El-Vador's Travels

by J. R. Karlsson

  Mina's response was measured and careful. 'My master, the calling from my twin and the gradual transformation I am undergoing makes it all but impossible to pinpoint the artefact. I am sorry that I have failed you.'

  Salvarius shrugged his large shoulders, his rage slowly simmering down into something that resembled determination. 'You are not to blame, Mina. It just angers me greatly that we are on the cusp of achieving something only to be hobbled at the last.'

  He paced about the ruins for a time, allowing his thoughts to take control of the blinding rage he felt beating within him. It was growing increasingly difficult to keep the new-found strength on a leash, he knew something was fundamentally changed about him and he wasn't sure he appreciated it.

  'What of the pursuit?' he asked at last in a much more docile tone. 'Do they draw nearer still?'

  The woman sighed, 'I am sorry my master, but it is difficult to say. The same blinding to the artefact also inhibits my determining how close the pursuant is. I would need to channel all my power into such an exercise, but I doubt that you would want such a thing.

  Salvarius shook his head. 'No, your dark workers are useful and much more efficient than the band of Orcs we left behind. You were wise to urge that we use few of them.'

  She offered him an ingratiating smile. 'You are not the first I have worked with Salvarius but you are undoubtedly the most reasonable.'

  The man offered her a genuine smile and she took what warmth she could from it. 'I do not know what it is that is befalling me Mina. I know that I am aiding the Brotherhood that remain trapped in the ether but I feel... different.'

  She nodded sadly at him. 'We are both changing, master. It is an unfortunate necessity, and while you may not feel like the man you once were I can assure you that the man you are becoming will be much greater.'

  Salvarius kicked a rock, sending it scattering into a pile of broken rubble. 'What use is becoming great if I lack the faculty to control it?'

  'You will be in command of your faculties, master.' Mina assured him, stepping close to him now and laying her hand upon him. 'It is not as if the Brotherhood intends to use you as a recipient.'

  He backed away from her then, shrugging off her touch. 'What do you mean, recipient?'

  Mina cursed herself inwardly for letting such a term slip and fill the man with suspicion. 'Those from beyond the ether require willing servants to bear them into this world. Upon my joining and the capture of the artefact that shall do so with an anointed few Orcish warriors hand-picked by yourself.'

  The former guard Captain frowned at her, mistrust plain in his gaze. 'What is to stop the most dominant of those beyond the ether from taking my form? Would they not want to claim the power that I will have for their own?'

  Mina shook her head. 'The Brotherhood could not do such a thing to you, the transference would conflict with the powers you had freshly attained. It would drive both parties insane, a most inequitable situation.'

  He grunted in acknowledgement of this, still not entirely convinced but mollified enough to let the subject rest.

  'We must make haste to the next ruin.' he finally said, making his way back to the wagon. 'If this pursuit continues then I would rather face it with all the power this place can grant me than with my wits and mace alone.'

  Mina nodded encouragingly, impressed by his steely determination in spite of this latest setback. Soon they would find the artefact, and when they did nothing would stop them.

  LVII

  There is no freedom for one such as I. Whether I climb the tallest mountains or vanish in a blink of nothingness, the only inevitable release will be death, and I suspect that even that is beyond me now, such is the grip of my bonds.

  El-Vador regained his feet a day later, the power returning and soothing whatever remaining wounds troubled him.

  He turned to face Anacletus. 'You remain determined to aid me no further in attacking Salvarius?'

  Anacletus smiled. 'I thought you might take it that way. To reiterate to you Elf, I will be doing my utmost to keep the Brotherhood from passing through the ether and killing us all. The Pixie will remain under my control and without her Salvarius cannot ignite the artefact.'

  'If you knew all this, why did you send me out like some errand boy to fetch the information for you instead of just telling me?'

  The assassin shrugged. 'You repeat yourself in your mistrust, Elf, so I say it again, you would not have believed me. I know the way you think. You needed to find out for yourself.'

