Leviathan (Fist of Light Series)

by Edgington, Derek

  “What the hell?” Jas panted. “Why couldn't we have been trapped in the land of gumdrops instead?”

  “I hardly think we'd be that lucky.” I snorted while trying to keep ahold of myself, my eyes darting around, trying to locate our invisible pursuers.

  Another piercing screech and a gust of dead wind pelted our party from above. We all ducked as the beast’s wings brushed our backs, its seething fury palpable through the connection. The close proximity to the monster was draining, as if the touch had slivered off a piece of my soul.

  “You let these things touch yer bodies and ye'd be dead in seconds,” a hoarse voice told us from up front.

  “We can't outrun them.” Kathryne was barely breathing hard. “It'll catch us if we don't find shelter.”

  “Don't be worrying, ye bonny lass.” Our guide chuckled. “We've not far to travel. If it was, you'd have been left to the mercy of the hordes.”

  “That's great to hear.” Simon wiped sweat from his brow.

  The ground blurred by us without anything to mark our passing. There were small outcroppings of rock strewn in the path of our flight, but no form of vegetation. It was absent of life. The hard rock under our feet pounded our limbs. Pain only drove us harder. A black hand reached into our midst; Mary screamed. I had time to look into the thing’s face before it was sent spinning away from a blow from Kathryne. Red eyes devoid of any humanity pinned me in place, black armor in direct contrast with our savior's light, which hid most of the being's body from sight. In its other hand was a dark sword, but it hadn't the time to use it, thankfully.

  “What the hell was that?” Simon demanded, a faint tremor of fear in his voice.

  “One of many,” our guide informed.

  We hadn't fled for more than a few minutes before we came to a shaky halt, waiting on our unmoving guide to lead us on. My senses searched frantically around us but were met with only black nothingness. It was clear these things were hidden from me. No matter how hard I tried there was only darkness. Even my vision was affected, the pooling dark dulling all my abilities to sight danger.

  “A tunnel!” Zack exclaimed.

  And there was a tunnel, leading into the unknown below. There was light down there, a welcoming sight.

  “Follow the light,” I said with grim humor.

  “Against the night we stand. Into the light we ran,” our amused protector said.

  “You've both lost your marbles,” Jas decided.

  We followed this stranger nonetheless, hoping he represented salvation rather than a different kind of doom. The slap of feet smacking the chiseled pavement, dry air running through our ears. Heavy panting from all around, echoing moans following us down the chamber. Screeching cries of promised revenge from our airborne friends. In an instant, a frantic chase turned into another thing entirely. A group of six men hailed our guide before entering the tunnel three abreast, bright swords held at the ready.

  Another man in shining armor stepped forward, this one with an air of authority. “Gallick Arenson, you blasted imbecile! We thought you lost to the hordes. I'm heartened to see you've returned in one piece. And with friends, I see.” He appraised us openly.

  “What the hell is this place?” Zack muttered under his breath so only the pack heard.

  “Your guess is as good as mine,” I returned just as quietly.

  “Auckland.” The two men clasped arms like brothers. “You half-wit scoundrel, you should know it'd take more than one horde,” Arenson said with a grin.

  The clash of swords and unseen moans drifted down the tunnel, but the men paid them no heed. “And who are these bright young fellows. More lost souls to be thrown into the furnace?” Auckland studied us intently.

  “Hardly. A pack of misfits, no doubt. They'd have waited until their doom was upon them if I hadn't decided to risk my valuable hide.”

  I stepped forward, still considering. “I'd have to agree with that. We appreciate it.” I held out my hand and he enveloped it with a bear of a shake.

  “Gallick here has a habit of picking up lost souls,” Auckland said. “They follow like a mother hen rounding up chicks into her den. This place would be dark and deserted without him.”

  “And what exactly is this place?” Simon asked.

