The Sword that Binds (Book of Worlds 1)

by Taran, David

  “We can’t,” Sarena said, “Our only hope is to enter Stewrix. If your life magic can tell you so much about us, you should be able to feel the enchantment on my sword. Once it fails he will be trapped, unable to move without a new host.”

  The elf hesitated a moment before drawing closer to inspect Tyrus, gasping after a moment. Not exactly the reaction she had expected.

  “A true soul binding? This blade should not exist. This shouldn’t be possible,” she said while shaking her head. “I do not know why you think the answer to your problems lies within Stewrix, but you are mistaken about the soul within your blade. Normally that is correct, but the enchantment on that blade ties it to your blood. It will not be trapped waiting for a new host. It will enter into you, taking control of your body and wiping out your own soul.”

  What? Didn’t Tyrus say Ankaros was lying about that? Am I really going to be killed by Tyrus?

  “There might be a way,” Allannia said. “I know of an...object. It should be able to protect you from the storm, but only for a time. You would only have a day at most before it shatters. It is not much, but it is all I can offer.”

  “Something that’s able to resist a mana storm must be powerful, yet you are going to just give it to us? Why are you so willing to help us now?” Sarena asked. There had to be a catch.

  “Because the binding was done to you by a High elf. I don’t know how it is possible; a binding such as yours has not been done since the fall of Felaenahona. But regardless, we must atone for it,” Allannia replied. “And I am not simply gifting it to you. I believe you already possess it. The pendant you wear around your neck was lost to my people shortly after its creation. Inside resides the soul of Ardreth. His strength should let you resist the mana storm for a time.”

  Sarena raised a hand and lifted the pendant out of her shirt. Is it really that powerful? Uckey said it was created almost five thousand years before his time. That means...wait. Five thousand years?

  “Did you say that Felaenahona fell five thousand years ago?” Sarena quickly asked.

  Allannia tilted her head and looked at her strangely. “Yes, or close enough to it. The exact year it fell is lost to history, but it has been roughly five thousand years.”

  “Impossible! If that was truly the case then that means that...” Uckey trailed off.

  “We haven’t changed times at all. What’s going on Uckey? How can everything be so different from what we know, and still be in the same time?” Sarena felt like her mind was racing in circles. Nothing was making sense anymore.

  “Were we wrong? Could it be that Ankaros is not the god of time?” Uckey said.

  “Ankaros, the god of time? Is that what you believe?” Allannia said while shaking her head. “No god has power over time, not even Ankaros. He controls passage between worlds. I could see how that could be mistaken for time, but I assure you that you have been sent to neither past nor future. Merely a different world. Similar enough to your own to be recognizable it seems.”

  Sarena stared at Allannia’s brilliant eyes in shock. A different world? What did she mean a different world? Did that mean it was possible for her to return to her own?

  “If what you’re saying is true, then my people are not truly dead!” Uckey spoke. “Marvelous! This is wonderful! All of the inconsistencies make sense now! The entire world is a brand new place to explore!”

  “Great! But that doesn’t solve any of our problems, Uckey! We still need to find that grimoire, and without the gnomes around there’s nobody to build a new body for Tyrus. If Ankaros doesn’t follow through on his end of the deal, I’m still dead. Unless you know of some other solution?” She yelled. Did Ankaros send us here knowing how many obstacles there would be in our path? How could just traveling north with no enemies be so difficult?

  “Of course, of course! We must hurry! Those bindings on Tyrus are getting weaker by the moment! Thank you, Allannia! It was an honor to meet a High Elf such as yourself. Life’s blessing to you!” Uckey said before dashing forward into the trees.

  “Uckey! Don’t just leave me here!” Sarena called, starting to run after him. She stopped at the edge of the tree line and turned back. “Thank you for everything, Allannia. Uckey has been our only source of knowledge since we came here, and as you saw he’s not exactly the most reliable. I apologize for earlier rudeness. May we meet again,” she said, giving a short bow.

