Deathsworn Arc: 02 - The Verkreath Horror

by Martyn Stanley

  Saul began an incantation, gathering and shaping ambient magic, and augmenting it by converting and transferring heat energy from his own body into the spell, when he threw his palms at the plague pit and uttered, “§alala Vroth K§iatha§a!” two or three bodies were lifted and thrown down the pit.

  Saul sagged at the expansion of energy, staggering to his knees. Attempting an unfamiliar spell or use of a known spell was always risky. One didn’t know how much energy needed to be injected into the spell and he’d somewhat stretched his abilities. He’d cleared a big hollow in the heap of corpses with the spell, though he was rendered incapacitated by the expansion of energy. As he kneeled on the floor panting Brael cast him a disdainful look, clearly frustrated at the limits of Saul’s magical abilities.

  Brael’s eyes drifted back to the pit, and he peered into the mass of rotting carcasses, “I see her! Votrex!”

  As Votrex jogged up, he and Brael leapt into the pit, landing with a crunch, on the putrid flesh of the dead inhabitants of Strak. The smell was overpowering, flies were buzzing around the corpses, only disturbed when Votrex and Brael started lifting and hauling bodies to get to Vashni. Rigor mortis had set in in some of the bodies, the worse ones to move were the recent dead, still slightly warm and floppy. They both found themselves unconsciously avoiding lifting the young, there was something terrible and bitter about having to pry dead children from the pile, but it was necessary to get to Vashni.

  Eventually Votrex and Brael were dragging Vashni from the pit, still seemingly unconscious.

  Throughout this endeavour Korhan was lying on his back, feeling the rain on his face. He could hear the commotion going around him, but couldn’t focus on it. He felt cold, he could feel the darkness reaching out seeking to take him, urging him to close his eyes and rest, yet he knew he couldn’t, for to do so now might mean he didn’t wake up.

  Eventually Votrex and Brael appeared back in his vision. The dark elf was carrying the limp form of Vashni; Votrex leaned down and picked him up, hauling him over his shoulder. He grunted in pain as Votrex started striding after the gravian. Saul was in front further still, though he looked tired, as if he was forcing every step. He had to stay awake, a burning desire to kill Ramon Hern, was the main thing keeping him from closing his eyes, every time he felt them closing he gritted his teeth and imagined plunging Harbinger into Dagon Hern’s heart.

  Saul was carrying harbinger, his muscles ached, his breath was laboured, he too longed to lie down and sleep. Korhan had lost a lot of blood, he was still bleeding internally, it was doubtful he could be saved, especially without the aid of Vashni. Vashni however was unresponsive, her heart was beating slowly, and she was breathing, but there were no other signs that she was even alive.

  Eventually their lifeless forms were hauled into the administrative building, Saul lead them past the bemused guards, through the entry atrium and into the feasting hall. Once there, he leaned harbinger against the wall and swept the wooden plates and pewter goblets off the main table with his arm.

  As he did so Votrex and Brael carefully laid down Korhan and Vashni. Korhan actually had more of an appearance of being alive, despite his terrible injuries. Vashni, though she had the appearance of being unharmed, smelled of death, her outfit and skin covered in the fluids secreted by the dead, as well as the dried on ocular fluid from when she’d pierced Thrax’s eye with her blade.

  Saul looked to Brael who studying both of them intently. “What can we do for them?”

  “I know not Saul Karza, I cannot whisper, I cannot wield magic and my mind is firmly trapped inside my head.”

  Votrex drew his head away from Korhan. “What do you think has happened to her gravian?”

  “I know what has happened; Korhan is going to die unless we can unlock Vashni. She, to escape the horror of her predicament has locked herself in. She has systematically severed all conscious links from her mind to her senses. She did not expect to be rescued, she had not the means to escape or even end her life - so she retreated deep, deep into her mind.”

  Votrex drew his dagger and cut her remaining bonds, making her flop lifelessly onto the table. “How can we ‘unlock’ her?”

  “Hah! Were I able to whisper, wield magic or venture from the confines of myself with my mind - I could rouse her... One of you will have to try.”

