The Land of Eternal Spring

There weren’t always dragons in the valley. No one had ever before seen witches along the coast or monsters in the caves where men would mine for ore and crystal. Before magic existed, the horrors that waited for those foolish enough to be born low and weak were made of flesh. After magic’s arrival, those horrors became much worse.

Magic will be tamed by those who already hold power. They will pay for the privilege of bending the world to their whims. Armies made of steel will be replaced by a single mage powerful enough to rain fire from the sky. Those who wield it will flood the earth out of spite. Magic will outlast us all and bring about an age of eternal spring.

But in this age, no one controls magic. It is spoken of in hushed tones and the punishment for its use is swift and brutal. It is sought after in secret. Those who possess it trade information in the dark. Magic’s reign over this world is close, but that age has not quite arrived.

Right now, in this age, she has only known fear.

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She wakes up. Rain splashing in from the port window lands softly on her face. She swallows to find her mouth and throat are dry. She feels a dull pain behind her auburn eyes and hears the roiling sea outside the port window. A clap of thunder jolts her awake again and she sees the man. He is sitting by the port window, looking out to the sea. His clothes are dirty, grit and blood staining his shirt. Underneath his clothes is the shape of someone who has earned a living through labor or war, a massive beast of a man. A pale glowing disk hangs from his thick neck. It throws a white light up onto his face, illuminating an old wound that splits his lips into four separate pieces. He smiles, the lips pulling back to reveal cracked and yellowed teeth.

As she moves to sit up, she feels a heavy weight around her hands. She looks down and sees shackles clasped around her wrists. A familiar fear churns in her stomach. Not chains, not again. They are almost too big for her sleight hands. The binding is attached to a chain that snakes out in front of her. It connects to another set of shackles that reside on the hands of the man. She asks, “Where are we?”

“On a boat, love,” says a slender man to her right. The figure is pulling at the disk around his own neck, the glow of which emanates out from underneath a shock of long red hair wildly pluming from the man’s head. “Can’t you hear the sea?”

He gestures out, his own bindings rattling beneath him. That’s when she sees it - five groups of men chained together. There are shackles around the wrists of each captive, with three men to a line and a pale glowing collar around their necks. Some stand, others whisper. Barrels line the walls, crowding most of the space and people. She sniffs at the closest one and smells wine. She thinks, This isn’t a prison ship. She rubs at her temple, trying to remember…

… the night before. Her caravan was only going to be in town for a night. No one knew her name. She had been a quiet mouse, like Babcia had taught her. They had been on the road for weeks before arriving in Surbash, trailing the coast heading South.

A wave crashes into the side of the boat. The prisoners slide along the ground, shouting as they roll along the floor. She hears something else. It is a scream, one born of true fear. She knows that sound. She has screamed like that before.

The ship lurches again and she tumbles. The redhead slides as well, pulling at her and the man by the window. They are in a line, with her in between the two men. As the boat levels out, she looks up at the man by the window. He has not moved. He licks his lips, his tongue sliding over the splits in the flesh at the middle. She remembers…

The tavern smelled of sour mash and sweat. She had walked with her hood up and eyes down, as a quiet mouse should. As she approached the barkeep and ordered, she looked out to the others in attendance. That’s when she had seen him, sitting in the corner and pulling from a pipe. The smoke had poured out of the split in his lip. That was when she heard…

Footsteps fall on the deck above them. The prisoners back away from a staircase leading up to a door. She hears the muted sound of a lock sliding away from the latch on the other side. It opens and three figures descend into the holding area. The first man holds a lantern. It lets her see his robes, a deep scarlet, the silhouette of which resembles a monk or priest. He is soaked with water. His face drips with black ink from his eyes.

A prisoner near the staircase struggles to stand as he speaks to the Men in Scarlet. “What is the meaning of this –”

A club strikes him across the mouth. As he falls to the ground the other prisoners shout. The Man in Scarlet holds his club and touches the point at which it struck the prisoner. He smiles down at his victim and says, “If Lilith is willing, we all shall see.”

She shrinks backwards, trying to be small. She won’t make a sound. She’ll be a good little mouse. She watches as the Men in Scarlet grip the wall, unsteady on their feet. The sway of the boat poses a challenge for their balance. What kind of sailors are they?

The three men reach down to grab the beaten man and those tethered to his chain. The captured men protest, struggling under the grips of the Men in Scarlet. More clubs come out and strikes rain down. The Men in Scarlet are relentless, and before long they haul the three selected individuals up the stairs. Those left in the room listen to their cries until the door slams shut.

