Box of Runes An Epic Fantasy Collection

by J. Thorn

  “Khutan, we must speak.”

  The boy waited. “Yes, Father, I am here.”

  “We enter the battle soon.”

  Khutan polished his sword, his hands a blur over the mirrored reflection of the blade. “I will do my best to honor you.”

  “I’m sure you will. But there are some other things you must know, and a choice you must make.”

  Khutan looked worried and waited for him to continue.

  “An evil force sweeps through the One World behind the coalition. It rots and kills every human it touches.”

  “Are you delirious?”

  “Khutan, you must listen to me,” he replied. Zona lowered his voice and hoped the Serpent King did not have someone watching him. “It is called the affliction, and it has emptied Risenachen.”

  “Impossible.”

  “It is true. I shared a pipe with scouts who saw it with their own eyes. And now, I cannot find them anywhere in camp.”

  “Maybe they have been sent on another mission?”

  “No, they haven’t. The regiments are getting into their final formations. There is no scouting left to be done.”

  “I don’t know what to say. You throw yourself at the feet of this Serpent King and explain to me why we must fight by his side. Now you say this same man has unleashed devastation on the One World and destroyed Risenachen while we’ve been marching to the capital.”

  Zona spun on his heels away from his son, and then turned back towards him, grimacing and flapping his arms as he spoke. “What you say is true, my son. I sensed the powers within the Serpent King the moment he arrived. The Dark One commands him, there is no doubt. I thought it best not to burden you with the truth. I did not want to put you at risk. But now, you must know it and you must carry this burden for all of the One World.”

  “What do you want me to do? What are you asking of me?”

  “I want you to murder the Serpent King.”

  Khutan’s eyes flickered and his chin fell down onto his chest. “Father, I could not do that if I tried. I cannot get anywhere near the man.”

  “If he dies, the coalition dies with him. Shane suspects me, so I cannot get close enough to do it myself. You can slip away from your regiment undetected and return after the deed is done.”

  “How will that save us?”

  “It might not. We may be facing extinction, but this must be done. This man, or beast, from the Plains of Miklin, does not care about the coalition. He does not wish to right the wrongs of past generations under the iron fist of the Empire. The Serpent King desires to eliminate the One World from this plane.”

  “What if I am caught? What if I fail?”

  “You will die.” Zona choked back a sob as he spoke the words.

  “How am I to do this?”

  Zona moved next to his son and explained the plan in detail.

  Chapter 67

  The wind blasted across the desert plain under the starless sky. Ri hovered high above the carnage. Swords lodged in chests had remained there for eons. Piles of bones dotted the plain, along with dead and decaying trees. The smell of burning sulfur rose from gashes in the hardened ground, and Ri tasted it on the grit coating her lips. She saw the walls of the capital, buried under mounds of windblown sand. Gishwan flew on her left. The two touched down near the main gate. A faded sigil fluttered in the searing wind, its edges in tatters. A bony white moon hovered over the scene, its light removing the red tint of the day and casting a gray pall over the land. The two creatures sat by the gate and waited. Ri knew he would come. Far off on the eastern horizon, she saw movement. A figure appeared, dust billowing behind it as it approached the main gate of the ancient capital. Gishwan felt the presence of the Dark One draw near. Ri smiled.

  He approached, covered in black. A dark hood covered his head and rested on his chest. When he spoke, his voice echoed throughout the land. “It is time,” he said. His voice boomed in their ears and their minds, threatening to crack their skulls.

  “We will do your bidding,” replied Ri.

  “You foolish bitch. You will witness the effects. There is nothing you can do to accelerate or stop the power.”

  “We could eliminate the Serpent King.”

  “That would not make a difference. My chosen ones will arrive and cleanse this land of the filth, removing the One World from this plane. On it, a new and more powerful force will rise. They will rule the universe under my hand.”

  “Why have you summoned us?” asked Ri.

  “Because you wielded the instruments of this destruction. Your work is not done. You must continue to propagate my forces.”

  “We have converted souls to the Order since we left our home on the shore of the Great Sea.”

