Enigma: Awakening

by Damien Taylor

  “Come forth.” She dropped my arm and came to the dais where the king stood. Her eyes looked down to the dark carpet at her feet.

  “The people speak an intriguing story of how a great light brought ruin to the edge of the noble districts. And in their gossip, there was a rumor that a young girl was the one responsible—a child named Nova Valkyrie. Are you that child?” Nova didn’t speak. She stood, gazing in terror.

  The hairs on my neck stood. Come on, Nova. Say something.

  The king halted. “Will you not answer me?” She was silent.

  “You will answer me, child,” Dimicus demanded in a hard voice.

  She tried to talk, but there was no sound.

  “Speak as your king has commanded!”

  Sergio took a step. “Sire, if I may, the girl’s distraught.

  She only just lost her mother in the attack.”

  “And how many other mothers have died from this dark magic wrought upon my land? I tell you, if she is the one responsible then she will confess her travesty before her king!”

  Nova collapsed. “Momma, Momma!” Her cries summoned a dark, windy storm within the chamber.

  King Dimicus commanded his knights at once. “Seize her before she conjures magic against us!” The soldiers rushed at the order.

  “No! Leave her be. She means us no harm,” I said, preparing to retaliate.

  Sergio stopped me. “Winn, no—this will just get uglier than it needs to.” I was frantic for a moment but calmed quickly. He’s right, although I don’t think it matters at this point. The Amethyst’s light glinted as flooding anger came to me in watching the knights rush Nova. Sergio squeezed my arm again.

  Irvina passed by me in a flash, zipping swiftly. “Irvina!” She ran forward with a knife in hand, one that I discovered missing from my belt when I looked down. A knight that was grasping Nova let her down and set his attention on the charging naiad. He brought his sword aloft and moved to attack her. Irvina parried him, crashing the knife with his blade in a circular motion to knock him off balance.

  “Guards!” Dimicus called. The royal chamber filled in seconds.

  Knights came from every door. As another came toward Irvina, she drove the heel of her foot into his chin with a swift hook-kick. And the next one she slammed and then rolled forward in front of Nova.

  “Seize them!”

  Harsh grasps locked my hands behind me. Sergio sighed as the guards took him to the carpet. “Here we go.”

  A guard snatched my knife from Irvina and wrestled her down. I caught a pommel shot to the back of the head. My vision blurred, and I lost consciousness.

  “Throw these heinous traitors in the dungeon!”

  Slightly coming to, I felt myself the guards dragging me over stone. Dim lights pulled me back and forth between darkness and reality. When they tossed me on the cold floor of a jail cell, I deepened back into unconsciousness.

  “Nova...” I heard the gate lock. A void came over me, taking me into a dream state. The Amethyst sounded in the dark. It called my name. I didn’t speak back.

  The Thing Itself

  Blitzkrieg appeared suddenly in the center of the Lucreris Castle. The guards were on him in an instant. The hooded stranger spread his arms, showing that he had not a weapon in his hand. But there were still swords strapped to his armor. Blades pointed at him—at least twenty. “Where is your king?” he inquired calmly, scanning the nervous eyes of his trembling foes. The guards didn’t answer him but stood their positions firmly.

  “Surrender your weapons and armor at once,” a soldier barked.

  “I shall ask once more. Where is your king?”

  “And I order you again,” the soldier stepped forward, “Surrender—”

  In one instantaneous motion, Blitzkrieg drew the sword at his side and sliced the soldier underneath his helm, across the neck. No one saw it happen. It was faster than the blink of a lightning flash. All that they saw was the soldier falling and his blood quickly pooling the marble floor; soaking the center carpet. The fallen soldier’s comrades started their advance but came to a grinding halt when they saw Blitzkrieg’s gauntlet light with fire.

  “Let me be clear, if I so desired, I could kill you all as effortlessly as I stand. But it is neither my intention nor purpose for being here. All of you will soon know death, I promise you. I want to speak with your king. Take me to him, and you can all keep your lives that much longer. I am an entity of my word.”

