Original: To Fire It Shall Return

Chapter 12

Just as the sun was tucking itself below the horizon, the three exhausted travelers reached the next town. 'Lacuna City', the sign just outside the borders proclaimed in huge red letters. They didn't know it, but Koldar had been here only the night before. In the dying light, the paint of the letters on the sign looked like dried blood. Gazing at it, Kelden felt an involuntary shiver pass through him. He blinked furiously. It was paint again. He banished the chill with an internal grimace. Boy, I must be tired, he reflected.

Beyond the sign, it was as if an invisible wall had been erected, separating forest from field, wilderness from civilization. The break had no blurring; the forest simply ended and the farm-fields began. No errant trees had breached this knife-like border, and not one stalk of wheat grew among the dark stands of wood. They pushed the tired horses along the road, wanting to reach the buildings ahead before the inns were full. The sky deepened from purple to deep black as they rode past the rolling rows of grain and into the city itself.

The buildings were like the ones in Lorenton had been. Each structure melted directly into the next with almost no space in between. Often the inch-wide gap closed completely and two buildings shared the same wall. They left their horses at the stable on the edge of town, ensuring with some extra glittering coins and a few words about "gratitude of the White Sorceress" that they would be well taken-care-of. Sharra took off, scouting the area and intending to find a comfortable tree to sleep in rather than attracting attention inside the town. Karim did the same, disappearing into the long grass of the pastures near the stable. When the familiars had gone, the three went into the town proper and entered the first inn they could find. It was mid-summer and they were quite far north, so even though the sun had gone down barely half-an-hour before, it was already quite late. The people in the building didn't seem to have noticed the hour. The bar on the ground floor was filled with people, some of whom looked as if they had only just arrived. Others, judging from the number of glasses on their tables and the bleary looks in their eyes, had already been there for quite a while. They arranged a room with the proprietor of the place.

"It will be a few minutes before it's ready, Sorceress," the round-waisted, beer-stained woman had said, cringing slightly as if she expected to be beaten. Alainna gave her an encouraging smile despite her consternation and they sat down at one of the tables. They chose one in the back corner, which was set somewhat apart from the rest, leaving them with some measure of privacy. Alainna couldn't ignore the furtive glances that their presence evoked.

"Well, at least we know that these people still know who the White Sorceress is," said Kelden, a bit ruefully. Alainna acknowledged his tone with a small nod and a grimace.

"I'd almost rather they didn't. Anonymity would help to shield us from the Black Wizard's eyes." Alainna had her back to the rest of the room, so she didn't see what prompted Kelden to suddenly turn his attention to something over her shoulder. She did, however, see the blood drain out of his face.

"It doesn't look as if it matters," he said. Alainna followed his gaze, seeing Lelahn doing the same. She gasped in shock. Weaving through the tables, clearly bound for their corner, was Karanis. Her black clothes stood out against the bright hues of the other bar patrons, even in the dim light. She sat down in the fourth chair, across from Lelahn and between Alainna and Kelden.

"Greetings, Sorceress. I trust you've had a pleasant journey thus far," the black sorceress said, a superior smile on her face. Kelden's eyes seemed to turn inward and Alainna could see his chest heaving. For a moment she wondered why, then she realized she couldn't see Karanis' right hand. Alainna glared fiercely.

"I would have thought you were above such pathetic games, sorceress." Karanis froze for a moment, then innocently laid the offending hand on the table.

"What games, Sorceress?" Alainna didn't answer, but glared at her silently. Karanis looked for a moment as if she were about to make an issue of it, but instead, her face resumed the congenial arrogance it had had when she came in. "I repeat my question; have you had a pleasant journey?"

"So far." The hand remained on the table, safe, for now, so Alainna looked up to meet the other woman's eyes. The clarity of the blue was startling, somehow Alainna hadn't noticed at their last encounter. That, and the humanity she glimpsed behind the ever-present arrogance. Together, they conspired to give Alainna the strange feeling that this woman was more than she seemed. Karanis leaned forward, a look of concern on her face.

"It may become much more difficult very soon," she warned.

Alainna smirked. "Oh, really?" she replied. Kelden glared at Karanis.

"You wouldn't be planning to have anything to do with that," he said sarcastically. Instead of returning with an innocent-sounding rejoinder, as they expected, her expression darkened.

