Trials

by Pedro Urvi

  “By the Light!” cried Lindaro. He took a step back.

  “I didn’t mean to!” said Iruki. “The medallion acts of its own volition.”

  The Ilenian rune shone with increased intensity. They began to feel a breeze running through the chamber.

  “I can feel the Ilenian magic all around us,” warned Yakumo. “Be ready.”

  “What’s that strange breeze?” said Lindaro. “Maybe it’s to renew the air we’re breathing?”

  The breeze increased, turning rapidly into a powerful wind.

  A chill ran down Iruki’s spine. She began to feel fear. A fear that was very real, almost tangible.

  “Wind! The Key!” said Sonea looking in every direction.

  They all tried to hold on to something as the breeze turned into a real gale. A moment later they were caught up in a whirlwind.

  “Hold on!” cried Yakumo.

  “Don’t lose your balance, or else the wind will drag you away!” cried Iruki.

  Sonea and Lindaro tried to hold on to the walls of the cavern as the gale got stronger and stronger.

  “We won’t be able to stand up to this wind!” cried Sonea in terror. “It’s going to drag us away!”

  Looking at her, Iruki noticed how small she was, and feared for her. She could not weigh more than a fawn, and she was going to be drowned by the cyclone that was forming. She held on to Yakumo with all her might and looked around trying to find a handhold, but could find nothing but bare limestone walls.

  “There’s no place to get a hold!” cried Lindaro. He was desperately struggling with his robe which seemed ready to fly off his lean body.

  Iruki, holding on to Yakumo, stretched out her hand toward Sonea with great difficulty. The little librarian could hardly stand.

  “Grab my hand, Sonea, hurry!”

  Sonea grabbed Iruki’s hand, aware that her life depended on it.

  “Lindaro! You as well! Hold fast!”

  “By the blessed Light!” cried the man of faith, and held on to Sonea with all the strength he could.

  The cyclone turned more intense. The winds had reached an unbelievable speed by now. The four adventurers were trying to stay on their feet by holding onto each other, while their clothes lashed all around them.

  Sonea lost her balance, Lindaro and Iruki managed to keep hold of her. The poor girl was suspended between the two, hanging from her arms.

  “It’s taking me!” she cried terrified.

  They all pulled hard to keep their hold on her.

  “Hold on! Hold on!” shouted Yakumo.

  Suddenly the cyclone changed its course and began to push them from the floor towards the dome of the cavern.

  “What on earth!” cried Yakumo.

  The dome of the cavern lit up, flashing several times with the characteristic golden sheen of the Ilenian magic. Suddenly, a huge hole opened in the ceiling and the gale began to push toward it. It seemed that the cyclone had come to life and was trying to get out of the cave through that opening in the ceiling.

  “Don’t let go!” shouted Iruki.

  But the force of the winds dragged them all along amid desperate screams. The four flew out of the chamber through the hole in the ceiling. It dragged them to the upper level, flattening them against the ceiling of the chamber. They could not move.

  “What can we do?” shouted Iruki. Her face and body were pressed against the hard rock of this other dome.

  Before Yakumo could reply, the wind changed again and pushed them violently against the eastern wall of the chamber. The blow was overwhelming, they all dropped to the floor breathless. Even Yakumo needed a couple of minutes to recover.

  Then, as suddenly as it had begun, the cyclone stopped completely. The four adventurers were left on the ground, winded.

  After a while, Iruki opened her eyes. She was sore all over, just as if a whole herd of wild buffalo had passed over her. She saw they were in a cavern with dark walls and a domed ceiling. Yakumo was getting to his feet and Lindaro and Sonea were unconscious, she ran over to help them.

  Lindaro came to, dizzy and with a lump on his forehead. “What happened?”

  Sonea raised herself with difficulty. She had been equally affected by the impact.

  “It was dragging me…” she said, “I couldn’t stay on my feet. The force of that wind was too much for me.”

