"A noble goal." Ambriel mused. "But one too lofty for a man such as yourself I’m afraid." Ambriel sighed and stared straight at Richard before him. "You have a relic. A powerful device from ancient times, extremely dangerous; there are powers contained within it you could never hope to control. Instead, they will control you.”
"But I managed just fine." Aerin suddenly blurted out. As soon as the words left her mouth she immediately wished to take them back because Ambriel shot her a look so harsh that it felt as if he had actually hit her.
"You have one too?!" Richard almost shouted. "Can… can I see it?"
"No." Ambriel commanded.
“You’ve seen what mine can do!” Richard spoke, his voice rising. “Imagine what powers one could possess if they had two!”
“That is exactly why I say no.” Ambriel stated firmly. “The relics you both possess contain horrific powers that take pleasure in corrupting souls. One is bad enough, but with two you’ll be a husk. Just a shell of your former humanity.”
“And how do you know that, old man?” Richard questioned, his voice almost a shout; his face full of emotion.
Ambriel seemed to take offence at Richard’s words. He stood, taking a strong posture as he looked down at him. Ambriel glanced over at Aerin, a look of concern on her face, before looking back at Richard.
“I know, because I’ve seen it firsthand.” He said loudly. “I know, because I’ve seen the hollow eyes of someone that went too far. I know because protecting you from these things has been my life’s work. I know because I’m not just some ‘old man’.”
With an angered look in his eye, Ambriel unfurled his wings. Large, beautiful and white, they suddenly opened up behind him. They shot up, opening toward the night sky above, casting shadows from the moonlight and the fire beside him all around. Aerin marveled at his display of power as Richard fell back in line. His eyes moved over every feather that hung down, gently moving in the wind.
“You’re… You’re an Angel…” Richard spoke, much softer than before. “That… explains everything.” He glanced down at the ground as he became lost in thought.
“Satisfied?” Ambriel asked as his wings folded back behind him. They disappeared behind his shoulders and he returned to his seat. Richard simply nodded in reply, all the while Aerin remained silent. “Then get some sleep. There’s a long road ahead of us.”
Aerin leaned back and rested her head against the book. Before she closed her eyes, she glanced over toward Richard. He sat quietly, still gazing down at the ground. A part of her felt bad for him; after all he was a kindred spirit, in some strange sense. She shook her head and removed the thought. Her mind went back to Isaiah and her parents. She saw them in her memories as her consciousness began to fade in and out. As the camp was shrouded in silent darkness, she drifted to sleep.
The next day was more of the same. The pathway up the side of the mountain was hard and steep. Often times it was an actual climb, having to rely on each other as they ascended. Most of the morning Aerin had spent in silence, only speaking when spoken to. But the more she trekked on, the more something weighed on her heart. Her mind was still fixated on the day before. How Richard had seen right through her, she still wanted to know.
“Richard.” She suddenly spoke as they reached a moderately flat area.
“Yes?” He turned to answer.
“How did you know?” She asked, much to his confusion. “About losing someone? How did you know?”
“I see.” Richard glanced down before looking back up to her. “I knew the look in your eyes because it was a look that I used to wear, myself.” He explained. “About a year ago, before I left my home, I lost everything I ever knew.”
“I’m… I’m so sorry.” Aerin apologized. Opening an old wound had not been her intention; after all she’d been trying to heal one of her own.
“What happened?” Ambriel spoke up; asking the question Aerin couldn’t bring herself to voice.
“Remember what I told you of my home? How my land is plagued with floods? Good land is hard to come by and what little we have is extremely valuable. My home happened to be on such land.” He paused as he made his way up a hard rock before turning and helping Aerin. “Our village was burned to the ground. Our crops were stolen, and everyone I knew was slain. As far as I know, I’m the only one that made it out.”
“I’m sorry.” Aerin apologized again.
“That must have been difficult.” Ambriel added.
“It was.” Richard agreed. “But it opened my eyes. The fact that such evil could exist in this world, I thought to myself that there must be something I could do.”
