“But the attack seemed so real. I mean, the fight really hurt,” I said.
“Yes, the others report the same,” said the doctor.
“But if it wasn’t real, why am I in so much pain now?” I asked.
“Tricholophate is highly toxic and did extensive damage to your body. I’m sorry to say you will be here for some time until your body heals,” said the doctor.
I wanted to believe him; what he said made more sense than what I remembered, but it didn’t feel right. I was sure I had been attacked. It was the only really clear memory I had.
“How long?” I asked.
“I’m not sure,” he said, “but at least a week, maybe two.”
“Wonderful,” I said.
Chapter Twelve
Raquel led us up one final steep hill. This was much larger than any of the others and gave way to a flat summit. On the top of the hill was a large collection of stones that vaguely reminded me of a castle. Some parts looked as if they might once have been towers, others might have been wall segments, but for the most part it just looked like rubble which stretched out in all directions and seemed to cover the entire plateau.
“Zah’rak, Shira, welcome home,” said Raquel.
“Home?” I repeated. A pile of rubble seemed an odd place to call ‘home’.
“Yes, Zah’rak,” she said. “Granted, ten thousand years ago when I was growing up it looked quite different.”
I leaned against one of the rocks and was surprised to feel life in it. I stretched out my mind and could feel all the rocks. “The rocks! They’re alive?”
“Not really, but they were heavily enchanted ages ago. This used to be a massive fortress: the headquarters of the Sac’a’rith,” she said.
Shira gazed across it in wonder. “What happened to it?”
“It stood as an impregnable fortress for generations, until internal corruption caused it to fall,” she said.
“But how?” asked Shira.
I leaned against the rock, letting it speak to me. I was thrilled to see Shira talking directly to Raquel, even if it was just because she was distracted by the view and the story. It was a start, and perhaps a sign of better things to come.
“Just as a person is born a magus, a person must be born a Sac’a’rith,” said Raquel. “At first the order remained pure and only those born with the gift were allowed in. Over time exceptions were made, and some of those exceptions rose to positions of prominence. That weakened the group, and eventually external attackers overcame the damaged order.”
I looked around at all the massive stones. “After all this time, the stones still have power?”
“Yes, but it’s fading,” she said. She climbed up on one of the stones and sat down. “There was a time when no evil dared venture for miles around this place. Now evildoers mock the stones as they walk past.”
“But that doesn’t make sense. Crivreen and Ragnar tell me the weave was torn or something and no magic was possible for ten thousand years. How could this place still have any power?” I asked.
“That’s a good question,” she said silently. “I don’t fully understand how the whole thing works, but magic and life force are one and the same. The fact that life carried on beyond the rending means that not all power was gone. The rending was far from perfect, and isolated places like this remained. Some came and went with time, and others stayed. History is full of stories of odd events and unexplainable happenings that point to ripples in reality where some magic remained. Someday when I make it back to the Wizard Kingdom, I can show you the research that has been done on this, if you are interested.”
I wanted to ask more, but Shira interrupted us at that point.
“Raquel,” began Shira and then she hesitated.
“Yes?” asked Raquel in a gentle voice.
“Am … am I really one of you?” asked Shira.
Raquel sprang off the rock she had been sitting on and knelt before Shira. She put her hand gently on the smaller woman’s shoulder and looked her in the eye. “Yes, my sister, you are.”
“But – but – I was sure he was lying,” said Shira.
Raquel smiled and joy filled her eyes. “You can feel the stones calling you. You’re gaining strength and healing from the very trees and grass. You are one of the Sac’a’rith.”
Shira inhaled deeply as tears began to flow. “I can feel them.” Her shoulders shuddered a little but she kept her eyes on Raquel’s.
“Shira, you are my sister, just as Zah’rak here is our brother. We may appear different from each other, but right here this castle is common to all of us. I can’t explain how or why, but all of us are descended from the warriors who once called these halls home.”
“But I tried to kill you!” Shira said and began to pull back. The moment seemed to have passed, all too soon.
Raquel didn’t let her go and her smile didn’t waver. “Hey, siblings fight sometimes. Narcion and I knew you were under the control of the necromancer and hold nothing you did against you.”
“But – ” she started and let the sentence hang.
“Shira, as one noble born, I formally invite you to join the order of the Sac’a’rith alongside Zah’rak as progenitors of the rebirth of the order. Do you accept?”
Shira gasped. Disbelief and amazement were written across her features. She slowly nodded.
“Then from this day forward you shall be known as Shira the Shadowmaster, of the Order of the Sac’a’rith!”
As she said that I could feel power build around them. I couldn’t see it, but something powerful passed between them. Shira’s complexion darkened, and a new strength grew in her eyes.
Before I could ask any questions, Raquel fell over with blood coming out of her nose. I rushed to her side and propped her up. She coughed heavily and seemed to drift in and out of consciousness for a moment, but recovered and leaned back against the rock.
“I’m okay,” she said weakly. She pinched her nose to stop the flow. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine in a minute.”
