• • Raydorn: The War in the Black
• July 4, 2024

Raydorn: The War in the Black (Chapter 60)

“Not everyone is alone in the end. Some have the devil to see them off.”

Sahil Nalaar, Third Sword of Endica, 423 A.C.A. 

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‘The viper is at your door, you must wake, Andelyn.’ 

The voice that spoke to her was both familiar and not. One thing was for sure, it was a voice that would not wake her. 

‘The viper will fill you with its venom, and scorch you from the inside out if you let it… 

‘If you let it, the viper’s venom will make you a viper like it.

‘Do not let it.’

“Hmm,” Andelyn hummed in her sleep, the restraints on her arms and legs not being enough to wake her.

‘The viper is here!’ the Light screamed in her head, but as it would realize, quiet hums were the only sounds Andelyn would make. 

Since Andelyn Stella was proving hard to wake, the Light would have to stoop something low and dire, using a voice she both loved and feared…

‘Andelyn Marie Stella, you wake up this instant!’

Andy’s eyes shot up as she yelled, “Yes, mother!”

“Darling, we’ve only met,” another responded.

Andy turned her head as she lay strapped to a flat surface. She twisted her arms, only to find them restrained by thick black straps. They were just about the only thing she could see as she looked around, the light above her shining down into her eyes. Her restraints were the only thing dark enough to absorb the light.

At least for a moment…

“Shhh, shhh,” she was shushed as a woman’s hand with long gilded fingernails, traced lines across Andy’s skin, as if caressing her. 

Andy developed these tingling feelings as her body rejected her mind’s fear. A pleasant reaction to the stimulus created this sense of betrayal between Andy’s mind and body. 

It was a natural response. She had quite enjoyed the last time she had been touched like this, but it was under far different circumstances and with someone who had permission. It was easy to forget that the body did not always know what the mind did. It was a struggle to remind her conscious of that as the guilt started to pour in.

In her momentary blindness, all while being longingly caressed by a hand she did not know, Andy began to shake. 

The lime hue of the Light tried to pool at the corners of her eyes to calm her, but the more the careful hand tried to pet, stroke, and caress her face, the more it began to set her on edge. The urgency of her brain was beginning to take control.

Then the voice spoke again, this time while Andy was listening. “Dear Stella, there’s no reason to shake, you will not be harmed while you’re here. 

“The dying comes later.”

The threat actually helped Andy’s body calm. 

When the warlock spoke, Andy learned where to look, and with such a pit of angst to focus on, Andy’s sight began to focus. 

Andy didn’t realize just how close the warlock was for a few seconds. Amidala was literally resting her chin in her hand, just over Andy’s head. If she were to blow even a little bit of air, she could make Andy’s eyes flutter. 

Amidala raised her finger and pressed it against Andy’s nose, “Boop.”

I should bite that fucking thing off.

‘Don’t put yourself at risk, this is a mad woman you’re dealing with.’

Andy restrained her neck, but not her eyes. She let loose her fury through her gaze, but all the warlock did was stare back emptily, as she pressed her finger against Andy’s nose again. 

“Boop.”

“Um, Lady Kain,” a meek man in glasses tried to tell said warlock, “the prisoner, she-”

“Yes, yes, I know,” Amidala waved him off.

The man looked back at the other meek men, who were also dressed in the azure and golden robes of the warlock. They must be the acolytes who mind the Tower.

I must be in the Tower.

The Tower was the only stronghold of the Ragnar. It was home to a great crystal, much like those underneath Castle Raydorn. It powered the magic of the warlock, and the Tower built around it was the warlock’s home.

Should the Tower fall, the magic that kept the monsters of the Ragner inside would fall as well, along with the paths and boundaries that protected mortal passages from everything but direwolves.

It was manned by the warlock and their acolytes, many chosen by the current or previous warlock to help them in their magical studies and maintenance of the Tower’s crystal.

Sometimes the acolytes would leave the confines of the Tower to do the warlock’s bidding. It wasn’t uncommon to see one or two in the capital or in the homes of some of the Great Houses. She’d seen one or two visit House Starshield. 

They spent their lives surrounded by books and information. They were some of the most well-read people in the nation. Being an acolyte was possibly the best way to attain an education without being born a noble. One couldn’t be an acolyte without some level fo intelligence or wisdom. 

