James Islington - The Shadow Of What Was Lost

He tossed the sword at Caeden so that it clattered to the ground at his feet.

“Aelric, stop,” Dezia said in a worried tone. Wirr felt as concerned as she sounded. The expression on Aelric’s face was murderous.

“Caeden, don’t do this,” Wirr said seriously. “I appreciate it, but it’s not worth getting hurt.”

Caeden shook his head as he stooped to pick up the sword. He smiled as he hefted it in his hand, gauging its weight. “Thank-you, Wirr, but I’ll be fine,” he said absently, giving the sword an experimental swing. To Wirr’s surprise, he seemed to know how to handle the weapon.

Caeden walked away from the fire, over to where Aelric was waiting. Wirr and Dezia backed away, giving the two boys plenty of room.

Aelric’s expression reminded Wirr of a cat looking at a mouse it had finally cornered.

“Let’s begin,” he said, his smile confident. “Touch.”

Caeden followed the form by tapping Aelric’s outstretched blade with his own, and then they were on their guard, circling warily. Wirr watched with trepidation, wondering if he should intervene and stop the fight before it began. Aside from his personal concern for Caeden, an injury to either man could spell disaster for their journey, and Aelric’s temperament was clearly not to be relied upon.

Suddenly Aelric attacked, faster than Wirr would have believed possible. Caeden’s sword leapt up to meet the challenge; the sound of steel clashing against steel rang out as Aelric struck again and again in quick succession, raining down blows as Caeden desperately defended. Then the attack was broken off and Aelric was back on the balls of his feet, watching and circling, a little out of breath.

Wirr ran his hands through his hair in helpless frustration. “This is folly,” he said as calmly as he could, addressing both combatants. “If one of you gets hurt, it puts us all in danger.”

Aelric responded with another flurry of blows; for the first time, Wirr noticed how smoothly Caeden was responding. For every graceful move forward by Aelric, Caeden had a fluid counter.

And he was fast .

Wirr watched, mouth agape as Caeden turned aside another of Aelric’s attacks, his sword a blur, every small movement liquid. Beads of sweat had begun to form on Aelric’s brow, and Wirr thought he saw a flash of concern on the young nobleman’s face.

Then Caeden attacked.

Everything just… flowed ; there was no telling where one move began and another ended. Caeden moved forward calmly, methodically, as if the motion cost him no effort, no energy at all. Yet his blade sang in front of him, impossible for the eye to follow, forcing Aelric back and back until they were almost at the road.

Aelric faltered.

Wirr watched in disbelief as Aelric’s sword cartwheeled through the air, falling several feet away. Aelric stumbled backward and fell, raising his hands in surrender as the point of Caeden’s sword rested above his heart.

A few long seconds passed in silence, everyone frozen.

Wirr turned his gaze to Caeden’s face, suddenly nervous for a very different reason. The young man’s expression had barely changed, but something in his eyes….

Wirr shivered, and it was not from the cold.

“Caeden,” he called out.

The sound seemed to break something within Caeden, who slowly lowered his sword, eventually tossing it aside to join Aelric’s.

“If you want to act the fool in future, be prepared for someone to call you on it,” he said softly.

He turned and retreated to the campfire, sitting down without another word.

The others were still staring at him in shock when Davian emerged from the darkened road, a little out of breath. He nodded to Wirr, then frowned when he took in the scene before him.

“What’s going on?”

“I’ll tell you later.” Wirr shook his head, still unwilling to believe what he’d just seen. He lowered his voice. “You hear anything interesting?”

“Nothing that made any sense.” Davian glanced behind him. “They shouldn’t be far -”

There was motion just beyond the light of the campfire, and then Taeris and Nihim were crashing through the surrounding brush, the urgency of their arrival drawing everyone’s attention.

“Sha’teth. Get your weapons,” Taeris said without preamble, quietly but with such force that everyone leapt to obey.

Soon they were all arranged in a tight circle with their backs to the campfire, silent, each one straining to see into the gathering gloom. Wirr’s heart pounded, limbs heavy with dread as he remembered their last encounter with one of the creatures.

“Which direction?” whispered Dezia to Taeris, her bow at the ready.

"Out there," said Taeris, gesturing a little to the left of where he and Nihim had emerged. “We cut through the forest on the way back, spotted it amongst the trees. It saw us, too, but….” Taeris shook his head, looking troubled. "It didn’t attack. It seemed like it was just watching the camp."

"Isn’t that a good thing?" asked Aelric.

"I suppose. Just… strange," replied Taeris, his expression uneasy as he stared into the darkness.

The silence began to stretch, the tension almost unbearable. Then the hush was suddenly broken by a low, hissing voice that seemed to come from all directions at once. It was difficult to tell, but Wirr thought it sounded female.

“ Darei ildos Tal’kamar sha’teth ,” it said.

“Where is it?” murmured Davian.

Wirr’s eyes strained against the darkness, but he could see nothing out of the ordinary. “What did it say?”

Taeris didn’t reply straight away. “I think it’s telling us to hand Caeden over,” he said eventually. To Wirr’s left, Caeden gave a small, nervous nod of confirmation.

“ Darei ildos Tal’kamar sha’teth ,” the voice hissed again. “ Sha’teth eldris karathgar si .”

Taeris shook his head. “ Eldarei Tal’kamar ,” he called out. “ Sha’teth eldris gildin .”

The low, rasping sound of the sha’teth’s laughter filled the air. “Your Darecian is not what it once was, Taeris Sarr.”

Everyone’s heads swivelled towards Taeris in surprise, but he ignored the looks. “What do you want?” he shouted into the darkness.

“You know what I want,” came the whispery-hoarse voice. It was definitely female, Wirr decided. “Give him to me, and I will leave you unharmed.”

“No.” Taeris was emphatic.

“So quick to decide the fate of all,” hissed the voice. “Perhaps your companions think differently?”

“No.” It was Davian.

“No,” Wirr added. He was mimicked by Nihim and Dezia.

Aelric gave Caeden a long look. “No,” he said into the darkness.

“Fools,” whispered the voice.

There was silence.

After a few minutes had passed, Wirr could bear the strain no longer. “Do you think it‘s gone?” he asked to no-one in particular.

“Yes,” said Taeris, relaxing his stance. “I think it has.”

Wirr felt his muscles loosen a little as he took a deep breath. Beside him, he could hear the others doing the same.

Caeden looked around at them. “Thank-you,” he said. He glanced across at Aelric, inclining his head slightly in acknowledgement. Aelric hesitated, then gave a brief nod back.

Taeris put a hand on Caeden’s shoulder. “Nothing to thank us for, lad.”

Dezia turned to the older man, frowning. "How did it know your name?"

Taeris shrugged. "When I was on the Council at Tol Athian, there were occasions I had to deal with the sha’teth. Apparently I made an impression," he said wryly. Then he frowned. “The bigger question is, why didn’t it attack?”

Nihim coughed. “This may sound foolish, but… could it have been afraid? Or at least cautious? The way it was hanging back when we saw it, almost like it was hesitating….”