The Parallels
FOURTEEN

We travel to Bearmoor by way of transference stone the next morning. Darius drops us into a dense forest, and in a matter of minutes, a cacophony of low growls surrounds us. After a moment, the growling ceases, and a woman walks out from the trees. Her snow-white hair falls heavily over her shoulders, coming to a stop just at her waist. She bears no weapons and no armor. As she approaches, Darius stills at my side.

“Kneel and lower your eyes,” he says quickly. If this woman were enough to disarm him, then I’d best listen to his command.

I quickly lower to the ground. I focus on the flowering plant beneath my feet. The forest is silent, but not like the eerie silence I felt before meeting the Herrings. No, this silence is different; it holds reverence for whomever this woman is. I fight the urge to recoil as two hand-sized paws step into my field of vision. Mire save us, the Embry are already here. Had my bracelet not remained as still as the surrounding forest, I would have used the transference stone already.

The Embry’s hot breath huffs against my neck, and I subdue the surging fear rushing through my blood. It’s not lost on me that these wolves could easily kill me in seconds. Mire be, let this introduction end soon. I close my eyes, ready to make peace, or run. Seconds seem to draw into minutes before I sense the noticeable shift around me. Someone clears their throat. When I open my eyes, I stare into the icy eyes of a legendary Embry. It’s flat against the ground; its white fur pops against the green foliage it rests on.

A woman’s voice sounds from above. “You’re different.” There’s sharpness to her words as if she’s tasted something sour. “We’ve never smelled you.” The woman crouches down on all fours next to the Embry. Her fangs protrude from her mouth when she breathes in my scent. Now I understand why she carried no weapons; she is a weapon. “What are you?” she asks, cocking her head to the side. “My name is Iofin.” She announces. “Welcome to Bearmoor.”

I hesitate and look to Darius, who is also privy to his greeting party. He mouths the words ‘stand up’ and I slowly rise. Six Embry and their mage counterparts circle us.

Each mage is partnered with a similar looking Embry, but the one similarity they all share is their crystal-blue eyes.

The white Embry watches me watching her, they all do. Iofin raises her hand and brings it to my cheek.

“My name is Jules, and this is Darius.”

She cuts me off with a wave of her hand. “We know what you’ve come for and we are ready to join you.”

“But how?” I ask.

“Rumors of a powerful mage with hair like the fire and eyes like the sun is spreading through Lanel. We had to know if it was true, so we sent scouts out on patrol. They saw you entering Lucent Bay along with Arthin and a veiler. Come.” She doesn’t wait for an answer before turning and leading her pack toward the woods. The Embry that arrived with Iofin nudges her hand with its snout before bounding ahead and disappearing into the thicket of trees. I fall into stride with Iofin.

“Does that Embry belong to you?” I ask, gesturing to the forest ahead.

Her laugh teeters on the verge of a growl. “She belongs to no one, as none of us do...including you,” she says.

“I didn’t mean to offend.”

“You didn’t,” she says simply.

“They’re all Embry then, aren’t they?” The Embry disperse in various directions, disappearing into the underbrush.

“We are Embry.” She corrects me. “And, this is our pack, each of us linked to the other.” As if understanding her, the massive white Embry circles back and walks next to her. “This is...” she turns her head to the side quizzically, “her name can’t be translated into our language, but you can address her by her nickname, Shadow. She is linked with me and me to her.” Shadow nudges my hand with her wet snout and bounds ahead, moving faster than I’ve ever seen anything run.

Darius leans in close. “Bearmoor is a wild place, so mind yourself here,” he whispers.

“No wilder than when you last visited, veiler.” Iofin looks over her shoulder and winks at him. I like her already.

We walk through waist-high grass that seems to sway with an invisible breeze. I glance down to replace that the ground is moving beneath our feet. At least a hundred snakes weave through the meadow toward the woods. I stop walking, afraid I’ll step on one of them.

“Don’t worry, that’s their way of saying hello. We each have our own greeting.” She takes a piece of my hair in her hand, smells it, then continues walking. Unabashedly curious and yet aloof all at the same time, I suppose that’s what you get with Embry.

We reach the end of the clearing and stand beneath a tree that stretches endlessly into the sky above. The trunk is so massive that I imagine it’d take ten people linking hands to encircle it. The snakes weave between our feet and position themselves atop a flat, sunlit stone alongside a group people who bear similar scaly skin. The Embry sit directly beneath them, staring tentatively in our direction. Immediately to their right is a herd of deer flanked by their counterparts some of whom sport antlers and others who have mismatched patches of thick fur dotting their arms and legs.

