by BJ Hanlon
Suddenly, there was a whoosh in his ears, a quick, tornado-strength gust whipping past his head and his body somehow suddenly felt something like seasickness. Edin opened his eyes and sat up. He lowered his head to his palms and swayed.
“What, where,” the voice came from in front of him and Edin looked up. “What the heck? Where am I…”
Then Edin saw him, Dorset, standing before him in pure white. He was looking around, seemingly panicked and freaking out. His voice was rising.
Edin reached out and summoned an ethereal ball. “Dorset, it is me,” he said.
It took Dorset a moment, he looked down at Edin with weird eyes that were slowly turning blue, his hair, glowing with a tint of blond.
“Edin? It’s you?” He seemed to have difficulty finding words for a moment then he said, “Where are you?”
Edin stood. “It’s good to see you’re alive. That wound...”
“I’ve had worse,” he said and Edin raised an eyebrow. “Okay, no I haven’t but you did a pretty good job with the healing.” He began looking down at his arm and rolling his shoulder. “Rihkar finished it. I was on my feet again in three days.”
Edin smiled. “Good, so are you home with Cannopina? Is everyone still on the isle?”
“No,” said Dorset. His voice was quick and certain. “We landed south of Carrow a few days ago. Canno is here with me. We set up camp by destroyed dry docks.”
Edin clenched his jaw, he’d hoped that his friends were still safe on Delrot, but no, they were back on the mainland. “Is it dark by you as well?”
“All the time. Where are you?”
“I’m in a fort, just inside the Resholt border.”
“You’re in a fort?”
“I took it earlier tonight.”
“Took it? Why? Why are you there? Is that where the elves are?”
Edin swallowed and shook his head, then he looked away. “You haven’t seen Berka yet, have you?”
“He’s with you I thought?”
“We got separated,” said Edin. “I’m heading to Calerrat. It has a big port you see. And there is something coming, something bad and—” Edin stopped because Dorset flickered. “Dorset?” said Edin then he began to fade., “Dorset?”
There was no answer. Edin held the stone and looked at it in the ethereal light. It still looked bright and shiny. How did he get Dorset back? He spun it, he closed his eyes and pictured Dorset and said his name.
Nothing happened.
He growled and squeezed the stone. “Work you bloody thing,” he said. But still nada. He heard footsteps and looked up to see Vicker. “Can we do some lessons?” he said.
Edin grunted. “I’m not in the mood,” he said in a quiet, annoyed voice. “Try talking to Vistach.”
“I want to be a mage…” he whined.
“If you want to learn spells, maybe Arianne will teach you. I’m busy.”
He laid back down on the bench and closed his eyes trying to bring Dorset back. The small footsteps started to fade and he heard the kid curse.
He saw the tunnel again. The long straight tunnel that went on for miles; hundreds, maybe thousands of miles and delved deep into the earth.
It was filled with all sorts of beings. All sorts of monsters coming to be unleashed on the world. There was a two-headed dog with eyes the color of fire, hellfire. There were giants, ones that looked to have ice growing from their bodies and others that looked like they were trees; but not any tree he’d ever seen. A ghostly looking tree from the swamps of old.
Mixed in between them were other dematians. Though compared to the other monsters, they looked small.
Everyone was stopped though and at the front of the line he saw the demon god. The spiked tail and the deep red eyes. He saw the slick, pitch black skin that seemed to suck in the light.
Then a thud. There were huge, powerful fists that slammed the wall before him. A great door before him but the door did not move.
“Open.” The voice boomed and hissed and grated Edin’s head. Another thud. Then another. “Now! Now! Now!”
The thudding woke Edin up and he fell off the bench landing on the damp, dew covered grass. There was a glossy sheen of white light above him though everything still looked like twilight. He scrambled to his feet and looked around.
Then he thought again of the dream. “Blast. He’s almost free,” Edin whispered.
He went to the barracks and found everyone asleep. Edin quickly began to rouse them though he tried not to put too much fear into his words. He spotted Arianne, alone on a bed with sad eyes staring at him. They were unbelieving eyes. She didn’t say anything as she stood.
They broke their fast and after about an hour, everyone was ready and Vistach lead. Apparently, he knew the quickest road to Calerrat as he’d taken it three times in the last month, since the family first arrived in Calerrat after they fled Yaultan. Edin had no idea what happened since the old constable had left their hometown.
They followed Vistach out the open gate and into the gloom. Edin stayed in the rear and looked left and right for attackers, both human and beast.
Up ahead, he could hear Vicker talking with his mother and aunt about the trip while Arianne hung back a way.
Edin glanced at her. With his mind he tried willing her to turn around or slow down and keep pace with him while they walked.
She didn’t do either.
They hadn’t talked since she yelled at him the night before, in fact he hadn’t really talked with anyone except for rousing them.
No one looked back or said anything to Edin. They all assumed he’d take the rear and follow them.
Edin wondered if he stopped here, how long would it be before they realized they were a man short?
But Edin didn’t stop. He followed them like a good soldier and watched the sides of the road and behind them. The natural sunlight was aided by the torches carried by Arianne and Vistach but it still offered little visibility. On either side was undulating land, treeless and barren but for grass and ferns.