“And so you set out in search of power.” Ambriel concluded.
“That’s right.” Richard glanced down at the staff in his hand. “I knew there was something special about this staff. I knew there had to be more.”
“So when you discovered its powers, why didn’t you return home and take back your land?” Ambriel questioned.
“Why just stop there?” Richard asked. “This isn’t just about revenge. This is so much more. With power like this, you could change the world so that no one would ever have to go through what I had to go through-“ He stopped and glanced back at Aerin. “What we had to go through again.”
Richard’s words hit Aerin deep in her heart. For the longest while she thought she was truly alone. Sure, she had Ambriel to travel with and that he was good company, but it wasn’t quite the same. But here stood a man that had been through the same thing she had, and he had come out stronger. His argument hadn’t reached her the night before, but she was almost convinced there in the desert. She glanced up at Ambriel to see a look of disapproval in his eyes.
Before she could say anything, something howled out, piercing the silence that filled the sands around them. A strange black fog began to roll in like a blanket that slowly enveloped the dunes in the distance. The sands shifted and swirled around as an ominous presence filled the area. Ambriel motioned Aerin and Richard together. They bunched up, pressing their backs together as dozens of black figures rose up out of the sand surrounding them. They were dark and wispy, almost like a black mist had taken human form. They stood hunched over with large claw like appendages hanging down by their sides and bright glowing red eyes that seemed to float inside the mist.
“What… what are they?” Aerin asked as her heart beat faster in her chest, the blood boiling in her ears.
“Shades.” Ambriel answered calmly. “Drawn here by the relics, I imagine.”
“What are we going to do?” Richard questioned.
“We’re going to fight our way through.” Ambriel said as he clenched his hands into fists. Bright Cyphers appeared around his hands, running up to his forearms. “They’re standing between us and the temple.”
“I’ve… I’ve never had to fight before.” Richard stated as he clutched the staff tightly, his hands shaking.
“Well you’re about to learn. Follow my lead and do what comes natural.” Ambriel glanced to Aerin beside him and she nodded, ready to demonstrate her powers. “Let’s go!”
Ambriel lunged at the nearest shade. His movements were fast, his speed taking Richard by surprise. He jabbed the shade in the stomach with a few fast strikes. A split second after each hit, small concussions rang out. The little explosions sent the shade flying backwards into the sand before it disappeared. He turned and kicked another in the head beside him before unleashing another volley of attacks as he put himself out into the thick of them.
Aerin clapped her hands together and concentrated as flames roared up around her body. The cloak and scarf Ambriel had given her vanished as a long, flowing white dress took their place; similar to one she had worn many moons ago. She focused hard and channeled the magical energies in the air around her; using her body as a conduit, she bridged the connection and turned the energies into something deadly. She pulled her hands apart and thrust them out towards a group of shades in front of her. The torrent of magical bol
ts slammed into them, ripping the shades apart and leaving them in crumpled piles that seemed to turn to dust and blow away in the hot desert wind.
While the other two were busy fighting, Richard had backed away slowly. He found himself cornered, his back to a craggy rock wall, while he stared at a group of shades in front of him. They let out strange growling noises as they twitched around, talking amongst themselves. Their gaze was locked on the staff in Richard’s hands. He gripped it tighter as he attempted to press himself further into the rock, but to no avail. The shades suddenly thrust themselves forward at him. He closed his eyes and screamed as something took hold. He could feel the power flowing through him and into the staff. The air around him sparked and cracked as it charged. He thrust the staff forward and a surge of lightning shot out, disintegrating the shades in midair.
Aerin and Ambriel glanced back and watched as the bolt of lightning tore through their enemies. With another punch and a volley of blasts, the shades were defeated; but only for a short while. The sands stirred again and in no time they were fighting off another large group of shadowy stalkers.
“Keep going!” Ambriel shouted as he punched his way through another crowd.