  Iruki looked miserably around the cavern. There was no other exit except the hole on the ground through which they had been propelled from the lower cave. How were they going to get out of there? She did not want to go through another experience like the one at the Temple of Water. But when she thought of leaving the place she felt something in her chest, a strange sensation she had already felt before… Something was brewing in her abdomen. The medallion she wore round her neck flashed again.

  “No!” She tried to stop whatever it was that the medallion wanted to invoke against her will.

  But there was no way she could.

  Yakumo was pointing. “Look!”

  In reply to the medallion’s summons, the cavern sparkled with the mystical gold of the Ilenian magic. To everyone’s bafflement, the northern wall of the cavern crumbled as if it had been blown down by the wind.

  “It may be the door we were looking for, the exit the key opens!” said Lindaro, full of hope.

  But just then, a figure appeared in the opening.

  Iruki shrugged.

  “Oh no!” she cried, paralyzed by terror.

  Before them was an Ilenian Guardian Mage, wearing a white robe trimmed with gold. His bright golden eyes were visible under the hood which hid his head and face. In one hand he carried a strangely carved staff, and in the other a book with golden cover.

  “A Guardian! Beware!” cried Lindaro.

  Sonea opened her eyes in bewilderment, not understanding what was happening.

  “He’s… is he carrying… is that an Ilenian grimoire in his hand?” she asked as she recognized the book.

  Iruki, who like Lindaro was very much aware of the mortal danger they were in, put her hand to her Ilenian sword.

  Yakumo acted immediately. In two strides he leapt towards the Guardian, his black daggers unmistakably intent on death. Iruki recognized the red flash that enveloped the Assassin as he called upon one of his lethal abilities. She realized she could sense the use of magic better than before, and it gave her an odd feeling. She remembered how at first she had recognized the magic of Lasgol the Tracker, but that had been so faint she had almost not noticed it. Now, though, she felt it in all its strength and intensity. She could not tell what skill Yakumo was using, but it was obvious that it was a very aggressive one.

  In the face of the attack the Ilenian Guard acted swiftly. He moved his staff towards Yakumo. A powerful wind came out of the staff with such a fierce roar that Iruki felt the blood freeze in her veins. Yakumo was hit by the deadly breath and thrown against the wall, hitting his back forcefully.

  He fell to the ground and did not move

  “Noooooooo!” cried Iruki, fearing the worst.

  She ran to help her beloved, but as she did so the Guardian murmured and pointed the staff at her. Iruki’s heart skipped a beat. Before she could reach Yakumo, a whirlwind more than six feet high, swirling at a tremendous speed, materialized before her.

  What’s that? What does the Guardian want?

  Frightened, she stood a step back. She saw the column of air in front of her, threatening, rotating with enormous speed and strength, it was going so fast that it whistled, it was whitish and cloudy. Iruki stepped sideways to try and get past this magical monster and reach Yakumo, but the whirlwind fell upon her at a speed she would never have thought possible, faster than a leopard of the steppes. It caught her and enveloped her completely. She struggled against it, but was unable to move while it swirled around her crazily. She was a prisoner in a cage of wind. She looked at Yakumo lying on the ground, wounded, and fear crushed her soul like a weight.

  Once again the Guardian raised
his staff above his head. His sinister golden eyes shone, and he began to intone a gloomy chant… Iruki wanted to shout, but her throat was tightly clamped. Three new whirlwinds were conjured, trapping Sonea, Lindaro and the prostrate Yakumo in their vortexes. They were all paralyzed inside the swirling spirals. Iruki tried with all her might to escape the whirlwind but the hungry force of the wind around her held her trapped. It was an indestructible cell of wind, spinning at dizzying speed

  “By all the Lights of the Heavens! What new spell is this?” shouted Lindaro. “We’re trapped! I can’t move! This is not natural!”

  “It’s a prison made of wind, horribly ironic and absolutely fascinating!” said Sonea in amazement.

  “Think of something!” yelled Iruki. “We’ve got to get ourselves out of this!”

