The Wretched

by Brad Carsten

  “So, you've been in this wagon the whole time?”

  The giant nodded sadly.

  Quinn pushed himself up and carefully stepped around the large creature.

  He had only been in Gaharah for a few minutes and already the wagon seemed to be closing in around him. He scooped up a handful of snow and carried it to the giant. The creature held out his hands, and as Quinn poured in the snow, his giant face broke into a childlike grin. He lifted it to his nose and smelled it. He tasted it, and pressed some to his face.

  “Doesn't anyone know that you're here? You said that there were others like you. Can't they help you?”

  “They don't know where I am, and Gaharah is a very, very large place. I doubt they're even looking.” He scooped another finger full of snow into his mouth and groaned in delight.

  “Even if they could, the cast is too strong. A sypher brought me here, and only they can set me free. But I've long since realised that they were never coming back.”

  “Why you?”

  He sighed deep and long, a sound like rocks crumbling. “I questioned them in the beginning and their intentions. I said they couldn't be trusted, and I was right. Oh, I was right. But why they didn't come back? I don't know. I've read every book here a hundred times, looking for a reason. Oh, their cities must be great to have chosen to stay.”

  “Their cities?” Quinn said, in surprise. “No, they're living in caves.”

  The giant looked up at him in disbelief. “How, why would...” he didn't manage to get out any more than that.

  “They're all but wiped out, and those who are left are hunted and killed.”

  “But, but why?”

  “Why? Because of what they are. They're dangerous, they—they're evil. They—” he thought about Kaylyn, and couldn't feel quite the same level of conviction he had once felt, but still, he knew they were bad.

  “But what about the sensients? Don't the sensients help them?”

  “A sensient? What is that?”

  The giant stared at Quinn, searching his eyes. “They work together. Always. It's been that way since the beginning of time. Those who commune with the earth, and those who commune with Gaharah.”

  Quinn's back stiffened. “Did you say those who commune with the earth?” Isn't that what the Sage had said about Liam? He was sure he had read it somewhere in the journal.

  The giant poured what was left of the snow onto the floor of the wagon.

  “This is Gaharah, it's a layer between your world and the world of the dead, and it's as far as the syphers can reach on their own. It's the layer of scum over fresh water. But if they cast through a sensient, they can reach further.” The giant brushed away a circle in the snow, revealing the floorboards underneath. “They can reach past Gaharah, and instead draw from the source of life. How do you not know any of this?”

  “I've never heard of such a thing?” His voice sounded breathy. And these sensients, how would you know them? Are they good trackers for example?”

  “The best. They can feel the world around them, and that ability only gets stronger in the presence of a sypher. With a sypher they can sense the people around them. They can feel the marks of the land around them, where crevices are or mounds. They could run through a forest at night with their eyes shut.” A look of awe crossed the giant's face. “Without a sensient, the syphers will wither and die. Gaharah corrupts them, it hurts them—it—it makes them sick. It's too vile to draw from. They never would do that. They never would.”

  Quinn thought about Kaylyn not being able to get through the stone spans, when the hunter was after them. She had hit into it as though there was something between them, but as soon as Liam touched her, she fell right through. Had she somehow cast through Liam? Had she reached through him into this source of life? Is that what the giant was talking about?

  The giant got to his feet. He was shaking his head. “They wouldn't draw from Gaharah. They need the source of life. It's how they heal. It's how they bring items of power and beauty into this world. It's how they carry life to others.”

  “Wait, did you say heal?” Quinn's heartbeat quickened. “Can they heal people? People who have been stabbed?”

  “Well, some were better than others at it, but yes, I knew healers that could heal wounds that were even more serious than that. Syphers could even grow limbs back. I saw it with my own eyes.”

  “I've got to go,” Quinn said. “I've got to get back to my world.” Kaylyn was strong, perhaps one of the strongest. If anyone could heal Fayre, she could.

  He paused for a moment. “Listen, I know a sypher personally. She's a friend. I'll bring her back here as soon as I can to set you free, I give you my word, but right now, I have to go.” He scooped up another handful of snow for the giant. “Thanks,” he shouted. “For everything, and I will see you soon, okay?”

  He focused his attention, looking for his reflection in the real world, and his body pulled back, but not before seeing Landton peering in through the door, with that damn grin on his face. Quinn tried to ignore him.

  He had to get to Fayre. He had to get her to Kaylyn.

  Chapter 27

  They left early the next morning before the sun had cast its net across the sky. Distant howls carried on the cool night air, and Liam laid a hand on the bow he had taken from the captain of the guard.

  He had spent the better part of a decade locking himself indoors at night. Even if the nightspawn weren't in Talondeor, he still didn't trust the dark.

  “So, what do you know about the Wardens?”

  Kaylyn answered instead of Livius. “When you were young, didn't you ever hear the fable of Grubbert the warden?”

  Liam shook his head. “The only tales we ever heard were in the tavern, and those weren't exactly children's tales.” Children weren't allowed in the tavern until the passing, but he and Quinn would sneak around the back and listen in at the windows. It was exciting but some of those tales could curl a rat catcher's whiskers. “So, what's it about?”

