The Year of the Lumin

by Andrew Ryan Henke

  That sounded exactly what it had been like for Noir when he was being controlled with sye. Noir placed his hands on the man’s elbows gently. “Slow down, Assai. What are you talking about?” Despite his question, Noir had an eerie feeling he already knew.

  Assai spoke more slowly and deliberately. “Back when I met you the first time, my mind was being controlled. I felt another person in my head and I couldn’t resist it. It must have been sye. It must have.”

  Noir pulled out one of the chairs at a table. He said calmly, “Sit. Tell me everything.”

  “No,” the man said as if he just realized something new. “There is no time for sitting. They are going to Talik. You must go.”

  “Who? Who is going to Talik.”

  The man then put one hand on the back of his head and looked at the far wall. “My father was a supporter of Captain Grandel. He told me about him and about Talik. I felt the Syeter reading my mind. He searched through my memories for weeks until he found what he wanted. Though I tried, I could do nothing to stop him.” He dropped his hand and looked in Noir’s eyes. “I saw glimpses of his mind as well. His lord has a large band of straghs and he’s sending them to Talik.”

  Ratt stood up from his stool and put his hand on his axe’s hilt as a reflex. Noir looked at Ratt and then back at Assai. He spoke with haste. “When was this? When is he sending the straghs?”

