The Wrath Of the Forgotten

by Michael Ignacio

  “Is there anything you can’t do with illusions?” Nori asked.

  Rayko merely chuckled.

  The illusionary man moved in first and pushed the darkness back further. Nori followed closely. Thick layers of dust covered the floorboards. Old furniture sat along the walls. A musty stagnant odor hung in the air. Nori entered a foyer which had a long corridor extending off of it. Slivers of daylight came in through open doors, presumably from windows.

  Every one of Nori’s muscles felt tighter. Nori listened carefully, and the absence of noise grated on him. Along the hallway were rows of doors, and each of the doors had been bashed open. The long forgotten broken shards of wood remained where they lay.

  “Maybe the monastery was attacked,” Nori said. Or perhaps robbed.”

  Flara peeked around him. “Why would anyone attack a monastery? Granted, they were studying dark lore here, but it was only lore.”

  “Are we certain it was just lore?” Apisa said. “If Nori’s right, there must have been something worth taking from here.”

  Rayko said, “The fact that you’ve been having reoccurring dreams about it only reinforces that notion. Whatever was here must be either long gone, or its well hidden.”

  “Something must be here,” Flara said. “Why would I have dreams about a monastery I’ve never heard of or been to if it were empty?”

  Nori moved down the hallway, his tetsubo held at the ready. “Let’s explore this place a little more. Even after hundreds of years, there may be some clues.”

  He peeked into one of the rooms. It looked bare, aside from a little cot and a little end table. The room across the hall from the first also had meager accommodations.

  Flara said “These rooms must be where the monks lived.”

  “I could never be a monk, or a nun for that matter.” Rayko ran the fabric of her clothes between her pointer finger and her thumb. “I love having nice things way too much.”

  Apisa sighed. “I have to agree with Rayko. This life style is far too simple for even my tastes. That’s saying something.”

  Nori moved to the next set of rooms and looked within. Like the first pair, these chambers were empty. He stopped when he came to the third set of rooms.

  Skeletal remains covered the pillow and bed, but a blanket covered the long dead figure’s body. The individual bones laid in a series of piles, like dice left at a gambling hall upon its closing. Nori slowly approached the bed. He drew back the blanket with a free hand and gazed underneath it. A long, flowing, time worn and faded robe clung to beds surface. Nori patted the center of the robes. Lumps at various parts of the fabrics only confirmed Nori’s suspicion.

  The girls crept up behind him and gazed down at the body as well.

  “I wonder what killed him,” Apisa said. “He doesn’t have a lick on him.”

  “Judging from the way that he was laying, I’d say he died in his sleep.” Rayko bent down and glanced over the bed closely. “There aren’t any stains on the mattress. The bones look uncompromised too. How strange.”

  The rest of the first floor either had skeletal remains in their beds, or they were completely empty. All of the beds in the empty rooms looked untouched. Nori led the way to the second floor. He stopped once he saw the skeletal remains in the middle of the hallway. The pile of bones laid halfway down the corridor, and the garments looked torn apart from the front.

  “Hold on,” Nori said. “Something’s different about this floor.”

  Despite his request, Flara still maneuvered so she could see. “That one isn’t in the bed like the others. There might be clues!”

  Flara moved around him and ran down the corridor. Nori winced as he followed her. He quickly glanced into each of the rooms. Within each of them, the signs of carnage were revealed in the placements of the bones and clothes. These remains didn’t lie in the beds like the others. The rooms contained torn or slashed robes and broken or chipped bones.

  Nori positioned himself beside Flara while Apisa and Rayko took their time coming down the hallway. As they came to each door, both women studied the room with piqued interest.

  “This paints a whole different story,” Apisa said.

  Rayko stood over Flara and studied the body in the center of the floor. “His rib bones were pulled off of the ribcage. See how the bones along the chest cavity are jagged? This man died in great anguish.”

  “The bodies in the other rooms also looked butchered,” Apisa said.

