Red laughed and said, “I agree with you but it would be nice to hear some bird song. I have a funny feeling that something is wrong like we’re just not seeing something. I have also been feeling like I have been watched ever since I set foot in this land. Doesn’t everything seem so out of place to you?
Bruk nodded and said, “I agree with you about feelings of being watched and I also think that something is wrong but I can’t figure out what it is. I will be glad when this is all over and we are out of here.”
Red said, “We better get some sleep because we have a rough climb ahead of us tomorrow.”
Bruk agreed and then they turned in for the night. Bruk looked up at the night sky and he thought it looked very strange not to ever see any stars, or a moon, or the sun during the day. He wondered what kind of a dream world that he was in.
The climb the next day was slow and time consuming because of the rough and jagged terrain. It was also very windy and cold as they scaled up the face of the mountain.
They both kept feeling like someone was watching them and they just couldn’t shake the feeling away. It got stronger and stronger the higher that they climbed.
By the end of the day they made it all the way to their goal. Bruk climbed and pulled himself up onto a ledge and then he helped Red up. They looked out over the view of the valley down below. There was an ancient city with massive high towers reaching up into the sky even topping the ledge where they stood. These were the towers that they saw from the distance before.
The city was huge and was constructed with colossal blocks of weathered grey stone. All of the buildings inside of the city were constructed in identical fashion and the shortest one was at least five stories high.
The city itself looked like it was just constructed. There wasn’t any sign of decay or ruin anywhere. It was still too far away but it appeared to be devoid of life.
“Let’s go,” Red said as she started to climb down the wall of the mountain. Bruk followed.
After about an hour of tedious slow decent they finally made it to the bottom and looked towards the city. It was only about a few hundred yards away and it still looked to be empty of life.
They walked forwards and within a few minutes they were walking down a narrow street. They were heading towards the large building that they had seen from above. It was the largest building in the city and it was in the center of the sprawling city. They figured that building would be a good place to start their search. It had to have been an important building to be so huge and in the very center of the metropolis. Bruk thought that it might be a temple or a palace.
They walked across an intersection and crossed a public square that was right before the large building.
Bruk stopped and swore. He reached out with his left arm stopping Red and he drew his sword with his right hand and stood at bay tense and ready.
A beautiful female walked out through the double entry doors of the building. She was naked except for a slim piece of golden cloth tied about her loins and another golden cloth hiding and supporting her shapely breasts. She was wearing golden sandals and in her right fist she held a fiery red flaming sword. Her red hair was short and on fire just like the sword was. Her soft tanned flesh reflected the light from her hair and the sword.
She smiled and looked at Bruk and said, “Finally!”
Chapter 20
Selene cried and said with tears wetting her cheeks, “What have I done, what have I done? Please forgive me, I didn’t mean to do it.” She then continued holding her head while she softly sobbed.
Taran got up and hugged her and said, “It wasn’t your fault. He tricked you. I just wish that Bruk was here. He would know what to do and where are Zardgesha and Sardgesha? We really need the sorcerers now more than ever if I am right. If Nightfall is free of the No Land then no one is safe. I know that he will try and get his revenge. We really need the sorcerers and Bruk back.”
Taran held Selene and comforted her. Once Selene had calmed down and recovered enough Taran said, “We have to be very careful now if Nightfall really was released from the No Land. I know that he will try and get his revenge for what we did to him. I have to find some way to signal the sorcerers somehow. They might even know that Nightfall was released because it took so much power.”
Selene and Taran talked for a while and Taran had a few more ales along with some more shots. Both women were afraid, very afraid. Eventually Selene went home to try and get some rest but Taran stayed and ate another meal and she also had some more drinks.
Taran was trying to figure out a way to signal one of the sorcerers. After a few more hours the alcohol hit her and she had to go home a get some sleep while she still could walk.
Selene went back to the library and went straight up to her room. Gunvil told her not to worry about anything and try and get some rest. She could take off as long as she needed to.
Selene sat at her table and sipped water from a large glass. There were slices of salty meat and spicy cheese on a plate before her but she didn’t eat anything. She kept thinking how strange that she felt now ever since she had said those damn four words.
She felt a strange power surging through her body and it didn’t frighten her, it made her feel strong and confident. She could see the power as it coursed through her body. It was like a light blue fog of supernatural strength. She also saw a pure white thin mist inside of her but she didn’t know for sure what that was but she knew that it wasn’t dangerous.
When she had said those four words it might have released Nightfall from the No Land but it also unlocked the power hidden inside of her. She wasn’t afraid of Nightfall before and now she somehow knew that he would be afraid of her. She smiled.
Selene still couldn’t remember anything about her past though but she didn’t think that she used to be a bad person. She also thought that maybe it was a blessing if she couldn’t remember anything of her past. She was happy now and that was all that mattered and she wouldn’t let that cursed Nightfall ruin it.
