by D E Boske
“Please, I never meant to offend you, Darian. I’m sorry. I know I went about it all wrong. Give me another
chance, please? I promise you won’t be sorry,” pleaded the bard.
“I already am. You sound like a desperate suitor. I don’t fly that way. I like women. Not boys.” Torgyn turned red with shame and anger. It seemed no matter what he said, the Mage turned it against him. Darian was witty and incredibly intelligent. Darian made everything sound like something else entirely.
He nodded, for there was nothing else to say right now. He stood and ran right into Mordinian. When had Darian woke them? They all stood staring at him with disbelief and anger.
Darian dusted his hands together. “My work here is done,” he replied, leaving the bard to fend for himself.
In the morning, they left the comfort of the cave to brave the frozen tundra. The wind was chill; colder than yesterday. The wind blowing fiercely down from the peaks. Kyler walked in the lead with Darian, who looked for all of Corillia like it was summer. The cold did not touch the Mage. And his eyes matched the temperature.
The elven cloaks they donned helped them to blend in with their surroundings, making them invisible to the naked eye. Ancient Mountain was a daunting sight; it oozed across the landscape, a dark smudge on the horizon with peaks that rose to incredible heights.
Darian pulled the cowl of his Shryvven close, murmuring softly to himself. Kyler stayed close to him at all times and the Gor Li’ Khan were never far away either. Kyler could tell he was using his magic for something. He could hear the unfamiliar words of the Shivvendar tongue. He could feel the pull on the Magical Weave, but it was soft, gentle. He only felt it because he knew Darian was casting. He hoped Morphindinaetlus would not notice. He was not even aware that he held his breath. He trusted the Mage and knew without doubt that he would not put them all in danger. He used his magic because he knew it was safe. And because he had to. He watched the mountain, on high alert just in case. But there was nothing. No movement, no sound. It was as if the land was truly dead.
A hawk’s cry pierced the stillness and the elf shaded his eyes, catching a glimpse of the bird. It was dark brown with a soft cream underbelly. Its wingspan was about fifty inches and it looked to be about twenty four inches long. The hawk swooped down, catching something in its talons before flying back over Thunder Peak, disappearing from sight.
Kyler had never seen one venture this far west before. There were many that made their homes in Kiri A’ Nouell and the Logan Plains. He’d seen plenty on their journeys, but here? He was puzzled.
He was not the only one to take notice of the hawk. Calisha had been watching as well.
“What is it Kyler?” asked the Mage.
“Just curious is all,” he responded.
“Nothing’s ever that easy with you.”
The elf laughed. “I know you aren’t talking to me, Mr. Secretive,” he joked.
“Ha ha ha,” Darian said. “I meant about the hawk. What’s so interesting about a bird?”
“I’ve never seen one this far west before. There are dozens in the forest, as you know and all across the Logan Plains. Why here? As quickly as it came, it left.”
“Do you blame it? It’s beyond cold here. I’d leave if I could.”
“Maybe you’re right,” Kyler said, unconvincingly.
“You think it means something. What?” pressed the Mage.
“I don’t know. At least, I’m not sure. Yet.”
They walked for a time without saying a word. There were no trees here; the ground was frozen and only sparse vegetation scattered the landscape.
“What do you plan to do when we get there?” asked the elf.
“When we get there, we’ll first have to find our way through a maze of tunnels that twist and turn back on themselves. When we find the right path, we’ll follow it for many miles, deep into the heart of the mountain. As we get near, the smell of the wyrm will be overwhelming…” Darian trailed off. The Gor Li’ Khan behind them became stiffly alert.
“Darian, you do know how to find her. Don’t you?” The elf’s voice held a note of desperation. “You said you’ve been there before. You can find his lair, right?”
“Of course. I told you I’ve been there before, don’t you trust me?”
“You know I do,” replied the elf prince.
“Well then. I know the way and let us leave it at that. My steps shall not falter. Worry not, we will find her,” he reassured his friend.
“Dead, or alive, do you think?” asked Kyler, barely above a whisper.
