The Legacy (The Darkness Within Saga Book 1)

by JD Franx

  King Bale lifted his hand for silence, but the queen ignored him.

  “You walk a very fine line of insolence,” she hissed, staring at Ember. “You are new here and we are fair rulers, so this will be your only warning. Heed it, or you can spend your remaining lives in the dungeon.”

  Never one to back down, Ember met the Queen’s stare, excitement filling the cold place in her stomach where fear used to reside.

  “Fair rulers don’t threaten people with imprisonment when they are wrong. Fair rulers learn from their mistakes even if they never acknowledge them in public.” She felt Max place his hand on her shoulder, in an attempt to calm her.

  King Bale did the same to the Queen. “We have learned from our mistakes, Ember,” he said, softly. “Mistakes that very nearly destroyed our existence. Even if you did convince me otherwise—and you haven’t—I cannot change the order concerning your husband. Talohna has very few universal laws that apply to every country in every kingdom. The immediate execution of any DeathWizard is number one.”

  “Kael won’t harm an innocent soul here, your majesty. I don’t believe he’d hurt an evil soul, even if that person tries to kill him. I know this, I watched with my own eyes as he took three bullets four years ago because he couldn’t harm the people trying to kill us. Killing Kael will be murder. Nothing you say will change that.” Ember said, as Queen Bale shifted in her seat. The king raised his hand, halting her from saying anything further.

  “Ultimately, we will disagree,” he said. “I will not lift the order, Ember, because I can’t, but until the first report comes in of him killing an innocent, I will up the bounty for bringing him in alive to higher than dead—”

  “You will not!” the queen barked.

  “Enough, Vyrenna! I won’t tell you again. This is my decision and it is the only thing I can do to help this young woman who is now one of our citizens.” Turning to Max and Ember, he added, “Fair enough?”

  “Thank you, Your Majesty,” Ember said, bowing.

  “Giddeon has presented me with a proposal that you and Max join him when he leaves to find your husband. I agree that you both being there when you find him can only be a good thing. Good luck, Ember. Max. I truly hope Kael has the strength you believe he has, for all our sakes.”

  Everyone in Giddeon’s study bowed, their audience with the king and queen clearly over. Saleece led Max and Ember back to their rooms as Giddeon showed the king and queen out.

  “You have a week to prepare, Giddeon,” the king said. “I want to see you the day before you leave.”

  “Yes, Your Majesty. About the living bounty on Kael?”

  “You mean the bounty that will get every person hunting him killed?” the queen snapped.

  King Bale snorted. “There will be a living bounty like I promised, but it’ll be for half of the amount for bringing him in dead. The girl and the friend will get Giddeon and Kasik as close as is needed, my dear. No sense forcing them to refuse helping us. It’ll be some time before the bounty goes public anyway. Giddeon has his orders. With luck Kael will be dead before the bounty does go public.” Queen Bale smiled and Giddeon bowed as the royal couple left his house.

  No smile crossed Giddeon’s face. There was too much work to do.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Magic is a part of every living being in Talohna. Many call it the spark of life. For some, this spark is more like a bonfire. For others, it is wildfire, raging with a barely-restrained fury. For the very few, it is an uncontrolled explosion of cosmic energy. This power belongs to creatures that the Wizards’ Council have named the Kai’Sar—the Ancients’ word for “a wizard who walks with death.” Council wizards are the only ones who use the term; I believe it makes them feel important. The rest of us simply call them DeathWizards.

  GARREN SALLUS, LOST CREATURES OF TALOHNA, INDEX I4995 PC

  THE FORSAKEN LANDS

  Kael’s eye healed fast, more quickly than it should have, and with the swelling gone he could see normally again. He learned fast, however, that even with intense concentration there was still very little he could do with his new-found abilities. He’d spent a full day trying to tap into his magic, but without what Lycori called a cruus, there seemed to be little chance of success.

