The Fractured Heartstone

by Ian Thornburrow-Dobson

  “That’s them!” the mage burst out. “They’re what’s left of the Draconis Legium from Maleardhus. Could you show us where the cave is? We have to find out everything we can about them and learn what they know. It’s vital.”

  “I suppose I could. Let me just round up some men in case there’s trouble.”

  “No,” Ydari interceded brusquely. “I want as few people to know as possible. You will take us there on foot. We’ll leave the horses here so that way we don’t draw attention and we’ll see if there’s anything to these men you saw,” the Captain finished, licking his lips in anticipation as he imagined the encounter to come.

  “Fair enough. Araia, you stay here and make sure this lot don’t get rowdy. We’ll leave as soon as I’ve dressed that wound,” responded Kael.

  Ydari’s vagabond sibling rose quickly and immediately set about the task of applying a fresh layer of soothing salve to the arrow wound before covering it with a clean dressing. After a few minutes the Watch Captain had strapped his ancestral armour back into place which Kael eyed suspiciously as he did so. The rest of the group idled or paced restlessly while Lothram groaned every now and then as if waiting were an ordeal in its own right that was worthy of his consternation. Raelynne barked at him to shut up and the two glowered ominously until Ydari shouted a command that brought them sulkily to attention.

  Ydari and Kael took the lead with Teobrin, Idrahil and Raelynne only a step behind. The feeble-minded youth had been happy to have been present during the adventure and his wide smile had been a permanent fixture ever since they had left Maleardhus. Every so often he would point animatedly to a member of Kael’s band or to a squirrel skittering in the tree on the edge of the clearing, his raucous voice always amazed at the sights and sounds around him. Ydari was secretly envious of the young man as they trudged in silence.

  Ydari and his companions followed closely behind Kael and they were soon well clear of the bandit stronghold. They once again found themselves schlepping through the dense undergrowth of the forest. The trees seemed thicker here and mournful hoots and howls of creatures echoed into the still air around them. Nervous anticipation was building inside Ydari though doubts nagged at him. If it had not been for Kael’s presence, they would have surely been lost in the unchanging wilderness that stretched out endlessly around them and it was only his sure-footed steps and intimate knowledge of the area that kept them heading on the right path.

  Kael called a sudden halt to the trooping column as a pack of wolves sniffed around the carcass of a deer ahead and he took them on a trek that looped around the predators and they were able to slip by unseen. The baying of the wolves as they left them behind sent a shiver up Teobrin’s spine and even his inane chattering died away as the dangers of the Melethynne now presented themselves. They were able to traverse much distance and already most of the day had been lost. Many twists and turns later Kael ushered them on and their direction of travel remained unchanged for some time. The setting sun was directly ahead of their party and, as such, Ydari could tell that they were headed in a westerly direction. Clearings opened up around them, small at first but getting progressively bigger and it seemed, to Ydari’s eyes, that they were skirting along the edge of the forest. One particularly large copse enclosed by trees revealed a large watering hole which now lay deserted but looked an inviting rest stop to the increasingly weary travellers.

  The longer the journey continued the more tired Ydari felt, exhaustion threatening to stop him dead in his tracks. The Watch Captain looked at the faces of his comrades, their drooping eyelids telling him that they too had started to flag and were in need of a rest. Mercifully, Kael called a halt and pointed through the trees. A cave mouth could be seen and there was no sign of activity around it. To anybody who looked upon it, it was just another natural feature of this untamed frontier. The vagabond dropped to his haunches and spied his surroundings for a moment before beckoning to his brother. Ydari quickly followed suit while Raelynne and the watchmen hovered close behind.

  “This is it,” Kael announced in hushed tones. “We saw a group of about ten to fifteen people here but that was days ago. By the looks of things, they have moved on.”

  “Damn!” Ydari cursed. “This is disappointing, though I wasn’t expecting to find much here.”

  “So, what now then?” Kael asked, his creased visage barely visible in the fading light.

  “I think we still need to check it out. It’s a long way to come for nothing,” his brother replied.