  'True.' El-Vador smiled. 'I know not what you plan for her once Salvarius is vanquished, but if it is truly just the three of us unaided by your friends from beyond then I shall endeavour to put an end to him.'

  'You think that upon destroying Salvarius that I shall simply turn on you once more.' Anacletus hissed, his eyes narrowed. 'Have you heard nothing of what I have told you? I cannot risk your lives while there remains members of the Brotherhood pushing in from the ether.'

  El-Vador's smile spread across his face as he realised what this truly meant. 'I can do absolutely anything to you, assassin, and you cannot harm me for fear of the Brotherhood's reprisal.'

  'This is true.' Anacletus smiled easily, 'but if you were to strike me then I could not protect you from the Brotherhood anyway. Would you doom us both simply to get back at me for leading you this way?'

  'I suppose not.' El-Vador shook his head. 'We remain at truce then, Anacletus.'

  'For the time being, Elf. After the Brotherhood is no more though...'

  'After the Brotherhood is no more then we shall meet again.'

  'I will be ready, El-Vador of the mountains.' Anacletus held a hand up. 'For now, I shall do my utmost to protect my own interests, and yours by proxy.'

  'And if I seek out Salvarius and he somehow bests me without the artefact, what then?'

  'I shall deal with the matter should it arise.' the assassin replied, keeping his cards close to his chest in his usual infuriating manner.

  El-Vador snarled at Anacletus, but before he could say anything, Aliana awoke, stretching her limbs and flicking her wings hesitantly through the night air.

  The Elf blinked at her. 'You're awake.'

  Her eyes flashed. 'Why wouldn't I be? I heard raised voices and they woke me.'

  El-Vador stared at her for a heartbeat, then turned back to Anacletus. 'Deal with this matter, if you can no longer keep her unconscious then at least keep her safe.'

  He stood further away from the flames, staring into the darkness of the barrens with his ignited sight. He felt the stale wind cover him and send a chill to his bones, but he couldn't bring himself to stand so close to the assassin or face further questions from Aliana.

  'You're wasting time, El-Vador.'

  The Elf's heart missed a beat. It was the voice.

  'You need to depart from the assassin and his winged friend,' the voice continued, echoing about his skull. 'They are distractions from your ultimate goal, all of them.'

  El-Vador nodded. 'Anacletus believes that I cannot destroy the Orcs without first doing this. Does he speak truly?'

  'The assassin is technically correct, and has served us well in guiding you up to this point.'

  'So you are one of many voices. You are the opposition to the Brotherhood. That's why you urged me to destroy their domain.'

  'Your assumptions are true, Elf. In the same way that an infantile understanding of the world is correct at least once. It is best that you know little of us, it will make your task much easier.'

  'I don't plan on doing anything for you.' El-Vador retorted heatedly. 'As soon as Salvarius is destroyed and every Orc lies dead at my feet I am done with you.'

  'Do you really think I will simply leave you once your opening task is complete, Elf? No, there are many other things that must be done before you are completely free of my service.' there was a pause then, the Elf did not know why. 'You are much more formidable than our last encounter, but a pawn all the same. Still, a sharper claw yields better
results...'

  The Elf stared at the distant horizon. 'If you do not leave upon my killing of the Orcs, then I shall hunt down the assassin and extract the information I need from him. I will then force my own judgement upon your opposition to the Brotherhood, ether or not.'

  The voice remained silent, letting the endless waste of the barrens devour El-Vador's words. The voice had threatened him before, but since the lessons acquired from the Brotherhood it had spoken much less and he had an increasing suspicion that it couldn't afford to. Especially after what Anacletus had told him about the importance of his life and the Pixie's.

  El-Vador smiled. 'I have no fear of death from you. You cannot afford to kill me, because if you could have another host you most certainly would have chosen one by now. One that wasn't starting to display a rebellious streak or dampening down your contact with his own powers.'

  His head throbbed painfully in response. 'I could crush your skull in an instant, Elf. There is another standing near the fire who I could possess. Do not forget that.'

