The Holtur Enigma (The Holtur Trilogy)

by Cameron Wayne Smith

  “Is anyone else still alive?” Vivian called out across the wreckage of his previous transport. He waited a few moments, but no one stirred. “Damn… I really didn’t think we’d come all this way just for this to happen.”

  He slung the heavy axe over his shoulder and began to walk back up to the road they had been following. He looked back in the direction they came from, back towards Silverton that was oh so far away. Looking straight ahead, he wondered if he could help Donna. She had been taken into the mess of trees at the base of some hills. He then turned his head in the direction they were originally travelling, towards Holtur. It was the place he was told that he’d find the help his home needed. Surely the people of Holtur could help save Donna too.

  Vivian sighed, then continued down the path towards Holtur. He assumed it would be at least ten kilometres until he reached his destination. If the wyvern—or the bunny-bear—was to return for him though, there’d be no chance he would make it there alive.

  He thought of all the reasons he was doing this, for his wife and daughter, and to stop those damn serpents from destroying everything he held dear. He had to succeed in his mission, there was no option for failure. He held his head high and continued onto Holtur, his speed increasing with the sound of the wyvern roaring in the distance.

  The journey to Holtur was almost over, but little did Vivian realise, he may not return from this place alive.

  Chapter 2: Grabion

  The low hanging sun that was drifting over the plains brought little comfort to Fin Maver. The weather was getting colder, which meant Glacious would be upon them soon. He enjoyed the peace that came with the frozen suns, the anarchy leading up to them however, he most certainly did not.

  The sound of someone large bounding across the wall towards his office forced him to turn around. “Commander Maver,” said Sonja Bluwahlt, the only woman who worked in Holtur’s defence, “there’s a man slowly making his way towards town.”

  “How far?” Maver stood up, making his way out from the bastion.

  “Barely a kilometre.” She followed him out to the wall walk, then pointed in the stranger’s direction. “He is armed, and appears to be covered in blood, but he doesn’t look all that strong.”

  “Hmm…” Maver raised a looking glass to his eye, spying on the man approaching. “Indeed, stalked by grabion too. I wouldn’t underestimate him though, what with the fact he is travelling at this time of year and has made it all the way here. It means he is either quite powerful, or incredibly stupid and lucky.”

  “With the approach of Glacious couldn’t we use an extra set of strong hands?” Sonja patted down her heavy leather armour in preparation to greet the visitor, and his stalkers.

  Commander Maver moved the looking glass to his side, turning to look back at Sonja. “Perhaps, but we most certainly do not need some idiot causing us trouble, not right now. There’s at least three grabion beneath the ground. They probably won’t risk their energy attacking right now, but if they do, we could use the extra venom. Take Lodern and Holtz with you, and bring back that venom.”

  “Yes Commander.” Sonja nodded, then walked down the wall towards a group of men who were lazing around the bartisan. They were all waiting for their next call to arms. “Red, Headsplitter, with me, now!”

  The two men stood up, following her down the stone stairs towards the main entrance of Holtur. “So what’s the situation with the wanderer?” Axel ‘Headsplitter’ Holtz asked.

  “I don’t think he’ll be much of an issue,” Sonja responded without an ounce of worry in her voice. “He’s being stalked by some grabion though. Commander Maver wants us to collect their venom if possible. So if they emerge, ignore the stranger, and remove their tails.”

  “Easy done!” Volk ‘Red’ Lodern smirked, clicking his fingers together, releasing a small flame into the air.

  “None of that fire shit Red!” Sonja rolled her bright blue eyes. “You burn the protein in the venom and it’s useless. Stick with your blades, I don’t want to deal with the bloody Bristrunstium cracking the shits with us ruining their resources.”

  “Yes Ma’am!” Volk lifted his pale hand up to his frizzy ginger hair in a mock salute.

  “Venom,” Axel sighed, slumping his broad shoulders. “I got a bad feeling about this…”

  “How does a man as vast as you get scared of a little venom?” Sonja ruffled her short, curly, blonde hair. “How’s this sound, if one of those things actually stings you, I’ll kiss it better, ok?”

