Ashes of Verdenheld

by Jack Wright

  “Great. Oh, I haven’t even introduced myself - Caesia Lacroix. It’s good to find a friendly face out here, haven’t seen one in some time.” Caesia sighed, wiping the mud from her face onto her glove. “But I digress. I would appreciate it if you might be able to escort me to the Norskar Gate. I need to get out of Verdenheld as fast as humanly possible and I would love to have such a seemingly capable warrior as yourself protecting me.”

  It seemed to Eris like Caesia could handle herself. She must have been on the run from some dangerous men if she was in need of protection.

  “But I… I just came from that way.” Eris muttered.

  Caesia screwed up her face. “I’m sure it wouldn’t kill you to backtrack an hour or two. After all, I have a few silver pieces that could be yours should you get me there safely.” She smiled, gesturing to a pouch tied to her belt.

  Eris sighed defeatedly. “Alright, you’ve got a deal.”

  “Excellent!” Caesia exclaimed. “You know you’re wearing your arm and leg armour the wrong way around, right?”

  Eris looked down timidly at the bracer strapped to her leg. “Huh.”

  Caesia started down the road from which Eris came. Eris followed in her wake, awkwardly unstrapping the bracer as she walked.

  The pair walked mostly an awkward in silence through the forest. Eris had been running through the previous situation in her head, trying to straighten out the details.

  “So…” Erisian started, turning to Caesia. “You said before you thought I was one of your father’s men…”

  “If it’s all the same to you, I’d prefer not to talk about it - to call it a delicate matter… well, it would be a rather vast understatement.”

  Eris silently nodded and withdrew back into silence.

  Caesia looked back at Eris. She still didn’t know what to make of this girl. Eris was far too nice for Verdenheld, that much was clear. That said, it was refreshing to finally meet someone who wasn’t cruel or manipulative. Perhaps she did deserve to know the basics.

  “I’m running because I fled the College of Arcana in Abenfurt. Now my father is likely trying to find me. All you need to know about him that he’s… influential.”

  “Arcana?” Eris had never heard that word, it sounded far too elegant to have originated in Norskar.

  “A fancy word for magic. It’s a school where the rich send their children to master the arcane arts.”

  “You’re rich?”

  Eris had suspected as much, Caesia had a glaringly posh dialect and her clothes were also a dead giveaway. Her jerkin was simple but finely crafted, she had clearly tried to hide her wealth but failed dramatically.

  “Yes. Well, my parents are. Though as you can see, I am nearly devoid of coin.”

  “If you were so well off, why run away?”

  Eris wasn’t sure if she was beginning to pry a bit too much, but Caesia seemed to remain open about it.

  “Money isn’t happiness. I lived a torturously secluded existence and was prepared all my life to fill some predetermined political role. My parents wanted to use my gift to-” Caesia cut off suddenly, startled and distressed. “I-I mean, er…”

  Eris was confused. She analysed Caesia for herself but couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary about her. “Gift?”

  Caesia hesitated to answer, she shouldn’t have mentioned it. She supposed there was no point in hiding it, considering she was going to be rid of Eris in a few hours. She sighed hesitantly.

  “I… I have green essence.” Caesia could tell by Eris’ blank expression that she had no idea what that meant. “You don’t know how magic works, do you?”

  Eris thought back to the few encounters she had ever had with magic, to the times when the village shamans had come out to light fires or divine the yields of their crops.

  “You… make shapes with your hand?” She smiled apologetically. She did not remember much.

  Caesia didn’t look very impressed. “No. In short, magic is drawn from an arcane force within oneself called ‘essence’. Only a small fraction of the population is born with essence, which is why mages are rather rare. Are you keeping up?”

  “Yep. Essence equals magic.” Eris recounted confidently.

  “Um… good. Essence differs from person to person in colour, which is reflected by the colouration of the host’s spells. Each colour also comes with unique characteristics, but that’s hardly relevant.”

  Eris felt like she was missing something here. “Okay, so your spells are green ‘cause your essence is green. Why’s that a problem?”

  “Because, Eris, there is no such thing as green essence.”

