Chapter Fifteen
The boundary between the human world and the Territories was thought to be magical. Perhaps it had been at one time, but now it mostly consisted of natural obstacles, such as the River Kilarne to the east and the much wider River Vaspa on the west. A stretch of castle wall standing twenty feet high provided the border between the two rivers. This wall was sometimes patrolled, but never maintained.
Centuries ago, the elf council and the human king at that time made an agreement that the land north of these rivers would belong to the humans. South of the rivers would be for the elves and other races. Both sides signed the agreement, and for a long while there was very little warring between the groups. As a general rule, any race on human land would either be left alone or dealt with depending on the law of the province the non-human was found in. The same would go for the Territories. This agreement kept the peace in both lands.
While the Territories saw a human from time to time and usually left them alone, the human kingdom’s punishment depended on who was in power. After the treaty, the first king let the infractions go. But as new monarchs took the throne, fear came along with the new power. Rules banned any human from entering the Territories. Non-humans received punishment for trespassing on the king’s land. The consequence was usually death.
The walls fell into disrepair. The number of guards along the walls dwindled every year until only a handful were serving this duty for disciplinary reasons. It was in one of these walls that Katrena had an access point into La’ard’s realm.
Along the wall, a secret door gave easy access to either side. Many years ago, Katrena purchased a door key off an old peddler. Money did not change hands until she was sure of the validity of the opener. Even after the key proved true, the salesman only received a blade across his throat as payment.
Today Katrena’s bounty was still out cold, which in some ways she regretted. Having to carry the girl all this way made the trek difficult and tedious. She was dead weight on the elf’s shoulder. The dark elf dropped Kara’s body to the ground by the wall and retrieved the key from her boot. It was a well-concealed door, undetectable unless one was looking for it. She moved aside a sliding rock and slid the key in. Quickly the tumblers spun, unlocking the door. Katrena paused listening. She then opened the door handle and peeked through the crack. Nothing.
The dark elf picked up the human, slung her over her shoulder again, and proceeded into La’ard’s kingdom. Very soon, Katrena would be able to put her quarry down. It had been a long time since the dark elf had delivered a live mark to Kreitan or any of her other employers. The task was usually much easier in the Territories than on the human side because she was able to blend in here.
No matter, her first destination was only a little farther in a place called Willow Haven. With any luck, the Mordock would have what she needed. Maybe a mule and cart and a simple robe. Simple worked best for disguises.
The next issue would be getting Kara to Kreitan. Before she set out for the human lands, she’d sent a messenger raven to Kreitan, setting up the time and meeting place. She figured the church would be the best place to make the exchange. Lots of people and plenty of hustle and bustle. Her carrier crows were usually reliable, although this new one had looked a little ditzy. All she could do was assume her employer had received her note.
Kara would be a nice package wrapped up for Kreitan. The delivery would be simple and the payment sweet.
A large smile crept across her face, one that hadn’t been there in a long time.
***
La’ard burst into the room, his blood pumping through him like the River Kilarne. He was anxious and excited that this whole ordeal would be over in just a matter of minutes.
He stopped short inside the door. Euphoria stood, waiting for his arrival. But the creature was not the beautiful daughter he remembered. Its skin was taut around the face, like that of an old woman who would soon be breathing her last. Facial bones were evident, especially around her eyes and across her cheeks, both looking hollow. The once chocolate-colored hair now appeared dishwater gray, hanging lifeless like the moss that draped the trees in Hunidoas City. The hands that had once pulled on the king’s hair and patted his cheeks had grown into bony and blotchy corpse hands.
The king gasped at her appearance and took a step back. Kreitan also seemed unsettled as he appeared in the doorway moments afterward.
A gift. How nice.
“What have you done…to my daughter’s body?” La’ard’s tone shook with horror but also rage. This thing was taunting him again.
Euphoria walked to the bed and sat. Kreitan closed the door behind him. As she walked, a subtle change happened with each step. When she turned, Euphoria was back, radiant and beautiful.
“Is this more pleasing to your eye?” The raspy hiss of the creature’s words had disappeared. Instead, it came out seductive, sultry.
The king broke the silence, once he had found his tongue. “Enough! I bring you the missing piece. Let us be done with this!” He turned to Kreitan and motioned for him to bring forth the chest.
“By all means, let’s.” Again, the voice remained alluring, but this time tinged with sarcasm.
La’ard popped the chest open and picked up the shard. He turned slowly as if he had a newborn in his arms. Then he approached the mirror, which remained dark and cracked. Kreitan watched Euphoria, her expression turning to anticipation, longing.
