by Jason Kenyon
‘Has been for years,’ Anjilo replied. ‘She was a famous mage back in the war, one of a few heroes. There was Sen, and Elbert, and Fangri, and then there was my mother Eryu.’ Anjilo seemed to swell with pride. ‘She was amazing. She killed a bunch of the necromancers and freed several towns from Tarmunath occupation. That’s how she met my father, actually. But some time after the war, ten years after I was born, she started researching the founding of Valanthas, and she disappeared soon after.’
‘I am sorry to hear about that,’ Ithalna said. ‘The pain of losing a parent is unbearable.’
‘You sound like you know it yourself,’ Anjilo said. ‘I’m sorry if that’s what you meant.’
‘My thanks, milady Anjilo,’ Ithalna said.
‘I’ve been trying to call in some favours for leads, but they haven’t got back to me yet,’ Anjilo went on. ‘So I’ve had lots of time to play around here.’
‘You look like you’ve been busy,’ Archimegadon said.
‘I need those arrows,’ Mellara said.
‘Yeah, yeah, you’ll get some,’ Anjilo said with a grin.
‘You know, we could do with someone smart and competent like you,’ Archimegadon said. ‘Would you like to join us on our noble mission to Stornis Hold?’
Anjilo tossed the Lightstone from one hand to the other. ‘I dunno about that, old man. You probably aren’t gonna get them out without having to kill people, and I don’t wanna kill my old Order, even if I don’t agree with them in general.’
‘But… but they’ve got Obdo and Neurion imprisoned,’ Archimegadon said. ‘And a fellow named Tharanor, but you probably don’t know him.’
Anjilo bit her lip. ‘Weeell… I’ve heard some bad stuff about Stornis Hold. They mine there for vistarium, which is a component for magical weaponry.’
‘Would using vistarium make even more powerful exploding arrows?’ Mellara asked.
‘Maybe,’ Anjilo replied, with a conspiratorial look. ‘It might make you light-headed too – that stuff is addictive.’
‘Addictive?’ Archimegadon asked.
‘Some people kinda, uh, sniff it,’ Anjilo replied. ‘Gets all magicky up in their brains. But it’s really bad for you, and starts to make your breath stink too. It kinda gets stuck inside you, and some people choke on it if they do it too much.’
‘Delightful,’ Archimegadon said.
‘Well, I’ve not eaten in hours,’ Anjilo said. ‘You guys wanna stay for the night? I have cakes.’
‘Yes,’ Archimegadon said. ‘By the Light, even if I don’t serve it, I need to sleep somewhere that is not a damnable forest.’ He paused. ‘Your beds aren’t also experimental, are they?’
‘No,’ Anjilo replied. ‘The cakes might be, though.’
Chapter Ten: Making a Noise
Archimegadon spent much of the rest of the day filling Anjilo in on all of his activities since the fall of Aldrack. It was pretty clear that Anjilo was sceptical about most of what he claimed had happened, and Ithalna, who’d not heard Archimegadon’s stories, looked to be having similar trouble. When Mellara stepped in and confirmed most of what Archimegadon said (there were still a few embellishments, after all), Anjilo and Ithalna were a bit more inclined to take Archimegadon seriously.
Anjilo recounted how she had gone to Arranoth with the knight Mortimyr in pursuit of Bartell, only to arrive too late to do anything. They’d then returned to the ruins of Aldrack to join the efforts to help anyone who survived the disaster. While most of the city had been utterly obliterated by the magical strike Bartell had brought down upon it, the outer edges of the city had been marginally less affected, though some buildings had collapsed and people had suffered partial blindness or deafness. Anjilo’s Light-given powers had helped her in many cases, but the effort had been exhausting and emotionally draining as well.
Ithalna had spoken of her own past as well, although hers was a bit less action-packed. A noble in Ferrina, she’d lived a comfortable life until the demon invasion, at which point she’d still been largely ignored as the demons left people alone if they stayed indoors, and Ithalna had already stocked a plentiful supply of food and drink since, well, she was rich.
However, when the Order had gone after mages, Ithalna had been forced to make a run for it. Knowing the Blade by reputation, she’d fled to the docks, where she’d been absorbed into the would-be resistance. Mellara had questioned why Ithalna hadn’t helped more with her magic powers, to which Ithalna had said that she was no fighter, and didn’t want more attention drawn to herself.
