Legacy of Dreams: Freedom

by Thomas J. L. Green

  Out of nowhere, Raven lifted himself up and started hastily putting together his things. He put them on a pile, except for Nibbles to whom he told to climb up on him.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Luna asked.

  “I will be sleeping elsewhere for a few days,” Raven announced.

  “What? Why? How about me?” she challenged.

  “You stay here and help your friend. She needs it,” Raven stated.

  “What? How would you know anything about that? What friend? I don’t really have any,” Luna stared at him in utter confusion.

  “You will see soon,” Raven picked up his things and vanished through the door.

  “What the fuck is going on?” Luna demanded, but he was gone. She went back to reading. Normally she would pursue him and demand answers, but she didn’t want to go outside of the room because of the stench.

  Suddenly the door opened. Luna looked up and froze. Iowen was covered by a mixture of frozen black, red and blue blood and ashes; she was using a sword for a cane when she walked. Her left shoulder was a mess that looked like it can barely hold the arm. What shocked Luna was her eyes. She looked like her soul was ripped straight out of her.

  “What happened?” Luna asked.

  Iowen shut the door behind her and without a word dropped her sword and crashed onto Raven’s bed.

  Luna leaped up from the bed, then ducked to put her face in front of Iowens.

  “What happened?” Luna insisted.

  Iowen didn’t answer. Just stared at something Luna couldn’t see. Luna went to look at the wounds. They were horrifying.

  “I will be back soon, you stay here,” Luna said as confidently as she could and bolted out of the door.

  “You are not Iowen,” Tal’Sec evaluated when looking into the room. Raven was sagged resting against the wall at the side of the room. His armor and weapon lay around him; Nibbles was biting on a piece of cheese Raven gave him.

  “I am not,” Raven confirmed, measuring the massive Uroshnii warrior with his eyes.

  “What are you doing here? Where is Iowen?” Tal’Sec asked carefully.

  “She took my room. My friend is helping her heal. Got nowhere else to sleep,” Raven explained.

  “What happened to Iowen?”

  “Thought you’d tell me,” Raven retorted.

  “Where is your room?” Tal’Sec asked.

  “F3L17,” Raven replied. The cells were marked by a combination of letters and numbers. The system was carefully laid out, which made it easy to navigate around even for Raven. “I suggest you bring a large chunk of raw meat with you; my friend is mean when she is hungry.”

  “Is she less mean when she isn’t hungry?” the Urushnii asked.

  “No,” Raven admitted, “but she won’t eat you when her mouth’s filled with something else.”

  “I will keep that in mind,” Tal’Sec confirmed, then left and closed the door.

  Luna ran into Samantha and her assistant in a matter of seconds.

  “What happened? Raven told us to come here as soon as we could and then vanished!” Samantha shouted at Luna as they ran into each other.

  “Follow me!” Luna responded and led them back to the room.

  Iowen lay in bed exactly as Luna left her.

  “Please help her,” Luna asked Samantha. Samantha went over Iowen with her eyes, then ordered her assistant and Luna to get some water and fresh towels. She went on to put Iowen to lie straight in the bed.

  “Careful, her blood will freeze your skin if it touches you,” Luna warned her as she went to push closer a barrel of water.

  They spent the next few hours cleaning Iowen, then cleaning the wound and reconstructing the bones. Samantha was fixing Iowen with her magic; the other two tried to help her. Iowen didn’t make a sound, didn’t react to anything.

  After about an hour someone knocked on the door softly. Luna went to peek at who it is. Beyond the door stood the biggest man Luna ever saw. Towering at the height of over eight feet stood a massive dark Urushnii with a grey beard and hair. His body was dressed in a leathery tunic without sleeves, while tattoos covered his arms. He had a sword around his waist and held a skinned dead dried sheep in his left hand. Luna met some Urushnii before, but this one was a size larger than any other.

  “I apologize for the intrusion; I was led to believe lady Iowen might be present. My name is Tal’Sec and I am the leader of her team,” he opened up in a perfect common tongue.

