The Wizard's Sword (Nine Worlds of Mirrortac Book 1)

by Paul Vanderloos

  Mirrortac was inside only a moment before he picked up some more burning pieces and headed back out the door. Yenic comforted the terrified children, herself afraid. She looked at Mirrortac fearfully as he rushed outside holding the burning logs like torches. He charged across the space between huts and knocked furiously at Fillytac’s door. The elder erfin opened the door and was nearly knocked over as Mirrortac barged inside the hut. ‘Where are your torches? Pick up what you need. You and your she-erfin must go to my hut.’ He snapped orders and gathered up his friends as they stumbled about bewildered. Fillytac’s wife, Santac, rose from her cooking pot. ‘You must have some tea with us. Come sit down,’ she said, not really knowing what to say.

  Mirrortac shook his head grimly. ‘There is nought time for such pleasantness, though I would accept if matters were otherwise. You must both come with me and do as I say. You will nought return here, as I am about to put fire to this hut.’

  This startled them and Fillytac questioned him. ‘Put fire to our hut? This has been our home for more moons than you have lived.’

  Mirrortac stopped in front of his friend. ‘We cannot kill the gakar like the nite-wolves but they are afraid of the fire. If we set fire to all the village, the flames should keep the birds at bay long enough for all of us to escape into the woods where we have a better chance to hold them off until we find a safe place to stay.’

  Fillytac sat down grumbling. ‘We will take our chances here. The gakar will soon starve.’

  ‘And do you think the gakar will stay outside the hut when they are so hungry? No I tell you. They will rip off your roof with their claws and eat you in your bed!’ Mirrortac shouted.

  This put the frights up Santac while Fillytac visibly paled at the suggestion. Now Santac had her say. ‘What do you want us to do? Fillytac will nought argue,’ she said, elbowing her husband. ‘Yea, as you say,’ he replied with head bowed.

  ‘Good!’ Mirrortac said then began telling them what he wanted of them. They took all the torches from the walls and lit them, and packed up all the food they had. Fillytac insisted on one last look around his home before they left, both close to tears. Mirrortac told them to run as fast as they could across to his hut, waving their torches above them. This they did, dodging gakars as they went. He waited until he saw that they were safely inside his hut before he turned and torched the dry roof thatch.

  The thatch bark at first burned slowly then with a burst of flame that melted the snow on the roof. Clouds of steam rose from the roof and smoke belched out of the windows as the log supports reached fire-point. Soon the whole hut was a bonfire of smoke and flames, sending swirling cinders into the sky. The gakars rose up as Mirrortac expected they would, allowing him a clear run. He knocked on other doors and called the erfins out to his hut that soon was becoming crowded. He soon chose a second base hut to house the spill of erfins while he progressively torched the empty huts.

  Once it was clear what he was doing, other male erfins helped in the evacuation of huts and their subsequent torching, adding a thick stream of smoke across all of Eol and effectively screening them from the gakars which were forced to retreat up into the clouds to escape the fire. Mirrortac commanded all the erfins to follow him as they made their way towards the wood in the north. It would be a day’s march or a moonith in the erfin measure and they would have to keep the fires going all the way.

  There were a few thousand erfins in the march once they had reached the northern outskirts of the village. Among them there were many who cried for their lost homeland, not able to comprehend the great darkness that had destroyed thousands of cycles-of-the-seasons of peace. A thick pall of smoke drifted across and into the wood ahead of them and all around them the snow was littered with ash. Mirrortac was at the lead with his family and Fillytac close behind. Witherelle and the other priests were walking alongside, chanting in maja as they went. Only the high priest was absent, having chosen to stay at the temple where enough food had been left to sustain him through the season. Some of the very elderly were also in the temple, lacking the strength to survive the march. Their needs would also be met.

  When they were a good distance into the wood, Mirrortac called a halt. The younger able he-erfins made a circle of fires and the she-erfins prepared the last of the foté for the night’s supper. Darkness set in swiftly along with a freezing wind that set the fir trees swaying and a steady drift of snow on to the assembled. Fillytac and Satay sat with Mirrortac and his family, sharing the meal, crouched near a fire rubbing numb fingers and palms.

