Cathexis: Necromancer's Dagger

by Philip Blood

  “Yes, quite often, but he always smiled and spoke as if nothing were wrong,” G’Taklar described.

  “That twitch is a dead give away with him, he was about to burst a seam in anger every time he twitched. You see ‘Tak, that’s what I meant by experience. Some people have empirical knowledge of the world and some people have learned purely by studying. The most formidable people are those who have learned the knowledge and gained the experience to use it, a rare combination. That’s why I sent you on this embassy, to gain that experience to go with the knowledge you already possess. My imprint was there just to smooth the process by helping you avoid the pitfalls of inexperience and to accelerate your development. If I hadn’t trusted you, would I have let you borrow the most precious object the Ardellen family owns? This ring is priceless beyond imagination; countries could be purchased with it. Wars would be fought over it if anyone knew it was cathexis, yet I trusted you with this heirloom. That trust was well founded; it was quick thinking to swallow it when that sneak attack happened. At least now we have a chance of getting it out of here and back to Elizabeth. So try and quit worrying so much and use the brains G’lan gave you; your worry is getting in the way and mucking up the works,” Jatar finished his lecture, hoping the boy felt a little more confident. He would soon need all the confidence he could muster.

  “I’ll try my best Jatar, but I wish I was a natural at these things, like you,” he lamented.

  “No one could ask for more than your best ‘Tak, but don’t think I just knew everything. I’ve been getting wise instruction from my father and grandfathers ever since I took the throne. This ring has their imprints in it as well. Unfortunately, you can’t use their knowledge for awhile.”

  “Why?” G’Taklar asked.

  “My aura is attached to this ring now. Until you release me, and I want to go, it will keep you from contacting any of the other imprints within the ring. With my aura attached my imprint is too strong to allow the others through.”

  “You mean your soul is in this ring?” G’Taklar asked in amazement.

  “Yes, it will not go on to the next plane until released.”

  “That’s horrible, your soul is trapped! What happens if I release you?” the young man asked.

  “My imprint will remain, but my soul will go on to join the River,” Jatar answered.

  “Then that’s what I’ll do!” G’Taklar decided.

  “Eventually, yes, but I don’t want to go yet,” Jatar explained.

  “Why not?”

  “Because an imprint is just that, a copy. Right now my soul is here, this is the real me. I want to see and speak to my wife and son before I leave. Perhaps I will wait until Michael is old enough to release me himself, as I did for my father. That way he will know his real father, and not just the imprint that will stay with him through the family ring,” Jatar explained.

  “Then we’ll just have to get out of here together,” G’Taklar reasoned.

  “Right, and since there’s no mechanism on the door, what possible methods could be used to lock it from the other side?” he asked, now that he had G’Taklar calm and thinking.

  “They could have padlocked it, or they could have used a drop bar,” G’Taklar decided.

  “Right, how could we tell?” Jatar asked, already knowing, but wanting the young man to gain some confidence by thinking of a few things.

  “If I shake the door we might hear the lock rattle,” G’Taklar answered.

  “Good idea! , but what if the door doesn’t shake?” Jatar prompted.

  “Then it is probably held by a drop bar.”

  “Right, so give it a try,” he told him, now that he had figured out what to do.

  Alternately shoving and quickly releasing the door, G’Taklar tried to rattle it.

  “It’s pretty solid,” G’Taklar reported.

  “Check the door jambs, how large are the gaps?” his cousin requested.

  G’Taklar responded after a moment, “The gap on either side is about the width at the tip of my smallest finger.”

  “Yes, I could feel it. Get the string you found earlier, perhaps we can get it around the drop bar and lift it up and out,” Jatar suggested.

  “Great idea!” G’Taklar said with new enthusiasm for possible escape.

  He found the string and tried to feed it through the crack between the door and the wall. After a couple of tries, he said, “It keeps bending and falling down, we need something to help it through... straw!”

  “Good thinking,” Jatar encouraged.

  “I’ll use it to guide the string through,” he explained, unnecessarily.

