“I think not,” Georgio said, taking the weapon back. He turned towards Sonja at the sound of her claymore unsheathing.
“The omnaynaytea,” Sonja said, inaccurately. Her brows were furrowed, face scrunched, teeth exposed through a ferocious smile. She looked terrifying when she wanted to.
Georgio laughed. “What are you talking about Sonja?” His expression changed when he saw the angel gliding through the air towards them. He sighed. “You let that damn angel fool you?” He brought the cylinder up to connect with Sonja’s blade. “It didn’t have to be this way.”
Blam! A puff of smoke exploded from the weapon in Georgio’s hand and a bullet slammed into the ground. The slayer himself jolted sideways, collapsing, curling up, and his whole body went tense.
Sonja turned to Kallum who was grinning cheekily. In his protected hand was a long straight piece of metal. One that he had gently pressed against Georgio’s leg. A wire ran from his improvised weapon to beneath the table. Kallum lifted a cloth curtain to reveal what the wire was attached to: a berzelle—a battery of sorts—with an agitated shock wyvern held within.
“Clever!” Sonja sheathed her claymore. “Well, the berzelle, not your disguise. What were you thinking?”
“Pffft!” Kallum shook his head. “I am a master of disguise!”
“Right…” Sonja turned back to Georgio, kicking him in the guts as he came to.
“Don’t get rid of it,” Georgio begged through winded breath. “I’ll split it with you, the profits, we could be rich!”
“No!” Sonja and Kallum said simultaneously.
“You’re morons, both of you!” He began to laugh at them.
Sonja swiftly planted her boot between his legs. He stopped laughing.
Kallum rummaged through the bag, searching for the omnivitae. He lifted the diamond-like object out. It was larger than his head. Iridescent light pulsed from within. It was the most magnificent thing he’d ever seen!
“Thank you,” Radolt said, landing beside the siblings. “You have saved my world.”
Kallum walked towards the angel, his eyes fixed on the diamond. “Can I keep it? Just for a little… can I study it?”
Radolt breathed in deeply. “Please, Kallum, if it isn’t restored to the leviathan soon, it will die.”
Reluctantly, Kallum handed the magnificent stone to the angel. “Here,” Kallum said. A tiny giggle came from the nima’lup pup peeking over Radolt’s shoulder. It was resting between the angel’s wings, paws wrapped loosely around Radolt's neck.
“I think he likes you,” Radolt said. “As he should! You did just save the entirety of his people. Thank you, Kallum of Holtur.” He bowed his head slightly, then turned to Sonja. “And Sonja of Holtur.”
“All in a sun’s work!” Sonja stood beside her brother, wrapped an arm around his shoulders, and gave a thumbs up. “Saving worlds is what us Bluwahlts do best!”
TETHALAC VENGEANCE
“Finally, we have him now!” Rigst exclaimed, pointing at the man dressed in dark—almost black—furs from head to toe.
Sonja had been searching for the elusive man for three suns now. Kab Esriver turned to dark ways; he conjured a horror—one that Professor Wilbart Formidor designated tethalac—that had claimed thirteen victims to date.
“He doesn’t look like much trouble.” Sonja surveyed the area; snow covered the stone buildings that jutted along the well lit street. It was mid-sun, meaning no shadows for the tethalac to leap from. “I’ll apprehend the man, you and Formidor stay close. Keep an eye out for any trouble.”
The two men nodded as she continued her advance. A chilled breeze swept along the icy lane, prompting the perpetrator to prop up his fur collar. Sonja landed a heavy hand on the man’s shoulder, forcing the collar to slump back down. She spun him around and shackled his hands in iron. He didn’t fight back.
“Kab Esriver, you’re under arrest,” Sonja said.
Holtur didn’t have a specific policing group. With the troubles they faced, law enforcement wasn’t a requirement; the people had to work together in order to survive. Occasionally, someone pushed the town’s limits, and a highly regarded slayer—like Captain Sonja Bluwahlt—would enforce justice. She hated these tasks, but what this man had done was unforgivable.
