The Curious Case of Jacob's Hallow

by Patrick Walsh

  “Come on Aggie, those are just rumors.” Luke laughed.

  “Ah if only that be true.” Her eyes fell over something on one of her shelves, her voice becoming wistful. Though, like Han, she was quick to regain herself. “So, tell me boy, an be a bit more specific, what have yeh come here for?”

  Aza and Luke noticed an edge to her voice.

  Dullahan cleared his throat. “As I said, I am here for the Paladin order. For our friends here, they are a continent wide union of nations and territories offering aid to those in need. I happen to be from a prestigious academy they have in Dellathorn. You see, I stumbled across this town in my studies, and noticed that it seemed to have fallen off the face of the Earth.”

  Aggie chimed in. “This is a contested region, I’m sure plenty of towns be unaccounted for.” She was prodding him, seeing how many of her suspicions she could confirm.

  “Well yes...but as you likely know, this land has great historical significance. For the town that was built upon it to simply vanish...it seemed strange.”

  “So, what are ya here to do?” She looked to Luke and Aza as the wheels of her mind ticked and turned like the gears of a clock.

  “Well...I am here to find out if there is a problem...and solve it if need be!” His voice started uncertain, but finished strong as his thoughts and ideas all aligned.

  “Really dearie? They sent one boy, still wet behind the ears, to save a town?”

  “Well no, just investigate...and report back, but I hear reporting back is not currently an option.”

  She laughed. “Ya have no idea lad.”

  “So... with the assistance of these two here...I intend to get to the bottom of what plagues your little town. At least until enough time has passed and those at my academy begin looking for me.”

  “You want our help?” Aza looked to Luke, both equally astonished.

  Han turned to them, “Of course! I’ll need assistants, and Aza seems rather heroic. You are his best friend, so I assume you must be the same?” His eyes darted back to Aggie, seeing how she would respond.

  “Of course, we’ll help. We’ve been preparing for this since….” Luke was still taking everything in.

  “Wait..but I need to get back to grandad.” Aza looked to both Luke and Han.

  “Gretel can handle that...I want the two of ya to wait outside far a moment. I be needin a quick word with our new friend.”

  Aza and Luke were puzzled, but obeyed, leaving Aggie and Han alone. The two now faced one another like two cats looking for a mouse. Dullahan stood nervous and uncertain, while Aggie sat perturbed and ponderous. Eventually the old woman locked eyes with him, her own cold and piercing while Han tried to look away.

  “I want to make a few things very clear. You are from Baile Cara' Academy or be ey mistaken?”

  Han chose his words carefully, not sure what would happen next. “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Ah...then I know why ye be here of all places. You are out of your league boy, I hope ye understand this.”

  He looked down, regret clinging to his words. “Yes.”

  “I get what ya did. Shut me up by playin the hero.”

  He didn’t have a reply.

  “I’ll let ya play yer little game, read yer little books. Not because I have a drop of sympathy for a fool like ye be, but because those two’ve been waiting for sumthin like this fer years. I’ll let ya play dress up as a big scary Paladin, but you need ta stick by them. Do ya understand boy?”

  Han swallowed and took a deep breath. “Yes.”

  “Good. But be warned. If you do anythin that gets one of those two hurt..or worse...it ney be the Nightman or Barnabee you’ll have to fear….now beat it.” Aggie hopped off her stool and hobbled back to her shelves.

  Han turned around and walked outside, greeted by the two eager, simple town’s folks. He had no idea how he had gotten himself into all of this, but one way or another he was going to claw his way back out.

  Chapter 6: Worlds Collide

  Dullahan stepped back as Aza twisted his feet into the wet soil.“Show me what you can do.”

  He took a deep breath and trained his glowing eyes on the six targets ahead of him. His fingers spread apart, thin cords springing out from each of his palms in two thick, unwinding bundles. The translucent threads uncoiling and thrashing like the tentacles of a sea beast, each one acting like an extension of himself. All he had to do was raise his right hand and six shot out from the rest, impaling the pieces of wood newly set up along the wall. The others all snapped in the air or crawled along the ground as he turned back to face his two friends.

