The Fiuri Realms (Shioni of Sheba Book 5) (16 page)

S
urrender was out
of the question. As Tazaka limbered up with an intimidating display of martial exercises, whizzing about like a demented wasp trapped in a bottle, Shioni reminded herself that aerial combat would be very different to anything she had experienced while training with the Sheban Elites. Part of her was infuriated that the task of confronting Tazaka fell to a Human accidentally transported to Fiuriel. But which former slave of Sheba had dug herself into this pit, anyway? Not for the first time, Shioni wondered how high a price she might pay for doing what she knew to be right. Could she do otherwise? Had she ever?

A tiny vibration of her wings brought her into the central space of an almost perfect arena formed by the massed Fiuri armies. In their eagerness to take in the confrontation between her and Tazaka, the Yellows, Blues and Greens had spread out until they almost rubbed wingtips, with a few Brown and Red Fiuri dotted between them. Shioni smiled. At least the fighting had stopped.

Now it was just her, and a killer.

Lord Tazaka wasted no time with niceties. With a snarl, he launched into the offensive. Shioni twirled in place, meeting his blade with a parry that rang as clearly as a crystal chime in her ears. He smashed into her again, feinting, ducking and twisting beneath her blade in a blur of wings and sharp metal. A stinging pain ran down her calf muscle. Golden Fiuri blood welled up.

Shioni gasped. Tazaka was on her again before she could catch her breath! She defended robustly, taking advantage of her reaction speed, but a cunning puff of wind threw her off balance and next she knew, her upper left wing sported a sizeable gash.

Leaping hyenas, he was fast!

Tazaka circled, his yellow eyes gleaming. Strike! Shioni flung him off, only to see him turn in a wing-length and hack upside-down at her. She felt and heard his blade hiss past her ear. She focussed narrowly, trying to learn his style, to work out how he counterbalanced his sword-strokes with the action of his wings. That was the secret. Where a Human would pivot on their feet and use the lower body as a base upon which to build power, in the air, the technique was different. Her arm alone generated no power; if she swung the sword one way, the rest of her body wanted to compensate for that action by spinning in the opposite direction. She defended grimly, but sensed the experienced Green Fiuri was only toying with her. Sliding past her off-balance guard, Tazaka kicked her wounded shoulder in passing.

Pain thundered through her body. Many of the watching Fiuri groaned.

Lord Tazaka sneered, “Enough, you freak?”

Shioni barely heard him through the roaring in her ears, the pain-driven weakness that threatened to overwhelm her. Chardal’s neat cast cracked away from her shoulder, baring the half-healed burn. She bounced off the leg of a heavily armed Brown Fiuri flying one of the massively armoured Scarab Beetles. He motioned to her to fight. Raising her sword, Shioni fluttered out into the open.

“Come on, little petal,” Tazaka sneered. “Show us your vile powers.”

When she made no reply, the Green Fiuri stormed back again. His blade darted at her from unexpected angles as he kept up his waspish flitting about, but Shioni kept her movements compact, minimising any damage. It did not protect her from being bullied around in circles.

“Use your speed!” Viridelle yelled as she passed by.

“Slap him with my notebook!” Chardal screamed, not to be outdone.

Somersaulting in the air, Shioni abruptly reversed direction and cracked Tazaka in the chin with her knee. Nice! Unplanned, but effective. For a second the Green Fiuri appeared dazed. Shioni managed to slice a hand-sized chunk out of his wing before Tazaka darted away.

Shioni pressed her attack at once, but the wily Green swatted her with his magic before suddenly switching the blade from his right hand to the left, catching her unawares. The sharp point stabbed deeply into her thigh. As she crumpled over the blow, Tazaka punched her wounded shoulder again.

The watching faces swam before her. Groaning, panting, Shioni did not even see Tazaka’s next attack. The white magic made a dull
thump!
Had he tried to ambush her with the green light which had crushed her before? The Green leader’s face was a mask of fury as he attacked the Storm Fiuri with his sword ablaze … the pain of her shoulder driving through her side and neck as if someone had hammered nails through her … and suddenly, the world seemed to slow. Shioni heard the faint sound of crystal chimes. At the very edge of her awareness, she knew the Crystal Inferno Dragon watched their battle.

A sound like the rushing of flood-swollen rivers filled her mind, sweeping away the pain. Shioni howled in surprise as the white fire of wild magic erupted out of her wound, blazing in Tazaka’s face. He jerked back, shielding himself instinctively, but she still heard the sizzling of hair and smelled an acrid odour.

