The master jerked with impatience and rattled, “Go on.”
“I am aware that it is forbidden to leave the walls of She’Ma’Ryn as a trader not local to these lands, and I respect the laws of the city. I believe that I may be of great assistance to their cause. I have fought many battles in my world, and I offer to put myself at great risk to aid Marithia in their battle against the Forces of Darkness. What I request, is for the great and wise council to grant me permission to leave She’Ma’Ryn and accompany Karven, the king of dragons, to wherever Vartan and the resistance lies. I offer all of my stock and experience to aid them, and vow that I will return to She’Ma’Ryn once the war is won, if I am to survive,” he replied, holding his breath as he awaited their answer.
“A worthy cause and a noble sacrifice Makya and I am sure you are aware that we have never granted an exception to this law for any trader. But these are not ordinary times and call for extraordinary decisions to be made. For you to leave, Councillor Karven would need to take responsibility for you. What do you say, honourable representative of the dragons?” he asked.
The dragon king nodded his head in agreement.
The master closed his eyes, as did the other members of the council as they prepared to deliberate telepathically over the issue. “Give us a moment to discuss your request.”
After what seemed like an eternity, Makya breathed deeply as he snuck a look toward Karven, whose eyes reminded him not to move a muscle. The trader returned his view to the master, whose eyes shot open.
“Under usual circumstances, we would not grant such a request. However, given the situation we all face in Marithia… these rather unusual circumstances require rules to be bent or even broken. The motion is passed and you have our permission. Let us move on to other matters,” said the master dismissively.
Makya grinned, bowed, and returned to Karven’s side. Exalted by his success, he began to relax and breathed deeply.
Karven turned to the trader and spoke in a hushed voice, “I thank you for your kindness, Makya. You are now excused and may return to your district to make your preparations. I will meet you there shortly.”
Makya bowed and spoke formally, “Thank you great dragon king.”
Shanka squawked softly into his ear once they left the council building.
“Yes, I know… you were right, it worked” Makya whispered, a smile escaping his self-control.
Karven waited until Makya had left the council chambers until he spoke, “Councillor Xinak, I believe an answer has been received in response to my request for an artefact?”
Xinak held up his hand and cast a spell under his breath.
Meus manus manus mos suscipio dedi accersitus ex nostrum orator.
His long fingertips glowed and a scroll rose out from a tall pile of correspondence. It slid into his hand and he rolled it open.
He attempted again to clear his throat and croaked, “That is correct, Councillor Karven. We have received word from the people of Valdorus. I understand the urgency of the situation and I will skip the formalities to translate their offer for you.”
“An artefact, as you call it, does indeed exist that will aid your fallen dragon queen. However, creating this artefact comes at a great cost to our people. We must travel to another plane, outside of our own world to retrieve what you need. We must capture the heartbeat of an angel,” he said, stopping and staring at the word.
Karven’s voice raised in excitement as he asked quickly, “The heartbeat of an angel? What is an angel?”
“Yes councillor, as Marithia has your gods, the Valdorians believe in a place of angels. We have received quite a lot of scripture on their beliefs and they are somewhat fascinating. The Valdorians are not known to be charitable people and I suspect they will ask a heavy price for any assistance they will provide,” he replied grimly before continuing reading the scroll.
“To ascend to the required plane, we will need to sacrifice a seer. Our seers are scarce and have never been used to aid any world outside of our own. The cost to our people is great as the seer, once its task is done, will return alive for no longer than one rotation of our moons. At your request, we will begin the rituals to prepare our seer. As you would appreciate, we expect to be compensated for our losses. We value most what you would refer to as ‘Jade’ and I believe that your world contains an ample supply, while ours has been depleted. We will provide you with a chest on agreement, and you are to fill it with Jade after you successfully use our artefact to revive your queen. These are our terms.”
Karven thought of the treasures remaining in Trahoterra. Jade is a rare stone, even among Marithians. There was a relatively large supply held in the treasure room of Greenhaven, but there was no way to know if the treasure room was undamaged or plundered.
The room would not likely have interested Kassina as her only desire was to discover Talonsphere. The thought that another being would lose their life for his queen to regain hers tugged at his heart but the pain of his loss pushed it aside. He had no choice but to take the gamble that he could find enough Jade.
“I agree with their terms, please send my agreement to the Valdorians. They will have their Jade,” said the dragon king.
Chapter 7 : Changing faces
“How long does it take for us to realise the consequences of our mistakes?
It has been too many years since that day, shortly after She’Ma’Ryn had just been completed. We were tricked; unaware of the infestation we had allowed into Marithia.
The council never forgets their errors, and it was through their foolishness that the vampire king and queen entered Marithia.”
(King Karven of Dragons)
The sound of thunder filled the sky as if the gods repeatedly struck divine drums beyond the thick grey clouds. Small droplets of rain descended from far above the forest canopy. Greenhaven’s silhouette on the horizon gradually blurred through the falling water.
The droplets continued their fated path a leaf at a time, until they finally fell free. Below them lay the body of a man, spread out on his back within long blades of green grass. Near the body were patches of scorched grass and abandoned clothes. The droplets fell heavily on his cold skin, waking him from his involuntary slumber.