  The man collapsed in the pulled out chair. “That was yesterday. No one would believe me. They all thought I was mad, so I eventually kept it to myself.” He looked up at them with hope. “But I knew you would believe me when I saw you. Please, you must go and warn them that they are coming. Take two of the horses from out back. They are fast. You must go. Now!”

  ~~~

  Noir and Ratt rode the horses as fast as they could in the direction of Talik. Noir had to create a light above their heads to see the path ahead of them. It was now past midnight and both young men felt the dullness of exhaustion creeping into their consciousness.

  Adeel had given Noir very specific directions on how to find his way back to the hidden town. They had already broken away from the main road and into the wilderness. Adeel’s directions consisted of a series of small landmarks leading them through the forest. They would arrive at Talik in a few hours as long as they did not get lost and the horses did not give out on them.

  At one point, as they allowed their horses to walk for a few minutes, Noir looked behind at Ratt and saw him slumping in his saddle with eyes closed. Ratt's horse was following his own, so it posed no problems. “Let him have a quick nap. I fear he will need his energy in a short while.”

  They rode on like this for a while. Noir kept an eye on Ratt to make sure he did not fall from his saddle. He would wake up every couple minutes and make an obvious attempt to stay awake before his chin would fall to his chest again. Then, a hauntingly familiar sound drew his attention to the road in front of him: the faint sound of running bodies and claws digging into the earth. Branches snapped and twigs broke underfoot. They were approaching quickly.

  “Ratt, wake up!”

  The axe seemed to be in Ratt’s hands even before he was aware of where he was or what was going on. He looked at Noir, blinking.

  Noir said quietly but intensely, “Ahead. Straghs. It's gotta be.”

  Then Ratt said with speech slightly slurred from just waking up, “Well, kill the light then. That’s how they’re seeing us.” Noir realized Ratt was right so he stopped the flow of chakra into it and it fizzled out. Noir had no idea how those creatures were able to see anything with that pale skin that covered the area where their eyes should be. With the lux-fueled light extinguished, they were suddenly in complete darkness.

  “Leave the horses,” Noir whispered. “I have a plan.” They both dismounted from their animals and Noir slapped the hindquarters of his animal, making it run forward loudly. Ratt did the same. Then Noir ran off to the right of their path and whispered for Ratt to do the same. “They'll go after the horses.”

  “Good idea, but some of our supplies were on them.” Ratt was right. Noir's second sword, the one given to him by the blacksmith Gonn, was strapped to his saddle. Other supplies such as food were also attached.

  The two walked to the right for a few moments and then forward in the direction they had originally been going. They thought this new path would take them around the side of their enemies.

  Then they heard a series of disturbing noises from ahead and to the left. The horses whinnied and cried. Noir hoped the creatures only desired to kill them and not the horses, though he had a feeling they would kill whatever they desired... if those creatures had desires.

  Ratt said, “They must have found the rider-less horses.”

  Noir replied, “Yes, they’ll be searching for us now. Let’s go.” They moved forward as quickly as they could without making any sound. To their left, they could hear the cracking of sticks under the feet of the straghs.

  The quietness of the creatures was eerie. Then Noir noticed noises coming in their direction, so he pulled Ratt down to the ground. He whispered, “Wait here. If they get close, close your eyes. I'll blind them, then we'll attack.”

  Ratt chuckled nervously, “Heh, they’ve already been closed.”

  The sounds drew closer in the darkness. It was odd hearing no breathing or noises from the creatures other than footsteps and brushing past leaves. Noir knew the straghs would stumble on them soon, so he closed his eyes and embraced the lux within him. He then focused as much lux as he could into a light in the direction of the straghs.

  To Noir's closed eyes, his eyelids glowed red from the sudden bright light. The sound of frantic flailing came from just a few feet away. He quickly let the light die down so he and Ratt could see. “Now!” he yelled to Ratt.

  Noir drew his sword and charged forward. Ratt was right beside him with his axe raised toward the grotesque straghs. The two pale-skinned beasts had their clawed hands to their faces. They never had a chance to see the two young warriors coming toward them before they fell to the ground.

  The forest erupted with motion around them, some near and some far. Sounds of many other straghs crashing through the underbrush rushed toward them. Ratt said between gritted teeth, “Crap. Can you make some sort of distraction?”

  Noir thought fast and created another bright flash of light near where he heard some more straghs. The sounds from that direction stopped moving toward them. He made another flash in the opposite direction which produced the same result. From the sounds they heard, the straghs seemed to be running in random directions. “Now's our chance,” said Noir quietly.

  The two clambered on in the dark in the direction of what they thought to be Talik. The stragh cries started to be heard from farther behind them instead of all around. Soon, Noir felt safe enough to create a small light so the two could find their footsteps in the forest.