“Burned your beard, Tazaka?” she taunted him.

He snarled back, “You think you know something about magic? I’ll teach you a lesson!”

Tazaka circled, pounding her with blade and magic until she grew dizzy, but the glorious white burned in her veins and sang in her mind, holding him at bay. Shioni knew she blazed like a whiter, brighter sun.

His evil could not stand it.

With an animal-like shriek the Green Fiuri unleashed his great power. They resembled a whirlwind of wings and blades, clashing and swirling through the air. Shioni and Tazaka traded terrible blows, making the onlookers shudder at the violence of their conflict. Faster! Higher! Shioni’s blade whistled through the air. Finally the actions of her body, wings and magic had begun to meld, working together with an eagle’s joy in flight and the devastating power of the blows of a lion’s mighty right paw. It was Tazaka who defended now, crying out in fear, meeting her thrusts and blows with less and less conviction.

Shooting over his head, Shioni swung downward in passing. There was a tiny sound.
Snick.
The tip of her blade had sliced off his left antenna.

Too much! A horrified gurgle caught in her throat as Shioni saw how she had maimed him. Did anyone, even a creature like Tazaka, deserve this? She hated their battle. She hated herself for driving him to this place, yet she knew it could not have been any other way.

The Fiuri stared at her, stupidly touching the bleeding spot. He screamed. The sheer awfulness of the sound paralysed her.

In a blind fury, Lord Tazaka raced over to Ashkuriel, demanding his stone–the largest green stone, the one which held his power. Shioni darted toward them; Tazaka and Ashkuriel wrestled over the stone, for a tendril of his green magic had a grip on the magical gem, but the Yellow Fiuri would not release it.

“Foul!” roared Prince Chazziki. “Stop him!”

But it was too late. With a triumphant laugh, Tazaka kicked Ashkuriel out of his way and lifted the green gemstone over his head. “Now you’ll pay, Storm Fiuri!”

The power he summoned was breathtaking. None of his Green Fiuri magicians could resist as Tazaka sucked their collective strength into his stone, which blazed with a ghastly light that swelled until it was too bright to look at. An almighty vise seized Shioni’s body. She fought back with every ounce of her wild magic, but he had the strength of hundreds.

Tazaka extended his right arm, his fingers clawed like an eagle’s talons. “Die!”

A titanic fireball thundered toward her.

Ashkuriel threw himself in the way. Shioni, flinching backward, found herself protected by Ashkuriel’s body as he took the brunt of the blast. Much of the flame devastated the Greens massed behind them, close to the tunnel from which the four Fiuri had emerged just minutes before, while the blast slammed her and Ashkuriel up against the cavern wall. She caught the Yellow Fiuri in her arms as he slumped against her.

“Ashkuriel?” Shioni wiped her eyes clear of grit and smoke.

“Saved … you,” he whispered. Oh, Ashkuriel! Words failed her. All she could do was nod mutely as his eyes began to shutter. “Did I do … right?”

“Of course,” Shioni whispered back. “How can I ever thank you, Ashkuriel?”

The Yellow Fiuri sighed, and slumped. Dead.

Sorrow raged in her like the fires of an African sunrise. There was Tazaka, bristling with so much power she feared he’d blast the entire Fiuri Realms to smithereens, and the vast audience suspended like so many flies in amber. There were Viri and Char, watching her wide-eyed, and Iri, netted in the Blue Fiuri’s lap, all thoughts of fighting forgotten. And behind her, deep within the tunnel, she heard a silvery, chiming sound. Her most desperate gambit was about to commence.

Her hands unclenched, allowing Ashkuriel to fall free.

Drawing breath, Shioni yelled, “Hey, tyrant! You–you butcher of Fiuri children!”

Lord Tazaka’s tongue half-unrolled in amazement. Shioni could imagine what he was thinking. Who was this mosquito buzzing around his magnificence?

“You slimy son of an underfed Forager Slug! Over here! Runt! Beetle! Puny pimple on the face of Fiuriel!” Shioni waved her arms to attract his attention. “Can’t catch me! What’re you going to do, Tazaka? Exile every Fiuri who doesn’t worship your stinking, perverted power? Levy more taxes to make more Fiuri families starve? How many pointless wars will there be and how many will die before you rule Fiuriel?”

