by N M Thorn
“Why?” asked Gunz.
“I’m not the only one who protects the sacred garden,” replied Svyatobor. “I don’t know who will be on duty at the time you arrive. Besides wyverns and dragons, there is an army of wizards skilled in combat magic whose duty is to make sure no one can get in or out of the garden alive. And a powerful sorceress who runs this whole show… Ugh…” Svyatobor shuddered. “She gives me the hibbie jibbies and I’m a god!”
“So, what’s new?” replied Gunz with a bitter smirk. “You take care of Aidan and that will be the biggest help you can give me.”
“Wait, let me at least try to get rid of the gray stones for you,” offered Svyatobor.
He placed his hands around the collar on Gunz’s neck and carefully applied some pressure. Gunz gasped as pain surged through him and grabbed Svyatobor’s wrists. At the same time Yaroslav cried out and dropped to his knees, his hand at his heck.
“Stop! Sven, no more,” shouted Gunz. “Whatever you’re doing is killing Yaroslav and crippling me.”
“Holy shit!” muttered Svyatobor, exploring the gray stone jewelry with his magical sight. “I’ve never seen a dark spell so elaborate in its cruelty and so unbelievably powerful. I don’t know how to break it without killing him and doing some serious damage to you, Zane.”
“Maybe it’s for the best,” mumbled Gunz, watching Yaroslav slowly getting up, his skin around the collar marred by red blemishes and blisters. “I think if you took the gray stone jewelry off, Novak would know and who knows how it will affect Aidan’s situation. We’ll be fine, Sven. Thank you for trying.”
Sven nodded and approached Siv. Softly threading his fingers through the stallion’s golden mane, the Slavic deity whispered something into his ear. The horse neighed and shook his head. Sven laughed, patting the horse on its elegant neck and went back to Yaroslav.
“Yaroslav, I wish I could say that we’ll meet again, but as long as you’re next to this man, no one can guarantee your safety,” he said, smirking. “He is a magnet for trouble.”
The vampire smiled, shaking his head. “I beg to differ, my lord,” he replied calmly. “I begged him to let me die so he could free himself from Novak’s control, but he refused to give up on me.”
Svyatobor squatted down and placed his hands on the ground. A wave of soft green light spread around his hands like ripples on water. Then he rose and extended his hand to Gunz.
“Take care of yourself, Fire Gecko,” he said with a sad smile, squeezing his hand in a tight handshake. “I paved the road through the marshlands for you. Siv will take you all the way to the garden. He knows what to do.”
Svyatobor snapped his fingers and vanished.
Chapter 22
~ Zane Burns, a.k.a. Gunz ~
Svyatobor had meant it when he said he paved the road through the marshland for them. Siv and Mariella were running in a smooth gallop, their hooves drumming on the firm ground. The thorny thickets and bushes that were blocking their path parted before them as soon as they approached, allowing them to pass. But when Gunz glanced back, he noticed that the path behind them was obscured by thick greenery again.
By the morning of the second day, their path ran into a tall wall, built out of large marble blocks. It looked unexpectedly modern for its wild surroundings. As Gunz looked to the left and to the right, he could see the edge of the wall on either side. Despite that, when they tried to ride around it, the wall just kept extending farther and farther. In the end they gave up and returned back to where they started.
Gunz probed the wall with his magical sight and noticed the soft glow of magical energy around it. It didn’t strike him as something dangerous, so he dismounted and approached it, placing his hands against the cold marble. As soon as he touched it, something clicked, and a thin square piece of rock slid to the side.
“What the hell?” mumbled Gunz, staring flabbergasted at the window in the wall.
Embedded into the rock, was a modern display screen. He probed it with his Salamander’s senses but again didn’t notice anything alarming. Seemingly, it was just a normal computer monitor, most likely a touchscreen since the message on the screen read, “Touch the screen to begin.” He glanced at Yaroslav, who looked just as shocked as he felt, and carefully touched the screen. The screen lit up and displayed a new message.
“To proceed, please select one of the options,” read Gunz. “A. He who goes to the left will save himself but will lose his horse. B. He who goes to the right will save his horse but will lose his life. C. He who goes straight will become a married man.”