Anjilo’s food, and the cakes in particular, had been successful experiments, and the group retired to a comfortable sleep shortly after. So it was a great disappointment to Archimegadon when he was insolently awoken during the night.
‘Wh-’ he began, but a hand covered his mouth firmly. Before he could fight back, a voice spoke quietly.
‘Shh, Archie,’ said Mellara. ‘We aren’t alone in this cave. Somebody else is sneaking around out there.’
Archimegadon looked questioningly at her, though she was barely visible in the dark. Only a thin sliver of light from outside his door illuminated the gloom, and Mellara’s serious expression in the shadows made him particularly concerned.
‘Anji and Ithalna know,’ Mellara continued quietly. ‘They’re looking now.’
Archimegadon’s look of confusion deepened.
‘I was keeping watch,’ Mellara whispered. ‘There’s something bad about. Dark magic. The shadows are wrong.’
Archimegadon looked around at the shadows, but they seemed just fine to him.
‘In the main cave,’ Mellara said. ‘You’ll see what I mean. Pack your bag – we’re getting out of here.’
She took her hand from his mouth and went to guard the door, her bow at the ready. Archimegadon put his belongings together and dressed himself in his boring peasant outfit, at least comfortable in the knowledge that it would afford him the most movement if he needed to run for it. Why on earth would there be dark magic here, though? Was it Valia? He felt a rush of shame at keeping the knight’s presence a secret from the others, and wondered if now would be a good time to share it, but then he thought of how frightening Mellara was when she was angry, and chose to keep quiet for now.
Once he was ready, Archimegadon joined Mellara at the door, and they headed down the corridor. Anjilo had used her explosives to carve out a small number of corridors in the cave, with multiple rooms she’d set aside originally for Mortimyr, Terrill, and Gelenn to stay in. When they’d made the choice to leave for Tarmuna, though, their rooms had since gone unused.
Mellara turned to look at Archimegadon at one point, and he flinched as he saw that her eyes had been completely replaced by shadows. She mouthed ‘what?’, and after blinking Archimegadon saw that nothing had happened to her at all. He blinked a few more times, and she still looked normal.
‘Oh,’ he whispered. ‘I think I’m seeing things.’
‘Try to ignore it,’ Mellara said. ‘Ithalna said it’s a common trick of dark mages.’
Archimegadon didn’t like that sort of trick. Not at all. He tried to forget how the illusion had looked and followed Mellara on down the corridor, afraid to glance at Mellara any more. The corridor was lit by Anjilo’s Lightstones, and Archimegadon wished they weren’t there. Not only did they reveal him to anyone who entered the corridor, but they were casting very sharp shadows, and after what Mellara had said, he was nervous that something unpleasant was going to happen with them.
Leaving the corridor was unfortunately no relief. The main cavern of Anjilo’s mountain retreat was cast in almost total darkness. Either Anjilo had somehow unlit the Lightstones, or whoever had invaded had done it for her. Just some vague light from the moon outside made some of the tables visible. He felt Mellara’s hand squeeze his shoulder.
‘Don’t worry, Archie,’ she whispered back to him. ‘I can see fine, just follow me.’
Archimegadon’s comfort didn’t last particularly long, h
owever. He noticed the edges of the shadows curling in streams of dark smoke, and kicked at them when they seemed to reach for his ankles. Mellara shushed him, and he stopped, watching as the tendrils of smoke circled his ankles. They did nothing there, though, but pulsed as if they were arteries of some nightmarish creation.
‘The others?’ Archimegadon whispered.
‘Can’t see them,’ Mellara replied. Archimegadon could just make out her bow in the darkness, and hoped that she’d be able to take care of whoever or whatever was in the cave with them.
There was a crack somewhere not far off, and Archimegadon scrabbled behind Mellara. They both turned to see a green glow of magical smoke rise from behind one of the tables. Was it one of Anjilo’s experiments, or vile dark magic from their assailant? Some more quiet seconds passed and nothing further happened, so Mellara resumed their slow progress between the silent tables towards the entrance of the cavern.