"No, but Koldar will. He knows where you are, and has been watching you since you left Solarna. He's not going to let you interfere with his agenda."

"And what would that be?" Alainna shot back. Now her eyes widened innocently.

"The Black Wizard's plans are his own."

"I see." Alainna thought furiously. Karanis was lying, that was obvious, but would it do any good to press the issue?

Worth a try, said Sharra brightly in her mind. She had been following the conversation from where she was. Alainna agreed silently, but didn't nod. If Karanis were planning something, she may have forgotten about the familiars. And if that were the case, there was no good in reminding her.

"What did he do with the Horses, Karanis?" Alainna demanded. The innocent gaze didn't waver.

"Horses?"

"You know what I'm talking about. What did Koldar do with the Horses he stole from the White Guild?"

"Why would he do that?" Alainna felt the frustration beginning to overwhelm her. Suddenly the smile disappeared from Karanis' face and she looked at Kelden. Her breathing changed, became heavier and faster. Then she stood up, quickly, and took a step away from the table. Alainna suddenly realized with a sharp pain that Kelden had been using The Touch on her. Alainna tried not to look at her friend, but threw her attention on Karanis so he wouldn't see how much his action had disappointed her.

"Sit down, sorceress. You're attracting attention." In fact, several people from the surrounding tables had turned away from their conversations and were watching the exchange. With a sigh, Karanis sat down, leaning arrogantly back in her chair. She had abandoned the mask of innocence and was now glaring defiantly at the three others.

"Why don't you ask me something I can answer?" she asked, tightly keeping her voice at a conversational volume. Alainna tried to do the same, but failed.

"You came here to warn us about Koldar. How much of a step would it be to give us a hint about his plans?" Karanis leaned forward toward Alainna, her eyes on fire with anger.

"Do you think I came here against Koldar's will? What do you take me for?" Alainna was taken aback. Lelahn finally spoke up, as confused as Alainna.

"Why would he warn us?"

"He sent me to warn you so that you wouldn't go looking for him. He has no reason to fight you; he doesn't want to. What he is doing does not concern you, so why should you waste his time - and yours - on some silly quest of vengeance, or whatever this is."

"It became my concern when he stole our Horses. How are we expected to get around?"

"Walk." Her expression was fiercely uncaring. Then it transformed to a wry amusement. "And you always have Illyanna." Alainna's mouth fell open. She was speechless. How could she know about that? Even Alainna hadn't known until a day ago and both the Guildhall and Alainna's fortress were protected against spying. Before she could recover from her shock, the owner of the inn appeared at her elbow.

"Your rooms are ready," the woman said, eyeing Karanis nervously. Karanis stood up, smiling graciously.

"I will allow you to settle in. It has been an honour speaking to you again, Sorceress. The words that have passed over this table should be well-remembered." Behind the respectful words was a veiled threat. Remember what I've said, they told her, or fear for your lives. Alainna watched as she left the bar, the eyes of every conscious male in the place following her hungrily. No one got up to follow her though, a minor blessing.

When she had left, Alainna, Kelden, and Lelahn followed the woman up several flights of stairs and down a hallway to their rooms. To conserve their limited coinage they had reserved only two rooms, not one for each of them. Alainna and Kelden would sleep in one and Lelahn in the other. Alainna hadn't decided yet whether she was looking forward to their arrangement. It had been seven years since the last time, and her attraction for him had only grown. It was going to be a terrible temptation. She sighed, she would get through this trip without embarrassing herself - assuming she survived.

Though she had no intention of listening to them, Karanis' words left a cold spot in the pit of her stomach. When they had gone into their rooms for the night, Kelden took her by the shoulders, drawing her into an embrace.

With his face buried in her golden hair, he whispered. "It's all right, don't worry." She barely heard him, though she believed utterly his every word. They released, smiling self-consciously at each other, then looked away. They went to bed and fell asleep without another word.

