Ch 70: The Tragedy Of The Air Sorcerer

The sound of Zephyr’s screams cut through the air as all chaos broke loose.
Astasha was faintly aware of the shouts and cries of fear from the crowd behind her, but her focus was on the man in front of her, his body tensed in agony as blood began to seep from his eyes.
“End the ritual, NOW!” Bellowed Calder, but the Grand Sorceress of the Moon Garden stepped in front of him.
“No! You risk all their lives if you interfere!”
Tasha’s mind worked furiously to find a way to bring him back. “They need to alter their channeling. Shift the direction of the air and use the earth to draw him down.”
Belvana looked uncertain for a moment but nodded and turned to the circle.
The four other sorcerers were still locked in the ritual, muttering under their breath as sweat dripped down their faces from the strain of holding so long against the power of the demon.
“She’s going to try to join with them,” Said Helia.
“She just needs to be able to communicate the shift to them.” Narelle chimed in.
Astasha said nothing as she watched the Grand Sorceress focus her energy.
“Talib, get everyone away from here.” Said Calder. “Olander, help him.”
The two Captains bowed their heads and disappeared.
Zephyr was still screaming, blood running down his face.
Only once before had Tasha ever felt so helpless, but she would have faced all the terrors of the clearing to spare the Air Sorcerer what she was witnessing now.
Belvana was chanting ceaselessly, and soon, the chants of the others began to change. She had succeeded in reaching them.
A tunnel of wind began to draw down from the sky, and as it touched the ground, it burst out, a wall of dust raging past those still gathered.
Calder had thrown his body around Astasha, shielding her as the force hit his back. But the moment it had passed, she pulled free of him, her eyes on the circle.
The Grand Sorceress and four other mages had been knocked back by the force, but seemed unharmed. Zephyr, however, was on the ground, his hands clutching his face.
Astasha ran as fast as she could to his side.
“Zephyr!”
Blood seeped between his fingers as she pulled his head into her lap, agony in his voice as he cried.
“Please, Goddess, help him.” She whispered. “I’m here, Zephyr. It’s me, Astasha. I’m here.”
Belvana was next to them, along with Cal, Helia and Narelle.
“Zephyr.” The Grand Sorceress’s voice was soft. “I must see your eyes.”
The old man wept but wouldn’t move.
Gently, Astasha placed her hand on his. “Please, Zephyr, we’re trying to help you.”
Blood covered her fingers, but he slowly let her lift his hands away.
Gasps of shock came from those around them, but Tasha forced herself to stifle her own.
“I can’t see.” He whimpered as she held his hands in her own, his eyes, bloodied and blind.

