Land of Madness

by B T Litell

  A monstrous beast, shaped like a man but several meters tall and a few wide stood on the outside of the gate, swinging what appeared to be a dead tree that had been ripped from the ground. The monster had a hunched back and a head that appeared to have been smashed a few times, as deformations and crevices had formed in the top of its skull. It had knobby knees and elbows, and massive hands, nearly a meter across at their widest. The creature wore a loincloth that left very little to the imagination, a horror on its own, since the ragged, threadbare cloth covered the monster but only just.

  Each time the tree contacted the gate, the thud could be heard in the courtyard. After a few attempts at breaking down the gate with the tree, the beast dropped the tree, on a handful of goblins gathered at its feet and started throwing its beefy shoulder into the thick wood of the gate.

  “Why was the drawbridge not raised?” the Commander growled.

  “That isn’t a drawbridge, Commander. That bridge is the only way into or out of the city at night,” Michael clarified. It was clear that the Mages ventured out of their tower so infrequently that they didn’t know enough about their city.

  “We need to do something about that bridge,” the Mage Commander growled. “We cannot let the monsters get into the city.”

  “Send us, sir. We’ll take care of them,” one of the Mages offered.

  “No, look!” Joshua said, pointing to the orb. The image inside the orb pulled back, showing the thick hordes of goblins stretching far to the west.

  “There have to be at least thirty thousand goblins alone. What’s that coming through the horde?” Týr asked, pointing at the orb.

  Coming through the sea of goblins, with enough breadth around for a clear visual, Vor’Kath walked toward the bridge. His hood was raised as it always had been, but it was clear he looked into the orb, as if he looked into the souls of those in the courtyard.

  “You are too late. Your precious city has already fallen. I will not stop until every man, woman, and child has been killed in the streets and your city drowns in its own blood,” he threatened. Once he finished speaking, he waved his hand and vanished without opening a portal.

  “Damn,” Joshua swore…

  Chapter Twenty

  Vor’Kath had disappeared and left no clues as to where he had gone. Joshua closed the orb and growled to himself, wishing that hadn’t just happened. This was not going to be pleasant for anyone involved. Especially if he could resurrect, if they ended up killing him.

  “What do we do now,” Týr inquired. He nearly chomped at the bits like a stallion to get his blades wet.

  “We don’t know where he went. He could be in any number of realms, and my Magic can’t reach beyond this one…” Joshua replied.

  “What if we combine our spells? Could we pull him into our world?” one of the Battlemages asked.

  It was a fair question. A lot could be done when Mages cast their spells together that normally couldn’t be done. At least, not without tiring out a Mage too quickly to get anything else done. Unfortunately, casting spells together did tire out the Mages, just to a degree less than if they didn’t.

  “How many Mages do we have here?” Joshua asked.

  “There are twenty Mages here in the courtyard. Everyone except us is either at a gate, ready for an attack, or working to taken out the last mine. Speaking of, we should have heard back from the squad at the mine,” the Mage Commander stated flatly.

  “Then it has to be us. But how do we find Vor’Kath if he is beyond this realm?” Joshua thought aloud.

  “Could you use the bond?” Michael asked. Joshua’s eyes widened as he realized the simplicity of the suggestion.

  “The bond! He has to be able to find us every time using the bond! Why have I not thought about that? Dammit, I’m an idiot! We could have been tracking him this whole time,” Joshua exclaimed.

  He removed the raven trinket from around his neck and described the spell to the Mages in the courtyard. They started to cast the spell, chanting together. Joshua joined them after he set the raven on the ground in the midst of the Mages.

  A large cloud of light formed overhead, just as Michael had seen in Erith’s temple with the Heron Priests. This light cloud was larger and denser, though. The cloud showed a strange land with jagged rocks and red soil. The plants, the few that could be seen, all looked dead, their stems and leaves brown and crispy. Vor’Kath stood in the middle of an open expanse of red soil, occasionally marred by stones that jutted out of the ground like teeth.