  “Haha!” Volk laughed at the thought. “Where you gonna kiss him Captain?”

  “Wherever he damn well pleases.” Sonja gave a dry smirk, trying not to laugh, but caving in as they reached the gate.

  “Thanks Captain, but it’s alright.” Axel began to wrap leather straps around his forearms, creating protection over the exposed skin that his brown leather armour didn’t cover.

  “By Aesterus, do you want some metal plating too?” Volk shook his head. “It’s just a few bugs, rather over-sized ones at that, but bugs all the same. Don’t think about it so much.”

  “Hmph,” Axel grunted, then tightened the straps over his chunky black gloves. “Nothing wrong with taking precautions.”

  “Alright, jokes aside, are you two ready?” Sonja questioned the men on either side of her.

  “Yes Captain,” the two responded in unison. Sonja then gave a nod to the gatekeeper who removed a large iron lock, allowing the main gate to slowly open.

  “Halt!” Sonja called out to the man approaching the town. “Who are you, and what is your business here in Holtur?”

  “My name is Vivian Patressi, I work for Lord Stryjak of Silverton.” Vivian swung the large twin bladed axe off his shoulder, throwing it to the ground. He then placed his hands out in front of him and took in a deep breath. “I have come to conscript assistance for its defence.”

  “Red, do you understand a word this guy is saying?” Sonja spoke softly, turning to Volk, one of the more educated slayers she worked alongside. “It all sounds like big city dribble to me.”

  “He wants to forcefully take us away and make us fight his own battles.” Volk shrugged. “At least I’m pretty sure that’s what conscription means. You might want to ask your brother to be sure though.”

  “Useless bloody bureaucrat, here I was hoping someone powerful had stumbled our way,” Sonja said to her companions. She then raised her voice for the visitor. “Sounds like fun… First would you mind just playing dead for a moment?”

  “Play dead?” Vivian began to feel quite threatened by the people he hoped would be his saviours. “Why would you want me to do that?”

  “If he walks much closer to us, there’s no chance the grabion will emerge,” Volk whispered with urgency.

  “It’s an age old tradition,” Sonja called out. “Yeah, whenever people around here ask for help, they lie down on the ground and pretend to be dead for a bit. It might sound silly to you fancy northern folk, but if you don’t lie down, we cannot assist you at all!”

  Volk slapped his face. “Really, tradition?”

  “Alright then,” Vivian called out. He had never heard anyone mention that he had to do this upon arrival, but after what had happened to his wagon—to the merchants and his assistant—he figured he had no choice. Deciding to lie down, he felt his legs give way on him, and he fell to the ground quite convincingly. He had never walked this long a distance before, and stopping suddenly made his legs feel like jelly. “Is this ok?”

  “The dead don’t talk,” Sonja responded, “you are going to have to shut it. Close your eyes, relax, pretend you’re having a nap.”

  “Alright.” Vivian laid his head on the ground, took in a deep breath and began to relax. “Am I do—”

  “SHUT UP!” Sonja interrupted, her voice fueled with urgency. She then whispered to the slayers by her side. “Are all northerners this annoying…”

  Vivian followed the woman’s orders, shutting his mouth and focusing on relaxing. He be
gan to realise how tired recent events had made him. He’d barely slept since crossing the Kuka Desert, it had been a long and rough trip, and this opportunity to relax was starting to feel a little too comfortable.

  “Wait for it…” Sonja slowly brought her right hand past her head, reaching for the claymore on her back. “Any second now…”

  Volk and Axel both reached for their weapons as well, their eyes focused on the twitching ground around the northerner. The three of them were in a crouching position, ready to dash towards the grabion the moment they emerged from beneath the ground.

  Vivian knew something was amiss, he had never heard of such a bizarre tradition and wondered what the people of Holtur were planning to do with him. He could sense they were readying themselves for battle, but even if on his feet, he knew he had no chance fighting back against the three warriors.

  “Keep staying still,” Sonja called out softly to the northerner, “you’re doing a really good job.”