  “Agreed. Quick question before we go if you don’t mind.”

  “Alright.”

  “What made you put on our father’s armour?” Kael asked mutely. “That hasn’t seen use in some time, decades even.”

  “I don’t know. The time just felt right, given what happened in Maleardhus. I thought it would become of some use.”

  “Fair enough I suppose, even if I don’t believe you,” Kael said through a smile. “Of course, now you owe me some money. After all, you’re wearing half my inheritance,” he quipped.

  “Just be quiet,” Ydari snapped, though he hid a grin of his own. He was secretly happy to have been reunited with his brother, though Ydari would have never admitted it. “Form up,” Ydari commanded to his fellows. “We’re going down there for a closer look.”

  Ydari turned to face his friends and nodded to them. They set off toward the cave mouth and everything about it was unremarkable. Moss lined the stones around the entrance and some small flowering plants blossomed all around. The opening itself was small, only wide enough to admit one person at a time and darkness consumed all light just a few feet into the cavern beyond. Ydari looked down as he approached slowly. In the dirt a series of footprints were visible, indicating that a large group of individuals had indeed been here and all of them either led to or from the cave entrance. A knot of anger welled up in the pit of his stomach. Ydari held onto that feeling for a few moments, using it to summon a second wind against the tiredness that lingered so that he could remain alert.

  Kael was the first to enter the cavern beyond, Ydari only a step behind. The Watch Captain stopped suddenly as he bumped into the brigand leader who puffed irritably and shouted a command to stop for a moment. From behind them Idrahil fumbled about and quickly lit a torch before passing it down the line. Kael took the burning wood from Ydari as a second torch was lit, finally providing enough light for them to see by. They stepped into the confines of the cave and it was a small space that looked as if it would have been quite a squeeze for a group as large as the one purportedly seen by Araia. Some evidence of their stay however was left behind; the remnants of a campfire in the middle of the small cave and a few discarded bones that were presumably what was left of their meal.

  The cave however was only big enough to admit Kael, Ydari and Raelynne who had followed them in before they were mashed together. Each of them accidentally elbowed each other in the cramped conditions as they tried to move about as they looked for clues. Alarm bells were ringing inside Ydari’s head but even his eyes could not pick up on what, if anything, they were missing. Kael knuckled past Raelynne and careened into her as his foot caught a jagged rock in the floor, practically tumbling into her lap. She struck him instantly and ceaselessly, not believing that his carelessness was in fact an accident. As she hammered on Kael’s back, Ydari turned and stopped suddenly. The torch that his brother clasped fluttered as a gust of wind made the flames dance.

  “There’s another opening,” the Watch Captain blurted out.

  Ydari latched onto his brother’s shoulders and wrenched him back to his feet. He pushed him to one side, sliding past Raelynne as he did so, and pressed the flat of his hands against the rocky surface. As he slid his hands along it his arm plunged into a hole that had been hidden from view in the poor light. Rocks scraped against his gauntlet as he extracted a limb, calling out for Kael to bring the torch closer. In the flickering gloom a narrow crevice could be made out and the crack in the rocks was wide enou
gh to admit a man.

  Ydari smiled triumphantly, calling to Idrahil, Teobrin and Lothram to follow as he forced his body through the gap. He grunted as his waist snagged in the narrow space before he tumbled to the ground on the other side. As Ydari looked up a light beamed through a hole in the roof of the cave and wind gusted into his face. Inside the pool of light, a vast statue had been erected and stood pride of place in the centre. One by one everybody forced their way through the crevice with Lothram being the last to struggle his way through. His eyes fell on the statue immediately and he crossed over to it, eyeballing it with interest. Ydari quickly joined his Sergeant.

  The two men looked at the sculpture and were amazed at the intricacies in the carvings and the animalistic fury captured in stone. It was of a huge dragon that was reared up on its hind legs with its wings spread out like a curtain while belching a stream of fire. Bloodstains bathed the base of the sculpture and an inquisitive look passed between the two men as understanding instantly dawned on them.

  “What is it with this bloody cult and caves?” Lothram barked furiously. “Why can’t they have a summer home on a nice beach somewhere?”

