by Sam Ferguson
“I have had a vision,” Kiuwa said. “I have seen my brother riding upon a canoe in the ocean, paddling next to a pod of dolphins as they lead him to the blessed islands.” Kiuwa approached and patted Torgath on the shoulder. “There is no need to despair anymore,” Kiuwa said. “My ancestors have found my brother. He is at peace.”
Torgath gave a nod and decided to keep what he had seen to himself. Telling Kiuwa about Khefir now would only break the man’s heart. Better to get through the pass and let Kiuwa believe that his brother was enjoying the eternal seas.
But that woman. Teolang, she had said the forces that be cared more for honor than following a strict set of rules and laws. She was wrong. And what about the visions? They had shown him the way to each of his foes, but then, maybe she had been toying with him all along. She had said that some dragons liked to watch others suffer. Maybe she was covering for herself, and she was in fact the manipulator.
Whatever she was, Torgath swore to kill her if he ever saw her again. It was an empty threat, he knew, for he would never return from this quest, but it gave him momentary comfort as he struggled to understand why Tui had worked off the red mark on his arm only to be slain and dragged to the hell fires of Hammenfein.
The two made the trek up the pass in a matter of hours, breaking for camp near the peak, where the green forests gave way to dead trees and scorched rocks.
“My brother was set on coming here with you,” Kiuwa said as they made a small fire and ate a light lunch. “He admired you.”
Torgath puffed air and shook his head. “I am just an orc.”
“Just an orc?” Kiuwa asked. “No, that Teolang back in the forest was right. You’re different, peculiar even.”
The mention of the woman’s name rekindled Torgath’s anger so that he almost blurted out how she had been wrong, and how Khefir had dragged Tui away. Almost. The orc tempered himself and took a bite of bread instead.
“Think about it,” Kiuwa went on. “She had me and him both. She could have killed us with those vines of hers, or kept us as slaves if she wanted.” Kiuwa raised his forearm and showed his clean skin to Torgath. “The marks might have saved our lives you know, or at least our souls,” Kiuwa said with a smile. “She helped us in a way that we can never repay.”
Torgath grunted and swallowed his bite. “You should turn back now,” the orc said, trying to change the subject. “Your contract is over, and this is as far as you can go.”
Kiuwa looked over his shoulder at the dead, shadowy lands beyond the pass.
Torgath gazed outward as well, studying the thick clouds that cursed the land and blocked most of the sun’s light from the region. Purple and silver lightning streaked across and through the dark, black clouds. “There is nothing out there but death.” The orc knew of the wretched races that lived in the cursed lands. First there were the Verr’Tai, or blood elves as they were called in Common Tongue, next, the shades and vampires that took advantage of the lack of sunlight, and finally the cannibals and the flesh eating beasts that prowled the dead lands. They were all more deadly than any warlord’s band of riders, and yet none of them half as dangerous as the demon Torgath sought.
Fortunately, he needn’t go far into the cursed lands.
“The final demon I seek is only part of a day’s journey from the base of the pass in the cursed lands,” Torgath said. “From here, I go alone.”
Kiuwa shook his head. “No, my brother had the right of it. I will go with you, and fight the final demon.”
Torgath snarled and tossed the last bit of bread to the ground. “You will die! I will most likely die. I have seen this demon, in the visions that old woman gave me. In those visions...” Torgath looked to the bright sky behind him and grunted. “I didn’t win the battle.”
Kiuwa gave a nod and then furrowed his brow as he ate his bread. “What happens then?”
Torgath shrugged. “Then maybe I slaughter my people, and become a servant of the Void,” he said in a voice barely above a whisper. “If one is to believe dreams.”
Kiuwa gave another nod and then held up a finger. “In the dream where you fought this final demon, were you alone?”
“Of course I was, what kind of question is that?” Torgath asked. “I fight the last demon alone. That was always the plan.”
Kiuwa smiled. “Then that is why you failed. You will not be alone, Daevek.” The Kuscan rose to his feet and moved to kneel before Torgath. “You are worthy of the armor, and the title.” Kiuwa bowed his head. “I pledge my life to you, and my strength.”
