Bound to the Abyss

by James R. Vernon

  No, a fight was their only option.

  Jaslen rose to her feet and readied her bow. Bran and Ean spread out to circle him. EliZane seemed more amused than concerned about their efforts to surround him. He stood still, picking dirt from beneath his fingernails.

  “So,” EliZane said. “We’re going to do this the hard way? Very well, I suppose a bit of exercise won’t hurt.”

  Letting out a laugh that held no warmth, he let his arms drop to his sides casually. “Well, here is hoping you will surprise me.”

  EliZane’s hands moved so fast Ean almost missed it. In a blur, the man snatched two finger-sized blades from his belt and hurled one at Jaslen and the other at Ean.

  The energies from the Abyss enhanced his reflexes enough that he dropped back before the blade hit. He felt it whiz past the tip of his nose. Missing its intended target, the blade sank into the tree behind him with a loud plunk. At the same moment, Jaslen let out a startled yelp.

  Rolling to his feet, Ean scrambled to go to Jaslen’s aid but quickly realized that she was more scared than hurt. The second blade had sliced through her bow string, leaving her unscathed but weaponless. The rasp of a sword blade coming unsheathed made Ean shift his attention again. Bran was holding his sword defensively in front of his body. EliZane was sauntering toward Bran with that same amused expression.

  Jaslen had recovered from her shock and was on her feet as well. She had discarded the bow and instead held a single arrow in her left hand. She took careful, deliberate steps, not making a sound as she tried to catch the Seeker off guard.

  “This really is foolish,” EliZane said to Bran. “You’re just going to make me hurt you more than needs be. Best if we just get you back to my companions so we can test you for the corruption and then act from there. If you haven’t been touched by the Abyss, you will be sent on your way. If you have, then you have to die. It’s as simple as that.”

  Bran grunted and moved towards the Seeker, keeping his blade aimed at Elizane’s chest.

  “Very well,” the Seeker said with a feigned sigh.

  “You’re going to leave us alone,” Bran said, a mixture of anger and hesitation on his voice. “We just want to leave and don’t want any trouble.”

  “Listen to you, trying to sound all tough.” EliZane still sounded at ease. “Are you trying to impress someone? The girl, perhaps?”

  He waved a hand in the direction of where Jaslen was trying to creep up on him. “Is she your girl? Oh that’s a shame. Especially if one of you is corrupted and the other one isn’t. Then you’d have to sit and watch while the other one was put down.”

  “Don’t you threaten −”

  In one swift motion, the Seeker knocked Bran’s blade aside with one hand and delivered a strike to the boy’s throat with the other, effectively cutting him off midsentence. The younger man dropped to the ground, a gurgling noise coming from his mouth as he gripped his throat with both hands. EliZane stood over him, shaking his head.

  With a yell Jaslen charged in, holding the arrow in both hands like a spear. The Seeker easily dodged out of the way of her clumsy charge. As she stumbled past, he stuck a foot out and tripped her. She fell, face first, the arrow thankfully flying from her hands instead of ending up embedded in her stomach. Hitting the ground hard, she let out a muffled moan. She immediately tried to push herself up with her hands to regain her footing.

  EliZane stomped down hard on her back with a muddy boot, pinning her to the ground.

  “Are we done with this foolishness?” Frown lines creased the Seeker’s forehead and mirrored the scowl he directed down at Jaslen, but his voice sounded anything but annoyed. “I would hate to actually break a limb …”

  Ean’s mind raced. Clearly they had no chance against this man in a fight; he was far too quick and skilled. Which meant they had to try something else.

  “Please, don’t hurt us anymore,” Ean said, trying his best to sound pathetic. The pain in his gut certainly helped, but it was fading. “We’ll go with you.”

  “No, you can’t Ean!” Jaslen cried out. Her words earned her another stomp from the Seeker. A small whimper escaped her mouth, but she still turned her head enough that her gaze locked on Ean’s eyes.

  “Quiet, girl,” EliZane said menacingly. Leaning forward, the Seeker pressed down with his foot harder and harder until a squeak escaped her mouth. Satisfied that she wasn’t going to speak further, he turned his attention back to Ean. “Finally, someone with a little sense. Hopefully your friends will follow your lead and come peacefully as well.”