Archimegadon followed quietly, thinking back to their time in Ferrina, when the dead had been piled in front of the Citadel gates. He could remember the terrible smell of death there, and his stomach gave a lurch as he began to feel nauseous. It had been that way all around Ferrina during that terrible time, and images of the slaughter he’d seen filled his head. He couldn’t bear to think of how awful that scene had been, and right in front of his eyes as well. How could he deal with such…
Mellara slapped him.
Archimegadon stared at her, knocked out of his thoughts.
‘You were standing still muttering,’ Mellara whispered. ‘Sorry.’
Archimegadon swallowed. He hadn’t even realised he was doing it.
‘Come on,’ Mellara said, with an encouraging smile.
How far was it going to be until they reached the exit? Archimegadon wished it could go by faster. He shook his head of those negative thoughts, worried now that they were the produce of this dark magic as well. It occurred to him that whoever was there could stop using magic tricks now, since he was perfectly capable of panicking about anything after everything else so far.
He stifled his own cry of surprise when he saw motion on the other side of the cavern, and then realised it was Ithalna, who was also creeping between the tables. Anjilo was next to her, and Archimegadon could see, thanks to the reflection of moonlight, that the palchemist was clad in her old paladin armour. She also had Valia’s old glaive, Uldraxios, in her hands. The glaive was supposed to be special in some way, but Archimegadon had never seen evidence of the glaive’s powers, and wondered if perhaps they’d help with whoever was in the cave.
He also wondered if Valia had been drawn towards her old glaive. Who knew what darkness she still dabbled in, after enjoying the taste of power in Marr’s service? Archimegadon pictured the knight looming out of the darkness with her mad eyes fixed on him, her hands outstretched for his throat, and he shivered in spite of himself. How Valia would have laughed, he mused, if she knew that he was afraid of the thought of her right now.
Archimegadon nearly tripped as the shadows curling about his ankle suddenly took on a more solid form, tightly gripping him in place. He made a sound of panic at Mellara, who heard and turned to help. Before she could, Archimegadon noticed the faintest sliver of moonlight on the side of what appeared to be a mask in the darkness, at a distance behind Mellara.
‘Behind,’ he almost shouted.
Mellara whirled and drew back an arrow, facing the mask that seemed to be floating in the shadows, but she was too slow. Archimegadon saw an arrow strike Mellara in the right arm, sending her staggering backwards, and she dropped her bow and grabbed the arm in panic before her eyes rolled up and she toppled to the floor. The mask had disappeared, and Archimegadon yanked his leg in panic, trying to get it free of the shadow tendrils.
Anjilo, meanwhile, had abandoned her attempt at sneaking, and she vaulted the table next to Archimegadon and grabbed Mellara’s arm. She hissed at Archimegadon to keep watch and then yanked the black arrow from the wound. Muttering some words, Anjilo wiped away the blood with the edge of her blue cloak, and then a faint light glowed around the injury.
‘That’ll keep her steady,’ Anjilo whispered. ‘Let’s move.’
‘My ankle,’ Archimegadon said.
Anjilo rushed through some more unfamiliar words, and light seemed to emanate from within Archimegadon’s ankle, scaring away the dark tendrils. She then strapped Uldraxios to her back, before lifting the unconscious Mellara and running off towards the entrance.
‘Wait, it was over there!’ Archimegadon said.
Anjilo froze and looked back at him, and then her eyes flicked up over his shoulder and widened.
‘No, there!’ she shouted back.
Archimegadon turned and saw the mask again, barely the length of three tables away. It was featureless, but with two crescent moon slits for eyes. Now that he was closer, he could see that the mask was not floating, but worn by an indistinct figure in the gloom. With barely a moment to think, he pointed a finger at the table next to the masked figure.
‘Flamebolt!’ he roared, and a ball of fire shot into the table and erupted whatever was on it.
Purple and blue flames burst into life, bringing the surrounding tables and experiments into sharp, ethereal relief. Archimegadon looked for signs of the intruder, but he could not see it anywhere. Had that done it?
He saw Ithalna making a charge for the cavern entrance, and dimly registered that Anjilo was urging him to move. Deciding to assume that the intruder was dead, Archimegadon turned and ran for it, abandoning all subtlety.
No.
