Lands of Dust (The Dying World Book 1)

by John Triptych

  “I have met Magi in my younger days,” Zedne said calmly. “None of them were ever such a creature like you. From what hell were you spawned from?”

  Slane frowned. “You wound me with your insult. Apologize.”

  “I will not,” Zedne said. “You have murdered my entire tribe and you expect me to play your game? I shall not.”

  Slane gave her a blank stare. “Murdered your entire tribe? No, not yet. After all, you are still alive. And that little girl behind you, as well as the baby she is carrying. That makes three.”

  Zedne continued to build up her Vis. Perhaps she had enough power for another mental strike. It was the one chance she had left, so she needed to keep him talking. “Why did you do this? By what right? The child you seek is not even here.”

  “Because your elder and your protector lied to me,” Slane said. “Let us also consider that one of my own was killed, so that is more than enough grounds to condemn your entire people to death.”

  “It was your seeker who first violated the oath of peace! You did not even hold an inquest to see what the actual truth was!”

  “I have the authority to do whatever I wish,” Slane said tersely. “I have made my judgment, and I have the power to act on it. The strong will do whatever they wish, and the weak will suffer what they must.”

  “You are worse than the Gorgons of old,” Zedne hissed. “May the gods curse you for what you have done!”

  Slane titled his head back and laughed. Zedne knew it was time. She concentrated for a brief second before launching her mindsense towards the Magus. Her mental tendrils bore into his mind, trying to overcome his thought defenses by sheer force of will. Slane staggered backwards as she pressed her mental assault on him. Zedne scowled while using the last of her reserves, her Vis was now sucked dry. Her own head started to spin as she fought off the accompanying headache. Slane rolled his eyes and fell backwards to the ground.

  “Come on,” Zedne said as she turned and grabbed Vida’s little hand. Just as they both ran past the stricken Magus, they heard a cackling laugh behind them. Zedne turned around.

  Slane had suddenly gotten up. He dusted off his black cloak. “That was a very good attack, old woman. I have not been struck by a Striga for many cycles now. I have forgotten how it feels.”

  Zedne pushed the little girl away from her. She pointed towards the outskirts of the village. “Run, now!”

  Vida started running. The little girl had to balance the baby on her thin arms, so her gait was somewhat wobbly as she ran past a house. Slane chuckled as he held out his right hand and gesticulated. The little girl was instantly launched into the air, as if an unseen force sent her flying up. Vida screamed as she was dangling more than twenty yards above them.

  “Put her down!” Zedne pleaded.

  Slane smirked. “As you wish.”

  The little girl screamed as she suddenly dropped like a stone thrown from a great height. Vida had let go of the baby and they both fell onto the boulders by the side of the fungi cave, the sickening sounds of flesh hitting rocks could be heard.

  Zedne fell down on her knees. “Noo!”

  Slane motioned his hand again and the healer was thrown up into the air. He used his mindforce to guide her landing towards the burning assembly hall. Zedne struck one of the old support pillars made out of bone, and her body was impaled as the rod punctured her back and exited from her right breast. The old healer shuddered for a few seconds, then lay still.

  Baradine walked over to where Slade was standing at. “You better take a look at Revok,” the bearded Magus said, pointing to the healer’s house.

  Slane shrugged as he walked into the dwelling. Lying near the entryway was Revok, and he was clutching at his horribly burned face. There was a sharp smell of brimstone in the air. “I am here, Revok,” he said. “What happened?”

  Revok’s words were punctuated with pained shrieking. “Aah, that old hag! She burned me! She burned my eyes out! I cannot see!”

  Slane looked down at the ground and noticed the broken pieces of pottery. “So she threw something at you. It looks like a corrosive substance. Why did you not use your mindforce to deflect her attack?”

  “S-she used her Vis on me,” Revok cried. “That old witch tore through m-my defenses. The pain! It burns still!”

  Slane shrugged. “Ah, that is a pity. You should have been more prepared. Instead you were overconfident, and your hubris has made you blind and useless to me now.”

