The Holtur Curse (The Holtur Trilogy Book 2)

by Cameron Wayne Smith

  Without thinking it through, she raced into town. Sonja would protect her own! Chasing the shadows overhead, she encountered a great number of corpses being carted through the streets. Were they just taking the weak, elderly, and sickly? A lump caught in her throat. “Kallum!”

  Her pursuit was off—not that she knew exactly where the leeches were headed—instead, she raced across the cobbled road towards her father’s house. The shadows were travelling south-east in what appeared to be an orderly way. That must be the direction of where they live? Sonja had a hard time believing the leeches could be both human and shadow in appearance.

  Once outside her father’s residence, Sonja slammed her fists into the door. “Father!” she called out. “Kallum?” No answer. The door received another bashing.

  After a good amount of calling and door beating, a tired voice asked, “Sonja?” Kaine unbolted the door and opened it up. “What’s the matter with you?”

  “Look!” Sonja pointed to the sky. The sun’s first ray of light shot overhead, almost as if her pointing finger was all the sky needed to dispel the darkness.

  “Good early sun Sonja,” Kaine grumbled.

  Brow raised, she turned her gaze upon the sky. The shadow-things were nowhere to be seen. “Kallum?” Sonja pushed past her father. “Kallum!”

  She sprinted to the stairs, only to see her brother skulking down them. “What’s the commotion?” Kallum asked.

  A scream from outside answered.

  “Leeches,” Sonja said. Kaine and Kallum both groaned at the word. “They’ve become a bit more of a threat.”

  Another scream, followed by another.

  The three of them walked out into the street, watching as people cradled their dead.

  “What’s happened?” Kaine asked. “They’ve never taken this many!”

  “The Brothers of Eternity,” Sonja responded.

  “They are… leeches?” Kallum scrunched up his face.

  “No,” Sonja said. “Whatever they’re doing, they have brought the leeches out of hiding.”

  Kaine rubbed the grey stubble on his face, he needed a shave. “This is not good.”

  “Did you find anything out about the Eternity Grail?” Sonja asked her brother. “Did that thulmlet divulge any more information?”

  “The only thing helpful that I discovered, was that your new junior is a pain in the arse.” Kallum tried to offer a smug grin, but this wasn’t really the time for humour. “I’ll keep probing it. We need to keep those men, and the leeches, as far from Holtur as we can.”

  “Thanks Kallum,” Sonja said. “I’m glad you’re alright. I’ll be sure to spend my moons here until we figure this thing out. Apologies in advance for any late moons.”

  “As if they’d be able to get me!” Kallum puffed his chest out. “I can hold my own against a filthy leech!”

  Sonja shook her head. “Careful Kallum. I believe these leeches may be humanoid.” She knew they were, but desired a face to face encounter before confirming the fact. “Be wary.”

  “Human leeches?” Kaine’s eyes widened. “So, all those hunts for the wretched things, we may have just walked straight past them? Even given them a kindly greeting?”

  “Possibly.”

  “Fucking kuhvi crap!” Kaine swore. He didn’t do that often.

  “Let me find out more,” Sonja said. “Brother, I’ll try find you a corpse to pull apart.”

  Kallum half smiled. He loved pulling things apart, but like Sonja, he preferred them less than human. “Thanks Sonja.”

  “The Eternity Grail is still our priority,” Sonja reminded. “Father, if you could find any information on the thing, it could be of great help to us.”

  “I’ll keep an ear out.”

  Sonja looked to the sky. First sun. “The sun has begun. I must meet up with Red, Bolt, and Junior, see if they found any useful information.”

  “Sonja,” Kaine said, grabbing her by the shoulder, “be careful.”

  “Always.” Sonja smiled. She put her hand on her father’s, squeezed, then turned to the north gate.

  ***

  Rak had arrived on time, but Volk and Bevan were a little late finding their way to the north gate. It was understandable, no one had ever seen so many leech victims at the one time. Sonja hadn’t asked for an update on the count, the whole ordeal was too morbid to worry about with everything else going on.

  With Rak quietly at her side, she explained what she saw to Commander Maver, then once again to Volk and Bevan upon their arrival. Both explanations omitted the fact she saw Rigst. It also turned out, that despite their late moons, no one had found any useful information about the Eternity Grail. A grim start to a new sun.

