Angst Box Set 1

by David Pedersen

  He ground his teeth in frustration as he asked himself, what would Angst have done differently?

  59

  “Angst.” Victoria choked on the thin air. “We need to get out. I can’t breathe.”

  “Nothing left,” Angst tried to explain. He had buried them too deep; he could barely draw enough power from Dulgirgraut to maintain their protective dome. “I can’t push us free.”

  There was no reply. He flexed the arm Victoria held onto and felt no response.

  “Anyone?” Angst pleaded.

  Still no answer.

  Had he failed? After all this, was there nobody left? He sobbed, fighting for air, for magic, for power from Dulgirgraut. It wasn’t enough. There was nothing left. What an awful way to die—killing his friends in a desperate attempt to bond with this broken foci. Lost and forgotten, buried deep in the ground. If only he knew earthspeak, he could’ve apologized to Heather for his folly.

  Bright spots blinked in the distance. This was the end; he was passing out.

  There was a muffled crunching, like someone eating stale bread. The sound grew louder, and pebbles broke through his air shield, dropping onto his face. His magic must have been fading. Fingers gripped his arms.

  “Tori, is that you?” he choked out. “You need to cut your nails.”

  The only reply was a deep horting sound. A gamlin pulled and tugged at his arm. Angst gripped tight to Dulgirgraut with his other hand. Rock and dirt scratched and slid against his face, tearing at his cheeks. He wanted to scream, plead for the creature to stop, beg for the nightmare to end. The gamlin continued dragging him while another pushed on his feet. And then, air. Sweet, delicious air, as the gamlin popped out of the ground dragging Angst along.

  Angst coughed as he drew in desperate, hungry breaths. He rested on all fours as the ground, almost too hot to touch, sapped his remaining strength.

  “The others,” Angst pleaded. “Save my friends.”

  He fell over onto his side and passed out.

  Angst woke to find his friends lying beside him. He groggily rolled over, pushing himself to his knees. The ground was still hot, and his mouth dry as drought. Angst tried calling out to Victoria, but his throat was filled with painful cracks. He slowly crawled to her, shaking her arm. She grunted and Angst closed his eyes as relief and gratitude swept through him in a dizzying tide.

  He pressed on to his friends, shaking each of them while regaining some of his own strength. His gauntlets were gone, and the ground was hot enough to loosen the pores on his hands, making the ash feel clingy. With every other crawl, he brushed ash and dirt from his raw palms onto his muddy cloak. It was uncomfortable, but it didn’t matter. They lived, somehow. Had the gamlin really saved them?

  Angst stood on shaky legs then leaned over to pick up Dulgirgraut. With his hand outstretched, he hesitated. The blade had saved his life, but failed him throughout the battle. He needed it to live, but he hated the foci for its reluctance to help. Still, what choice did he have? With chagrin, Angst lifted the sword, placing it between his shoulder blades. He hoped it wouldn’t be needed for a very long time.

  Angst looked about at the devastation as his friends regained consciousness. They were in the center of a crater miles around with edges so high they blocked the distant castle. The sleet had been replaced with flakes of cool snow that melted instantly on the ground. The melt had gone on long enough that patches of ground were slick, and Angst shuffled his feet slowly to keep from falling.

  He tried to help Victoria up only to have his hand pushed away. Angst instinctively worried that he had upset her.

  “Stop it,” she replied, reading his thoughts.

  Angst nodded as he helped Dallow while Victoria assisted Hector. Tarness was the last to stand. The large man looked near death. His eyes were yellow, and skin peeled from his thick lips. Tarness constantly licked them, his hands shaking as he brushed dirt from his face.

  “Why are we alive?” Hector asked in his gruff voice, already standing straighter than everyone else.

  “Gamlin,” Angst answered. “But I don’t know why.”

  Hector nodded in understanding. They looked about warily. The crater was a small glimpse of the devastation wrought by the warring elements, and they were all anxious to leave.

  “Which way to Unsel?” Angst finally asked.

  Hector looked up into the sky and gauged their position.