  We all took a second to survey our surroundings. An unnatural light illuminated the interior of the cavern. Black rock had been piled, braced, and formed into a rough construction, a great wall that separated us from the castle. And a castle it was, despite the poor craftsmanship. Under the circumstances, they had done rather well with the limited materials. Smaller dwellings dotted the landscape, but they were nothing in comparison to the size of the castle. It stretched over sixty feet at its spired peak, a jaw-dropping feat when one only has piles of black rock to work with. It widened out as it neared the ground, encompassing almost half of the available space behind the rocky ramparts.

  “A stronghold, if I've ever seen one,” Jas said.

  “I don't believe you have,” Kathryne said, amusement in her voice.

  “Aye, it’s a stronghold, youngster. One of the last. The others have begun to fall, if the whispers be true. Ever since the loss of Midreal all those years ago, things be taking a turn for the worst.”

  “Midreal?” Simon's curiosity got the better of him, as usual.

  Gallick nodded his head and scratched at his beard. “Ye heard right. That be the capital of these blasted lands, or it was. That was decades ago. The limb regrew, but our brightest light went with it.”

  “Did you just say limb?” I wondered at the coincidence.

  “Caleb, he said it was decades ago,” Mary said.

  “You chopped that thing off yesterday.” Zack nodded, agreeing with her. “That's a far cry from a few decades in the past.”

  Gallick appraised our group in a new light. Auckland's brows settled into the ridges of his eyes as he did the same. The soldiers tramped back into the cavern from the tunnel, dispelling the tense atmosphere for a fleeting moment.

  “All clear, sir,” a soldier said to Auckland, but the soldier’s eyes shifted to Gallick as he imparted the information.

  “Good man. Hold your post for the remainder of your shift, then get some rest. You've done well,” Auckland said. “These newcomers will be meeting with us in the hold. It seems there's something to be learned from them.”

  Jas and I shared a look, knowing that this wasn't a negotiation. We instinctively picked up on the undertones in his statement and decided the man’s intentions were less than savory. I held the eyes of my friends one by one, indicating the need for cooperation. As long as there was safety to gather our wits and prepare for what needed to be done, I would take it.

  — Chapter 21 —

  We'd been at this for hours and hadn't gotten anywhere. The dark tenor of this place was getting old fast. But we all saw the necessity of gaining some allies. We were blind in this new world without a guide, and if we walked out into the night without some form of protection we wouldn't have another knight in shining armor to save us. Oddly, none of us were overly tired or even hungry. We were informed of the situation. Our bodies had left us for good and food was a thing of the past. Here, souls were driven by energy, as the Leviathan was, its hordes of dark oppressors leeching souls of every last drop. Only crazed shades remained of those unfortunate enough to meet with that fate; that was the moaning that followed in the wake of the horde. Given the chance, however, they would leech energy just as readily as any other. And all the while, the dark stones of this world were slowly draining us dry.

  “Striking an arm off Cusion. That is quite a feat. Are you sure you weren't mistaken?” Auckland rubbed his hands on the polished rock of the table.

  I figured Cusion was the proper name of the Leviathan that had swallowed us whole. “I'm sure.” My mouth stretched into a grim line of annoyance.

  A too-wide smile flashed white teeth, inviting. “And the hound, what of it?”

  “Shadow,” I said, and they r
elented. “Shadow led us to Cusion when we were out of leads. It had gone off to drain more energy from a place of power in our world. We'd thought we had a weapon to use against it, but it wasn't enough.”

  “Ye be out of yer ever lovin' mind, Auckland. How does this make sense to yer bloated brain?”

  “It seems there's some sort of inconsistency in time,” Simon said. “The passing of hours in our world can be decades in here.” He leaned forward in his rocky stool, tracing lines in the cold stone.

  “That's quite a span.” Jas raised his eyebrows.

  “We could live lifetimes in the passing of a day,” Kathryne said, stunning us all.

  “This is unreal.” Zack rubbed fitfully at his eyes, perhaps trying to force himself into a different reality. It didn't do any good.

  “The hound?” Auckland prodded.

  “Which one?” Mary smiled.

