Blood of the Lost: The Darkness Within Saga: Book 2

by JD Franx

  Her eyes full of tears, Yrlissa replied softly, “We have to take Kael home, do you understand? We have to take him to the Dyrannai Forest, nahlla. It is where others like him are buried and where I can give you all the answers you will ever need and a reason to keep fighting.”

  Wiping her own eyes, Aravae stared at Yrlissa. “That’s north of the Black Kasym, Yrlissa. No one even knows if the forest still exists.”

  “The Field of the Fallen will still be there, Aravae. It has to be. It’s our only hope.”

  Closing her eyes for only a second, Ember tried her best to hold back the sorrow of her broken heart and the tears that refused to stop running from her eyes.

  “How do I jump us somewhere I have never been? It will kill us all.”

  “Listen closely, picture what I tell you, and we will get there, all right?” Ember nodded, and Yrlissa began.

  “The Dyrannai Forest has a burial ground—the Field of the Fallen, and when you are facing north while standing in the middle of this field, you can see the mausoleum of the first fallen wizard of Kael’s kind. Her name was Yvette Dasair. Her name is engraved along the mausoleum’s top. The stone building is ten feet high and ten feet across with two stone pillars just before the sealed, black marble door. The pillars are unlike anything else in this world, Ember, focus on them. They are three feet wide and made from polished white ivory. Dark purple and black plants are engraved up the pillars. They match Kael’s markings and the ones on my face. Picture his markings climbing those ivory pillars and take us home, nahlla.”

  “I got it. Call the others,” Ember said, and closed her eyes to concentrate.

  Yrlissa pulled her daggers and ran to get Max and Sephi, arriving in time to see a sword pierce Max, she screamed and lunged through the air, driving both her daggers into the neck of the warrior whose blade was stuck fast in Max’s side.

  She looked up from the dead man to see Sephi’s flashing blue blades disembowel the last two enemies outside the chamber. With a loud grunt, Max tore the sword from his side.

  “Ah, shit,” he said, dropping to a knee. “Too many I guess.” With dozens more of the enemy already within sight on the ruin’s far side, Yrlissa and Sephi both slid under his arms and dragged him back into the chamber room.

  “We have to go now, Ember,” Yrlissa called as they rounded the stone tablet. “There are too many to fight. The rest will be in range with those amulets in minutes!”

  With her eyes still closed, Ember nodded. “Close as you can everyone, I’ve never done this before.” With the others crouched close, she held Kael tight and pulled his travel pack and weapons up onto his chest. “Relamus Aidora,” she whispered.

  But nothing happened as a glass alchemy vial fell from the travel pack, breaking on the floor. It read B.B. Purge.

  “It won’t work,” Ember cried, not noticing the vial.

  “The amulets, dammit,” Yrlissa cursed, too preoccupied to see the glass bottle. She jumped up and ran towards the door. “Don’t wait for me,” she yelled back over her shoulder. Exiting the chamber, Yrlissa stared at the mess of bodies before looking up to see more warriors less than a mile away.

  “Not this time, Sythrnax. Fuck you and your amulets,” she mumbled. With no other option, she glanced back to make sure she was alone and raised her hands above her head.

  “Ivey K’Sarahn,” she hissed, lowering her hands as magic sprayed out in a fine mist. Flashes of bright light lit up the bodies of two dead enemy warriors, but Yrlissa wasn’t done yet. “K’Sarahn Asravan.” With the magic dampening amulets lit up a bright white from the first spell, Yrlissa ducked back into the room as the second spell activated and the amulets exploded, destroying the dampening enchantment affecting Ember’s magic. She raced back to the others, yelling, “Now, Ember. Hurry before the rest are in range.”

  Not hesitating, Ember tried again. “Relamus Aidora.”

  The flash of white that normally preceded a Fae realm jump built slower than Eva’s had earlier, and Cassie, who had been watching from behind the pile of earth and rock, was left with no other choice. She dashed out from her hiding spot and ran into the blinding white light as if hoping they would take her with them.

  The moment Cassie entered the white light, Ember knew something was very wrong. She focused harder, concentrating on holding Kael’s body and getting them to the building with the ivory pillars. Pain cut through her focus and her mind buckled under an explosion of white.

  Ember knew no more.