Karanis exited the dimly-lit bar and emerged into the darkened street. The sun was well down now, and the more unsavory citizens of Lacuna were beginning to emerge. Pimps and whores slithered like newly-shed blood over the beaten stone of the sidewalks. Karanis swept past them, ignoring the leers, and glares, and even frightened glances that were directed at her from all sides. She was thinking about her confrontation with Alainna. The warning she had given was like a bad taste in her mouth - even though she had carefully manipulated her words to ensure that they would come anyway. Why didn't Koldar just wait until they arrived and then kill them? He would certainly succeed, and it would remove a formidable obstacle to his plans. Instead, he was making things difficult for himself by warning them. Now they would be watching for him, whatever he was planning to do. He must have had some reason, though, and Karanis was sure that he would enlighten her when she wasn't in danger of having her mind read by the White Sorceress. It had always struck her as unfortunate that members of the White Guild could perform telepathy. She could only read and change memories - and that required contact, sometimes even a kiss, to work.

She turned down a dark alley, heading for the remote place where she had left her Horse. As her feet drove her around twists and turns that she had memorized from her numerous trips here for willing young men, she was suddenly startled out of her thoughts by the feeling of a heavy hand falling on her shoulder. She stopped, and turned around before the owner of the hand could get a firm grip. She took a step back, not out of fear, but just so that she could get a better look at the man who'd had the audacity to disturb her.

He wasn't ugly, certainly not that. In fact, under the unshaven face and drunken gleam in his eyes, he was almost handsome.

"What do you want?" she snapped. He moved forward, reaching out to her.

"I think you know what I want," he said. His words were only slightly slurred. He was immersed in the sort of sullen, angry drunkenness that comes when someone was trying to dull pain. Karanis tensed, ready to duck out of the way if he tried to grab her-

He was much faster than she'd judged. He grabbed her by the shoulders, his fingers biting deeply into her soft flesh, and slammed her back into a wall. Her head cracked against the rough brick and she sagged, almost fainting, only supported by his hold. He pushed himself close to her, his sex like a burning shaft of metal where it pressed against her, his lips covering hers. She closed her eyes involuntarily and suddenly saw another face. This one was brown-haired instead of blond, with light hazel eyes rather than blue, and he was clean-shaven, but no less drunk. The face of the man who had tried this once before, when she had still been mortal - tried and succeeded. She screamed then, freeing her mouth long enough for that one expression, and then broke from him. Her bootheels clicked on the concrete ground, echoing until her world was filled with running footsteps. Somehow she found her Horse and took off, heading home for the Black Wizard's castle. She never looked back to see the man drop to the ground, his skin charred and burning, his eyes running out of their sockets like hot wax. Nor did she pause to sense the smell of burning flesh that filled the air.

Fire. The flickering flames consume. They're warm and dry, so welcoming. The flames wrap you in their warm arms and hold you close, dissolving into soft pliant flesh. Fingers bite harshly into skin. Long fingernails score red marks across your back. You cry your pleasure into the night, then collapse, spent. The red petals of a rose falls from her soft lips. The violent, frenzied hands soften into gentle caresses that melt away, dripping blood onto the cold ground. The warm, red liquid runs down, meeting other tiny rivulets, getting wider, and faster, and deeper, until it is a torrent. It fills the air with the smell of death and rushes in a great flood, knocking down and drowning everything in its path. It grows with each new death until it covers the world with its crimson stain that can never be washed clean--

Silence. Absolute stillness. The quite of a graveyard where the dead sleep eternally under their soft blanket of cold, wormy soil. And among the icy gravestones the soft whisper of a child...

"Mother? Why did you leave me, mother?"

Kelden opened his eyes. He was drenched in sweat and shaking as if he had just run a marathon. The blazing sun of early morning shone brightly through the window, warming his shivering body and setting Alainna's hair afire where it lay, spread out on her pillow beside him. But none of it comforted him. He was still locked in the grip of the images he had seen in the dream.

Fire, sex, blood; images of violence and death so intense that he had never seen anything so terrible. And then… stillness and that single child's cry, the voice so like his own, and yet, different. What did it mean? He felt like pounding something in his frustration but wasn't sure if his spent body would obey him. He lay there, not daring to close his eyes out of fear for what he may find there, and tried to calm his frenzied nerves and slow the pounding of his heart.

Just as he was getting his breathing under control, Alainna sighed and opened her eyes. It struck him how clear her blue eyes were, like a cloudless autumn day when the air is so fresh and crisp that one could almost smell the snows of the impending winter. She sat up, gazing at him with concern reflected in her eyes.