  “We dwarves are famously inept at mental projection; our minds are not well adapted to it.”

  Saul sighed, “What must I do?”

  “Reach out with your mind, feel yourself as a consciousness, and try to project your conscious mind towards Vashni’s mind.”

  “Project where?”

  “Into her head, her mind resides there, you have to try and reach it, present her with an up to date image of where she is and what has happened.”

  Saul began, stretching his mind, trying to give it substance and slide it out of his head. Every time he felt like he was leaving his head, fear struck him and it snapped him back in an instant. Each time his mind was snapped back he groaned, it was giving him a headache, he’s never tried to project before and it seemed impossible to overcome the fear.

  Brael glared at him, “Keep trying, try harder! You must reach her or avil will die.”

  Saul pressed his fingers onto his temples and tried to force his mind out.

  Meanwhile Korhan was desperately fighting the urge to lose consciousness. He could hear the conversation and it drew him back to his exercises, especially the one in the forest, when he had touched the mind of his horse. He let go of his fear of death, and and began to focus on what he was doing, where he was and what was happening around him. He felt the hard wood beneath his back, the sharp pains coming from his cauterized wounds and Vashni. As he thought about her, he immediately sensed her, a mind like a perfect sphere of impenetrable steel. He poured his mind over hers, it was small, but compact, and in someway infinitely large. It felt ancient too, and powerful, he started calling out with his mind to her trying to prise a way into the sphere.

  Saul was at this point groaning and red in the face, desperately trying to urge his mind out. As he did, Vashni’s eyes opened suddenly, Brael’s face lit up with joy. “You did it wizard! I did not think you-”

  Vashni sat up suddenly. “No, Korhan did it... Urgh! I have to wash, the smell.”

  There were tears in her eyes as she spoke and it was clear that these tears weren’t from the smell, but from something deeper. Brael looked at her sternly. “Mistress elf, you may wash later but now you must attend to Korhan or you will not have a Ri§ine.”

  She turned to look at him, her face showed a new level of respect and concern for Korhan, and she shuddered at the sight of his injuries.

  Saul groaned, “Can you do anything for him?”

  “Hmmph! Maybe... I don’t know. He is dying.”

  Death’s Door

  The sight was not a pretty one, Korhan was looking pale, his breathing was laboured. Vashni, now seemingly recovered, hopped off the table with surprising vigour. As her feet hit the ground she confronted Brael. “Well gravian, can you save him?”

  Brael paused, as if deep in thought for a moment, then sighed. “If I had access to magic, then yes I could possibly save him, particularly with some assistance with your whispers, as it is I do not-”

  “He has access to magic, use him.”

  “Alas mistress elf, Saul though a fine magician in his own right, he has not the experience nor knowledge to weave the spells that are required to save him.”

  Saul stepped forwards at this, “Try me!”

  From the steps Kyla’s voice rang out too. “And try me too!”

  At this Brael raised an eyebrow. “Hmmm, are either of you familiar with Forzad’s arcane transmographer?”

  Blank expressions from Kyla and Saul caused Brael to roll his eyes impatiently. “Vashni - cut off his mind from his senses and slow his heart down. Kyla fetch me some soot, a jug of water, two large, empty jugs and something made of iron.”

  “W
hy-”

  “Just do it!”

  As Kyla vanished, Vashni leaned on the table near to Korhan’s head, “Ri§ine, I am going to lock you in again. You will feel no pain, the gravian thinks we can save you, but I will be honest I don’t believe we can, I think you are going to die. If your life ends here, know that I am sorry we couldn’t have done more, and we did our best to save you. Your place in Kirkfell is assured, you fought valiantly. Listen to my words, embrace them...”

  He could hear her, but he was too weak to respond, he felt angry, angry that Hern had done this to him, angry that he might not be able to have his revenge on the Dagon and put a sword through his heart.

  As she began the whisper he felt his pain fading, his senses becoming more and more distant and he felt calmer, his heart was slowing, soon his mind was isolated, almost separate from his physical form.

