The Chronicles of Starlyn (Calthoria Chronicles Book 1) Page 11

  The army of draeyks kept Starlyn and her force occupied. Arria didn’t need to worry as she reached the third prisoner—a female wood kheshlar—and slit her throat. As much as she wanted to do it slowly so she could hear the woman’s moan, she dared not chance the time it would take. Arria wanted to take each of their deaths slow to satisfy the hunger in her groin. Instead, she stood motionless above the steaming cauldron as she poured the remaining blood from her hand.

  Arria knelt at the three dead bodies. Lust boiled in her veins as she studied them, but she compressed it into the pit of her stomach. They needed to be naked for the next part of the ceremony. The blood of three pure souls hadn’t been enough for the spell, she needed their still beating hearts. The spell she used to keep their hearts beating gave her only a few moments to cut them out, dropping them into the cauldron. The obsidian dagger was no more, so no longer would the cuts be quick, clean, and efficient. She hoped the spell would give her enough time.

  Sometimes life doesn’t hand you everything you desire. She glanced over to her mother tied to a stone chair at her side. Arria exhaled. It had been for her mother—it had always been for her mother. Only now did Arria realize why her first interpretation of the spell failed. When Starlyn had shot an arrow into her back, she misspoke, using the word for self rather than mother. She saved her own life instead of her mother’s.

  The first time she hadn’t used pure souls, they had been pure before she invited them over, but it had been well known how each of them desired her. With her mother being ill, the three men were more than willing to comfort her. She didn’t have the courage to kill them. Arria knew she missed some of herself, her compassion and love were gone, all except for love for her mother and sister. Blood had indeed been thicker than water. She wanted her mother to be the same, unspoiled by her, and living away from her own darkness.

  Arria dared not waste anymore time. She pulled her steel dagger from its scabbard on her sash. Her dragon spawn would only keep Starlyn contained for a short while. The blood remained warm when she cut into the first chest. Her face showed freckles of blood. She grinned as she worked. Each heart continued to beat as she dropped them into the cauldron. She became glad the spell had lasted long enough.

  Black steam rose from the boiling pot as the last heart fell from her hand. Scarlet covered her arms up to her elbows. She took one last glance at her mother and Starlyn approaching, before beginning the enchantment.

  “Astra elkarr …” Arria spoke over the boiling cauldron.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Starlyn couldn’t resist the tears clouding her vision. She did not know the human boy, nor the two wood kheshlars who her sister murdered, but it did not matter. Everything she saw had been cruel beyond anything she could have imagined. She couldn’t believe her sister had been the culprit.

  She couldn’t reach the others in time. Their bodies lay lifeless upon the stone slab. Dragons, or rather, draeyks as Shronan called them, surrounded her. Starlyn used all of her ability to survive. Her hammer shot froth in bursts to defend against several axes of the wretched creatures—making the weapons appear a flurry of silver and gold. Every so often her balance would slip. She feared the next axe would take her head, but each time a black glass arrow soared next to her helm, piercing the creature through the weak of its neck.

  Anaela’s archery skill on the battlefield was majestic. Every arrow found a target. Many of them saved Starlyn’s life. The kheshlars were outnumbered significantly, but their skill outmatched the draeyks. Behind Starlyn, Shronan Onderon tossed magic around like a toddler’s toy, grinning all the while. He even enchanted a few of the kheshlars weapons. Vil’ek’s scimitars glowed with a bright green flame, burning the creatures he hit. Anaela’s obsidian arrows became coated with green ice, slowing and freezing every creature they hit. Starlyn’s hammer flashed with lightning which electrocuted every enemy it hit.

  Draeyks surrounded the kheshlarn army, even though they had more skill, the sheer quantity of draeyks had been astonishing. Starlyn didn’t know if they would be able to stop her sister. She glanced up after bashing the skull of another creature, witnessing Arria dropping the hearts of the three she’d slain into a large black cauldron. A scream echoed through the wilderness, coming from a woman strapped to a chair by Arria.

  “Mother,” Starlyn whispered.