  Their new plan was to check out all the stores in town and to see if any shop-keepers have heard of the Eternity Grail. It felt like a desperate hunt, but with the Bristrunstium failing to even offer a clue, it was the best she could come up with.

  Before they split up for their search, a commotion ran through the slayers on the wall walk. Sonja and her team raced up to find what had the others on edge. A pair of slayers, both riding on horseback, racing towards Holtur from the north.

  “Who is it?” Sonja questioned Commander Maver, who had a looking glass resting at his side.

  “Knoch Trokopf and Lauf Berkdun,” Fin said. “Perhaps this sun is not all despair…”

  Knoch had taken Rigst’s run and was supposed to be scouting the western ranges. He must have pulled away when he saw the Brothers of Eternity. Lauf ‘Hopper’ Berkdun had, in turn, taken Knoch Trokopf’s run and had been scouting around the northern ridges. The fact they had met up together and were returning to Holtur was most fortunate; with current events, Sonja wanted all her people home. Let the Brothers of Eternity deal with whatever creatures and horrors ventured their way.

  “Seems we’re not the only ones to notice them,” Bevan said. He was pointing towards the west, towards the Brothers of Eternity camp.

  “Shit!” Sonja swore. A large group of men mobbed in from the west, Crispin and Caede leading on their horror-steeds. There was no way Knoch and Lauf could beat them through the gates. “We need to signal them to return to the mountains!”

  In a mocking fashion, the mountains suddenly came to life with Sonja’s words. Something was shifting on them, kicking up dust and causing a landslide.

  Fin gazed through his looking glass then sighed. “Slater beasts…”

  “You have got to be kidding!” Volk exclaimed.

  “What can we do?” Bevan cried.

  “Man the ballista turrets and ready the archers,” Fin commanded. “We do not initiate the attack against Brothers of Eternity, but if the slater beasts venture within our range, we take them out.”

  Sonja nodded as Fin made his way towards Bernard, hopefully the man wasn’t feeling so broken this sun. “You heard the commander!” she yelled out to the men within proximity, they all raced to their stations.

  “Sonja, I have an idea,” Volk said dryly. “It’s a little unorthodox, but it might save Knoch and Lauf.” Volk’s freckly face was fixated on the nearby flame wyverns. The creatures seemed to have calmed down considerably since the leeches stopped flying back and forth. It was obvious Volk wanted to use them for a scout recovery operation.

  “Alright, give it a crack,” Sonja said hesitantly, “but don’t allow them to attack the Brothers of Eternity. If you think you can get our men back safely, I’d like to see you succeed.”

  Sonja continued shouting out orders to the slayers, keeping an eye on Volk. He was conversing with Tequidi. It also appeared he was talking to the flame wyverns? Well, Sonja had learnt that wyverns weren’t all that stupid.

  By the time the battlements had been lined with slayers armed with longbows and crossbows, the Brothers of Eternity were at their gate. Tequidi had strapped into Raithia and Volk… was strapped into Reizexus? She missed the part where they rebuilt his piloting frame, but the fact he accepted Volk was inspiring. The two scouts were still
far from Holtur. Their speed had slowed since noticing the Brothers of Eternity, but they still kept moving; there were just too many slater beasts behind them not to!

  “Oh Commander Maver!” the voice of Caede sung out from just outside the gate. “I have a little surprise for you!”

  Commander Maver revealed himself over the battlements. Sonja remained at the main ballista turret where she could still see, hear, and aim at the men below.

  “Caede,” Fin called out, “so you learnt of my title? What, may I ask, is yours?”

  “Well of course I did,” Caede said throwing his hands in the air. “The little piggies you forced me to slaughter squealed all sorts of things about Holtur!” He dismounted his black horror-steed and looked around at his men. “As for my title, will brother suffice?”

  “A title is just a title,” Fin replied. “It’s the man that proves himself, not what he is called.”

  “Wise words, from an obviously wise man,” Caede said, “but I do believe Prince Crispin would disagree with you; a title can… entitle you to so much more!”