  “Hi… I’m Luna,” Luna squeezed out before she regrouped her thoughts.

  “She is here, come on in,” she confirmed and opened the door and let him in. Samantha’s assistant froze when she saw the man, Samantha didn’t lift her eyes from work.

  Tal’Sec made a step in and evaluated Iowen.

  “Do you know what happened to her?” he asked.

  “I thought you would know. She hasn’t told us anything,” Luna replied.

  “Thank you for taking care of her. If there is any way we can help, let me know. We rest around F2N08. We have some healers, but none are nearly as skilled as the one already present,” he said. Samantha didn’t look up but slightly blushed.

  “Why are you carrying that?” Luna asked when nodding towards the sheep in his left hand.

  “Your friend led me to believe an offering of food would be the most appropriate thing to bring along,” he admitted.

  “Do me a favor and throw it in his face the next time you see him,” Luna cut back sharply.

  “I will,” he smiled.

  “Once more, thank you,” he said before he turned around and left, closing the door behind him gently.

  “This is the most I can do,” concluded Samantha as she sat down on a chair and wiped sweat from her forehead. She was visibly exhausted.

  “What happened to her?” Luna probed.

  “I don’t know. I fixed the main parts of her body; the rest should fix itself in time provided that she drinks the elixirs I will make her. But the scar on her mind is beyond what I can help with,” Samantha explained.

  “What should I do?” Luna requested.

  “Stay with her, talk to her, I guess she is your friend and came here for just that,” Samantha replied.

  “Thank you,” Luna breathed.

  “I will send the elixirs once they are finished,” Samantha smiled and rose up, her assistant helped her walk out.

  Luna tried what she could to make Iowen speak. Nothing helped. Iowen wouldn’t speak, drink, eat or sleep. She just lay there and stared in front of her. Frustrated, Luna went back to digging through the book. After a few hours of fruitless searching, she threw the book aside again. Luna leaped up, roared a battle cry and went on to punch the wall once more. She went on until both her hands were bunches of messed up flesh and bones.

  “What did the wall do?” Iowen whispered.

  “Are you alright? What happened? Are you hungry? Thirsty? Does it hurt?” Luna blurted as she leaped to Iowen.

  “Yes,” Iowen breathed.

  Luna went to quickly get the healing elixir from Samantha, some water and some food.

  “Here, drink this, it should help,” Luna started with the elixir.

  “Is it from Lucas?” Iowen asked.

  “No, it’s from Samantha,” Luna responded in confusion.

  “Did she give it to you or did you just find it here?” Iowen inquired.

  “Her assistant brought it, why? Nobody was here,” Luna was confused.

  “He was. I know he was,” Iowen protested.

  “I didn’t smell or see anyone in the room and I know the assistant well, she was here and helped Samantha heal you,” Luna breathed.

  “Good,” Iowen reached for the elixir and went to drink it. It was difficult for her to drink it, since before drinking or eating anything, Iowen had to focus for a bit to make her mouth warmer so the food wouldn’t freeze before it reaches her stomach. She had no idea how she did it, but it just came naturally. Now she had to focus intensely to manage.

/>   “Thank you,” Iowen sat on the bed and put the empty vial aside.

  “He was here. He doesn’t smell; he doesn’t make sound, he doesn’t need doors or windows,”

  “Who’s Lucas?” Luna asked once Iowen put the empty vial aside and sat on the bed.

  “Nevermind,” Iowen refused to explain and reached for some food.

  “What happened?” Luna asked.

  Iowen froze, then put her knees on her chest and hugged them, her eyes falling into emptiness once more.

  “They burned. They all burned,” she breathed.

  “Who?” Luna probed.

  “Everyone,” Iowen’s whole body trembled at the thought.

  “Where? How? This doesn’t make much sense,” Luna protested.

  “There was a secret city under the arena… there were thousands of people in there,” Iowen explained.

  “What? Then this stench... ugghh.”

