Shadowless

by Randall McNally

  Pandimonia sprang forward and grabbed Telimar by the hand. She tried pulling him away, but he broke free.

  The symbols cut into the young man’s body began to glow green, dimly at first but getting dazzlingly bright after just a few seconds. He fell onto his side, his face contorted. There was a hissing sound, which seemed to be coming from the symbols: as though they were burning into his body. He howled, lurching onto his back and ripping open his blood-soaked shirt.

  Pandimonia and Telimar watched the skin on the man’s stomach stretch and inflate as though something was trying to push its way free.

  The man screamed and cried, digging his nails into the bulge and tearing at the skin.

  ‘Get it out, get it out.’

  ‘What is it?’ Telimar asked, crouching down beside the man.

  The growth was rapidly getting bigger, swelling his torso to grotesque proportions. The man’s skin became less opaque the more it was stretched.

  ‘I have never seen anything like this,’ Telimar muttered. ‘It looks like there is something inside him; it looks like a large helm.’

  Pandimonia gripped Telimar by the wrist.

  ‘We need to get out of here, quickly.’

  He stared at her.

  ‘Now,’ she screamed.

  Reluctantly, Telimar gave in and ran with Pandimonia towards the wall of the dune.

  ‘Keep climbing and no matter what happens, don’t look back,’ Pandimonia shouted as she leapt on to the pile of sand and began scurrying up the side.

  Telimar tried to clamber up the dune but the sand was loose and gave way under his weight. Every time he got a few feet off the ground, he went sliding back to the start.

  ‘Hurry up,’ Pandimonia shouted over her shoulder.

  ‘I’m trying.’

  Telimar tried to advance up the dune diagonally, leaping as sections began to give way.

  Pandimonia, who was a lot lighter, had nimbly scaled the walls with a modicum of ease. She dragged herself over the edge and looked down.

  The young man had stopped screaming and was now groaning. The skin on his stomach was splitting apart. One large gauntleted fist and then another burst forth. A helmet, shaped like a lion’s head, emerged, becoming larger.

  Pandimonia looked on in terror as the large, hulking figure stepped on what was left of the host that had been used to summon him. Hunched at the shoulders and heavily muscled, it stood five times taller than a man and was clad in a massive suit of scale-like turquoise armour. With a spear in one hand it turned its head slowly, surveying its surroundings before directing its attention towards Telimar.

  Its two giant green glowing eyes staring through its visor, it lumbered towards the side of the dune.

  Stretching her arm down into the dune as far as she could without falling, Pandimonia stretched out her hand.

  ‘Here!’ she shouted. ‘Let me help you.’

  Telimar clung to a tuft of marram grass. He glanced down to see the vast figure reaching the bottom of the dune and beginning to climb.

  ‘Give me your hand, now,’ Pandimonia shouted.

  Telimar looked up, he used the grass as leverage and swung his body upwards. Stretching out his arm, he grasped Pandimonia’s hand.

  ‘I won’t let go,’ she said, straining and bracing herself against the top of the dune. With all her strength, she pulled Telimar up.

  Telimar emerged from the dune and rolled on to the grass. The two lay there for a second, gasping for breath, before getting up.

  ‘What was that thing?’ Telimar asked Pandimonia.

  ‘Not now, we have to get out of here. It will be out of the dune in no time,’ she said, grabbing his hand and breaking into a run.

  ‘Where are we going?’

  ‘I don’t know, you tell me, you’re the one that lives here,’ she said, rushing through the gully. ‘What if we get to the port before it? We could both get a ship, right?’

  ‘No ship on the island is going to be able to outrun this thing. Besides, we need to lead it away from people, not towards them.’

  ‘What do you suggest, then?’ she said frantically, looking over her shoulder as they ran.

  ‘I’m thinking,’ he snapped.

  ‘Think faster.’

  ‘There are chalk cliffs not far from here. The cliffs have tunnels set into them. If we can get there we may be able to hide.