  They walked on until all sounds of the straghs could no longer be heard behind them. They found the next couple landmarks and eventually found the small, nearly invisible path that was to lead them into the town. However, they didn't walk directly on the path for fear of it being patrolled. They walked to the side of it in the trees and underbrush, cutting through foliage with their weapons when needed. They proceeded as fast as they could without tripping on roots or getting scraped by brier patches.

  After few more minutes of walking, Noir heard something near them. He grabbed Ratt's arm to stop him and let his light fade out. He heard it again. “Life without freedom is death.” It was a whisper coming from in front of them. Noir recognized the phrase as the people of Talik's creed.

  Noir repeated the words back to whoever said it. Then the voice replied at a normal volume, “Who is it? I don't recognize you.”

  Noir embraced his lux and put it into a light in front of him. He saw three men clad in Talik armor squinting at him through the light.

  Noir said to them, “I am Luxin Noir,” Noir noticed that this was the first time that he ha
d called himself that. “And this is my friend Ratt. We are returning from training with Fafnir.”

  One of the other men said in an accent that he did not recognize, “You’re that Luxin boy!”

  The third said, “We have heard of you, Luxin Noir. Captain Grandel told some of us about you. He said that you would make the difference for us.”

  The first man spoke again. “But now it seems that you are too late.”

  It felt like Noir’s stomach dropped when he heard those words. Ratt spoke up. “Why, what has happened?”

  Noir said, “We heard from a man in Kuli that a band of straghs was headed this way. We met some a ways back.”

  “Talik was hit without warning at about nightfall. There were too many for us to hold the town walls, so we abandoned them. Town protocol says to stay near and destroy the enemies in pockets when we can with the hopes of thinning their numbers and meeting back up with the rest of Talik later.”

  Ratt said, “So Talik is... destroyed?”

  The man with the accent said, “Might as well be. What we saw of it was overrun with the monsters.”

  The first man spoke again. “We have two injured if you would grace us with your gift, Luxin Noir.”

  It took Noir a moment to realize that he meant he wanted him to heal them with lux. “Yes, show me where they are. I will do my best.”

  The man signaled him to follow. Noir started forward and noticed that he had to blink multiple times before things came into focus. The lack of sleep was getting to him.

  The man walked them to a place nearby. Two men were lying on the ground. One wore the hawk crested armor that most from Talik wore and the other wore normal cloth clothes. The one with armor was passed out and had a long dark gash on his right leg. It looked horrible. The other was on his side moaning and coughing through gritted teeth. He had a series of punctures in his side which probably was piercing his lung. The man coughed, “Do him first, Luxin. I am fine for now.”

  Noir nodded then knelt down beside the armored man with the cut first. He embraced his lux and proceeded to heal up the wound as he had done with Ratt's cut arm weeks ago. This man's leg wound was much worse than Ratt's arm, but it was still done much the same.

  As Noir worked, he could feel the effort of using his lux draining away the last of his chakra and physical strength. He fought to not pass out from exhaustion while he worked.

  Noir finished mending back together the damaged tissue and closing up the wound. Then he released his lux for a moment to rest before he started on the other man.

  The coughs of the second man willed him to start again. Noir tried to embrace his lux to heal him. For the first time in weeks, he was not able to grasp it. It was as though the power slipped through his fingers. He tried again and failed.

  Noir knew that if he did not heal the man, he would get worse. Without another Luxin nearby, he could possibly die. Noir focused himself, gathered in all that Fafnir had taught him, and successfully embraced lux.

  As Noir healed him, the effort to keep the power focused in the man's wound was a constant battle. He could tell that it was the last bit of energy his body could put forth. As soon as the tissue was mended and the wound closed up, Noir collapsed onto his face beside the two men on the ground.

  Chapter 17

  One of their own

  As Ratt watched his friend heal the two men, he noticed that it was getting easier to see what was going on. The night was breaking and the slightest hint of blue could be seen in the sky.

  He looked back at Noir. He seemed to be having trouble keeping his balance while he knelt and worked. “He looks even more tired than I thought. Using lux really takes it out of him.” With amazement at the craft, Ratt watched Noir work on the second man's punctures. The row of claw piercings disappeared and the flesh healed to show only scars. As soon as it sealed up, Noir wavered and then fell to the ground next to the man.

  “Noir!” Ratt yelled. He and the other men ran to Noir immediately.

  One of the men jumped up from where he was sitting and said, “What happened?”

  The man with the pierced side that Noir had just healed placed a hand on Noir’s shoulder and lightly shook him. “Is he alright?”

  Ratt turned Noir's body over so he was facing the sky. His eyes were closed, but he could see his chest rising and falling. “He must have passed out. We had been traveling all day and night. I guess healing took the last bit of energy from him.”

