`Control is the only way, Jason. The only way... It will keep coming, at times when you would least expect it. No, you must learn control! You must learn how to trigger the transformation, and then you must learn how to force the demon back into the depths. That is the only way...'
`It hasn't surfaced in a very long time now.'
`That is because you kept it satisfied by killing brigands. It will keep demanding satisfaction, and I know you don't want to keep providing it with what it wants. It will never leave you alone. You will not be able to stop it from surfacing, try as you may. You must learn how to enforce your will upon it, and how to force it back into the depths of your very soul!'
What he said, was difficult to accept. But his argument was very logical. And just as cold...
`Are you certain about that?'
`Quite.'
I sighed, and turned away from him. I stared into the water of the lake, staying silent for long, contemplating what I was to do. I knew he was right, and I knew that I had to do what he asked, but every fiber of my being denied it. At least... the human half of me did...
`So be it.' I told him finally.
`You will understand how necessary this is, Jason.'
`Whatever... I just want to get this over with. I want it behind me.'
`Then take this.' he said, and he reached his hand towards me. I turned towards him again to see what he was holding in his hand. It was a small crystal sphere, glowing with a very faint bluish light.
`What is it?'
`It will guide you to the amulet. It will glow stronger as you get closer and closer...'
I took the sphere and placed it in my pocket.
`Take this as well.' he said, and he gave me his katana.
`But... your sword! How could I accept this?'
`Simply place it in your scabbard.'
`But why?'
`It is much more powerful than what you have now. It is powerfully enchanted. It cuts through steel like butter, and will be of great use against the guardians.'
`Thank you! I am honored...' I told him, as I gave him my old sword, and sheathed his in my scabbard.
`Now rest, and tomorrow...'
`No. I will leave at once.'
`You are exhausted. You should rest.'
`I will rest after this deed is done, one way or the other. I want it behind me, as fast as possible.'
With that, I picked up my bag, and headed towards the exit of the cave. I had everything I needed with me. Before I left, Doorn called out to me once more.
`Use well what you learned here today! The weapons the guardians possess can kill you in one hit. Do not let them strike you...'
`I'll keep that in mind.'
`When you find Drabangar, remember your purpose there. Your goal there is not to slay him, nor is it to merely steal the amulet from him without a fight. Your personal goal is to make the demon inside you do it. To make it do your bidding, and then to begin attempting to establish a control over it. Also remember that you must time your transformation well. Let him expend some of his magical energy first. Then, let the demon out. You will find triggering your transformation to be easy, so don't try it until you feel that the time has come. Time it such that it surprises Drabangar, and you will almost have the battle won. Then, use all your strength of will to control the demon's actions. Make it fight as you want it to. Then, after defeating Drabangar, force it to return from whence it came.'
`Can I? Can I possibly do all that?'
`Time will tell.' he said, and he turned around and returned to his retreat.
So, I set off to seek out the Amulet of Darkness.
Fear
Somewhere on the way towards Gatestown, Ess'yer, present day (2 years, 3 months, and 6 days before Twilightfall)
Stability. Peace. Safety.
Such is the claim of the Supreme Council.
They claim to bring all these things to the people of Ess'yer. It is their justification for their strict laws and the ruthlessness of their Enforcers. They say all of Ess'yer is a safe place thanks to them.
We may be at a time of peace, and perhaps even stability...
But those who often travel the roads of Ess'yer know well that the roads are far from being safe. Bandits lurk around every corner and the Enforcers of the Council are never around when you need them. They are far too busy intimidating the commoners into obedience and reminding them how much they need the Council, so how could they patrol the roads and rid them of bandits? So much for safety...
It is quaint, how all the people in Ess'yer are well enough aware of the audacious lies of the Supreme Council, yet they tolerate it all and make like they believed the lies. Quaint, how powerful fear can be.
Yes...
Fear.
Fear controls their lives.
Fear of what the Enforcers would do if they did anything the Council doesn't approve, and an even greater fear of what would happen if the Council was no longer there. The fear of the coming of the reign of the dragons. Fear is the true Lord in Ess'yer. So it has been for centuries and so it shall probably be for ages to come. One way or the other...
In this time, fear rules the roads as well. The bandits know well that no-one patrols the roads any further than half a day's travel from any of the towns. No town guards, no Enforcers, no-one. Only travelers. And them. They're everywhere, preying on travelers at various places along the roads. They typically show no mercy. They attack swiftly and mercilessly, and leave no survivors. It is in their best interest not to leave witnesses. The Enforcers can do little against them with no clues other than looted corpses. The Enforcers are a bunch of scum, but these bandits are perhaps even worse. In fact, it is surprising that they didn't come to hit us sooner.
I can sense them. They are all around us. Humans. Dozens of them. Waiting for their chance to strike.
I've warned Aaron about them, but he decided that we move on. He thinks there's no way to avoid the ambush. He's probably right. These scum always prepare their attacks well. Too well. But we will not let them have an easy time. They come to kill us all, and leave nothing but corpses behind.
But when this battle ends, it will be their corpses littering the road. They'll not walk away. Not one of them. Not a single one...
