The Legacy (The Darkness Within Saga Book 1)

by JD Franx

  “See, my boy, the pain can always get worse. You do have the right spirit, Kael, only you’re focused on the wrong side. You need to learn which side is the right one!” She laughed with venomous enjoyment. Kael lunged at her but the Gyhhura and the guards held him tight to the cell’s bars. He stopped only when he heard Lycori’s voice.

  “Kael?”

  He looked over to see her being held, stretched out like a cross, by three Orotaq slavers. With one on each arm and the third holding a handful of her hair from behind, she could barely move.

  “Stop, Kael, it’s all right,” she said. “You can’t stop them, so please, don’t make them hurt you, not for me. You made the last few months better for me than the centuries of life before I met you. You’re a true friend if ever there was one. My brother in every way but name.”

  “No!” Kael growled. Fighting the hold the collar had on him, he knew he couldn’t watch her die without trying to use his magic to save her. Power began to gently boil inside him as he focused, but it was far weaker than he had hoped to have. The vines of his death-flower stirred but there wasn’t enough magic running through his body to bring them to life.

  He closed his eyes and concentrated on pushing the spikes from his neck. The slightest movement deep inside his neck made his stomach flip with exhilaration but when the spikes vibrated and then quit moving, his eyes snapped wide open at the failure. N’Ikyah shook her head at what he was trying to do and when Lycori spoke, Kael understood that she’d figured out what he was up to, as well. It mattered little; his magic had come up well short of freeing himself from the Gyhurra.

  “Stop, Kael. Please, don’t do it. Just stop fighting. Let me go, it’s all right. Your friendship has meant everything to me and they can never take that away. Please let me go. Use your strength to survive and maybe someday you can be free. Please don’t waste it on me, it’s already too late,” she smiled, and then winked at him.

  The reality of her words drained the fight from Kael. He knew that he didn’t have the strength to free himself let alone anyone else… There was nothing he could do to help her. Relaxing his body, Kael stared at the only friend he had in a world so different and so brutal from his own.

  Tears formed in his eyes.“I’ll never forget you, Lycori.” He smiled, trying desperately to remain calm for her sake. “I never would’ve made it here without you…”

  “Enough already,” Arabella yelled, as she nodded to the guard holding Lycori’s head. He yanked her hair, pulling her head back. Arabella plunged a silver bladed dagger into Lycori’s heart with a dull thud. She grabbed Lycori by the throat, twisting the knife back and forth. Tearing the dagger free, Arabella released Lycori’s throat and grabbed a fist-full of blonde hair with her left hand, ramming the silver blade under her chin, hilt-deep.

  “Jesus, no!” Kael screamed, as he stared into Lycori’s wide, fear-filled eyes.

  “K… Kael?” she mumbled, with her mouth pinned shut by the dagger. She was unable to tear her eyes from Arabella’s angry stare.

  “Look at me, Lycori. Lycori!” Kael snapped. “Look at me, not her. Shut this place from your mind,” he said, his voice calmer, as he struggled against the guards that held him. Lycori’s eyes drifted from Arabella’s face as she looked past her shoulder and met his own. “It’s just you and me here, sister. No one else, all right? I’m right here, Lycori. I will always be right here.” He tugged against his captors with each word, but it was a futile attempt.

  Kael talked to her softly as he watched her suffer. Dark, red, burn marks spread deep under her skin, from her heart and face, outwards to the rest of her body as the silver from Arabella’s knife seeped into her bloodstream and spread, scorching everything in its wake. It took several, long agonizing minutes for Lycori to die. He refused to stop talking to her even as he struggled against the guards and made sure the last words she heard before her life ended were his own. She smiled as he reached for her and then she was gone. Kael collapsed with his head on his chest, racked with grief and exhausted.

  Arabella shrieked hysterically at what Kael had done. The guards jerked him to his feet and wrenched his head back as Arabella tore the blade from Lycori’s chin and in two quick strides stood in front of him. The blade hissed and spit as smoke rose from the tip in thick curls, the silver reacting to Lycori’s blood. The furious woman waved it in front of his face before pressing it to his throat.

