The Mark of the Legend: Book One of the Mark Trilogy Page 8

  Alistair refused. “They came on their own. They can leave if they want. I’m not responsible for any of them.”

  Alistair’s apathy towards the people who chose to defy their leader to follow him baffled Wybert. Someone had to acknowledge their sacrifice.

  Wybert climbed on a nearby boulder and cleared his throat.

  The host strained to make out his voice over the howling, winter wind.

  “I just want to say, I know it’s difficult to leave your families and come here against my father’s wishes. Hopefully, by doing this, we’ll spare our people the pain of abandoning their home.”

  Alistair waited impatiently for Wybert to finish. He was itching to leave. He was anxious to fight.

  As Wybert spoke, the sun peeked over the horizon and cast a gray luminance over the company. “It’s time. Let’s go to the Shadow Lands, deal with whatever we find, and come home.”

  Alistair began the march towards the Shadow Lands. Wybert, Alistair’s other friends, and a small army obediently followed. None of them imagined what they were marching to.

  Chapter Seven

  The Yetta

  Something moved in Jacosa’s hand and she pried her sleepy eyes open. Her blurry vision focused slowly on the creaky shack in the Coastal Village and the table where Sakina, seared and scarred, fought for her life. Jacosa fought to stay awake the night before, but finally gave in to exhaustion and fell asleep on the splintery wood. Sakina’s fingers moved again and Jacosa sprang to her feet. “Sakina!” Her stool clattered on the floor. “Sakina!” Joy and relief swept over Jacosa as Sakina’s eyes cracked open and her chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm. “Sakina, can you hear me?”

  Sakina moaned.

  “Hold on. I’ll be right back.” Jacosa ran out of the shack, sprinted along the coastline to what she hoped was Gerou’s door, and pounded until Gerou opened it. “She’s awake! Sakina woke up!” Jacosa shouted. “I need to find the physician!”

  Gerou nodded “Go back to Sakina. I’ll bring the physician.”

  “Thank you!” Jacosa yelled over her shoulder as she raced back to her friend.

  Soon Gerou and the physician entered the shack and the physician hurried to Sakina’s side.

  He bent low and listened to her breathe. He pressed two fingers into her inner wrist and felt her strong pulse. He turned to Jacosa. “Your friend will live, but it will take time for her to recover.”

  Jacosa thanked the physician and Gerou and resolved to help Sakina regain her strength no matter how long it took.

  In the weeks that followed, Sakina regained the ability to speak, stand, walk, and even run in short intervals. News of the Wyvern attack and Key Village destruction spread. Panic followed and the remaining Southern Villages retreated behind their borders. All trade and communication between them stopped. Months passed as Sakina pushed herself to heal. She didn’t know what she and Jacosa would do once she did.

  One afternoon, Jacosa and Sakina were hiking on the bluffs around the ocean.

  Sakina’s breath was labored, and scratchy.

  The air was warmer, and the snow had melted as winter gave way to spring. They stopped to rest at a fresh-water pool along a thin stream. The sun had turned the pool from ice to gently flowing water.

  Sakina knelt beside the water and cupped it to her mouth. The ripples dispersed, and she froze, horrified at her maimed reflection.

  Jacosa’s heart ached for her friend as she knelt beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

  They sat together in silence.

  Sakina was like stone. Her hands hardened over her face and stifled her cries as the peace of seaside cliffs collided with her devastation. She could not ignore the crushing burden of her situation anymore. She almost died. Her parents were likely dead. An entire nation would look to her for guidance. The scars across her face told the dreadful tale, and her mind raced. “How could we have been so blind? We can’t outrun this. We can’t hide from Calamity. No one is safe.” Great tears rolled down Sakina’s disfigured face. “I can’t do this.” “I'm so scared,” she whispered.

  There was fresh resolve in Jacosa’s face. “I know. I understand. I’ve spent so much of my life afraid.”

  “Not anymore?” Sakina asked.

  “Not anymore. I’m done being afraid.”

  “How? How can you not be afraid after everything you’ve seen? I’ve never been so afraid.”

