by Mark Albany
“Does the God-King go there himself?” I asked, pushing, but Jule only shrugged.
“If that’s where the Viziers are, maybe that’s where Vasara would be if she returned,” Kalna observed with a decidedly vindictive smile. “It would be nice to run into her again.”
I shuddered. There was a power in this land that I could feel seeping into me. It was making the Darkness a good deal more powerful, as well as harder to control. I could only imagine what it could do to someone like Vasara. What I imagined was very much the kind of unhinged need for violence we’d seen in Drucio.
“Who is Vasara?” Jule asked.
“A Vizier we met,” Leena said. “And one I’d like to get my hands on again before too long.”
“Better you than me,” I said softly. Men and women of magical talent? Why didn’t we have those back on our continent?
We were moving again at dawn, and soon broke from the forest of massive trees into the farmland that surrounded the entrance into the mountain pass. In the dead of winter, the harvests had already been collected, and the whole land looked like it was abandoned, aside from a handful of farmhouses and barns.
We could see smoke rising from the chimneys, indicating that there were people still living there and, more importantly, that the war was a long way away. They lived out their lives in peace, though I imagined this peace came at a hefty price.
The roads weren’t being patrolled, so we used them instead of crossing over the fields. Anybody could see us marching across the barren ground, so it was better to get across this piece of land fast. With Toad carrying our packs, we were able to make good time, and before the day was through, we were at the foot of the mountains, looking up at the Viziers’ Castle.
“So, did they name the castle after the Viziers?” Leena asked. “Or the Viziers after the castle?”
Jule looked up at the massive, imposing walls, high in the mountain, and she shuddered before looking away. “It’s not actually called Viziers’ Castle,” she said, sounding annoyed. “The original name of this place is lost in time.”
“The castle is named after the Viziers, then,” I decided, emphasizing it with a nod. “We should probably find somewhere to make camp before night falls.”
“Where?” Kalna asked. “We’re miles away from the forest, all the land here is being used for farming, and I doubt that the people who run these farms would appreciate us squatting on their property. The last thing we need is for the Trelans to be alerted to our location. It’s not like you can drop a tree on them out here.”
“We could always just go up to the castle and ask for an invitation to spend the night,” Eira said softly. Her voice was different, and she was staring at the walls a bit too intently, like she could sense something from within.
After a moment, I realized I could feel it too, like the feeling that came just before a thunderstorm. It was raising the hair on the back of my neck. The ground beneath us started shaking, and my hand drifted toward my blade.
A few seconds later the shaking stopped, replaced by a massive roar. A ball of fire exploded from the castle above us, tearing a massive hole through the wall.
I nodded. “If that’s not an invitation, I don’t know what is.”
“You want us to attack the castle?” Kalna asked.
“It seems like someone is already attacking it,” Eira replied. “It would be rude of us not to help.”
I pulled my sword from its sheath. The Darkness started to rise in me like a massive tidal wave.
“What do I do?” Jule asked, looking around.
“Come with us, and keep Toad safe.” I’d be damned if I let my horse get killed in a battle like this.
Jule nodded staunchly, and the five of us headed up the winding path that led to the castle.
It took almost an hour to reach it. The sun was already starting to set in the west by the time we arrived. The castle itself looked imposing, carved out of black rock torn from the mountain behind it. Massive spires cut into the sky, but none of them were a part of the looming outer wall. A wide moat surrounded the structure, making the castle an island fortress.
Under normal circumstances, I imagined the drawbridge would have been the only way across, but today, the explosion we had seen earlier had torn a hole through the wall. The thick stone had crumbled into a line across the water, making for a good, if jagged, crossing.
Nobody manned the walls, and we could see the fires from inside illuminating our path as we picked our way over fallen stones. The water in the moat was pitch black, like it had been when the sea monsters attacked our home. I was very thankful for the rocks giving us a way across, even if it meant we had to leave Toad behind. We were careful to take the packs off his saddle. If he bolted, at least he wouldn’t be taking our supplies with him.
“Oh shit,” Leena uttered softly once we were past the broken walls.
I couldn’t help but agree with the assessment. There had been a fight here, which explained the explosion, but whatever had happened had left every single man dead. They were all soldiers, no women and children, and they all wore the black armor of the Trelans.
“What could have done this?” Jule asked softly.
“The explosion came from inside,” Eira pointed out. “Since all the rocks in the wall fell outward. Whatever did this is in that building.”
She pointed, though we all knew which building she was talking about. It was the only one left standing. Everything else had been torn to shreds and burned. The hulking structure leaned against the mountain that rose behind it. The spires made it look like a massive crown, curling inward, pointing at the peak above it.
“Do you feel that?” Eira asked.
Kalna and I nodded in response. There was something in that building, something powerful. It was like a vibration in the air, humming just below what I could hear, but it was making my teeth hurt.
“So, we’re just going into the creepy building,” Leena said, tensing her jaw as she quickly strung her bow. “Just the five of us against whatever the fuck it was that killed all the men here.”
I nodded. “If anyone wants to stay behind and look after Toad, I won’t hold it against you.”