  “Mistress, please,” N’Ikyah pleaded, jumping to Kael’s side. “The vampyr blood, it is coating the blade, if you cut him, it will infect him…” Arabella’s glare silenced her and she shrunk away with her hands up for protection, but the slap never came, Arabella’s focus switched back to Kael first.

  “How dare you ease her passing like that, you pathetic little bastard. I should crush your very soul to dust, you little, you…” Her anger was so intense she couldn’t hold a coherent thought. Kael watched her seethe, her rotten breath and spittle sprayed over him as she panted with hatred. But he didn’t care any more, he chuckled and blew her a kiss.

  Arabella threw the silver blade to the ground, then spun around and grasped two Orotaq daggers from the guard’s sheaths. Turning back to Kael she simultaneously hammered both daggers into the front of each shoulder. He grunted from the pain and ground his teeth, but refused to give her the satisfaction of hearing him scream.

  When Arabella realized what he was trying to do, she grabbed the handles of both daggers, twisting them back and forth. The forged obsidian blades sliced the inside of Kael’s shoulders, grinding and popping against bone and tearing through muscle. Still he refused to cry out, biting down on his lower lip hard enough for blood to drip from his chin. He held her stare, shaking, only inches away from her face, his hatred palpable.

  Kael’s defiance finally pushed the witch’s temper over the breaking point. She shrieked in his face like an insane banshee and slapped both her palms to his chest as she rapidly chanted in a language Kael had heard before but didn’t understand. The last words from her mouth he did understand, even though they made no sense.

  “Garz’x, grant me the strength,” she gasped.

  No longer able to sit by and watch, N’Ikyah screamed. “No, mistress! You’ll kill him.” She crashed into Arabella, knocking her the floor.

  Though N’Ikyah acted the moment she understood what Arabella had planned to do, it was already too late. As soon as her mistress’ hands tore free of Kael’s body after the collision, he felt the spell blossom inside his chest like an exploding bomb. Pain raced its way through the middle of his body, rapidly spreading through his arms and legs. It felt like his organs were being shredded, and he panicked, realizing he had pushed the witch too far. In a matter of seconds, it dawned on him that both Ember and Lycori were now dead, and suddenly it didn’t seem to matter any more whether he lived or died. His panic eased and a smile crept from the corner of his mouth as he fell backwards against the bars of his cell. The Orotaq guards never even bothered to try and stop him, sure that he was dead as well.

  It took seconds for Arabella to recover from being knocked off her feet, but already Darthinia had lashed out at N’Ikyah with her magical whip. She snapped the whip forward as it crossed N’Ikyah’s back. Her flesh opened as easy as if the whip had been a honed razor. With her hands and arms protecting her face, the slave girl curled into a ball as best she could. After the tenth time the whip tore into her back, arms, and legs, Arabella was back on her feet.

  “That’s enough, Darthinia,” she commanded. “Take Ashea and bring back the rest of the healers we have here. With luck maybe they can patch N’Ikyah up and then save this disgusting reject of a DeathWizard.”

  Kael struggled to stay conscious as he choked and wheezed. From the corner of his left eye he saw N’Ikyah crawl to his side, bleeding heavily from the whipping.

  “I must... stay,” she breathed, placing both her hands on Kael and starting the magical chant that might save his life, yet again.

  Arabella’s voice rode a
bove the waves of agony pounding in his head as she gave orders to the Orotaq warriors.

  “Take the vampyr’s body and dump it down the hole with her grandfather. The two can rot in the depths of the earth together.” She turned to the Orotaq slavers who had been holding Kael, and added, “Take your brothers to your vicar for burial,” before she turned back to Kael.

  “The punishment for your insolence, Kael, will be the lives of the young couple who share your cell. I promise you, coward, they will die hard. As for you, N’Ikyah, stay. You will get help, but if you can’t save his life, I will take yours as punishment for failing.”

  “Yes, mistress,” she whispered, her eyes a mixed haze of pain and concentration as she worked to heal Kael.

  N’Ikyah looked at his own glossy eyes. “I am here, Kael. I will not let you die, I promise. Not as long as I have the breath required to save you. But you must help me. Fight to stay alive, Kael. Please.”