  DEEP EARTH

  Dravik BloodPounder and his warriors of the Bulwark Host broke through the rock wall blocking the tunnel, arriving just in time to see Ember’s jump spell fade away. They stared down at the blood-filled Animus seal from a small precipice forty feet above the floor of the DeathWizard’s monolith chamber. The Animus seal that should have been under the protection of the DemonKind was deserted. They watched the active seal for several minutes before Dravik’s younger brother, Draven, spoke.

  “Any chance that blood belongs to a child of the black, brother?” he asked. Dravik, commander of the Host and general of the Dwarven Army, stood five feet two inches tall and weighed a hundred and eighty-five pounds. He never flinched in the face of fear, having fought nightmares of the Deep Earth for far too many millennia, but looking down at the pulsing seal below, real fear rippled through him.

  Dravik knelt, eyeing the seal with close scrutiny. Seconds passed before the ornately designed, carved magical glyph heaved one last time, splitting with a crack of shifting rock. A second thunderous pop caused more fissures to race across the surface of the seal.

  “There’s your answer. The blood of the Lost has been spilled over an Animus Seal. We must return to prepare our defences,” Dravik finally answered.

  “Where are the DemonKind, Commander?” one of the newer members of the Host asked. His long, black beard swung freely, the beads on the braids clicked lightly as he looked from the seal below them, to Dravik, and then back.

  The Host commander sighed. “I cannot answer that, youngun. This the closest we’ve been to the surface in almost thirteen thousand years. If the DemonKind were here, then they have failed, that much is clear.”

  “That tunnel, brother,” Draven added, pointing to the dark passage that Sythrnax had used earlier. The experienced eyes of the Dwarf noticed what few others would. “We should investigate. The monolith chamber is supposed to be sealed. That shaft was dug by hand, and some years ago by the look of the pick scars. It may give us some answers.”

  Having naturally evolved in the Deep Earth, Dravik and many of the Dwarven people had developed many unique gifts. With the same ease a wizard accessed magic or an archer drew an arrow, Dravik shifted the lenses inside his eyes and stared into the dark exit below and to the left of where he stood. Even with his eyes tinted red and his vision enhanced for pure darkness, he could not make out whether or not anyone was hiding inside the tunnel. But the hairs on the back of his neck prickled to life and fear flooded his veins like chunks of ice racing down a swollen spring river. It was a fear Dravik new well and one he hadn’t felt in aeons. Try as he might, he couldn’t shake the unnatural terror as it sent a shiver of warning down his spine. An ancient warrior was already free of the seal—it was the only explanation for his irrational fear.

  “Izotan’s ton-heavy gonads,” the young Dwarf cursed. “What is this fear eating at my guts?”

  Dravik grunted as his brother answer the young dwarf.

  “One of the enemy is free. You were taught this, GreyRock,” Draven said.

  “I remember,” GreyRock said, smiling as he shook his head. “The pheromones created from the silver scales rubbing together against the appendages. Still to overcome this...”

  “You focus,” a young warrior said. “Use your anger to push the fear aside. You need more time with the Mahala scouting parties. It’ll help you master real fear. Then you overcome this.”

  Dravik nodded his praise to the knowledgeable youth and let his attention
shift back to the chamber floor. Another explosive crack of power rocked the seal below. More fractures began to form in the rock, spreading out where thin cracks had been present only minutes earlier. One last snap of stone echoed down the tunnel, and the cracks opened wider, the fissures rocketing outwards beyond the edge of the seal’s design and into the stone floor of the surrounding chamber.

  “There’s no time to investigate, Draven. We must leave. That seal will tear open the dimensional barrier within the hour. We cannot fight and win against a sixth of the enemy’s race. Let’s move it, Host. Now,” Dravik barked, before standing up and turning to walk back the way they’d arrived. “Drop this tunnel behind us, Draven. We cannot afford for the Ri’Tek to follow us home.”

  The younger Dwarf gave him a slight nod. “Consider it done.”

  When the rest of the Host were far enough ahead and with Dravik standing a few paces behind him, Draven closed his eyes and gently placed both of his palms on the wall of the stone tunnel. With a simple invocation, Draven BloodPounder called on Izotan, the Dwarven God of stone.

