Jar of Souls

by Bradford Bates

  The men carried much thicker broadswords while I preferred the use of my rapier. I was going to have to work quickly; although my blade was enchanted, it wouldn’t be able to stand the repeated pounding of their much thicker blades. The first man rushed forward in front of his friends. He held his sword above his head and screamed obscenities as he ran. I pierced him through the heart and took a step to the side. His blade came crashing down; his body continued forward for a step before falling. I glanced back to make sure he wasn’t moving before returning my attention to the men in front of me.

  The two men coming at me now split so they could attack from different directions. I cast a look back at Adam, and he smiled but made no move to stand. The leader grabbed the girl from the other man, eliciting a scream from her. He moved a dagger out of his belt and pressed it against her, while the man who had her on his lap pulled his sword to join his friends in the attack.

  I smiled at the two men circling me. I could tell from their faces it wasn’t something that they expected. “I hope one of you is a better swordsman than your friend.” I tilted my head to the side, indicating the dead man on the floor.

  One of the men snarled and launched himself at me, which was exactly what I had been hoping for. I moved his blade to the side and slashed him across the back. He stumbled toward his partner before falling to his knees. To my surprise, he showed some resilience and worked his way back to his feet. The other two men came in at the same time, one swinging high and one going low. I moved the high blade above my head while jumping over the low swing. I kicked out to my left and was rewarded with a thud. Using the forward momentum, I launched myself at the man to the right of me. His balance was off from his overhead swing. Three quick strikes later, he was dead.

  The remaining two men circled around me, blood slowly dripping from one of their backs, the other holding his ribs. The bleeding man snarled and rushed forward. His partner came in right behind him. I dodged to the side, slashing at the first man’s ankle. He buckled and fell to the floor. I moved my sword up but was late and felt the blade skim across my ribs. He was still moving past me with his thrust, and I made him pay for the mistake by smashing my fist into his mouth. I heard his teeth crunch as the metal of my hand guard smashed into his jaw. I moved my sword down and blocked the strike he aimed at my ribs as he stumbled backward. One quick strike to his chest dropped the stumbling man to the floor, my sword pulling out of his chest with a wet sucking sound.

  The last man was still lying on the ground. His eyes followed me as I walked forward. He tried to stand and fell back to the floor, screaming in pain. He lifted his sword to defend himself, but it was easy to bat away, and one more thrust brought his miserable life to an end. Turning back to the two remaining men, I let my smile show again. I was sure by this point I was a horrible sight to behold, covered in blood, the grin making me look like a madman. The man holding the innkeeper shoved him roughly to the ground and made a run for the door. I moved to give chase but saw Adam’s dagger plunge into the man’s back. That left only one.

  The man rose, keeping the girl in front of him, one arm wrapped tightly around her waist, the other keeping the dagger firmly pressed against her throat. “Make another move toward me and the girl dies,” he shouted, eyes darting wildly around the room.

  “If you hurt that girl, there is no chance that you leave here alive. You may as well come and face me like a man, instead of hiding behind the young woman’s skirt.”

  He continued to move toward the door, his hand pressed tightly against her throat. A quick glance at Adam only earned me a simple shake of his head. Without being able to call on my gift, there wasn’t much I could do now. For every step the man took toward the door, I matched it. Step by agonizingly slow step, I started to worry that he might actually get away. He stumbled against the body of his friend and was forced to release the girl to keep his balance. She tried to run but just wasn’t quick enough to avoid his blade. I watched with horror as it pierced her stomach. Like the coward he was, he ran for the door, shoving the girl to the floor.

  My dagger flew true, and to be fair, he never really had a chance when I used my magic to enhance the throw. He fell to the ground, the blade piercing him through his right leg. His head made it out of the door as he tried to crawl into the street. I walked slowly up behind him and pierced him through the throat with my sword. I watched for a moment as the life bubbled out of the hole I made before turning back toward the inn.

  The innkeeper was on the ground, clutching his daughter tightly against him. A red spot was slowly spreading across her dress. The look on his face, knowing that he had already lost her, filled me with a sadness I hadn’t expected. I moved toward the girl, shouting commands. “Go and get some warm water and towels. I will also need a needle and thread.”

  “Are you a doctor?”

  “I’ve had a small amount of field training during my time in the military; if we hurry, we can still save her life.” I picked the woman up and carried her over to a table; as soon as she was lying down, I ripped her dress open with my dagger. I placed a hand against the wound to stop the blood and looked back to see if the innkeeper had entered the room yet.

  I felt a warm hand fall on my shoulder and looked back. “Make sure you don’t do anything too noticeable.” Then Adam was gone, only stopping to pull his dagger out of the dead man’s back before heading up the stairs to his room.

  I was happy that he knew what I was thinking, and it meant a lot that he gave me his blessing to act. Calling on my gift, I slowed the bleeding and repaired the worst of the internal damage. The innkeeper set a bowl of steaming water and some white towels next to me. I used the towels and water to clean the wound. Blood continued to seep from it, but that was ok. With the worst of the damage repaired, she was going to be fine. The thread was exactly what I needed to sew her up, and another quick check with my gift insured there was nothing left to heal but the skin.