“Wow. Is that a ‘Bylinny’ stone on the crossroads?” asked Yaroslav approaching Gunz. “We’re living a friggin’ Russian fairy tale.”
“Yeah, and the further we go, the scarier it becomes,” mumbled Gunz, tracing the edge of the screen with his finger. “So, multiple choice test here. Option A – we live, Siv and Mariella die. Option B – we die, but the horses will live. Option C – we are all gonna die.” Gunz smirked, rubbing his forehead.
“He-e-e-y,” neighed Siv indignantly, coming closer to the stone. “Don’t you think Mariella and I should have our own vote on which option we select?”
“Not a democracy, Siv,” said Gunz dryly. “If you’re afraid for your life, both you and Mariella are free to leave now.”
“I wish we could,” snapped Siv, pushing Gunz with his hoof irritably. “Svyatobor is our god and he ordered us to assist you all the way until you are ready to leave the Land of Dreams. We can’t disobey our god.”
“You’re free to leave, Siv, at any time,” said Gunz with a light smile, petting the stallion’s neck. “I’ll talk to Svyatobor when I see him. It’s your choice whether to stay with us or to leave, but the choice of the path belongs to Yaroslav and me. Sorry.”
Siv glanced back at Mariella and the white mare inclined her head. “Fine,” grumbled Siv irritably. “We’re staying. At least until you’re ready to leave the Land of Dreams.”
“I appreciate it,” said Gunz and turned to Yaroslav. “So, Slavik, the way I see it, options A and C are out of the question. At least for me. And from what Svyatobor explained, option B sounds like the kind of place where the garden would be.”
Yaroslav chuckled. “Agreed. We’re going to the right. You’re immortal and I am… Well, I’m already dead.”
“You’re not dead. You’re undead and let’s try and keep it that way,” objected Gunz and pressed the large letter B on the display.
As soon as he made his choice, the screen lit up with a bright light, displaying words “Thank You!” and the stone plate slid back in place covering the display. The wall shimmered with green light and slowly opened, allowing them to pass through.
The scenery that unfolded before their eyes was entirely different than the land they had been traveling through for the last few days. Gone was the darkness and gloominess. A wide-open valley was showered by sunlight and the air was infused with freshness, and the scent of flowers and grass. The rays of sunlight created playful bright flares all over the grass, reflecting in the morning dew. It was peaceful and quiet.
Yaroslav inhaled deeply, closing his eyes for a moment. Gunz observed him with a light smirk. One good thing that had come out from all this mess was the ring Novak gave Yaroslav. Despite common belief, vampires could walk in the daylight, but they were extremely sensitive to sunlight and preferred to stay indoors during the day. Whatever spell Novak put on the ring allowed Yaroslav to walk freely in the open sun without any side-effects.
“Too peaceful,” said Yaroslav, pulling the Darling Lily device out. The apple on the back was nice and green.
“I was just going to say the same thing,” replied Gunz, staring at the device in Yaroslav’s hand. Even though the guiding spirit wasn’t predicting any trouble, a feeling of unease spread through him.
“If we ride at full speed, we should reach the garden by sunset,” said Yaroslav, exploring the GPS map.
“We should get going. We already lost
too much time dealing with Leshy. We can’t afford losing more. Siv, ready?” asked Gunz, patting the stallion’s neck.
The last rays of the setting sun touched the rough stones of a tall wall, adding inappropriately cheerful pink shades to the gloomy rocks. The chilly evening breeze touched Gunz’s skin and he shivered. The cold didn’t bother him. It was that same dreadful feeling of upcoming trouble that kept gnawing at his soul since they had left the forest. It didn’t leave him for a moment, getting heavier as they approached the wall.
Gunz craned his neck, assessing the height of the wall. It was so tall that the top of it disappeared into the dark sky and there was no way to say how tall it was. As far as he could see, there were no gates or any other way to enter the garden. On the other hand, he didn’t notice anyone guarding the area either.
The horses halted a few feet away from the wall. Gunz opened his magical sight, carefully examining the wall and the area before it. Every brick was infused with protective magic – wards, protection spells and enchantments the likes of which he had never seen before.
