United Against Hate: Chapter 6

It had been three days since the encounter with the star man. The trio of siblings had taken to the skies and not stopped for much. Their nightly rest featured two people on rotating watch including Emeralda. It made their sleep schedules difficult but Silva wouldn’t allow them to take chances. She could still see those dark stars in her dreams and she hated it.

The sun was rising slowly and the three of them were high in the air soaring above the now barren ground. They had left behind the sand and desert for grey stone tundra and short grass. Rolling hills with nothing on the horizon in most directions. They spotted some clumps of forest but nothing serious.

“This place blows,” Sefirin said. “Reminds me of Kyrix just less snow.”

“And less mountains,” Sofie commented sitting up slightly. “Are we going the right way Silva?”

She could hear the soft sound of a map being unfurled behind her and glanced back at her sister. Silva stared at the map slowly and tried to position it with where they were. But instead of continuing for much longer, she raised her hand and then swung her arm, “Aero.”

The air elemental manifested at her side floating obediently. It looked at her siblings and Emeralda before lowering its head obediently at her side. “Scout the area. Fifty miles in each direction then report.”

With a swift nod, the elemental stepped back and then vanished with a soft boom of noise. Silva watched it go and then returned to look at her map. She touched the map and the radius expanded in reaction to the elemental. “That’s a nifty trick,” Sefirin said. “Been meaning to ask sis. Since when have you had those up your sleeve?”

“Since we did our performance review with headmaster Sehren.”

“That was going to be your big project reveal?” Sefirin asked.

She nodded, “I’m not like either of you so I had to find something that was mine. And after a lot of studying trial, and error I discovered this. Father isn’t the only summoner in the family anymore.”

“Were those your familiars then?” Sofie asked.

“Yes.”

“They felt different than when daddy summoned Nyx and Eskier,” she commented. “They acted differently too.”

“The elementals aren’t the same as father’s familiars. They are, for the most part, sentient but they are willing to take orders. They come from a being called Legion to whom my contract is with. The power to call forth the elementals as long as I supply the needed elemental to bring them to our world.”

“Legion,” Emeralda repeated. “Legion is an old creature. What did you give it in return for this power?”

“The details of that are not something I’ll readily disclose,” she said softly.

“Even to us?” Sefirin asked.

“Especially to you all,” she said sharply. “So please let it go Seffy. You as well Sofia.”

Sofie looked at her older brother frowning hard and he closed his eyes sighing, “Okay Silva. I trust you. Just don’t do anything to get hurt. Do that for you big brother okay?”

“Yeah. That goes for me too,” Sofie said quickly looking at her sister with pink and green eyes.

Blinking quickly Silva smiled, “Okay.”

They continued coasting on the air and waiting on her elemental to return. Sefirin reached down into the saddlebag hanging off Emeralda’s side and dug through for something to eat. But he was surprised by the absence of anything there. He slid to the side calling his tail and holding it up for balance.

The bag was empty of most rations and he frowned hard, “Looks like we’re going to have to stop at a village and restock on food guys.”

“Are we out out?” Sofie asked.

Sefirin slid to the other side and checked and shook his head, “We’ve got some bread left but that’s about it.”

Silva frowned hard and checked the map again trying to figure out where things were on her map. As she looked she raised her hand and the elemental appeared at her side. It reached toward her and touched her hand and her eyes flashed a soft light and then disappeared.

“There’s a village we can go to maybe restock,” she said turning and pointed at her map again. “It’s in the country of Noria.”

“Is that close to Nerodala?”

“I’m not sure honestly,” she sighed showing exhaustion.

“Then we’ll have to get new maps,” Sefirin shrugged. “It’s pretty simple right?”

“Somehow I do not think it will be that simple,” Emeralda said to them.

“Well before we get to that we do need to resupply,” Sofie stroked her neck and pointed. “Let’s find that village first. What’s it called?”

“Rizk,” Silva said looking at the map again.

They turned massively and floated forward as Emeralda brought them forward. They coasted on the air slowly above the patchy clouds. The similarity of the ground beneath them was easy to lull them into their sleep. At the very least it wasn’t blistering hot. It was actually a little cool especially as high up as they were.

They could see the roads that were trodden around. Some of them had people walking and others horses riding. Very few people looked up and saw them and the few that did, did double takes to see if they were real or not. Sofie and Sefirin both waved down at the people as Silva swatted their hands down.

The village came up on the horizon first and they could see it. From what they could see from up above with their enhanced vision they could see the tall buildings, stables, and more. They could even see the people going about their lives, talking, carrying groceries, just existing.

“They look so tiny from here,” Sofie said softly.

