Deathsworn Arc: 02 - The Verkreath Horror

by Martyn Stanley

  There were murmurs of agreement from every corner. The fact was every member of the group longed to see the sky again, and to sleep in a bed again. They’d hoped for a welcome respite in Strak, but Ramon Hern and his cult had cut their respite short. As it was, the last time they’d spent a night in a bed was now five days ago when they’d stayed at the Freais Folly in Briem and Vashni had healed the Berger’s daughter.

  Vashni groaned. “I will take ‘a while’ if that is all that is going, but I fear I won’t be replenished more than enough to simply travel.”

  Korhan looked a little troubled at Vashni’s sudden drained nature. He turned to her. “What ails you Mir§a Vashni, until recently I had thought-”

  “Hmmph! Ri§ine, elf I may be, but I still have my physical limits! I haven’t had a good nights sleep in nearly a week. In the last few days, I’ve healed the Berger’s daughter, fought a dragon, been thrown into a mass grave and buried in the corpses, I’ve healed you from your most grievous wounds, fought a host of Verkreath, taking two arrows in the process, and whispered out four arrows as well as closing Brael’s most grievous wound, before climbing a ladder in the pitch black for Orion knows how long!”

  Korhan nodded sympathetically. “I’m sorry Mir§a Vashni, I thought-”

  “Well you thought wrong. Yes I have remarkable abilities from your point of view, but I have my limits and they have been reached.”

  Korhan looked to the gaping shaft which they’d emerged from. Then he looked to Votrex. “Votrex, we could gather some large stones and place them over the top of the shaft. It may hide our light and make it difficult for the Verkreath to follow us that way?”

  “Aye lad, that’s not a bad idea. There will be other ways up here though, and they may have already sent messages that we could be around the warren. I suspect they will guess that we have learned something of their plan to take the surface and will want to prevent us relaying their plans to the empress.”

  Saul pulled his pack off. “Enough, Votrex, Korhan see what you can do with the shaft, everyone else, get some rest, I will keep watch for a while.”

  So Votrex unstrapped Elira and made sure she was comfortable, then helped Korhan with the slow process of finding large stones to cover the gaping hole with. There wasn’t one stone large enough to cover the whole shaft, but by spanning the covers and building a pyramid up with lots of large overlapping stones they managed to cover the whole shaft. In truth it was covered in such a way if the Verkreath did try to follow them they would dislodge the stones and send a small avalanche of debris onto themselves and their comrades who were further down the ladder.

  The warriors were too tired to spend time laying out sleep mats and as soon as Vashni had removed her small pack and laid down with her head on it as a pillow, she was fast asleep. Elira too, managed to drift off to sleep, though she slept gripping her blade and with a troubled look on her face.

  It wasn’t long before Saul was the only one still awake. He looked from companion to companion, shaking his head at each one. None had managed to avoid sustaining injuries, some superficial, some serious. He thanked Ishar that they’d had Vashni with them. Her abilities, limited as they were by her limited constitution were keeping them alive it seemed. The whole band looked a total mess, covered in soot, fresh wounds still congealing, bags under their eyes; they looked like they’d aged in the last couple of days. It was amazing that they’d managed to fall asleep at all, the only possible explanation for the fact they were fast asleep was the fact that were so literally exhausted that they could sleep anywhere. Occasionally distant sounds would trouble Saul. The part of the more naturally formed looking warren which they’d emerged into appeared on closer inspection to be a side-chamber of a long, wide corridor, which still had a naturally formed look to it, but with more crafted looking floor. Part of him wanted to collapse himself, but the sight of his battered companions made him feel guilty, guilty that he’d not gotten more involved in the melee. The truth was, the most danger he’d been in was when he was essentially smashing the head of his staff into the faces of the Verkreath who were attacking a duel-wielding Brael. He knew in his heart though he was not a warrior, and he could assist the group much more efficiently by casting spells from a safe distance. In his younger days he might have joined the fray with a little more enthusiasm, but he considered this to be more a product of the petulance of youth than his warrior abilities, a petulance now thankfully lost to the ravages of time.