“I’m not surprised I don’t see any guards,” muttered Gunz, shaking his head.
“The wall is breathing with magic,” said Yaroslav. “I can sense it with my skin. And not only the wall. It seems that the wards spread above it too. It’s like a giant dome built of magic.”
“Any ideas on how we can get inside?” asked Gunz.
“I wish we weren’t limited by this damn spell,” said Yaroslav, dismounting. “I could easily shift into a bird and fly over the wall. Would be nice to know what’s going on inside the garden.”
“I could jump over the wall,” suggested Siv.
“Wouldn’t do any good. First of all, you said you couldn’t carry more than one rider. Yaroslav and I cannot be separated by more than hundred feet and this wall is taller than that. And besides the fact that you don’t know where you would be landing on the other side, we will trigger the wards —,” Gunz started to say, but cut himself off. He stared at Yaroslav for a moment, then said, “Slavik, we’re going to trigger the wards. This is the only way we can get the guards to open the gateway in this wall. We’ll have to fight.”
“Let’s do it.” Yaroslav smirked, his fangs slowly expanding and unsheathed his katana.
Gunz conjured a high-voltage energy orb. For a moment, he stared at the twirling, crackling ball of energy, then he pulled his hand back and sent the ball flying. The ball hit the wall and exploded into a bunch of tiny lightning bolts and a shower of bluish sparks. The wards lit up, displaying a web of thin glowing white lines. Yaroslav was right, thought Gunz observing an enormous shiny dome that encapsulated the wall and the garden within.
He didn’t wait and conjured another energy orb. Propelling one orb after another at the wall, he didn’t stop until the wards and protection spells started to vibrate, filling his ears with a menacing low-pitch buzz. The protective dome around the garden glowed brighter, illuminating the area, sending light beams into the dark sky.
A heavy wave of raw elemental energy of Fire touched his senses and Gunz stopped. He craned his neck, looking into the sky and a slow smile stretched his lips. He touched Yaroslav’s shoulder, pointing up. Dark silhouettes of strange creatures with massive wings and long, spear-shaped tails emerged from behind the wall and were moving steadily toward them. He squinted his eyes, realizing that the creatures were possibly dragons or wyverns with riders on their back.
“Dragons?” asked Yaroslav, echoing Gunz’s thought.
Gunz shook his head no. “Not dragons, my friend. Wyverns! I can’t believe I am actually going to say it out loud – I wish Mishka were here.” He smirked, channeling his power. “Either way. They chose the wrong magical creature to fight me. Stand back and take the horses with you, Slavik. It’s about to get hot here.”
Yaroslav took both horses by their bridles and walked them a few yards back, giving Gunz some space. “Are you sure you can handle all this alone?” He pointed up as the sky grew darker with the approaching wyverns. “You’re not the Fire Elemental.”
“I know that, Mr. Obvious.” Gunz snickered, throwing a quick glance back at the vampire. “But I learned a few tricks while I was hanging around the real Fire Elemental.”
He channeled as much power energy as the gray stone jewelry allowed him. The surge of elemental power rushed through his body and the fire ignited at the bottom of his eyes, his arms engulfed in scorching flames. Yaroslav gasped and staggered a few more steps back, away from the smoldering heat.
“Stay clear, Slavik,” said Gunz, hardly recognizing his own voice.
He turned toward the slowly approaching wyverns and reached with his Salamander’s power to the nearest one. As he stared at the wyvern, he saw this magical creature the way he had never seen it before. The wyvern was glowing with the energy of Fire, the orange-red streams of the elemental power flowing through its body like blood vessels. In the center of the wyvern’s chest, Gunz saw his beating heart that looked like a pulsing fire orb.
Gunz reached for that beating heart and wrapped his elemental power around it, squeezing tightly. For a moment he felt like his own essence merged with that of the wyvern, and at that moment, he knew he could make the wyvern do anything he wanted. He was in control. The wyvern stalled for a moment, its igneous eyes fixed on Gunz.
Is that what Kal feels when he controls me? A thought flashed through his mind, but he had no time to dwell on it.
