The Fall of Ossard ot-1

by Colin Tabor

  Sef could feel something of what was happening, becoming restless beside me and afraid. I tried to twist his silence into an endorsement.

  Surely I needed souls for power, otherwise how was I to best Kurgar and get my family back? There was also my grandmother to deal with before I could free Marco and his wife and daughter.

  In that feeding I claimed six more. Of them, five had been promised to others, and I could feel the celestial shift in anger as larger entities turned to see who dared steal their own.

  The fear of being caught by such powers saw me finally calm. I could feel myself stepping back from a crazed binge, one that would see me drink of all the souls in the square. Lost to such madness, I’d even sup on Sef.

  The thought both sobered and disgusted me.

  I said, “Let’s go, Kurgar’s already claimed the Lord’s Residence. They’ll be there with him.”

  Sef nodded, his eyes wide as we landed in the square.

  Few combatants noticed us, most too busy in their own struggles. A smattering raised weapons against us, but I just snarled to see them drop.

  I’d fed some more!

  But I hadn’t meant to…

  This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. I came here for Life, not as Death’s servant!

  I grabbed Sef to drag him forward, trying to remain focused on my purpose and get out of the square.

  He flinched at my touch.

  The crowded battlefield parted before us to reveal a path of blood-slick cobbles, it all lit in amber by the flaring light cast from the city’s countless flames. About us rang the clash of metal amidst the crunch of breaking bones, the tearing of flesh, and the screams and moans of the dying. This was the bleak world the old gods wanted; one where souls were quickly claimed.

  Sef pleaded, “Juvela, you’ve got to control yourself. I can see what you’re doing, and if you’re not careful you’ll become just like our foes!”

  He was right, but was it already too late?

  The further we moved, the more we escaped the battle’s heart and came into a strange kind of peace. It was dotted with exhausted Reformers who smiled and quietly celebrated, despite their wounds and fatigue.

  We passed through them to stop at the base of the Residence’s steps. Ahead of us, at the centre of the rising stairs, spread a pool of blood being fed drip by drip from a plump and robed body hanging from the balcony. Bloodied and burnt, with arrows sticking out of it, it slowly twisted and turned in the smoke-heavy breeze.

  It was Benefice Vassini!

  The body twitched – life remained in the poor man!

  I looked into the celestial to see bonds of power humming about him. The casting was a curse, it blocking his soul from breaking its last links to his mortal form. The cultists had done it to torment him.

  Unbelievably, a child played at the edge of pooled blood. Next to her, a slim but tall man dragged his own fingers through the congealed mess as it dribbled down step by step. Horrified, I moved to stop him, but at the same moment he stood and turned while rubbing his bloodied fingertips together.

  The air chilled.

  By the flaring light of Ossard’s fires, I could see that he was neither Flet nor Heletian, but Lae Velsanan.

  He looked up to the Benefice, his spell breaking the bonds entrapping Vassini’s soul. The dangling form shuddered, and then gave out a final but relieved moan.

  I turned back to the Lae Velsanan, but he was already disappearing into the crowd. His magic tasted familiar – it something of Life. He was an ally, if a mystery, perhaps something for another time.

  Holding Sef’s arm, I stepped forward to skirt the pooled blood and climb the stairs. It was time to get my family and deliver justice to Kurgar.

  25

  The Residence

  The great timber doors stood open at the top of the steps, yet I had to stop and steady myself against one of them as I tried to deal with my roiling power.

  I looked back across the square. It had seemed so chaotic only moments ago, but now I could see that most of it was already in the Reformers’ grip. The Loyalists still fought on in isolated pockets, outnumbered, and being cut down. Their only organised resistance stood to ring the Cathedral, but even that force was being overrun and wasted.

  The Loyalist defeat was so certain a thing that many Reformers turned from the fight. Their leaders directed them to clear the cobbles of bodies and prepare for the building of a great pyre, while behind them, from the direction of the port, a convoy of timber-loaded carts began to come into the square.