  Jacosa stared deep into the gentle pool as she sought the words. “I’m going to tell you something I’ve never told anyone. The night before you and your parents found me as a child, my village was attacked. I’ve told you that much, but there’s more that has been too terrifying to speak of. The creatures that attacked my home were pure evil. They slunk out of the night as if they were the darkness. They had no eyes; no souls. I can still see them every time I close mine. They haunt my memories and my dreams.” Jacosa’s voice trailed off. She took a deep breath. “I should have died that night. I was about to. The creatures were coming for me when something saved me. I don’t know who or what, but a voice spoke to me. The voice told me he loved me, and he was with me. Then a powerful wind blew fire across the ground. The flames surrounded me, and the monsters couldn’t touch me.”

  Sakina stared.

  “You were unconscious, but the Wyverns caught us as we rode for the coast after the Key Village was attacked. I heard the voice again that night. He told me the same things he said when I was a child. He saved us, Sakina. Flames appeared inside the Wyverns as he spoke and destroyed them.”

  Sakina’s eyes widened.

  “This voice is the only reason we’re alive, and its why I will not be afraid anymore. We are not alone in this fight. We cannot defeat the overwhelming darkness of Terrene, but there is someone out there who can. We can’t run and hide anymore. It’s time to fight for the light, and we will not stand alone. Sakina, you can rally our people and the rest of the world, but only if you choose to stand; to not be afraid.”

  Sakina did not respond. She knelt beside the pool, gazing through the clear water until sunset ignited the horizon, then slowly rose to her feet. Sakina dried her tears, and the two friends began the long walk home.

  When the sun rose the next day, Jacosa found herself alone. Sakina’s wooden bed sat disheveled and empty. Jacosa made her way through rows of shacks as the Coastal Village began to wake, but there was no sign of her. Jacosa reached the stables and saw Sakina saddling her horse. “What are you doing?”

  Sakina tightened the saddle beneath her horse’s belly and turned. The morning sun cast harsh shadows across the deep crevices of her scarred face. “You were right yesterday. It’s time to go back. The Southern people have lived in fear long enough.”

  Jacosa smiled. “I’m with you. Let’s go.”

  They returned to their shack and loaded up their few belongings. As another busy day in the Coastal Village began, Sakina and Jacosa sat on their horses, looking back at another home they had to leave behind.

  “There’s something we have to do before we go,” Jacosa said.

  The friends rode through the paths of the Coastal Village to a familiar house. The front door opened and Gerou stepped out carrying nets and hooks for a day of fishing.

  “Jacosa! Sakina! Good morning!”

  Jacosa dismounted and embraced Gerou as tears formed in the corners of her eyes. “We’re leaving. We are going back to the Key Village. We’re here to say goodbye.”

  Sakina wrapped her arms around Gerou. “Thank you for your kindness.”

  Gerou smiled and stepped back. “I am so glad to have met you both. You will lead us all to brighter days. Look out for each other.”

  “We will.” They climbed back on their horses and rode down the coast without looking back. They cleared the village outskirts, turned their mounts north, and spurred them on.

  They rode hard while the sun traveled across the sky until it disappeared behind the horizon. Jacosa and Sakina stopped by a small stream and made camp f
or the night. As the final remnants of daylight disappeared, they sat, roasting a rabbit over a popping fire. They laid back to rest with hot food in their bellies, and as they looked up at the black, starlit sky, the unknown of coming events loomed over them.

  “What do you think we’ll find tomorrow?” Sakina asked.

  Jacosa sighed deeply. “I don’t know. Hopefully, we’ll find your parents. Hopefully, they’ve begun to rebuild.” Jacosa’s words felt dishonest as she spoke them.

  “The voice that saved us, what exactly did it say?”

  “It said, ‘Do not forget. I love you, and I’m right here.’ Both times it was the same.”

  “Do you think he is?”

  “Do I think he’s what?”

  Sakina propped herself up on her elbow. “Do you think he is right here? Like he said…”

  Jacosa closed her eyes. “Yes, I do.”

  A sudden wind swept through their camp and the flames of their campfire roared.

  Sakina gasped. “Did you see that?!”