  “Ah. I can see how that could be a problem.” Eris smirked, not really sure what to make of the information. She didn’t really know how big a deal it was.

  “Yeah. So, when a girl with green essence was submitted to the College, you can imagine the tutors went absolutely mad. All they wanted was to observe me and probe me with endless questions. It was infuriating.”

  “So… does that mean you’re, like, special or something?”

  “I don’t know.” Caesia sighed. “I know I’m different, but I don’t know how. It was painful watching the other students master their essences around me, while I sat there endlessly trying to discern my own attributed abilities.”

  “Yeah…” Eris murmured understandingly.

  In truth, Eris couldn’t really relate, what with her being leagues above most of her fellow trainees. The two were left in an awkward silence for moment, as Eris tried to formulate a better response.

  “What about you?” Caesia asked, suddenly reverting back to her previous, quite lively tone. “What drove you to venture out into the world?”

  “It’s kind of hard to pin down, really. I’m not sure whether I did this more to see the world or just escape.”

  “Escape? Don’t tell me your parents are bastards to.”

  “No! No, of course not. My Dad was great, so much that the other chiefs laughed at him for treating his daughter like a son.”

  Caesia seemed to do a double take. “You’re the daughter of a Nordic chief?”

  Eris was hesitant to respond. Was it a good idea to make that common knowledge? From what she’d heard, the Chiefdoms and the Kingdoms didn’t get along all that well. “Well, um… yeah.”

  Caesia tilted her head analytically. “Intriguing...”

  “That’s not bad is it?” Eris mumbled concernedly.

  “Hard to say. To me, certainly not - I’m not one to judge someone by the system of government they fall under. I’d keep it under wraps though, if I were you. Unless you enjoy being both verbally and physically spat on, that is.”

  That wasn’t as bad as Eris had worried. Nonetheless, it seemed ridiculous to her that people could ever hate one another for such a petty reason. Eris was beginning to realise that the type of people she would find in these Kingdoms would be vastly different from those at home.

  “If you’re the daughter of a chief, what are you doing all the way out here? It was my understanding that the Nords of the chiefdoms despise Verdenheld with quite a passion.”

  “I’m on ‘The Journey’. It’s meant to be a spiritual thing all about finding oneself or something, but I thought I’d turn it into something more interesting.”

  “An adventure?” Caesia smirked mockingly, her sarcasm going completely over Eris’ head.

  “Yeah! I wanted to see what I was missing, the fields, the oceans, the forests…”

  Caesia found herself intrigued. She was interested to hear this naive, optimistic girl’s take on Verdenheld.

  “And was it all you had hoped it to be?” Caesia asked intently.

  “More! I didn’t think there could ever be a place so beautiful!”

  Caesia chuckled amusedly. “Oh, how I wish I could feel what you do, that childish sense of wonder. I suppose the sight just isn’t the same once you’ve seen the same fields, forests and mountains thousands of times.”

  “I know
that feeling.” Eris sighed. “Maybe you just need to see something new.”

  “Maybe. Guess I’ll find out when I get to Norskar.”

  Eris smiled knowingly. “Oh, you wouldn’t like it there. Everything is either grey, white or brown. And cold.”

  “I guess I’ll just have to learn to love it.” Caesia sighed. “I’ve got no choice.”

  “Not necessarily…” Eris trailed off suggestively.

  “What are you implying?”

  “I… don’t know what that means, but what I’m saying is that you should come with me!” Eris gushed with a hopeful smile, met swiftly with a roll of Caesia’s eyes. “Think about it, I’m going to adventure all around the world - we could be a team, explore the world together! Imagine all the cool stuff you’d get to see!”

  Caesia laughed condescendingly. “Eris, as fun as I’m sure that would be, it’s impossible. My father would find me and his relentlessness would eventually prove too much for you.”

  The fact was that Caesia utterly resented the very thought of adventure, she was just trying to be nice about it. She surprised herself in this, it wasn’t often she sugar coated for people.

  “I don’t know, I’m pretty relentless myself.” Eris insisted confidently

  Caesia grinned warmly. “I admire your drive, but I’m afraid I’ll have to pass. I wouldn’t want for you to be dragged into the complexities of my life. Besides, I hardly think I would be cut out for adventuring.”