  “Well I’ll be…” Luke was stunned, now seeing how alien the threads truly were.

  Han had an odd look on his face, as if he wasn’t sure whether to be afraid or confused. “That... certainly is impressive.”

  Aza stood in place as Han strolled around him, inspecting the sliding tendrils. “So what exactly are these?”

  Han seemingly ignored him, still looking everything over. “Last night you spoke to me and I felt compelled to obey. Was that your magic or fear clouding my mind?”

  “It was me. People also get afraid when I’m angry; it's not something I can control.” He hung his head a little.

  “Hmm, well from all that you two have told me, you would appear to be a “Tellisoura de Sol” .

  Aza just stared at him blankly trying to think if he had heard the phrase.

  It’s from one of the ancient elven languages. The term roughly translates to “Weaver of Spirits” or “One who Spins Souls”. More colloquially they are referred to as “Puppet Masters”.

  “Now whaddaya mean souls?” Luke’s demeanor quickly broke from awe to being on the defensive.

  “What do you mean?” Aza was beginning to get nervous, his strings now snapping and extending.

  Han jumped back as one swiped at his boot. “I am sorry but did I strike a nerve?”

  “Soul magic is dark magic. We might not be from some fancy “Paladins”, but even this town knows that.” Luke crossed his arms.

  “And where did you gather this knowledge from?” He started shifting away from Aza as the tendrils began drawing nearer.

  Noticing, he began dispelling the threads. “Fables, bedtime stories, just...local knowledge I guess.”

  “I would consider that less than adequate, and I didn’t mean to accuse you, only classify.” He cleared his throat. “To streamline a very complicated topic, there are three broad branches of magic users; wizards and enchanters, mages, and sorcerers. The first two are born with their gifts, mages learn their magics, and sorcerers are a loose classification for everything else. A Puppetmaster would fall into the last category, someone or something that has “cracked open” their soul, so to speak, in order to use its full power. Those strings are part of your spirit. When you control people, or they become afraid of you, it's your exposed spirit, your essence, overwhelming their own.

  Aza didn’t know what to make of this. “So is it dangerous, using the threads?”

  “No, the soul is eternal, always regenerating. What I find more concerning is how you became one in the first place.” He stroked his chin, old notes and new realizations swirling in his head.

  “You said someone has to crack open their soul, what’s that mean?” Luke looked back and forth from Aza to Han, concern layed deep within his words.

  “It is not my area of expertise, but there is an extensive ritual, that when performed, allows one to use their own soul as a power source. It strengthens their magic along with many other benefits, such as your strings.”

  “So it’s common then? People do this all the time?” Aza kept his distance, feeling as if he moved closer to them his “cracked” soul would burst, killing them all.

  Luke and Aza looked to Dullahan, pleading for answers. Han himself quickly feeling overwhelmed. “Well...no.” He cleared his throat again. “It is incredibly dangerous, and very dark magic. Those who use it...tend to drift closer and closer to dar
kness...assuming they even live through the ritual.”

  Aza began breathing fast as it felt like all his worst fears were coming to pass. Luke and Han in turn began to feel a cold unease spin out around them.

  “BUT...that is how it normally is. You have to do it to yourself, and that takes years of magical study.”

  “What? Then how would I be one?” He wasn’t even aware of the fear that trailed off of him as anger built up over the allegation of being this “Puppetmaster”. Moreover he was afraid...afraid of what he was. Denial and confusion twisted over him as he stood firmly in place.

  Han stepped back. “I do not know, but they have been documented to occur naturally under very rare circumstances!” He held his hands out, trying to get the gloomy specter to calm down.

  Aza then noticed how far the gap between him and the other two had gotten, how unsettled they looked. He closed his eyes, and tried to reign in his...soul.