Aerin brought her hands together into another clap. She could see the words, the symbols, everything she had studied. The diagrams, the runes, the cyphers, it was all there. All of her worries about fighting had been for naught, she was a natural. She blasted her way through a handful of shades and made her way up towards Ambriel.
“You want this?!” Richard shouted as he brought his staff down into a shade’s head; it exploded on contact with the electrified tip. “Try and take it from me!"
He fired bolt after bolt at the shades that surrounded him, firing lightning in large arcs that came dangerously close to Aerin and Ambriel. He shouted, his voice rising and breaking as the adrenaline took hold of him. Dozens of shades came at him, all of them vaporizing to the lightning Richard continuously created. More and more appeared, seemingly drawn more towards him and the staff he held so tightly than towards Aerin and the grimoire that hung from her shoulder. One after another, Ambriel and Aerin watched as he took out the majority of the group around them until no more remained. He stood there, panting for air, covered in the black ash leftover from the demonic attackers he had felled.
“Is… Is that all?” Richard asked in between breaths.
“You got them all.” Ambriel stated. The cyphers around his hands disappeared, but his fists remained clenched. “You can calm down now.”
“What were those things?” Aerin asked.
“Shades, like I said.” Ambriel answered. “They’re demons.”
“Demons!” Richard exclaimed before holding his staff in the air. “Even demons seek the powers we possess!”
“They seek that relic because they are demons.” Ambriel stated as he glanced back towards the hill. “Come, we’re nearly there.”
Aerin released her transformation before she turned to follow and Richard hurried to catch up. By the time they made it to his side, he had already stopped at the top of the ridge to take in the extraordinary view. The far side of the ridge was different than the one they had just climbed. Unlike the craggy rock they had navigated up the mountain, all the way down was a gentle slope that stretched out into a hot bowl of sand. In all directions, a yellowish-white expanse of nothingness filled the area. Mirages of all shapes and sizes danced in the distance, disappearing and reappearing with each wave of heat that rose up to greet the sky.
“I don’t see anything.” Aerin observed.
“Oh it’s down there… somewhere.” Ambriel stated before he stepped off the side. “Let’s go.”
Aerin stepped off the ledge and followed. Her feet sunk into the sand a little and she began to slide down the ridge. She held her arms out to steady herself; it was a little difficult, but she was thankful for the pause in walking, at least for a little while, though it didn’t last very long. After only a few minutes of sliding down the hill, they were right back to walking.
The air inside the bowl was hot, absurdly so, much hotter than it had been on the other side. She walked along slowly, each footfall sinking into the sand a few inches. She took deep, heavy breaths through the scarf that covered her face as she followed the shapes in front of her that she assumed were the other members of her party. Her mouth was dry and her eyes burned. As a torrent of sand kicked up, she held tight to the hood of her robe covering her head and trudged along slowly. Her vision blurred as the steps dragged on and on for some unknown amount of time; but eventually, the waving shapes in front of her became two separate forms.
“Are we there?” Aerin managed to ask. She stumbled up beside Ambriel and took a deep breath as she removed her scarf. Stopping was the best sensation she had felt in her entire life, up to that point, and she felt as though she could fall back into the sand and sleep.
"We’re here." Ambriel stated.
Aerin looked around, only sand met her gaze in all directions. She locked eyes with Richard, who must have been thinking the same thing she was, as he only shrugged his shoulders. Perhaps the heat had gotten to the older man.
"There's... nothing here." Richard observed.
"Yes." Ambriel bent down and scooped up a handful of sand. "Strange, there's more here than I remember." He sighed and let the sand slip through his fingers. "The temple should be right here."
"Maybe it got buried?" Aerin thought aloud.
"By the way." Richard spoke up. "Why exactly are we here? I mean-"
A strange sliding sound cut him off as everyone strained to hear what it was. The sand just ahead of them began to move. It seemed to swirl around and sink into the earth slowly, as if it was draining away. The motion started out small, but rapidly escalated into a full-fledged torrent. The group attempted to backpedal away from the whirlpool of dirt, but a loud crash erupted from deep below them and the rest of the sand gave way, sending them falling down out of control.