  After a few more attempts, the string was pushed through until just the end was left sticking out of the door jamb.

  “Now try and hook the end back in lower down, below the bar,” Jatar instructed.

  Taking a long piece of straw, G’Taklar spent a few moments fishing for the string, eventually, his patience paid off and he felt it come back through on the end of his piece of straw.

  “Now, be careful, the string isn’t too strong. Lift the two ends up and see if the bar will lift out of its slots,” Jatar instructed.

  G’Taklar did as his older cousin suggested, but after a moment, he said, “It’s stuck; if I pull any harder I’m afraid the string will break.”

  “All right, lift both ends of the string with one hand and rattle the door a little to loosen the bar.”

  “I’ll try it,” he promised and attempted the maneuver. After a moment, he said, “It’s moving

  “Good, once it’s high enough to be out of the holder, lower it back down carefully, if it was a tight fit it should catch on the top of the holder.”

  When he was finished G’Taklar asked, “All right, should I try and open the door?”

  “No, it won’t open anyway, we need to do the same thing to the other end of the bar,” Jatar explained.

  “Of course, there must be two holders, one on each side of the door.”

  “Yes, we need to lift this end up, hoping that the other end doesn’t drop back into its slot, and then gently push it open.”

  A short time later they had the board out of its slots.

  Jatar explained the plan, “You’re going to push on the door with you left hand while keeping the string held up with your right. If this has worked the bar is going to drop to the floor and the door will open. That will make some noise and might bring your jailers running. In case it does, turn immediately and pick up the chain for a weapon and move swiftly out the door. We want to surprise them if we can. If it’s too dark to see, don’t go so fast you fall down some stairs or something,” Jatar cautioned.

  “I’ve got it, is there anything else you want to tell me before I do this?” he asked, hoping Jatar had a brilliant idea he had not yet shared.

  “Just don’t get so excited that you don’t listen to me, we have two brains here, let’s use them both, right?”

  “Right,” G’Taklar echoed.

  The young man paused a moment to take a breath and then dropped the bar and quickly turned to get the chain. He heard the bar hit the stone floor and then he was picking up the chain. G’Taklar pushed the cell door open with his left hand while holding the chain ready in his right. The screeching sound of the rusty hinges murdered the silence. In the near pitch dark, G'Taklar could barely make out a corridor going straight ahead.

  “Go, quickly,” Jatar’s thought told the frozen youth.

  “Sorry,” G’Taklar muttered and then started down the corridor. He noticed he was passing other cell doors to either side. After the third one, his corridor dead-ended into another hallway and he could turn left or right. “Which way?” he asked Jatar.

  “Look both ways for me, good! Does it seem lighter to you on the right?” he asked after G’Taklar complied.

  “Yes,” he responded.

  “Then that’s the way we want,” Jatar replied, directing his cousin.

  G’Taklar moved carefully down the new corridor and h
e noticed it was definitely getting lighter as he progressed. After thirty yards he came to a stairway going up.

  “Wrap the excess chain around your arm, carefully, so that you don’t make rattling noises. Now, look up the stairs, I want to see what’s at the top.”

  G’Taklar complied and they could see the stairs going up about thirty steps, at the top was a short stretch of floor and then a closed door. Dim light seeped in from around the edges of the doorframe.

  “Go quietly up the stairs, if you hear something pause and listen.”

  G’Taklar did as Jatar suggested.

  “All right, now listen at the door,” Jatar instructed.

  “I don’t hear anything. Wait… there are footsteps coming!” he whispered in sudden fear.

  “Yes I can hear them; it sounds like two or three people, and that’s too many. Quickly, back down the stairs and go to the corridor we haven’t tried yet,” he instructed the terrified boy.

  “What if it’s a dead end,” G’Taklar asked as he navigated down the dark stairs.

  “We know the other one ends at our cell, it can’t be worse than that,” Jatar responded logically.

  “I see your point.”