  Luke turned to Han. “What rare cercum...carcumstences...are you talkin about?”

  “I am not fully sure, it was just one page out of five hundred. There was a fable that said a man made a deal with a demon, and failed hold up his end. The demon pulled at his soul every day for decades until it began to unravel. That was supposedly the first Tellisoura de Sol, but writings on them are not very numerous or studied. What you are is very...niche.”

  Aza opened his eyes. “Can you fix it?”

  “Me? No, no, no, I have no talent for magic. Not...not from a lack of trying... “ There was a brief tang of wistfulness in his words. “Perhaps if we had a way to leave this town we could find you help.”

  Aza closed his eyes again, but then smiled. “I suppose I’ve made it this long...what's a few more weeks...months.”

  Luke quickly piped up. “If even that long! With him here we have a chance at fixin this place. He swung his arms out, gesturing to the fortified ruin around them. “Might even be time to start recruiting, like we were gonna talk about.”

  “Let us not get ahead of ourselves here. If what you all said is true, I would like to keep this whole thing quiet.” Han looked around the ruin, fearing spies lurking in the dark forest just out of sight.

  Luke thought about it for a moment. “I suppose you’re right…” He looked at the ground, still thinking.

  “Yes, I am.” He looked back to a more structured part of the ruin. “On the way here you said that there was a map of this town.”

  “Oh, yes!” Aza, hurried past his two friends and over to the meeting room, the fear having mostly fallen away.

  Luke lit the two lanterns while Aza pulled out an extra box for Dullahan. Once all was ready, the three each took their seats around a large map of the town and surrounding area. Aza and Luke watched as Han poured over it, puzzled by all the ink marks.

  “So, I assume there is a legend?” Han puzzled.

  “There’s a lotta legends round here.” Luke tried to think of any that could be important.

  Han just rolled his eyes. “The map. Have either of you made a legend so people can tell what this chicken scratch means?” He waved his arms over the assortment of dots, spirals, and other seemingly random symbols.

  “Oh...” Luke leaned back against the wall, feeling like a fool.

  Aza looked sympathetically to his friend, then back to the map. “A small dot means someone who was killed by something from the forest. A spiral means a death by one of the creatures that lurk at night. An X means they were killed by a ghost or something ghost related. A big dot means they are...gifted or magical, based on what you said.”

  The hairs on the back of Hans neck stood on end as he looked over the map. The sheer amount of symbols were staggering. “How...how....are they dated?”

  Aza thought for a moment. “They aren't. I suppose that would have been smart…”

  “Yes, it would have.” Han scanned it over, putting the meaning behind the symbols to the back of his mind.

  Luke then turned to Aza. “It’s gonna be hard to update this after...last night.”

  Aza nodded somberly while Han faltered, but continued on looking over the paper. Minutes ticked way while Luke and Aza sat in a sobering silence. The only sounds came from the grim forest. The gnashing of teeth, the scuttling of many sharp legs, the trees themselves twisting and shifting just beyond the fragile safety of their walls. Yet the two old friends were used to it all, resigned to it. Han, on the other hand, was overwhelmed. His mind was plagued by fear, by guilt, by anger at himself for even being so headstrong as to come here. Yet his mind was sharp as ever, quickly adapting and pulling together each and every new piece of information. One of those pieces was even materializing right before his very eyes.

  “How old is the first dot?”

  “Hmmmm, I’d say… maybe 60 years old?” Luke looked to Aza for help.

  “Seems about right.”

  Han looked up to them. “So who started this map?”

  “We did. One of Luke’s brothers apprenticed with the undertaker. He was able to show us the most recent ledger of those who had passed on so we could make a more accurate map. He still does from time to time if we bug him enough. ”

  “That is rather...morbid. Well then first I would like to know about these three.” Han pointed to three small dots around the southern end of the town.

  Luke shrugged. “I think those were spread over a decade or so.”

  “Yes, but if those dots were beast attacks, like Aza stated, then why were they so far into town?”