  “Yes, and your results impressed me. Now I need to spare you from the upcoming battle and the possibility of your capture or execution.”

  Gishwan picked up the skull of a long-dead warrior and held it up to her eyes. A worn gap ran from the back of the skull to its forehead. She ran a finger through the fatal injury.

  “How will you do this?” asked Ri.

  “I will provide an escape for you. When the fighting reaches fever pitch, I will appear and open a portal. When you see it, do not hesitate to enter. If you do not make it through the portal, you will die at the hands of mortal men. This death will be the final death, and your soul will be cursed by all.”

  “How will we know?” Ri asked.

  “You will know. Position yourselves in the midst of the fighting. Men of the One World will not strike you down as long as you do not reveal your true forms to them. They will die protecting you and your masks of skin.”

  The figure turned and walked back towards the eastern horizon. The Sun God rose again, cloaking the land with a red hue. Time ran forward in great leaps and bounds, and Ri looked at Gishwan. When she looked back, the dark figure had disappeared over the horizon.

  “Do we trust this vision?” Gishwan asked Ri.

  “We have no choice. We will be in the midst of battle, whether we want to or not.”

  “How can we be certain that he will protect us from the swords of men?” asked Gishwan.

  Ri got up and sat next to her. Even in the fiendish light, Gishwan’s form radiated the beauty of the dead. Ri wanted nothing more than to taste her. She shook her head and accepted the impossibility of the urge.

  “We must leave the trance. Time bends here and does not follow the current of the One World.”

  The two women walked towards the horizon, in the same direction as He had. They stepped over the bony corpses, remnants of battle from another age. Gishwan stopped and picked up a dagger. Although covered in sand, corrosion had not worked its devastating forces on the knife. The embossed blade of swirls mixed with dried bloodstains and red rubies crested the hilt, while some jutted out from the handle. She held it up to the red Sun God and let the light reflect from the blade. Gishwan slid the dagger into a pocket of her robe.

  “You cannot remove that from here,” said Ri. “It is against the laws.”

  Gishwan frowned and ignored Ri’s comment. She would hold the dagger and hope to bring it back to the plane of the One World. If she awoke without it, so be it.

  Chapter 68

  Sasha tasted paralysis in her mental cage. The Soothsayer inhabited her body and kept her soul prisoner within it. She would wither and die, like orphaned crops after the harvest. Her mind would rise to the surface for a moment or two, and she would gain control of her eyes, ears, and other senses, but he would clamp down and banish her back to the recesses of her growing insanity.

  She had been aware of pain, a distant pain. Sasha’s mind swam closer to the surface of reality, and it stung. She could not tell if the old man allowed her to feel or if he had not yet found a way to end her existence. The last time she had broken through the haze, she felt her left eye swollen shut. A sore gash dripped blood into her uninjured eye. Sasha could not breathe through her mangled nose, and her tongue slid through hole
s where the raw nerves of teeth remained.

  Sasha felt obligated to help, even though her instructors had bathed her in hate of the Empire. Now she knew the affliction threatened all tribes, all peoples of the One World, all ways of life. This determination helped her to fight. The Soothsayer channeled the powers of the Dark One. However, Sasha’s spirit refused to give up. The Soothsayer dragged her through the streets as if she was tied to a galloping horse, and her mind reeled from the psychic battles she fought with the old man. At times, they even conversed like citizens on the street.

  The Soothsayer shoved Sasha into her holding cell as he stumbled through the doorway. He felt the pain in Sasha’s body, but to a much lesser degree than in his own. Her hand smeared the bloody print on the wall as he manipulated her legs towards a door.

  “Help, he’s trying to rape me,” came from her mouth as sentries raced past her. He did not know if he would get her body out of this building alive, but if he made it to the street, his chances increased.

  Another guard rushed over and lifted Sasha’s body on to his shoulder. He managed to carry her down the hallway and out towards the main entrance of the compound.

  “I must leave you and go back to check on the lord major. Wait here and I will send a doctor to tend your wounds.”