Iofin gestures for us to sit at a spot near the Embry, but before we take our seats a large gust of upward air forces my gaze to land on the branches above. Three winged figures descend from the tree. They land effortlessly and fold their massive wings behind them. Save for their wings, they look entirely normal. Iofin greets them with a low whistle, which they return with a high-pitched noise of their own.

“Tri saw you coming and told us the council was meeting,” the largest of the three says. Several long scars run the length of his muscular chest and disappear over his shoulder.

“Jules, I’d like you to meet Tri, Rev, and Soleil.” Two of the men bow as the largest male, whom I take to be Soleil, steps forward.

His pupils enlarge as he edges closer. “Don’t worry; we won’t hurt you.” My heart pounds in my chest; apparently, he can hear it because he cocks his head to the side curiously. His face softens, and he looks up from my chest into my eyes. “I’m just intrigued by the sound you’re making.” He closes his eyes. “It’s low,” he pauses, “so low that even I can barely hear it.” His voice is a spring song. His eyes snap open. “What are you?”

“Her name is Jules.” If Soleil’s voice is a song, then Darius’s is thunder. There’s an edge to it I naught heard before. He steps to my side.

“Of course,” Soleil says, heeding the unspoken warning Darius has given. He steps back to the others. “My name is Soleil.” I try to tear my eyes away from the ragged scars that line his chest like vines. “Welcome to Bearmoor.”

He extends his palm; razor-sharp talons protrude from each finger. The scars on his chest are roughly the same width as these deadly blades. I quickly place my hand atop his, then place it back on my belt.

“They are here to stand against Blackthorne.” Iofin raises her voice, addressing the crowd around us. “Our scouts have informed us that Blackthorne has recalled the Herrings from their normal raids, and assigned them to something else,” she continues. “We think he’s discovered a passage into Northpoint.”

A murmur sweeps through the mass until Darius speaks up. “But it’s near impossible to get to by this time of year. The Iron Pass will be socked in with snow. Not to mention the countless numbers of veilers that have likely concealed the entry points.”

Soleil speaks. “My scouts have been tracking the moments of the Herring packs. Most packs have trekked to the outer edge of the mountain range. Now, they wait.” He clicks his talons together as Tri and Rev shift their wings behind him.

“Wait for what?” I ask, meeting his gaze. Soleil returns my stare in a way that makes my skin hot. I break eye contact and adjust my bracelet. “We’re not entirely sure,” he says lowly. He takes a step forward, cocking his head to the side like a bird. “Though, I’ll be scouting later tonight. Perhaps you’d like to accompany me.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Darius edge closer to me. Fortunately, Iofin growls, and Soleil backs away, a smug smirk spreads across his face. “We haven’t the time for alpha nonsense,” Iofin rumbles. “If Blackthorne is planning an attack, Northpoint will have no way of knowing. They’ll need to be warned.” A look passes between her and Darius. “And only an anointed veiler can enter the wards surrounding Northpoint.”

I turn to Darius. “What does she mean?”

“Veilers take a blood oath not to reveal the location of Northpoint. It’s a magical failsafe put in place by Northpoint’s leader, Xavier.” He explains. “It’s the reason why Northpoint has remained hidden.”

“How would he know if the oath was broken?” I ask.

“Remember what Maira said about Lucent’s shell,” Darius says. I shudder at the image that pops into my head. “Well, it’s like that, but worse.” He raises his eyebrow before turning back to Iofin. “And what about Jules?” He asks her.

“You’d have to be a fool to mess with her,” Iofin says. “We can all smell her magic.” She flashes me a wicked, fanged smile.

“I’ll be fine,” I say, before he can speak. Without knowing about the magic I possessed, I’d still be a risk to my kin, that much was clear.

“Then it’s settled,” Iofin says a little too happily. They mustn’t get visitors too often because the rest of the pack starts yipping excitedly.

“My scouts can fly you to the border,” Soleil offers. Darius raises his eyebrows. “You’ll have to be carried of course.” A smile still paints his lips.

Iofin chuckles softly.

“Of course,” Darius says, standing a little taller.

