Severance

by Fergal F. Nally

  “How did you do…never mind,” Ossian said.

  “Well, let’s go,” Agathe whispered.

  “Do you think one of us should stay behind just in case anything happens?” Q’uaina asked.

  “We’re all in this together, so I think we should press on as one,” Ossian replied. Agathe nodded too.

  Without further talk, they descended the steps into the unknown. Ossian took the lead, followed by Q’uaina and then Agathe. They had gone no more than ten steps when they heard a metallic click behind them. They turned to see the grate had returned to its place blocking their return to the chamber.

  Chapter 13

  Carutha

  “Come on,” Ossian said quietly.

  They went down the steps in silence each lost in their own thoughts. The stair wound down in a spiral. Q’uaina stopped counting them after the first hundred. She knew they were now deep underground.

  Then they came to a level passageway which they followed, all the while Ossian’s gloves lighting the way. Finally, it opened above a large chamber. They were in a gallery of sorts, looking down over the room. Below them, they could see a door in the far wall and in the centre of the space a raised dais. Stone carvings and paintings adorned the chamber walls. The history of the Shinalese lay recorded around them. Stories, people’s lives, great events locked in stone over the ages. The chamber felt safe, a sacred space.

  Except it had not been a sanctuary for the last two people who had been there. For there, on the ground before the dais lay two skeletons side by side, entangled. Fabric still clinging to their bones. A wicked looking blade lay nearby.

  “What do you think happened here?” Agathe whispered. The sound of her voice seemed intrusive, unwelcome.

  “I don’t know,” Q’uaina offered. Then she remembered Carutha’s words from the night before and repeated them to the others; “ …the only way to preserve my freedom was through the soulcapture spell. He would sacrifice my physical body and release my spirit to keep me free.”

  “Her own father killed her,” Ossian said.

  They fell silent. Ossian spotted a side door from the gallery leading down to the main chamber and entered it, the others followed. They walked up to the dais and examined the skeletons. One was smaller than the other. They had found Carutha.

  “So what happens next? How do we reverse the soulcapture spell?” Agathe asked.

  “I’ve no idea,” Q’uaina replied. She knelt down and saw that the smaller of the two skeletons had a ring on one finger. She felt drawn to the ring and slowly, respectfully, removed it. The ring, on closer inspection, was made of finely interwoven bands of gold. In between the bands shimmered flecks of light. Quite how this was achieved Q’uaina could not see.

  There was a sound from Ossian who had wandered off to the side of the room. He had found some torches which he lit using his flint and steel. The quality of light in the room softened with the torches. Q’uaina suddenly felt a compulsion to put the ring on her own finger. This she did and in so doing, she felt a sharp scratch. The ring had drawn blood. A thick heavy drop fell to the floor onto Carutha’s remains.

  Everything changed. The room felt different. Then an image, a projection of the last moments of Carutha’s life was revealed and played out in ghostly spectral form in front of them. They saw Silurian’s blade take Carutha’s life. They saw her spirit escape her body. They saw the Shiffante lord enter the chamber and cheated of the last soul they had coveted. They witnessed the Shiffante lord strike Silurian down with a ball of light; a look of defiance etched across his face.

  The phantom image of the Shiffante struck cold fear into their hearts. The Shiffante lord wore decaying robes, its form skeletal. Lank dead hair protruded from scraps of scalp. Its head was partially obscured by a crystal helm. They could see through the helm as clear as day to the contorted skull beneath. No flesh, no blood, no eyes lay where they should. This was one of the dead Shiffante lords that had been returned by necromancy to its body.

  The Shiffante had a green translucent serpent wrapped around its extended arm. The ghostly snake encircled his neck and body seeming to draw energy from within. The serpent’s jaws were wide open and its phantom tongue flicked at the air. Suddenly, the Shiffante lord turned and looked directly at Q’uaina. Its empty sockets searching across time. Then the image faltered, faded and was gone.

