The Earthrin Stones 2 of 3: Trials of Faith

by Douglas Van Dyke

  Katressa followed her mother as they went to a rope used for emergency descents. The human woman hailed a band of warriors below, and those elves took up a position around the bottom of the rope.

  “You first, my love.” Her mother patted her long black hair, “I will come down as soon as you touch bottom.”

  Katressa held on to the rope tightly. Her mother and an elf below worked the rope around a pulley, quickly lowering the young half-elf to the dirt below. Her feet touched the ground and she backed away hurriedly to allow her mother to use it. When she looked up, however, her voice caught as she saw something misshapen on the walkway above. She pointed in terror, but her voice failed her. Another elf saw the danger and cried out to the woman above.

  Katressa’s mother was good with handling a staff, and she had some small talent with magic. The human threw her arm out towards the demon, followed by a sparkling spray of small detonations. The creature screamed its displeasure but barely shied away from the bursts of flame. Staff and claw met as the alien form towered over the woman. An elf from below managed to put an arrow through the creature’s leathery wings.

  Suddenly, the forest floor became a battlefield as well. A pair of muscular beasts, their forms tortuously misshapen, charged into the knot of elves. Katressa fell to the ground and feebly covered herself with her bare arms as chaos erupted around her. Swords and spears stabbed as the elves fought back. Animal grunts filled the air as muscular claws reached out. Orders were shouted in Elvish amidst the demon howls. Dust and leaves kicked up into the already smoky haze. Katressa rolled in a tangle of legs and claws as all semblance of order was lost.

  She looked up in time to feel drops of blood rain down: her mother’s blood. The demon held the human’s body in its grasp as it lunged forward with fangs. Katressa heard bones crunch and saw blood flowing freely from her mother’s limp form. The demon seemed content to perch on the walkway and continue feasting on its victim. Katressa stumbled backwards as she cried out. The sound of her scream was lost among the battle cries of the elves, the roar of the demons and painful shrieks from those injured.

  For uncounted eternal moments Cat sat trembling amidst the rolling carnage. The young maiden refused to look up, fearing to witness any more of her mother’s fate. Around her, more elves lost their lives as demons ripped into them and ate some alive. A number of demons fell too, but only after taking many of the forest guardians. The half-elf child stared at a gutted demon corpse, as if it could give her a reason for her pain.

  Some need within her prompted her to move from the area. She had to get away and find somewhere to hide. She started to move deeper into the woods, but she was afraid to leave the elf city. Though it meant going back towards the sounds of combat, she turned and went through the old gardens. Young Katressa ran along garden lanes as screams were heard through the smoky haze. Through the murk of the forest every sound reflected anger, fear or sorrow. She found other dead as she went, both of elves and demons. Once she saw a grisly, wolf-like abomination with six legs struggling to move though mortally wounded. The young girl avoided it. In changing course, she found herself in the clearing where the other elf children had been at play. Many of those elves were now dead, with the sticks and balls from their game scattered about. Katressa looked upon the once-smug faces of those who had teased her for her human blood. The half-elf felt pity as she saw the looks of death frozen on those faces. She would have been laying dead here as well, had not their scornful remarks sent her away in tears.

  She ran and ran through the living nightmare.

  Bodies rained from the sky at times. Demons flew overhead while elven archers proved their deadly accuracy with bows. Sometimes pieces of an elf would fall from the walkways above, another victim who had been partially devoured. A number of other panicked citizens ran in seemingly random directions, seeking safety or loved ones. Katressa passed a group of elves using arcana to put out some flames, while another armed group guarded them.

  It occurred to her she was heading deeper into the heart of the elven home. In the distance were some of the larger elven citadels built within the intertwining trunks of the oldest trees. So intent was she on these distant structures, she was almost run through by a sharp pike.