  The Shadow Knight had an orb floating before him, watching the slow progress his army made into the city. What could barely be seen was a group of Mages fighting through a small army of goblins and other monstrous creatures at the opening of the market mine shaft. Fire and lightning flashed in all directions as two Mages struggled to fight through the horde. This was why the Mages had not heard from their counterparts at the southern mine yet. For every goblin slain, another four seemed to appear. Other monsters, werewolves among them, rushed at the Mages and Michael and Týr watched as the fire and lightning stopped abruptly.

  Joshua cast another spell, and the light from the cloud overhead began swirling in a funnel toward the raven that lay on the ground. Just before the light could touch the smooth stone of the trinket, a manticore flew overhead and shrieked as it landed in the courtyard. The beast roared, its lion face snarled and flashed its teeth as the beast reared on its hind legs. Týr and Michael rushed toward the monster, their weapons drawing as they moved. The Mage commander stopped casting the spell and the cloud of light flashed as he left the group of spell casters and turned toward the creature. As he prepared to throw a fireball, the scorpion-like tail pierced his chest and raised him off his feet before it immediately slammed him into the cobblestone of the courtyard. A sickening crunch accompanied his body being slammed into the pavement.

  Týr threw a knife toward the creature which struck its right wing and punched through the fleshy skin of its bat-like wings before it clattered against the stone not far from the beast. The monster roared again and charged at the soldiers who rushed toward it. The beast’s massive paw flashed at Michael, who barely ducked under the three razor-sharp claws. Týr squared up to the monster, a knife in one hand and his sword in the other. Once more a furious paw reached toward the soldiers and Týr swung his sword, slicing one toe and claw from the creature’s paw. Another blood-curdling shriek came from the monster.

  The scorpion tail snapped toward Týr, revenge its only desire, though Týr had a different outcome in mind. Time appeared to slow down as the tail raced toward his chest, the pointed, scaly tip of the scorpion tail reflected light from the cloud spell. As Týr was about to bring his knife up to stab the tail, a sword flashed upward in front of him and sliced through the tip of the tail. Týr was splashed with a thick, greenish fluid that he didn’t want to think about. His face and neck were wet and sticky, now covered in the hot liquid. He could only imagine how his tabard looked.

  The beast shrieked once more and finally flew off, headed toward the top of the castle. Michael could only see where it went because of the Mages and their cloud spell which provided some light for the courtyard. At least there was something helpful about the spell, beyond being able to track Vor’Kath. The manticore disappeared into the darkness of the cloudy, moonless night.

  Having returned to the Mages, Michael and Týr saw the light had absorbed into the raven, which now was the dull stone color it had been before. Joshua picked up the raven and rubbed the surface with his thumb, which caused the stone to light up as he touched it. Suddenly the raven lit up brightly, the brightest amount of light appeared at the beak, which pointed to the west, toward the bridge.

  Crashing and splintering sounded from the west, along with the shouts of guards and screeches of goblins. Even from this distance it sounded like the monstrosity had broken through the gate and likely tore through the lines of soldiers gathered inside the gate. Something so large would make quick work of the soldiers
who were not trained to fight such a large monstrosity. They were trained to fight men, or Elves, who were not much larger than they themselves were. It was easier and faster to train the soldiers that way.

  A group of soldiers ran into the courtyard, coming from south. They gasped, out of breath, and removed their helmets as the visors did sometimes make it difficult to breathe, especially after running. That was one of the reasons Michael decided to stick with wearing his leather patrol armor instead of the battle armor he was issued after his promotion to Lieutenant. The plate armor was also rather bulky and made it rather difficult to move. And tonight, of all nights, he needed to be able to move freely.

  One of the soldiers in the group, there were only seven, told the Lieutenants that they had been overrun in the market and moved back to the courtyard. The Sergeant told them that hordes of goblins, werewolves, and Minotaur had swarmed the market after the southern wall collapsed. They fought as long as they could and had managed to bring down two minotaur and a werewolf, along with untold numbers of goblins. Sadly, they were the only survivors from the ordeal. If things had gone according to plan, there should have been two hundred guards in the market. Týr wanted to question why they had left the courtyard to leave the city vulnerable, but a portal opened in the courtyard and cut him off.

