by Dean Cadman
They spent almost two hours practising their mental skills of blocking out the Netherworld creature’s effects. Even with the limited amount of time they had, Hershel still thought it was time well spent. The last thing he wanted was for his new paladins to arrive at The Rift completely unprepared. By the time they had finished practising, each and every one of them could function normally whilst standing almost right next to the creature.
Hershel knew that a single Netherworld creature was a far cry from what they would encounter at The Rift, but nonetheless, it had given each of them renewed confidence in their ability to face whatever was to come. He chose to keep nothing from them, and fully explained that the intensity would be far greater at The Great Rift, but he also reassured them that the principle of blocking it out remained the same, no matter what.
After instructing them on how best to kill the Roazhar, he asked for a volunteer to do just that. He felt an immense sense of pride, as every one of his new paladins stepped forward without hesitation. He chose one at random, and a moment later there was one less Netherworld creature in the world. Hershel wasn’t sure what surprised them all the most, the fact that the creature died so easily under a blessed weapon, or that they were all suddenly plunged into complete darkness again when it did.
“Remember, darkness is your friend,” Hershel reassured them, grinning in the darkness. After he and Alexia relit their lanterns, they continued their journey for another few hours. By the time they finally stopped for the night, Hershel’s best guess would have been that it was a little after midnight, but without being able to see the stars above, he couldn’t be certain. They set up a large perimeter using all of their weapons, and bedded down for what little time was left before dawn.
Chapter Thirty
Even before dawn, Hershel roused all of the paladins from their sleep. The sky was just beginning to lighten a fraction, but the sun was still a good hour from truly rising. He decided that they would walk until the sun came up properly, then resume their run towards The Great Rift. Walking would give them a chance to eat some breakfast even whilst they travelled, and meant that they would gain a good hour’s head start over what they would have done, if they’d stayed in camp until after sunrise.
They saw no more Netherworld creatures during the night, and even their distant calls seemed to fade further away as the night progressed. It was one of the main reasons why Hershel had decided to break camp early, as he judged the probability of encountering another Netherworld creature would be minimal at best.
An hour later, when the sun had finally crested the hidden horizon, his theory was proven right. Thankfully, apart from a few startled rabbits, they had seen nothing else move amongst the deep shadows of the forest. As soon as it became light enough to see clearly, they began to increase their speed. At first they jogged for a while, but were soon matching the previous day’s gruelling pace once more.
Alexia struggled to keep her mind focussed as she kept pace with the others through the forest that day. She had already promised herself that she would no longer doubt her own ability to lead the female paladins, but she was now beginning to wonder if she hadn’t been a little premature in making that promise.
She had marvelled at how efficiently the other veteran paladins had dealt with the Roazhar the previous night. And also how they had all known exactly what to do when Hershel had given his commands. She on the other hand, had only been able to watch along with all the other new paladins. She was supposed to a Praefectus. A leader. But she realised that she was no different from any of the other new recruits.
She knew that no one was likely to question her lack of involvement the previous night, after all, her weapon of choice was a bow, not a sword and shield like the others. But that didn’t negate the fact that she wouldn’t have known what to do, even if Hershel had needed her. At least the other paladins had already spent years in the military, learning battlefield tactics, and how to fight as a team. And what had she done? The only orders she had ever needed to follow, were those of her old guild leader. And as for battlefield tactics, the closest she had ever got to that was planning how best to open a first floor window without making too much noise. She simply felt woefully inadequate to lead these people, and prayed that she didn’t get any of them killed through her ignorance.
One small crumb of comfort that she’d been able to take from the previous night’s encounter with the Roazhar, was the fact that she’d easily been able to block out the effects of it on her mind. Most of the others had struggled to master the skill at first, but she had simply used her faith in Aysha as a barrier against the fear. In her mind, no amount of fear could undermine the faith she had in Aysha, therefore fear was irrelevant. She did try the alternative method that the others were being taught, but she found it to be no more effective than her own, and far more difficult to maintain.
The day seemed to last forever, as they traversed the countless miles of forest. Alexia was glad that Hershel seemed to know exactly where he was going, because if it had been up to her, she would no doubt have gotten them all lost within the first hour of entering the forest. To her, everything looked exactly the same as it had an hour earlier, or even the day before.
In the early afternoon they reached a wide slow moving river, with even wider muddy banks. Alexia cursed under her breath when she realised they would need to wade through it. It had been uncomfortable enough running in her dry clothes, but it would be truly miserable running in wet ones. It was the first time that she’d been able to see the sky properly since first entering the forest. She noticed Hershel taking time out to glance up at the sun’s position, and also noted the look of concern on his face. It was probably about an hour or so after midday, but she had no idea how far it still was to The Great Rift.
“How far is it from here?” Alexia asked quietly.
“Far enough for me to be worried, old girl,” Hershel replied solemnly. “I know we’ve been pushing pretty hard already, but we’ll need to push even harder if we want to reach The Rift before nightfall.” Alexia nodded at his words. She doubted anyone would be happy to hear the news, but she felt equally sure that none of them would want to arrive at The Rift after dark either.