La’ard turned back to Euphoria. “I hope you rot in hell.” Then he turned quickly and inserted the shard in the mirror.
He stepped back, closing his eyes.
Nothing happened.
He opened his eyes again. A whispered cracking sound emanated from the mirror. Each shard lost definition as the cracks melted away. A popping sound followed the last crack.
The mirror, although whole, remained dark.
The king turned to look at his daughter.
She had fallen back on the bed, as if asleep. Four strides and he was at her side pulling her into his arms. “Euphoria…Euphoria!”
“Daddy…Daddy?” His daughter’s magical voice once again. His heart leapt. He hugged her tight. Her arms also returned the hug.
“Are you okay?” The king began to weep, but he really didn’t care who saw him at the moment.
“Never better…stupid human.”
It took a moment for the words to penetrate the king’s happiness, and even then, he did not believe it. “What?” He broke the embrace and held his daughter at arm’s length.
A devious smile played upon Euphoria’s lips. I’m still here.
La’ard jumped back from the bed, repulsed. The raspy words echoed in his head, tearing apart the joy that now was deflating, tumbling down.
“You monster!”
Euphoria laughed—a laugh that normally he cherished. A laugh that used to remind him of his wife. La’ard looked back to the captain for any kind of answer. Kreitan watched from the wall, showing no reaction to the scene. Anger followed his shock. Anger toward Kreitan, anger toward the thing, and anger toward himself for believing the lies.
Euphoria stood. Her beauty now intensified even though the creature had not altered her shape anymore. There was an invisible aura, or something that just heightened the senses, about her.
“For a king, you are certainly stupid. Just because you completed a puzzle, you think that I will… poof…” She snapped her fingers. “…be gone.” She laughed again.
“It took Guillaud fourteen years to imprison me in that mirror.” Euphoria paused as if reminiscing. “I’m not about to hand you the key that will lock me away again.”
La’ard suddenly came out of his stupor. With a yell, he ran at the mirror. Euphoria made no move to stop him. His fist bounced off the glass with each hit, but the mirror did not crack. The king grabbed the sides of it and started shaking, then kicking it, and then grabbing heavy objects to throw at it. He wore himself out shortly.
“And what’s that supposed to do, La’ard?” Euphoria said with a smirk.
The king caught his breath, hands on his knees. “Break the mirror…break your power….”
“Ha…the only thing you would wind up breaking is your daughter’s soul.”
La’ard’s eyes immediately grew wide and looked back at the mirror. He stood and then looked back at Euphoria. “How can I trust anything you say?”
“Daddy…” This voice came from behind him, a wispy dreamy voice. He spun and saw his baby girl in the mirror.
“Euphoria…” His fingers traced her face on the surface of the mirror. And all at once, she was gone. The mirror was dark.
“No!”
“I’m sorry, my king. Parting is such sweet sorrow.” Euphoria turned her eyes toward Kreitan, watching him intently. Kreitan turned and returned the gaze.
La’ard glanced again at the captain, still having contempt for the lack of reaction from the man. The king took his time facing the thing he now truly despised. “I order you…to release my daughter now.” From his belt, he drew his sword.
Her eyes shifted to him. Euphoria’s eyes had become cold and hard. The playfulness, like a cat playing with its prey, turned to resolute determination. It stung like a builder’s stone thrown at him, but his resolve was strong too. He took a step closer.
“Release my daughter.”
“Or what? You will stab your only daughter. Drive a sword through this heart.” She placed both of her hands protectively on her chest. “The horror. What would your dear wife think about that?”
Rage, anger, and blind panic caused him to charge the taunting monster. La’ard ran at her forgetting all his swordsmanship training. He ran at her, screaming his hatred as if jousting, a knight charging, saber outstretched.
Before the king’s blade even came close to Euphoria, a dagger, long enough to tickle one’s heart, plunged into the back of him. Shock released the sword from his hands, but La’ard remained on his feet. He staggered into Euphoria, who had her arms open as if to embrace the man she once called father.
One hand found the dirk and pushed it deeper, as her other hand cradled his head against her chest. La’ard could only shudder and make inarticulate sounds. She patted his head in a ‘there, there’ motion.
Pain. La’ard felt nothing else as his life slipped away. He slumped to Euphoria’s feet, not able to move, yet still able to hear. He heard the wicked thing’s laughter, he heard it call Kreitan king, and last he heard his daughter’s voice call him ‘father’ for the final time.