“Very well. I, well I’m. It’s just… it wasn’t normal.” Gunthram seemed quite preoccupied. He started fidgeting. Celes nudged Lara and she returned the ring. He took it without looking and resumed twirling it around.
“The truth is, I can’t believe what I saw. There was a creature unlike any I’ve seen before. She was jet black, dressed in a simple black uniform adorned with silver. But she wielded a giant great sword and her face.” Gunthram stopped speaking. He grew pale, and a haunted look came over his face.
“Go on. Please.” Celes encouraged him.
“It was like you could see her skull. It was horrific. The few that stood up to her, she was like a whirlwind of death. There seemed to be another standing back and laughing. I ran.” Gunthram sank into the chair. He closed his eyes.
“That’s quite a story. We’re so appreciative of the information. I know that must have been hard for you.”
“I see that face in my dreams. I try to pretend it never happened.”
“Why did you come here? Why admit you saw it?” Lara softened her voice slightly but still challenged him. Gunthram looked up, fear in his eyes.
“I lost everything. I bragged about my survival in taverns to get the odd drink, and conversation. I felt that I was somehow moving past the whole thing. Then I was offered the odd coin for more details on the story from concerned travellers hoping to avoid trouble. I thought I could keep going and get enough money to travel back to Avaria, without truly reliving it. But no. As many times as I kept it back, it wouldn’t stay back.” Gunthram slumped into the chair. He focused on the hearth, the flame dancing around and chewing on another log. Celes pulled out another sack of coins and pressed it into his hands.
“What did they call it?” she said softly. Gunthram’s lips quivered.
“The Skull Queen.” Lara stifled a gasp and looked over at Celes. She nodded, and they turned to leave.
“What are you going to do?” Gunthram said, apprehension in his voice.
“We’re going to cure her of the Blight.” Lara shoved the door open and rushed out into the freezing cold.
2
Different Paths
Alrion held the crystal delicately and examined it from all angles. From normal inspection, it looked quite average. You could not discern anything special about it. But by accessing his Soul Power, he could see the surging of Soul within the crystal. Not a lot, but definitely there. A knock on the door interrupted him, and he placed the crystal down on the table next to him.
Vincent walked in, nodding to Alrion. He eased himself down in the chair next to Alrion.
“How’s it going with this?” Vincent pointed to the crystal.
“See for yourself.” Alrion handed it over and watched his father’s reaction. Vincent turned the crystal over and seemed to see something. He handed it back.
“It looks successful. What does this mean for your plan?”
“It’s a major win. I just need to settle on the right vessel and the right amount of Soul Power.” Alrion turned the crystal over once more, before setting it down.
“Provided that it works as intended?”
“Yes, I will need to test it on a Blighter initially. But the applications are vast once I get going.”
“Is that your plan? To become a craftsman creating tools to fight the Blight?” Alrion was caught off guard by his father’s question.
“What are you talking about?”
“You’ve been holed up here for weeks, tinkering away while the world moves on.” Vincent looked Alrion directly in the eyes. The challenge was obvious.
“It was a good use of my time, while the search for Alyx continued.”
“We both know this is not critical to saving her, or your quest. You’re just buying time. You’re stalling.” Vincent paused, watching.
“It’s, not like that.” Alrion almost stammered the words out.
It’s true, isn’t it? You’re hiding here.
“I’m doing the best I can. It’s been relentless getting here.” As he spoke the words, Alrion realised how bad an excuse it sounded.
“I know that, nobody’s judging you. You’ve overcome incredible hurdles to get this far, moved mountains. But this is not the kind of situation where you can just put things on pause.” Alrion picked up on the sense of urgency from his father.
What’s driving this? Maybe it’s time to find out.
“I never properly explained to you my last dream.” Alrion watched his father’s reaction. His face changed quickly, to one of curiosity. The hard edge fell away.
“Go on.”
“I saw a vision of the source of the Blight. And my grandfather.” A look of recognition passed over Vincent’s face in an instant, but Alrion was watching. He noticed.
“Really?” Vincent spoke evenly, keeping his composure.
He’s feigning ignorance. But he knows.
“But you already know what I’m about to say. Because you’ve always known.” Alrion’s voice raised slightly in volume.
“I’m not quite sure what you are referring to, son. Just tell me.”
“He touched the source of the Blight, and it changed. He caused the problems that we now face. That’s why he was so hell-bent on solving the problem of the Blight. It was guilt. And you knew about it. All this time. There’s no way you didn’t.” Alrion was on a roll now. The emotions of the past few weeks, the discovery that he had kept to himself, all combined into a single moment.
“That had to be why the two of you were so estranged. He wanted you to take on his legacy, but you couldn’t. And you ran away. Now that I’m here, and I’m doing it, you’re here to push me forward again. To make sure your father’s unfinished business is done.” Alrion was shouting now.
Where did that come from?
He saw his father shrink back. Vincent lost that sense of assurance and confidence. He looked pained.
“Alrion, I.” Vincent paused. “I understand how you feel. You’re right. I did know about my father’s part in this. It was what drove us apart. I am sorry that I kept it from you.”