“Alive, I hope. We have the element of surprise now that I destroyed the enchanted amulet from Mordinian.”
“What do you think of that one? Can he be trusted?” asked Kyler, who heavily depended on the Mage’s advice and opinion. Only an idiot would not.
“Absolutely not! Do not turn your back on that one. That’s how he loses his daggers, you know. In people’s backs.”
Kyler wanted to laugh, but held it in check. He knew Darian did not like Torgyn Ro or Mordinian. He didn’t like them either, really. Torgyn was okay sometimes, then others he was so weird. Kyler preferred to avoid them both.
Calisha stayed close to Nephraete, making sure she was safe and warm. He worried for the tiny seer in this cold. She did not take well to extreme temperatures.
Kaleika Bay was warm, yet not oppressive. The breeze off the ocean was cool and moist. It was a direct contrast to where they were now. The air was so dry and cold that it burned your fingers if they were out of your gloves too long.
They walked all day without stopping, even taking their meals on the run. The farther they made it each day, the less they had to go the next. They concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other. After a full day of enduring the brutal conditions, they realized it was harder than they’d first believed.
A harsh wind picked up, blowing down from the mountain and racing across the empty tundra. Darian shouted a warning, grasping Kyler’s hand. Everyone held on to each other to withstand nature’s fury. When it struck the company, the force of it pushed them back more than ten feet. They staggered, trying to remain upright. Bowing their heads against the sheer strength of the wind, they began to regain the ground that was lost, but it was slow going. Not long after, they were all worn out from fighting the wind. There was no other choice left to them, so they walked. And then walked some more.
“It will be getting dark soon. We will need to dig a shelter as small as possible. Probably no more than four to each, for maximum warmth.” Darian explained and Kyler nodded in agreement.
Darian was extremely careful choosing their campsite. When he finally decided on a spot, they began to dig into the snow, forming and packing. They dug deep enough to form a wind break. To give them better protection, Darian suggested that they form a wall of snow to block the wind. He instructed them to poke small holes in the roof to keep it well ventilated.
Then they put down well-oiled canvas to keep their bedrolls dry. Once the shelter was taken care of, fires were lit and concealed. There were plenty of large rocks lying about that they used to block the wind for the fire pits and many dead bushes that they used for kindling. Nothing survived here for long, it seemed.
Darian warded the camp and banished the chill so they would be able to sleep comfortably. After a hot meal of vegetable stew, everyone became lethargic, completely worn out from the day’s events.
Kryndale balked when Nephraete and Calisha joined the Mage and the elf prince.
“Do not worry Kryndale,” Kyler soothed. “We’ll be fine. Darian, as you know, is more than capable of protecting us. Besides, what normal being would be out in this?” Kyler joked, but the Gor Li’ Khan did not smile.
“I do not like this place nor the feelings it gives me. I feel as if the wyrm were watching us at this very instant.”
“Kryndale, that is a most horrifying thought! Darian has warded the camp. We will be safe here. If anything should happen, we wil
l have advanced warning from the wards. Rest well Kryndale,” Kyler dismissed him as gently as possible. He did not want to offend the Gor Li’ Khan.
Kryndale made sure that the Gor Li’ Khan were in the shelter closest to Kyler and Darian. The elf prince could reassure him all he wanted, but that did not stop Kryndale from doing his job.
Darian contemplated why Sigorna had remained absent. Usually, the demon appeared at the worst possible times. He’d been there almost every day now for weeks. Now nothing. He wondered if the Dark Mage had somehow… No, he thought. The stone is still warm against my skin. I can feel his power, his presence. Why does he remain apart? Darian wondered if it was because he shielded him from the cold. Maybe Sigorna didn’t like me using magic on him. He felt certain there was far more to it than that. Nothing about the demon could possibly be so simple. Ru Nay’ Sha washed over him even as he was thinking about the Falahari.
He saw the Demon Stone glowing faintly in the moonlight; a rich amber color. It glowed brighter the longer he looked at it until it lit up the whole shelter like the morning sun.
