The Soul Forge

by Andrew Lashway

  “Sorry ma’am. I’m not a fighter. I’d end up impaling myself if I had a sword.”

  The woman shrugged in response and disappeared into the dark confines of the castle. Taking a deep breath, Thomas reluctantly followed her. Instantly, they were surrounded by darkness. Thomas looked around, but he couldn’t see more than a foot or two ahead of him.

  A hand grabbed his, and he jumped on reflex.

  “Do you always scare this easily?” the now-familiar voice of the woman asked with a chuckle.

  “Not usually,” Thomas replied, trying to get his heart rate back down to normal.

  “Well, we need to get something so we can see. It’s far too dark down here.”

  Thomas silently agreed, looking around even though he still couldn’t see anything. He could only follow the sound of her footfalls, echoing in the chamber they found themselves. How the woman knew where to go was anyone’s guess, and Thomas wasn’t foolish enough to break the silence and ask.

  The darkness was pressing in on Thomas, speeding up his heart rate as he tried to control his breathing. To make matters worse, he kept tripping over stuff that littered the ground, round things that felt like stone and other objects that cracked when they stepped through them. Between the two of them, they were about as stealthy as an agitated horse.

  Then he heard a noise that didn’t belong to him or the woman. It was a low hiss, like something from an animal.

  “You hear that?” Thomas whispered.

  “Yeah,” the woman immediately replied. For the first time, he heard a note of fear creep into her voice. “I wish I could see.”

  “Didn’t happen to bring a torch, did you?” Thomas asked. Her pointed silence was all the answer he needed. Then a new thought struck him, one that he wasn’t too keen on exploiting. But the hissing was growing louder, and so was the knot in Thomas’ stomach. If they couldn’t see, then they had no chance of making it out of this basement.

  Thomas took a deep breath and struck his hands together, sliding them back and forth like he was trying to warm them. Just as he thought, sparks erupted from where his hands continually met.

  The woman didn’t show her surprise (not that he would have seen it if she had) but she did let out what at first sounded like a squeak.

  “You’re a magic-caster,” she said. It wasn’t a question, and Thomas didn’t feel the need to answer it anyway. Instead, he kept rubbing his hands together, using the very frail light to keep a lookout for where they were going.

  Then he used it to check where they had been, and he had to stifle a scream.

  He caught the brief glimpse of a skull on the ground, smiling up at him, before a hand reached out and attempted to take his. Startled, he turned away and pushed the woman and shouted, “run!”

  They did just that, not bothering to try and watch their path but simply seeking escape. The hissing grew louder still, and both of them stopped as the noise reached their ears.

  Thomas leaned forward hazardously and rubbed his hands together again, as fast as he could. Sparks erupted from his hands that he lit up the entire room for only a moment. What they saw was terrifying.

  They were completely surrounded by… things.

  They looked mostly humanoid, but they just weren’t. Their skin looked wooden and they were naked, and where there should have been eyes there were only black sockets. There were also roughly a dozen of them.

  Thomas only got a brief glimpse of them, because the sparks went out from his hands. Darkness pervaded for a moment before a flickering light replaced it.

  His hands were literally on fire.

  He didn’t jump, he didn’t shout and he didn’t breathe. He just stared at his hands, in shock. The woman was saying something, but her words didn’t register. All he knew for sure was that there were flames crackling in his palms, and he didn’t know quite how to deal with it.

  Then one of the creatures hissed two feet from his face, and he remembered he had bigger concerns.

  On instinct alone, he pulled his fist back and punched the hissing creature square in the face. It was pushed back, but the only pain appeared in Thomas’ fist, which was ringing from the force of the blow. It felt like he had punched a tree. Even worse, the fire in the hand had gone out, as did half of his visibility.

  As it turned out, half was just barely enough.

  “Here!” the woman shouted, and Thomas heard something that sounded a lot like a door open. He followed her voice through it, and slammed it behind them the moment he was through.

  “What… was… that?” Thomas huffed, his breath far more labored than it strictly needed to be.

  “I have no idea,” she huffed back, hands on her hips. “I’ve never seen anything like those before. Maybe they were zombies.”

  “You say that… very casually,” Thomas said.

  Her first response was a shrug. “There are some foul things in the deep places of the world.”

  Thomas had no answer to that, so he followed another train of thought. “But what are they doing in the castle?”

  To this, she had no answer.

  They were now in a brightly lit chamber, of which Thomas was quite thankful for. At least if anything creepy or terrifying was out to get them, they could see them coming.

  It was when that thought crossed his mind that the door burst open and the creatures followed them into the room. They immediately backpedaled before turning and outright running from the creatures. The creatures followed, slowly but inexorably towards Thomas and the woman.

  Fear warping his brain, he realized he had once again not bothered to find out the name of his beautiful companion.

  “If we live through this,” he shouted as they ran, “remind me to ask you your name.”

  He heard what may have been a chuckle, but he was too busy running to think about it. They made it to the opposite end of the hallway, one with a heavy iron door blocking it. The woman grabbed the handle and pulled, but it didn’t budge. Thomas took a turn, but it stayed locked for him too.

