The Sword that Binds (Book of Worlds 1)

by Taran, David

  “So Sarena is as strong as an Archmage already?” Tyrus asked in surprise. “How come there are so few if it only takes time to reach it? You said that most shavren live to be over three hundred.”

  Uckey snorted. “Ha! If it were that easy then everyone would be an Archmage! Everyone has their limits. You should have felt the empty space within Sarena. Once it fills up, her core will stop growing. And aside from that, strength isn’t everything. It takes decades of training to gain the control necessary to be considered an Archmage. I’ve never heard of one that didn’t have at least a century of experience under their belt. Living enchantment is something that requires a very thorough understanding of magic to accomplish, and not just your own. No matter how strong Sarena is, she shouldn’t have been able to do it yet.”

  “What would your rank have been compared to the shavren then?” Tyrus asked. He had a feeling he knew what the answer would be already.

  “Highmage of course! Even among the gnomes I was without peer!” Uckey answered proudly.

  Tyrus couldn’t hold back a chuckle. “Is that why you were an emissary to a forest that nobody lived in?”

  “That - I was the only option! Those buffoons on the council were so incompetent that they would never have been able to fight off any of the Godwoods creatures!” Uckey sputtered.

  “That doesn’t answer the question of why they sent you to the Godwoods of all places,” he said.

  Uckey didn’t answer right away. They were so far up the tree that Tyrus was beginning to have trouble sensing anything on the ground, yet there was no sign of them reaching the top any time soon.

  “I may have had some...disagreements...with several members of the council,” Uckey said weakly. “They were under the impression that my research was a waste of time! I’d like to see the looks on their faces when they find out how wrong they were!”

  Ugh. Why did I bring this up? Now I’m going to have to listen to him rant about the council all day.

  Tyrus tuned out the sound of Uckey’s voice the best that he could as they continued their trek upwards. Nothing changed at all until they were high enough that he could sense the branches spreading out above them. There was no warning when the attack came.

  A green aura in a shape similar to a goblin emerged from the wall on the inside of the stairwell. Before Tyrus could do more than register it had appeared, it was already leaping toward them. Tyrus was able to swing put between its outstretched arm and Sarena, but the force of the lunge knocked him backwards into her. They fell from Uckey’s back, and finally the gnome realized they were under attack.

  Dozens of green auras started to pour out of the walls of the Sky tree, surrounding them in a heartbeat. Tyrus could feel an insatiable hunger within all of the auras. It almost felt like they were all part of one large monster, but there was no mistaking their numbers. For some reason their aura felt somewhat familiar to him.

  This is bad.

  He could sense Sarena’s location through the bond, but the pendant was stopping him from doing any more than that. She hadn’t cried out or made any sound other than when she hit the stairs, so it was safe to assume she was still out cold. They would never be able to get her back on Uckey. And the gnome was utterly useless in a fight.

  Three of the auras separated from the group around them and launched themselves forward, one from behind and two from the front. Tyrus shot toward the one behind him, bisecting it at the waist. Without losing any momentum he shot backward, twisting at the last moment and catching the second creature with the flat of his blade just before it reached Sarena. It staggered to the side and crashed into the third, sending them both tumbling down the stairs. The rest of the creatures parted for them as they rolled past them.

  Dammit. If I could just use my power for anything this wouldn’t be a problem at all.

  He called deeply on his power, more than he ever had before, letting it rush through the channels that stretched throughout his prison. It was the first time he had ever called on his power purely for himself, and the difference compared to Sarena was staggering.

  The world slowed to a crawl around him, so much that the creatures looked to be barely moving at all. It took every ounce of self-control that he had to stop himself from giggling at the heady rush he felt. Why have I just ignored all this power before? I could destroy this enchantment with a thought. But...No, I don’t need to destroy it. I just need a window.

  He stretched a tendril of power towards one of the many cracks in his cage. At least, that was his original plan. Even while trying to hold back, with the amount of power he was holding it was impossible to fully control it. Instead he had a torrential river of pure mana writhing in his grasp, desperate to break free from his control. It took all of his concentration to wrestle it into position at the crack.

  As soon as the mana touched the crack, a glowing hole appeared the same size as the river of power. All across his prison he could see more cracks appearing, leaving the enchantment looking like it would shatter at the lightest touch.

  Well. That was unexpected. What exactly is this enchantment made of? If it wasn’t for those cracks I wouldn’t even know where to look for it.

  He was planning on using his power to widen the crack so he could slip some of magic out and affect the outside world, but he didn’t count on it simply crumbling away like that with just a touch. At the rate it was deteriorating he doubted it would last longer than a couple more days.

  Putting the thought of his weakening bindings out of his mind, he focused back onto the window he had created. It was bigger than he intended, but it would still work. As he watched though, it started to shrink. He shoved the river of power through the hole right away, and finally felt the world around himself the way he should have been. His senses exploded outward, reaching so far that even he could even feel the Gateway.

  Hundreds of the small green creatures were surrounding them, and more were still slowly pulling themselves free from the tree. Barely any time had passed at all since he had delved into himself. Half a dozen of the monsters were just starting to leap forward to attack. Uckey was scrambling through the horde, bowling aside any of the creatures in his path. For some reason he was running away from him and Sarena.