`Ambush! Take cover!'
It is the voice of one of the mercs at the back of the caravan. The attack has begun.
Just moments after his warning call, a hail of arrows greets us. The coach of the wagon gets an arrow in his throat and falls off dead. Aaron is just barely able to jump into the cover of the interior of the wagon. I quickly jump off the still slowly moving wagon, and mold into my shadow.
I look around, examining my surroundings. There are at least two, but rather three dozen bandits around us. They're still firing arrows without stopping. They got two of the coaches and three of the guards, the others were able to take cover. The arrows keep coming, but only for a minute. The bandits now approach us with melee weapons. About ten of them stay in the back behind some rocks, and keep shooting arrows. They are the greatest threat. It is them I shall target. Aaron's guards should be able to handle the rest.
`Attack! Slay them all!' screams one of them. Their leader, presumably. He's wearing a plate mail armor and a helmet, and he's armed with a large two-handed sword.
`Bloody brigands! You'll never take us!' screams Aaron. `Men! Attack! Show no mercy to the bandit scum!'
They clash with great fury, while I creep towards the archers. I sneak behind one of them, jump out of my shadow, and quickly slit his throat. I try not to make a lot of noise, to avoid attention. After the first one, I hide again and move to the next. This one is easy prey. The clumsy fool dropped an arrow, he has to bow down to pick it up. I use this chance to quickly chop off his head as I come out of the shadows. Two down, and about eight more to go.
The next three are harder, they are close to each other. Not likely that I can kill them all unnoticed. So I choose to leave them for later and crawl past them
instead, moving on to the other archers. They are more isolated.
One by one I kill them all, silently and swiftly. They have no time to scream, they have no time to yell a warning. Now it's just the three remaining. It seems they didn't notice anything yet.
I sneak behind one of them, and knowing that whatever I do the other two will notice it, I choose to do this their way: the way of fear...
I impale the bandit on my sword and let him scream in pain. The other two turn around, and see as I pull out the sword and mercilessly behead their companion. I turn towards them, and they simultaneously fire an arrow at me. I mold into my shadow and the arrows simply fly over me.
The two archers are shocked, and I exploit their confusion. I sneak behind one of them, and stab him in the back much like I did the first one. I twist my sword and swing it aside, cutting his ribs as my blade leaves his body through his left side. A brutal way to end somebody's life, but it serves its purpose well, it strikes fear into the heart of the last archer. At least it should. He does not seem to be frightened though. He draws his bow, and readies to fire another arrow at me. Let's see how he reacts to this.
I wait for him to shoot the arrow, I do not hide. As he shoots, I use my meager magical powers to accelerate my senses and my movements. I catch the arrow in mid air with my left hand.
He screams in terror and drops his bow. Yes, all this was too much for him...
He draws his sword and attacks. His movements are rigid, and he seems to be shaking.
`Did I scare you?' I ask him. He does not reply. He slowly moves closer to try and strike me with his sword. I just stand and wait.
He finally lunges at me. I parry his attack easily, and with his sword out of the way, I thrust my blade into his throat. He drops his weapon, and looks to me in horror. He gasps, as if trying to speak, but no words come out. I pull out the sword and put him out of his misery by chopping off his head. No point in torturing him. None of his buddies are around to see it.
I look around once again. Seems like I got all the archers. It's time to help out Aaron's men.
I rush back to the caravan and survey the battle. Aaron's men are hard pressed, most of them are already dead. I see the archers got the other two coaches as well. Not good...
Aaron himself is fighting the bandit leader with his large axe. The bandit leader seems to be trying to use his size advantage, but an angry dwarf with an axe is no easy opponent, not even for a ten foot tall troll. Aaron is fighting well. Still, I choose to help him first. If the bandit leader falls, the rest of these scum will be easy prey.
I sneak behind him and strike him square in the back. My blade slips aside on his lightly enchanted armor. A pity.
He turns to face me and immediately strikes with his sword. I parry his strike easily. He then swings his sword to keep me back, and jumps aside, so as to avoid getting either Aaron or me in his back.
`Archers!' he shouts. `Kill the dwarf and the hooded bastard!'
`Take cover, boy!'
`No need. I killed all the archers.'
Aaron gives me an impressed look, while the bandit leader releases an angry war cry and lunges at me. I parry his strike and swing my sword towards his hand. My blade strikes his wrist, but his gauntlets protect him. He does not drop his weapon.
I'm wasting time here! I should kill him fast...
Aaron launches himself at the bandit leader with all his fury, and before I could do anything, he strikes his axe towards his helmet. The bandit leader parries the strike with his sword, and kicks Aaron away from him. Now's the time to strike.
I launch myself forward and strike towards his neck, towards the small gap between his breastplate and his helmet. My sword slips in and cuts into his flesh, but doesn't cause a mortal wound. He slips aside before I could finish him off. He backs away.
`Men!' he shouts to the bandits. `Kill them!'
I look around and only now do I realize that the bandits have been just standing around us and watching us fight for some time now. It seems they have killed all of Aaron's men.
But not easily. There were only six of them left alive.
Six against two. Not very good odds.