  He sat and pondered their mission for some time. Though they had slain the dragon, it felt like their mission had turned out to be ill-fated. Harald, Silus, Callen all dead... On the run, not just from the servant of the flame, but also from the vile Verkreath. As he considered their situation he longed to see the gates of Cormaroth again, even to see the main road. The thought of a soft, warm bed within the safety of the citadel in Cormaroth made him sigh with desperation.

  As Saul sat, and kept watch he noticed even Brael, and Votrex, who seemed to need very little sleep generally, were in deep, deep sleep. The peace was eventually broken by a shriek as Elira, awoke in a panic, screaming for them to ‘get away’ and flailing her remaining arm around in a panic. The raucous roused all from their slumber, though as they came around around Elira had stopped screaming and was left sobbing and shaking with fear and anxiety. Brael got up to go and comfort her, but as he did she cast him a look of such venom, he considered she may try and kill him if he came within striking range. Instead, Korhan, launched himself to his feet and he approached her. “Elira, is everything alright?”

  She was weeping. “Yes... I was, I was back in the Holt, I was watching them eating my arm, devouring my flesh and gnawing my bones... Then they were coming for me... They wanted to take my other arm.”

  Korhan wrapped his arms around her slight torso, she felt reluctant at first, but after a moments hesitation she clasped him with her solitary arm and buried her face in his neck sobbing loudly.

  He stroked her matted hair gently. “Shhh, tis alright now, we’re out of the Holt and if the Verkreath DO catch up with us, I would die rather than allow them to take you - I cannot promise you safety, but I promise I will not let them take you.”

  This scene raised eyebrows and uncomfortable looks from the rest of the band. The truth was the accumulated events of the last few days were weighing heavy on them all. This supposedly simple task, to slay a dragon, then return for their reward was proving to be incredibly stressful. Vashni even looked a little put out, that Korhan was paying attention to this newcomer, dismembered though she was. Elira would have been attractive in her day, but the emotional stress of what she’d been through had left her a hollow shell, with an almost constantly haunted look upon her face. The truth too weighed heavy on her. Despite herself, she had not come to terms with what it meant.

  She eventually pulled her face away, stifling her tears. “Thank you... I will be alright now.”

  Korhan gave her a final gentle squeeze before lowering her down again.

  As she did Vashni almost leapt to her feet and strode quickly over. “Come, let’s get you back on Votrex’s back so we can move on. I do not wish to give the Verkreath any chance of catching up with us if possible.”

  Votrex stood. “Aye, get her up.”

  Korhan and Vashni hauled her up onto Votrex’s back and he tightened the straps on the pack. Initially as they left the enclave where the flue emerged, Brael took his place at the back of the marching order, with Saul, Vashni and Korhan at the front, following Saul’s glowing mage light. Elira scowled at him though, her eyes full of venom. “March in front of us truthseeker, I would prefer to convince myself that you were dead, killed in the fight - than to look upon your miserable face.”

  He sighed and strode past Votrex to join the warriors at the front of the group. As he did Korhan looked at him a little sympathetically. “I am sorry Brael, I cannot understand what you did that could cause such bitterness.”

  “Hah! What I did?! What I did was nothin
g, no, what I did was right. She is blaming me, as was much of Durth Orza, even as gravian society in general did - for uncovering a great lie. Instead of thanking me for illuminating their lives and facilitating them restructuring their lives in a way which was more appropriate to the way things are, they punished me for destroying the lie. Think of this Avil, you discover a man’s wife is being unfaithful to him, and you provide him with irrefutable evidence of her actions. Instead of tackling his wife over the issue he lashes out at you for enlightening him. How would that make you feel?”

  Korhan thought for a moment. “Alas Brael, I fear that scenario happens all too often. That is surely why we have the phrase, ‘don’t shoot the messenger’. The truth Brael, is that in many of these situations the man suspects, but says nothing, because he would rather stay with an unfaithful wife than lose her.”