  Before anyone could answer, footfalls could be heard as someone approached their position. Quickly they extinguished their torches and retreated back towards the crevice where the cave was darkest, throwing themselves against the rockface so that they were expertly hidden from whoever was now approaching. Two tall figures approached with a third held tightly between them who was scrabbling desperately against them. The two men dragged their prisoner to the foot of the dragon and threw him down bodily, his face cracking against unforgiving stone. His wails of despair did nothing to sway his captors as yet another form approached donned in a black hood and chanting in a strange language that Ydari was intimately familiar with. Unconsciously, the Watch Captain touched the gem shard and knew that he had heard those same words in his dreams.

  The robed figure placed himself in front of the kneeling wretch and pulled a dagger out and held it theatrically over his head. He barked a command to the men on either side and they instantly grabbed their prisoner’s limbs and thrust his hand forward at the priestly form, all the while his quivering pleas falling on indifferent ears. Abruptly, the priest’s ramblings went silent and he cleaved the prisoner’s hand off in one neat swing. The prisoner’s cries became of torrent of sobbing agony as he beheld the stump. One of the men who had manhandled him to this altar booted him in the face and he instantly fell silent.

  Anger welled up once more inside Ydari and he acted without thinking. Suddenly he jumped up, pulling his sword free from its scabbard and stepping out into view. He called to the cultists and his face took on a menacing form as the gem shard grew hot in his chest. The blue glow surrounded the Watch Captain’s frame and he stepped forward confidently. The priest’s gaze shot up and beheld an enraged Ydari. He bellowed to his cohorts and they turned on the spot. They paused a second as uncertainty took hold before the priest repeated his command to attack. They extracted their own weapons.

  The rest of Ydari’s companions stepped out from their hiding spaces and the two cultists stopped dead as they now saw that they were outnumbered. Lothram instantly snatched his dagger and threw it at them with unnerving accuracy, the blade whistling through the air before it caught one of the men in the throat. The blade buried itself in the man’s jugular and he dropped to the stone floor with barely enough time to register what had happened to him. The second man instantly lost his nerve and turned to flee. Ydari however sprinted over to him and was upon him in a few easy strides. The priest fled as soon as the first man had dropped but Kael loosened an arrow from the bow he carried and the bolt slammed into his thigh and dropped him before he could escape.

  The Watch Captain’s shoulder barged the final man and he smacked the cave wall at speed. His form crunched against the craggy surface and before he could make it back to his feet Ydari’s sword was rammed into his eye socket, the weapon thrusting easily into the wretch’s cranium. By the dragon altar the stumped prisoner was roused by the sound of combat and looked up at his saviours. Raelynne pushed past and walked straight over to the poor man while Lothram placed his boot firmly across the throat of the priest and held him in place.

  The mage opened a pouch at her waist and pulled out a strange herb. She quickly placed it on the man’s arm where his hand had once resided and she picked up the severed appendage. She began chanting herself, her voice soft and low as she offered up the man’s hand to the still bleeding stump. A glow appeared in her hands and Ydari felt a light tingling in the air. Raelynne continued to chant slowly and she pressed the prisoner’s hand back into place and held it for a moment as the skin healed around the edges of the jagged wound. The light grew in intensity as the hand twitched and moved until at last it died away. The prisoner looked at his arm with bulged eyes as he twisted his arm about, opening and closing his fist experimentally.

  “Thank you!” the prisoner exclaimed, enfolding his arms around the mage gratefully.

  “It’s fine. You should go before they decide to try again and we’re not here to stop them,” Raelynne replied. The man nodded at her words and after thanking her profusely a few more times he jumped to his feet and raced from view.

  “What about him?” Idrahil asked.

  “I’ve got a few questions for him,” Ydari said ominously. “Get him up!”

  “With pleasure,” Lothram sneered. He booted the robed man in the ribs roughly before closing his hands about the man’s neck and wrenching him up to his feet. “Don’t worry, we’ll play nice.”