Torgath nearly blushed, for he detected no hint of mockery as in times past. He sighed and closed his eyes for a moment, wishing he knew how to extricate himself from this situation, but he knew he could not refuse such an open and honest pledge. There was only one answer to give to Kiuwa.
Torgath stood and walked to Kiuwa, who still was nearly as tall as Torgath even while kneeling. “I do not know what your culture requires as an answer to accept such an honorable pledge,” Torgath began, “but in mine there is a custom. He drew his dagger from his belt and bid Kiuwa to rise and stretch out his arm. The Kuscan did as asked. Torgath set the flat of his dagger against Kiuwa’s forearm and then rested his left forearm over the top. “As a tree can be made stronger by grafting in the branch of another, so too can a family be made stronger by adopting the blood of another. Let our blood graft bind our fates and double our strength.” The orc then twisted the dagger carefully and made a quick, shallow slice as he pulled it from between their arms. He then sheathed the dagger and loosed the belt holding it to his waist with one hand. He wrapped the straps around their arms and then placed his right hand on Kiuwa’s shoulder.
“You came to me a stranger, but through the shedding and mixing of blood, you have become my brother.”
Kiuwa placed his hand on Torgath’s shoulder and smiled faintly. “You may wear the skin of an orc, but you have the heart of a Daevek and the soul of a dragon. You are Kuscan, through and through. I will serve you until the stars have left the skies and the oceans have lost their waters.”
The two stood there for a few moments longer, and then Torgath untied the dagger and offered it to Kiuwa. “It is customary for me to give you my dagger, as a token of acceptance into my family.”
Kiuwa gave a slight bow of his head and secured the dagger to his waist. “I hope to use it well very soon.”
The two laughed and then finished their lunch before making their descent into the cursed lands.
They walked down the rocky, barren slope leading their horses by the guide lines in an attempt to conserve the animals’ energy. The wind blew at the pair from the east, bringing with it a strange, sulfuric smell laced with the faint odor of rotting flesh and decomposing vegetation. The sunlight faded to nearly nothing as they walked under the ceiling of thick, cursed clouds that were rumored to have been cast by the army of demons that invaded Terramyr shortly after the Great War.
Torgath felt a chill run down his spine. It wasn’t fear exactly, but he felt a shift in the balance of things around him. On the other side of the pass he had felt confident in his abilities, for he was the top fighter in the land. Here, however, he felt very much like a naked adolescent. His eyes scanned the rocks and crags around him for any sign of movement, for here he was the sort of prey the cursed lands were accustomed to hunting and slaying with ease.
Even crawling into Glimwyrm’s caldera hadn’t left quite the same impression on him.
“Eyes,” Kiuwa called out.
Torgath followed the Kuscan’s gesture and found a trio of yellow eyes glowing in the darkness. The creature was small, no larger than a hare in the fields near Torgath’s home, but it was strange and dark. Large, round ears sat atop the flat head, and the three eyes watched Torgath very carefully as grotesquely long fingers tapped the rocks in front of the creature. A large, bushy tail stood erect behind the thing, as if testing the wind around it and feeling for vibrations. The creature then tapped the rocks once more
and ejected a long tongue from its mouth down to a crack in the rocks. It brought up a beetle, or at least that’s what Torgath assumed it to be, and ate it quickly before turning and scampering away.
“It eats bugs,” Torgath said.
Kiuwa nodded. “I feel other eyes watching us, but the bug eater is the only thing I could see.”
The orc gave a grunt. “I feel it too. Be wary, brother.”
The path winded across the slope, skirting around a precipice beyond which was a several hundred foot drop.
“It narrows out, be careful,” Kiuwa stated.
Torgath waited a few seconds for Kiuwa and the first horse to pass by and walk along the narrow ledge. The orc glanced to the sheer, rocky slope above the ledge, but it was too steep to safely walk along. The ledge would have to do. It was wide enough for the horse to walk easily, but it still made Torgath feel uneasy. He kept imagining some strange cliff-dwelling creature would reach over the edge and pull them down, and was only too happy to finally reach a wider, easier path that led them down a gentler slope beside the cliff.
