The Legacy of Skur: Volume One

by L. F. Falconer

  A hand grabbed onto mine and I swiftly glanced at the wide eyes of the terrified troll who attempted to pull me aside. I tried to pull away before realizing it was trying to help me, for safe shelter was in sight. A cleft in a jagged buttress would put us out of the wolfocks’ reach. A pair of trolls was already pressed into the cleft. Eagerly, I squeezed into the crevice while the carnage beyond continued.

  Loneliness descended upon me, stronger than any I’d previously known. I knew I was forever lost in Shadowland, doomed to spend eternity here. In the world above, in the world of light and life, Ragg was probably laughing. He couldn’t touch me, yet he’d managed to undo me, for here I was, running for my life and reduced to cowering in the dark with several beastly little trolls. Very possibly the same trolls that had assaulted me not so long ago. I had no way to know. But at this moment, my greater enemies were the wolfocks.

  We continued to hide within the haven until the destruction was complete. The wolfocks devoured their kills before finally disappearing back into the darkness from which they had come. Only then did we dare emerge.

  The trio of trolls began to walk away across the glowing ground and I stood beside the buttress, watching them go, cursing myself for allowing the darkness of that tunnel to force me into this wretched place.

  The troll who had urged me into the crevice stopped and looked back, brown eyes round and warm below a bush of fair hair. It waved me to come. I stared around at the surrounding bleakness before wearily following. Maybe, just maybe, they might lead me back to the tunnel.

  The friendly troll smiled a wide, toothy grin. Its body was lithe and slender, unlike its plump companions. With tiny breast bumps upon its chest it was obviously a female, possibly quite young yet. Its companions were round with skinny arms and legs that seemed like twigs. They reminded me of pears. Pears with heads and legs. Pears that snorted and cackled among themselves. Pears that, when roasted, smelled like chicken, these thoughts torturing my agonized hunger while I followed them in silence.

  It seemed we walked a lifetime before I saw a most welcome sight in the distance. A fire! A real fire. Real light. Real warmth. My companions quickened their pace and grunted excitedly, hurrying toward it.

  There were over a hundred trolls congregated about the blaze, their naked skins glowing golden in its light. The smoky air was foul with the stench of rotten meat. Dozens of decayed carcasses were mounded beside the fire, many so badly decomposed it was impossible to determine what they had once been, but I could recognize some of the beastly forms. The trolls were feasting, taking handfuls of the carrion into their hands, pressing it into their grinning mouths.

  My slender companion offered me a handful of rotten meat. I shook my head. Indeed, I was hungry, but would prefer a freshly killed troll over that.

  I sank beside the fire, as far from the reeking food as possible, trembling and queasy, soaking in the welcome warmth and light of the fire while the party of trolls continued their orgiastic festivities. They ate. They danced. They shagged.

  The slender, fair-haired troll I had accompanied came and sat beside me. She snorted and cackled, but I made no attempt to decipher her meaning. My head ached and my throat was dry and my chest burned. My breaths rasped against my insides as if each one filled me deeper with sand. The troll reached out and gently patted the back of my hand. I wanted to pull my hand away but could not find the strength.

  The troll caressed my hand then reached up and lightly stroked my cheek. I looked down into its wide, dark eyes. Her youthful innocence was evident and she gazed long upon me, her expression one of both anticipation and compassion. My hand still clutched within her own, I realized the little beast had eased it down between her stinking legs.

  “Waesucks,” I groaned, snatching my hand away from the creature. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  Not to be deterred, the troll curled up beside me, stroking my legs lovingly. I pushed it away, disgusted, but the troll just sat at my feet, staring at me with pained longing.

  Biting my swollen, bottom lip, I surveyed everything around me—the seemingly endless gray of Shadowland, the sheer darkness above, the beasts, the trolls, the acrid air. How long had I wandered this darkness? Had it been hours? Days? Weeks? I could not even guess, for time here was endless, not broken by day or night. What hope had I of ever escaping this world? What was to become of me here? My chapped and blistered chest ached and throbbed, my heart was heavy as a stone, my mind a muddy mire of fear and hopelessness.

