“The key is there,” the guard answered. “The key has always been there. The key will always be there. You carry death with you. Where death goes, life cannot exist. You cannot take the relic key with blood on your hands. That is where all men fail.”
The guard motioned Nate through, but Nate wasn’t so sure he wanted to go. Did what the man just say mean Nate was doomed from the start? He’d killed before. He’d killed ravagers only moments before. Did that mean he was already disqualified from obtaining the relic key?
He climbed the stairs reluctantly, a weight upon his shoulders that felt too heavy. He would have never come here if he had known his death was so sure.
Kellen and the ravagers moved quickly, almost sprinting up the stairs. If Nate didn’t move faster, there would be no way he would get to them quickly enough.
Nate picked up the pace. He knew they would have to run out of breath at some point unless Kellen had a magical ability to run without tiring.
Nate kept his head down and his legs moving. Occasionally he looked to his right and left to see if there was anything that might jump out from the bushes. There was also a line of trees beyond—more forest along the mountainside. He wondered if the runners were being watched from those within who might wish to kill them before reaching the relic key. There had to be some enemy here to kill them. Otherwise someone would have gotten to the key long ago.
Nate ran and ran. His legs burned the longer he went. As he moved along, his breaths getting shorter, his legs weaker, he began to slow. He reached his hands out in front of him, falling forward on the steps. He held himself up on his hands and knees, gulping breaths as best he could, his heart pounding in his ears. He glanced up to see the ravagers and Kellen still moving, getting further and further away.
That’s when the darkness came. He didn’t know what it was at first. It was a large shadow that engulfed not only him, but the entire mountainside. Clouds had rolled in and blocked out the sun above. A clap of thunder along with a flash of lightning burst through the air. The storm came suddenly and without warning, almost as if it had been waiting for them to reach a certain point before approaching.
When he looked up, the clouds churned and started downward, almost like the clouds just before a tornado struck.
The rain came, and with it, the enemy.
They were large, flapping things, like giant buzzards but with arms and legs. They weren’t men, Nate could tell that much. But they had long hooked beaks, and claws for hands. Their legs were like the back haunches of a wolf, but covered in black feathers. He didn’t know what kind of creatures they might be, but he knew they only served one purpose: to kill.
Perhaps the flying enemies didn’t notice him because of the party up ahead. They flew directly for Kellen and the ravagers.
Nate watched, momentarily stunned by the turn of events. Kellen continued onward with two ravagers at his side, while the remaining four turned to take on the new attackers.
The birds swooped down, taking swipes at the ravagers, sometimes missing, sometimes slicing through a limb. Nate knew the ravagers would ignore all pain until they died or until their enemies were all gone. Looking past the four ravagers, he saw Kellen scrambling diligently upward.
Nate had to move. He had to get to that key before Kellen. If he didn’t, all would be lost. Nate would die here like all the others before him.
Ignoring the burning in his muscles, he pushed forward, believing in his strength to reach the summit. He held his pistol in his hand, ready to strike at anything that might come at him.
The ravagers swiped and clawed, snarling at the winged creatures that wished to kill them. One of the ravagers grabbed hold of one of the creatures and dug his long, grimy claws into its back like little knives. The creature flew upward, taking the ravager with it.
Nate watched as the ravager brought its other hand around the creature’s throat and ripped out its windpipe. The creature fell to the ground instantly, the ravager proudly standing on top of it. It held the gore high above its head with pride, declaring victory with a loud screech. What happened next sent chills up Nate’s spine.
The ravager’s skin started to change to a different color. What was once a bright, white skin, started to boil into a brilliant red. The ravager wrapped its arms around its side, bellowing out in pain. It’s red skin turned bright, almost glowing. Then, from within its own skin, the ravager erupted into flames.
The screaming was the worst Nate had ever heard, piercing through the air at a deafening volume. The other three ravagers watched in horror as their companion writhed and screamed, the flames blindingly hot, until it crumpled in on itself and fell into a pile of black ash.