Tazaka’s eyes bulged. “I’ll squash you like a–”

“That’s your answer every time, isn’t it? Kill, silence, exile …”

In reply, the Fiuri magician lifted his stone once more. That was the source of his power. Shioni knew that if she could somehow destroy it, Tazaka would be reduced to the level of an ordinary Green magician–perhaps more powerful than most, but vulnerable. She knew what to do. As the firestorm of his green magic swept toward her, Shioni pushed outward with her wild magic.

It was like standing beneath a waterfall. Tazaka pounded her with an everlasting torrent of power. She crashed against the cavern wall. There, the thundering green light crushed her to her knees, but Shioni continued to brace herself with all the stubbornness of a person who had learned her life’s lessons from the perspective of a slave-girl. She must not fail. Not even as her little bubble of white light squeezed inward under the terrible pressure, and pain flared in her head, and she tasted blood in her mouth–no, she would never give up. Shioni had won her freedom. Now she would win freedom for these Fiuri.

The pummelling lifted. Shioni barely had a second to focus her eyes before Tazaka speared in with his sword held before him like a harpoon. She had to dodge! But the tricky wild magic had other ideas. Shioni gasped as his sword ran through her ribs … but did not? What? Her skin seemed to waver as if a breeze passed over a pond. She grappled for his stone, wrenched his thumb to make him drop it, and kicked it away with a failing, ineffective effort.

Tazaka shouted in fury as his killing stroke failed. “How did you … my stone!”

Shioni leaped onto his back as the Green Fiuri chased his magical stone, slowly tumbling in Fiuriel’s gentle gravity toward the dark tunnel mouth. She twisted Tazaka’s wings and clawed at his eyes.

Suddenly, lights appeared in the tunnel, twisting and coiling, singing their peculiar, spellbinding song. She heard Viridelle scream in horror, a single piercing note. Wild magic Elementals! Dozens of them, eyeing the Fiuri with awed, quivering attention.

So much magic … so hungry … bright, lovely …
their sinister voices entered her mind.

The Elementals had followed Jinnzi and the four Fiuri down into the tunnel, just as she suspected they might. They sensed magic and were drawn to it like thirsty zebra to water. Shioni shook herself. Even she wanted to succumb to their spell.

she called, using Chime’s speech.

The Elementals seemed to consider this.

The pause froze her blood. Either her plan would work, or Shioni would forever be the person who had unleashed the ancient Fiuri enemy on the inner caverns. She knew Chime would have sealed the tunnel behind them as planned, after a few Elementals entered. But wild magic unpredictable, fey, and not to be trusted.

Tazaka gripped his stone and summoned his magic.

Yes … what beautiful magic … more! Hungry!
The wild magic Elementals flashed across the space, swarming over Tazaka’s stone with eager, chittering little cries. Whatever was inside the stone reacted instantly. Green light radiated out in great, burning beams. The Fiuri armies scattered, crying out in pain and fear. The Elementals fed voraciously.

Tazaka shouted at Shioni, “What have you done?”

A deep, rumbling sound began to emanate from the friction developing between the two types of magic. Green Central cavern shook. One by one, the Elementals disappeared inside the stone. Shioni sensed the magnitude of the battle within; the seething power of wild magic against the stone’s innate energies.

Suddenly, green tendrils of light sprang out of the stone and seized Tazaka and Shioni in their coils!

S
HIONI wRITHED and
fought the clinging tendrils that sought to drag her, together with Tazaka, down into the stone. “Let me go!” It gripped her by the wings and slithered cunningly around her back. Try as she might, she could not wriggle free.

“Hold on, Shioni!” Viridelle yelled. Hands grabbed her feet, her arm–Chardal!

What was the scholar doing? Slapping his notebook against two of the tendrils, Chardal ignited the pages with a blinding, phosphorescent light.

“Pull!” shouted the Green Hunter.

“Help her!” screamed Azurelle, yanking Shioni’s hair uselessly.

Iridelle’s huge arms wrapped around Shioni’s waist. Inserting her legs between Shioni’s torso and the Green Fiuri leader’s back, Iri ripped her free with a groan of supreme effort. Shioni saw that the green magic had glued them together.

Tazaka wailed as his own power yanked him toward the stone, which flashed and pulsed in a frenzy of colours.

“It’s going to explode!” shouted Char.

Shioni could not rip her eyes from Tazaka’s face, his expression of terror mingled with a glint of evil. Even now, he had his plans. Smiling slightly at Shioni, he said, “They shall see you as you are. You’ll die a Human in these tunnels.”