She knew that someday he would come to Catan looking for her and she would be ready. She also knew that he wouldn’t show her or her friends any mercy so she knew that she had to act fast whenever he showed up. She would defend her friends from whatever he threw their way and she knew that he was no match for her power, she just somehow knew it.
She didn’t know how to use her newfound power yet but she would learn as fast as she could.
Selene looked at a small mug on the counter across the room. She opened her hand and didn’t even say a word and the cup flew straight into her waiting hand. The magic somehow knew what she wanted and it made it happen all by itself.
She set the mug down and looked at one of the light globes in the ceiling. It turned off and then came back on just like she wanted it to. Selene laughed and laughed.
She wouldn’t tell anyone about her new power because she didn’t want them to be afraid of her. She loved her friends and would only use her power to defend them.
Selene didn’t want to be a powerful sorcerer but she was and she would have deal with it. She would be ready for Nightfall and she knew that he could never be ready for her.
All of the sorcerers that she knew all had to say words of power to do any magic. All she had to do was think of what she wanted and it was done.
She picked up a slice of the meat and chewed on it as she could feel her power growing and growing. She wasn’t afraid of the magic within her because she could sense that it was a pure power of goodness and not evil at all.
Selene ate the meat and then she sought her bed. It had been a long day and she was worn out mentally. She wanted to sleep and forget about magic and Nightfall. She just wanted to sleep.
Salvor finished studying the last book on the table and he knew more now than he ever thought that he would ever know. He could now cast some pretty new powerful spells of both healing and of destruction. He was powerful before but now he felt that he might even be as powerful as Nightfall was.
Salvor hated Nightfall so much that just thinking of him made him angry and upset. One day he would kill the man that dressed in all black and that day couldn’t come too soon. Nightfall was as good as dead but he just didn’t know it yet.
Salvor realized that there was nothing more that he could learn from all of the ancient books and scrolls that he had in his possession.
He was debating when he would leave the village and go back to Tharn. He was so bored living in Carmel. There was nothing to do in Carmel except for work and Salvor would never consider working for any reason.
He had tricked the villagers into thinking that he had heart troubles and a bad back. He also told them that his hands were arthritic and very painful when he moved his fingers. They felt sorry for him and they had accepted him as he was. They fed him and kept his house clean.
Normally he hated everybody but they were so stupid and gullible that he sort of felt sorry for them, a little bit anyways. They were a hard working and generous people and they all had good hearts and when he left he would kind of miss being taken care of.
Salvor missed the big cities and all of the temptations that they provided. He missed eating choice foods and the women in the big cities were hot as hell.
Then he thought of Leena the hot blonde that worked at the Red Cup in Tharn and he sighed. He always dreamt about her and he wanted her badly. There was just something about her that he couldn’t resist. He would do anything for her, absolutely anything. The only way to get her though would be to kill Nightfall and that is what he planned on doing.
There was another woman that he also fancied, Leah the hot brunette that worked in The Barter Room in Ultim. She always was so friendly and she was almost as good looking as Leena was. She wasn’t one bit stuck up at all. Whenever he would go in there she always spoke kindly to him and she even flirted with him a little bit.
Salvor looked around the room. He was sitting in his favorite chair. He had just finished eating a little while ago. The neighbor girl next door had brought him over a plate of food. She was fairly pretty but he wasn’t attracted to her at all. She was the best looking woman in the village though but she didn’t compare to the hot women of the large cities. Maybe if she dressed a little better and if she used some makeup her looks might improve, maybe.
Salvor made up his mind. He would leave Carmel within a week. It would take him about that long just to get ready to leave. He had a lot of packing to do and he had to have the villagers put together some supplies for him. That would all take some time but he definitely was going to leave the small village behind as soon as everything was ready. Salvor smiled thinking of the exciting life that waited for him.
Salvor knew that it would take over three weeks to ride to Tharn from Carmel and he knew that the way would possibly be dangerous because of the recent outlaw activity he had heard about. He laughed. He wished that some stupid and filthy outlaws would attack him. It would be the very last thing that they would ever do. He would practice some of the dreadful spells that he had recently learned upon them.
He could almost smell the burning flesh and hear the cries of pain and terror as he tortured them. They would suffer much and he would prolong their suffering until they begged for death. Aye he really hoped to see some outlaws so that he could have some fun.
Sardgesha and his brother were up north in Sardgesha’s citadel reading ancient scrolls of power when they both dropped their scrolls and looked up at the same time.
Sardgesha said, “Did you feel that?”
Zardgesha said, “Someone has just used and incredibly powerful spell, the likes of which I didn’t know even existed. How could someone have so much power, it is almost beyond belief.”
“Someone had just used some incredibly strong magic causing the whole earth to shudder. The strength was beyond imagination. Whatever it was, thank the gods that it didn’t last long. There must be a sorcerer that we didn’t know about. This one is even more powerful than Nightfall was. I wonder what the spell was and what it was used for,” Sardgesha said.