  Tears freely escaped from the corners of my eyes. The troll arose and gently embraced my head, holding it close against her breast as she stroked my hair with maternal consolation. Surrendering, I leaned against the troll’s strength, feeling none myself, and wept convulsively as a bond formed between us that I would never be able to shake.

  Sometime after my tears subsided, I began to grow too hot next to the fire, my body drenched in sweat. Weak and willowy, as if drunk, I stumbled off into the gray dimness. The troll followed.

  I stopped and pointed back at the fire, telling her as firmly as my waning strength allowed. “Go away.”

  The troll simply stared up at me in wide-eyed innocence, her long, warty nose nearly swaying. She made no move to leave.

  I grabbed her shoulders, forcibly turning her around, then gave her a sharp nudge forward. “Go back.”

  Pouting, the troll looked back up at me. Then she reached out and patted my groin, smiling wide, her eyes gleaming with apparent joy. She cackled and brayed and cavorted cockishly about me.

  “Go back,” I groaned, pointing again at the fire. “I do not want you.”

  She rushed forward and clung to my leg. I pried her free and held her at arm’s length. “You do not belong with me,” I spoke, hoping she might understand. “Go back to your own kind.”

  She stared at me stupidly.

  I shook my head in despair. “Come with me then, if you must. But do not ever expect me to touch you.”

  The troll just kept gawking. I released my grip and stood once more and ambled across the gloomy terrain.

  The glow from the ground never ceased, the darkness overhead unchanging. There were no breezes to stir the air. All was just an eternal thick gray.

  The troll and I walked. We walked and we walked, until we chanced upon a mossy, stagnant pool of brackish water. I drank, despite its rankness, and washed my sweaty brow. I had not cooled off, even though the warmth of the fire was long behind me.

  In a weary malaise, I sank to the ground beside the pool and stared vacantly into the distance, my mortality dissolving. As if I were experiencing some surreal dream, I lay there, and the filthy little troll began to untie my trousers. I did not stop her. I had made my enemy my friend and was it wrong to surrender to a modicum of pleasure in a world that possessed none? Don’t get me wrong. I was not in the least enchanted by this little beast. In my existence as a phantom, what difference would it make? I was doomed to spend the rest of my wretched, short life down here, my eternal soul damned forever into this monstrous, dismal wasteland, so I just didn’t care anymore.

  When the deed was done, I slept, awakening sometime later to the alarmed shrieks and squeals of the troll. My eyes edged open as a shimmering streak whipped above. Fabulous swirls of black and silver smoke dashed madly across the sky, circling like a gathering storm before sweeping down. The troll squealed and ran. The smoke dissipated to reveal within a most terrific creature with such dread beauty it burnt my eyes. I had to shield them, but in that one moment, I had glimpsed a black, human-like form with huge, black iridescent wings. Their soft flutter whispered through the stale air.

  I struggled to my feet in a frail attempt to flee. From the corner of my eye I caught a flash of iridescence. One wing tip snapped forth and smacked my arm. Instantly, I was paralyzed. I could not move. The wing crept over, wrapped around, and pulled me back into the bosom of the terrible black creature. I knew then this must be none other than the Queen of Shadowland, whom I had hereto th
ought merely to be nothing more than myth.

  Waesucks! I was being buried alive within those wings, soft as rose petals, inundating me with sweet, exhilarating tingles, until they enveloped me completely, impelling me into the velvet darkness of her breast. I screamed, but so thick was the darkness that the scream had no sound.

  Tighter and tighter she crushed me in this union, her wings pulsating in a deliberate cadence. Fiery tremors dashed throughout my entire being and I ceased to struggle against the dark rapture that engulfed me, giving in freely to the sensual thrill.