  El-Vador let out a frustrated sigh. The voice did have a point, assuming it wasn't bluffing about its capabilities. Then again, he didn't exactly want to test it on the matter. 'You have my servitude for now, we shall discuss the matter upon the death of the Orcs.'

  'You think this is a negotiation?' the voice laughed, and El-Vador's head throbbed all the more for it. 'Salvarius is occupied by my greatest opposition, you may well perish in the attempt. His powers grow exponentially even without the artefact for he does not fear pushing a host into madness. Most men would have perished from such abuse already, I can feel it coursing through him in the deeper channels. If such a construct were to obtain the artefact and power it somehow then all would be lost.'

  'So I have been told.'

  'So, perhaps now you will listen. Do not underestimate Salvarius, it is not the same human that you once knew.'

  El-Vador nodded. 'I do not plan to.'

  'Good,' the voice replied, lowering its volume somewhat. 'Continue with your task, I do not see any sense in prolonging this discussion.'

  He shrugged in response and felt it leaving him.

  So the voice was not aware of the mistress that the Orc had spoken of, nor did it realise that this woman in cohorts with Salvarius planned to use the Pixie to power the artefact somehow.

  This told El-Vador two things: Anacletus was not revealing all his information to his invisible allies, which in itself was not all that surprising. It also suggested that the voice itself was not omniscient.

  Which in turn suggested that whatever it was that had infected his head could eventually be purged.

  El-Vador smiled.

  LXVIII

  I have been prone to startling revelations in my youth, largely because of the lack of experience that forced me to question all that I came into contact with. Now the wheels ever turn and everything seen is but a cocktail of the memories I have witnessed before.

  Aliana abandoned the fire and crept over to where El-Vador lay. She could tell from the pattern of his breathing that he wasn't asleep, she had heard enough of his unconsciousness to be sure of that. The Elf sat with his back to the fire, weapons nearby and a hand on the hilt of his sword, she had no doubt that he knew she was approaching. Yet even as she drew closer he refused to acknowledge her presence. He strangely mirrored Anacletus as he sat in repose, and she doubted that telling him of the resemblance would do any good.

  She coughed slightly, wary of tapping him on the shoulder. 'May I join you?'

  He looked up, the light in his eyes reflecting the still-warm embers of the fire. His gaze raked her up and down before he grunted in reluctant assent. 'I see that you are still awake.'

  Aliana waited for more, but he'd returned his attention to the black horizon. She swallowed hard, then looked at him. 'El-Vador, we need to talk.'

  The Elf glanced back up at her, his face an unreadable mask. He'd clearly rather be staring out at the horizon and resting for battles to come than chatting with her. He drew in a deep breath, as if realising that there was no avoiding it, then nodded. 'If we must.'

  'Anacletus spoke to me, told me of who he was, how he knew you and what he had done to me. He also told me why he did it and his concerns about my falling into the hands of this Salvarius person.'

  El-Vador nodded silently, he had clearly suspected that she'd be up to speed.

  'He was nowhere to be seen when the urge descended, nor did he appear when the Orcs followed me into the barrens.' Aliana frowned. 'Don't you think if he really wanted me guarded that he'd do a better job of it?'

  El-Vador stared back at the hooded form of Anacletus beyond the remnants of the fire before answering. 'He is extremely efficient at what he does, but I do not know how much of it he does. Perhaps your escape was negligence on his part due to other issues, perhaps it was intentional. We can only speculate.'

  'You don't trust him.'

  'Even less than you do. He is not to be trusted, his motivations are entirely self-involved. He guards us only because he has to, not out of any desire for our well-being.'

  Aliana sighed. 'And you are not entirely self-involved also? Am I not as well for wanting nothing else but my release from this drawing feeling?'

  El-Vador shrugged. 'You do not plan to dispose of me as soon as my usefulness has passed.'

  'You will go right back to killing Orcs when this is over.' Aliana replied, still looking directly at him. 'I ask you again, is that really all you care for?'