  “This way,” Hector stated. “Follow me.”

  Angst threw Dallow’s arm over his shoulder and stumbled along in Hector’s wake. After walking for ten minutes, Hector stopped and pointed. Directly ahead, a large, gray stone rested in the middle of the blackened, muddy pit. They approached cautiously as it was the only remains amidst all the damage. The rock was curved, like a waning moon. A singular orb protruded over a roughly carved slit that at one time could have been a mouth.

  “Earth,” Angst stated coolly.

  The eye opened, making everyone jump. It blinked rapidly, as though shaking off the shock of being only part of a head. The mouth, the half slit, opened. Tiny pebbles fell from its broken crevice with every movement, dropping to the muddy ground like spilled blood.

  “Angst,” she said in a weak, gravelly voice. “You live.”

  “Barely,” Angst said. “But yes, we still live.”

  There was no reply. The mouth opened and closed unnaturally, like a fish out of water, and Earth blinked slowly.

  “I suppose I should thank you,” Angst said. “Your gamlin saved us.”

  “Good,” she said quietly. “They are trustworthy companions. I am glad you survived.”

  “Are you?” Angst asked, handing Dallow off to Hector.

  Angst kneeled beside the giant half head of Earth.

  “Why do you say that?” she asked defensively. “I have been protecting you—”

  “You tried to kill us!” Angst spat. “Your gamlin have been attacking Unsel for months!”

  “They did no such thing,” Earth said defensively. “Not a single human was killed.”

  “You tried to kill Victoria,” Angst yelled, pointing back at the princess. “I was barely able to save her from the sinkhole you created.”

  “You do not know what you speak of,” Earth replied. “Water hates you more than anyone. She probably set the trap for you and your princess.”

  “What of those poor people you covered in stone?” Angst asked. “Cooked alive, and then you forced their bodies to attack us!”

  “No!” Earth said. “I covered those poor people to protect them from dragonfire. I know nothing about this attack!”

  “Lies,” Angst argued. “All of it!”

  “Angst, you do not understand,” Earth said. “I have always believed in humans. I try to protect them, despite their insolence and foolish nature. Angst, I intended you to be my host. You wield mineral so beautifully, so naturally, you could have been my champion.”

  “I would never be your champion!” Angst yelled.

  “I know this,” she said sadly. “But still, you could...” Pebbles fell from the missing half of her mouth with every word spoken. Her head began to collapse in on itself. Victoria put a calming hand on Angst’s arm, but he pulled it free.

  “Your host? Are we nothing but tools for you?” Angst went on, ignoring her statement. “You elements see us as insects. Something to manipulate as a part of your game.”

  “Some do, Angst,” Earth agreed.

  “I’ve had enough! I’ll be the host for humans!” Angst declared. “The champion for wielders!”

  “There is no such thing! No host for humans!” Earth chuckled.

  “There is now,” Angst stated coldly. “As far as I’m concerned, one down, four to go.”

  Earth didn’t reply, closing her one eye as if finished. Little of the head remained—an oval that outlined the eye and mouth. Angst walked away, waving for his friends to follow as he headed once again in the direction Hector had suggested.

  “I hope one day you unders
tand, Angst,” Earth said weakly. “Maybe this will help...”

  Angst stopped with a sigh and turned around to look at the head of Earth one last time.

  “What?” he snapped.

  “My gamlin,” she replied. “The remaining gamlin are yours.”

  Everything went dark and Angst winced as he felt a pinch in his mind. He swallowed back bile that burned his dry throat. Opening his eyes, Angst found himself on one knee, unable to speak, the palms of both hands shoved against his temples.

  “To the winner go the spoils,” Earth stated matter-of-factly. Then quietly, so very quietly, she murmured, “I could still win.”

  “What’s this?” Dallow asked.

  “I don’t know.” Angst rose with renewed energy and returned to the head. “What are you talking about?”