There were outlines of bushes overlooking a vast open expanse to the east. What it was he didn’t know until he overheard Vistach saying that the Mirasa Sea was there.
Then, Edin imagined he could hear the waves pulsing and pounding. He imagined the foam and the sea spray leaping up. It was just as it had always been, all it always would be.
At least for now.
Did Yio Volor care for the sea? Would he let it and all of the creatures of the sea die as well?
That did not matter to Edin. There was nothing he could do to stop the coming tide. The end of man and beast, forest and elf. It was the end of the magi and the kingdoms and the states and everything.
There’d be no one left to fight over this world.
Edin guessed that at one point the dematians would form tribes or states and they’d start warring with each other in a century. Probably sooner. It was the way of the world Edin thought.
People, sentient beings would fight for limited resources. They also want their space and the freedom to do what they want.
Why should it not be the same for those demons.
Yes, they’re cruel, probably crueler than mankind, but that wasn’t a definite.
What would Edin do if he found a village of dematians? One with women and children, if there were even such a thing; would he burn their town and throw them on a pyre the way they had done in Glustown and probably many other places?
It was quite probable. Maybe they weren’t so different than us?
“Here is a good place for lunch,” a voice called. It was Vistach and he was standing off to the side of the road next to a sign. Edin tried to read it. ‘Pointe Vista Inn and Tavern.’ Beneath it said ‘One Mile’ with an arrow pointing up into the air.
Edin doubted it was a mile into the dark sky. “If you want,” he said as he moved up.
“Is it open?” Arianne asked. “I mean are there still people there?
“It was last week, before the dark
ness,” Vistach said and there was a look that came over him, a contemplative look of regret or deep thought, Edin couldn’t tell which.
“If you want,” said Arianne, “you’re leading, we do have food and coin.”
Might as well spend it, Edin thought, it won’t be good for much longer.
Vistach nodded and headed down the road again. Edin wished he knew the time or how long they’d been walking. It must’ve been at least five hours or so. He was used to this though, but he could see that Duria and Vicker were not. They were cart riders, not walkers, and they’d had to stop many times heading through the forest the day before to rest.
Today, Edin wanted speed, he wanted—needed—to get to Calerrat faster. He’d convince Arianne to flee with him, and if he couldn’t, he’d kidnap her.
Edin stared at her flowing blonde hair; it had gotten back much of the color and body that she had had before her time.
He didn’t want to think about her time there and wasn’t sure that she would ever tell him. Maybe if they had more years together.
If they had more time as time heals all wounds. Or so they say. She could tell him of the freezing river and the ice bridge and fighting off dematians and draugrs.
Edin looked away trying to move his thoughts from that to something else. He looked off to the east and thought he could see the broken-up reflection of a dim sun on waves. He thought he could hear it now too and then looked ahead as the fire from Vistach’s light began to reveal a tall and wide building.
Edin saw large, wide white stairs that led to a porch, one with a railing and ornately carved wooden spindles that rose from a bottom rail to the top. The porch went right and left until it was out of the light’s reach. Despite only seeing by the flame, Edin could tell the color of the building was a light blue, except for the trim and stairs, which were white and there were large glass windows that overlooked the porch. Inside the windows were white curtains drawn and he thought he saw one move.
Vistach ascended the stairs and knocked heavily on the door.
Hanging from a metal rack was the sign, ‘Pointe Vista Inn and Tavern.’ Edin must’ve been lost in his thoughts because he felt that it was a quick mile.
Vistach then reached for the doorknob and twisted.
Edin thought for a moment it was locked, but then there was the squealing of old and unoiled hinges and firelight poured out from the inside.
A small fire by the looks of it and Vistach turned and tossed the torch off the porch and over the railing. They began climbing the stairs and slowly entered the inn, Edin of course was last.
He heard talking beyond the entrance, quiet talking but it was proof it wasn’t abandoned.
“Who is there? We don’t got—” It was a frightened voice with quite a bit of trepidation. At least for the first moment then he heard. “Captain?” Now her voice went from afraid to relieved.
“Howdy,” Vistach said as he nodded.
“We were told that the fort was overrun,” the lady, a fair woman with long black hair but a wrinkled complexion looked over the visitors. There were three other men in the room sitting at a table.
They looked rough, like they’d been out in the wilds for much of the last week.
A lot like me. Edin thought.
The men slowly reached their hands to their sides. Weapons most likely and Edin placed his hand on Mirage’s hilt.
“A misunderstanding,” Vistach said. “I am escorting these people to the capital.” He waved them forward, the greatsword that Edin had reluctantly allowed him to carry was strapped to his back and he hadn’t gone for it yet.
As they stepped forward, Edin eyed the men as they pushed out of their chairs and stood.
“This is my son’s closest friend. Do you remember me telling you about Berka?”
“The Por Fen Monk?”
“That is the one,” Vistach said and Edin wondered what else Vistach told the lady. Was Edin ever brought up?
The woman stepped up toward Edin and reached out her hand. “A pleasure, my name is Ploveliane, I am the proprietor of this place.”
