Legends of Marithia: Book 2 - Darkness Rising

by Peter Koevari

  “I am here, your king has returned!” said Karven, sending his message to every dragon on the island.

  When they flew out of the tight caverns into the underground home of dragons, the sound and heat of dragons breathing fire in celebration was immense. Karven caught sight of Vartan, Trisa and Leon waving to welcome them as he flapped his giant wings and set the heavy crate down in the centre of the cavern with a solid thud.

  He took a quick moment to bend down, allowing Mayka to dismount.

  The trader wasted no time and released his dishevelled bird Shanka from his coat and allowed her to climb up to his shoulder before quickly handing the artefact to Karven. The dragon king hurried to Nymira’s side. His scales rattled and shook from exhaustion and desperation.

  Nobody uttered a word as they all understood what needed to happen and watched intently as the dragon king approached Nymira lying helplessly before him. Karven placed the artefact near the pool’s edge and beckoned for Trisa, who quickly approached.

  “I need you to hold this as close to her heart as possible. She and I cannot both fit into the pool of water,” said Karven.

  Trisa picked up the artefact with the greatest of care and said, “Of course.”

  It was heavier than she expected and she grunted with the weight of it. The artefact appeared to be a closed shell of a creature similar to a turtle, but the shell appeared to be naturally fused together. It did not look particularly special and for a moment she wondered how this was going to help Nymira.

  As she carried the artefact, Trisa suddenly felt something. Thumping inside was what sounded like a heartbeat, but it was unlike any heart she had ever heard. Its beats seemed to echo inside the shell and the rhythm was as if two hearts beat within. She could also feel it through the shell, as if it was fighting against its confinement.

  She whispered, “By the gods.”

  Not daring to give in to curiosity and bring it up to her ear to investigate, she stepped into the pool of water and placed the artefact beside the dragon.

  “Ex unus pectus pectoris ut alius vos tribuo vires redigo mortuus,” Karven chanted eagerly.

  The artefact didn’t appear to react to the spell.

  Everybody edged closer as they waited for something to happen. Only the sound of water dripping off the dragon and the faint thumping from the artefact answered them.

  The dragon king’s voice darkened as he chanted the spell desperately, “Ex unus pectus pectoris ut alius vos tribuo vires redigo mortuus.”

  Still, nothing happened.

  Blowing fire into the air with both anger and hurt, he yelled with all his might.

  “Ex unus pectus pectoris ut alius vos tribuo vires redigo mortuus!”

  Only the sound of silence answered him back. Karven dropped his head and his voice rasped and quivered. “It was all for nothing!”

  Trisa approached the dragon king cautiously.

  “You have done all that you can…” she began, when Vartan cut through her words and yelled excitedly, “Karven, look!”

  Beams of yellow light shot from the shell as it slowly opened and a shiny yellow orb rose into the air above them. It appeared to be quite small in size yet it lit up the caverns, twinkling like a star in the sky. A glowing line as thin as a hair tethered it to the opened shell, holding the orb in place.

  Everyone stared at it silently, unsure of what would happen next. Karven looked to the orb in both disbelief and hope, remembering the next instruction.

  “Ostendo nos vestri verus vultus” chanted Karven.

  The orb hummed in response and pulsed three times before exploding into a new form. What appeared to be a genderless being with large bird-like wings now hovered in its place. The angel was made of sparkling light and yet it had no features.

  It looked around, confused as to where it was and its face snapped to look at the king of dragons. It tugged at the line holding it to the artefact but could not break from it.

  The dragons appeared to be entranced by its beauty and were unable to shift their gaze. Its powerful, yet wondrous form was unlike anything seen in Marithia.

  Karven circled the being and said quietly, “So that is what an angel looks like.”

  “Quare vos accersitus mihi?” boomed the angel’s voice. The voice burst into every ear in Trahoterra,

  It wants to know why I summoned it, thought Karven, thinking back to the instructions given to him by Valdorians.

