“Are the others up?” Ean hoped that they weren’t. He wasn’t quite ready to grab a quick meal and start moving again. Especially since they had no idea where in the forest they were and which direction they needed to go. “Or did you just wake up on your own?”
“No, the two lovebirds are still asleep,” Zin said stifling a yawn.
A playful jab at Ean’s feelings for Jaslen, or a hurtful one? Ean hoped it had been a playful one. “Yeah, well, you looked pretty comfy all spread out. Anyway, why don’t you try being useful and help me decipher some new words from The Abysmal Tome.”
Zin gave a non-committal shrug and walked over, which was strange as the imp usually avoided anything when it came to the Abysmal Tome or the topic of the Abyss. Looking down at the Tome, he gave a small laugh. “You don’t want to mess with these. They’re quite dangerous to keep around for very long.”
“What are they?”
“Brucanima—living flames. Basically, if you gave intelligence and emotions to a cooking fire, you would get a Brucanima.” The imp laughed again, clearly amused by something. “They are more emotion than intelligence though. A Brucanima could refuse to light even a spark for something it didn’t like. It could also set an entire forest on fire for something it did like and then become confused when the creature it liked died from the flames. All of the living elements are the same, all overflowing with emotion, whether it’s a flame, earth, wind, or water —”
The imp’s voice cut off sharply at the last word. He glanced at Ean for a moment, then returned his gaze to the book. They sat there in silence for a while, Ean letting the imp’s words bounce around in his head until he was finally ready to speak.
“A living water spirit like the one that killed my parents, you mean.”
Ean was surprised at how lifeless his voice sounded as he spoke about the death of his parents. Sure, he barely remembered them, and they had been the cause of most of the anger directed towards him from the citizens of Rottwealth, but they were still his parents. He shrugged off the thought. He rarely thought about them, so why should he be surprised at himself for feeling numb whenever he thought about how they had died?
Lost in his own thoughts for a moment, Ean ignored the awkward silence that he had created. Zin refused to ignore it, though, coughing slightly before speaking again.
“I’m sorry Ean. Maybe we should look at some of the other sections—”
“No. It’s fine, Zin. I’m not going to let two people I barely knew weaken my resolve. I want to learn.”
“Ean, this isn’t just about ‘two people.’ These were your parents. It’s ok to mourn and think about them.”
“Think about them? Were they thinking about me any of the nights they got drunk at the Golden Coin? Were they thinking about me, or anyone for that matter, the night they got drunk and wandered down to Rottwealth’s spring? It was a spring back then, you know, home to one of these living water spirits you mentioned.”
“The water ones are called Vunvuanima.”
“Whatever they are called, the one living in Rottwealth was peaceful. Helpful even. It kept the spring clean and provided the farmers with water that not only nourished their crops but aided in their growth. This Vunvuanima was a blessing to the village, and my parents thought it would be fun to insult and attack the creature in their drunken stupor.”
“I’m sure they didn’t mean to—”
“To what?” Ean struggled to hold onto the numbness he felt towards his parents, but anger was starting to break through. “Didn’t mean to get killed by the creature? Didn’t mean to anger it to the point that it turned the spring into a stagnant marsh that no one could use? Didn’t mean to turn the whole village against me when I was too young to even know what was going on?”
“Ean, I…”
“Never mind Zin. Just never mind. It’s in the past. I’m going to succeed in helping Rottwealth, show the people there that I’m nothing like them. And if they still can’t see that, I’ll move on. I know I can now. What happened in Rensen showed me that. So let’s just get back to trying to figure out the Tome.”
“Yes, well uh, back to the Brucanima. Like I mentioned, they are quite dangerous, even the youngest of their kind.” Reaching down, Zin held his hand up to about ankle-high. “The youngest are about this tall and can barely light a campfire. The largest, though, they can grow to sizes much larger than that Cruxlum you summoned, given they have an abundant amount of materials to consume, of course.”
Nodding, Ean returned his attention back to the open book. “Can you read any of these runes or words? If you know about the Brucanima, maybe you would recognize some of them.”
Ean had expected an immediate denial from Zin, but instead the little imp sat down next to the book and spun it around to get a better look. How many times in the past had Ean asked for help and been denied? Not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, he decided not to comment and instead let the imp examine the pages.
"Well," the imp said after a few moments of scanning the pages, "this word here means flame, as does this single rune.” He pointed to a word Ean never would have guessed meant flame, while the rune at least he could pick out what looked like a flame inside of it.
"And this one here," Zin said, continuing on "means young or small depending on how it is used.”
This continued, Zin pointing out words he knew while Ean tried his best to take it all in. By the time Zin was finished with the words on the two open pages, Ean had learned close to twenty new words. When Zin had finished, Ean's curiosity about why the imp was helping him was finally too much to take.
"Zin, I've been asking you for years now to help me learn the language of the Abyss and you've turned me down or changed the subject each time. What made you all of the sudden so receptive to helping me?”