  The exquisite undulations continued. My body ached and rejoiced with every pulse. My coarse, lusty moans ascended to exultant lunatic wails and I believed this creature would kill me with ecstasy. The queen’s caresses refused to wane, the savagery and glory intensifying inside until I thought I would surely burst apart. Tears rushed my eyes. I screamed again, begging her to stop, for the pain now far outweighed the pleasure, but she was unwavering and I realized then that this was no carnal act, despite the sensations it had first provoked. This creature was feeding! I could feel her draining me with every pulse—could feel my strength ebb away as the queen sucked it out, absorbing my life-force into her own and I was impotent against her hunger.

  Eventually, I was depleted and limp, held helpless in her glutted embrace, and in a dream-like palsy, I endured until I finally went completely numb. Only then did she release me and I dropped to the ground, unable to move.

  I do not know how long I laid there. I was only aware that I could not move at all. Was I dead? Or was I still alive? I could see, for I was staring out at the shadows of the world surrounding me, but that was all I could manage. Even the lusty little troll had deserted me, had left me for dead.

  That wretched dark queen had stolen my life! Although I did not think I was really dead. Yet, what little life that was left within was seeping out and soon I would be no more. I struggled, trying to will myself to move, but it was useless. My body stayed as still as a corpse as I lay totally helpless, vulnerable to any beast who might come upon me.

  From the corner of my eye I caught movement in the distance and was overcome with cold dread. Something was coming and I strained my eyes, trying to see. It was a troll—my troll, racing toward me. Above her, in the air, was another winged beast, as blue as the summer sky, and the troll pointed at me before she looked back up at the blue beast above, squeaking and grunting.

  The blue beast alighted and it caused me great fear. Although similar to the black queen, this one I could bear to look upon. It was featureless, except for two large black eyes upon its head, and the entire beast was solid blue, including its huge, fleshy wings, which shuddered behind its man-like form.

  It knelt and reached out to rest its hand upon my forehead. Inside, I knew I was shrinking back in terror, but outwardly, my body made no move. The beast then rolled me onto my back and unbuckled my breastplate. Now I was screaming inside. What was it planning to do to me? Hadn’t I suffered enough indignities already?

  When the beast opened my armor and pulled my shirt up, exposing my infected chest, the troll gasped, her face revealing her shock.

  “These wounds are poisoned,” the blue creature spoke, although the words came not to me through my ears, but from within my mind. And while I hadn’t actually heard the words, I knew it was the voice of the beast.

  “That is why you still live. She would not take that part of you which is tainted, although that part will soon leave you completely dead.”

  The troll began to cackle excitedly, hopping up and down. The blue beast turned to the troll, stroked her head, and nodded. The troll calmed and the beast turned back to me.

  It laid atop me then, covering me completely with its form, and while I couldn’t feel anything, I knew it was pressing upon me. Wings rapidly flapped, slapping against the ground and all about me was nothing but a flurry of gray and blue flashes.

  I was helpless to stop this assault, and how I wished my anger and shame would give my body the strength it lacked.

  Eventually, the wings quit flapping. The beast rolled away and pulled into a sitting position, wrapping its wings around to enclose itself within them. It looked like a huge blue stone as it sat motionless, shrouded within its wings. The troll came forward and eyed me with wonder, reaching down to stroke my chest.

  Still I could not move. I wanted only to flee from these creatures. I wanted them to stop touching me. If I was going to die, the least they could do was allow me a shred of dignity.

  Slowly, the blue wings unfolded and the beast stood and stretched, then looked down at me with those large, black eyes. It lifted me then with long, powerful arms and clutched me to its breast. Again, I willed myself to flee as strongly as I could, but my body remained inert as a corpse.

  “Do not be afraid,” the voice spoke as the wings wrapped about me, enclosing me inside the blue. My fingers and toes began to tingle, the sensations slowly working their way up my arms and legs and I could feel then the pulsations of the beast’s form and wings that encased me. And, unlike the black queen’s embrace, the blue beast’s inflicted no pain—only joy and comfort. I could feel the life flowing back into me with every pulse and soon I was able to squirm and my voice returned and the pleasurable sensations caused me to shriek.

  Just as I was reaching the pinnacle of this ecstasy, the beast’s wings flew open to release its hold. The beast staggered backwards. I collapsed to the ground.