  Kyla eventually returned with the empty jugs, a handful of soot from the hearth and the jug of water. She also had a rusty old dagger which had seen better days tucked in her belt. “I have what you requested.”

  Brael looked up, “Good, he has lost a great deal of blood - we need to make some more for him.”

  This caused a round of gasps; Vashni was the first to regain her composure. “Is such a thing possible?”

  Brael looked sternly at her. “Yes, just... Everything, everything is made of tiny, tiny components two small for us to see. Water for example, it is made of one largish component, I call component eight, which is also a major component of the air, we need component eight to breath, animal bodies use it for energy, it is joined to two small components, I call these identical components, component one. They are arranged in a ‘v’, everything in the world, everything is made up of things from a small set of possible components. The blood, Korhan’s blood, is of course made of some complex components, which themselves are made of smaller components. The air in this room, the water, the soot and the iron, they have the required components to make the components of blood - they are simply joined up in the wrong order. We need to break these components apart and put them back together in the correct order.”

  Saul was shaking his head in awe. “What is this you speak of? Witchcraft? I have never-”

  “The Truth, it is ‘the truth’ or at least a small part of it, a small enough part that I can reveal it - you have to trust me on this, and attempt the spells as I instruct, exactly as I instruct - now stand back while I prepare the materials.”

  Transmogrification

  Brael spent some time carefully judging the amount of water and soot needed, with enough for some excess and putting them into one empty jug. Once he was happy he took the empty jug and began breaking Korhan’s wounds, and collecting blood in the empty jug as it seeped out. After some careful collecting he had a significant sample of blood in one of the jugs.

  Votrex was shaking his head at this. “He’s bled enough! What in Ishar’s name are you doing?!”

  “I need a sample of his blood as a template, there are many different possible ‘types’ of blood, we need to copy his blood so that his body can use it. Now, Kyla, Saul, normally I would perform all spells myself simultaneously, however you are both weak and unskilled - so I will ask Saul to perform half the required spells and Kyla the other half.”

  Saul stepped forwards. “What do you need me to do?”

  “You, wizard are going to set this jug, the jug with Korhan’s blood sample in it as the template, I need you to hold this spell while Kyla performs her part - it will need a constant supply of energy. Feel the contents of the jug, feel the spell morphing the contents into an imprint, and utter these words.”

  Brael paused for a second and then, when he was sure Saul was ready began to speak. “§arvi§avar fala borsk fara§ ikth, maram§alala mi§uviar eres, mor§im orvot monili§ var.”

  As Saul began to recite Brael’s words he felt a sudden jolt of cold as energy from his body flowed into the spell at an alarming rate.

  He could feel the spell forming, but the drain was too much, he didn’t have the energy to supply it. The spell broke apart and fizzled out to nothing. Saul gasped. “I can’t maintain it, the-”

  Brael pointed to the wall. “Votrex, grab that torch from it’s bracket, as Saul utters the spell hold it against him as you were trying to burn him.”

  “Bu-”

  “Do it, the interaction between the burning wood and the air gives off heat energy, hold it close to him and he will absorb some of that energy as the spell draws on him.”

  Begrudgingly Votrex collected the torch, and waited. When Saul started the spell the torch flickered, he felt the rush of cold as energy left him, but the torch was supplying more heat, more energy. It would have burned him horribly under normal circumstances, as it was, it meant he was just able to maintain the spell.

  Brael turned to Kyla. “Now, you must perform the spell of liquidity, which will break down the connections between the components, again, you must maintain the spell, Vashni, get a torch and do as Votrex has done or she will not be able to maintain the spell.”

  Vashni obediently, grabbed a torch from another bracket and brandished it at Kyla, smiling at her. Kyla looked a little scared, the torch Votrex was holding against Saul looked like it should have been scorching his clothes and burning his skin to a crisp, but the spell was drawing energy from the contact area so fast, no damage was occuring.

  Brael groaned, “We do not have all day, now focus on the materials in the jug, feel them breaking apart into a soup of their individual tiny components, and utter these words.”

