Age of Souls

by Garrett Stevens

  • • •

  “What are you doing here Ruger? I told you before, the Pedestal won’t be harbouring your ilk. Go back to your islands.” A old male voice echoed its rumble through the chamber and over the large collection of observers.

  The room was expansive with massive braziers resting against tall pillars that illuminated the chamber. It was like a throne room with its wide walkway between the pillars running up the middle that led up to a dais that held seven chairs. An older looking man sat in the middle chair with an assortment of intimidating sorts to either side. A large hulk of a man stood by his chair with a small child like girl resting on her stomach over his shoulder. Catwalks and random assortments of stone stairs littered the edges of the room, crudely built in most circumstances but able to hold the gathering of ruffians watching the room below.

  Mercenaries were everywhere. Odd sorts hiding in the shadows or sitting with their legs dangled over the edge of the walkways; anywhere they could be to keep their eyes on the smaller group leading up the middle walkway. The elderly looking man whom sat cross-legged on his throne kept his eyes intently on the captive woman being drug with the group. His long thin platinum beard barely covered his chin and was braided tightly together, wiggling around with every move of his head and as he spoke.

  His expensive looking black robe was smooth and clean with no collar but had white lined edges and white knots holding small wooden nubs that latched everything together. From an angle starting at his shoulder, the knots on led over to his other arm and then down his side to keep from breaking up the clean front. Short platinum hair had a matted down look to it but still held a sort of nobility to the whole image.

  The small group standing before the dais were all dressed the same in light military garb with short swords and a bow slung over their shoulders. All stood in an open defensive formation and all kept their eyes scanning their surroundings. In the mix of their formation, a bound woman dressed in dark grey sat on her feet with her torso and head drooped forward, starring at the stone floor.

  A bit of a revealing shirt with straps crossing around her lower torso, exposing her stomach and the large belt that only held up on one side and dropped down further on the loose end. Her buckled boots hid the bottom of her tight dark grey leggings and looked like they had been worn for some time.

  “Calm down you ol fart, we bring something to trade fer it.” The gruff man standing in front of the smaller group tossed a small glimmering object into the area before beaconing to someone behind him to bring their captive.

  Two of his henchmen grabbed the woman under the armpits, lifted her and drug her forward, tossing her back to the ground in front of Ruger.

  “Why would I want an injured elf?” The old man sat still on his throne as he spoke.

  “She’s royalty ya see. Easily seduced by ma Regale.” Ruger tossed his small glimmering object into the air and caught it. “I want what I came for.”

  The old man cocked his head and squinted his eyes at the group in front of him “Why does the Sigil need it anyway? It’s useless nowadays”

  “That be our business. If it be useless, why the holdup Xen?” Ruger elevated his voice making some of the mercenaries close to him grabbed the hilts to their weapons and took a half step forward.

  Xen thought for a second in silence.

  “If she is royalty, we may be able to work something out. You will need to do something for me in addition to my conditions.”

  Keeping his eyes on the old man, Ruger nodded slowly.

  “There is a man that goes by the name of Sliver. Living in a cave within the Stone Giant Forest, has become a problem.” Xen’s tone shifted deeper.

  “Sounds familiar. Who is it?” Ruger questioned.

  “That is my business.” Xen snapped.

  Ruger’s face grimaced with the sarcastic tone Xen used.

  “Looks like you have a full house today Xen.” Rundin casually walked down a set of stairs leading from their lookout, making the room go silent with all heads pointed their way. Kallis kept up his pace with Chyla and Dominic a few steps behind.

  “Mr. and miss Nettlepot, I was hoping you were going to show tonight.” Xen’s voice carried quickly across the room.

  “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Rundin’s high pitched voice made handfuls of the other mercenaries laugh amongst each other.

  “See you have brought the infamous Deadwick along for the ill shaken adventure as well. Who is the forth? I don’t know her.” Chyla tried to keep herself from as many eyelines as she could.

  “Let’s call her a trainee.” Dominic jovially called out to Xen.

  Chyla glanced around the room with her eyes finally resting on the hunched over elven woman. Shivers tickled their way up her spine making the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She tugged on Dominic’s shirt.

  “Something is wrong Dom.” Chyla whispered to him with only a glare in response. “I feel different.”

  “Seems you are all here at the right time as usual. Ruger here is hoping to get the Cartographers Pin for their little club and willing to join you all for the reason I called.” Xen’s voice commanded the room like royalty.

  “The hermit in the caves, am I right Darling?” Kallis spoke with her seductive voice, drawing all eyes to her.

  “You are right my dear. I hope you are open to a little more company than you are used to. Will Deadwick be joining the two of you?”

  “Afraid not Xen, I am here for other reasons.” Dominic responded with his own authority and put a frown on the old man’s face.

  “What about this hermit?” Ruger interjected the conversation. “And what we agreed on.”

  “Ah yes, the business at hand.” Xen turned around in his chair and nodded to one of his guards against the back wall who swiftly disappeared into a back room. “While we wait, bring the elf up here so I can take a look at her.”