  Nothing else mattered to Starlyn as she hammered the creatures in front of her. She needed to reach her mother before Arria turned her. As much as she hated to admit it, she’d rather see her mother dead than turned into the horrid creature Arria had become. One life, even her mother’s, would not be worth what the cost would be in the end. Starlyn pressed on, frantically using her hammer to pound a path in front of her. She watched as kheshlars around her fall, spilling their life’s blood, while she continued forward. Not every draeyk she struck fell dead at her feet, their hides were thick, but she caused enough damage to pound each one onto the ground.

  The once beautiful day grew dark as the swirling of purple and silver magic protruded from the cauldron next to Arria. An essence of magic seemed to flow from it, into her mother. Starlyn pressed on—stubbornly pushing aside the fact her mother may not survive the day. Clouds covered brilliant rays of sun as the magic swirled—overcasting the battle. In a matter of moments the clouds turned from luscious white into shadowy black. No longer did it resemble midday, but pitch black of night. Lightning bolted from cloud to cloud before thundering down onto the ground nearby.

  In spite of everything surrounding her, Starlyn could only see her mother, sitting alone—scared, screaming in the chair by Arria’s side. She used something she never felt before—rage—to push on to destroy as many of the creatures as she could. Kheshlars were supposed to be calm—serene—not enraged by anything, but what her sister planned had been … wrong. Starlyn no longer cared if she survived the day; the only thing which mattered became stopping her sister from giving the madness Arria now held to their mother.

  Arrows flickered at incredible speeds around Starlyn. Draeyks dropped like gnats with each arrow Anaela sent. Starlyn was grateful for all the extra obsidian arrows Anaela made during their journey, as well as the thousands of steel arrows they grabbed from blacksmiths in Sudegam. Starlyn continued forward, carving a path straight to Arria. They were still outnumbered, but everybody helped Starlyn open a path. She bashed in two last draeyk skulls, each splattering black ooze as they collapsed. Her armor no longer remained clean. It became covered in slime and blood.

  Arria brought her flamberge up just in time to intercept Starlyn’s hammer. Sparks scattered all around them in an aura of violet and gold. Starlyn’s attacks were powerful, with each strike Arria fell a step backward. Arria used her speed to her advantage, spinning her flamberge in such ways, causing it to slide past Starlyn’s defenses, slamming against her armor. Both overcame the other’s defense to strike armor, but neither were hurt bad.

  Rumbling thunder grew louder as the sky became completely black. Starlyn gazed to the sky, seeing a large creature, larger than anything she had seen. It took to the sky with wings over twenty spans long. It showed dark in appearance, lighting up the sky with an orange flame from its gigantic mouth. The flame blazed toward the unsuspecting kheshlars. They crumbled into ash where they stood, along with the draeyks who fought them.

  While Starlyn stared up in awe, Arria slammed her foot into Starlyn’s jaw. Starlyn flew back, falling at the feet of Shronan Onderon. He stared in disbelief up at the sky before helping Starlyn to her feet. She shook uncontrollably as she held onto the mage in desperation.

  “What is that?” Starlyn asked quietly.

  “That is a dragon,” Shronan said.

  Anaela’s shots were true, but against the hardened scales of the dragon, her arrows were no match; they bounced off the creature, shattering the obsidian glass, which poured over the battlefield in a powder. Kheshlars fell everywhere, making it the bloodiest battlefield Starlyn ever saw—even bloodier than the after
math of the wood kheshlars.

  “How do we fight that?” she asked.

  Shronan closed his eyes. His entire body shuddered as a green hue overtook him. The aura expanded beyond his body, encapsulating, protecting Starlyn. When his eyes opened, they blazed a stronger green than ever before as his voice become cold.

  “I have layered us in protection against fire, but it will not last. It drains our life force the longer we must use it,” he whispered.

  Starlyn noticed a small layer of ice on the dragon’s underbelly increasing with each arrow striking it. Anaela hadn’t given up. Her enchanted arrows were finally having an effect. The dragon seemed slower as it landed on the ground to swipe at the kheshlars who came toward it. Still, the kheshlars were no match. Starlyn watched in horror as the dragon grabbed several with its long slender claws, devouring them.

