Seer of Shadows

by Cleave Bourbon

  Gondrial hunkered down in an attack stance, bouncing slightly on his bent knees. Shey readied her daggers. The first monster swooped down onto the green grass spitting acid directly at Gondrial. He moved as quick as a cat from a striking serpent and the acid missed him, hissing as it contacted the grass behind him. Gondrial attacked the wings of the creature first, slicing the fleshy membranelike inner wing on the right side of the creature. It howled at him as he passed and pounced on him when he followed through with his attack.

  Shey heard the sickly cry of the next creature come from behind. Her daggers became one with her hands and arms as she reacted, twisting her torso with eerie precision. Her duel daggers struck the thing in the chest, but one of her daggers bounced off the exoskeletal chest armor as her other dagger found flesh. It lurched causing her to lose her grip on the dagger still stuck in the creature’s chest, and she fell to the side still clutching her right-handed blade. When she came to rest, she turned as quick as a whip to command her dagger still in the creature. She released some of the essence she had ready and made the dagger go in deeper and then slice upward through the thing’s chest. It howled in pain and anger as it grabbed for the moving dagger. When it was about to grasp the dagger’s handle, Shey made a yanking motion with her hand, and the dagger flew out the creature’s chest and into her grip.

  “Step aside!” Gondrial said as he rammed his sword down with both hands into Shey’s’ creature’s chest. He pulled his blade, and in one swift motion, he severed the creature’s head.

  “The other one!” Shey shouted to him, “Where is the other one?” She knew he was trying to help her by neglecting his own fight. “You idiot, I am perfectly capable of...” The second creature came down on her from behind, acid spraying onto her arm and leg. She flipped it over her head, and it landed near Gondrial. She threw her daggers at it precisely cutting off its left arm before it swung down to bite Gondrial with its acidic maw. Its sharp teeth penetrated Gondrial’s shoulder, and he cried out in pain. It tried to spread its wings and take off but the wing Gondrial had injured would not allow it. Shey commanded her daggers to finish it off. They sliced through it like it was hot butter and then returned to Shey. The acid on her arm and legs burned, and she used her dagger to cut away the section of her leather pants still burning with the acid. She glanced up at the sound of a blood-curdling screech to see a third creature a yard-lengths away. It sneered at them and then took to flight.

  “Get that creature!” Shey shouted, but Gondrial was too busy trying to get his shirt off and stop the acid bite from spreading.

  “Just let it go. We need to get into the Tower to the clerics. This acid is vicious.”

  “What the ogre’s bum is going on here? What’s all that commotion?” Shey recognized it was Kerad, the cleric of the Tower of Morgoran.

  “Kerad! It’s the Drasmyd Duil acid. We are both covered in it.” Shey said.

  Kerad rushed to her side and held the light of the lantern to see her better, “Lady Shey?” He moved the lantern up and down her body. “You are hardly covered in it.”

  “A little is enough!”

  Others from the tower began to filter outside, “Here, you men take Lady Shey into my study.” Kerad commanded, and several men went to her aid. Shey looked back as the hardiest of the men carried her lengthwise in his arms to see Kerad working on Gondrial’s shoulder before the acidic bite went too deep. Men surrounded them both, and Shey knew he would be taken care of now. She turned back to her searing pain.

  Chapter 11: One Among Us

  Lady Shey winced as she got up out of bed. Kerad, the cleric, rushed into her room, “My lady, I must protest. You need another day or two to recover.”

  “You let Gondrial go.”

  “He was very insistent.”

  “So am I. I have to get back to Sylvalora and my coachman. They are waiting for me, and I am sure they are worried sick. I was supposed to return in a few hours, not a few days.”

  “I can’t talk you out of traveling?”

  “No, I am afraid not.”

  “Very well, but you realize I will have to report this to Morgoran.”

  Shey gave him an annoyed expression, “And you think he will comprehend what you are telling him?”

  “He understands and remembers more than you might realize.”

  “I’ll take my chances. Plus, it’s been a long while since I was his apprentice. Morgoran himself couldn’t stop me from returning to my obligations.” With that Shey exited the room and quickly made her way to the portal. This time she could use essence to activate the portal rather than dragon magic. Her side had splitting pain, and she thought a moment about asking Kerad for some pain remedy, but she decided to travel instead. She was already tired of his healing lecture. She activated the portal and stepped through it. To her amazement, when she came through the other side in the White Tower, her pain was all but gone. Sylvalora was curled up in a newly cleaned corner with a blanket. She stirred awake when the portal dissipated with a loud hum.

  “Shey, thank the gods. I was about to come after you.”

  “I was delayed because I was injured in a fight with two Drasmyd Duil at the Tower of Morgoran.” She turned and twisted at the waist but still almost no pain. She let one side of her dress fall to examine the wound, and it was just a large bruise now. “I am healed; how?”

  “It’s the portal. It has built-in healing properties. Migarath thought it would be useful, but it ended up getting most of the portals destroyed during the War of the Oracle.”

  “I always thought they were destroyed so the enemy couldn’t use them to escape.”

  “That too but imagine if you had one nearby where you could filter soldiers and wielders back and forth through.”