"What is it, Kelden? Are you all right?" He mustered a smile, forcing his muscle-weary body to stand up and begin pulling his clothes on.

"Just a bad dream, don't worry about it." She didn't press him for details, and his throat constricted at her silence. He knew she was thinking of Karanis and wondering if he had dreamed about her. He longed to reassure her, tell her the truth, but he wasn't sure if the truth would make her feel any better.

They set off down the road again after a hurried breakfast in one of the local restaurants. Sharra was sent to scout ahead, as her wings could propel her much faster than the horses could hope to go. Karim slept, sprawled across the back of Kelden's saddle, lulled into unconsciousness by the warm, mid-July sun.

Lelahn noticed that Kelden was unusually quiet. His smile had diminished, and often vanished completely as a dark frown creased his face. She rode a bit faster, pulling up beside him, and was about to ask what was wrong when Alainna gasped.

"What is it?" asked Lelahn. Alainna's eyes unfocused as she communicated with her familiar. Karim's head poked up as he caught the message and he scrambled up Kelden's back to stand, swaying with the horse's movement, on his shoulder. Alainna spurred her horse forward, urging him up to a full gallop. Lelahn struggled to keep her seat as she followed.

"Someone's been hurt. A cart overturned up the road here. Sharra saw it!" Alainna yelled over her shoulder so Lelahn could hear.

They rounded a sharp turn and nearly stumbled over the cart. Lelahn pulled desperately at the reins, trying to stop in time. The cart was on its side, the vegetables it had been carrying strewn over the road. One of the horses had been pulled over and was on its side, kicking its powerful legs in the air. The other horse was obviously panicked by its proximity to its mate. It's eyes were rolling in fear and it was pulling desperately at its harness. A man and woman were standing by the side of the road, the woman's face buried in her husband's chest. In the middle of the road, beside the cart was a teenaged boy. Blood was pooling slowly by his head, and he was obviously unconscious. As the three dismounted, the two adults swarmed them, begging desperately for help.

"Our Jaren! Our Jaren is hurt! Please help us!" Alainna fended them off with reassuring words, then took a few seconds to calm the horses as she waited for Sharra to arrive. She avoided the deadly hooves - they were cloven, the horses imported from the Badlands, no doubt, very cheap - and laid a hand on their necks. The Touch calmed the beasts and she turned her attention to the boy. Sharra landed on her shoulder, her weight a reassurance despite the blood that flowed from cuts all over Jaren's body, and a nasty gash on the back of his head.

As she Worked the Healing, Kelden and Lelahn began righting the cart. As she pushed, Lelahn carefully opened her mind, probing the wood for what had happened here.

They're driving the horses fast - too fast. The cart bumps and jostles, nearly overturning on a few large rocks on the road. A turn is looming, much sharper than they anticipated. It is too late to stop--

The cart smashes to the ground, the boy is crushed underneath. There are the sounds of screams, both animal and human, but only silence from the boy. The cart is lifted carefully, and the sobbing mother pulls her son out from underneath--

--The cart righted itself, falling with a crash that both pulled it out from under Lelahn's fingers and jolted her out of the vision. She looked around, still a bit dazed. Kelden was helping the horse to stand up and Alainna was just now withdrawing from Jaren. She slipped out of her kneeling position with a sigh and looked up at the parents who were looking at her with panic in their eyes.

"He'll be all right. Just give him a minute," she said tiredly as she got to her feet. As if in answer to her words, the boy opened his eyes.

The cart was reloaded quickly and Lelahn helped Jaren - weak from trauma and loss of blood - into the cart and mounted her horse.

"I don't know how to thank you, sorceress," the woman was gushing. The man was nodding emphatically in time to her repeated thanks.

"You don't have to thank me," Alainna assured the parents. "It was only my duty as the White Sorceress." The mortals openly gaped at this and quickly retreated, continuing to mutter disjointed thank-you's, and got up into the driver's bench at the front of the cart. They smiled broadly, thanking her for the upteenth-time, and took off. The horses raced out of sight in a flurry of dust and pounding hooves. Lelahn shook her head.

"It's that kind of behavior that nearly got their son killed in the first place." Kelden looked at her soberly.