  Through the portal came a group of three dozen Mages, though not Mages from Shemont or Anselin. Joshua, seeing them, told Michael and Týr that they were from the Sorcerers’ College. The group of newly arrived Mages was made of Elves and humans alike, though far fewer humans than Elves. Their robes were colored in various ways, no uniformity to their colors or the designs of their robes. One of the Mages stepped forward and began talking to Joshua, who apparently looked like he was in charge.

  “We sensed a dark presence in the world and have come to help you dispatch it. I know your King is wary of the College, and we understand this cautiousness, but we will help you to eradicate this menace. What help do you need from us?” the Mage inquired.

  “The presence you sensed is a Shadow Knight who is assaulting the city with an army of goblins and other monsters. If you can help us keep the monsters from the courtyard, we can get his attention and fight him from here. There is a breech in the southern wall at the market where the goblins have been coming in. Take our soldiers with you,” Joshua said, presenting the seven soldiers who had just come from the market, “and they will help you hold off the goblins in the market. We will get the Vor to come to us here in the courtyard.”

  “It’s a Vor? Allfather curse this night,” one of the other Mages in the group called out.

  “He doesn’t need to curse this night, just those fools who opened our world to the Vor in the first place,” another Mage added.

  “How do you expect to take down a Vor with only twenty Mages? One Vor is easily stronger than fifty Mages,” yet another Mage interjected,

  “Very well,” the Mage said, motioning with his hand to the other Mages who appeared to get the hint and followed the soldiers off to the south.

  Joshua talked with the other Battlemages and planned their trap for Vor’Kath. They would cast a spell that would attract him and then cast a protective dome over the courtyard. This would prevent his lightning spells from raining down on them, and it would keep him stuck in the courtyard. The dome would have to be cast the instant he set foot in the courtyard, as casting it before would prevent him from walking into the trap. That would be less than productive. And it would tip their hand that they were prepared for him. The worse he thought of the humans the better. The trap should catch him by surprise and make him angry enough to not think clearly.

  The Mages began casting their spell, a pillar of light that shot into the sky and began clearing away the clouds overhead. The night sky overhead was surely filled with stars, though the light that came from the pillar drowned out any sign of the stars; the moon was still hidden behind the thick, unnatural clouds that flooded the night sky.

  As they had anticipated, a dark portal opened at the edge of the courtyard and Vor’Kath stepped through as he reached his left hand into the air and made his curve-bladed sword appear from nowhere. His doorway closed behind him and he walked toward the group of Mages, Týr, and Michael menacingly slow. The screams and battle sounds that came from behind him only added to his sinister appearance.

  The moment his foot touched the cobblestone of the courtyard, the white dome overhead formed and snapped down to the ground. The protective dome formed quickly as multiple Mages cast the spell together. Vor’Kath convulsed once the bubble touched the ground, appearing to be hurt by it. He looked to Joshua, Michael and Týr and spoke, his gruff voice booming within the bubble.

  “You are children meddling in matters that are beyond you. You have grown strong but are still children.”

  “This you claim, trapped without all of your powers,” Joshua stated.

  “You killed my sister, you piece of shit. I will laugh as your last breath leaves your lungs,” Týr growled.

  “It pleases me that you have such hatred roiling at the surface. It will make you careless, you petulant cur.” Vor’Kath taunted.

  “Keep talking. I’ll still gut you like a fish.”

  “Why are you talking about this, Vor’Kath?” Joshua inquired, wanting to step in before Týr got himself into trouble.

  “Where did you learn my name?” the Shadow Knight gasped in disbelief.

  “I summoned and spoke to another Vor right where you stand,” Joshua replied.

  “Perhaps you are not a child, priest…” he was cut off by Týr.