  Brael pondered this for a moment as he strode through the tunnel. “Interesting Avil, the priests and the acolytes of the various religions and temples of Torea build their whole lives on a lie. At first, as children they believe it. Maybe as they grow older and more wise they see the absurdness of their beliefs, but by that time they have invested time and emotional energy into those beliefs, then seeing them crumble and fall apart would be too hard for them to bear. So they protect the lie, they shore it up with more lies and they ebb out their short lives, knowing what they preach is untrue, but preaching it all the same... Almost as if preaching it hard enough will make it true... Are they trying to convince their congregation? Or themselves? You are wiser than you look Avil.”

  Korhan didn’t know quite how to take this, insult or praise? “What is ‘the truth Brael.”

  Brael sighed deeply. “Now is not the time Avil, I will explain all, but you need time to digest it. For now accept that entry into Kirkfell is not guaranteed to those who fall in battle, and that you should defend your life as if it were your last.”

  Vashni had been listening to this conversation with interest. Everything Brael had said about ‘the truth’ she had taken note of and filed away in her memory. Her sharp ears had picked up Elira’s revelations to Votrex too, and she felt she was building up a picture of what Brael’s dark secret was.

  Vashni turned to Korhan wearily. “Ri§ine, can you remember the first sword form I taught you? Now there seems to be a slight lull in our challenges, I want you to practise it in your head. Checking yourself as you go. Stay focused, keep your mind on the task and do not allow it to wander.”

  Korhan nodded, he felt a sense of relief almost, her giving him a task was an indicator that perhaps their situation was not as dire as it was. The fact was, he was exhausted, and sore all over, but he could practise in his head. Exercising his mental abilities was still possible despite his worn out body. He dropped back a little and started imagining himself performing the form. Vashni meanwhile gently guided the reach of her mind into Brael’s mind, causing him to shudder uncomfortably. His initial reaction was to throw up mental barriers and keep her out, something which unlike the others he was probably quite capable of doing; however he got a sense that she simply wanted to communicate with him silently without the others being aware. With this impression he opened up his mind to communication.

  ‘Truthseeker?’

  ‘Yes Vashni?’

  ‘What is ‘the truth’ ? Is it what I suspect it is?’

  ‘That depends on what you suspect it is, what do you believe ‘the truth’ is?’

  ‘Tis something to do with religion, belief and hmmm, morality?’

  ‘You are wise Vashni, you’ve been paying more attention to what has been said about the truth than the others. Are you ready for it though, who is your god? And how do you feel about your god?’

  ‘My god? Why, Orion, the Master Creator is my chosen deity, though I am not religious. Back in Eldenizar, I attended the temple for special occasions, I follow the traditions and rituals as set out by Orion in the Book of Creation, as do all elves.’

  ‘What if I told you Orion the master creator was not real?’

  ‘Not real? Hmmm, that is an interesting supposition. Does a god need to be real? I’ve never considered Orion as being a physical entity, which inhabits the same dimensions as we do.’

  ‘What if he does not occupy any of the dimensions which make up the fabric of space-time? What if I told you, I had identified and examined all eleven dimensions which space-time occupies and Orion was simply not anywhere in any way shape or form.’

  ‘I would not believe you, for thousands of years the book of Creation has been passed down from elf to elf, the humans believe Ishar was the offspring of Orion, are they wrong too? Is there no Ishar? For if Ishar had never been, there would have been no ultimate sacrifice and no Kirkfell to aspire to. Of course that is without even considering the Saki, who follow Moadheb, Orion’s last emissary.’

  ‘I will communicate with you on this no more, with respect Vashni, you are not ready. If I can regain access to the winds of magic and my arcane laboratory I may elaborate further, but only if I deem you ready. ‘The Truth’ has done damage enough.’

  With that Brael disconnected his mind from Vahsni and started putting up mental defences and shoring them up. Even Vashni’s formidable mental skills would not be able to penetrate them. After a short attempt to probe his mind further, met with insurmountable resistance, she frowned and retreated to her own mind. It was interesting, but somewhat unsettling. Rightly or wrongly, clearly Brael believed that Orion, the god who it was more or less accepted created the world, was not real, and not real in a sense which extended beyond the passing acceptance, that Orion’s presence could only be felt subtly. It raised the question, if Orion did not create the world and the creatures that dwelled upon it, who did?