  They arrived at the new corridor and moved down it a short way. It soon became too dark to see, but by feeling along the rough stone wall G’Taklar could tell that the passage continued.

  “Stop, we’re far enough down this dark passage that their light shouldn’t reach us, let’s take a look at our captors. If they come this way we’ll have to run, but I’m pretty sure that they’re headed for your cell.”

  They heard the door open at the top of the stairs, and saw the three men coming down, the man in the lead held a lit torch. They were dressed in brown military uniforms, with an emblem on the left side of their chest. The emblem depicted a skull with a dagger thrust sideways through the empty eye sockets.

  “Tchulians!” Jatar exclaimed, “That’s one of their elite squads, you can tell by the skull patch,” Jatar informed G’Taklar.

  “Those are the same bastards that attacked our group,” G’Taklar informed Jatar.

  “So, Major Von Dracek wasn’t alone in his plot against us, other Tchulian mercs are involved in this conspiracy,” Jatar surmised.

  “What should I do?”

  “Wait until they’ve gone down the hall to our old cell, then slip across the opening of the corridor. We’ll try and sneak out ahead of them.”

  When the three soldiers reached the junction they turned left and immediately stopped.

  “The prisoner’s escaped!” the one in the lead exclaimed.

  “Vorg’s breath, we forgot to close the cell door, with that torch light he can see it open and the cell empty!” Jatar exclaimed in thought, “No chance to slip by them now, quickly move down the corridor behind us, they may check to see if you’re nearby!”

  Behind them, they heard the Tchulians’ approaching footsteps.

  “He couldn’t have gotten past us in the guard room, so he’s still down here. Hewten, go back for more men and torches to help us search. If we don’t find him, the commander will feed us to the souldead.”

  Then the soldier raised his voice and yelled out into the dark, “Listen up boy, if you’re close enough to hear me come out and give up. I promise you if you tell us where to find the signet ring, and we recover it, I’ll guarantee your freedom. The ring is all we want. If you continue down these corridors you’ll eventually reach some rubble where the wall has crumbled and revealed some natural caverns. Those caverns aren’t freedom, they’re death. Souldead haunt the old labyrinth of caves below us. There’s one down there who’s particularly nasty, we’ve tried to hunt him down for the past five years and in that time, he’s killed over forty soldiers. We’ve found dead men with a hole in the top of their skulls where he sucks out their brains. Give yourself up and you’ll get a fair deal, I promise.”

  “Something about that man’s voice doesn’t make me want to trust him with a coin purse, let alone your life,” Jatar told G’Taklar.

  “What about the souldead,” G’Taklar whispered in a barely audible voice as he spoke to Jatar.

  “I’m also not fond about the idea of fighting souldead unarmed in the dark, but I’m positive that you will be killed by the soldiers if they acquire the ring, no matter what they promise. Sometimes it’s better to take your chances with a possible danger rather than a sure one. If there are caverns, there are exits to the caverns, let’s see if we can find one,” Jatar recommended.

  “I guess you're right, besides I just can’t stand the thought of torture, especially when it’s my body being tortured,” G’Taklar reasoned.

  “I can’t say that I blame you. Well let’s get on our way, the sooner we get started the sooner we’ll see the light of freedom, outside,” Jatar stated optimistically.

  Gustin carried Elizabeth away from the dead bodies of the recent battle to a clearing, carpeted in brown pine needles, by a tiny brook. He sat down and cradled her head in his large lap.

  Hetark sat down next to them and swabbed her forehead with a cloth soaked in cold water from the bubbling stream.

  Eventually, her eyes fluttered open and a moment later focus returned as she looked up into Gustin’s face, “Gustin, have I overslept?” she asked in a soft drowsy voice.

  “No, milady, you may sleep as long as you wish,” he replied gently.

  Elizabeth’s brow furrowed as she tried to bring her clouded mind under control, “I had a horrible dream, you, Drake and Hetark were all dead.”

  “It nearly wasn’t a dream, milady, but remember the story of the famous old coin, the one that always pops up to cause trouble?” he replied by way of answer.

