The Ajoiner Realm (Defenders of Radiance Book 1)

by Rebekah Carroll

  The men mumbled in agreement.

  How does Warren do this? Cassidy hated having someone in charge of him, but he really hated being in charge.

  The day crawled by with unbearable slowness. Raindrops dampened his hair, and after only a matter of minutes, water permeated his armor. Wonderful, the chafing will be absolute murder. Cassidy paused and checked his map, then rerouted their course to compensate for the flooding sure to occur on their current trail.

  As he put away the map, his blood froze. A lumbering shape prowled across their path.

  Bear.

  The Darkness had increased its size, making it nearly as tall as him on horseback. Cassidy reached for his bow and prayed the downpour would block their scent.

  Someone gasped.

  “Shh!” Cassidy hissed, waving his hand to the side.

  Too late.

  The bear jerked its head toward them and roared.

  “Watch out!” Cassidy called.

  The men scrambled as the beast charged. Cassidy had trained with his horse for years and shifted in his saddle, but that didn’t stop the agony in his wounded leg from distracting him.

  “Careful!” Cassidy growled to Dusty.

  The sound of a stag howling turned Cassidy’s attention to the guardsmen. The bear swiped a leg clean off Silas’s stag. Cassidy shot an arrow into the creature’s back. It spun and launched at him.

  Cassidy yelped in fear and pain as he steered Dusty right.

  Whoosh!

  A paw as big as his torso cut the air behind him.

  “Jarodiic, use your magic,” Cassidy barked.

  “How?”

  Cassidy growled as Dusty skirted sideways and away from the beast. “Figure it out!”

  Jarodiic spouted magic gibberish, and trees shot from the ground. The bear snapped a growing tree in half with a mighty paw.

  Dusty whinnied and reared. Cassidy tried to balance in the saddle, but his wounded leg buckled, and he fell to the earth. His heart raced as he threw his arms over his head to protect himself from a falling tree. Crashing leaves and branches slapped him. Then, for a minute, all was silent. Cassidy panted, terrified of how close he’d come to being crushed by a tree.

  “Cassidy!” Jarodiic yelled. “Cassidy, are you all right?”

  Cassidy opened his eyes. Between the branches above him he saw the corpse of the bear skewered by several trees.

  “Agh—I’m fine,” he said, sitting up.

  Jarodiic helped him to his feet. “You sure you’re okay?”

  “I’m fine,” Cassidy said, stumbling toward his horse, who had escaped to a safe distance.

  “If you say so. What now?”

  “Fix up Silas’s mount and keep moving.” Cassidy wiped the rain and mud from his face.

  “What?” Briar sputtered, pulling in front of Cassidy.

  “I said, we keep moving.” Cassidy winced as he swung himself into Dusty’s saddle.

  In the rain, it was hard to tell, but Cassidy thought he felt warm blood pooling in the bandage around his leg.

  “We’ve been at this for hours, it’s pouring rain, and we almost died a second ago and you want to keep going?” Briar asked.

  “You wanted to tag along, remember,” Cassidy said, fighting the urge to rub his sore leg. “You can pout about it, or you can be a big boy and get over it. What’s it gonna be?”

  “Since when are you our mother?”

  “Since you showed me I needed to be.”

  Briar sat, mouth agape.

  “Look, all I want is to get this thing over and done with. I don’t need you chewing on my back.”

  “Briar,” Jarodiic said.

  Briar maintained his glare.

  “Briar,” Jarodiic said forcefully. “That’s enough.”

  Briar snorted at Cassidy before returning to the line.

  Once Jarodiic finished repairing the stag, Cassidy led the way to the spiders’ den. Certain no one could see his face, he closed his eyes, his jaw tightening as he massaged his leg with his hand. The battle had taken its toll, and he desperately wanted to rest, but getting to Vallerie was his priority.

  The bent forest yielded to stone, and the rain stopped. Cassidy led the team to a rocky flat at the base of the mountain. If he had read the map right (which he had), they were in the right place, but an unseen energy seemed to bind his lungs.

  “Be on your guard.”

  Every muscle in Cassidy’s body coiled tight, and silence echoed through the men.

