CHAPTER FIFTEEN PART 2 (CH 16)
They stepped through the tear, into a dark and cramped cell with no windows and no light. Surrounding them was the putrid smell of blood and burning flesh, screams were echoing off the walls from a room adjacent to the one in which they now stood. Exchanging a worried glance, Fen'Harel casted behind him as they ran toward the screaming, effectively sealing the tear she'd made. They sprinted a short distance down a cobbled hallway, and nearly kicked in the door from which they heard the screams.
Before them was a truly gruesome sight; several elvhen men and women were stripped down to nothing, spinning slowly on a creation that could only be described as a roasting pit. Their hands were tied so tightly behind them that their wrists bled into the roaring blaze beneath them. Occasionally a flame would get too high, and lick against the flesh of one of the slaves, causing them to scream out in agony. "We have to save them!" Fen'Harel yelled, desperate to remove them all from their imminent fate.
They both scrambled to slaves, gathering them up into their arms and removing them from the spinning spear in the center to which they were tied. Fen'Harel gathered the last elvhen, an elderly man, from the device, and set him gently on the floor with the rest. They all had June's vallaslin marked plainly on their faces. Pharen fought to meet each and every one of them in their eyes; they were afraid. "I'm Pharen. Please, we're here to help you." Uncertain what to do, she began to pool her magic into a cobblestone closest to the old man. He recoiled in fear. "Please, trust us hahren. I know it isn't easy, but please." The old man nodded and bent his head down in submission. Anger at the god whom she used to revere spread like wildfire in her veins; her sympathy for the slaves was deep, and she knew at once what Fen'Harel had meant.
He means for us to save the slaves of each of the Creators. They would revere me for saving them, and giving them a better life. Meeting Fen'Harel's panicked gaze, she nodded, and forced her magic to flow ever-faster along the stones. An eluvian was summoned, and they helped each and every slave in the torture room get through to the other side safely. Fen'Harel and Pharen both began to sprint into and out of the remaining chambers in the dungeon they were in, ushering slaves of varying weight and age into the torture room and through the eluvian. Once all had been saved, they stepped through themselves, and Pharen sealed the eluvian behind her.
They surveyed the former slaves, who looked confused as to where they were. Fen'Harel approached one of the younger slaves, barely old enough to have vallaslin emblazoned on her fair skin, and sat down in front of her, barely suppressing an angry growl. "Da'len," he spoke gently to the frightened girl, who pulled her gaze up to his own. "Would you like me to remove them?" Her eyes widened at his suggestion, before enthusiastically nodding her head. Smiling serenely, he tilted her chin upwards, his palms ghosting over her chin, her cheekbones, over her eyes, and finally her forehead. The blood writing was gone.
"Ar lasa mala revas, da'len." Fen'Harel smiled at the young girl, who finally spoke. "But…hahren, I don't want to be free alone. I want to be free with her." His brows went up in surprise, before turning and following her gaze to Pharen. She smiled, and got down on her knees in front of the girl. "You can be free with me. Would you like to stay here with me, da'len?" The girl nodded enthusiastically again, earning a giggle from Pharen.
"Ma nuvenin." Looking to Fen'Harel, she gave a small nod and smile. "We have a lot of work ahead of us, vhenan. They all deserve to be free. Let them be free." With that, Fen'Harel set to work removing all of the slaves' vallaslins, and, one by one, they kneeled before Pharen, and pledged their fealty to her cause. Since their first act of rebellion and trickery, both Pharen and Fen'Harel stole into the other gods' temples by night, freeing their slaves from their work. Several thousand were amassed in Pharen's service before one particular slave sought her out at Fen'Harel's temple.
"My lady! I have urgent news!" Concerned, she stood from her former place on the ground, where she and Fen'Harel had been teaching several of the younger former slaves to read. "What is it, falon? What news have you?" The runner was shaking, whether from nerves or exhaustion, she could not tell. Her face turned from concern, to sorrow, to righteous anger as the elvhen man relayed his news.
