by Rob Donovan
Also by Rob Donovan
The Ballad of Frindoth:
The Ritual of the Stones
The Stones of Sorrow
Within Stone’s Shadow
A Frindoth Tale series:
Pewtory the Lesser Bard
The Cadaver Knight
Only Stones Remain
Book Four in the Ballad of Frindoth
By
Rob Donovan
Text copyright © 2018 Rob Donovan
All rights reserved.
All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
For Simon
Prologue - The Desolate King
The crab squirmed furiously as Jaegel held it before his face; six angry legs pirouetted in the air as the crustacean tried to gain purchase on something solid. Claws snapped viciously as if waving an angry fist at the former member of the Order.
Jaegel checked there was no other living creature in the rock pool and then moved his little finger within the claw’s limited range. The crab seized the opportunity and nipped at the skin. Jaegel winced at the sudden pain but fought the urge to hurl the crab away - strange how he could care about such a simple life when the lives of most men, women and children meant so little to him.
He delicately placed the crab behind him where it scurried over the rocks to the next small pool. Once in the water it fidgeted until it had submerged its entire body in the sand. Jaegel smiled and then focused on squeezing the tip of his injured finger to produce more blood. He allowed three drops to fall into the clear pool, each one making a small plop as it turned part of the water red. He then retrieved a small vial of white liquid from his cloak and undid the stopper.
He checked no one else was around, craning his neck to see past the boulders that concealed him from anyone on the beach. The land was still. Only the waves interrupted the silence. They crested in a white foam as they broke, rising to at least four feet. He had never been much of a swimmer but even if he was, he would not have fancied his chances in the sea today. He watched the water glisten as it reflected the sun and wondered how something so enticing could be so dangerous.
The smell of ammonia focused his attention back to the vial, he swirled the liquid and then poured half of it into the rock pool. The liquid reacted with the drops of blood instantly, drawing them together like magnets. Soon the water fizzed and steam rose before him. He waited for half a minute before adding the contents of another vial - this one containing black liquid. The water instantly stilled and formed a milky substance.
Jaegel leaned forward and frowned when he saw his reflection. He had aged in recent months and he did not wear it well. His hooked nose seemed more prominent, his cheeks sallow despite the sprinkling of stubble and his eyes seemed to have sunk into their sockets. He knew this was all due to the excessive use of magic in recent weeks but such things could not be avoided; being the Desolate King came with certain expectations and therefore a price.
Yet that price would be even higher now. He inhaled slowly and detected the nervous quiver in his breath. For a moment, he was consumed by doubt, dark magic was something Iskandar had always forbade. The former leader of the Order had held the belief that magic could be performed without sacrifice and there was no need for any form of mutilation to achieve an objective. The old fool had failed to see the hypocrisy in those words as he promoted the sacrifices at the Ritual of the Stones.
Jaegel rummaged inside his pack until he found the pestle, mortar and a jar of orange leaves. The leaves were most commonly known as Foxglove and performed a variety of functions in magic. Today they would allow divination. The Desolate King ground two of the leaves into mush and then tipped the contents into the rock pool. The water remained milky but Jaegel's reflection disappeared. He set the pestle and mortar to one side and waited. At first nothing happened and Jaegel allowed himself to be distracted by the cry of a gull overhead. He imagined the bird realised what he attempted to do and cried out in protest. He forced the bird from his mind and concentrated on the pool. Slowly the milky water became opaque and he began to see her.
His pulsed quickened as the witch took shape in the water. He was not sure it would work. The spell worked far better when you dropped part of the person you desired to see into the water. Jaegel had nothing of Marybeth but he had been as close to her as anyone in the Order and hoped this would allow him to see her.
The witch appeared but not in her true form. She appeared stretched as if she were made of smoke. Her body contorted and seemed to float away. An overwhelming sense of despair flooded across the image and Jaegel realised he experienced the witch's emotions. A ghost of a smile spread on his lips; good. He hoped she was suffering; her actions more than anyone’s in the Order had nearly led to his death. The smile vanished as Marybeth's feelings became overbearing. There was anger entwined with betrayal but the dominant emotion was one of sorrow. Marybeth grieved, but for who? A man with a bow in his hands appeared at one edge of the pool whilst the long form of Mondorlous materialised in another. Jaegel let out a short bark of a laugh despite the sense of sadness he experienced. So, the great Mondorlous had perished? The news was better than Jaegel could have hoped for.
Slowly the disparate form of Marybeth began to solidify again. Her body seemed to gather itself together like water trickling along the ground grabs hold of a puddle and engulfs it. Jaegel watched fascinated as the witch transformed back into the figure he recognised as the woman he now despised.
He observed the witch suddenly appear in the middle of tall wet grass, her blond hair was dishevelled and looked dank with sweat. She opened her eyes, looked about her as if she had just awoken from a dream before she sank back down and sobbed into the crook of her elbow. Jaegel felt her pain but felt no sympathy for her. She deserved everything she had coming to her.
