Looming Shadow: Journey to Chaos book 2

by Brian Wilkerson

  Her face was pale and her eyes dull. Eric chanted a ball of fire into his hand and she instinctively moved closer to its heat. Only after several moments in its warmth did her eyes focus.

  “What was that?”

  “The three worst days of my life. You don't want to hear about that.”

  On the way back to the badger den, Eric continued to explain the rules of magic. Emily was more accepting of his explanation this time and asked questions when confused. Most of them involved the distinction between the Fireball spell and the Evil Eye. In response, Eric recited passages from The Spirit and Its Power.

  “Living creatures – that is, those possessed of a mind, body, and soul – are the Three Founding Gods put together; like Chaos, they have the power to change the world. Like Order, they have the power to direct the change, and like Noitearc, they can harmonize the two. This is what we call ‘magecraft.’ Another art, that which is only the Order aspect, is what is called ‘spiritcraft.’ Only the force of one’s spirit is used. This makes it a useful technique for non-mages because it does not require mana.”

  Well done…the voice said. For a monkey! For even the zombies, devoid of true intelligence, could memorize my work word for word.

  Again, Eric shook his head. The Spirit and Its Power was also written by Dengel. Together with Introduction to Magecraft, it represented the totality of his magical knowledge. His hand drifted to his pack and the notes for his mana experiments.

  There’s one thing I know that he doesn’t! There’s no way he could have conducted such experiments…he didn’t have the opportunity. Ordercraft wasn’t practiced here until the Conversion War and so there –

  “Eric!” Emily said. She shook his shoulder. “We’re literally in another world and you’re still drifting off into another one.”

  Eric smiled sheepishly. “Sorry.”

  As they walked, they saw someone else in the snow. It was a human slightly taller than Eric. She wore a cloak that was frozen in parts, a heavy snowsuit, a fur-trimmed hood, goggles, and snow pants. Just barely visible was green hair streaked with irregular patches of golden-brown.

  “Kallen! It's wonderful to see you again!” Eric trudged through the snow to greet her. Relief and joy grew inside him with each step. “What are you doing here?!”

  “I could ask you the same thing.”

  “I see you're still dodging questions.”

  “I see you're still aiming them.”

  Without warning, Kallen hugged him. The intense feelings of peace and warmth this action generated filled him up and down and deep into his soul. If he could miss anything as much as mana or Annala, then it was the mysterious feeling generated by Kallen's presence.

  “Eric, who is this girl?” Emily asked coldly. “And why is she hugging you?”

  “Eric's my BF,” Kallen said and nuzzled Eric's nose. “You know: best friend.”

  Emily glared. “How do you know Eric?” It was hardly threatening with her pink cheeks.

  “We fought together in a palace coup.”

  “You mean we fought against each other in a palace coup.”

  Kallen cackled and Eric face-palmed. If there was anyone as twisted as Tasio the Trickster, it was his favorite follower, Kallen Selios. She helped Eric gain confidence in himself and defended Ataidar's Crown from a usurper, but she had a mischievous way of doing things. It was too similar to Tasio himself for his taste.

  “If I didn't do what I did, exactly the way in which I did it, then you wouldn't have been able to do what needed to be done. Fortunately, I didn't, you did, and the old fossil was done.”

  “Excuse me, but what?” Emily asked.

  “It's a long story,” Eric said, then laughed. Trickster that was fun to say.

  When Eric arrived in Tariatla, he was ignorant of it. Even the most elementary things needed to be explained to him. Often, he would be told X was a “long story” because there was too much background to go into. The phrase made him feel ashamed and angry. Worst of all, it made him feel like an outsider. This time, things were different. I'm not the new kid anymore.

  “Then you should understand how she feels,” Kallen said.

  “H-huh? How did you do that?”

  “You should explain it to her.”

  “It's...too cold out here!”

  “I have a place in town,” Kallen said. “We can talk as we walk.”

  “It would be rude to leave Earthmover –”

  “We don’t mind,” the badger couple said.

  “Any more objections?” Kallen asked.

  Eric sighed and shook his head.

