Chapter 4

I hope you continue to enjoy Hlao's adventures, please look back at my other submissions for the story so far, and let me know what you think!

                                   Chapter Four

         “Welcome to Syldraga”      

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The black hounds continued their slow and steady advance, yellowed fangs dripping with saliva, eyes burning. Hlao crouched in fear, shielding Colin with her body. But the fiends were abruptly halted in their tracks, heads darting to the side as the underbrush erupted once more. Hlao only caught a glimpse of flashing silver as whatever their rescuer was hurtled like a bolt at the demonic wolves.

            “Flame and freeeedoooom!”

There was a clash of fangs, claws, and brightly flashing metal before the tangle disengaged, allowing Hlao and Colin their first glimpse of their rescuer, a tall figure dressed in finely worked silver armor and holding a fabulous sword before him.

            “What are you waiting for? Run! I’ll hold them off,” a male voice shouted at them from within the decorated helm. Hlao needed no further encouragement. She grabbed Colin’s hand, hauled him to his feet, and the pair of them took off running through the thick tangle of the forest, keeping the white city in front of them as they ran. Colin stumbled several times on thick protruding roots, and Hlao had to haul him bodily along. After what seemed like an age, with her lungs aching for breath, Hlao burst through the trees. She gave a glad cry when she saw the white walls of Wyrenguard looming not a hundred yards away across a field of waving grasses. But her cry quickly changed to one of dismay.

Coming around in a pincer from both sides were frightful lizard-like creatures with broad reptilian snouts, lethal claws, deep green scales and black armor. But these lizards stood on their hind legs. Hlao was under no illusion that they were friends. Their black swords were drawn, ready for the kill. Hlao turned to retreat back into the forest, hoping to lose them in the thick tangle, but there were still more lizards were closing in from behind.

And the lizard solders weren’t armed with just swords. They carried strange black staffs with one rounded end. Some sort of stone was set into the rounded end. Hlao wondered what these were for, but she didn’t have long to wait to find out.

Hlao and Colin both ducked down with screams of terror as a sharp blast rent the air, and a branch to their right exploded into splinters. Hlao felt the biting sting of a splinter of wood hitting her cheek. Looking up she saw a jagged hole right through the sturdy trunk of the tree.

“Wayoooooolay! Darkblight, Darkblight! Long live the King of Shadows!”

“What was that?” Hlao screamed.

The stones on the ends glowed, and several blasts of purple light hit the trees around them. These weapons were obviously some sort of long distance weapon, like the rifles back on Earth, only much more powerful. And they made a deafening racket.

Seeing that they had their prey pinned down, the lizards spread out and quickly surrounded Hlao and Collin.

The lizard soldiers swung their swords in slow circles, opening their mouths and letting out sibilant hisses, razor sharp teeth dripping saliva. 

Collin gripped Hlao’s sleeve tightly, burying his head against her arm. He was shaking all over in terror, never before having been faced with cold drawn steel. 

First one, then all of the lizard soldiers uttered a strange gurgling, croaking sound. It took a second for Hlao to realize what it was, and the realization made her blood run cold.

They were laughing.

 One of the lizards folded his arms across his chest with an evil smirk.

“Ssshasssa, zel kree nissssae!” he hissed. But strangely, the words rearranged themselves on the way to Hlao’s brain and she heard, “Seize the girl!”

Several things happened at once. Two of the soldiers moved to pull Collin away from Hlao.

“No!” Hlao shouted, and leaped foreword to pull her brother back, only to be pushed back by one of the other soldiers.

Undaunted, Hlao aimed a sharp kick at her assailant’s legs, catching him on the shin. Spitting curses, the lizard hopped about for a moment before drawing his dagger, eyes focused on Hlao with cold fury.

But before he could strike, a small object came whistling through the air, striking him right on the back of the skull. The lizard stood stock still for a moment, then slowly his eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed in a heap.

“Krisssek! Chelga minloth drec! I smell only one! You two bring that Syldragan scum to me,” the commander of the group ordered, pointing a claw at two of his remaining men, who saluted and loped off into the trees. Hlao heard a brief scuffle, a sharp cry, and the two lizards came crashing back into sight, hauling a familiar armored figure between them. Hlao gasped in dismay, realizing it was the same warrior who had saved them from the black hounds. The lizard commander swaggered up to the warrior, who stood limply between his captors, head bowed in shame. With a sibilant hiss, the commander yanked the helmet off his head, and Hlao finally got a look at their would-be rescuer’s face.

