turned her attention to Kya, placing her hands flat on the injured elf’s collarbone. A shudder took her body that went from head and pushed out her hands.

Light consumed them.

Tayne shielded his eyes and squinted through his fingers. He barely believed what he saw -- but the hope bloomed into surety in its wake. 

Ethereal wings like that of an bird swept over Skye's arms, covering her in the see-through guise of a magnificent brown and white speckled eagle. Edged in green, the projection took several seconds to steady around her. When it finally did, the eagle lifted its head and cried to the air around it. It shifted in and out of an existence where Tayne could only see it through his silver hazed vision, but the Sentinel mark on Skye's arm nearly blinded him with its radiance. 

Kya’s body cocooned in a smooth jaded light and flecks of gold danced and weaved among it. Skye’s hands moved from Kya’s face to press over her injuries. She leant forward and whispered, “Heal.”

The light warmed Tayne’s skin and dispelled the sickened feeling in his stomach. Life could go on. Families and friends, while gone, would not be forgotten. The corruption hadn’t won, and it never would as long as light like this existed. 

Skye pulled her arms towards her, and the light went with it. Her eagle remained, pulling away to flit behind her and stir strands of hair off her back.

Kya stirred in Skye’s lap. “Skye... you’re...”

Skye nodded silently. “Kya, what happened here?”

“He... he came when we were sleeping, unaware. I woke up to screaming and fire. I don’t remember what I did next... just... grabbing my armour and trying to save my sister from a... a tainted.” Kya choked on the word. “I couldn’t. It nearly ripped me to pieces. It took us to the hall where the Sentinel was. He had some... stone, said that whichever of us refused to fight each other would be doomed to a fate worse than death.”

Skye bent her head; her eyes squeezed shut. “The opal.”

Kya tilted her head in Skye’s lap. “He kept calling it that too,” she mused. “But... we assumed he meant we’d be turned into tainted if we refused. We were wrong. That was the fate of the victor if they chose to fight. The rest...

“He did something to the rest with the stone. A mirror image of their body appeared next to them and it was sucked into the stone. He said we should be honoured to bind the stone with our souls, for the next element was soon to be added. After that happened, they just collapsed. Dead.”

Tears streamed down Kya’s face, running off her cheeks. “Skye, I was so scared, I didn’t know what to do. I just laid down, pretended I was dead. Everything was blurry, my leg was bleeding, and I was terrified of that stone. And he just kept laughing, smiling at us, like it was a game!”

“I’ll make him pay for what he did here Kya. He won’t escape,” Skye said.

Tayne stared at her, trying to draw her eye but if she noticed, she ignored it. The eagle gave one last cry before vanishing back into Skye's body, who continued to stroke Kya’s cheek, gently cleaning the dirt off with a magically lit thumb in silence. 

The moment didn't last.

Between Skye and Tayne, a shadow appeared. It quickly solidified, revealing itself to be a woman with dark raven hair. Thin wings with ragged edges sprouted from her back.

Skye was the first to react, grabbing Kya by the wrist and sending her flying in a stream of magic toward the Silverborn still outside the ring of death. She drew her blades in a flash and lunged toward the woman who teleported behind the charging elf.

“Ah, ah, ah. Now now, the Master wouldn’t like it if you did that sweetie,” said the shadow woman. Tayne drew his blade, and her dark eyes fixed on him.

“Oh my, they weren’t kidding when they said you were something to look at.” She stepped over a body, looking Tayne up and down. She pouted. “It’s too bad it won’t last though. He never lets me keep the good ones long.”

Skye hissed through clenched teeth. “Ebony, isn't it?” 

The woman smiled at them, flashing teeth. “It’s sweet that you know my name, really, but I’m just here to finish the job our little convert couldn’t bring himself to do, I suppose.” She clapped her hands. “It’s so exciting! I finally get to start taking part in things other than observing!” 

Tayne raised an eyebrow. She was mad. She had to be. Wrain, Jesse, and another few Silverborn moved behind him.

Ebony put her hands on her hips and shook her head. “Useless. I mean really. None of you could hurt me unless I let you. Put the blades away and we’ll--“ She cut her sentence off abruptly, tilting her head and looking to the roof.

The smile faded into a scowl and she sighed. Her wings flickered behind her. “He never lets me have any fun. Nooooooone at all. It’s just so boring, you know?”

Skye, now behind her, tried her attack again. Tayne moved with her, hoping that they’d manage to catch their target despite her strange ability. Ebony stamped her foot and disappeared. Tayne stepped to the side to avoid running into Skye, and was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

“It’s okay, I don’t blame you for that. I really do still like you, but Master wants to see you.”

Ebony reached forward and grabbed Skye’s wrist in addition to Tayne’s shoulder. He tried to break it but her grip was like iron. Someone behind him lunged forward as Ebony raised her head and shouted something unintelligible.

Tayne’s view dropped away into ribbons of purple magic and a vortex sucked him in. He was vaguely aware of Skye’s presence somewhere nearby, but all he could think as he descended into the spiral was of what Nissa had said the night Skye had been attacked.

‘Whoever it was attempted a teleportation spell. They intended to capture you and Skye.’

The memory spiralled around his mind until another thought replaced it.

Has anyone ever escaped the citadel?

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A/N -- Please vote and comment! Going away for a few days ~ Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all!