The imp shrugged uncomfortably, avoiding Ean’s eyes. “I was hesitant before for your protection. Can you imagine what might have happened if you gained too much knowledge too quickly while we were still in your village? If you became over confident in your abilities while there, what’s to say you wouldn’t try and summon something out of your league or even worse, you tried to summon something out of anger. By the Abyss, can you imagine what the village would have done to you if you had summoned something right out in the middle of the town square? If you summoned the wrong creature, it could wipe out the entire village. How would that have made you feel if you survived?”
“I wouldn’t have been that upset about— ”
“Don’t even try to act hard in front of me, boy,” the imp said, cutting him off, “I’ve known you for long enough to know you put up these walls and try to act like you don’t care, but I know better. Given the opportunity, you would happily be the savior of Rottwealth, and not out of spite. You want people to like you, no matter how they treat you and how much you may deny it.”
Boy? Zin had never spoke to him like that before. He felt like he was five again, being lectured by Old Cleff after knocking over and breaking a container of herbs, and what was worse was that he was feeling bad about it as well.
“Maybe I do Zin, but it doesn’t much matter. The more power I get, the more I’m connected to the Abyss, and the more that people will fear me and want to see me dead.”
“That’s not entirely true. You have the chance to change how people view Ze’an and the Abyss.” Frowning, the imp got up and began to pace back and forth. “Do you know why people fear the Abyss?”
“Well, it sounds like its the creatures Ze’an has created and that escape from these Scars cause all of the negative feelings towards Ze’an.”
“Yes, yes, that’s disturbing for people to think about I’m sure, but I don’t believe that’s the real reason for the fear.”
“And you think you know the real reason.”
Zin shot a glance at Ean and nodded, then returned to his pacing. Ean just stood and stared at the imp waiting for more, but Zin didn’t break his silence. The forest seemed to be wakening;
squirrels were coming down out of the trees looking for food, the occasional bird flew overhead chirping away, and all the while the imp stayed quiet.
“Zin, I need to know.” Ean voice was quiet, especially compared to the noises of the forest, but it caused Zin to finally stop moving. With a sigh, the imp hung his head, his hands balling up into fists.
“Many years ago, I’m not sure how long, there was a man who could control the energies from the Abyss like you.” The imp’s voice was equally low, enough so that Ean had to lean forward to hear him better. “He lived further north, past what is now Lurthalan, where the majority of your people used to live. At first I think this man was considered a hero, but by the time I came into his service something had changed him. All he cared about was his own power, so much so that he eventually turned against everyone in your realm. The humans and even some other races tried to stop him, but he had hordes of creatures at his command. He subjugated most of the people and did horrible things to keep them in line, but with power came the fear of losing it.”
Zin paused, giving a slight shudder. Ean couldn’t blame the imp. As Zin had spoke flashes of Ean’s nightmares had gone running through his head. Was he going to become a monster like that as well?
Zin’s voice, though mellow, cut through his thoughts like a knife. “Hoping to gain even more control over the creatures of the Abyss and access to the energies that reside there, the man attempted to cut a hole into the earth and create a direct route straight to the Abyss. This made everyone under his control, those that were constantly being threatened and tormented desperate. I didn’t actually see what happened, but somehow, they were able to kill the man before he accomplished his goal.”
“And that’s why the worship of Ze’an is outlawed now?” Ean wanted to hear more, had to hear more. Was this his future as well?
“No, no,” the imp continued, “it’s what happened after his death that made everything ten times worse. I’m not sure if it was because I had been out of the Abyss for so long or because the man had been so powerful, but it took almost twenty days before I was dragged back down to the Abyss. I was able to see the after effects of the man’s death.”
Zin looked Ean directly in his eyes. That look, of horror and despair, almost made Ean’s knees go weak.
“The area around the hole he had dug began to change. It started out small. Green grass wilted and turned a sickly purple. Animals either became more violent or died suddenly. A thin mist began to appear, with anyone touched by it growing blisters and finding it hard to breathe. And that was just the first day. By the second, the sickness had spread almost a day’s journey in every direction. People were getting sick, crops were failing, and the mist thickened. By the end of the first week, whatever was happening had spread all the way up to the north coast and had completely covered what was at that time the capitol for your people.”
“Two days before I was dragged back into the Abyss, I heard about a call for a complete evacuation to the south. Anyone not effected by what they called the Plague was fleeing south to Lake Melcoi. That’s where the main temple to Alistar had been built and supposedly where the greatest magus of the time were meeting. Since I was dragged back into the Abyss before the conclusion of said events, I was left to wonder what happened to the world here. Since we are standing in what looks like unaffected lands, I can only assume it worked.
Zin’s gazed dropped again and the imp sat down heavily. He looked tired, which was not a sight Ean was used to seeing. The imp gave a little shudder, then shook his head and continued on.
“That’s why people fear and never speak of Ze’an or the Abyss. All it took was one man connected to the Abyss to cause such massive devastation and disease even in his own death.”
"How do you know all this?” Ean asked. “If you were in the Abyss for the majority of the worst of what happened, how could you know what the people here think?"
A pained expression painted the imp's face, making Ean feel he had inadvertently put the imp's loyalty in question again. When the imp continued though, his tone wasn’t angry or disappointed. It was simply… pained.
