by Dean Cadman
The feeling subsided as suddenly as it arrived, and Lord Zelroth pointed to the man beside Tristan. No words were spoken, but one of the Darkseed Elite left Lord Zelroth’s side and approached Tristan and the unconscious man in the middle of the giant chamber. Tristan no longer feared death, and almost looked forward to joining his wife and children in the afterlife, but he had no desire to be tortured before joining them. The Darkseed Elite stopped directly in front of Tristan before stepping to the side and kneeling next to the unconscious man. He spoke several strange words of power and light erupted from his outstretched hand, entering the unconscious man’s body. Then—without waiting any longer—he simply stood back up, turned around, and returned to his position at the side of Lord Zelroth.
Tristan expected the questioning to begin shortly after the Darkseed Elite had returned to the platform, but instead the silence dragged on and on. No one moved, and no words were spoken. Ten minutes later the deathly silence was broken when the man next to Tristan began to stir. At first he let out out a few strange groaning sounds, each one accompanied by a spasm of movement. Tristan watched as his body contorted with muscle spasms, eyes flickered open and closed, and strange noises came from deep within his throat. After a few minutes all movement just ceased, and the room was plunged back into an eerie silence once more.
At first Tristan thought the man was dead, but looking more closely he could see the gentle rise and fall of his chest beneath his tunic. It was then that the man suddenly opened his eyes and stared directly at Tristan, as if trying to gain some insight as to where he was and why. Noticing his chains for the first time, he sat bolt upright and looked around the room, his gaze finally coming to rest on the platform and Lord Zelroth at the far end of the gigantic room.
“Ah, glad you could join us,” said Lord Zelroth in a deep clear voice. A voice that came from deep within the shadows of his hooded robe. “Let us begin by introducing ourselves. As I am sure you may have already guessed by now, I am Lord Zelroth, ruler of the Thule Empire, and soon to be ruler of Afaraon. And you are?” he said, gesturing to the newly conscious man next to Tristan. The man didn’t answer, instead he spat towards Lord Zelroth. Lord Zelroth let out a crazed laugh at the man’s response, then signalled to another of his Darkseed Elite, who nodded and started to approach the man.
“You are not the first man to respond in such a manner, nor will you be the last, I’m sure, but let me assure you of one thing: you will give me the information I require, and willingly,” Lord Zelroth said with an almost humorous edge to his words.
“Don’t count on it,” the man said defiantly, spitting once more towards the oncoming Darkseed Elite. Halfway between the throne platform and where Tristan and the man were chained, the Darkseed Elite stopped. He extended one hand towards the man and spoke the incantations of a spell. Almost immediately the man started to scream, as one after another of his fingernails exploded from the tips of his fingers on his right hand, showering the floor in front of him with blood and small pieces of flesh. His sickening screams seemed to be amplified by the immense size of the chamber, and long after he had relented to a soft whimper, the echoes could still be heard.
“Now, shall we try that again? But before you say something you might regret, know this—the Darkseed Elite standing by my side are not merely here as my guards. Each one has his own unique skills and methods of persuasion, and each one has had an awfully long time to hone their skills to what they are today. I can assure you both that they could take you apart piece by piece and still keep you alive while they did it. Then when they reached a point where you were about to die, one of them would heal your wounds so they may start all over again.
“Now, I know what you are thinking, and not because I bothered to read your minds, but because I have heard it all countless times before. You’re thinking you will somehow overcome the torture, or death will claim you early, saving you and the petty secrets you hold dear. Let me assure you, you are wrong. If I merely wanted the information you held, I could simply kill you here and now, then reanimate you and question you that way instead, but I want you to give me your information freely. That way I know you are beaten, and you will know it too before you die. So, with that in mind, do either of you have any questions or shall we start over with our introductions again?” Lord Zelroth said casually, as if he were simply announcing the seating arrangements of a grand dinner.