As they reached the base of the pass a couple of hours later, Torgath spied a pile of rubble that appeared out of place.
“What’s this?” Torgath asked, pointing to the pile stacked near a boulder.
“Probably a trap,” Kiuwa surmised. “I have heard of adventurers foolish enough to come out this way.”
As they neared the pile of items, Torgath could see they were remnants of armor, bits of human bone, and broken weapons all piled together. Years of neglect had covered the metal with a thick layer of rust, and the symbols on the tattered tunics and banners were hardly recognizable anymore.
“Trap, or perhaps a victory pile,” Torgath said after inspecting it.
Kiuwa nodded and the two continued onward.
The flat, rocky terrain smelled of petrichor and static. The wind stirred up red and black dust. The horizon was difficult to see, but the area was nearly entirely flat around them. No additional mountains or hills. No forests. No lakes. Only a faint orange glow off to the east.
“Gaia’s Tear?” Kiuwa said, pointing to the orange glow.
Torgath nodded. “I imagine so. I have heard there is no other source of light in these parts.”
“The volcano that leads to the gates of hell,” Kiuwa said with a shake of his head. “Well, good thing you and Teolang got to us before Khefir,” Kiuwa said with a smile.
Torgath winced and quickly looked away from Kiuwa. “We shouldn’t mention that name here,” he said. “In fact, we shouldn’t speak anymore. Anything could be prowling these parts.”
They walked eastward for nearly three hours before they eventually found the place that Torgath had seen in his vision. From a distance it was little more than a dark line in the rocks, but as they drew near, the two of them found a chasm spanning twenty feet across and running several hundred feet long. Torgath looked down into the chasm and felt his heart thump in his chest.
Somewhere in that canyon was the demon that had sired him.
At the bottom of the pit was the monster that had seduced Torgath’s mother and dishonored his family.
Torgath’s nerves melted in his anger as he thought of his mother. Thoughts of his uncle came back into his mind. The orc snarled and turned back to his horse for the rope.
A shadow moved in the darkness. Torgath paused and drew his sword.
Kiuwa pulled his own sword and spun around.
A flash of movement to the left put the orc on edge. He raised his sword to strike, but nothing came at him.
“I can smell you, little one,” a harsh voice called out from the pit. “Do you really think to challenge me?”
Torgath realized that his approach had been discovered. The voice was the same as what he had heard in his vision. He turned to Kiuwa. “You can still escape,” Torgath said in hushed tones.
Kiuwa smiled back and shook his head. “I could never leave my Daevek’s side.”
“Come down then,” the voice called out. “Climb into the pit, Torgath, and let us see who emerges the victor. Or, swear allegiance to me, and serve the Void. We could rule together.”
Torgath felt a sharp stab in his head and the visions flooded back to him in a jumble of images. Glimwyrm roared and poured fire upon Torgath’s home, the demon spread its wings and flew over the land, Torgath stood beside them both, covered in blood and smiling as he surveyed the scene.
“NO!” Torgath shouted as he forced the images from his mind. “I will not serve the Void!”
Something charged from behind, snarling and fast. Torgath could hardly see the creature, but he had enough time to whirl around and slice the four-legged beast across the chest. It collapsed to the ground and Torgath pierced it with his sword. Flames rose up from the beast and three souls emerged as the monster died.
“A demon?” Kiuwa asked.
Torgath nodded. “A lesser demon, the servant of my final enemy.”
Kiuwa spun around just as another wolf-like creature charged at him. The Kuscan removed the thing’s head with an expert swing of his sword and kicked the body aside.
The orc, after checking that there were no other similar beasts nearby, walked to the corpse and thrusted his sword into the lesser demon’s heart. This one too caught fire, and seven souls emerged.
“We should hurry,” Kiuwa said.
Torgath and Kiuwa set about preparing the ropes for their descent. They found secure boulders to tie off their ropes and then made their way down. The air grew hotter the farther down they went, and the sulfuric smell became almost overpowering. At the bottom of the hole, some two hundred feet down from the surface, the cracked ground glowed ever so slightly with the promise of an underground magma tube that baked the surface.
