The Legacy (The Darkness Within Saga Book 1)

by JD Franx

  The man bowed to her as he replied. “Well then, a vampyr will always bring in a good bounty, instead. You, on the other hand, boy. The king of Cethos has put a bounty so big on your head that me and my partner can retire like kings ourselves for the next couple of hundred years. So how about you two just surrender, so we can head back to the city? Then we can get our bounty and you can both die there instead of here. You’ll get to live for another week or so. What do you think?” he asked, full of confidence.

  “If the king has sent you, then surely you must know what I am. What makes you think you could win a fight against us?” The stranger’s demeanour never wavered as he smiled, saying nothing. Kael suspected he was stalling for time now.

  From behind him and to the right, Lycori whispered, “I’ve found the other one, Kael. He’s setting up to take me out. He’s invisible, but I’ll take care of him. Concentrate on the other one, but be careful. He’s too sure of himself.”

  The man who was visible continued talking like he had all day with nothing better to do. “I do know exactly what you are, son. You see, our guild has an exclusive contract with the King, so I also know you’ve only been here on this plane, what, two weeks? You’re no threat to me, child. Magic takes hundreds of years to perfect. Even a DeathWizard can’t learn it in two weeks. I do have to admit, though, I’m impressed that you could convince a bloodsucker to follow you so quickly. But, on the other hand, I’m willing to bet your spell casting abilities are very limited. I mean, seriously, it’s not like anyone could have taught you any spells in the last few weeks, right?”

  Kael couldn’t help but wonder how much this guy liked to listen to the sound of his own voice.

  “In fact,” the bounty hunter carried on. “I bet you don’t know the words to even one offensive spell, do you? Huh? Am I right? I am right, am I not?”

  Kael figured it would be a good opportunity to try Lycori’s lightning spell one more time. Hoping it wouldn’t fail and fry him a second time, he looked at Lycori to make sure she was ready. When she nodded, he answered the talkative stranger.

  “You know what, my talk-happy friend? You’re almost exactly right. I don’t know many words for casting spells,” he said, watching the man’s smile get bigger and bigger. It didn’t take long for him to realize what Kael had actually said.

  “I only know two.” Kael smiled, and he could see the bounty hunter start to panic. “Kveysa Drepa,” he barked, casting the spell while pointing his dagger-filled hand towards the man. The spell brought forth the sizzling black lightning, swirling down from his elbow. As the last word of the spell ripped from his mouth, the lightning flared brightly... and died. Now positive he had done something seriously wrong when trying to heal myself, Kael hesitated, his lack of experience and fear driving all thoughts from his mind.

  In a flash, he watched the fear leave the bounty hunter’s eyes. With a sneer, he began the words for his own spell. Startled into action, it was a race to see if Kael could reach the bounty hunter before his spell was finished. Rushing forward, Kael only managed a distance of four feet when a ball of fire materialized in the wizard’s hands. It jumped at Kael and forced him to dive to the side. The heat from the near-hit burned his right side and scorched his already torn t-shirt. Even though he made sure to follow through with a roll to help him get back to his feet, Kael was suddenly jerked sideways and sent rolling across the grass as the fireball detonated in the dirt behind him. The concussion shook him to the bone, rattling his senses. Dazed, disoriented, and with pain searing into his side, he desperately tried to get to his feet, realizing the man could cast spells faster than he could move. Kael stopped and looked up, straight into a spinning and hissing ball of fire as it rolled in the bounty hunter’s hands. With a split second’s thought, he could release it and Kael’s body would melt like overheated candle wax. With no other option, he put his hands up and surrendered.

  “All right,” Kael said, full of frustration. “You got me.” He turned to see if Lycori was okay, but she was no where to be found. There was a man lying on the ground about fifteen feet from where Kael stood with the wizard. It was clear that he was dead. His neck was torn apart and his head lay at an awkward angle. The talkative wizard was quick to secure Kael’s hands behind his back with a length of rope. He muttered a spell and Kael felt the bonds tighten and then turn rock hard, yet to his surprise, remain flexible.

  “There, you won’t be going anywhere, so don’t try,” the bounty hunter mumbled, as he forced Kael onto his stomach.

