Descent Into Darkness (Book 2)

by James R. Vernon

  "Fine, we keep going, at least for now," Ean finally blurted out. "But if we get to Wethrintir and I decide that we are not pushing forward, I don't want to hear any arguments, understood?"

  "Yes, yes, fine. But you are making the right decision, Ean. This is the best way to make sure none of your nightmares come true."

  "Don't you dare use those to keep me on this path! You know I'm already worried about that enou--"

  "Hello?" a voice said from the tent flaps and was immediately followed by Sadiek's bald head sticking through the opening.

  Ean froze.

  Unfortunately, so did Zin.

  "WHAT IN THE ABYSS..."

  Sadiek's expression went from squinting in the low levels of light to pure shock. The older man looked at the imp. Zin looked at the man. Ean looked at them both. What felt like an eternity passed. Then, without warning, Zin disappeared in a flash. This made Sadiek's eyes almost bulge out of his head, and Ean quickly grabbed the old man by his robe and pulled him completely into the tent. The man let Ean drag him in without putting up a fight and collapsed into a sitting position inside.

  "Sadiek," Ean began, not exactly sure what to say. "I can explain what you saw. It was an illusion, a...trick. You know, like what a Sparkteller can do." Ean's lie was off and running. "I don't tell many people about it because I'm just learning. That's why the image disappeared so quickly when you came in, you startled me and I lost..."

  Ean trailed off as the old man began shaking his head. "Ean, we both know that wasn't a Sparkteller illusion." The man's words came out slowly, as if each one was being carefully thought over and placed before Ean. "That creature reacted to me the same way I reacted to it. I've never seen anything like it. Was that a creature from the Abyss?"

  Ean sat in silence. How many years had he kept Zin a secret? How careful had he always been before? Ean's mind was reeling.

  "I'll take that as a yes," Sadiek continued. "I don't know what I find more shocking-- something from the Abyss free in the world or the fact that he is obviously your slave. Or is it companion?"

  "Uhhhhh...." was all Ean could manage.

  "Doesn't much matter, I suppose. What matters is whether you found it or if you brought it out of the Abyss yourself."

  "I...found him a long time ago. His name is Zin, and he certainly is not my slave."

  "It has a name? Most curious." Sadiek's expression had changed again, his eyes slightly squinted and a small smile forming on his lips. "I must say, Ean, I had thought seeing the Deadlands was going to be the most interesting part about this trip, but clearly I was mistaken."

  "Interesting? Does that mean you're not scared of him? Scared of me? You're not going to turn me over to the Seekers?"

  Sadiek laughed, which startled Ean at first but then relaxed as a broad smile appeared on the older man's face.

  "Scared?" Sadiek got out eventually between laughs. "Of what? That little creature? Or you having a tie to the Abyss? Ean, my young lad, I'm a scholar. I'm not your typical villager scared by old stories and superstition. I seek out knowledge about things that most people shy away from, and the Abyss is one of those things."

  "You have to promise me you won't tell anyone, Sadiek. I've already had a run-in with people that would kill me because of my connection to the Abyss. I'm glad you can accept it, but I would rather not risk trusting anyone else."

  "I promise, Ean, I promise." Leaning forward, an almost hungry expression appeared on the man's face. "But you must tell me everything. Any recorded information about the Abyss and Ze'an has been lost or destroyed for decades. Whatever knowledge I can learn from you would be the envy of any scholar."

  "Uh sure, I guess." The man's intense interest made Ean nervous, but he could keep back whatever information he wanted and the man would never know. "I guess there is no point in Zin hiding anymore. Come on out, Zin."

  The imp appeared reluctantly from behind Ean, completely visible again, inching his way out and sitting as close as he could to Ean without touching him. Flashing Ean a look of pure annoyance, Zin settled in and folded his arms across his chest.

  "Amazing," Sadiek said. "An actual creature from the Abyss. Does it do any tricks? Other than turning invisible, I mean. Like I said, so very little is known about--"

  "I really think this is a bad idea, Ean," Zin interrupted, turning his back to Sadiek. "How much do we really know about this guy? For all you know he could be a devoted follower of you-know-who. What if he is just trying to get as much information out of you as he can before running off to the Seekers."