  Ruger motioned and they picked her back up, pulling her closer to the dais. Rundin, Kallis, Dominic and Chyla all walked passed the rest of his squad, receiving their own collection of glaring acknowledgment before stopping at the bottom of the few stairs leading up to the old man. One of the soldiers holding the elf grabbed hair on the back of her head and lifted her face up into the light.

  Her clean features were beautiful, Chyla couldn’t keep her eyes from her. Her eyes squinted against the light between the abnormal amounts of blinking, she was trying to gain focus against the light. Chyla reached over to Dominic and tugged on his shirt again.

  “Something is different.” Chyla whispered again, only to get the glare in return.

  “What is so different?” Dominic whispered back.

  “Something inside. I feel, different.” Chyla slid her palm down her front and rest against her stomach.

  Before Dominic could say anything, a gust of wind rushed through the room, waving all the brazier flames around violently and silencing many of the clustered groups. Xen’s attention was piqued by something in the back of the room and stood from his chair. Skirting around his chair, he gave a glance to the silent hulk of a man as he passed who nodded. The small girl on his shoulder smiled and nodded shortly after, getting very excited about something.

  The massive hulk of a man had simple armouring on, a few belts and straps, mainly to hold his menagerie of weaponry here and there. His clean-shaven head and face wrinkled and scarred with many days of exhaustion and tireless combat. His solid black eyes held a dead stare that took the room in all at once like small black holes.

  He looked like he could outfit a small platoon with weapons; from the odd placed daggers to the massive hammer strapped to his back that extended down to the ground. Massive muscles sculpted his entire body, with an array of scars that proved to all that that looked on him; he knew war and would not be afraid to teach someone how. The small girl on his shoulder was close to the complete opposite.

  Her hair was wild, long, and black with a strange white skunk stripe running from above her left eye on
an angle to the back-right side of the locks. Constantly smiling at everything, she was just happy to be alive. Her clothing was not much different than that of the man she rest on, just a lot fewer weapons. Her simple brown clothing exposed much of her skin but covered anything private. One single blade hilt stuck out from behind her head like a katana that carried a blue diamond pattern on the hilt.

  “Our deal?” Ruger called out.

  Xen lifted his arm and motioned with the back of his hand to go away, making any weapon that could be unsheathed ring into the air. Eye’s widening, every one of Ruger’s men, even those that held the elven girl, drew their weapons and tightened their formation. The defensive position they had was hopeless, but their formation was very solid and looked like they knew what they were doing.

  A rogue arrow sailed towards them, easily deflected by one of the soldier’s blades. Another gust of wind whipped through the chamber, stronger than the first, extinguishing a couple braziers near the back, darkening the fringes. Sounds of the death erupted into the chamber as mercenaries along the top catwalk fell with a splat, sending bloody and brains out across the stone flooring.

  “Things are going to get out of hand, we need to get to the back.” Kallis called out with a scan of the room.

  Mercenaries advancing down toward the middle, eager to get down to the Sigil soldiers pushed one another to get there first. With each attempt at the squad, a clash of steel rang into the air and then screams of death quickly followed, the soldiers were well trained. The acoustics of the room did not allow anything to go unnoticed.

  Blood spray filled the air with each slash or stab. Ruger called out orders to the group between strikes and they slowly started to shift their way towards the dais. For every handful of the mob that came down on them, only one would fall from time to time. The Sigil were very well trained and being out numbered did not break their spirit.

  Dominic grabbed Chyla by the back of the shirt, lifted her from the ground and carried her along toward the dais stair. Kallis and Rundin had already made their way to the top of the platform which had mostly emptied down into the fray quickly. The only other still up top was the hulking weapon machine and his little shoulder girl. Standing with his arms crossed, starring out at the battle with his black eyes while girl bounced on his shoulder itching to be a part of the scene.

  “The elven woman, we should help her.” Chyla yelled out to Dominic who had made it the top of the stairs.

  Without a second thought, he rushed over to the elf who was trying to cut her binds on a dead soldier’s blade. The threat in her eyes caught him off guard when he reached down towards her. There was a fire inside that begged to come out. Reaching down, Dominic grabbed the sword and cut her binds and helped her to her feet.

  “Come with us.” Dominic’s serious tone made her lock eyes with him and give a stern nod in acknowledgment.

  “Coral, these two need to get to Xen, Darling.” Kallis yelled toward the hulk and girl.

  “No problem sweetie, he’s in the back. Going to stay and join in the fun? Reef wouldn’t mind some company.” The smile on the girl’s face was incredibly cute and sweet, yet very creepy amongst the scene below.

  Reef stood solid with no expression on his face as he glared out into the carnage. His onyx eyes shot back and forth following strange shadows moving in the back of the room, killing mercenaries as they went.

  With Chyla in hand and the elven women in tow, Dominic rushed up passed the chairs next to the bigger man.

  “Reef, there is something else in here, can you see it?” Dominic looked at the massive man who just gave a subtle nod in return.

  “It’s in the back, sticking to the shadows when it can, but there are more than the one.” Coral bounced on Reef’s shoulder in her excitement again as she spoke for him.