  Fillytac glanced over at Mirrortac morosely. ‘And now where will you take us, now that the village is burned down?’ His expression was thick with cynicism and his eyes red and tired.

  Mirrortac chewed at a bone. He was sympathetic with his friend though he knew he could not tell him the full tale. ‘That will be decided in the light of a fresh day,’ he said, evading his own doubts.

  ‘Then you know no more than I,’ said Fillytac who knew Mirrortac only too well.

  Mirrortac hesitated. ‘I shall consult with the holy one. He will give me the answer.’

  Fillytac nodded. He could add nothing further since he was sworn to trust in the priesthood of Mateote. They were privy to the inner secrets of the great god of the mountain who revealed all to them. However, to Mirrortac his answer could be interpreted two ways. The holy one could just as truthfully apply to Ni-Do without revealing the fact.

  Mirrortac remained awake until all of the erfins were bedded and in slumber, then he left the circle of fires and merged into the darkness of the wood. He had only a short time to wait before Ni-Do appeared from behind a nearby tree. This time his robe was green and seemed to glow softly with a light of its own. Ni-Do’s blue eyes sparkled and his hair glowed bright gold. He moved silently towards the erfin but stopped a short distance from him. ‘We have chosen well,’ he said, lifting his head a little to appraise the erfin. ‘The darkness touches all the worlds now. I am empowered to provide you with extra protection in your battles against them.’

  Mirrortac could not help but put his sword hand at the ready as he struggled with the alien nature of this stranger. ‘I am forced to put all of erfindom at your mercy, weird one. A whole village is in ruins and we have no home to go to.’

  Ni-Do bowed slightly and reverently. ‘The wizard and I will not betray this great trust, princeling. You shall all find refuge within the womb of Mateote. Take the next ridge to the Werd-stream and follow it up into the mountain where it has its source. There you will find many caverns and passageways; you must take the one leading downwards until you arrive at an under-earth chamber of great dimension. A narrow bridge of stone will take you to a central column where you will find stone steps leading down into the darkness below. You must go down until you reach a large pool at the bottom where there is a waterfall and another large chamber reached by passing under a narrow archway.

  ‘You will find the chamber warm with a way opening into a forest. The chamber is large enough to house all of your people and there is enough food in the forest to feed you all for many seasons. But do not let any of your people near the forest stream or more than a half moonith into the forest. You alone must venture north into the forest until your mission is complete. But before this, the way will be made safe for your people to follow up into a haven above the forest where you will be both tested and rewarded.’

  The erfin’s mind was vexed with all that Ni-Do was telling him. ‘There is a wood on the other side of Mateote? This goes against all our people are taught.’

  Ni-Do remained solemn. ‘I am afraid some of your people will be foolish and we will be pressed to save them from their folly. This must be allowed for the greater good of all, if goodness at all is to be saved.’

  Mirrortac frowned. ‘This does nought ease the mind, weird one. Nor do the dangers you speak of in the wood. Will there be nite-wolves to conquer or Netherworld demons?’

  ‘Not either,’ Ni-Do said matter-a-factly. ‘But Moong
leam cannot answer to them; that is why I must give you extra protection.’

  ‘Extra protection?’

  ‘Yea, in the form of words which will come to you unbidden. I cannot repeat them to you lest you are struck dumb, and you will only remember them for long enough to get you out of trouble. After that you will need the sword like you have never needed it.’

  Mirrortac sighed heavily. ‘I will do what I must, nothing more.’

  Ni-Do allowed a smile while his eyes held back incredible secrets. ‘We expect nothing more from you, princeling.’

  The second reference to him as princeling unnerved the erfin. A cauldron of uncertainty boiled up in his mind but he accepted the task as all duty bound erfins did. He bowed and turned to go back to the villagers but Ni-Do stayed him once more.

  ‘Kneel and bow your head, erfin,’ commanded Ni-Do.

