The Holtur Curse (The Holtur Trilogy Book 2)

by Cameron Wayne Smith

  “Don’t!” Fin called back to the readied slayers atop the wall. He was breathing heavily, his calmness lost at the sight of the brutally murdered slayer. A murdered friend. “Please, we’re even now.”

  “We are?” Caede raised an eyebrow, then pulled the axe from pulpy remains of the dead slayer’s head. “I wasn’t aware of that!” He turned and began walking towards Theodoric. “If you gave the punishment, maybe we’d be even. But you’re forcing me to do your dirty work for you, Fin Maver.” Caede raised the hatchet high above the other bound slayer’s head.

  “No!” Sonja screamed, but it was no use. Before she could move, the hatchet had buried deep into Theodoric’s skull. “Why?” she screamed with anger, her eyes welling up.

  Caede kicked Theodoric’s corpse, using the force to pull his hatchet out and knock the body to the ground. He turned back to Sonja and Fin, walking up to them with a grin across his bloodied face. “Now, Fin Maver, we are even.” He turned to Sonja. “And that, my dear Sonja, is why!” His wrinkly smile returned, as though he cherished the despair upon her face.

  Sonja pushed the lump down her throat, and forced back the sadness, offering a look of hot blooded anger instead.

  “Ah, see, you are a woman after all!” Caede brought his hand up to her face, catching a tear with his finger. Sonja struck the hand away, forcing the man to turn ninety degrees. “Ah, the emotion! You are certainly a woman my dear, and a strong one at that!” He turned to Fin, lowering his voice. “A part of me hopes you fail to find the Eternity Grail.” His gaze shifted back to Sonja. “I think I’d enjoy breaking this one!”

  “We will find your Eternity Grail,” Fin said, calmness slowly creeping back into his voice. “And then you will leave, for good, never to return. Do we have a deal?”

  Caede stuck his hand out for Fin to shake. “You have three suns, deliver us the Eternity Grail, and we will do as you say.”

  “Three suns and it’s as good as yours.” Fin shook his hand, making sure to offer a strong Holtur grip. Caede’s grip wasn’t quite as strong, but he didn’t seem to show any discomfort; if anything he relished the challenge with a curl of his lip.

  “Three suns and we leave. That, or Holtur falls.” He turned to walk back to his brothers. “The fate of our future is in your hands, Fin Maver.”

  Chapter 10: Thulmlet's Warning

  An icy breeze kicked Sonja in the face as she watched the Brothers of Eternity retreat to the west. The noise of shuffling feet and clattering metal soon faded to silence. Caede was more monstrous than any creature she had slain, and Crispin could summon a power like nothing she’d ever seen.

  Sonja walked up to Theodoric’s corpse. The hatchet had entered the top of his skull and almost split his head straight through the middle. Each nostril clung to a separate chunk of head; his top lip was split, his bottom was not.

  “What do we do?” Sonja asked.

  “We find this Eternity Grail…” Fin’s face was flushed white. “And we hope they leave us well alone.”

  “Where do you think it would be?” Sonja grunted. She didn’t trust these men, what good was their word? But what hope did they have fighting against them? Even well prepared—with the flame wyverns—Holtur didn’t stand much of a chance.

  “I have no idea,” Fin said. “Check with your brother, with other scholars. We only have three suns.”

  Sonja took in a deep breath, then lifted Theodoric’s corpse. Blood accompanied by bits of brain plonked from his skull to the ground. She closed her eyes and exhaled, trying to calm herself.

  “I can command the north gate on my own.” Colour had returned to Fin’s face, as had the authority in his voice. “Captain, you, along with three slayers of your choice, will take three suns leave. That leave is to find the Eternity Grail. Understood?”

  Sonja nodded. “Yes, Commander.”

  Fin collected Arnis’ body, and they returned through the Holtur gates.

  Witnessing the worried eyes of the Holtur slayers, she thought about what must be done now. Finding the Eternity Grail was her biggest concern, and forming a team to find it was the first step. Rigst and Knoch would have been perfect first choices, but alas, they were both missing. Volk was the most educated slayer she knew, and would be the most likely to pick up on any clues she did not. Rak was blunt, to the point, and always followed orders. If she needed to do anything unsavoury, he would be the man to do it.

