Elementalist: The New Inheritance

by Seever, Tyler

  “Give it to me.”

  The sounds of the guards turning down the hallway to breach the room had become audible.

  “GIVE ME YOUR ORB, NOW!” Kethar commanded.

  Lenthean had made his decision. “NO!” He would not be giving up his Shadow Orb or his powers to Kethar the bounty hunter.

  The boy threw his extended arms down to his sides, like a downward, slicing blade. All the men in the room slammed the ceiling then were instantly smashed into the floor by the shadow arms that held them.

  Rendall, Kethar’s assistant, scrambled from the floor, begging for Lenthean to wait and have mercy.

  “RAH!” Lenthean oriented his hands left then struck right with both of them. All four men spun out of control from the floor and were thrown against the wall like rag dolls. Their armor clanged against the ground when their bodies met the floor.

  Lenthean’s hands trembled. He had never used his powers on a person before. Not in this manner, anyway.

  The Darthian guards burst through the door with spears at the ready, only to find all four intruders on the floor grabbing their sides and moaning in pain. The guards looked to Lenthean.

  Lenthean remarked, “I got ’em,” and cracked a smile.

  15: Shunned

  Lenthean watched as the four men were carried off by the guards.

  “I WILL catch you, NEW INHERITANCE! You had your chance! Now you won’t ever be free!” Kethar shouted in handcuffs.

  “Move along,” a guard commanded, shoving Kethar to keep him moving.

  The queen walked in, multiple guards escorting her. She looked incredibly disgruntled.

  “You are the reason these criminals were brought into my city?!” she asked.

  “I didn’t bring them in, Your Highness. They were hunting me,” Lenthean explained.

  “You are an absolute danger to us and this city. I knew you would be nothing but trouble. We can’t afford to have you here. Arrest the boy,” she commanded. The guards grabbed Lenthean’s arms.

  “NO! Wait! You don’t understand! I’m trying to help you guys!” Lenthean exclaimed.

  “You and your father have done enough help here, Shadow Elementalist. Be gone with you.” She shooed her hand, and Lenthean was placed into handcuffs and carried down the castle’s winding stairs.

  When the group of guards and Lenthean emerged from the castle, they met thousands of booing people. The citizens of the city had rallied to boo at Lenthean, the Shadow Elementalist. He heard profanity shouted at him. Name calling, blame placing.

  “You demon mongerer!”

  “You swine! You belong in a pit of mud where the shadows dwell!”

  “You’re getting our people killed!”

  “You worshiper of evil! Leave our city!”

  “We hate you!”

  “Leave and never return!”

  Lenthean looked around at all of the people he wanted to help. They hated him, just like Valdorath had said they would. The old man was right.

  Lenthean was hit in the head with a tomato. It exploded, and the juices seeped through his hair and started to dry on his scalp. He and the guards were pelted by a slew of tomatoes. The guards attempted to stop the attack, but there were too many shouting, angry people.

  “LEAVE OUR CITY!”

  “He’s bringing in the enemy!” the people continued.

  Lenthean had tomato juice in his eyes; he couldn’t see. All he could hear were vulgar, profane shouts directed toward him; he too could feel the hundreds of tomatoes smashing him from every direction.

  ---

  Lenthean sat in his dark cell under low firelight. Guards paced the near-silent halls. Rats ran by Lenthean’s feet repeatedly; he kicked to get them to go away. They tried chewing on the laces of his shoes.

  Lenthean’s legs were cuffed to the floor and his hands were cuffed to the wall; that way, he couldn’t manipulate the shadows. Lenthean was dripping in tomato chunks. The tomato juice was burning in his eyes; he did the best he could to remove it with his limited mobility.

  So, it’s come to this, Lenthean thought. Perhaps I should have stayed home that day. Maybe I shouldn’t have run away. Perhaps I should have given Kethar my orb and just gone home. That sounds really nice right about now. I miss you, Mom. I miss you, Zuthar. I should have listened to you both. This world is too much for me to handle. I just wanted to be something. And now, I’m afraid of what is going to happen to me.

  Another voice then spoke in Lenthean’s head.

  Then be afraid, boy. Hahaahahaa.

  The voice was incredibly familiar, and it spoke in his mind.

  Where are you? Lenthean thought.

  “I’m in this whole room,” it spoke back deeply.

  Lenthean looked around the dark, shadowy room.

  “Shadows,” Lenthean muttered.

  The guard took note of Lenthean’s comment.

  “Hey, what’s going on in there?!” the guard shouted at him. “If I see you do anything with the shadows, I sound the alarm!”

  Lenthean sat doing nothing.

  That’s when the shadow began to creep out of the cell like a thousand slithering snakes. “What?! Agh!” the guard shouted, dancing his legs up in the air as the shadows inched toward his feet. Lenthean looked around, wondering how this was happening. It surely wasn’t him doing it.

  Time for a delicious snack . . . hehe hahaaha, the voice laughed in Lenthean’s head.

