The Conquest of Kiynan

Kayla looked over the living wooden vessel crafted by the Druids, upon which she sailed. She had watched as the Druids had somehow commanded the jungle covering their lands and bordering the Shrouded Sea, to spontaneously stretch their boughs, leaves and vines to craft long, narrow ships. The remarkable boats were then shed from the trees and plants and dropped into the water. In just two days, a fleet of these ships had been assembled. The survivors of the Ornish army that had come to the Bright Keep boarded them immediately. Some few were left behind to lead the peasants of the lands of House Hope and all the refugees who had come to the Bright Keep from the lands of the other Houses. These were conducted away from the fortress, deeper into the jungle to the south where it was hoped Daimin would not waste time pursuing them.

Kayla and her companions had joined the Druids’ fleet, and they had set sail as quickly as possible. They had rounded Cape Destiny from which her people, the Fled, had set forth hundreds of years ago. A fleet of ice ships, crafted by the survivors of House Spite, were waiting for them there. They had set sail from White Tower before Daimin reached it, carrying the rest of the surviving defenders of Ornland. The ad-hoc fleet immediately set out for Brockton with all haste. Thousands of magicians and soldiers alike had abandoned their homes, leaving everything they had ever known undefended in the face of a vast, evil horde of demons. All their hopes rested on their trust in the words of a single young, mysterious girl. Trying to shake the doubts from her mind, Kayla walked over to Dessa who stood alone staring out at the sea.

Kayla admired Dessa. She found the Enchantress beautiful, and thought that she carried herself with assurance and confidence, which Kayla envied as young girls often do. Dessa always seemed so strong to Kayla, able to handle any situation. Despite her having proven her talent and power, Kayla was still plagued with doubt and apprehension. So much depended on her, the weight of her responsibility sometimes felt crushing. She was sure that if their positions were reversed, Dessa would be able to remain in complete control of herself. Dessa looked over at Kayla as she approached, and smiled sincerely.

“You look like you have a great deal on your mind,” she said casually.

“I… I’m just worried,” sighed Kayla.

“Not because of a new vision I hope?”

“No, nothing like that. It’s just that all these people, and more than them, the whole world it seems, is depending on me! I’m terrified of letting everyone down.”

“You’ve done remarkably well so far. What makes you think you’ll let everyone down?”

“Well, I get scared. I guess I still haven’t mastered my emotions. I mean, I can handle myself when I can meditate alone, or concentrate uninterrupted. But as soon as there is some distraction, I get scared, I lose my focus and everything falls apart!”

Dessa laughed softly, and threw her arm around Kayla shoulders, pulling her closer.

“Everyone gets scared, it’s normal. The problem isn’t that you get scared, what matters is how you handle it. You have to learn to push it to the back of your mind, and carry on. It’s no good pretending you’re not scared or trying to be brave and forget about it. Being scared is a natural reaction. It’s your mind telling you something is wrong, and that you’re in danger. You just have to understand what your fear is telling you, and get back to what you’re trying to do.”

“I know you’re right, but it’s difficult.”

“If you think it’s difficult to focus on being calm, imagine trying to fill yourself with lust when you’re faced with a rotting, deformed monster!” Dessa said with a laugh.

“I’ve wondered about that! How do you manage it? How can you overwhelm yourself with emotions that are completely out of place? Doesn’t it feel strange?” Kayla inquired immediately.

“Of course it feels strange! But part of the training I went through to learn these powers taught me to get past the strangeness. With time, you’ll learn to get past it too. It gets easier.”

She gave Kayla a smile, which seemed oddly distant all of a sudden. Dessa turned her head away from Kayla and stared absently out over the horizon.

“What’s wrong?” Kayla asked shyly after a few moments.

“What?” asked Dessa, snapping her head back to face Kayla. “Oh, nothing’s wrong…”

“You seem so sad all of a sudden.”

“I was just remembering something that happened a long time ago. I guess you just reminded me of it.”

“I’m sorry! I didn’t want to make you sad!”

“Oh, don’t worry about it! It’s not your fault. I think about it a lot.”

“About what? What happened?”

“Well…” she looked into Kayla’s eyes, considering for a moment. “You sure you don’t already know?”

“No! I mean, I admit I slipped into some people’s minds, but I promised myself that I’d never do it again. I’ve never been in your mind, I swear!”

Dessa nodded with a half smile and a forced laugh.

“Well, we were just talking about controlling our emotions, right? This is something that happened while I was in training, when I was about your age actually. There were a group of us training at the same time. You see House Lust, like most of the Houses, I imagine, recruits new members in groups. Periodically, Lisannis, the Mistress of House Lust, goes around the villages throughout her land with a few other Enchanters and Enchantresses. They select whatever candidates they think have the intelligence and the predisposition to learning magic. They gather them from their parents—the candidates are always selected when they are very young—and take them to the Hall of Ecstasy. It isn’t like kidnapping, you understand, the children are always asked if they want to go along, but they usually jump at the chance to learn magic.

Well, the group I was in had six students. We were all very competitive and were constantly trying to impress Lisannis. I didn’t even care all that much about mastering my magical talents. What concerned me most were my appearance and my prestige. I suppose that is a common problem among Enchanters and Enchantresses, but I was worse than most. I was desperate to be the best, but I wasn’t. There was a boy in my group who was unquestionably the most talented of us all. His name was Cedric, and he was gorgeous. I had such a crush on him! I think he may have liked me too, but whenever he tried to talk to me, I was so overcome with jealousy that I was horrible to him.”

“That’s not so bad. You’re a nice person now, that’s what matters isn’t it?”

