The God in the Shadows (The Story at the Heart of the Void Book 1)

by TorVald, Nikolas

  Selth felt terror twist its cold hand around her spine as the howls cut through the air. She had to wake up, Aren had said there were nine traiganidorians and now all nine of them were in the same place as her. Closing her eyes, she desperately prayed to wake. The howls grew closer and closer and Atlatraigan started laughing from his onyx pillar. Overhead the sky darkened from a swirling gray and red spiral to the deepest of blacks with flashing accents of red. The thud of massive feet striking the ground rumbled towards Selth’s ears and with a cry of despair she threw herself into the flames behind her. Better to burn alive than be taken by one of the traiganidorians.

  “No!” Atlatraigan roared as her body hit the flames, dwarfing the traiganidorians in sound and shattering the ground all around him. The pillar he had been standing on was reduced to dust but he hovered where he had been as though rage alone held him up. The flames parted around Selth as she fell into their midst and with a scream of agony she burst into consciousness.

  She scrabbled desperately all around her, her orientation clashing with what her mind had last felt, and nearly collapsed to the left. She was riding in front of Mattle on his horse. “What is it?” he shouted, sawing on the reins and nearly causing her to pitch over the head of the animal. Selth looked around her – trees, grass, flowers. The sky was gray, lightening to blue and a cool breeze wafted through the air. “Sara, Selth! What is it?” he demanded again.

  Selth shuddered as the memory of her dream swam lazily into her head. “Just get us back to Kant and Aren as soon as possible,” she whispered, “I don’t think I can take that again.”

  “Take what again? Selth? What is it?” he tried again but she shook her head. She couldn’t bring herself to relate what she had just experienced. Mattle let out an angry curse but he whipped his horse into motion again. Soon the two of them were trotting along the country at a ground eating pace the horse could keep up all day. Ahead of them, Raxous darted in and out of bushes and around trees, scouting their path back to Kant and Aren. Pain throbbed in Selth’s arm and with a foggy horror she realized she couldn’t think straight. A paralyzing weakness seemed to take over and she was almost dragged back into sleep but she fought her way free. No more sleep, the thought screamed through her head in the delirium of fever. No more sleep, she couldn’t sleep with the potential for dreams of black fire and traiganidorians hunting her and a man powerful enough to make a crying mess of the most terrifying creature she had ever seen.

  A moment of clarity came to her and she almost laughed out loud, taken down by a dream after fighting off the effects of fever for so long. Then the fog of sickness descended back onto Selth and, unable to help herself, she slid into an uneasy sleep. The fever held her at the edge of consciousness but nightmares still plagued her. Traiganidorians and Atlatraigan’s cold laughter chased her down endless hallways but she didn’t materialize into the dark landscape again.

  Selth continued to fade in and out of consciousness. Sometimes she woke and found herself lying on the ground, Mattle trying to feed her small chunks of rabbit or hard tack he had dissolved in water. Sometimes the two of them were moving across the landscape of Mardule, lush since the death of the traiganidorian. Insane laughter roiled inside of her and burst from her cracked lips; the landscape would get a whole lot worse if all nine traiganidorians were let out of Hell. Mattle just looked at her with concern and increased the speed at which they moved.

  The longer they traveled, the fewer and farther between were Selth’s periods of consciousness. Most of the days and all of the nights became consumed with fevered images of monsters and death surrounding her at every corner. Her arm ached continuously and a pus started oozing from it. Mattle cleaned out the pus whenever they stopped but Selth’s body kept making more – something that she found immensely funny.

  As the two of them rode, the lush trees and plants of Mardule gave way to darker forests; Aspens and elms to pine trees, flowers to thorn bushes. Streams grew foul with mud and bugs then disappeared entirely. The wall of darkness, which Selth had lost track of after being taken prisoner, loomed larger than life overhead and light for miles around it was dim and dreary.