  Light flickered eerily in the chamber. They looked at each other. “What just happened?” Agathe mumbled, stunned.

  Q’uaina’s eyes returned to the ground. “Oh my…” she bent down. Where there had been a skeleton moments before, now lay a young woman unconscious but breathing.

  “Carutha, it’s you, you have returned,” Q’uaina felt a mixture of relief and sorrow. Here, before her lay the ghost she had been carrying within, this woman who had called her sister.

  Ossian took control. He bent down and lifted Carutha off the dais and over to the side of the room. Gently he laid her down and placed his blanket under her head. She wore a long black robe with golden runic symbols woven into the cloth. She was light as a feather. “Q’uaina what about the healing crystal?”

  Q’uaina nodded and produced the crystal from her inner pocket, but before she had time to use it Carutha stirred. Her breathing deepened and she moved her arms a little. She was tall and slender; her black hair had vivid red streaks throughout and was worn long. She had fine features and pale, alabaster skin. Dark circles framed her eyes. Her lids fluttered and her eyes opened. Q’uaina took a sharp breath.

  Those eyes. Such blackness, dark pools. Staring, with a strange intelligence. Expressionless. Hungry.

  “Sister?” Carutha looked at Q’uaina. “Am I home?” her voice was fragile, weak almost broken. Her throat struggled to remember how to articulate words. She had not spoken for such a long time. Her body felt lost, frail. It was a shock to be reunited with her mortal form once more. It would take time to adjust, to recover.

  Q’uaina looked at the others then back at Carutha. “Yes you’re home, we are here to help you. Rest, you must rest.” Carutha seemed to relax at these words. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep looking peaceful.

  ~

  Sixty leagues away at the blood mirrorpool, as the reborn Carutha drew her first breath, the Shiffante felt a fleeting stab of concern. They were dealing with the vast influx of reanimated beasts emerging from the mirrorpool. They were supremely confident of handling the incursion but were surprised at the numbers of beasts and the ferocity of the attack. They had underestimated their enemy’s strength.

  The Shiffante simply backed away from the mirrorpool on their huge white snow wraiths and allowed the lizard beasts and other unrecognisable demons to enter their winter. The Shiffante winter. The cold was like a wall, uncompromising, unforgiving and relentless. The beasts, inflamed with rage and hunger struck out at their new enemy but were simply frozen after a short distance by the intensity of the cold.

  Soon the whole invasion had stalled and the mirrorpool ceased bringing forth new beasts. The Shiffante returned to the pool and finished off the frozen giants with balls of fire. Lizard flesh shattered like broken crystal and soon the ground was littered with fragments of their icy remains. The Shiffante wanted more, more of these playthings. Was that the best the other dimensions could do? Where was the challenge, the subtlety in this butchery?

  The Shiffante breath frosted the air; they would wait beside the pool and see what the next move was from the other dimension. The unease that Carutha’s return had triggered in them had been forgotten. They were distracted, enmeshed in the moment. They knew something more would come from the pool. They would remain, they would destroy.

  ~

  While Carutha lay asleep guarded by Q’uaina and Agathe, Ossian went exploring the pyramid. He found several passages leading from their chamber and chose one that led upwards. He followed its path and was taken to a series of rooms each one grander than the last. Finally, he came to the largest room, brightly lit by dayl
ight through a large crystal window. The crystal was transparent with various inclusions, and colours. This gave the room a speckling of rainbow colours as light diffused through from the outside.

  “Sorcery…” Ossian muttered beneath his breath. His muscles tensed and he placed his feet carefully. The room was empty, stripped of all contents, as was much of the pyramid. It was as if the Shiffante had wanted to eradicate all trace of its people. Ossian walked over to the window and placed his forehead against its coolness. He closed his eyes. His skin was warm and the chill of the crystal was welcome.