Tazaka gestured briefly. A bolt of pure lightning slammed into her throat.

She was huge. Clumsy. Wingless. Shioni swam helplessly in the air. Tazaka vanished into the green light, which appeared to open and close like a ghastly mouth to engulf him. Instinct alone helped her understand what she should do. Reaching out with her massive Human hand, Shioni pinched the now-tiny stone between her fingers and flung it as hard as she could up into the tunnel. Char reacted too, forming a ward to blockade the tunnel entrance.

KAAAAABOOOM!!

Shioni shuddered. The blast propelled her away from the tunnel, out into the open air in a cloud of debris.

Staring around her, the Human realised that all the Fiuri had become small. She wanted to flutter, but her wings were gone. The arrows and spears and magicians of five Fiuri armies surrounded her, but the Fiuri were so transfixed with horror that only a couple of arrows lanced half-heartedly into her upper arm.

Then, they began to raise their weapons, crying, “It’s a monster! A Cave-Crawler!”

Azurelle flashed over to her in a frantic buzz of blue wings. “Shioni! Don’t touch my friend!” The new Queen threw herself at Shioni’s cheek, spreading herself wide to prevent her troops from striking one part of Shioni, at least. “She’s my friend!”

More charily, Char, Viri and Iri winged over, and joined Azurelle in protecting Shioni’s body. The armies milled about, losing their enthusiasm for another battle.

“I-It is y-you, Shioni?” quavered Viridelle.

“It’s me. No wings, but definitely me.”

“Did you see what I did with my notebook?” Chardal enthused. “I told you it would come in useful.”

Iri scratched her chin, looking a little worried. “I hope you aren’t thinking about that wrestling match now, Shioni!”

Shioni chuckled. “Iridelle, you can wrestle my little finger if you like.”

The big Green Fiuri did not look impressed, folding her muscular arms with a fine pout. “I’ll give you a fighting chance–you can have two fingers.”

Viri elbowed her twin slyly. “Oh no, I think there’s someone nicer you might want to wrestle with. Just look at that black eye you gave him, and the split lip. Nice work, sister!”

As Prince Chazziki and the giant Blue Fiuri approached, Iri developed rather more than a pinch of colour in her cheeks. Azurelle turned to face them. Now the Green Commanders also approached, and more Blues and Yellows and Browns, representing all the different major clans of Fiuri.

Azurelle drew herself up. “I would like to introduce you to my friend Shioni. She rescued me from an evil magician and, as you saw, risked her life to liberate all Fiuriel from a terrible tyrant. I think it would be remiss of us not to declare peace, right now, so that our soldiers can start to put to rights this mess we have made.”

Prince Chazziki bowed to Shioni. All of his Commanders followed suit, while the Prince gravely shook her forefinger. “I shall be most pleased to bind the Blue Fiuri to peace, Shioni. Though you are not one of us, you have served Fiuriel faithfully and well. On behalf of all Blues, we extend our undying gratitude.”

“Not one of us?” huffed Viridelle. “Which is her true form–Human or Fiuri?”

Chardal tugged his antennae thoughtfully. “Now that’s a question, isn’t it? Queen Azurelle, would you allow me to round up a few scholars and magicians to study this strange phenomenon? We must ensure that Tazaka and his vile stone are truly destroyed, and see if Shioni cannot be restored to her Fiuri form.”

“Who’s going to speak for us Greens?” asked Iridelle.

“Azurelle is our Queen,” said one of the Green Commanders.

“An Azure Queen of Green? Who would have thought?” said Chazziki, offering Zi an amazingly elaborate bow, including three twirls and a very fancy tune he concocted by rubbing his wings together, similarly to a cricket. “We have much to discuss, Queen Azurelle. Much diplomacy to conduct.”

“That’s a most attractive proposition,” Zi simpered.

Chazziki kissed her knuckles. “My Queen, shall we agree upon a truce?”

Firmly grasping the surprised Prince’s hand–Shioni watched her little Azure Fiuri friend with glee, knowing Zi was not about to let him go for all the nectar in Fiuriel–Azurelle flitted upward, above Shioni’s head, until everyone could see her. Char discreetly wove a little magic, so when Zi spoke, it was with fine, ringing tones that carried over the muttering of thousands of troops, and the droning of their dragonflies and clicking of beetle joints and mandibles.

