by P D Ceanneir
‘Stop!’ said the Blacksword in such a sharp voice that it sliced through her brain, bypassing her ears. Everyone heard it and all eyes, including those of the creatures, turned towards him.
‘I will trade you. Take the bitch, but give me back my sword, for in it resides my power.’ He said all of this as he looked at Tia and gave her a sly smile. Al Mullach must have understood because he looked at the sword then at Tia. However, giving up a night of passion and losing this amazing sword did not figure in the bargain he was cutting with these monsters, so he laughed at the Blacksword and dragged Tia to the open flap of his tent.
The creature looked away from the retreating Kaleeth Eba leader and then arched his back and lifted his head to the full moon making a loud piercing barking noise as he did so. Others of his kin picked up the call and returned it just as loudly in acknowledgement. Suddenly, out of the darkness, appeared more of the terrifying things. The remaining girls screamed as two of the creatures plucked a girl each off their knees, then threw them over their shoulder and carried them off into the night.
The Blacksword took that moment to act. He stood up straight and tightened his hold on both chains; instead of wasting energy by turning both sets of manacles into dust, he just disintegrated the metal bands around his wrists. The two guards noticed, but were to slow to cut the staked ropes as the two palm trees snapped into a vertical position. The Blacksword then slammed a fist into the nearest guard’s face sending him onto his back after hurtling six feet through the air. The second man did not fare any better, he lifted his sword to strike, but was kicked in the testicles by an armoured boot as he ran to attack.
Tia acted as soon as she saw the Blacksword’s plan. She stamped her booted heal down onto Al Mullach’s toes then elbowed him in the chin. He dropped SinDex as he fell against the tent wall and Tia flicked it towards the Blacksword with her foot.
SinDex was neatly plucked out of the air and unsheathed by the Blacksword within a spit second. He spun in a circle cutting open the chests of two more attackers. As he moved, the change quickly turned his armour black and picked up the sand around him, transforming its molecules into the black cloth to make up his dark cloak. As he stood with sword in one hand and the scabbard in the other, the monsters around the camp roared. The closest one opened its mouth, unnaturally wide, and leapt forward at a rush towards the Blacksword. Tia, now that her strength was returning, quickly turned her bonds into white ash and dodged Al Mullach’s drawn dagger. She twisted around on her heal and kicked him in the side of the head with her other leg. She quickly grabbed his knife and stabbed down one of his approaching men, slicing open his throat.
In the confusion Kelia, and another of the girls called Gleddis, managed to free themselves from the nomads before the creatures claimed them. Kelia fought her captor with tooth and nail, literally, drawing blood as she bit his face; while the shorter Gleddis used the power in her thick muscled legs to barrel her way through three of the Kaleeth Eba, knocking them to the ground. Although one man caught up with her and lifted his sabre to strike her down, when something whistled out of the air and bit into the side of his head. Blood gushed over the handle of the small hand axe thrown by Gunach who had appeared out of the darkness ahead of the Paladin-knights. Gleddis pulled the axe out of the nomads head as he fell and attacked some of the creatures, rushing into the fight with a scream.
The Blacksword and the eight-foot monster fought a short battle. Tia was amazed at his speed as he avoided those sharp claws; they brought out sparks when they hit that black-bladed sword of his. She watched him duck under a long swipe and effortlessly sliced the creature’s torso from its hips. Her attention was distracted as she rushed to help the girls fending off several of the monsters. Three of the things were converging on Gleddis when Tia threw her stolen dagger at one of them; it embedded itself into his chest and lifted him off his feet. Gleddis used her small axe to defend herself, but a claw gouging out her left forearm, she screamed, the creature picked her up by the throat and roared. His roar of triumph was cut short by Lord Ness’ sword as it took his head off, sending a spray of blood over Gleddis’s face. An unarmed Tia sidestepped the third as it clawed the air where she stood, but it swung back, hitting her full in the chest with the back of its hand and sending her through the air and into the Mullahs tent, which broke her fall. Fortunately, her attacker received three arrows in its chest; one each from Whyteman, Linth and Maleene.