  She chewed her lip while thinking on who to employ as the third slayer. Rahlman was initially her next choice, but he was flaky and superstitious. If the Eternity Grail was something blasphemous—which would not surprise her—he would become as useless as a junior. A junior! They have a very different way of thinking, theoretical rather than instinctual. Could that be something that would help her? This group wasn’t to fight, it was to seek. Bevan, the enthusiastic junior, would be the third choice. He might be annoying, but he’d add a new perspective, not to mention an eagerness to do things others may not.

  That eagerness became apparent as she spotted him. Most slayers looked worried and concerned over what was happening, not to mention despair towards their fallen comrades. Not Bevan, he was red-faced with a short sword in one hand and axe in the other. He would have died instantly if he had ran out there, but still, Sonja admired that tenacity.

  “Junior!” Sonja called out.

  Bevan snapped his neck to one side, then the other, looking for another fresh recruit. “Me?” he croaked.

  Sonja nodded. “Follow me.”

  Bevan exhaled, then became her shadow. He even remained quiet while Sonja carried their fallen comrade. That quickly changed after her and Fin delivered Theodoric and Arnis to the crematorium.

  “How do we kill them?” Bevan asked.

  Commander Maver looked at Sonja, worriedly with raised brows. “You sure?” he asked.

  Sonja nodded. “Yes, Commander.”

  “Then take your leave,” Commander Maver said. He then walked off, leaving her alone with the junior.

  Sonja turned her attention to Bevan. “We can’t defeat them on the battlefield.”

  Bevan’s face grew redder, his lips twitched as though he was searching for the right thing to say. Nothing came. He nodded, reluctantly. “Then what?”

  “They are searching for something, an Eternity Grail,” she paused, waiting to see if he had heard of it. Obviously not. “We have three suns to find it. If we do, they leave us alone.”

  “If we don’t find it?” Bevan asked.

  “We will find it.” This was not a time for ifs. “And I’ve requested you assist me in making sure we do.”

  Bevan’s red face paled. “Me?” he asked, ruffling his shaggy blond hair. “Why me?”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Sonja said. “But for the next three suns, you do anything I ask of you. No questions, you do it. If you have any ideas or theories on the location of this Eternity Grail, at any time, don’t hesitate to speak up.”

  With raised brows and a drooping mouth, his usually innocent face looked terrified. He was willing to run up against well trained men in anger, but the thought of this new mission hit him from a different angle. He’d rather die than fail. Good; it was important to challenge new slayers, especially in ways that wouldn’t deliver them a quick death.

  “The sword and axe, do you own either of them?” Sonja asked.

  Bevan shook his head. “No.”

  “Return them to the armoury,” she said. “Select a single weapon. One. You can carry that alone. Once you are done, meet me out the front of the Bristrunstium. I need to gather the other members of our team.”

  “Yes, Captain!”

  ***

  Sonja, Volk, and Rak strode towards the Bristrunstium. Waiting outside the massive arches of the building was Bevan, waving over-dramatically, as though he may have been difficult to spot. They walked towards him, and he turned back towards the building. A sigh crept from Sonja’s lips and Volk chuckled. On the junior’s back was a sheathed claymore. A
t least lugging the thing around should build a bit of strength in the kid.

  “He looks up to you,” Rak rasped.

  Sonja nodded, and they continued forward. She hoped Kallum wasn’t hidden too deep within the Bristrunstium. It took time to traverse around the stupid place, and time was not on their side; they needed answers last sun.

  Bevan was grinning stupidly as the others caught up. He said nothing, neither did Sonja.

  “Nice blade!” Volk laughed.

  Bevan’s grin disappeared. Sonja punched Volk in the shoulder. The grin returned.

  “Let’s focus on finding the Eternity Grail,” Sonja said. “Afterwards, you can poke fun at each other for the remainder of the sun.”

  “Yes, Captain,” Volk and Bevan both said in unison. Rak grunted.

  They walked through the tall arches, into the darkness that was the Bristrunstium. It took a moment for their eyes to adjust from the outside glare, to the dimly, lantern-lit interior. The main foyer bustled with scholars and professors moving to and fro. Conversations of discovery melted into a mess of noise. So many people making great discoveries. Did any of them know about the Eternity Grail?

