The Other of One: Book Two

by Brian G. Burke

  “How very pathetic!” Sidell’s shrill voice said, resounding through the streets. “Given the chance to bolt, yet you plan on hiding from me? So be it! You still may run, of course, and you may hide…but you will not escape! I have ended lives more worthy than yours, and little do you compare to their legendary, albeit pathetic alchemy. Believe me when I say, you have witnessed your last dawn…I only hope it was a cherished one.”

  They approached the other end of the tapering pathway, at the rear of the stables, and our heroes’ devastations multiplied when they saw no place left to go. No place other than back out into the open. And because Sidell was watching out for them, they couldn’t very well turn ‘round either.

  Khrum whispered, “We can’t jusht shtay here! Ya saw the way that monster was rammin’ through those walls earlier on, lad. We’re sittin’ ducks in here ‘n’ ya know it! It’s jusht a matter o’ time!”

  “I know that! But what exactly do you want me to do about it, Khrum?” William grumbled.

  “Think, lad!” the leprechaun barked back.

  “You think!” William snapped crossly.

  With no comeback, apart from a baffled expression, he put in, “Now! It’s not that easy is it? So quit buzzing in my ear for a second and let me see what’s what.”

  Not one of them, not even the Elf, could collect reason enough to conduct some sort of decent plan. They feared that all the behemoth need do was but nose at those rickety walls before the whole lot came crumbling down into nought but dust.

  Just then, within running distance from their current position, William noticed a single mass of since-quenched rubble. It was piled up at the end of a high wall, smeared in dense patches of shadow. The gateway was on the other side. He knew that if they made it to this debris unseen, they could probably make it out of the city once and for all, under the cover of shade. But then he heard the drippings of wet paws on the far end of the stables. She was coming.

  “That’s our way out! Over there!” William whispered, pointing out the gap. “The fire seems to have died down in that spot. So if we stay to these shadows, we might be able to make it over the mound without being seen!”

  “Yes! Yes! That could be our best bet!” Icrick added, having perceived the same.

  “Fine,” Wren whispered timidly, “but don’t anybody make a racket. I’ve suffered enough trauma for one day and I want to have at least a few wrinkles on my face before I get buried six feet under.”

  “Don’t worry, Wren. I’m too scared to even blink right now, let alone make a racket,” William smirked.

  Distressed, but at the same time vulnerable, she replied, “Good. So long as you know that. I’d hate to have to boot you in the crotch if you did! But you wouldn’t do that to me now, would you, William?”

  “Erm….” he hesitated, when Khrum coughed into his fist, “Married! (cough-cough)…ahem!”

  Not taking kindly to the leprechaun’s sarcasm, William motioned at him to hush. Clearly the pressure was getting to her, hence the hostility. And the lad knew, better than most, how awful it was to be so anxious. So he assured her, wholeheartedly, that he would be on his best behaviour, and that no harm would come to any of them. Relying on his oath as usual, she smiled, and held his arm with both angst and affection.

  William took a peek out into the empty courtyard. The coast was clear, so, crouching low and as cautiously as ever, he stole towards the shadows. The others waited and kept an eye out, before pursuing with equal care. Yet the events to follow came as something of a shock to our William.

  After finally reaching the shaded wall, he went to press himself against the old brickwork, to hide. But then something happened that he nearly squawked. He tumbled right back into the shadows. What peculiar sorcery was this? He thought he’d slipped into a darkened doorway, but, when he finally stood up, he discovered that his whole body was covered in pure shadow. Then it all made sense.

  “Put a gift in my cloak, Percy, did you? You really are a genius!” he smiled, immediately twigging the cleverness of his friend’s Shadow-water.

  How all the more indebted he was, just then, for Percy’s allegiance.

  With that, William gave a pssst to the others. They bounded to the sound of his voice. Once close enough, William lunged out and pulled them in, one after the other.

  “WHO’S GRABBING ME?” Icrick squealed, then distinguished the sound of William’s voice.

  “Be quiet, Icrick!” said he, with Wren behind him, and the others thereafter.

  Shushing himself out of dire puzzlement, Icrick babbled, “Of course…Shhh! Shhh! I’ve stopped! I’ve stopped!”