  “Ego benigne scisco vos susicivus nostrum regina ex nex. Commodo, servo suus, vestri animus est non absentis quod ero reverto vobis quondam vestri negotium est universa, “ answered Karven, asking the angel to save his queen and reassuring it that its soul still remained in its higher plane.

  The angel looked at Nymira’s body and turned back to Karven. It appeared to focus on Karven’s mind and cocked its head for a moment.

  It descended to Nymira’s side and appeared to reach through her scales, holding her heart gently and looking to a section of the caverns that appeared empty.

  “She is far from life, but she is not far from here. I can save her for you,” answered the angel in its newly learned tongue, retracting its wings.

  The audience quivered at the power in its voice and they held their breaths at the sight of what happened next.

  The angel stepped through Nymira’s scales although there was not a mark or wound to be seen by its entry. Yellow sparkles shined on her scales and everyone stared at the dragon queen, anticipating a response.

  The line from the artefact, leading into the dragon’s body, snapped with a thundery noise far greater than any storm had produced.

  Trisa gasped loudly and stared in disbelief when she said, “By the…”

  The same heartbeat that came from the angel now thumped loudly inside their queen. The sparkles disappeared and Nymira slowly rose to her feet, extended her wings and shook off the water that held her.

  The dragons erupted in celebratory breaths of fire and Karven ran to her side. The two dragons wrapped their necks around each other and laid their heads on each other’s bodies, closing their eyes and smiling.

  “My love, you have finally returned to us,” said Karven.

  “You have no idea how long I have been watching and waiting for this moment, thinking that I would be lost to Marithia, forever,” replied Nymira.

  She nudged Karven lovingly and then turned to Trisa, whose tears flowed with both joy and relief. The dragon queen gently unwound from Karven’s embrace and approached Trisa and Vartan.

  She lowered her head beside Trisa and affectionately rubbed up against her side.

  “Trisa, I owe you more than words could possibly express. All of our kind is indebted to your efforts. But I will always hold a special place for you in my heart,” said the dragon queen.

  Vartan beamed, and Karven approached him. The man of prophecy stood taller than he did before, his muscles had grown considerably in strength, and his eyes had changed in colour from brown to blue.

  “Vartan, it is good to see you back with us again. I see that you have changed and swam with mother dragon. I also sense that one of the gods’ spirit lives within you,” said Karven.

  “It is a pleasure to see you too, great dragon king. And you are right, but when do we begin training with my new powers? I wish to discover what the spirit of water can do.”

  Vartan looked to the king as if he were a boy with new toys to play with.

  “The gods do not come with a book of instructions. These powers are such that you need to discover what they are on your own. There is no more training that you need. Venture forth and discover your potential, you are now ready,” said Karven.

  Vartan nodded knowingly. Nymira approached him and her face turned serious as she said, “Vartan, when I fell to the ground at the battle of the Elven Woods, I could see everything that was happening around me. Much like I could see everything that happened here. I owe your father great thanks for his efforts, but I owe you something else. I saw your soul plummet from
your body with the grip of Kassina’s spell and I have something to show you.”

  Open your mind, said her voice in his head.

  Vartan felt the familiar jolt as Nymira’s mind connected with his, and she took him back to the battlegrounds.

  He watched as his body fell paralysed under Kassina’s spell and her vicious attack. Trisa stabbed the vampire sorceress through the heart and he watched as Trisa and Helenia dragged him away. Vartan saw his own body go limp on the ground as the battle neared its end.

  The last She’Ma’Ryn artefact in Vartan’s pack was a surprise to both Trisa and Helenia when they found it. When the sparkly artefact shaped like a heart fell to the ground, Helenia picked it up and her face contorted in confusion as she asked, “Trisa, what is this? It feels as if it’s made from bone! It looks like it’s covered in ice, but it’s not cold.”

