‘Help’—it was such a small word, but it packed a wealth of meaning. For as long as Sarn could remember, he’d wanted help but had never known how to ask for it, or who to even ask. For much of his life, he hadn’t had anyone to ask.
By some miracle, he did now, and there were no strings attached, no quid pro quo, just an honest offer of the help he so desperately needed. So Sarn did what he’d never allowed himself to do before. He strained toward that offer of help with every fiber of his being, determined just this once to take it at face value and accept. Not just his life rode on this decision, but his son’s, and he would never fail that boy. Ever.
Years later, Sarn would look back at this moment and see it for what it was. Because the instant he grabbed that hand, Sarn became the change he’d been searching for. And that made all the difference in not just his life and his son’s, but in all the generations that followed them.
Come into the Light
Nulthir fell into darkness until something caught him. Not another tentacle. Haven’t I dealt with enough of those already? Apparently not, if the afterlife was full of them.
“Nulthir, come into the light,” a man said in a voice that brooked no argument.
As he finished speaking, light pierced the darkness, dividing it, then a second bolt shot perpendicularly across the first one to form a cross. In the center of that blindingly white cross, a man beckoned to Nulthir.
“Who are you?”
“A friend of a friend.”
“You’re the Shining One, aren’t you?”
“I prefer J.C. It’s less of a mouthful. Come into the light.”
Nulthir hung back. He couldn’t get a read on this man-of-light. “We’ve been looking for you. Why haven’t we found you?”
“Because the Lower Quarters is a very large and twisty place, and there’s a monster doing a poor job of remodeling it. Because there are these annoying things called ‘nulls’ eating magic and interfering every time I try to help someone. Because there are trapped souls in need of saving. For all those reasons and more, I’ve had to stay on the move.”
Nulthir took a moment to digest all that. He hadn’t expected an answer.
“There’s just one monster? I thought there were two.”
“There’s just one. ‘It has many arms,’ as my young friend is fond of saying and many tentacles too.” J.C. extended his hand. “Come into the light.”
“Where are we?”
“We’re not anywhere. The Adversary has thrown things so far out of whack, there’s no psychopomp waiting to escort you to the afterlife, and that worries me greatly. The Queen of All Trees never misses a soul. But I haven’t seen or sensed her in many hours.”
“Who’s ‘the Adversary?’”
Nulthir squinted into the light. Every good Shayarin was familiar with the Queen of All Trees especially if they grew up, like he had, in the deep woods where her word was law. But this ‘Adversary’ was new to him.
“Come into the light, and I’ll show you.”
Nulthir took a hesitant step forward. “What’s on the other side of that light?”
“The world you left behind when—I believe it was the ‘shock-and-awe’ rune—drained all you had left to give, leaving no energy to sustain life. Good choice by the way. That rune is effective for covering a retreat.”
“Thanks. I didn’t have a lot of time to choose. Since that rune was already inscribed on my nightstick, I just went with it.”
“Now you need to come into the light with Me.” J.C. beckoned him onward.
“Will you be there when I wake up?”
“Seek and you shall find.”
“So that’s a ‘no?’”
“It’s a ‘not yet.’ We will meet again, but I have something I need to do first.”
“Does that something involve ‘the Adversary?’”
“It might just.” J.C. winked, and His light obliterated everything.
“Wake up, damn you,” Iraine said from far away then pain radiated out from where she’d slapped him.
Nulthir woke to total darkness and a stinging cheek. “Ouch.”
“Good, you’re back.
Nulthir rubbed his jaw. It wasn’t dislocated, but it smarted from that blow. “You struck a superior officer, just so you know.”
“No, I smacked a dear friend for executing a boneheaded idea.”
“Yeah, but did you have to hit me so hard? I think you loosened a few of my teeth.”
She hadn’t, but she had gotten a bit overzealous about bringing him around.
“Don’t you ever do that again, or I’ll do more than slap you.”
“Is that a promise?”
“If you’re done playing the martyr, I’ll return to being your subordinate now.”
“I’m done. I have nothing left to give anyway.”
“How about an explanation. What did you do back there?”
“I distracted and hopefully stunned some of our pursuers. Did it work?”
Nulthir scanned the darkness, but the world was still a little topsy-turvy, and it was pitch-black because he’d used up the reserve that had powered his dawn-rune. It was just a curvy silver pendant now.
“Hard to tell. The loud boom and the supernaturally bright light rendered me senseless for a while. It likely had the same effect on the monsters.
“Monster, singular. There’s only one.”
“How do you know that?”
The answer faded away before Nulthir could remember who had told him that. There had been something in between triggering the shock-and-awe spell and now, and there was a corresponding hole in his memory. How long was I out cold? There was no way to know down here since the sky wasn’t visible, and he’d lost all track of the bells that rang hourly.
Nulthir struggled to sit up. Iraine helped him and stayed so close by his side their thighs touched. He ignored the pleasant sensation that stirred up because she was his subordinate.
In fact, he should check on the condition of his people, but he was so tired. Maybe he’d just lie back down and let his second see to the others, or Iraine. She’d make a fine captain.