  William then whispered these careful instructions, “Listen up! Grab onto one another…all o’ you! Right now! Because if I get separated from this chain, then chances are, the magic won’t work properly, and someone will be exposed. Like Percy said. So be sure to hold on tight.”

  They did as he asked and there they stood, all linked together; a gang of living shadows, gawking at themselves in stupefaction as they waited, unknowingly, upon the brink of possibly the most cunning escape that Sidell and her behemoth had ever known…all going to plan, that is.

  “Well blow me over, would ya look at this!” Khrum chuckled, inspecting his ghostly attire. “Talk about discoverin’ this magic at the right place ‘n’ at the right time. God bless that freaky little man. I knew there was somethin’ about Percy that I liked. Crazier than a box o’ frogs, but shtill as brainy as they come.”

  “Impressive, to say the least.” Icrick said. “Percy has really outdone himself this time. And yet we cannot thank him for it. How absurdly impolite of us.”

  “How about we commend he who is responsible at a later stage?” said Stell. “As it stands, I suggest we utilize this guise to our advantage, right now, and depart this dreadful place before something else goes amiss!”

  In favour of Stell’s suggestion, they crept alongside the wall in their newfound shadow form and made for the much-sought-after freedom just beyond that one little mound of nearing rubble.

  Were it not for the fading ring of engulfing fire permitting vivacity to the bobbing shadows, in all probability, they would have been exposed. But because the darkness danced, William and his friends remained hidden, and they found their way under the shadow-line with little effort. But the behemoth’s nose was sensitive to fear, and this, in turn, kept its eyes sharp.

  The creature returned to the courtyard, probing about with its curious snout. Its master, too, was surveying with a vigilant glare; sometimes sniffing the wind, also. Noting her vigilance, they grew all the more heedful; slowing their paces, and occasionally stopping as she searched closer to their shadow-wrought veil.

  Sidell amplified the surrounding blaze, to aid her in her hunt. This extended more unwanted light to their position. This meant less shadow, and ever so slightly, they became more exposed; seven strange-looking wraiths, with empty eyes, skulking through the dying darkness.

  Khrum, who was paranoid about being seen, yanked upon Icrick’s shoulder hair and whispered, “Get on with it! Hurry up ‘n’ move, for cryin’ out loud! She’s onto us! She’s onto us!”

  He may have been small, but the leprechaun was extraordinarily strong for his height, and the sting of him tugging on Icrick’s hair was enough to make him yelp, “Idiot! That hurts!”

  It ruined everything.

  Nalpaltharán was drawn instantly to Icrick’s movement.

  The behemoth reared high onto its hind legs, before driving brutishly at them. They’d almost arrived at the smouldering mass, so William sprang from the shadows—abandoning his clever veneer—and landed out in the open again. Not a second too soon, either, for they were almost out of shadow anyway. Lucky for them, Sidell was at a reasonably safe distance…but gaining fast.

  Running for the slope of debris, William beckoned, “Get a move on! Hurry! She’s catching up with us.”

  “Won’t she follow us?” Wren panted, as she sprinted along.

 
Bouncing about on Icrick’s back, Khrum squeaked, “That’s a chance I’m willin’ ta take! At the very leasht we’ll be out o’ this dump.”

  What a blessing it was, to finally see the fringes of that horrific metropolis so extremely close. Within arm’s reach. They could practically taste their freedom and, heedless of being hunted or not, at least they would no longer be bound by the confines of that dreaded Barren City, like Khrum said.

  But Sidell was a step ahead of their game. Such that they never even had the chance to negotiate so much as the foot of that mound, much less make it to freedom.

  Skidding to a standstill, the witch stretched out her gangly arms and chanted, “Wuìm ala na ràch mò Neàma!”

  Enmeshing her foes within an unseen spell, like a wrangler lassoing a tiny herd, our heroes were thrown together into a bunch, unable to budge, with their limbs were clasped firmly to their sides.

  “You…are…mine!” she grimaced.