  “Many think it's about the tower, and how the wardens came to be. I'm sure it's nothing like those tavern yarns, but it was one of my favorite books growing up, and it was still thrilling to an eight-year-old. I used to read it at night by lantern light, with the covers pulled up over my head, and then I wouldn't be able to sleep, and yet, I read it so many times, I can almost quote it by heart.” She hugged her arms around her knees, looking lost, as she always did when talking about her past.

  “So according to the tale, there was once a princess that lived in a tower. She was the most beautiful woman in all the land, and suitors would come from every corner of the kingdom to try to win her affection.

  Every time one arrived, she'd turn them away, with a heavy heart, and that night, she'd sit at the window and weep. Years passed, children grew up and they had their own children, and their children had children, and still the princess remained as young and beautiful as she had ever been. A steady stream of suitors journeyed to the tower, but she never opened the gates to any of them.

  The people said that she was waiting for her true love to return, and that's what kept her from aging.”

  Livius grumbled under his breath, and for that, Liam had to suppress a smile.

  “Now, in another kingdom, there was a prison warden named Grubbert who was desperately unhappy, but he was an evil man who would beat the prisoners for sport. One day, he was sneaking around the cells looking for a reason to punish the men, when he heard a prisoner talking about the princess, and how she'd lived alone in the tower for over a hundred years. The prisoner said that he too laid a rose at her gate and had sung her a cheerful song, but, as with everyone else, the gates had remained shut. At first, Grubbert dismissed it as a fool's tale, but as the days passed, he began to notice how dark the dungeons were and how damp and cold they were, and he asked himself why he should be stuck in a dungeon while others got to live out their days in luxury.

  One day, he couldn't take it anymore, and he dragged the p
risoner out of the cell and beat him in order to learn everything he could about the princess.

  That night, he lay in bed thinking about the princess and how he could reach the tower—not to win her over, he didn't care about her, but to take it all for himself. After all, she was just a young woman living all alone, so how difficult could it be?

  Grubbert wasn't a brave man, or strong. He'd never try anything on his own, but the next day, he gathered the other wardens and gave them wine and when their heads were spinning, he laid out his plan. He asked, with passion in his voice, why they should accept the scraps, when they could be kings, living out the rest of their days in a fortress. The men nodded and voiced their approval, and when he told them that the tower was magical and had somehow kept her from aging for a hundred years, they all began to cheer.

  That night, in a drunken stupor, they broke into the armoury for weapons and suits of armour, and they rode out of the city like conquering heroes.

  When they reached the tower, the princess was leaning on her windowsill, staring off at the distant mountains with a heavy heart.

  Grubbert wasn't a courageous man, but seeing how slight she was, and that she didn't have anyone there to protect her, he puffed out his chest and marched over to the gate like a knight of the fallen and pounded on it as hard as he could. Instead of petitioning her with poems and promises of love like all the other men in the kingdom, he demanded that she open the gate and surrender all that she had.

  According to the prisoner, she had never opened the gate to anyone, but now, to Grubbert's amazement, the gate swung open.

  The other wardens were suddenly afraid, but Grubbert wasn't about to turn back now. He drew his sword and drove the others through.

  They found the princess sitting alongside a pool of clear water. She wasn't afraid, and that unsettled the men even more. Even Grubbert felt unsettled and that embarrassed him and made him angry. He told his men to seize her, but she laughed, a musical laugh, an excited laugh, and she said that they didn't have to take anything from her, for she'd give everything to them if they let her go unharmed. After all, if they killed her, then the men of the kingdom would ride to the tower seeking revenge, but if she gave it to them freely, then who could object.

  Grubbert couldn't believe this turn of good fortune, and he agreed, but he kept his sword drawn and warned her, in his most frightening voice, that if she tried to go back on her word, he would cut off her head.

  Oh, she assured him that she wouldn't, and she proceeded to tell her story, and Grubbert drank it all up in amazement.

  She said she was the daughter of a king, and had come to Talondeor looking for the pool of Avarice. According to legend, it was the source of the tower's magic, and that bathing in it would grant you your deepest desire. She said she was a plain girl who'd desired beauty above all else, and once she stepped through the pool, she became the most beautiful woman in all the land.

  Grubbert asked why she'd give it all up now, and she said that she was tired of it all and was ready to go home and try to find what was left of her line. She said that sometimes your deepest desire can also be your prison, and with that, she gave him a final warning not to proceed.

  But Grubbert scoffed at her. He said he wasn't falling for her tricks, and that he would have what he came for with or without her blessing.

  The princess nodded soberly and said that there was just one thing left to do. They must now pass through the waters to take the magic from her, and then everything, including the tower, would be theirs.

  Grubbert licked his lips greedily. He took off his boots, and flexed his fingers and was about to step in, when his men began to argue amongst themselves, for why should he pass through the waters without them?

  Grubbert put forward that it was his idea, and that once he was the most powerful man in all the kingdom, that he would then take care of them.

  But no one trusted him, and a fight broke out. They drew their swords, ready to end it all, when one of the men threw out his hands to stop them. He said that they were all in this together, and that instead of fighting, they should go through the waters together and share the power.