“For the majority of the time between when my previous master died and you summoned me, I was in the service of a particularly nasty Nar’Grim called Baran’Grim. I’ve told you how evil the Nar’Grim can be in general and this one was no different. I don’t want to talk about what I had to go through with him, but I did find something interesting in his possessions. He somehow owned this magical orb that allowed him to see into your world. I found it one day while cleaning his various treasures and trophies, and from then on used it whenever I could to see glimpses of your world. For the longest time, being able to look at a world that had provided me with so much freedom, even if it was while I was a slave to another evil being, was the only thing that kept me going.”
Ean sat back down, completely taken back by his friend’s story. Zin had never even hinted about his past before and Ean had never really thought much about it. To listen to his friend speak about his past, and watch his demeanor change from the sarcastic, rude imp he had known for years to one that sounded defeated and worn out was painful. If Ean had known about the poor imp’s past, he certainly would have treated him better throughout the years.
“I’m sorry Zin, I never realized living in the Abyss had been that bad for you.”
Shrugging his shoulders, Zin began plucking at the grass around him. “It’s nothing, thousands of others of my kind go through just as bad or worse down there. Being a slave had its perks and it kept me from being hunted on a daily basis. But I hope now you can see how tied to you I really am. If anything happens to you, I go back to either a life of fear or a life of slavery. And that’s if Baran’Grim doesn’t kill me first.”
He shuddered, causing his hand to rip out a clump of dirt. He looked at it for a moment, then tossed it aside. “Plus you’ve never been anywhere near as much of a pain as my previous master. You can actually be nice every now and then. When you aren’t being a complete fool.”
Rising quickly, Ean moved over to Zin and extended his hand. “I’m not your master Zin. I promise never to think of myself as your master. If anything, I want us to simply be friends. I need a friend like you to keep this power go to my head. Is that possible?”
The imp smiled then, a large toothy smile that returned a bit of mischief to his eyes. “I’m getting permission now to call you out whenever your being stupid and knock you down a peg or two? Oh, I think that’s the nicest gift anyone has ever given me.”
Ean couldn’t help but grimace as he realized how much freedom he had given the imp to verbally rip him apart. But he forced it away just as quickly. Zin deserved that freedom. And if Ean’s nightmares were any clue as too what the imp’s previous master in this world was like and what Ean could possibly become, he needed Zin a whole lot more then the little creature realized.
“Yes, well, enough of this touchy-feely stuff,” Ean said, laughing uncomfortably. “Let’s get back to the others. If they are not up yet, then we should get them up and get going. It’s going to be much more difficult getting through these woods now that we don’t have the road to follow.”
Zin hopped to his feet. “Whatever you say, partner.”
Without another word the imp rose and jogged off, leaving Ean standing in the clearing shaking his head. He really was going to regret giving the imp free reign to say whatever he wanted.
BY THE TIME EAN had opened up his Pocket, put his Book away and gotten back to camp, his companions were all sitting around while Bran tried to start a small fire. It was probably safe to make one during the day, and after the night they had had, a warm breakfast would make them all feel a little better. They certainly looked like they needed something to improve their moods.
Jaslen was sitting with one hand behind her, massaging the spot where the Seeker had stomped on it the day before. She kept her eyes down and was jabbing at the twigs and branches of the campfire with a stick until Bran was f
inally able to get it lit. Every now and then, a shiver would pass through her body despite the fact that the breeze was warm this morning.
Bran was in much worse condition. His throat was bruised from where he had been struck, the deep brown and purple color of his skin coinciding with his still raspy voice. He spoke very little as they made the fire and cooked breakfast, which was for the best as it gave his throat a rest and time to heal. Unfortunately, there was nothing in Ean’s bag of herbs that could help that injury.
They ate in silence, even Zin, who must have felt the mood just as Ean did. When their small pot of stew was just about empty, Bran broke the silence first.
“Well, I would be pretty happy if I never saw any of those Seekers again.” His voice sounded less raspy and a bit more energetic than it had the previous night. “At least not without a couple hundred of those four-armed creatures you brought out yesterday. What did you say it was called, Ean?”
“Cruxlum.” He glanced in Zin’s direction. “Can you tell us more about them?”
The imp shrugged, then slurped down a bit more of the broth before speaking. “Cruxlum are fairly intelligent creatures that love to fight, but only if they think their adversary is a worthy one. Or if you get them angry enough.” A small smile touched his lips for a moment then was gone. “The one you summoned yesterday was fairly confused. In his mind, no one present was worthy of fighting him. I had to convince him that the Seeker had said some unflattering things about him.”
“What did you say?” Jaslen’s face reflected some kind of inner turmoil, and her voice was somber, but there was curiosity in it as well. “It sure seemed mad as it tore off after the Seeker.”
The imp’s eyes widened, and by his expression, Ean thought Zin would have blushed if it had been possible on his dark brown skin.
“Well, I told him that the Seeker had made some unflattering remarks about his mother and … certain parts of his body. I’m sure it was the comments about his mother that made him enraged,” the imp said quickly. “Cruxlum are very family-oriented.”
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