Emptiness

by Viktor Zólyomi

  Finally, the spell is completed, and the Portal is conjured within the pentagram; it sucks us right in, and we are tossed through the Planes.

  Out of the fire, and into the darkness...

  Epilogues

  Verdict

  Audience Chamber of the Supreme Council, City of Re'Cas, one day from now (2 years, 3 months, and 3 days before Twilightfall)

  I look down to the streets of Re'Cas from the window of the Audience Chamber. The city seems calm. As if nothing had happened. Yet everyone knows. They all live in relative safety, and they all think this could not be repeated. They think the destruction that took place in Gatestown could never have spilled to this side of the Gateway, and never will. But who knows what the future holds for us. Jason is gone, but he will return. He will strike again. He will not rest until I die. Or until I kill him. Our little private war can spill out into the streets of Re'Cas yet. I know this well. But these people don't.

  Ignorance is bliss, as they say...

  I came first into the Audience Chamber, and so far only the troll Councilor, Lyour has arrived. When he entered, he just barely nodded to me, then he took his seat by the large round table in the center of the room, and put his large feet on the table. He's been picking his teeth ever since, silently.

  But now he breaks the silence.

  `So, Councilor Jenathar... What do we know of what happened?'

  I walk from the window to the table, and take my seat.

  `Not much.'

  `Has the culprit been captured?'

  `No.'

  He slams his enormous hand on the table.

  `That is unacceptable!' he exclaims. `The culprit must be found! Found, and punished!'

  `Calm yourself, Lyour! We will capture the culprit in time.'

  `We? It should be me, Jenathar! You should let me do it. I would find him, whoever he was. Or her, for that matter. Or them, if they were more than one. I would find them, and crush them. Destroy them, rip them apart!'

  `Calm yourself, Lyour! We will take what measures are necessary, rest assured.'

  `I won't calm myself! I won't rest assured that you can handle it! This was destruction unparalleled in Gatestown! The one who did this knows only one language, that of force. He must be stopped! He must be shown what force truly is! Who better than I? I will crush him, I will flay him, I will chew the flesh from his bones, I will pop open his skull, I will snuff out his brain, I will rip out his intestines, I will...'

  A voice from the door suddenly interrupts him.

  `Excuse me for interrupting this... witty conversation...'

  Worriil has arrived. He walks to the table and takes his seat.

  `We were just speaking of how I would dispatch the culprit once I find him. Or her. Or them. Ha! The more, the merrier...'

  `Do not trouble yourself with this, Lyour... This is not worth the attention of a Councilor. The Supreme Guard can handle the situation.'

  `Bah, who needs your lackeys? If I find this bastard, he will know true pain! He will learn never to do such a thing again, he will regret that he was even born! Then, I will rip him to shreds...'

  `I'm certain that would set an example, and if we apprehend him perhaps we may consider letting you do so. But truly, you need not trouble yourself trying to hunt the culprit. That's what the Supreme Guard is for.'

  `Bah! If they find him, they will not bring him in alive, you and I both know that! I want that bastard myself! I want to lead the chase!'

  `We can discuss that later, Lyour. First we must find a trace of the culprit.'

  `Anything so far?'

  `Eric is leading the investigation, he should be here soon, then we will know more. In the mean time...'

  Then he looks around expectantly.

  `Jenathar, tell me, where are Achmor and Khargun?'

  `How should I know, if you don't?' I tell him.

  `We need to change this, my friend. We need to be able to summon each other. We should have been ready to discuss the situation the moment we knew of it. A full day has passed since Gatestown was reduced to smoke and ash.'

  `I know.'

  `Where you there?'

  `What do you mean?'

  `Gatestown is in your territory. You should have been there to personally ensure...'

  `No, Sewareld! Gatestown may lie within Delamar, but it is common territory, as you know. We agreed long ago, that the Gateway must be under common protection, protection of us all.'

  `Yes, of course. It slipped my mind for a second.'

  `You are right in one thing though. We should have been there. We should all have been there, protecting Gatestown.'

  `Yet we weren't. We failed. Perhaps we should resign.' he says sarcastically.