  Earth said nothing, the head now still as a stone. It was too much. Too much frustration, too much unknown, too much failure... He kicked and stomped in anger, finally wielding Dulgirgraut and hammering against the statue head until nothing was left but rubble. His tantrum abated, he leaned against the sword, rubbing tears from his eyes. Victoria looked at Tarness and Hector helplessly.

  “Feel better?” Hector asked.

  “No,” Angst said with a sob, wiping streams of tears from his eyes. “Maybe. A little.”

  Victoria walked to him and gripped his hand. She pulled Angst to follow.

  “Come on,” she said. “Let’s get out of here.”

  60

  Angst felt stunned, as if he had suffered a blow to the head, and his friends appeared similarly distracted. They had witnessed great displays of power that were far beyond comprehension, and each of them struggled with it in their own way. Victoria pulled loose strands from her curly blond hair. Hector spun the point of a dagger on his hand, flipping it around the back of his knuckles until the handle landed in his palm. Tarness chewed ferociously on nuts from a pouch around his waist. Dallow’s eyes glowed white behind his bandage, cataloging everything that had happened as if writing his own book. They waited, and Angst knew he needed to help them focus on something; his friends needed a goal above all else.

  “Rose,” Angst said. “We need to find Rose.”

  “Yes,” Dallow said hopefully, his eye sockets dimming as he lifted his head.

  “Hector, how long do we have before the sinkholes reach Unsel?” Angst questioned.

  “A couple of weeks, Angst,” Hector said, catching the handle of the dagger between two fingers and tossing it up into the air. “We should probably go back now, unless you know where Rose is?”

  “I don’t,” Angst said, “but I do have an idea.”

  “I’ve heard that before,” Victoria said, rolling her eyes, letting go of her hair and pulling the two red cloaks tight around her.

  “We need to set up camp,” Angst suggested. “Somewhere safe...away from here.”

  “South,” Hector advised. “Melkier soldiers will be looking for us eventually, and would expect us to head north toward home.”

  “Let’s go,” Angst ordered.

  They turned about, following Hector southward at a brisk pace for several minutes until reaching the crater wall. The mud and stone had melted and then hardened, creating a thick layer of blackened tile shards. It would have been impossible to scale with bare hands, but the swifen scrambled up the edge with sure feet. At the top of the wall, everyone looked back at the devastation. The crater reached the castle. The night-stone had destroyed half of Melkier city. Angst wanted to weep, but couldn’t. All his emotions seemed to ball up and wedge in his chest.

  Victoria patted his arm gently. “It wasn’t your fault.”

  “Maybe,” he replied with a grimace. “But I won’t let this happen again.”

  They rode hard for several hours, avoiding main roads and towns. The sleet and snow meant sloppy conditions, often slowing their passage to wherever Hector was leading them. Angst was cold, but refused to take his cloak from Victoria. The frigid air might have bitten, but the numbness helped him focus. So much had gone wrong, so many lives lost. They had won the foci, but at what cost? Dulgirgraut either didn’t work right, or was so different from Chryslaenor that Angst had a long way to scale up its learning curve.

  “We should stop here,” Hector grumbled. “Before it starts to sleet again.”

  Hector had found a mostly dry clearing surrounded by thick pine and low-hanging asten trees. The woods provided ample cover for a small campfire, and the tree line would help protect them from blasting winds that could sneak up on them in an open field.

  They dismounted and began removing satchels from the swifen. Victoria kicked sticks and rocks away from a spot near the campfire Tarness was building.

  “When you’re done, Tarness, would you mind helping me set up my tent?” Victoria asked.

  “Of course, Your Majesty,” he said, stacking several dry sticks to a point.

  “That won’t be necessary,” Angst said.

  “Pardon?” she asked haughtily.

  “You can stay in my tent tonight,” Angst offered, his shoulders already squaring off for a confrontation.

  “I’ll be fine on my own, thank you,” Victoria said coolly, continuing to kick uncomfortable rubble away from her ideal camping spot.

  “I need you to stay with me tonight,” Angst asked. “Please.”

  “No.”

  The others were visibly uncomfortable, shuffling their feet and staring at each other from the trenches of another argument.

