The Narkurru

by Shannon McRoberts

  “I will do anything to protect you and help you in your quest. Take Oranunen, my horse. He is fast and knows the way to Ialo. He can get you there promptly.”

  Est’it pointed to Oranunen and then grabbed Isri around the waist. He looked deeply into her eyes as if this were the last time he would see her alive. He kissed her with all the passion he had felt for her the moment he saw her. A moment had not passed that he did not think of her or worry about her. He knew that if she survived the plan that she would be back but letting her go alone was hard. Isri pulled away and ran to Oranunen with one final look at Est’it disappearing into the afternoon sun. She had to get to Ialo to try to heal at the cavern before she faced any of the immortals.

  As predicted, Lye-Ashe appeared before Aesurnu in her study followed by Harmonia and Athine.

  “Lye-Ashe. I know not what goes on here, but Isri told me that you were coming and to tell you to meet her in Ialo.” Aesurnu offered part in fear and part in defiance. If her daughter had taken Shultash it must have been for a good reason. The evil look on Lye-Ashe’s face seemed to confirm the fear in Isri’s eyes when she came to her mother.

  “You were always a very smart Raelisuir Aesurnu. I will take that into account when I am dealing with your daughter. Don’t worry; I won’t do anything to your precious Cerynian since you have decided to help me instead of hinder me.”

  Verse Two: Chapter 13

  ISRI DIDN’T HAVE MUCH time, but Oranunen was faster than she thought possible. He was almost as fast as teleporting, which she would have done if she had remembered how she did it before. She arrived in Ialo at the sacred cavern. She sent Oranunen back to Est’it with a note of her undying love.

  Ila was there waiting for her. The spirit guided Isri to a small spring hidden in the back of the cavern. Ia’war was a sacred spring used by the people in Ialo to heal. It was one of the many reasons that they were able to ward off disease and sickness without the help of any immortals.

  “Now what do I do Ila? The scroll only got me to this point. Strange things are happening to me. I keep casting magic that I’ve never even heard of. I have teleported and captured someone in a magic cage. I’m so confused.”

  “Isri, you have done well. Now comes the hardest part. You must access your inner Chaddral and fight Athine. You must get her to use her weapon on the staff in order to break it open and free the souls. This will then break the blood curse of Lye-Ashe and render her helpless.” Ila explained.

  “Chaddral? You mean the legends are true?”

  “Very much so child. The Chaddral forsook all immortal aid and rule to bind themselves with the magic of nature and the earth herself. They became protectors of the land. Cerynian was the first Chaddral village, but they were not always Chaddral. Years before we were bound to an immortal god name Alaric. He gave us great magic to use called R’Kelray.

  The Crythl were the legendary ascended beings that were the first followers of R’Kelray. But, because their ancestors forsook all immortals Alaric abandoned our people. We became damned to wander the outskirts of the Underworld. The Crythl became restless and formed an alliance with their Chaddral children to build Nal’yera so all their souls could rest. However, Anatsuha, the lead Crythl, was afraid that Nal’yera might crumble like Asun’r if the people forgot them. That is where the position of Raelisuir was born. Yet, the Crythl soon became demanding and started turning into a new kind of immortal. In later years, Cerynian would worship these creatures as gods themselves. Cerynian turned against the Crythl and I sealed them away in the Underworld. That is when they were found by Lye-Ashe. She absorbed them in an attempt to escape the Underworld. However, she did not know how to use the knowledge of the Crythl for her plan until Hon’hin tried to gain the help of the Crythl against the Amazons.

  Isri, you come from a very long line of mages, R’Kelray and Chaddral alike. Anatsuha was a great R’Kelray mage and eventually the founding Crythl. She bore Kiharuna. Kiharuna bore Allyrgue who was the first Raelisuir and a great Chaddral mage that helped create Nal’yera. Allyrgue was my mother. I bore Iristi who bore Aesurnu who bore you, Isri. Your father, although from a strange land, is a powerful Chaddral mage as is your betrothed Est’it. Their people were born from some of the villagers that escaped Ialo. Unfortunately, Est’it’s mother was actually sent there by Lye-Ashe to try and capture their strong souls and magic by spreading the blood oath.