  The jittery elf warrior who had almost stabbed her had been pushed aside by his captain at the critical moment. The young girl froze as she eyed the tip of the pike in the ground next to her. Katressa could see panicked fear in the elven eyes, but it turned to something more like revulsion as they realized who had appeared in their path.

  “Watch your blades! It is just the halfer.”

  The captain didn’t offer apologies as he led his men down the lane. Katressa was too stung by his words to care. ‘Halfer’ was short for ‘half-breed’, and thought to be a kinder way of saying it yet it hurt to hear it all the same. She remembered the revulsion they showed at seeing her, and that made her think maybe she was thought of as no better than the demons.

  Moving by instinct, Katressa followed the direction of the elven troops. The sight she saw made everything else seem small. Before her, in the city’s center, raged a large fight between demons and elves. Many demons flew overhead, avoiding barrages of elven arrows. On the ground, a wall of elven shields and pikes tried to push back a mass of animal shapes. Both elf and demon had some command of magic and they used it. Fire and lightening exploded in a terrible light show.

  Somehow, She knew that one of the demons she spotted seemed to be a leader. It spoke in another language, guiding the rest in their attack. The demon seemed part earth and part spirit, composed of flesh, stone and ghostly mist. It and several other demons poured forth from one of the sacred sanctuary citadels. They made their way to something borne by magic in the center of the demon lines. This was the portal to their home world. It was shaped like a bright disc, though its surface rippled like water. A heavy mist hung about it at the edges. The lead demon and several others retreated from the battle through this portal.

  With their leader gone, the demon ranks began to lose organization. Several more sought escape through the open portal, while others attempted to fly into the sky. The elves began to slaughter those that didn’t flee, though several still escaped into the surrounding woods with more elven warriors in pursuit.

  Katressa stayed at a distance until the battle wound down to small skirmishes. She crept forward through the cover of bushes and burnt trees. Although scared, curiosity drew her closer to the gate between worlds.

  She saw a group of elders arguing about the portal. Her attention was drawn to her father, standing among them. Reatheneus Bilil had taken part in the battle and survived. It brought a smile to her face to see her father well. As the elders talked, there were occasional attempts by demons to escape through the portal or to invade through it from the other side. A ring of swordsmen and archers thwarted every attempt. An elven cleric and a few others ran from the closest citadel to the group of elders with crestfallen looks. A heated discussion took place, though much of it Katressa could not hear from where she hid.

  As she listened, she heard the cleric speaking of holy items stolen from the citadel, some of which were objects of great power. Someone called for answers, saying that the only way a portal could have opened in the middle of the elves’ city was if someone there helped the demons open it. There was an argument back and forth insinuating treason by one of their own. Several called upon the others to use miracles to shut the portal. At that notion, Reatheneus stepped forward and decried those who wanted to shut the portal. She listened as her father spoke of sworn oaths to protect the stolen treasures…that an attempt must be made to recover them. Some elders would not relent easily, sharing their fears about leaving such a dangerous portal open in the already weakened city.

  Reatheneus spoke loud and clear, “Yestreal’s gift was a relic, it should not be abandoned so easily! Nor shall we leave the other magical prizes for demons to wield against us later if a new portal reopens. Who will brave this pas
sage with me?”

  Katressa watched from afar as several brave elves stepped forward with their weapons. A few elders stood beside Reatheneus too. Through young eyes the half-elf spotted Revwar among those elders. The yellow-eyed elvish wizard wore his silvery hair in a long braid. Trapped in her memories, Katressa did not recognize him for his deeds in later years, nor did she know him by name in her memories, but she was able to see her past with remarkable clarity. Revwar had been among those advising against going through the portal, yet when her father called upon them to respect their oaths he would not be left behind.

  To her surprise, Katressa’s presence had not gone unnoticed by her father. As the warriors prepared to charge through the portal he looked to her across the battlefield of their home. Elders prayed for the safety of those brave few. Reatheneus paid them little heed as he stared lovingly at his distant daughter. She wanted to go to him for comfort. She wanted to tell him mother had died and she needed someone to hold her. Across that distance, he could see the tear streaks on her face.