The Desolate King rummaged again in his pack and this time slowly drew out a knife. The doubting voices in his head screamed in protest. They warned him that dark magic would ravish his soul. The scrolls all advised against tampering with such unknown spells but Jaegel silenced them. He always craved to be greater than he was. Iskandar had always shackled him but the old goat was not around anymore. Without restraint Jaegel was limitless. Cordane had left the Order and had flourished away from the old ways. Now Jaegel had too. Now he would attempt something even Cordane had never done.
To track Marybeth down would take weeks, months or even years. Why would he waste all that time when he could discover her next move now? He had the means and he had the power.
To see the future one must give something of themselves. The body was just a vessel and eyes were just tools. He raised the knife to his face and took several deep breaths, summoning the courage to carry out the task he knew he must do. In the periphery of his vision he thought he saw Iskandar's face appear in the rock pool, shouting up at Jaegel. The Desolate King did not dare to look down to confirm this. The blade caught the sunlight as if warning him against what he was about to do.
Jaegel had never been one for warnings. Warnings were for the weak. With a final deep breath, he plunged the knife into his right eye. His scream rang out across the beach but was drowned out by the waves.
Chapter 1
Cody opened his eyes and saw hundreds of leaves. The sun shone through them illuminating their veins. It was a sight he had seen many times in his life having slept outdoors in recent years but he never grew tired of it. The myriad of greens always fascinated him as some of the leaves overlapped others.
Except the majority of the trees above him now were not green. They were yellow, orange
, red and even brown. They also sagged and had begun to shrivel. A few even fell and fluttered down towards him, turning over and over as if each side of the leaf fought to be the one that landed on the ground.
The colour of the leaves confused him and for a moment he thought he was back in the Realm of the Glooms. Then he recalled the horrible sensation of his body stretching and watching his body dissolve before his eyes. He remembered Tristan’s decapitated head and the way Thaldor had spun away from the fight completely remorseless.
Cody ran hands down his body to reassure himself he was still in one piece. He flinched as a leaf brushed against his cheek. Annalua had said time moved differently in the Realm of the Glooms and judging by the colour of the leaves it looked like several months had passed in Frindoth.
Cody shuddered, if several months had passed what did that mean? Was there anything left of Frindoth to come back to? He looked around and saw nothing out of the ordinary. The woods were still apart from the succession of leaves tumbling to the ground. From somewhere amongst the branches a wood pigeon cooed. There was no sign of either Marybeth or Janna. He was not sure what that meant; were they nearby or had they been transported dozens of leagues away?
Somewhere out there was his daughter Evelyn. This knowledge changed everything. He had entered the Realm of the Glooms believing his wife and daughter were healthy and content and then quickly discovered his wife Kaitlin had died shortly after he had abandoned them. It meant Evelyn was alone and at the mercy of a monster of a man. A man Cody had thought would bring his family a better quality of life than Cody ever could.
He had succeeded in his mission to close the portal. No more Glooms could enter Frindoth and with that knowledge as far as Cody was concerned his duty to King Jacquard was done. He was one of the few remaining Knights in the realm but as quickly as he acquired that title, he could be equally swift to denounce it. Evelyn was all that mattered. Evelyn was all that could matter.
He pictured his little girl shivering in the darkness; her arms wrapped around her legs her only comfort. Did she have bruises like her mother had before she died? Was she nursing broken bones? The tears that came to his eyes were one of despair and anguish. He pushed the image from his mind. There was no reason to think the worst. Kaitlin had said their daughter had not joined her in the afterlife. Maybe the bastard had learned his mistake when he murdered Kaitlin? Maybe he was making up for it up by treating Evelyn like a princess?
The truth was Cody had no way of knowing. The only way he could be sure was to find his daughter and see for himself. This time, not even an army of Glooms would stop him from taking her and looking after her.
Cody’s stomach growled and he was reminded how hungry he was. In the Realm of the Glooms food was not required, but back in Frindoth it most certainly was. If a few months had elapsed did that mean he had not had any sustenance for that period? Impossible, there is no way he could be alive if that was the case.
He saw his pack lying a few yards away. His stomach rumbled again as if making sure Cody had seen it. He had nothing but Clementines in the pack and despite the depressing fact that the fruit was all the Truth Knight had consumed for months now, the thought of biting into the juicy fruit now made his mouth water.
He scrambled over to his pack and reached inside. Gone were the clementines, replaced with a small package. He retrieved it and saw it was an oblong box that did not belong to him. Frowning, he opened the lid and gasped at the contents.
Inside was a mini feast. There were chicken legs glazed in what appeared to be honey, a small loaf with a small pot of jam and a bunch of grapes. Cody was too ravenous to question where the box had come from and immediately set upon the chicken legs.
The taste was so exquisite that Cody closed his eyes as he savoured the texture upon his tongue. It had been so long since he had eaten any kind of food apart from Clementines. His stomach gurgled for a third time to tell him to stop fooling around and swallow the food. Cody laughed and took another bite. Had Annalua somehow slipped the food into his pack? It was the only explanation he could think of. It was certainly not Thaldor. The young man who had appeared so easy going when Cody had first met him was the opposite when Cody had left.