  Unlike Talohna’s others gods, however, Izotan answered, with a fury worthy of a real god. Celestial energy channelled through the priest as Draven’s hands slid into the rock of the tunnel walls as if they were entering warm mud. A concussive blast of power shot down the wall to his left and then spiralled up and around the passage as it rolled through the stone towards the entrance to the monolith chamber. A massive, outward explosion blasted dirt and large rocks from the floor, ceiling, and both walls, destroying the tunnel as it collapsed in on itself. Any evidence of the Dwarven Host and the passageway they had just used vanished under tons of mountain rock. One last word ushered from Draven’s mouth and more energy poured into the wall and rushed into the rubble. Steam spurted in short jets, carrying drops of molten rock. The raw, pungent stench of sulphur hung in the air. As Draven eased his hands from the stone, Dravik watched the light of Izotan fade from his brother’s eyes.

  The priest stumbled with exhaustion for a second as fist-sized rocks from the collapse rolled to his feet, but Dravik dared not offer his brother a helping hand. The scars and missing fingers on his left hand caused by energy burns years ago reminded him never to touch a priest after one handled the power of their gods.

  Draven turned and nodded. “They can’t follow. The stone will solidify, making this tunnel impassable.”

  “Good. Perhaps it’ll be enough to keep us hidden. Because of the Cataclysm, the Ri’Tek will have no idea where the rest of the seals now lie. Jasala Vyshaan gave her life to hide us all. Let us hope her death meant that much at least,” the Dwarven Commander said, as he spun on his heel to lead his men on the long trek home.

  MONOLITH CHAMBER

  The collapse of the Dwarven tunnel twenty feet up the side of the Monolith Chamber did not go unnoticed. As the last stone tumbled from the shaft with a hollow echo, a set of vibrant purple eyes flared from within the tunnel at ground level. With a wry grin hidden beneath the mask attached to his hood, Sythrnax stepped from the complete darkness shrouding the entrance to the shaft his men had started digging twenty years ago. He chuckled.

  “Funny. Five thousand years I spent searching for the Dwarves. Stop looking for them and they show up.”

  A young Elvehn woman joined him. “Master? Should we look for a way around the cave-in?”

  “Not now, Marissa. The seal’s opening. Join up with the main encampment. I’ll come find you after the Vikress has risen.” The woman nodded. Obeying without hesitation, she turned and disappeared back into the dark tunnel.

  Sythrnax waited, looking down at Savis writhing in agony.

  “You did do what was asked, didn’t you?” Sythrnax asked, though the assassin was far beyond hearing. Sighing, he bent down and dragged Savis into the tunnel, propping him up against the stone wall. Pulling a small blade from within his sleeve, Sythrnax cut open the assassin’s leather armour and shirt. Working slowly, he cut an ornate design into the assassin’s chest and then removed the black crystal from his left glove. Setting it on the design, he placed his hand over top and activated the magic he had taken from Kael months before. A silent blast of dark power enveloped Savis, freezing his wound closed and forcing his cruus to bind back together. It made him choke as he inhaled deeply. Sythrnax plucked the black stone from the assassin’s chest and slid it back into his glove. Coughing his way back to consciousness, Savis blinked repeatedly as he stared up at Sythrnax, his body quaking with tremors.

  “Sy... Sy... Sythrnax? How?”

  “Don’t make me regret this already.”

  “Yeah, a... all right.”

  “Get your legs under you and retreat down this tunnel until you find Marissa. Tell her I said to get you a tent and for a healer to come see you. The wound in your belly will stay sealed long enough for you to get there.”

  “Yeah, sure. Thanks.” Sythrnax offered Savis his arm and pulled the assassin to his feet.

  Stepping further back into the tunnel as the fissures inside the chamber exploded under intense magical pressure, Sythrnax watched Savis stumble away. Slowly, he turned his attention back to the seal’s chamber. Steam hissed from vents deep within the earth, and orbs of bright light in various colours floated around the monolith chamber. As the orbs slowly settled to the cracked, heaved stone floor, a massive tear in reality formed above the seal. Sythrnax stepped forward and raised his staff as a long, serrated blade clicked, dropping from the bottom. Driving the staff into the earth, he activated the magic within it.