  In the middle of the heart was a gap where something had been cut out. Helenia held it close to her chest as she sunk to her knees in front of the man she loved.

  Trisa worked furiously to save Vartan, but Helenia broke down in tears. The warm water fell from her face, some of it falling directly onto the heart, and luckily… one drop landed in the middle of the heart, activating the magic within.

  The heart began beating in her hands, and the sound was familiar to Vartan.

  Nymira, is that the heart of an angel? Like what saved you? He asked.

  It may be, but it’s not just the artefact that saved your life, she answered.

  Vartan’s breathing had become almost too shallow, and Trisa looked at a loss for what to do next before she noticed the beating heart in Helenia’s hands. As it thumped, the ice-like surface emitted glimpses of light from within.

  Trisa gently pulled the heart out from Helenia’s hands and took it toward Vartan’s body.

  Trisa’s voice broke as she cried, “I don’t know what to do! This is unlike any artefact I have ever seen!”

  Her face turned from desperation, to confidence. She picked up a nearby sword and to Helenia’s face of horror, opened one of Vartan’s stab wounds far enough to fit the heart into his flesh. Carefully, she brought the heart to the open wound and inserted it as far as she could. When the artefact touched his flesh, it quickly changed to a watery form.

  Disappearing into his body, white light burst from Vartan’s wounds and mouth. Before their eyes, Vartan’s blood began to recede into his body. Once all the blood had returned, the wounds healed themselves in the time it took to draw a singular breath. A strong heartbeat began to pump in his chest. His flesh had just received a burst of healing.

  “There is much more to do! We have to get him somewhere safe,” said Trisa.

  Vartan, if Trisa and Helenia had not found that artefact and taken the risk to do what they did that day, everything would have been lost. Although you are fated to save Marithia, always remember these moments when you fight and it will give you strength. Just as I will never forget the sacrifice made by my angel.

  The queen’s sad eyes met those of her king and they shared the pain of what had been given to make their reunion possible.

  Vartan’s head pounded as the dragon released his mind and he returned to Trahoterra.

  He rubbed his head in the familiar pain and softly said, “Thank you Nymira.”

  The dragon king turned to speak to everyone, raised his head high and spoke with a booming voice, “Today is a day of celebration! Our queen has been returned to us, the man of the Talonsphere prophecy stands before us and has been empowered by the gods themselves! We are ready to continue this war! All of you should gather your strength tonight as we will head to Veldrenn as soon as this storm passes. It is time to show the men and elves of Marithia that we are stronger than ever before and victory over the Forces of Darkness is close at hand.”

  Chapter 13 : Crossroads

  “Death is a fact of life that is feared by all mortals. Heroes hope their names echo throughout eternity.

  Will we be remembered for the things we have done when we are gone?

  Who will tell tales of our accomplishments and sing songs of our legends?”

  (Talonsphere – Weapon of the ancients)

  Anakari woke to the alluring smell of thickleberry tea and steaming hot chicken filling the room and looked around in confusion, forgetting for a moment that she had slept in Crondor’s Inn. The fireplace still burned and saved her bare skin from the chilling touch of winter.

  Yuski smiled gently and approached her.

  “I see you’ve re-joined the world of the living. Here you are, this should help you prepare for the day ahead,” said Yuski, handing her the tea and a plate of chicken meat.

  “Thank you Yuski, but where are we going today?” she asked softly, sitting up to eat.

  Anakari realised that she was completely naked and thought back to the night before, blushing with embarrassment. The dusty beams of sunlight caressed her body; rubies in her necklace sparkled and lit up the roof with speckles of light.

  Yuski sat beside her and placed her tea by the fireplace and giggled, “Your memory seems a bit lost this morning.”

  She leaned in to Anakari’s ear and whispered, “Kari, you have nothing to be ashamed about. What took place last night was completely normal. I yearned for it to happen just as much as you did.”

  She placed a soft kiss on Anakari’s neck and looked lovingly into her eyes.