  “What do we do?” Thomas asked, turning to see the hissing creatures were gaining on them.

  “Burn the lock!” the woman suggested, pointing to the keyhole. Thomas stared at her as if she was insane, but the pressing danger forestalled any objection.

  He moved forward, rubbing his hands together to make sparks. He rubbed faster and faster, and eventually fire was kindled in his palms. He tried to direct it to the lock, but the fire couldn’t work up enough heat to even warm the lock.

  “Hotter!” the woman commanded, watching with dread at the approaching creatures.

  “I can’t make it hotter,” Thomas sneered, “I can barely make it at all!”

  Sure enough, the flame he could make wasn’t enough to even singe the lock, and the creatures were closing in on them. The woman drew her blade, but there were many of them and Thomas doubted they were even capable of being hurt, being as he suspected they were made of wood. They’d need an ax to cut through them.

  Or…

  He looked at his hands, a new thought striking him. Maybe he couldn’t generate a lot of flame, but it was still flame and he could utilize it against them.

  He lit his hands again and stared at them, standing his ground despite the fear pounding through his blood. When they finally closed the gap and jumped at them, Thomas reached out and grabbed the nearest one’s face.

  It caught fire a moment later.

  Thomas backed away as the creature squealed and ran into more of its kind. Predictably, they all caught flame and suddenly the hallway was full of hissing, burning creatures.

  Which wouldn’t have been nearly as big of a problem if the burning destroyed them.

  Unfortunately, this was not the case. Instead of falling to the ground, defeated, they all looked at Thomas and hissed even louder.

  “Any other ideas?”

  “Run. Runnin’ sounds good.”

  “There’s nowhere left to run!” was the screamed response. She was right; t
here were no other doors or exits from this chamber. The only way out was through a locked door, or a dozen or so burning creatures.

  Thomas and the woman moved closer together, neither one willing to admit how terrified they really were. The hissing creatures moved towards them, arms outstretched and moaning…

  The iron door opened behind them, and they were unceremoniously yanked through to the other side. The door was slammed shut and bolted immediately, and the sound of bodies hitting it reached their ears immediately.

  Thomas looked up and saw the very unhappy face of the Trask twins. They roughly hauled him to his feet, and they weren’t very gentle with the woman, either.

  “Miranda, by the way,” she said.

  “Miranda,” he repeated.

  “What are you two doing here? You’re supposed to be outside!”

  Miranda was the first to find her voice. “We saw the other strangers, and things changed. We had to go without you.”

  The taller of the Trask twins sneered, clearly unimpressed. “We handled them easily,” he said, “and then we had to save you.”

  “Thank you kindly,” Thomas interjected, “by the way.”

  Neither twin responded, but the iron door suddenly shook as something heavy hit it.

  “What are those things?” the shorter twin asked.

  “Dunno,” Thomas replied, “but I really don’t think we should be here when they get loose.”

  No one replied, but as one they turned and ran away. Whether the creatures could get free of the door or not was immaterial; all they could do was run.

  “We need to get out of here!” Thomas yelled as he ran.

  “No!” Miranda shouted back, “the job’s still on!”

  “The job?” the taller twin said incredulously, “screw the job! Those things are going to kill us!”

  Thomas had to agree, but Miranda’s jaw had set. He could almost hear her thoughts. She wasn’t leaving without that staff.

  He couldn’t help but sigh. If she was going to brave this castle’s horrors, then he couldn’t very well just leave her to do it alone. That just wasn’t something he would do. As they paused to catch their breath, he stared hard at Miranda.

  Except why not? He wasn’t even supposed to be there. He was supposed to be on his way to figuring out who had burned the village and his farm to the ground, not facing off with soldiers and burning demons and Gods knew what else. This wasn’t his problem.

  But as he looked at the stark determination on Miranda’s face, he found his own resolve slipping. He knew he shouldn’t, he knew he should just escape while he could. Whatever those creatures were, the twins, Miranda… they could all rot. Couldn’t they?

  His head dropped as the three of them started bickering. Miranda refused to go, but the twins refused to stay.

  “I’m with you, Miranda,” Thomas said, and silence immediately fell.

  “What?” was all Miranda replied, looking just as shocked as Thomas felt. He shook his head in disbelief over the words coming out of his mouth.

  “If you want this staff that badly, then I’m with you,” he said. “I’ll help however I can. But then we got to get out of here.”

  Miranda’s eyes strangely filled with tears. The sense of foreboding only increased in Thomas. Why did this staff mean so much to this girl?

  “Well, we can’t have the youngblood showing us up,” the taller twin said. “C’mon, little brother.”

  “Yeah, I guess we’re with you,” the shorter nodded.

  “Then we’re decided,” Thomas said, “so what’s our first move?”

  Miranda nodded, thinking hard. “Well,” she finally said, “our mark is still the same, and it should still be where its kept. If anything, those other intruders should help cover us.”

  “Then we head upstairs?” Thomas suggested, and Miranda nodded. Her usual seductive smile crossed her face, and he could have sworn she winked at him.

  “What about those things?” the shorter twin said, jutting his thumb back towards the creatures.