  The ritual?

  They were quick with their work, their hurry nagging me to also move. Beyond them, I noted, the eastern sky was brightening.

  I lent hard against the door, trying to deal with the power boiling within me. It was caustic and difficult to handle, particularly now that it mixed with my excitement as I closed in on my family.

  Sef put a hand to my shoulder. “Are you alright?”

  I could only give him a nod, as speaking would have revealed the truth.

  “Are you sure?”

  I closed my eyes and nodded again, but this time concentrated on calming myself. After a deep breath, I pushed off from the door to open my eyes and said, “Let’s go.”

  Sef’s worry lifted into surprise, him staring at the woodwork I’d been leaning against. I turned to look.

  Spreading from where my body had touched its polished finish ran the swirling images of white roses. Green leaves and shoots also ran through the decoration, all of it tinged with the red health of new growth.

  Sef whispered, “The Lady of the Rose, that’s what they call you!”

  So many things were happening to me, and there was still so much more to learn. All I could say was, “Better that than the hag of oleander.”

  Sef smiled and gave a soft laugh. “It’s a measure of your power. You’re ready.”

  I blushed, knowing the truth of where so much of my power had come from – the souls I’d stolen.

  What was I doing?

  Ashamed, I promised myself; I’d not steal another, never again. I took a deep breath and tried to hold on to my calm. “Sef, with you by my side, I can do anything.”

  The entry hall spread before us with a layer of ash and litter covering its marble floor. Likewise, the walls’ rich wood panelling had already been defaced with obscene carvings and angry scrawls.

  I whispered to myself of courage and promised to be true to Life…

  But the hunger was still there despite my gluttony. It ached deep down in an empty place, sending up giddy shivers of longing…

  No, I’d be strong. I had to be. Feeding on stolen souls was the path to addiction and submission to Death.

  Yet that hunger now lurked within me, and was always going to be there. The damage was already done…

  No, control and strength would see me through. If I took one more, it’d only lead to another, and then another two.

  But it had felt so good, and the power harvested could ensure my family’s escape. Surely, just one more soul wouldn’t lead to addiction? I could control it, and besides if it were Kurgar’s, it would merely be a kind of justice…

  No, I couldn’t!

  But what if I needed that extra power to rescue my family?

  No!

  But to come all this way, only to fail because I didn’t have the power needed…

  Well…

  Just one, just to seal the rescue…

  Well, just one, but then never again.

  And, as we advanced across the entry hall, I noticed that I was drooling.

  No one came to stop us, not at the entry, nor in our passage through the hall. When we reached the stairs we both paused before beginning our climb, knowing that Kurgar would be in the Lord’s office, at the traditional hub of Ossard’s power.

  Noise came to us from above as we ascended. Footfalls and slamming doors, people rushing from room to room; meetings, discussions, and of course some looting.

  How qui
ckly they’d taken this place.

  We came to the first landing, Sef with his sword drawn, and me with my determination. I shivered as I wiped saliva from my chin.

  A voice came to us from down the corridor, a hard thing followed by heavy footfalls. “Stop! What’d you do here?”

  Sef and I turned to face the speaker.

  A man stepped forward with his sword out, moving to block our path. He looked to be a Kavist from his arms and armour, with another stepping up behind him to back him up.

  Sef said, “Let us pass my friend, our business is not with you.”

  The first man frowned as the rhythm of more footfalls sounded from further back. “Your business is with us if you’re here.”

  I said, “We’ve come to see Kurgar, and that’s something we’ve done easily enough before.”

  “Before you turned half of Newbank against him!” the lead Kavist growled, and then he addressed Sef, “Brother, you’ve turned your back on Kave!”

  Sef shuffled uncomfortably.

  The Kavist’s fellow snapped, “It’s to be expected! If I’m not wrong, this isn’t any brother of mine, he’s Sef, the lone man of Kaumhurst.”