  She noticed those details in the fevered delirium that passed for her waking state as she lolled against Mattle’s shoulder in the saddle. The next time she woke she was falling to the ground. With a cry she tried to throw out an arm but both her hands were already pointed as far to the ground as they could go. The chains pulled on her like an anvil. “Stop!” a familiar voice called out but she couldn’t place it or the meaning of that word. She lay on the ground in a heap, barely awake, and wondered at the sound of steps running towards her. Then she fell into unconsciousness.

  Darkness reigned all around Selth but she felt fine in it. The darkness was the perfect temperature, the perfect place. Not like the fever from before. She frowned. What fever? The thought floated away like a petal on the wind and she lay back in the darkness. Yes, this was nice. A tugging in her breast caused Selth a minor annoyance. The tugging came more insistently and she shifted, annoyed. What was going on? She screamed, suddenly, as a feeling like her heart was being ripped out of her chest hit her. With a gasp, she sat up. All around were pine trees and thorn bushes, with Aren’s worried face as the centerpiece of it all. “Got you!” he cried out in relief. Selth looked up at him in confusion then drifted back into sleep. No fevered nightmares troubled her as she drifted through her dreamscape.

  When she next woke there was a fire blazing merrily in front of her and she felt more rested than she could remember being since leaving the academy. Mattle was curled up in a ball with Raxous on the far side of the fire, fast asleep, and Kant and Aren were quietly talking close by. Selth sat up in shock, “We found you!” she yelled, a broad smile splitting her face, “We’ve been trying to find you all day!”

  Aren peered at her sadly, “You’ve been trying to reach us for two weeks.”

  She gaped across the fire at him. The light, cheery before, now flickered sinisterly and the dark pine trees seemed to reach out to grab her. “How is that possible?” she muttered, shocked, “I remember Mattle rescuing me just yesterday.”

  “And then you fell asleep and let him push himself, his horse and his wolf nearly to death as he tried to save your life.” Kant broke in to the conversation. His grizzled face seemed more haggard than usual, lines of worry cutting across it.

  “Enough of that.” Aren said quietly but with a ring of command that even Kant responded to, “The girl’s been through enough as it is. Try to keep in mind what Mattle told us about where he found her – that would be punishment enough for anybody.”

  Selth felt anger flicker in the pit of her belly. “So it’s been two weeks then!” she shouted at Aren and Kant, “So what? Why didn’t either of you come back to try and save me, huh? Why did you leave Mattle with that responsibility?”

  Kant backhanded her across the face before she could blink, he looked ready to do more but Aren’s hand on his wrist placated the older Inquisitor. “Please understand, Selth,” Aren said, “we thought you were dead. I couldn’t believe that anyone could survive a conflict with one of those things and then soldiers came before we could approach you. The logical decision was to move on with our journey.”

  “Well it didn’t kill me.” she muttered angrily, “And why did those soldiers show up anyway?”

  “Because the wards that I told you about earlier pointed out the source of a massive magical show down and they went to take a look.” he explained patiently, “And I’m not sure you can get away with just saying ‘it didn’t kill me.’ Not after I healed you.” He pointed to the chains wrapped around Selth’s wrists, “If it had been trying to kill you, you would have died. Instead it tried to capture you. That’s why you’re alive. That and the fact that you caught it by surprise.”

  “Caught all of us by surprise.” Kant muttered from where he sat, still skulking, “If I had known Andin could find demon killing magi in the slums I would have started combin
g through them years ago.”

  Selth glared angrily at Kant. He had been an ass since she woke up and she wasn’t sure why she had missed him in the first place. She drew her attention back to Aren. “You can see them?” she asked, gesturing, as well as she could, to the chains which encircled her wrists.

  Arne nodded sadly, “Yes, I can see them. Though I doubt another mage outside the Archmage himself could claim that.”

  “Can you get them off?” she asked, her voice becoming small like that of a child. “Is there anything you can do?” she rattled them sharply in front of her face to emphasize her point.

