Edryon (Book 1 of Edryon Trilogy)
Page 20
An icy wind broke the momentary silence, then suddenly an owl hooted in the night. Thelron opened his white grimoire, and after saying some magic words, a big hole with a blue energy emerged in a surprising way between two trees closest to the dungeon.
Remembering the last time Thelron had spoken with Edryon, the former necromancer felt a little discouraged at not having been able to prove to his brother that he had changed. But he could not do anything right now, so little doubts roamed his mind, while thinking of some way to meet new spells. After entering the magic portal, he realized that his vision began to become increasingly blurred, since crossing dimensional portals demanded much of his body. The other side of the portal showed him what looked like a large room quite dark. He took a torch from his leather bag, and said some strange words. A dim and gray light, but strong enough to illuminate the room, wrapped the torch quickly, producing heat that warmed his arms.
The former necromancer remembered that he should look for some artifacts, even though perhaps it could be a difficult task in the midst of that awful noise of bells mingled with the cries of the prisoners, and Thelron did not want to wake the sleep of some of some dormant beasts. He walked carefully among some destroyed stone pillars, and looked horrified for a huge pile of skeletons piled up near the entrance of a wooden door. A smell of fresh blood began to pervade the place, and when Thelron prepared to take another step, he heard a strange voice:
“Unexpected visitor… yes… I knew they would not leave me alone.”
Behind a chair made of bones, a black cat seemed pretty healthy, sitting next to a small skull, and was licking with insistence on his right foot, while looking at the former necromancer with curious and deep eyes. Thelron then realized it was the cat who had said those words, but everything seemed to get even stranger in his mind because he was not accustomed to hearing speaking cats. Immediately he felt that the animal could be of some sorcerer, who lost his life in the dungeon, but he still cautiously ventured to approach him, and said:
“Be calm, creature. I don’t want to disturb your sleep and your moments of pleasure. My name is Thelron, and I’m searching for some magic scrolls. Can you tell me if you have some here in this room?”
The cat looked so suspiciously at the former necromancer, then replied:
“I can not tell you these things, scrolls are not for the inexperienced. Are you Thelron? The fool brother of Edryon, the failed dragon hunter?”
Thelron gave a clump on the floor, and the cat jumped over the seat bones, ruffling the hair black.
“How do you know my brother and me, what if I tell you that you can die now, stupid creature?”
“Call me Kolder. I was one of the servants of Kordius, but this is no time to be talking useless things, is not it? Take these scrolls, but please do not kill me!”
Thelron’s eyes glittered with greed to realize three scrolls that were behind a pile of dusty books. Despite not knowing the way they were made, and also he dit not know what could be the magic school of them, the former necromancer unfolded them quickly, and began to read the strange words of the rituals.
Red rays from the top filled the room with light globes, floating through the air, causing Kolder to jump from his chair, running toward one of the stone pillars of the place. The rays seemed increasingly intense, but still were not causing any kind of destruction to the objects in the room. Yellow and orange flashes flickered amid the lightning, then the black cat immediately shouted:
“What are you doing? You will destroy the entire dungeon, and we’ll be dead!”
The flashes continued illuminating every corner of the room, and Thelron seemed increasingly pleased to see that the three scrolls had brought him an enormous magical power. A gray smoke began to invade the place, Kolder was still running from one side to the other, meowing and trying to flee from the moment that he perhaps had never seen in his entire life. Walking amid the smoke that after a few minutes appeared increasingly weak, the former necromancer felt that the rituals brought him a new thought, but at the same time it was part of his essence, his repressed and locked desires in the past. Thelron did not want to follow a path of doubt, full of defeats and betrayals.
Every time he remembered Edryon, a strange desire, an uncontrollable rage seemed to take over his mind. Thelron hated to know that Edryon could be better than him, more honest, skilled, and therefore he should show him that a necromancer could also be useful to the world of Fynge. Revenge would be part of his new plan, against an elf who though he was the best dragon slayer, but he let fear and doubt in his heart. If revenge could bring new hope to show that he was better than his brother, Thelron should kill him, destroying Edryon to become the most powerful necromancer that the world has ever known.
Zombies, skeletons, and all types of undeads, Thelron could assemble the best army of all the realms. Edryon always thought that the undeads represented evil, a forbidden magic, and that would only bring more problems, but Thelron was tired of showing his brother that necromancy was the correct path. Edryon did not deserved to stay alive, and should never have existed. If he could not agree with his way of manipulating the magic of the world, Edryon did not deserved fame and the best reputation.
Thelron then has focused on revenge, pure and fair, that would solve all his problems. Revenge would cause the world to turn to himself, and they would recognize all his power and leadership. The necromancer looked forward to Kolder, who seemed more and more scared, and then said:
“You helped me, so you can leave here with me. Come on!”
Kolder came out from behind the chair of bones slowly and said:
“Do you really think you can be more powerful than Kordius? I’m not sure about that, but from today I will be your servant. I am at your orders, master.”