  A thundering voice comes in response from the door. Khargun...

  `Resign? Bullshit! For a bunch of worthless travelers and a few guards? All because someone or something wreaked havoc on the town? It's no fault of ours that they were weak, now is it?'

  He steps through the door and takes a seat. Achmor comes in after him and takes his seat as well.

  `Oh, it certainly is no fault of yours, Khargun...' says Worriil. `Or mine, for that matter.'

  Then he turns his gaze towards me, and so do the others.

  `Are you placing blame on me, Sewareld?' I ask.

  `Why don't you tell us just who that man was, and what he's done fifteen years ago?'

  Curses! He knows... How much does he know?!

  `Why don't you? You seem to know more of what happened down there than I do.'

  `Does the name Jason Vogan ring a bell, old friend?'

  `How could I ever forget?'

  `Jason Vogan?' asks Khargun. `Who is that?'

  `Jason Vogan is the only child of Elaine Vogan.' says Worriil. `You all may remember her as Councilor Jenathar's apprentice many years ago.'

  `Yes, I remember her.' says Achmor. `She died when she gave birth to a child, did she not?'

  `Yes. Councilor Jenathar raised the orphaned boy to be a mage. He proved to be a poor father. You see, fifteen years ago, Jason killed three of his fellow apprentices, for reasons unknown to this day. Unknown to me, at least. Then, he vanished, and was not heard from again. Until yesterday, that is.'

  `Not heard from until yesterday?' asks Khargun. `Are you telling me he destroyed Gatestown?'

  `Our scryers could explore the remnants of the town after the initial fire. They saw three people among the ruins. A dwarf, an elf, and a human. One of our scryers recognized the human as Jason Vogan. Let me show you their images, and let's allow Councilor Jenathar to confirm or deny this information!'

  He waves his hand towards the center of the table, and the heads of three ghostly figures appear on the table. The likenesses of Jason, the huntress Flora E'Lyn, and a dwarf I do not recognize.

  `Councilor Jenathar? Is that your former apprentice?' he asks me. I nod.

  `Yes it's him. I do not know the others.' A blatant lie, but why should I drag the huntress into this? He may know of her anyway.

  `The elf is a hunter known well among my people.' he replies. `Flora E'Lyn. She's a high ranking member of the Order of the Black Panther. She has saved many lives in Endarryn over the years and she is well respected. It is most surprising and disappointing to see her in the company of a murderer.'

  As I thought.

  `The dwarf is Aaron Chraem.' says Achmor. `A renowned smuggler.'

  `Nice company!' sneers Khargun. `A smuggler, and elite elf hunter, and a wanted murderer. They set Gatestown on fire? What of the demon I heard of?'

  `Demon?' asks Achmor. `There was a demon?'

  `It is not known for certain.' replies Worriil. `Our scryers no longer saw it, if it was there at all. It is mostly speculation. All we know for certain is that something of tremendous power destroyed the town, and that only these three survived the destruction. Perhaps Jason was recognized by the guards, and he summoned some creature to cover his escape. We merely assume that it was a powerful demon, we never s
aw it.'

  `So, your men didn't manage to kill the demon?'

  `No.'

  `What a shame. It must have been huge to cause such a mess... We could have made quite the feast with a demon that big!' exclaims Achmor with a nod.

  `Feast? Yech...' replies Lyour.

  `Yech? You bloody rockeater! Do you even know what well-roasted demon meat tastes like? Did you ever try it?'

  `Did you, Shorty?'

  Lyour likes to address Achmor as Shorty. I don't know why, but Achmor doesn't appear to mind. Most dwarves would be insulted gravely by being called that. Perhaps he finds satisfaction in referring to Lyour as a bloody rockeater in turn.

  `As a matter of fact I did, you bloody rockeater!' he replies proudly. `I must admit it's a little bit too salty for my liking, but it's bearable and it's got a very exotic taste. If instead of ale I drink elven wine with it, it's outright delicious!'

  `You drink elven wine, Shorty?'