  The pair took off across the hill, running as fast as they could. As they approached the beach they heard a loud thud behind them. Turning, they saw a large, gauntleted fist reaching up over the side of the sand dune, digging its fingers into the ground.

  ‘Run,’ Pandimonia shouted.

  They sprinted along the beach towards the chalk headland until they reached the jumble of large fallen boulders at the base of the cliff. They climbed onto them and looked down.

  The clear blue water below was lapping the bottom of the cliff face. The water was deep.

  ‘Follow me up,’ Telimar shouted. ‘There are plenty of handholds.’

  Halfway up the cliff they found a shallow cave, hollowed from the chalk. They pulled themselves up to the mouth of it and went inside.

  ‘You have yet to answer my question, what was that thing?’ Telimar asked, panting and sweating.

  ‘I think it may be Rindorex, the god who raped your mother.’ Pandimonia’s face betrayed the fact that she was worried.

  ‘What? How do you know it was the god who fathered me?’

  ‘The light from the symbols was the same colour as your eyes.’

  ‘How do you know so much about this?’

  ‘I have seen something like it before, years ago, only with an animal as a sacrifice rather than a human. When the temples learn the location of a particularly dangerous or strong Shadowless, they do not bother sending the Shadow Watchers, they unleash a god.’

  ‘Dangerous or strong?’

  ‘You really don’t get it, do you? The older we get, the more powerful we become. The temples have lost entire units of Shadow Watchers by sending them after the older members of our kind. Instead of sending men to kill us they summon a god, but to do this they need a blood sacrifice.’

  ‘No one knew I lived here, how did they know where to send the god?’

  Pandimonia avoided eye contact.

  ‘Oh, of course,’ Telimar exclaimed. ‘I should have known.’

  ‘I didn’t tell them I was here, I swear,’ she insisted. ‘It had to be one of my group; they must have been sending information back to the temples. And if they’ve summoned a god then that means they want me dead too. Rindorex won’t simply kill you and spare me.’

  Telimar shook his head. ‘So what do you suggest we do now?’ he said.

  ‘I don’t know. Is there anyone on this island who could help us escape?’

  Telimar frowned, deep in thought. ‘There is a bay to the west of here. If I can get there then there is a chance I can draw out Old Belórath.’

  ‘Who is he, some kind of hermit?’

  ‘Old Belórath is not a person, he’s a kraken. He lives in a deep trench north of the island, beyond the bay. The men on the island do not fish near his lair because he has dragged several of their ships to the bottom. If I can get Rindorex to follow me to him then maybe I can lure him out to the deeper water.’

  ‘Is this thing big enough to kill a god?’

  ‘He is big enough to give it something to think about. And he’s old. I have lived on this island for nearly four hundred years and he was here a long time before me.’

  ‘Let’s go, then,’ Pandimonia said.

  The two left the cave and started to scale the remainder of the cliff. But even as they did so, the high-pitched squeal of metal on stone filled the air and the pair looked round to see Rindorex moving across the rocks, dislodging boulders with every step, which tum
bled into the water. Seabirds flapped around their heads as the pair clambered between their nests.

  The two scrambled along the cliff as fast as they could, all the while, the sound of scraping of metal getting louder.

  They were almost at the top, when Pandimonia’s foot dislodged a rock. She lost her footing and screamed. Telimar sprang to her rescue, grabbing her by the wrist and hauling her back.

  ‘We need to get up the cliff quickly. You go first,’ Telimar said, boosting her upwards. Secure on a higher ledge she reached down to help Telimar scramble up after her. As she did so Rindorex surged across the cliff, grabbing hold of a protruding rock and using it to manoeuvre himself towards Telimar. In the same instant that Pandimonia grabbed Telimar’s hands, Rindorex gripped him by the legs.

  ‘No,’ Pandimonia shouted as Rindorex braced himself against the rock in an attempt to prise Telimar from the cliff.

  Telimar’s hands were slipping through Pandimonia’s.

  ‘I won’t let go,’ she yelled, shaking from the exertion.