  He stood like that for some minutes, breathing, listening. He could hear his heart beating. His thoughts were of home and his people ruthlessly murdered. His mood darkened. Then he remembered the night before, his memory hazy. Curiosity and fear mingled in him when he considered what had happened to him. He looked at his fingers; there were still traces of blood beneath his nails. Deep down he knew the wolf and not the bear of his clan had claimed him.

  What was happening to him? Ossian opened his eyes staring into the crystal light. His thoughts turned again to the Shiffante. Then it happened. The crystal window harnessed his thought and he saw the Wild Forest before him, his view swept over the canopy and then out beyond the forest across the frozen, snow covered wastes. His vision flashed along the ground at tremendous speed covering league after league. Then the movement slowed and he saw a group of seven tall figures sitting atop huge, white beasts. He knew. He had found the Shiffante.

  Ossian’s heart thumped loudly in his chest. He could not take his eyes off the Shiffante. Then one of the snow wraiths swung around with its rider. Across the distance empty Shiffante eyes burned right into his skull, searching. Searching for a connection. Suddenly Ossian felt a slap across his face, he fell to the floor clammy and sweating.

  “Ossian, Ossian! Wake up! I was worried about you,” said Agathe. “You were gone for hours.” She knelt down beside him. “Sorry I hit you, but you were locked in some kind of trance and making a strange sound, whimpering like a child. What’s wrong?” concern filled her voice.

  “I saw the Shiffante, through that crystal window. I think one of them knew they were being watched. It turned and there was a feeling… I don’t know. Agathe, I’ve a bad feeling; we need to leave here now. I think they’ll come. That’s not all I saw. There was a battlefield, strange beasts, it was a massacre. They are using snow and ice as a weapon. They can control these things.”

  “Come, let’s return to the others, Carutha has gathered much strength. Q’uaina has used her healing crystal to great effect. She’s well enough to travel now.” Agathe took Ossian’s hand. As soon as she touched him, she sensed the change in him. She felt a deep connection arise, a knowing, a sense of the wild. She looked at him sharply and saw that he felt it too. They said nothing and left the room.

  They arrived back to find Carutha and Q’uaina deep in conversation.

  Ossian spoke out. “We need to leave here…”

  “Now.” Carutha finished for him. “Yes, I sense it too. The Shiffante are preoccupied with a new threat to their domain but they know something is happening behind their backs. This is the first place they will look. This was, is the centre of my people’s resistance to their oppression. I’m the last of my kind, I will have vengeance, I will never forget.”

  Q’uaina joined in. “Carutha is going to take us to a secure place, at least safe for a short while. Let’s go.”

  Chapter 14

  Aerithryl Shard

  They gathered up their things and followed Carutha. She led them along a myriad of passages until finally they reached the outside of the pyramid high above the forest canopy. They stood on a ledge, a long drop to the ground beneath them. In the distance, a flock of swallows moved and swept the skies in a mesmerising display of pulsing flight.

  “They never found this one,” Carutha said with a half smile. “Follow me and place your feet exactly where I walk.” Without waiting, she looked ahead and stepped out into space. She did not fall. Instead, she continued to walk on thin air. The others watched in amazement. Some invisible causeway held Carutha suspended. She walked on, her form becoming more indistinct with each step.

  “Well what’re we waiting for?” Q’uaina said and followed Carutha. They stepped out and felt support beneath their feet. They followed the invisible path and saw the precipitous drop beneath to the forest far below. Carutha led them on until finally she stopped. She stepped forwards and then stood at a new angle. They looked carefully but were only able to make out the trees below and sky above.

  “The pyramid that is and yet is not, is now below your feet,” Carutha said. “While the Shiffante learned to control the seasons we learned the secret of invisibility in the last years. Your eyes will adjust and you will see this pyramid before long. It’ll be a sanctuary for a while, come follow me.”