Hlao gave a slight start of surprise to note that he was only a boy, maybe a year or two older than her, at most. He had incredibly fair features for a boy, with almond shaped emerald green eyes, set at a slight slant and longish deep silver hair. Hlao had never seen a color quite like it before. The colors seemed to shift, like shadows beneath the trees.

As he was shoved foreword to stand with his fellow prisoners, Hlao gave him a shy smile whispering, “What’s your name?” She felt positively awful for getting him into this.

“Tristan Layolen. And yours?”

“I’m Hlao, and this is my br- Collin. Thank you for saving us back there. I’m sorry we ended up in such a mess.”

Tristan surprised Hlao by giving her hand a light squeeze of reassurance, though he kept his face carefully blank.

“Don’t worry, everything will be fine. The patrol I was with should be along any moment. Just be ready to run,” he whispered to them out of the side of his mouth. Hlao was perfectly content to wait patiently for rescue, but the lizards had different ideas

   “Warssssa nif thermak, shakassss sleek kri! We have our orders, we only need the girl. Kill the others!” the commander hissed to gleeful gurgles from his men. The one who had been about to zap Collin a few moments ago eagerly drew his weapon again and reached out a claw for the terrified boy and began to drag him away.

  “Hlao help me, Hlao!” Tears were coursing down Collin’s cheeks. He began to struggle against the lizard’s grip, but to no avail  

One of the lizards holding him reached down to his belt for a strange metal stick with a pronged end. Hlao didn’t need to know what it was to know that she didn’t want it anywhere near Collin. The lizard drew this latest weapon from his belt and the pronged end crackled with what Hlao perceived to be tiny lightning bolts. He was obviously going to use this to subdue Collin.

In that moment, something inside of Hlao snapped. She couldn’t explain what happened next, only that it happened. One second she feared for her life, but seeing Collin about to be dragged away to his death made her completely forget about being afraid as her full fury come boiling up. Nobody but nobody was going to hurt her little brother.  

But this anger was different. It was almost like a current she could feel roiling inside her. Hlao distinctly heard the angry blaring of trumpets, and the crash of drums. As suddenly as it came, Hlao felt it leap out through her feet and into the ground. That was the only way she could describe it, as if the anger had been physically channeled into the ground.

At almost that exact moment, a low rumble started up somewhere in the ground beneath Hlao’s feet. Next thing any of them knew, a massive shockwave spread out as if someone had just thrown a large rock into a still pond. Make that a boulder. At its center was Hlao.

The wave of energy hit the nine remaining lizards surrounding Hlao, Tristan and Collin and they instantly fell to the ground and didn’t get up. Stranger still, Tristan and Collin didn’t seem to have been affected at all. The shock wave had just passed right through them, as if it knew they weren’t its target.  

“By the four winds, what did you do?” Tristan asked her, his emerald eyes filled with awe. Hlao had been holding her breath this whole time, too shocked by what happened to remember to breathe. She let it out in a startled gasp, staring at the fallen lizards with a horrified expression.

“I- I don’t know,” she replied in a shaky voice, unable to tear her gaze away from the soldiers. She forgot for a moment that Skylar was the enemy. For now, they were back on the same side. “Merciful mother, did I kill them?”

Tristan knelt down by fallen commander, and pressed two fingers to the side of his neck, quickly withdrawing with a grimace when he felt a faint beat against his fingertips.

“No, they’re just unconscious.” 

Hlao sagged in relief, suddenly even more exhausted than she had been. She didn’t know what she would have thought of herself if she had killed those soldiers. The world began to spin, and her legs gave way underneath her. Everything went black.

Tristan quickly caught her, gently lowering her to the ground and folding himself under her so that her head rested on his lap. Far from being alarmed, he had been expecting this to happen. He just watched her intently, knowing she’d come back around in a minute or two. Collin on the other hand was very alarmed. He snapped out of his terrified stupor and rushed to Hlao’s side, kneeling down and grasping frantically at Hlao’s sleeve.

“Sis, wake up!”