  Unable to answer, the last thing Kael felt was the warmth of her magic flooding his body. The last thing he heard was her voice.

  “By the gods, Kael, fight. You do not dare give up now. Fight… damn you.”

  When Kael woke again there were very few thoughts his mind could bringgreatsword forth past the blistering pain that tore through his chest and abdomen. His vision blurred and his ears buzzed, but he could just make out Lycori hovering over him. Always there the moment he woke, she was his sole anchor to sanity, but when she spoke in someone else’s voice, his muddled mind couldn’t grasp why.

  “Kael? Kael, can you hear me? Lay still, We are still healing you. It is taking three of us just to keep you alive. Your body is trying to burn off the magic inside you. You have a fever that is out of control. Try to stay calm. Four more of my sisters are on the way. We are trying to heal the damage Arabella has done to your body. Hold on and do not give up. Please.”

  Kael smiled in his delirium at the thought of Lycori and her strange voice trying to heal him. He chuckled to himself, knowing that she could kill, but she couldn’t heal. For some reason he found this hilarious. Kael started to laugh out loud, but it caused jolts of massive pain and the laugh quickly turned to a ragged cough.

  He heard someone whose voice he had never heard before. “What in all the gods of creation is he laughing at, N’Ikyah?”

  “I know not, Zyrea. His body is so badly damaged perhaps his mind has broken from the strain, or it could be from any other number of other problems as well.”

  “My brain seems to be broken fine, it’s my body that seems to be working broken,” he muttered deliriously. It was those words that Kael followed back into the darkness.

  The next few days Kael was conscious for only minutes at a time. N’Ikyah took every opportunity he was awake to force a watery gruel down his throat. Never had he experienced pain equal to what the last several days had brought him. Even the simple act of breathing was a teeth-clenching nightmare at times. Most of the day blackness ruled his mind, and he considered it a blessing.

  According to Galen, by the tenth day, Kael managed to stay awake for a few hours at a time. Getting his brain to co-operate with his mouth was a different story though. The next day, the eleventh since Arabella’s vicious attack, Kael’s body had finally begun to heal the damage N’Ikyah and her sisters couldn’t. He was able to speak coherently a few hours later.

  Still confused, however, he croaked, “What happened?” With a concerned look, N’Ikyah checked his fever, gently feeling his cheeks and forehead.

  “Do you remember nothing?” Shaking his head was all he had strength for and even then, pain assaulted his senses.

  Placing her left hand on his chest, she said, “I am very sorry, Kael, for what happened to you. I tried to stop her, but I was not fast enough. After she killed Lycori, Arabella filled your internal organs with magic I have never seen her use. It took five of us just to keep you alive and it will still take months for you to heal completely, if you ever do. It was demonic magic, so enough of us were able to heal you. If not you would have died.”

  As she told him what had happened, it all came rushing back, the loss of the only friend he had impacted hard. He couldn’t stop a couple tears from running down the side of his face to the back of his neck. Sure that his sanity would never return, Kael could feel it being replaced by a cold hatred unlike any he had ever known in his life. He knew what this meant, but he could no longer stop it. Hard as he tried not to, for the first time in his existence he felt an intense craving for revenge. It was a feeling he didn’t like but one he found he no longer cared to suppress.

  The Dead Sisters had taken everything from him. His life back home was gone forever. They killed his wife and his closest friend. Now the only friend this insane place had granted him, they had taken as well. N’Ikyah told him that Arabella would not be back until he had healed in full. She guessed it would be close to a month before they began their torture once more. Kael didn’t care either way. It was just more time for the darkness within him to grow stronger, more time for his power to grow as well. It seemed that no matter what he did he couldn’t get away from it. Terrified, but no longer caring, he welcomed it with open arms. It was, after all, the legacy of his birth.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Bauro BlackSpawn is the commander of the Suns of Blood pirate armada. He is a cruel and greedy but charismatic man. How else could one man attempt to unite over fifty pirate factions? I met him during the second Wildlands War, years before he forged the Suns of Blood. It was a desperate time, and we were forced to use freelance sailors and known pirates to transport troops and weaponry to battle fronts all over Yusat and southeastern Cethos. Bauro and Dominique Havarrow are two of the best sailors I have ever known. Though the Lightfoot family has faster, better ships, Bauro and his right-hand man can sail to places others could only dream of reaching safely.

