by Chris Ward
‘This is Soren, I love you my beautiful girl. It will be over soon.’ He did not wait to see her response, for he left quickly, but Rema wept as she opened her eyes, and gave a look which laid bare her gentle soul.
‘I knew we would be together,’ she whispered and gripped Rema’s hand most strongly.
Rema took his hunting knife from its sheath and took several deep breaths. ‘Forgive me dear one,’ he whispered through his tears. ‘But I cannot stay and you must not know what is coming.’ At that moment her eyes cleared a little and she whispered back.
‘It is alright my friend; I know what you must do. I hear it too.’
And then in the instant before the import of her words slammed into him Rema reversed the knife and with the hilt he hit her hard upon the head. He knew it did not kill her but she was deeply stunned and would not know anything but the next world which beckoned so closely. A deep emotion sprang upon him and he gave a mighty cry which shook the ash from timbers all about, for he suddenly understood that the poor girl had more awareness of what was happening than they had thought. Trembling he kissed her gently on the forehead.
‘I do not know your name but you are the bravest person I have ever met,’ he wept, and then above him the roof suddenly exploded in flames and the roar of the molten river drowned out all else.
Rema was overwhelmed by the heat as he raced from the house which was consumed in a moment. All around was burning and smoke and the dreadful roar of the unstoppable larva which carried all before it. He headed north, knowing that he should make it for the way was clear enough. He hoped that the ash which lay all about was not too deep but he chanced upon the tracks of Andes and the horses leading up the steep hillside, and so he came to safety just as the river of molten rock reached a point where it could not be held back further, and the larva raced away down the valley as fast as a horse might gallop. The heat which rose from it was so fierce that Rema felt his hair singe and he smelt the leaves on bushes all about begin to burn. He ran uphill in a fog of agony and then Andes had him and dragged him further on until they were high above and able to rest a little and look down upon the scene.
In either direction the larva marked its path. The village and all its memories was no more. The river flowed on, rolling rocks as large as houses with it, until they too melted down and became as one with the rest. They did not speak but sat in awe and watched, unable to drag their minds away from what had come to pass, and for once unable to make any remark which might make light of it.
In the distance they heard a howl, as unearthly as anything they could imagine.
‘What by all the gods was that,’ said Andes, shivering from the eeriness of it; but there was no answer for Rema too was quite unnerved. They sat and watched and thought; their minds in different places. Andes thought of Fryn, and Rema could not but dwell upon the final words which the doomed girl had uttered.
‘Let us ride,’ said Rema grimly after a span. ‘We do not know what might follow.’ And with that they mounted and let the horses have their head for they too knew which way led to safety; west toward the river. And so they went, struggling through the ash flows and keeping well away from the lower ground upon which the larva flowed for as it went it found any path which allowed it, and as the land flattened out it spread and in places reached toward them. In an exhausting bone crunching few spans they put the danger behind and once more resumed a slower pace, until by chance they came upon some tracks. They stopped and looked hard upon them, once more overtaken by strange events.
‘These are our tracks,’ said Andes after a quick inspection. He looked around. ‘There are no others; we have looped around and come across our morning’s path. This must be the road once more.’ And then they sat in silence as both he and Rema looked upon another set of pints.
‘Something has been tracking us,’ Rema whispered.
‘It is no animal I would recognise.’ Andes jumped from his horse and went to where the great prints marred the ash covered ground. Rema watched in awe as he put his own large foot in the claw print of their pursuer.
‘Twice your size Andes,’ he said, ‘It is no creature Revelyn has ever seen. Even the biggest of the Sabrecats is not that big.’ Andes took two large paces, measuring between the prints.
‘It must be seven... eight cubits tall.’ What can it be Rema, what fell beast can possibly be tracking us?’
And then Rema knew, and his blood went cold for the second time that day.
‘We are in serious danger Andes,’ he said quietly sounding every word slowly and fearfully... ‘It is a Shadow Hunter.’
‘A what?’
‘A Shadow Hunter. It is in the book. It is not of this world and we have no defence against it. This is proof enough that evil has returned to Revelyn.’ The two men looked at each other and in that moment had the same thought.
‘That howl we heard...’ Andes spoke and Rema finished...
‘The creature was upon us and we were saved by the lava flow. It must have come between us and we heard its cry of frustration.’
‘What can we do?’ asked Andes, his face a white as the ground.
‘We flee. We must find ground where we do not leave tracks. The river is the best. A creature like this cannot be stopped for long. It will cross the lava flow in some manner. Ride Andes, and may your poor horse not fall.’
And with this they were off once more. Rema led, looking for rocky ground so they might leave no tracks but he knew that even as the ash grew thinner it was quite plain where they were headed. Andes had recovered himself and rode carefully allowing his horse to find its footing. They were a league from the river when they heard the howl behind them. Both horses stopped as though stunned by some mighty hand. Their fear was palpable. Rema and Andes had to work hard to coax them forward, and all the time the evil creature gained valuable ground behind them.
