Nature Abhors a Vacuum (The Aielund Saga Book 1)

by Stephen L. Nowland

  Do not go too close to the edge, the dragon advised. It was quite an effort to catch you in the first place, and I do not want you to again fall into the Aether.

  “Is that a castle I see behind you?” Aiden asked, trying to put all the pieces of this puzzle together.

  Yes, I brought it with me, the dragon said cryptically. Pay no heed to such things for now, your needs are more pressing. What is the last thing you remember?

  “I... was on a battlefield, watching great iron monsters attacking Aielund soldiers at the Battle of Fort Highmarch,” Aiden breathed, his memory distant and difficult to fathom. “But I have dreamt of that over and over for years, and never before has this happened.” He looked at the dragon, its expression cryptic and its eye locked upon him, but no answer was forthcoming.

  “I recall Sayana saying something to me, something about it not being a dream,” Aiden mused aloud, his memories slowly clearing. “In the vision, she screamed when you looked at her. Why? She had done nothing to you -”. He was cut off by the dragon's voice, and was startled by the dragon’s reaction.

  They are not your dreams, Aiden. They are mine, it informed him, its voice betraying powerful emotions within. She was not invited.

  “If they're your dreams, how is it that I see them every few nights? What is going on?”

  I sleep infrequently, as my duty makes great demands of me, the dragon explained, but every few days, I walk in my memories of that last battle and wonder with regret whether or not I made the right choices. You would have had the defenders drop their weapons and run? This was a poor choice – there was no retreat from the battle. I doubt there was any way to avoid the outcome you witnessed.

  “If there is no way to win, why do I see this horrible fight over and over in my dreams?” Aiden asked, imploring the dragon for an answer.

  You dream of it because you were there, Aiden. We are connected.

  “How?” Aiden asked simply, for no other words came to mind. The dragon shifted its weight slightly, and brought forth one of its great claws, clenched tight around an object. Aiden took an involuntary step backwards, but the claw stopped before it reached him. It slowly opened, and within its palm was a glass orb, ridiculously small for the dragon to be holding, but about the right size for a human.

  You recognise this, the dragon stated, observing Aiden's reaction. It is the result of unequalled artifice, beyond the talents of even my own kind. They came in pairs, and allowed for communication across any distance, even across time.

  “The glass sphere,” Aiden breathed, realising the orb he held in that cave years ago was the partner to the sphere being shown before him now. He unconsciously reached for the shard hanging around his neck, but to his surprise, it wasn't there.

  Your possessions remain with your body, the dragon remarked, confusing Aiden more than he already was.

  “But I'm standing right here,” he insisted, patting himself just to be sure.

  You are seeing what I want you to see, the dragon explained. Your real body is not here unfortunately, as it was too damaged to hold your mind any longer. Aiden thought about that for a moment, and then came to a shocking realisation.

  “Do you mean that I'm dead?” he stated dumbly.

  After a fashion, yes. An unfortunate accident separated you from your body. You were wise to keep the shard of the scrying device with you, Aiden, for it was through that I was able to witness your demise and retrieve your energy from the Aether.

  “You've been watching me?” Aiden inquired.

  Infrequently for the past few weeks, I assure you. Prolonged interplanar observation would cause severe side effects.

  “Such as?”

  The weather would be affected, for one. It is complicated to explain, but -

  “It's been raining for weeks,” Aiden interrupted dryly.

  Ah. I seem to have made a miscalculation of the relativistic pressures involved, the dragon replied, drawing a blank look from Aiden. The effects of my probing appear to be far more pronounced than I accounted for. I shall cease such activities immediately, though I must warn you, if I cannot see you, I may not be able to save your life next time.

  “So, I'm not really dead after all?” he asked with a sliver of hope in his voice.

  No, I caught you on your way past. I shall return you to your body. It is a shame that you broke the sphere, Aiden. Had it remained intact, we could accomplish great things together. As it happens you will have to do it alone.

  “Do what alone?” Aiden hedged, not liking the direction this conversation was heading, even as he was relieved to know that he was going to be all right.

  You have many questions, Aiden, but your time here is nearly up. If you stay any longer, I fear your companions may not survive. Suffice to say, I serve a purpose here and my time too, is running short. You will travel to Fairloch, and find a man named Desmond. Speak the name 'Salinder' to him, for he will have means of contacting me again.

  “Wait, what do you mean -” Aiden began to say, but the scene before him was fading even as he spoke. His vision began to swim and he felt fainter as each second passed. The dragon and the ground upon which it lay faded into the violet storm surrounding them, until both vanished altogether. Aiden felt a sensation of falling a great distance and the ground began to coalesce around him once more. This time it was much darker and far, far colder.

  * * *

  Aiden jolted awake, a throbbing pain in his head and a burning sensation upon his chest. He reached a hand up and pulled away the shard from its contact with his skin, for it was glowing red hot, leaving a small burn mark.

  Glancing around, he was dismayed to see it was completely dark. A bitter wind howled across the frozen landscape, chilling him to the bone. His mind was still addled from his bizarre experience, but the memory of his demise was coming back to him faster than he would have liked.

