Dark Queen: The Cybelline Prophecies

Chapter 37

Ryion felt as if he had been running forever, the little wisp of life on his back was getting weaker and weaker. The men were closing in.

"Ryion...let go..." A fat little hand patted his cheek weakly. Miri coughed and blood trickled down her dirty cheek. Ryion gritted his teeth and ran faster.

"Let me go." Miri whispered, "...run away."

"No." Ryion tightened his arms fearing that she would fall if he didn't, "No, I'm not leaving you behind..." The world seemed a little blurry as his tears fell and his lungs burned, he was so scared. Ithos...Myrai, they fought with all their might to get them out, now it was up to him to get Miri to safety.

But the sky seemed to grow darker and the ancient trees more foreboding in the night. Every sound around him seemed like an unseen hand, reaching out to crush them into blood and ashes.

Suddenly, he ran headlong into something. Someone.

The fear he had held at bay now came at him like a pack of wild wolves.

"Ryion?" A familiar voice. He looked up, his knees going weak.

The things that happened afterward were like a dream, he held Miri tightly as they watched Cybelline started kicking men up into the air as if they were toy balls.

One, two, three, four, five they all went up as she tossed one after another into the air. Ryion was reminded of the juggler he once saw when a traveling troupe had stayed in their village.

Ryion looked closer and his mouth fell open, when then fell back to the earth, Cybelline was casually taking all their purses.

Cybelline patted them down and took the valuables of those on the ground while those on their air watched with helpless anger, knowing that they weren't only getting beat up, but also getting robbed.

Most crumpled to the earth and blacked out, when they woke, they would run out of the forest, praying that they never meet the little monster in the woods again.

After a while, Cybelline tossed a little green stone to Ryion, "Have Miri hold this." Ryion nearly cried in relief. It was a healing stone, she had found it on the captain of the group. He was the one she'd chosen to leave conscious.

But the captain  wouldn't have know that, considering that Cybelline's foot was pressing directly on the back of his head right now. All he could do was scream headfirst into the mud.

She flipped him over, reached down, and dragged him up by the collar, "I've been very patient and more than kind. Tell me what I want to know, while i'm still being nice. Who is your master? Where are the people you're chasing?"

He gritted his teeth, glaring at her. He looked around, why hadn't anyone else come to find them.

The little hand at his throat tightened, Cybelline smiled, "I'm not a patient person."

"Go to hell, scum. You and all those halflings deserve to die." His grin was savage, wild, "Animals like you will all get eaten at the end. We're going to devour you all. You don't deserve magic, scum...SCUM."

Ryion shuddered

"Oh?" Her voice was soft.

The man barked in laughter, "Accept your lot in life." He looked at the two children in the trees, "We'll tear you limb from limb, you dirty, disgusting half-breed scu----

But he found that he couldn't talk. Cybelline raised her hand gently and his jaw was dislocated, it hung uselessly open as he glared at her.

The air around her seemed to have solidified, and it was as if she was made of ice and steel.

"Ryion" Cybelline called out lightly, "I'll be back in a minute. Don't move." With that she took the man into the trees.

The man was struggling against her iron grip but was unable to tear himself out of the child's hold. Cybelline dragged him across the forest floor, occasionally stopping to stuff another handful of dirt down his throat.

She raised him up and threw him at a tree. His body broke the first tree and the landed directly on the second one, a mouthful of blood spewed out as he slid down the wide trunk. She squatted by him and fixed his jaw. 

She smiled at him "Your mouth was so dirty, I thought a few more handfuls of dirt wouldn't hurt it. Maybe it'll help clean it out." He glared at her but was still unable to speak, his jaw felt as if it had been ripped apart.

Cybelline stood up and placed the tip of her boot on his chin, forcing him to look up into her eyes.

"A long time ago, I thought death was the thing I feared the most. But now I know that it can be a welcome release from the much, much more painful things in life." Her voice chilled him to the bone, and as he looked into the face of a child he hadn't though much of at the first glance, he realized how wrong he was.

Those were the eyes of someone who killed to survive the brutality of the world. 

It was the eyes of an unforigiving god.

The next words filled him with a sense of dread that pierced his soul. 

"You won't enjoy the next part."

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When she came back, she was the old Cybelline that he knew, and not the icy killer who could freeze the soul with a glance.

 There was a slight smile on her lips as she hugged him, "You did well, to keep your sister safe." Ryion hugged her tight, and did not mention the faint smell of blood on her clothes.

"Let's go find the others." Cybelline said and inspected Miri. The girl's colors were much better, she was breathing easier now. Ryion smiled, "Thank you, the stone worked wonders."

They went back to the little camp, Isthan, Berin, and Ceric all came out of hiding,

Cybelline gave Ryion two thick slices of bread and some cold bacon. She took the little girl from his arms, "Eat, you'll need the strength."

Ryion nodded, and between bites, said, "We were in the mountains when they attacked, at first we tried to outrun them, but there was too many. Myrai and Ithos killed as many as they could, but they brought many mages of their own."

"They're never going to stop until we're all dead." Isthan said softly, "Why do they hate us? Why can't they leave us alone?" Ryion walked beside his brother and placed his hand on his shoulder, "One day, we'll be able to protect ourselves."

"How?" Isthan asked, "We don't even have enough magic to grow up." He voice was even quieter than before, "There's so little magic in the world that humans have taken to killing halflings for it. Even if we had magic, it's too weak to do anything. It's why we suppressed what little we had, hiding our origin, praying to the gods that no one finds us. Haven't done everything we could to make these people ignore us?" Tears finally made their way out of his eyes. 

A hand patted his head, "One thing at a time. You start thinking like that, you're going to think yourself sick." Cybelline wiped his face, "The first thing we do is fine your parents. And from what I learned, they're not far." Cybelline sighed, "Too bad I couldn't find out the exact location."

Ryion looked at her, "I think Miri could help with that." Cybelline blinked, "She remembers?"

"Something like that." Ryion said, he took a deep breath. "Miri has...gifts. Also, she is the true child of Myrai and Ithos, she can find their exact location through her magic."

Cybelline smiled, "Well in that case, let's get a good night's sleep and go on our way tomorrow."

"What are you going to do when you meet the Fae killers?" Ceric asked solemnly, "Do you have a plan?"

Cybelline settled down on the ground, "No, but I'll make something up as I go along." Ceric nodded and settled down, somehow, that was enough for him.