“Hlao, can you hear me? Are you alright?” Tristan asked when, sure enough, she stirred a minute later.

Hlao’s eyes fluttered open to see Collin and Tristan looking down at her anxiously. At least, she assumed it was them. Everything was still kind of fuzzy.

“What h-happened?” Hlao asked blearily, still trying to get her eyes to focus. Her head throbbed horribly, and she felt so weak and exhausted that she had a pretty good inkling what it must feel like to be a hundred years old.

She lurched unsteadily away from him, trying to regain her feet. She was overcome by a wave of dizziness, and she had to lean her palms against the ground to keep herself from falling over. Her stomach turned, and she felt almost ready to retch, but she forcefully fought it back.

“Easy there Hlao, don’t overexert yourself,” Tristan said, supporting her under the arm with one hand, while the other made soothing circles across her back. She heard him chant something under his breath, and surprisingly she her stomach started to feel better.

“Thank you. Now what just happened?” Hlao asked, finally able to rise to her feet.

Tristan gave her a strange, searching look, until Hlao flinched and demanded, “What?”

“Has anything strange ever happened to you? Anything inexplicable?”

Hlao automatically opened her mouth to say no, that was ridiculous she was very normal thank you, but closed it again as several strange instances came to mind. But the one thing her brain kept settling on was the strange incident with the chain last night, how it had just melted away in her hands, and the odd dreams she’d had.

Tristan took her silence as all the confirmation he needed.

“Hlao, you just performed earth magic, of a level I haven’t seen except for a master of the tower. You have Elvish heritage by the look of you.”

Hlao gave a slight start of surprise. “Why, yes, I’m half Elf on my mother’s side. But how did you…”

Tristan smiled at her, saying, “Only Elves have pointed ears like yours. I’m Elvish myself.” He drew his hair back a little, proving that he really did have pointed ears just like Hlao. “Now, what village are you from? You have a very strange accent. You should have been searched years ago, as soon as you showed signs of magic.”

Hlao bit her lip, unsure whether or not she should tell him the truth. But his gentle, kind eyes settled the question for her. She didn’t feel right keeping it from him when he had risked his life for her.

“I-I didn’t grow up in an Elvish village. In fact, I didn’t grow up here on Syldraga at all. Up until last night, I lived in the village of Fairnesse, in the country of Scotland, on the planet Earth. I came back through this.” She held up the blank Worldbook. Tristan’s eyes lit up with recognition. He reached out tentatively and touched the worn cover reverently.

“You’re Celandria and Tressor’s child! I’ve grown up hearing the story of their heroism that night, but I never really thought they were true! My parents knew your parents, Hlao. They all grew up in Ruenwind, the elvin capital. I joined the Wyrenguard army to honor their memory. And may I say it is an honor to meet you, my lady.” Tristan bowed, gently taking her hand and raising it to his lips. Hlao sighed in exasperation and snatched her hand away.

“I’m no lady, so you can just cut that out right now Tristan. I’m dressed in naught but my shift, for heaven’s sake!”

Tristan looked her up and down, seeming to take in her lack of proper dress for the first time. He flushed, but was saved from stammering out a reply by the arrival of twelve soldiers from out of the trees. They all had various animals loping along beside them, or perched on their shoulders. One of these animals broke from the group, dashing over to Tristan, leaping athletically onto his shoulder, and crooning anxiously.

“You stupid boy, you could have been killed going after those blood banes like that! Praise the grower, but I’m glad you’re alright,” it said in a high, squeaky voice. It looked a bit like a cross between a squirrel and a cat, with a small pink nose, slightly long thin muzzle, long whiskers, and large olive green eyes. Its body was cat-like but its paws looked more like a squirrel’s, great for climbing. Deep sable fur covered its body, dappled with irridescent jade green spots, like a leopard’s. A ridge of green fur stuck out along its back. Its tail was long and bushy and constantly flicked back and forth.

Tristan reached up and stroked the little creature’s tail with undisguised fondness.

“Pippin, you great worrier. I’d like you to meet Hlao.”

Hlao stared at Pippin with eyes as round as saucers. She must be imagining things. Perhaps whatever had she had done to those soldiers had done something to her head.

“Did- did that thing just talk?”

“Hmph, she’s not very polite,” Pippin sniffed with an indignant flip of her long tail.

