Six of Ruin (Heirs of Irenwell #1)

We didn’t have enough time to rest through the night. The bird flew straight into Ace’s face a couple of hours after the meal. Soterios and the cultists have reached the Orathian shore.

The men sharpened their weapons. Nickeltinker and Ace concocted strange potions. I packed the leftover boar for the road.

Torvald grew even bigger and our unease grew around him. He stood at least four heads taller than me now. His transformation didn’t sit well with me; it frightened me to think what he would eventually turn into.

As the dawn broke, colouring the forests and steep cliffs of Orathia a gorgeous shade of dark pink, we climbed up the mountains. The Kingdom of Orathia was still out of sight, but Rixen promised it was closer than it seemed. The Star of Orath still proudly shone in the dawning sky, slowly setting behind the mountains.

The men were upfront, talking about some Bastian sparring match. I lingered back with Torvald and Frank, wanting to talk to the giant in private for a bit.

“Hey, are you alright?” I asked, only slightly afraid to be so close to him.

But Torvald’s gaze was gentle and kind, “That depends on your definition of alright.”

“Feeling physically and emotionally fine?”

Torvald sighed, “In that case, no and no.”

“Are you feeling better than before?” In a strange way, I wanted him to be better. There was something so tragic about him that it made me play saviour.

“Slightly.” Torvald nodded. “In a way, it feels like someone loosened the restraints around my body. I can move and think freely. But such a feeling always comes with a price.”

I tilted my head towards Ace, “He seems desperate to help. It’s unexpected, to say the least.”

“I’ve heard stories about him on my journeys.” Torvald spoke. “Those that had met many mages claimed Ace did not belong with his kind.”

“How come?” I asked, staring at the back of the grey-haired old man collecting plants alongside the road.

“Too human, they said.” Torvald murmured. “Too passionate for someone so old.”

“Ha, I’ve always regarded him as somewhat emotionally stunted.”

“That’s because he’s the only mage you’ve met.” Torvald looked ahead. “Once, while I was passing through the woods of southern Bastia, I ran across a group of peasants who’ve just escaped the Fae lands. They told me the most incredible story about a grey, old mage with a pet warthog.”

I stared at Torvald, almost forgetting to walk and stumbling over my feet.

“Fae don’t like intruders and the peasants entered their lands by accident. The old mage intervened on their behalf and negotiated with the Fae. He had nothing to gain from the poor peasants, no agenda, no ulterior motive, but he helped them anyway. They never learned his name, he wouldn’t tell them.” Torvald spoke with a small smile.

“You’re trying to tell me he has a heart?” I murmured, not sure whether to believe him.

Torvald grinned, “He has a human heart. That is his biggest flaw.”

I chewed on my lower lip, “How do you find good in someone so twisted?”

“Evil is easier to recognize.” Torvald shrugged. “It is the good that stands out, it is the good that is constantly surprising. When you see it, grab it and hold onto it.”

“How long is the entire process of locking Ir-kaal going to last?” Rixen’s voice caught my attention, interrupting my conversation with Torvald.

He didn’t speak to me all night. In some other circumstance, I would be offended, but it seemed as if this entire journey changed me somewhat. I understood him now. I understood all of them, even Ace, with his immeasurable fear of death.

“Time will be of the essence.” Ace walked up front, still collecting different plants, not giving up on breaking Torvald’s curse.

I feared his attempts were futile. Perhaps he’d be able to do it eventually, but we simply did not have enough time right now.

“How much time are we talking about?” I skipped after him.

“First, we will have to unlock the seal, using your royal blood.” Ace said, admiring a small orange flower. “It is in that moment when we finally realise the knight’s futility.”

“Ha-ha.” Danilo mumbled.

“Unlocking the seal won’t take long, but using the spell will. We’re looking at a couple of hours, at least.”

“What?” I stopped in my tracks.

“A few hours?” Rixen stood by my side. “We shouldn’t have rested for so long, then.”

“If we didn’t rest, we wouldn’t be able to fight.” Ace continued on his way. “More importantly, I wouldn’t be able to use enough magic. I’m still hungover from Dahn.”

“That’s because you haven’t stopped drinking since Dahn.” Nickeltinker mumbled.

Ace shrugged, “Liquor makes you easier to tolerate.”

Danilo coughed, “Asshole.”