  `Of course! The only thing elves can do better than carve bows, is harvest plants. They can make wonders with grapes, their wine is second to none. The bloody vegetarians are really good at that...'

  `We are not vegetarians, Achmor!' interrupts Worriil. `Especially not we night elves, but our wood elf brothers and sisters also eat meat. They just insist so much on the sanctity of life that they think twice before sending out one of their few hunters to catch a game.'

  `Alright, so they eat meat. They're still good with vegetables.'

  `Grape is a fruit, not a vegetable.'

  `Fruit, vegetable, all the same! If it ain't meat, it's only good for flavoring!'

  Khargun interrupts them.

  `If you don't mind, we should really get to the point of the meeting. I have no time for useless discussions about food!'

  `Indeed, Khargun is correct.' says Worriil. `We should return to the topic. As I said, our scryers only saw that these three survived. Then, a group of battlemages appeared, bearing the markings of Councilor Jenathar. They tried to capture Jason, but then he did something and everything was covered in flames. Scrying from then on became useless.'

  `So let me get this straight. That puny human set the town ablaze?' asks Khargun.

  `He did. We do not know how. He did not appear to possess sufficient magical power for it.'

  `That means there may not have been a demon present at all. Maybe it was just him alone.'

  `The possibility stands, yes.'

  `Did you think that he may have entered this place already? Perhaps all he sought to achieve with the fire was a large enough diversion to sneak into Re'Cas through the Gateway, and now he is lurking in the city, waiting...'

  Khargun always had a sharp mind, especially for an orc. Yes, Jason could have done that, but I know he did not.

  `We will explore this possibility.' replies Worriil. `However, the fact that the town was set ablaze twice, seems to contradict that. Why would he set an initial, smaller fire first, and only follow it up with a larger fire later?'

  `Perhaps to let the people escape. Perhaps he didn't want so many casualties.' speculates Achmor.

  `From what we know, he is a ruthless killer.' argues Worriil. `Fifteen years ago...'

  `I was about to bring that up, Worriil!' exclaims Khargun. `You said he killed three mage apprentices fifteen years ago. Apprentices of Jenathar?'

  `That he did.'

  `Just why is it, Jenathar, that he is not yet dead?' he asks now, turning to me. `Why have you not punished him duly when you had the chance? Why did you let him escape?'

  `I never had the chance, Khargun. He fled before we knew what he did, and we never found his trace again. We thought him for dead.' I tell him, hoping he will swallow my pathetic lie.

  `You will call me Councilor Khargun, Jenathar!'

  `I will do so when you call me Councilor Jenathar, Khargun! I have yet to hear you do so...'

  `Enough of the bickering!' says Worriil.

  `I think not!' shouts Khargun. `Let's reflect on this awhile. Just why is Gatestown in ruin? Who did this? A wanted criminal did this, a man whom Jenathar has failed to apprehend for fifteen years! So whose fault is it, that this criminal was here last night and burnt Gatestown to the ground?'

  `Worriil is right, enough of the bickering!' shouts Lyour harshly, slamming his large hand on the table. `Who cares whose fault it is that this Jason kid ruined the town! We must find that bastard so that I can rip him to shreds!'

  Before Khargun could reply, someone knocks on the door.

  `That must be Eric.' says Worriil. `Step inside!'

  The door opens, and Eric Shyrn enters the Audience Chamber. He slightly bows his head and walks straight to Worriil.

  `Lord Worriil!'

  `Eric... About time! Tell me what you've learned!'

  `It has been confirmed, there was a demon present in the battle. Traces of demonic energy were found all over the ruins. Unfortunately, its origins cannot be identified, so we do not know what sort of demon it was. All we know for certain is that the demon was responsible for the initial fire in the town...'

  `What of the huge explosion that took place afterwards? The fire that scorched everything in nearly half a mile around the Gateway?'

  `So far, we do not know. It seems that the demon was long gone by then, and that something powerful was unleashed, most certainly to cover the culprits' escape. We found no survivors, and the corpses of the three that were reported to have been seen among the ruins just before the explosion are nowhere to be found. Likely they used some sort of teleportation magic to escape.'