“That’s the beauty of flying,” Sefirin shook his shoulders. “We should find a place to land. I don’t see any open spots in the village.”

“That’s because they won’t be expecting something like a dragon to be landing here,” Silva hit her head lightly. “I can’t believe I didn’t think about this.”

“Think about what?” Sofie asked.

“This place. Magic isn’t common here. A dragon is rare back home in Reditus so it’s unheard of here. We can’t just have Emeralda land here and not expect chaos.”

“Then what do we do with her?” Sofie asked.

“I can remain above the clouds,” Emeralda said. “Flying for long lengths of time is something I am used to. Assuming you do not need me, you can leave the village and I will find you and we continue our journey.”

“Are you sure Em?”

“I am.”

It was settled and Emeralda flapped her massive wings taking them away from the village. They came down slowly with a massive gust of wind and a small shake of the ground. Silva and Sefirin slid off first and Sofie hugged her head tightly, “I’ll let you know once we’re ready to go back Em.”

“I will be waiting hatchling. Be safe. All of you.”

“We will Em,” Sefirin gave her a thumbs up and Silva nodded.

Emeralda spread her wings and took off back into the sky. The trio watched her go for a long moment before they found the road and started walking toward the village. Getting used to walking again after having flown for so long was definitely taking some doing for each of them.

When they finally entered the village Sefirin and Sofie were both wide eyed as they looked around. This was their first time being around the foreign nation and despite how similar it was to Reditus it felt new and amazing. They could hear an anvil being struck, smell meat being cooked and see the people milling around.

They stuck to one side of the room and glanced at the signs that were hung around them. They had a rough idea of what was being advertised and sold but the language was still not the easiest thing to parse. Silva took charge then and motioned to her siblings.

“Alright. We’re going to split duties up. Seffy and Sofia, you’re both going to get produce. Bread, fruits, etc. I’m going to be in charge of our meats.”

“Why do you get to buy the meat?” Sefirin asked pouting.

“Because I know your priorities Seffy,” she shook her head. She reached to her hip and pulled out a pouch tossing it to her brother. “Hopefully Reditus money works here.”

“I. Didn’t think of that,” Sefirin said folding his arms.

“Luckily I did. If it doesn’t work come find me and we’ll figure out what we’ll do instead,” she said and waved. “Don’t get into trouble you two.”

Silva walked away from her brother and sister and followed one of the roads of the village. The signs were still confusing even though she could guess what each shop was, she didn’t want to draw attention to herself just wandering about. She could already tell that if her clothes were clean, she’d be better dressed than most people here. Not to mention her appearance didn’t seem common. Silver hair and changing eyes weren’t exactly the most normal in Reditus.

She followed her nose more than her eyes to the butcher, a long box of a building. There was another wooden building near it that was much smaller. She sniffed at the air and guessed that’s where most of the meat might have been stored. Stepping into the building she was struck by how cold it was immediately.

The interior was straightforward. Blank and bare walls with the side nearest the door hanging barrels lining one wall and tools against the wall itself. But behind the wooden counter separating the rooms were racks of hanging meat, some properly carved and others just skinned pigs.

Part of her wanted to cook a piece herself and eat. It had been weeks since she’d had a proper meal at this point. The man behind the counter had greying hair but he looked in his forties potentially. He had a stained apron on and gloves. He looked at her strangely for a second and then nodded.

“What do you want?” he asked gruffly.

Silva scowled at the man and then realized she was nobody. She could just be rude if she wanted. “Food. That can last a long trip. For three people.”

“You got money kid?”

“Do you have food or not?”

He met her eyes and she looked back raising her eyebrow. He stared at her for a long moment and she looked right back at him putting her hands on her hips. He snorted nodding his head. “Alright. You need dried meat. I got that. Pork works best. But I got some extra beef that was supposed to go out. I can sell that to you too.”

“Thanks,” Silva said nodding slowly.

He left her for a few minutes and she could hear the sound of a large knife hitting a wooden board. There was some mild grumbling as well but she didn’t pay it mind. He came back with several stacks of meat separated by thin pieces of paper. He weighed them in front of her one by one before looking at her.

“Five gold pieces.”

“Five gold?” she repeated.

“That a problem?”

“No,” reaching into the pouch at her hip she pulled out five golden pieces of Reditus currency. She had no idea what coins here looked like but she set them on the counter with all the conviction she could muster and stared at him.

He picked up one of the coins and scowled raising his eyebrow. “The hell is this?”

“It’s money. Got a problem?”

The butcher picked up one of the coins, bit it and when it didn’t bend he turned it in his hands slowly raising his eyebrow. “Funky coin. But gold is gold.” Mentally Silva let out a breath she didn’t realize she had been holding. “I’ll wrap these up.”