  Crispin dismounted from his own steed, removed his goggles, then flicked a nod of annoyance.

  Caede paced back and forth. “So, tell me, Commander, are your men about to attack me again?”

  “Not at all.” Fin pointed past the mob, towards the rolling slater beasts in the distance. “We’re just ready for them.”

  The Brothers of Eternity all turned their focus towards the beasts, only for a pair of dark shadows to blast over them. Raithia and Reizexus, with Tequidi and Volk, took advantage of the distracted force, making their way towards the returning slayers. Sonja could only wonder what was going through the scout’s minds; men, slater beasts, and flame wyverns were all coming for them!

  “So you have flame wyverns now?” Caede questioned. None of his men seemed fazed by the creatures, and not a single one released an arrow or bolt as they flew overhead. “That’s a bit odd for Holtur, isn’t it? I did suspect the one we saw a few suns ago had a pilot. We tried to slay it for you, out of good nature of course. Ah, but I am glad we failed. My brothers and I wouldn’t want to be the ones to start a conflict now, would we brothers?”

  Fin forced his eyes back to Caede, away from the scouts and wyverns. “But you will in two suns? If we don’t hand over the Eternity Grail?”

  “Well, technically, that would be you starting the conflict.” Caede grinned wide, his lips pulled back to show off a set of perfect teeth. “Your man—Bernard wasn’t it—attacked us first after all.” He was correct, but why was Bernard such a quivering mess?

  “We have had no luck finding your Eternity Grail,” Sonja announced. “Perhaps you could kindly give us some clues as to where it is hidden?”

  “Ah, there’s my feisty, little flower!” Caede threw his hands up in delight. “All I know is that it is linked to Holtur.”

  “Can’t you give us more than that?” Sonja asked.

  “I tell you what,” Caede said. “Why don’t you just abandon this little search of yours? I’ll find it in a few suns for you! In the mean time you could come join my men and I, we’ll give you plenty.” His face creased with a wink.

  “No thanks,” Sonja said, holding back her anger.

  “Your loss.” Caede shrugged. “Now, the real reason I’ve come to see you all this sun! Why, may I ask, did you set vampires on us?” He stared with wide eyes and crossed arms.

  “I have no idea what you are talking about!” Fin exclaimed.

  “Oh, don’t you play coy with me, Commander,” Caede said. His men parted, creating a path towards a black tent which was slowly moving towards them. “My men took heavy casualties from them, not nearly enough to stop us, but it saddens me all the same. Your vampires took casualties too, not as much as us, but I’m sure they must be a little saddened themselves. To be honest, I was quite unimpressed with their abilities.”

  Fin cleared his throat. “Call them what you will, but our slayers do not leave the confines of Holtur during the moons. The soil is far too dangerous to tread without sunlight.”

  “Very poetic.” Caede’s focus was on the tent which had been brought to the front gates. “I thought I’d just prove how futile your attempt is.” He gestured to the men carrying the tent, and they flipped it over, revealing a pale man clad in black.

  The revealed man squinted, turning away from the sun. Wisps of smoke puffed from his body as flakes of skin fell to the ground. All at once his hair disconnected from his scalp, falling to the ground with chunks of burning flesh. He screamed for a brief moment, then collapsed to the ground, his entire body turning to mush. Smoldering, smoking mush. It continued to blister, pop, and smoke until all that was left was ash.

  “What kind of sorcery is this?” Fin asked, his voice croaky. He was in shock at what he saw, as were the rest of the slayers who witnessed what just happened.

  “Well then…” Caede furrowed his brows and pursed his lips. “You really don’t know anything about vampires after all?”

  “I told you that,” Fin said. “It didn’t mean you had to go and melt a man!”

  Caede began to laugh. “Ah, Fin, how little you know. I like this, a town lead by the unknowing. It’s so… characterful! Ignorance or not, however, I am not happy about my men losing their lives.” He shook his head, tutting. “I’ll give you this sun to find the Eternity Grail, or you know, we’ll come on in and find it ourselves.”

  “You said three suns!” Fin retorted.

  “Yes, but you just told me about this soil…” Caede stomped his foot firmly into the earth. “It’s far too dangerous to tread without sunlight. I’m assuming that means rest too, right? The last set of moons really proved that to us!”