  Grubbert wasn't happy; he wanted all the power for himself, but he was a coward and was afraid of his men, and so he finally agreed.

  They linked arms and stepped into the water together, and straight away Grubbert could feel the difference. His muscles swelled, his shoulders broadened, and the floor seemed to fall away from under him as he grew taller and taller. He looked at his companions, these giants of men, and he laughed uproariously. Their armour had grown with them, and was so thick, not even a sword would have been able to pierce it. His wish had finally come true. They were surely the most powerful men in all the world.

  He wanted to test his strength, so he snatched up a table and tore it in half with his bare hands like it was made of paper.

  He then thought about the princess and wondered why he should let her go off into the world where she could share her secret with other people who'd come there seeking their own glory. No, he had to kill her, but when he looked around for her, she was no longer there.

  He realised that she must have slipped out when they were arguing, and his heart filled with rage. He screamed for his men to go after her and return with her head.

  When they reached the courtyard, she was exiting the gate.

  Grubbert drew his sword and ran after her, but at the gate he hit into an invisible barrier. He tried again and again, but he couldn't get through.

  The princess turned to look at him.

  She wasn't beautiful as she had been, but her face was filled with joy, which somehow made her even more beautiful.

  Grubbert asked her what she had done, and she said that the tower had granted their wish, for they were now the most powerful men in the kingdom, but like him, the tower was greedy and it would keep them all to itself forever. She said that the curse would last until someone with a worse heart came along to take it all away by force.

  Grubbert was stunned.

  His companions tried to run away, but when they couldn't cross the gate, they began to wail and gnash their teeth. With nowhere to go, they turned on Grubbert, shouting that they had left friends and families behind to follow him. They were so furious, they dragged him into a room and bricked up the entrance.

  Legend says that they longed to go back to their old life and become dungeon wardens again, and so that day, Grubbert became their first of many prisoners. Some say at night, you can still hear him banging on the walls, and you can still hear the cries of his men.”

  By this time Livius was shaking his head so much it was liable to shake right off. “What kind of fool's tale is that?” he grumbled. “A princess that doesn't age, a magic tower... Next you'll have me believe that my wagon will up and ride off on its own and my boots will clean themselves.”

  Liam enjoyed the tale. It was charming, but he was surprised that Livius had managed to hold out as long as he had.

  Kaylyn blushed. “I didn't say I believed it. Well, not entirely. So where do you think they came from?”

  Livius shrugged. “All I know is that the day the kingdom fell, they shut those gates and haven't allowed another soul through. Some say they slaughtered those inside, or that hunger and disease would have killed them by now.” He frowned, as though he didn't quite agree.

  “What do you say?” Liam asked.

  Livius drew out a pipe and tapped it on the side of the wagon. “One thing I know about the wardens is that they hate the dead. The tower is built on the edge of a cliff, and when someone dies, they drop the body through a hatch into the lake below. The bodies still come occasionally, but not often enough to suggest that everyone is dead. Then again, if the wardens left, then the bodies will be rotting in their cages by now. That's a troubling thought indeed.”

  They journeyed across gently sloping hills, and farm country, and reached the tower as the sun was breaking across the distant hills to the East.

>   The tower lay a few miles away from Livius' place, but for Liam, the journey was over far too quickly.

  Livius unhitched the small catapult from the back of the wagon and angled it towards the tower. They were going to use it in their assault on an unassailable fortress to find a man who was probably dead. The whole plan was simply ludicrous.

  While Livius set up the catapult, Liam gathered the wings in the back of the wagon, wondering why, in Fate's luck, he agreed to this? People weren't meant to fly. It just wasn't natural. Then again, they weren't meant to break into guarded towers either. All he knew about the wings was that Kaylyn had bruised her ribs when she'd landed in that lake, and this time, there wouldn't be any water in the courtyard to break their fall. Not to mention, he wouldn't have the luxury of a practice round. He had to get it right the first time.

  That was before they even got into the tower, in full view of anyone who happened to look out of one of the many arrow-slit windows.

  “We should have arrived earlier.” Liam tried to keep his voice level, even if it did nothing to settle his nerves. “It would have been much easier to sneak around at night.”

  “Don't fool yourself,” Livius said. He clicked the catapult's gear into place and began working the old crank. Liam watched the giant arm slowly creaking back.

  “The wardens are far more lethargic during the day, and you may need the extra hours of daylight, Fate hope it isn't so.”

  Liam nodded his agreement. “I want to get in and out as soon as possible, before the sun is anywhere close to setting.” He clipped the wings into place, and his hand strayed to the small vial in his belt pouch to make sure it was still there. He had checked it over a dozen times already. “You're sure the elixir will work? It's not going to kill us or anything?”

  “Of course it's going to kill you. As far as they're concerned anyway. That's the only way to get them to drop you through the back hatch.” Once through, Livius could fish them out the river again and then it'd take a few hours for the effects to wear off completely. The old man had been cooking up the plan for years in order to finally learn the tower's secrets, but up until now, he didn't have anyone to help him.