  Reflexively reaching a hand to his head, Aiden felt the place where he had been struck by the axe, only to find the weapon had been removed and the wound closed. His momentary relief was immediately overwhelmed by the realisation that he was lying amidst a pile of bloodied corpses, half-covered by the snow, and his friends were in trouble somewhere nearby.

  Aiden felt a strong measure of guilt and responsibility at their defeat, for even though they had been bickering and arguing with each other since their troubled journey to Ferrumgaard, it was Aiden who had been instrumental in bringing them along on this fateful journey.

  Aiden slowly began to rise, keenly feeling the cold through his body. He wrapped the winter cloak tightly around himself and checked to make sure his gear was still intact. His leather breastplate was gouged in several places, but it would serve for the time being. His sword was gone, which didn't come as a surprise but made Aiden's task that much more difficult.

  Reaching into his backpack, he frantically fished around for anything that might come in useful and pulled out the strange pair of lenses, fixed to a leather strap. He remembered what they were and recalled the night he had gone through the treasures of Ferrumgaard with Sayana.

  A momentary feeling of dread overcame Aiden as he realised she too had been captured, despite assuring her he would protect her. She may well be suffering the most of them all. He quickly pulled the lenses over his head and was instantly able to see across the land around him as if it were lit by a full moon.

  The first problem solved, Aiden then rummaged around and pulled out the heavy sceptre he'd been lugging around in his pack. If he'd remembered it, he might have chosen to leave it behind to save weight, but if he could figure out how to make it work, it might just turn out to be the thing that saved them.

  Setting aside the sceptre, he retrieved the scroll cases and opened one up. The lenses that allowed him to see in the dark didn't provide light however, so he couldn't make out what was written on the scrolls. He briefly considering lighting a torch, but didn’t want to risk being spotted.

  Girding himself for the journey across the frozen wa
stes, Aiden could see heavy footsteps in the snow and knew he was on the right track, yet the prospect of facing dozens, if not hundreds of akoran warriors in order to free his friends weighed heavily on his mind.

  Chapter Eighteen

  He travelled for an hour and more across the snowy ground with the bitter mountain winds assailing his every step. Tiny dots of light began to appear at the edge of Aiden’s enhanced sight - the campfires of the akoran horde. There were dozens of them, and more appearing by the minute. He began to grow concerned Colt and the others had been taken into the middle of a vast encampment, yet as he continued on, the trail veered to skirt around the camp.

  Movement could be seen amongst the campfires. Aiden surmised that only a few unlucky souls were forced to keep watch during the winter chill, which was the sort of good news he had been hoping for. His sight was better than anyone’s, and he was able to move around and keep the enemy at the edge of his vision, remaining undetected.

  Aiden peered through his lenses at the scene before them, seeing two akoran warriors huddled against the cold at the mouth of a cave. Several torches lit the area, and a large brazier flared with fire to help keep the two men warm. The heavy tracks Aiden had followed all this way led directly into the cave.

  Aiden crept in closer, confident he was invisible to the guards for the time being. Getting past them would be a different matter, but thinking of invisibility gave him an idea. He retrieved the scroll cases from his pack once more and unfurled them as delicately as he could, being careful not to tear the ancient parchment. The light from the nearby fires was just enough to read by, and he quickly scanned the contents.

  His pulse quickened as Aiden leafed through the collection. The old wizard from Ferrumgaard had accumulated an assortment of incantations that would transform Aiden into a devastating combatant - for about fifteen minutes. Strength, armour, speed and yes, even the power of invisibility was his to command. The only problem was he’d never tried this sort of thing before. Although he could read the cryptic language that guarded the secrets of wizards, one tiny slip-up could have disastrous results.

  Aiden took a deep breath and read out the first incantation. The words sounded strange and exotic, but were infused with an essence that was difficult to describe, let alone understand.

  As he reached the end of the scroll, the inscribed runes vanished from the parchment, which dissipated through his fingers into a pile of smouldering ash at his feet. Aiden assumed that was supposed to happen, and continued with the next one. He was halfway through reading out the arcane script when the parchment itself ignited with a flash, momentarily blinding him and causing an eruption of flame.

  Aiden dropped the fiery parchment and flattened himself to the ground. He had definitely mispronounced something in that convoluted incantation, and may well have given away his position to the akorans as a result. The guards nearby were looking around, as if unsure what they had seen but they held their positions, which was both a good thing and a bad thing, as they were sure to be even more cautious now.

  Aiden went back to reading the scrolls one by one, and after three more successful incantations he looked down and noticed he couldn't actually see his body anymore. He lifted his left hand in front of his face, yet it was completely transparent.

  With unnatural strength surging through his muscles, Aiden raised the sceptre and translated the odd inscriptions upon its length. He'd encountered most of the arcane markings in his research over the years and it proved to be an easy study. Much like the glove he had found in the mountains, the sceptre was activated by a single command word, at which point interesting things would happen. What, exactly, he wasn’t sure.

  With rising confidence, Aiden stood and began softly creeping towards the cave entrance. His heart thudded in his ears, for although he was truly invisible, the prospect of passing within a few feet of the two fierce guards set him on edge.