“What happened?” I asked.
“I should have waited until tomorrow to do that,” she said. Shira knelt beside her and handed her a canteen. Raquel took a deep drink. “Get some rest, both of you.”
“We can’t leave you like this,” I said.
“I’ll be fine until sunset. You’ll need to be ready to fight later,” she said.
“What?” I asked.
“At mid of night I will appear to die, and the magic which protects this place will fail for one hour. Then the nightwalkers who inhabit these woods will come for us.”
“Wait, you’re going too fast! What do you mean, ‘you will appear to die’?” I asked. This was exactly the kind of thing she should start telling me in advance.
“I’m cursed,” she said. “The more power I use the weaker I become. Sooner or later I use up my life force and I have to come here to recharge it. If I don’t, I will truly die.”
“But without us here to guard you, how have you done this before?” I asked.
“Narcion stood watch, and nothing that lives here dared challenge him,” she said. “Look, you two are my only hope. I won’t survive the night unless you stand guard.”
“Tell me about the nightwalkers,” I said.
“They are like the walking dead, but stronger, smarter and faster. The same power that gave you the strength to overcome the wraiths will work on them.”
Shira asked, “One hour?” Shira was sitting by Raquel and had washed the blood from her face. I wondered if seeing the mighty Raquel collapse had touched her.
“Yes,” responded Raquel. “One hour past mid of night my curse will pass and I’ll be restored again. The rocks will once again protect this spot and the nightwalkers will flee.”
“How did this happen to you?” I asked.
“It’s a long story, and you two need to rest,” she said. “Get some sleep. We can talk another day.”
“We can’t leave her to die,” she sent back.
I sighed, knowing she was right; I was just annoyed that she hadn’t warned us ahead of time. I would have liked to have brought my armor and some better weapons. At the very least, it would have been good to have Crivreen and Ragnar with us for additional firepower.
“Okay, I’ll take first watch. Shira, get some sleep,” I said. There was no changing things now. All we could do was dig in and hope for the best.
Shira climbed up on one of the rocks and found a nook to nestle into. She seemed to be comfortable and even dozed off. I guess being so small had some advantages.
“You get some rest, too,” I said to Raquel. “You don’t look well.”
“I’m fine, or rather I will be. I’m overextended, that’s all,” she said.
I gathered wood and kindling for a fire, and ate some of the jerky I had taken from the shelter. “Who maintains the shelters?”
“We do, or rather I have been doing so recently, but it will fall to you two next. This is holy ground for us, and someday I hope the Sac’a’rith will rebuild here.”
I wanted to ask her more questions but she drifted off to sleep. She slept for the rest of the day and into the evening. To keep myself busy during my watch, I continued to gather firewood until it was my turn to sleep. I figured we could use it to restock the shelters, and the activity helped to keep me alert. As night fell, an eerie moan came from the shadows around us.
“Remember,” I said. “She said they can’t attack till midnight.”
“Right, then we have to beat them back for an hour,” she said.
“Yeah.” I wasn’t eager to go to battle with her by my side. In most of our raids she had only used her gates to move our team around. I feared she was too small to put up much of a fight. Still, it was too late to do anything about that. All I could do now was try to keep her out of the worst of the fight as much as possible.
I drew my swords as midnight approached. There were still no attackers within sight, but the moaning was increasing. I swung my blades through the air a few times to loosen up my arms and shoulders.
“We should move her up onto one of the rocks. That will give us less area to defend and the advantage of high ground,” said Shira.
“Good idea,” I said.
As gently as I could manage, I lifted Raquel up and placed her on top of what I assumed was once a section of a great wall. There was only one way up onto the wall, a narrow set of stairs, and unless the nightwalkers could fly it would be a good place to make our stand.
Standing on top of the wall segment I got an idea for delaying any attack. I climbed down and spread out all the firewood and kindling I had spent the day gathering. I made sure it was a meter or so from the wall, but completely encircled it. The pile was thinner than I would have liked, but it was too late to gather more.
“How long?” asked Shira.
“Not much longer, I think,” I said.
Shira nodded and began to pace back and forth along the wall, peering into the shadows of the night. The wall segment wasn’t very big, so she spent almost as much time turning around as walking.
For my part I stretched and worked through some sword drills, partly to pass the time and partly to loosen up.
“Look!” came a low cry from Shira.
Around us, humanoid forms were marching slowly towards our camp. “Seems it’s almost time. Stay up here.”
I sheathed my swords and ran down the steps to put myself between the dead and the only path up onto the wall. The wind brought a foul stench and I could feel ice flowing through my blood as they wailed.
Unlike the walking dead we had faced previously, these creatures were armed with clubs, swords and similar weapons. They stood just outside the circle of stones and stared at us with great intent. Raquel had said that we only had to hold out until one hour past midnight, so time was on our side. If possible, I planned to simply outwait them.
“Raquel has stopped breathing!” came in panic from Shira.