Nobody volunteered. I didn’t expect them to, but now, I could always say that the offer had been made when they started complaining about it later. I was expecting that, at least.
Smoke started to rise from my blade. I kept the Darkness firmly in check as we marched toward the building.
Strangely, the structure was growing more and more massive with each step closer that we took. until it was towering over us, completely dwarfing the mountain behind it. I wasn’t sure how it was possible. It had to be some kind of trick, some kind of magic that was making it appear larger in our eyes. The doors were made of black metal, but they too had been blasted open. Just like the walls, the blast had come from inside, warping the metal outward, giving us a clear way in.
“This is too easy,” Leena said.
I agreed, gripping my blade tighter as we stepped inside. We were met with an icy outer chamber, like a greeting room that opened up into a massive hall. In complete contrast to the remains of the massacre we’d found outside, this place was in pristine condition.
Torches and candles illuminated the length of the room, despite the darkness that was settling outside. A long red velvet carpet led us through. Three massive statues stood at the end of the room. As we made our way down the steps, we realized there was a horde of smaller statues leading the way in. They weren’t of men. Made out of bronze, stone, and sometimes simple clay, they were monsters. Horribly deformed. Some looked like beasts, lions without hair, creatures larger than bears with three eyes and massive claws. Others looked like misshapen men, with three or four arms, tumors growing out of their backs and chests, fangs jutting from their mouths.
“What the fuck are these things?” Kalna asked.
“The old gods,” Jule whispered. “This is a temple in their honor. Legends tell of the ancie
nt beasts that rose out of the ground as humans and elves were spreading across this land. Gifts of blood and sport were offered to appease them. The mightiest of all, the most powerful, and the most terrible—”
“The mightiest, the most powerful, and the most terrible are these three,” a voice came from where the three larger statues stood. I narrowed my eyes, seeing a figure in a heavy black robe kneeling before the three statues. The voice was warped and thundered across the room unnaturally, but I couldn’t help feeling that it was familiar.
Kalna drew her daggers, while Leena and Eira were already prepared for a fight. Jule paled and moved in behind me, her hands gripping my arm.
“These three, the Lord of Fire, the Lady of Water, and the Legion of Darkness,” the voice continued as the figure rose up from where it was kneeling. “Their appetites were the most difficult to appease, and the most rewarding. They rose from the earth to cleanse the lesser powers at the behest of the men and elves who needed them, but at a terrible price. A price that these mortals were not prepared to pay.”
“Who is that?” Jule asked.
“I’m sorry, little one, but did you think you were the only one who read the dark histories of our lands?” the robed figure asked as it turned around, away from the statues. I could see them more clearly now, and like the building that we had entered, the closer we got to them, the larger they seemed, like there was something here that was warping the world around us.
“Those books were lost,” Jule said. “Burned in the fires that destroyed the Library of Halesaf.”
“Some books were lost, sadly,” the figure said. “The rest were brought here to improve the learning of the God-King’s Viziers. Did you think it a coincidence that he put so much thought and power into the destruction of your home, dear little Jule?”
Jule blanched at hearing her name spoken aloud, and backed away. The figure under the robe was the source of the power we had sensed from outside. I was sure of it. Behind her, I could see the figures of a bearded man, towering twenty feet above us with a flaming sword in one hand. The other was a woman in flowing robes, not that different from Eira, with two shining globes in her hands. The third was harder to make out. Dozens of heads, hundreds of limbs, all connected to a single, circular source. Lord of Fire, the Lady of Water, and the Legion of Darkness.
I strike quite an image, don’t I?
Legent. That was what it had called itself when I first met it. I was refusing to call it by that name, but there it was, standing in front of me. I gritted my teeth and turned back to the figure who had stopped some ten paces in front of us.
“Who are you?” I said.
“Oh, Braks, don’t you remember me?” The voice turned definitively feminine as her hands came up to pull the hood away. “I’m not as beautiful now as I once was, but surely, you can still recognize me?”
I could. The long, curly hair, the smooth, dark skin, and the large black eyes were hard to forget. There had been changes, however. One half of her face was scarred like she had been through a fire. The skin was an angry red, and the lid was burned away from her eye.
“Vasara.” I inhaled sharply. “What happened to you?”
“The God-King does not take kindly to those who fail him,” she said bitterly. “Even less so to those who allow one of his precious Firstborn to perish. He punished me, taking away my beauty in a pool of fire, then returned me here to wait for you. He knew you would come. He commanded me to take the power from the men and women watching over this holy place to face you again. If I kill you, he will return my beauty. If not, I will die in disgrace.”
I shook my head. “If you want me to feel sorry for you, you’re expecting a lot from the man you toyed with and then tortured.”
She gritted her teeth. “Spare me your pity! I have no need for it.”
“I have no pity for you, bitch. And it’s good to see that your face finally matches what’s to be found underneath.”
I wasn’t normally so cruel. Seeing someone in pain, even someone as evil as Vasara was, would usually have tugged at some kind of heartstring. But memories of lying in agony on the floor with her voice speaking into my mind were too fresh. All I wanted to do now was finish the job the God-King had started.