  “There were thousands of people in there, they all screamed, they begged… they burned. Just like he did,” Iowen continued.

  “Like who did? Who did that? How?” Luna didn’t feel any wiser.

  “Like Brin. They all burned, screamed, begged and died like Brin,” Iowen replied.

  “The boy who wouldn’t grow you told me about… was that Brin? Who was he?”

  “My twin brother.”

  Luna didn’t know what to say. So, she said nothing and just hugged her.

  “You asked me who Lucas is,” Iowen breathed after a long time. Luna started paying attention again.

  “Is he even real? You talked about him like he was a ghost,” Luna probed.

  “He is real. He is darkness incarnate, worse than any demon, worse than any monster. He stalks shadows and dreams,” Iowen mused.

  “That doesn’t make any sense,” Luna complained.

  “Yesterday during the night, the Order of Palai had thousands of people in the secret city of slavers burned, thousands more in the slave lumber camp, just like the house of the local slaver boss with his guard and that very boss was hanged on the town square together with his wife and three children. Hanged, gutted and burned. I don’t know who Lucas is. I thought I did… I thought he loved me. I was a fool… I just saw what I wanted to see. He is no man… he has no soul… he has no heart.”

  Impressive! The beast inside Luna reminded her of its existence. It was quiet ever since it had a feast in the arena. And terrifying… mostly impressive though. It looks like staying friends with Jack is more important than it seemed to be. I don’t think I should tell that to Iowen though.

  “Don’t worry, he hasn’t been here and I won’t let him come here,” Luna tried to reassure her.

  “You can’t stop him; nobody can… look under the bed,” Iowen whispered.

  Luna hid her doubt, picked a torch and went to look on the ground under Iowen’s bed.

  “There is nothing under it!” she announced.

  “At the bottom of the bed frame?” Iowen asked.

  “There is… oh,” Luna froze under the bed. There was a circle of strange runes inscribed into the bottom of the bed frame.

  HOW? I was here and awake the whole time. Nobody entered, nobody left. Yet here it is. Impossible!

  “I will get a knife and erase them,” Luna got up.

  “Don’t, it’s likely some protective charm plus there is likely more or less obvious locations,” Iowen conceded.

  “Do you have some other super dangerous lovers or exes?” Luna asked jokingly.

  “Nah… killed the rest,” Iowen smirked.

  Ha… ha… ha.

  Luna made an awkward laugh.

  “Just joking… do you please have something to eat? I am not sure I can get up from the bed,” Iowen breathed.

  Luna went to take out some food and prepare it for her. It wasn’t much but it was edible. Iowen took it gratefully.

  “So, what are you looking for in the children book that it makes you so angry?” Iowen tried to toss up a lighter topic for conversation.

  “Information on a sword. It is supposed to be hidden somewhere within the book, but I have nothing much to go by,” Luna revealed.

  “Why would a children book have information on a sword? That doesn’t really make sense,” Iowen challenged.

  “It doesn’t, but it looks like it. The book describes a lot of legendary weapons of more or less fictional people and stories. Some seem real, I just can’t tell them apart,” Luna tried to explain, knowing well how crazy that sounds. Then again, Iowen seemed to have encountered her share of crazy already.

  “You think your sword is that famous?” Iowen poked her a bit.

  “I don’t know,” Luna admitted with a hint of embarrassment.

  “So how do you look for it?” Iowen asked.

  “Well…” Luna flicked her wrist and made the long black sword appear in her hand.

  “I go by the color and unusual lightness. But there are too many weapons which more or less fit the description in the damn book plus I have a hard time telling apart what’s real and what isn’t. I would really need to know the name to look for or the previous owner or something like that. Also, there is also the small symbol of the rose here…” Luna turned to Iowen to show her but realized Iowen is staring at her with eyes wide open.

  “Is something wrong?” Luna probed carefully.

  “Nightweaver.”

  “What?”

  “The sword… that’s Nightweaver!”

