Shades of Grey

ACAVIA— JULY 1843

“Get ready.”

Forma’s telepathic voice shocked me out of a deep sleep two days later and I hastily remembered what I was supposed to do next: crawl into a dark corner and remain perfectly still.

“Chagache!” I heard Forma exclaim, calling to the chief as she skilfully ran up the poorly built stairs. I heard her rush past my cell and seek the chief’s chambers where she began yelling in the ugly Treptik language. He then raced out of his room and I heard him running towards my cell, where I pushed myself against the wall, hoping that Forma was strong enough to block his sight.

“Don’t worry, you’re perfectly invisible,” she assured, sensing my fear.

I smiled as the chief entered my cell and shone his torch into every little corner of the room, verifying that I wasn’t hiding in a corner somewhere, which made it incredibly difficult to keep from sniggering as he passed his torch directly over me and still could not see me.

He roared in fury as he realised what had happened and then raced out of the room, calling to other Treptik guards. Forma then began speaking, urging him to find the Hunter and take all of his best guards, leaving only herself and one other to deal with the slaves. Forma spoke with an authoritative, persuasive tone that would have swayed even the stubbornest of politicians. I smiled to myself as I heard saw the chief nod.

He then gave affirmative commands to several of the guards and suddenly a whirlwind of noise and activity rushed by my cell and out the cave entrance, a single looming battle cry hanging in the air, one that I was able to translate myself.

“Catch the Hunter!”

A gut-wrenchingly slow five minutes passed before I heard a beating of wings settle outside my door. Forma kicked it open and raced over to my side, breaking my chains with one swing of her cutlass.

“Alright, now to stimulate your malnourished muscles…”

Forma quickly opened the analgesic and I took two hearty gulps. Immediately my weakened body began to gather strength and my wheezing, feeble breaths became stronger and clearer until I was able to stand and don my uniform for the first time in two months. I took a long, clear breath, feeling like myself again.

“Feel better?” Forma asked.

“Shut up,” I snapped in a light voice as I fastened my full-body bandoleer over my shoulders.

“I’ll take that as a yes!”

She laughed as we ran to the towards the cave mouth, eager to inplement our plan and escape from this horrid prison.

I stopped and gasped when I saw Scepta standing strongly under the stalactites along the roof of the cave. I ran to her and threw my arms around her strong shoulders as Forma ran to free the Cambrians from their cells.

“Scepta! It’s been so long! How are you?”

“Fine, Grey, thank you,” Scepta replied slowly with her characteristically demure smile.

“How is Loria?” I asked.

“She’s faster and stronger than she’s ever been. The Treptiks will be on the hunt for days.”

“That’s great!” I laughed in elation as Forma returned with the group and both Maislings changed into great Incendilas. I climbed onto Forma’s back, turning to the large Cambrian group. Lanek stood in the front, looking pleased to see me in such good health.

“Good to see you in your normal state,” he said.

“Thank you,” I smiled, turning to the Cambrians.

“Alright,” I called, quieting the group. “I want the children and the older citizens to mount both Maislings and head for Granyah. No exceptions! All able-bodied men and women who have been trained by Forma are to form ranks in the thick of the Black Woods. Any questions?”

There were no objections or questions whatsoever. The young Cambrian fighters — armed with the axes and shovels they had spent their lives using to till the ground for the Treptiks — stood with conviction and collective strength.

The small group of children and elderly Cambrians quickly mounted Scepta and Forma, taking to the air immediately, eager to escape from their bondage and begin to recover.

I turned to the army awaiting my command: each Cambrian holding their makeshift weapon like it was the most valuable commodity in the world. The pride and excitement was prevalent in their faces as they realised that tonight they would fight for their lives, for their freedom.

For their future.

“To freedom!” I shouted simply.

They cheered, echoing my sentiment, needing no words to prepare them to fight. They had had their entire lives to prepare for this night.

The Cambrians moved with relative silence, their hearts beating quickly in anticipation as they followed me towards the heart of the Black Woods, eager to begin the slaughter.

“Grey?” I heard Lanek next to me.

“Yes?” I said, keeping my eyes and ears alert for signs of Loria’s presence.

“I just wanted to say thank you again. You’ve done more for us than anyone ever has.”

I turned to Lanek and saw that there was something else he wanted to say (something he had tried to say on many occasions over the last several months), but my continuous denials had told him that particular “something” would be unwelcome. I smiled in spite of myself and placed my hand on his shoulder.

“You’re welcome.”

He grinned sheepishly when a heavy, sloppily fired arrow suddenly flew over his shoulder and soared over my head, piercing the tree behind me. The Treptiks had found us.

“GO!” I called to the Cambrians.

They acted instantly, raising their weapons and shouting like mad banshees. They charged in one mass and I watched as they met the throng of Treptiks, swinging blows like wildly over-excited year four students at the Academy. A familiar blur shot out of the thick of the fight, stopping to stand next to me.

“Reminds you of the first day of combat training, doesn’t it?”

I turned and saw Loria, barely out of breath and looking just as beautiful and happy as she always had.

“Loria!”

I embraced her in jubilation. She laughed and embraced me in a similar matter.

“Come on, let’s get in there and help. God knows how long it will take for the Cambrians to do it themselves,” Loria laughed.

I smiled and stepped back, drawing my Flamesword and igniting it. Loria did the same and held it above her head.

“For freedom!” she bellowed.

“For freedom!” I echoed.

Together we joined the Cambrians and began to battle the Treptiks in a gruesome, viciously satisfying display of revolution. Loria and I dealt blows like the skilled fighters we both were, taking down four or more Treptiks with a single swing of our swords.

“Good swing!”

I looked behind me after I had done just that and saw Forma and Scepta glide to the ground in the form of powerful Mountain Griffins as they began to engage in combat, each striking down two Treptiks with a single blow from their great talons.

“Not so bad yourself, either,” I complimented as I turned to fight again.

“We can talk later, let’s give these totalitarian monsters what they deserve,” she taunted with a roar of adrenaline.

“I couldn’t agree more,” I replied.

After a few exhaustingly exciting hours of battle, I had lodged my sword into the final Treptik and turned to Loria, who grinned in spite of her beaten exterior. We embraced again eagerly as Forma brought the victorious Cambrians over towards a clearing, preparing to ferry them over to Granyah to reunite with their families.

“How have you been?” she cried, drinking a small amount of analgesic. I did the same thing and we both laughed as our battle wounds began to heal.

“I’ve been alright. What have you been up to?” I asked.

“I’ve just come from a small city in Romania where I battled a huge Gargouille. It almost killed Scepta!”

“I had it covered just fine...” Scepta muttered as she began stacking Treptik bodies, readying them for cremation.

“You took on a Gargouille on your first go?” I laughed in surprise.

“Yes,” she replied sheepishly. “I know the Lords and Ladies always said to try and avoid such high level Creatures, but it was the first one I came across! What was I supposed to do?”

“I battled a Gargouille on my first try as well!” I exclaimed.

Loria laughed and then her expression twisted into a look of shocked horror as she gave a small gasp of shock. I watched in horror as a Treptik blade boldly made its way through her chest.