The Paladins rushed into the camp from three directions cutting down the Kaleeth Eba, who had no answer against these armoured devils. Powyss and Little Kith killed three between them before Velnour, with his trusty curved sabre had gutted one. Furran, Zabel and Gunach between them killed the three that Kelia was taking on single handily.
Even Mirryn attacked as she clawed at eyes and sword hands to give the Paladins a chance of winning, screeching at the top of her small lungs. When all of the nomads were dead, they stood staring at the Blacksword and the thing at his feet. None of the other creatures was inside the ring of fire, yet they called loudly in the night beyond the flames.
‘How in the name of the gods did he get here?’ said Velnour. Powyss sighed as he saw his friends take on the glazed look as the phenomenon of the Identity Block took effect; he decided he would not waste time in explaining.
‘He comes whenever he is needed,’ he said by way of an answer and to his surprise, they all accepted it with a shrug. The Blacksword ignored them all, strode towards the collapsed tent and helped Tia to her feet.
‘Are you alright?’ he asked her, though there was no hint of emotion or concern in his voice.
‘Yes, this bitch is tough,’ she pointed to herself as she spoke and noticed a chilling grin spread over the Blacksword’s face. The smile was the only thing she could see of him through the darkness of the hood.
Lord Ness appeared with a wounded Gleddis and the doctor treated the wound.
‘Those things have taken five of the girls,’ he said, ‘we shall have to follow them.’
‘There were dozens of them, there must be a hive or nest,’ said Maleene.
The Blacksword turned his attention onto Al Mullach as he tried to crawl away. He grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and with one hand threw him back into the centre of the camp where he landed with a sickening crunch and groaned.
‘Doctor, ask him where they are taking the Wyvern women,’ said the Blacksword. Zabel hesitated for a few seconds as he stared at the legendary figure of the Blacksword then spoke to the nomad as he hurriedly bandaged up Gleddis arm, but the man would not answer. However, the Blacksword was in no mood for games. He rammed SinDex into the man’s leg and allowed the Fire Orrinn to do the rest. The screams stopped when the Blacksword extracted the black blade out of the leg.
‘He will answer your questions now.’
Answer them he did. Zabel translated for them.
‘He says that there is a large hole in the ground two leagues to the north which leads to their nest underground.’
‘Why give them the women?’ asked Tia asked Al Mallach directly, but secretly she knew the answer . When one came, the Doctor looked pale. His eyes smoked hatred as he looked and listened to Al Mullach.
‘He tells me that those things are depleted in number, they need...they need to mate and provide offspring for the next generation, but they also eat raw flesh.’
Everyone cursed, the women groaned.
‘Who are they,’ asked Lord Ness.
‘Brethac,’ said Al Mullach. Everyone gasped and looked at the Ri.
‘I thought that the Brethac was a secret Order, not a bunch of cannibal rapists?’ said Powyss.
‘We believed the Brethac Ziggurat was an Order who worshiped the Dark Force of the Earth, what if it was something else they worshiped,’ said Ness Ri.
The Kaleeth Eba leader talked some more and the doctor translated.
‘“A long time ago when some of the peoples of this city left for the Promised Land, others stayed and became
strong and powerful. They summoned the Brethac from their sleep in the earth. They were unprepared for the evil they would face and lost the war against them, now they have gone to dust with the sand and the Brethac rule here; they come in the night and take our women and children, so we must appease them with foreign offerings to save our own.”’
The Blacksword reached out, clamped his hand onto the nomad’s throat, and lifted him off his feet. ‘The only person you need to appease is me,’ he growled, ‘now take me to this nest.’
‘So I really am dead then?’ said Havoc.