Thelron opened the wooden door of the room, and went walking down a dark corridor, looking for some passage, while holding the black cat. If there was any passage nearby, it would be easier to find it, but every step that the necromancer gave, he felt that he could not find anything that could help him. When Thelron thought he had found a light at the end of the corridor, he noticed these lights were have taken human form. The necromancer was amazed to see that they were two of the witches of the Forest of the Spirits.
The witches then started laughing, revealing their deformed faces, and then one of them shouted:
“Damn elf! Why do you keep following us, even knowing that you might die?”
Kolder jumped into the Thelron’s arms with an incredible speed, while the hair was shivered, and said:
“Get out of here now, you don’t have any chance against my master.”
Both the creatures looked surprised to Kolder, and seemed confused, but at the same time nervous.
“I don’t want confusion. I just want to find a passage to go out of here.”, Thelron said.
“Passage? You found your path to hell, poor mortal!”
The two witches then started saying strange words, while her arms moved upward. The necromancer drew his war mace, and immediately went toward a witch in an attack that could hit the neck of the aberration. The weapon hit a strong mist that suddenly appeared, covering the corridor and spreading a strange musty smell. Thelron could barely see the creatures, but should find to improve his defense, they could attack him without even knowing the correct direction. Bizarre whispers and words mingled with the sound of footsteps.
“Master, be careful, they may be preparing another surprise.”, Kolder said in a low voice in a tone of concern.
“Come out, demons!”, shouted the necromancer with the war mace on his hands.
If those same witches were wanting some kind of
confrontation, they would have attacked him, so Thelron felt that perhaps they were waiting for other orders of the aberrations. The necromancer was thinking of a way of being able to see them, but the fog seemed increasingly strong.
“Do you really think… that you can not die?”, a torn voice cutted the silence.
Suddenly the fog became weaker, while deformed figures appeared in the middle of the hallway. Now there were four witches, who began to laugh so insistent and frightening. One of them clutched a large amber stone, while rising it into the air.
“Do you recognize this, mortal? It is your soul, guarded and protected, is not it? And now, what will you do? Will even dare to face our group?”, The bizarre creature smiled, and walked, revealing crooked legs, covered with maggots.
Thelron should find a way to recover the soul stone.
Arriving in front of the Mage Guild, Ornell felt he should go and tell the apprentices and the druids that he needed urgent help. The bard then walked across the hall quickly, until to find some druids who seemed to be doing a magical training.
“I have bad news. Urentir was captured in the Kingdom of the Elementals.”, Ornell said, very worried.
“Wait a minute, we’re busy. The magic of protection is almost ready.”, said one of the druids, while relying on a large wooden staff.
Ornell remembered that if Urentir remained imprisoned without being rescued as quickly as possible, the elvish former commander could lose his life, bringing more grief to the people of Hanneris. The fortress of Kordius was still full of strange and dangerous creatures, fire elementals, undead slaves and merciless necromancers.
“We can not do anything. The city has no resources to save him.”, said another druid, having loosed from his mouth a smoke he swallowed from his pipe.
“Listen, it is not the first time that you have acted strangely, and the only thing I’m asking is for support. You know very well the magic of nature, but so far you are showing irresponsiblea, as if the city’s problems did not make part of your lives.”
Ornell looked increasingly nervous about the attitude of those men, and felt that they should help with the rescue of Urentir. The druids were responsible for many tragedies in Hanneris, and then the bard remembered the public stoning and all the humiliation that Edryon had suffered.
“It is you who must make your own decisions. Now you’re the leader of the Council of the Leaves, and you know what is best for the city.”, a very old druid said as he coughed so insistent.
The bard left the salon very nervous, thinking of a way to find Kimiru and Heng. He should warn the other bards that Urentir was imprisoned in the fortress, but he did not know if there was enough time, because every minute that passed, Ornell felt increasingly worried. Then he opened his leather satchel and pulled out from inside a small wooden box decorated with strange symbols. Memories of when he was a child, interested in stories told in the Shannen’s city, invaded his mind.
He always liked to listen about the legendary battles against almost immortal dragons, but Ornell also felt that one day he could help the king to spread the news throughout the kingdom. His father always told him that a man should follow the path of the righteous, but it does not need to hold a sword to be a strong man. When he began to open the box, he heard a loud noise coming from inside the Mage Guild. Hundreds of skeleton fairies had invaded one of the salons, while over on the airwaves a gray powder that was covering the entire place.
Ornell was surprised and scared at the same time, because he could not understand why these creatures were appearing in evergreater numbers in the Hanneris’s city. The bard then cautiously entered the room, while trying to protect the ears with his hands. The little creatures was beating their wings, screeching and stealing a few books in the bookshelves of the room. Ornell immediately noticed that they seemed to be interested in picking up the grimoires of the Guild, then he proceeded to run into the place, jumping over some of them, but every time Ornell grabbed some fairy, he received dozens of bites all over his body.