  She suddenly tensed as the memory of recent events started to return, but then she smiled and said, “This is wonderful, you’re alive, and Hetark, you too?” She asked turning her head to see the other knight.

  “Yes, the creature didn’t find me all that appetizing; he wanted to move onto the main course. Drake is also alive and Becaris, Lasar, and Rasal are here, but before I explain please, where is Michael?” he asked and the concern for the safety of the heir showed on his voice and strong face.

  “Michael is safe,” Elizabeth replied.

  “Even from the Darknull?” Gustin asked.

  “That Darknull will never foul the air of this or any other world again! With Michael’s help I destroyed it,” Elizabeth said with satisfaction.

  “But where is Michael now?” Hetark asked.

  “He is at the Kirnath School,” Elizabeth explained.

  “Good, then we should get on our way there soon ourselves, I’ll feel better when some of us are there to guard him against danger,” Hetark stated as he got to his feet ready to go.

  “We’re not going to the school, and don’t ask why at least not yet. I’ll explain further when you’re all together. Tell me how I came to be here, the last I remember I thought the three of you were dead and I was heading back down the forest road to the fork. I wanted to confirm that there was nothing I could do for any of you. Then I was going to turn at the fork to lay a false trail away from Michael. That’s all I remember, except I think I fell off my horse,” she said, wrinkling her brow in puzzlement toward the end.

  Gustin answered, “Drake and I were nearly done for, the Darknull had us both and it was sucking out our life. It was the most painful thing I have ever endured,” the big knight explained, not mentioning Drake’s episode with his fear. “Drake heard the horses first, I immediately remembered you telling us that the other Tchulians were on our trail. I thought they had caught up, but it turned out to be the other three Knight Protectors who had decided to follow us and take out any enemies that they found pursuing.

  “They saw the Darknull on top of us and attacked. It leaped away from us and I found the strength to call out and tell our friends to use torches, there were plenty lying around. They took up positions above us with torches and the Darknull decided it would take too lon
g to subdue us, so it went on after you.

  “Our mounts had run off, so it took us awhile to find them and follow. We caught up to Hetark who was also trying to find his horse,” Gustin stopped talking to let Hetark take over the narrative.

  “The same type of thing happened with me, it didn’t even pause to fight,” Hetark explained, “The creature must have known that you were getting close to the Kirnath school. I didn’t give the creature credit for that much intelligence, but it just left me standing there, worthless,” Hetark said with chagrin.

  Gustin took up the narration again, “We caught up with Hetark and came after you and Michael. Drake was riding scout ahead of us and saw the markings of an ambush in the trail. We followed the trail of their horses and found them near here, you were unconscious, and they were going to kill you, eventually.”

  “Eventually?” Elizabeth asked.

  “Yes,” Hetark responded simply, not saying anything about the near-rape.

  After a moment Elizabeth’s eyes flared slightly as she figured out the implication, “I understand, Hetark,” Elizabeth said and the thanks were evident in her soft tone and the way she held his eyes for a moment.

  Gustin finished describing the rest of the rescue. “I carried you over here to this brook and it’s been about two bells since the battle; we’ve been frantic about Michael. Becaris, Lasar, Rasal, and Drake are out looking for tracks to see if any riders departed with Michael before we arrived.”

  “I’ll go and bring them in,” Hetark said and went to his horse to mount up.

  Elizabeth closed her eyes and let her head drop back into Gustin’s lap as she rested while they waited for the other knights to return.

  When they heard horses Elizabeth got up and greeted all the knights warmly, then she recounted her adventures since leaving Hetark. She did not mention the cathexis earring. When she had finished the knights were quiet for a short time and then Drake spoke.

  “We cannot leave Michael there without guidance and protection, milady, we swore an oath to protect him!” he exclaimed, speaking for all the knights.

  “He’ll have guidance Drake, his best protection is his anonymity. Our presence would take that away from him,” Elizabeth countered.