Zardgesha said, “It was an old magic that no one uses anymore and no one knows how to use it or to control it. Whoever has this knowledge can accomplish anything and he would be almost like a god.”
Sardgesha said, “Adronis the High Lord of Light gave us both the knowledge of all the different magic that exists and I recognize what was used but it is beyond our capabilities to use it. It is the strongest magic that there is and nothing can stand against it.”
“Our bodies couldn’t take the strain of trying to cast a spell using that magic. Who could possibly know and be able to use such unearthly dangerous magic?” Zardgesha said. He was a little bit afraid of what that power could do in the wrong hands.
Sardgesha said, “We have to try and find the source of that spell and where it originated from. We also have to determine what it had accomplished. Something big had just happened and I wonder what it was.”
“I agree with you. Let us start now,” Zardgesha said as he said two words and cast a spell searching out the trail of the ancient magic.
Sardgesha whispered two words and then he lent his power to his brother’s spell. They searched and searched and they finally could sense the magic’s after affects somewhere down south in the grass lands.
They could pinpoint the exact spot where the magic had exploded with power and then it had disappeared. They tried and tried to discover what the magic had done and where it had originated from but they weren’t having much success.
Over the next couple of weeks they tried again and again but they never were able to find out anything new. The ancient magic was never sensed again so they relaxed somewhat but they knew that something big was going on and they had to find out what it was.
Zardgesha and his brother were eating an evening meal when Zardgesha sensed a familiar magic and looked towards a table across the room.
On that table was a golden orb the size of a golden quint decorated with strange runes. There was a sacred rune in the very center of the orb in one of the runes on the top that was pressed in. The orb glowed brightly for a few seconds and then it darkened again and the rune rose back up to its former position.
Zardgesha saw what the golden medallion did and he wondered what Forerger wanted. He wondered why Forerger was signaling him. He went to the table and picked up the golden orb.
Zardgesha said, “Forerger has just signaled me through the messenger orb that I gave him. I wonder what he wants.”
Zardgesha then pushed the rune in on top of the golden orb. He wanted to signal Forerger that he had gotten the message. When he pressed the rune in, the orb exploded into a red ball of magical flame.
“It seems that while we have been up here a lot has been going on and I think that it is now time to go back and get involved,” Sardgesha said after he saw the orb explode. He knew that someone had destroyed the other matching golden orb causing the one in Zardgesha’s hand to explode when he had tried to use it.
Zardgesha said, “Bruk should be in the lost land by now I think. We should get things together and go and meet him when he returns to the land of the living again.”
“Aye I agree with you and I can sense that he is with someone else too. We will bring an extra unicorn with the rest of the supplies. We have to get back to Catan after we check out the spot in the grass lands and we should probably go to Tharn to see what Forerger wanted.” Sardgesha said.
Zardgesha said, “Let us start putting things together so that we can leave tomorrow morning at first light.”
Sardgesha nodded and said, “Can you sense that the gods of fate are about to get involved?”
“Aye and I think that the next cycle will be very interesting to say the least, I just hope that we prevail and are able to keep our lives,” Zardgesha said.
Chapter 21
Nightfall was riding through the high dark green grass looking for entertainment. He had left Tharn a week ago and he still didn’t see any outlaw
s yet and he was a little bit disappointed. He had been heading south and a little to the east for the entire past week without seeing anyone else. He had had the whole land to himself for the past seven days and he was getting bored.
Nightfall was on his way to the land of the non-humans. He knew that he would find his sister somewhere down there but he didn’t know exactly where yet, but he would find out as he neared the land of the disgusting abominations. He hated non-humans!
He had to find his little sister as soon as possible before her memories came back. She was dangerous enough now but in time she would be way beyond his capabilities to do anything about.
All he knew for sure after softly creeping into her thoughts ever so lightly so that she wouldn’t notice was that she was surrounded by non-humans. She also spent a lot of time with some hot blonde.
Nightfall recognized that blonde. She had been there when he had fought Zaranna. She would have to die! Maybe he would use her first before he killed her.
Nightfall planned on going to Catan first to see if he could find his sister there. If she wasn’t there she might be in the land of the dog-men or the tree-men. He knew that she was somewhere among the filthy non-humans, he just didn’t know exactly where yet. He planned on finding out exactly where she was before he got into the non-human lands. He had to be very careful though when he crept inside of her head and read her thoughts or looked through her eyes to see what she was seeing, he had to be very careful.
Even now he could sense the great power within her and it was growing stronger every hour. He was afraid of his little sister and he didn’t like to be afraid. He couldn’t kill her because she was an immortal like he was but he had to do something. He had a plan to take care of her and he just hoped that he had enough time to put it into motion. She was the only one that could destroy him and he had to do something before she did.
The Sword of Vengeance (The Chronicles of Bruk the Barbarian Book 4) Page 15