  “You would go back on your word?” Fin breathed out heavily.

  “Not at all, simply altering it to deal with conditions.” Caede beamed a toothy smile. “You have until first moon.” He turned his back, mounted his horror-steed, and began back to his camp. The Brothers of Eternity would be well out of the way by the time the slater beasts arrived.

  As they left, two large wyverns descended into the courtyard. Each with a frightened, bucking horse in one talon and a scout in the other. At least Knoch and Lauf had made it home!

  “Sonja, debrief the scouts, then get looking for the Eternity Grail!” Fin exclaimed. “You’ve got this sun, that’s it. I believe in you.” Before she could respond, he started yelling out commands to the other slayers in preparation for the slater beast attack.

  The two horses that had been flown to safety were running around the courtyard, startled and confused. The excited flame wyvern juvies were stalking after them, that was not good for calming the equine creatures! Knoch and Lauf had both backed themselves to the wall, eyes not leaving the creatures that had carried them to safety.

  “They’re friends!” Volk said, probably not for the first time.

  “That they are,” Sonja added, “you can trust them.” She walked between the scouts and the large wyverns, leaving her back exposed to the big reds. She knew that her doing so would instill more confidence than Volk. Volk had always admired the flame wyverns. “Report!”

  Knoch blinked a few times, then fixed his focus on Sonja. “I saw ‘em, men comin’ from the west. Went back east and found Lauf ‘ere, only to find out the fog from Lachtod is comin’!”

  “Friends?” Lauf said, mouth agape, still in a state of wyvern induced shock. He snapped his attention from the wyverns to Sonja. “Well, they’re breathing less fire at me than my mother-in-law does!”

  “Shit!” Sonja swore, ignoring Lauf’s crack. If the Brothers of Eternity wreck Holtur, then the shroud sweep through, there won’t be much of the town left! “How far away are the shroud?”

  “Not far, Captain,” Knoch said. “Two suns? Three tops.”

  “Argh…” Sonja grumbled. “Tell me, have either of you heard of an Eternity Grail?”

  Knoch scratched at his bald head making an ‘ummm’ noise, while Lauf shook his
head.

  “It wouldn’t happen to be a grail would it?” Lauf replied as though they needed to answer. “One that is very old?”

  Sonja grunted. Was that a joke or a genuine question? It was hard to be sure with Lauf.

  “All those men,” Rak said, nodding towards the west, “they’ll attack if we don’t find it.”

  “And we can’t seem to find the damn thing anywhere…” Volk added.

  “Who cares!” Bevan slumped his shoulders. “You all heard that Caede guy, changing his terms to suit him. I doubt he’d leave us alone, even if we gave him this cursed grail!”

  Sonja opened her mouth, ready to scold the junior, but he was right; it is what they were all thinking. “Junior’s right,” she said. “Fuck this stupid search. We need to figure out a way to beat them at their own game.”

  “How?” they all asked.

  “Easy!” a voice called out from behind them. Kallum, little shit had ditched the Bristrunstium to follow her around. He was pretty good at going unnoticed when he wanted to, he was also great at being the centre of attention when needed! “With what’s going on, I thought it would be best to follow you around. Clearly we are fortunate I decided this!”

  “Of course…” Sonja rubbed her face. “So, what’s this easy plan of yours?”

  Kallum shook his head. “Don’t tell me you can’t figure it out?” He panned his gaze from slayer to slayer. “Any of you?”

  They all gave him idle looks and shrugs assisted with the odd shake of a head.

  Kallum sighed, then smiled. He disliked people not seeing the obvious, but he also found joy in being smarter than everyone else. “A disorganised cloud of death is heading towards us. We have an army of angry men waiting outside. And we have?” He turned his head towards the flame wyverns, waiting for a response.

  “A positive attitude!” Knoch puffed out his chest.

  “Yes, Knoch, you do, and that’s great.” Kallum laughed. “We also have flame wyverns.”

  “I’m still not following, brother,” Sonja ruffled her locks. “You want to make the flame wyverns fight the shroud?” She nodded. “That does seem like a good idea.”