“Go… to… hell!” the man said vehemently, spitting once more in defiance.
“Oh, wonderful. I do like a challenge. You know, before I revived you, I read the mind of your friend there, and I could clearly see he no longer valued his own life. He only wishes to pass from this world peacefully and join his departed family. I was hoping you would provide me with more entertainment, and I’m happy to see you haven’t disappointed me. Shall we begin?” Lord Zelroth said, nodding to the Darkseed Elite in the centre of the room.
Chapter Nine
Zedd was still reeling from the boy-mage’s earlier success at causing a rockslide, and the time they had lost retreating back down the mountain path to avoid it. He had ordered his men several times to hit the rocks on the mountainside above the boy-mage and the paladin, but each time the results had been less than desirable. In the distance he could see what looked like a huge rockslide blocking the entire path. He knew this could be his best chance to end the chase, once and for all. He had no intention of underestimating the boy-mage again, but he felt certain that even he couldn’t levitate and shield at the same time after already being weakened so much. Trying to cross the rockslide would leave both him and the paladin totally exposed to whatever attacks Zedd and his men sent at them, with only the paladin’s shield able to try and block their missiles, which Zedd knew would be next to impossible.
Zedd’s mood lightened even further when he happened to glance up at the mountainside above the boy-mage and paladin. What he saw was dozens of large rocks, all loose, and just begging to be nudged in their direction. Grinning to himself, he knew this time he would be much more likely to succeed. Even if the rockslide somehow missed them both, Zedd and his men would still have some new cover of their own from which to fire when the boy-mage and paladin finally came up against the rockslide blocking their path. Zedd sent a missile at the loose rocks without another thought. When it struck its target, it exploded, and the whole rock face shifted, sending several huge boulders cascading down the mountainside towards the boy-mage and paladin below.
Zedd watched and held his breath as one huge boulder headed directly for the boy-mage. As it rolled and slid down the mountainside, it collided with another large rock protruding from the ground and bounced slightly, making it pass harmlessly over the head of the boy-mage, missing him by no more than a few inches, before disappearing over the edge of the path, then plunging to the ground far below. Zedd let out his pent-up breath with a slight sigh, disappointed the boulder hadn’t done the job for him. Seconds later his smile returned as he witnessed another large boulder strike the paladin’s leg. Even from this distance he could clearly see the paladin’s leg was broken, and the boy-mage stunned.
“Everyone, fire!” Zedd commanded, trying to take advantage of the situation. What Zedd witnessed next shocked him to his very core. The boy-mage levitated the paladin from the ground and ran with him, zigzagging down the path to avoid the numerous incoming missiles. That in itself was impressive enough, but when the first missile struck him, instead of killing him, it merely impacted on his shield; the boy-mage had somehow managed to levitate and shield himself simultaneously.
Zedd’s jaw hung slack at the sight. How could an untrained boy command so much power? Zedd suspected he might be able to achieve two spells simultaneously given enough time to prepare, but not under constant fire and on the run, like he had just witnessed with the boy-mage.
No one knew for sure, but one of the prerequisites of becoming a Darkseed Elite was believed to be the ability to cast more than one spell at the same time whilst under dure
ss. Zedd wondered why no one knew for sure, but when he thought about it, it became obvious; if you failed to hold your magical shield whilst under attack and performing another spell at the same time, you would be dead from the attack, plain and simple. That also explained the lack of failed Darkseed Elite recruits in society. It was a one-chance deal, fail and you’re dead.
Zedd watched helplessly as the boy-mage carried the paladin towards the blockade. He was about five minutes in front of Zedd and his men when something unexpected happened. The paladin seemed to just vanish into the rock face, whilst the boy-mage stood and watched. Realisation hit Zedd moments later and he swore out loud.