“Yeah, but I don't want the job, so you’ll have to keep doing it.” She punched his arm playfully, but there was a note of worry in her voice.
“Where is everyone?”
“I'm not sure. I lost a few minutes there after you did whatever you did. Maybe more than a few then I had a friend to keep breathing, so you'll forgive me for not keeping track of the time.”
Iraine shot him a glare he could feel but not see.
“Where are we?”
“In an adjacent tunnel, cavern, whatever. This is the Lower Quarters. There's more damned tunnels than anything else down here, so we're probably in another one.”
“I hear running water. It must be close by.”
Nulthir struggled to rise and instead, fell back down on his rump. His body was heavy and unwieldy, and it complained every time he moved.
“Are you thinking of taking a swim?”
“If it comes to that, yes. I propose we follow the first river we find out of here and come up with a better plan.”
“Sounds good to me.”
“Thing One? Can you hear me?”
“The Shining One comes,” was his friend’s faint reply.
I think I met him already; Nulthir thought but didn't send to his friend as a feeling of déjà vu washed over him.
Iraine touched a finger to his lips, motioning for him to keep quiet then he heard it too—the sounds of many things slithering in the dark. Those tentacles weren't stunned anymore. How close were they?
She removed her finger and scanned the darkness. Nulthir listened hard and tried to judge the distance between the ground-bound threats and them. We just need to get to the water without being skewered by something we can’t see. No pressure.
Two abrasive surfaces grated against each other nearby. Are we trapped? I wish I could relight the dawn-rune. Nulthir had sacrificed it to bu
y them time, but his plan had failed. And he was running out of time. No one who was magic-touched could survive for long without any magic at all. Nulthir was living on borrowed time now.
“Come to the water.”
“Who said that?” Nulthir whispered. “I don't recognize the voice.” But it was familiar. Where have I heard that voice before?
“What voice? I didn't hear anything.”
Which meant he’d hallucinated it, and he was probably hallucinating that light glimmering to his left. The glow was hand-shaped, and it beckoned to Nulthir. Where there was light, there was magic in Shayari anyway. Nulthir crept around what he hoped was a boulder and not a coiled tentacle.
“Where are you going?” Iraine whispered from behind him.
Nulthir pointed to the light instead of risking any more speech, which was a stupid move because Iraine couldn’t see what he was pointing at. What exactly could those tentacles sense—movement, sound? Could they see in the dark too? Until he knew for certain, he'd move slowly and carefully and feel his way to the source of that light in case it wasn't a hallucination. Fate knows, we’ve earned a break.
His parents still followed the old ways, and they'd paid homage to every old-world god and goddess of the fallen pantheons. So, did I before I left home. After that, Nulthir had followed no religious path at all except his conscience, and it was urging him to go to that light. Weak as he was, that was about all he could manage right now.
Nulthir froze when a tentacle slid past his foot. It was as wide as his torso and thoroughly hidden by the darkness. Unfortunately, the light he followed didn't reach this far.
“You're crazy, you know that, right?” Iraine whispered in his ear.
She crouched right behind him, so close they were almost touching. Was she following him? Her hand brushed his, and he squeezed it to signal for silence.
She squeezed back. Message received. Thank Fate. Nulthir willed the tentacle not to sense them. For a long moment, its shaft pressed against his leg while its tip felt around for them. Thank Fate, sturdy boots with steel-reinforced toes were standard gear for the Guards. They were all that stood between him and five broken toes until it finally slithered away.
“Captain, where are you?” Ishten asked, and every tentacle within earshot shot toward him. The grating sound of their bodies slithering over piles of debris drowned out the shouts of alarm. All his remaining Guards were screaming at the monster they couldn't see.
“Everybody shut up. They’re keying in on sound and using that to locate you,” Agalthar shouted before Nulthir could.
“Here monster, monster,” Iraine stomped her feet and clapped her hands to draw some of those tentacles away from Ishten. Nulthir tried to stop her, but when he’d given up the last dregs of his magic, he'd also lost much of his strength. So Iraine evaded him easily.
“Don’t worry about me. I've got divine protection.”
Indeed, the symbols of her faith still glowed faintly on her skin, and they were all the light they had.
“You know what they say—where there's light, there's magic. So, you go to that light you see and get us some help. Don't worry about me. I'll be right behind you.”
When Nulthir didn't budge, Iraine shoved him, and that got him moving. Maybe she was right. Nulthir stumbled over another tentacle and just missed being skewered by it thanks to a warning Thing One sent, and he had no idea how Thing One had seen it in the dark.
“Where are you?” Nulthir sent back. He'd almost forgotten about his winged companion.
“With the Shining One. He comes.”
“Where is he?”
“Right here,” said the light as it reached for Nulthir. “But you have to believe for that to be true.”
“Believe what?”
The light was everywhere now. It flooded the tunnel revealing several bodies, and a tentacle lunging for him. Nulthir ducked, and it struck the dark surface behind him, cracking it. Chunks of stone fell, revealing a dark cavity and the welcome sound of rushing water. Let there be more space to fight in there. Nulthir prayed as a second tentacle rushed him.