  Groping at the dirt for support, I pulled myself to my knees, gasping for breath. The blue beast stumbled and dwindled beside me as it wrapped its wings about itself once more.

  I knew then that it was rejuvenating. It had shared its life-force with me, saving me from death, and I gazed over at the troll beside me who hopped from foot to foot, clapping her hands and smiling with unrestrained joy. She had not deserted me. She had saved me. She had known this creature’s powers of restoration and had gone to seek it out.

  I reached out and clasped the troll’s hand, murmuring, “Thank you.”

  She leaned in and hugged my neck.

  Gently, I pushed her away, then lifted my shirt to stare down at my chest. It was horribly scarred, but completely healed, and I gazed again at the blue beast, still shrouded within its wings. What kind of creature was this that could heal me like this and bring me back from the edge of death?

  The troll once more began to laugh and clap and dance about and her unabashed cheer caused me to smile. Then the blue beast slowly unfolded its wings and stood. In silence, I gazed up at it in awe, trying to convey my appreciation.

  “Rest here,” the beast’s voice spoke inside my head before it raised its wings and fluttered off into the darkness above. After it disappeared, I closed my eyes to the surrounding world, imagining sweet blue skies and sunshine. The troll tried to snuggle, but I had the strength now to resist, refusing to allow her to interrupt my lucid dreams.

  Sometime later (I was still unsure of the passage of time in this dread place) the blue creature returned and handed me two large, purple turnips. “Eat. These are untainted and will provide you some needed nourishment.”

  I didn’t need to be told twice and I devoured the turnips. They filled a bit of the emptiness of my belly and I felt somewhat better.

  The blue beast spoke, “I will lead you now back to your own world, for you do not belong here.”

  My mouth dropped open in astonishment. “Back …” My voice cracked and failed me.

  The blue beast nodded.

  My hope was unconstrained and I hugged the troll. Forget the gold! As soon as I was free from Shadowland, I would return to Avar with due haste and do whatever my father wished of me.

  “Finding the roads out of Shadowland is not as easy as finding the roads in,” the blue beast said as I followed it across the gray. The troll tagged along by my side.

  “Who are you?” I asked.

  “I am a Guardian. You are fortunate you were infected, or the Empress would have drained your entir
e life from you. She left just enough within that I was able to restore you. Hhaak implored me to save you, and you are fortunate, also, that I have a soft spot for the trolls, else I would not have bothered. If a mortal being is fool enough to descend into Shadowland, he deserves whatever fate may befall him.”

  I glanced down at the troll. “Hhaak?”

  At the mention of her name, her smile became wide and toothy. I owed my life to her.

  The Guardian stepped into a dark shadow beside a crater and disappeared. Realizing the shadow was the mouth of a tunnel, I began to follow, but stopped suddenly as the unwelcome darkness swallowed me up.

  “Follow me,” the Guardian’s voice urged.

  “I can’t. I can’t see.” I struggled to conceal the panic in my voice.

  An eerie blue light began to emerge in the near distance as the Guardian glowed in the darkness. “I apologize. I forgot that Men possess the eyes of the sun. I will light your way.” The light drifted effortlessly down the damp corridor, the luminance faint, bouncing off the slimy walls like soft moonlight. I hurried to keep up.

  The labyrinthine corridor wound and forked, but the Guardian did not hesitate on its course and before long we stood at the base of a steep stone staircase.

  The Guardian pointed upwards. “That is your way out. If you are wise you will never return to Shadowland again. That is not meant to be.”

  “What is not meant to be?”

  “Just go. You do not belong here.”

  The stairwell was dark, the few bottom steps faintly alight in the Guardian’s glow. With a hard gulp, I stared up the darkened steps. “Will you light my way further?”

  The Guardian shook its head. “This is as far as I can go. Just follow the steps up and you will re-emerge into your own world.”

  The blue light vanished and I was plunged into utter darkness. Clinging to my fleeing courage, I grasped for the steps and began to climb upwards on all fours as swiftly as I could. Before long, a dim light began to emerge in the distance above. My talisman softly glowed in the darkness and my determination renewed.