He could feel the complexity of the stone and knew there were far more uses for it than he’d originally believed.
He’d blocked Sigorna from being able to see him. He did not like the demon spying on him unless he specifically requested it. The only time he asked the Falahari to do it was when he needed to know something he felt he could not learn on his own. Which was not often.
He felt a vibration deep in the frozen earth, heard the rumble even as he rose to see what it was. Everyone else was still resting. The humans’ and dwarves’ snores echoed loudly in the silence.
He emerged into pale moonlight. The absence of stars struck the mage as odd, but he had no time to contemplate the oddity as the moon turned blood red. The orb was swollen, seeming to get larger as if by gorging on any spilled blood this night.
He felt white-hot agony race through his body, exploding from his head in a heated rush. He checked to see if his brains had been blown out from some unknown assailant, and he was satisfied he was still intact. The pain did not subside though.
Then, to his amazement, the moon exploded, shattering the silence as dark blood rained down, covering the frozen ground. A quiet night had become some sick, macabre fantasy. Bile rose in his throat at the realization that he was not alone in his dreams. The black blood coalesced into dark fingers that reached out to touch him. He tried batting them away, but his fingers just passed through them like smoke. They pierced his chest, massaging his heart. He fought to remain calm while they violated him from the inside out. He could not fight, he was paralyzed.
One stroked his forehead, then began boring into his head. He howled in pain as it penetrated his brain; blood oddly absent. The dark fingers held him upright, arms outstretched, legs apart and head back. The fingers stroked his lips, but he clamped his mouth tightly closed. With this way blocked, they held his nose and by reflex his mouth opened. They worked their way down his throat, choking him.
Unable to use his magic or defend himself in any way, he held no hope that this would end favorably. He began gagging on the Dark Magic, trying to make himself vomit, but they relaxed his muscles making him swallow it down…
“Calisha, what’s wrong with him?” asked Kyler worriedly.
They awoke to the Mage’s gagging. He seemed to be wide awake, but unable to move. A thick, black substance oozed from the corner of his mouth.
“It is the Dark Magic! It looks for a way to reclaim him. I’m sorry Darian, this is going to hurt… a lot,” Calisha said, grasping the thick substance and tugging hard.
Darian convulsed, making an unintelligible sound. “Unnnghh.” His eyes were wide, but he was not afraid. The Crebellan could tell the Mage knew exactly what was happening.
The Gor Li’ Khan burst through the makeshift door to see Darian on the ground, Calisha over him, pulling at something…
“What in Shenna’s name is that!” Kryndale exclaimed.
“The Dark Magic. Calisha is trying to get rid of it so stay out of his way,” Kyler ordered.
They stood ready to be of any assistance, but remained out of the way, watching in horror as the Crebellan grasped and pulled at the black ropes. The sight sent shivers up the assassins’ spines. They’d never been witness to such a perverse, evil force.
Kryndale observed how Nephraete reacted. She was terrified. Does she have feelings for the Mage as well? He thought, as he remembered the way they’d kissed.
The fingers of Dark Magic fought Calisha’s grasp. Darian was running out of time. He could not breathe this way and certainly could not last much longer.
“Kyler, get Lorin. Now!” Calisha commanded. The Gor Li’ Khan bristled at the informal way the Crebellan ordered Kyler around.
The elf prince went running to find him. “Lorin! We need you, now!” Darian did not have time for him to discreetly check each shelter for the elven mage.
Lorin emerged, alert and seeming to know where he was needed. He followed Kyler wordlessly, a dark menacing feeling beginning to creep over him the closer they got to the ruckus.
He wasted no time ducking into the shelter to help in any way he could. His body went numb when he saw the Mage sprawled on the floor turning blue from no oxygen.
Immediately, he knelt down, knowing what he must do. Softly, he whispered, stroking the Weave like a lover so as not to alert the wyrm. He put his hands to Darian’s chest as he cast the spell to fill his lungs with precious air.
