The Legend of the Gate Keeper Anthology: The Shadow, Land of Shadows, Siege of Night, Lost Empire, Reborn, The Trials of Ashbarn, End of Days

by Jeff Gunzel

  Men strapped with swords and carrying crossbows began to emerge from the darkness. Some hiding up on rooftops now sat in plain sight with their legs hanging over the edge. There were so many more than Azek could have imagined. Arkare smiled, his fangs catching bits of light from the street lamps. He raised his hands high above his head, eliciting a number of excited cheers from the still-growing crowd. Azek looked on cautiously, not sure what to do next. None of the local peasants would be leaving their homes this night. All these men worked for Arkare. Azek even recognized a few of them.

  “Bring her out!” ordered Arkare, gesturing toward the tavern. Azek’s heart sank as he watched the thrashing girl get dragged out into the street. Hands tied behind her back, Anna kicked and screamed while the much larger man pulled her along. Spinning her about, he pushed her down hard at Arkare’s feet, making her land in a puddle. She looked up into that pale face with fangs like a monster, and into the ice-blue eyes of a corpse.

  He smiled at her in an almost fatherly fashion, then blasted the side of her face with the back of his hand. She toppled to the side, sliding across the dirt. “That’s for the trouble you’ve caused me,” he whispered down at her. “But don’t worry about that. You’ll be given chance after chance after chance to make it up to me. To make it up to each and every one of my men. Needless to say...you’ll be busy.”

  She got back to her knees with her head hung, refusing to look up. The side of her face was already beginning to swell, a line of blood flowing from the corner of her mouth. Her shoulders shook with sobs as she mumbled something incoherent.

  “Do you have something to say?” asked Arkare, his eyes searching the rooftops. He was sure Azek was out there somewhere. Watching. Listening.

  Anna pounded her fists onto the dirt and screamed into the night, “You promised me!” The echoing shriek sounded like dozens of girls screaming the same sentence a mere second apart from each other. Arkare sneered down at her while the men resumed their laughter. He wasn’t sure what was meant by the outburst, but still found her desperation amusing.

  Lying on the nearby rooftop, Azek dropped his head down onto his forearm. “I know,” he said to himself. “I know I promised you.”

  With a wave of Arkare’s hand, Anna was taken away. All the remaining fight seemed to have been drained out of her. Resigned to her fate, she went along quietly.

  “Men, today an extraordinary opportunity has presented itself to you all,” Arkare called out, his voice bold and clear. “Not only will our town grow and prosper from the ransom we shall receive for Lady Drine, but you shall have an opportunity to help in passing the torch of leadership, once and for all.” The men began to stir excitedly, many rubbing their hands together as their minds filled with greedy thoughts.

  Arkare pulled out a small brown bag from inside his shirt. He loosened the leather cord, purposely taking his time so the men would grow even more restless. Finally, he tipped it over his hand, spilling out a large red jewel that was easily half the size of a man’s fist. He held it up between two fingers, turning it back and forth so it sparkled in the low light.

  “This belongs to whoever brings me the head of Azek Lamanton!” shouted Arkare. Cheers and whistles rose up into the night. “Whichever one of you accomplishes this task will not only be rich beyond his wildest dreams, but will also find himself immortalized in the eyes of all who serve the wolves’ lair. From this day forward, you will forever be known as the man who took down the legend. The warrior who killed the Shadow!”

  Explosive cheers rose up from the crowd. Men pumped their weapons into the air while chanting and whistling. In a town of cutthroats and thieves, reputation was the only thing that mattered, something that Arkare knew all too well. His men would work just that much harder, if only to have their names live on for doing the impossible.

  Azek watched in horror as the spectacle unfolded. Not for fear of his own life, but in awe at how naive he had been to have ever been involved in this madness. At one time, it had been him down there rousing up the men, getting them excited at the idea of spilling more blood. As if enough innocent lives hadn’t already been lost for the sake of greed and power. At that exact moment, Azek did more soul searching than he had ever done in his life.

  Never again will I represent such madness. I’ve taken many lives and I’m sure I’ll take many more, but from this day on it will be with purpose. No man will die by my blade who doesn’t deserve to do so. It will take a lifetime for me to make up for the things I’ve done, but every journey starts with a single step.