  “We’ll not give up without a fight, Sidell. That I promise you.” Stell winced, as they floated closer to Sidell’s feet. “We still outman you, and we are ready for anything you throw at us.”

  Poignant was the witch’s cackle as she declared, “No, I outman you in every aspect, my dear!”

  “Really, yeah?” Khrum squirmed. “Where’s your army then? Coz all I see is a corroded aul’ granny sittin’ on some fool-of-a-yoke with wings.”

  Just then, Sidell fell conscious to a certain implement in her presence. An object which had somehow eluded her till now. An object that retained all the subjects she would ever need to demonstrate her power to the leprechaun and his party. Those of evil spirits. Then she sensed something else. A newfound fascination with the boy in her presence.

  “YOU!” she sneered.

  Thérn rattled in his scabbard, and elevated into such a seizure that the boy’s cheeks rippled like pink jelly. She was after his sword.

  “And what’s this?” Sidell smirked deviously. “Fresh souls, just for me?”

  Launching from its sheath by means of her devilish power, Thérn skewered itself into the dirt several feet away, and a brilliant green light surged from its blade.

  Fearing that the prophecy may not hold true without his weapon, William struggled in vain while crying out, “NO! THÉRN! GIVE ME BACK MY SWORD!”

  Did Sidell oblige? No. From the webbed cracks caused by his tightly planted blade, the ground split in two, and as the splaying crevice roamed its jagged way towards the defenceless party, fingers of white fire intensified within, teasing the open air as they spat. Thérn’s burning radiance cast itself back into the red chasm as, one by one, its dark prisoners clawed their way from the fissure to find residence once again in the land of the living.

  They were not of full manifestation, but they were still quite real. Half-formed anomalies of dripping slime and decaying flesh. First came Gremlins, then the Devil Hounds, and evil Trolls of old, all of whom lingered in spirit-form after escaping the prison of Mysun’s legendary steel.

  “Here is my army, you swine!” Sidell stated, while, surrounding her now, were those ghastly apparitions.

  The slithering spectres flanked William and his friends, ever watching them through dead eyes and beastly grins.

  Other than writhe and bellow from within Sidell’s invisible shackles, there was nothing more they could do. They were truly vulnerable for the very first time in their mission.

  “First you shall watch your friends perish, boy!” Sidell sniggered, signalling at her foul underlings to close in. “Then, after I myself carry you beyond the reaches of all imaginable pain, you shall pay a visit to my master. Oh, he will give you a warm reception indeed.”

  Frothing at the mouth and shrieking horribly, like they themselves were suffering a most heartless torture, the unholy creatures of Thérn’s bane furthered their approach, with one particular Gremlin lifting his ragged claw to behead the pitiful Grogoch.

  “IF YOU SO MUCH AS TOUCH A SINGLE HAIR ON HIS HEAD, I’LL RIP YOUR FINGERS OUT, ONE BY ONE. YOU MARK MY WORDS!” Wren threatened, as the Gremlin’s bulging eyes lavished in the fear of the shivering Grogoch before him.

  “This is it! We’re as good as dead. Finished. Oh, why must I go this way? I know I was dead once before, but why must I go again?!” Crosco blubbered, and Ifcus was too frightened to do anything but stare blankly into the life which was now flashing before his eyes.

  The slimy Gremlin drew back his arm, with a snarling, twitching lip, in readiness to swipe at poor Icrick. And as her minion slashed, Sidell’s smirking eyes were quickly dismayed by the sight of that same Gremlin exploding into embers before taking to the waking winds.

  She perceived as the bleak skies opened up to a blitz of screaming fireballs. What was the cause of this? The skies flared ruthlessly as hundreds of blazing tails rained down upon them. And yet, none of them came next to near William or his comrades.

  A ferocious boom ensued. Something of immeasurable speed was tearing its way through the skies, faster than anything which had ever been conceived by man or magic.

  The bombardment of mysterious bolides smote the earth until every last one of those vile apparitions were annihilated. Each time one fell, its remains would bluster into the now furious gales, before returning to the custody of Thérn’s steel, ending their reign exactly where they began.

  “What’s going on? Where’s this fire coming from? And this wind?” Wren yelled, through the uproar of ghosts, explosions, and blaring gusts.