  “I see your point.”

  “There are more viable portals still around than people realize. One of Migarath’s apprentices, who helped him develop the portals, managed to repair or rebuild several of them after the war and before his untimely death.”

  “Why are they mostly forgotten then. It seems like they are something we need to keep around.”

  “Their construction is completely forgotten for one. When one breaks or stops working no one remembers how to fix it. Also, several of them are in places where magic has become outlawed, and then there are the few in Ishrak where no one would dare use them. But enough about the portals, did you see Morgoran and give him the Lora Orbius? How did you come to fight Drasmyd Duil?”

  “Aye, I saw him, and yes I gave him the stone. The curse was broken, but Drakkius was also there. The bastard summoned the Drasmyd Duil before he used a Lora Daine and disappeared.”

  “What did Morgoran say?”

  “During his brief moment of lucidity, he said something about one among us who could create much harm, and he gave me a cryptic location of a sword that can help us.”

  “What sword?”

  “Malfel or something like that.”

  “Malinfel?”

  “Yes, that’s the one. Morgoran said it was in the Jagged Mountains near the one who lies.”

  “I believe that Malinfel is a mindwielder sword. It was lost when the mindwielders were all but wiped out in the war. How are we supposed to use it?”

  “It doesn’t matter since I don’t understand the clue to find it unless you do?”

  “Yes, I do. It’s near Soldier’s Bluff. The one who lies is the soldier the village was named after.”

  “I thought it was named after a cliff or a bluff nearby.”

  Sylvalora chuckled. No, it was named after a soldier who won most of the town by bluffing his way in games of Nine Cards. When we exit into the white tower, I think we should keep all of this sword business to ourselves since Morgoran warned us about a possible betrayer.”

  “Agreed. Who could it be, Lyrrath? Geron? Rodraq?”

  “Well, you brought Rodraq from Lux Enor. He could have been a spy planted to spy on you.”

  Shey sighed, “I don’t know Lyrrath all
that well either and he was acting strange the day I left for the Tower of Morgoran.”

  “What about Geron?”

  “Geron? He’s just a boy.” Shey said. “And he’s been through so much with losing his brother and parents. I can’t believe he could be the one to betray us.”

  “Keep an eye out. We don’t want to be surprised.” Sylvalora said.

  Shey nodded, “Come, let us join the others and get ready to travel out of here. After being in the Vale of Morgoran and able to feel essence again, I want to leave the barrenness of the Blight as soon as we possibly can.”

  When Shey and Sylvalora returned to the common room of the white tower, Geron was drawing on a piece of parchment with a piece of charcoal and Rodraq was staring out the window.

  “Rodraq, get the team hitched and ready the coach,” Shey commanded.

  “Thank the gods!” Rodraq said. “I am about to go out of my head! Where are we going?”

  “Back East, toward the Jagged Mountains.”

  “Good deal!” Rodraq said heading with haste toward the door.

  “Where’s Lyrrath?” Sylvalora asked him before he left.

  “He’s wandering around outside. He’s probably as stir-crazy as I am.” With that, he exited.

  “Geron, dear, gather yourself. We are moving out as soon as Rodraq brings the coach.” The boy nodded and went to the wash basin to clean his dirty hands. Shey went over to the drawing out of curiosity. “Geron! What is this?” The drawing looked like a Drasmyd Duil coming out of shadows. It was almost a professional drawing like the ones she had seen artists at the court in Lux Enor draw.

  “I don’t know. It’s just a monster I made up.”

  Shey held up the parchment so Sylvalora could see it. She was concerned when she took a corner of the picture in her hand.

  “Geron, have you seen a creature like this before?”

  He was busy drying his hands, “No, wait, yes! I think one hurt the men at the Defender Patrol cabin.” He began to whimper.

  “Oh, come here,” Shey said. He ran to her, and she took him up in her arms.

  Sylvalora patted the boy on the back. “it’s all right boy. We will keep you safe from them.”

  Shey pushed the boy back, “Be strong now and help me gather up some provisions for the trip.”

  The boy smiled, and Shey chose to believe the odd smirk was the boy’s joy at traveling with them again.

  Rodraq had the coach out in front of the White Tower a few moments after Shey, Geron, and Sylvalora finished gathering up foodstuffs. He took the packs and wrapped goodies and stored them in the truck he strapped to the rear of the vehicle among other storage areas of the opulent coach. Shey watched him all the while feeling a pang of regret for taking such a lavish wagon. It was sure to stick out as they traveled through the small towns and villages. When she took the coach, she wanted it to be seen and feared but now that she knew the truth the coach was unsuitable.

  “Rodraq, can we do something about this coach?”

  “Sure, what do you want to do to it?”

  “I want to make it look more...common.”

  Rodraq laughed, “How do you expect to do that, by magic?”

  “I could!” Shey said sarcastically.

  “I don’t think the high council of Lux Enor would appreciate that.”

  “I could change it back afterward.”

  He clamped his mouth shut.

  “I’m joking. Magic of the kind it would take to transmogrify this coach is specialized. My magic would be like taking a hammer to a silver teapot. I could transform it, but no one would be able to ride in the blasted thing.”

