Circle of Reign (45 page)

The screech that came from behind him was ear shattering. He turned in time to see the attack come but knew he could not defend against it. He let himself fall from the tree through the air some sixty feet and deftly landed in the snow below. Without hesitation, he sheathed his sword and bounded back up the tree to regain his vantage point. Aiden saw the creature that barely missed him, twice now, turn sharply and swoop down toward the cottage.
Two riders upon the demon’s back
he noted and simultaneously jumped to another tree, using it as a ricochet point. Once he was in range, he coiled his legs and pushed off hard without ever truly landing, launching himself downward. He collided with the winged beast, but its thick scales were hard and smooth. He would have bounced off as quickly as he hit had his belt and scabbard not caught on some boney protrusion from its wing. The force of his aerial assault deflected the trajectory of the creature enough to cause it to abandon its target. Aiden desperately reached up for anything with which to grab and haul himself upright. He found nothing. The creature was flying low to the ground, attempting to dislodge the parasite that had grappled on to it. But Aiden, though he had never fought a flying opponent, was in his element. Focused. Lethal.

One of the riders came out of the harness and stood over Aiden as they soared jaggedly through the air just above the ground. A heavy voice yelled out something that could only be a curse and raised a blade above his head. The glimpse that Aiden caught from
the corner of his eye made him half smile. It looked like a violent blizzard rushing from the other side of the flying creature and sounded like death. Crimson Snow vaulted from the earth and took flight. He caught the warrior in the throat as he turned to investigate the ominous sound approaching, the wolf’s fangs cutting through his thick beard and finding purchase. No cry escaped his crushed throat, only the taint of red blood, allowing the wolf to once again live up to his name. The rider departed his station, lifeless. Aiden reached a hand up and grabbed hold of Crimson Snow’s thick coat and righted himself upon the back of the winged beast with a mighty effort. The remaining rider sat in a saddle of some create, holding the reins that controlled their flight. His long beard, frosted by ice and snow, flung in the wind.

The rider glanced backward, finding a dark-haired man with no beard drawing steel from his sheath and a wolf resembling a small bear snarling. He instantly pulled back on the steel-chained reins, forcing the mount upward. Crimson Snow dove off into a small snow bank and sprinted back toward the cottage, toward the sound of screams. Aiden fell forward and clutched the saddle in front of him but lost the grip on his sword. Higher and higher they climbed. Aiden feared they might strike the moon before long, but the creature turned downward and spun at dizzying speed like a cyclone of terror. Aiden’s body flung out horizontally as the beast dove vertically, his grip upon the saddle loosening.

Reign did not know how to feel in this moment. The presence that pushed upon her came more forcefully in moments when she needed her mind the most. It plagued her more strongly when the circumstances seemed more desperate. The first time she had felt it was those many years ago not far from where she now stood, when she and Hedron hung onto life through starvation and exposure by the thinnest of threads.
Why now!
she demanded.
Leave me!
But it did not leave her.

It was terrifying, being inside a dark and cold edifice with the sounds of pain and death swirling around them everywhere. Hedron and Reign could not feel their attackers. This added to the fear coursing through them immensely. To be attacked was a frightening experience in itself, one with which the Kerr children were most acquainted. But to have no idea what stood against you would cause the bravest of souls to shudder with unbridled fear.

“It has to be demons of some create,” Hedron said with a tightly clenched jaw. “Why else would we not sense them?”

“No, son, not demons,” came a knowing voice. Jayden left her position next to Ehliss and knelt before Reign.

“You feel it, don’t you?” she asked.

Reign looked down at her eyes, not moving her head. The three cubs snarled low warnings. “Feel what?” Reign answered tensely. Jayden reached up and took Reign’s hand in hers.

“Child, I know. You know that I know. It is not to be feared.” Reign flinched at a pitiful cry echoing through the woods. Jayden reached up and took her other hand, pulling Reign’s attention back to her.

“How are you so calm?” Reign hissed. Large wings cut through air and a horrifying scratching noise sounded on the roof, followed by scrabbling claws and barking, howling, flesh tearing.

“When your father died, Reign, you were there. You saw it. Tell me.”

Hedron glared at the old woman, incredulous. “You want to ask her about this
now
?”

Jayden ignored him. “Child, how did he fall? What was it? Tell me.”

It encircled Reign and felt as a warm embrace, like the Rising Season coming upon the frozen land after a long, dark Low Season. Her lower lip quivered and her eyes welled with tears.

“It is not to be feared,” Jayden coaxed once more in a whisper.

“How do you know what it is?” Reign snapped as tears spilled. “I’ve never spoken of it, never made mention of it. How do you know?”

“It’s getting closer,” Hedron warned. “We might be able to outrun them.” Ehliss cried out with every bang and shriek.

“Tell me…”

“Aiden!” Hedron cried. Before anyone could stop him, he dashed through the open door.