For them...
They move in on us and we are forced into defense. But Aaron seems to think them easy prey.
`Listen up, boy! Can you break out?' he asks.
Molding into my shadow, that's easy.
`Yes.'
`Good. Then go get their leader! I'll handle these six fools!'
I do as he says, and mold into my shadow. My quick disappearance causes quite some confusion among the bandits, making Aaron's job that much easier. He jumps towards the nearest bandit and strikes at his head with his axe. He splits his skull in half and the bandit falls.
`Take that, you sons of bitches!' he screams, as he attacks the rest of them.
I creep towards the bandit leader, and sneak behind him. I come out of my shadow and strike, but this time, at his leg.
My sword pierces his leg easily, and he screams in pain. He turns to face me.
`You! What are you, some kind of mage?'
I do not bother to answer. I just strike at him. He parries, but I quickly move my sword to strike at his leg again. He tries to move out of the way, but his leg wound slows him down. My blade strikes him yet again. He screams in pain.
`You hooded bastard! I will kill you and feed your bones to the wolves!' he screams.
`Whatever.'
He limps closer and raises his sword high above his head, ready to strike me down. A foolish attempt. Too easy to parry. He probably hopes that his sheer strength will overwhelm me. Not likely. Let's see what he's made of...
I prepare to parry and strike back, but suddenly I hear the voice of Aaron from behind me.
`Get down, boy!'
I duck to the ground and peek in his direction. He is holding some kind of metal object in his hand. It is like a long thin metal barrel with a handle and a few additional extensions on it. Barely can I examine it, and I see a sharp, blinking light in the barrel, and I hear a noise like never before. It is loud. Very loud. Aaron laughs aloud, and I hear the bandit leader scream in pain. I look towards him, and I see that his body is covered with small, bleeding wounds. I realize that what Aaron holds in his hand is a weapon, one that fires extremely fast projectiles that can tear through a man like metal shards that powerful mages can conjure to shred their opponents to pieces. The noise goes on for several seconds, until the bandit falls to the ground, dead, as far as I could tell. Aaron laughs victoriously. So much for lightly enchanted plate armor...
Then I hear footsteps to the right of us. There is one last bandit still alive. Dropping his sword, he is running away. Aaron turns the barrel of his weapon towards him, and a moment later he starts swearing.
`Blast it, damn piece of crap is out of bullets! Bloody Hell...'
He looks towards me and yells out loud.
`Get up boy! Don't let him get away!'
Yes.
No mercy.
Not to a single one of them. They must be eradicated. Every last one...
I arise and look in the running bandit's direction. He's too far to catch up with, so I decide to deal with him the simple way. Without hesitation I hurl my sword towards him. Normally that would never reach him, but I use a little magic to accelerate the sword, and to keep it straight as it flies through the air. Moments later, the blade impales him, and I hear him scream. Aaron, who is still messing with his weapon - reloading it, I guess - looks up and sees the bandit fall. He smiles towards me in satisfaction.
`Nice toss, boy! That's the way to go!'
I walk to the fallen bandit and retrieve my sword. He is still alive.
I pull the sword out of him and he rolls on his back. His face is full of pain and fear. Fear...
`Please... Let me live, I beg you...'
`You beg me? You, the scourge of the roads, beg me, a mere traveler? How quaint...'
`Please...'
`What
does it feel like?'
`What?' he asks slowly. He's having trouble breathing. He is dying.
`The fear. What does it feel like... to fear?'
He gasps, and looks even more terrified than before. He doesn't reply.
`Now you know what went through the minds of the defenseless travelers whom you've spent your life mercilessly slaughtering. A pity you cannot feel it for long.'
`Please... Don't kill me...'
Fool. He is almost dead already. Yet he begs to live. So be it.
I turn around and walk away. Let him suffer as he dies.
I walk a few meters, and then I turn back towards him.
I pull out one of my wands and aim it at him. I activate the wand and it sends a lightning bolt towards the dying bandit.
The lightning strikes him and literally sets him ablaze.
He screams. It takes but a minute, and he dies. In agony.
It's better this way. Who knows, he may have been found and healed by someone, and then he would have resumed his bandit life...
I look at him and feel satisfaction. Rarely do I get to do something which I feel is a good deed, but today I did.
Even if the Enforcers would think otherwise.
I turn away and walk back to the caravan wagons.
*
Aaron is swearing...
`Bloody worthless corpseraping shiteating sonofabitch motherfffffffffuckers! Blasted bandit scum! I can't believe they slaughtered every last one of my men!'
`Seems like you got the wrong men for the job...'
`Damn right I got the wrong men for the job, blast it!'
He looks towards me and smiles widely.
`At least I hired me one good mercenary... Seems like Meliorath knew whom to pick to do her dirty work, eh? She always had a keen nose for such things. Maybe because it's so big...'
Ignoring his words, I walk over to him and point at his weapon.
`What the Hell is this thing?'
With a proud smile, he begins to explain.
`This thing, boy, is the future! The future! It's like a crossbow, but instead of firing bolts, it fires small lead bullets, like a sling.'
Emptiness Page 15