“And a relative to Prince Feracrucio.”
“Rather distant,” she said with a cautious timbre. “But yes, this is my land and my place.” Her smile then faded. “For now. The vista is not too great these days. Not while this darkness is falling.”
There was a grumbling of agreement from around the room.
“Nice to meet you,” Edin took her hand and shook it. “I am Edin.”
There, movement, slight, over by the men, and he knew he’d made a mistake. He caught Vistach’s eye and the constable knew it to.
“Please have the cook whip up some lunch,” Vistach said, his voice clipped.
“Thank the gods he has not run yet, my chambermaid has, afraid for her family. At least there has not been any sign of trouble here.”
“Except for the endless night,” said Vistach.
“Right.”
Then Edin asked, “Is there anywhere people can still see the sun? Maybe one of the isles down south?”
“Not that I am aware of, young sir,” said Ploveliane. “I do hope it ends soon; I hope this all ends soon. One way or another.”
Arianne gave him a look that he ignored.
Vistach chose to eat with the proprietor while the rest ate quietly around a small table, elbows and knees touching each other.
The food was fine, the ale was heavenly. Edin couldn’t remember the last time he had one. Wine, yes he’d had that, but ale was oh so much better.
It was amber, crisp and clean; there were notes of nut in there that felt great on the tongue and palate.
After dinner, they got rooms, despite their fight and Arianne not talking to him, they got one together. Edin said, “If it is our last days, I only want to spend them with you.”
When they entered, his mouth nearly dropped. A light on a grand bureau lit up the room. But it wasn’t a side-of-the-road inn room. The room was large and ornately furnished. The bed was grand and canopied, there was a desk and a chest of drawers. Above the desk was a painting of a man. A king or a prince Edin guessed.
On the other side of the room was a large bay window with great curtains, flowy and thin.
A wide metal tub of a white stone, alabaster maybe, sat on the bureau. The walls were painted a sea green with again the white trim around the windows and floorboards.
Arianne stripped into her undergarments and laid in the bed then she turned away from him. Edin stared at her for a moment before doing the same and lying behind her. He put an arm around her waist which she did not move.
But she also didn’t reach out to take his hand. He squeezed her and pulled her into him trying to get her to respond, trying to get her to want to make love like they’d done in the cave.
She fought it and still said nothing so Edin stared at the back of her head and the matted dirty blonde hair.
Outside, rain began to softly patter the roof and the window.
His mind began to wander. Was it real rain or tainted water? Maybe it’d burn on contact and it would soon eat through the ceiling and kill them.
The relentless patter of the rain continued and he heard the far-off burst of thunder and saw a light flash across the bay window.
He groaned and rolled over as Arianne began lightly snoring. After a few minutes, he rolled again and turned to face the door and the portrait of the king. Edin closed his eyes, trying to put everything from his mind.
It was racing though, thoughts of what was happening out there, not just directly out the window but out in the world, the thoughts of his friends, his family that were out there.
Edin swallowed, they were all going to die. Albe’s family would die like his wife did.
Her sacrifice for her grandson was of little import in the grand scheme of things. When Yio Volor rises, then he’s going to kill them all. Only a god could face another god and Edin wasn’t one.
Where was Vestor? Where was the champion of humanity?
>
Edin rolled over again and tried to sleep. A thought came to him, what if he’d killed the dematian king and Monk had escaped?
He knew thought. The wyrm would’ve killed Arianne.
The thought hit him in the gut and the heart. His head, his brain tried to reason with those two, but it didn’t work and the rain and thunder continued on outside the window.
Edin had to get up, he couldn’t think anymore, not about this. He had to get out. He stood and threw on his trousers and without putting on his shirt or shoes, crept from the room.
He moved silently, as silent as he could on the creaky floor and down the hall past paintings of people, Ploveliane’s family possibly, and more doors, mostly shut.
Then down the wide stairs and into the great room. Out back, there were glass doors that led to an outer porch, one that was mostly covered by a pergola and supposedly once offered splendid views of the sea and the fifty-foot cliffs that stood above it.
There were points when you could see for miles, almost to Alestow, or so their host had said.
Edin had barely looked up from his meal when she said that. She was hovering above and around them while she served them.
He knew there was no view now, but he wanted to go out there. Edin wanted to feel the sting of strong, windblown rain, smell the freshness and feel the electricity in the air. Anything he could do to wipe his bad dreams from his mind and feel something other than those thoughts of despair.
Outside the door, there were a pair of small flames in sconces that gave little light to the darkness.
He moved forward and reached the doors with lever handles, brass or gold and ornately carved. Edin touched the cool metal and pushed down. Slowly, the door opened and he heard the unmuted sounds of the storm.
It howled and crashed and he heard the sound of thunder and the horizon to the south lit up, though he could barely see anything. Only the light.
Edin stepped outside under a pergola. The deck, a solid wood, probably oak and painted the same blue as the house was dry for a few feet before he began to feel the wet of the rain on his feet. Constant sheets of rain hit him, coming down at a steep angle from the east. The water was splashing him and soaking the feet up to the bottom of his trousers. Edin stepped back.