  Sef grew tense, but I had no time for taunts and bravado. I said, “I’ll not be refused.”

  The footfalls behind them grew louder, before the silhouette of another hulking warrior showed in the dim light.

  The lead Kavist, ignoring the latest arrival, sneered. “You can’t pass.” And he raised his blade to let it hang in the air between us.

  The third Kavist stepped into the light; tall and broad, yet fresh-faced. It was Cherub.

  Sef smiled with relief. “Cherub, please, your friends are holding us back from an important meeting with Heinz Kurgar?”

  Cherub looked to Sef and then to me. Finally, as he blushed, he dropped his gaze to the floor, not willing to act.

  I growled, “Kurgar took my family, and I will have them back!”

  But the lead Kavist had his own anger brewing to make his voice raw, “Normally I’d not hit a woman, but today I’ll make an exception.”

  Sef took a step forward. “You’ll be dead before you do!”

  The Kavist put on a grim smile. “Says you?”

  I stepped between them and raised my hands between their drawn swords. “Damn you, I’ll not be delayed. I’ve no fear of you – or ending you either.”

  His eyes flickered between Sef and me. “Such big words for the witch of woe.”

  “I’m no witch.”

  “Then what are you?”

  “Let me show you, and if I’m greater you may withdraw?”

  He laughed. “I’m no fool! Get out of here, or I’ll skewer you!”

  But I stood my ground between him and Sef and their steel. I let my hand slip to the breast of his armour.

  He started at my touch, but stilled as if to dare me.

  Sef hissed, “Juvela!” He thought I was going to feed again.

  I whispered to the Kavist, “Can you feel the cold?”

  A smirk came to his face as he shook his head, but then it faded.

  In that other world, I’d begun to put pressure on his soul. Small tears opened in its defensive shell, and into those fissures seeped the void’s chill.

  His gaze dropped to my hand, to where it rested on his armour, then it rose to again meet mine.

  “I’m no witch, nor charlatan, or even a cult priest, I’m much more than any of these. I’m a direct child of Schoperde, the goddess of life…”

  And then I began to draw his soul’s energy into mine.

  He broke into a sweat as his skin paled and his lips began to tremble and go blue.

  “…and because of that lineage…”

  His eyes watered, and in them his life-light began to flicker.

  “…I can take life away…”

  He began swaying on his feet as his eyes rolled back to show their whites.

  “…but also return it.”

  I gritted my teeth as I stilled the flow, then reversed it.

  It hurt. Oh by the gods it hurt! My hunger, which had bucked at the taste of his soul-stuff, now raged at being deprived.

  I hissed, “I’m no witch; I’m something so much more than that. If I wanted to kill you, you’d already be dead, but I just want to pass you by.”

  The colour came back to his face, his eyes righting themselves as the tremors died on his lips. He wasn’t a priest, but he knew he’d just come close to death. With a quick swipe of his arm, he knocked my hand from his armour, yet with the contact broken his show of life faded. Silent, he just stared at me as he fell back into the shadows to hit the wall, and then slumped to the floor.

  Sef and I went forward, passing the others as we headed for the Lord’s office.

  The door was closed, but the low drone of voices could be heard. I looked to Sef to see him nod, so I threw open the door and walked in.

  The office sat as it always had, a large room heavy with ornamentation and wood – and now packed with Reformers. Kurgar sat back in Lord Liberigo’s chair, comfortable at my father-in-law’s desk. His voice stilled at my entrance, after having been busy issuing orders for a ritual that with the passing of so much of the night was now quite near.

  He looked to me and said, “Juvela…”

  I strode past startled faces, too many of them familiar; including the Kavist high priest, Seig, and the Cabal’s Mauricio.

  Had they all been a party to the city’s fall? How long had they toiled to claim their positions and make their plans reality?

  Did it matter now?

  I just wanted my family, and to leave this bloody mess behind. “Kurgar, you know what I want.”

  Sef followed with his sword out.