The redhead turns to her and the beast. “That was the second group they brought up, and I doubt it was to give them a gentle kiss on the lips,” says the redhead. “Whatever is happening up there is bad. If we don’t do something we’re going to find out what that is. As we’re all… connected,” he says as he holds up his shackles and the attached chain, “I propose we don’t let that happen. I’m Kai,” he says as he extends his hand to her. She stares back, not saying a word. A quiet mouse can’t be caught. Kai shrugs and turns to the seated man.

“Baxter,” says the man by the window. “If you want to get out of here, get this off my neck,” he gestures to the pale disk. He does not shake Kai’s hand.

“Think I haven’t tried? They’re not coming off.”

“What do they do?” She asks the two of them. They turn to her, her stomach churns. Shouldn’t have spoken. Shouldn’t make a peep.

“You don’t feel the block?” Kai asks. She reaches up to touch the disk, not understanding. The two men realize something at the same time.

“She just wandered into the tavern,” Baxter sighs and shakes his head.

Kai chuckles, “Quite unlucky, aren’t we?” Heat flushes her neck. He thinks it’s funny. He laughs at me! Kai turns back to Baxter, “So you received–”

“The invitation? I journeyed all the way from Hearth. Stupid, should have known better…”

“Let’s compare sob stories once we’re back on land, eh? There are fifteen men down here. If they were inspired to be a bit less cooperative with our captors, we may be able to take the ship.”

Baxter scoffs, looking out at the men. “Fifteen mages who are chained and bound with their magic muted? We’d be better off with fifteen rabbits.”

Her eyes dart to Baxter. Mages? Then it clicks.

She was in the tavern, sipping an ale and eavesdropping on a conversation between two guests. They spoke in whispers with obvious excitement. One man held a small stone. He curled his finger - as if beckoning something out of the pebble. She had watched with curious amusement until she saw something. It looked like a small sunflower poking its way out of the pebble. Is it some parlor trick? She wondered. Or could it be…

“Magic,” she breathes. She turns and looks at the whole motley lot of them. Thin arms, pale skin, balding mops of hair, and terrified faces all betray them for what they really are. They’re all magic users. Maybe time to peep after all.

“This is not a prison ship,” she says to Baxter and Kai. “It’s a shipping vessel, and there’s likely to be a rowboat on the main deck.”

“How do you know?” Kai skeptically looks her up and down.

“The barrels. They hold wine, and with this many here in storage it’s the only explanation. If we can get to the main deck, we don’t have to overtake the ship…”

Baxter finishes her thought, “We just have to make it to the rowboat.”

Kai shakes his head, “No offense love, but you don’t look like a wine trader and we only get one shot here. When we get to the main deck–”

“We’ll take the rowboat,” interrupts Baxter.

Kai snipes back, “How do you know she’s right?”

“Because I can see it hanging off the ship,” Baxter grunts, tugging the other two closer. They all peer out the port window as lightning strikes again, illuminating the raging churn of the sea beneath them. In that moment, the flash also lights up the side of the ship, where a tiny boat bounces roughly against the outer hull.

“Fine,” Kai says. “We’ll still have to get everyone to create a distraction, otherwise we won’t have a chance.”

She shifts uncomfortably, looking at the other prisoners. You can’t save every mouse. Not with cats prowling about. The sounds of boots coming towards the door are heard once more, and the crowd of prisoners begins to stir. As the door swings open, Kai turns to the two of them and whispers, “Follow my lead.”

The wet boots of the same Men in Scarlet descend down the stairs. Even with their garments soaked through, it is impossible to miss the splashes of blood along their sleeves and hands. The familiar fear in her stomach returns. She wants to shy away and be unseen, but this is when Kai stands. No time to be a mouse now. Time to be a rat. As the rest of the prisoners push deeper into the storage hold, the three of them advance.

“Gentleman, I feel there has been a misunderstanding,” Kai says with practiced ease. “These other fine individuals and I were brought together by the promise of shared knowledge. Whatever goal you hope to achieve, I’m sure there are those among us who could help!”

As Kai speaks, he continues to saunter forward. He holds his palms raised in a sign of cooperation. The three Men in Scarlet look at each other and exchange nervous laughter. The one closest to Kai pulls a club from within his robes with one hand and a long, thin dagger in the other. He brings the blade up, brandishing it and stepping towards Kai. His face narrows, the black ink dripping from his eyes down his face as he sneers, “If Lilith is willing, we all shall see.” He takes another step to slash at Kai’s face with the dagger, but his hand is suddenly empty. His brow furrows as he looks down. Kai’s sleight of hand was such that the thug never even felt the moment he was disarmed.