I chuckled, “So, now that our great wizard is sober, can we talk about what exactly we’re going to do about King Bernard, Soterios and the end of the world?”

Nick raised his hand, “I still vote we lock the plane of Ir-kaal and bolt!”

“Why would King Bernard send us here to lock Ir-kaal if he wanted it to remain unlocked?” I asked.

“He thought he could kill us before we reached Orathia.” Rixen said.

“That’s probably true.” Ace nodded, while picking up plants from the side of the road. “Think about it, if he managed to kill you, he’d get rid of Danilo and Rixen, the only living Bastian heirs aside from King Bernard, and he’d off one of the Irenwell heirs. Not to mention Rixen is the last known person with a trace of Orathian royal blood in his veins.”

“Also, King Bernard wanted King Rodrig to go to Orathia in Irina’s stead. He didn’t want to send a useless princess.” Rixen said matter-of-factly, but I still took offense.

“Hey, I’m not that useless!”

“In his eyes you are.” Rixen glanced at me. “You’re way easier to kill in normal circumstances than Rodrig.”

I let out a sigh, “Fair enough.”

“If he gets rid of all of you, Ir-kaal stays unlocked until someone else manages to create a spell that’s not under a seal in Orathia.” Ace commented.

“We should have never agreed to go on this journey.” Danilo mumbled.

“Perhaps.” Ace shrugged. “But now that we’re here, we have an opportunity no one’s had in a while.”

“Of course, you’d think of it as an opportunity.” Rixen let out a small laugh.

“What kind of an opportunity?” Danilo asked.

Ace stopped and turned around to face us, “Let’s think like King Bernard for a moment.”

“Boar, ale, boar, boar, can’t climb up the stairs, more boar.” Rixen muttered.

Ace ignored him, “If Ir-kaal stays unlocked, Bernard can move on with his plan, whatever that is. He knows that keeping the plane unlocked and actually entering it and harnessing its power aren’t the same thing, which means he’s going to focus on something else first; gathering an army, attacking innocent people, and so on. But if we manage to lock Ir-kaal, he’s quickly going to try to appear as the good guy again, just like he did once he found out we were still alive. He promptly blamed us for everything.”

“So, what? You’re suggesting we don’t lock Ir-kaal?” I squinted.

“No.” Ace’s wild eyes roamed over us. “I suggest we lie to him. I suggest we play into his own narrative and turn ourselves... into villains.”

An ever-so-slightly deranged grin gripped his lips.

Panic bit my insides, “But- but that means we cannot go back!”

“You can go back if you were the victim.” Ace said. “To be precise, my victim.”

“Now we’re talking.” Nickeltinker grinned. “You’re going to say you refused to lock Ir-kaal.”

“Exactly.” Ace nodded. “I turned evil and there was nothing you could have done about it. I even managed to kill Rixen.”

“What?” Rixen lifted his head. “Why me?”

“Because you’re the Orathian heir.” To my surprise, Torvald stepped forward, deciding he was done playing with the warthog. “There are no other Orathian heirs in the world, to our knowledge. Without you, the spell stays sealed, which is precisely what King Bernard wants.”

“So, Danilo and I go back to Bastia and Irenwell, tell everyone Ace went rogue, refused to lock Ir-kaal, and killed Rixen.” I repeated. “And what does that do, then?”

“It makes King Bernard move forward with his plan.” Rixen scanned the ground, then looked at Ace. “Because he thinks Ir-kaal is waiting wide open for him.”

Ace smiled wickedly, “And right when he thinks he’s about to be more powerful than any human king, he realises the plane is locked. But at that point, he’s too far gone, he’s revealed too many of his cards, and gathered too many enemies.”

“Which he cannot defeat without the power of Ir-kaal.” Rixen concluded. “That’s a solid plan. But what do we do in the meantime? Where do we go?”

“Irina goes back to Irenwell.” Ace tilted his head towards me. “You tell Rodrig what’s going on, but you do it quietly and you make him believe you.”

I nodded.

“I’ll go back to Bastia.” Danilo said. “And convince Bernard that we’ve failed.”

“Like you said, he trusts you. Or he at least thinks he can control you, which is good enough.” Ace said. “And Nickeltinker goes to Gyorg. They like florans.”

“Yes!” Nickeltinker raised his fist in the air. “Gyorg ladies are gorgeous. And they like small and weak men.”