  “I already did what I could.” he stated, his tone matter of fact, “Those chains won’t be pulling you off a horse anymore and they won’t sap your life force until you’re at the edge of the grave. Otherwise, there’s nothing I or anyone else on Aulternanden can do that would break those chains. What I did, plus healing your fever and arm, was the most power I’ve ever attempted to channel at one time and it was barely enough to stop you from dying. If you’re not satisfied then you need to lower your expectations a bit.”

  “I’m not complaining Aren.” Selth said, tears forming in her eyes. She threw her arms around the old mage and hugged him tightly, “Thank you for saving me.”

  He awkwardly patted her back then ruined the moment. “You’re not saved yet. Remember where we’re going.” he pointed towards the wall of darkness, still visible despite the night air, “It might not seem much next to what you fought but those mountains are as dangerous as they come.”

  Selth looked down at her manacled wrists again, “I believe you. But the chains, they did more than sap my life force. I can’t reach my power. It’s blocked off more securely than anything I could imagine in my wildest dreams. I’ll be useless in the mountains.” She sank onto her heels, dejected.

  “Well,” Aren said with a warm smile, “not useless. Kant can give you an extra sword and you’ll be just like another Inquisitor for this trip.” Selth still hung her head towards the ground and he clapped his hand on her back, “Who knows? Maybe we’ll even find a way to break those chains in the mountains.”

  “Really?” she swung her head up with a new hope, “Do you think that’s possible? Do you think there might be something in there which can destroy them?”

  Kant snorted to Selth’s left, “Find something in the mountains to break imaginary chains? Sure, why not? How hard could it be?”

  “Shut up Kant.” Aren said, his face tightening with anger, “Do not talk of things you do not know about as if they were as simple as a child’s toys.” Kant opened his mouth to give an angry reply but Aren rode over him, “If you can’t get over your anger at Mattle leaving us then at the very least don’t take it out on Selth. She did nothing wrong and may very well prove to be critical as we traverse the mountains.”

  Kant snapped his mouth closed with an angry click and moved towards his pack, muttering darkly to himself. Wrapping himself in his cloak he deliberately turned his back to the two of them and laid out on the ground. Selth and Aren stayed staring at the fire until his even breathing told them that he was asleep. “I never thought that Kant could get so upset about something.” Selth said wonderingly, “Do you think he’s going to act so cold to me the rest of this journey?”

  Aren sighed, “No child. Mattle leaving upset him more than you could imagine. The two of them have a special connection. You’re just an easy object for his anger right now. Come morning I’d be surprised if he brought it up at all.” He refocused on her, “Now, you need to sleep. Healing will have taken its toll on your strength and I want to be moving as soon as possible tomorrow.” Turning away, he moved towards his own packs and laid out on the ground. Selth quickly followed suit. She was tired but it felt good to be back in one group.

  25

  Into the Mountains

  Az’emon has attacked. He is more powerful than we ever dreamed. If he wished he could crush us all underfoot like bugs. Selthraxadinian stood at his side, weaving powers against the armies he had helped to raise. I fear this is the end.

  – Celithic to Tel’arib

  The sky was dark gray when Selth opened her eyes; cold permeated the air and the wall of darkness surrounding the Mountains of Endless Night loomed closer than ever. She shivered violently as she rolled to her feet and wrapped her cloak closely around her. No one else was awake so she moved towards a tree arcing over their campsite and settled down against the bark. She couldn’t tell what time it was and she didn’t want to wake anyone up against their will, since she was the one who had caused so much trouble for the group. Instead, she studied the forest around her, fever had clouded most of the journey between Mattle’s rescue and meeting up with Kant and Aren but she thought she could remember a change in scenery as they traveled through the country.