He was in free-fall, the inertial force too great for him to resist. As soon as Aiden had been flung free, the nightmare of a bird stopped its downward spiral. As it spread its wings to recapture the air, Aiden saw it glide away. He, however, continued to fall. From such a height and with no thick-leaved canopy to help break his fall, Aiden prepared himself as best he could.

A yell interrupted his peaceful yet terrifying fall just before being struck and hurled horizontally into a tree about thirty feet from the ground. He reached out and fumbled for a hold against the bark, digging his fingers to find purchase. The pain of the effort seared his hands, but he recycled the pain into strength, feeding on the friction.

He hit the ground hard after slowing the fall enough to be survivable. Turning about, he found his unlikely rescuer. Hedron lay on the ground ten paces from him. The boy rolled over onto his hands and knees, slowly bringing himself back to his feet.

“What the Blasted Heavens were you doing, boy?” Aiden roared. “I told you to stay in the cottage!”

“You know, Aiden,” Hedron answered, breathing heavily from the effort exerted, “we’re going to have to work on your gratitude.”

“Tell me,” Jayden gently entreated.

Reign trembled under Jayden’s calm hands. She didn’t want to do this. Not here, not anywhere, not ever. Hedron was not here to save her from this moment.

“No! No, not until you tell me how you know what you know. What was that language you spoke to the wolves? How do you know what this is that’s against me? Why do you live here in this wasteland alone? Where are you from? Where are your kin? Your children?”

“My child, I know a great many things. And I promise, when this is over, we’ll have some tea and a long talk. But now, right now, you need to tell me of that night. You must go back to that place that you have hidden from.”

Reign’s vision blurred as the tears came down, leaving light salty streaks upon her cheeks. “I didn’t mean to kill him.” At that, Reign Kerr collapsed into a trembling ball of grief and tears. She shook uncontrollably and buried her face into Jayden. Deep sobs escaped her, the pent up sorrow, guilt, pain, and anguish of years began to flow. All around them this night a battle raged on the outside and throughout the forest; inside Reign Kerr raged a struggle of greater desperation.

Jayden said nothing but held Reign as she heaved on the ground with her head in her lap. When she seemed to grasp a modicum of control, Jayden gently encouraged her.

“Go on, love.”

“The forest—I was lost but not afraid.” She trembled now as she recounted it. “There were men in the forest, strange men. I wanted to see what they were doing, I was just a child. Curious. I was in my forest where…where my…where my father ruled. It was his, so I wasn’t afraid. Not at first I wasn’t.

“Duke Wellyn was there.” She paused. “A strange man, tall with a long beard also. Others as well.”

“Yes,” Jayden said, patting her back. “Let go of it.”

“I’m so scared,” Reign admitted. She was now numb to the frightful sounds outside the walls, replaced by the petrifying memories she brought forth. She trembled. “I can’t! I can’t speak these words!”

Jayden could see how the fear gripped the girl’s mind. She was starting to shut down again and force the memories back into their mental prison. “Do you know what the Gyldenal are, Reign?”

She bit her finger as she did when she felt uncertain. “No.”

“The Gyldenal are an order that date back long before the Realm, before the Senthary. They are keepers of knowledge and wisdom,” Jayden explained.

“Archivers?”

“Not exactly. An Archiver is a keeper of facts, of history. The Gyldenal pass down knowledge that enables, that empowers.” She considered for a moment. “It’s more akin to abilities that are learned because of knowledge, through it. Do you understand?”

“I think so. Maybe. No,” she finally settled upon. Another blood-curdling shriek sounded from above, answered by deep growls and howls.

“One thing that is taught,” Jayden continued, “is how to channel emotions into energy or strength. I cannot explain this much to you now, but you must trust me. The fear you feel can turn to power, fortitude, strength, whatever you wish. You must allow it to fill you, to engulf you but not to overtake you. It is energy that can be harnessed and redirected. Recycled. The stronger the emotion felt, the more difficult it can be to control, but also the more potential is carries.

“Embrace the fear you feel, child. Welcome it in. Do not fight against it. Let it flow through you, and then command it. Divert its energy as a river is channeled. You command the currents. You are the current.”

Reign did not understand and continued to tremble, the fear of that night long ago pulsing through her being. Something heavy banged against the back wall of the feeble home and caused Ehliss to yelp once again.

“Feed on it, child.” The old woman coaxed.

“There was a light,” Reign finally went on. “Blue, like nothing I have seen before or since. One of them touched a tree and—” She broke off, hoping somehow the words would speak themselves. “—and I saw it turn to stone!” she cried out. “I
saw
it. The tree became gray and withered in front of me. The leaves fell from it and the trunk and branches turned from brown to a dark gray,
cold and lifeless. The forest screamed with silent fear, I could feel it all around me. That’s when…” New tears came to her eyes but she didn’t stop. “That’s when
he
saw me.” Now Reign did stop as new fear gripped her. She inhaled a fast breath and her lower lip quivered violently. Her whole body shook as if caught in a great torrent.