"Not everyone is as intelligent as you or I," he said, looking ruefully over his shoulder at the dust cloud, now almost out of sight. Then he brightened, his face breaking into a brilliant smile, his earlier depression forgotten. "Well, at least it's good P.R." Lelahn didn't bother to ask him what that was as Alainna chose that moment to sit down heavily on the roadside. She pressed her hands to her eyes and muttered to herself.

"I'm getting too old for this sort of thing." Kelden's smile broadened at the colloquialism.

"I'm rubbing off on you," he teased. Alainna didn't answer. They rested there for another fifteen minutes before she clambered onto her horse and they continued trotting along the road.

By the time Karanis landed in the courtyard of Koldar's fortress, she had managed to calm down enough to try to remember what had happened to her assailant - and found that she couldn't. She knew that she had escaped, and that his strength had been such that she could never have done so without using magic, but she couldn't remember forming the presence of mind to Work. This only worsened the shaking of her hands and they gripped her Horse's mane. She had never been scared that badly - or even at all - since she was a mortal and had been raped that first time. Nothing had ever made her lose control that completely. Karanis had thought that after two-hundred years, she would have gotten over the pain and humiliation. That experience had changed her forever, but she had thought that her new life as a sorceress had erased - or at least buried - those feelings forever.

Koldar was there to meet her and enveloped her in a strong embrace when she had dismounted. She closed her eyes and breathed his scent, feeling his presence still the shivering of her body. He had had this effect the first time too, she remembered. He had rescued her from the non-life that that shadow in the night had left her with when it had taken everything else. He released her and gave her the rose he had been holding in his hand. It was red, like blood. She took it and smiled into his tender face. It was a simple, small gesture, not at all like him, but Koldar had always had a sense of timing, and he knew how much these little things meant to Karanis. Suddenly convulsed by the intensity of her love for him, she closed her palm firmly over the stem, feeling the sharp thorns bite into her hand. She felt the blood drip down, spattering on the dusty flagstones and hoped that Koldar wouldn't notice. She didn't release her grip.

"Thank you," she said softly, trying to put forth the impression that everything was normal. Koldar felt that something was wrong, though, and looked down at her quizzically.

"What's wrong, my love?" She looked away despite herself, then forced herself to look into his deep, bottomless eyes.

"Nothing," she said, wincing at the quaver that she could hear in her own voice. Koldar frowned and wrapped an arm around her waist, drawing her toward one of the many hallways that lead away from the courtyard. They descended a staircase and entered a room, Koldar's bedroom, which he had had built soon after they had arrived there. The soil in this region had been suitable for building underground and Koldar couldn't resist the atmosphere of this dark chamber. It was resplendent, with candles flickering in tall, iron candlesticks and a huge bed dominating the centre of the room. He closed the door, sat her down on the bed, and drew up a chair opposite her. The chair was made of wood, carved like dripping blood and upholstered in red velvet. Karanis gazed at the designs, drawing strength from the violence it represented, and using it as an excuse not to meet Koldar's eyes.

"What is it?" he said. He grasped her gently under the chin and forced her head up so he could look into her eyes. With his other hand, he pried her fingers open where they were still holding the rose in a death's grip. There was a sharp pain and a burst of fresh blood as the thorns were drawn out of her palm. She squeezed her hand into a fist, sharply, trying to staunch the flow of blood, and hide the damning evidence of her state of mind from her lover. She stood up and moved a few paces away, staring into the dancing flame of one of the many-pronged candlesticks and putting her back to Koldar.

"It's nothing. I can handle it." He came up behind her and gripped her by the shoulders, turning her around. He kissed her gently on the lips. For a moment she responded, then she tore away, ducking away and turning her back to him. She wasn't about to let Koldar use his magic to read her memories and find what had happened. That sort of magic often could only respond to the sexual energy of a kiss, just like the magic she used to drain energy from her victims. She didn't need to tell him anyway, she should be able to handle it. She didn't need his help. "No, Koldar," she said firmly. He caressed her shoulder.

"I'm sorry. What's wrong, Karanis?" She held herself rigid for a moment, then turned around to look at him. Forcing herself to shape the words. Forcing her eyes not to betray the pain she was feeling. Her expression was coldly unconcerned as she spoke.