Iofin steps closer to me. “Now, if you two are done asserting your dominance,” she says pointedly, “then perhaps you’d like to talk strategy somewhere else.” Soleil and Darius seem to finally agree on something as they both look at her in disbelief. “Please,” she says, “you were seconds away from marking Jules with the way things were going.” Again, she doesn’t wait for their response as she turns on me and says, “come.”

“Where are we going?” I ask. The Embry have risen and form a tight circle around us.

“You stink of death and sorrow.” She sniffs at the air. “Run with us and let it go.”

The whole pack stands mere inches from me. Shadow nuzzles her nose into my hand encouragingly. I consider her request and quickly glance at Darius, who looks skeptical, to say the least. “There’s only one way I can keep up,” I say, comparing the size and gait of each Embry against my slight figure.

“And what way is that?” Iofin asks edging closer.

“I have to take some of your magic.”

She glances at Shadow, and the decision is made. “Very well,” she says, closing the final few inches of space between us.

“Jules, are you sure about this?” Darius asks.

“Ay,” I have to try and control it and where better than the one of the wildest places in Lanel. I hold out my hand to Iofin and look into her feral eyes. The entire pack stands still, eyes locked onto me.

“Once it’s done, you’ll run with us?” Iofin asks playfully, not a trace of fear shows in her face.

“For as long as I can,” I say with a smile.

“Then I will allow it, for only to rid you of your sadness and that awful smell.” She places her hand on mine like we’d done this a thousand times before. I envy her courage.

I focus on the places our hands touch and close my eyes. Within moments, steady vibrations begin to snake their way up my hand sending my bracelet ablaze as they circle my wrist. Unlike before, I feel in control and there’s no gentle nudging at back of my head. I let the vibrations flow through me until my body buzzes. As the clearing and its inhabitants gives way to a familiar blackness, I wait for the voice from my nightmares to replace me again, but it does not. Instead, the skin around my eyes tingles and golden light flashes before me. I open my eyes, the eyes of an Embry.

Before me, some of the Embry approach tentatively, crouching low to the ground as they crawl closer. Even Iofin withdraws her hand slowly, never taking her eyes from mine. Something in the clearing moves, and my eyes hone in on a small mouse scuttling between the trees nearly one-hundred paces away. I have the vision of a predator.

Iofin looks me curiously. “There’s a wildness in your eyes, something old,” she pauses, “and something dark.”

“How do I get rid of it?” I whisper.

Her smile is vicious. “You don’t.”

We stand there connected by the same knowledge of the truth I’d try to cast aside since the Twin Frontiers Post. Past the carnage and loss was the admission that the unbridled power that coursed through my veins was both frightening and seductive.

“Jules?” Darius’s voice sounds as if he spoke right into my ear, yet he stands a good five feet away.

As I walk to him, I feel the weight of animals and mages staring from a safe distance in the woods beyond the clearing, even Soleil looks stunned. My body springs effortlessly from the ground as if I was built for endless movement, every inch of me pleads to run. As I near Darius, I’m overwhelmed by his scent. The hairs rise on my arms as a low guttural growl frees itself from my lips. I don’t realize that I’m inches from his neck until he says my name again. I snap my head back. Snowy fields of grey reflect in his eyes. He appraises me warily before I look at my hands and then inspect the rest of my body.

“I don’t have any marking from the magic this time,” I say.

“Not quite,” Darius chuckles, removing his dagger from his belt.

He holds the blade horizontal so that I may see my reflection. Feral - that’s all I can think when I stare back into my black-rimmed golden eyes. I have the eyes of the Embry; only they’re gold with flecks of green anchored by black lines that devour them and disappear under the strands of my fiery hair. The effect is stunning, and it looks as though I’m wearing a mask. I examine the rest of my face, but nothing else has changed. Then, remembering Iofin’s fangs, I open my mouth. Sure enough, four of my incisors look like they could tear flesh from bone without much effort.

The flutter of wings draws my attention to Soleil, who’s watching me carefully. “How did you do that?” he asks.

“I’m not entirely sure,” I pause, “it’s new.”

Iofin scoffs. “As if we can explain magic.” The magic running through my blood recognizes its kin and buzzes at Iofin’s words. “The better question is, are you ready to run?” Her candor and disregard of everything are infectious, and I laugh out loud, then realize I’m howling. The other Embry quickly join in.

“After you, I say, extending my hand toward the forest beyond.

She must communicate with Shadow who’s already bolting ahead. The rest of the pack take off in pursuit of Shadow. Iofin grabs my hand, and I manage one last look at Darius, who smiles despite himself. Iofin gracefully dashes ahead as I adjust to my new-found speed, agility, and stamina. Her magic roars through my body allowing me to keep pace with the pack easily. After a few moments, I slip into Embry existence and just am.