  “Hang them,” Miranda replied, “they aren’t our problem.”

  No one disagreed, and together, the group found a set of stairs that led up. Thomas didn’t have the first clue where the staff was or how they were going to get it, but he was strangely at ease.

  Chapter 6: Birth of Shadow

  That feeling lasted until they snuck through a door that led to the sleeping quarters. Immediately, they were surrounded by mostly sleeping guards in cots that had seen better days. They were worn and smelled of sweat and neglect. The few guards that were awake seemed more interested in staring mildly off into space, so they didn’t notice the door creak open and the four people dressed in black creep through the door.

  “Whatever business was outside,” Miranda whispered, “it looks like it’s been handled.” “Or they just haven’t noticed,” the taller twin said. Thomas said nothing, checking to make sure they weren’t spotted by anyone. The guards seemed to be absorbed in their own little worlds and had little regard for anything else.

  It struck Thomas as strange. Everything about this castle was odd, and not just because it was somewhere Thomas had never been before. The wooden walls were bare. There were no weapons or trophies, as if none of the soldiers actually called this place home. Thomas wasn’t sure, but he could have sworn that soldiers spent a lot of time in the barracks. Why then weren’t they taking any pride in their living space? They didn’t even take their helmets off, even when lying down.

  “Thomas!” Miranda whispered, “come on!”

  Thomas looked up to see Miranda and the twins had crossed the hallway and were already angling for the other doorway. He hastened to catch up, making sure not to be seen by anyone. Not that guards were trying very hard to keep a decent lookout…

  They exited through the door on the opposite side of the chamber without difficulty, entering a dimly lit hallway. Suits of armor lined the walls, and the ceiling was painted with different designs of strange things. A red carpet settled on the floor, and it the darkness Thomas was reminded of blood.

  What was this place?

  “It could just be me,” Thomas whispered, “but something ain’t right about this place.”

  “What do you mean?” Miranda asked as they tiptoed towards the throne room.

  “Not sure,” Thomas replied, “just… not right. This place is strange.”

  No one had anything to reply, so they just crept on in silence.

  According to Miranda, the staff was located in a vault behind the throne. Hopefully, the King shouldn’t be in court today, meaning all they had to do was subdue the guards and they were home free.

  Which would be a large contrast between how everything else in Thomas’ life was going lately.

  Though Thomas didn’t think it very wise, Miranda insisted they go through the front door. They opened it just enough from Miranda to slip through, and Thomas followed after her. The twins had to open up the door further to fit through, and only silence greeted the group.

  “So… where’re the guards?” Thomas asked.

  No one answered him, but it was clear that something was amiss. The throne room was completely empty. Torches were lit and the place was bright, but there was no living thing in the room save for those that weren’t supposed to be there.

  “Makes the job that much easier,” the taller twin said with a shrug, moving brazenly out into the middle of the room. The shorter brother followed him.

  “I really don’t think that’s a good idea,” Thomas whispered, trying to melt into the wall. Miranda stayed with him, letting the Trask twins move into the exposed area that preceded the throne. They took one look back at the cowering Thomas and Miranda before scoffing and walking towards the throne.

  They made it to the other side unimpeded.

  The throne was ornate, with gold trimming outlining red cushions and golden armrests. Behind the single chair was a weapons case that held a shining sword and a shield – the very weapons G
eneral Chromwell used in the battle against the Dark Priest.

  Though Thomas immediately wanted to touch the items, their prize was behind the weapons case.

  The twins tried to push the case aside, eager to get what was on the other side of it, but it wouldn’t budge. Only when Thomas and Miranda helped push did the case move.

  What they found was not what they expected.

  The moment they moved the case, the hissing creatures jumped out from behind them, knocking the two men to the ground. Luckily, the creatures weren’t on fire, or the twins would have burnt to death by the time Thomas and Miranda arrived to help them. Thomas wrestled one of the hissing creatures off of the taller twin without thinking about it, leaving Miranda to try her hand at removing the other creature with her sword.

  Neither were very successful.

  The hissing creature flung Thomas to the side, where he landed painfully on the red carpet. Miranda’s attacks were worse than useless, as they seemed to agitate the creature and she was sent tumbling to the floor. The creature’s hands were around the twins’ throats, and soon they both turned a uniform shade of blue.

  Thomas wasn’t having it.

  He tackled the nearest creature, which surprisingly fell to his weight and he managed to push one into the other, and both creatures released their holds. The twins rolled away, coughing, as the creatures turned their unseeing gazes to Thomas.

  Now he had their undivided attention. He gulped.

  They moved in on him, their arms held out to grasp for his face or throat or whatever else they could crush. He briefly considered sending fire at them, but that hadn’t exactly worked out the last time, so he immediately ruled it out.

  Which left one option remaining.

  He turned and ran.

  They followed him, and he made sure to stay close enough so that they wouldn’t lose interest in him. Meanwhile, Miranda capitalized on the distraction to head inside the vault to procure their prize. The twins, dazed, did nothing more than try to regain their balance.

  “I told them,” Thomas wheezed as he sprinted for a stairwell that led to the second floor balcony, “I told them this was suspicious.”