  Anakari was overcome with warmth and felt butterflies fluttering in her stomach. She smiled back and sipped her tea to cool her emotions.

  “Thank you, Yuski… for everything. I am very new, to… I don’t know how…” she began, confused as to how to express her emotions.

  Yuski placed a finger on the elf’s full lips and said, “Shhhh. You have no need to explain. Just be who you are and follow your heart. I’m not travelling anywhere without you now. Unless you want me to.”

  Anakari embraced Yuski in a warm hug, holding her tightly and her voice rasped as she said, “Thank you, Yuski. I am so lucky to have met you.”

  “And I am blessed to have met you also, Kari. My family never believed in luck, we believe in fate. Everything that occurs in our lives is laid out by the gods and there is no reason why our paths cannot be combined. Demons are scattered throughout Marithia and I am sure that I will find them in our travels. Your quest for discovering the mystery of Daessar has a new ally, if you will have me?” asked Yuski, batting her eyelids and running her tongue sensually over her lips.

  Anakari couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

  “Of course I will have you, but wait… I already did,” she laughed saucily.

  Yuski joined her laughter and they enjoyed a moment of not worrying about the world’s problems.

  “Kari, I hope you don’t mind my query, but I was meaning to ask about your necklace. It is so beautiful and I am curious as to where you got it?”

  “Of course I don’t mind. But I don’t know. Aldorus said that it has been around my neck since birth. It’s as though it grew with me all these years.”

  Anakari lifted the unicorn head and turned it to show Yuski the engraving of the word ‘Daessar’. Her eyes watered as she said sadly, “This has been my only clue to my history, family, or anything that I know about my true beginnings. Finding out what Daessar is may give me a clue as to who I am.”

  “That must be a very difficult burden for you to bear. I was curious as unicorns are said to be extinct. There is a legend that the ancients are still alive, hiding in Marithia and they show themselves to Marithians in the form of unicorns. Have you ever seen one?”

  “No, I haven’t. How do you know so much about Marithian history and legends?”

  “My family has a library of books passed down throughout the generations, including some which you won’t find elsewhere in Marithia. I will take you to see Barone after we eat our breakfast. He is a seer and if anyone knows about Daessar, he will,” said Yuski, biting into a piece of chicken.

  “I can’t wait to meet him.
How did you pay for this? In these times, it would have taken plenty of coin?” asked Anakari, reaching for more chicken.

  “You need not worry your pretty face about that, hunting demons pays handsomely and gold is not a problem for me.”

  The girls finished most of their meal, wrapping leftovers for later. Anakari quickly got dressed into lighter clothes, charged with the excitement of their trip. She may finally begin to get answers to the mysteries that have plagued her for as long as she could remember.

  “I already packed extra supplies for our trip. He does not live too far from here, but who knows where we will end up after seeing him,” said Yuski.

  Anakari beamed as she said, “Then let’s get on our way.”

  They quietly descended the inn’s stairs and were not surprised to see that it was deserted, with the exception of a snoring Griff who was getting some much needed rest.

  Yuski led them out the door quietly and whispered, “He never changes, always working too hard and leaving little time for rest.”

  Bright light shined over them and they squinted uncontrollably as they entered the streets of Crondor. The town bustled with activity. The people were busy but looked worried and hurried about town. Most of them looked like travellers and were busy buying wares from whatever stores were open.

  The girls were stopped by a small boy who stepped out from the inn stables in torn clothing; he looked like he hadn’t eaten in days. He appeared to be about nine years of age, and his eyes gave away that he had experienced far more than any child should have.

  The boy asked dryly through chapped lips, “Please ma’am, could you spare a coin? Do you have some food or water?”

  Yuski pulled out her flask of water and helped the boy drink some before placing three gold coins and their remaining chicken in his trembling hands. The boy appeared surprised at their unexpected kindness.

  “Thank you,” said the boy quietly, turning away to return to the stables.