It all began only three sunsets ago. Bertrude Ghemnas and her son, Derrick, had been killed by the tethalac. This left her husband, Derrein, and daughter, Amalie in a state of shock and despair. Derrein had sought out Sonja, personally, to find and destroy this foul horror. Her efforts to track the tethalac had failed miserably, and the blasted horror continued slaughtering victims while remaining out of her sight. The cursed thing mocked her.
Kab had always been present wherever the tethalac struck. The man who—for devious reasons—had summoned the foul creature to attack his fellow townsfolk. It felt good to finally bind his hands. Now she’d have to convince him to unsummon the horror.
“I’ve done nothing…” Streaks of unkempt, black hair fell across Kab’s red-ringed, green eyes. His face saturated with tears. Moist. He had been weeping. A lot.
“The tethalac you have summoned has now slaughtered thirteen victims! You think that’s nothing?” Sonja had no remorse for the pathetic man. “Why did you do it?”
“It wasn’t me,” Kab argued. “I know nothing of it.”
“Her Luminay, Matriarch Himmel Rein, from the Ralumina Sanctuary, informed the Bristrunstium of her worry for you,” Sonja stated. “She said that you had discontinued your worship and are no longer working towards your blessing. Her fear is that your heart has turned to darkness.”
“Her Luminay said that?” Kab looked down. “I’m sorry.”
“Listen, Kab Esriver, I don’t care about your purity, blessing, or heart.” Sonja’s eyes left the criminal and scanned her surroundings. If the tethalac appeared, she had to be ready for it. Formidor had warned her that it may appear in order to protect its conjurer. “What I care about, is stopping the monster you have unleashed.”
“I swear it wasn’t me,” Kab said, sobbing. “I’ve never dabbled in the dark arts, not once. Take me before Her Luminay, she will recognise my innocence.”
Sonja couldn’t take him there; too many innocents that may get between her and his tethalac. “Where were you the moon of Bertrude Ghemnas death?” He cringed upon hearing the name.
“Bertrude…” Kab said with despair. “I’m sorry…”
Sonja shook the man with a single hand, hoping to agitate the horror he had summoned. “So, you don’t deny it? Now, unsummon it!”
“It wasn’t me!” Kab stuck to his story, offering pitiful sobs in place of an alibi.
A crowd formed around them; it was the last thing she wanted. Chaos would ensue if the tethalac appeared with so many civilians present. Rigst and Formidor were urging the people to disperse. It wasn’t working so well.
“Let him rot in the prison!” a man in the crowd yelled out.
“Force him to face his demon!” cried another.
The people of Holtur were furious with the man. To be expected; he did summon a dreadful horror, during what should be a safe time for the town. Safe times, those were becoming rare lately.
“The blood of thirteen of our townsfolk are on your hands,” Sonja said, trying to hold a tranquil composure. “Don’t increase that number. Banish the tethalac now!”
“I can’t…” Kab said through gritted teeth. He shook his head, then pursed his lips. “I cannot get rid of the thing! If I could, I would! I am not the one that brought it to Holtur…”
“Then why does it keep appearing wherever you are?” Sonja roared, unsheathing her claymore. “Banish it now, or I’ll banish you!”
“Sonja, if I may,” Wilbart Formidor—the Bristrunstium’s head authority on horrors—interrupted. “You are the only one who can do this, Kab Esriver.” Noticing the worried look upon Sonja’s face, Formidor placed a yellow-gloved hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry, Captain Bluwahlt, more of your slayers are
here.”
Sonja glanced back to see Hechond and Zeilgen—two of the north wall’s scouts—struggling to disperse the group. They were also scanning the surrounds for the tethalac. Most of the towns slayers were on the lookout for the damn thing.
“Why me?” Kab cried.
Wilbart placed his other hand, this one in a blue glove, on Kab’s shoulder. He always dressed oddly, then again, there was nothing ‘normal’ about the professor. “The horrors people summon are generally connected with dark arts, yes,” he said. “The tethalac, however, I believe may be quite different.”
“What do you mean?” Kab asked.
Sonja grunted, she didn’t care for explanations, just wanted the thing dead. She had, however, absorbed Formidor’s most vital lesson on the tethalac: the conjurer's death should destroy the horror.