“There’s more Kayla. There are periodic examinations that novices are required to take. After each set, the students are ranked based on their performance and as their training nears completion, the lowest ranking students are rejected and prohibited from continuing their studies. As my group was nearing the end of our training, there was a particular set of tests that I did very poorly on. My performance had been sufficiently good beforehand that I wasn’t really in any danger of being eliminated, but I was terribly upset anyway. Cedric, of course, had done terrifically well once again. My jealousy became so strong, that I confronted him with it. I can’t remember exactly how it happened, but I remember just erupting flames. I scorched him, burned through his clothes, destroyed his books and left him very badly injured and permanently disfigured.”

Kayla gasped, horrified. She was speechless. She had intended to be sympathetic and try to convince Dessa that whatever she had done was nothing she needed to continue to let her conscience torture her about. Now that she had heard what Dessa had actually done, she couldn’t fathom how to respond. She certainly felt that she’d never be able to view Dessa the same way again.

Dessa shook her head sadly; her demeanour suggested she guessed exactly what Kayla was thinking.

“I didn’t do it on purpose, not really. I did want to make him suffer, but not like that. I know that doesn’t excuse me, but…” she trailed off quietly.

“What happened to him?” asked Kayla thinly.

“He was bandaged and put in bed for several days. I was reprimanded, but I suppose I had already earned Lisannis’ favour by that point and she let me off with nothing more. I think it would have been easier on me now if I had been more severely punished. Cedric eventually recovered enough to return to his studies, but… his scars were unattractive and House Lust places a great deal of importance on physical beauty. He wasn’t rejected directly because of his appearance, but he was certainly evaluated much more harshly than before and given little sympathy. He ended up leaving by choice a few days before our final examinations.”

Kayla started at a noise and turned to see Taul striding quickly away from them toward the ship’s bow. She stared after him, wondering how much he had overheard of their conversation. Dessa, who had apparently noticed nothing, followed Kayla’s gaze.

“What is it Kayla?”

“I think Taul may have been eavesdropping on us.”

Dessa shrugged almost contemptuously, and turned back to stare out over the Silent Sea again.

“He seems to follow me everywhere, doesn’t he? I’d hire him for my shadow if the job weren’t already filled.”

“Why do you suppose that is?” she asked, a thought forming in her mind.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, don’t you think there’s a reason behind his behaviour? He doesn’t strike me as the type who does anything idly.”

Dessa returned her attention to Taul and considered Kayla’s words.

“Have you ever wondered what lies under that mask of his?” the Enchantress asked coyly.

“When we were in Lethe, he removed his mask to work his magic and chase away Banakel’s ghost. I caught a glimpse of scars that looked like they were caused by fire.”

Kayla saw the colour drain from Dessa’s face.

“You don’t think…”

“I also glimpsed a memory he has of when he was young, of a time he was enveloped in flames and badly burned,” Kayla added grimly.

Dessa eyes had gone wide and she stared into Kayla’s face, quailing at the thoughts careening through her mind.

Suddenly, Taul was standing beside them. Dessa recoiled violently at the sight of him. Without saying a word, he reached up briskly and removed his mask. Kayla caught her breath and Dessa let out an incompletely stifled scream.

Beneath his mask, Taul’s face was a mass of scar tissue. Somehow, some evidence still remained of the handsome face it had once been. Kayla’s reaction was surprise mingled with horror and pity. By contrast, Dessa’s reaction could only have been one of recognition.

“Cedric!” she gasped.

“I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time,” hissed Taul after a heavy pause. “I’m glad to see you haven’t forgotten me.”

“How…?”

“What? How did I survive? How did I manage to pick up the pieces of my life? How did I join a new House? How did I find you? How have I managed to restrain myself from tearing you to pieces before now? What is it you want to ask me, Dessa?”

Dessa shook her head mutely, tears welling up in her eyes. Taul’s face contorted into a hideous visage of anger and hate. Taul pushed Kayla roughly aside and took a threatening step toward Dessa, who was pressed against the side of the ship.

“You are a vile, heartless creature!” he spat through clenched teeth. “You nearly killed me! You ruined my life!”

He took another aggressive step and pulled his axe out from under his robe. His knuckles whitened as he tightened his grip on the weapon’s handle, but he did not raise it. He seemed to hesitate, staring intently at Dessa, as though trying to bore through her heart with his fierce gaze.

Kayla stood mute, too stunned to speak. She was terrified by Taul’s sudden violent display of aggression, but she was also still horrified by Dessa’s confession. She couldn’t decide what to do and so remained motionless, frightened by what might happen next. Suddenly, something that Kayla least expected happened. Dessa lunged forward and threw her arms around Taul, enveloping him in a tight embrace. She burst into tears, and sobbed inconsolably. Kayla wasn’t sure if she was trying to beg for her life, or if she was utterly overwhelmed with remorse. Taul seemed even more surprised than Kayla and simply remained frozen in place. After several interminable moments during which the only audible sound was Dessa’s sobbing, the Enchantress finally managed to speak.

“Cedric! Please forgive me! I was such a foolish child! I never meant to hurt you… Oh, if only you knew how much I’ve suffered thinking of that horrible day. I’ve relived it in my mind every day since…” she croaked.

Taul seemed to tremble with anger and started to speak. He hesitated, spluttered, and choked on his words for several moments. Finally, he shoved Dessa brusquely away from him and stormed off, running below deck, nearly bowling over Marax on his way. The Warlock recovered his balance and continued up the last step to the top deck. He looked questioningly at Kayla. At a loss for words, the girl simply embraced the weeping Enchantress. Marax walked over slowly, waiting for Dessa’s sobbing to subside.

“We’ve nearly reached Brockton,” he said soberly once Dessa had managed to get herself somewhat under control. “We must prepare to march.”