“Be careful here,” Torgath said. “The ground may not be strong.”
Kiuwa tested a patch of dirt and stone with his sword only to find that a sizeable chunk of ground collapsed under the pressure and fell ten feet down to disappear within the lava.
“Fantastic,” Kiuwa said, patting his stomach. “I shouldn’t have eaten the last bit of bread.”
Torgath smiled, admiring the nearly four hundred pound Kuscan’s ability to jest given the situation.
The two of them picked their way carefully to a cave at the base of the cliff. The stone inside the cliff was solid, and they were able to breathe easy knowing that the ground wouldn’t fall out beneath them. The air grew hotter and thicker as they entered the cave. Torgath’s lungs labored to pull in enough air to fuel his movements, and for a short time he was worried that this might be his undoing, but after fifty feet the cave turned off to the left and opened into a large chamber where the air was sweeter and easier to breathe.
Kiuwa pointed to a large mound of bones. Torgath nearly shrugged it off, but then he saw something unusual. A dragon’s skull, cracked and discolored with age, sat near the base of the pile.
“This thing killed a dragon?” Kiuwa asked. “How big is this demon, exactly?”
A throaty laugh filled the chamber.
“You brought a friend, how quaint.” A figure stepped into the chamber from an opening on the far side.
Torgath could see barely more than a shadow at first, but as the being moved through the darkness toward them he could discern the humanoid shape. No. Not humanoid, but actually human.
“Seems a bit small, doesn’t he?” Kiuwa asked.
Torgath arched a brow and studied the figure. In every respect it was a human male, dressed in fine black clothing with gold trim. He had a slender waist and broad shoulders. His arms were big, but not nearly as muscular as either Torgath’s or Kiuwa’s.
The man snapped his fingers and blue flames sprang to life in the chamber, flooding the area with light.
“That can’t be a demon,” Kiuwa said. “It’s just a man. No way could he slay a dragon.”
“I take the form I took when I visited your mother, Torgath.” The demon spread his arms out to the side and spu
n around in the light, displaying his long, silver hair. A large, green jewel glowed as it twirled from the end of an amulet the demon wore.
“What does he mean?” Kiuwa asked.
The demon stopped and let his hands fall to his sides. “Has he not told you?”
Torgath clenched his jaw. He wanted to silence the demon before he could say anything, but his mouth wouldn’t open. Instead, the fire inside him swelled and propelled him forward, step by step. Torgath knew what would happen as soon as the demon revealed the secret. There was no pretending Kiuwa would wait around for the fight now.
“I am Torgath’s father,” the demon said with a laugh. “I, not an orc warrior, sired the one you call Daevek, and honor with your ancestral armor and mask.”
Torgath stopped and called out. “You are no father of mine!”
“Come now, Torgath. Look, your friend leaves you.” The demon pointed with his right hand and cocked his head to the side. “Who will ever accept you now?”
Torgath glanced over his shoulder to see Kiuwa disappearing into the tunnel beyond. “I am sorry, my brother,” Torgath whispered as he closed his eyes.
“He is not your brother,” the demon said, his voice so close that Torgath startled and turned back to see the demon had crossed nearly a hundred feet in the moment he had glanced away. The orc swung his sword, but the demon landed a kick to Torgath’s chest that sent him skittering across the stone floor of the chamber. “No one beyond this cave will ever accept you again,” the demon shouted, his words causing the very walls to tremble. “You are a son of the Void. Join with me, and we shall rule together!”
Torgath stood up and spat on the ground. “I will never join you.”
“Then I shall slay you and devour your soul,” the demon countered as he checked his nails and flexed his fingers. “You shall be returned to the nothingness from which you were spawned, and your life shall have ended meaninglessly.”
Torgath shook his head. “No,” he said as he thought of the hundreds of souls he had already set free. “Not meaninglessly. But you are right. Either you or I will die now, and the vanquished soul shall disappear into the Void.”