  He turned and left her on the step, bleeding and dazed. The Soothsayer recognized the opportunity and pushed Sasha’s body upright. On legs of stone, he navigated her down the empty cobblestone street and into an alley between two crumbling buildings. Citizens had deserted them as most prepared for war, siege, and the end of all times. A shopkeeper opened a door as Sasha’s body slid down the wall. He saw her injuries and her age and followed his instinct, bringing her in through the back door. Because of the loss of blood, the Soothsayer had a hard time speaking in a coherent fashion. In addition, his diminishing strength made it difficult to keep Sasha pent up in her mental cage. The man carried Sasha into a darkened room, where a cot sat in one corner and a washbowl in the other. Sasha’s body collapsed on the cot. Her ears heard soldiers running down the alley. When they reached the end, they turned around and came back. Machek had sent them looking for her. The Soothsayer worried as blackness slid over Sasha’s body, knocking her into unconsciousness.

  Her body awoke with a start. The Soothsayer remembered the room and the sounds of the searching warriors. Dried blood caked her face and a streak of light shot through the room when he touched her nose. Sasha turned and vomited on the floor. It was impossible to tell how much time had passed, but he could not hear a sound.

  The Soothsayer walked her body to the door and put her ear to it. No sounds or disturbances came from the alley. He pushed the door open enough to peer out. The Sun God had moved a bit further in the sky, but still blazed above the capital. He slid out of the door and crept down the alleyway towards the thoroughfare. Some of Sasha’s equilibrium returned, and he had enough strength to keep her fastened. He walked to the edge and looked back towards the lord major’s headquarters, where a group of soldiers stood smoking, talking, and looking at the surrounding buildings. The hunt for Sasha had not ended. He looked in the other direction and saw another group of soldiers knocking on doors. They were going door to door to find her.

  He decided to take a chance. Sasha’s legs propelled him across the thoroughfare and into a maze of cobblestone avenues. Like other ancient cities, the capital had grown over extended eras, resulting in a chaotic and often bewildering twist of maze-like streets. Sasha’s body ran to the first street on her left, and she dashed down the narrow passage and ducked into a concealed alley. Sasha’s ears heard the shouts of the men, their excitement echoing off the barren avenues. The Soothsayer stopped her legs and pushed her back up against a stone wall. To her left, another wall separated the avenue from a private residence. The street on which she stood snaked around a corner. If it ended at the back door of a shop or home, they would catch her. The Soothsayer spun and stuck Sasha’s hands in the space between the stones where the rotten mortar fell out. She scampered up as the voices of the men intensified. Just as Sasha’s body was about to launch over the wall, a firm hand grasped her ankle. The Soothsayer looked down through her eyes into the face of a snarling warrior. He grit his teeth and shouted. He could not tell if the man screamed at her or for his comrades, but the Soothsayer did not care. He drew her leg up as high as he could and drove Sasha’s heel into the man’s face. The Soothsayer heard the wet crack of facial bones crunching under the force of the blow. The warrior staggered backwards, releasing his grip on Sasha’s ankle. He fell face down on the street, moaning and holding his hands to his face. The Soothsayer saw a puddle of glistening red running down the cracks in the road. From the top of the wall, Sasha’s eyes saw four men coming around the corner, fifteen paces from the injured soldier. The Soothsayer spun her left leg around backwards and dropped from the top of the wall. An unnatural worry filled the Soothsayer’s displaced thoughts. Sasha’s body should have hit the ground by now, but was still falling. Her upper body rotated out as he flailed her arms and legs. A sudden rush of bitter cold grabbed her skin and locked her muscles, and a swift current grabbed her body and pulled her around a manufactured aqueduct. Her eyes saw the first of the pursuers reach the top of the wall and point at her as the water carried her out of sight.

  The Soothsayer managed to swing her feet around and point them downstream. He tilted her head back and her toes to the sky to avoid snagging unseen hazards under the water. The Soothsayer had no idea how deep the aqueduct ran, but had no intention of finding out. Walls, like the one she scaled, bordered the flowing water as it pulled Sasha’s body further into the heart of the city. The Soothsayer hoped it would dump her into a dry cistern and not into the vat of decomposing city waste. If she were in the disposal channel, her body might be susceptible to disease.