Despite that, they still didn’t think to not badger their current warlock.

“But my lady, she’s awake?” another seemed to say, but it truly sounded more like a question.

Amidala rolled those dead eyes of hers, and they fell on the group of acolytes standing by the sterile table of tools. “I know, don’t you listen? Do you have anything interesting to say at all?”

The small men seemed to shudder back into themselves like frightened children. The same one who pressed the issue bowed his head to Amidala Kain in reverence, but his voice spoke nothing of such. “No, my lady.”

“Yeah, just as I thought, begone now, little fly.” With a twiddle of her fingers, she had him and the other acolytes leave what appeared to be an operating room. 

Andy started to look around, at jars full of blood, organs, and extracts. Some even have appendages and body parts ready for dissection and others post haste.

There were some rather amazing things in the laboratory and the surrounding library, such as statues, art pieces, and living cauldrons of magical fire and lightning. There were items dating to when Raydorn was founded. There were so many things to see and enjoy, but it was impossible for them to be noticed past the jars Amidala had filled.

As long as she was alive, the achievements of men before her would not overshadow what she aimed to do.

Today, what she aimed to do was apologize.

When those dead eyes of hers fell back onto Andy, they didn’t feel so dead. They couldn’t be moved from her white locks and her brown eyes that seemed to be threatening her with a hint of lime.

Between that look on her face and the straps, she really knows how to make a girl feel like the most important thing in the world. And who said human sacrifices didn’t make someone feel important?

“I want to apologize,” the warlock said, drawing out her words, as if putting off the apology even longer would make it easier for her. 

Andy considered a long list of things the warlock had to apologize for.

“I’m sorry for kissing you and tasting your blood, that… I was a bit mad with power and glorious purpose…” 

Why does she… scrunch her nose when she talks like that? Also, for kissing me? That’s not even in the top five worst things she’s done in the last couple of hours. Definitely top ten though.

‘Andelyn,’ the presence warned her.

The warlock took Andy’s staring as a challenge and gave her a rather embarrassed shrug. “And I had nearly drank out my wine cellar.” 

“I feel that.” 

Andy’s comment made the warlock snort.

‘Andelyn…’

She tried to kill me and torched my home, I’m not actually flirting, just trying to get free. Boning me is probably about the only reason she’d ever let me go. I can make a lesbian’s brain go ‘brr’ when I want to.

‘Oh, well… then we warn you of the risk.’

What? Of the clap? I’m not actually going to sleep with her, maybe convince her to let me with some tongue before I crack her across the face. This woman is lonely, more lonely than me I bet, and I can make her want to dive into a sea of me.

‘Yes, um… no… no you can’t.’

Excuse me? 

“From here on out, Andelyn,” Amidala said, as she trailed her pointer finger and it’s black gilded tip around Andy’s jawline, “I promise for the rest of your short life, I only plan to touch you to drain you of blood.” 

‘See, she’s mad.’

Listen, I’m willing to make out with crazy to kill crazy and not die. 

‘Ah, yes, we have forgotten that you are mad as well.’

I don’t want to die.

‘Yes, you’re so desperate, you’re willing to seduce a master of genocide.’

Listen to me.

‘Always.’

I don’t want to die.

‘Ah… oh… we… oh.’

“Comforting,” Andy muttered.

Amidala mocked a tilt of her head but took it in stride. “Huh, so I didn’t just imagine the sarcasm.” 

Amidala stood up and started walking away from Andy, moving towards a table that her prisoner couldn’t see the surface of. As the warlock’s hands brushed over the surface, Andy grew tense at the sound of metal clanging.

‘You’re going to be alright.’

Don’t lie to me.

“What are you planning to do with me?” Andy asked the warlock.

Amidala picked a spoon up from her table. “Put you in a door and let it drain you of the Faedrielle cells in your blood.”

Faedrielle? It’s that word again.

‘Do not get distracted.’

You said that last time too.

Amidala took her spoon to another table, and let it sink into a mug. Amidala turned around, standing against what looked like a medical table. She looked more exhausted than a mother of five as she swirled her spoon around.

“I know, gross, putting the spoon in there, and I know where it’s been and still used it.”

“I could care less,” Andy said, only deriving a scoff from the warlock.