Nate was stunned. What could have been the cause of this? He hadn’t seen any outside source. No flame had been sent the ravager’s way. So, why the burning fire?
This enraged the remaining three ravagers. They jumped at their attackers, thrashing their knife-like claws at the flying creatures above them. They grabbed onto whatever enemy they could find, ripping at them, tearing their wings to shreds. One ravager ripped the heart out of a flyer, throwing it menacingly at another. But his skin started to turn red as well. Then the next ravager. And the next. Soon, all three of them burst into flames, just as the first of them had.
Their screeching was horrendous, and Nate had to put his hands over his ears to keep his eardrums from bursting. Finally, where the ravagers had been, sat four piles of ash.
The flying beasts now had their sights set on Nate. he was their vulnerable target, one who was about to die like all the others who had come here before him.
He could see the first creature swooping toward him. He holstered his pistol and pulled out his rifle, knowing a well-placed shot would knock it right out of the sky.
He closed an eye and rested his finger on the trigger. It was coming closer, and he was about to shoot when a thought popped into his head.
Don’t kill them.
That was it! Don’t kill them!
He looked down briefly at the piles of ash and realized that the reason they had burst into flames was because they had shed blood. They had killed the creatures coming after them.
The bird-like monster crashed into Nate, shoving him onto his back, his rifle flying from his grip. Pain shot through his back and head when he landed, but he kept his eyes open. The ugly creature was on top of him. Its claws were like long garden shears, sharp and ready to cut. The creature stabbed downward, aiming for Nate’s heart, but Nate quickly rolled to the side. It stabbed again and again, but each time Nate moved. Finally, he pulled his pistol from his holster and aimed it at the beast, making sure to point it at the wing and not the head.
He pulled back on the hammer and let the bullet fly. The animal screamed out in anger and pain, but it was enough of a distraction for Nate to get to his feet, grab his rifle, and start back up the stairs.
With a clap of thunder, the clouds opened up and the rain poured. Nate’s once-solid footing was now gone, replaced by slick rock that threatened to send him all the way back down to the gate if he slipped.
He set his pistol back in its holster and held his rifle by the barrel. One of the creatures plunged down at Nate’s head and he met it with a swing of his gun, crushing the bones in its wing. The blow wasn’t deadly, but he knew he was playing a dangerous game. One wrong swing at the head or a shot to the heart and Nate would burst into flames like those ravagers had.
He looked up toward Kellen and his two guards. They continued upward, swinging occasionally at the creatures attacking them. They had no idea about the burning. They might have seen the other ravagers in flames, but they couldn’t know why. They hadn’t seen the reason.
It all made sense to him. This was The Book of Life. That was why the guard at the gate had told him that he carried death with him. His guns were instruments of death, not only for the creatures that guarded this place, but for him should he take the life of anyone here. No one could kill in The Book of Life.
It was the only crime. The repayment: death by fire.
All that said, he didn’t know how he would make it to the relic key without killing off some of these things. The sheer number of them threatened to overwhelm him, but he knew he just had to maneuver as best he could and fight them back sparingly.
The winged animals cut at him, bruised him, knocked him down. With every swipe he thought one might take his head off. But Nate was diligent to fight back with caution, blocking with his gun, kicking with his feet. Between waves of attacks, he sprinted up the stairs, ignoring the pain shooting through his body, the exhaustion of his limbs, the weight of his clothes pushing him downward with the rainfall. He knew it would all be over soon.
The three ahead of him didn’t have to fight off the creatures like he did. The winged beasts seemed focused and determined to destroy Nate, as only a few went after Kellen and the two ravagers.
Nate didn’t know how long it took him before he saw the end. It was a large cathedral-like building carved into the side of the mountain—the same stone as the stairs he now climbed.