  Aiden quickened his pace, keeping tight to the side of the hill into which the cave entrance was set. The akoran guards were watching the darkness intently, no doubt keeping an eye out for any reoccurrence of the strange flash of light. Thus, Aiden was able to move past them without their noticing and over the final few yards, he held his breath in case they might hear his breathing.

  The gusting wind must have helped cover any noise he had made, for he managed to get inside the cave without being noticed. Carefully drawing breath once more, he noticed a piece of torn white cloth on the ground and recognised it was part of Nellise’s robe.

  The cave extended inward for ten yards beyond the entrance before branching off. There was no further sign of akoran guards as yet, something Aiden was silently grateful for. Torches were placed every few yards along the length of the tunnel, making the place seem as bright as day to his enhanced sight. He crept to the junction ahead, and after checking for signs of life, moved to the right. Perhaps it was the result of the terrible cold outside, or an after effect of the near-death experience he'd gone through, but he could barely stop shaking.

  Gathering up his courage, Aiden delved deeper into the complex. He had a distinct advantage, for while they couldn't see him, Aiden was more than able to see everything around him as clear as day. As he moved, he couldn't help but notice the cave didn’t seem natural. He'd seen more than his share of caves recently, and this one seemed more like a purpose-built underground complex, something far beyond the skills of the tribal mountain folk.

  Storing this information away for later, he kept moving through the tunnel. He was growing uncertain as to whether this was the correct path, when a faint echo of a woman’s scream could be heard to his right. With a feeling of dread, Aiden followed the sound through the twisting tunnels, certain that he would have become lost without it.

  The air in the cave was becoming thick with smoke and the smell of roasted meat. Turning a corner, he spied several warriors in a large alcove, lounging around open fires in stone pits and cutting chunks of meat from a deer carcass hanging from a spit over the flames. They chuckled at the sounds of suffering from further in the complex, adding to Aiden’s growing rage. He longed to strike from the shadows and cut them down, but couldn’t risk being overwhelmed in a fight. He had to press on.

  The sound of the tortured woman grew closer as he turned a corner, setting Aiden's neck hairs on end. Fearing the worst, he ran forward and bowled headlong into someone who had been crouched in the darkness. Aiden recovered and held his sceptre high and almost lashed out until he noticed familiar blond locks on the man’s head.

  Pacian, confused and bedraggled, also regained his footing. He looked around in near-panic trying to figure out what had just hit him, with a dagger gripped tightly in one hand. His leathers were torn and he'd discarded his white cloak so he could hide in the darkness. He shivered in the freezing cold of the tunnels.

  “Pacian relax, it's me, Aiden,” he whispered harshly, chafing at the delay. Pacian turned pale and steadied himself against the wall.

  “Aiden? No, it can't be,” he breathed, “I saw you die. Wait, are you a... ghost? Are you haunting me?”

  “Don't be ridiculous, I'm just invisible,” Aiden muttered impatiently. “Look, it's a long story. I'll have to tell you later.”

  “Invisible? How the hell? Never mind. Look, the others are being held about thirty yards further down this passage,” Pacian replied, fear and exhaustion evident in his voice. “I’ve been sitting here trying to figure out how to get past and break everyone out, but there are too many of them.” His voice cracked and it sounded like he was at the end of his rope.

  “Don’t worry Pace, I’ve got this,” Aiden growled in a voice dripping with rage. “Follow me carefully and when you see my signal, attack.”

  “What signal?”

  “You'll know it when you see it,” Aiden grimly assured him, invisibly tightening his grip on the enchanted sceptre. If his guess was correct, it was going to make quite an impression on their hosts. Another scream echoed along the tunnel, prompting th
e boys into immediate action. Aiden took the lead, hoping that Pacian could figure out where he was and avoid accidentally stabbing him in the back.

  The passage opened out into a larger chamber, with half a dozen torches positioned around the walls and small cells with barred metal gates set on either side. There were five warriors standing around outside one of the cells, looking inside as if watching. The rattle of chains accompanied the cries of despair coming from within, and Aiden's rage redoubled.

  Raising up the sceptre, he aimed for the nearest savage and spoke the command word. A brilliant beam of yellow light as bright as the sun sprung forth, striking the warrior's back and cutting straight through to the other side. The power of the weapon instantly unravelled Aiden's invisibility, but he had no further need of it anyway.

  The scorched and blackened body of the akoran warrior dropped to the ground and the rest of his comrades stood there gaping at the grisly sight as Aiden spoke again, this time moving his arm in an arc to the left, catching all of them with the beam.

  Their furs caught fire and their howls could be heard echoing down the tunnel. One of them dropped to the ground, but the rest recovered from their momentary shock, drew their weapons and charged at Aiden. As a people, the akorans lacked subtlety, particularly in their fighting tactics. Aiden summoned his force shield and stood ready to meet their attack.

  He blocked the first warrior's axe with his shield while the other two moved to either side and tried to flank him. A layer of protective spectral armour he had conjured with one of the scrolls flashed with blue light, absorbing most of the force behind the impact.