Necromancer’s Sorrow: (Series Finale)

by Pablo Andrés Wunderlich Padilla

  “So, these are the heroes who are going to help us defeat Orx,” said the pegasus called Perófias, the one they had seen when they had first arrived in this world.

  “This is Elgahar,” the Iptaan explained. “He is a powerful mage who will help us defeat Orx.” Elgahar swallowed hard. It seemed as if someone had chosen him for a fight and he had no idea what his opponent was or what he was capable of. If it involved dark magic, then it must be an enemy who practiced the Black Arts.

  “Well then, they can ride on our backs—an honor we rarely concede to anybody. This will be the only exception.” The pegasus added grumpily, “Please keep it a secret, because we don’t want anybody else coming in search of our services as high-speed transport.”

  All the winged horses had black manes and intelligent eyes and were heavily-muscled. They were proud and carried their heads high. Turi wondered whether there might be some kind of rivalry between the Catalgar and the Dolfas, though it was hard to tell. One thing was certain: quadrupeds ruled this planet.

  “Do we have to do this?” said one of the other pegasus. “Allow these inferior beings to ride on our backs? Nobody has ever dared. Ever.”

  “I’m afraid so, my dear Abstulrén. Before she disappeared, our Goddess D’Santhes Nathor asked us to help them in their efforts to defend Good. These bipeds with their feeble little legs won’t be able to travel fast over the rocky terrain, so we must take them to the edge of the forest of Ashk’shaala, as we agreed.”

  “Will our goddess return, do you think?” another pegasus asked.

  “She might be dead, Bélbolén. The same thing happened when the God of Fire disappeared, do you remember?”

  “Hell! It can’t be!”

  “But you’ve seen plenty of evidence of it,” Perófias argued. “In our temple, the statue of D’Santhes Nathor has begun to blur. This can only mean her death.”

  “It might be better to talk about that some other time. I don’t want the Catalgar or these weird bipeds to turn their pity on me.”

  With some resistance and distrust, one pegasus stopped beside each of the foreigners. Ushka, the giant insect, was the only one who could be taken as a many-legged creature, but both the pegasus and the Catalgar seemed reluctant to acknowledge the fact.

  Lalopantos approached the monolith. “This giant crystal doesn’t seem able to think at all,” he said smugly. The Cristalur emitted more vibrations, which Tenchi translated for Elgahar in his mind.

  “Tagulumich says he can move fast across any kind of terrain,” the mage told the Iptaan. “I suppose you’ll have to trust him.”

  “So be it. Tagulumich, follow us as best you can. We’ll make haste through the Faults of Ichinbur, which are jagged, brittle, and dangerous.”

  Without more ado, the Iptaan gave a powerful leap, his four legs carrying him at an impressive speed across a terrain that was so rocky it looked impenetrable. The he-goats leaped from fault to fault without difficulty, while behind them, the crystal moved rapidly with those filaments that acted as its limbs.

  “They’re barbarians,” said Yamilal, another pegasus.

  “The Catalgar have always been inferior. On we go. Let’s get on with this mission so that we can go back to the mountains.”

  When the humans and the insect had mounted the pegasuses, the latter neighed and protested all the way, arguing among themselves about how disgusting it was to have to carry a biped on their backs. The humans could only feel uncomfortable and appreciate the irony of the situation, as on their planet, it was horses that were considered unintelligent, no more than domesticated animals, and were used as beasts of burden. What would a horse do if it were to find out that its distant cousins were independent and that they could fly?

  Chapter XXXI — Elves in Kathanas

  Lohrén led the legion of thousands to the portal that would take them to the world of humans where possibly most, or perhaps all, would die in the attempt to bring down Mórgomiel. Hiz the Spellcaster had created the vortex for the transfer, making sure it had the right spells around its edge to prevent evil beings from coming through. It would not be the first time the elves had fought the God of Chaos.

