Ruin Mist Chronicles Bundle

by Robert Stanek

  As if in response, a knifelike claw broke through his magic shield, ripping into his shoulder and then his side. The pain was excruciating, filling him with anger and fear. His thoughts turned to Xith. Suddenly he could feel the anguish Xith must have felt at the end.

  “For this you shall die!” he shouted.

  A flame sparked from outstretched hands, striking one of the beasts dead in the chest, and in a burst of flame the creature died. Surprised at the power that surged in him, he shouted, a wicked smile touching his lips. He released the power within again. Two attackers fell.

  He whirled around to face the last of the attackers. He didn’t know how but he detected terror in their expressions as they started to flee. “You shall not run away from me, foul creatures!” he said with a loud booming voice as flames bright and deadly sprang forth from outstretched hands. “I have arrived!”

  The creatures’ last sounds were agonized cries of pure pain. He almost pitied them but that thought didn’t last long.

  “Adrina, stop!” yelled Emel, “This is madness! Talk to me!”

  “It’s here! I know it’s here—it has to be!” Adrina grabbed Emel before he grabbed her. “Trust me like you did once before—trust me!”

  Emel stopped protesting and helped Adrina search. The ground was bloody, but the bodies of the fallen knights had already been taken away. The pursuit through the palace continued—near and far shouts could be heard but there were no sounds of skirmish. “What does it look like?”

  “Round, I think—silvery. It glowed.”

  “Glowed?”

  “Yes, glowed! He held it in his hand. I think he was rubbing it or squeezing it. He might have been whispering something too—I’m not too sure. Everything happened so fast…”

  Emel extinguished the torch he held and started extinguishing the other torches that now lit the area clearly. Adrina helped, shouting, “Yes, that’s it!”

  Soon the hallway was shrouded in darkness. Emel and Adrina waited as their eyes adjusted, then began to search again.

  Emel talked as he searched. “You never told me about a second visit from the Lady.”

  “You never asked. You were too busy playing captain of the guard.”

  “Too busy? Too busy? What’s that supposed to mean? Do you know we had to restructure the whole of Imtal Garrison? Three squadrons of trained soldiers are not easily replaced—and throughout it all, I and the other officers had to contend with the families of the fallen.

  “After the first hundred or so the faces of the mourners become the same, but you can’t let them be the same or you lose what little compassion you can continue to muster. It’s not easy and it’s not that anyone ever told you it would be easy. It’s so effortless to lose yourself and there’s no one there for you as you are there for others. So yes, I was busy playing—”

  Adrina stopped searching and put a hand on Emel’s arm. “I didn’t know. I assumed—I assumed… I missed you on the return to Imtal. It wasn’t the same. I wish I had been there for you. The attack on the elves wasn’t your fault. You don’t need to try to make everything right.”

  “Look who’s talking. Do you know what you’ve done, stirring up the household and appointing Garette Timmer as Myrial’s protector? Swordmaster Timmer is furious and says his family is humiliated.” Emel pulled away from Adrina’s touch, his hand coming to rest on a thing most unnatural. He picked it up and wondered at the radiance of it.

  “I don’t always think before I act. You should know that by now, Emel. Myrial does deserve to be housemistress though. She’s always been there for me as you were—even when I was lost to the world around me. I will speak with Swordmaster Timmer. You’ll see—”

  “Is this what you saw?” cut in Emel. “Because I think it must be.”

  Adrina took the strange glowing orb in her hand. “It is,” she said. “It is.”

  As the frenzy in his mind passed, Vilmos stood silent and still. He was shocked, simply amazed at what he had wrought for many long minutes. Tears rolled down his face and his words were drowned in sobs.

  He sank to the ground; he was alone. Xith was gone without a trace—and he had become a monster, no better than those he had slain. The force of the raw energy flowing through him seemed a drug in his mind.

  It took quite a while, but finally he rose to his feet and wiped away his tears. The wounds in his side and shoulder ached but luckily were not too deep.