  “ATTENTION!” Sonja yelled at the top of her voice. Everyone grew silent, and her yell echoed back at her from the stone walls. “Do any of you know anything—or anyone who might know something—about the Eternity Grail? It is required immediately for Holtur’s defence!”

  A sea of faces had all turned to Sonja. She was an intimidating woman and had their undivided attention. No one replied.

  “Anyone? Anything?” she asked again.

  No one answered. After a brief period of quiet stillness, one scholar resumed his conversation, followed by another, and another. Before she knew it, the vestibule erupted into a cacophony of scientific mumbo-jumbo. Sonja sighed, then continued to the inquiry desk.

  “My brother, Kallum Bluwahlt,” Sonja said to a clerical woman behind the desk. “Where can I find him?”

  “Just a moment,” the woman said. She flicked through a large book, then glided her fingers down a page, cross referencing two points. “Kallum Bluwahlt should be in Professor Garron Zimmerman’s lab. Do you need a ma—”

  Sonja had already started walking off. Zimmerman was the leading authority on experimental energy. He and Kallum had been trying to replicate the energy of shock wyverns. A bizarre plan, but the shock wyvern energy had already been utilised in some peculiar experiments. If the source was unlimited—or could be bred into production—Holtur’s technology would surely advance in leaps and bounds.

  After traversing down the winding corridors, passing countless doors to hundreds of other rooms, they came to the entrance of Zimmerman’s lab. A buzzing whir could be heard from within. She opened the door, revealing Zimmerman and Kallum standing beside a golden man. Well, its chest was a gold colour, as was its head and arms. It had what appeared to be crude iron armour crafted into what appeared to be its waist and legs.

  Sonja sighed. “Really?”

  “Not the thulmlet!” Volk laughed.

  “Designated Eight-Six,” a flat oval stone embedded in the golden man’s head said. It had no eyes or mouth, just that stone, which flashed as it spoke. Stuck to the stone was a wire that led to a berzelle; a glass container holding a shock wyvern.

  Bevan looked to Rak, he just shrugged.

  “It’s something Rigst, Sonja, and I found when hunting yellows,” Volk explained to the junior. “It’s an odd story.”

  “Yellows?” the confused kid asked.

  “Shock wyverns,” Volk said, then turned his attention back to the thulmlet. “It calls itself a thulmlet.”

  “Designated Eight-Six,” the thulmlet said.

  “We’re trying to get it to walk,” Kallum said. He didn’t turn away from the thing.

  “It will!” Professor Garron Zimmerman said proudly.

  “I’m sorry to interrupt you, brother,” Sonja said, “but we have an issue.”

  “Yes?”

  “It’s serious.” Sonja grabbed Kallum’s arm. “If we don’t find something called the Eternity Grail within three suns, Holtur will fall.”

  Kallum narrowed his eyes. “Holtur will fall?”

  “How?” Garron followed up.

  Sonja sighed. “There’s an army, a massive one, headed by two men named Crispin and Caede. They’ve already killed two slayers and broken another. They demanded either the Eternity Grail, or Holtur.”

  “Just kick their arses,” Kallum said dismissively.

  “Kallum…” Sonja tightened her grip. “There is far too many of them. We’d be outnumbered, at least a hundred to one. If Tequidi and Bernard aren’t exaggerating, that could be a massive underestimation of their numbers.”

  Kallum scrunched his face, deep in thought.

  “Caede is a brutal man,” Sonja added, “he doesn’t even seem human. Crispin harbours magnificent power. He blasted fire from his hands—like his fists were flame wyvern jaws. He was probably holding back too. I don’t want to witness the man unleashing everything he has.”

  “Blessed by Aesterus,” Volk choked. He too was blessed by the god of fiery passion, but his flame was nothing compared to Crispin’s.

  Kallum looked into his sister’s eyes. “You’re… scared…” he whispered. “Shit! What is happening?”

  “We need to find the Eternity Grail,” Sonja repeated.

  “Can we…” Kallum looked into his sister’s eyes again. “Can we fight them? I mean, not on their terms, find out a weakness, a flaw in their ranks, conquer them that way?”

  “I don’t think so,” Sonja said.