  Flara’s voice sounded almost bubbly. “I wonder what happened here. How come the monks on the first floor died in their sleep, but these monks encountered something bizarre?”

  “I guess our answers will be found in the other building.” Nori moved past Flara and Rayko. “You two stay here. I’ll check the rest of the floor, and then we’ll leave.”

  As Nori moved down the hallway, he kept taking notes of how the rest of the bodies were laid. He grimaced as he noted each of the bodies. Just imagining not being able to fight against the thing that killed you sent awful tremors through him. Each of the consecutive rooms had a mangled pile of bones in them.

  In the last room, a pile of bones and clothes sat against the wall. A knife rested between the legs of the robe.

  A message was carved into the wood floor.

  Beware the shadows. Beware the night. They are watching you!

  Nori slowly whirled around and peered into the corners. His spine tried to burrow its way out of his back.

  “Get down here,” Nori said. “You need to see this!”

  Flara beat the other two women down the corridor. She hopped past him and scanned the room. After a moment, she read the message aloud. “Beware the shadows. Beware the night. They are watching you. That definitely sounds ominous. I wonder if the danger in the darkness is still here.”

  Rayko swallowed hard and shifted in her stance. “Given your dreams, I’d say we’re in grave danger. I mentioned it before, but I would not like to linger here after sunset.”

  Rayko clapped her hands together twice, and her tattoo flashed. Three more men identical to the first lantern carrier appeared in the room. Nori squinted his eyes from the increase in illumination. He studied his weapon with a longing expression.

  “I doubt I’ll be of any use against magic shadows,” Nori said.

  Apisa placed her hand on her hips. “The same goes for me. Unless it’s solid, I’m going to be nothing more than bait.”

  Flara looked out through the window. “I doubt any of us will be able to content with whatever destroyed this wondrous center of learning, especially at night. We have to hurry, and then we have to be gone.”

  “I couldn’t agree with you more,” Rayko said. “I’ll keep the shadows at bay; you worry about discovering the meaning of your dreams.”

  Nori led the girls out of the first building and across the courtyard. They approached the last structure with more than a bit of caution. Although it was square in nature, it was the biggest of the three buildings. A pair of large ornate doors stood broken open. They sat slightly ajar, leaning toward the outside. Within the expanse of the building, the blackest shadow awaited them.

  Two of Rayko’s illusionary lantern carriers moved into the building first, and two trailed behind the group as they entered. A subtle hissing resonated from somewhere unseen. Nori took several quick breaths and held out his tetsubo in front of him. He scanned the darkness, yet nothing moved.

  Nori could fight real living enemies, but spirits were a different story. He couldn’t hide his shakiness, and luckily his companions didn’t remark on it. The entire building was one large open chamber. Bookshelves lined the walls, and large book cases stood in various rows in the middle of the floor. Numerous wooden work tables and wooden chairs sat in an open area.

  Flara approached one of the shelves. “Oh my goodness! There are countless tomes and scrolls here to read! I can’t believe all of this valuable knowledge has remained here untouched. This is a travesty!”

  Nori positioned hims
elf right behind her. “Is this what we were sent here to find? Tomes?”

  He swallowed hard and wiped his sweaty hands on his pants. The last thing he needed was to lose grip on his tetsubo if things really happened. Eerie tingling sensations danced on his skin. In the back of his mind, Nori remembered several crucial Qu-Tar lessons.

  “We’re not alone,” Nori said. “Something is watching us.”

  Rayko’s voice shook slightly as she spoke. “How can you tell? Did you see something?”

  “No,” Nori replied. “I feel it in my gut. We were taught to have greater awareness. Trust me, we’re not alone.”

  “Oh dear,” Flara said. She stepped away from the edge of the light. “Rayko, can you position your servants so they cast more light?”

  “Oh yes, darling.” Rayko pointed to various points. “You there, move there and there. Keep an eye open.”