At last they reached the Swifft River which was beyond the ash fall and flowed cleanly and true to its name. They paused upon the edge. It is not wide nor very deep, thought Rema, but we cannot fight it here. Best we make a stand on the far bank. He led forward and the cool water felt refreshing upon them, although it was no deeper than the belly of their horses. For such a creature it would hardly get wet, thought Rema desperately trying to come up with some plan which might hold back their pursuer. Hardly had they made their crossing than the evil creature’s approach seemed to fill the very air with a dread, for all went silent; and every nearby creature that drew breath, did not, as if to give no clue that life was close by and thereby invite certain death.
Andes and Rema tethered their terrified horses and prepared their weapons. Andes stood with Elwand drawn and suddenly cried,
‘Rema the sword speaks to me...I can hear it.’ He pointed the blade toward the opposite bank and swung it back and forth until it aimed at a dense copse on the far bank a little upstream. ‘It is there, in the trees. The blade can sense it.’ And the blade glowed and Andes stood tall and brave now, almost daring the creature to come to him.
‘Don’t be foolhardy Andes, this creature is beyond us,’ cautioned Rema but he too readied his bow and they waited. Behind them the horses’ distress was clear for a great distance. Suddenly a mighty cold descended upon the water and drifted across to freeze the two waiting men. They shivered but held their ground, and still the creature did not show itself.
‘What is it waiting for?’ said Andes, ‘it could cross with ease and be upon us in no time at all.’
‘Perhaps it senses that we make a stand and it is watchful,’ replied Rema. ’It does not know what we can do.’ And then he thought, and neither do we.
The water by the copse was suddenly disturbed with a mighty splash and then the creature howled. Rema caught sight of two evil red eyes but no shape that he could distinguish. It was as if the beast had become one with the trees in which it hid; nothing but shadow. A sudden thought came to him.
‘The water Andes. It is afraid of the water. All else it can master b
ut water is its only fear. It was testing itself but could not cross. It is not afraid of us. It is the water.’
And with that Rema took aim and when he caught site of the red eyes once more he released the shaft and in an instant it struck its mark. The creature howled in pain and one eye disappeared. The copse of trees shook violently and then in a rush the creature madly raced along the bank until it was opposite them. Its shape was cruel and muscular, and seemed made of shadows and then flesh all at once. It had two massive hind limbs with enormous claws. Its upper limbs, although smaller, were even more deadly, for it slashed at a tree in its rage and with its razor talons severed the trunk cleanly through. Its head was like a dragon and held two small horns whilst its eyes were deeply recessed and protected by a bony skull. And Rema realised that both its eyes were once more able to see them clearly, the damage his arrow had done was restored by some evil sorcery. The two men watched in awe as it howled and slashed at the water, then drew back and raced back and forward with the noise of a hundred mad dogs, looking for some way across, frenzied to get at them and tear them apart. Rema fired another arrow and this too took out an eye, but the creature, although in mad pain managed to tear it free and within a moment the eye was restored.
‘It is beyond us,’ Rema whispered. ‘But it cannot brave the water; it is bound by some fear which is deeper than we can fathom.’
‘Elwand speaks to me,’ said Andes at last quietly. ‘It seems to want to engage this creature, and I believe it could do it harm where your arrows cannot.’
‘We will fight it only if we must. We cannot risk death now,’ said Rema sharply taking command of the awful situation. ‘Quickly, follow me.’ And Andes obeyed without protest, realising the wisdom of Rema’s words. They remounted and rode south along the river. The creature followed on the far bank for a distance and then suddenly halted and sniffed the air. In an instant it turned and charged away north and disappeared quickly into the forest which grew in many places to the water’s edge. They rode on in desperation for a distance until the horses were tired and Rema called a halt. He took out his map and examined it carefully once more.
‘There is a bridge two leagues north from where we were. It will cross there and be on us perhaps before we reach the escarpment. If we ride hard we can get to the place we need but we must cross again, and find the gates to the Lowlands...’ he paused realising he had no idea what these were ‘...perhaps these will make themselves known when we arrive,’ he added quietly.
‘Arrive where?’ asked Andes, but Rema did not reply. Instead he put his map away and they rode hard again making better time than he had anticipated, until in the distance they could hear the roar of the mighty waters as they tumbled sheer into the gorge and down to the Lowlands far below. Somewhere close behind there was a distant howl and they knew that the fell creature had found the bridge and was now on the south bank and was closing fast upon them.
‘We must cross now,’ said Rema desperately and once more they took their plucky steeds into the torrent which was moving faster now, as though in the grip of a mad desire to cast itself over the falls and into the depths. The horses had to swim this time and Andes and Rema swam with them at their sides, holding on to the saddles. Andes managed to reach the opposite bank first and helped Rema the final few cubits for he was tiring fast and his horse with him. They lay for a moment gasping and regaining their strength.
‘We are safe for the present,’ said Andes, ‘but we surely cannot keep crossing the river. In the end we will not have the strength.’ Rema was only able to nod and work to regain his warmth and breath. Suddenly the creature was there once more. It was even more frenzied now, being thwarted again and the howling made the horses buck and rear and it was all they could do to hold them until the poor creatures were too tired to continue. They spoke soothingly to them and led them away deeper into the forest where they were tethered firmly to an oak. The frustrated beast continued to howl for a time in the most evil manner, but despite this Rema and Andes went back to the river to see what it might attempt.