  Things had changed, Lohrén was thinking. Humans had developed on the planet Mórgomiel had conquered thousands of years earlier to create his world of portals. The plans of the humans were wonderful and truly insane. Besieging Mórgomiel’s planet was stupid and at the same time, it was one of the best ideas he had ever heard.

  The general of the armed forces of Allündel could not get Luchy out of his mind, even though her heart belonged to Alac Arc Ángelo. He could not compete with a being like that, nor was he going to try. He had never believed it was true that elves fell in love only once and that if that love was unrequited, they stayed in love for the rest of their lives, incapable of loving anybody else.

  I’ve fallen in love with a human but maybe there’s still hope for me, now that we’re going to the world of humans, the general thought. I’ll be able to meet someone else there. I might not love her, but it would be a substitute worth getting to know. What troubled Lohrén most was the fact that he was an elf who had lived for so long and had never known love like this until now and this emotion had crippled him in a single moment.

  Behind him, the two columns of armed elves marched in perfect step, with the elemín armor and swords in their scabbards shining in the light of the sun Oris. The elves looked fearsome, with helmets that covered their face completely and left only two openings for their eyes and a grid to breathe through. Lohrén was not wearing his helmet and his long hair was still gathered in a bun on top of his head. He would have to untie his hair when he wore his full armor.

  Silently, he was longing to meet someone like Luchy in the human world, someone as sweet and as pure. There was something in this girl’s soul that drove him crazy.

  Behold me, suffering from the curse every elf fears: falling in love.

  He would not be the first, nor the last, elf to fall in love with a human. An elf could take his own life to live for the same length of time as a human; on the other hand, a human could never live any longer even if he or she wanted to. Well, there was a way but only through the Black Arts. Nothing created with the aid of that dark magic ever brought any good result. He remembered the legend of Yundala, a sorceress who had fallen in love with an elf and who, to live forever, had invoked the Black Arts. According to the legend, she had become a wraith when the Black Arts consumed her flesh. Unable to love the love of her life, she had killed him and consumed his soul. Then, the wraith had gone into the Interim where she still wanders without rest.

  “On the other side of this portal,” he told his army, “lies the world manipulated by the God of Chaos, the bringer of the misery that forced us to create this piece of land we now call home! To that world we will go, seeking battle against that ill-born wretch. Many of you will not come back. Those who do will be maimed and wounded so deeply that there will be no healing.

  “Allündel is set apart, hidden so that Mórgomiel will never find it. But if he conquers the universe, we will be living on an island surrounded by shadows. Believe me, it would not take long for him to find us and obliterate us forever.

  “On the other side of this portal is Mórgomiel’s planet where different cultures from other worlds are gathering to amass an army of several hundred thousand. We will give it all we have with courage, honor, and daring. Follow me to the other side! For Nimyaya, we will give battle to the last drop of elemín!”

  “Alambam! Alambam! Oohah!” the legion echoed in a chorus, celebrating their leader’s words.

  ***

  It was nighttime in the Meridian. Sokomonoko was waiting for the second culture to cross the magical barrier to offer their legion to the common effort. She was in her tent, sitting with her legs crossed as she meditated to perceive the possible futures of those people who had to fight for victory in this war.

  Strange things had been happening, guards murdered and unplanned s
ubstitutes for others. Each of the cultures had offered several guards to keep watch over the Portal so that evil would not cross, but there are evil spirits that tangible beings cannot detect and those were the ones she feared most.

  The Empress of Grizna knew that Mórgomiel’s agents were among the guards, both evil humans and spirits who would do anything to sabotage the human mission, while the Lord of Chaos made his preparations to unleash his fury.

  Because of this, Sokomonoko had strengthened the security of the site by adding a herd of Torok.

  The Torok were not open to manipulation by evil spirits and could not be replaced by evil humans. They could be stolen to tame them—or, at least, attempt to since these beasts were loyal to their masters and would die before they obeyed a new leader. Some Torok had appeared dead, their throats slit by a saber or gutted by a spear. But never tamed. The reptiles were excellent guards; on many occasions, they had caught intruders and on eleven of those occasions they had torn to shreds several men and two orcs who had sneaked in and tried to wreak havoc around the Portal of the Worlds.