He finished his meal and licked his fingers for good measure before he took stock of his surroundings. The trees were a mixture of oak and beech which told him nothing. He had not really expected to identify his location from the trees but it was worth considering. Some woods had unique qualities. For example, Fankopar Forest had nothing but tall pines which blocked out the sun, whilst the Gold Willow Woods were scattered with weeping willows that retained their yellow leaves all year round.
The latter was one of Cody’s favourite locations in Frindoth. The Truth Knight had always returned to them with Silverspeck whenever he could. He wondered if he ever would again. Maybe he could take Evelyn there when he found her.
Cody rubbed his eyes, his head was fuzzy. Hadn't Annalua said there was something significant about the three stones being located in one place? For a moment Cody could not think straight and then the name of Janna's home town came to him - Compton. Is that where he was? If so where were Marybeth and Janna? When Cody had entered the Realm of the Glooms he had been separated from the others but surely, they couldn't be far? Part of him wished to forget the whole ordeal. Marybeth could look after herself and Janna. There was no reason for Cody to look for them; especially when he needed to find his daughter.
Cody sighed and used his fingernail to pick a piece of chicken from his teeth. He wanted nothing more than to begin his search for his daughter but somehow not making sure Marybeth was alright seemed wrong. He cursed himself for being so sentimental. They had shared a few moments and nothing more. He was foolish to think it would ever materialise into anything else. Besides, seeing his wife brought things into perspective. The love he had felt for Kaitlyn in the few precious moments they shared together eclipsed anything he felt for Marybeth. His daughter was all that mattered - why did he have to remind himself of that fact? Because abandoning Marybeth when she needs you would be cowardly.
He pushed the thought away. He was not a coward but he was practical. The practical thing would be to find his daughter immediately and make sure she was ok. A thunderous bang made him jump out of his skin. He whirled round to face the noise, drawing his sword in the process. At least his reactions were still sharp. His heart thudded against his chest and he held his breath. The crash had come from the distance but Cody did not trust anything that could make that much noise. Through the treetops a dark plume of smoke climbed into the sky. Another crash and this one was accompanied by a chorus of roars.
Glooms! It had to be. Only they could make such a feral noise. A sane man would run in the opposite direction and put as much distance as he could between himself and the sound. For a moment Cody contemplated doing just that. Instead he found himself trotting towards the sound. The last time he had heard such a cacophony of noise was when Marybeth and Mondorlous duelled and the Stones of Sorrow crashed down around them.
A third bang and this time the roars were instant. Unless Cody was mistaken he would have sworn they were cheers of encouragement. A second line of smoke crept into the sky. Cody felt the heat before he saw the fire. A soft orange glow tinged the trees in the distance. Cody bent low as he trotted and glanced to either side surveying every shadow for a sign of movement. To be caught by the Glooms would mean certain death.
Within minutes the soft glow had been replaced by a fierce blaze. He heard the familiar crackle and spit of flames. Leaves still fell from the trees but now they were accompanied by ash.
"What am I doing?" Cody muttered to himself. Hadn't he cheated death enough recently? Cody slowed down until he crept forward. He used the tree trunks for cover as he neared the inferno. The source of the fire was several large buildings. Already the roofs had collapsed and all that was left was the frames of the structures. A scream rang through the air which was swiftly cut short. Cody's stomach l
urched; more death. The destruction the Glooms wrought continued.
As he neared the town he saw the Glooms. They were gathered in a large group facing a church. It was the only building which had not caught fire yet. Cody grabbed hold of the nearest trunk and hugged it. He had never seen so many Glooms and such a variety of creatures. The sight terrified him. He had witnessed a few Glooms since the Ritual of the Stones but never had he seen so many in one spot. There were some on two legs, some on four or even more. They had horns, spikes, hair, talons and claws. Some were as large as elephants, others no bigger than a donkey. He even saw one which resembled a snake although it had wings. Cody had never lost control of his bowels but he came close at the sight. How were the people of Frindoth supposed to compete against such vicious creatures? He scanned the crowd and estimated that he saw at least a hundred Glooms. One hundred! And that was just the creatures gathered here. How many more gatherings were taking place around Frindoth?
He had been so awestruck by the sight of the Glooms that he had not stopped to consider what they were doing. The scream that penetrated the air answered the question for him. A woman was hurled into the air above the Gloom's heads to an almighty roar. She flailed her arms and legs helplessly, a look of pure terror on her face as she fell back to the ground and disappeared amongst the mass of bodies. Cody heard rather than saw her bones snap and the skin tear. When she was thrown in the air this time, there was no scream and she was split into three pieces. Cody spun away and squeezed his eyes shut.
Another crash echoed throughout the woods as a building collapsed. Cody turned back to look and watched aghast as the destruction seemed to amplify the Glooms frenzy. They reared on their hind legs and snapped their jaws at each other in celebration. One of the Glooms buried its head in the torso of a man. Its snout snuffled around inside the man's rib cage like a pig in a trough. A neighbouring Gloom tried to join in the feast but the Gloom stepped over the body and bared its teeth which were stained scarlet.