  With the ground around Vivian beginning to shift, so did his worry. He slowly tilted his head, allowing his left eye to focus on the large woman slowly approaching him. Her eyes locked with his, then diverted upwards as the ground around him erupted. She, and the two others, were dashing towards him.

  Vivian’s body was tense with fear, he couldn’t fight back, all he could do was try and talk his way out of whatever mess he had somehow thrown himself into. “What is the meaning of—”

  “Get out of the way you bloody fool!” Sonja bellowed, and for good reason too. The three grabion had emerged around Vivian and were on their way to dissect him.

  “Huh?” Vivian turned his head in the opposite direction. Long, flat claws protruded from a large, dusty, brown insect, and it was heading towards him. In a heartbeat, he jumped to his feet to escape the creature.

  Sonja barged Vivian away from the overgrown insects, then brought her huge blade overhead with both hands. “Don’t destroy the tails,” she reminded, then slammed the claymore into the grabion before her. Bright green blood splashed out of the large muddy brown carapace, splattering all over her, and a rather shocked Vivian. Its torso had been practically split in two, but that didn’t stop its claws reaching out, clasping at the air one last time, and giving a frantic thrust with its venomous tail before slumping to the ground.

  “Yeeeargh!” Axel roared with a wild swing of his massive single bladed axe, just missing the grabion tail he was aiming for. He readied himself for another swing, but the creature had already latched its front claws onto his legs. “Get it off!” Axel screamed. The pincers were slowly grinding back and forth, sawing their way through his leather leg guards while its venomous tail wildly stabbed at his protective armour.

  “Really Headsplitter? You need to stop over thinking these things!” Volk leapt over to Axel with a snide grin, detaching the claws from the grabion’s body with a pair of black hook swords.

  “Ah, thanks for that Red,” Axel said with a nod. He then slammed his foot into the declawed grabion’s back, following up by swiping his axe through the base of the insect’s tail.

  “One more tail,” Sonja spoke with a grin, spinning her large blade in a seemingly impossible fashion.

  “Is this some kind of game to you people?” Vivian yelled, keeping his distance from both the grabion and the warriors.

  “We’re slayers northerner.” Sonja tilted her head, looking at Vivian like he was a complete moron. “How else is the Bristrunstium going to obtain its resources?”

  “Maybe we should give the northerner a go?” Volk mocked the terrified man. “Yeah, grab that axe you brought with you, show us what you can do!”

  “I, umm… don’t know how to use it…” Vivian nervously admitted.

  “Just pick it up, and, you know!” Volk brought his blades together, then swung them around as if they were an axe.

  “Leave him alone.” Axel didn’t appreciate seeing others pushed to fight against their will. “He said he can’t use it. He’ll just wind up as bug chow if he tries.”

  “You want us to fight your battles, but you can’t help us fight ours?” Sonja knew he would be weak, but felt repulsed by the man’s cowardice and intention.

  Vivian felt uncomfortable talking about this with deadly creatures close by, but knew if they understood what was coming, they would be more open to joining his cause. “It’s not what you think—”

  “It's burrowing!” Volk returned attention to the final grabion and was sprinting towards it. The insect had realised this easy meal was not so easy after all, and was dragging dirt from the hole it had emerged from, preparing for its escape.

  “Don’t let it get away!” Sonja raced over with Axel and Vivian following close behind.

  Volk dived towards the creature, his hook swords out stretched, almost slicing the tail, but a moment too late. Sonja leapt over Volk, driving her claymore down through the solid earth, hoping to penetrate into the burrow and stop the grabion from escaping. Finally Axel caught up, slamming his axe into another section of dirt.

  “Did you get it?” Vivian questioned the slayers.

  “Shh!” Volk hushed back, looking around, waiting for movement.

  The four exchanged glances, feeling around, unsure if the grabion had escaped or been mortally wounded.

  “Here!” Sonja announced as the hilt of her blade began to shake violently, indicating she had pierced the creature and that it was trying to free itself. “Don’t let it escape!”

  Axel swung his axe around and pounded it into the soil alongside the vibrating blade, then shovelled the dirt to the side. Volk followed, scooping bits of soil out of the way, continuing to excavate down to the venom filled tail the Bristrunstium desired.