  "I'm sure they will. We clearly don't have the training to stand against you.” Ean was only a few paces away from the man now. He just needed to get a little closer ...

  "Now, here is what's going to happen.” EliZane's voice had lost a bit of its scorn and had a more commanding quality to it. "I'm going to take my foot off the girl, and then the two of you are going to help your other friend to his feet. If he isn't able to walk, then the two of you will carry him. The sooner we see if you’re corrupted, the faster I'll be able to get out of this stupid wilderness and get back to the city.”

  "We'll do whatever you say.” Ean tried his best to sound sincere, and after staring at him for a moment, the Seeker nodded and removed his boot from Jaslen's back. Reaching down, Ean helped her up to her feet while keeping his back to the Seeker. As she rose, Ean carefully slid the glove off his right hand.

  He took a step in EliZane's direction. The man was looking down at Bran with a disgusted look. All Ean had to do was get close enough to touch him. If he could do that, maybe they would have a chance. Ever so carefully, Ean reached out towards the man … EliZane’s hand shot out, catching Ean’s wrist well away from the Seeker’s body. How had the man even seen him? His attention still seemed to be on Bran, and yet he had reached out and snatched Ean’s wrist as if he were staring right at it.

  “You really didn’t think I would believe you had given up so easily, did you?” The contempt and scorn in the man’s voice was palpable. “You three have the nerve, the nerve, to attack a Seeker and then you suddenly turn meek as a mouse?”

  With a dark laugh, EliZane jerked Ean closer. “I hope this isn’t your writing hand boy, because I’m about to snap your little wrist.”

  The thought of the pain the man was about to inflict pushed all remaining doubt out of Ean’s mind. He grabbed the older man’s wrist with his right hand and unleashed all of the energy coursing through his body. Ean felt the power flow out of him, into the man and then “hit” something.

  An explosion tossed both Ean and the Seeker into the air and a dozen wagons lengths away from each other. It felt like Ean was flying for an eternity, the explosion dulling his senses and the wind rushing around him from the speed he was traveling. When he finally came down, he hit the ground hard enough to knock the wind from his lungs. His shoulder made a popping sound and pain lanced down his arm. The force made him lose his connection to the energies from the Abyss. The power drained out of his body in a way that left him feeling like a spilled waterskin. When he was finally able to sit up, he saw chaos all around him.

  The Seeker was on his stomach, quite a distance away and trying unsuccessfully to get to his feet. Ean could see the path EliZane had been tossed. Bark stripped from the trunks of trees and broken branches marked the Seeker’s path through the air. The damage made Ean glad he had been lucky enough to miss hitting anything during his own flight. And yet the man was still moving. No wonder people feared the Seekers; this one seemed to be incredibly hard to stop.

  Looking to his right, he saw that Jaslen and Bran hadn’t escaped the blast either. Jaslen was only a few paces from where she had been standing before, lying on her back. Bran was still down in the same spot. Ean took only a moment to watch Jaslen rub the other young man’s chest quickly before trying to climb back onto his feet.

  A blur whizzed past Ean’s left cheek accompanied by a sharp pain. He touched his face and felt wetness. There was blood on his
fingers. He immediately switched his attention back to the Seeker and found the man on his feet, bent over and leaning against one of the trees.

  If EliZane could kill with a look, Ean would be dead ten times over by now. The man’s eyes were cold, their intensity enough to make Ean gulp. A small stream of blood dribbled down from EliZane’s head, branching off at his nose and running around both sides of his mouth. A mouth set in a snarl. The man’s trembling hands reached for his belt. It faltered for a moment, than half-heartedly flung another projectile in Ean’s direction.

  Falling to the right, Ean watched as a tiny blur flew past where his throat had just been. He tried to follow the fast moving object but lost it for a moment only to find it again as it hit a tree. A tiny blade, about twice the length of Ean’s longest finger, was embedded up to the hilt in the bark. Rising to a sitting position, Ean knew he was running out of time. He had only come up with one plan of attack, and it had failed. The power of the Abyss had rebounded somehow. He drew it back into his body as he struggled to come up with something he could do before the Seeker recovered …

  The Hound!