Vasara smiled. “So beautiful,” she whispered, soft enough that only I could hear it. Then she raised her hands.
“Get behind me!” I shouted, raising my sword. Tendrils formed around her hands, and with a spark, they became a massive flame.
“The deaths of the men guarding this place were unfortunate but necessary,” she said as the flame in her hands grew larger than her head. “Their blood gave me enough power to end you, Braks. Watching you burn as I burned will be the most pleasure I’ve gotten from a man in a long, long time.”
She screamed, as if conducting that much power was painful, and thrust her hands forward. The two balls of fire joined together, becoming even larger.
I stepped forward and brought my sword up. Threading the Darkness into the blade, I swung it down with both hands. It hit the ground with a whoosh that blew out the torches and candles nearby. The sword’s power rushed forward in a wave to collide with the ball of fire that was surging toward us. The meeting of ice and flame released a shockwave that hit me full in the chest. I stumbled back a few steps, but Kalna and Leena were knocked to the floor. Jule, who had remained directly behind me, was spared. Eira seemed entirely untouched.
Then the ball of flame and the wall of ice were both gone, spreading sparks across the room. Vasara had been knocked to her knees, but she was quickly getting to her feet. She looked at me, an air of frustration about her as she started running toward the massive statues.
“And where do you think you’re going?” I asked, marching toward her.
“I’m heading deep under the mountain where more power can be acquired,” she said quickly. “I know you’ll try to follow, but I have a feeling you’ll be a bit busy.”
I took a few more steps after her, but the sound of cracking stone stopped me. I glanced around and was horrified to see that a few of the statues around us were starting to move. Not the giant ones at the end of the hall, thankfully, and not all of the smaller creatures either. Many remained still, which was a relief, but enough were moving to pose a serious problem.
“Shit, shit, shit.” Leena turned around and backed up toward me.
“How many of them are there?” Kalna asked.
“There were hundreds of statues.” I spun my blade in a quick figure eight to loosen my wrist. “These were all…what was it?”
“Lesser deities,” Jule quickly skirted back around me. “Monsters that people worshipped in the old times before they were isolated and presumed destroyed. I wonder how many knew that they were all here in this mountain the whole time?”
“Not the time for academic curiosity!” Kalna drew a throwing dagger from her waist and flung it smoothly at one of the creatures, a powerful-looking bear with horns coming from the top of its head. It roared and started moving again but not before another knife dug into its eye. It hit the floor with a heavy thud.
“For ancient gods, they seem to be rather easy to drop,” Kalna commented with a grin.
“Good thing there are so many of them,” Leena growled, pulling three arrows from the quiver on her back. She held two in the hand holding her bow as she shot the first arrow into a three-eyed monster with claws.
“I can’t fight!” Jule hissed.
“Stay behind me!” I pivoted around to slash the head off a creature that was similar to the monster we’d killed on the mountain, but smaller. The body kept on moving, even without a head, and I ducked under a heavy paw aimed at my head. I instinctively grabbed Jule and dragged her down, too. Then I quickly sprang up and drove my blade into the beast’s chest. It finally dropped, and I roared at it in defiance.
“We need to get out of here!” Leena called. Next to her, Eira raised her hands, and balls of ice and fire crashed into a couple of statue-monsters.
They fell but were quickly replaced.
“How many of them are there?” I shouted.
“Too many!” Eira yelled back.
I nodded in agreement. More of them started to come alive as well. I doubted that the massive statues would be waking up, but I honestly didn’t want to wait around to find out. The way we had come was blocked, which left only one way out.
The way Vasara had gone. Deep under the mountain.
“Eira, cover our tail, and make sure that none of them follow us too closely.” I flicked the dark blood from my sword.
Hello, old friends.
“You know these monsters?” I asked as we headed out behind the three statues, which quite effectively hid an entrance to a tunnel leading into the mountain.
Ancient beings, machinations of nature in its defense against men and elves who would churn it and burn it for profit. Yes, I know these monsters. I created more than a few of them.
“Any idea how to stop them?”
“Who is he talking to?” Jule asked.
“Don’t ask.” Leena shot a pair of arrows into the first beasts to follow us into the tunnel.
Only one way to stop them. The old-fashioned way. The ancient magics were quite fond of the blood sport involved. And yes, by the ancient magics, I do mean myself and my siblings. Let me know when you need my help.
Now was not the time to dive into the madness that was all this. I needed to get us all out of there alive—and for some reason, I knew that getting out would involve us going through Vasara, wherever it was she’d scurried off to.
Chapter 24
“I need some help, Braks!” Eira called.
I turned back toward the ice woman, frustrated. For a moment, I could have sworn I saw Vasara just ahead of us. Of course, catching her wouldn’t matter if we were dragged down from behind by monsters.
I flicked my sword around. I didn’t like having to use it in confined spaces like this, but at the moment, it was the most powerful weapon at our disposal. I found my way to the back of our little band where Eira was sending bolt after bolt of power at the creatures. They were all surging toward us like a wave, obscuring the lights of the torches around us.