  When she raised her head again Allannia had already disappeared. How do they do that?

  She turned back to the forest, drawing on her wind to chase after Uckey at full speed. The tiredness that had plagued her before was gone. She assumed it was washed away by some kind of magic Allannia had worked. It wasn’t difficult to find where the gnome had gone. He had left a trail of destruction behind him as he crashed through the bushes and plants on the forest floor. Sarena caught up and mounted him in short order.

  “Thanks for just leaving me like that back there. I still had questions for her you know,” Sarena said in annoyance.

  “You’ll have plenty of chances to ask her when we have finished this task! This is so exciting! Can you imagine what the world must be like without the gnomes?” Uckey said.

  “Yes. I’ve already seen it. Very exciting,” she said dryly. It was becoming a struggle not to smile at his antics. His enthusiasm was infectious, and recently she had been less annoyed with him than usual. Even with impending doom hovering over them he didn’t stop looking for the bright side of things.

  She looked down at Tyrus and frowned. We will make it in time. I won’t let you down Tyrus.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Tyrus felt an uneasiness rise inside of him. The world around him felt smaller than it ever had.

  They had arrived at the edge of the mana storm as night was falling, two days after their encounter with the elves. It had taken them longer than he expected to reach it. Thousands of years had passed since anyone had traveled the road they used, causing the once well-kept pavement to be split and overgrown to the point that it was unrecognizable. The forest had long ago overtaken it, adding yet another obstacle to their journey.

  Shortly after they had reached the landing in the Sky tree he had found that he was unable to speak to Sarena and Uckey. He could hear and sense everything around him like normal, but his words fell on deaf ears. Not only that, but he could no longer move himself at all. It was like he had reverted back to the state he was in before Sarena. As far as he could tell, nothing was different about the enchantment or the bond. Yet he was still trapped.

  There were so many questions he had wanted to ask the elves, but not even Allannia seemed to be able to hear him.

  When they had drawn close enough for it to enter Tyrus’ perception he had discovered that he couldn’t penetrate it. He could sense it with no issues, but trying to send his perception into the mist was like swimming upstream. The harder he pushed, the more it would push back at him. At most he could reach ten feet into the strange bubble of power.

  There had been an almost constant stream of auras within his perception while they were in the forest. Monsters were everywhere, but none of them were willing to go near them. It was almost like something was keeping them away. He suspected Allannia had provided an escort for them, but he had no way of knowing for sure with their ability to hide from him. It was unnerving how their auras could disappear, just as Sarena’s had.

  “I knew it would be big, but words can’t really do it justice,” Sarena said suddenly, bringing Tyrus out of his silent contemplation. She had made a fire in a small clearing about fifty feet from the edge of the mist, and was sitting with her knees pulled up to her chin, arms wrapped around her legs while holding a piece of rabbit meat. She had taken the pendant off and set it down next to her. They had tested it before setting up camp and found that it worked just as Allannia said it would.

  The storm was a towering blue monolith, stretching for miles to the north and south. Tyrus couldn’t even feel the top edge of it, only that
it slowly arced backwards like a dome.

  I sometimes wish I could see things as you do. Tyrus thought. It’s easy for me to feel that it is large, but the world might as well not exist beyond the edge of my senses. I’ll never be able to appreciate things in the way you can.

  Uckey was standing off to the side, staring at the wall of mist ahead of them. His excitement had been bubbling up ever since their encounter with Allannia. Besides explaining where to find the grimoire in Stewrix he hadn’t been able to focus on their task at all. Even then he only told them after Sarena had prodded him for hours.

  Sarena finished eating the meat of the rabbit she had hunted while they traveled. She silently pulled her cloak over herself and rolled so her back was to the fire. It was still early enough in summer that the nights were cold, especially as far north as they had come. Tyrus settled into his usual nightly vigil, maintaining his watch until the morning as Sarena slept, even if he was unable to help.