  Magic. It would’ve been pointless for the guards to attack. They sheathed their swords. Like a mere guest, they escorted Blitzkrieg through the castle and took him before the throne where King Dimicus was conversing with other royals. Everyone braced themselves when the shadow-faced man entered. The escorting knights said nothing, leaving briskly without so much as even a bow to their young king. Blitzkrieg’s second display of dark magic petrified everyone in the room.

  “Leave us,” he ordered, speaking to all but the king. When they hesitated, he told them of their impending fate as he had everyone else in the castle. His ominous persona was convincing enough. The young king stood tall with his chin high. Blitzkrieg stood from him at an unthreatening distance. “Your guards are much wiser than I presumed. Impressively obedient.”

  “Should you keep me alive, as you’ve given me your word, it won’t be considered as wise as you think—not after I have my way with them.”

  The king’s sly comment amused Blitzkrieg. “Would you have disobeyed me?”

  “I would have killed you or died trying.”

  Now here was a man of honor, unlike the cowards Blitzkrieg had come across in Arkhadia. He held a hint of admiration for the king. He was starting to wish he’d never given his word to let him live. He would’ve fought him for his soul. It seemed a worthy prize for competition. He dared not to peer into it for fear that he might succumb to his monstrous side and kill him anyway.

  “What is this about, sorcerer?” the king pressed.

  “You have something I want,” said Blitzkrieg, getting to the point. “A girl.”

  King Dimicus made a face as if to know exactly of whom he spoke. “The girl who destroyed the better half of my city? Yes. Surely she is the one you speak of.”

  “Bring her to me, and I will tell you if she is or not.”

  “Gladly. As long as you take her as far from Lucreris as possible. My kingdom has no room for the likes of her witchcraft—or yours for that matter. I will tell the Guard who you have so rudely cast out, to go and fetch her.”

  Blitzkrieg started for the door after the king told him the task was completed. “I will be out in the courtyard. Bring her there, and my presence here shall be no more.”

  “Not that it is any of my concern, but where will you take the witch-child?”

  The king had spoken appropriately. It was none of his concern. But somewhere in him, Blitzkrieg felt a strong need to divulge the information. He tried to let it pass, but to no avail. It was as if telling the king would somehow work for the greater good of the future—personally his own—or perhaps the man to which his body belonged. Of the two, he wasn’t sure. He felt his host’s spirit nearby, somehow invested in the action. Impulsively, against his will, and without reason, he said, “The Dungeon City.”

  The king spat a humph. “Fitting,” he said. “It was a pleasure, sorcerer. But do never return to my castle again.” Blitzkrieg left by magic.

  The guards led Nova through the castle. There were a variety of twists and turns and stairs—many stairs. She held her head down, staring at the marble ground at every stride. When she turned in the wrong direction once or twice, the guards shoved her along. It wasn’t until she felt warm sunlight on her face that she looked up. The men in front of her stepped out of the way, forming rows of three at either side of her. Two more were behind her, and with an unyielding voice one said, “Forward, witch, to that man there.”

  It was an armored, hooded man who looked like nothing more than a statue of metal. He stood perfectly still and
magnificently postured. Nova didn’t move. The mere sight of him frightened her. The hooded man raised an arm, welcoming her. But still, she did not budge. A guard clenched her painfully by the arm and pushed her along. It would be his last act once Nova was within reach of the man. The man—as if angrily and suddenly—sliced the soldier’s head in two with a long crossways slash. In a perfect line, the upper half of the guard’s face slid off and tumbled across the ground bloodlessly.

  Nova flinched and closed her eyes, hoping that what had just transpired wasn’t real. When she opened them, the hooded man was still there. “Nothing will harm you,” he said. Though his voice was somehow reassuring, he hadn’t fooled her, and neither would she let him. The man extended his hand and a large oval of darkness as tall as a door appeared. “Come,” he said. What other choice did she have? Run? Where? She followed him inside, disappearing as he had, from Lucreris.