  The strange spells you have been casting are those spells that have lain dormant in your body for years suppressed by the Narkurru magic that you have been trained to use. Now that you are trying to break away from it, your Chaddral nature is surfacing. This is why you are the only one that can carry out this deed of salvation.”

  “I thought not being bound to Lye-Ashe was why I was chosen?”

  “It is. Not being bound to Lye-Ashe and not being completely blinded by her mysterious beauty has allowed your true nature to take root. Lye-Ashe is nothing without her stolen powers, just a manipulative Narkurru and nothing more. She feeds off the spirits of others to magnify what little power she may possess as a demon, but that is it. Without Shultash or the blood oath she will become almost harmless. She will not even be able to take a corporeal form in this realm once her powers are depleted.”

  Then Isri heard it. They were here. Lye-Ashe was calling her out of the cavern. Ila explained that Lye-Ashe could not cross the sacred ring of the trees out front and that is why she wanted her to come out of the cavern into the open.

  “Remember, Isri, you must have Athine fight you and only Athine. Your powers will be great, but they will not hold off three immortal beings. Athine needs to strike Shultash in the gem to release the spirits. After that, I would suggest surrendering to her demands.”

  Isri moved to step out of the cavern. She looked down at Lye-Ashe. She no longer had any reverence for this creature. She could feel her Chaddral magic growing in this sacred area of the land her ancestors had created.

  “Lye-Ashe! This game ends here. No longer will you trap innocent souls of the Cerynian descendants in your staff. I will release them and you will lose your grip on my people.”

  “Isri, you have gone mad. I have never trapped any souls in Shultash. You know this. I saved the staff from a demon creature that had been trapping souls within it thousands of years ago.”

  Athine moved closer. Isri was not coming out of the sacred grove for some reason. She could only guess that this was because Lye-Ashe could not enter the grove. She crept up the side of the hill to try to catch Isri by surprise. The trees bent to allow Athine to enter. She wondered if this was a trap. Once she was firmly in the circle, the trees snapped back into place. Isri swung around to face her.

  “Finally, I didn’t think you would ever come into the circle so I could finish this. As you can tell this circle only lets those I wish entry. This is why Lye-Ashe is unable to come into the circle.”

  “Girl, I wish not to harm you, but you have stolen a weapon that houses souls that should have crossed over through the N’Loron to their next destination. Lye-Ashe has told me you wish to add more souls to your staff so you could take over the world. I do not fully believe her. Give me the staff and I will find a way to release the souls. You can go back to your life after that.”

  Isri was not sure how to provoke Athine into an attack. She had to get her to crack the gem with her monstrous sword. “No, the staff stays with me. The souls inside of this staff are of no concern of yours. They do not pass through the N’Loron anymore, as they are Chaddral descendants. Chaddral have forsaken all immortal rule and because of this they have no immortal created realm to rest in and no need for the N’Loron. Most of their kind is in this staff and it is in there that they will stay.”

  Athine grew enraged at this child’s impudence. It did not matter to her whether a soul forsook immortal rule or not. It was her job to make sure that the crossing of spirits was in balance in her realm. Those spirits belonged somewhere and that staff was not it. Athine dug in her boots a
nd drew Is’che’aiq high above her head. She leaped into the air and with one swoop smashed the crystal on top of the staff.

  The ground shook as a flash of light filled the sky. Shultash split in the middle releasing hundreds of souls. Lye-Ashe screamed in agony at the loss of power. Isri was flung back against a tree and knocked unconscious. Athine fell on her knees and tumbled back from the blast. It was no ordinary blast. It was something of a supernatural nature. She stood up to survey the damage when she looked down to see Is’che’aiq laying in pieces at her feet.

  “Is’che’aiq!”

  The once imprisoned souls were now free. Lye-Ashe was losing her strength. Both Isri and Athine had reached their goal, but at what cost? Is’che’aiq did not answer Athine. The mountain began to tremble in an aftershock. She picked up the pieces of her sword, Shultash, and gathered the unconscious Isri. Athine made her way down to the base of the hill where a helpless Lye-Ashe moaned in agony.