  “What?! NO!” Lenthean demanded to the Shadow God. “STOP!”

  The guard cried out for help. “What’s going on?!” he shouted, dropping his polearm.

  Lenthean shouted at him, “Run! It’s going to eat you!”

  The guard took off, but no matter—the other end had encompassed his origin in a circle of shadows. It creeped in as it inched up the guard’s body and slowly began to pull him into the floor.

  “Stop!” Lenthean shouted to Arrogan.

  He tries to ssstop the ssshadows, they cannot be stopped. Hee hee haahaha, the voice continued.

  The guard struggled to stay afloat. His fingers latched onto the floor as firmly as he could, then his face too vanished into the ground, screaming. All shadows sunk into themselves like a black hole, and the guard was gone.

  The keys spat themselves out of the shadow and landed in Lenthean’s lap.

  “Mmmmm . . .” The God of Shadows enjoyed the taste of the guard.

  “Why did you do that?!” Lenthean shouted.

  “You wanted the key, you got the key.”

  “Not at the cost of that man’s life!”

  “Drop the act, boy. You know you’re happy to have those keys.”

  “No, I’m really not. I didn’t ever ask for a way out of this. I certainly don’t need you butting in and eating people that disagree with your wretched ways!”

  “I like the sound of that . . . wretched ways . . . hmmm,” the voice spoke in his head.

  “Look, Arrogan. I have a proposal.”

  “Why did you call me Arrogan?” The voice spat in disgust.

  “That’s your real name, is it not?”

  The God of Shadows cursed loudly. “How did you learn of that name?!”

  “My mentor, Valdorath, told me.”

  “That blasted Light Elementalist,” the voice hissed.

  “Now listen up, Arrogan. I have a proposal.”

  “I’m listening,” the voice spoke back.

  “I will learn your ways. I will use your powers.”

  “Go on,” the voice continued.

  “I will be your Elementalist. That way, you get your footprint planted on the world.”

  “Yesss, this will only make us stronger!”

  “On one condition.”

  “Yesss?”

  “We don’t harm ANYONE unless they’re trying to hurt us or innocent people.”

  “Or if they stand in our way . . . heeheehaha.”

  “No! A deal is a deal, Arrogan. If you want an Elementalist out of me, these are my terms. Those who ar
e unfortunate enough to try to harm me or my friends will suffer what pain you bring upon them.”

  “I like that.”

  “And you must also release that guard you just took.”

  “I don’t like that—heeeheee hahaha.”

  “Do it, or I won’t work with you.”

  The handcuffs faded into blackness then to nothing. Lenthean was free, only to find he fell through the floor into a black pit. He normally would have been frightened, but he found himself becoming hardened from Arrogan’s antics. After nearly a full minute of free-falling in blackness, Lenthean gently hovered to the floor. He was in the underworld from his first nightmare. There before him was the God of Shadows, sitting atop his mighty throne once again, a smile from edge to edge on his face.

  “I agree to this,” Arrogan responded to Lenthean’s proposal.

  “You’ll need this,” the voice spoke, tilting his head sideways with a nasty smile.

  From the grey and dusty surface, black smoke spewed from the ground. It began to fade, then metallic armor of bronze, grey, gold, and black elaborate color remained. The designs were pristine and intricate, like nothing Lenthean had ever seen. It almost glistened from all the fine details in the armor and its thick, broad, decorated chestplate.

  “What is this?” Lenthean asked.

  “Your armor. It’s yours. Take it.”

  “Is this my Elementalist armor?”

  “Indeed . . .”

  Lenthean put the armor on. It fit him perfectly. The armor was snug and comfortable to wear. It fits so perfectly! Lenthean thought.

  “Every armor set is made specifically for the Elementalist who bears it.”

  Lenthean eyed his armor, astounded. It looked to be crafted not by man, but by an ethereal being. That was obvious just by looking at it.

  “Kill that Lightning Elementalist. Hahahaheehaaaha. . .”

  “What for?” Lenthean argued.

  “Show the God of Thunder who really is in charge here. I’ve wanted to beat him for centuries. And since you’re bound to fight his Elementalist anyway . . . hehehahaha.”

  “I’ll see what I can do,” assured Lenthean.

  The God of Shadows’ grin grew wider and nastier than ever. The dark figure snapped its long, twiggy fingers. Lenthean had now begun to levitate through the ceiling and emerged from the floor, standing outside the cell’s bars, the guard panting and traumatized by the boy’s side.

  16: Shadow and Light

  The guard crawled on all fours, eyes wide open in terror and breathing heavily. “Wha—what just happened?” he stuttered. Lenthean, with a look of concern, grabbed the man by his arm and lifted him to his feet. The guard shivered as if he was freezing—however, he wasn’t cold; he was terrified. The guard asked, “Where’s my wife . . . Where’s my wife . . .”

  “It’s ok.” Lenthean patted the man’s armored back. The guard flinched.

  “Where am I? Why do I remember all of this?”

  the guard questioned. He was eyeing everything around him and feeling all of it with his hands.