  Jacosa smiled. “He’s right here.”

  Sakina beamed. “Whatever tomorrow brings, I’m ready to face it.”

  “Me too.”

  As she drifted to sleep, Sakina whispered to the night. “I don’t know if you can hear me, but if you can, thank you for saving us.”

  The next day, the two friends rode toward the Key Village empowered with a renewed sense of purpose. Vast wilderness had filled the horizon since they left the Coastal Village, but by midday, poison-charred rubble rose in the distance. Their hearts sank slowly as they approached the Key Village. The hope and clarity of the night before slipped away as they slowed to a trot and entered the wreckage.

  The village was destroyed. Most of the people that survived the Wyvern’s onslaught had returned to live among the ruins. They constructed meager dwellings from the rubble. A few were fortunate enough to have a bit of wall incorporated in their shelter.

  Jacosa and Sakina struggled to comprehend that this was all that remained of their once-prosperous home. There was no evidence of aid from the other Southern Villages. All trade had stopped. These people were utterly alone. Jacosa and Sakina were not surprised. The villages were running from darkness the way they always had.

  They pressed on to what was once the village center. As they passed, people scurried into the shadows and rocky crevices like frightened insects. They passed a woman and two children kneeling before a crude wooden carving of a hooded figure.

  “Calamity, we beg you to accept this offering and spare us your wrath.” The woman cried. She pulled the body of a cat wrapped in tattered cloth from her satchel and laid it at the hooded figure’s feet.

  The children beside her cried bitterly, but the woman silenced them.

  “Don’t you see, we have to do this! We angered Calamity. Death is owed.” She grabbed them by the wrists and dragged them away.

  Jacosa and Sakina arrived at the remnants of the square. No one exchanged goods. There was no food, no storytelling, and no music. Instead, the air was filled with moaning and weeping as people scampered here and there, afraid of everything. Jacosa and Sakina dismounted and led their horses through the square. Off to one side, a man stood high above them on a massive pile of rubble, shouting.

  “This is what we deserve! There is no end to Calamity’s fury. We defied him and this is our punishment. There is nothing left to be done…”

  The man’s voice faded into the din of wails as Jacosa and Sakina led their horses to a small trough near the village well.

  Jacosa drew a bucket of water and poured it into the trough.

  The horses drank deeply.

  “Excuse me, ladies…”

  Jacosa turned to the short, greasy man approaching them.

  “May I interest either of you in better fortune? Step right this way please.” On a table behind him, spread out on an ornate tablecloth, were dead animals wrapped in strips of linen. “I’ve got everything from mice to gazelles. Remember, the bigger the body, the more pleasing the offering. Now, what can I get you?”

  Jacosa fumed. “You’re selling offerings for Calamity?!”

  “Of course. He demands death, and we must obey. It’ll be them, or it will be you.” He pointed a stubby finger at Jacosa and she glared back at him. “Don’t take my word for it. This is coming straight from the council.”

  Jacosa was furious. “Calamity doesn’t show mercy! You are swindling these people out of what little they have left to appease one who will never be satisfied!”

  Sakina placed a hand on Jacosa’s shoulder and gently pulled her away from the man. “You said something about a council?”

  “The New Council.” The peddler explained. “They took over leadership of this village after the Yettas died.”

  Sakina winced but held her composure.

  “They take a portion of everything we have, and in return, they teach us how to appease Calamity, so we don’t incur his wrath again.”

  Sakina’s voice was strained. “Where can we find this council?”

  “That way.”

  Jacosa and Sakina returned to their horses and rode in the direction the peddler gave them.

  As they neared the edge of the village, they passed a graveyard. Hundreds of graves, nearly all unmarked, stretched out before them. In the first row, two graves were marked by large stones.

  Sakina walked forward slowly and knelt in the dirt before the stones. Tears trickled down her face as her voice caught in her throat. “I knew I would probably never see them again, but still, I hoped…”

  Jacosa hugged her and cried beside her.

  Sakina squeezed her eyes shut. She rested her hand lightly on one gravestone, and then the other. Then she rose to her feet and climbed back on her horse to find the council that took her parents’ place.