  Eris decided to cease before she made the rest of the trip awkward. “Alright, have it your way. You’ll regret it though.”

  “Perhaps.” Caesia replied confidently. “But I’ve no regrets so far, so I’m sure…”

  Caesia’s voice trailed off. Her eyes were fixated on something behind Eris, squinted in uncertainty.

  “What?”

  Eris was confused by Caesia’s wordless expression and turned to face the object of her gaze. Rising over the hills to the west was a thick, black column of smoke. It was enormous, like a whole forest had gone up in flame.

  “Eris?” Caesia muttered, looking seriously concerned. “How far would you say we are from the gate?”

  “About… an hour?”

  “Dear God…” Caesia’s eyes widened, here look of confusion replaced with one of horror. “If that smoke is to the west, then… that can only mean it’s coming from Jordenholm!”

  “Jordenholm?”

  “A city, seat of power to House Severin and the Kingdom’s most heavily fortified city.”

  “And… it’s on fire?”

  Caesia was silent. She looked north anxiously, eager to get out of there as fast as possible.

  “Is it your father?”

  “No, that would be ridiculous.” Caesia hissed impatiently. “I don’t know what it is, but frankly I don’t want to be around to find out.”

  “Are you kidding? We have to do something!” Eris insisted.

  Cute as Eris’ naivety was, it was becoming equally as annoying. Caesia turned back to Eris, her brow furrowed impatiently.

  “Do something? Like what?” Caesia snapped, flapping her arms in annoyance.

  “We can help put it out!”

  Caesia rolled her eyes. “Wake up, Eris! Jordenholm is almost entirely stone, there is no way such a thick pillar of smoke was caused by a simple fire.”

  “Then we’ll help fight whatever did it!” Eris persisted energetically.

  “Eris, this isn’t a story. You can’t just go in there, sword raised to the heavens and cast down the bad guys! This is the real world and whatever you find there will tear you apart!”

  Maybe Caesia was right, but sometimes the hero had to defy all warnings and face unfavourable odds. Risks were there to be taken and Eris wasn’t about to let this one go to waste.

  “Leave if you want, but I’m going to help.” She declared, setting off sprinting up the hill in the direction of the smoke and leaving Caesia standing in the road.

  Caesia stood and watched as Eris thundered up the hill. On one hand, this was an absolutely abysmal idea that was definitely going to get the two of them killed. Furthermore, she could very easily have left and been on her way. On the other hand, she felt fairly terrible leaving Eris on her own.

  “Oh, bloody hell.” Caesia spat, annoyed at herself for succumbing to her conscience.

  She knew she was going to regret this. With an irritated sigh, she started up the hill after Eris. One look, then she was out of there.

  Chapter Four - The Shattered City

  Eris heaved herself up to the top of the slope. She was giddy with excitement at the prospect of finally getting to fight some bad guys, yet she knew her limits - she wasn’t about to go running into a warzone. She clambered up the hilltop and onto even ground, looking for the first time upon one of the illusive cities. What she saw was utter devastation.

  Caesia staggered onto the hilltop, completely exhausted and out of breath. She was not cut out for this manner of athletics. She approached to stand beside Eris, who was gazing blankly in the direction of the smoke.

  “Would it have hurt you to slow… down?” She panted, trailing off as Jordenholm came into view.

  Jordenholm was not ablaze, not anymore. The city, the renowned unbreakable fortress of House Severin, was a smouldering ruin. The streets and buildings alike were thick with soot and ash, the fortifications were crumbling and in some places disintegrated completely and the surrounding farmland was scarred by fire. There was no sign of life.

  “What happened here?” Eris gasped, turning to Caesia. Typical - the first city she finally got to see had barely any city left.

  Caesia was in both shock and awe. As horrible as this was, her mind was racing with the possibilities of what could have happened. That said, whatever did this must have been a huge threat to not just themselves but the kingdom as a whole.