  His thoughts returned to concerns about Xith. He thought perhaps the creatures dragged Xith’s body off to feast on. He began a search that took him well into the evening.

  As night arrived deep and dark in the land, he set up camp in the grove. Although he wasn’t really hungry, he ate all of what little rations he had. He made a bed among the boughs of the great fallen tree.

  He was unaware of the tiny seedling nestled within the tangles of the shattered trunk and once proud roots, nor was he aware that it was the spirit of the great tree itself that told him to start the warding fire. He only knew that the horses were gone, Xith was gone, and he was desperately alone in a place that was completely foreign to him.

  He knew little of Under-Earth, and what little he did know alarmed him. This was the place where the land called Rill Akh Arr existed, and within its shrouded forests lived the shape-changing beasts of the night—the Wolmerrelle. He had faced the Wolmerrelle before in Vangar forest—before he had barely escaped with his life.

  But thoughts of the Wolmerrelle weren’t as frightening as thoughts of Erravane, the leader of the Wolmerrelle. Erravane would want revenge and her revenge may not be that of death. As Xith had told him before, there were worse things than death. He believed this wholly and without question now.

  Troubled sleep found him a short while later. The dreams playing out behind his eyes were of the past—a past that he had hoped was behind him but wasn’t.

  Chapter Nine:

  Against the Odds

  Brother Seth of the Red, corrected Seth to Adrina.

  “Are you always there in my mind?” whispered Adrina in her thoughts.

  Not always, but I am… I am sorry if it offends you…

  “It does not offend,” whispered Adrina in her thoughts.

  You must take me to Galan!

  The sense of urgency touched Adrina. She sensed the pain and she tried to explain that the council needed him first, but he refused. The vigor with which his emotions and thoughts hit her today surprised her. And upon reflection, she didn’t think just taking him to see his companion could hurt anything. The council could wait a little longer.

  “I know of councils,” said Seth. “You are right, they can wait. I must attend to more urgent matters first, then I will surely sit before your illustrious council.” You could not keep me away…

  Adrina called out to the guards posted outside the door. They came bursting into the chamber, half prepared to do battle with the mysterious stranger and half prepared to vault away if there was indeed trouble.

  You see, whispered Seth to Adrina alone, where I come from all are friends and if someone were indeed your enemy, only then would you need such men… He had searched Adrina’s mind for the correct word for the two guardsmen, but the word guard didn’t really seem fitting.

  “Lower your weapons!” said Adrina. “Brother Seth and his companion are guests. They are not under house arrest.”

  The guards looked first to Adrina, then to the stranger. They would run from the room if she dismissed them. “We are truly sorry, Your Highness. We meant no affront.”

  “Give me assistance. We will take Brother Seth to his companion in the far wing.”

  “But… We are under orders to see that—”

  Adrina cut the guardsman off, “Under whose orders?”

  “Captain Brodst himself,” replied both men at the same time.

  “You heed a captain’s order over mine? You are indeed fools!” shouted Adrina.

  I’m all right, Seth sent to her mind alone, I need no assistan
ce.

  “Quiet!” said Adrina. She directed it to the guards, but it was perfectly timed with Seth’s statement. “Guards,” she said, “To his side! Take his arms and follow…”

  Really… I can walk on my own…

  “Really, indeed.”

  The guards cast her odd glances. They were more concerned for her than for the stranger, but they did as she requested.

  The foursome traversed a long hall, descended a twisted stair, then proceeded along another lengthy hall. They came next to the open courtyard, and here Seth asked to pause, momentarily captured by the beauty of the open air, the sunshine, the brightly colored flowers of the garden. It seemed so long since he was this close to the earth and the forces of the Mother, and the touching hand of the Father flowed more readily to his prescient mind.

  Release me, he thrust into the minds of the guardsmen, strength returning to his limbs.

  The guards backed away warily. Again, they would have run if not for the cross look in Adrina’s eye. They continued on.