“Is your heart in pain?” Formidor asked. “Have you been betrayed by a loved one? A victim of adultery perhaps?”
Kab looked to the ground and shook his head. A tear dropped from his face and splashed against the cobbled stone below. “I’m sorry.”
A frumpy, overweight woman burst from the expanding crowd of onlookers. “What is the meaning of all this?” she asked, bounding towards Kab. “Release my husband at once!” She had sunken eyes and face covered in wrinkles and folds. The woman certainly ate better than she carried her years.
Sonja stepped out of the way. Formidor’s eyes narrowed, his gaze settling upon the woman.
“I’m so, so sorry,” Kab said.
“You’ve got nothing to be sorry about,” Anna said, then furrowed her brows, looking at Sonja. “There’s no way my husband summoned that monster. He is a good man.”
“I swear, it wasn’t me.” Kab’s repetition was on a par with talking song-birds.
“Then where were you the moon of Bertrude Ghemnas’ death!” Sonja yelled at the snivelling man. “Poor Derrein has lost a wife and a son because of all this!”
“I’m so sorry, Derrein, Derrick, Amalie… Bertrude…” Kab whispered the names of the family he had destroyed, they must have been close before he summoned the tethalac. “I weep for them, all of them, but I am not behind this.”
Sonja growled. “Bertrude’s death? Location? You?”
“He was at home,” Anna cried. Her body jiggled beneath her furs with the animated waves of her arms. A lie. She had already confessed to Sonja; Anna had no idea where her husband had been when Bertrude was murdered.
“No, you already told us that he wasn't with you,” Sonja said through gritted teeth. “You can’t change your story now, Anna.” Sonja’s grip tightened around her claymore’s handle; surely the tethalac would pounce soon.
Kab fell to his knees. “I went to meet her…” he said, watery eyes fixed on Anna’s. “I’m sorry. I’m a terrible person. I never meant to hurt you. You don’t deserve any of this.”
“What are you saying?” Anna asked. Her round face held stern, but her hands visibly trembled.
“I’m sorry…” Kab said between sniffles. “Bertrude and I… we were having an affair.”
Anna fell to the ground with a thud, all while wailing a terrible noise. Anyone would think she had a sword stuck through her gut. She cursed her husband, calling him all sorts of names whilst repeating the word ‘why’ over and over.
“You!” a man from the crowd yelled. Derrein. “This is all your fault!” Spit flung from his strained, red face with every word he blasted. “How dare you destroy my family!”
“I’m sorry…”
“Sorry?” Derrein’s face looked like it was going to explode. “You destroyed everything I ever cared about!”
An acrid smell, like that of burnt hair fused with acid, invaded Sonja’s nostrils. Then it appeared. Bursting through the heavy stone of a nearby building was the tethalac. Its insect-like, dark-purple body absorbed the sunlight. Protruding from its torso were eight sets of dual-elbowed claws; four supporting its body like legs, and four outstretched like arms. Atop it’s exoskeletally-ribbed chest was an upside down, arrow-like face. It had no mouth, only eight beady, orange lights that Sonja assumed were eyes glaring straight at her. As it moved an orange glow pulsed from its core, then flowed out along each of the limbs. It rubbed its forelimbs together, assaulting the ears of those close by with an insect-like, high-pitched chirp.
“Get out of the way!” Sonja roared at the civilians, pointing her claymore towards the horror.
The townsfolk released screams of terror as they scattered into hiding. Rigst, Hechond, and Zeilgen unsheathed their weapons, they were slayers of Holtur and would not be intimidated by some horror.
The creature scampered towards Sonja, its claws flailing wildly. She leapt to the side, avoiding the horribly sharp extremities. Her blade should have cleaved through the tethalac’s torso, but its carapace deflected the weapon without so much as taking a dent. Cutting through it wasn’t going to work, but the only weapon she had on her was her blade. Rigst and Zeilgen would be sporting sharp-edged weapons too. Fortunately, Hechond always carried at least one bludgeon—among the arsenal of weapons he concealed—beneath his coat.
“Hechond!” Sonja called out, the three other slayers were already racing towards her. “Crush the bastard!”