  The man who had been pierced by the stragh claws stood up, “We need to let the lad rest.” He put his hand where the wounds had been. “He did a great thing and we should protect him while he sleeps.”

  “I agree,” said the man with the thick accent. “We should protect him until he wakes.”

  The five men quickly gathered pieces of cloth together from their belongings and made a rough bed for Noir. The man who had his leg healed was still asleep.

  As the night sky lightened, the group took to hiding places to avoid being seen. Several times they heard but did not see straghs near them, crunching almost silently through the forest. But later, by the time the sun could be seen hitting the very tops of the trees, a group was heard and then soon seen stalking eerily through the trees toward them.

  As the straghs neared, Ratt could see it was a group of six or seven. However, they looked different than the straghs they had previously seen. These did not have the look of creatures who had not eaten in months. Their bodies were oddly plump and swollen. One soldier hissed, “They’ve fed.” Ratt had heard about these creatures, how they fed, and what they fed on. Ratt shivered. Then they were close enough to Ratt's position that he could smell their stench. It burned at his nostrils and he gripped his axe haft waiting for an opportunity to strike.

  Suddenly, wooden shafts stuck out from the straghs in multiple places. They flailed about wildly and most of them fell. The three that were left standing scrambled to turn and face a group of four men dressed in Talik armor charging for them. On each man's back were a bow and a quiver of arrows. They had their weapons drawn and raised as they ran toward the beasts.

  These four men were not part of the group that was guarding Noir. He watched as the straghs and men clashed together. Piercing claws met iron shields. Ratt decided that he couldn't let these men fight alone. He stood up from his place and charged forward as well.

  The other three armored men from Ratt’s group fell in behind him. As Ratt raised his axe to strike at the back of one of the straghs, he noticed one of the four newcomers. He was a large bearded man with a red and yellow sash over his shoulder. Ratt was glad to see Captain Grandel.

  The men made quick work out of the remaining straghs. Grandel and his men fought with more grace than Ratt had ever seen. These men truly were well-trained warriors. After the straghs had fallen, Grandel stared at the creatures with a look of disgust… or was that a grimace of pity?

  After the group cleaned off their weapons on the foliage around them, Captain Grandel approached Ratt’s group. He greeted each one with a handshake and fond recognition.

  When Grandel reached Ratt and studied his face, he did not recognize him at first. But after a few moments the memory connected and he said, “You’re the young man who stole my horse.” He said it not with anger. “Adeel told me you stayed with Noir during his training.” He looked around as he walked forward. “Where is the lad? Why is he not with you?”

  Ratt answered, “He is resting from exhaustion. We traveled all day and night to get here and it was too much for him.”

  “What of his Luxin training? We have heard no news of it.”

  “He completed it. Follow me and I’ll take you to him.”

  Grandel’s spirits seemed to be lifted greatly when he heard that Noir had finished his training with Fafnir. Ratt and the others led the captain to where Noir lay.

  While looking at Noir, Grandel said to the group of men, “We should let him sleep. We will greatly need his abilities soon. For now, let us take a quick rest
and plan our next actions.” Grandel quickly gave orders to three of the men to take posts around the group to look for attackers. They each immediately did what was asked and the rest sat down to meet.

  Ratt tried his hardest to pay attention and give input where he thought it was relevant. Despite his efforts, he had to repeatedly jerk his sagging head back into consciousness. He had been up for more than 24 hours by that point. Eventually, he nodded off with the talk of men thudding dully in his ears. He was vaguely aware of his body being laid down on the flat ground.

  ~~~

  The man wielded lux to hold his victim in place on the ground. The only thing he did not hold still was the man's head and mouth. He always took pleasure in what a man had to say when faced with imminent death.

  “I don't understand,” the helpless warrior in Talik armor said. “Why are you doing this?”

  The man using lux chuckled as he removed the last piece of his armor and placed it on the restrained man. “Why, you ask?” he said plainly. “Why does anyone do anything? Why did you serve Talik and that fool Grandel for so long?” He stood back up, the last piece of the armor in place.

  “I served Talik because I believe it is what is right.” The man's words became frantic as he saw the dagger being drawn out. “What does that have to do with anything? I don't understand. Why?!”

  The dagger plunged down and found the man’s chest.

  After the wheezes and grunts stopped, the man said with a laugh, “Why?” He knelt down and whispered into the ear of the now lifeless body. “Because that fool Grandel will pay tenfold for the thousands of lives he destroyed.”

  He began the process of changing the corpse's image. It was a talent he had with lux. Most Luxins could do this over time with lots of effort if they ever tried, but he had a swiftness that was unrivaled. When the job was nearly done, he heard the swift and barely audible plodding feet of approaching straghs. They sounded like they were charging toward him in an attack.