  38

  Collward

  Regrouping the Slaver Union was easier than it looked like. They were so terrified they did everything he wanted them to without questioning it. Not that things used to be too different in the past, but the sudden reminder of mortality made the idea of dissent much less appealing. It worked for Collward. He knew that this was exactly what Lucas was aiming for, to make it a battle between the two of them because that gave him the chance to wipe out the Slaver Union all at once. Edward Collward wasn’t afraid of the fight, he knew he might lose but he also knew he has a good shot at winning. If Lucas had enough men to do it in a less risky way, he would have done so. That he chose direct confrontation which meant that he simply doesn’t have the resources to do it slowly. Resources or time. It didn’t matter.

  Inspection of the burned secret laboratory brought expected results. All exits were blocked, the whole place was drowned in whale oil and then lit up. He made a mental note that Lucas has someone who is good at controlling the weather because they first made the snow thaw to fill the flood protection system and only after blocked the access of water and replaced it with fish oil. It was smart. Noticing oil falling from the sky was a lot harder when there was a lot of water beforehand. Water that stifled all torches.

  The lumber slave camp told the same story. Directed forest fire and a few thousand soldiers left no survivors. His armies weren’t ready yet and he knew it. Now Lucas knew it as well. There was nothing to be done about it, only accept it and find a way to live with it.

  Now, this looks interesting.

  He asked his men to gather whatever interesting objects they may find in the burned cavern. The long black spear looked suspicious, almost familiar. He had it cleaned and inspected it. The spear was pitch black, long, made of one piece of metal and covered by small runes.

  “I will be taking this,” he announced to his men and had the spear wrapped in cloth before taking it over his shoulder.

  Now onwards to more pressing matters.

  “I heard your war with Palai isn’t going as planned,” Gly’Yen’Thn purred as she sat comfortably in Edward Collward’s office. He had her summoned here.

  “Let’s just say I am more willing to discuss your previous proposal,” he ignored the comment.

  “What would you have of us? You know our price,” Gly’Yen’Thn smiled warmly.

  “I will have a set of missions for you, one in each city where the tournament takes place. Also, I am not willing to take part in any of your plans or give out any favors or promises
of cooperation. Name your price in gold or items and we can settle something. Else be gone,” Edward offered.

  “Greedy, aren’t you? Fine, half a million-gold ante permission plus the Mirror of Lost Souls if we complete at least half of them successfully,” Yen mused.

  “You call me greedy? The mirror is worth more than anything you can offer me,” Edward laughed.

  “You don’t seem to be in a position to be picky. Cinderwell is a month away and you just lost an army in here. Half a million gold in total plus the mirror,” Yen bargained.

  “I am not giving you the mirror,” Edward refused.

  “I guess I will go pick it up from the smoldering pile Palai soldiers leave behind,” Yen tossed up.

  Meh, that is a credible threat and I am not sure I have the luxury of ignoring it, because she would undermine me if she sees a chance to get the mirror that way.

  “Hundred thousand gold per successful mission, mirror instead of the gold if you succeed in all four of them,” Edward reopened the negotiation.

  “Hundred thousand gold per mission as ante, twice as much upon success, mirror if I succeed three or more,” Yen retorted.

  “No ante. Do three missions successfully and get half a million gold plus mirror. Fail twice and fuck off with nothing,“ Edward returned.

  “I accept,” Yen agreed.

  Am I getting old? No, I just don’t care after receiving the exorbitant sum of money from Jean yesterday. I have no idea how he got that rich, but I do have to admit I never had even half of that much in cash.

  “Now leave. I will meet you in Cinderwell three weeks from now. My office, you will receive your instructions there,” Edward dismissed her.

  “Your will is mine,” Yen bowed with a smile and left gracefully.

  At least I got some time to prepare for the bandit lord.

  An hour later the door swung open and his assistant crashed in.

  “Sir! There is a stranger here to meet you; he said he has a meeting and ignores everything we tell him!” she blurted.

  “Let him in,” he ordered her.