  Good, that will make it easier to take care of them all. There’s no stone around here to use, and I don’t think fire would be a good idea in a tree... An idea popped into his head at that thought. Uckey had never mentioned it as an element before, but he thought it should be possible. And his instincts were agreeing.

  The river of power he had sent out was much smaller when he had a better perspective. It was only as thick as Sarena’s wrist, but that was still more than he should need. His tentacle of mana stretched out halfway to the creatures before stopping.

  Time froze.

  The tip of the mana stream exploded into thousands of threads of power, all of them twisting through the air in a complicated weave. They stretched in an arc, circling around him and finally connecting before stretching down to touch the stairs.

  As soon as the spell had finished, Tyrus felt an incredible draw on his power. In an instant he was drained of almost a third of his reserves; more than all he had used combined since Sarena first drew on his power.

  Time started again, lurching back to full speed. A flash of surprise shot through the monsters around them.

  Tyrus’ spell activated, and all around them the temperature dropped. A shock wave shot outward from the complicated weave of power, followed by a wave of frost that instantly covered everything in sight. The monsters froze in place, all of them turned to frozen statues in the blink of an eye. As soon as the frost appeared, the second wave of the spell started. Thousands of shards of crystal clear ice formed in the air around them facing outward, each one as long and thick as Sarena’s arm and ending in a sharp point.

  For a brief moment the shards hung in the air, and Tyrus felt terror pop up in the monsters. It only lasted until the shards burst forward. They wer
e launched with so much force that they shot straight through the monsters and didn’t stop until they shattered upon impact with the tree itself.

  Silence reigned around them after the spell ended. There wasn’t a single monster left alive. Well, except one.

  “What in the name of Nurazor did you just do!” Uckey screamed. Tyrus had made sure to leave a gap in the spell where he was at. At least, he hadn’t sent any of the ice shards at him. Uckey had already reached the edge of the horde when the spell went off, so all he was hit by was the frost wave.

  “Just a bit of ice magic,” Tyrus said innocently. “I thought you would be able to handle the cold a bit better than these little things could.”

  “A bit of ice magic? How was that a bit! Both parts of that spell were at an Archmage level! Even if you were a Highmage of mana, you should be shattered and gone after using that much power!” Uckey called back as he shook off the layer of frost that had formed on his thick coat. The freezing effect had been too strong for the smaller monsters to resist, but with Uckey’s strength it was barely a hindrance.

  Was it really that impressive? I was just trying to make sure I could kill them all without hurting him.

  “Really? I think I could manage another one or two spells of that level if I need to. It puts a huge strain on my bindings though, so the next time I try that will probably be the end,” Tyrus answered.

  The window he had created was already shrinking as the enchantment worked to repair it. Even though it was weakening, it wasn’t broken yet. As long as he didn’t make another hole in it they should be fine.

  “Utterly ridiculous,” Tyrus heard Uckey grumble. “Nobody should have that much power. No wonder that soul binding is breaking.”

  Soul binding? I thought Uckey said he didn’t know how my enchantment was made?

  A small tremor ran through the tree’s aura before Tyrus could say anything.

  “Quickly, Uckey! Help me get Sarena back onto you! More of those things are trying to come out of the tree! The frost won’t hold them back for long!” He shouted in a panic.

  Uckey quickly spun back to them and dashed over. Tyrus wasn’t sure how they were going to get Sarena back onto him, but Uckey solved the problem right away. The gnome bent down and bit down on the back of Sarena’s belt, lifting her ungracefully into the air before turning his neck and placing her sprawling across his back.

  “Make sure she doesn’t fall this time,” Uckey said as he started running up the tree.

  “Right. Let me just use all those arms and legs I have to hold her in place.” Tyrus retorted while himself above Sarena and pressing down. As long as Uckey didn’t make any sharp turns he thought he would be able to manage.

  By the time they reached the edge of the frost wave, sheets of thin ice were falling from the walls and shattering on the ground. Tyrus was surprised at how smooth Uckey’s gait was, especially considering they were running up stairs. It didn’t feel like he needed to hold Sarena in place at all, but unless something attacked he didn’t plan to move.

  The walls on the inside of the staircase were starting to release more of the green creatures both ahead and behind them.

  “What are these things Uckey? Where are they coming from?” Tyrus asked as they charged straight at the gathering crowd ahead of them.

  “I don’t know! Maybe the life magic affected the Sky trees also!” Uckey called back.

  Uckey’s words struck like lightning, and Tyrus realized what was bothering him about the creatures. They all felt the same. Even though the goblins were all the same race, each one felt slightly different from the other. But these monsters, they were all identical. Even their emotions were in sync.

  “I think you’re right Uckey! These creatures, they are the Sky tree! We can kill as many as we like and it won’t stop them! Unless we deal with the source, they aren’t going to stop coming!”

  “Brilliant! How do you plan to kill the Sky tree?” Uckey asked.

  “I don’t know!” Tyrus said, slightly annoyed.