  Mirrortac did as he was told and found himself in the next instant being awakened by his daughter, Fentil. ‘Get up sleepy head,’ she scolded affectionately. He opened his eyes and looked up at his daughter who had a grin from whisker to whisker. Fillytac was stoking up the fire and Yenic was still asleep beside him, with one arm wrapped around him. Wynper shook her mother until she groaned into wakefulness. ‘Mama, look what I found!’ she said, cheerfully revealing a large slab of tree fungus.

  Yenic strained open an eye and loosely focussed on the fungi. ‘Very nice,’ she said and yawned. ‘Toast it on the fire and we will have it for first feast.’

  Wynper happily jumped over to the fire where she poked the fungus with a sharp stick until she was able to hang it over the burning embers and toast it. Mirrortac felt no tiredness and instead felt quite invigorated. He joined Fillytac for some flatbread while contemplating on the journey ahead. The aged erfin lifted a judgmental brow at his youngerling.

  ‘Well?’ he said. ‘Do you know where we are going today?’

  Mirrortac grinned smugly. ‘Yea. The great Mateote himself shall give us shelter from the gakars.’

  ‘Oh!’ said Fillytac, caught unawares by the ready reply. ‘You have spoken to the holy one.’

  ‘Indeed my erfin-friend,’ replied the younger, purposely cutting out any explanation.

  Fillytac frowned as he waited on more information but when he realised that Mirrortac was not about to surrender it, he began fishing for more.

  ‘Go on then. Tell me where we will be going.’

  ‘You will see when we get there,’ said Mirrortac, baiting the poor old erfin. He forced back a grin and his face was turning red in the process.

  Fillytac was not amused. ‘Very well then. I have your measure and shall remember this.’

  Though it was morning, the light was still feeble under a grey sky. Light snow was falling and all around the firtree branches were weighed down in a snowy mantle. Many of the erfins were up and walking about, shaking their arms and legs as the mist from their breaths seemed to freeze in the air. Gradually, all ate in silence, muttering in subdued tones to one another until the command was given to take up the march again.

  Mirrortac led them to a nearby ridge and along it for a half-day’s march until they reached the Werd-stream where it tumbled in cascades over water-worn stone. The ground was much steeper here; forcing them to slow their pace while the elder erfins drew breath for the ascent. The firtrees thinned out until they were walking amid a litter of large stones and boulders. The air was freezing and the crowd bundled in close together to keep warm. Snow began falling heavily, with the wind picking up. Yenic began to be anxious and noticed the growing panic in the elders as they struggled for breath and began to shiver despite a thick cover of fur on their bodies. Suddenly there was some jostling in the crowd and shouts from further below. Mirrortac halted, squinting in the icy wind to see what was the cause of the fracas.

  Some of the able young he-erfins were struggling with a group of elders. ‘Let us go back! We will all die up here!’ one of the elders cried.

  Mirrortac shouted above the wind. ‘You must go on. There is not much further before we reach a cave.’

  ‘You lie! There is no cave. Mateote is displeased with us!’ The elder broke loose and stumbled down the hillside. The younger erfins pursued him but were too late; the elder collapsed near a boulder and was dead. Mirrortac’s heart sank. The wind was already close to blizzard strength and any further delay would be certain death. He shouted again. ‘Stay close and keep walking. We can waste nought more time.’

  The next 100 erfin-lengths were like a moonith; each step a struggle as the wind pushed at them, driving the snow into them like stinging arrows. At last, Mirrortac saw a dark opening in the mountain above a waterfall and hove into the wind once more. They faced a steep incline, forcing them all to crawl up the last distance to the ledge above the waterfall. The younger now pushed and lifted the elder erfins up the incline until all had reached the ledge where shards of ice broke off the side of the waterfall to tumble into the crashing mist below. Mirrortac followed a narrow path alongside the stream into a low cavern into the mountain where they at last found shelter from the icy blast outside.