  His captor’s behaviour changed as the man walked to his dead partner and began taking items and the travel pack off the body. His anger flared when he rolled the body over to find the left hand mangled and missing fingers. Kael watched as he searched the ground looking for something, but could tell by the look on his face that he didn’t find it.

  He returned and pulled Kael to his feet. “My name is Yared. I would prefer to turn you in alive, I’m not a cold-blooded killer,” he said, without emotion. “But, to be clear, it is not a requirement of the contract. If it becomes easier to carry you, I will. Believe it, I’d actually get more gold for your corpse. That man your vampyr friend killed was my wife’s brother and my closest friend. He was my brother in all but blood. If she returns to help you I will kill her.”

  “You attacked us! Because she killed him protecting us, you’re going to kill her?” Kael yelled. “You’re a coward, Yared, and your friend is dead. Just let it go!”

  Kael caught a blur of movement; the speed of Yared’s attack too fast to follow. A flash of red flared in front of his eyes and the bounty hunter’s flame filled hand crashed into his face. The stench of scorched flesh and hair assaulted Kael’s sense of smell as he fell to the ground rolling in agony. The bounty hunter stomped on his back repeatedly, the blows landing in cadence with his first words.

  “We... are... here... under... orders... from... our... King. You have no rights, your kind have no rights, her kind have… no… rights. I gave you a chance to surrender peacefully. Fighting back and killing him is murder in the eyes of the law and the throne of Cethos. You will pay the price for his death once we arrive in Corynth. I promise you that, DeathWizard, and if you don’t shut up until we get there, you will pay it now instead.”

  He reached down and yanked Kael to his feet, then quickly grabbed him by the throat. “My brother lost a valuable ring while fighting with your friend. It belonged to my mother. You will pay for that too.” Yared spit, still shaking with fury. “Though maybe she was not such a good friend, she left you behind in a hurry. No loyalty among evil?” With a shove, Yared pointed south and Kael began walking.

  He didn’t believe Lycori would abandon him, but he had really only known her for a couple of weeks.

  As he walked, he reluctantly admitted, “I didn’t really know her well at all. I just met her yesterday and we were both heading the same way. Nasty creatures up here, so we agreed to travel together, safer, you know… I know you probably don’t want to hear it, but I am sorry for your wife’s brother. We were just defending ourselves.”

  Yared looked at Kael to see if he was being mocked, but realized it wasn’t a taunt. “Dangers of the job, I guess. I’ll find your vampyr after I turn you in.” Kael scoffed, and Yared gave him another shove.. “Let’s go, and no stupid moves or I will drag you back instead, you hear?” the bounty hunter threatened, still furious.

  “I got it,” Kael winced. The burn on his face stung and would likely blister. He didn’t want to try healing it, afraid of what might happen, so there was little else he could do.

  They hadn’t been walking that long when Yared started talking again. “Do you mind if I ask your name, dumb-ass DeathWizard?”

  Kael frowned, but answered. “Kael. My name is Kael, not dumb-ass.”

  Scratching his days old stubble, Yared said, “You looked like a dumb-ass casting that spell.” He chuckled. “I ain’t never seen black lightning before, let alone black lightning that sputtered and faile
d. You, ah, having some problems, dumb-ass?” he mocked.

  Not in the mood to make friends, Kael snapped, “You were able to cast electricity two weeks after you discovered you had magic, did you? You musta been a real prodigy. Prodigies always end up being lowly bounty hunters in this lovely land?” Kael laughed at his own remark. It earned him a smack to the back of the head.

  “Fine,” Kael said, submitting. “You’re right. I was raised on a plane of existence with no magic and I’ve been here a total of about two weeks now, I think. So yeah, having some problems, you could say,” he muttered, pointing out the obvious.

  “I always thought you big, scary, DeathWizards were all evil and powerful magic-wielding monsters? You’re just like a normal person, mostly.”

  “Thanks? I think,” Kael answered, sarcastically, more than a little puzzled. He offered no more and carried on walking, so Yared finally left him alone.