  Lost in his scattered thoughts, he didn’t see the Seeker grab something off the ground and whip it in his direction. Pain exploded in his forehead, causing his mind to go blank as it knocked him onto his back. The world grew hazy, but Ean fought to hold on to consciousness. Raising a hand to his head, he quickly located a knot where the object had struck him, but even his slight touch made the world grow dark, so he quickly pulled his hand away.

  A bump on his head was much better than a blade sticking out of it, at least. Regardless of whatever reason why the man hadn’t used another blade, Ean had to gather his senses. He had to get up.

  He forced himself up on his elbows. The world swam as if he was underwater, and he closed his eyes against the nauseating feeling they caused. When he was able to open them again, EliZane was staring down at him, one hand holding his side while another held a small, curved dagger.

  “Thought you could corrupt me, did you, freak? Clearly you fools know nothing about the Seekers.”

  Wincing as he removed the hand from his side, EliZane pulled out a small amulet that hung around his neck. On its surface was an engraving of a sun with bouts of flame shooting off of it. The Seeker held it out for a few moments then tucked it back away before continuing.

  “This keeps us safe from the Scar’s energies as well as any that might leak off of those that have been corrupted.” His face tightened while small amounts of spittle appeared on his lips. “Which is why your little trick backfired. I don’t know what you tried to do, but now I’m going to kill you and let Olleander figure out what to do with your dead body.”

  The Seeker reached down and grabbed Ean by the shirt, yanking him to his feet. The man ground his teeth in obvious pain from the effort, but he pulled Ean close and placed the edge of his knife to his neck.

  “I enjoy every kill I get to make under the service of Alistar,” the Seeker whispered menacing, “but in all of my years, I think you’re going to be one of my favorites.”

  As the blade began to slide across his neck, Ean closed his eyes.

  In his muddled state, he was confused when he heard EliZane scream and found himself suddenly released. Ean fell to the ground and crumpled to his knees. It took most of his effort to raise his head and what little energy remaining to open his eyes again. The Seeker stumbled back and continued to scream, spinning in circles, trying to reach the back of his neck.

  Zin!

  The imp’s teeth were sunk into EliZane’s neck. The Seeker struggled to grab the imp, but Zin was too fast. He scrambled around on the man’s back, sinking teeth or claws into any joints or exposed areas of the man’s armor. EliZane raged and stumbled around. It would have been a hilarious scene if lives weren’t hanging in the balance.

  Ean had felt Zin’s bites before, and although painful, were nowhere near strong enough to bring the Seeker down.

  Reaching down inside himself, Ean grabbed onto the energies of the Abyss and let them flood into every corner of his existence. It filled his bones and made him strong. Gave new life to his muscles. Cleared the cobwebs from his thoughts. He could act. He would act.

  “Cruxlum!” the imp yelled from the Seeker’s back. “Bring forth a Cruxlum! The four armed creature! Hurry!”

  With the energies flowing in him again, Ean’s mind was clear, but he had no idea what creature the imp was naming. What in the Abyss was a four-armed Cruxlum? Images flashed through his mind of the different pages from The Abysmal Tome until they finally came to rest on the page with the runes he needed.

  Placing his hands palm down on a flat piece of land, he pictured the intricate design of the Cruxlum’s summoning runes. The energies flowed out of his hands again, forming two perfect summoning circles first, one inside of the other and then began to fill in the spaces in-between with runes. Ean focused as hard as he could, trying to make the runes inside appear faster. Snaking around the insides of the circles, the runes sped along, creating a weaving, intertwined design, each one twice the size of a coin.

  While the runes flashed along the ground, he heard Zin squeak. Then there was a thud. Realizing his couragous friend might be injured, or worse, Ean’s stomach turned to knots, but there was no turning away from the task at hand. It was the only chance to save everyone. Sweat began to dribble down his face as he strained in concentration.

  He kept his gaze down on the runes until the last one flashed into place. When the runes finally flared stronger and an opening began to appear, Ean then risked a glance up. Zin was lying on his back with his head in his hands. The Seeker was standing a bit further away, his mouth wide open as his eyes stared at the glowing and misty hole that was in the ground at Ean’s feet. A large, four-fingered yellow hand reached out of the hole and clawed at the dirt. A second hand followed … then a third and a fourth.