“Wyvern, down!” he commanded, extending his hand toward the creature. The wyvern obediently lowered himself to the ground, folding its wings and bowed to him.
One down, twenty more to go.
He could see the rider, pulling on the Wyvern’s wing, struggling to bring him back up in the air, but the beast wouldn’t obey him, still under Gunz’s control.
“Gunz, it was only one. Can you do the same with the rest?”
Gunz heard Yaroslav’s voice but didn’t reply. He pulled in more of the elemental power, channeling the unlimited supply the nexus provided. The collar on his neck started to heat up, pulsing angrily, but he ignored it gathering more fire. His body got engulfed into smoldering flames and he rose in the air, supported by the flow of the elemental energy.
For the past few years, since he had discovered the Fire, he had never felt like this. He wasn’t channeling the elemental Fire or using it. He was it. He was the Fire in its purest form. He heard Yaroslav scream something to Siv and Mariella, but he ignored them, focusing on the approaching wyverns.
In one move, Gunz connected with every single beast at the same time. He reached forward with his arms, feeling like he was holding their fiery beating hearts in his hands and he knew he didn’t have to say anything. He just thought that he wanted all the wyverns to land and his will was enough to make every single beast go down, ignoring their riders’ commands.
Gunz peered down at the riders who were dismounting from the motionless wyverns. They gathered their magic and he could see the flow of magical energy surrounding them. In a heartbeat, the air was filled with flying energy orbs, fireballs and energy strikes.
“Praecidio Amnia,” shouted Gunz, erecting a protection shield around Yaroslav. His shield was strong enough to protect the vampire from a rogue fireball, but it wasn’t restraining his movement or slowing him down.
A moment later, he glanced down, but Yaroslav was gone. He searched the field and suddenly realized he could see him. Yet the way he saw him was completely different since he wasn’t using his eyes. Through the prism of his elemental power, he saw the dark outline of vampiric energy moving with unbelievable speed between the riders and he knew it was Yaroslav. His katana was cutting and slashing through the air like a silvery blur and with each strike of his blade another rider fell on the ground, dead.
A few minutes later, everything was over. Yaroslav kneeled. With his head bowed down, he leaned heavily on his sword, surrounded by a pile of bloodied bodies and dismembered body parts. His golden hair fell down his fac
e in blood-smeared strands. After a moment he lifted his face and stared at Gunz tiredly, his long fangs showing between his parted lips. His drained face was covered in scarlet stains and the bright glow was slowly vanishing from his sad eyes.
“We killed the guards, but the wards are still armed, and I didn’t notice any entrance,” he said to Gunz, using their connection. “Now what?”
“Now, we’re going to bring down the wards,” replied Gunz flatly and shuddered inwardly from the emptiness of his own voice. He stared at the dead men – the guards of the sacred garden, wizards, warriors – and felt hollow inside. They did what they had to do. It was a kill or be killed situation. Either him and Yaroslav or these people who attacked them. Then why did he feel so awful? Why did Yaroslav look so demolished?
Gunz sighed and switched his attention to the wyverns whom he was still holding under his control. “Wyverns, you’re my brothers in element and I wish you no harm. You are free to leave,” he said. “But before you go, I want you to remember me. My name is Zane Burns and I am the Great Fire Salamander. Next time you dare to attack me or one of my friends, I will not be as merciful as I am today.”
He released his control and the wyverns bowed to him of their own volition. Then soundlessly, they rose in the air and disappeared into the dark sky.
For a moment, Gunz stilled in midair, checking the wards. As the elemental power flowed freely through him, he could see the glowing lines of wards and sense the movement of the magical energy along them. Slowly, he drifted through the air and carefully lowered himself to the ground a step away from the wall. Then he glanced back and raised his hand up, asking Yaroslav and both horses to stay away.
Gunz placed his hand on the wall and sent his fire energy through it. At first the wards and protection spells resisted his intrusion. Buzzing angrily, they retaliated back at him. As the pain of an electric shock surged through his body, Gunz grunted but didn’t stop what he was doing. The red glow of his elemental power slowly started spreading through the wards, replacing their white light with red.