She feels a tug on her chain as Kai flashes forward. It happens faster than she can react and before she knows to move the yank at her wrists causes her to stumble. The link between her and Kai stops him short of being able to bury the dagger into the Man in Scarlet’s chest. The captor steps back, looking down to see his steel in the hands of his prisoner. Kai turns to her and asks, “Really?”

She watches the Man in Scarlet as he raises his club to bring it down on Kai. No! She lurches back hard, pulling Kai out of the club’s path. It harmlessly crashes onto the floorboards. Now Kai has the slack he needs and he drives the dagger into the Man in scarlet’s neck. The man grabs at the hilt of the dagger, dropping his club as the knife slides out. The crimson blood flowing from the wound stains his robes even darker as he crumbles to the ground. It’s over before the other two men even move, but they never stop laughing. Kai picks up the club as the remaining Men in Scarlet reveal their own weapons, ink trailing down their faces.

Baxter steps forward now. The two Men in Scarlet fan wide before slashing with their blades. Kai brings up his club and deflects a blow, but Baxter dodges left. The chain tugs on both her and Kai. They stagger, but the chain catches a knife as it slashes through the air. Baxter pounces, grabbing the man’s wrists before pivoting. He throws the man through the air, who lands hard on his shoulders and spills to his side. The other prisoners don’t waste their opportunity. They surge forward, stomping and beating the man before he can pick himself up.

The other Man in Scarlet disengages from Kai as he sees his cohort fall. He begins to laugh even harder, relishing the violence. He points at the group and shouts out, “If Lilith is willing, we all shall –” Kai swings his club up to the man’s chin. It connects with a sickening crack and the man’s head snaps backwards. He falls and lands with a thud. Kai looks to her and gives a wink. She grits her teeth. Braggart. Show off!

Kai turns to the rest of the prisoners. “All right, everyone. It seems my comrades and I have taken the first steps in regaining our freedom. Shall we make our way upstairs?” As Kai speaks, he tosses the defeated thug’s club to one of the older men. She watches as Kai surveys the room, studying the faces of the prisoners and devising his next words. He plots conversation like others plan battle.

“I have a proposition,” Kai continues, “You can stay down here and hope for the best. Or, we all make our way upstairs together and take this ship back by force. After that, we sail home and return as heroes!” He raises a closed fist in a theatrical display. It takes all her resolve not to gag.

The older man steps forward and says, “I don’t plan on dying tonight,.” He turns to the others, “Strip them for any other weapons or tools. We’ll need them.” The men search the bodies, tossing aside anything that can’t be used to inflict pain. She watches as Kai wipes the blood from the Man in Scarlet’s dagger on his trouser leg.

The old man with the club approaches Kai with the other prisoners at his back. “We are ready.”

“Lovely,” Kai replies. “After you.” He sweeps his arm towards the stairs and smiles.

“Why should we go first?” questions one of the feebler prisoners.

“Because we are tethered to a woman!” protests Kai with faux offense, placing his arm around her. “Would you have her blood on your hands?”

“I don’t care if some bird dies, I’m not going first,” the prisoner replies. Everyone stares at her now. “I ain’t never heard of a bird casting magic,” the man continues, stepping forward and leering towards her. “How’d you get an invitation?” Paranoia flashes across his face, his words igniting distrust in the eyes of the other prisoners. Heat flashes her neck again. She knows too well how quickly men can act on anger.

“She’s here by being in the wrong place at the wrong time,” states Baxter as he steps forward. He is a foot higher than the next tallest man. “And she ain’t going first because I ain’t going first. That a problem?” As Baxter speaks, his split lips curl into a snarl.

The prisoner shrinks back. No one will challenge this beast, she thinks. She slowly steps behind Baxter, placing him between her and the men.

“They’ll wonder where the next batch is,” Baxter continues as he steps towards the old man. “Move.” The prisoners look at one another, hoping someone will be brave enough to speak. No one does. They begin their trek up the stairs to the next deck. After they are gone, Kai turns to her and Baxter. “Shall we?”

They make their way up into a narrow hallway on the next level of the boat. The men ahead bounce off the walls as the boat rocks in the storm. Port windows allow more moonlight and rain into the ship. She sees an open doorway to a cabin and stops. Between two cots rests a lumpy heap under a tarp. Her chain tugs on Baxter as he advances. Kai almost runs into her as he asks, “What’s wrong?” She points to the floor next to the tarp, where a bloodied hand pokes out from underneath. She steps into the room, the chains pulling both men with her. Sniff around, see what you can find. Just like Babcia taught. She moves the tarp to reveal a pile of bodies. They are ship hands, maybe seven of them, young men with faces frozen in fear. She kneels and touches the hand. The flesh is cold and hard.