  `Do you know where they went?'

  I hope not...

  `There are no traces left of the spell, Lord Worriil. We cannot determine where they went.'

  Relief...

  Well done, Jason. The last thing I need is that these fools learn of Kurt's involvement...

  `Anything else?'

  `Not so far, Lord Worriil.'

  `All right, you've robbed our time for long enough. Leave us!' I command him.

  He bows his head towards Worriil and turns to the door.

  `Eric!' Worriil shouts after him. `Stay! And please excuse Supreme Councilor Jenathar for his rudeness...'

  `This is a meeting of the Council, Sewareld! There is no place for mere subordinates here!'

  `Let me remind you Jenathar, that Eric is no mere subordinate, but my second in command! There is only one thing left for us to discuss, and that is something Eric, as Commander of the Supreme Guard, should hear...'

  I know what he means. I suspected it would come to this... No matter. Jason is long gone, a verdict will change nothing.

  Worriil waves his hand, and the image of Jason appears above the table again.

  `I trust you've already seen the image of the three, Eric? This is one of them. His name is Jason Vogan. He was the one responsible for the destruction. The Council shall now bring a verdict, and decide over his punishment.'

  He arises from his seat, and looks around the room, looking at each of us. Then he begins to speak.

  `You've all heard what is known. You've all heard the facts. The man known as Jason Vogan has destroyed the town housing the sole Gateway connecting Ess'yer and Re'Cas. Many lives were lost, and the rebuilding of Gatestown will cost us dearly. His actions are a sin that cannot be forgiven. I hereby declare my verdict: death to Jason Vogan! Members of the Council, what say you?'

  Lyour responds first.

  `Death!' he shouts, slamming his huge hand on the table. `Death to the bastard! Destroy him, rip him apart! No... better... Bring him here, alive, so that I can do it!'

  Then Achmor speaks.

  `I say find him and kill him on the spot! Try to find the demon as well. Oh, and get a shipment of elven wine, too! We could have a nice feast...'

  `Let's worry about our stomach later, Achmor...' says Worriil. `Khargun?'

  Khargun scratches his beard, seemingly thinking hard on his reply. Then he speaks.

  `Bring him here alive.'

  `Al
ive?' asks Worriil, clearly disappointed.

  `Yes, that's just what I said!' replies Lyour. `Alive, so that I can crush him myself!'

  `Alive, so that we can properly interrogate him.' says Khargun. `After that, we kill him, like the sorry bastard human that he is!'

  `He seems to be more of a threat than to risk him getting loose in the city, Khargun...' replies Worriil.

  `We don't need to let him in. We can do it in Ess'yer, in Ordhiar. I have just the place for this...'

  `We shall see. Two votes to apprehend Jason Vogan alive, two to slay him on sight. Supreme Councilor Jenathar? What say you?'

  They must not sense my hesitation, nor must they suspect my true intentions...

  The verdict will change nothing. I must get to Jason before they do. Therefore, there is no relevance to the verdict at all. I shall give them exactly what they expect.

  I slowly arise from my seat.

  `I have known him for much longer than any of you, and I have had to witness his actions long before any of you. Though only in my own territory, but I have already brought my verdict fifteen years ago! I see no reason to change that verdict... Death to Jason Vogan!'

  Khargun grunts like he expected me to vote against him, while Worriil smiles with satisfaction.

  `So, it is done. We have brought our verdict. Eric! See to it immediately that it is announced promptly in due fashion. I know you have pressing duties to perform in the upcoming few days, and I expect you to fulfill them as you must. When you're done with that, I want you to find Jason Vogan, and bring me... his head! His companions are of no relevance, kill them at your leisure.'

  `Yes, Lord Worriil!' he replies. Then he bows his head and finally leaves. There was a strange gleam in his eyes as Worriil ordered him to announce the verdict... and an even stranger look when he told him to bring him Jason's head... I wonder why... Do these fools want to use Jason to serve in Ildardque's undead army? Or make him into a Death Knight as well? How little they must know of Jason then.

  All the better... Ignorance is bliss indeed, and their ignorance will serve me well.