by Brian Murray
The Dark One walked up to each hound and touched their heads, whispering. “They are there,” he told them, picturing a scene in his mind. “Kill the Children of the Light.” When he finished, he gave the command. “GO!”
The Wraith Hounds roared and loped off to the north to kill—to kill all who stood in their path. The creatures had a single purpose and that was to hunt the Children of the Light. Only their blood would satisfy the creatures’ hunger. Within moments, the hounds disappeared and merged with the darkness.
***
Zane, Rayth, Dax, Thade, and Tanas slowly roused. They realised they were no longer in the cave. They were in a new land—a land of colourless grey, a realm of the dead. They had reached the Grey Path.
CHAPTER 16
Rowet decided to have lunch in his palace private gardens with his daughters. They enjoyed the bright sunshine and ate fresh fruit grown in the palace gardens. To date, Rowet had not told his daughters the full details of his dreams or about the defences he was putting in place for the city. He had mentioned an army marching towards the white city of Kal-Pharina, but today he would tell them everything.
“Girls, I have something I need to tell you,” started Rowet solemnly.
“What’s that?” asked Megan, sipping on some sweet watered wine. Rowet looked at both of his daughters, who radiated beauty, glowing in the sunlight that shone in the perfect blue sky. One—his natural daughter Ireen—had Phadrine radiance, and the other, pure Rhaurn beauty—his adopted daughter Megan.
“I mentioned to you, Ireen, that your mother sends her love.”
“Yes, I remember, Father,” said Ireen, now interested and leaning forward on the table opposite her father.
“I rescued her in the afterlife with the aid of the Divine One and our friend, Gammel. After the rescue, I was told something disturbing. The stopping of the Darklord in Teldor was only a stay in the Dark One’s return. The rite the evil man tried to complete was a deception. And, unfortunately, the Dark One walks our lands again because the true rite of resurrection has somehow been completed. With him, he has brought forward his army of evil beasts and creatures. I cannot explain how hideous these creatures are. But needless to say, they are the foulest kind.”
Rowet paused and looked into the eyes of his daughters which, instead of gleaming with joy, shimmered with fear. He continued, “I will not lie to you. The Dark One’s army is marching here to Kal-Pharina. He is after the Children of the Light, who are gifted people with special magic. There are two known in my city and I intend to defend them with my life.”
Ireen and Megan exchanged glances. “Us?” asked Megan doubtfully.
“Yes.”
Both Ireen and Megan were about to speak when Rowet lifted his hand to stop them. “We have done everything possible to protect our city, and you. New weapons have been created and we will hold the army at bay until help arrives.”
“Are Zane and the Rhaurns coming?” asked Ireen.
“I hope so.”
“You don’t know?”
Rowet bowed his head. “No, I am not totally sure. But I believe my friends will come to our aid.”
A thick silence hung over the table until Ireen spoke again. “Father, we believe in you and trust you. The Rhaurns, our friends, will come to our aid. I know that nothing with stop Thade and Tanas, and with them they’ll bring Dax, Zane, and his army.”
Megan nodded in agreement. Again, silence fell over the three of them.
After a while, Rowet excused himself from the table and returned to his private chamber to read more reports. He left both the women in the gardens, immersed in their own thoughts—both thinking about their men, Thade and Tanas.
***
Aurillia, in Dax’s room, knelt beside the bed in prayer. “Please, if you can hear me, I have never asked anything from you, but I will this one time. Divine One, I beg you to guide the men who travel to an unknown place. They are all good men and true Rhaurns and deserve your help. They have battled evil, time and time again, and now go to a place that breeds evil. Once they have completed their mission, please guide them back home to their loved ones.” When she had finished, Aurillia rose from the floor and slid under the sheets. Within minutes, she had fallen asleep, but her slumber was fitful and she woke several times during the night.