Oh, do not be too hasty to end your life. Your body is very much alive and this place is only a buffer for your sole, answered Kwi-Aqua.
This confused the prince. If his body was still alive, why was he not in it? Then the answer hit him like a charging cavalry attack.
‘The Blacksword is using my body,’ he said.
Correct.
‘How did I get here then, and he stayed?’
The energy transference from the storm was far too much for a human, even a Pyromancer as strong as yourself, to control. As a safety mechanism your spirit was thrown into here for safekeeping. However, the shock of the output of energy rendered your body weak and reduced the energy levels of those others around you. Combating the Dark Force of the Earth was brave, young one, but perilous.
Havoc nodded. Fleeting images of the storm and the thing controlling it filtered through his memories. ‘Can I return?’
You can, when your body is strong enough. Kwi-Aqua said with a slight smile.
Havoc felt relieved at that. ‘So where is this place then?’
Do you not recognise it?
He looked around at the silvery whiteness that swirled around him. How would he have seen something like this before? He turned to the My’thos and saw her reflection catch on the rivers of curling motes. A memory flashed before him of an image he once saw in the Muse Orrinn, Verna standing on a pool of water and her reflection was of the Sea Goddess. The realisation was a shock as well as a revelation; he now understood where he was.
‘I’m in the Muse Orrinn,’ he answered.
‘This Identity Block thing you and Lord Ness speak of, Ercat,’ asked Gunach as he ran beside Powyss over the sand towards the Brethac creatures Nest. ‘It is truly remarkable. You told me Kervunder showed himself to his people as the Blacksword, did you not?’
‘Yes,’ answered Powyss, ‘but it made no difference. No one afterwards made the connection that they share the same body…it just…well, blocked out the facts.’
‘Amazing, but I’m still aware of the “facts”.’
‘True, but you’re a dwarf and everyone knows that dwarves are strange.’
‘Ha ha! I see.’
‘Clear?’
‘As mud.’
‘Good. We should have these philosophical conversations more often.’
Mullah Al Mullach’s description of “a large hole” was an understatement. When the Paladins brought the torches closer to the formation, they could all see the size of the thing was impressive. It was about two hundred feet in diameter and made larger by the excavated earth and rock that formed an earthen dyke around its edge.
The darkness looked unfathomable, even when Linth threw his torch in and they all watched as it tumbled into the hole and the blackness swallowed it up. Sound, however, was not dampened by this formation. In fact, it amplified it to such a degree that they all could hear the screams of the captured women echo out of the hole.
The Blacksword snorted, then walked away from the hole. The others watched as he turned back and ran back towards it at a sprint. He used the earthen dyke as a ramp and flung himself off with his arms outreached. He executed a perfect dive into the inky blackness.
Everyone on the edge stared in stunned silence after the Blacksword disappeared into the hole. It was almost as if they expected him to come back out with one of the captured women.
‘Shit!’ cursed Furran, ‘I can’t think of anything funny to say.’
Tia walked away from the edge; she had found her sword in Al Mullach’s tent and wore it strapped it to her back. Her sleeveless linen shirt ripped at the bottom so it revealed her flat stomach and indented bellybutton; her skirt torn up one side, showing more thigh than was necessary in front of a group of men.
‘Move out of the way!’ she snapped through gritted teeth and ran towards the dyke, following the Blacksword into the hole.
Lord Ness sighed as he looked down. ‘Well if you can’t beat them, join them.’ He used the wind element to lift himself to the centre of the hole, and then dropped into it, feet first.
Everyone looked at Powyss, the only other Rawn Master there, and waited for any order he would give.
‘Ah, Bugger it!’ he shouted as he kicked a stone into the opening. He turned to Whyteman, the next in rank to him. ‘Get everyone back to the ship. That’s an order.’ Before the archer could argue with him, Powyss also jumped into the black depths of the opening.