  He paused, making sure Vashni and Kyla were ready, then started. “Vor§ifaren §lithara vesh kithkin, mor§ala veris ferel, moro§arvar hisgifil, mor§ila§a troman§...”

  She felt the rush of cold, and then felt the heat of the torch replenishing her energy. It was a difficult spell to maintain. Keeping it active took all her skill and concentration. Saul was sweating and looking the worse for wear by the time she had it working. Brael then picked the two jugs up slowly, “Concentrate! Both of you, do not allow your focus to wander from your task, or the process will be ruined!”

  Slowly he poured the blood into the mixture of water, soot and the rusty dagger. Then he turned to Saul, “Now you must keep the current spell active while casting a new one.”

  Vashni’s ears were twitching at every step of this process, the feats Brael were describing were rare, to be able to hold a spell and cast new ones was not easy, particularly spells which were quite so demanding to maintain. Despite no heat being added, the concoction was bubbling merrily as is sucked nitrogen out of the air to complete the recipe.

  Saul was clearly straining from the difficulty of maintaining one spell, “Wha, what do you need me to do now?”

  “A spell of consolidation, you need to feel the template material and enclose it in a field of magic, then as the donor materials reform, incorporate them into the sample. Repeat this incantation after me, ‘ §io froi§, agrar reloh mesanic me§il, gorhorg hrilif, §otil’”

  Saul straining repeated the phrase, and felt a rush of cold from his as the spell began to work. The torch began flickering more wildly as the heat energy rushed into Saul. The torch was visibly burning down faster now.

  Brael turned sharply to Kyla, “Now, you must hold your spell, the donor materials should have reformed now, but keep the spell active, now you need to perform a spell to make the waste donor material, that which is left - to adese to the side of the jug. Feel the material with your spell, repeat! ‘§ellala rarisha gorvivic, mar§ara voik, relano§, §oervelth a§ir!’”

  Kyla repeated, staggering from the sensation of sudden coldness, content, Brael poured the concoction back into the other empty jug. From the tiny sample of blood, the ingredients and the spell, Brael had managed to fill a large jug up to the brim of blood. “Now, release your spells!”

  As the energy drain on the casters halted they both yelped from the heat of the torches, moving clear, then collapsing on the floor out of br
eath.

  Votrex who had been silent for the whole process, almost mesmerised shook his head, “Amazing. How are you going to get it into-”

  “Hmmmph, usually a spell master dwarf, but I believe my spell casters are spent - Vashni, can you whisper it in?”

  She stepped forwards, “I shall try, hold the lip of the jug near this seeping wound.”

  Brael did as requested, Vashni leaned close and seemed to whisper, partly to Korhan’s flesh and partly to the liquid in the jug, “§iova, merinith ala... §iova, mernith ala...”

  The mantra repeated, as it did the liquid began flowing slowly, but forcefully into the wound. The process was slow, but gradually the jug emptied. Even as the last few drops forced their way in, Saul and Kyla were lying prone on the floor, awake but out of breath. Saul looked up to Brael, “How in Ishar’s name can a single person perform all these spells! Tis impossible!”

  He looked down at Saul and offered a wry smile, “Tis possible, the caster has to channel, to draw energy from other sources, then he has to construct the spells in such a way that the words of the spell are repeating themselves, drawing their own power, before moving onto the next. Of course one has to make sure one shuts down the resident spells created afterwards, though in truth once the source of energy is depleted, the spells will fail.”

  “Source of energy? Wha-”

  “Please, we can discuss channelling later, for now let us focus on Korhan.”

  Saul didn’t respond, instead he sat quietly on the cold stone floor catching his breath, felt like he had been completely drained of energy casting Brael’s spells. Vashni was still whispering the fluid forcefully into Korhan. It was a slow process. As she finished, the jug empty, she began examining his various wounds. “He has enough blood within him now, but there are veins, capillaries, muscles, tendons and other tissues which are damaged, his lung needs reinflating and he has various impurities and disease factors in him which need whispering out - twill be a long night.”

  Votrex sighed deeply. “Is there anything we can do to help?”