  “You should leave this place. You desecrate the sanctity of this site with your presence,” the priest quavered, his voice cracking.

  “I don’t care!” Ydari thundered. “I think you’d make an exception for me though. I have your precious artefact and I’m learning to harness its power. I wonder what I could make it do to you if you don’t co-operate?” the Captain asked icily.

  “Althanir’s wings! It’s you!” he choked nasally. “Don’t hurt me, I just tend to this altar and perform the blood sacrifices,” he pleaded ineffectually.

  “About that. What is this place exactly?”

  “It’s a shrine we built to the Dragon God. We worship here and give bloodlettings to appease him,” the priest explained with a wave of his hands towards the statue. “The Draconis Legium have sites like this all over Efealtor and we use them as rest stops when travelling.”

  “Good, we came to the right place then. So, you know if some of your friends came here from Meleardhus a few days ago,” said Ydari.

  “I wouldn’t know anything about that.”

  “You’re a poor liar,” Ydari said through a menacing smile. “You already let me know they were here when you knew who I was and what I am in possession of. The only way you would know that is if someone from Maleardhus came here and told you of it. Now talk before I lose my temper,” the Captain boomed. He balled a fist and smashed it into the man’s gut, waiting a moment for him to catch his breath.

  “Alright, I’ll tell you,” the priest pleaded as he squirmed in the Sergeant’s arms. “They were headed to Tirgaal. They have business there.”

  “What sort of business?”

  “I wouldn’t know that. I’ve only just been promoted from an initiate and they don’t tell me those kinds of secrets yet. All I know is where they are going.”

  “It’s a start but you’re holding something back from me, I know it.”

  “I told you everything, I swear.”

  “I wonder what your insides look like. Let’s find out, shall we?” Ydari menaced as he raised his hands and they pulsed with the power of the gem.

  “Ok…ok. They’re meeting a contact by the name of Adaryn.”

  “That’s all you know?”

  “I swear, on my life.”

  “Adaryn?” Kael said to himself. “I feel like I know that name.”

  “It’s not much to go on, but it’s a start.�
��

  “What about him?” Lothram asked as he threw the quivering priest to the ground. “I say we gut him.”

  “No. We’ll take him back to the bandit camp and they can decide what they want to do with him. We can’t risk leaving him here and…” Ydari started.

  Before the captain could finish what he had been saying, Lothram stamped on the enfeebled man’s throat and a loud crunch was emitted. The priest’s hand clasped his neck futilely as he sucked for air but no such relief came as he thrashed violently on the spot, his face turning various hues of blue and purple as he fought for air. However, no such salvation came and finally he ceased moving and fell back rigidly.

  “What?” Lothram asked nonchalantly. “It achieved the same thing and I didn’t want to carry him back all that way.”

  “You didn’t have to kill him though,” Ydari chided.

  “Well, it’s too late to worry about it now.”

  “Let’s just get out of here,” Idrahil suggested helpfully.

  “Wait,” Kael said suddenly.

  “What?”

  “I remember where I know that name from. You said King Aynhar was assassinated and that a regent will rule in his place until his son becomes old enough, right?” asked Kael.

  “That’s right,” Ydari answered. “What of it?”

  “If I’m not mistaken, there was a member of the royal household who answered to Adaryn.”

  “You’re right. This is going to be more difficult than I imagined,” Ydari interrupted. A cold chill overcame him as he came to an unsettling realisation. The priest had been more helpful than he could have realised as the truth reared its ugly head and threw up a surprising and complicated difficulty. The contact of the Draconis Legium was the younger brother of King Aynhar and the new regent of Tirgaal.

  Chapter Nine

  The table flew across the tent as Ydari’s boot sent it flying. Kael dodged out of the way as it sailed towards him before splintering to pieces. The Captain’s mood had been roiling and volcanic and the latest report from one of Kael’s scouts had reignited the fire which now raged uncontrollably. Lothram stepped up and pressed a firm hand on Ydari’s shoulder, leaning in to whisper something in his ear as he did so. This small gesture seemed to calm him down but Raelynne thought she could still see smoke spewing from his ears.