“Couldn’t, you mean, but yes, I suppose you wouldn’t.”

“The Faedrielle,” Andy spoke up, “what is that? What do you mean their cells are in me?”

‘Andelyn, not is not the time.’

The fact that you think that, means that it is the perfect time… and with Amidala here, potentially the only time. 

“Do you want me to explain what the Faedrielle are first, or cells?”

“Umm…” Andy was well-educated, by the study of biology was not something that even the brightest of nobles learned about. Some studies were the privilege of the warlock and her acolytes alone. Besides, who was going to let noble children study blood and corpses?

“To put it simply, cells make up your body, your blood, and everything in between, they help and do important shit like keep you from getting sick, or clotting your blood so you don’t bleed out. Not the important part. 

“The Faedrielle, that’s the important part, and if it’s going to kill you… why not tell you? It’s not going to help you.”

Andy ground her teeth, biting her tongue as the warlock taunted her and sipped from her disgusting mug. She could see the smile forming at the edges of Amidala’s lips.

She must enjoy having me at her mercy. The privileged dicks always do.

“The Faedrielle are your ancestors, and their descendants are the only ones who can open the door, but the bloodline is so diluted that I’ve had to use a bunch of you.” 

Door? Bloodline?

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, I know I’m your prisoner and all, but it’s hard to follow a conversation when one person skips around the most salient points.” 

Amidala tilted her head. “And who said I wanted a conversation?”

If there was one thing that could mask Andy’s fear, it was annoyance. She mocked Amidala’s own tilt of the head, appearing as ridiculous as possible pushing her temple against the metal table. 

“Your eyes, precious.”

‘The eyes reveal all secrets.’

“Fine, I suppose it would be more interesting to talk to someone who understands what I’m talking about for once.”

“Oh,” Andy mocked her, “do most people just nod and ‘wow’ you?”

‘Were you not attempting the art of seduction before?’

I don’t know, was it not seductive?

‘How is it that you were titillated and scared a minute ago, but now you are biting and itching for a fight?’

The only thing you have correctly identified about me is that I am scared. The other thing I am is desperate, and I’m fishing for whatever lifeline she will give me so if you don’t mind shutting the fuck up so I can figure out my ‘in’… I would appreciate it…

‘You… you are a mind of a million surprises.’

And you can’t seem to grasp a single one of them.

The presence of the Light seemed to retreat. For so long they had made a home in Andy’s mind, refusing to explain themselves, who they are, what they are, and what exactly they want. But now, Andy was going around them for a semblance of the truth, and it could determine her survival. Who were they to deny her even then?

And yet they still left the job to her would-be murderer.

“The Faedrielle were the first people to live alongside the Torkkic Clans long before the first Kronish deserters founded Raydorn. What, did you think we were the first to try and steal from the Torkkics?”

The Torkkic Clans were the first people to live in the little dingy corner of Gronina that’s surrounded by enemies on two sides, and a sea that wraps around the other two. They were a ferocious people who made a home, not only in Raydorn, but the Ragnar, living alongside the monsters, challenging them to battle. 

Andy had never met what she would consider a true Torkkic. Only half-breds and people too kind to be Torkkics.

‘Torkkics are like anyone, friendlier than you think until they’re not.’

I’m guessing the Light and its followers did not care for the Torkkics.

‘There was no issue until the False Light made one appear.’

To both the Light and the warlock, Andy pursed her brow and admitted, “I started off this story lost, and I’m still lost.” 

Amidala rolled her eyes. “What’s there to be lost about? There was a civilization that tried and failed to colonize Raydorn before us, what’s so hard about that to understand?” 

“Yeah, no, I got that part, how about the fact that they’re supposed to be special and you can tell I’m one of them by my blood?” 

“Oh… well, the white hair is a dead giveaway. You really should have followed your mother’s instructions on keeping up with your hair dye.” 

What did she just say?

Andy was staring holes into the warlock, but the warlock just kept on talking. The world fell silent as this ringing sound filled Andy’s ear. Her ability to focus went away, and all she could think about was the many times her mother told her…

“Don’t let them think you’re a freak.”

But how would she know anything about that?

Amidala went on and on, but she made sure to keep the important stuff to herself until her captive was paying attention again. When Andy’s eyes finally regained a bit of life, she finally told her the most crucial part. 