“Hush, Pip. She’s an outlander. I’ve heard tell that animals don’t talk on the sister planet. Isn’t that right Hlao?”

Hlao could only shake her head mutely. She was still trying to wrap her brain around the idea of talking cat-squirrels.

            “How perfectly awful. Well, may we start again? Nice to meet you, Hlao of Terrador.”

“How do you do,” Hlao curtsied, finding her voice once more. Pippin regarded Hlao for a long moment, long whiskers twitching. Then with a springing leap, the little creature leapt from Tristan’s shoulder onto Hlao’s.

Hlao kept very still as Pippin took one of her locks in her deft little paws, rubbing the soft strands against her cheek.

 “It’s okay, Hlao. Leaf Sprites may have sharp teeth, but they’re very sweet,” Tristan chuckled.

“I won’t bite, I promise,” Pippin chittered in agreement.

Tentatively reaching up, Hlao stroked the leaf sprite’s cheek like she used to do with the barn cats back in Fairnesse. Pippin uttered a charming sound, somewhere between a purr and a chitter. Hlao smiled, totally captivated by Pippin’s velvety fur.

 “You are a sweet little thing aren’t you?”

Pippin chirred in prim agreement, and promptly burrowed her nose in Hlao’s hair.

            “Ooh, lovely, nice and soft” the little Leaf Sprite squeaked, settling down and curling her tail around her nose. “I think I’ll ride here for a while Tris. I’m beginning to like this new girl already.”

  “Well I’ll be. She normally doesn’t take to people so quickly. If you’ve got her seal of approval, then you’re alright by me,” Tristan said, giving Hlao a grin. Hlao found herself blushing, and quickly looked away from his piercing emerald eyes.

By this time, the rest of the patrol had reached them, ranging themselves around the three children. They lowered their shields in a defensive stance, drawing their weapons when they saw the unconscious lizards on the ground.

“I don’t think you’ll have any trouble from these blighters, they’ll be out for a good long spell,” Hlao reassured them, holding up her hands to show that she was unarmed. The soldiers relaxed a little at this news, holding their weapons loosely at their sides.

“You all right there?” one of them asked. Hlao and Collin nodded gratefully, thanking the soldiers profusely. It felt good to know that they were finally safe.

 “There’ll be more where they came from, you can count on that. We should get into the city quickly. But before we leave we need to take care of these blighters,” the soldier who had spoken before replied, giving a signal to the other soldiers.

Before Hlao could protest, ten of the soldiers took their swords and rammed them home between the lizards’ ribs. Hlao covered her mouth to stifle a scream, eyes wide in horror. She tried valiantly not to be sick. She’d never seen anyone killed in cold blood before. It just didn’t seem right. The lizard soldiers had been completely defenseless! The logical part of her brain said that they hadn’t been about to show her, Colin and Tristan any mercy a few minutes ago, but that didn’t mean that they should die. Couldn’t the Wyrenguard soldiers have just taken them prisoner or something?

“D-did you really have to do that?”

“We’re at war. What exactly did you expect us to do? We couldn’t very well let them go,” the commander replied matter-of-factly.

“That would be the Shadow War that started the night you were sent away. These are soldiers of the demon Rosairus, leader of the Shadow Legion. We’ve been at war for the past thirteen years, though they’ve never been so bold as to come here since their defeat at the beginning of the war,” Tristan whispered an explanation to her.

Hlao shook her head sadly, but didn’t say anything. She couldn’t argue with the man’s logic, no matter how unfair it seemed. Hlao’s stomach finally stopped doing summersaults enough to take her hands away from her mouth.

“The Shadow- the Traveler mentioned something about that. These soldiers must have been drawn here by my using the Worldbook. She warned us about something like this,” Hlao murmured more to herself than to Tristan. 

Suddenly, the soldiers’ bodies began to shimmer. The blackish-green scales turned to an iridescent sky blue. Their faces changed from square and blunt, to sleek and graceful. They had a velvety crest that started at their foreheads and ran down their backs. Looking at them, Hlao couldn’t help but marvel at how beautiful they were.

“The Quailee weren’t always evil. They were once one of our greatest allies,” Tristan said quietly, taking in her astonished expression.

 “What happened?” She asked, kneeling down to remove one of the Quailee’s helmets and take a closer look at its face. She smoothed back the crest, moved with pity.