  “What do you mean?” Lenthean asked.

  “I—I must’ve been suffering from that nightmare for years. . . Where’s my daughter?”

  “You weren’t. Your daughter is safe. Your wife is safe,” Lenthean assured.

  The man wept profusely and pulled Lenthean into a close embrace. Lenthean, unsure of what to do, gently patted the man’s back. The boy also noticed his Elementalist armor had faded out of existence once he returned to the mortal realm—at least for the time being.

  “That creature of hell told me you set me free of that eternal torture. I owe you my gratitude.”

  This is so wrong, Lenthean thought. No one deserves to feel the way this man does. Lenthean broke from the man’s embrace. “I never want anyone to suffer the way you have, my friend. I will be the Shadow Elementalist the world deserves, for once.”

  The man wept more. “May the Goddess of Light bless you.”

  “I just need your help with one thing,” Lenthean said.

  “Anything; anything.”

  “Where is the Old Inheritance? Take me to Valdorath, the Elementalist of Light.”

  The guard nodded, and they began roaming the underground prison tunnel system.

  The guard looked dazed and confused walking the tunnels, at times murmuring: “Where was this again?” and “Agh . . . It’s been so long. . . ” Lenthean realized it had felt to the man like many years in that torment. The boy felt sick—so sick to his stomach that he wanted to vomit. He never wanted to hurt anyone. He couldn’t seem to get past he simple fact that he was indirectly the reason for a man’s extreme suffering. It made him remember his mother. It made him remember Zuthar. I can’t believe I had that outrage, the boy remembered. The way they looked at me. . . He remembered his mother and Zuthar trembling in the corner at their son and nephew, levitating in a state of fury as their belongings were being crushed around them. My mom must’ve been terrified. She probably is still terrified that I have not come home.

  He stopped and thought, Mother, I am sorry for all that I have done. I am sorry for not understanding the burden you bore. I am sorry for becoming angry with you and uncle Zuthar. I am sorry for it all. I am sorry.

  Guilt consumed the boy. It had been a subconscious leech eating away at his psyche. What happened to the guard only brought it to the surface for him.

  I’m sorry, Zuthar. I’m sorry, Mother. I hope someday you can forgive me for leaving Fredrickstown. For leaving home. And now . . . I’ve been sucked into the world. I don’t suspect I will ever return.

  “This way!” the guard’s voice trumped the boy’s thoughts. The boy and the guard stepped up to the cell of Valdorath, who was smoking a tobacco pipe.

  Valdorath looked up to them while still puffing. “Oh, if it isn’t Shadowling, coming to save the day,” Valdorath stated.

  “I’m here to bust you out, Valdorath. You are free to go from me. I owe it to you to at least get you out of here.”

  “That you do,” Valdorath confirmed condescendingly. “Have you come to your senses yet?” the old man insulted the boy.

  “About what?” Lenthean asked.

  “About helping these people? The ones who put us in these cells?”

  “I have come to my senses. And I am helping them.”

  “You’re mad. Absolutely mad,” Valdorath said with one final puff and rose to his feet. The guard fumbled through his keys and opened Valdorath’s cell. The old white-haired man emerged from his cell and brushed himself off. He continued to step past Lenthean and the guard, and said in a final retort, “Best of luck to you, kid. I’ve had it with saving the world.”

  The Old Inheritance took the hall and vanished down the prison corridor.

  “He’s kind of. . . cold . . .” the guard said.

  “I know,” Lenthean acknowledged.

  And just like that, his one and only true companion in this journey was gone.

  “Let me take you out the back entrance. It leads to an alley in the old streets of Darthia. The slums, you could say. There you could walk north and find a small side gate to the city. It rarely has guards as it isn’t heavily trafficked.”

  “That works for me,” the boy agreed.

  The large metal door screeched while it opened. The boy and the guard walked down the steep staircase ingrained into the rocky, dirt wall. “And you’re free. Thank you once again, Shadow Elementalist. You have freed me from that torment.”

  “You’re welcome,” the boy said.

  The guard began handing him brown-and-white fabric blankets. “These are some prison blankets I grabbed for you. Keep yourself warm and safe out there. I need to go see my family.”

  Lenthean smiled and motioned with his head for the guard to go.

  The rain began to fall. Lenthean quickly wrapped up in his multitude of blankets to shelter himself from it. The rain picked up more and more until it became a total downpour. The boy trudged up the steep cobbl
estone path, the occasional citizen passing by on horseback or with a cart. These streets were not densely populated. To his right was the city’s border wall, with paths of small boulders and moss and small run-down homes sprinkled sparsely throughout it.

  As Lenthean’s elevation on the trail increased, more and more of the massive city became visible to his left. Catching glimpses of it in between the spaces of some of the homes and alleys, he saw that it was truly a sight to behold under the intense rainfall. Back home in Fredrickstown, the neighboring city was Denduthal. He had thought that city was massive. This city was truly something else—an absolute marvel in size and intricacy.