“Why didn’t you tell me? Even now?”
“I didn’t want to put that burden on you. It’s a heavy toll, and you had enough to contend with.” Vincent reached out, but Alrion shrank away.
“When were you going to tell me?”
“At the end, once we were done. It would have been a nice close to this whole chapter. We could both put it behind us.”
Alrion didn’t know what to say. He could hear the sincerity in his father’s words.
But another lie?
“I… there’s no words right now. Don’t worry, I’m not abandoning my quest. I’m just trying to prepare something to be one step ahead. I’m sick of having to make bad choices.”
“Which one are you hoping to avoid?”
“Having to choose who to cure.” Alrion’s voice was soft and trailed away. Vincent stepped forward and enveloped his son in a tight hug. Alrion didn’t return it initially but then gave in.
“This does not make things right. You better not be hiding anything else from me?”
“That’s it. How many more skeletons can I have in the closet?” Vincent laughed. Alrion was about to respond when he noticed the door opening. Lara and Celes entered the room.
“Oh good, you’re both here. There’s something we need to tell you,” Lara said. Alrion could see from the look on her face that it was bad news.
Something about Alyx. Oh no.
“Do we need to get Marla?” Vincent said.
“No, not yet. We found word of Alyx, and we’re pretty sure it’s a real lead.” Lara looked over at Celes, who nodded.
“And?” Alrion said.
“And it’s worse than we expected. She’s become something else.”
“Something else?” Alrion saw Lara look down briefly before meeting his gaze.
“She’s become the Skull Queen.”
“What?” Alrion looked from Lara to his mother. Both wore
serious and apologetic looks. Even his father looked shocked and saddened.
“I don’t understand. She was turning into a Shade. What’s this?”
“The enemy must have found a way to transform her further. It’s quite cruel really, considering her past.” Vincent shook his head.
“She killed the Skull King. I can’t believe this. I knew I should have been out looking. Instead, I’ve been wasting time with these toys.” Alrion threw the crystal to the floor. It clattered with a loud noise but didn’t break. Lara stepped over and picked up the crystal, examining it.
“Does this work?” She handed it to Celes.
“It should do. But I need to test it. I don’t know how much is needed and if the effect will be the same.” Alrion started pacing.
“Alright, we need to get moving. No more waiting around. Where were the sightings?”
“Some smaller towns at the foot of the mountains. They must be moving towards bigger settlements.”
“Do we have maps? Let’s figure out where we need to get to. Maybe we can predict their destination and cut them off.”
“I know where some are, give me a minute.” Lara left immediately.
“Alrion, I’m not sure we should be pursuing this right now,” Vincent spoke gently.
“Did you just say that? After we just had that conversation?”
“It’s your quest, and you’ve worked on your tools, your extra options. You can continue to refine those on the road ahead. But you need to learn the spell you need and the place to cast it.”
“Listen to your father, Alrion. We are here to support you, but you need to keep moving forward. On the task at hand. You can’t save everyone?” Celes reached out and held Alrion’s hand. After a moment, he pulled away.
“Alyx is not just anyone. She sacrificed so much, and now the worst has happened to her. It was bad enough her running around as a Shade. But now she’s been transformed into her worst nightmare. That should make it more important to save her, not less.”
“You can save her by saving everyone. I know how important she is, and what she did. But isn’t saving the world more important?”
“You don’t understand. I can’t save the world if I can’t save her first.” Alrion slumped down into a chair.
How could I let this happen?
Vincent put a hand on Alrion’s shoulder. Alrion felt the warmth and reassurance. He looked up and saw his father smiling.
“You need to do the right thing for yourself, this is your quest. I only want to provide you with some perspective. I’ve been around a while, I have learnt a thing or two.” Vincent winked.
“So you think,” Celes said, laughing. Vincent feigned injury and turned back to Alrion.
“All jokes aside, I’ve just had a realisation. We are your support team, I shouldn’t forget that. And I understand that keeping things from you has made it difficult. So, here’s my suggestion.” Vincent paused and drew in a deep breath.
“Your mother and I will go hunt down clues for the location of the source of the Blight. You can pursue and save Alyx. We can meet up later and go together to end this quest.” Alrion nodded, taking the words in. It wasn’t the first time they had split up to achieve different things. He looked over at his mother. Celes nodded her approval. But he still noticed her giving his father a questioning look.
So, it wasn’t planned. I’m sure he’ll get in trouble for that, splitting us up again.
“It’s a good plan. If you perfect your Soul Orb, then either one of us could cure Alyx. And once we have her back, we will be much stronger.” Lara spoke slowly but seemed to be gathering in enthusiasm with each word.
“But how can we even coordinate ourselves? Where will your search take you?” Alrion said to Vincent. The blacksmith rubbed his chin in thought.
“I was just thinking, that while we don’t know where the source of the Blight is, we do know where it is near.” Vincent paused.
“Where?” Alrion said.
Don’t tell me you’ve been hiding more!
“Remember the story of the four generals of the Blight?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Where did those generals come from?”