***
The five travellers woke on the Grey Path. Zane rose first and gazed around at the place between Paradise and Hell. He thought the Grey Path was an appropriate name. Everything appeared grey and bland. The soil was composed of dry, dusty grey sand which the slightest breeze lifted into the air. The sky was a bleak, steely grey colour, as if it was constantly overcast, and the clouds that billowed and floated on the air currents were deeper tones, like an angry storm. The sun or light source did not shine as usual, but hung everywhere and nowhere like a dull, lighter haze in the grey.
The distant hills were also the same bland grey colour, the horizon merging into the sky. The plants, mainly types of cacti, were viciously spiked, dull grey shrubs or tall, cylindrical trees. These were either sparsely decorated the grey soil or clumped together forming lethal woodlands. Everything, everywhere was the same featureless tone of grey. It was easy to see how someone could lose him or herself if they wandered off the Path. The only difference between the Path they were on and the soil either side was its firmness. The Path was solid and no windblown sand ever settled upon it.
When the others woke, Zane greeted each warmly. Tanas, the last to rouse, was the luckiest, not being able to see their surroundings. The whole party were now dressed in grey clothes that allowed them to blend into their background. Dax and Zane looked up the Path and then down. Both directions looked the same.
“Well, Zane, which way should be go?” asked Dax.
“Honestly, I’m not sure,” replied the young King of the Rhaurns, shrugging his shoulders.
“Then we have a problem.”
Suddenly, a sweet musical voice came from behind the men. “Greetings, my friends, maybe I can help you. I am the Divine One.”
All the men turned and faced the Divine One, in all Her glory, who smiled sweetly. She wore a flowing dress of purest white, with tiny flakes of silver. Her silvery-white hair billowed in the slight breeze, blending with Her dress. Her face was pale with natural rosy cheeks, full red lips and large, light blue, almost white, eyes.
She stepped in closer to the men. “I have come to help you on your journey. I will not be able to travel the whole way with you, but I will guide you. The direction you need to go is towards the Black Mountain of the Damned or Moranton, as it is sometimes called. There you will find a guide who will take you through the Mines of Moranton to Yallaz’oom, where you can find the Dark One’s Black Palace.
“I cannot intervene in your struggle, but you must heed my warning. Each of you will face a test to recover your soul. You will face these tests individually and if you succeed, you will be returned home. Fail the test and your souls will be forever held and tortured in the Black Palace.”
***
“I do have some good news. Tanas, you should remove your scarf and open your eyes. The cause of your blindness does not apply in the realm between dark and light.”
Tanas cocked his head to one side in confusion. Slowly he reached up and after a brief hesitation, untied and removed his scarf. His eyes were closed. His heartbeat increased, pounding in his ears. Slowly, he opened his eyes to . . . grey. . . All was grey except for a beautiful woman dressed in white, smiling at him. He looked to his left, and his friends were all staring back at him with the same expression of awe on their faces.
“So this is grey?” asked the former blind warrior frowning as he gazed around.
“That’s why they call it the Grey Path,” replied Dax, carefully watching his young friend’s reaction. “Everthing is grey.”
“I must say . . . I am not impressed,” Tanas countered with a forced smile. “I do remember colours, I think I do,some warm, some cold and others . . .
” He remembered Gan-Goran giving him sight briefly to see Megan. “. . . beautiful.” Almost, instantly a pain grew in his head, as though the light and dark were battling for control.
“So . . . do I look as handsome as I sound?” asked Dax, now smiling and holding his arms open.
“You look much older than I expected,” teased the warrior, stepping into the older man’s embrace.
“What a pleasant surprise!” said Dax smiling.
The others re-introduced themselves, the excitement temporarily taking their minds off the daunting mission they faced.
The Divine One cleared her throat and caught everyone’s attention. A heavy seriousness more oppressive than the grey gloom surrounding them settled over the group.
The men’s expression steeled.