“It shouldn’t be that difficult to convince them you’re telling the truth.” Ace said. “I’ve sent messages to aether every chance I got. Gyorg seers take aether seriously, they’ll alert the Gyorg Queen.”

“Wait, isn’t there a price on my head?” Nickeltinker squinted.

“Gyorgans won’t care about that.” Ace brushed it off. “And if you tell them King Bernard is lying, they’ll believe you. They really hate anything north of the Empty Desert.”

“So, if Danilo, Irina and Nickeltinker all leave, what are we going to do?” Rixen glanced at Torvald.

“You and Torvald will go back to the Spirit territory.” Ace said. “We must not forget that a group of shadowmen saved us back in Dahn.”

Rixen’s brows furrowed slightly, “If there are shadowmen in the Spirit territory...”

“There might be an uprising.” Ace finished. “There’s a chance the Spirit territory might unite again. I want you to help them find a common goal, fighting the Bastian oppression.”

Rixen let out a humourless laugh, “That’s certainly an easy task.”

“And what will you do?” I asked Ace.

“I have the hardest task of all.” Ace grunted. “Convincing the Fae to form an opinion for once.”

“This is a bit much to fight one single king.” Danilo commented.

“It won’t be just him.” Ace shook his head. “It will be Soterios and every single mage that’s ever wished to enter Ir-kaal. We’re talking about hundreds of mages. Look at all the trouble fighting one has caused us.”

“Oh.” Danilo mumbled and stepped back.

Ace said nothing for a few moments. When he spoke, his voice sounded different, full of tension and even a hint of... fear.

“If we manage to do all of this, the next time we meet will be on a battlefield.” He turned away from us and added over his shoulder. “Hopefully, we’ll be on the same side.”

Despite his... encouraging words, something still bothered me. Ace was a complicated man, but one of his more straightforward talents was the ability to spin his own story. And even though he showed his more humane side, I did not trust him.

I had to consciously remind myself that this same man threatened to out my magical secret to the rest of the world if I didn’t promise to do as he said. His request never came. Which only meant there was more in store for me.

Rixen’s elbow bumped into mine ever so slightly.

Do you trust him? He spoke into my mind.

Not one bit. I answered while staring at the grey-haired man collecting plants.

I think he’s not telling us everything. Rixen said.

I’m sure of it. I held onto Rixen, prolonging our connection. Do you still think this connection isn’t useful?

Rixen’s mind remained silent for a long moment, making me wonder how he still managed to keep me out when he wanted to.

I would love to keep you tucked away in the corner of my mind forever.

My heart thudded, sending nostalgia for the things I would later miss down my veins.

Rixen’s hand slipped in mine, and for the first time, I didn’t care Danilo saw us. I didn’t care about anything other than prolonging this moment.

But you want to be a princess and I want to run away from kingdoms.

The tragic truth lay in his words. I still wanted to return to my Kingdom, I still wanted to be a queen, and most of all, I still wanted to get rid of my magic.

I’m sorry. I said.

Not more than I am. But if we kept this bond, I’d have to watch you become a queen, I would have to watch you... be with other men, I’d have to watch you marry someone else. And I can’t do that, not when I want to be the one by your side.

Rixen’s hand slipped out of mine, leaving me alone and with an empty heart. Pain spread through my veins, leaving a sting behind that felt like it would never truly leave. My shadowman joined Torvald and I walked ahead, needing to focus on something else.

“Ace.” I called the mage. “I have a question.”

“Of course.” He sneered.

“You said you sent the messages to aether for the Gyorg seers to hear.” I rolled the words on my tongue, wondering whether he’d tell me the truth.

“I did.”

“What did they mean?” I asked. “What does ‘beware of the pixies’ mean?’”

The mage glanced at me, “Pixies are tiny, weak beings. Throughout our history, the mage history, if you were called a pixie, you’d be offended. It means your magic is too weak to even be considered magic, and that you’re physically and intellectually inferior to other mages.”

“Oh.” I mumbled, but my gaze already escaped to the giant towers looming over the tree line in the distance.

We’ve reached the fallen Kingdom of Orathia. We’ve reached our destination.

Ace smiled at the ruins, “Nowadays, pixie refers to human. Beware of the pixies means beware of the humans.”