Spongy moss cools my back as the roasting sun fans out across my arms and legs. I dig my claws into the soil and feel life flourishing just beneath its surface, all that was and all that will come to be. Strewn about just as lazily across the field are the Embry. Those that aren’t breathing heavily, lost in mid-afternoon dreams, are bent low to the ground protecting the rest of us. Shadow lounges nearby, half immersed in the shade of a tree, half blanketed by the clear sky overhead. Iofin is only an arm’s length away from her counterpart, laying belly down on the ground facing me. Her Embry eyes are poised fixedly on the trees beyond the clearing.

I stopped quantifying how long it was that we’d run through the forest, and lost time completely when our pace slowed as we ascended the steep slopes of the Bearmoor mountains. The Embry had granted me the greatest gift - peace. For the time that Iofin’s magic coursed through my body, I’d felt that nothing was more important than the next step I took, or the way the wind whispered through the woods. Every step into nature was a step away from the weight I’d carried since leaving Qyis. I found solace in its absence. Yet now, as we lie in the concealed field overlooking at the edge of the wild, I feel the weight creeping back to me like snaking vines twisting themselves around a tree.

“You are welcome to more, my friend,” Iofin says. Her pupils are barely dots, engulfed by the blue iciness of her eyes. “We’ve disappeared into these mountains and have been forgotten by Lanel for more years than I’ve kept count. We are enough in number for you to remain as an Embry as long as you’d like.” She gracefully hoists herself onto all fours and pushes herself to my side with one swift movement. Shadow has also risen and plops down so that her back lies flush with my leg.

The air swirls around us bringing with it the faint aroma of the cold night to come. I know what she’s implying, and I’d be a liar if I said I hadn’t thought about it too. The Embry were a dozen strong, which meant there was no shortage of magic I could take from them. But it would all be a lie, I’d never truly be an Embry. If I spent my days here and gave into the wildness that sweetly sang in my veins, I’d only be pretending that I’d rid myself of the responsibility I bore to my kin and to Lanel.

I shake my head. “I have my own pack to protect.” I look up at the peak jutting into the clouds above. “And Blackthorne won’t stop until magic is gone from Lanel which means Bearmoor won’t be hidden forever.”

Iofin’s words are a growl. “Let him try to take us, then he’ll see the true power of the Jotnar.”

I push myself to my elbows. “I don’t understand, are the Embry Jotnar? The Jotnar disappeared into the mountains of the Saritite Primary years ago, before the Breaking.” Darius had said that the Herrings were Jotnar but nothing about Iofin or Soleil reminded me those grotesque monsters.

Shadow lifts her head and rests it on my thigh. Iofin reaches across me and combs her hand through Shadow’s fur. A wordless conversation passes between them, that much I see in Iofin’s subtle, shifting expressions.

“She can feel what I feel,” Iofin says quietly. “Though I try not to worry her with my sorrows.” At this, Shadow licks Iofin’s hand before nuzzling her head back into the grass once again. “The Embry and Jotnar as one in the same. Before the Jotnar became synonymous with the Herrings, we were once revered among the Parallels as symbols of strength, loyalty and power. Embry were one of many sects of Jotnar, just as Soleil’s kin were and all the others in the clearing you saw today. Before the Breaking, Jotnar represented the wildness of our animal brethren and magic of our mage heritage.”

“So the Herrings were another part of the Jotnar, like the Embry?” It’s hard to imagine something so foul being related to the beautiful creatures sprawled in the field before me.

Iofin’s Embry eyes soften. “No,” she says. “The Herrings were not born in the Saritite Parallel.” She pauses and stares at me. There’s no wildness in her eyes or her words when she speaks again, there’s nothing but disgust, and then something else I can’t quite place. “The Herrings were made.”

“What do you mean?” This time, I run my hands through Shadow’s white fur.

“Before I lost my kin in the years that followed the Breaking, my great mother would tell us the history of our people, the Jotnar, in the days when the Parallels were unified and the Saritite lands were home to all creatures. It was a wild Parallel, but there was a common understanding and acceptance among each sect of the Jotnar. The Embry acknowledged the borders of the Hrafn, Soleil’s kin. And the Hrafn recognized the borders of sea dwelling creatures. We all respected each other and lived in peace.” She rolls onto her side and sinks down onto her elbow, placing her head in her hand. “The Jotnar lived like that for years, until the shadows started moving over our land.”