  “Ye have the peoples of Midreal in another vessel. The most powerful of our holds. Without the endless hordes beating on their doorstep, they threw off Cusion's influence,” A real grin followed from Gallick at this discovery. “They have the buggers right cornered! If only someone be chopping limbs off Cusion more often.” He chuckled.

  “If only that were enough.” Kathryne swiped a strand of hair away from her face.

  “Ye be stuck here with us scoundrels for a sliver of eternity, then.”

  “If that hound was dragged into this place with you, it would sustain us indefinitely.” Avarice shined in Auckland's eyes. “This hold would be indebted to you for such a tribute.”

  “I thought they were the best of you,” I said. “Why would you kill an ally?”

  “Kill?” Auckland laughed, a dirty thing. “That would be a horrible waste. After all, we too need the energy of souls to sustain us. Without that power, we could never hope to survive. It is a necessary evil.” He shrugged, a man resigned to harsh cruelties.

  I slyly sensed the depths of my shadow cast in the unnatural illumination of the cavern and sent mental reassurances that way. Shadow was with us, that was for sure. But I wasn't about to hand him over on a silver platter to our so-called saviors. As it seemed, when it came down to it, they were little different from the hordes that preyed on them. A brutal cycle indeed, fueled by the insatiable appetite of our Leviathan host.

  I played it safe, following Jas' example and bending the truth to serve my purposes. There was a dangerous glint in Auckland's eyes. “The hound disappeared after it led us there. I don't think it fancied tussling with Cusion, as you named it. Hell, we didn't fancy it much ourselves.”

  Auckland was satisfied with the answer, although a glimmer of disappointment remained. Gallick's eyes narrowed, but he stayed silent, as he had been throughout most of the exchange.

  “Absolute power corrupts absolutely,” the words tumbled restlessly through my mind, a wispy half-formed thought by a drained Jeeves, startling me with his bout of wakefulness.

  “What course do ye scoundrels set?” Gallick scanned the table. Auckland leaned forward, his interest renewed.

  “We intend to kill Cusion and send him to his own dark abyss. If there's any justice in the world, it'll be in the deepest pits of some long forgotten hell.” I grinned.

  “You pups think you can challenge the hordes and the power behind them?” Gallick half-chuckled, but his eyes were dancing.

  Zack's eyes were cold, determined. “We'll put it to bed. No cost is too high. There's nothing left for us to go back to.”

  “Midreal did it. We can too,” Simon asserted.

  I grunted in agreement. Movement from the soldiers drew my attention. They had stood as quiet sentinels throughout the encounter, but it appeared they were stirring to life. I fervently wished my weapons hadn't been left with my body. The tattered rags we wore were far from threatening.

  Auckland sat back in his chair, an indecipherable smile on his face. “There is a quiet beauty in this place. It grows on you.” His smile soured. “I've a mind to keep Cusion's dark heart beating until I no longer have use of it. Then maybe we shall emulate the people of Midreal and take the reins from our oppressor.”

  “You can't mean that!” Mary’s face twisted into a horrified grimace.

  “Naïve child, you are far too innocent to understand. This hold is small, numbering a hundred on the best of days. Over time, one grows accustomed to this place. One must adapt and survive, after all. We haven't survived this long without making sacrifices.”

  Now everyone was noticing the commotion. My eyes tracked the soldiers’ movements, plotted out distances and thought up ways to strike. But it would all be useless. Without some definable destination, we'd be dead within a foot of the tunnel's exit. The end result would be the same, whether we survived to escape or not. A smoldering rage heated beneath my ribcage, but I pushed it down, for now. There still might be time before things got messy. I held up a hand to my friends, a signal to wait. If they swarmed us, they would outnumber us more than three to one.

  “I bet it’s easier when you force others to make those sacrifices for you.” Kathryne's anger brimmed and began to overflow.

  I gambled. “You're right. Your numbers are too small to take losses. A slight imbalance and the hordes could overrun your ramparts with ease.”

  Auckland signaled his people. “Boy, you and your friends are hardly a match for my men. Weaponless and powerless.” He scoffed. “You don't stand a chance.”