  It was something only another mystic could help him with. The biggest problem, she told him, was that she knew only one spell: one to cast a lightning bolt. Without his connection to the earth, Kael would have nowhere near the power needed to cast it. It took days, but he finally worked up the courage to ask her to teach him the spell anyway. “It can’t hurt, can it?” he asked.

  They were standing outside the bell tower above the cellar Lycori called home. She looked uneasy. “It’s not a typical lightning spell. My grandfather created it. It requires more power than an ordinary spell. It could be dangerous.”

  Kael looked around the wasteland, scratching his stubble and fidgeting with the straps of a travel pack Lycori had fitted him with. “How about we try one of those?” he suggested, nodding toward a row of badly-eroded granite slabs about fifty feet away, jutting from the earth like huge, rotted teeth. “You can hide behind me in case it blows up,” he joked.

  She scowled. “We vampyrs are not that easy to kill. I’m more worried about you. But if you insist on trying, the words are Kveysa Drepa.” She intoned the words slowly, precisely: Khah-vay-sah Dreh-pah. “Got it?”

  Nodding, Kael chose his target. “What do I do?”

  “Point your hands at your target and speak the words, Kael. Not that difficult.”

  As he rolled the words over in his mind, he could feel their power: a raw, intoxicating force that built up inside him until, within seconds, it screamed to be released. The completely foreign sensation nearly overwhelmed him. Tantalizing, teasing, like if he gave in to it, an eternity of pleasure would swallow him whole. Instinctively, he knew that waiting any longer would do just that, costing him his life in the process.

  Though he meant to speak the words in a normal voice, they tore from his throat like an imprisoned entity bursting loose into the world with a power all its own: “Kveysa Drepa!” he roared, with a fury that surprised him and Lycori both.

  No sooner had the first syllable torn free of his lips than a crackle of black and dark-purple energy hummed down the length of his arms. The final syllable unleashed the blast from his fingertips. Leaping the distance to the granite slab faster than the eye could follow, the black electrical maelstrom struck its target with intense pressure. The slab exploded, and dust and fist-sized chunks of granite rocketed outward and upward.

  Alarmed, Kael grabbed Lycori and covered her with his body. Before he realized it, the same amber-coloured shield of light he created that night in the bell tower reappeared, protecting them both from a hail of pelting stones that lasted for half-a minute. When the dust settled and the rumble of falling granite petered out, Kael’s membrane of light faded. He stood, admiring the aftermath of his first spell.

  “Yes!” he cheered, jumping in the air pumping his fist. “Did you see that? Holy shit. What a rush. I’ve never felt... Wow. My heart’s pounding. Wow! Did you see that, Lycori? I’ve never—”

  The moment he caught the look on Lycori’s face, Kael’s heart sunk and the euphoria caused by the magic vanished. Shocked beyond words, she stared at him with eyes so full of fear it nearly broke him. People were never afraid of him. Confused, he took a step towards her. Stumbling backwards in an attempt to get away, she tripped and fell to the ground, her body too stricken with terror to cooperate.

  Kael had to say something. “Lycori… It’s okay. I won’t hurt you. I promise, all right?” he pleaded. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I don’t understand what I did wrong. I was just as surprised as you at what happened.” He tried to step closer, but caught himself when her eyes widened further. Fearing she might run away from him and straight into unknown danger, he calmed his voice as best he could.

  “Look, I’m sorry for whatever I did. I... I’ll go spe
nd the next couple of days by myself. I won’t bother you, promise. The morning after next I’ll stop at the other tower for a bit. But then I’m going to leave and find Ember and Max. If you still want to escort me to your clan, I’d really appreciate the help. But if you’re not there on the morning I leave, I won’t come looking for you and I’ll never bother you again. I won’t tell anyone you’re here, either. I’m sorry I scared you, Lycori. I didn’t mean to. I just wish you’d tell me what I did.”

  He stepped closer one last time, hoping he’d convinced her of his good intent, but she scrambled backward, kicking dust and dirt into the air. She was still out of her mind with fear. With no other choice, he stepped backwards again.