By the gods, where am I? Tusdar thought. He sat up slowly, attempting to clear his vision with the course palms of his hands, but his view remained foggy and blurred.
Confused, he tried to remember his most recent memory. The last thing he recalled was he and Vartan riding on the back of the dragon queen, Nymira. They landed at Vartan’s family farm and Tusdar was tasked with searching the area surrounding them.
He shuddered when he remembered what happened next. They were so fast, those creatures of the night. Vampires had snatched him before he had the chance to defend himself, but he did get the opportunity to scream for help before he was roughly muffled with a bloody rag. Instinctively, he reached for his throat in a fit of panic as he remembered the sharp, cold steal sliding across his neck, slicing it open as if he were cattle for slaughter.
Feeling nothing but closed flesh, his nerves calmed and the confusion returned.
How could that be? The vampire slit my throat and I choked on my own blood, he thought.
Unsteadily rising to his feet, Tusdar was further confused by what surrounded him under the dark shade of the forest canopy. His body felt weaker than it ever had before and he staggered toward the forest edge. He barely made out a shining dim light in the distance.
A soft voice far above his ears said, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
Tusdar fumbled around his hip for his sword, but there was only an empty sheath there.
He tried looking into the swaying branches above him, but everything was a mix of blurry colours. Shaking his head, he growled, “Damn the gods, who said that?”
The woman laughed and Tusdar heard a thud and crunching of dead leaves as someone, or something, landed behind him. Tusdar made a feeble attempt to spin around and t
hrow a useless blow at whatever awaited him.
A woman caught Tusdar’s fist in the palm of her hand with ease and returned with a hard shove to Tusdar’s chest. He collided with a tree trunk some distance away, and fell to his rear in pain.
“Never try that again, even if you are sick and weak, I don’t take kindly to anyone attempting to take a hand to me,” she snapped.
“And… it’s not very nice for you to attack the woman who saved your life.” she continued.
“Saved my life?” began Tusdar, “Why can’t I see anything? I can barely make out your face.”
The woman spoke firmly, “Your vision will return to you, once you feed.”
Tusdar laughed and said cheerfully, “Feed? Feed is a word only used to describe animals and…”
His face turned serious as he reached to his neck with trembling hands, feeling around until he found the marks of a vampire bite near his spine.
“Yes, you are now one of us,” said the woman.
His face turned pale as the moon as he realised and exclaimed, “By the gods, no!”
Her next words were furiously spat out, “No? Without our powers, your wounds would have never healed! Would you have preferred that I let you die?”
Drawing the sword from her hip, she pointed it at his chest and pressed in hard.
“If death is truly what your heart wishes for, then I would be willing to take away what I have given you and grant you your request,” she growled.
“No, no, of course not… please, I am just . . . surprised by this,” he replied. “Thank you, for saving my life… I—I appreciate it.”
Sheathing her sword, she helped Tusdar to his feet and dusted off his clothes.
“Now, that is more like it. Showing gratitude to your master is a far more appropriate response,” she said, smiling gleefully.
Sliding up her sleeve, she pulled out a dagger from her vest and moaned sensually as she sliced her own wrist open. Putting one hand on his head, she forced her wrist into his mouth and vampire blood poured over his tongue.
Tusdar thought he was going to be sick, but instead, the taste excited him and his hunger overcame his disgust. Swallowing her thick blood, he groaned with pleasure.
She stroked his head like a pet as he continued to feed and spoke affectionately, “Take only as much as I let you, but it will be as much as you need. I am Mestal, a master of our kind and you are now mine. I will look after you. You will learn to feed and how to use your new powers.”
During his feeding, Tusdar’s vision cleared. He looked up to see Mestal’s face before him. Her body was muscular and had strong features, but her face was feminine and seductive.
Reading his eyes and licking her lips, Mestal smiled to reveal her fangs.
“Always stay under the protection of the forest canopy as stepping out into the light, even for a short moment, can kill you. After we hunt for a fresh feed and are safe again, there will be plenty of time to enjoy each other’s… company. I will show you pleasures that you have only dreamed of,” she purred.
The underworld realm pulsed with activity. Shindar’s army trained tirelessly and the air surrounding their tower was filled with the sounds of skeleton warriors and shadow demons training in the arts of combat.
To any Marithian who had seen the underworld, it resembled a decayed mirror of Marithia as they knew it; familiar to the eye, but it painted a dark picture of fear in the heart of the beholder.
Kassina walked the grounds with Shindar close to her side. In the past few weeks, she recovered her strength and she felt stronger than ever. As her strength grew, so grew her impatience.
The captured souls that were reanimated in the underworld filled the prison towers. The poor souls within were set to work with minimal rations, creating weapons and armour. If anyone refused to work, they were brutally tortured to set an example for others to not dare complain. If they still refused to follow orders, they were reduced to blood slaves to feed the vampires of the underworld. The worst dissentients became target practice for Shindar’s army. Shindar figured that letting those souls return to be reborn in Marithia posed as a way to weaken his adversaries.