“Then the rest was just hitting you with a sense-stimulation spell. You probably didn’t notice it but when I blasted you off that ship, it wasn’t just some air blast. A sense-stimulation spell can paralyze most without fae-blood because it overstimulates the senses, but the fae-blood feel with their… ancestral touch, as I call it, and it spreads the love around. 

“I bet it still hurt like a bitch though.” 

“Ancestral touch?” 

Amidala nodded. “Yes, that thing you do when you learn the memories of something you touch. It’s the most common power among fae-blood.” 

There are others with this power…?

‘There were. If any survive, we cannot feel them.’

What about my siblings? Is my brother fae-blood?

‘He had the capacity, but it never awoken, and at this age, it likely never will.’

Hopefully, she knows that, but more to the point…

“What other powers do… fae-blood…?” Andy trailed off, unsure of the simple pronunciation.

Amidala nodded in assurance, “You got it.” She began to move toward another table, with substances and tools Andy couldn’t see.

“What other powers…” Andy couldn’t help but lose her train of thought as Amidala began to make something. All Andy could see was her hair bun and the warlock’s shoulder blades, revealed by her sleeveless top. 

“What… what are you making?” 

Amidala held up a frying pan without looking back. “Breakfast,” she said, and Andy let out the breath she didn’t know she was holding. “Calm down, the transportal won’t be fixed for another few days and I don’t need to hurt you until then.” 

A few days, huh? I’ve escaped prison in less time before. 

“Well, okay, as if that doesn’t set my nerves on fire,” Andy quipped as her nerves disagreed with the notions in her head. “What other powers do fae-blood have?” 

Amidala squinted at her. “I’m not gonna tell you that, then you’d try to use them, and they’re annoying.” 

Okay, maybe I pushed my luck, but not that far.

“Well then tell me about the Faedrielle, maybe I’ll meet some of my ancestors in the afterlife.” 

“Probably.” Amidala looked away and if Andy hadn’t seen her lips, she’d think the warlock had developed a modicum of guilt. But no, Andy saw the smirk on the warlock’s lips and knew that she felt nothing close to guilt. It was only cruelty with which she drank her coffee. 

“Why did you just smirk?” Andy asked her, drawing the warlock’s wayward eye.

“Pardon?” 

“Why did you just fucking smirk?” Andy repeated her question but went on speaking even after Amidala tried to open her mouth. “What about this is fucking funny? You have me tied to a table, forced to smell whatever stench is coming from your mug and listen to you drone on and on about how I’m going to die. How is that supposed to be funny?”

Amidala was rather quiet in the face of Andy’s outburst. It’s as if she hadn’t had such a loud captive before. 

“You’re rather… loud, but not in the way the others were.”

Andy’s next inhale was audible, and the way her anger shook her chest could not be missed. 

“Others…?” was the only word Andy muttered.

“Don’t act like you don’t know,” Amidala mocked her, “it’s not like I haven’t mentioned it, and even if you weren’t paying attention, I know you must have gotten something out of the Bard, the spineless whelp that he is.

“No, you and I both know that there were others strapped to this table and that chair and the rooms upstairs, all for a similar purpose as you.

“To die.

“But unlike the others, you’re not begging for your life, you’re fighting for it,” Amidala said, and once again, the warlock found herself staring down again into Andy’s face with that rather empty expression on her face. “It’s fascinating, respectable in a way…

“So I supposed I could tell you what I was smirking about. It was rather mundane, not as vile and evil as you probably thought, or even wished… I was just thinking about all the things I know about history, and the afterlife, and the mechanics of the world…”

The warlock’s arms folded around herself, as her eyes drifted towards a place that could not be seen. Even if someone were standing right next to her, they could not see the visage her mind was painting for her eyes.

“The idea of you meeting your ancestors reminded me of that, how rather exclusionary the knowledge I have truly is… and how after a while… it makes me angry.” 

Despite the thinness of the fingers holding her mug, it bends under her grip, proving to be made of steel.

“There are so many things in this library that only the warlock and their acolytes know.” She spoke of the acolytes as if they were roadblocks to be mocked, and Andy found herself wondering why. It could only help her understand what made this mad woman tick.