  The two succeeded in finding a burnt-out, decrepit barn in which to spend the night. Yared believed it would be safer without a fire and Kael wasn’t in a position to argue, though he knew the total darkness would give Lycori the chance to free him, if she were actually coming. Yared tried repeatedly to engage him in conversation, but Kael wasn’t in the mood to indulge him. The burn on his face hadn’t blistered, but pain pulsed through the left side of his face with the cadence of each heartbeat. Finally Yared offered to swap information if he answered some questions.

  Aggravated, Kael snapped, “What the hell could you possibly want me to answer?”

  “I’m curious, dumb-ass, there hasn’t been a living Death-Wizard your age in five thousand years. The last one did this...” Yared pointed towards the open barn doors at the scorched land and twisted vegetation. “You have access to powers no other magic user can touch. As a wizard, I have dozens of things to ask you.”

  His patience gone, Kael glared at Yared and barked, “I’m not some side-show freak. I can’t answer those questions for you. I can’t cast the simplest spell. I don’t know how to tell the difference between normal magic and underworld magic. Nothing I try works the proper way and the little bit I can do either destroys everything nearby or backfires. Do you understand that? Do you get it? Now piss off and let me go to sleep. It’s the least you can do, considering you’re marching me to my death.” The bounty hunter frowned, but said no more.

  Yared stayed vigilant and awake for most of the night, but Lycori never showed up to help Kael. He hoped that she hadn’t just walked away and forgot about him. The next morning, they had a quick breakfast, consisting of jerky and dry biscuits before starting the day’s walk towards Corynth. Yared told Kael that King Bale requested he be brought before him to answer for the crimes of his kind. Kael knew he would be executed because of the DeathWizard’s legacy, not for anything he had actually done. It terrified him beyond words. Terrified of facing death and with his stomach doing flips, it took all his concentrated effort to keep from losing his breakfast as he walked.

  The day passed uneventfully and still Kael hadn’t sensed Lycori. He’d felt nothing of her since being captured. Beginning to have serious doubts that she would come back to help him, he decided to try escaping on his own if she hadn’t made an attempt to help by the time they had left the Forsaken Lands.

  When they stopped for the second night, they had to settle for the shelter of on old stone house with only two walls remaining upright. By the time Yared had gathered enough firewood to keep the fire burning through the night, Kael could tell that he was exhausted. With no sleep the night before, the day’s long walk over rough terrain had done the job of wearing his captor out. After a quick meal, he secured Kael and added more wood to the fire. Sitting with his back to one wall in order to keep watch, Yared was asleep in minutes. While the bounty hunter was out cold, Kael knew for the sake of their safety that he’d have to stay awake and alert. Quietly, he struggled with his bonds while closing his eyes to help focus his esoteric sight. He pushed outwards as far as he could, approaching the two hundred and twenty yard mark, but he couldn’t sense a single living soul. The cries and screams of the Forsaken Land creatures carried for miles across the broken terrain, but he felt nothing human and little that posed a threat.

  Two hours passed as Kael sat with his hands tied to his feet, the same way Yared had bound him the night before. With his extra senses still telling him no one was around, he nearly jumped out of his skin when Lycori materialized right beside Yared, holding her finger to her lips. At first he was shocked, but it didn’t take long to realize that the missing ring was more valuable than he’d thought. It made her invisible, that’s why he couldn’t feel her, or Yared’s partner the day before.

  He nodded to Lycori as she leaned over to feed on the oblivious bounty hunter. Kael turned his head; he knew it was necessary but couldn’t help but feel sorry for the defenceless wizard. Yared jerked awake only a half minute after she had begun feeding, but it was already far too late. Lycori was strong enough to hold him down until he was weak from blood loss. Kael hoped she was aware that they could still use some information and sighed with relief when he saw that he was still alive. She tied the wizard’s hands behind his back, stuffed a rag into his mouth to prevent him from uttering any spells, and went to help Kael.

  Lycori wiped her mouth as she knelt beside Kael with an embarrassed look on her face.

  “Don’t blush on my account. I’m just glad you’re here. Now how about untying me? Let’s see what he can tell us,” Kael said, rising.