  The crowds of erfins stumbled inside and collapsed on the path, making others walk over them to find a space to sit and rest. Mirrortac explored farther into the cavern as the others brushed off the snow from their numbed bodies. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he was able to see more of the cavern and finally reached a larger cavern where many passages stemmed off in various directions. With an eerie realisation, he remembered the dream vision of the warrior battle and the passage entered by Merftac and the Madin who he had sent to his death into the abyss. This confused him now as Ni-Do had insisted there was another world beyond. He would have to take care not to lead his people into the Netherworld.

  Mirrortac called the erfins into the cavern where they could rest for the night. They had no dry wood now to light a fire so had to make the best of the dark conditions. The plop of water echoed constantly from the walls of the cavern, which were soaked from some spring within the mountain. The cavern was cold but much warmer than the freezing blizzard outside. It was only large enough to squeeze them all in with their bodies half laid across those of their fellows, and in this way they slept until the faint glimmer of daylight permeated through from the outside.

  A she-erfin approached Mirrortac while he was having first feast. She was agitated and in tears. ‘They have gone to bury the body of the elder ... but the blizzard is still strong and they have been gone a long while now,’ she said.

  ‘Who be these erfins and of what number?’

  ‘They are my brothers Hentac and Nifrell, and cousin Wertac. What am I to do? Our gran-erfin dead and now ...’ she broke into sobs.

  Yenic took her to herself and comforted the she-erfin. Mirrortac shook his head. ‘What be your name, young one?’

  ‘Eshna my he-erfin,’ she said, lifting her head from Yenic’s breast.

  Mirrortac patted her kindly. ‘I will go to the entrance and look out for them.’

  Eshna thanked him and Mirrortac made his way back to the entrance. Some seeker erfins had overheard what was said and came with him. ‘We will find them, master,’ said the one known as Gondac. There were four of them; large burly fellows with streaks of long brown hair mixed in with the ordinary grey erfin fur. They were taller than most erfins and well equipped with the muscles and stamina to seek out erfins who were spellbound or breakers of sacred laws. Mirrortac was glad of their service, which was rarely offered to any erfin other than the priests.

  They reached the entrance with the blizzard still raging outside. Mirrortac withdrew from the freezing backdraft of snow and was at a loss to see past a few erfin-lengths.

  ‘Do nought concern yourself, master. We shall find them,’ said Gondac, his voice deep and rough.

  The seeker erfins did not hesitate but tramped straight into the blizzard and quickly merged into the white air. Mirrortac could do nothing more than wait; finally returning into the relative warmth of the inner cav
ern to offer what comfort he could to the she-erfin Eshna.

  Almost a third of the day passed before the four seeker-erfins finally returned, carrying the frozen bodies of the elder and the three he-erfins who had gone to bury him. Eshna burst into loud wails when she saw her dead brothers and cousin, and rushed to their sides, weeping over them. Witherelle and the priests stood a little way off, chanting the blessing of Mateote upon the souls of those who had died, and wishing them safe passage to their next lives. In sacred erfin-lore, each erfin was granted nine lives, and the moon of their birth determined the number of their current life, as there were nine moons in the completion of the seasonal cycle. After the ninth life, the erfin soul was transported to the Otherworld where it was determined whether it would be sent to the Silver Palace of Mateote or the Netherworld of demons.

  After the burial of the dead erfins in one of the smaller side passages, Mirrortac again called them to follow him into the only passage that led down into the womb of the mountain. The darkness closed in behind them as they trekked deep into the winding passage; eventually having to rely on feeling their way along the stone walls and having to crouch down where the passage became narrow and constricted. The passage floor and walls were slimy and clammy to the touch and the sound of their footsteps and voices echoed dully through caverns ahead and above them. Mirrortac at last heard the splashing of water somewhere ahead and found the space around him widening up. A soft glow illuminated the next bend where the cavern abruptly opened up into an enormous space where moon-drops seemed to shed light upon a huge chamber. Mirrortac saw that the moon-drops were actually tiny creatures hanging from threads attached to the chamber ceiling. The light they emitted was an enigma and a blessing for if he had taken a few more steps in the darkness he would have fallen over a subterranean cliff. The children, including Fentil and Wynper, were awestruck by the beauty of the glow creatures but when they tried to touch some nearby, the little lights went out.