True to his words Hershel picked up their pace once they were across the river, and just as Alexia had predicted, it became a truly miserable experience for everyone now that their clothes were wet. But to everyone’s credit, no one complained, and the miles began to mount quickly.
Much later that day, Hershel began to recognise the area they were running through, and knew they were very close to The Great Rift now. He carried on running until he came across a small clearing, then stopped and waited for the others to join him. The sun had already dropped dangerously low in the sky, and would vanish completely within the next fifteen minutes. They were still almost a mile from The Great Rift, and he could already hear the screams and wails of the Netherworld creatures there. It sounded like there were dozens of them, and yet it was still daylight.
“As you can all hear, we’re getting close now. It’s only about a mile to The Rift from here, and by the sounds of that, we’re going to have our work cut out for us when we get there. As soon as we arrive, I want another defensive perimeter creating immediately. The closer to The Rift the better, but don’t worry too much about that, we can always move it after we’ve dealt with whatever’s making all that racket,” Hershel said, nodding towards the eerie sounds of the Netherworld creatures.
“When we arrive we’ll only have a few minutes left before sunset, so we need to clear the area of creatures as fast as possible. For those of you that don’t already know, Netherworld creatures cannot rise within Aysha’s light, so once we’ve established control of the area, we will expand our defensive perimeter to include as much ground as we can. The more ground we can light up, the fewer creatures will rise once the sun sets. Which is exactly why it’s imperative that we arrive before dark.
“Remember, the effects on your mind w
ill be much greater once we arrive at The Rift, but the method of blocking it out is still the same. Keep your fear in check by doing as you’ve been taught, and you will be just fine. If, however, you see one of your colleagues beginning to struggle, or you think they are about to lose control, by all means try and help them. But if you find that you can’t help them, remember, its far better to knock them out cold, than let them run to their deaths. Does anyone have any questions about the plan?” Hershel said, scanning the nervous faces in front of him. No one replied.
“Then may Aysha watch over us, and bless us all on this day. Aysha has already put her faith in us, and promised that she will always be with us. Now it’s our turn to show faith in her. And I for one welcome the opportunity to do so. What say you all?” Hershel called out, not caring if any nearby Netherworld creature heard him or not. He was greeted by a thunderous assent. He nodded to his gathered paladins, turned on his heels, and began running towards The Great Rift.
The noise grew louder and louder as they closed in on The Rift’s position. No one knew the exact location of The Great Rift, and the noise of the Netherworld creatures certainly made it easier to find for Hershel and his party. Their weapons and shields were glowing brightly long before they saw their first Netherworld creatures, and when The Great Rift finally came into view, Hershel’s blood turned to ice at what he saw. He skidded to a halt, and held his hand up high to signal a full stop for the rest of his party.
What he saw before him was utter carnage. Netherworld creatures were being torn apart by a large muscular creature with huge claws. Smouldering body parts were strewn all across the ground. They blistered and popped as the sunlight ate away at their once shiny black armoured skin. The large creature was almost unrecognisable due to the amount of damage it had sustained from the sunlight, and other Netherworld creatures. But Hershel knew exactly what it was.
“A Carazhal,” he whispered to himself.
“A what?” Alexia asked by his side, startling him slightly.
“A Carazhal. It’s a Netherworld creature that hunts its own kind. I think we might have just had another massive stroke of luck here. It looks like it’s done most of our work for us already,” Hershel replied, nodding towards the utter carnage before them. Two smaller Netherworld creatures suddenly pounced onto its back, clawing and biting furiously at the Carazhal, but all it seemed to do was anger the huge creature even more. It managed to grab one of the smaller creatures by the arm, and drag it off its back. The smaller creature screamed in fear, as the massive creature opened its jaws to an impossible size, and bit its head clean off. As it crunched the creature’s skull in its huge jaws, the sickening sounds could be heard echoing through the trees all around.
The second smaller creature continued to ineffectively tear at the Carazhal’s back with its wicked looking claws and teeth, but didn’t manage to stay there for long. The Carazhal held the corpse of the first creature by one of its legs, and swung it violently over its shoulder to knock the smaller creature off its back. Several other Netherworld creatures circled warily around the Carazhal, none daring to come within range of its deadly grasp. They were all obviously desperate to reach the open Rift after being trapped on the wrong side of it for almost two millennia. So much so, that they were willing to risk almost certain death to reach it.
Hershel watched as a new Netherworld creature began to emerge through The Rift. It screamed in pain as the sunlight started to blister its skin, then screamed even louder when it saw just what was waiting for it on the other side. It struggled violently, as if trying to desperately retreat back through The Rift, but it seemed like something on the other side was forcing it to come through. The Carazhal waited patiently until the creature emerged fully, then snatched it from the air even before its clawed feet could touch the ground. Hershel recognised it as a Culzach, a small fast moving Netherworld creature that always hunted in packs of three or more. For a solitary or small group of paladins they could be extremely dangerous, but their light armoured bodies made them an easy kill for larger groups.