  “Oh, before we leave, I should warn you about the mana storm about an hour ago,” Mrs. Earthmover said. “The monster population will be larger than usual.”

  “Monsters!?” Emily shrieked.

  “I saw that one,” Kallen said. “I came out here to look for research samples.”

  “What about monsters!?” Emily asked again.

  “Don’t worry about them.” Kallen smiled reassuringly at Emily. “If we run into any, I’ll definitely protect you.”

  Emily looked away and pulled her hood closer around her face. “Th-thanks.”

  “Okay, Eric; explain yourself for the new kid.”

  He took a deep breath and began his story, starting with his blank request for help and Tasio's reply. Kallen guided him and Emily down the mountain and towards a path. It was marked out by Kallen’s own footprints. The trio trudged down its bends and slopes while Eric continued his story. By the time he reached his first mission, he was interrupted by a blood-curling scream. Kallen raced to its source, away from the path, and up a hill. Eric chased after her with Emily close behind.

  The trio entered a glen transformed into a crater ten feet deep and five feet wide. Trees for another three yards had been ripped apart or transformed into something else. The surrounding snow was, as oxymoron as it sounded, a fertile wasteland. Plants were growing here when there were none elsewhere, but at the same time, they appeared toxic.

  Kallen approached the edge and looked over. At the bottom was a creature sparking with mana; half human and half something else. It was he who had screamed.

  “Hello, down there! Are you still sapient?”

  The man raised his head and showed her his face; it too was only half-human and becoming less so by the second.

  “– Lumberson, please help me. I’m Patrick Lumberson, please help me. I’m Patrick Lumberson…” A large mana arch sparked over his head and he screamed again. “Please help me!”

  Eric pointed his staff at Patrick and chanted, “Just like a wooden boat –”

  “Stop!” Kallen said. “It’s too late! Save your mana for offensive spells!”

  The transformation completed a second later. The creature lying in the pit now was a hairless mole-like creature with thick muscle and hide like leather. It was about six feet tall with its weight evenly distributed along its body. Ice crystals grew in various parts of its body, from its head to its arms and back and belly. It was equipped with grinding teeth and four sets of serrated claws. Patrick Lumberson was now a Fizger; a monster known to trawl cold regions.

  It sniffed the air and detected warm bodies. Rising to its feet, it jumped clear out of the hole and charged the trio without preamble. Emily ducked behind Eric and Kallen moved in front of him.

  Kallen deflected the blows from its fore claws with her mage spear while dodging the strikes from its hind claws and jaws and, all the while, she chanted, “Invisible assassin, come to my aid! Be my hope and be my blade! Ice Daggers!”

  Five clumps of snow arose around the vicious monster. Instantly, they melted and refroze into blades. By her will, they hovered into position over the monster’s vulnerable spots.

  “Strike!”

  They flew into her target. Propelled by her magical power, they punctured its hide and through its muscle to pierce internal organs. It died on its feet and then slumped at Kallen’s, but none of its blood blemished her appearan
ce. Her personal barrier repelled it. She stabbed it a few more times to make sure it was dead, then took out a small dagger and began cutting it up.

  The sight made Emily throw up. Eric knelt to support her and rub her back. She smiled appreciatively at him, but the sounds of Kallen cutting bone made her shudder.

  “What…what was that? What happened!?”

  Kallen finished sawing off an arm and put it off to the side. “Eric, explain.”

  “What you just witnessed is known as ‘mana mutation.’ It’s the process where high concentrations of mana transform the local matter at the molecular level. If it happens to sapient creatures, their minds are scrambled, and they turn into monsters.”

  “Is that going to happen to me!? This is too high and what about contagion? Will –”

  “Emily!”

  Kallen separated another limb from the main body and put it aside.

  “It won’t happen to you as long as you stay away from mana storms. This guy was unlucky enough to be caught in one.”

  “…Is that it? The end? Boom-monster?”

  “Yes,” Kallen said while cutting through the monster’s neck. “As of today, there is no method known to humans that can restore a victim’s sanity, but I’m working on that.”

  “You are? You’re a doctor?”