  By the next morning their fire had died out, so Sarena covered the last few embers with dirt before walking to Uckey and mounting him.

  “We are going to have to move fast Uckey. We’ve only got one day to find the grimoire and get out.” Sarena reminded him.

  Tyrus could feel a surge of determination within Uckey. The gnome’s aura had strangely settled down during the night. Uckey started forward with no warning, plunging into the mana storm and eliciting a cry of surprise from Sarena. The blue mist surged around them as they entered, creating a clear circle five feet around them.

  “What are you doing Uckey! At least give me some warning!” Sarena yelled in anger.

  “There was no danger,” Uckey replied. “We already tested it! Allannia said that Ardreth will keep us safe for one day. Its power didn’t disappear overnight.”

  Tyrus could hear her grinding her teeth as Uckey ran across through the mist, heading forward at the fastest pace he could maintain. With the mist around them blocking off his perception he couldn’t tell how fast they were going, but he expected them to reach Stewrix by noon at the latest. There was no vegetation or animals to stop them. The road below them felt as pristine as it must have when the gnomes were at the height of their power. Nothing could survive inside of a mana storm, freeing the paved road from the ravages of time.

  Change happened much sooner than Tyrus expected.

  The mist suddenly disappeared.

  Uckey had been running forward in silence. Tyrus suspected they were nearing Stewrix, his senses being far better at judging time than the others. His perception exploded outward once again, almost overwhelming him with information before he came to his senses.

  Uckey stumbled as he came to a stop, sending Sarena careening forward into the back of his head while she cursed at him.

  “What just happened?” Sarena said.

  *****

  Sarena stared ahead with wide eyes, not sure if what she was seeing was real.

  The mist they had thought would surround them for a full day was gone, ending in a sheer wall behind their backs. In front of them was the entrance to Stewrix, with grass and trees lining the sides of the road. As it drew closer to Stewrix it grew wider, to the point that even a dozen wagons could fit side to side on it comfortably.

  Two massive stone pillars rose from the ground on each side of the road, reaching almost twice the width of the road before touching the top of the doorway in the side of the mountain. Yes, doorway. Between the two huge pillars was an intricately carved double door, split straight down the middle. After the splendor of Felaenahona, the stone doors weren’t particularly impressive. But what was lying in front of the door was.

  The creature was huge, easily dwarfing the blue monstrosity they had fought in the Godwoods. It had the body and head of a lion, but was half as tall as the door, even lying down. Its tail was like that of a scorpion, and the claws on each of its paws were easily half the length of Sarena. To top it off, its entire body looked to be made of a reflective black stone, reminding her of the rock ogre’s skin. A thin glowing green line stretched down the center of each leg before splitting into five at the paw, each connecting to a claw. That same green line spread all across its body in strange swirling patterns.

  Her body felt like the air around it was pushing in on her. It was like she was standing in the presence of Ankaros again, but even stronger. If she didn’t have her own core now she would probably be stuck on the ground and powerless like before.

  “What in the seven hells is that, Uckey?” Sarena whispered, afraid that her voice would rouse the creature that sat with its eyes closed.

  “I...I don’t know. It looks like a manticore, but none of that species can reach that size. And it looks like it was made from black steel with magicite embedded within. That is only done to create a body for a mana user that erupted like Tyrus...” he trailed off.

  “Could it be an elemental? You said they are created the same way didn’t you?” Sarena asked quietly.

  “An elemental? That can’t be right. Elementals can’t possess a constructed body like that one unless they are a pure mana type,” Uckey said.

  Uckey was still for a heartbeat before his entire body started to tremble.

  “A Primal,” he finally said, awe showing in his voice. “They actually tried to tame a Primal. The fools! No wonder they chose to destroy themselves!”

  “What? What do you mean a Primal? And chose to destroy themselves? Are you saying you actually know what happened here?” Sarena asked. The creature didn’t seem to have noticed them yet as its eyes were closed.