  ‘Pandimonia…’ Telimar said, with a calmness that alarmed her. ‘Let me go.’

  Rindorex heaved at Telimar with all his strength.

  Telimar’s hands slipped from Pandimonia’s and both he and Rindorex went plunging into the water below.

  Pandimonia stood on the edge of the cliff, watching as the two figures sank into the water.

  As soon as he hit the water, Telimar tried kicking his legs. To his relief he realised the god had let go of his ankles.

  The fall must have stunned it, thought Telimar and he swam to the bottom as quickly as he could, hiding amongst long strands of kelp. Filling his lungs, he began to choke and gag until his body got used to the water, all the time looking out for Rindorex.

  Taking his diving dagger from the sheath that was strapped to his thigh, Telimar emerged from the kelp and began swimming to the deeper water.

  Rindorex’s shadow alerted Telimar to his presence. Thrusting his giant spear, the god thrashed in the water, trying to skewer Telimar with one hand and catch him with other.

  At home in the water, Telimar could twist and turn much faster than his opponent, darting between the god’s armoured legs and through his arms, trying desperately to land a blow. But Rindorex’s armour was thick, and Telimar’s dagger bounced off it harmlessly.

  The two figures circled and weaved, attacking and counter-attacking. But Telimar realised he was beginning to tire; he had to change tactics.

  Diving between the god’s legs, Telimar sprang off the seabed and glided behind him, spinning round and plunging his dagger in between two of the armour plates in the god’s shoulder.

  Rindorex threw back his head and let out a bellow that reverberated through the water. A dark, inky substance leaked from his wound, drifting upwards and turning the water black.

  Telimar tried to pull his dagger out, but it was lodged between the plates. He abandoned it, swimming away, as Rindorex’s large armoured hand came up to grab him.

  Rindorex’s growl filled the water as he dived forward and attacked his now unarmed opponent.

  Panic took hold of Telimar: without a weapon he was done for. His only chance was to try and make for the bay, and Old Belórath.

  Aiming for the surface, Telimar swam frantically.

  Rindorex seemed to have anticipated this move and sprang back up through the water.

  As the pair were nearing the surface, Rindorex let fly with his spear. He threw it through the water, catching Telimar in the leg just as he reached the top.

  The tip of the spear buried itself deep in Telimar’s thigh. Pain shot through him and blood seeped into the water as he tried to dislodge the metal barb.

  His gaze darted about and he could see Pandimonia standing on the cliff, watching.

  ‘Telimar’ he heard her shout.

  Pandimonia’s screams ringing in his ears Telimar looked in horror at the gauntleted hand reaching up from the deep. It grabbed the spear, using it to pull him down through the water.

  Telimar thrashed as Rindorex dragged him to the rocks below. Grasping him tightly by the neck, the god yanked the spear free, pulling Telimar’s flesh with it. Rindorex slammed Telimar against the seabed and the diver could feel himself getting weaker as the blood flowed from his body.

  Held in the vice-like grip of the god, Telimar shouted for Rindorex to stop, his voice distorted by the water. Rindorex paused, a low rumbling laugh emanating from beneath his helm, before drawing back his spear and plunging it deep into Telimar’s chest.

  On the cliff above, Pandimonia watched and waited, hoping that Telimar was still alive. She told herself that he may have escaped, that he pulled himself free and was able to swim away. When she saw that a patch of the water had turned red, she dropped to her knees.

  Telimar would still be alive if it wasn’t for me, she thought.

  Pandimonia knelt on the edge of the cliff, a sense of inevitability forming in her mind.

  She sat with her back to the island, gazing out over the sea. Earlier, she had allowed herself to dream of what it might be like to live here, a new way of life, far away from the one she left behind. She had dreamed of walking on the white sand beaches with the sun on her back. She had seen herself living in a cabin in the hills, at the edge of the jungle, like Telimar.

  The sound of metal scraping against stone reminded her that not all dreams are destined to come true. Rage descended upon her and she gritted her teeth as Rindorex pulled himself over the top of the cliff and lumbered towards her.

