Thad covered his ears with his hands as his mind reeled. It was true he had never wanted to be the queen’s slave. The time in his cell and the queen’s constant demands for him to bow to her had not worked, yet he had quickly agreed once she had simply asked.
“To control the dark one must understand his own secrets. Can you master what the dark hides, can you master your own mind, can you master your own heart?”
“Yes!” Thad replied vehemently.
“Child of Moriudonius, you have seen the truth and have accepted it. You have not denied who you were or who you are, yet you fight to become more. You are worthy of my blessings.” The voice echoed in his mind as a searing pain ripped across his right hand.
Gasping for breath pain shooting through his body Thad ran his hand along the wall searching for a way out. When his fingers felt the groves of the stone door he could have almost yelled for joy. He expected the doors to be heavy so he braced himself and pushed hard. To his surprise they swung open easily dumping him hard on the other side.
“Do you still have your wits about you brother?” Thad heard Sae-Thae ask, though his voice seemed to echo in the distance. Thad tried to answer but his body felt heavy and the words seemed to stick in his moth as darkness shrouded his mind.
Thad woke in his own chambers. Due to the lack of a sun there was no telling how long he had been out. Lifting up his right hand Thad looked at the rune that now danced with magic on his skin. Sae-Thae had said there was four different runes, one could be granted, but Thad still didn’t know how to tell them apart. He had long ago learned his lesson about playing with powers he was unaware of, it seldom led to anything good, so Thad decided to wait until he could consult his friend for advice. Suddenly the image of Sae-Thae standing over his lifeless body flashed back into his mind. Thad quickly shook away the thought. His friend might harbor some feelings of resentment but even the god said that he had hid them away from himself. How many things were there about oneself that we hated enough to bury it so deep we didn’t know about it ourselves.
Thad pushed himself from the soft bed and made his way up the long staircase to the top of the tower. His body still tired, each step felt heavy as if he had lead weights in his boots. Opening the door to Sae-Thae’s study Thad found his friend sitting at one of his many tables hunched over one of his books, deep in thought. A part of Thad wished he had Sa-Thae’s resolve and ability to spend hours on end in study, but Thad knew he was too restless. His attempts at study always ended the same, he would find something that interested him then pursue it relentlessly forgetting about his original goal. The same thing had happened in the dwarven village. He had intended to go straight to the Vathari when he was better but had gotten caught up with the secrets of dwarven blacksmithing.
“Keeping your nose buried in books can’t be good for your eyes.” Thad said jokingly as he walked up behind Sae-Thae.
Sae-Thae turned around the look on his face was one of relief. “I was worried about you brother. I didn’t tell you before but not all who return from the rite keep their mind. The truth can be a dangerous thing, something many people cannot take. I had hopes you were strong enough of will to handle it but one never knows until they are tested.”
“I can’t say that it was the most pleasant experience of my life, but there are far worse thing to fear than the truth, even if it is one we do not want to face. I did receive something for my trouble,” Thad said raising his hand to show of the rune, “though I am not sure what it does. I was hoping you could shed some light on that subject for me.”
Sae-Thae leaned back in his chair and looked up at Thad and his offered hand. “Yes I noticed you had earned your prize when we had your unconscious body carried back to your chambers. Honestly I had expected you to receive the same rune I did but I guess that one fits you as well. As a mage who uses both sword and magic, the rune of a dark assassin might just aid you especially considering that you plan to face the Brotherhood.”
The dark assassins, just like he had fought with back in the caverns with Crusher. They had been the hardest fight of his life. Not only were they skilled with a blade they could simply vanish in the darkness taking either part of their body or all of it. It made killing them extremely difficult. Their only real weakness was that in light, they were all but normal fighters. “I will need to train to fully understand the uses of the rune. Do you think it would be possible to meet with one of the dark assassins for a little help?”
Sae-Thae laughed, “I don’t see that it would be a problem, other than you are short on time.”
“Short on time?” Thad asked slightly confused.
“Yes there is a limit to how long a mage on his pilgrimage is allowed to stay within one of our cities. It is an old law set down by our god. You see, cities used to try and delay the mages as long as possible to increase the chance to have more offspring. With the time spent reading through the different tomes and preparing your rite you only have four days left before you must depart.”
Everything Sae-Thae said made sense though he wished he had just a few more days to add to the time he had left. Four days seemed like such a short time to finish learning everything he wanted to. That always seemed to be the major problem in his life there was never enough time. “Then I better skip sleeping as much. When can I meet with the assassins?”
“I will set up a meeting for later this day. Using your blessing will take some getting used to. It is unlike using magic normally, though many of the feats you can accomplish using the gift can be performed through magecraft. The gift just allows you to use it with much less effort on your part. Once you get the hang of it using your new gift will become almost second nature.” Sae-Thae said as he went back to reading the book in front of him.