They could see its horrible eyes and no more for it had melted into the shadows of a giant oak and it quieted on seeing them, as if planning what next to do.
Then as Rema and Andes watched, the river changed. As if by some sorcery cast upon it the water rose and moved faster, increasing the roar at the falls which lay no more than a few hundred paces downstream. The two friends suddenly realised the significance of this awful magic.
‘We are trapped. We cannot cross again. The water will sweep us over the falls. It is far too strong now,’ said Rema, and Andes nodded in disbelief.
‘Some fell thing hunts us Rema, but why is beyond me.’
‘Then that is a reason to best it,’ replied Rema sombrely, ‘for Revelyn has need of us I am sure.’
At that moment the beast rose up and with a howl disappeared back the way it had come.
‘We find the gates or we die in two spans...no more.’ said Rema.
‘Show me the gates and I will be first through,’ replied his friend, but they both realised they had no clue about what they might look for, or even if when found they would offer any protection at all. Rema thought hard for some idea but Andes gave the clue.
‘Did not El-Arathor talk of a key? Did you not say that you had it? Surely the key will say something about the gates?’ Rema looked at Andes and smiled for the first time that day.
‘Well done Andes, that is it; at least it is a start. The key is made of marble, black marble and it has three small projections. Quickly now.’ And they raced back to the horses and in no time the key lay in Rema’s hand. ‘The gates must be black marble or at least solid rock with a similar reverse pattern in it for these to fit,’ said Rema. ‘We will split up. El-Arathor said we would find the gates somewhere on the east bank of the Swifft River near where it falls to the Lowlands.’
‘And that is where we are, unless I am greatly mistaken,’ whispered Andes as he looked around and wondered where to start their search.
And what a desperate search it was. Rema went downstream at Andes insistence. And they looked at trees and rocky outcrops, but had no success. In a span they met where the horse were tethered and planned the next step.
‘We cannot go over the same land again. If the gates were there, we would have found them,’ said Rema quietly. In the distance there was a howl and the horses screamed and bucked. Andes’ hand went to his sword but Rema ignored them all. He thought as he had never thought before. All is lost unless I work this out. It cannot be too hard or else El-Arathor would have revealed more...surely?
‘Any ideas Rema would be very useful right now,’ said Andes who had drawn his sword and paced back and forwards thinking now of the river and taking that chance once more.
‘Let us assume that we have arrived at this point for a reason.’ Rema now spoke out loud. ‘All else that had passed today seems to have been governed by other than ourselves. Why not this too?’ He looked around. ‘Alright Andes we look here from this point away from the river, you and I separated by fifty paces. You will go downstream this time, now let’s do it.’ And so they did and within a hundred paces Andes cried.
‘It is here Rema, three holes in a rocky outcrop. It is hidden by trees but it is over here, near the gorge.’ Rema raced then to gather the horses and bring them to the spot where Andes waited. They stood before a smooth rock face larger than a small house, and in it Andes had cleaned out three holes; holes which matched perfectly the key which Rema held. To a casual glance they would perhaps seem an unusual formation being so evenly separated, but Rema gasped.
‘Well done Andes, you have saved us. If this key works we will yet live to see another day.’ The air grew suddenly colder then as Rema inserted the key.
Nothing happened.
‘Work damn you,’ Andes cried. ‘Try it again Rema,’ but there was no need.
With a crack which made them jump, a mighty door in the rock opened and swung back on hidden pivot
s revealing a dark passage leading in and down. It was not welcoming but they knew there was no time to delay. The horses were brought quickly but could not be persuaded to enter, and try as they might all efforts failed to coax them in to safety. Just as they were about to abandon the poor beasts the closing howl of the Shadow Hunter came reverberating through the trees, and all resistance from the horses ceased; and so they all entered the dark opening without further delay. Rema searched quickly and found three identical holes on an inner wall. He inserted the key and waited. The door responded soundlessly as if it had a mind of its own, and as it did, at that very moment the Shadow Hunter appeared in a mad rage once more, and flung itself at the closing door which could not be halted, for the magic which drove it was of old and of a higher purpose. The door slammed shut and the fell creature now flung itself upon the rock in a mad frenzy. It tore up several trees and dug and clawed around the outcrop, but it was defeated and it finally sank exhausted and howling to the ground. Immediately two writhing wraith-like creatures appeared in the air above the beast, they moved as one, and were quite invisible to human eyes.
Standing quietly in the darkened passage, Rema and Andes could hear the noise even through the rock which separated them, but they knew they were safe, and the horses too seemed to sense this and stood patiently waiting for what might follow.
At last as the sound from outside died away Andes spoke into the dark.
‘I blame you Rema, and that book of yours. I do not know what you have got me into, but I know someone who might have something to say on the matter,’ and he chuckled to himself in a nervous manner, but Rema stood quietly, for at the mention of Andes’ beautiful Fryn his mind turned to the girl whose death he held close to his heart, and he ached for her and what he had done, and in the dark he did not chuckle but wept in silent mourning for her sad end and the deep guilt he now bore because of it.