  "It can talk!" Sadiek exclaimed, his hands going to his face.

  "Yes, I can talk. Yes, I'm standing right here and can hear you, and yes I have razor sharp teeth," Zin growled. "Best that you remember that, old man."

  "Zin, easy," Ean cut in. "He's just curious, is all. We have to trust him at this point, he already knows you exist. He might be able to help us, especially since he knows so much about the Deadlands."

  "I would feel easier if he stopped looking at me like some prize to be dissected."

  "Zin..."

  "Fine, fine. Whatever you say." Pointing a clawed finger at Sadiek, Zin narrowed his eyes as he spoke. "I'll be keeping an eye on you, though. You never know when I might be around either. Keep that in mind."

  For the briefest moment Ean thought he saw Sadiek's eyes grow cold as the imp addressed him, but they returned to wide-eyed interest so quickly that Ean thought he might have imagined it. It was hard to see much detail in the tent, after all.

  "Well," Sadiek said. "What else can you tell me about the Abyss?"

  "How Ean first started summoning creatures is none--"

  Turning slightly to the imp, Ean put a hand on his back to cut him off before Zin gave too much away.

  "Wait, you summoned this creature?" Sadiek leaned forward. A hungry look painted his face. "Is this true? Do you have magical powers as well?"

  "I found a book, Sadiek," Ean replied. He raised his hands in a soothing manner when the man leaned in further. "But I lost it. What little I was able to get from it allowed me to summon Zin."

  "Truly a shame. A book like that would be priceless. There has never been a book found that has any connection to the Abyss since after the Plague. They all were burned to ash."

  "Well, it was written in the actual language of the Abyss, something that neither Zin nor I could translate very well. When we lost the book, we both simply gave up trying."

  Leaning forward, Sadiek was nearly salivating. When he spoke, his voice was low and slightly commanding. "I might be able to help you, Ean. I am knowledgeable about all known languages in Ven Khilada. I can speak Taruun, Umdaer, and even a little of the language of the missing Aelcrane people. I'm sure with my ability to break down and decipher languages, I could help you figure out the language of the Abyss."

  "Like I said, the book was lost. I don't know what you could--"

  "You must remember something!"

  Ean was caught off guard by the intensity of Sadiek's words. "A few words, a paragraph from the book...at the very least whatever you used to summon the imp." The older man rounded on Zin. "Or you must remember something. Ean said you knew some of the words. If you could write them down for me, maybe I could start to put together something, maybe rebuild the language."

  Sadiek was smiling at Ean again, but for some reason now it seemed slightly off.

  "We...um, might be able to come up with something. Between the two of us." Ean said, which earned him a "humph" from Zin. "Maybe given some time alone we could put something together."

  "Excellent, excellent. Do you have paper? Something to write with?"

  "No."

  "Not a problem. I always travel with a bevy of writing supplies. I'll be right back."

  And with that he was gone.

  "Well," Zin said after a few moments of silence. "At least you weren't stupid enough to tell him about Azalea as well. Everything else on the other hand..."

  "Zin, he saw you. I
did my best to try and cover it up, but he wasn't even close to believing anything I said. Giving him a little bit of information made it easier to hide the more important bits."

  "But to tell him about the book--"

  "Which I said we lost."

  "But we're giving him access to the language of the Abyss--"

  "Zin, even with the book, it took a good deal of experimentation until I could even summon you. Do you really think he can do anything with a few dozen words?"

  "Yeah, I suppose that's true."

  "And just think what we can accomplish if he can come up with a key for the language. No more guessing at what kind of creature I'm summoning. No more fumbling blindly with my powers. By the Abyss, there could be pages of information about the tattoos. These things," he pulled back his glove to reveal the tattoos on his arm, "are slowly expanding over the entire right side of my body. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't making me nervous."

  "Ok, ok. But we still don't know the man. Can we at least agree to keep as much secret from him as possible? At the very least he doesn't need to know about your tattoos."