  Carutha led them through new passageways and chambers in the concealed pyramid. Their eyes did adjust and before long, they could see all as they walked through it. After some time they arrived at a room similar to the one Ossian had found with the crystal window. This room too had its own window.

  “This’ll be home for a short while,” Carutha said, relief etched in her voice. “We’ll be able to observe the Shiffante without being seen. This whole pyramid is invisible, insubstantial. I will gather my strength here and we’ll plan our next move.”

  “Next move?” Q’uaina said. “My role was to return you to your land, which I have done. We should be thinking of returning to our own home. Why should we stay here?”

  Carutha looked at them all. “It’s too late for a safe retreat, they know we are here now. They will ensure all mirrorpools are watched; you are trapped here. The only way to return to your homeland is to help me defeat the Shiffante.”

  “She speaks the truth,” Agathe said.

  “Someone else wants to overthrow the Shiffante too. I saw the Shiffante some distance off presiding over a massacre near another mirrorpool. There was an army of beasts, they were frozen solid in their tracks,” declared Ossian. “There was a window like this one in the first pyramid, I could see everything…”

  “How many Shiffante were there?” Carutha interrupted.

  “I saw seven, atop white mounts,” Ossian replied.

  “Seven…” Carutha echoed the number. “Seven. Where are the rest? And who else wishes the Shiffante harm? Are they friend or foe? We have some key questions and need some answers.”

  Agathe went over to the crystal window and looked over the wild land ahead of her. She saw far into the distance and saw wherever she gazed that the land was gripped in Shiffante thrall.

  She spun around. “I can help. I have felt the change. My gift has been quickened by using the mirrorpool again.” She hesitated and then said, “I can now actually become a bird, I can fly. I’ll be our eyes in the sky. I can gather information and spy on the Shiffante.” Her face was bright with excitement, her whole body animated.

  “It’s too dangerous,” Ossian objected. “You’ll need to get close to them to be of any use, we need to hear what they’re planning. I’ve changed too, the other night something happened to me. It’s still hazy but I shape shifted into a wolf’s form…”

  They listened to his story fascinated.

  “We can use both your skills in the coming days and nights. You’re right Ossian, we need to gather intelligence on our enemy and their enemies. There is a power struggle happening. We need to find their strengths and weaknesses,” Carutha hesitated and then seemed to reach a decision. “We also must find the Aerithryl Shard. The plan I have, to destroy the Shiffante is dependant on the Aerithryl Shard.

  “The Shard is an ancient weapon shunned by my people for generations. The Shard bearer was exiled many years ago to both protect and hide the Shard. It was too powerful and too pure a crystal to keep among our people, it was creating division and fear. So it was removed from our society. Its use engendered madness in whoever used it. It was capable o
f accessing incredible Erthe power.

  “The Shard bearer was exiled to an abandoned, coastal city to the north; D’aenasa. Built by our ancestors thousands of years ago. It’s an ancient settlement constructed with skill and strengthened by protective wards. It’s as complete as the day it was finished and lies many days travel from here. That’s where we need to start the search. We need to pick up the trail from there… somehow.” The last word stumbled from her mouth awkwardly.

  ~

  LeSouris felt the pain first, then came the fear. He had failed the black raven coven. He would be dishonoured amongst his brethren. His mind spun with questions. Why? How had this happened? It was as if the Shiffante knew. They had been waiting and prepared for the attack. His suspicions automatically tried to blame the drow, S’Jukdara. But no matter how he looked at it, he could not see any advantage for the drow to betray him at this stage of their alliance. The Shiffante were now warned and aware of their existence. They would be fools not to want to come after him, to counterattack.

  He would contact S’Jukdara; they would have to come up with a new plan. He closed his eyes and reached out to S’Jukdara opening the channel within. A moment passed, then he found the dark elf’s presence in the joining. It was true; S’Jukdara was as stunned and fearful as he. He too had lost face amongst his people with the failure of their attack. They needed a way, a way out and through this.