  “Sorry,” he said, holding his hands out. “You told me yesterday that you considered me a friend. I feel the same. You saved my life when I got here, and I’ll never forget that. You be safe, okay?”

  She stared at him, eyes still wide with fear, but didn’t answer.

  Kael turned and walked away.

  It took her almost an hour to stop shaking and wrestle her mind from the griping control of terror. Lycori knew exactly what she was looking at the very second that twisted purple and black lightning formed on Kael’s arms. Wizards’ lightning ranged from white to yellow. Sometimes, rarely, it manifested as a pale blue for those gifted wizards with an intense affinity for nature magic. The power Kael unleashed with a simple verbal spell was devastating. Drawn from the darkest heart of the Nine Hells of Perdition, she’d never seen anything like it. Even the graphic stories her grandfather told her couldn’t begin to compare to what she witnessed.

  In her four hundred years as a vampyr she never had a reason to fear anything. Her kind was, itself, one of the realm’s most feared predators and even when on the run from bounty hunters, she was never scared, just tired and desired to live without constantly killing. But she knew the moment that wicked black lightening destroyed a ten-ton block of granite with ease that she was nothing but a mere insect in the face of such power.

  The heightened senses of the vampyr granted her insights even a seasoned wizard didn’t have. She could tell Kael was honest, brave, and that his heart was pure, but could those values hold out against the corruption that would come from the magic? Her grandfather had told her stories of the DeathWizards and their terrifying powers dozens of times during her first twenty years of life. Everyone in Talohna knew about such creatures. They brought death and wrought destruction wherever they went. But the most horrifying tales of all the myths were the ones that told of a DeathWizard’s ability to consume a mortal soul. The thought of vanishing into an ether of non-existence was far worse than dying and believing the afterlife awaited.

  Lycori shook her head clearing the frightening stories and tales from her mind, instead focusing on Kael and the revelation of what he’d become. In the last couple of days, he had shown no signs of being unstable, mentally or physically, but now that he had tapped the essence of Death’s power, she feared it wouldn’t be long before he snapped, and she had no interest in being his first victim.

  She had two days to decide whether to help him, if he survived that time without her. Despite the long, black-bladed dagger she’d given him to match his sword that morning and the newly awakening power that could destroy anything it touched, his two days alone might well be fraught with peril. He was new to Talohna and bound to make mistakes.

  Unfortunately, even the smallest mistake was something the Forsaken Lands rarely forgave.

  Chapter Fourteen

  It has been over a hundred years since a master wizard traversed the Forsaken Lands and returned alive. I, myself, crossed the DeadZone Barrier two hours ago and reported directly to my mentor, the ArchWizardess Calladia Veht, on what I had found in the volatile lands where the DeathWizard once made her home so long ago.

  For six days I travelled through the scarred wastes, even approaching the dark tower once inhabited by one of the most powerful DeathWizards to ever live. My task was to insure nothing evil had taken root in these lands and then return alive. Though many dangers roamed the area, forcing me to fight almost non-stop for 2 days on my way home, no signs of an awakening evil seem to exist.

  To walk from the Forsaken Lands back into Northern Cethos is to become an ArchWizard, a title I will do my best to honour.

  FINAL JOURNAL ENTRY OF

  MASTER WIZARD GIDDEON ZIRAKUS

  9TH DAY OF DARKWINTER, 4918 PC

  THE FORSAKEN LANDS

  Troubled by Lycori’s reaction to his spell, Kael tried to push it out of his mind and focus on the ruined dark tower a mile ahead. Though new to this world, Kael guessed that only a fool would miss the chance to search through the tower of one of the most powerful wizards who’d ever lived, evil or not. Maybe, with some luck, he’d even find some answers about what was happening to him, or at least some more information about this crazy world he’d found himself in.