  “Arkhadia Land?” said Eveland, one of the king’s politicians. The fat, wide-nosed man stroked his diamond beard as he spoke with the king, who paced about the throne, sucking breaths, and hissing them out through teeth.

  “Whatever could Akhadius want with her, and how does he know so soon about the girl and the whereabouts of Lucreris? It’s been barely a day since the attack.”

  Dimicus went in front of the bay window and found a gaping hole and a lane of ruin that traveled from the start of the outskirts into the city proper. It would cost him a fortune to rebuild, though it wasn’t as if he didn’t have the riches to do it ten times over. But still, the principle annoyed him. “News spreads across Memoria like wildfire. I’m not at all surprised. But somehow, I don’t think this has anything to do with the southern king. It seems—”

  “Secretive?” Eveland finished. “Under his nose perhaps? Do you think that sorcerer is in league with the Abyssians?”

  “It’s more fitting than a servant of Akhadius. He’d be unable to control him.”

  “And the attack on Lucreris? Any connection you think?”

  “Hard to say, though I wouldn’t rule it out,” said the king, thinking. A finger brushed his lips. “I’m just glad she’s gone. The Dungeon City of Ortiz is a better place for her. It’s where most witches and warlocks reside. Akhadius keeps a firm hand on them usually. Let him deal with the problem.”

  “What about her brother? He and that other man are honorable soldiers of the Militia. We can’t simply keep them locked away. They haven’t broken any laws, and if the news gets out, you don’t want a war with men that have bested the very creatures who have created all of this mess.”

  “I suppose not,” said Dimicus absently. “But right now, we must concentrate on other affairs. I fear there will be another attack soon. We need to refortify the city and station as many guards as we have left all around the perimeter.”

  “Yes, sire.”

  When there was a hiss outside of the cracked doors, the two men stopped talking. They eyed one another with a similar feeling of apprehension. “Did you leave the door open?” the king questioned lowly.

  “No, sire. I’d never.”

  “Shhh,” Dimicus quieted. “I think we have a listener.”

  “A guard perhaps?”

  Perhaps. But the attack and the recent sorcerer held the king on edge. “Can’t be too sure. We’ll speak of these matters later.”

  “Yes, sire.” The politician left the throne room, sure to close the door with a loud slam.

  Den of Trolls

  The encircling darkness turned blue. Opening my eyes, I looked ahead, and everything was a blur. I was cold. I was... underwater. My movements were slow and resistant. Above me was a light at the surface. I swam toward it, finding a great expanse of sea in all directions above the water. Long above my tread was a crimson firmament. The water was an unsettling, evil blue.

  In the distance, I saw a sphere of light skipping like a rock. I swam for it, never catching it. I gave up and gazed forward. The world was glitchy. The surroundings stretched unnaturally until one moment I was treading the sea, and the next, I was cast onto a small island. There was a cave with an entrance that shown with light. A shrine? The symbols on its outer rock were similar to those in the catacomb beneath the Velmica ruins.

  Looking back, I saw the shining sphere, hovering just feet in front of me. I reached for it, and in the same moment, the world quaked. Darkness crawled over the red sky.

  I woke in the dungeon to an unexpected and wet surprise. Rushing water slapped my face. I jerked upright, coughing. “What was that for?”

  Sergio cackled as I sobbed. “Wake up. We don’t have time for beauty sleep. The Militia will be in the Visqont a few weeks from now. We’re supposed to meet ‘em and leave this hell hole long behind us, remember?”

  “I know. I was there when the general gave the order. But just how are we going to get there with our current situation? You must have some bright ideas.”

  Sergio moved to the bars and tampered with the lock with toothpick sized scraps of iron he found on the ground. “Well, we could start by escaping from this dungeon.”

  “Sergio? When you were in the shrine of the Emerald, did you find any old pages with writing on them?”

  “Hmm, don’t think I remember any parchment lying around. But then again... I wouldn’t have known since this damned stone had me screaming my eyes out of their sockets!”

  He almost drew the guards to the cell. “Quiet down there!” we heard one of them bark.