She had seen them in town, loading barrels onto a ship docked in port. They had been laughing, a camaraderie born of shared labor. She had been jealous, wishing for a brief moment to have community like that. Not much to be jealous of now.

“They’ve been dead for a day or more. The stiffness of death has set into the bodies,” She observes, ignoring Kai behind her.

“What does it tell you?” asks Baxter. His intensity makes her uneasy, but she spots something new. There is an intelligence behind his eyes, beneath his scars. He sees everything. Maybe I can show him how much I see?

“I saw them in Surbash. If the bodies are in this condition, we’ve been on the sea for at least a night. I’m guessing we’re on the boat this lot was loading, a shipping vessel meant for fast travel. We could be anywhere by now. This is the crew,” she gestures to the bodies, “And the men who came downstairs aren’t sailors, they could barely keep their balance. So if there’s no one aboard who can sail the boat…”

“They don’t plan on returning to land,” Baxter finishes. He regards her, “You see everything, don’t you?” The flush of heat on her neck returns.

“If you two are done investigating,” Kai insists, “we need to move.” He tugs on the chain, and they continue their way around the corner to find another staircase and the rest of the prisoners. The men huddle against one another, peering out from behind a crack in the door. Wind and rain whistle on the other side. Kai pushes up to the man at the back of the crowd and whispers, “What are you doing? Let’s go!”

The old man turns and replies, “We’re waiting for the opportune –”

The door swings open in front of him. Howling wind rips through the staircase. A Man in Scarlet stands holding the door, shouting back to unseen forces behind him. “… taking their sweet time! We need...”

He turns to look in front of him and sees the prisoners on the staircase. A sickening smile creeps across his face, the inky makeup dripping down his face. He finishes his thought.

“… more sacrifices.”

The Man in Scarlet reaches out, grabbing the old prisoner and dragging him forward. “Now!” Kai screams.

The other prisoners push up the stairs. She goes to move as well, but Kai stands still. The three wait for everyone else to leave. Once they are alone, he turns back and says, “Whatever happens, don’t stop.” Baxter nods. That familiar fear swirls in her stomach, but there is no time to think. Kai begins up the stairs as Baxter gives her a push.

The storm soaks the deck in heavy sheets of rain, wind whipping at the sails in seemingly every direction. Clouds roil above them as lighting screams across the sky. The flash lights up the deck and the three of them step into the open air. This is when she sees the prisoners surging forward. This is when she sees the deck of the ship, swimming in the blood of other prisoners who have been cut down. A pentagram of some kind is carved into the wooden planks of the deck, in the center of which stands a Man in Scarlet with ornate robes. Gold filigree trim sparkles in the rain. This is when she sees his sword. He raises it and screams out, “Let them come! We need more, she has not yet returned! Bring them to me, to me!”

She feels a tug on the chain as Kai moves forward. He is pointing ahead at the rowboat, held by ropes off the side of the ship. He shouts, but she cannot hear him. She is staring at the man’s sword.

She remembers that night in the tavern. The barkeep had announced a round for all as people cheered. A barrel was rolled inside. Goblets were passed around to those in attendance. She had taken one, excited to imbibe. She had only felt drowsiness after she wiped her lips. As she laid on the ground with the others, her eyes slowly closing, she saw a man enter the room. He was wearing scarlet robes, and the glint of a metal hilt had flashed across her eyes. She thought it was the most beautiful sword she had ever seen.

It is the same sword she sees now as they move across the deck. She watches it cut through the air, biting into the shoulder of another prisoner. As the sword is drawn out again, blood arches through the air and splashes along the deck, touching the pentagram. Kai tugs harder, but as lighting cracks above their heads once more, she sees something else. She sees the pentagram begin to glow.

They arrive at the rowboat. Kai swings his legs over the banister and hops inside. The hidden dagger flashes into his hand, and he begins to hack at the thick ropes binding the rowboat to the ship. He looks up at her and shouts, “Move! Get these free!” She stumbles to the other side, fumbling with the knots. She struggles, her tiny hands barely able to manipulate the thick wet ropes.

The sea beneath the boat surges again, sending those on deck careening across its surface. She is thrown towards the edge. Just as she peers over the side to the foaming water beneath them, the chain goes taught. She is pulled back and sees Baxter. He nods. Kai turns to her and screams, “Hurry! Move, move!”