"Ma serannas. You were correct to bring this to me here. Please, find shelter within the temple's walls." The messenger nodded, and sprinted inside, letting the door slam behind him. Fe'Harel rose from his spot on the floor next to her, but did not approach; instead, he watched her facial expressions as she digested the news. "What is it, ma vhenan? What has happened?" When she didn't answer, he grew more concerned, furrowing his brow and reaching for her arm. She did not pull away, but his touch broke her from her reverie. She looked up to him with sad eyes brimming with tears.
When she finally spoke, it was so quiet Fen'Harel almost wasn't sure he had heard her correctly, even with the Wolf's hearing. "Falon'Din has declared war. He has taken what remaining slaves that had yet to be freed and is marching them to their deaths in the woods, where Andruil is waiting to begin her hunt." Fen'Harel's jaw clenched slightly; this was bad. He knew what kind of wars the god could accomplish alone, but with Andruil backing him up…he did not want to see the consequences of this. "Fen…we have to save them."
The Dread Wolf nodded, and motioned for one of the children to come to them. She obeyed, and Fen'Harel leaned down to her ear to give her instructions on where and how to hide, and where to lead the others. The small elvhen girl nodded, newly freed from Andruil's blood writing, and threw herself into Pharen's arms. Surprised but pleased, she returned the embrace, kissing the girl's crown before releasing her. She looked up at her with tears streaming down her face. "Please, hahren, come back to us!" With that, the girl turned on her heel, rallying the others to follow her deep into the temple, which would ward itself after the last slave had been hidden in the underbelly of the place they called sanctuary.
When the last sounds of footsteps faded away, Fen'Harel summoned the Wolf, its many eyes glowing red in his anger. Pharen did not hesitate as she pulled herself up to sit on his back, using his scruff to hold her in place. Once he was certain she was secure, the great beast threw its head back in a long, haunting howl that shook the very ground he stood on, and bounded off toward the forest where Andruil always held her hunts.
It seemed like they ran for hours, but maybe it was mere minutes, Fen'Harel sprinting faster and faster as they approach what was sure to be a battlefield. He skidded to a halt in front of a great tree with runes engraved across it. Sniffing the air then growling, he padded to the next runed tree, sniffing once more. This time, a howl was forced from his throat as the smell of fresh blood reached their nostrils. The sounds of people screaming, crying, the whirring of an arrow, and then silence; it sickened them both.
Changing once more into his elvhen form, he turned to Pharen with look of utter contempt. "Cast. When they come, you will know." With that, he began running toward the sound of the nearest scream, transforming into the Wolf once more as he ran. Once he was out of sight, Pharen began hurriedly casting a giant mirror, fog surrounding her to obscure her from any prying eyes. The eluvian's center pooled at her touch, seeming to draw into the magic at her fingertips. The forest suddenly became eerily quiet; there was no screaming, no crying, no whirring of an arrow or clang of steel against steel – only silence. It unnerved her.
Pharen waited by the mirror, shifting her weight uneasily from one foot to the other while she waited. Her ears pricked at the nearly noiseless padding of paws toward her. Fen'Harel had gathered hundreds of slaves, all wearing various vallaslins, all their steps as quiet as the Wolf who stood behind them, his size looming over them all. His head canted to the side, and she was able to see fresh blood staining the fur at his shoulders. Pharen, to her credit, did not panic, but silently gestured each and every one of the slaves through the eluvian behind her. Most were through before a loud howl shook the forest, distracting them both. Pharen hurried the remainder of the slaves through, some were wounded, others covered in blood, most crying as they whispered their thanks before disappearing through the mirror's other side.
Trotting out of the forest and through the fog next to her, Da'fen appeared at her side, his ears pinned back against his skull and snarling fiercely into the grey void that was before her. Fen'Harel had yet to transform out of his Wolf form, presumably he was injured and did not wish her to see the extent of his injuries until they were all out of harms way.