“Firstly, I should mention events that are happening in your own realm. There are five beasts created by dark magic, making their way to Thade’s home. They are not normal beasts, they are Wraith Hounds, solely created to hunt and kill Children of the Light—but they will slay anyone in their path. Secondly, the Dread, the Dark One’s army, is marching to Kal-Pharina and they will reach the white city soon. The Chosen is expecting his friends to help him save the two Children of the Light who are within the city.” The Divine One paused. “Finally, a warning. Do not leave the Path. If you do, I cannot help you on your journey. Remain at all times on the Path.” The Divine One pointed over the men’s shoulders. “That is the way you need to travel to reach Moranton.”
All of the men turned to face the direction where the Divine One pointed. Zane turned back to ask the Divine One a question, but she had disappeared. Zane sighed in resignation. “Well, we might as well go,” he said.
“Before we go, Gan-Goran said our weapons would travel with us. I want my weapons,” said Dax. The old warrior searched up and down the Path, finally spotting his axe-harness. He donned the harness and checked the keenness of his axes blades—everything seemed fine. He smiled. “That’s better.”
The others did the same and searched along the Path for their weapons. Thade found his two gladiator swords in their harness and strapped them onto his back. Tanas carried his quarterstaff that he could be split into two and form two short swords. Zane retrieved his sword harness holding the two short swords forged by his late friend Gammel. Rayth located his huge butterfly-shaped double-headed battle-axe and strapped it to his back. Now ready, the friends began their journey to Moranton—the Black Mountain of the Damned.
***
The men travelled for several days along the Grey Path. They discovered—as Gan-Goran had told them—that they did not need to eat or drink, and at night they found sites to make cold camps. During the day, the temperature was comfortable for them to walk, but at night the temperature dropped considerably, and the men huddled together, covering themselves with their cloaks and thick blankets that had appeared with their weapons. During the first few days the men talked of better times, and laughed and joked while they walked or camped. Many now explained to Tanas what things in their realm looked like, not feeling embarrassed; in fact, they were thrilled that their friend had regained his sight, at least while on the Grey Path. On the fourth day of travelling, the men started to become slightly disillusioned. All around them was the same bleak grey, nothing of any other colour. The only different tones were the clouds and shadows. The strain was more mental than physical. The men could walk all day without tiring, but they had run out of topics to discuss and seemed no nearer to their destination.
The men camped at dusk as the hazy light disappeared behind the grey mountains that formed the skyline. At night, the strain became harder to endure. When the light disappeared, everything was utterly black. There was no moon, no stars—nothing but darkness. They could not see their hands in front of their faces, let alone their companions; they could only hear their voices. More disturbing, they could hear the wind whistling past, and a distant hypnotic clicking. The clicking sound was made by the Yregs, trying to locate other Yregs, and prey. Tanas tried to give reassuring words to the others, as the darkness was normally his world. But even though he tried, he could not ease their tension.
At dawn, the men moved off again. Each night, Rayth would lay down his axe, pointing the blades in the direction that they were to travel. If he did not do this, the men could quite easily walk in the opposite direction, wasting an eternity. Thade was the last to rise. He had been silent most of the night, his normally jolly character now melancholy. He walked at the back of the group, slightly dragging his feet, thinking of what the Divine One had said to them: ‘The Dread, the Dark One’s army, is marching to Kal-Pharina. They will reach the white city soon.’ His lover was in the city and he desperately wanted to be there, at her side.
The morning ebbed slowly on.
Over the whistling wind, Thade thought he could hear a voice, a bit louder, a bit clearer. He peered out over the grey lands, but saw nothing. The voice came again. This time Thade stopped and looked all around.
“Thade, anything wrong?” called Dax.
Thade paused for a moment, but heard nothing more. Not wanting to sound like he was going mad, he said, “No, just resting.”
His mentor smiled at the former gladiator and beckoned him forward. Thade started walking, but again heard the voice. This time the voice was much clearer. It’s Her, he thought. Thade was still a little way behind the others and quickened his pace. Then out of the corner of his eye, he saw an image. He stopped and peered into the grey distance. The wind had picked up and swirled the fine grey dust. Thade thought he saw the image again, the image of his loved one and without thinking, he drew his gladiator blades and raced off the Path.