  What remained of Jasala’s tower stood some six stories at its highest point and roughly fifty feet in diameter. Built from field stone and held together by a mortar of mud, he didn’t need his new senses to understand the entire tower rose and remained standing with the help of magic. The dirt road that led to the entrance was badly damaged, probably from heavy fighting. Chunks of rock lay everywhere, ranging in size from a man’s fist to blocks the size of a car. Kael assumed the largest blocks were from some kind of siege engine; the entire area was pockmarked with impact craters, some two and three feet deep. To either side of the two-track roadway, a fair-sized village once stood, though most of the houses were nothing but rubble now.

  Just past the village lay the heart of the ancient battleground. Scattered as far as he could see were the bleached bones of the thousands who had fallen in the battle for Jasala’s life. Most appeared human or at least humanoid, but there were also some monstrous skeletons scattered amongst them that Kael couldn’t begin to identify. In life, they must have been fearsome creatures to face in open combat.

  Kael couldn’t guess what would possess nations to throw away the lives of so many. But being from a place like Earth, he decided the situation wasn’t that far beyond his comprehension. World War 2 had claimed countless lives, many were innocents. He glanced to the sky, saying a quick prayer for the souls lost that day and hoping they had found peace in the afterlife. It was hard to imagine how one lone wizard could have posed such a threat.

  With his mind wandering, he didn’t notice the pack of four darga until they charged, closing in on all sides. He pulled the two black blades from the sheaths Lycori had given him that morning, made from the hide of the darga she’d killed saving his life the night he’d arrived.

  As the darga to his left and right pounced, an itch at the back of his mind told him they would strike low, pinning him in one spot so the other two could tear him apart. Sensing the third hound moving in behind him, Kael took a step back just before the first two creatures could hit his legs. Dropping to one knee, he drove both his sword and dagger down through the back of their massive skulls. The darga he’d sensed behind him leapt for his neck but soared clear over his crouching body.

  As he rose, it growled and loped sideways, away from what could only be the pack’s alpha. The larger beast had stared, unmoving, the entire time the others attacked. Nearly as tall as he, Kael flinched at the sight of ten-inch-long horns protruding from beneath the creature’s ears. The smaller animal turned, jumping in at Kael, but never got close enough for him to kill it. It didn’t even occur to him to try his new spell on them; his hand-to-hand training with Max was the only thing his adrenaline-surging brain could think to summon.

  As the third darga jumped at him once more, Kael realized it was trying to distract him, giving the alpha an opening to attack—an alarming display of intelligence. He pointed the sword in his right hand at the alpha to keep it at bay, eliciting a snort of contempt from the massive hound. The next time the smaller one jumped at him, Kael lunged with the dagger in his left hand. Plunging dow
n through its snout, the blade cleaved the inside of its mouth.

  He watched as it retreated, coughing, dragging its muzzle in the dirt. It tucked its front legs under its chest and began pushing its face through the dirt and rocks, sliding on its belly, its back legs pushing it along. As it came back up sneezing and sputtering, Kael noticed a black ooze seeping from the hound’s eyes.

  Glancing down at his dagger, he was shocked to see it dripping with something thick, black, and sticky. His hand was covered in it. Using his peripheral vision so he could keep an eye on the alpha, he realized his sword was coated in the same stuff.

  His attention shot back to the alpha as the monster looked back and forth between him and the smaller darga dying an excruciating death. When it finally stopped twitching, the alpha growled at Kael, then turned, bounding away.

  Not wanting it to disappear and return later with the rest of the pack, Kael finally remembered Lycori’s lightning spell. Hoping to prevent the same level of euphoric power he’d experienced the first time, he barked the spell quickly, releasing the buildup before it could accumulate to the same height as before. The torrent of black and purple bolts of energy sliced into the alpha, knocking it over a low hill and out of sight, trailing smoke as it tumbled through the dust.

  The moment the flow of magic cut out, Kael felt a sharp pain in the centre of his chest. He rubbed the spot as he went to make sure the beast was dead.

  Reaching the top of the mound, it was clear the darga was no longer a threat of any kind. His lightning had torn through its hips, then shot up its spine, searing a deep gouge into its flesh before exiting the chest. It was far beyond dead.