  The illusionary men reached into their loin clothes and pulled out daggers. A minor headache started to affect Nori, but he refused to comment.

  “So what are we looking for?” Apisa asked. She ran her thumbs against the insides of her fingers. Occasionally, she would rub her thumbs against her fingertips.

  “Anything out of the ordinary,” Flara replied. “Something that wouldn’t necessarily belong in a library.”

  Flara and Nori walked toward the front of the illuminated area while Apisa and Rayko walked toward the back. Adrenaline poured into Nori’s nerves, and his senses came alive. Only Nori and the girls made any noise. Still, a great tickle had started in his stomach, as if a legion of crows had appeared within him. The crows were desperate to escape.

  The bookcases stood back to back and formed twelve rows. Nori’s throat closed up as he peered down each of the long rows. Each time he did, he expected to see someone waiting with blade in hand.

  “There’s one thing that’s missing, and it really unsettling me,” Nori said. “Anyone want to take a guess at what it is?”

  Rayko said, “Is it the lack of monk skeletons in here? Because that’s driving me insane.”

  “That’s exactly right.” Nori wiped a finger against one of the table tops. He glanced at his fingertip. “Just as I thought. Its dusty, but not nearly as bad as the other building.”

  “You know, you’re not making us feel any better,” Apisa said. “In fact, no offense, I want to punch you right now.”

  Flara stopped and pointed to the very back of the library. “That door, I think I remember it from my dream.”

  The door looked to be quite ornate and had a strange painted symbol on the front of it. As they got closer to it, a strange tingly buzz zapped into his lips and tongue.

  The girls all gasped.

  “Magic,” Flara said. “Can you two feel it? It’s still active after all these years.”

  “What kind of spell could do that?” Rayko said. “That symbol on the door, what school of magic does it come from? It’s not from mine.”

  “Nor it is mine,” Apisa said. “Do you recognize it, Flara?”

  Flara approached the door and ran her fingers along some of the finer details of the symbol. As in the case with their tattoos, the larger symbol was composed of little symbols. Each of the symbols appeared unique.

  “Give me a moment, I think I can translate the runes,” Flara said.

  The tickle in Nori’s stomach intensified. A chill grabbed hold of his skin. Nori placed his back to the wall and stared into the darkness. Something in the gloom watched him, but it remained concealed. Apisa and Rayko bunched around Flara, and they whispered to one another.

  “Oh dear,” Flara said. She squinted and leaned in a little closer to the runes. After glancing over the symbol again, she slowly turned around and gazed into the shadows. “Nori’s right. Something is out there in the dark. Show yourself, I know y-you’re there.”

  Apisa and Rayko placed their shoulders adjacent to Flara’s while Nori stood right in front of her. Dark shapes swirled in the shadows. A pair of dark red eyes opened in the midst of nothing, and took form. A creature that exceeded Nori’s height placed itself on the very edge of the light. It had pale white skin, pointed ears, and a set of razor sharp teeth. The creature wore black metal armor and carried an equally dark sword in its hand.

  More creatures appeared beside him, although they were slightly smaller.

  Rayko drew her hand to her mouth. “What in the Hell are those things? They weren’t there before.”

  Flara took small steps around Nori, but stopped right in front of him. “They’ve been here the entire time. In fact, they’ve been here for the last few hundred years. I’m right, aren’t I?”

  The larger creature scowled. Its voice resembled a thousand needles being scrapped across a mirror’s surface. “Hundreds of years? Has it really been that long? Time has escaped us. You will release us.”

  “Release you?” Apisa asked. “What’s keeping you here? Are you the ones who murdered all of these poor monks?”

  “Poor monks?” The creature asked. “You really have no idea what they were doing here, do you? It matters not. You will free us or you will die!”

  “Why? So you can murder more innocent people?” Nori asked. “Besides, we don’t even know how to free you even if we wanted to.”

  “Actually, I know what they want.” Flara’s brows scrunched together. “These creatures are called Umbarqui. In simple terms, they are like shadow kami. They want their Shadow Lantern, and I assume it’s behind this sealed door.”