  “Primals are the embodiment of an element. They are older than the gods themselves and created the world as we know it. There is only one for each major element, at least as far as I know. There was a theory in my time that if one was able to tame a Primal they would have unlimited power to do with as they pleased - as long as it was within that element of course. With the power of a stone Primal you could make Stewrix with just a thought,” Uckey explained.

  “But it was just a theory! Not even I would actually attempt to test it! Primal are a force of nature, you can’t tame them! They must have tried to create a body to summon and enslave the Primal, and when that failed the resulting mana explosion would have wiped them out! It probably took the power of the entire gnomish race just to summon the being in the first place, which is why they were all recalled back to the city. Were my people truly become as arrogant as to think they could go against nature itself?”

  “How come there is no mana storm here then? Even the grass and trees in this area are fine. It’s like nothing ever happened here,” Sarena asked.

  “You can feel it can’t you? That oppressive aura. No mana storm could be stronger than a Primal’s aura! When it erupted the Primal most likely was able to force it from this area, causing it to make a ring around the city instead. That must be the reason it hasn’t ever weakened. The Primal is preventing the mana from returning to the center,” he said.

  “Well, that at least solves the problem of the mana storm for us. But how are we supposed to get past it? I doubt it’s going to just let us walk by and enter the city,” Sarena said.

  “It might! Primals are beyond anything we know. It definitely knows we are here, but it hasn’t reacted at all. There’s a chance it might just ignore us as we pass by. But there’s also a chance it is still upset about the attempt to enslave it. I doubt five thousand years is long enough for it to forget that! After all, it’s as old as the world itself.”

  “Are we just going to try and walk past it then? And why hasn’t it just left, Uckey? This mana storm shouldn’t be able to hinder it at all if what you’ve said is true,” Sarena asked, still unsure about what Uckey had said. The gnome had lied to them more than once before, and she wasn’t sure she could trust him with something like this either.

  “How am I supposed to know! It’s a Primal! I’m just making guesses here! There’s no way to understand how it thinks, if it even does! As far as I know it should just be able
to leave that body and return to its normal state whenever it wants! Being stuck in that body is probably the most interesting thing it’s ever done,” the gnome said defensively.

  “We don’t stand a chance in a fight against it. But we’re doomed if we just stay out here also. At least we have a chance if we try, standing out here gets us nowhere,” Sarena said, more to herself than Uckey. She nodded. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and it will ignore us. We’ll just walk past it slowly, and if it starts to turn aggressive we make a run for it. How hard it is to open those doors, Uckey?”

  “Just takes a shove! They were made by the dwarves after all! Perfectly balanced! Although in truth we can’t open the full gates; that can only be done from the inside. But at the bottom on the right side of the door is another, smaller doorway. We can just sneak over to that and go through there. The Primal is too big to fit, and we might have a chance to outrun it by then.”

  Sarena sighed. Their plan was probably the stupidest thing any of them had ever done - except Uckey charging headfirst into a mana storm with them on his back of course.

  “Let’s go then. I really hope this works,” she said.

  Uckey stepped forward cautiously, slowly moving towards the right side of the door. The Primal covered half the distance to the door while lying down. Soon enough they had reached a point even with its head, and still its eyes remained closed. In fact, the entire creature hadn’t moved at all since they arrived. It might as well have been a statue.

  They were close enough that Sarena could see the faint outline of a small door in the bottom right corner of the gateway, bathed in the green glow of the Primal’s body. It was still large enough for a wagon to fit through, but compared to the masterpiece it was crafted from it was tiny. She started to feel some hope for their situation. Once they entered Stewrix they might as well be home free! Uckey had said the grimoire was easy to find, located at the center of the city in the library. It was kept at the center of the building to encourage people to try and open it. The only spell cast on it was to prevent it from moving, but Ankaros had said as long as they touched it they were fine.