  Starlyn sensed the layer of protection around her, but she still quivered as she sprinted toward the dragon. Her only comfort had been Shronan following her, blasting magic from his palms at the dragon. Arrow continued to sizzle past her to hit the grounded beast, even though each arrow shattered as it struck its scales, the enchanted ice slowed the dragon.

  Fire spiraled out of the dragon’s mouth, surrounding Starlyn. She felt the heat, but didn’t burn like her companions. She continued forward, gritting her teeth. The dragon gaped at her, surprised when she reached it, swatting at her like a bothersome gnat. Starlyn ducked, rolling as spheres of green light shrieked by her sides, followed by more arrows. When she stood, she blocked a claw aimed for her face. Her next swing struck the dragon’s large jaw, knocking the creature backward.

  Starlyn spun, shouting, “Anaela, go for its eyes!”

  Before she could turn back to face the dragon, a draeyk slammed into her from the side, tossing her away from the dragon, and into a frenzy of attacking draeyks with axes. She ducked, blocking each strike with precision, crushing three of them to the ground before falling to a slash across her shoulder. The wound went deep enough to draw blood, slicing one of her armor straps, causing her armor to separate between her chest and arm plate. Starlyn fell back, unbalanced by her loose armor. She slipped the armor off her arm, leaving it exposed as she went back to fighting.

  Her arm bled. Trying to get a clean swipe of her exposed flesh, the draeyks fought with renewed passion. Many failed, and paid the ultimate price. Unsuccessful to stop every attack, she received many scrapes on her exposed arm.

  The draeyks surrounded surrounded her, far too many to escape toward the dragon. Shronan fought the dragon alone. He appeared to be failing. Before she gave up hope, a flurry of arrows blazed through the darkened sky, dropping ten of the creatures. Starlyn turned, mouth agape, finding Anaela well over a hundred paces away, stringing her bow with ten more arrows. Anaela glanced up, smiling at Starlyn before releasing. Ten more arrows shot past Starlyn and into more creatures who tried to block her path. Starlyn signaled her thanks to Anaela, then dashed to help Shronan.

  The dragon’s left eye held three arrows; its pupil no longer showed. She smiled at her friend’s accuracy. Shronan crashed to the ground. The beast picked him up with one of its gigantic claws, its mouth opening. Starlyn dove forward, holding her hammer back to build momentum until she struck at one of its hind claws. It shrieked, dropping the mage before swiping its paw at her. She attempted to dive out of the way, but one of the dragon’s claws went straight through her arm, immobilizing her. The dragon’s head came for her next and all surrounding noise ceased for her, but before it reached her, two arrows shattered the silence, their aim true, straight into the creature’s other eye. Starlyn slammed her hammer upward, bashing the dragon’s jaw to the sky, exposing its weakened neck. Six arrows followed her strike into the creature’s neck, between its thinner scales. Anaela shot them one at a time with incredible speed. Five of them wedged between scales and into flesh.

  The dragon collapsed onto the ground. No cry of pain followed it, the arrows granted the beast instant death without complaint. The vibration of its collapse caused everybody to fall to the ground.

  Starlyn peered to see Arria crawling on the ground, struggling to hold onto the cauldron in an attempt to not let the bubbling liquid spill. Her mother still sat in the chair, tipped on its side now, hair transforming from black to white.

  “No!” Starlyn crawled forward, attempting to reach her mother.

  No longer did arrows protect her path, nor the magic of Shronan. There were too many draeyks overrunning the kheshlars. A lot had been killed from the wrath of the dragon. The world only revolved around her, Arria, and their mother. Alone. Starlyn struggled to her feet, staggering forward to attack her sister. She met a slash of Arria’s flamberge. Starlyn stumbled back then gathered herself for another strike. She raised her hammer high. Arria spun around the cauldron, holding it steady with her back while delivering a fierce combination of attacks. Starlyn grew too weak to keep up with her blocks. Several more slashes bloodied her already worn body. She didn’t know what she could do to stop her sister.