The ill-fated Culzach didn’t stand a chance against the might of the Carazhal, and was torn to pieces in a matter of seconds. Hershel would have loved nothing more than to watch the beast do their work for them, but he knew it would soon be dark, and even the Carazhal couldn’t hope to hold back the number of Netherworld creatures that were likely to rise around The Great Rift.
Hershel indicated that the others should gather round, and positioned himself so he could keep an eye on what was happening at The Rift.
“We will stick to the original plan, but don’t try to get too close to The Rift. For those of you that don’t know, that creature is called a Carazhal, and as you can see, it hunts its own kind. The only way to kill it is from behind, and it seems like those other Netherworld creatures know that as well. Its only weak spot is directly between its shoulders, and its armour is incredibly tough even there. Don’t even think about attacking one anywhere else, your weapons won’t even scratch it. Having said that, I have no intentions for us to kill it right now. As you can see, the other Netherworld creatures are afraid of them, and rightly so judging by the evidence we’ve just seen.
“If I’m correct, most of the of the Netherworld creatures will have gone to ground this morning very close to The Rift, and we should be able to stop most of those from rising again by using Aysha’s light. But the creatures that remain outside the range of our perimeter will still rise, and those are the ones which will pose the most threat to us tonight. However, with that Carazhal nearby, most will likely stay well away from the area, and those that don’t… well, you’ve just seen what it does to any creature that gets too close to it,” Hershel said grinning. “Getting into position is going to take everyone this time. I want the veterans at the front, with everyone else behind. You all saw how we created the perimeter last night, so on my first call I want all of the new paladins to earth-bind their weapons in a wide arc, the veterans will create the forward lines and complete the circle with theirs.
“Alexia, I need you and your bow right at the front. If you see any of the smaller creatures heading our way, take them down. Ignore the Carazhal, your arrows will not penetrate its armour from the front. Hopefully, we can time our run for when it’s busy with one of the smaller creatures, but if it does suddenly show any interest in our party, earth-bind your weapons to stop its advance. We can always expand the circle later. Remember, Aysha’s light will only hold them back if your weapon is in the ground, if you don’t earth-bind your weapon, the light will have no effect. Aysha had no doubts about your faith, and neither should any of you. You are her chosen soldiers. Soldiers of God. And nothing in this life can be a greater honour than that. Remember that, and it will serve you well today,” Hershel said proudly.
Hershel watched as two new creatures circled the Carazhal trying to gain access to The Rift, but the Carazhal seemed to know exactly what they were trying to do, and expertly cut off their path to it. One creature tried to slip past the Carazhal, but it wasn’t quick enough, and found itself impaled on the end of its six inch claws screaming.
“Let’s go!” Hershel called out, and formed up in the centre of their line next to Alexia. He would be the final one to earth-bind his weapon, making it the most dangerous position to be in.
Two smaller Netherworld creatures noticed their party’s sudden advance, and screamed with excitement. Their screams immediately drew the attention of the Carazhal to them, and sealed their fate as soon as they attempted to reach the advancing paladins. The first creature was all but cut in two by the Carazhal’s razor-sharp claws as it tried to run by. The second creature fared slightly better, but was sent sprawling across the ground towards The Rift. It scrambled to its feet, shook itself, and was about to charge the paladins again, until it realised how close to The Rift it was now. It hissed loudly towards the approaching paladins, then turned back towards The Rift. The Carazhal recognised what the smaller creature was about to do, and ra
ced towards it with a deafening roar.
“Earth-bind!” Hershel called out to the new paladins, and one by one they plunged their glowing weapons into the ground, forming the beginnings of a large circle. The veteran paladins split down the middle into two groups, half going one way, and half going the other. Each one plunged their weapons into the ground, and the circle began to take shape. The Carazhal heard Hershel’s voice, and spun towards the sound, just as the smaller creature jumped towards the opening in The Rift. But instead of passing through The Rift and entering the Netherworld beyond, the smaller creature impacted hard on some kind of barrier and screamed in pain. The Carazhal’s attention instantly snapped back to its cries, and it sprang to intercept it.
Alexia saw three smouldering creatures appear from the treeline and race straight towards their group. They had obviously noticed that the Carazhal’s attention was currently elsewhere, and were taking full advantage of the opportunity to make a kill of their own. She had no idea what the creatures were, or if they had a particular weak spot that she needed to hit in order to kill them. She nocked her arrow and drew back her bow in one fluid motion, then let her arrow loose. One after another in quick succession, she sent three arrows towards the approaching Netherworld creatures. The arrows glowed brighter and brighter as they flew through the air towards their intended targets, and each ended their flight with a resounding thud, as they penetrated deep into the skulls of each creature. The creatures’ forward momentum sent them sprawling onto their faces in the dirt less than twenty paces away, just as Hershel plunged his sword into the ground next to her and completed the circle of Aysha’s light.