  "Agreed."

  "And we should keep your 'sister' a secret as well. If this man does end up turning on us, it will be good to have Azalea as a secret weapon."

  "I think you're being a bit overly paranoid, but if it will make you feel a little better, I can agree to that. I'll try to keep all of his focus on what scraps we give him and deciphering the language. I promise".

  "Well, I guess that's something at least." Zin sounded less than thrilled, but he lay back on his elbows and seemed a little less tense. "But I am going to keep my eyes on him as much as possible. There is just something about him that I don't--"

  "I'm back!" Sadiek said, rushing into the tent.

  Zin shot back up, his lips pursing in a frown that showed off some of his teeth. Ean was surprised as well at the old man's speed. The travelers' wagons were parked quite some way from where Ean's tent had been set up. The old man must have sprinted the entire way to get back so quickly.

  "Now," Sadiek said, either ignoring or not noticing their surprise. "Let's get to it."

  Taking a seat, Sadiek pulled out a few pieces of paper, a few quills, and an inkwell from his robe. He passed a piece of paper and quill to both Zin and Ean, then stared at them expectantly.

  "Start with words you know the meanings of, especially if you know both the human definition and the Abyss one."

  "Well, I don't know exact translations..." Ean began.

  "It's hard to match human words and those from the Abyss," Zin said over top of him. "Many words have similar meanings but not an exact translation."

  "I'm sure you will do your best." Sadiek gestured towards the paper in each of their hands. "Best to get started."

  Glancing at Zin for a moment, Ean got to the task at hand. He could think of maybe a dozen or so words off of the top of his head. The word for imp was an easy one. Zin's name, which meant "hope" in the Abysmal language, was one of the first he had learned. How Zin had come by it when he said every other imp in the Abyss was nameless was another one of his friend's secrets. The one time he had asked about it, Zin had tried to brush him off with his usual sarcasm, but Ean had seen the pain in those dark, beady eyes. He didn't push then and wouldn't any time in the future. Zin would either tell him when he was ready or he would hold on to that secret forever.

  Glancing at his friend, he noticed that Zin had written more than twice as many words as Ean. Sadiek was staring at both lists as if they were well-cooked steaks.

  "Is that it? Neither of you can think of more?"

  "It's late, Sadiek." Ean handed over his list. Zin did the same. "Give us time. During the trip I'm sure we can come up with more."

  "Hmmmph."

  Sadiek pulled out a piece of paper and began to write. His attention went back and forth between what he was jotting down and the notes Ean and Zin had written. His penmanship was extremely neat and orderly, but none of what he was writing down made any sense to Ean.

  "Is that a different language?" Zin asked.

  "It's my own shorthand," Sadiek replied, not bothering to look up. "Makes taking notes easier and quicker. Once I start making some progress, I'll be sure to translate my notes into something you can read."

  "Wonderful," Zin mumbled loud enough for everyone to hear. Sadiek seemed so caught up in what he was doing though that he missed the imp's sarcasm.

  "Zin," Ean said in a soothing tone. "I'm sure that--"

  "If you do not mind," Sadiek cut in crisply. "I can be easily distracted. If you could sit quietly, it would be greatly appreciated."

  Both Ean and Zin stared at the man for a few moments. Turning to Zin, Ean shrugged, which of course earned him a roll of the imp's eyes, before leaning back on his sleeping pallet and letting the old man work. After all, if he could come up with a way for Ean to read the Abysmal Tome with ease, then any shortness or bother the man caused would certainly be worth it.

  THE NEXT FEW DAYS flew by. His mornings consisted of working in the Tinker's wagon, fixing pieces of equipment, and learning a great deal about wagon maintenance. As grumpy as Graden was to work with, he reminded Ean of Cleff, which made Ean homesick. Ean had never thought he would miss that place at all once he had left, so the aching for Rottwealth was unexpected.