  Tired, weary to their bones, the companions trudged on through the gloom, all thankful for the dim glow of Saul’s mage light. They marched in silence, hoping that the Verkreath would not catch up with them, and that they would be able to exit the Warren a safe distance away from the Servant of the Flame.

  After trekking south for nearly an hour through the tunnel, identifiable by runes carved into the sides to help travellers get their bearings Votrex spoke out to the group. “We should be clear of the area of influence of the Servant of the Flame now. I suggest if we find a means of returning to the surface from this point onwards we take it.”

  Vashni frowned and looked over her shoulder. “If it’s all the same to your Gorthok Votrex, I should prefer to spend as long as possible underground. There’s every chance Tubol and Tavion are patrolling the sky with a host of mounted warriors looking for me. The longer we spend down here, the better my chances of evading them I think.”

  “With respect lady elf, as daunting as the prospects of meeting your chaperone’s again are, I would prefer to take that risk than spend any more time than is required in these tunnels. I can smell Verkreath. They use these tunnels, maybe not regularly but they use them. Do not worry though, these earlier tunnels had notoriously few exits to the surface and many of them were fit only for travelling from Holt to Holt, underground. There may not be another exit until Durgheim Holt!”

  Korhan looked at Votrex. “I thought you said you’d tried to-”

  “Aye lad, but that was through a main, engineered tunnel, if one of these forgotten tunnels goes into a quiet part of Durg-”

  Brael sighed deeply cutting him off. “Alas, it is irrelevant; we may not have enough provisions to get that far. If exits are rare we should conserve our food and especially our water.”

  Brael had a point, it would seem tragic indeed to slay the dragon, flee from the Servant and escape from the Verkreath only to find themselves dying of thirst.”

  Votrex sighed. “There should be exits, they’ll just be spread further out.”

  “If Saul can muster a spell, I may be able to teach him a spell or two which will at least provide us with sufficient water and salt to survive.”

  “Salt?”

  “Yes, we can all go without
food for many days, when you stop eating and your body runs out of food, it begins to, hmmm, consume itself, breaking fat, muscle and eventually your internal organs - this is a long process. However without enough salt in the body, you quite quickly experience madness, then death.”

  Korhan, who had been listening to this and screwing his face up. “Forgive me Brael, but why do we need Salt?”

  “Salt is very important. What does it do? Hmmm, the interesting point is that salt is made of two different substances, one of them a metal, component eleven, which explodes violently when it comes into contact with water, the other a gas, component seventeen, which is so toxic a few deep breaths of it will cause your lungs to fill with acid, destroying them, unable to breath - you would die. Yet put together these deadly substances become something we need to survive. The importance of salt comes mainly from the metal part, when it is dissolved in water it becomes stable but it allows other things to stick to it, so they can be moved through the body to where they are needed, it is also part of the potential system in the body. When your brain sends a signal to operate your hand, the chain of processes that allow the signal to get there require salt, particularly the metal part of it.”

  Korhan’s face was a blank expression. He’d been trying to follow Brael’s explanation, as had the others. The truth was he’d not understood a word of what Brael had said. He focused on what he could understand, which in truth was very little, and didn’t make sense. “You speak in riddles Brael, that makes no sense to me.”

  Brael sighed. “I would not have expected it to Avil, it is an element of ‘the truth’, the world we live in, everything we see hear and touch is not as it seems, we see only our own perception of the world - but that perception is wrong, it is oversimplified. Rocks, plants, animals, they are all made up of tiny things, so small they cannot be seen, and those things are made up of even smaller things, and smaller and smaller things. Eventually when you get to the lowest levels of what things are made up of, the main component of everything is essentially empty space. You, you Korhan are a person, a warrior, a man of honour - that is what we perceive and it is true. Yet you are also millions of specialized units, tiny things working together following many, many simple sets of rules. Your various body parts communicate with each other by signalling along strings of almost fibrous units I call nerves, by actuating an electrical potential, or by sending signal units through your blood. Your body is constantly making and breaking down various ‘units’ for specific purposes, taking your food you eat and extracting minerals and energy which your body requires and using them and one of the components of air, component eight, when you breath in to create energy. The complexity of these systems is profound; you could spend centuries examining how animals’ bodies function.”