  “I-I’m not sure, but I don’t think we should stick around to find out…”

  Eris shook her head defiantly. “Whatever did this, I think we’d know if it was still here.”

  She was right. The fact was that Caesia would have much rather left and for the Gate at this point. Unfortunately, she couldn’t bring herself to abandon Eris in the face of such danger.

  “Danger or not, we’ve clearly no help to give here - there are no survivors.” She muttered bluntly.

  Eris wasn’t about to let whatever evildoer did this get away with it. What hero ever gave up when they couldn’t find the villain?

  “Yes, we do! We can get down there and find out who did this. Then, we can go take him out! We’ll be heroes!”

  Caesia sighed heavily and buried her face in her hand. “Eris. There is no way you could ever convince me to go and fight whatever did this. We would die. Horribly.”

  “I convinced you to come this far.”

  “You convinced me to look - a rather significant difference.” Caesia muttered impatiently. “You need to look at this realistically - you and I could never fight what did this. If you really insist on going down there and investigating, go ahead. Then, you can alert the local authorities of the impending danger, while I go to Norskar.”

  Eris took a moment to take in Caesia’s side of the argument. She was probably right, maybe they couldn’t fight this. Yet she felt an urge, to take on this threat and become a real hero. It was an urge she could not fight. “Alright. We’ll go and investigate the city. Then, we go our separate ways. Deal?”

  “No, you misunderstand. You will investigate the city. I am leaving.”

  Eris considered this. She didn’t really want Caesia to leave, she was enjoying the company. It was nice to have someone to talk to on the road. She resolved to convince her to stick around longer, hopeful that Caesia would change her mind at some point.

  “Come on, I could use someone with your… magical expertise! Yes, to identify what did this, because it seems pretty supernatural to me.”

  “Magical expertise? I was only at the college for a year, I doubt I would bring any
thing at all to your investigation.”

  “You know you want to.” Eris insisted with a knowing grin.

  She could tell that Caesia had an underlying urge to come along. It was like she said, having been cooped up in Abenfurt all her life she wanted to experience new things. She was clearly struggling to resist.

  “No!” Caesia demanded. “My life depends on me getting to that Gate! I won’t loiter any longer.”

  “Come on Caesia, I need you. If I don’t figure out what did this, I won’t be able to warn anyone! Loads more people could die!”

  Eris could tell she was beginning to crack. She felt a little bad for guilt tripping Caesia, but she knew it was the right thing to do. Caesia needed this, it was obvious.

  Caesia was in a begrudging silence. Her desperate need to escape grappled with the obligation she felt in her heart to save lives. Eris was right, this was about more than just the two of them. As fearful as she was of capture, she could not stand idly by when she could have been helping to prevent another massacre.

  “Fine. I doubt I would be of any help, but if it means possibly saving hundreds of thousands I really have no other choice.” Caesia sighed impatiently. “But once we’re done, I’m gone.”

  “Deal.” That was good enough for now. Eris knew she would be able to convince Caesia to help her defeat the culprit, it would just take a lot of honeyed words.

  The pair headed down the hillside, towards the crumbling gates of Jordenholm.

  The road into Jordenholm was black with ash and littered with embers, while what remained of the fields around it still burned with flame. The fiery evening light cast the jagged black shadow of the smouldering walls across the ashen wasteland.

  Eris covered her mouth and nose in an attempt not to breath in the ash. Caesia barely noticed it, far too focused on analysing her surroundings, which she did with great intrigue.

  She didn’t want to admit her suspicions to Eris, but she was considering the most likely cause of the desolation to be an army from the north. It seemed to make sense - an attack of such magnitude and ferocity could only be the product of sheer hatred and contempt, not possessed by anyone but the chiefdoms. Any other army would have captured the city and capitalised on its heavy fortifications and would at the very least have harvested the surrounding crops for their troops rather than burning it all. Yet, it seemed an impossibility - the idea of the chiefdoms launching such an attack. Much of it did not add up - the chiefdoms surely would not have the manpower to break the Norskar Gate, let alone Jordenholm. Furthermore, they would have had to destroy both in the space of three hours. Considering that Eris knew nothing of any such army, that would be impossible.