  “Then we keep running!” Uckey said as he smashed through the first wave of the creatures. Tyrus felt one lash out at Uckey as they crashed into it, but its claws weren’t able to find purchase on his thick hide.

  The ride became much less smooth as Uckey continued to knock aside the monsters. While they were numerous, Tyrus felt that even a normal goblin was more than a match for one of them. Occasionally Tyrus was forced to stop holding Sarena in place to block a lucky swing from a monster as they bypassed it. He could feel the ones they left behind merge back into the tree, while more and more poured out ahead of them.

  When they had traveled almost half the remaining distance to the branches, Sarena finally groaned.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Sarena let out a groan as she opened her eyes.

  “Seven hells, I feel awful,” she muttered under her breath. “I really need to stop doing that.”

  Something was pressing hard into her stomach, and her head felt stuffed full of wool. The only thing she could see was a red coarse fur directly in front of her, and the smell was disgusting.

  “Ugh! Uckey you really need a bath.” Sarena said as she tried to push herself up. She felt her legs swinging in the air behind her and realized something was off.

  “Sarena! Thank the gods you’re awake! Hurry up and sit on Uckey’s back!” Tyrus yelled.

  She craned her neck to look up, only to see a blur of green and brown flash by. Drawing on her wind, she used the perfect balance it granted to swing her body back to a normal mounted posture in one smooth movement. Her vision blurred as a wave of dizziness briefly washed through her, and every inch of her body groaned in protest. There were more cuts and bruises on her than she would have thought possible.

  When her vision cleared enough to see, her stomach flipped. Ahead of them was a sea of small green and brown creatures, hunched over on short legs. Their arms looked disproportionately long compared to the rest of their body, and the three fingers at the end were tipped with needle-like claws. Every single one looked exactly the same, with a bald head and no ears. The nose was just a small vertical slit, and instead of lips, they had long jagged teeth filling a horizontal opening. None of that was anything to fear for her though. She had seen worse. It was the eyes that sent a spike of terror through her.

  Two large, sunken pits took up almost half of the creature’s face. Set deep inside of each one was a spark of red light, and Sarena could feel the lifeless hunger that emanated from them. They didn’t see her as anything but food, and she was running right through the middle of the milling crowd. Yet the only sound she could hear was the thumping of Uckey’s hooves and the thud of him barreling aside any of the monsters in their path. The creatures themselves were completely silent.

  “How exactly did we end up in this situation?” Sarena asked as she opened felt Tyrus slap against the palm of her right hand. She instinctively grasped him and swung out at one of the creatures as it lunged at her from the side, using the flat of the blade to knock it aside. They’re a lot lighter than I expected.

  “The Sky tree isn’t too happy about us climbing it, so it sent these things to try and stop us. Well, eat us is more likely. Or at least you two. I doubt they would want to eat a sword,” Tyrus answered.

  “Very funny,” Sarena said as she continuously swung Tyrus back and forth, sending any creature brave enough to jump at them flying. “What are they?”

  “Hungry,” Tyrus said.

  Sarena sighed. Since when did he become so sarcastic?

  “I guess it’s as good a name as any. At least they’re easy to deal with,” Sarena said.

  They continued to plow through the ranks of the Hungry, until finally the crowd began to thin. Only a few scattered creatures were left when they reached a landing leading out on to a branch. Uckey stopped at the doorway while Sarena jumped off of his back and quickly dealt with the Hungry that were there. None of the others further down seemed willing to step any closer, and inst
ead watched them from the edge of the landing with their beady eyes.

  She turned away from them and faced the doorway that could have been a copy of the one at the base. It was a simple open arch, large enough for a wagon to fit through. The branch itself was flat on top with smooth bark covering it, making it look like a road made of one solid piece of finished wood. On the edges of the road were solid railings that came up past her waist. There were less of the small glowing lights than on the ground, casting a dim light across the branches.

  “Let’s hurry. I don’t know if my binding is going to last more than a couple days. Do you know where to go Uckey? This looks like a maze up here,” Tyrus said.

  Sarena turned to Uckey and noticed for the first time that the bag she had made was missing. It hadn’t even been two months since she had made it, but it felt like years had passed. The creatures must have torn it off while they were running through. Even though the bag itself was far too tough for them to tear, the straps used to hold it on Uckey were made with normal leather. A pang of regret ran through her.

  Great, now I don’t even have any clothes to change into. I can live without the tent, but I’ll need to do something about the water skin. At least I kept everything valuable in my belt pouch.

  “I can’t say I’ve ever actually been here before, but if we head west we will eventually come to the barrier. If we don’t find any elves there we should still be able to cut a hole with Tyrus to get out,” the gnome answered.

  “That’s a lot more ifs than I’d like to hear, Uckey,” Sarena said while starting forward, hearing the dull clopping sound of Uckey’s hooves behind her. “And which way is west? This canopy makes it impossible for me to tell.”

  “Yes, well, about that. We just need to go above the canopy and we should be able to tell. All of these branches connect, so just keep going up and we’ll eventually be able to see the sky,” Uckey said.

  Nothing else we can do about that. It’s better than going the wrong way and having to circle back around I guess.