  This is it, she thought, getting to her feet and moving closer to the cliff edge. ‘I’m not going to give you the satisfaction of killing me.’

  Rindorex took the spear from across his back and closed in on Pandimonia, edging around her and cutting off any possible escape.

  Standing with her back to the edge of the cliff, Pandimonia glanced down at the rocks below.

  Rindorex drew back his spear.

  This is how it ends, then, she thought, gulping.

  ‘Damn you,’ she screamed, raising her arms out by her side and leaning back.

  Falling over the cliff, Pandimonia’s body tumbled towards the rocks. Then stopped, abruptly.

  Darkan glided along the edge of the cliffs, staying as close to the water as he could. He hugged the rugged coastline of Vestrowe until he saw the figure standing on the cliff edge, then he made his move. Sweeping around he stretched out his huge limbs and snared the falling Pandimonia with his claws, before banking right and flying over the bay towards the Northern Realms.

  Late at night was Kunal’s favourite time of the day to pray, it was when he felt closest to the gods. He was alone in the temple, the incense drifting up from the burner, filling his nostrils as he stood at the altar. The wind whistled around the temple, rattling the shutters and shaking the doors.

  When he had finished praying, he began thumbing his way through one of the temple grimoires. Kunal studied the pictures intently. They were of the gods’ true forms, each a large entity with a different weapon and helmet, clad in different-coloured armour.

  Talk to me, Bahrôc, he thought. Let me know that I am correctly doing your bidding.

  A gust of wind from the back of the temple extinguished the candles and scattered the blue smoke around the room.

  I am going to kill that boy, the priest thought.

  He heard footsteps from behind him and pulled himself to his feet.

  ‘How many times do I have to tell you to knock, you insufferable little bastard?’

  Kunal turned to see the red eyes of Pandimonia Toŕl staring back at him. The look on her face told him instantly that this was not a social call. Her fiery hair seemed almost to glow in the dimness of the temple, accentuating her anger.

  ‘Knock knock,’ she snapped.

  In one fluid movement, Pandimonia pulle
d her fighting knife from its sheath and brought it up in a sweeping motion, slicing Kunal’s throat.

  Kunal collapsed on one of the incense burners, sending it and its contents to the floor. Blood gushed out from his wound, covering his orange robes and spraying over the altar.

  ‘Why?’ he gurgled.

  Pandimonia knelt down and looked at the priest, scornfully.

  ‘Because you summoned a god, Kunal. You knew it would kill both of us. I served you for years and you betrayed me. For that, I’ve saved my last act of treachery for you.’

  As he lay dying, Kunal watched Pandimonia calmly walk away towards the entrance of the temple where she was met by two men in black robes.

  One of the men produced a pair of manacles and fitted them around Pandimonia’s wrists, while the other took her weapon.

  ‘Pandimonia Toŕl, I am arresting you for the crime of treachery and treason against those of your own kind. You are to be taken to the Black Monastery in Rith, where you will stand trial for the crimes you have perpetrated and the slayings you have committed against those who are without shadow.’

  Chapter XII

  The Prophetic Vision of Brother Amrodan

  The autumn sun warmed Arpherius as he dug his feet into the sand and knelt with both palms flat on the ground. With one leg straight and the other bent he rose to a semi-hunched position and arched his neck, staring down the long stretch of beach. He breathed in through his nose and out through his mouth, filling his chest with lungfuls of air. He was ready.

  Rising from his crouch, he began sprinting. Pumping his arms he raced down the beach, gathering pace, sand flying up behind him. He accelerated for as long as he could, while glancing sporadically at the water, waiting for something to happen. The waves rippled gently against the shore. Arpherius slowed to a jog before finally coming to a stop.

  ‘Damn,’ he muttered, his hands on his hips, looking out to sea.

  The water crept up the shore, stopping a few inches from his feet before rolling back down.

  Too close for comfort, he thought, and took a few steps away from the sea.