  When he had finished working for Graden and the wagons had stopped for lunch, he would always find Sadiek waiting for him. The old man wanted more words to work with and would practically drag Ean back to his wagon and try to coax some more information out of him. The man barely let him free the rest of the afternoon and was always pressuring him to make Zin join them. Ean would remind the man that Zin was a friend, not a slave, which always earned him a frown. They would remain behind the curtain that kept Sadiek's area of the wagon private. When the wagons eventually rolled to a halt, Sadiek would let him free with a grunt, and they would have dinner with Iacane, Fredren, and Creg.

  Out of those three, Ean found Fredren to be the only one that he really was comfortable talking with. The young man was overly friendly, but not in an annoying sort of way, and Ean found his desire to map out the land very interesting. The maps that he had already created were finely detailed, from the tiny trees representing Rensen Forest to the individual streets and buildings of Lurthalan. The current map Fredren was working on, the one detailing the path they were taking from Lurthalan to the Deadlands, was updated each time Fredren showed it to him.

  Unfortunately, Iacane was always close at hand and always joined them. The longer they traveled together, the more pompous and arrogant the man appeared to Ean. The man would find any connection to what they were talking about to launch into a longwinded story about some amazing feat of healing he had performed or someone interesting and powerful that he had saved. And every time, Ean and Fredren would just look at each other and roll their eyes.

  Iacane was tolerable in small doses though, and sometimes the man could be funny, on the rare occasion he let himself relax a bit. Creg, on the other hand, was never pleasant. The boy would grumble under his breath and push his way past someone even when there was plenty of room in the wagon or outside to easily go around. Mercifully, he stayed in his small, secluded spot most of the time the wagons were moving and kept to himself outside once the wagons had stopped for the night. His very presence always seemed to rub everyone the wrong way. And with the Deadlands quickly approaching, everyone was already on edge.

  The conversation leaned more and more towards the Deadlands. Ean couldn't tell if talking about it helped people feel better or worse. It certainly didn't help that each day when they awoke, people were missing. It started small, a wagon driver missing the first morning when everyone had awoken. Most people just chalked it up to nerves, saying that the pressure of going into the Deadlands had gotten to him. Ean could understand, having decided to carry on and enter the Deadlands, his nerves grew worse every day.

  On the second day, though, three more drivers were missi
ng, and every single person on the caravan became noticeably jumpier. On the third, five more workers were gone, meaning some of the loaders had to take over as drivers. Even Graden was forced to take over a driving shift on one of the wagons. That didn't improve the man's mood, and he certainly let Ean know what he thought about the whole situation. Needless to say, the third night had everyone nervous as they sat around the fire outside of the travelers' wagons.

  "Well, are we going to talk about it or not?" Iacane said, breaking the silence that had covered their group since stopping for the night.

  "Talk about what?" Fredren replied. The fact that he kept his eyes on the ground let the others know full well he knew what Iacane was getting at.

  "The disappearances, of course! I've heard of people abandoning this trip, but nine? Most of which, according to the people I've talked to, have been regulars on this trip for years. I think something much more sinister is going on here than a couple of nervous drivers not wanting to face the Deadlands."

  "Sinister?" Sadiek laughed. "Iacane, I think you are jumping to conclusions. Or, are you hoping to uncover some mysterious plot and add to your repertoire of amazing stories?"

  "Joke all you want, but all of the workers I've talked to have said it's very strange to have nine abandon their jobs. Four or five before we reach the edge of the Deadlands, maybe. But nine?"

  "All of the workers you've talked to? You mean the two men in charge of driving our wagon, don't you? I wouldn't exactly call that a lot of people." Raising his hands to cut off a response, Sadiek continued on. "Let's look at the facts, shall we?"

  "One, men abandoning their jobs is common place on this caravan. Everyone agrees that to be true."

  "Two, all of the men's possessions are gone. Did the two men you talk to mention that, Iacane? Because the dozen or so I asked made sure to mention it."

  "Three, all of the workers sleep close together during the night and there are guards patrolling. It would be much simpler for a man to sneak out of the camp than for something to sneak in, take these men AND their belongings, and sneak back out. Especially five in one night."