  “Oh, well. I could stop in one of the villages along the way and borrow another coach. A more common coach.”

  “You could do that?”

  “I know a few people. It can be done.”

  “All right. Switch them out whenever you get the chance.”

  “Aye,” he said.

  Lyrrath pulled himself up onto the driver’s seat, “I think I will travel up here, my lady.”

  “Whatever suits you, Lyrrath.” She answered with a weak smile before Rodraq helped her step into the coach.

  Inside the coach Shey watched Geron get comfortable in the seat across from hers. Sylvalora was in the seat next to her fixated on something outside the window. Shey took a deep breath and laid her hands in her lap. She decided it would be best if she didn’t voice her fear that Lyrrath might be the one to betray them in front of Geron.

  It was after a day’s worth of traveling and an uncomfortable stay near a rocky outcropping near the border of the Blight when Shey instructed Rodraq to pick up the pace to a point where the houses would not be too taxed, but at least they would be moving faster than they had been traveling. She breathed a sigh of relief when they were close enough to the border of the Blight that she could feel the touch of essence again.

  “We need to find Geron a new home.” She whispered to Sylvalora while Geron slept.

  “We should have done that long ago.”

  “I know, but he is supposed to be a seer, and I wanted to see if there was any truth to it.”

  Sylvalora watched the sleeping boy. “Maybe it was his brother. I haven’t seen anything from him that indicates any kind of special ability.”

  “No! don’t leave me somewhere!” Geron said rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “I want to stay with you.”

  “We will keep you with us until we find a suitable place for you, don’t worry,” Sylvalora said.

  “No! forever.”

  “Nothing is forever,” Shey said.

  The boy’s eyes rolled in the back of his head, and he began to sway his head back and forth. “Lady Shey, an old friend will come and betray you.”

  Shey gave Sylvalora a knowing glance before she turned back to the boy, “It’s okay, Geron. You don’t have to pretend to be a seer.”

  Geron straightened up, “But I can see.”

  “We will explore that road when and if we come to it. For now, don’t worry about it.” Shey reached to him and put her hand on his knee to reassure him. “I promise we will not leave you somewhere without your wanting to stay there on your own, okay?”

  Geron nodded.

  “Now, when we get to Soldier’s Bluff, I want you to do as we tell you, exactly as we tell you. It might be dangerous. Then, after we leave the village, we will be heading to Brookhaven under disguises. Can you remember all that?”

  Geron nodded.

  “Good. Now, I don’t want you to fret about us leaving you anywhere. We will all talk about it before we do anything.”

  “I wasn’t kidding before. The betrayer is Lyrrath. I have seen it.” Geron said.

  “Now, Geron. I told you there is no need to prove yourself.” Shey said.

  “He’s not who you believe he is anymore. You have already noticed he is acting strange, especially to me because I know of his true intentions.”

  “Be that as it may, we need to discuss this another time. We are nearing Soldier’s Bluff.”

  “All right,” Geron said as he laid his head down again and closed his eyes.

  Shey gave Sylvalora a worried look right before she thought she saw Geron smiling for a moment.

  Chapter 12: Gondrial’s Run

  A few hours before nightfall Gondrial arrived in Cedar Falls. He made his way to The Eagle and the Hare Inn where he stabled his horse and reserved a room for the night. After putting away his personal belongings, he went to the common room for an ale and a meal. He was not particularly worried about the Enforcers at this point. He had left them stumbling over themselves several leagues back. He had been toying with them by projecting his essence back and forth through the woods and once down into the bottom of a ravine. The two were probably still down there searching in vain for a magic wielder they would never find. The prospect put a smile on his face.

  “Who are ye grinning at?” Gondrial suddenly realized he was face to face with a burly fellow dressed in the
sturdy brown material of the mountain folk, and the man was mistaking his amused grin for a challenge.

  “Oh, nothing. I was just in thought. I wasn’t looking at anyone in particular.”

  “I thought ye were grinning at me.”

  “No, friend. I was just grinning.”

  The man plopped down in the chair at the table next to him and leaned back to speak, “Where did you get them fancy clothes?”

  Gondrial looked down at his black leather and cloth ensemble, “In Symbor, I believe.” He tried to be as bland as he could in hopes the man would get the hint; he had no interest in speaking with him any further.

  “Hey, you talk purdy.”

  Now, Gondrial felt a bit annoyed, “I’m busy, could I please ignore you some other time?”

  “What did you just say to me?” The burly man was stunned.

  “Look, I’m sure you’re just trying to be friendly, but I have been on the road all day, and I just want to be left in peace. I hope you don’t mind.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  Gondrial briefly looked at the man before turning back to his mug of ale, “Well, I’m only responsible for what I say, not for what you understand.”

  The man turned away when the inn maiden asked him what he wanted to order from the kitchen. A few moments later another two men of the mountain folk, by the looks of them, joined the burly man. Gondrial had no choice to be to listen. None of them seemed to have any control over the volume of their voices.

  “Tell him about the bird man.” The first of the men to sit down began.

  “Oh, I don’t think it was a bird man. It was more like a flying lizard.” Said the second man.