With little else to do until his meeting with the dark assassins Thad pulled one of the many books he had marked for further study and began reading. It was one of the many books from mages way before the time of the Fae War, one that specialized in the earth element. He was extremely skilled and had devised a host of spells for all occasions, though most of them had few uses in battle. Just as Sae-Thae had said, it was looked down upon during the time of the mages tower to use one’s power to hurt others. While few of the books had spells he could use against the Brotherhood he was beginning to understand more about how the elements formed and worked together.
Time passed by quickly and Thad soon found himself standing in front of one of the many barracks that belonged to the Warrior’s Hall. It was one of the nicer barracks that Thad had noticed ringing the large central courtyard. The dark assassins were supposed to be the elite forces of the Vathari warriors. Thad rapped on the entrance door timidly as his nerves began building. It was one thing to fight against trained warriors another to go to their home and talk with them, for some reason it felt as if he was walking to his death.
When the door opened Thad found himself face to face with an overly large Vathari. Thad’s body tensed and the Vathari reached his hand toward him and gripped him hard on the shoulder. “I see our new brother has come to visit us.” The Vathari said his voice harsh and emotionless. “Come in.”
Once inside, the barracks opened up into a large common room where at least two hundred other dark assassins were gathered drinking and enjoying themselves. “Brothers I have brought our new brother to greet his family.” The Vathari said boomingly. The common room grew quiet and Thad could hear as many of the cups of ale were clanged against the surfaces of table, then everything erupted in a roar as the assassins came to greet him. Some of the warriors simply slapped him on the back while others grabbed and squeezed at his shoulders and a few punched him solidly in the arm hard enough that Thad knew he would have a bruise latter.
The festivities carried on until Thad was so tired he could barely stand. The dark assassins were not what he would have figured. Even the Vathari stories told of the menacing fighting force of the assassins. Instead of finding a bunch of brooding killers, he was surprised to
find a close knit group of soldiers who treated each other like family. After everything quieted down Thad found himself at a table with a half dozen of the assassins. Thad was brought out of his heavy contemplations when the warrior next to him slapped him hard on the back. “What has you so worked up brother?”
Thad looked over to the hulking giant of a warrior. “I must say it is not what I had thought I would find.”
The warrior gave a dark laugh. “We are outcasts even among our own kind. We are feared and for good reason. We are trained killers not simple warriors. That mindset wears on a person and those around him so we band together with only those who can truly understand us, our brother assassins. Now you number among our group. It does not matter what race you belong to, the road your gift will take you will be a bloody one. Be wary my friend, few will ever truly understand the burden that will weigh on your shoulders.”
The next few days Thad spent all his time with the dark assassins. He had learned how to use his gift though the cold feeling he got when he stepped into the shadows felt as if someone had dipped him into ice. Moving his whole body through the shadows was easy it was learning to allow a blade to pass through him that sent shivers down his spine. He had managed to do it twice but that was out of numerous tries that had left him battered and bruised. His brother assassins had cheered him on saying it could take a dozen years to begin to master the skill of the blessing.
Thad’s time of departure quickly approached until it was only a day away. His last night in Xi’han Thad spent alone in his chambers with the many books he had been researching. It would be hard to leave behind the friends he had made. Sae-Thae was more than a friend but in many ways his real master in the arts of magic. Bahia though distant and cold would always hold a special place in his memory, and finally the dark assassins would always be his brothers for they shared a gift and a burden that tied them together.
Thad ran his fingers over a specific passage detailing another mage’s visit to Xi’han. He had shared many of the same feelings and thoughts Thad had, though they weren’t quite the same. Thad wondered if thousands of years from now a mage much like himself would read over his own writings as he tried to settle his mind about what the future might hold. As Thad drifted off to sleep his mind continued to whirl around everything that had happened over the past few years.
Thad once again found himself in the darkness watching Maria. She had grown a lot during their time apart, and even though he knew that it was only a dream his chest began to hurt as he stared at her. She no longer wore the light dresses of a young princess attending balls. No she was dressed in sturdy battle leather with a golden crown engraved on her chest. Thad wondered why he viewed her in such a light. Maria was a lot of things but a warrior was far removed from how he viewed her. Was his mind trying to tell him something or was there more to it than he understood.
CHAPTER VIII
Thad stood on the outskirts of Xi’han with his escort of dark assassins who swore to get him back into dwarven land without incident. Standing in front of him was Sae-Thae who had come to see him off. In his hands he held a large package which he handed to Thad. “On such short notice I was only able to get a few of the books you wanted copied, I also had the leatherworkers create something nice for you.”
Thad took the package and sat it on the ground and tore it open. Inside were five books that he had been particularly interested in about mages who had talents close to his own. Underneath the books lay a leather battle harness with golden brown strips running down the center of the chest. On one side it had a black star with the symbol of the dark assassins engraved in silver along with a green and red dot that shimmered slightly. On the other side was a silvery star with traces of white running through it that almost seemed to spark with energy along with a golden orb. Without hesitation Thad replaced his own battle harness with the new one. It was light and supple and fit perfectly. Thad could feel magic emanating from it though he was unsure what enchantments were placed on it. “It is a fine gift.”