  “There really is a lot of them,” Rak croaked.

  “Eternity Grail,” Kallum said aloud to himself. He turned to the professor. “Have you ever heard of such a thing?”

  Garron shook his head. “No, never.”

  A buzz came from the thulmlet. “The Eternity Grail,” it said. “Blessed by Tethaya, cursed by Necrominus. Destroys human mortality, obliterates godly divinity.”

  “What is it on about?” Bevan asked.

  “Shhhh!” Kallum hushed, then moved closer to the thulmlet. “Continue, Eight-Six.”

  “Corrupted One,” the thulmlet said, “at all costs, avoid proximity with the Eternity Grail.” Even though it had no eyes, its head turned towards Sonja. “Pure One, do not seek the Eternity Grail. It will only unleash greater demons.”

  “Greater demons?” Sonja asked.

  The thulmlet buzzed. “The monsters you fear are nothing compared to the ones you do not.”

  “How cryptic,” Rak said.

  “Those two gods,” Volk said in thought. “Their conflict has erupted in Holtur before.”

  “What do you mean?” Sonja gave Volk her full attention.

  “Remember the tethalac?” Volk asked. “There was that thing that tried to free itself from Ansgren when he returned too.”

  “The tethalac?” Sonja’s brow furrowed. “That was a just a freak incident. A horror summoned by a cuckold husband.” Sonja despised that thing, but it disappeared as swiftly as it had appeared; of its own choice too. “And no one else will confirm this horror you saw within Ansgren.”

  “Kaarm saw it!” Volk defended.

  Sonja raised a brow. “He denies it.”

  Volk folded his arms. “Kaarm’s a dick, that’s why.”

  “So, Captain, what now?” Rak asked, interrupting Volk’s spat. “Heed the warning? Or find the object?”

  Sonja shrugged. “Can you think of a way to defeat those men?”

  “No,” Rak said in a hushed tone.

  “Then it’s settled,” Sonja said. “We must find the Eternity Grail.”

  “No!” The thulmlet outstretched its hand, taking a step towards Sonja. Well, it tried to take a step. It fell face first to the ground with a clunking thud. The wire dislodged from its face-stone. “You must not seek the…” It buzzed into silence.

  “Guess it wasn’t ready to walk yet?” Sonja laughed.
<
br />   Garron propped up his glasses. “Clearly not.”

  Sonja grabbed her brother’s shoulder. “Kallum, try and get information on the Eternity Grail out of the thulmlet. I don’t care what it tries to do, but we need it to stop Caede and Crispin. If you can decipher what the damn thing meant, perhaps we can utilise the item against the Brothers of Eternity.” She turned to Garron. “Zimmerman, help my brother as much as you can. Do you know anyone who might know more on this topic?” She crouched down and picked up the thulmlet, staring at its face-stone thing. “Professors of Tethaya or Necrominus perhaps?”

  “Hmmm…” Garron scratched at his stubby, grey beard. “Professor Formidor might know something, you could also try…” He swallowed. “Liasbe…”

  “Who’s that?” Sonja already knew of Formidor, the leading authority on horror research, but hadn’t heard of Liasbe before.

  Garron cleared his throat. “Professor—and I use that title loosely—Liasbe is a somewhat… alternative woman. Not many within the Bristrunstium get along with her. I doubt anyone from Holtur would either! Anyways, she is a Tethaya follower. She prides herself on love and hate.”

  Sonja nodded. “Sounds like a good person to start with.”

  “Are you sure?” Garron had taken off his glasses, and was staring at her with beady, brown eyes. “She is quite a difficult woman.”

  “My sister will be more than fine dealing with her,” Kallum said. He had been tinkering with the thulmlet, and there his focus remained. “She too can be quite a difficult woman.”

  Sonja laughed. Only Kallum got away with such quips so lightly. “Take us to these professors,” she requested of Garron. “Bolt and Red, you two will speak with Formidor. I shall see what I can get from Liasbe.”

  “What about me?” Bevan asked.

  “You must stay with my brother,” Sonja said, “someone must be with him at all times. He’ll explain why when we’re gone.”

  “You want me to baby sit?” Bevan whined. Despite the two looking of similar age, Kallum was actually thirteen years his senior.