  Sokomonoko had also been left in charge of a platoon of nearly three hundred Dakatak. The insects could not be swayed by malice and they were nothing if not obedient. All the insects were male. The only female, she had found, was the queen.

  The tents put up around the portal housed another hundred soldiers of the Mandrake Empire and their captain Mondragón Garza. Doolm-Ondor, Moragald’Burg, and the Divine Providence had each brought a thousand soldiers. The men and women of those armies were chaotic and subject to sudden outbreaks of passion so that they made nuisances of themselves as a result of love, money, and gambling. The guards of Devnóngaron were respectable and their Devonic Shepherds were fearsome beasts that could kill a man with a single bite.

  Although drinking was forbidden, some had managed to bring drink made from the Burgmansia. Brawls had broken out on some occasions. But Sokomonoko was sure that many of those brawls had been started by evil humans infiltrated among her ranks and possibly by evil spirits who had taken possession of some soldier or other.

  After the arrival of the first army, which was that of the giant crystals who were settled near the Lithium Caves having requested somewhere with rocky faults, Sokomonoko had spent several days waiting for the second army to arrive. With her powers of foresight, she could see possible futures, traces of what might come to be, and, on occasion, she had seen armies of giant he-goats, elves, and diabolical beings crossing the portal. She, unlike everyone else except for the Naevas Aedán, could communicate with the Cristalur. They had left three watchmen to help secure the portal, unchanging monoliths that never seemed to move.

  In her mind, an alarm sounded. She opened her eyes and left her tent. The mages were in one of the others. They were supposed to be helping to keep peace and order but had done nothing except haggling for tobacco, spending their days smoking their pipes, and overeating. For these gluttonous mages, this was like a vacation and she was not surprised that they were asleep.

  Once in the open air, she noticed that the herd of Torok was agitated, communicating among themselves with throaty clicks. The insects were already coming out of their holes in the ground, while the humans were appearing from their tents in full armor. The crystals remained unchanged.

  The Portal, Sokomonoko saw, was beginning to shine platinum and after a faint flash, a figure appeared through it. It was walking with great confidence. Its pale skin and elegant features revealed it at once as an elf. The Empress had proof of it when she saw his armor with the badge of a tree which spread great branches out to the elf’s collar and coiled around his chest. That badge on the metal represented Nimyaya.

  “Stop, in the name of the King of Mandrake,” Mondragón called out. “Leader of the legions of the Trigonosphere Stratta! Defender of the five essences! The descendant of the people of Flamonia! Present your permit to enter this region!”

  It was thanks to a Naevas Aedán floating beside him that the elf was able to understand what had been said. He raised the copper coin high, then threw it to the captain, who, having verified the permit, said no more.

  Behind the great and powerful elf who stepped down the ramp and onto the field, came two columns of soldiers. As they went, they formed into squads. It took hours for the whole army to occupy the Fields of Flora.

  The leader of that legion approached the tents. On his way there, he was sniffed by the Torok and examined from a distance by the Dakatak. The humans studied them in turn and said nothing when they saw their leader walking so confidently. The seraph flew around him, shining rosy pink.

  The elf came to stand before Sokomonoko. The empress greeted him with a bow and the elf returned the gesture. Sokomonoko soon read all his thoughts, his past, and his likely future. She felt both sad and pleased in the presence of this elf whose path was uncertain, had fallen in love with a human, and now carried the weight of that infatuation on his shoulders. At the same time, she saw a powerful warrior of great prowess who would fight to the end because he had given himself to his profession and would not cease fighting until his goal was fulfilled or he would die in the attempt.

  “Nidra,” Lohrén said. “I need you to translate my words.”

  With pleasure, the Naevas Aedán replied.

  Sokomonoko smiled at the sight of the seraph and felt grateful that it was there to translate the thoughts of the leader of the elves. Although she could read the past and present and predict a future, she could not read people’s most immediate thoughts.

