Joely Sue Burkhart

Week 1

This is hot off the press; literally, I wrote it tonight while watching Survivor.

Bone-white bark cut into his face, but Gregar didn’t push away from the tree. Leaves both blood red and black murmured in the breeze, the tree swaying him gently like a mother’s embrace. No one but Death Riders and shamans ever saw the green, green valley of the secret Tenth Camp, let alone the kae’sangral at its heart.

Many a time, he’d lain on his back in the sweet grass and stared up at the tapestry of red and black limbs, listening to the faint melody tinkling from within the glistening trunk. If he listened hard enough, he could almost make out the words. He liked to think the tree sang of love, the greatest gift of all, and the greatest sacrifice.

Yet his sacrifice had been refused.

In the shade of the kae’sangral, the relentless Call thundering in his blood usually dimmed to a muted rumble in the darkest corner of his mind. Over the years, he’d come here often to find peace, if only for awhile. Now, his skull thudded with every beat of his heart, and his fingers cramped on the ivory rahke.

Eventually, he would stumble. He would hesitate one moment too long and suddenly find himself galloping hard for the Shining Walls of her homeland. Wrapped in Shadow, invisible with Vulkar’s Gift of Death, he would lie in wait for the woman.

And he would kill her.

“Why didn’t you let me die?”

He didn’t expect an answer, not from Vulkar, who had doomed him to dishonor and Shadow. A response from His Dark Mare was even more unexpected.

:WE HAVE A PURPOSE FOR YOU YET, KAE’HAD-MANGUS.:

Most honored Death Rider, the Right Hand of Vulkar, the Hand that Wields the Rahke of Sacrifice. How he’d come to despise his honored title.

Biting back a snarled curse, he whirled from the holy tree and fell to his knees.

The Dark Mare’s coat glimmered like the full moon on the Silver Lake, a glistening rainbow of pearls. Her black mane and tail dragged the ground, and Her eyes gleamed like an endless midnight sky overflowing with falling stars.

He laid the ivory rahke in the grass before him and bowed over it, pressing his face to the ground. “What would You have me do?”

She nibbled on his hair, tugging until he raised his head. :WE WOULD HAVE YOU LIVE.:

Jaw clenched, he fought back the rage boiling within him. “I shall not kill her!”

:GOOD.: The Dark Mare butted him in the chest, knocking him back on his heels. :WE WANT YOU TO PROTECT HER, NOT KILL HER.:

“It’s too late.” Drowning failure crumbled the last of his control and he leaped to his feet. Hands fisted, he fought not to pick up the rahke and slit his throat.  As a Death Rider, he was already half dead; not even the lake of fire had been able to kill him.  “The Endless Night has corrupted my gift of Death. I feel the Call for her termination every moment of every day and night. My blood pounds with the need to terminate her, my rahke hungers for her flesh, and I burn to taste her blood. She is my greatest mark, and I would rather die than succumb to Shadow!”

:TWO CALLS AWAIT YOU, BUT YOU CANNOT ANSWER BOTH. DOWN ONE PATH YOU ARE SURE TO EMBRACE HER IN DEATH, BUT SHE WOULD BE WHOLLY YOURS; THE OTHER GIVES HER A CHANCE TO LIVE BUT SHE MAY NEVER KNOW YOUR LOVE.:

Hope made his hands tremble. “I would have her live at any cost.”

:LISTEN FOR THE SECOND CALL AND MAKE YOUR CHOICE.:

“There is no choice,” he swore, picking up the ivory rahke and slamming it into its sheath on his hip. “If she lives, I’ll pay the cost.”

:EVEN IF THE COST OF HER LIFE IS YOUR DEATH?:

“Aye. Let me die if she might live.”

The Dark Mare brushed Her silken muzzle against his cheek, and Her scent filled his nose.

The smell of musky flowers tightened his throat and sent his heart slamming against his ribcage. “You smell like her.”

:SHE IS THE ROSE OF SHANHASSON, MY LAST DAUGHTER IN WHOM ALL HOPE REMAINS. IF SHE FALLS INTO SHADOW, THE SUN WILL NEVER SHINE AGAIN.:

He didn’t realize he wept until She licked his tears from his cheeks. “I will die to keep her safe, if only…” Shame gnawed the pit of his stomach and he couldn’t ask. He didn’t deserve a boon from the Dark Mare, not with Shadow eating his heart.

Yet She knew his most secret heart’s desire and gave him the answer he sought. :HER NAME IS SHANNARI.: