Age of Souls

by Garrett Stevens

  The white blanket of the frozen crypt covered everything around. From front stoop to stairs leading up the entry of a structure, no signs of life could be seen. Remnants of old footprints could be seen scurrying about within the deathly veil and subtle indentations from carts and horses broke up the story they told; the blank canvas was ready.

  “There.” Dominic pointed to a larger building that faced the well with a larger set of stairs leading up to the double door entry.

  There was a balcony on the second floor that was held up with four wooden pillars that encased the main floor entrance and held a large sign reading Ice Drop Tavern. Wooden shutters partnered every window as they broke up the billboard side of the tavern. The wooden plank walls carried on in a horizontal pattern, making the length of the building a lot longer than it was. Similar to the surrounding shops and homes, a thatched roof extended high into the sky like a massive barn style roof.

  “It should have everything we need.” Tharissa smiled at the thought of being inside. “This snow makes me uncomfortable.”

  Dominic took another scan of the courtyard and stood up tall before his walk over to the tavern stairs. Tharissa and Mya both watched for a moment before following, making sure there was no surprise. The way he was walking through the snow made the tense feeling carried in the ghost town drop slightly, allowing them to lower their guard.

  Trying everything he could to keep his footsteps quiet up the front two wooden steps, Dominic’s confidence that they were alone was shaken at seeing the broken window next to the doorway. He stopped instantly and froze when the top of the last step sent a loud creak echoing past the well.

  Everyone’s eyes went wide in concern and intently listened to the background. Looking across the courtyard and down the various roads radiating form the courtyard, the stillness of the dead remained.

  “I don’t think anything is here.” Tharissa raised an eyebrow at him.

  “Can never be too careful.” Dominic let out a sigh and pushed his way into the building.

  Inside the tavern was dark and hard to see anything without letting their eyes adjust further to the night. What could be seen did present itself as a hunting tavern. Heads of random creatures creepily sat in the dark staring at them, their eyes following them as they moved. Mya could see heads from a few she recognized but most were unknown.

  Tharissa pushed past Dominic to get a better view and began to survey the main floor. As she moved about the bar she would bump gently into tables and the benches. With a wipe of her hand across one of the tables as she went, a small pile of dust came with it, making her turn her nose at the mess and rubbed it between her fingers to clean it off.

  “Not as much as the North Gate, but still, no one has been here for a while.” Wiping her fingers on the fringes of her cloak, Tharissa kept shuffling about the bar to look around.

  “Mya check upstairs for a place to lay low, preferably with a view down at the main gate so we can keep an eye for Kallis and the others. I will check the back for some food.” Dominic shuffled around in the darkness for a way through the bar counter, his eyes not fully adjusting the lack of light.

  With her eyes already adjusted to the new darkness, Mya’s movements made it a lot easier to dodge objects that made noise as she made her way to the back corner where a set of stairs began. Similar to the kitchen at the gates, she could see the layout to all the tables and the strewn about goblets and plates left behind. Stains from spilled beer or blood from a fight. The same piano-like instrument sat near the steps, covered in goblets and crumbs with the stool for the musician toppled over.

  Each step she made up the staircase landed with a solid thunk, echoing gently in the empty inn. Mya couldn’t shake the feeling, the same deathly feeling from back at the lake. This place was more of a tomb, a place that the dead came to rest.

  Upstairs was well a lot better kept than the main floor, with a runner carpet down the middle of the balcony leading back to the inn rooms and down its corridor. Doors on either side of the hallway were broken up with small shelves holding candles or another animal head. The balcony over the bar counter circled around to the front of the building where another gathering of tables and the door leading to the front balcony sat.

  Looking down the corridor to her left, Mya reluctantly made her way to the first door. Using the dagger in her hand, she reached out and pushed it open with a soft clicking of the hinges. Each short shutter from the hinges made her wince slightly at the noise, but it swung open enough to expose the empty chamber beyond.

  Six child size beds lined on either side of the room with a blackened coffin of a fireplace on the far wall. Each was made up with puffy blankets and thick pillows that had not been disturbed for as long as the rest of the city. Another scan of the room, Mya stepped further in and with a flick to rid of the dust, began to gather up blankets. A scream erupted from outside the room, making her drop all the sheets and run back out to the balcony railing.

  “Sorry, this thing jumped out at me.” Tharissa’s eyes were wide as she huffed her words out.

  Standing right below one of the animal heads that looked like a cross between a small wyvern and bear. Its features were sinister and grotesque with fangs that looked like they could tear someone in half quite easily, large enough to not be easy to get on the wall.

  “Tharissa, come up here and give me a hand.” Mya called down over the railing before heading back to the room.

  Listening to her sisters’ footsteps climb the stairs, Mya balled up a blanket to throw at her as she entered the room.

  “Mya?” Tharissa called down the hallway.

  “In here.”

  Mya tossed the blanket at her as she entered the room.

  “Hey!” Tharissa exclaimed.

  “Grab a bunch and take them over to the front balcony.” Mya tossed another at her before she was able to escape.

  Scooping up the remaining blankets into a big ball in her arms, Mya exited into the hallway and with the heavy load waddled her way to the front of the tavern. Each step reverberated off the woodwork of the inn as she went.

  “We will have to move the tables out of the way.” Tharissa said as Mya came in into the frontage of the balcony.

  “We can use them as barricades if need be. How’s your stomach?” Mya asked as she dropped the sheets onto a nearby table.

  “I will be fine. Eirolin has been helping with the healing, should be able to clean it up in a couple more hours.” Tharissa put her palm against her abdomen and cocked her head to side as she examined it.

  Pointed at the far table, Mya was able to get her sister to tip it over with her and slide it next to the railing. Dragging noises squealed their way through out the tavern with each table they tipped over and moved into their new home. Shuffling the benches around made an expansive space for them to lay out blankets and create a comfortable place to lay down.

  “What is going on up here?” Dominic surprised them a little as he appeared at the top of the stairs without them noticing.

  “Just getting things comfortable.” Tharissa answered with a smirk on her face before Mya could.

  “Just because we haven’t run into anyone yet, doesn’t mean we are not alone here.” His parental scolding made them hang their heads slightly. “If they didn’t know we were here before, they definitely know now.”

  “Find anything in the kitchen?” Mya asked.

  “Only some old bread and some stew that looks like it could grow legs soon.” He flipped a small hard loaf at her.

  Gently lowering himself down to the ground with his good arm, Dominic sighed and rest his head back against one of the tipped over tables. There was a pain in his face that the girls could see that he was hiding. His wound was getting worse.

  “Let me take a look at your arm.” Tharissa knelt in front of him and held her hands out.

  Lifting his wounded arm up, Tharissa grabbed it by his elbow and fist, slowly rotating it as she examined the gashes. The edges of each gash ha
d a dark veiny fringe to them and dug deep into the length of his flesh.

  “They don’t look that bad, but there is a magic about them. Something that I have not seen before.” Tharissa looked at him and smiled.

  “What about your wounds?” Dominic asked and looked down at the slashes across her dress, drenched in blood.

  Looking down at herself, Tharissa spread the cuts in her dress with two fingers to expose a nearly healed slash between the dried sections of blood. The look on Dominic’s face asked his question.

  “From Eirolin’s grace, doesn’t take me long to heal. Why I’m so pretty all the time.” Tharissa chuckled to herself and winked.

  Reaching out again for his arm, Dominic stretched out and rest it in her supported grasp. Closing her eyes, Tharissa inhaled with a long slow breath. After holding it inside a moment, she leaned in close to his arm and began to gently blow onto the wounds.

  A soft hazed light formed around his arm that carried an ethereal mist that jumping out from his arm like sun flares as it stitched its way into his flesh. By the time she was done exhaling, the gashes from the Furhdrae had shrunk down and almost closed completely. The darkened veiny entanglement on the edges of the wound remained.

  “It won’t fix it completely and will still take a couple days to filter out their magic, but you should be able to use it without pain until it does.” Tharissa gently placed his arm down and rolled back onto her haunches with a smile. “I hope you don’t mind scars.”

  “Thanks.” Dominic looked down at his arm and smiled at her.

  “You two get some sleep, I will take first watch.” Mya sat next to the small wooden door leading onto the exterior balcony.

  Both looked her way with a nod and grabbed one of the pillows that formed a small pile to one side. Mya watched from the corner of her eye as they quickly fell asleep and she turned her attention back to the serene wonderland the falling snow covering the dead city. The feeling would not go away from inside her mind, a tomb like this must have a watcher. It had to be close.

  Hours passed as she watched the roads gathering the gently dancing snowflakes when a darker shadow flickered against the crisp edges of the buildings to the left of the main road. Focusing on the location, it flickered again on the roof of another section of shops.

  Something was there and was not on the ground.

  • • •

  The forest floor was surprisingly covered with thick layer of snow for how dense the canopy was. The wide leafed coniferous trees scattered about had only mild interruptions with the massive stone pillars stretching out into the sky, but the snow still found a way to the forest floor. Running through the fresh fluffy snow, their pace was barely slowed by its depth. Kallis lead the others through the white powder growth under their feet, dodging this way and that around thicker bunches of growth or extended branches.

  Mara was close behind, jerking around as she dodged things with her wings, making her movements seem a lot more sporadic. Chyla took up the rear, using the mess of a trail left by the other two, trying to keep her pace up. She kept catching herself focusing her stare towards Mara’s backside that was quickly shaken off as to not slow down an already hard race.

  “We are close Darlings; I can see the city walls.” Kallis turned to shout over her shoulder and almost fell on a small bundle of branches that was buried until the snow.

  Chyla’s heavy breathing echoed in her ears as they ran, it was tough for her to keep up with constantly running for hours. The only grace she was given was their passing through the deeper snow that the others cleared for her. She could feel her legs getting heavier and the burning in her lungs grew with each breath. The adrenaline was driving her forward, but her exhaustion made her body heavier and heavier.

  Through the breaks in the canopy, the dawn was starting to lighten the darkness above them. No longer the black that carried the twinkle of stars, now a softer hue of pinks, blues, and oranges trying to make its mark on a new beginning.

  With her attention on the sky, Chyla ran into Mara who had stopped, and fell back into the snow. With a finger over her lips, Mara turned to her and pointed beyond to something ahead of their lead. Kallis who had stopped a few paces ahead, had knelt in the snow and was listening intently.

  There was something beyond the city walls, a beast of sorts. A deep resonating breathing with heavy footsteps could be heard as well as felt through the snow. From the opposite side of the wall, the breathing made the air around her feel like it was being sucked away from her lungs. The ground shook below her with each heavy thump, whatever was inside the city was very powerful.

  Kallis raised up slightly to be able to move silently and motioned for both Mara and Chyla to follow. Shuffling as slow as they could by slipping their toe through the top of the snow like a knife stabbing through a soft meat in hopes to minimize the compacted crunch below their own weight. Each step brought them closer to the guillotine portcullis of the main gate with next to no sound. The beast within the city was moving away from them and luckily did not sense them.

  With the entry close by, Chyla’s face wrinkled up as she looked up through the falling snow to see the sconces and braziers around the walls not being lit. She could only see light footsteps in the snow leading under the gate that had mostly filled in, likely Dominic’s party. She watched as Kallis peered around the corner of the wall and then turned back to them.

  “Looks like it has moved on to the far side of the city. Stick close to the buildings and keep an ear out for whatever is in here with us.” Before anyone could ask a question, Kallis spun around the stonework and disappeared into the city.

  “After you.” Mara swept her hand around for Chyla to go ahead of her.

  Chyla pursed her lips and stepped around the winged woman, catching up to Kallis as quiet and quickly as she could. She kept her footing inside Kallis’ footprints which was difficult to do with how much taller she was. Chyla had to almost jump from imprint to imprint. Mara shook her head at her and pushed through the snow behind her, watching the shops and homes across the street.

  It did not take long for the three of them to reach the center courtyard with the frozen well. They stopped at last building to check down each of the connecting streets for the beast. The three other tracks could barely be seen through the courtyard, passing by the well and up into the far towering building. Kallis waved them on, convinced that the coast was clear.

  Stealing a look into the well as they passed, Chyla could see below the surface, shapes of bodies frozen in the waters. A small bucket stuck out of the ice like a wounded soldier calling for help as he drown into the depths with the rest of them. A strange feeling of being alone washed over her as she looked down the empty streets.

  “There are bodies in the …” Chyla spoke under her breath as movement caught her eye from the second-floor balcony; Tharissa could be seen waving at them slowly.

  There was life in this crypt.

  Just as they got to the top of front entry stair, a long deep horrific howl erupted from behind the buildings across the courtyard. With panicked attention and a fear that only inevitable death could instill, everyone’s eyes widened before scampering inside the tavern and slamming the door behind them.

  Chapter 27

  The blanket of white covering the city made things serene, Mya felt calm as she stared at the gentle flutter of falling flakes piling up in the city below. Her vantage from the second story window of the inn allowed her to see the whole courtyard and down each of the three roads leading from it.

  “Can you see it Darling?” Kallis called up from down in the tavern.

  Mya snapped out of her relaxing gaze and called back. “Not anymore.”

  She could hear background conversation between everyone downstairs about the best time to go. The thought of leaving before Gemini got back made her cringe her face in an anger filled annoyance.

  “We can’t leave without her!” Mya snapped out loud, cutting into their conversation and walked back
to the balcony railing to scowl at them.

  “As mentioned before, the company they are with will likely take care of her far better than most until they get where they need to go. In all odds, they need her just as much as we do.” Mara called up from one of the tables.

  “We have been here far too long already, and we need to get all the relics before we can leave the North anyway. If we rush up to the glacier and talk with the Shaman Thron-din, we can purchase a mount to speed our way south to catch up to them.” Dominic proposed.

  “We could ask for horses or Krampan, would do more than get us down to Murdone in time.” Kallis filled in.

  “What’s a Krampan?” Tharissa asked.

  “Sort of a big wolf mixed with a bird; the Barbarians use them more than horses to get around.” Kallis answered without looking at her.

  The anger in Mya’s face was very noticeable and she begrudgingly nodded before disappearing from the balcony railing, stomping her way down the stairs like a toddler having a temper tantrum.

  “We need to focus on getting out of the city and into the forest before we are seen.” Dominic sighed before furrowing his brow in thought.

  “It will be hard to get around or even away from the beast. Ahkm’zikar are not known for leaving survivors.” Mara said.

  “A what?” Dominic asked from his seat across the table.

  “An Ahkm’zikar. A creature from ancient times.” Mara answered with a side glance.

  “What did you call it, Awkamzooker?” Chyla struggled.

  “Ahkm’zikar Darling; it’s an ancient wyvern type, only six or seven of them in the world.” Kallis looked at her this time with her answer and smiled.

  Chyla silently mouthed the words to herself. “What is it?”

  “Like a Dragon but not magical. It’s a hulking bear-like wyrm mixed with a collection of demonic beast types; skin harder than anything known, cunning like an assassin, immune to almost everything and only comes out from its roost to mate or before a calamity to forage for food.” Kallis responded.