“When the Lord of Shadows came here, the Quailee thought we should surrender. In their opinion, we couldn’t win. It would prevent hundreds of thousands of deaths if we just gave in quietly. No one else in the alliance agreed with them, so the Quailee sent a delegation to the Lord of Shadows themselves in the hopes that he would spare them if they capitulated. Rosairus spared them alright, but the Quailee paid a high price. Darkness has poisoned them making them look like- well you know.” Tristan gestured at the slain Quailee at their feet, a look of deep pity in his eyes.

Hlao felt a stirring of outrage and anger. It was utterly cruel what the Lord of Shadows had done to them. They had just been trying to do the right thing and save countless lives, but this Lord of Shadows, whoever he was, had tricked them. Something so lovely surely didn’t deserve a fate like this. 

“That’s- horrible,” Hlao whispered and, after taking a moment to steel herself, she gently closed the lizard’s eyelids in a sign of respect. She bowed her head in a silent prayer.

A heavy weight descended on Hlao’s shoulder, and she looked up to see the soldier who had given the order looking down at her with kind eyes. He flicked a nod at the other soldiers, indicating that they too should show the Quailee the same respect.

“The girl’s got the right idea. These warriors deserve honor in death. They were once one our greatest allies. Let’s put them to a warrior’s rest.” All of the soldiers, including the commander and Tristan, knelt down and bent their heads respectfully before closing the Quailees’ eyelids. They placed the lizard’s fallen weapons in their limp hands, folding their arms across their chests. The commander stood up and hastily motioned to the others.

“All right, our job here is done. We’ve been out here too long as it is. You children come with us now, you’ll be safe with us.” 

The soldiers formed a circle around the siblings and raised their shields once more. And none too soon. More whooping war cries echoed through the trees. With a sharp gesture, the patrol moved out, Hlao and Collin doing their best to keep up with the swiftly marching soldiers.

As they moved closer to the city, Hlao had the chance to fully take in the city of her birth. What she saw made her halt involuntarily in awe.

This walled city was spectacular, made of a white stone that shimmered in the sunlight. It was grander than anything Hlao had ever seen before.  Intricately beautiful carvings laced the stone. Every stone fit together so tightly that not even a knife blade could slip between them. The sheer immense size was enough to make anyone feel humbled.

            The buildings and gardens spilled out all over the mountain’s face, going all the way up to the craggy peak. There one of the largest buildings stood �" a massive dome capped structure. It seemed to look down over the city like some ancient guardian. Two massive domes, one on either side of the mountain, branched out to the side, supported by glittering struts that were so slender that Hlao thought they surely couldn’t hold up the weight of the domes. Each one was so huge, they could have fit the entire city of Fairnesse twice over. They were made of a clear material; Hlao wasn’t sure if it was glass. Hlao could see right through and saw the shadow of looming trees and other plants.

The girl shook her head, silently chastising herself for letting the soldiers get ahead of her. The patrol had already reached the wall and were making their way towards a small gateway set into the stone. Hlao ran to catch up just as Tristan was turning back in concern. His expression became alarmed, and he shouted to her, “Faster, Hlao they’re coming!” Hlao didn’t have to ask who “they” were; the war cries were closer now. She tucked her head down and ran as fast as her legs would carry her. Tristan ran towards her, grabbing her hand and pulling her along to the shelter of the wall.

Without warning, Tristan suddenly grabbed Hlao around the waist and yanked her swiftly to the side. He had heard the hum of a bowstring before she knew what was happening. “Hlao, look out!”

Sssssthck- thud.

But before she could react, Tristan had yanked her back around a rocky spur and pressed her back against the wall, using his body as a shield. He gasped when he pulled back enough to see the black arrow protruding from his new friend’s shoulder. Hlao’s hands went around the shaft, her lips parted in an o of surprise and pain. Blood was blossoming on the front of her shift. The last thing Hlao remembered before her world went black was Tristan scooping her up by the back of her legs and carrying her along.

 

From the shadow of the tree line, two pairs of eyes watched the patrol march through the gate into the city.

“Dark take it, we failed, my prince,” one voice growled.

“Patience, old friend,” another, smoother voice soothed. We’ll yet present the pretty one to my father, if I have to capture her myself.”