Stop scolding me! She sees another Man in Scarlet, further away than the rest. The man kneels, closing his eyes and holding tightly to a pale orb. It glows. She touches the disk around her neck, then points out ahead. She shouts to Baxter, “Look! There!”

Baxter follows her line of sight and sees the man. She points to the disk around his neck and Baxter nods. He steadies himself, winding his arms up before tossing his club. It spins through the air, over the heads of the combatants on deck, before connecting with the temple of the Man in Scarlet holding the orb. With a crunch, his head snaps to the side and he drops the orb. It smashes against the deck before the glow of the shattered pieces fades against the wet planks.

All of the disks go dark. Baxter closes his eyes. When he opens them again, they glow red. She watches as the veins in his neck darken and spider across his skin. His muscles bulge out of his garments. He pulls at the chains on his wrist and she watches as they begin to bend and creak.

The other prisoners pull at the disks around their own necks. She looks across the deck to see things she can’t understand. One prisoner’s arm grows ten feet long while sprouting leaves and bark. He lashes out with it, the huge branch sending his attacker flying through the air and into the ocean below. Another prisoner opens his mouth and mounds of spiders pour out of his face. They spread across the deck and up the robes of another Man in Scarlet as he desperately bats them away. She turns to Kai who shouts at her, “Stop staring, you idiot and get to work!”

She speaks before she thinks, “I am you stupid bastard!” She clasps her hands around her mouth in shock and shame. Bad mouse! For a second, he seems surprised. Then he smiles and begins to laugh, stabbing down again into the fraying ropes.

She hears more laughing, but not from Kai. It is the man with gold filigree in the pentagram, swinging his sword. The old man, now chained to two dead men and with a dagger in his back, drags himself across the deck. The man with the sword approaches him. He brings the sword up and stabs downward, pinning the elder prisoner to the deck of the boat. Blood swims across the deck and the pentagram begins to pulse, light reaching up from the markings. The man with the sword laughs louder now, “Yes! Yes!” He pulls the sword out and holds it high in the air. “If Lilith is willing, we all shall–”

A bolt of lightning crashes down from the sky, striking the sword. The Man in Scarlet bursts into flames, his laughter turning into a fever-pitched scream. She cries out and falls backwards, the smell of burning flesh floating past her nostrils. Smoke from the flaming man swirls upward, and she watches as it ascends past the billowing sails. She squints as the clouds overhead twist in on themselves, more bolts of lightning crashing back and forth. The clouds are taking shape. They twist and contort until there is a face staring back down, the lightning crashing even more now to create two yellow eyes. Its mouth stretches open, and a horrible wailing scream rains down on the ship. She clasps her hands over her ears, feeling her mind rage against the visage in front of her. The Men in Scarlet on deck drop to their knees, laughing and praying.

She looks to Kai, who shouts something she cannot hear. His knife dives into the ropes once more, and she feels the rowboat begin to give way. She looks to Baxter, now at least a foot taller than before, as he turns to the knots in front of her. His arms flex and bulge, and the shackles on his wrist snap and fly off. He brings his fists over his head and roars before bringing them down on the knot, smashing at the wooden base itself. It splinters and splits, but manages to hold.

She looks up one more time at the clouds. The face, maybe a hundred yards wide, stretches out from the sky towards the ship. She screams as the mouth of the face stretches even wider, large enough to encompass the entire boat.

Baxter brings his fists up one more time as the face swallows the top of the sails. He brings them down, finally smashing the bindings free of the main ship. The rowboat begins to dip, but Kai slices once more with his dagger and the rope tears. She grabs the edge of the tiny boat as it drops, staring straight up. Baxter leaps off the deck, dropping just a little slower than the rowboat. But none of them are fast enough, and the face descends. She screams as the darkness swallows her, a cold she has never felt in her life swirling across her skin, her face, filling her lungs. She can see nothing, and then everything goes black.

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The water laps lazily against the beach. The mist is heavy and the sky overcast. Black sand stretches across the coast, pieces of debris from the ship spotting the shoreline. Bodies float in the surf. Seagulls float in the sky, looking down for a tasty meal.

She lays on the beach. Her only movement comes from the lapping tide, tugging at the empty chain behind her. The rowboat is overturned and washes ashore several hundred yards to her side. A gull lands near her, hopping over a pair of footsteps leading away from her body and towards a thick tree line up the beach. The hungry bird picks at her hand. Her fingers curl. A small cough escapes her mouth and the gull takes flight. Aphira dey Marjewlis opens her eyes. Once auburn, they are now lightening yellow.

In this age, she had only known fear. Now, she will know true horror.