It’s as if the air chills around us. “Shadows?” I ask.

“That’s what my great mother said. The shadows slinked about the Saritite Parallel seeking our wildness, wondering how to capture the ferocity of the Jotnar and make it indestructible. Our pack emigrated to Lanel long before the Breaking ever happened.”

“Why?” I ask.

“Jotnar started disappearing.” She clenches her jaw in anger. “Great mother heard it from packs in the north, their kin would disappear in the night and never be heard from again.”

“But what happened to them? Where were they going?” The small traces of her magic that remain in my blood make me feel protective over the Embry around me, as if they were mine to protect.

“The shadows took them. Rumors spread about howls of agony that pierced the lands in the East, quickly moving west like a plague. The shadows took the Jotnar and transformed them into something else.”

“The Herrings?” I ask, already knowing the answer.

She nods. “My great mother gathered our pack and fled to Lanel, seeking refuge here in Bearmoor, hoping that the Blackthorne Primary would protect her kin, but she didn’t know it was the Blackthornes who commanded the shadows themselves.”

“You’re saying the Blackthornes created the Herrings?”

“Ay,” she says. “Great mother moved our pack here after a few of our kin disappeared one night. Among them, was great mother’s mate, Ylfa. She was out on patrol and never returned. We all hoped for her to come back, but great mother knew better. A few moons later, and Bearmoor became our new home.” The sleeping Embry all rise from their slumber and form a circle around us. Shadow sits up from the ground and comes to rest by Iofin’s side.

I touch Iofin’s arm uniting the small amount of her magic that I still have. “Did Ylfa ever come back?”

Iofin looks at me sorrowfully. “The next time we saw Ylfa, she was tearing out my great mother’s throat. Blackthorne had mutated her into something unrecognizable.”

“A Herring,” I say. Iofin takes my hand in hers and squeezes it gently. “They’re monsters.” I wrap my arm around her.

Surprisingly she pulls away. “That’s what I believed too, that’s what we all believed at first, but that’s what Blackthorne wants.” She shakes her head. “He wants us to fight against each other, so we lose sight of who the real monster is.” When she turns to face me, her eyes shine with lethal ferocity. “Nothing is truly evil, and no one is truly a monster.” She presses her hand to my cheek. “Do you know what Blackthorne’s greatest threat is?”

“No,” I say.

“Compassion,” she says simply.

“But Iofin, the Herrings killed your kin.” I gesture to the Embry. “Blackthorne drove you into hiding here, and the Herrings still hunt you, they hunt us all.”

“Ay, and not a day passes that anger doesn’t threaten to lead our pack.” Something flashes in her eyes that doesn’t make me doubt that. “But nothing is inherently evil, something makes the Herrings act as they do, just as something compels Blackthorne to act as he does. Every action has a story behind it.”

“So, you’ve forgiven the Herrings, is that it?” I clamp my hand over my mouth realizing I’d snarled in disgust but Iofin doesn’t seem to have noticed.

“Forgive, no that’s not the word.” Her brows come together, searching. “I pity the Herrings and what they’ve had to do to survive.” She gazes out on her pack that stare back at her. “We all do,” she says softly.

Camus and his band didn’t show any pity to the inerts they enslaved at the Twin Frontiers Post, in fact; I would imagine he didn’t even know what the word meant. No, I couldn’t pity creatures that found such delight in torture and death. “I don’t know if I could ever feel that way, Iofin,” I say.

She looks at me reassuringly. “No one asks you to, wild one. But our pack wouldn’t have survived with the anger that plagued it, so we had to replace another way.” Her eyes soften. A breeze stirs from the east and lifts my hair with its caress. Iofin smiles and takes a strand in her hand. “Come,” she stands and holds her hand out to me, “be our kin a while longer before magic leaves you too exhausted from our adventure.” I take her hand and let the last of the Embry’s freedom burst through me like a star.

The darkened city crests upwards into the night sky. I walk to where he stands.

“You’re almost ready.” His voice radiates pride.

I replace my own. “Almost ready?”

The towers vibrate, their deep melody shakes the surface beneath my feet. When I look back up, he’s standing close enough that I can see the golden flecks in his eyes, my eyes.

“Almost ready to remember.” He says, reaching his hand to my face just as a piercing scream cuts through the air.