  Týr rushed at Vor’Kath, his late sister’s knife in his left hand, his own in his right. One knife flashed to the right, the next to the left. A knife came up as Vor’Kath reacted, bringing his sword around. The knife and the dark, curved sword met in a shower of sparks, the sword bouncing away from the knife. Týr closed the distance between him and Vor’Kath so the sword would become less effective, but not being so close that Týr would be touched by his evil hands. It was an art for Týr, as he found the perfect distance for combat.

  Michael, reacting slower, finally rushed to join Týr. Joshua started casting spells, along with the other Mages. With the two soldiers fighting the Vor, his focus was split, and Týr was able to land a strike with Svenka’s knife, cutting into the bastard’s right thigh. Vor’Kath shrieked, a piercing sound that knocked Týr and Michael backwards a couple steps.

  The wound wasn’t deep enough to have cut through the muscle or to leave any lasting damage, but there was at least blood. Black blood that oozed through the pale skin beneath the dark, motionless robes. Týr used the opportunity to plant Svenka’s knife between the Shadow Knight’s ribs. The shriek from grew louder and sharper.

  It was at this moment that the Mages finished their spell, which captured Vor’Kath in the same petrifying trap they had used on the previous Vor. As the stone consumed Vor’Kath, his left hand lit up as he attempted to cast a bolt of lightning toward the top of the dome. As the lightning shot from his hand, the stone enveloped the Shadow Knight and his bolt of lightning. The stone captured the whole aggressive display as a statue, lightning bolts, knife, and all.

  “Why did you do that? Do you not see the knife in his side? I had him right where we want him: dead or dying. Joshua you complete…” Týr shouted before he was cut off.

  “I know you want revenge for Svenka, but this is the best way to ensure he doesn’t resurrect,” Joshua argued.

  “We don’t know if he can even do that! You have bungled this whole thing. I joined the army and have spent the past few years traveling with you only for you to dash any hopes I had of putting Iona’s killer in the ground, asshole!” Týr yelled then stormed off to the edge of the bubble that had been created.

  “I understand how you feel. You aren’t the only person who has made sacrifices tonight or any other time along this journey. Michael and I cannot ever return to our homeland because the people of Prikea fear the Madness this land h
as. You think you’re alone in this, Týr, but you’re not. You think that, because you’re angry, you get to be right automatically. Everyone else has to bend to your will so that you can rigidly stand there and say what must happen within the world. Well, you can’t!” Joshua shouted back, one of the few times that Michael saw Joshua actually raise his voice.

  “Joshua, do you need us any longer?” one of the Mages asked. “We can go help the soldiers clear the city if you don’t need us.”

  “No, we don’t need you here. Go clear the city. Thank you for the assistance with this,” Joshua replied after he turned to the Mages.

  “Just because you lost your priesthood you think that means you can control the lives of others?” Týr shouted once more, getting in Joshua’s face. Týr was slightly taller than Joshua, his nose sat at Joshua’s eye-level. The two glared at each other.

  “I didn’t lose my priesthood. I am still a priest but became a Battlemage for the King so that we could save the world from this monster that we have trapped in stone! You…” Joshua started when Michael cut them off.

  “Why are we fighting each other? We have won this battle, haven’t we?” Michael asked, stepping between his comrades.

  “Except we haven’t. This thing is still alive, and we still aren’t going to do anything about it, are we? We’re just going to leave a monster that aligned himself with one of the most dangerous beings in any world alive, simply encased in stone to prevent me or anyone else here from seeing such a monster die. And why? Because the thing might be able to come back to life if we kill it. What a stupid fucking reason to not kill such a powerful enemy,” Týr growled.

  “The risk of resurrection is incredibly high, dealing with Kalathan. I don’t know what could happen if Vor’Kath were to resurrect. He could become so powerful that none of us could possibly hope to take him down. Please try to understand why I might be a little hesitant to kill something that could come back to life? I don’t know what powers Kalathan has promised Vor’Kath. I don’t know what arrangements they have made in their alignment,” Joshua countered.