  The smoldering spark within him was growing out of control. It was now closer to a forest fire threatening to consume him. Unable to fight it any longer, he let the rage flow through him like a river. Welcoming it...embracing it. The long-lost hunter would surface one last time, whether he wanted him to or not. But this time it would be all right. This time he wanted the hunter to come.

  Azek sneered at the irony as he rubbed black dust from the roof over his face, his hood pulled low to keep the rain from washing it away. It was going to take violence to avenge violence. The hunter within him embraced this reality. Soon, I will begin a new life. A life away from this chaos and death. A life of honor and purpose that any soldier would be proud of. A flash of lightning lit up his soot-covered face, those dark eyes blazing with intensity. Thunder rumbled in the background. But it will not be this day.

  * * *

  Gagged with a dingy cloth and her hands tied, Anna sat in a hard wooden chair in the corner of the room. With teary eyes she watched her captors seated at the table only a few feet away. A single lantern on the table left the tops of their faces cast in shadow, but that was still more of them than she wanted to see. They paid little attention to her, only glancing in her direction now and then.

  The hard wood walls looked freshly sanded and the room smelled of pine, with a lingering hint of tobacco. The dust in the air made Anna suspect this was not a room that was used very often. The walls were completely bare, making the room feel more like the inside of a shed. She kept quiet as they spoke, but listened carefully.

  “So what makes you think he is still here?” said Leed, a short, pudgy fellow who always smelled of ale. Even with his chair pushed back, his large belly still touched the edge of the table. “He could be long gone by now. If fact, if he has any brains he’s already a half a mile into the forest.”

  “He is not going anywhere. Trust me on this,” said Verck, smoothing back his long, gray hair. “I told you already. I worked under Azek for a number of years, and if there is one he doesn’t do, it’s leave business unfinished.” He glanced at Arkare briefly. “He has a score to settle and he is not leaving until it’s settled.”

  “Good,” said Arkare, his voice soft and musical. “The men are searching for him as we speak. And with the added incentive I’ve provided, they’ll do whatever it takes. Before the night is through I’ll have his head mounted on my wall.”

  “Your men are not the ones doing the hunting tonight,” muttered Verck under his breath.

  “If you have something to add, I suggest you speak up, Verck,” growled the giant, his voice suddenly low and threatening.

  “I’m just saying that you might want to show a little caution,” said Verck, showing a surprising amount of backbone. Being a veteran of the wolves’ lair for a number of years, he had earned the right to speak his mind. “You seem to think that giving certain incentives to the men will ensure the capture of Azek. Well, that doesn’t just make them more aggressive in their search, it makes them stupid and careless. You don’t understand what this man is capable—”

  “No, you don’t understand what I’m capable of,” boomed Arkare, standing to his full height. He glared down at Verck, ice-blue eyes burning a hole through his skull. “If this one man frightens you so, then I will find a more suitable task for a coward like you.”

  Verck threw his hands in the air and took a step back. “Very well, then,” he said, determined not to push the unp
redictable man any further. “I take my leave.” He turned and started for the door. “I wish you fortune and good luck on your manhunt,” he added.

  Once outside, he leaned back against the door, eyes scanning the rooftops. All seemed quiet enough...for now. “Yes, luck and fortune,” he mumbled to himself. “You’ll need both, I’m afraid.”

  Chapter 5

  For a time, Leed simply glared at the closed door, the wheezing sound of his heavy breathing filling the room as if he had been running. But then again, the flabby man always seemed to be short of breath. It was always worse when he was agitated. “I don’t trust him,” he wheezed between deep breaths.

  Arkare smiled at him reassuringly. “Fear not, Leed. He wouldn’t dare betray me or the wolves’ lair. Verck has proven to be most loyal over the years. He knows who he works for, and Azek is nothing more than a traitor. Verck will realize that soon enough.” He waved away the doubt as an unimportant detail. “It does not matter anyway. Verck is the least of my concerns.” He opened the door to leave. “I’ll be back shortly. Keep an eye on her until I return.”