  The Elf closed his eyes, his fist tightening around the pommel of his sword. 'Do you ask this or is it what Anacletus has told you to say?'

  Aliana hugged her arms around her body. 'That man has put no words in my mouth, I simply want to know if I am dealing with one cold-blooded killer or two.'

  'You are the only thing left from my past that hasn't tried to kill me.' El-Vador replied, releasing the sword and staring up at her again. 'I have wandered for many miles, this land is huge, yet here we are once again. Drawn together through circumstances beyond our control.'

  She shivered involuntarily in the cold. 'Do you believe in fate, El-Vador of the mountains?'

  The Elf's eyes sharpened. 'My destiny is my own to forge. I don't like the idea of greater powers controlling me.'

  No, the man with the voice in his head wouldn't, Aliana thought to herself. 'I have been taught that fate roots itself upon the world in places untouched by normal sight. The elders of my tribe claimed that there are those who make their own path simply by stumbling upon that which fate decreed. Their life is in the journey, not whether it was pre-mandated or not. Perhaps the journey you walk is destined simply because of your actions, rather than doomed irrespective of them.'

  The silence reigned for a time before the Elf spoke. 'I must be who I must be. Fate or not, mandated or otherwise, I have placed it upon myself to become this.'

  She smiled. 'You speak as if you are the only one left. Of your kind, of the Brotherhood. Do you forget so easily that I have witnessed both destructions and survived as well?' She reached out to him then, tentatively placing a hand upon his shoulder. He bristled at the touch, but did not shrug it off. 'You are not alone so long as I live. When you have done what you must do, there will be more to come after.'

  The Elf nodded, either unwilling or incapable of contesting what had just been said. In the half-light El-Vador became something more than she had seen before. A play of emotions touched over his brooding features that spoke of silent conflicts within. He had actually listened to what she had said, and was considering it.

  'After Salvarius dies by my hand, after the last Orc is ended and I return from the ruins of Sarvacts' fortress for the final time. After all that is done, then I shall think of what is to come.'

  She nodded. 'That is all that can be asked of you. There is enough for you to do already that you need not concern yourself with what is to come. For all we know your attempts on Salvarius may fail, and the remnants of the Brotherhood may wash o
ut over the land and end us both.'

  El-Vador shuddered. 'I will not allow that.'

  'I know.' she said faintly, feeling the warmth of his shoulder upon her palm. He still hadn't removed her hand.

  'What more is there to you in life beyond this?

  She smiled. 'New sights and sounds, the unexplored places of this world and the equally unexpected companions. Every new experience broadening my understanding and causing something to grow within me.'

  'You see the world very differently.' El-Vador replied, shifting his sword onto his lap. 'All my travels have been a means to an end, fraught with danger and despair. All I have seen from the world is cold indifference or outright hostility. All that is left to do is meet it with my own disdain.'

  Her hand faltered and his expression froze.

  'Is all this world simply a place to be conquered to you?'

  'No.' he glanced down, hesitating. 'Not all of it has been.'

  'Then why can't you see that there is more to life now than your vengeance? Why must it all happen after that is sated?'

  The Elf looked up at her coldly, shrugging off her hand. 'None of it matters until I finish what I have started. I cannot have this until my task is complete.'

  The vehemence of his words, and the way he deliberately shrugged her off with such heartlessness, shocked her. Aliana took a half step back, raising her hands, using the heartbeat this afforded her to recover herself. 'I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked that.'

  'You need to go.'

  'El-Vador, you need to understand.'

  He looked up but said nothing.

  'You think that you are the only one left of your kind. I came from the mountains too, El-Vador. The very same mountains. Tell me, have you ever seen a Pixie in the mountains?'

  He looked up at her tear-stained face and froze.

  'No, you haven't. There were so few of us left, even before the Orcs came. When you first met me I was being hunted down. All of us were. I'm left in the same position as you are in that I don't know if there are any of us left. The difference between me and you is that I went back and searched. I searched for days in the dead of winter and found nothing.'