  “Dismount your stags. On this stone they’ll make too much noise,” Cassidy said, dismounting Dusty.

  “I don’t see what you’re so afraid of,” Briar huffed. “It’s just rocks and dirt.”

  “That is exactly why we should be concerned. There hasn’t been a single sound since we got here.”

  “There’s nothing here,” Briar said dismissively.

  “Spread out and look for a cave.”

  Cassidy snuck over the thick stone slabs. If the arachnids were still here, he wanted to avoid fighting them. He jumped to a slab a few feet beneath him, and pain flared along his leg from the impact. He fell to the ground, unable to bear the agony. Bitting his tongue, he tried to stifle his scream. Then a loud yelp, followed by a chorus of laughter, sliced through the air. Cassidy sprung up, searching for the source of the sound.

  His eyes locked on Briar and Meraki.

  Cassidy limped to where they crouched. There, Briar poked something with a stick.

  “And you thought this would be dangerous?” Briar teased.

  Frowning, Cassidy moved in closer. Briar had a spider the size of his thick head pinned to the ground. While large, it wasn’t quite what Cassidy was expecting.

  “These are the ferocious monsters we were so ‘unprepared to handle’?” Briar asked.

  Before Cassidy responded, the ground erupted between Meraki and Briar. A giant brown spider, with bristles coating its body, grabbed Meraki and smashed him into a trio of slimy black spikes protruding from its underbelly. A sickening rip split Meraki open. It happened so fast; Cassidy shot only one arrow into the arachnid’s head before it killed the man.

  “Meraki!” Jarodiic screamed, running to his fallen comrade.

  The ground rumbled.

  “Jarodiic stop!” Cassidy yelled.

  Jarodiic skidded to a halt, but the ground burst open in front of him. He fell, scrambling backward as the beast launched out of the hole after its prey.

  Cassidy snatched two arrows from his quiver and launched them in rapid succession into the joints of the spider’s legs. With a painful shriek, the arachnid stumbled over itself and hit the ground, allowing Jarodiic to rise and slay the creature.

  Silence covered the battlefield until the ground exploded. More spiders lunged through the surface and pulled the men into dark caverns below. Cassidy shot three spiders, but there were too many, even for him.

  “Help me!” Priamos screamed.

  Priamos had fallen, and a large arachnid stood over him.

  “Hey! Over here!” Cassidy shouted, firing an arrow into the spider’s side.

  The spider shrieked and whipped around to charge him. Cassidy loosed an arrow straight into the smallest right eye and lunged to the side as the body crashed to the ground behind him. His leg groaned.

  “Get to higher ground!” Cassidy ordered, clumsily scaling a nearby boulder.

  As Cassidy reached the top, Silas cried out. The man had scrambled toward higher ground, but a spider sprung from below and skewered him from behind. Cassidy shot three arrows into the spider, but both Silas and the arachnid had disappeared.

  Cassidy tried to save the others and drew a lot of attention to himself, but soon he had to focus on keeping himself alive. He dove to the side as a spider lunged his direction. From the corner of his eye, he saw Reth slip off the side of a boulder right in front of a spider. The spider bit into Reth’s neck.

  “Reth!” Brutus howled.

  In a frenzy, Brutus threw himself onto the
spider’s back. Cassidy aimed at the spider, but with its thrashing, he didn’t have a clear shot. The spider and Brutus tumbled into a cave, leaving Reth lying on the ground, moaning in pain. Cassidy cursed under his breath and stepped closer to the edge. Suddenly, a giant spider lurched from the ground. Panicked, Cassidy stumbled to the side, but lost his footing.

  His heart leapt into his throat as he fell.

  As he toppled head over heels into the dark pit, his bow flew from his grasp. He landed on his sore leg. A scream tore through his lungs as his vision went red.

  Gotta focus. He ground his teeth and sat up. The spider responsible for his fall scuttled into the cave after its elusive prize. Cassidy tried to scoot away, but was too slow. With a delighted shriek, the arachnid jumped on top of him. He watched as the trio of spikes burst out of the spider’s under belly.

  17

  W ith lightning speed, Cassidy pulled an arrow from his quiver and thrust it into the spider at the base of the right spike. By his estimation, it was a tender spot.