  For a moment, the sound of hard rain filled the room until Arkare closed the door behind him. Leed’s unsure gaze bounced between the closed door and Anna. But as he became more and more sure Arkare wasn’t going to walk right back in, his attention shifted completely to Anna. She met his gaze for a moment, and got chills from the look in his eyes. Regardless of his instructions to watch over her, it was starting to look as if he was having ideas of his own.

  His huffing and wheezing intensified further. He pushed his chair away from the table, a simple feat that looked to have taken a monumental effort on his part. Leed licked his fingers with a dry sandy tongue, then swiped what remained of his black, greasy hair across the top of his head in a pitiful attempt to cover what was mostly a bald head. A twisted smile revealed sickly purple gums housing a few rotting teeth. He advanced toward her, each waddling step swaying his round body from side to side.

  Anna’s horror-filled cries were muffled by the gag. She began to thrash in the chair, scooting it along the floor in short fits of movement. Leed’s sickly smile widened at her desperate attempt to get away. “It’s alright, lil’ girl,” he said, attempting to kneel down beside her chair. He dropped down to one knee with a heavy thud, then nearly tipped over dropping to his other. Once again the slob of a man appeared completely out of breath from the mundane task. He wheezed out a few shallow breaths before placing his hand on her knee. “Arkare asked me to keep an eye on you, and that’s exactly what I ‘tend to do. You be nice to me then I be nice to you. I can make your stay here as pleasant or as difficult as you want. In the end I’ll get my way, so why make this harder than it has to be?”

  Anna thrashed even harder, forcing her chair to rock back and forth. Her gag was now soaked with saliva, and she screamed into it over and over, trying to force out some level of sound. She hoped someone might hear her. Anyone. But who? Who would ever come to her aid even if she could somehow alert the entire town? Knowing how hopeless her situation had become, her rage redirected itself to one man in particular. Azek Lamanton, I hate you with all of my heart. You did this to me, you treacherous bastard. When they find you, I pray they skin you alive, and I hope they let me watch.

  Her thrashing suddenly stopped as the disgusting man’s hand slid up between her legs. Horrified and nearly in shock, she realized her body had become unresponsive. She couldn’t scream—couldn’t move—just sat there while the panic rose in her chest. His pudgy fingers began to massage her roughly, moving in harsh circles that would be more appropriate for sanding a bench. Sticky, thin strands of vomit with nowhere to go began leaking from the sides of her gag, and dripped down her chin. Leed moved his round face close to hers. When he opened his mouth to kiss her she could smell his breath, a foul combination of booze and severe tooth decay.

  On the verge of passing out, Anna’s eyes started to roll back into her head. Suddenly, with a soft hiss, his open mouth produced a dagger blade. Flecks of blood dotted her face. She froze, still staring into the lifeless eyes of this slob, his lustful expression exactly the same. A trickling line of blood dripped from the blade tip before it disappeared back into his mouth, allowing the body to crumple to the floor.

  Anna blinked once, twice. Everything had seemed so surreal, like a terrible dream she couldn’t wake up from. Until recently, she had never seen a person die before, yet alone look one in the eyes while it happened. For a moment, she found herself hoping to see Azek standing there. He would untie her and carry her away from this horrible place. But there stood Arkare, bloody dagger in hand as he gazed down on her.

  “I leave for only a few minutes and you still continue to cause me trouble,” he said, shaking his head back and forth. He looked down at Leed’s crumpled body, then wiped both sides of the dagger across the corpse’s shoulder. “I’m beginning to believe you may not be worth the trouble.” Anna grunted something urgent at him through her vomit-soaked gag. He reached behind her head and untied the knot, allowing it to fall around her neck. Immediately she became violently sick, throwing up on her own lap.

  “He was going to rape me,” Anna mumbled weakly when there was nothing left in her stomach but bile. “How can you blame me for—”

  “He’s dead because of you,” Arkare interrupted, his voice remarkably calm considering what he had just done. “He didn’t die because he advanced on you, he died because he did it without permission. My men are to always comply with my orders or the penalty is death. There are no exceptions. To let him live after he disobeyed my orders would make me look weak. That alone is inexcusable.” He glanced down at the body one more time and shrugged. “It doesn’t matter now. I’ll simply replace him. Besides, I’ve brought someone here I think you should meet.” He stepped aside, revealing the person who was standing behind him. Well...more a creature than a person.