  Reatheneus knew his daughter needed him, but he could only hope she understood the sacrifice he might have to make. He wanted to reassure her but there was no time. His eyes focused on hers as he reached up to touch one ear. A gold unicorn earring his loving daughter had given him recently dangled there. He treasured that gift. At least she would see he thought about her always, and that he would bear that token with him into the hellishness of the demons’ world.

  Reatheneus Bilil, Revwar, and a number of elven warriors stepped into the bright disc of the portal.

  Minutes dragged by.

  An hour went by, as nervous elders and warriors fought off more demon incursions.

  More hours passed by, interrupted by brief demon forays, until the sun was low in the sky. No elf had come back from the portal, and no more dared go through.

  Katressa sat huddled between some bushes, sitting with her knees tucked against her chest and her arms around her legs as she stared at the portal. She watched as the elders near it had another heated discussion. Not far away, a band of elven warriors cut down the latest demon to arrive through the portal. There seemed to be a lot of head shakes and helpless arm gestures coming from the remaining elders. She could hear none of the words. She simply watched with an empty heart, staring across a field of wounded who were being attended by clerics.

  Several elders took up positions in a half circle around the portal. Katressa raised her head as she curiously studied this change. The elders raised their hands in some type of incantation, as wizard and cleric alike joined in the effort. A loud buzzing noise emanated from the portal as the elf voices rose in pitch. Katressa slowly struggled to get to her feet as worry creased her brow. The young girl considered all the weapons lying abandoned on the field of battle before her. She wanted to grab a sword or bow and rush to find her father through that shiny disc.

  With a rush of air and a thunderous noise, the disc distorted and shrunk to nothing.

  The shiny light of the portal was gone. Darkness alone stood where the gate between worlds once existed. There was no way any demons could escape or invade now, but at the same time there was no way for the missing elves to return either. Reatheneus Bilil was stranded in the demons’ home world, if he still lived at all.

  She thought she had cried all of her tears out, but more came. The young half-elf fell to the ground weeping. Amidst all the discarded weapons she could have used to aid her father, amidst smoking ash, amidst the many dead bodies of the fallen, Katressa grieved until her tired body surrendered to a fitful sleep. Nightmares plagued her through the night, and would continue to do so for many weeks after.

  The arcane-induced memories of the past did not end with the banishment of the demon portal. Her memories tumbled forth to the next day. She saw herself walking numbly through the lanes of the damaged city. Her weary eyes endured sights of unbelievable loss. There were so many dead, and so much had been ruined in the resulting spell fires. Great trees had fallen, taking homes and walkways with them. Gardens tended by generations were reduced to smoking piles of ashes.

  Katressa found her home destroyed. The tree supporting it had fallen, taking with it the walkway and a few other structures. The young girl did not know where her mother’s body was, and she didn’t care to look and see what was left. She simply walked along the fallen trunk until she came to the smashed walls of her home. Alone, the young girl dug into the tangle of wood looking for any material possessions that might be salvaged. Katressa sorted through ripped linen, broken furniture, and scattered oddities.

  In the carnage of her home, she found an item that her father had been entrusted to protect. Taking a seat on the torn blankets, Katressa stared at the odd piece of stone. It was shaped like a small block, small enough to almost be concealed in the hand. There were runes carved into the stone, along with a jumble of elvish letters. She didn’t understand what it was or why her father had kept it hidden around their house, but she knew he guarded it for some important reason. She hugged the block to her heart, thinking again of her dead parents and crying at the cruel nature of the world.

  She was a half-breed, alone in the world, homeless, with all her belongings strewn across that dark forest floor.

  * * * * *

  “Awake, dear Katressa. Come back to us with the memories of the past,” a voice urged.