Chapter 19
Into the Maw of Chaos
The Blacksword fell for a long time into the darkness. It felt like minutes or long seconds. However long it was, it seemed like time had no meaning here. With his exceptional eyesight he could see the far walls of the cave narrowing and then the bottom came into view. Sir Linth’s torch still burnt on a floor of white rubble, but it went out when the Blacksword used a hardened area of air via the energy from the wind element to slow his fall and touched down onto the ground with hardly a sound.
The Muse Orrinn on SinDex’s pommel lit up on its own accord casting a silvery-white glow that stretched to a few feet around him so he could see the cave floor. The light also had the added benefit of letting Tia see the bottom, as she landed amidst a rush of wind not far from the Blacksword, closely followed by Lord Ness and Powyss. The light from the Orrinn also revealed to everyone that the white rock floor was actually a high mound of human bones. They had all landed on part of the mound made up of skulls and lower jaws, placed there neatly in some symbol of macabre reverence.
‘Oh shit!’ cursed Powyss as the skulls he landed on broke underfoot. ‘This just keeps getting better and better.’ Beside him, the Ri placed his hands together and closed his eyes. The other Rawns around him felt him summon together elemental energies. As he opened his hands, a mixture of all four Earth elements, bound at the molecular level, formed into a sphere of glowing white light. This was a Ri Powerball. Something only a Ri, with the knowledge of merging all four elements together, could create. The ball of light floated above his head and Lord Ness directed it to move by mere will. It skimmed the low walls of the hole and revealed a high opening ahead of them, carved out to perfection as a circular corridor twenty feet in diameter. Orange light, faint and flickering on the corridor walls ahead, must surely come from torches or wall sconces along the tunnel.
Tia picked up Sir Linth’s torch anyway. She and the Blacksword climbed down from the mound of bones and were about to walk into the corridor when Lord Ness stopped them.
‘Blacksword,’ he said, giving the Havant a sidelong look as he hesitated. ‘I wish to speak to Prince Havoc please.’
Tia was perplexed as she looked between the two men; she had asked herself a question, as she had fallen through the hole after the Blacksword, why was she following him? The answer was a strange form of loyalty and curiosity that this mysterious creature exuded. He had, after all, saved her life on that rain-drenched night in Dulan-Tiss and she often wondered why. Now, as she stood with him in the darkness and the Ri mentioned the prince’s name, she understood more about the Blacksword without actually coming to an answer. Strange things happened when Havoc and the Blacksword were around; she decided that thinking about it was too confusing. Therefore, she consciously took a step back from her thoughts and watched how things panned out.
‘Havoc is gone,’ whispered the Blacksword.
‘Gone? Gone where?’ asked the Ri.
The Blacksword tapped the sid
e of his dead through the folds of the hood.
‘He is no longer here. Something happened to him when he fought the storm. I am the only one occupying this body now.’
Powyss and the Ri both looked stunned. ‘Are you telling us that the Prince is dead?’ said Powyss.
The Blacksword seemed lost for words, then he shrugged. ‘I don’t know,’ he said, then turned away from them to walk down the corridor. ‘We shall fathom this later, right now we have a rescue to accomplish.’
I’m not dead!’ shouted Havoc as he looked through the brightness of the Orrinns walls and at the indistinct faces of his friends, but they could not hear him. Kwi-Aqua had explained to him the events leading up to the Blacksword’s leap into the hole, or The Maw of Chaos, as she called it.
‘So the Brethac are real then?’
I am afraid so, said the goddess.
‘Where did they come from?’
Only one of the My’thos can share that dark secret with you. He will explain much to you when you meet him, but for now, the time will come when your body is strong enough to receive your soul.
‘But what of the Earth Daemon? How was it able to manipulate the storm when it’s trapped inside the Gredligg Orrinn?’
The Earth Shepherds grip on him is tenacious at best. However, even trapped he is able to push his mind out to his acolytes on Earth and transfer his volatile power through the Dragon Lanes.