  “It looks like your humanity has fled with any sense of civility.” Kathryne readied herself.

  Gallick had his eyes fixated on the dark stone of the table. “Gallick,” I began. “You're a part of this madness?”

  “Arenson knows his duty,” Auckland snapped.

  “There be some things in this place that have leeched a bit o' the humanity from all of us,” Gallick lamented, raising remorseful eyes to meet mine. “But as long as I am Auckland's man, there is no denying his rule. Tis the way of things, here. Without honor and purpose, I am nothing.” I felt him trying to communicate something, but whatever it was, the meaning fell short.

  “Take them,” Auckland commanded, a primal glee lighting up his features. “Stuff them in the cells. Give them plenty of time to think about their fate.”

  Cruel laughter traveled through the small company of soldiers as they called for support. The embers of my anger smelt the core of my being, bursting into a consuming rage. More men poured in now, presenting overwhelming odds. I demanded the presence of my power, begged and pleaded when that didn't work. Something about being cut off from my body had changed everything. I was defenseless. The mass of soldiers swarmed us at our seats, barely giving us time to stand before they started grappling, locking down body parts and trundling us into heaps. Kathryne lashed out expertly with her hands, sending two guards stumbling off before she was subdued. The pack tried put up as good as they got, but there were just too many. For my part, I got busy looking stupid and powerless as a single soldier bound me in place. Beaten senseless, we were dragged into an open atrium a few rooms away, where a bright orb of whirling power floated. That was all the glimpse I had before the soldiers shoved us into a cell, slamming the door shut behind us and locking it with a crude implement. Despite the simple lever, it was effective in keeping us contained.

  I was certain that the light in this place, the bright illumination that seeped through the cracks was no natural thing. It was powered by souls of the dead, their essence sullied and put to use in this grotesque way. Then, of course, the others would consume a portion of stolen energy, keeping their metaphysical bodies alive even as this world drained them of power. Surviving by consuming the energy of countless innocents. It was no different than Cusion's cruel methods, and it was despicable. There was one thing we learned from this encounter, though, one piece of information that could prove useful if we lived through this. Somewhere in this twisted world would be a dark beating core, and it could be destroyed.

  We had been talking for hours, a useless exchange of words that
meant nothing in the scheme of things. Half-baked plans for escape tumbled from our lips without pause, but none held up under any scrutiny. Not that we scrutinized them, for some glimmer of hope remained, snuffed and guttering though it was. There was no way to determine the passage of time, with the ambivalent, unchanging light. It seemed this world was a stickler for extremes, whether it be eternal night or light. Eventually, my mind strayed to other lines of thought. After all, there wasn't much to occupy it and therefore it was only natural to distract myself from a looming fate.

  Fear consumed the people of this place, its caustic touch burning away the moral fiber of its inhabitants. Try as I might, I couldn't truly stay angry with the underlings of this operation. They were only human, or whatever they might have been before they came here. In this place, it held true that only those who preyed on the weak survived. That nasty certainty only served to bring the peoples of this hold down to the same level of those dark entities that drained their own precious energies. Instinct told me that this didn't necessarily apply absolutely. I saw the hesitation, the guilt lurking within Gallick, even honor, misplaced though it was. Maybe that was what he had been trying to convey, that he desperately clung to the only remnant of humanity left to him. I couldn't help but laugh. Here I was, facing the extinction of my soul and I was mulling over the nature of honor and morality.

  “What's so funny?” Jas lifted his head from a pose of similar contemplation.

  “Nothing.” I smiled. “The nature of things. Our ability to delay the inevitable by avoiding reality.”

  “You think we're done for?” Zack's vibrant eyes pierced me.

  Simon expressed his own thoughts. “Our bodies are gone and we're stuck inside an insatiable beast that's about to devour everything! This Leviathan will only get stronger as it consumes more souls. Even if there was a way to kill it, we're about to be extinguished. Herk and Razor managed to stay safe on the other side, but even if they could help us, the time differential make sure that anything they try will come too late. It's over.”