  The current crawled and came to a standstill. The Soothsayer stood up on Sasha’s feet and assessed the situation. Sasha’s body stood in water to her knees, on slick stone. During normal times, the water level would be five times the height of a person. However, city officials had abandoned most of the urban infrastructure. When war loomed, engineers and workers left their posts. An iron ladder stood against one wall of the immense bowl. The Soothsayer moved Sasha’s body towards it as the shouts of the men echoed down the channel. He felt Sasha’s mind rising up, and he forced it back down. With a violent mental shove, Sasha fell deeper into her mind’s recess. The Soothsayer could not afford to deal with her while they chased him. He pushed her tired body up the steps and saw three men staggering from the water. The Soothsayer knew he could not outrun them with her injuries. Dark circles started to appear in her vision, which frightened the Soothsayer. If Sasha’s body passed out, he would be finished.

  The first of the men reached up and grabbed the bottommost rung of the iron ladder as Sasha’s foot left the topmost rung. The Soothsayer saw the swollen face of the man and knew he was the one who had felt the crushing blow of Sasha’s heel. Revenge fueled the man’s muscles, and he did everything possible to be the one to catch her.

  Sasha’s body slid over the retaining wall to a walkway the width of a man’s shoulder. The wall separated one container from the next, and from her vantage point, Sasha’s eyes saw at least a dozen low or empty cisterns.

  “If the Serpent King launches a siege, they are finished,” floated up from the confines of Sasha’s mental cell.

  The Soothsayer acknowledged her faint observation with a laugh, the first communication between the two since the chase began. Sasha hoped the Soothsayer would remain preoccupied by the pursuers, which would allow her to climb out of her darkness.

  The Soothsayer ran on Sasha’s legs to the edge of the two cisterns. From there, a staircase led up to the main building. Sasha’s body maneuvered up the staircase and through the halls of the structure. The shouting of the search party kept her moving.

  An iron door stood open at the far end of the hallway, and the Soothsayer pushed Sasha�
�s legs towards it. He felt the energy slipping from her muscles and knew he had to find a place to hide before the men caught up. Sasha’s eyes looked down the hallway at the trail of water that fell from her wet clothes. The Soothsayer went through the iron door, down a flight of steps, and fell into a brackish puddle. One of the cisterns leaked, spilling its contents throughout the courtyard. The Soothsayer turned around and ran Sasha’s body back up the steps. He slid her behind the iron doors, leaving them open, with a trail of water leading out into the courtyard.

  Three men burst through the end of the hallway. The man with the broken nose led the others, and they ran down the hallway, through the open doorway, and out into the courtyard. The Soothsayer could hear them yelling something about “the bitch making it to the South Gate.” He did not know where that was, but relaxed for a moment as the men ran off into the city, chasing their phantom prey.

  Chapter 69

  “Is that you, darling?” the spirit asked.

  “Yes, Mother, it is me,” replied Sianta. Her eyes remained shut, her legs crossed.

  “It is almost time. The Spirit urges me towards the light.”

  “Mother, you must help me before you leave.”

  “What do you need, Sianta?”

  “I need you to put me in touch with another. This one stole the form of a foreign woman and runs loose inside the capital.”

  “What shall I do when I locate this spirit?”

  “Bring it forward.”

  Machek looked at Desi and Falton. The infidels dotted the horizon, waking from their fitful sleep. Desi nodded, and his eyes reassured Machek. Falton remained fixated on Sianta. His world spun on her axis.

  “I will try, my love. If the spirit is strong or resentful, I may not be able to summon it.”

  “Try, Mother. Our time is short.” Sianta sat still, the corners of her mouth twitching while her eyes remained closed. Machek sensed an unseen current moving through the room. Sianta shook and coughed. Her voice deepened when she spoke, taking on the timbre of the Soothsayer. “Machek, you stupid, ignorant fool. I run loose in your Empire and you are powerless to stop the events unfolding before you. Best to light your pipe and turn your gaze to the heavens.” The old man’s voice rang from the girl’s mouth with the tenacity and hate of its owner.