  “Kin Atoll Frosai.” Waves of freezing mist rolled off Sythrnax’s staff, enveloping the entire chamber, as the magic raced towards the dimensional tear. Slamming into the magic created by the Animus Seal, the waves of frost locked the tear open. Pulling his staff from the stone floor, Sythrnax slowly stepped into the chamber room as a beautiful young woman walked out of the tear. Naked as the day she was born, the woman looked around the chamber and stretched. Her tresa, the appendages covering her head where most had hair, clicked and lashed about, as if excited to be free.

  Sythrnax pulled a cloak free from his travel pack and approached the woman. He bowed, dropping as low onto the frosted floor as he could get.

  “Vikress Illara D’Artagen, welcome back.” The woman held out her hand and Sythrnax took it gently and rose, wrapping the robe around her naked form.

  “How long, Sythrnax?”

  “Vikress?

  “How long has it been since we were banished from our world? Our home?”

  Sythrnax hesitated for only a second. “I’m not exactly sure, Vikress. Somewhere in the range of thirteen thousand years. No one really knows.” A quiet fury radiated from the woman’s entire body.

  “I almost had him, Sythrnax. I had my hands around his soul... Who destroys their soul in order to seal such magic?”

  “You mean, Aysa N’ahai, the Kai’Sar who closed this seal?”

  “Yes,” The Vikress said. “We should have never have dismissed our spies when they spoke of the Lesser races using this magic. They were capable of it.”

  “Yes, Vikress. They were. The Kai’Sar are capable of far more than we thought.”

  “Much has changed in Talohna then?”

  “Yes, Mistress. Our people are now worshipped like gods by almost everyone.”

  “Interesting. And the Kai’Sar?”

  “Hated and feared. They are killed at birth or hunted to the death.”

  “Good. Perhaps Aysa and the others did us a favour. It’ll make reclaiming our world easier and freeing our magic much simpler.” Sythrnax nodded, offering her his glove with the black gem sewn into the palm.

  She stared at the glove with disgust as it slid onto her delicate hand. “Back to using this pathetic magic.”

  “You might find this stone more accommodating. Arkum Zul is under my control. I found the Ethereal Device. That stone holds the essence of the Kai’Sar whose blood freed you.”

  The Vikress smiled. “What of the Lesser r
aces?”

  “Nearly all are extinct,” Sythrnax replied. “Only the Humans. Elvehn, and DragonKin are left. And some of the Dwarves.”

  “The Fae, the Dragon Behemoths, DemonKind? The true power of the dosa are gone?” Sythrnax nodded. “Excellent. Come, Commander. It is time for the Ri’Tek to reclaim our real magic and rule Talohna once again.”

  MONOLITH CHAMBER

  SEVERAL HOURS LATER

  Ella Navasha stood outside the DeathWizard’s Monolith chamber she helped build thirteen thousand years ago and stared through the open door. A door only a DeathWizard could open. The popping and shifting rock echoing through the Deep Earth told her everything she needed to know. It made her blood run cold.

  “Kat? It’s time.”

  “What! No, I’m not ready.”

  “You’ll have to be. We’re too late. Here, take it.” Ella lifted an ancient amulet from her neck and handed it to her apprentice. Kat shook her head but took it and dropped it over her head. “Just remember what I taught you. When the power hits the amulet, let it into your body and don’t fight it. Let it swallow you and become you.”

  “Welcome it,” Kat said.

  “Yes. Desiree?”

  “Yes, Mistress?”

  “You keep her alive at all costs and get her out of here the moment I fall. Kat will complete our deal, you have my word,” Ella said, summoning a five foot long wooden staff from mid-air.

  “I know she will, Mistress,” Desiree offered, smiling.

  “Good. Now, come, girls,” she said, as both drew their weapons. “If Kael’s dead, we have Ancients to try and kill.”

  Ella led the way forward, walking around the monolith stone she helped carve too many long aeons ago. As she approached the Animus Seal, she knew immediately that Kael’s blood filled the deep channels. A bone-chilling cold still hung in the air.

  “So, that’s how you did it, you crafty bastard,” Ella whispered as she bent down and touched the blood filling the trough-like designs of the seal. “Well done, Sythrnax.” To her immediate right the dimensional rift shimmered, weakening as the air in the chamber warmed and the powerful chill spell thawed.