  The halfling poked out his tongue, his fists jerking furiously. “Way to divert the subject from what’s important. Let’s talk about that fine piece of tail that was with us in front of the king.” I rubbed the back of my neck and hunched over straightened legs.

  “Irvina, you mean?”

  “Yeah... she yours?”

  “No.”

  “You want her?”

  “What? No."

  “Good. I’m thinking about taking it all the way with that one.”

  “And by that, you mean...”

  “Marriage.”

  My eyebrow sprouted. “You don’t even know her.”

  “So? There’ll be plenty of time for that. The very first moment I laid eyes on her, I knew she was the one.” I almost burst into laughter. If I had a gold coin for every time I heard him say that I’d be able to gamble amongst kings.

  “That so-called moment was just yesterday.”

  “That’s not important. I can figure out the details later.”

  “Suit yourself. She’s all yours—although I don’t think half of you is her type.”

  Sergio tossed the iron picks away and punched the lock with a hiss. “What do you mean, half? My tail’s earned me more romance than most of you ordinary blots will see in a lifetime.”

  “That’s not what I mean. She’s not...” I began, almost divulging her naiad lineage. “She’s different.” It wasn’t my secret to tell. I’ll let him figure out that detail on his own. I pressed a different topic.

  “What was that creature you appeared as when you arrived in Lucreris?”

  He set hands to his waist and smirked. “Pulling the old subject switcheroo on me, eh? You don’t want to hear me talk about women for the next hour. I get it. But we’re gonna’ find time to talk about Irvina later.”

  I growled. “Sergio?”

  “Fine. The orb calls him Mordric—Mordric, the Warden of Night. This may seem a bit farfetched, but the Emerald told me that I have the power to change form. It said its natural element is earth and that, from now on, I’ll have some special connection with nature... whatever that means.”

  You’d be amazed by what I find, unbelievable, nowadays.

  “What was it like—being Mordric?”

  “I don’t remember much, honestly. I think the orb was reactin’ off some powerful emotion—an inner drive. It’s hard to explain, but I could feel the Amethyst—like sitting beside a bonfire. I went toward it—flew toward it. It was like my body was carrying me. Physically, all I could do was look at the sky.
I wouldn’t say I was without total control, though. That one’s hard to explain too,” he said, shrugging. “That’s all I have.”

  Humph. “It was the same with the Amethyst. I wanted to save Nova, so for me, it battled that necrein. The beholder of a mind made a tool for thaumaturgy, the orb of superiority and divinity it told me it was. With powers like these, nasracans will be after us soon and more than ever.”

  “By then, we’ll be long gone. We’ve gotta’ get a move on, though. You know the boss’ll leave precisely when he says, and there’s going to be a second attack on Lucreris, guaranteed. The first one was just a taste—a ploy to weaken whatever defenses the city had. My guess, they’ll come from the northern mountains, finish Lucreris off and move into Endless. There’s no doubt they’ll complete their massacre. They’ll conquer all the villages and towns in the east if they haven't already. Not these small packs scurrying around for men’s souls, either.”

  Perilous shouting echoed through the dungeon. The guards.

  “Stop right there!” They cried once more. A second later, they were silent. The thumps of heavy, dropping bodies resounded.

  Sergio moved away from the cell door as scuttling footsteps approached. “Shhh.” He crouched behind a brick wall next to the gate, preparing to attack suddenly.

  I crossed to the other side of him, watching what became a shadow drawing near, blue eyes glowing in the dark. “Wait.”

  Sergio relaxed his hostile stance and leaned toward me. “What?”

  The figure stood at the door now. Before us was not an enemy but a comrade. “Irvina?” I called, unsure.

  “Don’t tell me you are at all surprised,” she muttered. She freed us with keys stolen from the guards. With freedom in our grasp, we hurried through the dungeon hall, turning several times. I heard running water but didn’t know from where it had come. It was but a whisper.

  “Just how do we get outta’ here, beautiful?” Sergio whispered after we’d turned again.