“They’ve found a cave. Everyone, fire at the boy. Now!” Zedd shouted, adding his own missile to the other six now heading directly at the boy-mage’s location. Only a split-second before impact the boy-mage managed to dive into the safety of the cave and narrowly avoided being hit by all seven missiles. Zedd screamed with rage. Both he and his men were almost exhausted, and no matter what they seemed to throw at this boy he was able to somehow thwart them at every turn.
“Take up positions behind those boulders,” Zedd said, pointing at the remains of the rockslide he had caused only a few hundred paces from the cave. He had no intention of entering a cave he knew nothing about. He clearly saw the paladin disabled, but he also knew how powerful this boy was, and certainly wouldn’t put it beyond his abilities to heal the paladin. The last thing he wanted to do was to walk onto a paladin’s blade in the darkness of a cave, or have the roof brought down on top of him while he was inside.
Zedd watched as the huge dust cloud began to settle, running to take his position behind the largest of the rocks. A few moments later he saw another large dust cloud blown out through the cave entrance, and detected magic being used to achieve it. ‘Why would the boy-mage clear the cave of dust?’ Zedd thought to himself, a little confused. The only explanation Zedd could think of was that the cave was a dead end, and didn’t have any other exits. If it did, surely they would have simply left via another route, he concluded. The grin returned to his face as he addressed his weary men.
“They’re trapped inside that cave with nowhere to run, and no other exits but this one,” Zedd said confidently. Just then a young girl confirmed his suspicions by momentarily poking her head out of the cave. One of his men fired at her, but the shot impacted on the huge pile of rocks outside the cave entrance.
“Halt! Take up your positions here,” Zedd commanded as they reached the remains of the rockslide he had caused. Zedd thought about his next move carefully. He felt sure this would be his moment of victory, but he would take no more chances.
“You,” Zedd said pointing at one of his men, “move towards that cave. I want a report of what you can see from the entrance.” The man looked very nervous, but obeyed nonetheless. He stepped out beyond the safety of the boulder field and headed towards the cave entrance. He didn’t get more than ten paces before the young girl they had just seen reappeared from the cave and fired an arrow directly at him. Several of Zedd’s men sent missiles of their own, but she managed to dodge them all, and sent another arrow in their direction before diving back towards the safety of the cave mouth.
The first arrow flared bright blue as it passed cleanly through the agent’s magical shield and buried itself in his chest. The second arrow also flared blue and struck another agent standing beside Zedd. Both agents fell dead to the ground, and the death-pulse of both agents were clearly felt by the remaining men.
“No. It can’t be!” Zedd whispered to himself, now crouching behind his large rock like a cowering animal. Rage built within him to a point where he thought he would storm the cave alone, but sense got the better of him moments later when Cole spoke to him.
“What happened? How did she kill our two men?”
“It seems she too is a paladin. Didn’t you see her arrows as they passed through their shields?” Zedd replied, not really believing his own words, even as he spoke them.
“But, she can’t be, she’s a girl,” Cole said, confusion written all over his face.
“Why don’t you go and ask her then?” Zedd replied angrily. Cole remained silent, not wanting to be the next man who volunteered to storm the cave. Zedd knew that Cole had a good point though. Paladins were only ever men, but here he had just seen a young girl, not even old enough to be a paladin, firing a blessed bow and killing two of his men right in front of him. Now he had only four men under his command. Just as he was coming to terms with his new number of men, he lost another one. The death-pulse felt by himself and the remaining three men.
Zedd roared his frustration, but kept his head down. He had seen where the last man was when he was hit, and he had been showing no more than a glimpse of his body to the cave entrance. It seemed like the arrows were also charmed somehow to find their target, even if that target wasn’t completely visible. They needed to get out of there right now, but there was nowhere to run. If they tried to run back the way they had come, they would be dead before they made it ten paces. The only way to escape was down.
“You,” Zedd said pointing to a man cowering next to the two dead men, “remove those two arrows and keep hold of them.” The man did as commanded, but made sure that he remained completely concealed behind the huge boulder. “We’re all dead if we stay here much longer, we need to jump over the edge. Forget about your shields, they’re useless against that paladin. On my command we will all fire at the cave entrance. When the first missile strikes, you better be running if you want to live.”