Hechond threw off his bulky overcoat, allowing his slender, tanned body to advance with grace. As the coat hit the ground, the clatter of metal on stone announced his array of weaponry. He grabbed a large, spiked mace and dashed towards the tethalac.
The creature had continued on its rampage. Fortunately, it was moving in a straight line, like it had little desire to harm the onlookers or those fleeing. The sound of metal scraping on stone shrieked with each claw it dragged along. Suddenly, its target became apparent; it was heading for Kab.
“Eeeyah!” Hechond leapt through the air, slamming his weapon into the back of the tethalac. The strike reflected the blow with just as much force as he had put into it. The shaft of the weapon bounced back towards him at a startling pace. It cracked into his face and threw him in the opposite direction. He flew through the air with the grace of an impaled wyvern, landing on his back with a thud against the cobbled street.
“What exactly is that thing?” Rigst asked.
“An abomination,” Zeilgen answered.
Hechond slowly stood to his feet, spitting blood as he balanced himself with the mace. “I’m not doing that again!”
“Kab, get out of the way!” Sonja screamed. The tethalac was nearing him now and there was nothing she, nor her slayers, could do to save him.
“Leave us alone!” Anna pleaded.
“I’m sorry…” Kab sobbed.
“Die you mongrel!” Derrein cackled chaotic laugher.
“KAB!” Sonja yelled as she charged after the tethalac, unsure what she could do. “MOVE!”
A pair of haunting, blood-curdling screams echoed from opposite directions. One from straight ahead of her, in front of the tethalac. The other from behind her, where Derrein had been standing. And then, the tethalac was gone. It didn’t vaporise or explode or slowly fade to nothingness; the tethalac had simply vanished. It was there one second, the next it was not, almost as if it had never been there at all.
Sonja almost slammed into Kab’s crumpled body as she charged at the, now non-existent, foe. The other slayers raced up beside her, beside Kab. There was certainly no sign of the tethalac, but it had left a gaping, bloody hole through where Kab’s stomach should have been.
“No!” Anna screamed. She fell to the ground and began cradling her husband’s head. “Come on Kab! Don’t die on me!”
“I’m sorry…” Kab coughed blood between words. “You never… deserved this…”
“No!” Anna cried. “I forgive you! Just hold on, don’t give up!”
Kab rasped, “I can’t believe…” Another cough excreted more blood. “I did this to you…” The pool of claret beneath him was spreading fast. “Anna, I’m sorry…” His eyes closed. “I love you…” His head tilted to the side. The co
ughing stopped.
“No!” Anna cried, stroking Kab’s dark hair.
Sonja stepped back from the scene. “What just happened?” she asked the other slayers.
Rigst winced, then offered his thoughts. “Professor Formidor said that the tethalac had something to do with vengeance?”
Sonja nodded.
“Well, perhaps that vengeance has been fulfilled.”
Another corpse lay face down on the ground at the origin of the other scream. It was the man who cursed Kab for ruining his family, Derrein. While the pool of blood beneath his corpse didn’t flow as generously as Kab’s, the blade sticking through his back—and heart—was enough to confirm the man wouldn’t be getting up any time soon.
“There you have it, Derrein was our culprit all along,” Wilbart Formidor announced. He stood over the body with a somewhat confident look. “Did anyone else fall?”
“Kab,” Sonja said, nodding towards Kab’s bloody corpse and distraught wife.
“Oh…” Wilbart sighed. “Only one of them had to die, and I took it into my own hands. I figured it had to be either the man who committed adultery, or the murderer who summoned the tethalac. It was hard to choose, however a man who could summon such a monster does not belong in our town.”
“They both died,” Sonja said grimly.
Wilbart Swallowed hard. “I guess my choice was for naught. If only we realised it was Derrein sooner.”
“We couldn’t have known,” Sonja said.
“We should have,” Wilbart disagreed.
“You murdered him.”
“Yes, I murdered the murderer, in hopes of saving Kab’s life.”
Sonja raised a brow. “Derrein was a Murderer? I thought it was all the tethalac?”
“Well, he did summon the tethalac, but Bertrude died from strangulation. You saw the limbs on the tethalac, there is no way that thing could have strangled her.”
Holtur Stories Page 9