  Kallen paused. “What’s a doctor? Eric, is that the Threan word for ‘researcher’?”

  Eric cast a waterball for Emily wash to the vomit taste from her mouth. She was too surprised that he could generate clean water to register that she was drinking out of his hands.

  “Technically, it’s the name of the highest academic degree that someone can be awarded, but the most commonly known is the ‘Doctorate of Medicine.’”

  “Oh, so it’s kind of like ‘Sage of Healing’?”

  Eric nodded and Kallen resumed cutting.

  “In any case, I’m not a doctor. I’m a field agent for the International Community Dedicated to Mana Mutation. I do the dangerous grunt work that makes their boring grunt work possible.”

  By now, she was flaying the belly into smaller chunks.

  “In the near future, we hope to restore people like Patrick Lumberson to normal. Until then, we capture them and dissect them for experimentation.”

  With the monster in pieces, she placed them all in containers and placed those containers into the pack she carried on her back. It was half the size of the Fizger. Emily started blabbering about police boxes that were bigger on the inside, so Kallen cut her off again. It was just a bag enchanted by elfin tech. That calmed Emily down immediately.

  “‘Elfin tech’?” Emily asked. “You mean elves are real in this world?”

  Eric was suddenly pale as the snow.

  “Yeah, why do you…ohhhhh…”

  “We’ve spent enough time out here,” Eric said. “It’s cold, it’s windy, and there could be another monster attack at any time. Further Q&A should be reserved for when we are warm and safe.”

  Emily’s frosty glare guaranteed he would be neither warm nor safe.

  At the base of the mountain was a small town but, with walls and watchtowers, it looked like a fortress. All human settlements in Tariatla possessed such defenses because of monsters like the Fizger. It was not the only one they encountered on their way down nor the only species. Eric would feel much better once he and Emily were inside those walls. A new change of clothes would be nice too.

  Kallen knocked on the main gate and a window opened. She exchanged pleasantries with the gatekeeper and, seconds later, the gate opened. The crack was barely wide enough for them to squeeze through. After all, the gatekeeper didn't want to let the warm air out.

  Emily was shocked to feel it, but Eric wasn't. He'd seen a similar set up in the chiefdom of Kyraa, where a tower was connected to its walls by beams of mana. This magical canopy allowed the user to influence the immediate temperature. For Kyraa, a desert, heat was removed; for a tundra like Mambi, heat was retained. It was still chilly, but he sweated under the bear pelt.

  Together with the simple town layout and architecture, it resembled the medieval fantasy novel he mistook it for when he arrived the first time. Emily looked from the sword-bearing guards to the simple wooden houses to the bipedal bears. He knew she had come to the same conclusion. Even the local convenience store was closer to a rustic general store. He prepared himself for the expected comparison when instead she said the one thing he didn't want to hear.

  “Eric, we are warm and safe. Now tell me about elves.”

  “They have their own hidden cities and rarely talk about their society to humans so –”

  “Eric, you know what I mean. You made drawings of a female elf; dozens of them. At the time, I accepted your ‘imagination’ line, but if elves are real, then you must have known her.”

  “I didn’t ‘know’ her because we were only classmates.”

  “‘Classmates!?’ Were you afraid I wouldn’t believe ‘friend’?”

  “Apparently, you don’t believe either.”

  “Why did you ask me out in the first place!?”

  “I have a theory,” Kallen's voice cut in. “It was to prove a point to Tasio.”

  Emily stared directly at Eric, and while it wasn’t Evil Eye, he froze nonetheless. He did initially ask her out to prove a point; not to Tasio, but to himself. Before his adventures in Tariatla, he'd been too timid to talk to anyone, most of all his crush. He asked her out to prove to himself that the weak and shy Eric was gone. He knew that leaving Threa meant leaving Emily, but he had no idea when or if that would happen, so he decided to be the best boyfriend he could until then. He never imagined that Emily would come with him.

  You're laughing at me, aren't you, Tasio!?

  “It wasn't like that. I really liked you.”

  Emily scowled. “‘Liked’?”

  “Uh-oh...” Kallen said.