  Mauricio said, “His title is Lord Kurgar, the Lord of Ossard.”

  “Lord of the damned!”

  Kurgar raised a hand. “Now, Juvela, really, you’re in no position to be making demands.”

  “I hold every position!”

  “Juvela, I need your family, and I’ll not be giving them up.”

  “I don’t think you understand what you’re up against.”

  He smiled, a cold light sparkling in his eyes. “No, Juvela, it’s you who doesn’t understand.”

  My perception drifted between worlds as I unrolled tendrils of power to entrap his soul and bend it to my will. Before me his soul lay; simple and innocuous, young and newborn.

  And then the image shifted – its truth revealed.

  Sef tensed beside me.

  And Kurgar’s true soul spread before us, bloated with power and the countless souls he’d devoured.

  “Yes, Juvela, you’re not Ossard’s only avatar. I’ve eaten much these past days, but also over the seasons and years.”

  I just stared at him as my anger boiled.

  Was I to be robbed of the chance to free my family, again?

  I said, “But you’re serving the old gods, what of the new and our duty to Schoperde?”

  He laughed. “While I’m an avatar, I’m not what you think.”

  “Who’s your master?” I demanded.

  “You really are ignorant. It’s true I’m an avatar, newly born and maturing into my own godhood, yet this life came to me not through Schoperde, but from the very gods she wished vanquished.”

  Could the old gods bring forth life of their own?

  “Yes Juvela, they can raise their own. In our world we have no need of maternal Schoperde, not any more.”

  “But look at the death you bring!”

  “And I’m not alone; there are more, and now we gather to celebrate the rise of a new Ossard.” He laughed. “And it’s us against you,” he paused as he dipped into the celestial before returning his perception to me, “you, with barely a dozen souls added to your own.”

  I glared at him, my anger unrelieved and my doubts growing. I’d expected to just walk in, grab my family, and then leave, being all but unstoppable. I’d certainly not expected to be challenged by another av
atar, let alone one stronger. Damn it, this was where fate had brought me, and that being the case, I could only assume that if silent Schoperde was going to aid me then it would be here.

  I swallowed and said, “Schoperde will help me.”

  Kurgar grinned while the cultists and cabalists about him laughed.

  Sef shifted, uncomfortable.

  Kurgar finally joined them to chuckle. “Really, Juvela, do I have to tell you everything?”

  I stared at him, my apprehension stirring.

  He went on, his eyes sparkling as he savoured his words, “Schoperde won’t be coming to your aid.”

  “Of course she will.”

  “What makes you so certain?”

  As calmly as I could, I said, “It’s the only way for Life to win the divine war against Death.”

  Fresh laughter met my answer.

  Kurgar said, “Yes, it would be, wouldn’t it.”

  And then I realised that he knew something very important.

  He shook his head, but his smile didn’t fade. “Juvela, haven’t you realised yet?”

  “Realised what?”

  “The war’s over, and Schoperde lost. She’s dead.”

  Dead?

  I could only stare at him.

  He went on, “The war ended two decades ago.”

  “No!”

  “The last great battles were fought much further back. They left her so weakened that all she could do was linger on while slowly wasting away. It all came to an end only recently. That’s why there’s none of her priests left here and precious few anywhere else. It’s why she doesn’t bestow blessings, and why her faith fails.”

  “This is a trick!”

  He gave a dark laugh. “Look at the Cassaro Valley and the Northcountry; the land’s dying, it treeless and bleak. Life has abandoned this place and the whole of the world, every last bit of it.”

  I hated to admit it, but his words stank of an uncomfortable truth. I wondered though; what of me, how could I have been born of her if she was no longer present?

  Kurgar must have read my mind. “You and the others were her last desperate attempt to win back this world. The very effort of it, of seeding you, is what finally ended her sad and crippled form. We haven’t seen a sign of her since. It seems that she spent the last of her power – her very essence – giving your soul passage here.”