  The bad thing about both men is their savage need for vengeance when and wherever they are crossed. Pirates have never before followed their enemies to land until BlackSpawn united the factions under his banner. People have often said that both men will follow their enemy to the blazing jaws of Perdition just for the sake of revenge. We will have to deal with the threat these men and their armada pose some day, especially if BlackSpawn completes his takeover of every known pirate vessel. I hope you, the representatives of Talohna’s High Council, keep this in mind.

  EXCERPT FROM ARCHWIZARD GIDDEON ZIRAKUS’ APPRAISAL SPEECH

  TO THE HIGH COUNCILS OF TALOHNA ON THE RISING THREAT OF THE SUNS OF BLOOD.

  4999 PC

  VER KARMOT, DRAGON ISLES

  The rush to return to BlackFang Harbour took seven days instead of the eight it should have. By travelling as fast as they could while on foot, Giddeon and Ember’s group saved one day, but it had left no time for talking or planning. Also, Ember had no time to explore her new-found heritage or abilities, besides the non-working dream-casting. They quickly explained to Commander Zatassa why were they leaving and boarded the Sorana’s Song. They had run into no real problems since the night they spoke with the Whispers; it was almost as if something—or someone—had cleared the way for them.

  Their stretch of good luck held until the Song was a full day’s sail from WhiteVale Cove. Max was first to see the three pirate flags on the horizon.

  “Three ships on the horizon!” he yelled. Kiirein was at his side in moments.

  “Pirates, damn Aegaus’ sour luck.” He cursed the ocean god, as violent as the Elvehn curse anyway. He turned to look for Giddeon, but didn’t see him.

  “Saleece, find Giddeon and my mother. I’ll need all the magic users up front before they are in ballistae range.” She left without saying a word, returning minutes later with both.

  Kiiren spoke quickly as everyone gathered by the helm. “We cannot fight three pirate ships with only a half crewed ship and no second vessel to cover our stern. We have to make a run for it. A pirate galleon has never chased one of my schooners down, but we must move quickly. The
y have the angle on us to the south, which means they’ll push us into the Cauldron’s White Calm if we keep heading that way,” he explained, mentioning the area of flat water and dead winds located where the Black Cauldron and WhiteWyrm Oceans met. “We’ll try heading north to get past them and then return south to WhiteVale Cove. Mother, you and I will supply extra winds for the sails. Giddeon, take the helm. I’ll help you with the directions we’ll need. Everyone else either man the ballistae or prepare to fight if we’re boarded. Let’s move it. That first flag is Captain Havarrow’s. That damned ship is full of Reavers. If they board us, we die.”

  His commands given, the newly sanctioned crew jumped to their duties, all but Ember. “What the hell is a Reaver?” she asked. “God in heaven, can things get any worse?”

  Giddeon answered her from the ship’s helm behind her. “If Reavers board this ship, things are going to get a lot worse. Just be ready.”

  “Okay,” she sighed, “but what the hell is a Reaver?”

  Sorana grabbed her arm on the way to the vessel’s bow and pulled her along as she answered. “A Reaver is a pirate that was specially trained to board ships and fight. With two enchanted hooked axes that bless them with incredible speed, they are brutal, and ruthless. Trust me, we do not want them aboard this ship. Now come on, help me pull this rope. We need to change the angle of these sails before we can use our magic to fill them.” With that said, Ember focused on her duties, trying to help wherever she was needed as they tried to out race the pirates.

  Sorana was the first to act as the mainsail snapped open, summoning her maiden family’s wind elemental. She directed its wide blowing winds into the sails. The Song darted ahead with a creak of stressed wood as the narrow bow sliced through water at an ever-increasing pace. Kiirein altered the rigging even more so the sails captured as much of the elemental’s winds as possible, again pushing the vessel to greater speeds. Giddeon watched the nautical compass as Kiirein barked out the changes in direction using degrees and direction. Trying to slide by the pirates to the north precipitated a ballistae attack when their schooner passed close enough to Havarrow’s flagship for the gunner to try for a lucky shot.