At that moment, Dax turned and saw Thade race off the path, with swords drawn, lifting fine particles of dust behind him.
“THADE!” roared the older warrior.
The others stopped walking and turned to see Thade sprinting across the grey soil. Without a second thought, Dax charged off the Path to get his boy. The others paused for a moment, confused. Then all of them raced after the pair, leaving the safety of the Path. The men ran, wading through the sandy soil, lifting clouds of dust in their wake. A light wind blew the grey particles into their footprints. The light sand and dust rolled into the men’s footprints, reducing the depressions. Within only a few heartbeats, the wind levelled the small round hollows, obliterating their tracks.
Thade raced forward to the image of what appeared to him to be Ireen, hearing her panicking voice in his mind, calling him. Dax charged through the sandy soil, getting closer to Thade. Thade slowed, then stopped running. The image before him disappeared and the beckoning voice stopped calling him. Dax arrived next to the former gladiator, his eyes searching the grey for a reason.
“What’s wrong, Thade?” he asked, panting.
Thade thought for a moment as the others arrived, skidding to a halt. He turned and looked beyond his friends at the grey. He bowed his head, lowered his swords, and laughed without humour. “I’ve been tricked.” He immediately corrected himself. “We’ve been tricked.”
“What do you mean?” asked Zane, totally confused.
“I’m sorry, my friends. I’ve been tricked by this place and left the Path. Now we were all duped by our friendship.”
“I don’t understand,” said Rayth.
Glumly, Thade explained. “We have lost the Path and I have put everyone in danger.” As the former gladiator announced the news, a Yreg swooped in low from the sky, and knocked Rayth and Zane off their feet. The men scattered and dived onto the dusty soil. The men looked up at the creature in a combination of awe and fear. It had the body of a bird but the head of a mystical dragon. Its body was covered in lacklustre grey scales rather than feathers, and at the end of its two feet it had huge, long sharp talons.
The Yreg banked in the sky and swooped again, screaming an eerie cry.
Dax rose from the dusty soil and pulled his short battleaxes free. He was just able to see the Yreg’s fli
ght. The dragon-like beast got closer, closer, closer. Dax swung at it. The Yreg, using its talons, knocked Dax off his feet. Rayth rose next and pulled his huge battle-axe free. The Yreg swooped around, screeching louder and flew in low to attack the men.
Rayth stood his ground and readied himself. He clasped the axe in both hands and watched the beast glide in. The beast came closer. Rayth swung his double-headed axe in a huge arc. The blade hit the beast in the head, just above its eyes, crushing its cranium. The Yreg plummeted to the ground, landing in a cloud of dust, smashing into Rayth. Without waiting, the former axe-wielder rose and chopped at the beast’s throat, decapitating it. Steamy grey fluid oozed from the cut, soaking instantly into the arid soil.
The rest of the party rose slowly to their feet and scanned the skies. It seemed as though the Yreg attacked alone. The group gathered around the beast and stared down at the dragon-like creature.
“So that’s a Yreg,” said Tanas, stating the obvious.
Dax strolled over, dusting himself off. “I don’t want to see a pack of those things attack us.”
“I thought Gan said that they sense vibrations?” asked Thade.
“Must be when they have landed. But Gan did say that they also hunt by sound. Didn’t he?” answered Zane, unsure of his own answer. He looked all around as the wind blew lightly at them. “Does anyone know which way to the Path?”
All the men stared, peering around for a while, but no one answered. The wind blew the dust, lifting it off the ground by about chest height where it hovered, obstructing their view. This made it impossible to see the solid Path.
“Which way do we go?” asked Zane, his voice not hiding his swelling panic.
Dax turned slowly in a circle. He closed his eyes and slowly spun around again. He opened his eyes and gazed into the distance. He smiled. “This way,” he stated, pointing behind Zane.