  “We were lucky the cut wasn’t as deep as I had feared. She should make a full recovery.”

  “Thank you so much for your help. Who knows what would have happened here without you.” He pressed some coins into my hands. “We don’t have much, but the least I can do is return your money.”

  I pushed the coins back to him and added two new gold coins to the pile. “It seems to me that all I have done is given you a rather large mess to clean up and insured that one of your family was injured. Keep the money for the expenses, and if you could have these clothes cleaned and dried for me by the morning, I would appreciate it.”

  “Of course, anything you want, sir. You are welcome back here anytime. Thank you.”

  “No thanks are necessary. Just send someone for the clothes and have them ready in the morning.”

  When I woke up, my clothes were waiting for me just inside of the door. They had been scrubbed clean and dried. After dressing, I packed the rest of my gear and headed downstairs. I was shocked at the sight that awaited me. The bodies and all of the blood had been cleaned; the inn looked as if nothing had happened the previous night. A few wet planks still dotted the floor, but everything else was spotless.

  At my appearance, the innkeeper called to his family. They lined up, including the woman I had healed last night. She looked a little worse for wear, but her dress was clear of blood and outside of a wince or two, she seemed in good spirits. The innkeeper rushed forward and clasped my hand, shaking it several times. “Thank you so much for protecting my family. We have the supplies you requested ready to go along with a few small additions that should make your travels a little more pleasant.”

  “Thank you for your kind hospitality. I’m sorry if our presence led you to any additional hardships.”

  “Those men have been plaguing our village for months. Everyone was happy to see them disposed of. They even helped us clean up.”

  “I’m happy we could be of service.” I was always slightly uncomfortable with any kind of praise, let alone praise heaped on me for killing fi
ve men. I waved cheerily at the innkeeper and his family, and then made my way to the door. Adam had already loaded the supplies. After securing my saddle bag, we were on the road again.

  “I take it the tracking spell is working again?”

  “It is. I’m a little worried at the clarity of it now, though. After we talked the other day, I doubted the weather could have masked it so well. For it to be coming in so clear now can only mean you were right about a trap.”

  “I agree. How do we stop them now?”

  “All we can do is follow the spell and deal with what we find. It won’t be pretty, but even with the Jar, they shouldn’t be a match for me.”

  “Ah, that’s what makes me feel so good about traveling with you. It’s the air of confidence. It’s inspiring.”

  Adam gave me a quick smile. “I’d expect nothing else.”

  Again with the jokes, I thought. It was nice to know the head of our order was actually just a man like the rest of us.

  We rode for the next four hours in silence. The road was almost dry, and our horses were fresh. The countryside seemed to fly by as we moved across it. Adam pulled his horse off the main track and started to head into the hills to our right. After an hour, he slowed our pace to a walk. I watched as he moved around a tree three times in a circle. When he finished the third circle, he arched his eyebrow at me, and it started to rain again.

  “So you can make it rain?”

  “Oh, I had nothing to do with that. Funny how the rain started just as we were getting close. My tracking spell has grown fuzzy again.”

  “Well, that is strange. Did you get a lock before the spell was blocked again?”

  “We should be about another hour in the direction we were traveling. If they move now, we won’t know.”

  “Maybe we should just go check it out. Anything is better than just waiting in the rain.”

  “Maybe not anything,” he said with a laugh. “Follow me.”

  For the next forty-five minutes, we rode through the hills. Every now and then, I could see a valley on our right. I only got glimpses, but I could have sworn there was a cave against the far wall. As we circled closer, I could make out two stone pillars at the entrance. If I knew anything about architecture, I was looking at the opening to a tomb.

  “Adam, tell me we aren’t going into that valley.”

  “I wish I could.” He said with a hint of resignation in his tone.

  “How do you want to play this?”

  “We will leave the horses here and enter on foot. From there, we will have to improvise. Your job will be to make sure nothing sneaks into the valley from behind us. If Gaston and the Jar are in there, then I will handle it.”

  “All right, let’s do this.”

  Adam pulled his staff from behind his saddle. I was a little more traditional, pulling out my rapier and checking that my two long daggers were lose in their scabbards. Each of my weapons had been infused with silver and would be deadly to any Pretenders we might stumble upon. Not that it would matter if they were already dead. I had problems believing Gaston could have pulled this off on his own. He had to be getting help from someone.

  Adam strode down the hill toward the tomb’s entrance, drawing all of the attention to himself. I was glad he was here. The steep hill offered absolutely no cover, and if they were watching, we had already been spotted. I scanned the hills above the tomb for any signs of trouble. Nothing yet. A quick look behind us showed that the way back to our mounts was still clear. A man in a black robe appeared in the entrance to the tomb, flanked by two others. He waved his hands at us, and the other two stepped forward. I couldn’t make out exactly what he said, but it sounded like handle them. He turned and headed back inside the tomb.

  Adam gave me a quick glance. “I’ll need you to deal with these two while I go after Gaston.”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  “I’m counting on you to do better.”