“Sir, I can’t levitate,” Cole said nervously at his side. For the first time since meeting Cole, he was glad of his inability to do something. Cole’s magical shield would do nothing to protect Zedd, but Cole’s body between him and the cave would do just fine, Zedd thought to himself. Smiling inwardly, he positioned Cole to his left side, putting him in a direct line of sight to the cave entrance once they broke cover.
“Fire!” Zedd commanded, letting one of his men break cover before he did. Fortunately there was no sign of the young girl, and no arrows came their way as they all to a man jumped over the edge of the mountain path.
Chapter Ten
Alexia sprang from the cave, arrow nocked and ready to fire at the distant Empire agents. What she found instead was a single agent no more than fifty paces away in the open, and the remaining agents taking cover behind the freshly fallen boulders further down the mountain path. She let loose her arrow at the closest man, nocked a second arrow while she rolled to the side, and then released it at one of the exposed agents further down the path. She fully expected her arrows to bounce harmlessly off their magical shields, but instead she witnessed a bright blue flash come from each arrow as it passed cleanly through their shields, and a satisfying thud as both arrows buried themselves deep in the chests of the Empire agents.
Alexia was so shocked by what had just happened, she barely avoided being hit by several incoming missiles sent by the remaining agents. She desperately dived for the relative safety of the cave, and just about made it inside as the missiles struck the giant pile of rocks outside the cave entrance, covering her with dust and debris once more. Her mind seemed to move in slow motion. She had fully expected to be killed when she attacked the Empire agents. She had only ever intended attacking them as a last act of defiance. Never for one moment did she expect her arrows to be effective against their shields.
Alexia waited until the dust settled a little before carefully approaching the cave entrance. She had to confirm for herself, what she thought she had just witnessed outside. Creeping to the edge of the cave opening she gingerly looked out. She could clearly see the dead Empire agent lying on his back with her arrow protruding from his chest.
“How?” she whispered to herself, completely confused by her own success. She risked poking her head out a little further to see where the remaining agents were, and was relieved to see they were still hiding behind the various sized boulders, right where she had
seen them last. She noticed that one of the agents had his arm exposed whilst trying to hide behind a boulder that was a little too small to fully conceal him. She nocked another arrow and took the shot. The arrow flew true until it came within inches of its target, then it seemed to whip around at an impossible angle and into the side of his chest, just under his right arm. It too flashed bright blue as it passed through the agent’s shield. She heard a howl of rage come from one of the agents still hiding behind the rocks, and it made her smile.
Alexia listened intently for any movement outside, but heard none. She was about to take another look outside when four more missiles struck the rocks outside the cave, showering her in even more rocks and dust. She heard movement outside in the distance and fully expected them to be storming her position, so she once again nocked an arrow and left the safety of the cave to meet the oncoming charge. She rolled to the side as she exited the cave, coming swiftly to her feet, ready to fire at the advancing agents. Instead of seeing agents charging towards her, what she saw instead was the last of them jumping off the edge of mountain path and disappearing from view below. She froze in position, scanning the large boulders further down the path for any signs of movement, but saw nothing.
Alexia remained within easy reach of the cave entrance for another ten minutes before she dared move any further away from its relative safety. She fully expected it to be a trap of some kind, and once she had committed herself too much, they would surely come out of hiding and kill her. She moved further towards the edge of the path, giving herself a fresh angle from which to view the large boulders, but she could see no sign of any Empire agents behind them. Taking a deep breath, she silently approached the area she had last see the agents. She was convinced they were somehow hiding behind the rocks, but when she reached the boulders, she discovered nothing but two bodies. Relief flooded through Alexia as she fell to her knees to thank Aysha for sparing her life and those of her friends.