  She opened her eyes to see the rafters on the ceiling of Korrelothar’s cabin, aboard Doranil Star. It was a disorienting moment, as if coming suddenly awake from a deep sleep. The woman turned her head to see Trestan and the elf wizard staring back at her. For a moment she puzzled at where she was and when.

  The perfectly clear memories of the worst day of her life came back to her.

  She felt the remembered pain of her emotional loss wash over her and drown her in its sudden misery. Half of her still felt as if she was back in that day, when all the hurt was new. Cat wailed in misery until it subsided to bursts of crying sobs. Korrelothar sat back as he considered her emotional pain. Trestan instinctively reached out to hold and comfort her.

  Half lost in memories of the demon attack, Cat batted Trestan’s arms away without fully realizing what she was doing. She turned away from them and curled into a ball on the bed, sobbing to herself.

  “I’m so sorry, faunlessa,” Trestan whispered after a time, “We shouldn’t have made you relive that.”

  “Cat, listen to me.” Korrelothar reached tentatively and put his hand on her shoulder. She flinched, but didn’t make a move to remove the hand. “I know it is hard, but you must try to remember what you saw and tell us about it. What connection did Revwar and your father have with the relics?”

  The adventuress continued sobbing quietly, shaking, for a few moments after he asked the question. Finally her voice strained to answer between choking back tears. “They were…sworn protectors of…they swore to protect the treasures of the citadel.”

  Trestan spoke softly. His heart was heavy at seeing the reactions of how badly his beloved had suffered. “The relic was among the items that the demons stole?”

  “I didn’t see it,” Cat was sniffling.

  The half-elf wiped her eyes before rolling over to face them. Her eyes were red, swollen. Her lips trembled as she spoke. “But I guess, aye. Gods, Trestan, that is where the third relic had been stolen. All those years ago from my village when I was young.”

  She tried to say more but was caught up by her emotions. Korrelothar handed her a handkerchief as she tried to compose herself. Cat sat up on the edge of the bed, dabbing the cloth at her face. The woman shivered, though it was not cold in the cabin.

  Cat recalled her memories, staring into nothing as she spoke. “The demons created a gate to our world somehow, right in the middle of the tree city. The elders argued that a traitor was in their midst, someone who had to have opened the portal from this side.”

  Her jaw grew firm as she remembered the yellow eyes. “Revwar was there that day. I didn’t know all th
e elders, but apparently he was from my people. When my father…”

  Emotion overtook her again, interrupting her retelling of the memories. “My father spoke of Yestreal’s relic, mentioning that the demons had stolen terrible magic. He went through the portal with many warriors, determined to get back the stolen treasures. Revwar objected to it, but in the end followed them through.”

  Cat paused. “None who went through that portal were ever seen again. At least not until…until Revwar showed up in Troutbrook four years ago and tried to steal another of ‘Yestreal’s relics’. I find that suspicious.”

  Trestan and Korrelothar quietly contemplated the news. Trestan stroked a hand down his mustache, as he often did when deep in thought. Cat was too overcome with emotion to continue. While the other two might sit there and think logically, she was too torn with emotions. She excused herself, walking unsteadily to the door of the cabin. Trestan had to release the handle for her; she couldn’t steady her normally nimble hands. Trestan lingered to say their goodbyes to Korrelothar, while Cat almost broke into a run to get back to her room. She brushed past a few puzzled guests in the halls that politely stepped aside at seeing her distraught look. Somehow she opened the door of her cabin and collapsed onto the bed fully dressed. Though it was in the late afternoon hours, Cat cried herself to sleep.

  Trestan quietly entered the room sometime later, to see Cat sleeping in a curled up position in the center of their bed, with tearstains on the linen. He slowly leaned over and kissed her very tenderly on the shoulder. He didn’t want to wake her up after the visions she had been forced to endure.

  Trestan fell asleep on the floor of their cabin, with his pack as his only pillow.

  CHAPTER 14 “Cauldron Sabotage/Cat’s Key”