  Luke had no idea, but Aza had thought the same thing when he had marked them down so long ago. Yet time and life had gotten in the way of ever being able to make anything of them. “I don’t know. I think they were millipede attacks.”

  “A millipede killed them?” Han tilted his head. “How big do they get here?”

  Luke placed his fingers close together. “About yay big, to....bigger then my house, but theys pretty uncommon.”

  “I see.” Han leaned back. “I have a lot of reading to do…”

  Aza perked up. “So do you have any idea what’s causing this all?”

  The gears in his head spun and sputtered as he took in what he could. “This place is far beyond me. From everything you said on the way here, about the night and the monsters, about how far out this all goes...it would have to be a wizard or some powerful coven. That’s not even taking into account the possibility of a lesser god.”

  Luke’s eyes widened.”You think we’re goin up against a god?”

  “It’s possible. The amount of power it would take to completely change the fabric of this region, as it has been, is unfathomable. Well, controlling regions with magic isn’t exactly unimaginable, but this goes so much deeper.” Han tapped his fingers against the table. “Yet if it was a god, it would need a lot of worship to expend this much energy on such an obscure area. No...likely not...do you worship the Loa like the rest of your nation?”

  Aza nodded. “Though I haven’t attended service in some time.”

  Luke laughed. “Trust me, you ain't missin much.”

  The tapping increased as Han ran through idea after idea, his worst fear unable to be kept down any longer. He spoke slowly and carefully, making sure he knew what, and how much, to tell them. “Here is my theory. There is something or someone with an exorbitant amount of dark magic in this town and it is affecting everything in this area. What or who it is I do not know, but there is likely one source at the heart of all these horrors. Maybe an old artifact from the War of Eras or some other conflict.”

  Aza and Luke were both taken aback. “What are you talking about? That’s just a myth.”

  Han looked from Aza to Luke, then back. “You are isolated...um...no the war was very real. It lasted for roughly a century, and ended around eight hundred years ago.”

  Luke replied first. “Are the legends true?” Aza and him both leaned closer as if Han were a grand priest ready to speak the word of the Loa themselves.

  Dullahan scooted his box back a bit an
d straightened his jacket. “Well, what legends are you referring to?”

  “The greatest heroes in all a history teaming up to fight an army of demons and goblins and zombies. The first Hero wielding excalibur! All the old kingdoms fell; the continent itself was cracked!” Luke’s eyes shone like stars.

  “What? No….well it sounds like you’re confusing different events. The first hero was long dead before the war or even that sword. Yes, demons were there but not relevant, and yes the continent was changed on three occasions due to the World Engine. I could talk for days about the war….”

  “What’s a world engine?” Aza had a million more questions just waiting to bubble up.

  “Well first off, “the” World Engine. It was one of the greatest enchanter class amalgamations of machinery and magic ever forged. It is also irrelevant. I said it could be from the war, not that it was.”

  The dots in Luke’s head began connecting. “Isn’t the old lighthouse from the war?”

  Han turned back to him. “What lighthouse?”

  “Yeah. The one at the top of the Leviathan's crest.” Aza gestured to the jagged stone behind them and turned back to Han. “It’s one of the oldest things in town. It’s made of this black rock a lot of the older structures are made of.”

  “Black rock? What exactly do you mean?” It was now Han leaning in, all three boys bracing themselves atop the table.

  Aza looked to Luke. “Is it obsidian?”

  “Nah, Aggie showed me obsidian once and they’re not the same. They’s look similar, but the obsidian shined in a different way.” Luke pretended as if he were holding it, trying to convey his point.

  “I see.” Han gazed at Luke’s swiveling hand as if the rock were really in his grip. “Do you know where I can find some of this mystery stone?”

  Aza pointed in the general direction of town. “There was some in the pillar you were hiding in last night. The statues on the steps of the library and lower half of the Olmire Bridges are mostly made of it…” Aza looked at the ceiling, mind racing for more ideas.