“My dear Fiuri,” she said, “I was exiled by Tazaka to another world, where I was trapped in a bottle and my Fiuri power stolen to fuel a spell which tormented these Humans. Shioni defeated a monster to rescue me, and she has been my friend ever since. Now she has defeated another monster. Tazaka was one of our kind. He was a Fiuri who would stop at nothing to rule us all, and he oppressed the Greens and brought the Fiuri Realms into open war. While we may rejoice that he has been defeated, we who followed him must also look to our own hearts. Therefore, Prince Chazziki and I pledge ourselves this day to work toward peace for all Fiuri.”

The chorus of cheers and finger-clicking was deafening.

* * * *

That evening, as the flowers and plants of Fiuriel dimmed toward sleep time, Chardal joined a worried group of Fiuri gathered around Shioni, where she rested just inside the main doors of the Halls of Endless Lights.

“Well, it’s not her allergies,” said Chardal.

Shioni coughed, clutching her aching chest. “I’m sure it’s just a cold.”

“It’s poisoning,” said Char. “Haven’t you seen your skin?”

Her skin was turning a strange, mottled purple, and it hurt to breathe. In her heart of hearts, Shioni knew that Char was right. She felt awful, much more so than she had told her friends so as not to worry them. Tazaka had said she would die as a Human. He was right.

The scholar said, “I’m not sure Humans can survive here. We think that Fiuriel is poisonous for Humans. That might be why you’ve had to live in two different forms. It’s complicated. Fiuri have a natural magic which protects us–as a Storm Fiuri you’d most likely have enjoyed that same protections. Humans, not so much.”

“So, why can’t I just change back into a Fiuri?”

“That’s a secret which may have died with Tazaka,” said the scholar. “We’ve searched his apartments and writings, Shioni, and found nothing. We’re running out of time. Pollens and nectars, I’d do anything to help, but even the medics are saying that this is a type of poisoning they have never seen before.”

Viridelle said crossly, “So, what can we do, Char? If you have an idea … spit it out! Now!”

Shioni lifted her hand to touch Viri gently. “Easy, my friend.”

Chardal explained, “Listen, there are some types of magic which can be reversed. We don’t know how to change you back to a Fiuri, but we did find a set of instructions which showed how Tazaka sent Fiuri to your world–how he did it, and where he sent them. We’re not certain of all the finer details, but we scholars think that it would be best if there was a process of exchange. We would replace the Fiuri he has already sent to Earth, with you, Shioni.”

Poor Chardal. He sniffed and wiped his eyes as he finished speaking.

Shioni said, “Tazaka exiled several hundred Fiuri, but because I’m so much larger, the exchange would probably work, wouldn’t it, Char? Equal weights or volume. But, could I come back?”

“We think that amount of power might destroy the portal,” he whispered. “No, Shioni. It would be one way, and one time only.”

She stared at him. “But … oh, I see.”

“We’d keep searching for a way, of course.” The Green Fiuri buried his face against Viri’s shoulder, and his voice came out muffled, “You are living proof that a connection exists between our world and yours. You’ve taught us so much, Shioni. And the Crystal Inferno Dragons need you. You must find the Storm Fiuri and bring them back to Fiuriel.”

Shioni gathered her friends into her arms. “Dear Iridelle, my shield and protector. Sweet, brave Viri. Char, you and your crazy notebook. Beautiful Azurelle.”

Zi looked up, and a teardrop splattered her face. “Oh, I missed being drowned,” she said, wiping her antennae.

Everyone laughed, but not for long.

“I’ve decided,” said Shioni. “My work is not finished until those Fiuri come home. I will not have Kalcha, or any Human for that matter, torturing Fiuri and stealing their magic. I will find a way back. As you said, Char, there has to be a link between Earth and Fiuriel. And if you Fiuri ever want to return to the surface, those wild magic Elementals are still roaming out there.”

“Pollens and nectars, Shioni, you’re a Fiuri, too,” Iridelle said firmly.

“How’s that, Iri?” asked the Human girl.

She replied, “I see Fiuri patterns here on your shoulder. I might be the stupid one, but even I can tell when a person has Fiuriel inside of them.”

Shioni stared down at her shoulder. Iridelle was right. A beautiful pattern like a spray of climbing roses blossomed from the centre of the place she had been wounded, just below her collarbone. The delicate lines and swirls shimmered in the soft evening light.

“Kissed by Fiuriel,” said Chardal.

Viri traced the patterns with her finger. “You never were colourless, were you Shioni? Iri, you see more than any of us. I’m so proud that you’re my sister.”