  “When I asked you out, I swore to myself I would never leave you. Unless I found a portal, ‘cause, you know, those things don't stay open long and –”

  Emily crossed her arms. “So what you're saying is that I'm second place.”

  “Uh-oh!” Kallen said, clearly enjoying herself.

  “I was miserable, you must understand!” Eric pleaded. “I missed my friends, my guild, my–”

  “Precious elf girl.”

  “UH-OH!”

  “Shut up!” Eric shouted at her.

  “That's it! It's over! We’re over! I'm finding that pointy-eared weirdo and making him send me home!”

  She marched toward the town square and the eyes of locals followed her. The domestic dispute and bear clothing attracted their attention. The first time she shouted “Tasio,” fear filled every face and they dogpiled her before she was halfway through a second shout. One of them gagged her with a scarf and another bound her hands behind her back so she couldn't remove it. Naturally, she thrashed like a snared animal, so they hogtied her like one.

  One pulled up her chin and said, “If our water pipes break tonight, it's your fault.”

  “Hmmmm!?”

  Kallen cackled. Eric face-palmed. He trudged over, but Kallen stopped him. She went forward herself and the locals stepped back. Interacting with The Trickster’s favorite followers could be as bad as The Trickster himself. Kallen knelt and grasped Emily's chin to make sure she had the girl's attention.

  “The Trickster won't help you if you call him just like that. He will prank you, prank the people around you, and then disappear. Before I take this gag out, you have to promise me you won't say that name so carelessly. Okay?”

  Emily nodded.

  “Good.” Kallen untied the knot and handed it back to its owner.

  Without anger, fear swept into its place and tears stung Emily's eyes.

  “Then what can I do? This world is bizarre and I’m all alone! My ex-boyfriend is an asshole; doesn’t count! I’m going to starve if I don’t freeze to death or these people string me up and…”

  Kallen undid the hogtie
and untied the ropes on Emily’s ankles. “I know what it's like to be pulled away from a home you love,” she said with tenderness. “It's rough, confusing, and you feel powerless.” She freed Emily's arms. “Wanna crash with me tonight?”

  Emily glomped her.

  “What about me?” Eric asked.

  Suddenly horribly embarrassed, Emily jumped away from Kallen. She stumbled in the bear pelt and sprawled into the snow. Then she stayed there to hide her blush.

  “A heartbreaker like you?” Kallen replied.

  “That's…Tas – Tricks...alright; I'll find an inn.”

  Eric pulled his pelt tighter and walked away. He had enough gold for a few nights. In the morning, he could look for a way to Roalt.

  “You know, Emily,” Kallen began, “if my ex bought me a new outfit, I might forgive him.”

  “It would be a step in the right direction,” Emily agreed. “But I'd have to go with, to make sure he buys the right things.”

  “What do ya say, Eric?” Kallen asked. “Willing to be a cash cow and pack mule?”

  Eric stopped and looked into his pack. His unminted gold shined in the faint light. He planned to do other things with it than buy his ex a new wardrobe, but it was his fault she needed one. After getting his gold appraised and exchanged for currency, he waited patiently in the local department store while Emily tried on one outfit after another.

  He remembered a similar situation where a friend of his won a duel and drained the loser dry. If Emily did that to him, then he wouldn't blame her. The least he could do was buy her a new outfit.

  In the end, Emily showed mercy and only bought one set of clothes. Eric didn't think she'd be interested in the cloaks, but she tried on as many of them as shoes – and there were many shoes. Afterward, he bought clothes for himself; just like before, they made him feel lighter than before. When they were both done, Kallen led her new friend and her new pack mule to her apartment.

  On the way, Eric asked, “Kallen, do you know how to get to Ataidar from here?” Kallen nodded but said nothing. “Well?”

  “Well, you could walk about ten miles south to the coast, swim the Yuki Ocean to Acemo, navigate all the marshes to Rlawader, and cross the most trickster-prone land in this hemisphere to reach the dukedom of Esrah at Ataidar's northern border. Then you'll follow the Rose River to the western district and follow the Queen's Highway to Roalt. What do you think?”