-----

Darkness and a horrible stillness had settled over the camp as Astasha at last emerged from the tent they had moved their fellow Air Sorcerer to. Calder was pacing outside and immediately stopped, rushing to her.
“How is he?”
Astasha swallowed as she looked up at him. “We’ve given him herbs to help him sleep. But…” She looked down, closing her eyes for a moment. “He… he’ll never see again, Cal. The fucking demon blinded him.”
He tipped her face toward his. “This is not your fault, Tasha. I can feel the darkness consuming you over it, but you can’t give in to it. I promise you, we will make that piece of shit pay for everything it’s done.”
There was blood on her hands and dress, smeared across her neck and face, and she seemed to at last take notice of it. “I’m going to clean up and come back. I need to be here when he wakes.”
Calder took her shoulders, stopping her from walking away. “My love, you need rest.”
She looked up at him, her eyes full of anger and terror and guilt. “How can I close my eyes when the only thing I’ll see are Zephyr’s?”
He took a deep breath. “Alright, then I’ll stay here with you.”
She shook her head. “No. You have an army to prepare, Cal. They know we’re coming, and you’re the only one who can come up with a plan they won’t suspect.”
She knew once again he was torn between his heart and his duty, but the part of his mind that had been conditioned to make difficult decisions finally seemed to take over.
“Let me at least go with you to our tent and see you safely back here.”
As she nodded in acceptance, he took her hand and they made their way through the camp, not a word spoken aside from the Prince ordering hot water to be brought to them.
It wasn’t until they were inside and Cal had retrieved the steaming bucket from the guard posted at the door, that Astasha spoke.
“Where are Talib and Olander?”
He poured the water into the bowl on the stump before coming to help her out of the dress she wore. His face was grim, and she could feel the frustration and anger in him that he was trying to keep at bay, but his fingers were gentle, nonetheless, as they slowly unlaced the back of her gown.
“There seems to be discord amongst the camp. Fear is spreading after what happened earlier, though we’re pretty certain we know who’s feeding it. Talib and Olander are holding an audience with all those concerned to try to ease their worries.”
He finished with the laces, drawing the dress off her shoulders to let it slide to the floor.
“They have every reason to be frightened, Cal. We’ve seen what one demon can do. There are several now. How many exactly, we don’t know.”
She could feel his breath on her bare back as he exhaled heavily before his lips brushed her skin. “I’ve seen what fear does to an army, Tasha. If we don’t find a way to calm the situation, we’ve lost before we can even get there.”
His hands slipped onto her waist to guide her to the water bowl, and taking a piece of cloth, he began to gently clean the blood from her. Astasha watched him, feeling the emotions inside him as they flowed through her.
“How are you not afraid, Cal?”
His brow furrowed as he looked up at her.
“Because the only thing I truly fear is losing you, and if I begin to think about that…” He swallowed and shook his head.
There was more silence as he washed the last of the blood from her neck and face before setting down the cloth and taking her hands in his, an intensity in his eyes as they met her own.
“I refuse to allow that fucking monster into my head ever again. I will not let the terror it breeds rule me, and I will not let it convince me that there is any possibility aside from watching it and its master burn.” He took a deep breath and leaned his forehead against hers. “You’re right, there is reason to be afraid. But what our army needs is hope. You once called me the Ruler of Hope, so that is what I will be, a light in the dark, even if it doesn’t seem likely the sun will rise.”
Astasha closed her eyes, fully understanding the weight of Cal’s role in all this, and forced her own fear down, locking it away along with the darkness that had been slowly growing within her. “Then I will help you keep that flame alive.”
After helping her into a new dress, Calder walked her back to the tent where Zephyr was being cared for. “If he wakes, send for me immediately.” He said as he leaned down to kiss her. “I’ll return as soon as I can.”
The beautiful and muscular Earth Sorceress Astasha had learned was named Gaiylene, was the only one still present in the tent when she entered.
“I sent the others to rest, as you should be doing, My Lady.”
The Fire Witch approached the makeshift cot where Zephyr was sleeping. “I’ll find no rest tonight, unfortunately. How is he?”
Gaiylene came to join her next to him. “He’ll live.”
There was a bitterness in her voice and Tasha could feel resentment in her energy.
“I understand you blame me, and I would have taken his place if I could, but—“
“Not to sound insensitive, but self-deprecation and excuses aren’t what the people need from their future Queen. They need a confident leader and an enemy to unite behind.” Astasha was stunned at the woman’s bluntness but before she could speak, the Earth Witch continued. “If you want unwavering support in this crusade, you’ll have to convince everyone to look aside from the petty drama of your forbidden romance, and to do that, you have to show them you’re the Queen they want regardless.”
The future Princess looked down at the sleeping Air Sorcerer as she weighed what she was being told.
“And if I never wanted to be Queen in the first place?”
“Then convincing yourself will be a good test before you have to convince everyone else. And you had better do it fast. I don’t really care to see what else those things are capable of if we aren’t united against them.”
Astasha looked up at Gaiylene, the truth of her statement setting in, before raising herself up to her full stature.
“It seems I’m in need of an honest advisor, someone who isn’t afraid to hold me accountable and keep me on point. I’d like you to consider the position.”
The two sorceresses simply stared at one another for a moment, but then a small smirk appeared on Gaiylene’s lips.
“It seems you do. It’s a tough position, but I think I could handle it.” She bowed her head slightly. “Your Highness.”
The title struck Astasha differently than she expected, but she kept her composure.
“I’m not royalty yet, but when I am, I’ll be grateful to have you in my service. For now, go rest with the others. We ride to war at sunrise.”
After the Earth Witch left, Tasha settled in at Zephyr’s side. She looked at the sleeping sorcerer, the guilt slowly creeping back into her stomach. How many more would suffer in this madness?
Her thoughts wandered to the army that awaited them, to the Forest of the Damned and the tower where her path seemed to lead, no matter the direction she turned. She thought about Cal, the promises they had made to one another, and the fact that even if they were to defeat this enemy, more awaited them. How was she to be the Queen the people wanted, when she was already marked a traitor by so many?
The Air Sorcerer began to groan, his hands twitching as if he were dreaming. His head moved from side to side and then his eyelids opened, his unseeing eyes darting around frantically.
“Darkness, so much darkness.” His voice was panicked and worried, and she could feel the fear in him. But she tried to sooth him as she reached to take his hand.
“It’s alright, it’s me, Astasha. I’m here.”
His fingers closed around hers, his grip frail yet firm.
“So much darkness.”
“Zephyr…” she didn’t know how to say it, but she knew she had to be the one to tell him. “The demon, it… it blinded you.” She was trying to stay strong, to keep everything she felt at bay, but she could feel the dam slowly crumbling. “I’m so sorry. I never should have let you do it.”
His grip tightened even more. “I can feel it, the darkness. It comes for you, from you… Astasha, you cannot let it in. It is consuming you, slowly, and it will take you if you do not stop it.”
“Zephyr—”
He began to paw at her, trying to find her, to cling to her.
“It was its plan all along, to awaken it within you. That’s why it forced itself upon you in the clearing. I saw its mind. It needs the darkness to take hold, she needs it to, and they will stop at nothing to see that it does. There are so many now… They will torture the Prince, torture everyone that rides with us as you are forced to watch, and then, once you are broken, they will make the Prince watch as you unleash evil on all you cared for in order to break him as well. And then…” His voice trailed off as if he was picturing some horrible nightmare he couldn’t escape.
Astasha felt as though she would be sick, her head swimming, her hands shaking.
“Zephyr, how many bodies were there? Sacrifices? Can you remember?”
There was a pause as he shook his head. “It came before I could see exactly how many, but I counted at least a dozen. Astasha, you cannot win this war. And if they capture you, all will fall to darkness.”
He was still clinging to her, and she reached out to gently cup his face. “It’s alright, Zephyr. I promise you, I won’t let them take me. No one will.” Her voice was strong, her energy determined, but she was grateful he couldn’t see her face, for tears streamed down her cheeks as she stared into the unseeing eyes that had seen her future, and her end.