  Seconds thereafter, the blitz waned to but a mutter, when there came an ear-splitting thud from just beyond the surrounding fires.

  A figure, wholly composed by the very blaze which Sidell had encumbered them with, strode out onto the courtyard.

  Only when his hide of flames lessened, could they discern a man. His face, down, his stride, strong. His clothing, unspoilt by the inferno, wavered as an unearthly heat simmered from the man’s own core. It could only have been that he himself was, somehow, forged by some inner fire. A blaze unseen by those who looked upon him. An innermost elemental magic which only he could conjure and command.

  As he descended the scorching mass toward them, they noticed something else on his shoulder. An intrepid little creature. A Poppum, to be exact.

  “Redmun!” Sidell hissed, as if welcoming the unwelcome. “How nice of you to join us, after all this time.”

  The mentioning of that name brought light back into their hearts, let me tell you.

  His eyes, now uncovered, burned blue. And he waited amidst the company of his eternal foe to address his allies, giving nothing to olden fears. For fearless of her magic was he. So confident in his own abilities that he permitted this reprieve before confronting her. He could afford to dawdle now, and Sidell knew it. She even feared it.

  She released her victims to the ground with a thud. Rubbing their aching limbs, they were grateful to still be alive. Icrick was more so relieved that no harm had come to the Symphogram.

  “Redmun!” William smiled, overjoyed to see his old teacher again. “Are we glad to see you!”

  To Pew, The Head otherwise exclaimed, “FERRET FACE!” only to clam up again.

  Pew still gave him a stern thumb’s up, followed by a hearty wink.

  He looked bolder now, that little fellow; attired in some manner of bronze mail about his head and back, which Redmun had likely given him for protection in the many faces of danger.

  Moving cautiously in, Sidell threatened, “This boy is mine! Back away, warlock, or I will take more than your eyes this time.”

  “Cool your tongue, witch!” Redmun ordered, as a vein of electricity ignited in his leer—an Erethus tic which often occurred during moments of anger or excitement.

  He then pointed at the deck by the behemoth’s feet and conjured a temporary barrier, unseen by the naked eye. This kept their enemy at bay for the time being, until they plotted their next steps.

  “Your eyes.” William said. “You can see now?”

  Something
came over the Erethaoí just then. Curious ponderings when William spoke.

  He set these curiosities aside, and returned, “Another gift of evolution, boy. All the better that I have regained my sight, for I see now that you’ve been making good on your training. Although, venturing this way may have proved a little overzealous. But you are otherwise holding true to your wits, I trust?”

  “Trying to!” William smiled, referring to their plethora of dramas.

  Sidell was growing more and more impatient behind her barrier. It was a natural sorcery of an Erethus core, so she could not influence it with her own power; not without certain implements or ingredients. She tried prodding it with her mace, in the hope of finding a weakness, but nothing happened. This frustrated her even more.

  “REDMUN, of course!” Stell blurted out excitedly, just like Icrick did when they first met. “Now I remember! I remember you from the tales of my people. You are the vagabond who was born from the earth. The mysterious Outlander who seeks to aid our deliverer and cleanse these lands. Some honour indeed.”

  He was thrilled to meet Redmun; a mighty Erethaoí of all things, whose promise was foretold to have a great influence upon William’s struggle. It gave him hope.

  “And I recognise you, master Crimpleton, from my earlier studies,” Redmun answered humbly, ever monitoring Sidell through the enchanted blockade. “Your father once served the ancient lands well, I believe. And now that I see you, your resemblance is quite uncanny. However, we shall continue with our introductions later. Now is neither the time nor the place. Also, I fear the eclipse will be upon us more sooner than not. Thus, master Elf, I bid of you…lead this crew to safety. You have my trust.”

  “The eclipse is comin’?” Khrum gasped in horror. “Already?”

  “All worthy signs have indicated so…yes,” Redmun replied, his spell-hand shaking under the pressure. “Now please, get a move on. I cannot hold her much longer.”

  “But we can help you, Redmun.” William insisted. “Here! With Sidell. There are more of us now. We can fight!”