“Valrytir.” Lara gasped after speaking. Alrion looked over at her, shocked.
“It makes sense, doesn’t it?” Vincent raised the question. Alrion didn’t know what to think.
“Are you sure?”
“Well, it doesn’t really matter if I’m right. They successfully reached the source of the Blight from there, so it’s as good a place as any to stage our final approach. They are well-versed in fighting the Blight and have the world’s largest and most sophisticated armed force.”
“He’s right, if you’re looking for raw firepower, that’s the place to go,” Lara said.
“You’ve been there before, haven’t you?” Celes said to Vincent. He nodded.
“Many years ago, before we met. I’m not in a rush to return, but I think it’s the right place for us to go.”
“This is all very sudden.” Alrion sighed. But he thought about what his father had said.
I do need to move forward, I can’t delay it any longer.
“I guess this is it. We shall investigate appearances of the Skull Queen. Then we will look for a lead concerning the source of the Blight. If we don’t find one, we can meet at Valrytir. Does that sound right?”
“Exactly. Your mother is quite skilled at information gathering. I’m sure she will have this solved within the week.” Vincent winked at Celes.
“Right, don’t set any reasonable expectations.” Celes laughed.
“I think it’s the best path, considering the circumstances.” Lara’s voice was quiet. Alrion could sense some hesitation in her, despite her agreeing to the plan.
“Is everything alright, Lara? Is there something about the plan?” Alrion thought a moment, it was more than that. “About Valrytir?”
“I was born there, but I’ve not been back in a long time. It will be… strange.”
Don’t pry, there’s some sort of history there.
“That’s fine, I’ll do whatever I can to make it easier. But first, we need to save Alyx.” Alrion looked around the room. Everyone acknowledged him. His father with a tight nod, his mother with a warm smile. Lara gave him an apprehensive smile.
“We will make preparations and leave.” Vincent guided Celes towards the door. She stopped and stepped back to Alrion.
“Take care, son. We shall see you soon. Don’t forget, that we’re so proud of you.” Celes pulled his head over and lightly kissed the top of it. Alrion fought down embarrassment.
“Send my regards to Alyx.” Vincent opened the door and, after Celes left, followed her.
“I guess it’s just us again,” Lara said.
“So it is. Just like old times.”
“Maybe we can skip the whole ‘take on a field of Blighters and almost die in the process’ though this time?”
“I’ll consider it.” Alrion gave her a grin, then his mind started working through the consequences of his decision. But he was still firm.
Alyx, we’re coming.
3
An impossible choice
Alrion hugged Marla and stepped back.
“Are you sure you have everything you need?” Marla gestured to the storeroom again. Alrion let his eyes wander over the shelves and mentally catalogued everything.
“Yes, any more would weigh us down. And the crystals you gave me to experiment with the Soul Orbs are reusable. We are ready.”
“Thank you for your help. Do we know when we will return?” Lara said, looking at Alrion. He shrugged.
“I don’t expect to return until it’s over. But I will come back and see you. I’m not going to follow in my father’s footsteps.” Alrion sighed, but Marla laughed.
“Good, we look forward to seeing you back here. You are a part of us, so you belong here. But I understand if you decide to spend your life somewhere a little warmer.”<
br />
“You do have a tendency to get snowed in.” Lara gave an exaggerated shiver.
“Well, thank you again. I will try and send word if possible.” Alrion paused, thinking it over.
“Yes, if you leave word with any Mystics you come across, we will get the message. Good luck and look after each other.” Marla waved, and Alrion pushed the door open, waiting for Lara to exit.
A blustery wind assaulted them immediately.
“Not looking forward to the initial hike one bit.” Lara kicked at some snow and pushed forward. Alrion noticed small clusters of Mystics out and about. They all seemed to slow and stop, watching them leave.
“Do you think they’re glad to be rid of us?” Alrion said.
“In a way, yes. We brought so much death and destruction with us. Even if it wasn’t our fault.”
“True. That’s why I’ll set things right. This won’t happen again. I’ll make sure of it.”
“And I’ll watch your back while you do it.” Lara pivoted around and walked behind Alrion, fending off phantom adversaries.
“Maybe save that for later?” Alrion laughed. But he appreciated Lara trying to lighten the mood. The news of the Skull Queen had sent him reeling. He thought that he was prepared to help Alyx, but now he was not so sure. There was a niggling doubt that maybe he would be unable to help her.
First things first—I need to find her.
The path outside the Mystic’s home was foreign. Alrion hadn’t paid much attention on the way, he had been preoccupied. While staying with the Mystics, he hadn’t strayed beyond his accommodation at all, leaving the job of combing the countryside to his mother and Lara.
“You must be an expert in this area now,” Alrion said.
“By necessity. We spent more than enough time traipsing around, looking for hidden paths and alternate tracks. It will come in handy now.”
“I hope so.”
“I can take us the most direct path out of here. But where are we heading to?”
“Do you know where that lead came from? Where the Skull Queen was last sighted?”
Soul of Light (The Hidden Wizard Book 4) Page 2