  Jacosa and Sakina came to a large tent, patched together and supported by wooden columns just outside the village. Jacosa followed Sakina right to the front of the tent where two armed guards stopped them. Jacosa recognized them. They used to be hunters.

  The guards checked them for weapons, then stepped aside and they walked in.

  Inside the tent, six men waited in a circle sprawled out on pillows and blankets. They gorged themselves on slabs of salted meat, dried fruit, and wine. In the center of the tent was a mound of belongings taken from the impoverished villagers.

  A tall, thin boy circled the goods with a roll of parchment and cataloged everything the council had. Old flogging wounds covered his back.

  Sakina stepped forward and cleared her throat. The slurping and chewing sounds stopped as the six council members turned.

  A fat, balding man, sat at the far end of the circle. “Put your payments in the pile and leave.”

  Sakina narrowed her eyes. “We are not here to pay you.”

  “Then we will not intercede with Calamity on your behalf. We require half of all that you have, or you can face Calamity’s power alone and end up in the ground.”

  Sakina stared at the council. “I am not here to beg for your help. I am here to disband this council. I am Sakina, the rightful Yetta and I will resume leadership of the Southern Villages. It is time for you to leave.”

  Another council member sneered and dragged himself down from his cushion throne. “Even if you are Sakina, how can any of us believe you?” He moved slowly around Sakina, eyeing her closely, then snapped his fingers. “Boy! Fetch me a mirror!”

  The slave boy scampered to the pile of stolen wealth and delivered a small, cracked mirror to the council member circling Sakina.

  “Look at yourself, my dear.” He shoved the mirror into Sakina’s hands. “Not only are you appalling, but you are unrecognizable. You have no more claim to rule than any other vermin wandering the streets.”

  Jacosa stormed forward. “How dare you?! You are speaking to Sakina and when she addresses the people, they will know her too!”

  The council member turned his sly grin towards Jacosa. “Ah… So, you haven�
�t brought your claim to the people? Excellent!”

  The whole council laughed.

  The fat man at the end of the room, swung a meaty fist into a wooden post three times and the guards from outside rushed in. “Seize these agitators and place them with the others that questioned our authority!”

  The guards were upon Jacosa and Sakina before they had time to react.

  “Listen to me!” Jacosa yelled as they bound her hands behind her back. “You remember me, don’t you?! This is Sakina! She is the Yetta!”

  The guards avoided eye contact with her.

  “You know me. You know I wouldn’t lie about this. That is Sakina! You don’t have to serve them anymore! She is the Yetta.”

  One guard hesitated.

  The other noticed and grabbed Jacosa’s arm, forcing her and Sakina out the back of the tent.

  They were marched out under the blazing mid-day sun to dozens of giant posts driven deep into the ground. Prisoners were bound to some.

  The guards approached two empty posts and chained Jacosa and Sakina to them.

  Jacosa counted thirteen prisoners around her, one of whom was badly beaten. “Sakina, are you alright?” She asked.

  “I’m fine.”

  “Your name is Sakina?”

  Jacosa and Sakina turned to the woman who spoke. She was shackled to a nearby post.

  “Yes. I’m Sakina. Who are you?”

  “My name is Amani.” The woman replied. “I’ve been looking for you.”

  “You know who I am?”

  “Yes. We were sent by Wymond of the Forest Clan. Have you heard of it?”

  “It sounds familiar.”

  “We were very sorry to hear about the Wyvern attack and your parents’ passing. They were good people.”

  Sakina nodded. “Thank you.”

  “You may not know this, but the Forest Clan tried to establish an alliance with the Southern Villages years ago to resist Calamity’s growing power and reach. Your parents didn’t agree.”

  “That’s not surprising. The Southern people have always valued peace over everything.”

  Amani nodded understandingly. “Well, we are here to try again. Captain Conall and I were sent to urge the Southern Villages to reconsider an alliance with the Clan.” She nodded towards the badly beaten, but powerful-looking man. “The Shadow Lands are spreading across Terrene. Calamity is releasing vast numbers and new enemies; evil monstrosities made of shadow.”