“She said she would appear to die. This must be it,” I sent back. I really hoped I was correct. I had no idea how to get her breathing again if I wasn’t.
The nightwalkers slowly began to approach, as if testing the boundary. I pulled out the fire starter that Raquel had packed in our bags and started lighting the kindling around the wall.
“Here they come!” sent Shira.
I looked back and saw they had started to run towards my position. The walking dead never ran; they were slow but persistent. These nightwalkers acted more like a pack of rabid animals.
I teleported up onto the wall as the fire spread through the kindling and wood I had laid out. Soon a wall of flame surrounded our position. It grew halfway up the wall and the ash and smoke made our eyes water, but the nightwalkers fell back from the fire. It seemed my plan might hold them.
“Clever,” sent Shira.
“I don’t know how long the fire will burn, but it should reduce the time we have to fight, at least,” I sent.
The nightwalkers didn’t seem to know what to do with the fire separating us from them. The fire slowly began to die, as the wood I had gathered was very dry and thinly spread, but it still kept them back.
An hour passed and Raquel had not moved. The fire fell to embers, and the Nightwalkers continued to wait.
“Now what?” asked Shira.
“I’m not sure,” I sent. “If she usually spends this time in a state like death, she might not have known it takes longer than an hour.”
“Your fire wall won’t last much longer. We could gate away from here with her now. I could get us to the shelter,” sent Shira.
“No, I think that would kill her. I think she needs to stay here till she recovers,” I replied. It was a guess, but it seemed logical. At least as logical as someone dying for an hour and coming back fully recovered.
Shira sat down on the wall and let her legs dangle over the embers. “There are so many of them. When they finally rush – ”
“They’ll only be able to come up the path one or two at a time. At worst we only have to hold out till sunrise. We can do this,” I interrupted.
She jumped to her feet. “I think we’re about to find out!”
I looked and the nightwalkers were moving towards the path. I drew my swords, moved to the top of the steps and waited for them. “Make sure they don’t try to come up any other way.”
Shira nodded and stood over Raquel’s body.
Then, with a loud cry, the nightwalkers rushed the wall.
Chapter Thirteen
I had been lying in the hospital for five days when they finally started detaching machines from me and I could move without fear of setting off alarms. Following that I had two excruciating days of rehab before they let me return to my quarters. I was required to return to the medical department every day for an undetermined amount of rehab before they’d let me return to work.
“Purwryn,” said Marcus. “Are you sure I can’t get you anything?”
My legs weren’t quite up to the walk back yet, so I rode in a hoverchair and Marcus came with me to make sure I made it safely. “Nah, I’ll be fine. I just can’t wait till I can get back to work.”
“I think that will be a while yet.” Marcus opened the door to my quarters and for the first time since the attack I was able to see for myself the aftermath of the fight. Most of the room was undisturbed, but someone had definitely thrown the table against the far wall.
“Want me to put that table back?” asked Marcus.
I hated to ask for help, but I knew I wouldn’t be strong enough to move it once he was gone. “Yeah, that would be great. Thanks.”
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Once the table was back where it belonged he asked again, “Anything I can get or do for you?”
“Thanks, but I’ll be fine. I plan to try and watch that movie that I never got to see,” I said.
“Okay, but call me if you need anything,” he said.
“Really, I’ll be fine. Don’t you have to get to work?” I asked. “I won’t be an excuse for you to try and get out of demerits.”
He chuckled. “I’m not late yet, but seriously, just call. Everyone will understand.”
With that he left. Once he was gone, I moved my chair to the center of the room. I didn’t accept the doctor’s story that I’d hallucinated the attack; it was too real. I had done my share of recreational drugs before I wised up, and I know I wasn’t high when that man appeared. Later, in the office with the old man I definitely had been drugged, but not before.
“If I threw the table to the left as I remember, and there was no attacker, then it should’ve been on the left hand side of the room,” I said to myself. “So why was it on the right, unless there was an attacker who had to throw it off to get out from under it?”
I slowly stood and tried to walk a few steps. My legs were shaking under the stress, but I stubbornly wanted to stand for this. Turning around I looked at the wall on the far side of the room. It was completely unmarred. I had cast several mage bolts in that direction; they should have at the very least scorched the wall. Unless of course they hit something, or someone, before they could reach the wall.
As I looked around the room, everything matched what I’d expect to see if my memory was correct. I eased myself back into the chair and took a closer look at the table. It appeared undamaged from its ordeal. That was a shame; it was unrealistic, but I was almost hoping to have a face print on the table or something similar that I could point to as proof.
“Tricholophate,” I said to myself. “Clever, but not clever enough.”
I pulled out a datapad I had been using in the hospital. I was recording everything I could remember about the events. Every color, scent and sound. I spent the afternoon adding all the details about how my room was when I returned and correlating it with my memories. I knew as I got further from the incident the memories would fade, especially as my mind continued to heal from whatever drugs they’d used, and I couldn’t allow that to happen. Someone was after me again, and I wouldn’t be comfortable until at least I knew who and why.
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