The Mayor was too old and weak to inflict much damage, so I turned away and let him attack me. “What do you want?” I yelled toward Duul’s largest minion.
“What I came for,” the creature bellowed in a deep, gravelly voice. It reached its black hand toward the electric tower, which stood barely taller than he did. He curled his fingers around the damaging magic. Yellow sparks snaked up his arm, forcing his body to tremble from the damage he took. Then the spell ceased, beginning its thirty second recharge.
The cretin general pulled his fist away and uncurled his fingers. In his hand sat a massive black energem, larger than any I had found so far. The electric energy stopped gathering on the tower’s roof. He hadn’t come for the city, or for Gowes. Not yet, anyway. He came to take the gem that powered the city’s defenses, and which could add to Duul’s own power if put to that purpose.
He turned to walk away, leaving the city in shambles. The guards were dead, save a single archer. The electric tower was powered down. The gates were in smithereens.
“We did it,” the Mayor said. Somehow, the death of the cretins and the departure of their general had lifted the curse. It wasn’t permanent. It must depend on proximity to the spell’s source. If that were the case, maybe I could liberate Meadowdale one day.
“Come,” the Mayor said. “We must give credit where it is due.”
I retrieved Razortooth and pried the metal shield from its blade, then followed behind the Mayor, Ambry, and Lily. The archer looked down at us and shook his head. He wouldn’t leave his post while the massive general of Duul’s army walked away through the woods.
“People of Valleyvale!” the Mayor called out. Gradually, citizens amassed in the city’s center. They walked from side streets and alleys. They came from their homes and their shops. Eranza came, and so did Gowes. I hadn’t seen him outside his temple before this, but he radiated the same cyan glow here as he did there.
“Today, we sustained casualties in a war that we did not seek,” the Mayor said. “These are important times for the city to attract adventurers, else we shall have no champions against the forces of evil. While today’s battle ended in victory, we may not always be so lucky or so strong.”
Victory?, I wondered. They got what they came here for. They took your energem!
“I need to thank our city guards,” the Mayor said, “whose brave sacrifices allow us to live and prosper another day. Let us take a moment of silence to remember their valor.
“I need also to thank Ambry and Lily, whose magic kept those evil warriors from entering the city and fouling our fair home.
“Finally, I must thank Eranza, whose quick thinking allowed the temple to be defended.”
“To be defended?” I thought, I’m the one who defended it!
“And, lest we allow our home to suffer intrusions most unwelcome,” the Mayor said, “take a long look at this face.” He gestured toward me. “This is the face of a man once banished from our city, who returned without invitation. His lack of respect for my authority, and his partial destruction of our temple, prove that his banishment was well earned. Should he enter Valleyvale again, he must be detained before he wreaks more havoc.
“Today, however, is a day to rejoice in our strength, and not delve into vengeance. Ambry, Lily, have him removed.”
Unbelievable. I had saved Gowes from certain death. The god of wishful thinking may not believe so, he might just think this whole day was destined to be honky dory, but I risked my neck saving his minor deity ass from extinction. And this is the thanks I get?
Lily’s hand was warm for an ice witch. She guided me toward the city’s front gates, or what was left of them, while Ambry walked alongside.
“We won’t survive another attack,” Lily said. “Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the thrill of chopping heads like the next girl, but the only reason I had time to freeze so many of them was the guards holding the enemy back.”
“There were forty, maybe fifty cretins,” I said. “I saw them take over Meadowdale with less. Next time they’ll bring more.”
“The Mayor needs the empire’s protection, but he’ll never accept that,” Lily said.
“Fool,” Ambry said.
“You can’t just sit here,” I said. “This city is doomed.”
“We can’t just leave our people behind,” Lily said. “I’m sorry it has to end like this.”
“Me too,” I said. “We were preparing for that invasion at Nola’s temple. When they passed us by, I couldn’t let them attack Valleyvale without at least warning you.”
“Good luck protecting Nola,” Lily said.
Ambry put a hand on my shoulder and locked eyes with me. She offered me a brief, warm smile, then resumed her normal stoic face.
“Thank you both,” I said. “Good luck surviving the Mayor. He’s an idiot and a prick.”
“Believe me, we know,” Lily said, a grin lighting up her face. “He’s our father.”
+21
There had been no road from Nola’s temple to Valleyvale, only a circuitous path through the trees that I had memorized on my last trip, just wide enough and flat enough for our donkey to trek. Now, thanks to the massive general that had stomped through the forest, a clear straight line was cut through the woods.
It didn’t lead to Nola’s temple, because the cretins hadn’t visited us yet, but it came dangerously close. I wove through the trees on the last stretch of my journey and arrived late at night, thoroughly exhausted.
The stone door to the temple was shut tight. I knocked.
I knocked again.
We really needed a doorbell.
“You’re back,” came a voice from high up. It was Cindra, standing at the edge of a tower’s roof. I ran up those stairs to join her.
“What are you doing up here?” I asked. “It’s late.”
“They’re stars,” she said. “Real live stars. Until I met you, I hadn’t seen the outside sky. Not the sun, or the clouds, or these.” She gestured toward the sky with both arms and spun in a circle. “They’re so beautiful, little specks of light that defy the darkness.”
“Yes,” I said. “They are.”
“Did Valleyvale fall to Duul,” she asked, “or do they live to see another starry night?”
“They lost an energem,” I said, “and there were casualties, but the city isn’t cursed and Gowes is alive.”
“Then you’re a hero,” she said.
I shook my head. “The first thing I did was lose use of my spear and drop it at the very start of the fight. Then I nearly died, but Blade saved me. Blade, of all people. I managed to fend off a few cretins attacking Gowes, but then the Mayor blamed me for damaging the temple in front of everyone and I let him. I didn’t stand up for myself. I didn’t demand he do a better job of protecting his people. He told me to leave, and I did. I left everyone behind. I’m no hero.”
“You’re my hero,” she said. “You could have left me behind in the quarry, but you didn’t. Even though I could have been dangerous for all you knew, you accepted me and welcomed me. You’ve fought to keep me safe and alive. You didn’t have to do any of those things.”
“Yes I did,” I said. “It’s my responsibility to keep you safe if you’re going to stay here in the temple.”
“It’s only your responsibility,” she said, “because you made it your responsibility. You’re a good man, Arden. Your loyalty to others isn’t shaped by their race, or their wealth, or their beauty. Or lack thereof.”
“Are you still on about that?” I asked. I put a hand on her cheek. “Cindra, you’re one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever laid eyes on. You are a star shining through the darkness that falls on our world.”
She looked at my lips. I looked at hers. I moved my hand to the back of her neck and pulled her close for a kiss. Her lips were soft and full, parting easily to let my tongue explore against her own. Her skin was like velvet as my hand traced down her back.