  “Lye-Ashe. What is wrong?” Athine asked.

  “I just feel as if a part of my soul has been ripped away. You have damaged Shultash?”

  “Yes. Your staff is broken. The souls are free.” Athine said as she flung the broken pieces of Shultash down to Lye-Ashe’s feet.

  Lye-Ashe looked around in dismay. Her beautiful staff and all its magic were gone. What would she do? “I am not sure if I should thank you or not Athine. You have returned my property, but it will take a very long time to mend the staff. The girl must be punished for this treachery.”

  “You only get the staff in this deal Lye-Ashe. You are not getting this girl. She is not property.”

  “But she is my Chreuthecal. She is bound to me. I have a right to keep her.”

  “I do not know what fully went on here today, but I do know this, your bond with her is broken. Do not anger me, Narkurru.”

  Lye-Ashe’s eyes widened at the term. Did Athine know what she was?

  “I see you for what you are now. Although I have no proof and no time to investigate, I am sure that this girl had nothing to do with the souls trapped in that staff. I do believe you do and as the Vesait’e I have the right to punish you, but I believe you have been punished enough. Soon you will have no powers in this realm at all. You will simply fade away back to whence you came.”

  “Oh, great Athine, thank you. Might I ask what you used to strike Shultash with? It wasn’t that grand sword you had was it? For surely if two Ser’urn’els clash they will both break.”

  “What do you mean? I’ve clashed my Ser’urn’el with another Ser’urn’el and neither one of them were broken.”

  “Ah, yes, but those were not true Ser’urn’el weapons. Those spirits were free to leave any time they wished. A true Ser’urn’el weapon, like your sword, is often one that houses an immortal soul that was put there against its will. That is why they are so powerful. I am taking your sword cracked into several pieces?”

  “Well, if that were true, then I would hope that my sword would be broken to release the soul trapped within.”

  “Athine, are you really that naïve? Do you think it is that easy to release a spirit from its bondage?”

  “It worked for the staff. All of the souls escaped.”

  “Can you be so sure? Or perhaps you would prefer to have your sister talk to it some more.”

  Athine was quickly getting tired of this game with this creature. She called for Harmonia to take Shultash and speak to the staff to see if there were any souls left inside.

  Harmonia picked up the remnants and studied them for a long time. She spoke in whispers to the many parts of the weapon. “Athine, I find no spirits in here. I think our friend is just trying to scare you.”

  Lye-Ashe whipped around. Her energy was dwindling, but she was desperate to try to lure Athine to the Ild’dart’it. She knew that Athine had no weapon and that without it she was less powerful. Lye-Ashe figured she could lure Athine to her brother and together they could trap Athine inside a new weapon for Lye-Ashe. If she could just make it back to her home dimension she would regain some of her former powers. “But, Athine, what of your sword? Are you so sure that Is’che’aiq isn’t trapped in his shattered prison? That he isn’t suffering as a broken spirit?”

  Athine didn’t quite understand, but she had not been able to speak to Is’che’aiq since he had shattered. She knew Harmonia would not be able to handle the pieces, so she laid them out on the ground before her. Harmonia looked at each one trying to listen. Then a look of fear came over her. “Athine, he is trapped in there. His essence is shattered into three parts. I don’t understand everything, but if he is not put back together he will remain in this broken limbo suffering forever.”

  Athine glared at Lye-Ashe. “Enough of your games. I assume you know how to get my sword and the spirit inside it fixed?”

  “Yes. My brother made the sword. My brother can make the sword better. But there will be a price.”

  “How much,” Athine asked in disgust as if rubies or gold were a problem for her to obtain.

  “Money is not what my brother wants. What he wants is his missing consort back.”

  “And who might that be?”

  “Isri.” Lye-Ashe smiled with a grin that exuded pure evil.

  “Forget it. I will not turn over this girl to you or your brother.”