  Revok whimpered as he got on his knees. He wasn’t sure where Slane was, so he faced in the opposite direction. “Lord S-Slane, I beg of you, take me t-to a healer.”

  Slane bent down and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “Have no fear, I will help you.”

  “T-thank you, Lord,” Revok sobbed. “Anything f-for the pain. Anything.”

  “Of course,” Slane said as he stood upright and drew his blade from the scabbard. He made a downward swing and the sharpened steel instantly sliced through Revok’s neck, chopping it in half. Revok’s body slumped forward as his head rolled along the smooth stone flooring, before stopping by the side of the wall.

  The flap by the entryway parted and Baradine stepped inside. He took a long look at what had happened before glancing over at his master. “We found a few of the children and some youths hiding out in that cave of theirs. What do we do with them?”

  Slane wiped his blade with the folds of Revok’s cloak before placing it back in the scabbard. “Do any of them appear to have the gift of Vis?”

  “No.”

  Slane sighed. He was hoping to find a young Striga to add to his team. All he cared about now was to build an empire of his own to rival that of the order. In that regard, any child who had the gift of Vis would be raised as his personal foot soldier. Too bad there weren’t any. “Kill them all then. From now on, anyone who is not a child of Vis is to be killed. The future race must be kept pure.”

  Chapter 15

  Rion stared carefully at the glyphs on the black menhir. He was tempted to run his fingers along the carved wording, but Devos had warned him about ancient curses to those that disturbed forgotten monoliths, so he dutifully kept his hands to his side. Crouching beside him was the teller while Miri stood nearby. Jinn and Nyx had gone exploring, hoping to find a source of water somewhere in the canyon, or if failing that, another norpion so they could extract the precious fluid sacs to drink.

  “Take your time, boy,” Devos said. “We have almost figured out the message, that I am sure.”

  Rion squinted to get a better look. Some of the words were easy to understand, yet others were completely alien to him. “It seems to tell a story in riddles that do not make any sense.”

  “Just say the ones that you can read,” Miri said. “I am sure we can piece together the rest.”

  “One word is spelled e-on,” the boy said as he turned to look at the old man. “What does that mean?”

  “An eon means a long passing of time, too many cycles to count,” Devos said. “It could mean that the monument we are looking at is far older than our tribe’s history.”

  “It carries the symbol of the Gorgons,” Miri said. “Might we be in one of their ancient territories?”

  Devos nodded. “Our earliest legends state that the Gorgons ruled over the entire world for thousands of cycles. I am not surprised at all that they would leave monuments wherever they went.”

  “If the Gorgons were everywhere, why is it that we hardly find monuments such as this?” Miri asked.

  “Not long after the great rebellion wiped out the Gorgons, many factions fought each other for control of their territories. A powerful group named the Avengers of Lem made a vow to destroy whatever memory the people had of the Gorgons, and their main attacks were directed at temples and monoliths such as this one,” Devos said.

  Miri looked at him. “They must have been full of rage to attempt the destruction of pieces of stone like that. I do not see what advantage they might have fulfilled with such ta
sks.”

  “They wanted to wipe the memory of the Gorgons from all existence, for such was their shame,” Devos said. “The teachings of Karma state that to forget about someone means that you destroy their soul. To completely eradicate all memories of the Gorgons meant a form of revenge for them.”

  “I think I have understood the meaning,” Rion said. “It says, ‘oceans of water have turned to dust, fields of plenty have turned to ash. The Maker of Entropy sleeps for eons past and eons to come, and the Gorgons shall return when he awakens.’ That is what one portion says.”

  Miri looked at Devos. “The Maker of Entropy? Return of the Gorgons? Do you know what to make of that?”

  Devos shrugged. “I am not sure. Perhaps it is a prophecy of some sort. The age of the Gorgons lasted for eons. All sorts of legends and tales were lost through time.”

  Rion bit his lip. “What does entropy mean?”

  “For your strength to wither away until you are nothing,” Devos said. “Perhaps it refers to a specific person, or maybe a title.”