  He’d estimated right.

  The center spike glanced off Cassidy’s chest plate as the spider reared backward, allowing him enough time to roll out from under the bug and gain his footing.

  Cassidy snatched his dagger from his belt and twirled it daringly.

  The spider took the bait and lunged at him. He dodged to the side, tagging the spider’s rear leg with his dagger. Wounded, the beast’s rage increased. Snarling, it spun around, almost slapping Cassidy with a leg.

  He worked his way close to the spider and hacked off a front leg in a single swipe. The arachnid stumbled back, screeching as it struggled to walk.

  Cassidy dove away from the mess of tangled legs and blood, searching for a new strategy. Less than half a heartbeat lay between him and the spider. Just enough time to launch his dagger into the arachnid’s head and dive away. The spider fell forward, tangling itself in its own legs as it fell dead.

  Cassidy let out a heavy sigh, finally. Why did his foot feel warm? Cassidy glanced down. The bandage around his leg leaked blood that stained his greaves and boot.

  That’s not good.

  He took a step, testing the limb. His knee buckled before he’d put much weight on it. Cassidy caught himself before he fell, but only just.

  That’s really not good.

  Cassidy scanned the cave. His vision blurred around the edges, but he could still see. The only light in the hole came from the steep opening he’d fallen through. The actual cave wasn’t much deeper than the arachnid was tall, and it was filled with bones, webs, and rotten rodent carcasses. Buried in an oversized nest of tacky threads lay a book. At first glance, the pale leather blended in with the webs, but Cassidy caught sight of it because of the smooth texture. He shivered as he approached the nest, and the hair on the back of his neck stood up. Whatever those pages held was ancient and powerful. He didn’t know how he knew that, but he did know why the power felt so wrong. Cassidy cut the sticky strands away from the tome.

  “Cassidy!” Jarodiic called.

  Cassidy turned his back on the cave and made his way out.

  Above ground, the battle had ended and what men remained scurried about trying to regroup.

  “Looks like you dropped something,” Jarodiic returned Cassidy’s bow to him.

  That’s where it wandered off to, Cassidy exhaled.

  Jarodiic looked pretty battered, but not as bad as the rest of his team.

  “Thank you,” Cassidy said, grateful to have his weapon back.

  “Is that what we came all this way for?” Jarodiic asked, nodding at the book under Cassidy’s arm.

  “From what I understand,” Cassidy said.

  Jarodiic frowned. “There’s something…unsettling about that thing.”

  “Your council demanded we get it,” Cassidy huffed. His body felt sluggish. He shook his head to clear it. Focus on getting back to Val.

  "How many of your men do you have left?”

  “Seven,” Jarodiic said, shaking his head.

  “When will you be ready to ride?” Cassidy asked. Thinking was getting harder.

  “All the men are wounded. Vidarr and Priamos are in the worst shape, but give them a few days and they’ll be all right.” Cassidy’s head felt tingly.

  “You!” Briar growled, storming toward Cassidy.

  Briar threw his fist into the side of Cassidy’s face. Pain flared along his jaw. Jarodiic tried to intervene, but Briar shoved him aside.

  “Three of my friends are dead because of you!” Briar swung a second time, but Cassidy caught Briar’s hand and deftly secured his arm behind his back. A swift kick to the knees forced the man to kneel in the dirt. Cassidy’s ears were ringing, but he ignored it.

  Have to get to Val.

  For several seconds, Briar flailed, trying to free himself from the trap, but he couldn’t.

  Cassidy inhaled, bringing a bit of focus back to his mind. “I warned all of you that you would die if you followed me, but you insisted anyway. Some of you survived, be grateful for that.”

  Cassidy released the livid man and watched him leap to his feet and spin around, glaring at Cassidy.

  “You better watch yourself, archer,” Briar spat.

  “Might want to take your own advice.”

  Briar stormed off, rubbing the arm Cassidy had twisted. Cassidy relaxed his shoulders, he doubted he’d be able to stop the man again in his current condition.

  “Apologies, Cassidy. There will be consequences,” Jarodiic said.

  “None powerful enough to temper his rage.”