Archimegadon heard the word from all directions and had no idea which way to turn. He then felt the tendrils grabbing his damn ankle again, and flapped his arms as he nearly flew off balance. It was perhaps that which saved him, as a black arrow whistled past his head, which in turn told him exactly where the intruder was.
He spun in the tendrils’ grasp and launched another flamebolt, this time at the table with exploding arrows, which was, he hoped, close enough to the vague outline of the mask. The table and all its explosive arrows disappeared in a light that rivalled the sun for its radiance, and following that detonation was a series of other, smaller explosions as more experiments began to blow up as well. The intruder disappeared behind a rainbow of flames, and then the cavern itself began to collapse, causing Archimegadon to turn and attempt to flee the last stretch to the outside world.
However, the tendrils did not wish to grant him his escape. They grasped even more firmly, and Archimegadon hissed with fury.
‘Bugger off,’ he said, and without quite thinking he sent a burst of flame at the tendrils.
While it also boiled his own leg and foot, it did at least cause the tendrils to let go, and he limped his way to the cavern entrance, where he saw Anjilo and Ithalna waiting for him, while Mellara lay motionless in Anjilo’s arms. As he reached them, Anjilo gave him a brief smile in relief that he’d escaped, before indicating with her head that they should keep running for now.
They didn’t stop until they were far from Anjilo’s mountain and the small town that lay beneath it. Archimegadon’s leg was still sore, but fortunately not quite as bad as he’d expected at first. Anjilo laid Mellara against a convenient tree and listened to her heartbeat, and then rolled up Mellara’s sleeve so she could work on the wound properly. Ithalna looked to be on guard, checking the shadows around them, but it seemed that, for now at least, the darkness was behaving.
‘What in all the world’s balls was that?’ Archimegadon asked.
‘No idea,’ Ithalna replied.
‘It was not a paladin, that’s for sure,’ Anjilo said. ‘I think you killed it, though – but a shame about my cave.’
‘Sorry about that,’ Archimegadon said.
‘Don’t think you had a choice,’ Anjilo said. She was picking at the wound with the tip of a small blade, and Archimegadon winced and turned away.
‘You could do with learning some healing arts,’ Ithalna said to him.
‘We have not got around to your lessons yet, after all – why not start here?’
‘I, ugh,’ Archimegadon replied, but he turned and knelt next to the wounded Mellara anyway. ‘Is she alright?’
‘Her heart is strong, but that doesn’t mean it’ll last,’ Anjilo replied. ‘That arrow was nasty – I’ve seen this before. Look – I’m cutting away the wounded flesh that contacted the arrow. That’s what’s most at risk.’
Archimegadon made a face.
‘Once I’ve got that done, I’ll start healing it,’ Anjilo went on. ‘Or Ithalna can show you how mages do it.’
‘Just a quick display,’ Ithalna said. ‘I do not want to risk her life just for some teaching.’ She touched a couple of her fingers to either side of the wound on Mellara’s arm. ‘The most effective healing combines elements. Here I will use fire for energy, wind for speed, and then finish with ice to both soothe and reinforce the wound.’
‘You’re not going to burn her, are you?’ Archimegadon asked.
‘No, fire magic is not exactly fire, at its root,’ Ithalna replied. ‘We use the energy that exists all around us, directing it in a fashion that ultimately produces flames. But here, I will just increase the natural energy flow in Mellara, focusing it around her wound. Do you see?’
Archimegadon didn’t, but he nodded anyway.
Mellara stirred, and Anjilo patted her cheek, whispering some encouraging words.
‘So now I have focused Mellara’s energy here, at her injury,’ Ithalna continued. ‘Here, then, I add my speciality – wind magic.’
Archimegadon kept quiet. Everyone knew that wind magic was the most boring form of elemental power.
‘What I am doing here is, essentially, speeding up the process of healing,’ Ithalna said. ‘Not to the point that it will be instant, but enough to avoid the wound possibly becoming fatal. Here, touch a finger to her wound now – you should be able to see what I mean.’
Barely able to look, Archimegadon reached past Ithalna and gently touched Mellara’s cut. He could definitely feel that it was hotter even than a regular injury, and could sense a vibration there, giving him the mental image of blood in a whirlpool under the skin. While that wasn’t exactly what was happening, Ithalna’s magic was indeed busy at work.