  With those wonderful words of encouragement, he ran down the hill, heading to the tomb. I stayed about twenty feet back, keeping an eye on the hills above the entrance. Adam blocked the spells of the two apprentices, and as he ran past them, he sent them flying to the side. I had to pick one, so I ran to the right. I sent a fireball at the one on the left. Maybe I would get lucky. Pulling my sword free, I charged the last twenty feet to the prone figure on the ground.

  When I was five feet away, I heard the howls sounding above the tomb. The figure on the ground flipped back to his feet, his hood falling as he did. When he looked back at me, I almost recoiled in horror. His face was pale white; one of his eyes was milky white, the other burned with intensity. I swung my sword down in a diagonal arc, hoping to move him back. Instead, he lifted his arm, and the blade bit into his flesh and then bounced away. Well, this was going to be more interesting than I had hoped. If his bones were dense enough to deflect my blade, then I was in for a hell of a fight.

  He cast his arm out, throwing me back about ten paces. Damn, the sword wouldn’t hurt him, and he was super strong. That didn’t leave me too many options. The howls sounded again from the top of the hill, and I could clearly see four Lycans getting ready to charge. I was not sure I could take the two apprentices, let alone four Lycans. A quick glance to my left showed that my fire ball had hit the other apprentice, but without much effect. Her robes had been almost completely burned away, but outside of that, the flames seemed to have little effect.

  Without much time left, I had to do something drastic to survive. The two apprentices charged toward me, and the Lycans dove over the rim of the valley, charging toward us. They moved like the wind. If these were the undead under control, they moved differently than the last Lycans I had fought. The male apprentice had already covered the distance to me. I used my magic to superheat my sword, and made a swing toward his leg. Just as I thought, he didn’t try and move out of the way. This time, my sword swept cleanly through the bone, severing the apprentice’s leg.

  He stumbled and then launched himself at me. My sword snapped in two from the heat. I shoved the last four inches of the hilt at the man’s eye as I fell away. As luck would have it, it hit the eye that still had some color to it. He let out a roar of rage and pain. Two hands encased my throat as the apprentice tried to squeeze the life out of me. I pulled the hilt of my sword from his eye, and he slammed me into the ground. I stabbed at his throat with the broken blade, cutting through every vein imaginable. No blood poured from the wound, and I was starting to see stars. In a last act of desperation, I bathed my hands in blue fire and gripped the sides of his head as hard as I could. I ratcheted up the intensity of the flames and continued to squeeze. Eventually my hands met in the middle. The body fell on top of me, and I shoved it away.

  I only managed to suck in two painful gasps as I stood up before the other apprentice barreled into me, sending me flying again. I rolled to my feet and got my head up just in time to dodge her next charge. It was not often that I was forced to fight a woman, let alone almost naked ones with super strength. Something about the pale skin and her being mostly dead robbed any of the fun out of fighting her. She charged past me, and I ran for the entrance to the tomb. The Lycans had covered more than half of the distance into the valley. They moved with their normal inhuman grace as they ran, but I could already tell they were dead.

  The tomb should buy me a little time. There was no way more than one of the Lycans could fit. I was pretty sure I could kill them one at a time. The female apprentice was going to be the wild card. She was running toward me again, and I pulled both of my daggers out. I let her slam into me as I heated the daggers. I shoved both of them forward in a slash as she hit me. I flew backward, the useless hilts falling from my hands. The blades had broken again, but this time I was rewarded when I looked at her. Her head was only still attached by a thread of muscle. I ran forward and kicked it off before she could heal from the damage, if it was even possible to heal a wound like that. I hated fighting something I knew almost nothing about.


  Her corpse continued to try and crawl toward me. Her male companion’s body lay limp on the ground, giving me some indication as to what I needed to do. Calling on my gift, I pooled the flames around my hand until they were burning white hot with intensity. I laid a hand on her head while avoiding the still struggling body. As her head burned away under the flame, the body started to twitch and then finally became still. I wondered just what it would take to kill one of these things without fire. Was it even possible? What if they too grew stronger with age?

  Standing, I stumbled against the wall. The use of that much magic had weakened me more than I thought it would. I could hear the Lycans closing in; I called on the last of my power and created a rock wall over the entrance to the tomb. It wouldn’t hold them forever, but it would at least buy us some time. My legs gave out, and I slid down the stone wall. I tried to fight against it, but the blackness finally won.

  When I came to, I could hear the sounds of clawing at the earthen wall. I wasn’t sure how much longer I had before they got in. I had to find Adam. I needed help, and I wanted to get the hell out of here. Fear gripped at my heart for the first time. If I didn’t find him quickly, there was a distinct possibility that we both would die. The adrenaline fueled my limbs into motion, and I stumbled down the tomb, using the wall to help push me forward. I could hear yelling coming from in front of me. The sound of it drove me forward.

  Adam spared me one glance as I came around the corner before he turned the full force of his magic back on Gaston. I had never seen anything like it before. Spell after spell he launched, only to have them deflected. The amount of power he controlled was amazing. I wasn’t sure how anyone could have stood against it. Gaston must have been calling on the power of the Jar to save himself, somehow using the souls contained within it to shield him from the magic.