"Some mortal tried to rape me," she said simply. She tried to resist the crushing depression, the hysteria that was rising in her. They were feelings that she would never have even felt outside of his presence, and could not reveal to him now. She was not the scared little girl he'd seduced two-hundred years ago. She was stronger now, and his equal, his lover. The sobs welled up inside her, and broke over her before she could banish them. Moments later he was holding her as she cried out the frustration and humiliation, pent up for over two centuries.

"It's all right love. You don't have to hide anything from me. You're safe here." He crooned the words, caressing her hair, her shoulders, her arms, carefully avoiding those places that, in her need, she most wanted him to touch. The door opened then and Lokkar stepped through.

"Black Wizard-" he began, but was cut off violently by Koldar's authoritative voice.

"Get out of here!" Karanis' tears dried up and she turned her face toward the door, glaring fiercely. If anything, his eyes grew colder, even as the rest of his face softened onto a look of concern.

"I apologize, Wizard, I did not realize I was intruding. I hope the Lady Karanis is all right."

"She will be, if you leave. Now," replied Koldar through clenched teeth. Lokkar bowed subserviently, flashing the palest ghost of a delighted smile at Karanis. Koldar had already looked away from him, so he didn't see the lights of pure sadism that danced in his eyes. The door closed. Karanis felt the self-righteous anger boil over and she exploded at Koldar.

"I can fight my own fights, Koldar! You don't have to do it for me!" For once, Koldar didn't rise to the bait, but regarded her with the same tender affection.

"I know, love. But sometimes you shouldn't have to. I'm sorry if that bothered you." In the face of a sincere apology, Karanis felt her anger dry up. Her next words were quiet, the anger no longer directed at her lover.

"You should kill that man. There's something wrong with him,"

"I will, don't worry; however, his usefulness outweighs his more irritating qualities right now." Karanis doubted that very much, but if Koldar insisted on being grateful enough to spare Lokkar's life for a while, that was his business. Karanis wasn't sure how much longer she could restrain herself though. She banished the man from her mind and kissed Koldar, firmly. His eyes searched her face for a moment, resisting her efforts to pull him down onto the bed.

"Are you sure about this, Karanis?" he asked concernedly. Karanis' heart soared with love. He would never have asked anyone else.

"Yes," she breathed. He stopped resisting, the heat of his Touch melting the pain away until it ran off like rivulets of blood and vanished. They made love slowly, carefully as they had when they first met and Karanis had been an innocent, hurt little girl. She wept with joy as his heat rushed through her, the tears burned like fire as they dripped down her face, cleaning away the last of the pain. His fingers seared into her body, cauterizing the wound. It left a scar, but stopped the killing flow of blood that threatened to drain her dry.

Koldar awoke to the sound of Karanis getting out of bed and gliding across the room. He heard the door open.

"Karanis are you-" he began, but the door closed, silencing him. He resisted the urge to follow her, instead relaxing back among the pillows and closing his eyes. She would be fine. Karanis was one of the strongest women he knew, and unlike that first time, she had people around her that cared about her.

It always amazed him just how far Anata had sunk since he killed Marsia. The White Guild had descended into a self-suppressive fit of paranoia, and had obviously never recovered. Alainna had refused to show her face in any of the mortal cities since then. Cowards. One hitch, and they hid themselves away. Whimpering little rabbits. Well, that would soon change, if he got his way. He felt sleep threatening to overwhelm him again, and he submitted to it without another thought--

--a woman's body submits under his touch, her white skin glowing red with the heat of his sun. Her angel-blond hair gleams in the firelight and suddenly she screams, her white-clad body squirming, blood running from her skin in rivers of tiny droplets. His touch is burning her. He becomes the sun. Her skin blackens and cracks under the killing heat, but she continues to move, her bloody, dry, ruined hands quickening him with the ease of the practice of long-time lovers. Screaming in his turn, he comes with exploding force and she blows apart, collapsing in a heap of dust and ash.

Koldar stands, his victim's ashes blowing away in the wind. He had won, and the pleasure of victory rushes through him with more heat than his vanquished lover's passion. Suddenly, column of ice begin to ejaculate out of the ground, surrounding him, crushing him with their weight, and he realizes that in his folly he thought his love could vanquish his foe--

--Koldar awoke again, a scream on his lips that he quickly buried. That's funny, he thought, Where did that come from?

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