Aerin let out a scream as she tumbled sideways down into the gaping maw that awaited her. She steadied herself as best she could and frantically looked around for the others. Richard was to her left faring slightly worse than she was, but Ambriel was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly she collided hard with something in the sand. It hit her in the side, knocking the breath from her lungs and sending her tumbling around once more. The harness around the book snapped and she watched it slide down into the abyss ahead of her. She struggled to reach for it, but quickly lost sight as it slipped under the sand.
She dropped down into a tunnel that closed up behind her as quickly as it had opened, leaving her in total darkness. She slid down until she finally came to a stop before she stumbled around onto her feet. The sound of sand sliding behind her was the only thing to be heard inside the dark chamber she was in. The room was just as silent as much as it was dark. Aerin closed her eyes and thought for a moment. She remembered a spell Ambriel had taught her early in her training. With a clap of her hands, and a rush of energy through her body, she created a small mote of light. Holding it out in front of her in the palm of her hand, she began to inspect her surroundings.
The light illuminated strange carvings and pictures along the walls of what appeared to be a simple hallway. She braced herself against the nearest wall and began to move forward. Her movements were slow and seemed to drag on for what felt like hours. The tunnel twisted left, then right, and then left again. It continued on like a labyrinth forever until it finally opened up into a larger room. She had come out into some kind of larger chamber. In the center a small beam of light trickled down from the ceiling above along with a steady stream of sand, like it was falling into an hourglass. She closed her hand, destroying the mote of light as she heard something. It would’ve been inaudible under any other circumstance, but in the near total silence of the chamber it was almost deafening. She shuffled forward slowly, releasing her hold on the wall. As she drew ever closer, she could tell it was a voice. It was Richard. He sat in the cen
ter of the chamber hunched over mumbling something.
“Richard?” Aerin called out, but her voice seemed to fall on deaf ears.
Richard didn’t even flinch in the slightest at her voice; instead he remained hunched over, his back to her as he mumbled something she couldn’t make out. Aerin moved forward slowly in the sand, creeping ever closer.
“Richard?” She asked again. “R-Richard… is that you?”
As she drew closer, something became horrifically apparent. The words Richard mumbled were things she, herself, had said before. They were incantations, spells, and phrases she knew all too well. Arcane magical knowledge the man before her should know nothing of. She had found the book again, but she had been too late. Without hesitation, she knew what she had to do.
“Richard.” She called out one last time. “Put the book down.”
She had found the correct phrase. Richard reeled around so fast that it had startled her. He stared for a fraction of a second, eyes wide and face pale. In one swift motion he drew his staff and aimed it toward her. A bolt of lightning arced from the end of it and sped through the air toward her. Aerin instinctively threw her hands up to shield herself, and a small cypher appeared at her beckoning. The lightning struck the small blue disk with enough force to push her back against the wall. She screamed as her defenses gave way and the electricity coursed through her body. It felt like a million pin pricks impaling her all at the same time, and she convulsed heavily before collapsing into the sand completely immobile.
"Aerin?" Richard's voice was filled with confusion. He lowered his staff and approached slowly to get a better look. "Aerin? Oh God no!" He cried. "Aerin, I'm so sorry. Please, please be okay. I, I just-"
"That's far enough, Richard." Ambriel's voice came from across the room.
Richard turned quickly and fired another bolt without a second thought. It illuminated the room as it arced around, revealing Ambriel's location. The bolt struck dead center into Ambriel's ready and waiting cypher. Richard grunted and grit his teeth in agitation as he focused harder on the attack. The book he held in his right hand seemed to flip open to a page all its own and he thrust the staff forward harder as the lightning grew more intense. In response, Ambriel did the same. More cyphers appeared around him as his brilliant wings unfurled behind him, somehow giving him more strength.
Slayer: A Demon Hunter's Tale Page 39