Surrounded by the thousands of skeleton warriors and shadow demons, Kassina felt ready for a chance to avenge her defeat at the Battle of the Elven Woods.
Kassina pleaded desperately to her master, “Shindar, let me back into Marithia now and I will never disappoint you again.”
He touched her on the shoulder reassuringly, taking great care not to belittle her in front of his armies.
“In due time my girl, in due time. First, we have magic of the highest order to study together, and our forces are not yet ready for an invasion,” he answered.
Kassina let out a grunt of disapproval.
Careful not to invoke his wrath for challenging him, she quickly said, “As you wish, Shindar.”
“Are you bored my dear? There are scriptures we haven’t even begun to explore yet. Our monks have discovered new spells that will serve to strike terror into the hearts of our enemies,” said Shindar proudly.
“Oh really?” she asked, cocking her eyebrow and speaking sarcastically, “Show me something that I have not seen before that is so impressive.”
He smirked, stopping in his tracks and retorted. “You challenge me?”
His voice then boomed over the land and filled the ears of his army, “Clear the west grounds! Only thirteen warriors are to remain.”
Shrieks filled the air as skeleton warriors as far as the eye could see scattered from the training grounds. The requested number of skeleton warriors remained in the centre of the large dirt circle, their gaze darting from side to side; fearful of what was to come.
Shindar closed his eyes and raised his arms high, breathing deeply in concentration. Black smoke began to spill from his glowing red eyes.
Suo lemma per pulvis insquequo unus bestia somes, Shindar chanted.
The skeleton warriors looked at each other, confused, until they began to screech in fear. They dropped to their knees uncontrollably, swords and shields falling before them as if they were discarded. One by one, their bones were ripped from them and reduced to dust. Their dusty remains spun in the air like a whirlwind.
Shindar’s chanting became louder and more intense.
Beneath the spinning bone dust, Kassina saw something materialising. Piece by piece, a great bone scorpion formed. When the final piece of the tail was completed, it turned and awaited its master’s instructions.
Shindar relayed his next command with a dark smirk, “Release two prisoners into the arena, choose only strong men that will give us a good show.”
In no time at all, two muscular humans were thrown into the large circle to face the scorpion. Shindar turned his gaze to the two men and spoke to them directly.
“If you defeat this creature, I will grant you freedom to leave the underworld and return to Marithia as you stand today. I may be the demon of darkness, but I am no liar. I give you my word. Do you understand?”
The two men looked at each other, fear giving way to hope, then turned and nodded to the dark lord.
Shindar’s voice echoed over the underworld, “Let the battle begin!”
They picked up the fallen armour and swords the desiccated skeleton warriors had left behind and circled the horrifying bone scorpion; they slowly turned their blades in front of them in anticipation.
Iuguolo lemma utriusque, said Shindar.
The scorpion sprung to life, shrieking as it ran toward the man in front of it. Rolling to his left to avoid the giant beast from crushing him, the man swung his sword into one of the scorpion’s legs. The sword managed to dispatch one of its eight legs, while the other man jumped on its back.
Squealing with annoyance, the scorpion shook viciously from side to side until the man lost balance, falling on the ground near its front claws. With a swing of its tail, the scorpion impaled the man through the chest and brought him high into the air, as he cried out in pain. I
t brutally smashed the man repeatedly into the ground until the cries were silenced and his body broke into severed pieces.
The other man, realising that he had no chance to defeat this beast, foolishly attempted to outrun it. He sprinted toward the circle of Skeleton Warriors. The ground below his feet shook violently with the force of the beast in pursuit and a large cloud of dust built up behind the scorpion.
Before he had a chance to reach the edge of the arena, the beast had already caught up to him. Picking him up in its claw, a heavy crunch was heard as it split the man’s body into two at his hips. His screams filled the air to the delight of the surrounding Skeleton Warriors who shrieked with support for their beast. The scorpion’s tail brought the man’s pain to an end by crashing through his skull.
The dark army erupted in celebration by banging their swords against their armour.
“The spectacle is over, return to your duties,” Shindar commanded.
Shindar ended the spell and turned to meet Kassina’s wide, admiring eyes as his own returned to normal. The beast immediately disintegrated into a pile of dust on the battlefield.
“Kassina, some spells only last for as long as we are strong enough to devote ourselves to them. You see now, we have much more to study together. You are yet to discover your full potential.”
Chapter 8 : By the Gods
“I seek knowledge of who I am, where I came from, and why I am here.
I love Aldorus dearly, but what are we without purpose?
Destiny is calling to me and I believe with all my heart that I am meant for something greater than what I am now.”
(Anakari - Sorceress)
Fang Cliffs, aptly named, were located on the Far East side of the island, in between two of Trahoterra’s many ‘claws’. They featured incredibly detailed carvings of dragon’s heads that appeared as if they were poking out from within the island’s walls. They were a breathtaking sight to behold, said to be carved by the ancients out of a sheer rock-face, shooting up vertically out of the ocean, as a monument of their alliance.
Legends of Marithia: Book 2 - Darkness Rising Page 6