  She smiled as she answered, her fangs gone, but her teeth still stained pink. “You are a very strange individual, Kael. Do you know that? Most people would just kill him for what he has done to you. Look at your face. That burn could yet scar. Your life is worth nothing to him but a bag of gold. Kill him and be done with it.”

  “That may be so. You’ve told me such things several times now, but where I come from, human life is worth more than that. Taking it is not an easy thing to do. I have no desire to take another life. Come on, let’s see if he’ll tell us anything.”

  She followed him, a strange look on her face. “Sooner or later, Kael, this world will force you to take a Human life, an Elvehn life, probably even a child’s life. If the time comes and you won’t—or can’t—then your life will be the one lost.”

  Without looking back, he replied, “I’ll worry about it when the time comes. For now, I don’t have to, I just want to know why a king I never knew existed wants to kill me; it has to be more than what I supposedly am. You can’t kill someone for what they might do. Yared can tell us.”

  “Just say the word and I’ll get him to tell you whatever you want to know.”

  Disappointed, he sighed. “I’m not gonna torture him for information, and I sure as hell don’t want you to do it. If he won’t talk, that’s fine.”

  She gave him an exaggerated look of hurt. “Come now, you didn’t really think I meant torture? Here, see the real reason why the vampyr are feared,” she said, kneeling beside the dazed bounty hunter and gently slapping his face to wake him.

  “Yared, come on, sit up,” Lycori began. Staring into his eyes, she lifted his chin. Kael watched in partial amazement and absolute horror as her eyes filled with what could only be blood. Her pupils and irises disappeared, swallowed in a swirling sea of red. “Look at me and listen to my voice, bounty hunter.” The hairs at the back of Kael’s neck stood on end and twitched with a fury as Yared obeyed every instruction. Sitting up, he stared straight into her eyes. “Good,” she cooed. “Now I want you to answer any questions we ask you, understand?” Delirious, all he could do was nod and drool.

  Shocked, Kael asked, “What the hell did you do to him?”

  “It’s blood control, Kael. My venom and the magic it contains have put him in a trance-like state. We use it to calm a person as we feed, so they don’t put up a fight. It works like a mild glamour spell. But in his tired and weakened condition it seems to have hit him a lot harder than it would a normal person. I’m sor
ry. This is the first time I have ever seen it affect someone so strongly.”

  “What in God’s name is a glamour spell?” Kael asked, more confused than ever.

  “It’s a spell to make people like you, or even love you, if you have powerful enough magic. Using a real one on another intelligent being is a crime punished by death in Talohna. Witches cast the strongest glamours. Which reminds me, you need to remember that. It’s very important someone with your potential power does not fall under the control of someone like that. In fact, just stay away from all witches. They’re evil, devious creatures and their magic is incredibly hard to defend against. Understand?” Kael nodded, confused disbelief and outright horror rode every feature of his frowning face. They were words he would never forget.

  Knowing he had no other options, Kael knelt down beside the drooling man and tried to get some information from him. “Yared, can you hear me?” He slapped his face just hard enough to bring him back around. “Tell me, how many of your guild... people are after us?”

  Still drooling, the bounty hunter stammered, “All of everyone. The king sent ‘em all.” His blood-starved body was depriving his mind of oxygen, and the effects of the vampyr venom had induced a strange intoxication. “Shh, shh, secret though. King’s secret, shh.” His words quickly grabbed their attention.

  “Yared, what secret? What secret does the king have?” Kael felt sorry for him as the doomed man smiled like they were best friends.

  “Sure,” he said, crooking a finger for them both to come closer. “Giddeon will hunted you to... to... but he donut know Bounty Merz come, too.”

  Looking at Lycori, puzzled, Kael rose and asked, “Do you have any idea what that meant?”

  Rubbing her forehead as if she had a headache, she stood, nodding. “I think so. The Bounty Mercs are a guild of bounty hunters who normally hunt my kind or other monsters that threaten the Blood Kingdoms. As for Giddeon? He must mean Giddeon Zirakus, the ArchWizard from Corynth. I guess it stands to reason he’d be after you. Your death would be his sole mission now. The kingdom’s safety is his responsibility. Believe me, Kael. They will see you as a threat to the kingdom, a big one.”