Metal and Flesh (The Rohvim, Book 1)

19.1 Betrayed

"Your spirits shall rise to Him in the mountaintop, your souls will ascend to meet him in His home. There will he keep you and hold you, in His rest, until He creates again, and all shall be restored, and then shall ye descend in triumph from His presence, and walk down renewed from His sight..." -Prophecies of Tilda the Scribe, 95:14

  

AEDEN RAN. Gasping for breath, he covered the half mile or so that they had walked in over half an hour, traversing it now in just a few minutes, Betha and Rupert right at his heels. They came around the last hill that blocked their view of the campsite. Aeden's gut wrenched when he saw it at last. Every member of the party was on the ground, some sprawled out, others lying as if to sleep. There stood one among them all, bent over the master healer. They sprinted toward him. Aeden drew a sword, which he had kept sheathed on his back, not bothering to take them off for the walk. Twenty yards off, the stranger looked up in surprise. He was holding the mechanical toy belonging to the master healer in one hand, and grabbed his sword with the other. Aeden stopped dead in his tracks.

   "Priam?"

   The other boy stood there, glancing behind himself, a seeming extremely uncomfortable. He turned, and bolted. He ran to the north, aiming for another wooded hill, and Aeden swore and gave pursuit. Out of some nearby bushes leapt two stone-faced men with swords who passed Priam and aimed directly at Aeden, who cut them down without a second thought. Priam ran swiftly, curving to the right so as to wrap around the hill, and Aeden followed, cursing his former friend. Driven by rage, the sight of his fallen comrades burned into his mind, he started gaining on Priam. Thirty yards separated them, then twenty, then ten. Priam whirled around and brandished his sword. Betha had remained behind, but Rupert followed Aeden, though less quickly.

   Aeden raised his sword and charged Priam with a shriek of anger. Their swords clashed, and Aeden parried Priam's counterattack with a furious blow and kicked him in the gut, twisting around and slashing with his sword all in one motion. Priam brought his blade up just in time, though doubled over in pain. Aeden swung again, and this time Priam met it with a flash of energy, burning the other boy's hands.

   Aeden screamed in uncontrolled fury, and struck at Priam again and again, each time met with a blinding flash and searing pain in his palms. Priam laughed, "Come one Aeden, you've had, what, two weeks now to learn this? What's wrong with you?"

   Aeden shouted as he struck again, "Wrong with me?" Light flashed. Aeden shouted even louder, "Wrong with me? You've betrayed us all!" He charged again, putting all his strength into each blow, only to be sent reeling backward, his palms now blistering from Priam's shocks.

   "I have not betrayed us. You have. I've only come to teach your royal bratness a quick lesson before I go change the world! The rule of your kind is over!"

   "So you were jealous? All those years I thought you were better than the common scum, but I guess I was wrong." And he lunged again, this time trying to reach back into his own mind to shock his former friend. Another flash and another blast of pain burned into his hand.

   He heard behind him, "Aeden! Aeden! Rupert! Help Rupert!" He spun around, and saw Rupert, who had almost caught up with them, sprinting towards a large group of stone-faced soldiers that had now risen from their hiding place at the top of the hill and charged towards the dueling young men. Rupert yelled defiantly as he bashed into their ranks, slashing and whirling, energy sparkling all around him in a blaze. Aeden turned and saw that Priam was running again, and he yelled, giving pursuit once more.

   He heard Betha yelling again, "Aeden! Help him! Help him! No!" He caught up with Priam, kicking out at his legs and causing the other to trip. Aeden brought the tip of his sword down, catching the other boy in the arm. Priam grunted, dropped the mechanical toy, and brought his own sword toward Aeden, though with little force.

   Out of the blade, however, leaped brilliant shafts of energy, knocking Aeden backward, which permitted Priam to jump to his feet. He panted, and winced, blood streaming down his arm from the wicked gash. "I'm getting tired of you," the boy said, shaking his head. "Go to hell."

   And he charged Aeden, sword flashing. Aeden screamed at every stroke, for Priam unloaded every bit of rohva energy he possessed into the blows. The energy jumped up Aeden's arm, flashing across his body and head, reeling his mind, making him dizzy and nauseous. At the last stroke, Aeden flew backward, hitting the ground in a daze. He lay there, looking up at the stars, though realizing moments later that it was not night yet and the stars were his own. The world slowly stopped spinning, and after a few minutes he got to his feet.

   Priam was gone, escaped around the hill and into the forest, his armed escort also nowhere in sight. He stumbled back in the direction of the camp, still reeling with rage and seething with hatred for his new enemy. He stopped. Up ahead he saw a woman, kneeled and bent over another figure lying on the ground. He dropped his sword and ran again, ignoring the pain and dizziness.

   "No." He mumbled.

   He neared the pair, mumbling again, "No."