There was a large, open door to the entrance of the cathedral and Kellen ran to it. He commanded his two remaining ravagers to stand guard outside the door to wait for Nathaniel.
He swung the butt of his rifle at another oncoming flying monster, and this time the stock broke into pieces. He tossed it to the ground, praying that his enemy didn’t die from internal injuries before he got to the key.
He stopped in his tracks when he came to the door. The pale-faced ravagers snarled at him as they charged. For only a brief moment, Nate wondered if killing them would set him aflame, or if that was reserved only for the winged creatures.
He didn’t want to test it, instead he ran back down the stairs as the ravagers gave chase. As expected, the flying monsters swooped down at him and the pursuing ravagers. The ravagers, showing no fear, jumped at the giant birds, scraping and gnawing.
Nate took the opportunity to sprint back up the stairs, not without having to fend off one or two of the creatures. When he reached the door, he heard the screaming of the ravagers and could even feel the burning heat of their smoldering flesh.
Before going into the cathedral, Nate looked back one more time to make sure there were two piles of ash. There were. He allowed a deep sigh of relief, then crossed through the doorway.
Nate entered a hall meant for giants. He felt like a small bug crawling along the floor aimlessly. The walls on either side of him towered so high that he could barely see the ceiling. The floor beneath his feet was polished stone and wide enough for an entire legion of cavalrymen to charge through. The space around him was so vast that his feet did not produce echoes, and his voice would have simply carried through the air, bouncing off nothing.
Perhaps it was his clothes soaked all the way to his skin, but he felt cold in this enormous chamber. He looked behind him through the door, wondering why the flying killers weren’t coming in after him. Maybe they were afraid of what lay ahead, or maybe they had only been instructed to guard the stairs, and whatever awaited Kellen and Nate was a far more dangerous adversary.
He knew this could not be the end. Surely others would have come here and made it up the steps if he had. Nate feared there was a far more dangerous test ahead.
The dark corridor seemed to go on into infinity. It was so vast and long that it was impossible to see the end from here. And he had already lost sight of Kellen, but that didn’t matter yet. If the Sentinel could draw more enemies to himself, that was all right by Nate.
Nate took a few long, deep breaths, knowing he didn’t have time to rest, or time to think about what he needed to do. There was nothing else to do but run.
His legs moved at an aching pace, already weakened by his ascent of the stone steps. But he knew he had to push through the pain.
He didn’t know how long he had run before he saw another opening in the distance. He wasn’t sure, but he thought he saw the tail end of Kellen’s cloak as the man ran through it.
The room beyond the opening was dark and mysterious. Nate knew that whatever challenge they faced next, it had to be in there. He slowed his pace as he came near it. As he got closer, he could see the form of Kellen standing quietly.
Instinctively, Nate pulled his pistol from its holster and cocked the hammer, knowing he couldn’t kill Kellen. Not here, not if he didn’t want the magical fires to consume him and turn him to ash. That was the secret—the secret not even Kellen knew.
When he reached the doorway, Nate was awestruck by the room before him. It seemed as large and vast as the hallway leading to it, the ceiling unseen as it traveled on into darkness. To his right and left was a set of stairs, both of them circling upward to a stone platform. Beyond that platform was another door—another path for them to take perhaps.
But Kellen had stopped, and it was clear only one of them would be going any further.
Nate wished he knew if Kellen had figured out the secret. In a way, it would be good because Kellen would know he couldn’t kill Nate. On the other hand, there could still be more enemies ahead. If Nate could get Kellen to kill any one of them, Nate would be left alone within The Book of Life.
“You won’t get what you seek,” Kellen said. “You won’t reach the relic key.”
“Why?” Nate said. “You gonna kill me?”
Kellen turned to look at him, a devious grin on his face. “Did you really think you could follow me in here and defeat me? Did you really think both of us would come in here and you would come out alive?”
“Well, if this plays out like any of the other times, neither one of us is going to make it out,” Nate said.