“I figured you would like it. I had the enchantments made much like the ones you had placed on your own though because of our limitations they are slightly different but they should help keep you safe my brother.”
With one last goodbye, Thad and his brothers headed into the Underearth retracing the footsteps he had taken not so long ago. The trip was made in quiet solitude until they were well gone from the milling people of the city’s outskirts. Once they were in the quiet solitude of the Underearth the games began. The assassins played a version of tag, much like children with the exception for the jumping in and out of shadows. They protested that it was in order to help train their gifts but Thad was sure it had more to do with the amount of fun they had testing themselves against each other. Thad learned that it was impossible to keep your whole body submerged within the darkness, some part of you no matter how small had to be exposed otherwise you risked the darkness ripping you into nothingness. It was a risk they took each time they used their gift, one careless move and you simply disappeared like mist in the morning sun.
Thad played the game along with the others but he was unable to ever get close to the person who was it. It was like chasing after smoke while moving through water. The second before he jumped through the shadows his opponent was already gone. Though Thad was greatly outmatched he was getting better with each movement. He still didn’t like the cold feeling that passed over his body when he drifted into the dark but he was starting to get used to it.
When they stopped for the night there were no tents, and no fire, they slept in the open darkness. Unlike most, a fire didn’t stave away enemies, it only became a burden to the dark assassins who lived and breathed the dark like no other. Thad had gotten better at seeing in the dark but his magical eye was no match for the natural abilities of the Vathari. Thad doubted anyone or anything could dare encroach on them especially in the Underearth. Even when they were sitting around joking the dark assassins had an air of death and danger around them.
The journey progressed smoothly and after the second day in the tunnels of the Underearth Avalanche slowly approached the group. When she was first spotted the Vathari watched her closely as if they expected her to attack but Thad quickly calmed down their nerves and called out to his old friend. Avalanche came close to them, almost so close Thad thought for a moment she would travel with them but he could tell even from the distance that her movements were calculated and as soon as she had a good look at him, she let off a loud rumbling bark and darted back off into the darkness. “Should we go after the creature?” Wu’xun asked Thad.
Thad simple shook his head. He was sure that his brothers would not harm Avalanche but there was always the chance she would leave them little choice. Turning, Thad walked back to the camp with Wu’xun one of the younger members of the group. He was a nice fellow but deadly in battle with fierceness not easily matched and speed that made his ability to merge with the darkness even more deadly. On the surface Wu’xun would have been one of the highest paid assassins, Thad had no doubt of that.
On their way back to dwarven lands Thad noticed that they passed very few other Vathari when he asked one of his companions about the lack of other travelers. He was reassured that while the other Vathari were close they were purposely traveling to stay out of sight. It wasn’t for practical reasons it was simply another way for them to test their own skills. Though the Underearth seemed large it was not hard to run into large groups when you entered their territory. The dark assassins were often sent to places where they were asked to get in and out unseen, so whenever they were given the chance they tried to move around unnoticed even by the members of their own village.
From waking, to sleep, everything the assassins did was in order to train their skills. They led dangerous lives and were often the target of the rival Vathari’s own groups of assassins. When in their own barracks the assassins always wore lead lined clothes. Thad had done the same during his short stay, and while he was
used to the weight of battle leathers what the Vathari assassins wore was heavy even eating became a chore. Thad had enjoyed his stay in Xi’han and his travels with his brothers of the dark, as they called themselves, but he knew the life of one of the dark assassins was not one he could live for long.
As he walked along next to his brothers, Thad wondered why the god of the dark granted him such an ability. It wasn’t that he wasn’t grateful. Thad was sure that it would be a more than usefully ability in the future. Sae-Thae had said the gods always did things for a reason but most of the time mortals could seldom understand their reasons.
Thad could tell when they grew near to the dwarven lands, as the air in the tunnels felt slightly different. It was almost as if the ground itself was welcoming him back from his travels. It was a warm feeling unlike the cold and hollow one he got from most of the Underearth. Though he felt more at ease, his brothers of the dark movements became tenser. Unlike him they were in enemy territory and might have to draw their weapons at any time. When they entered tunnels that he knew well Thad had his escorts turn back. They were a little reluctant not to deliver him to the steps leading to the surface, but they agreed with only a little coercion that it would be safer for Thad to continue alone than risk a dwarven attack.
Thad slowed down his pace and enjoyed the slow walk through the familiar halls. It didn’t take him long to find one of the three paths to the surface. It was still daylight when he made his way up the stone steps though it was fading fast.
Thad had chosen an exit that led to the farmlands of the dwarves. Even though he had only spent a few fortnights in the Underearth the smell of fresh grass that assaulted his nose felt refreshing to him. As Thad walked back to the small house that had been set aside for him, he thought about the dwarves and V
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