  The other creatures in the room stepped toward the light, but they didn’t enter it.

  Flara gestured back to the door. “Only a human can open it, and they have to do so with their own free will. The seal prevents the Umbarqui from entering. We can’t allow them to escape.”

  The head Umbarqui stepped into the light, and its skin sizzled. “Do you think you’re safe in the light? You’re all going to die. Before you do, one of you will open that door!”

  “Oh we are going to open it,” Flara replied. She swallowed hard. “Nori, listen carefully. As soon as I open the door, I need for you to smash the black lantern. Do it quickly or we really are going to die.”

  She moved around Nori and placed her hand on the door. The shadow creatures all moved into the light with haste. Their skin sizzled and burned, but they continued to run. As Nori turned around, he felt his stomach vibrate with incredible intensity.

  A loud popping noise echoed out, and the door swung open. He dashed in and quickly glanced across the room. Resting on the back table sat a large glowing black lantern. With all of his speed, Nori dashed across the room and raised his tetsubo.

  Someone screamed. Nori winced as he brought down the war club on top of the lantern with all of his strength. As it collided with the lantern, the lantern cracked and shattered. A powerful wave of magical energy blasted out and slammed into Nori. Everything went black.

  NORI TREMBLED AS he stood in the center of the town square. A peculiar fountain rose up from the square, and it portrayed a woman holding up a massive axe above her head. Water poured from her belt buckle. The back of Nori’s mind buzzed, but a foul lightness had swarmed all over him. The stone buildings surrounding the square had broken walls and doors. In some places, fires still burned on the tops of thatched roofs. Red stains covered the stone of the streets. Icy fingers trailed up the center of his back.

  A small part of him wanted to hide in one of the destroyed buildings. Nori approached one of the broken doorways and gazed inside.

  “H-hello? Is anyone inside?” Nori asked.

  The building had seemed so familiar, and yet Nori couldn’t place what purpose it had served. Clearly, judging from the items on the shelves, this was a store of some kind. Nori winced as he moved up to the shelves and examined one of the items.

  A simple stuffed doll made to look like a stocky warrior stared back at him. Nori drew in breath, but the air felt heavy, as if coated with metal. Just below the surface, Nori knew he could burst into tears at any moment. H
e continued to survey the room with a keen eye.

  A strange symbol on the wall caught his eye. A painting had the image of a lone mountain rising up from nothingness. A dark grey stone heart floated at the base of the mountain.

  “By all that is holy,” Nori said softly. “Please… No!”

  His mother wore that same symbol proudly every day when she went off to work.

  Nori exited the house and reexamined the square with a renewed understanding. The mysterious fountain that had caused him hesitation now became strikingly clear.

  “Is anyone here?” Nori yelled. “Is anyone alive?”

  The unseen presence of many eyes fell upon him. Every way that Nori looked, he saw the ghostly impressions of people who had once walked these wondrous streets. They echoed with the vitality they once exuded. These visages only lasted for a moment, and then Nori returned to being all alone.

  Soft echoes of his own childlike laughter resonated in his ears. How many days did Nori and his friends run through this very intersection? His awareness felt dulled, and his movements slowed. He grimaced as he ran his palm against the stone fountain.

  Nori moved down the avenues with haste. Every now and then, Nori stopped and gazed at the landmarks that made up the better part of his life. Neighbors’ homes lay destroyed, and the level of carnage sent worrisome vibrations through him.

  He came upon a large two story home in the middle of town. The top floor had a gaping hole in the side of it, and the front door had been bashed in. Rather than go inside, Nori stood out in the street. Given the state of the city, his mother would have been where the combat was the thickest.

  His heart thumped in his ears. Nori’s blood felt fiery as it coursed through him. What could have done this to Onista? Surely this was a false vision, for no force in Korrine could utterly devastate his home or his people in such a way.