  It was difficult to see in the dim light but Selth soon realized she was right. That startled her briefly, ever since since retrieving her swords she had possessed perfect vision at night and even without them she had grown used to the way shadow altered her eyesight. She looked down at the chains on her wrists in despair. Apparently they did far more than she had initially thought, the wall blocking her power was more secure than anything she could have imagined. Shaking free of those thoughts, Selth looked back to the forest and almost wished she hadn’t. Warped trunks twisted out of the ground to form stunted trees which screamed agony, death, and destruction. Thorn bushes and vines crept along the ground and up the trees. They seemed to reach out to capture and kill her and her companions where they sat and lay in their camp. It was almost worse than the sickly black corruption that the traiganidorian had spread all around Mardule. If just being close to the mountains could twist reality in such a way Selth wasn’t sure she wanted to pass beyond the wall of darkness itself.

  Aren shifted on the ground and a few moments later he sat up. “I hope whatever’s in those mountains is worth it.” she called out as the mage stretched out the knots in his back.

  He looked over at her balefully. “I’d say it is. After all, do you need to be reminded of who exactly is waiting on the forgotten side of the world? If we don’t succeed in this then all of Aulternanden may be doomed. Nature will vanish and only creatures of Hell will walk freely across the land.” he shook his head, “It may seem like a horrible place right now but what’s inside those mountains could prevent something far worse.”

  Selth shrugged her shoulders lightly and spoke in a cheerful voice, trying not to let her discomfort and fear show, “If you say so.”

  Still, she carefully avoided looking at the mountains until Kant and Mattle woke up. After they had eaten, a disappointing meal of tough rabbit meat and hard tack washed down with cold water, Aren stood and stretched. “We should reach the mountains sometime before noon today. When we do, I need everybody to stick close to me. There are many paths and trails that cross the mountains but only a few of those are safe to travel. Many lead to monsters and demons more despicable and terrifying than anything known.” he faltered and looked uncomfortably at Selth, “Aside from one creature we have already seen and won’t be talking about.”

  “How will you know which path to take?” she asked, choosing to ignore the reference to the traiganidorian. “I thought you said no one had been into the mountains since Ancarth the Black brought down the darkness.” she crossed her arms in front of her chest and gave Aren a pointed glare, long hair whipping around her face in the wind.

  He drew himself up to his full height and glared down at her impressively, “Have I ever failed you before?” She arched an eyebrow at him and he hastily amended his statement, “Aside from that one time in the underground. On this you must trust me. There are spells that reveal the paths used by Ancarth when he traversed the mountains. Markings he left behind if he ever needed to reenter them.”

  “Why would Ancarth need safe paths?” Kant laughed derisively, “From how you describe him he seems like the ultimate evil. Couldn’t he just walk wherever he wanted
in these mountains and have everything bow down to his holy evilness?”

  “Don’t be a fool Kant.” Aren said scathingly, turning his weighty displeasure to the Inquisitor, “When Ancarth made these paths he had not yet turned to darkness and even now, with the power of Hell behind him, he would not go near some of the creatures that reside in these mountains. There are some here that cannot be killed, that could twist Ancarth around their little finger and use him as a play thing. So follow me when we enter the mountains and pray we don’t run into anything. Don’t question my judgment or go wandering off on your own. You could die or worse you could bring a monster down to kill all of us! Now, everyone grab what you can carry on your back. Mattle, you’ll have to leave the horse you stole. It won’t enter the mountains and if it did we would have a pack of mountain wolves on us before we could blink. We have a long day of traveling ahead of us if we want to live so let’s get going.” He stomped out of the camp and onto a path which only became visible once he was on it.

  Selth and the others hurried to follow him, grabbing gear and food from where it lay on the ground before charging out of the clearing. Kant moved up beside Aren and Selth could hear him trying to wheedle information out of the mage. She had to smile, when Aren didn’t want to say something there wasn’t a thing in the world that could be done to loosen his tongue.

  A pleasant surprise came when Mattle moved up and walked beside her, Raxous trailing them by a few feet. “What do you think we’ll find in there?” he asked after a few minutes when neither of them had spoken.

  Selth shrugged her shoulders, “Don’t know. From what Aren says t could be anything.” She and Mattle walked together in a comfortable silence for a while longer, “He mentioned Mountain Wolves. Do you know anything about those?”