The look that Darian gave him was unmistakable. His grey eyes conveyed the message as clearly as if he’d spoken the words. “Thank you, Lorin…” Lorin smiled in response.
He was fighting against something dark and utterly evil. Calisha had it, tugging hard. He pulled roughly, extracting it until he had over a foot of the stuff in his hands.
“Unnghhh,” Darian arched his back from the force of it.
“I’m sorry, Darian. I’m sorry. I know it hurts, but there’s no time. If I don’t get it out of you now, you know what will happen.”
“If you cannot do it, Calisha, kill me. It will die with me. I do not want to be a danger to anyone. Just… tell Tynuviel that I love her… There is a dagger on my waist. Promise me you will use it… I will not fight you…” Darian
sent the thought to the Crebellan, knowing he could hear him.
Calisha paused briefly as he heard the Mage’s words in his head. He nodded shortly, his eyes going hard. He was not about to let that happen.
“Tell her yourself,” Calisha replied with a smile. In the time he’d known Darian, he’d grown to like him; to respect him. He was a friend. And you did not kill your friends. But he would do it if he must. Only if there was no other way.
Calisha gave it his all, yanking as hard as he could. Lorin joined in and they began pulling more out. Finally, after what seemed like hours, they got the rest of it. Calisha took it into himself and left the shelter. They did not see what he did with it then. He was gone for over an hour and when he returned, his eyes were hard and emotionless.
Darian had waited for the Crebellan to return before succumbing to exhaustion. He sat up weakly, propped on Kyler. He gripped Calisha’s arm tightly. “Thank you Calisha. You saved me and that is something I will never forget,” he said seriously.
“That’s what friends are for Darian. Thank Shenna you let some of us in,” Calisha smiled, his eyes warm.
“I told you Kyler, you should have let Tryndil and I stay with you,” said Kryndale. Kyler opened his mouth to reply, but the Crebellan cut him off.
“It would not have done any good. You are not in a position to help Darian nor to protect him from this.” It was said without malice, but the Gor Li’ Khan flinched as if slapped. “He needs rest now, please, leave us. I will remain awake and alert. If the need arises, I will be here for you Darian.”
“Thank you Calisha, Lorin.” He nodded at the forest elf in thanks.
Kyler and Calisha helped him to lie back down
and blackness enveloped him in a sweet embrace. He did not dream again and for that he was most grateful.
17
Morning came with a dazzling burst of pink and gold fused together, painting the sky with a talented hand; the sky was nature’s canvas.
Darian sat up slowly, gingerly. He felt as though someone had beat his ass, punishing him with killing blows. It was like he was a novice all over again. Those were memories he never wanted to revisit. He pushed those thoughts away and locked them behind doors that lay buried deep inside him. Doors that would never see the light of day.
His head felt light and he hurt everywhere. He’d survived countless beatings from the Masters and Mages in Piri-Tuma, but this was different. That thing had violated him in a way The Order never had. Of a sudden, his stomach lurched and he made a mad dash for the doorway. He barely made it outside before spewing his guts up. He heaved until his ribs were sore from the effort.
“Shit,” he muttered to himself before his stomach clenched again. He doubled over, emptying his belly once more. He did not realize there was anything left. He’d barely eaten anything in days. His loss of appetite loosened the breeches that used to fit him so well, hugging his hips in the most delicious way. His tall, lean frame could not afford to lose much more and remain looking healthy.
Those who were out and about stopped and stared at him in shock and fear. Hadn’t they ever seen anyone vomit before? What the hell was so interesting anyhow? He dragged the back of his hand across his mouth as he shuddered.
“Darian, are you alright?” asked Kyler, as he approached with Calisha in tow.
The Mage was unable to respond, as his stomach cramped up. The force of his retching was deep and painful. He began to wonder if he would choke on his own puke. And that thought only doubled him over spilling whatever was left. What was left?
He was wracked with a deep shudder and it felt like his innards were on their way out. He gritted his teeth as his insides bucked. Kyler became concerned after about half an hour. He wanted to ask if he was alright, but that