  “Why now, Tori?” he asked, his jaw setting in frustration. “Of all nights, why do you have to ditch me now?”

  “Angst,” Dallow pleaded. “Can’t you just let it rest?”

  “No, Angst,” Victoria said.

  “I just got my ass stomped by a giant man who is constantly on fire!” Angst yelled, his hands shaking with anger. “Can’t you please be here for me?”

  “She said no, Angst,” Hector said, grabbing one of Angst’s hands in an attempt to calm him down.

  Angst’s eyes flashed red, and Hector immediately let go and took a cautious step back. Angst squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his hands into fists, taking several deep breaths to calm himself.

  “I was going to let Tori explain later, when she was ready,” Angst said quietly.

  “Angst?” she asked.

  “It’s part of what she can do,” Angst continued. “When we sleep next to each other, we share dreams.”

  “Really?” Dallow asked, his interest piqued.

  “Usually I can’t remember my dreams, even the foci dreams, but with Tori I can,” Angst continued. “That first night she came into my tent from the storm, we dreamed of Rose. That’s how we knew she was safe.”

  “So she is okay,” Dallow said with great relief.

  “We dreamed of her back in that town...the one where we stayed at the inn...” Angst sought the name but couldn’t remember. “Anyway, now that I’m bonded to a foci, I’m hoping we can pinpoint where she is.”

  Victoria sighed. “Fine.”

  “So, you want me to believe the reason you two have been sharing a bed is because you can remember your dreams?” Hector said with a raised eyebrow.

  “What exactly is it you do, Victoria?” Dallow asked, ignoring Hector.

  “I’m a seer,” Victoria explained quietly. “I can see people’s lives, their past, their future, or in some cases futures.”

  “Futures?” Tarness asked.

  “The path isn’t always clear, and lately what I can do hasn’t worked very well,” Victoria said forlornly. “So I see several futures that could happen. Sometimes I can choose the path.”

  “I wonder why it isn’t working,” Dallow asked. “I suppose with the introduction of the foci and elements...there’s so much going on, who could possibly know everything that could happen?”

  With the suddenness of a springing mountain lion, Hector threw a knife at Victoria’s chest. She caught it expertly and chucked it to the ground, the knifepoint sticking
into the root of a tree between his feet with a vibrating thud.

  “More than a seer, you have foresight too. Which explains a lot...like, how you beat me,” Hector said with a smile. “But you wouldn’t have caught that if your abilities weren’t in check.”

  “That was a dangerous way to test her,” Angst said, furious at Hector.

  “She already tested herself when we dueled, Angst, so calm yourself,” Hector said, raising a hand.

  Angst cocked his head warily, but remained beside Victoria.

  “That was brave, Your Majesty,” Hector said with great respect. “Dueling me, and not knowing whether or not your foresight would work when we fought.”

  “So do you know what we’re thinking now?” Tarness asked in concern, conspicuously not looking at the shiny mail contraption holding her breasts aloft behind the cloak.

  Victoria laughed out loud and winked at the large man. “Sometimes it’s not too hard to figure out,” she said. “But if I concentrate, when I’m close to someone, then yes.”

  “And you still hang out with him?” Tarness asked, jerking a thumb toward Angst.

  “No kidding!” she proclaimed.

  Everyone but Angst joined her in a brief round of laughter, while he blushed uncontrollably.

  She placed a forgiving hand on his arm. “He’s actually harmless, most of the time,” Victoria said with a droll smile. “But you can’t always control yourself in your dreams.”

  “Hey!” Angst said defensively while everyone laughed again.

  “I’m kidding,” she said. “Why don’t you set up our tent before I change my mind?”

  Angst looked lost, or ready to break, too sensitive to the teasing. He couldn’t shake off the destruction they had witnessed in Melkier. He had just bonded with a foci, and barely regained his life in the process. He had lost the fight with the element Fire. Angst worried about Heather and felt helpless, unable to protect her. It was all too much, and Victoria gave him a genuine hug, long and meaningful, while he regained his composure.