  “So, the great Athine, gives up one spirit to save another as she deems appropriate? How fitting of a goddess. Of course, I didn’t think you got to choose. I just figured you cared about all spirits equally.” Lye-Ashe spit out in an attempt to anger the goddess.

  “I choose to let Isri live. I will not trade one life for another even if that means my old friend must suffer until I figure out how to fix him.”

  Lye-Ashe was running out of energy. She could not control the form in this realm much longer. She needed to get Athine back now. She would have to drop the whole Isri angle if she were to get anywhere with this self-righteous immortal. “Fine, I will take you to my brother where you can try to convince him to help you. You can leave the girl here with your sister. However, to fix your sword you will need to travel to the land of Ild’dart’it.”

  “How do I do that?”

  “You have to become a Chreuthecal to travel through the pool of the dead.”

  Harmonia warned, “Athine, don’t do this. That is madness. Travel through the pool in that form is disorienting at best. We can find another way to fix your sword and make Is’che’aiq whole. I’m sure father knows someone that can do that.”

  “There isn’t enough time for that, Athine. If you do not get the sword fixed by dawn then his soul will remain shattered.” Lye-Ashe had hoped that this new bit of information would convince Athine to follow her to the other side. There Athine’s powers would be weakened and Lye-Ashe could overpower her.

  “Harmonia, take Isri back to her mother. I am going to go with Lye-Ashe to get Is’che’aiq fixed.”

  Verse Two: Chapter 14

  THE MINUTE LYE-ASHE stepped into the Ild’dart’it air she instantly felt more powerful. It was good to be home. Now she hoped that with the help of her brother she could capture the power of this goddess. She had once bested several ascended beings when she was younger, so what was one goddess trapped in the Underworld as a Chreuthecal?

  Athine felt uneasy about the transformation. Although she knew it was actually just a traveling spell to travel through pools of the dead, she didn’t like the idea of Lye-Ashe thinking that she was now bound to her even if it were not true. Athine was quite impressed that this naïve little Narkurru could have accomplished all she did to gain her power, especially with the things she believed about her abilities. Athine knew this was probably a feeble attempt at a trap, but she didn’t know why.

  The walk to Seorithcal’s was long and unusually tiring to Athine. It was hot and everywhere she looked there were molten lava falls. It was indeed a good place to smelt metal.

  Seorithcal’s workshop was on an island in the middle of a lava stream. In the distance, you
could see him forging weapons of great size. Next to him was a spirit of a man and it was tethered with some kind of chain. The spirit thrashed and pulled, but the large Narkurru only laughed as he marked the blade with glowing glyphs while the spirit was drawn inside. Athine could still hear the screams of the spirit within the blade. Seorithcal threw the weapon into a huge pile. He turned around when he heard Lye-Ashe approach.

  “Brother, I have brought you someone in need of your assistance. It seems one of your weapons failed. It is now shattered and the spirit trapped. She would like you to fix it.”

  “I no fix weapons, only make them. Weapon breaks, spirit dies or lies shattered. No matter to me. They get what they deserve in the end.”

  Lye-Ashe began whispering to her brother in some kind of strange language quickly and quietly. He suddenly didn’t sound like such an oaf. He turned and his demon yellow eyes glinted while he licked his lips as he looked at Athine. Clearly, Athine could see they were not discussing anything of good intent.

  “You, little goddess, bring weapon here. I bring out your spirit. I fix him. Ok? You stand there. You watch.”

  Seorithcal pointed to the area Athine was to stand in while he worked on the sword. He took a huge moonstone out of his bench and began chanting over the sword pieces. Ever so carefully a shape appeared in agonizing pain. It began to take the form of a young man. Right before it was completely visible Seorithcal threw some of the silver chains around the forming spirit. The spirit yelled out in agony. The Narkurru said some strange words and the spirit settled down some but did not stop fighting the chains.

  The spirit writhed around and then caught sight of Athine standing there. He called out to her. Seorithcal yelled at the spirit to be quiet. But this enraged Athine. If this was her Is’che’aiq he had no right to yell at him. He was hers to command and hers alone. Athine left the spot she was told to stand in and got closer to the bound spirit.