  “Wick, head to the back, we can settle this ruckus and meet later.” Kallis yelled towards them, pulling out the long-boxed item from her lower back.

  With a flick of her wrist the object expanded and unfolded from itself into an ornate bow. The top and bottom limbs of the bow looked like they were alive with energy and gave off a shimmering glow. Strange looking fingers at the tip of each limb held three separate bowstrings that they were made of living essence of light. The grip had a circular piece of glass that clutched a reddish grey iris of a cat eye that shot from side to side with the movement of the battle below.

  The Sigil squad closed in on the edge of the dais and were finally able to adjust their formation to allow more of an offensive strike back on their attackers as wave after wave clashed against them. Their numbers were starting to dwindle but were still able to stave off the onslaught. Bodies littered the stone flooring as streams of fresh blood found its ways to the drains along the edges of the room.

  Other screams of death filled the back corners as the two shadows flashed from point to point sending more blood and death into the air. With each kill they were getting closer to the Sigil squad. More and more death howled into the room as all the ruffian’s mercenaries crowded around in notice of their kin being slaughtered and finally started to turn their attention to the cloaked figures as well.

  Another blast of wind filled the chamber, extinguishing one of the last two braziers, allowing little light to the last stand at the stair. Ruger had managed to climb himself onto the dais and got close to the front edge of the chairs before he noticed the other threat in the room. The rest of his squad were entangled in combat below with the final remains of the thirsty mob. Blades whirling around and colliding with stone, bone, flesh or steel. The cloaked shadows flashed forward with an adept speed into the last attacking mercenary and finally into the few Sigil soldiers who tried to pull his sword from the chest of a nearby corpse before being struck to his own demise.

  “He said he would wait.” Ruger muttered under his breath.

  The elven woman shot her attention to the Sigil leader and widened her eyes. Grabbing Dominic’s arm, she looked at him dead in the face.

  “We need that man alive.”

  Dominic acted fast and lunged toward Ruger. One of the cloaked shadows leapt into the air at him, claws flashing into the fire light. The hulking shadow struck stone as Ruger went flying backward beyond the line of thrones colliding with the ground hard but sprang into action toward Dominic with his sword in hand. With a swing of his steel towards his would-be savior. Ruger’s swing stopped midflight as the colossal Reef gripped onto the blade. Blood dripped down the side of the large man’s hand as Ruger looked into his black dead eyes.

  “Sigil man, go with Deadwick and the girls.” Coral’s young voice yelled down at him from Reef’s shoulder.

  Reef grabbed onto his wrist and cranked the weapon from his grip and tossed it toward the cloaked figures resting at the base of the steps. With a flash of claws, it deflected the meager strike and readied itself for any other assault. A second cloaked figure, finishing with its decapitation of the final victim, scurried up behind the other and readied itself.

  Mercenaries from the higher stairwells and catwalks poured down in the darkness, itching for the revenge for the deaths of their friends. The first shadow jolted down and launched forward toward Dominic who was not paying attention and spun in surprise. Claws sailed through the air toward him with their murderous intent. Before he could make a move, a small object whirled past him, striking the attacker in the face, under its cloak, and sending it back to the ground next to its partner. Chyla’s pleasure figurine spun off to the side landing in one of the cooling braziers making Dominic smirk to himself in a playful huff.

  “Dominic.” Rundin’s high pitched voice screamed toward them pulling their attention to him. “Go.”

  Dominic spun back around and grabbed Ruger by the scruff of his shirt and sprinted off toward the two girls. The three of them went straight toward the back doorway that Xen disappeared in without regard to the threat behind them.

  “Meidrae, brajke.” One of the cloaked shadows hissed out.

 
Rundin flung open his cloak, pulling small hatchets from under his belt and exposing his ornate master crafted hide armour. The black casting of the leathers matched with the sinister look on his bearded face creating a vivid indication that he was a force not to be underestimated. Similar to Kallis’ belt weave, buckles and belts filled in gaps around each hard piece of hide like a patchwork beast risen from the grave. With his two hatchets at the ready, Rundin shifted his footing to be ready for anything.

  Kallis muttered something under her breath close to the shaft of her bow and curled her open hand around in casting a spell. Pulling back on all three bowstrings, slender arrows formed as she drew; growing from the light of the strings. They formed into a dense dark energy arrow that gave off a subtle an odd glow.

  Letting all three arrows fly toward the fallen shadow, two were deflected by the one still standing, but the third hit home. A demon wrenching scream erupted making many of the mercenaries stop to hold their ears in another worldly pain. The beast turned to Kallis and sprinted toward her. Rundin was ready with his own strike and leapt into the air toward it at the same time, connecting midflight. The two landed on their feet after connecting, flourishing about as to not get caught with a retaliation. Both were fast for their size, very fast. Strike after strike whirled into a block and parry, which was then blocked and returned.

  Kallis let loose another volley toward the beasts, driving all three into its side. Another scream filled the air, stopping many of the others from the pain in their heads. The shadow wriggled on the ground in pain at Rundin’s feet. With a final strike, he hammered down on its head with one of his axes making its limbs twitch as the life faded from its body.