  “Let me help!” Vivian assisted the dig, launching the axe he had into the ground. He didn’t get as deep as Axel had, but figured any help would be appreciated.

  “No!” Sonja hissed through gritted teeth. Her hands tightly clasped around the hilt of her shaking blade. “The grabion’s stinger would penetrate those rags you wear with ease.”

  “Rags?” Vivian stepped back with a mumble, dropped the axe by his side, then patted himself down. He wasn’t a fighter, but had assumed the brown trench coat he wore would provide adequate protection from over-sized insects. At least the merchant who sold it to him told him it would.

  “We got it!” Axel assured, watching the bright green goo pooling within the hole they had dug.

  “We don’t ‘got it’ until the tail is with the Bristrunstium,” Sonja whipped back. Her blade had stopped vibrating, so she twisted it back and forth a couple of times, prompting the grabion to fight back in pain. “See, still plenty of fight in it! You probably just nicked it.”

  “Hmm…” Axel growled, then lifted his axe overhead, and swung it hard into the ground once more. The ground went still after the impact, as did Sonja’s blade.

  “Hope you got it that time Headsplitter.” Volk scanned the ground with a smirk, only to be interrupted by the grabion clawing out of the ground. “Well, if anyone needs some dirt murdered, we know who to send!”

  The claymore was straight through the grabion’s abdomen and only one of its claws remained intact. The creature’s good claw clasped around Sonja’s leg, prompting her to kick the creature in the face with her free foot. The grabion’s stinger emerged from the ground, attempting to stab Sonja. Volk’s hook blades were too swift for it, detaching the tail before it could strike.

  “Sleep tight you ugly son of a…” Sonja sung out, arcing the hilt of her claymore towards the ground in front of it. Her blade sliced along the grabion, crushing what remained of it.

  “Thank you for saving me from those things,” Vivian said with appreciation. He watched the three slayers each tend to a corpse. They began to dissect the remains, discarding certain parts, while treasuring others. “What exactly are you doing to them?”

  “Harvesting.” Sonja gave the northerner another one of those looks, indicating how stupid she thought he was. She then re
turned her attention to the grabion remains.

  “Have you noticed that it is getting a little cold down here?” Volk took a moment to explain the harshness of Holtur to the outsider. “Sure you fancy northerners are far from the horrors of the world. You see, the cold lets us know that Glacious is coming. Creatures go berserk leading up to its coming, and our resources dwindle leading up to, and during the frozen suns. The only reason we did what we did with you, was to lure out the grabion.”

  “You used me as bait?” Vivian was both annoyed and curious. “But why risk a human for a few giant insect corpses?”

  “They aren’t just over-sized bugs,” Volk informed. “To someone a little more resourceful than you wasteful lot from Silverton, a grabion corpse provides food, medicinal compounds, and parts we can use for weapons and armour.”

  “Why not just mine stronger ores, maybe even trade for some of our silver?” Vivian scratched at his hair, his ponytail had mostly come undone and black strands streaked over his face. “Why not farm beasts, surely the flesh would be much more desirable?”

  “We do all that,” Volk said, “just Holtur has a lot of problems with the creatures nearby. That, and Glacious is coming.”

  “What is this Glacious you speak of?” Vivian had never heard of this phenomenon that the slayer spoke of with such worry.

  “Enough banter,” Sonja interrupted, laying out parts of the grabion she had dissected before Volk. “Red, once you are done take any meat over to the kitchen. Headsplitter, take the rest down to the Bristrunstium, they should be quite pleased with the tails.”

  “Yes Captain,” the two promptly acknowledged.

  “However you, northerner.” Sonja intimidatingly poked Vivian’s chest, giving him an odd look as he stumbled back from the prod. “I’ll take you to Commander Maver, he’ll decide what we do with you.”

  “What to do with me?” Vivian’s voice had a taint of fear.

  “Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.” Volk looked up and gave a nod. “Unless you take too long to start following Captain Bluwahlt of course.”