Suddenly, Da'fen leapt up to shield Pharen's chest. A cry of pain, and a soft thud as he hit the ground was all that resounded through the forest. She barely had time to register that he had just saved her life before the Dread Wolf stepped closer to her, his paws padding softly against the forest floor. He leaned down, pushing Da'fen's limp form with his nose, and howled with agony. Pharen looked to where Da'fen had been looking and growling and soon saw why- the glimmer of a golden bow could be seen reflecting against the sunlight. Andruil strode toward them with purpose.
Once she reached them, however, anyone could note there was something off. Her armor seemed made of a milky, silvery substance, shimmering but seeming to snake along her body, moving as if of its own volition. Pharen automatically recoiled at the sight.
Andruil let out a keening cry that chilled her to the bone. She sneered as she looked upon the pair protecting the mirror. "I was just having a bit of fun da'len! I hunt them, they die, our dear Falon'Din guides them into the Void, where I can hunt them some more! It's all good, right?" A chilling laugh echoed through Pharen's very being. Her eyes narrowed on the goddess. "You hunt them for sport! Your own people!" Pharen growled. The Wolf next to her growled deeper.
"You took my playthings, so I take away yours! Your pup is a sacrifice to placate the masses, but me? I want a bigger prize." Her eyes gleamed with insanity as she spoke of Da'fen, who still lay motionless at their feet. "I promise, da'len. Emma shem'nan." Within two blinks of an eye, Andruil had unstrapped her bow and nocked a golden arrow, once more aimed at Pharen's heart. "I will not miss a third time. Or would you rather your Dread Wolf to pay the price?" Andruil looked to and aimed her bow at Fen'Harel, who now stood in his elvhen form menacingly over Da'fen's body. Tilting her head back with a snarl on her face, the readied the arrow for its release.
Andruil let loose the arrow, only for both Pharen's and Fen'Harel's barriers to come up simultaneously and knock Andruil off her feet. "Run!" Fen'Harel yelled. "Through the mirror!" He managed to grab Da'fen by the scruff and drag him through the portal with them, before forcing it shut. Breathing heavily on the other side, Pharen crawled over to Da'fen's lifeless corpse. A golden arrowhead protruded from his side, the same silvery substance coursing over it, consuming his body slowly. Pharen began crying, and Fen'Harel drew her into an embrace, speaking soothingly into her hair as she watched Da'fen's corpse fade as the substance encroached upon it.
Once it had run its course, all that remained was the blackened wolf's jaw she knew so well. Saying nothing, Fen'Harel reached down and broke the jaw in two pieces, offering the top to her and taking the bottom for himself. Taking it wordlessly, she brushed the pads of her thumbs over the canines, admiring how incredibly sharp they were. Fen'Harel was reaching into his hair to yank free the leather thong that held it in place, and, snapping it in two, he began to wrap each piece separately, thus making them both pendants.
"If I may, vhenan?" She nodded, and bowed her head, allowing the necklace to slip over around her neck. Pulling the other piece over his own head, he sighed softly. "I intend to keep this as a reminder that nothing can be taken for granted. No matter how much I think I know, it does not matter. I thought we could abolish all slavery, and rebel together. I was wrong. Now my friend is dead because of me." He bowed his head in solemn defeat, slightly leaning away from Pharen as they sat on the ground of her temple.
"You couldn't have known. All things…happen for a reason. Up to and including this. We may not always know why they happen the way they do, but perhaps there is something to learn that we do not yet see?" Her words shook him and he glanced up to meet her gaze. "Ever the optimist, ma da'enansal." He smiled slightly and laid a gentle kiss upon her forehead. "We should tell Elgar'nan of Andruil's and Falon'Din's deceit soon," he whispered in the darkness.
"We should probably go now. Preferably Andruil gets there and spouts lies. We were saving them, not condemning them. Remember that, ma vhenan." Fen'Harel nodded slowly, getting to his feet and walking toward the front of the temple. The summoning howl that came after that was mournful, but Pharen thought she could detect a hint of anger in his tone. This would not bode well. For anyone.