There was no point in continuing into the Mage Guild, trying to scare those demons, then the bard decided to leave the place, while searching for soldiers of the King William II. When he approached two elves who were carrying stones on their backs, said:
“I am in need of soldiers. Did You see some of them in the town?”
“No sir. I don’t know where they are. Kordius does not want more troops here in Hanneris. Now there are the necromancers who control the towers.”, an very thin elf said, scared.
Ornell then realized that each day that passed, the Hanneris’s city became more dangerous to the people, the food was contaminated and many children lost their lives in strange and incurable diseases. If Kordius was really controlling the towers of the entrance to the city through the necromancers, it would be necessary to search for reinforcements in the other realms, to summon new troops and warn the people that they should not accept the dark government of the sorcerer of the elementals.
“The guild is in big trouble. Please do not let anyone to go near its entrance, because the skeleton fairies are invading the place.”, the bard said quickly, then walked out towards a group of elves, near the Thornak’s tabern.
When Ornell approached them to search for information, two elves ran scared of the place, a very thin peasant left his bottle of wine falling on the floor, and a boy with dirty clothes and dirty appearance smiled, showing the yellow teeth. He seemed willing to talk, Ornell then walked a little further until getting close to him and said:
“What are you doing here this time of night?”
“My father told me to wait for him at the door.”, the boy turned away and stared.
“Stay calm, I just want you to tell me if you know where are the soldiers.”
“They’re in Shannen. I saw them leaving the city with their horses.”
The bard then thanked the boy and rushed out of the tabern, but when he prepared to leave the city, two men with gray robes passed him, and they seemed a little drunk. Ornell looked closely at their faces and realized they were Kimiru and Heng Lawf and then he immediately came in front of the two bards and shouted:
“I was looking for you! Where did you go?”
Kimiru removed the hood that protected the head against the rain and said:
“Ornell, the square is full of necromancers. It is better to solve this soon, huh?”
“It is not with this ax we’ll get to face all these men. Let’s go to the guild, it will be better we can be able to expel the fairies, before something worse to happen.”, Ornell said firmly and energical.
After crossing the road toward the wooden houses surrounding the Mage Guild, the bards stood near the entrance of the temple and then Heng Lawf checked if there was some magic arrow in his quiver, which was hung on his back. Strong screams echoed from inside the main hall, so Ornell thought that it could be better if they prepare some scrolls before entering the guild.
“The fairies… they’re attacking the druids!”, Kimiru shouted as he swung his ax into the air.
“I want you to approach those that are still standing and don’t let them to suffer more attacks.”, Ornell said, running toward a group of seven druids lying on the ground, which seemed quite unconscious and injured.
Immediately, Heng Lawf withdrew the reinforced magic bow on his back and prepared an arrow. Dozens of skeleton fairies flew over steel armors, shields and tables full of old books.
“Let’s go to the library, we may find some magic that we can use against these demons.”, Ornell said, while checking if the unconscious druids were still alive.
“If we expel the fairies before they have finished with the guild, then we have been successful. Ornell, do you think the grimoires are well protected?”, Heng Lawf asked in an anxious way, after having crossed the bodies of four skeleton fairies with his following magic arrows.
The bard was prepared to answer Heng Lawf and stared upward. The entrance to the library seemed more full of small creatures, so Ornell felt that they should act as quickly as possible.
&nb
sp; “What magic would be needed… so we can destroy these demons?”, Kimiru asked and putted the ax on his back.
“Any one who can hold them or even to destroy them. Let’s go to look for the scrolls or grimoires that are useful!”, Ornell screamed and then the other bards accompanied him quickly.
As they crossed the hall, Ornell looked to his left, most of the racks that held the magic books were empty and hundreds of pieces of pages spread over the vast marble floor of the library. Close to one of the wooden shelves, a very old-looking man, sitting on the floor with his arms covered in blood, struggled to open his mouth and said:
“They’re everywhere… they stole all the grimoires and also killed many. Flee while there’s still time.”
“Stay calm, sir. We’re here to help solving this problem. Don’t try to say anything else.”, Kimiru said and drewed his ax.
Ornell felt that every time he tried to bring back the peace to Hanneris, some evil force prevented him, causing him to almost desist from any further actions that could bring some benefits. At the moment he prepared to inform Heng Lawf and Kimiru that they should continue looking for the grimoires, dozens of fairies passed by them, their wings was beating very fast and loud.
“We can not let them get away with the books, Ornell! We must do something, let’s try to use our weapons! I will go to the left to use my bow, while Kimiru will follow the right!”, Heng Lawf screamed and shot one of his magic arrows against the skeleton fairies.
“It is useless to use arrows, axes, all of this will not make any effect. They are very small. Only a spell that affects a large area would be more efficient.”, Ornell said and then he found a grimoire lying on the ground, with half of its pages turned out.
The leader of the bards quickly flipped through the magical book, looking for some ritual that would be useful to him, but as he discovered the new spells, he realized he would spend much time to accomplish them. Kimiru hurled his ax against the marble floor, while Heng Lawf was trying to calm him, holding his right arm.