  The Ilenian Guardian took a step forward and pointed his staff in the direction of the Masig.

  Iruki swallowed hard. What was he going to do next? She was defenseless…

  The medallion round her neck gave off a bright flash.

  The Guardian Mage seemed to hesitate…

  He lowered the staff but directed it at her again immediately. He murmured something in his strange language.

  Iruki felt a shock against her head, a mental blow which bewildered her, it was as if the Mage wanted to get inside her thoughts. A new thrust, and Iruki understood that the Guardian was trying to communicate with her. The blows against her mind gave way to a distant murmur which came from the past, gradually awakening understanding in her…

  You…

  You not worthy…

  You of ancient blood…

  But not pure…

  Do not fool…

  Me Temple Guardian…

  Temple of Air…

  Holy Temple…

  Great King rest…

  You insult Lord of the Air…

  You fool…

  You die…

  All die…

  “No, please! We just want to get out of here, the medallion acts of its own will. I didn’t try to fool you. You have to believe me! I swear it by the holiest, our Mother Steppe! May the evil spirits take me if I lie!”

  The Guardian went back to casting the spell. The swirls began to change color, turning from a cloudy white to a nightmarish black, like that of a moonless winter night. Iruki felt an intense fear. She could not understand what was happening, but it was a bad omen.

  “What’s going on?” asked Sonea. There was shock in her voice. “What’s he doing to us?”

  “I pray to the Pure Light that this may not be our end, and that we may witness a new day,” Lindaro muttered in terror.

  “Hold fast!” cried Iruki, trying in vain to instill courage in them.

  The whirlwind which enveloped her was now so dark she could not see around her. The blackness absorbed her completely, penetrating her body and mind as if it were some evil, pestilent essence.

  And she lost consciousness.

  Iruki woke up with a terrible headache. Her sight failed her and everything around her was hazy and incoherent. Where was she? What had happened? The Masig had no idea, her mind could not remember exactly what had gone on before. Her head was torturing her and nothing was clear. She got to her feet with difficulty and tried to focus. She found she was on a long, narrow bridge of rope and wood, which began to sway as she stood up. She immediately reached for the rope guide. The bridge was so narrow that only one person could stand on it at a time. Fear returned with the swaying, the structure did not seem at all robust. She looked ahead, but could not make out what was at the end of the bridge. She half-turned and looked behind, but it was the same. Am I losing my mind? What’s going on? I can’t see what’s ahead of me. But I should be able to, it’s not so far and there’s nothing between it and my eyes…

  A voice reached her ears. She looked ahead and recognized the voice of her beloved father, the scene became clear before her: her father in his Masig tent, lying in his bed, very sick. He was calling her name amid the hallucinations the high fever gave him.

  “Iruki… Iruki…” His voice sounded broken, dying.

  Iruki’s heart nearly broke from the pain of it, and she burst into inconsolable tears. She reached for the leather pouch at her belt and checked that she still had the Sky Weed with her.

  “I have it, father! You’ll be all right, I have the cure!” she cried. She felt guilt as great as the very Fountain of Life itself. “I couldn’t bring them to you before, I was… fleeing… I was… trapped…” But the pain of not being there, with her father, was tearing her soul apart.

  “Iruki…” the dying leader of the Blue Clouds called again.

  “I’m coming, father. I have the cure!”

  At that very moment, just as she was about to run to her father, she heard the muffled voice of Yakumo behind her.

  “Iruki…”

  She turned round and saw her beloved lying on the ground, badly wounded, on the other side of the bridge. He was bleeding massively from a terrible wound in his stomach.

  “No! Yakumo!” she cried desperately. She realized he was going to bleed to death.

  Iruki howled to the wind, powerless in the face of the situation. Her heart and soul were tearing her apart.

  I have to save them! They can’t die! I can’t let them die like this for my sake! But she could not decide which of them to save. She knew without doubt that the one she ran to first would be saved, but the other would perish. Iruki’s suffering made her feel as if she had been tied to two horses which were pulling her in opposite directions. She loved both men so much that she could not breathe.