  And that’s when the summoning pain hit. Worse than ever before, he felt the power ripping him apart. Falling onto his side, Ean wrapped his arms around his stomach as the pain tore at every part of his body. He watched helplessly as the creature pulled itself out of the Abyss. When it freed itself, the hole closed behind it. Ean’s pain instantly subsided, but not entirely. Still too weak to move, every muscle tied in a knot, he stared at what he had just brought out of the Abyss.

  The Cruxlum was easily three times as tall as Ean, taller than even that giant Seeker, and was mostly torso. Attached to that torso were four heavily muscled arms, two on each side, that ended in four-fingered hands larger than Ean’s head. It wore very little clothing, just a small amount of rags around its midsection that covered its groin. Its hairless, dark yellow skin had the texture of a gravel road. Its large bald head was humanoid with two eyes completely black, a stub of a nose, and a tiny lipped mouth. A scar ran from the creature’s right cheek down to its chin. The Cruxlum’s inky black eyes looked down at Ean in confusion.

  The creature spoke in a strange language, using words Ean didn’t understand. Its voice thumped like the beat of a bass drum, while Ean returned a blank stare.

  “I don’t understand what you are saying,” Ean said, hoping the Cruxlum at least spoke his language like Zin.

  The Cruxlum’s mouth twisted into a frown and it placed its lower set of hands on its hips, while crossing its upper set of arms over its massive chest. It stared at him with impatient expectation.

  “Um, help?” Ean managed.

  The Cruxlum raised his top set of arms in frustration and began babbling away. Its rotund body blocked Ean’s view of the Seeker as it waved its arms about. Hopefully the man had run away or was too stunned to move at the sight of the creature. Ean was still trying to recover from summoning such a bizarre creature himself.

  To his surprise, he heard Zin speak in the same strange language as the Cruxlum. The two of them began what sounded like a heated conversation. The Cruxlum continued to wave its arms about in annoyance while the words seemed to tumble out of
Zin’s mouth.

  Which was right about the time that EliZane appeared on the Cruxlum’s back, one hand gripping the creature’s shoulder while the other drove a dagger down right around its collarbone.

  The blade stopped as soon as it touched skin, creating a scrapping sound as it failed to even scratch the surface. Unbothered by the attack, the Cruxlum reached back with its two upper hands and plucked the Seeker off its back. It stood there staring at the man for a moment, then with a shrug tossed him aside like a piece of rotten garbage. The Cruxlum resumed its conversation with Zin as if nothing had happened.

  That is, until Zin pointed to the fallen Seeker and said a few more words.

  The change in the Cruxlum’s demeanor changed instantly. It let out a loud bellow and turned to face the Seeker who, despite his injuries, somehow was already back on his feet. Its four hands opened and closed in tight fists, its arms spreading wide in every direction. Its skin color fluctuated from dark yellow to red. Giving a roar, it charged towards the Seeker.

  The Seeker threw everything he had from his belt at the creature. Knives and blades of every size bounced off the Cruxlum’s bumpy hide. EliZane shrieked as the Cruxlum kept going straight towards him. At the last moment, EliZane rolled to the side and came back up on his feet as the large beast stormed past him. The beast struggled to stop as the momentum of its massive body propelled it forward. Ean couldn’t help but admire the Seeker’s resiliency. Despite his injuries, EliZane remained quick of mind and feet.

  The Seeker locked eyes with Ean. For a moment, it was a standoff. Then EliZane made a motion across his own neck, like a knife slicing it open and then pointed at Ean. Continuing his stare for one last moment, EliZane wordlessly took off into the woods.

  Ean gulped, knowing that he had made a permanent enemy this day.

  Not satisfied with scaring the man off, the Cruxlum gave chase. It was able to keep up with the Seeker fairly well. The only time it fell behind was when EliZane slipped through an area of particularly dense trees, but that only slowed the beast for an instant. Instead of trying to go around to a spot where it could get through the trees, the Cruxlum simply flexed its arms and swung them out, knocking aside the thicker trees and uprooting the smaller ones. If Ean wanted to, he could easily follow the pair just by following the path of destruction the Cruxlum left.