  Anna’s heart fluttered with fear at the sight of this nightmarish creature. It seemed to have a human body, but the face... It was as if someone removed its head and replaced it with a living squid. Writhing slimy arms with white suction cups slowly curled and straightened like a beard made of tentacles. It seemed to have no mouth or nose, but its eyes were unmistakable. Large purple spheres with no pupils. Making movements that were independent of each other, they seemed to look at different things at different times. Never had Anna seen such a thing.

  “Allow me to introduce Zool,” said Arkare, clearly amused by the look on Anna’s face. “He doesn’t care much for humans. In fact, he rather loathes them. But I suppose that is what makes him so useful to me.” The grotesque creature let out a guttural sound resembling a bubbling gurgle, those tentacles on his face probing around his chest and shoulders. “There are not many of his kind left in this world, but I must say, when it comes to mental torture, the Krackanians have no equal.”

  The squid-like creature let out a high-pitched squeal, a piercing shriek that seemed like it could shatter glass. Its tentacles stood outward and quivered before curling up and relaxing once more. Arkare began rubbing Anna’s shoulder. “I’m afraid he wants to demonstrate his considerable talents on the likes of you.”

  The creature advanced, those face tentacles writhing around and reaching out toward her. Terror returned to her tenfold and she let out a scream that rivaled the creature’s. Arkare pulled Zool back and gave a hearty laugh. “Don’t waste energy on this one,” said Arkare. “She’s worth more to me with her mind intact. I just might have a more important job for you.” With the last of her willpower spent, Anna’s sank into the chair. Sweet, merciful darkness swept her away.

  * * *

  “Now, if I was a lowdown, traitorous dog, where would I hide?” asked Orsh, a lean man with keen dark eyes. He fingered the hilt of his dagger nervously with one hand while shielding his eyes from the rain with the other.

  “I say we go that way,” Gill replied, pointing a ways up the street. Built like an ox but only half as smart, the large man
stumbled forward without waiting for a reply. As several of the men had, these two decided it would be best to search as a team. If the two of them managed to take down the assassin, they would find some way to split the reward. Of course, this was a tentative agreement at best.

  As Gill stomped down the middle of the street, not even trying to hide his whereabouts, Orsh crept along the west walkway like a stealthy cat. Gripping his blade, the lean man peered into each dark alley, hoping to get lucky and catch the target unaware. Their methods couldn’t be more different, which in their own minds made them the perfect team.

  “Gill, stop. Listen,” whispered Orsh, waving his arms, trying his best to get the oblivious man’s attention. Eventually, Gill paused and cupped a hand up to his ear. There was indeed a faint tapping sound coming from somewhere up ahead. Orsh brought a hushing finger to his lips then motioned for Gill to follow him silently. He crept up to the next corner and peeked around the side. Just across the street was an old wagon with three wheels. Yellowed canvas full of rips and tears stretched over four arching metal rings. Every now and then, they could still hear that light tapping sound from behind the wagon. “I think we’ve got him cornered,” Orsh whispered over his shoulder. With a sweeping finger he pointed in the direction he wanted Gill to go, then started toward the opposite side.

  Nearing the wagon, dagger in hand, Orsh began a silent count with his fingers. Gill slid an axe from its leather loop and nodded with each dropped finger. When the count hit one, they each rushed around one side of the wagon, meeting on the other side. Nothing. The two looked around in confusion. Alright, so he wasn’t here as they first suspected, but something had to be making that sound. There came another light tapping, but this time there was a slight movement that caught their eyes. A small rock tied with a piece of twine swayed back and forth in the wind, occasionally tapping the side of the wagon.

  Confused, Gill just stared at it, but Orsh’s eyes widened in horror at the obvious trick. Dagger still in hand, he whirled this way and that, having no idea where the true danger might be. “Gill, watch out,” yelled Orsh. “Don’t you see? He’s here somew—”