  The cauldron, the cauldron is the answer. Starlyn watched as Arria precariously held the cauldron steady. Every magic had a source, especially a powerful one. Starlyn knew what she had to do. She grabbed a handful of shurikens from her sash, throwing the metal stars at her sister. Arria deflected two, three missed, but one sank into Arria’s exposed face. She screamed. The distraction had been enough for Starlyn to plunge into Arria, knocking her onto the ground. Starlyn spun, crawling to the cauldron where she used the rest of her strength to knock it over, spilling the liquid all around her. The fire protection from Shronan’s magic seemed to work against the bubbling liquid. Relief overtook her.

  Arria stumbled to her feet, crying out with eyes ablaze. She stared dumbfounded at the spilled contents of the cauldron. “Nooo! You’re killing mother!”

  Starlyn brought up her hammer in time to block a strike from her sister as the flamberge slammed down from above. She only had enough strength to block three of her sister’s strikes before her hammer slipped from her grip. Arria dropped to the ground, using all of her strength for one last strike toward Starlyn’s skull. Starlyn rolled over in time, causing the flamberge to slam into the stone. Starlyn rolled backward, unsheathed her dagger, sinking it into Arria’s stomach. It tore through her sister’s armor, causing Arria to shriek in pain.

  The world swirled around Starlyn as she collapsed. From the ground, she noticed the kheshlars had overcome the rest of the draeyks. Shronan stood, wobbly, but alive, with slashes all across his robes and his face bloodied. Vil’ek had been left in the best shape, but he complained his body ached with blood covering his armor. Of the large force who left with her to stop her sister, only twenty remained.

  Vil’ek and Shronan helped Starlyn to her feet. She gaped at the carnage surrounding them. “Where is my sister? Where is Arria?”

  “She escaped,” Shronan said.

  “Escaped? How?”

  “During the confusion, when you two fought, we ran forward to capture her, but as we did, a swarm of the creatures came out of hiding and attacked us. When they did, she vanished. Her trail heads north for a few miles, but after that, there is nothing. She is gone,” Vil’ek said.

  “Gone?” Starlyn whispered.

  “I’m sorry,” Shronan said, before embracing her in a hug.

  Starlyn stumbled away, untying her mother who still lay on the cold stone. Her breathing minimal, her life—failing. Tears streaked along Starlyn’s face, making her vision impossible, she sat, whimpering as the last of her mother’s life faded and she breathed no more.

  Had Arria been right? Was dark magic the only way to save mother? Now Starlyn would never know. Daunting words echoed through her mind, her sister’s words: You’re killing mother.

  Starlyn no longer cared to show strength around the other kheshlars. She took Shronan’s advice and sat, cradling her mother in her arms, and wept.

  Epilogue One

  Arria shivered as she crawled thro
ugh the dark forest surrounding her. Her mother was dead, and her army defeated. She didn’t know why she continued to try. Her life seemed meaningless. Her hopes, dreams, and aspirations, demolished, thanks to her sister. All of her draeyks who weren’t slaughtered, fled when the dragon and she was defeated. They did not have the faith required for a true invasion on Sudegam. They were weak. Arria had been strong, she felt weak now, but she knew she would be strong again. She felt the wounds her sister gave her, wincing.

  It would take a long time before she would be healed. The draeyks were weak. She shouldn’t have used them so early, but she had no choice. Her mother had been dying. There had been little else she could do. There were no others she could use for her next task. She knew what she had to do. The kheshlars took away the life of her mother, nothing remained but her desire to destroy them. She felt hatred toward all the kheshlars for what they had done, how they had shunned her and her mother. All except Starlyn. Arria could not hate Starlyn.

  She knew she would have to rally up the surviving draeyks who hadn’t been killed eventually, but as for now, she felt too weak. Starlyn wounded her greatly. She wouldn’t be able to get a healer from the kheshlarn capital. She would have to heal on her own, but it could take many years. Patience had not been something Arria did well. But now I have little choice. She gathered up her small bag, continuing onward.

  Arria could not travel long distances. Her blood covered the wilderness around her. She could only contain her wounds so much. If she were weaker, she knew she would likely bleed to death. She would not allow it. She promised herself one day she would have her revenge. The kheshlars of Sudegam would suffer. She planned to conquer them all. It would not be any day soon, but someday she would get her strength back to amass a massive army, then no one would be able to stand in her way.