“There are heinous atrocities in these books, grand innovations, keys to power, and the truth, the truth that everyone should know… that truth that the gods don’t care about us.” 

“What does that have to do with the Faedrielle? My people, who you have hunted down?”

Amidala finally turned away from the machinations of her own mind, and back to Andy. She arched her brown and wore that smirk that infuriated Andy so much. 

“You’re smart, you can put it together. I speak of the gods and atrocities, but what could be the most heinous atrocity of all? You can’t actually think I could push a whole people to the point of extinction with three idiots alone, do you? Your numbers were already dwindling so ask yourself…

“Why is that?”

‘The False Light…’

Who is the False Light?

“Who killed my people? Clearly, you seem to have some idea.”

Amidala shrugged, her creeping smile betraying her words. “I don’t like to speak of things that can’t be confirmed, like your powers. I’ve been hit in the face by them before, I know they’re real, but I couldn’t quite tell you how they work. 

“Then, with history, I’m only decently sure, the writer is always biased, but… if someone is going to learn – especially about a people – they should learn from those people, not second hand. 

“I know that the Faedrielle existed for sure, and I know that Almulan killed them. 

“Al… Almulan?” Andy repeated, barely gasping out the words, at a loss for them.

Our goddess of light? 

‘NOT OUR GODDESS,’ the Light screamed into her mind, making her shut her eyes and flinch. 

She’s is the All-Mother of my entire world-

‘She is the slayer of the Faedrielle and the fae-blood that followed. The Great Bane, slayer of our children, and monstrous Queen of a savage hoard!’

She’s my Goddess of Light!

‘Then you betray your kin!’

My kin?! I don’t know these people, I don’t know this warlock, and I don’t believe her.

‘This is the only truth she has spoken for sure.’

Says who? You? Broker of lies and half-truths?

‘We would not lie about this.’

You are a deity of Light yourself, why wouldn’t you lie about your rival? The rival whose bosom allowed for the fae-blood to exist!

‘She hunts the fae-blood to this day!’

Then her magic would not have wanted me! Her Iligsia would have rejected me if she truly hated me, you lying sacks of shit! 

‘You… you were… one of her chosen?’

Something you don’t know about me? Surprising, and hear I thought you knew everything.

‘There is a short period of your life that is a black hole to us, nearly a decade ago when you were becoming a woman.’

Stop.

‘We cannot look back, we cannot understand so much of your emotions and your mind because they tie back to it. So many of your habits and emotions-’

Stop it.

‘You were one of her chosen? The Bane’s Chosen?!’

ENOUGH! You are an invader, and you’ve shown yet again that you know nothing about me! So shut up! Shut the fuck up and get out of my head! You can’t turn me from the greatest gift I ever received, the greatest thing taken from me by the stupid useless men of this land, and fuck you and your bullshit history and stories and metaphors for trying!

‘Andelyn, you have been misled.’

Yes, I have. 

By you.

Andelyn could feel the presence of the Light slowly creep back into the recess of her mind, like a beaten child trying to find a corner to hide. 

It was like a heavy liquid sliding back her head, but still acting as an anchor, trying to pull her down under.

“The Light didn’t like what I had to say?” the warlock whispered into her ear.

Andy’s eyes snapped open, and she found herself whipping her body back and forth against her chains. She went to take a bite out of the nearest thing and was a breath away from biting off the warlock’s nose.

Amidala Kain didn’t flinch. She continued to look down at Andelyn like she was a prime specimen.

“Anything you want for your last meal?” the warlock asked so suddenly, refusing to pull away. Even as Andy’s jaws appeared ready to rip a piece off her face, the warlock stayed little more than a breach away. “You are the key to my dreams, you might as well eat well for your last day, and if you’re good, you can walk around before we all go.” 

“Why are you doing this… why would you offer me something like that before you kill me? Why speak to me at all?” 

“Hmm,” Amidala mused as her eyes did a thousand different things as they looked over Andy’s face. “I wanted someone to tell someone my ideas, even just hints, something no one should know…”

She’s lonely. A lonely warlock stuck in the Tower.

What a waste.

 Amidala finally pulled away, but not without taking the chance to drag her captive down into a state of despair.

“I feel as if I can tell you whatever I want, it’s not like you’re going to live to tell anyone about it.”