“No one has ever made it out because none of them were Sentinels,” Kellen said. “None of them were powerful enough to survive.”
He doesn’t know, Nate thought.
No, the others who had been here before them never made it out because they had defended themselves. They had killed to get to the relic key, and they burned for it.
Kellen’s eyes went down to Nate’s hand. “What’s stopping you from shooting at me?”
Nate chewed the inside of his cheek and released the hammer slowly, then holstered his gun. “We can work together,” he said. “All we have to do is push forward. We both have a better chance of getting to that key.”
“I have a far better chance of reaching it alone.” Kellen lifted a hand in the air, his fingers outstretched toward Nate.
Nate’s eyes went wide when he realized Kellen was about to use his magic. He tried to duck out of the way, but it was too late. Beams of light shot out from the tips of Kellen’s fingers, and like scalding hot ropes, each beam wrapped around Nate’s body.
The outlaw was suddenly lifted into the air, a burning heat pulsing through his body. He let out a terrifying and involuntary scream, just knowing that the beams of light would cut through him, slicing him into smoldering pieces on the ground. Kellen lifted him higher and higher until he was about twenty feet off the ground. Then, the light faded and Nate fell to the stone floor with a loud thud.
Nate found himself gasping for air, knowing that he must have cracked some ribs. It was no secret that Kellen was powerful, but to have been tossed around like it was nothing…
Nate dared to look up from the ground, pain pumping up and down his body with every heartbeat. Kellen no longer wore the devious grin on his face. Instead, he seemed more annoyed by Nate’s presence, and was ready to be done with him.
Nate expected the worst, but before Kellen decided to bring on a another furious attack, a man appeared on the platform at the top of the stairs. The surprise on Nate’s face must have shown because Kellen turned immediately to look at the new mysterious figure.
The man wore a long flowing cloak, black and wavy. The hood shadowed most of his face but for his long white beard that fell all the way down to his waist.
The man looked down at them for a long moment, then shook his head. “You, like so many before you, seek the reli
c key.”
“Yes,” Kellen said.
“I am its protector. I am to destroy any who comes for it. I have destroyed so many.”
“I do not wish to fight you,” Kellen said. “For I seek the key for the betterment of Galamore.”
“A claim that has been made before. But it is not for me to determine who desires it for good and who desires it for evil. It is for me to destroy anyone who seeks it. It is for me to destroy you.”
The man stepped off from the platform, but he did not fall to the ground. He held his arms out to his sides, palms facing upward. Then, over each palm, two balls of electric blue light formed, and he turned his hands toward Kellen, sending the light flying toward him.
Kellen had been ready. The Sentinel jumped out of the way as the two lights landed on the floor in a loud explosion. The force of the blast lifted Nate off the ground, slamming him into the wall next to the door. The wind was knocked out of him and he began coughing incessantly.
Nate knew he wasn’t a match for either of these foes, but neither of them seemed worried about him. Nate pulled himself into a crouch, watching the two wizards duel—a sight Nate had never seen. The brilliant lights of magic flashed with every color, the energy burning every inch of the room with a deafening intensity.
One would throw a ball of fire, while another would extinguish it midair with ice. The man with the long beard had probably never faced an opponent as powerful as Kellen. Nate feared now that if any man was capable of reaching the key, it was the Sentinel.
A fire burned throughout the room, the flames licking the stone beneath it. The fighting had moved toward the left side of the room, the two men all but forgetting about Nate’s insignificant presence.
His eyes darted toward the right staircase. If he was going to get to the relic key, this was his only chance. If he had to face either opponent, he’d be a dead man in a matter of seconds.
Nate bolted for the stairs, dodging the magical flames throughout the room. The screams of a struggling fight were behind him now. When he reached the top of the staircase, he knew he was almost to the end. He could feel it. He could sense it. The key called out to him.
The Outlaw's Quest (Keeper of the Books, Book 2) Page 30