  I’m suffocating, I have no air. I won’t be able to save them!

  She made a final, desperate effort to breathe, but the air never reached her lungs.

  When Yakumo woke up, he immediately focused all his senses on grasping what was happening around him. He set himself on full alert, trying in spite of the pain of his various wounds to identify any danger close at hand. Nothing. He could not feel anything that threatened his life. He looked around, knowing he was in a familiar landscape and that for some reason it was not one he loved. Everything was hazy. He shook his head, trying to remember what had happened and why his body hurt so badly.

  “It’s been a long time,” a rough, sibilant voice said behind him.

  Yakumo turned round and found himself face to face with his Lord and Master. The landscape around him finally became clear, and he recognized where he was. He was in the Hidden Temple. That was where his Gift and soul had been forged by hot iron and blood, to serve his masters blindly, to carry death wherever it was needed without hesitation. Many were the memories of suffering and agony which that place aroused in Yakumo. His soul sank as he remembered them.

  Yakumo knelt before his lord. “My Lord and Master.”

  “Young Assassin of the shadows,” replied his Master. His voice was rough and deadly.

  Yakumo stared at his lord. He had not aged a single day. There was the same cold look in his face which showed the same constrained and yet endless hatred.

  “Who am I?”

  “Life and death, Master,” Yakumo replied, submissive.

  “It pleases me to know you are still faithful to my teachings. I would not wish you to lose your head here today.”

  “I’m still faithful, Master.” Yakumo knew if he said otherwise he would be killed on the spot. He could feel several eyes fixed on his back. One word out of place, one wrong gesture and they would jump on him. He would not survive.

  “My old heart rejoices to find you still alive,” the Master said with an evil smile.

  “Thank you, Lord and Master. So does mine at finding you in good health,” Yakumo lied warily.

  “Did you fulfill your last assignment?”

  “Yes, Master, I did. I murdered the one I was ordered to. That is the doctrine of the Dark Assassin, the death of the adversary in success, death in failure.”

  “I am pleased to hear that. You remember well the puni
shment associated with failure to fulfill your doctrine.”

  Yakumo nodded. “Torture and suffering till death.”

  “Why are you here today?”

  But Yakumo did not know either the reason for his being there, before his Master, or how he had come there. He could not remember anything from his immediate past.

  “I don’t… wish to continue on… this path,” was the only thing he eventually mumbled without really knowing why.

  “This is the path of the Dark Assassin and once you begin to walk it, it cannot be abandoned. You know the doctrine well, young Assassin.”

  Risking sudden death, Yakumo said: “I don’t wish to rob more lives…”

  He watched his Master, waiting for the signal for them to jump on him. But the Master’s gaze was one of intrigue.

  “And to what do you owe this change of heart?”

  Yakumo did not wish to confess that the reason why he wanted to leave everything and begin anew to redeem his sins was Iruki —the woman he loved even more than life itself and without whom he did not wish to go on living or would even be able to.

  “I don’t wish to continue on the path of bringing death to others.”

  “It’s rather late for you now, Assassin.”

  “Yes, Master. But I wish to begin a new life and redeem my sins.”

  “Do not think, young Assassin, that I cannot read what your heart desires. The woman you yearn for and for whom you risk your life here today… I see her.”

  Yakumo tensed. How could he know it? Anyway it did not matter, he just had to go on. He could not go back on his words.

  “I need your blessing, Master.”

  “Do you really believe yourself worthy of that woman, Assassin? Your heart is as black as mine… Your soul is condemned just as mine. Nothing you try will ever redeem you. You have killed many times. You have robbed the lives of good, honest men. Nothing you may try now will bring life back to them or repair the broken hearts of their wives and children. You have caused suffering of such magnitude that it will never be redeemed. Your soul cannot be saved, your heart will forever be black as a moonless night. Once the first blood is shed, the soul is condemned forever. You will never be free of the price that must be paid.”