  “My name is Lohrén of the House of Nina, the Princess of Yore,” the elf began. “My legion consists of several thousand soldiers. Some of them are seasoned while others are still green, but all having great hearts. Among us, there are excellent archers, lancers, and swordsmen.”

  “Greetings, esteemed elf. My name is Sokomonoko. I am the Empress of Grizna and the one appointed to receive those brave souls who have joined the struggle against Mórgomiel. We have created housing for the elf legion, in a shattered city that might benefit from your presence. The name of the city is Kathanas, a bastion that was destroyed after the advance of the shadows not much more than a year ago. Please accept the offer to set up your camp there to eat from its table and drink from its streams.”

  “We elves feel honored,” Lohrén replied. “We agree to stay wherever the Empress of Grizna, who has been entrusted with welcoming us, has chosen as our camp.”

  “Wait,” Sokomonoko said. Her gaze turned first serious, then sad. “I have news of Balthazar, the shaman who visited Allündel on many occasions. Did you meet him?”

  The elf looked worried. “All the elves know who Balthazar is, of course. Is anything wrong?”

  “Balthazar is suffering, Lohrén. When I think about his essence in an attempt to see his likely future, the only thing I see is an enormous demon. This can only mean that he has been intercepted by Mórgomiel or by one of his high-ranking chieftains. But there is more… I see in him, the essence of the Oracle, the Black Queen of the Morelia Abyss.”

  Lohrén felt distaste at the mention of the Oracle. “She betrayed Alac Arc Ángelo. We found this out thanks to Balthazar.” He put his hand to his chin, stroked his lips, and his gaze lost itself in the infinite.

  “The Oracle betrayed Alac!” the Empress cried. “That is horrendous! It explains everything. No wonder Mórgomiel has such an advantage over us. But in that case, what are the essences of the Oracle, a dark mage and, Balthazar doing in one organism? Nothing makes sense. This is deeply worrying.”

  “It certainly is. And tell me, do you believe Balthazar’s loss is beyond doubt? Will he be able to return to us?”

  “I don’t know, but I doubt it. I fear that if a powerful sorcerer is occupying a space in his soul, then his essence has been contaminated and there seems to be no remedy for that. I mean,” Sokomonoko added, considering the facts from another angle for the first time. “If there are three essences in an organism, then it must be a chimera.”

>   The elf sighed. “Captain Melanina!” he called. At once, a female elf in full armor, her face covered by her helmet, came to her general’s side.

  “Here, General!”

  “Melanina, send an emissary back to Allündel with the following message: To the Council of Elves, Balthazar has fallen into the hands of evil. Make sure Hiz investigates with his orb. Get on with it! Don’t delay! Balthazar is a powerful ally!”

  “Immediately, General!” Captain Melanina replied and left in haste.

  Lohrén took a deep breath and became calmer. “We’ve come to give everything, and it’s all thanks to Balthazar’s efforts. I know that wherever he is, he’ll do what he can to prevent the advance of evil. May his soul rest in peace.”

  After several orders, the legion of ten thousand elves began to raise camp. In the early morning, they would march on to Kathanas.

  Thank you, Nidra, Lohrén thought.

  A pleasure. This planet is wonderful. It seems incredible that it’s here that my god Thórlimás was destroyed some four centuries ago.

  ***

  Kathanas welcomed the elves with open arms. As they walked across the Fields of Flora, the elf legion could not stop admiring the world they had come to. Most were nervous, never having left Allündel before. The soldiers in their elemín could not break ranks to stop and admire the moors. Some had developed rashes on their skin with exposure to the new world and others were coughing or sneezing. Lohrén assured them that it was only the effect of being in a world they had never visited, particularly as they had been isolated for so long on Allündel where the air was clean and there was no pollution.

  Lohrén had not seen as much vegetation and wildlife as this for thousands of years. There were so many geographic faults and such a beautiful blue sky with its feathery orange and blue clouds. This planet’s sun was young and its light warmed them joyfully.