  “And what is an ocean?” Rion asked.

  “Long before the wastes, the land we are standing on was covered by water. Many old tales once said that we would travel on the surface of this vast liquid sea on strange vessels. Many beasts once lived beneath the waters, I believe they were called fish. We used to harvest a lot of food in the water by hunting them,” Devos said.

  Rion shook his head slowly from side to side. “A land made of endless water? I-I cannot imagine such a sight.”

  Devos nodded. “Yes, we live in an age where such things are merely legends. I like to imagine it as a gigantic stew pot, before algae and shrooms are placed into it. Imagine yourself as a tiny creature sitting on the surface of the pot, surrounded by nothing but water.”

  Rion closed his eyes and nodded. “Yes, that I can imagine. So where did people live if there was nothing but water?”

  Devos chuckled. “It was not all water, boy. There was still land in many parts of the world. That was where most of the people lived.”

  Miri and the others had somewhat recovered from their ordeal out in the wastes, but none were at full strength yet. While the old man and the boy were deciphering the menhir, she was constantly looking around, on guard for any potential surprise. She wasn’t as superstitious as many others were in the tribe, but standing so close to a Gorgon monument gave her a feeling of dread even though her mindsense was unable to detect anything hostile. She was also worried that Nyx and Jinn might have encountered something they couldn’t handle. She hoped that they would return soon.

  Devos pointed at another symbol on the stone. “What about that one, boy? From what you taught me about reading glyphs I think that one says ‘dark’, yes?”

  Rion looked closer. “It reads, ‘to venture to the last city is to pass through the hollow of shadows.’ I think you misread the final word for dark. It is a common mistake among early readers.”

  Devos smiled. “That is it! I think we are on to something.”

  Miri was confused. “What do you mean?”

  “When Rion read out the last city, it must mean Lethe,” Devos said. “So from here, we must venture to a place called the hollow of shadows.”

  “And where would that be?” Rion asked.

  “If the description was written in this menhir, then it must be close by,” Devos mused.

  Miri sighed. “You are being far too sanguine, master teller. It could be at the far side of the world for all we know.”

  Devos nodded. “Perhaps I am. But I must tell you that I had not believed much in these legends that I have been telling all my life, until now. The journey we have had has opened my eyes and changed me. We are standing here, in front of an old monument that dates back to the Gorgons, and everything that has been described has been witnessed by us to be the truth. I had thought that these tales were just nothing but stories, but our experiences have proven them to be genuine.”

  Something stirred in Miri’s head. She sensed someone approaching. “Both of you, get behind me,” she said while holding her spear with both hands.

  Rion and Devos immediately stood up and stayed behind her. At that moment, Nyx and Jinn rounded the bend in the canyon wall and walked over to them. They both had smiles on their faces as they held out a pair of bulging waterskins.

  Miri relaxed while walking up to the younger Striga. “I was getting a little worried. Where did the two of you go?”

  Nyx grinned as she handed out the waterskins. “We just kept on walking. This place is like a maze and trails branch out in many directions. I sensed a buzzing noise in my mind, so I used my Vis to try and find any sort of life. Jinn found a large hive of sand beetles, and we discovered a small pool of algae nearby where the bugs were feeding on. Jinn skimmed the top part of the algae off and underneath was some water.”

  Rion opened the waterskin’s stopper and took a sip. “It is salty.”

  Jinn nodded. “Yes, but it is water. I drank as much as I could. There was enough to fill two skins, so we now have a day’s supply between the five of us.”

  Miri was impressed. “Well, our situation has gotten better. The gods must be smiling upon us once more.”

  Jinn stole a mischievous glance at his sister before speaking again. “There is one other thing.”

  Miri sensed they were being playful, but she wasn’t in the mood for it. “What?”

  Jinn turned around and started walking down to another part of the gully. “I believe it is better to show you all. Follow me.”