“Come to the water. This is all the help I can give you without breaking the rules.”
“What rules?”
The Shining One didn’t answer. He faded into a luminous cross and sailed into the darkness, shedding some light on just how dire their situation was.
Nulthir tripped over a body. A bell rang, not the normal bells of Mount Eredren, but a warning bell as he glanced through the hole.
The denizens of the Lower Quarters tended to make their homes in caverns like the one on the other side of this wall. Great, there might be innocent people in there, and he was leading a monster right to them. Well, there was no time to worry about that. They had only one viable option–go through that wall or die here cornered in another collapsing tunnel.
Iraine caught his eye. “Are you thinking of moving the fight to a better venue?”
“That was the plan, but there’s a problem with that.”
“Isn’t there always?”
“We need to widen that hole.”
“Since demolition is their thing. I'll goad them into doing it. Get ready to dodge.” Iraine tossed him a rueful smile then banged the flat of her axe against a stalagmite to get the creature’s attention as the Shining One’s light faded.
“Hey ugly, I’m over here, and you’re a miserable excuse for a monster.”
Iraine shoved Nulthir aside as a tentacle slammed into the space she'd just occupied and widened the hole, then that tentacle flopped down onto the ground and didn't move.
“What happened?”
“I think it’s out cold.”
Nulthir heard a soft thud. “Did you just kick it?”
“Yes, and it's definitely down for the count. The question is why. These things have been hammering away at everything in their path without taking any damage at all until now. What's so different about this wall?”
Too tired to rise, Nulthir reached past the downed tentacle and felt around inside the hole. “There’s metal tubes running through the wall. This isn't a natural tunnel. The Litherians must have made it for some unknown reason.”
“I'm glad they did. You sit tight preferably out of the way, and I'll draw some more over. Let’s see how wide we can make that hole, and how many of these things we can knock out.”
O, Guardian, Most Dear
As Sarn seized his hero’s hand, and the lifeline it represented, the pain diminished; the veil receded, and something inside him changed forever. Sarn came to on the cold, hard ground and blinked to clear his sight. Two Rans knelt at his side, gnawing on the ears of their stuffed Bears.
Next to his son, a man in brilliant armor like that worn by the knights of Mount Eredren sat, and there were two of him too. The two warriors in shining armor kept merging then diverging, making it hard to make out much about the warrior who’d somehow pulled him back to consciousness. He was seeing double again
Beyond his savior, there were dark things—tentacles probably—stabbing at something far above. Sarn pointed at them. They were closer than they were before he’d blacked out. The monster was coming this way. Had it finally noticed them?
“The monster—”
“I know. We need to go, but we can’t move you until your condition stabilizes.”
“What condition? I just have a concussion.”
Sarn tried to sit up, but pain backhanded him into submission. He lay there while the world spun around him, and his stomach decided whether it wanted to evacuate its contents.
“I wish that was all it was.”
“What else could be wrong with me?” Sarn fought to keep the panic out of his voice. Ran needed him healthy.
“Papa has low magic, right? Bear said something about magic levels, and how if they fall too low it’s bad.” Ran shook his stuffed toy to make it clear who he meant.
“Your son is right. That plus the concussion is wreaking havoc on your body. So, you need to lie
still while I see what I can do.”
The Guardian nodded to Ran, and glowing particles lifted away from him. He seemed to be fading away before Sarn’s very eyes, and he couldn’t allow that. He reached out and caught the man’s gauntleted hand.
“Don’t go. Please, don’t go.”
A wild burst of strength helped Sarn crunch up to a sit then the world went black until a strong arm shot out and arrested his fall.
“Take it easy. I’m not going anywhere, and you’re not either. You need to lie still.”
“No, we need to go. That black cloud rushing toward us is generated by a black lumir crystal. It eats magic. It’ll eat you too.”
“Papa’s right. It’s bad stuff.”
Ran captured some of the shimmering motes flying away from the Guardian beside them. They were glowing sand grains against his pale palm.
“Well, that’s problematic because you need some healing before you can go anywhere, and healing is a type of magic.”
“No,” Sarn threw himself to the left and out of his hero’s grip. How could his hero even suggest such a thing?
Sarn landed hard on his side, and his ribs complained. They weren’t broken, just achy from being pummeled by flying debris. His head throbbed from the sudden movement, and his sight tunneled and dimmed again, but Sarn fought down the urge to pass out. Ran needs me conscious. And Sarn wasn’t sure he could survive the healer’s touch right now.
He felt so thin and stretched like a fraying rope about to snap from the strain. When it did, he’d fall into an unconsciousness so deep, he might never wake up again. He was that exhausted.
“You really need to lie still and let me help you.”
“No.”
Two pairs of translucent hands rushed toward Sarn. He was certain only one of them was real, but he couldn’t tell which one. Better to avoid them both, so he rolled, and his head pounded, and his stomach heaved.
“Thank you for the offer, but don’t. I’ll heal on my own.”
Sarn got his knees under him and with a little help, he made it to a sitting position. Then everything grayed out, and Sarn came to lying on his back.
Curse Breaker: Sundered Page 30