“Thank you.”

“You and your, whoever you’re with, aren’t from here.”

Silva stilled, “What do you mean?”

“You don’t talk like any Norian or Sanctumite I’ve ever met. And I’ve been around a lot,” he said.

“We’re from far away.”

“Well I’d keep my head down if I were you.”

“Why?”

“Noria ain’t what she used to be. Ever since the new Magus got appointed. Countries turned into no better than a cult. My advice? Get the hell out of here as fast as you can.”

He shoved a neatly tied package of meat toward her and grunted. Silva took them nodding quickly and backed off. She had no idea what that meant but any warning from a complete stranger she was going to file as important. She exited the shop and as she stepped outside a sharp shiver went up her spine. Gasping and taking a step forward she looked back and forth down the street and everyone out was looking in the same direction.

Two rows of red armored soldiers were coming down the street with a person in deep black robes traveling between them. Just staring at them made her want to sprout her wings and fly away. The stranger raised a gnarled and pale hand and said something. The soldiers immediately broke away going to all the buildings and homes.

She heard doors being broken open, hearing shouts and screams. She watched as soldiers left some homes empty handed. Others left dragging people out. Some were adults and some were barely children. They were shoved in front of the black robed man until there were about half a dozen of them. Each of them looked terrified.

The hooded stranger looked down at each of them and made a gesture with their hand. They pointed to the youngest of the bunch and said in a sandpaper voice, “These three are promising. They will be very good hosts.”

The soldiers grabbed them and forced them back to their feet. Once they were standing, they were shoved forward slowly and started to be taken out of the village. The children struggled against their bonds, crying out for their parents.

They turned to another and then shook their head, “This one is disappointing. Not a good host but a worthy sacrifice. Take her as well.”

The soldiers nodded and picked her off the ground dragging her away her cries ignored. Silva watched horrified as the last two children were left shuddering on the ground surrounded by red armored soldiers and this being in robes. They walked forward a few more steps and then held out a shaking hand over their faces.

“Weak. Not even good enough to be a sacrifice,” they said turning around quickly. “Get rid of them.”

“What?” Silva said sharply.

The soldier turned to the pair, a boy and a girl no older than twelve at the oldest. The soldiers turned slowly and drew their swords. The children stared at the swords and scrambled to their feet and started to run. They screamed, tears running their cheeks and the soldiers watched them go and instead of giving chase they pulled crossbows out and took aim right at their backs.

Silva’s eyes widened turning to a mix of red and yellow. She stepped forward and raised her hand. It was so sudden that she didn’t even realize that she had done it. The bolts stopped in the air, held a lot by her magic. She snarled flashing her teeth and stepped forward catching the next few bolts that came her way.

The soldiers stared at her with eyes wide and even the hooded figure turned around to face her. Beneath the cowl of that hood, she saw red eyes within the folds. “That one. How did you miss her?” they barked. “She’ll be perfect as a host.”

The soldiers nodded and moved as a unit raced toward her. They moved almost inhumanely fast and Silva eyes went huge. She looked down at the children and pulled on them with her telekinesis and then threw them behind her. “Run!” She turned around quickly and raised her hand. “Terra!”

She started to call her elemental, the ground rumbling near her. But before the elemental could fully form, she felt something wrap around her. She gasped and felt the vice like grip around her arms. She felt something in her head, a static that stopped her from concentrating, from casting her spells. Her eyes turned red as she glared at the hooded stranger. Their hands were extended and she could feel magic from them.

She struggled against its grip and watched as the soldiers shot at her with their crossbows. Instead of bolts this time they were clamps that wrapped around her shoulders. And once they locked into place, she stumbled her eyes widening. The elemental collapsed into the ground leaving behind only a pile of pebbles. She tried to cast another spell but it was like trying to walk on numb feet.

She couldn’t feel her magic, she couldn’t grasp it. And her eyes dipped yellow as she looked back at them. The soldiers reeled her in and grabbed her by the arms when she was close. Looking at them she saw that their skin was a pale grey and their eyes a murky black. They looked barely alive. She was held in place and kicked in the back of the knee to kneel in front of the hooded stranger. She growled doing her best to glare at them.

“You have spirit. We’ll break you of that,” They stood in front of her and nodded slowly holding their palm out to her. She felt a pulse of magic from them and her eyes rolled into the back of her head. She slumped forward held aloft barely by the soldier. “Take her with us back to Isal. The magus will be pleased.”

“Yes sir.”

Silva was dragged away along with the others, the soldiers marching behind. They mounted their horses, tossed the prisoners into a carriage, and then they moved and disappeared over the horizon.