  With a tired sigh, Miri motioned the others to go along with him. They all walked down several twisting spoors until the five of them came upon the algae pool. Just as Jinn had told them, most of the water had been drained and the scum still on the surface had begun to dry out. Rion noticed a few beetles scurrying to and fro. The boy kicked one of the bugs and sent it flying into the air until the hapless insect bounced off the petrified rock wall. The beetle landed on its back and wiggled helplessly.

  Miri placed a hand on Rion’s shoulder. “Stop it.”

  Jinn beckoned them to keep up with him. “Just around the next bend here.”

  The moment they all turned into another passage, Miri stood in shock while Nyx and her brother grinned triumphantly. Rion’s eyes opened wide while Devos started laughing. At the far end of the gulch lay the entrance to what looked to be a large cave, its black maw open to them like some foreboding path of doom. Miri peered closer and she could see distant outlines of stalactites and a smooth, sloping tunnel leading down into the darkness. The cave ceiling looked to be around nine yards high. A slight breeze of cool air drifted out to them. There was a small, bubbling pool of black algae near the side of the entrance.

  Nyx smirked as she turned to look at the old man. “Why are you laughing?”

  Devos continued to chuckle. “This is the hollow of shadows.”

  Everyone else looked at him.

  Devos pointed at the cavern entrance. “It is precisely what Rion had read about when he translated the glyphs in that Gorgon monument we had just came from. The writing mentioned a hollow of shadows. Another word for hollow is cave.”

  Jinn’s demeanor changed from mild amusement into wary concern. “Surely you do not expect us to venture forth in there, do you?”

  It was Nyx’s turn to laugh. “What is wrong, brother? Are you afraid of the dark?”

  Jinn frowned. “I am afraid of nothing! Look at what I went through just to find you.”

  “Silence, both of you,” Miri said. “Let us think this through. While venturing into that cave will surely spare us from the harsh heat of the sun, we do not know where the passages would lead to. We could very well come upon nothing but solid rock and we may have to walk back out again.”

  “Or even worse, we might end up encountering something dangerous inside,” Jinn added.

  Nyx giggled. “Afraid of norpions and sand bugs, brother?”

  Jinn growled. “There may be a whole nest of thos
e beasts in there. When Miri brought those fluid sacs back, it must have come from the biggest norpion I had ever known about. If any of us gets stung by one of those creatures, it will be the end.”

  Nyx hissed. “Miri and I can easily handle a few norpions with our Vis. Now that we have water, I think we should explore what is in there.”

  “I agree,” Devos said. “We have followed the old legends, and so far they have not let us down. If we are to get to Lethe, then this must be the way forward. The other choice is that we leave the canyon and try to make it across the surface once more. If we go by that route, we might face more vicissitude.”

  All eyes turned to Miri. As the undisputed leader of the group, she had the final say. This clearly was no easy decision. They had barely survived traveling on the surface, but the cave would be equally dangerous, for they would be stumbling into its vast, unknown reaches. Miri had only experienced the fungi caverns back in the settlement, but that was a small, benign place compared to the undiscovered hollow before them. They all depended on her, and Miri sensed that no one would dispute whatever choice she’d be making.

  Miri let out a deep breath. She had a feeling that whatever happened, it would be her fault. “Alright, we shall venture into that cavern. Jinn, Nyx, bring all our packs here.”

  Chapter 16

  Night had fallen and they started their descent through the cave entrance. The remaining afternoon had been spent resting, while Miri fashioned three torches using leg bones, strips of leather and by smearing the tips with some black algae that they found nearby. Miri then used some flint to light the torches and she led the way, followed by Nyx, Rion and Devos. The old man carried the second torch while Jinn carried the third as he brought up the rear. The floor was smooth and quite damp, with small pools of salty water forming along the edges. A steady breeze of air wafted through the tunnels, occasionally bringing a strange, foul odor with it. They could mostly hear the dripping of water that would condense due to the humidity, and its high mineral content would slowly seep along the ceilings and walls, forming a smooth layer along the sides and the occasional stalactite. The other sounds seemed to be that of falling rock somewhere up ahead of them.