  Galan’s bedchamber was filled with a collection of clergy led by Father Jacob. They were whispering an ancient prayer, a healing prayer, one of the most powerful they could tap. The priests were using Jacob as a focus through which their energies flowed.

  So far they had made little progress. Galan’s face was deathly pale and her heartbeat was barely perceptible. As Seth entered the chamber, the focusing stopped, the prayer stopped, and as one the priests looked up—Seth’s powerful will acted like a magnet upon their minds. A voice entered their thoughts, shocking them into bewildered frenzy. I am very grateful for your effort, but I am afraid only I can save her.

  “No,” shouted Adrina in response, “You need to save your strength!”

  The chamber was absent of sound for a time. Father Jacob understood Adrina’s concerns and honored her opinion. He furrowed his brow, cleared his throat several times, then repeated Adrina’s words but more tactfully. “Friend, save your strength. We will save your companion. The poison will work itself out, I promise.”

  Seth studied Jacob for a time before he offered a response. Jacob interested Seth. Jacob had called him “friend.” Seth could feel a sense of power in this one, power of a different sort, not of will per say, more of intellect or wisdom. And Seth smiled in polite form.

  She is beyond your help, said Seth in response to the anxiousness that flowed from the gathered priests. Father Jacob, would you ask your fellows to leave?

  “Perhaps we can do this together,” said Jacob, thinking, but not saying, that since they were all males it would be best to pool their healing powers. Jacob muttered curse under his breath and it brought a smile to Seth’s lips. He wondered if Seth would understand the absence of the priestesses and know they held no malevolence.

  I understand, said Seth into Jacob’s mind, my people too have their holy customs and if you would honor them, I must do this alone…

  Again Jacob’s expression grew wide with amazement, perhaps there was indeed more here than he understood. “Please leave us…” began Father Jacob. “Brother Seth wishes time alone with his companion.” He stood a moment, staring at Seth. He would have to find Keeper Martin immediately; they must find all they could in the histories. The Great Book told little about Seth’s kind, but perhaps if they delved deep enough into the ancient texts they could glean more. He also had to inform the council. They could call a General Assembly soon. “Let’s go now… Father Tenuus, are you coming?”

  Father Tenuus nodded and followed Jacob from the room.

  The room was empty now save for Adrina, Seth and Galan. Adrina stepped quietly away from Seth’s side, glancing at the last moment into his eyes. She stopped, reached out and touched his cheek. She was the only one who saw the tears well up in his eyes and stream down his face, whether they were tears of joy at seeing his companion or tears of sadness she did not know. Sorrow filled her heart and as she departed the room, tears glistened down her cheeks.

  Father Jacob waited for her in the hallway and she saw him hazily through her tears. “Father Jacob?” she sobbed.

  “Yes, princess.”

  “Do you think he can save her?”

  Jacob took her hand and walked with her down the corridor. “If there is one in this world who can, I believe it is him, child. Never have I felt the will of any as strong as the one I felt when he entered the room.”

  The tears dried up and Adrina paused to stare out over the garden as Seth had. Somehow to see bright sunshine and vibrant life made her feel better too. She kissed Jacob’s hand in appreciation of his kindness, and as she did so Jacob blushed faint red. She knew he understood how she felt.

  “He regained his strength quickly.”

  “This morning he awoke and ate well. By afternoon, it seemed most of his strength had returned, and now he seems to have almost fully recovered.”

  “Strong that one, I’ll say. Come child, I will see that you sleep!” said Jacob, dragging Adrina along behind him. “You look so very tired, you must rest… Besides there is nothing we can do now save pray. We must pray long and hard.”

  Adrina didn’t refuse. She knew Jacob wouldn’t have believed

  her, and she wouldn’t have been telling the truth, if she denied her exhaustion. Yet, as fate would have it, the two passed Chancellor Yi who was busily rushing past on his way to King Andrew’s chambers. The council was awaiting the king’s presence at the day’s session, which he was late to again, but he was the king after all and therefore pardonable. Luckily for Adrina, Yi snatched Jacob away to the meeting and she was left on her own.