  Jarodiic let out a heavy sigh. “True. So what’s our next move?”

  Cassidy glanced over the cluster of men. They looked as if they’d been to the depths of hell, and the exhaustion in Jarodiic’s voice told a story all its own. The strain of battle had worn down the mage far more than he would ever admit. It would take days just to dream about reaching the marsh. Days that Cassidy didn’t have. What would Warren do? Cassidy’s brain was too muddled to think.

  “Go,” Jarodiic said.

  “What?”

  “You don’t have time to wait for my men to recover. When you get back, send a message to Commander Konahrik. Tell him what happened and request that he send aid,” Jarodiic said.

  Cassidy suspected he knew Jarodiic’s plan. It was dangerous—borderline idiotic.

  “Don’t tell me you’re planning to use the tunnels as a safeguard.”

  “It’s our best shot at surviving.”

  “The chances of surviving a single night out here are slim. Even with the fear surrounding this place, I doubt you’d last long.” “Then you’d better get moving. Or no one will survive.” Cassidy opened his mouth to argue, but closed it.

  “Fine,” Cassidy said. “But stay in the caves until help arrives. Our presence probably provoked the curiosity of nearby creatures. If they don’t see you, maybe you’ll have a chance.”

  “Will do. Now get going,” Jarodiic said.

  Cassidy let out a short whistle, bidding Dusty to come to him, and swung himself into the saddle. Dizziness slapped him. It took all his strength not to topple off the steed.

  “Ride hard,” Jarodiic urged.

  He nodded, kicking Dusty forward.

  Cassidy charged under trees, over hills, through streams, and deeper into the forest, hoping he would make it back in time to save Jarodiic’s team. He’d misjudged the courageous group of men by assuming they were nothing more than commoners. Though they lacked the skill of the men he had trained with, they fought with their hearts and refused to stop, even when fighting meant death.

  He’d only been riding for half an hour when he realized he was about to fall out of his saddle. He straightened himself with a groan, then tugged Dusty’s reins, slowing the horse. He wanted to see Val again, but she’d kill him if he didn’t take care of his leg.

  After positioning himself in the saddle so he could reach his leg, he pulled a clean bundle of cloth from the saddlebag and woun
d the bandage over his soaked one. That’s the best I can do for now. He cast a quick glance around but saw nothing familiar. Cassidy checked the map. According to it, he had followed the right track. As he started to put it away, his gaze touched the pale book. Something about it called to him. Overwhelmed with curiosity, he sat, gazing at the blank cover. He flipped the book open.

  Dusty panicked and threw him from his saddle, but Cassidy hardly noticed as he hit the ground. Seas of strange black characters swam across the pages. He didn’t understand any of it, yet he understood all of it at the same time.

  The world around him transformed into a gruesome image. Horrific war raged between the races of men and filthy dark creatures. The beginning of the war with the Darkness. The ear-splitting screams of the surrounding men assaulted him. He covered his ears, but the wailing only worsened. Black flames cut across the land, consuming all in its path. In the blink of an eye, the war vanished and he stood in the center of a desolate city torn by flames. Several black, shriveled trees, bent with misery and abuse, sprouted from the ash-covered earth. Burned corpses and charred skeletons lay devastated on the ground.

  What is this?

  Cassidy ran, trying to find his way out of the nightmarish scene, but everywhere he turned, he only saw ruins. A thunderous cracking came from behind him. He spun around and saw the source of all nightmares. A monster stalked toward him from within smoke. Cassidy swallowed and shuffled backwards. The humanoid towered over him, its bare chest reddish and decorated with black markings.

  Cassidy stumbled, suddenly realizing where he was—he was in the Realm of Chaos.

  This is bad.

  “You trespass here, Ajoiner dweller,” the tyuial said through four mandibles.

  “Where is here?” Cassidy asked, trying to ignore the six backward curving horns on the creature’s head.

  Cassidy had heard rumors that tyuials skewered their prey on their horns to bathe in its blood.

  “This is the plane of Chaos. I am Atax-zauul, its keeper, and as such, I am charged with dealing with trespassers. What brought you to this place?”

  Cassidy cursed. Gotta escape. Think, think, think!