  For a moment, Adrina considered Yi’s face. His nose wasn’t red any more and the dark circles were gone from under his eyes. Adrina broke her stride. She had heard no sniffles as he approached or after he had passed. A touch of mirth lit her face. Imtal Palace had been dead before, gnawing away at them a piece at a time, the chancellor especially, but no more.

  She considered following the two to the council chambers and sitting in on the session, but quickly let the idea pass. She would rather be alone for a while, and she almost walked to her room to lie down as she knew Jacob would have wanted her to do and as her body desired—but instead she crossed back to stare silently at the closed chamber door, listening intently for any sound that might escape from within.

  After hours of waiting and pacing back and forth alone, stirring her mind with frenzied thoughts, Father Jacob returned from the council meeting. He was surprised and not surprised to find Adrina waiting there slumped against the wall, half asleep. He muttered under his breath that he should have taken her back to her room first and then gone to the meeting, but now it was too late.

  He shrugged his shoulders in a gesture to show the futility of arguing with her, and then joined her. A strong force of will emanating from within the chamber told Jacob that Brother Seth was occupied in activities beyond anything he could comprehend. For many days, the priests had been changing off in the healing chant without success. It seemed they could do nothing to aid the dying one.

  Only today they decided to try the impossible, to breach the realm of their powers and combine their wills. At the time Jacob thought it was the only solution—he was not so sure anymore.

  All his thoughts of failure did not disappear so readily. He cursed the priestesses and their damnable rituals. An image of Jasmine, the High Priestess, flashed through his mind. During the days before winter, a priestess was not to be found in the whole of the Kingdom. Sealed away in sanctuary, carrying out private worship, which although Jacob knew and understood he did not fully condone. His thoughts lingered on the face a moment longer, then he turned to careful, reverent prayer—the prayer he promised before but had not had time yet to give.

  Neither he nor Adrina said a word as they waited, slumped against the wall. Interrupting the silence seemed wrong. Despite the skirt she wore, Adrina sat on her haunches. The good father simply abided by leaning a heavy shoulder against the stonework of one of the hall’s
grand arches. Unconsciously, between breaths one or the other would pause to listen, hoping for a sound or a sign, anything at all to cast away the fears.

  Beyond the door, inside the room, Seth sat engrossed in meticulous calculation, ensuring every detail down to the last minuscule item. Once the others left, he raced to Galan’s side and kissed her lightly on the cheek. His thoughts ran wild—the task that lay ahead, that which he must attempt, the sacrifice he must make, the denial he must send to the Father, all things he must consider.

  Oh Galan, my Galan… What have I done?

  He breathed in a deep breath to relax his mind and body, quickly pursuing it with another, waiting until his thoughts were absolutely clear before he delved into the long, tedious task ahead. The room, having served as a meditation chamber of sorts, would suit his purposes well.

  Slowly, methodically, he spread unlit candles around the bed in a full circle, chanting a prayer long forgotten, lost to all save his people, the prayer’s pious message designed to begin focusing his will as well as to gather his thoughts. Curiously, the candles served only as symbols of faith to the Father, each representing a material thing, thus to remind the Father of times past, times of great need.

  Seth’s labor began with channeling a single thought, allowing it to occupy his consciousness. He maintained the chant, fixing his will, refining it, until all else faded—the last candle gently put in its place completed the circle. Seth crossed to the head of the bed and kneeled, cross-legged. He increased the level of his mental chant, reaching out until it encompassed the entire chamber, yet not beyond. The sound of his silent words of thought was so intense that others of lesser will would have been driven out of the room.

  He cast a wayward thought away from his mind and touched outward to the air, slowly lifting himself above the bed with a levitating force. He raised his hands, turning them palms up, fingers at first interlaced to channel the energy better.