Warrior of the Void

by M. R. Mathias

  When the force hit the Rokkan it let out a shrieking roar that left Braxton's ears ringing. He saw its head go slinging away, and its body stumble, but then the Rokkan was gone.

  "Slowly then," he heard the Rokkan yelling over the hum in his head, and then from a greater distance. "I will kill them slowly."

  Braxton wanted to respond, but he was tumbling backwards into nothing. Zyken-Whey had told him the Rokkan might teach him something, and maybe it had. A lethargic feeling swept over him so fast that he couldn't stop it, then there was nothing save for a pair of tiny blood red droplets intently watching him fade.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Sir Jory woke the group. Cryelos was worried for a moment when he saw that Chureal and Cobalt were gone, but the knight told him they'd only just departed. "Sir Monster made sure she was wearing her chainmail, and I cleaned it on my watch." He shrugged at Cryelos's aggravated expression. "She said she was going to look for the hold, or castle, she saw before."

  "The home of Mardon-Hex," Cryelos said absently. Let's hope he has passed from this world. Cryelos didn't let the last part slip out of his mouth. "We've no time to waste. I remember the map Braxton showed me. If one of you can point to the village we departed from and then north, I think I can take use where we need to be."

  "That way is north," Sneak said, holding a direction magneto and pointing.

  "The village is that way," added Hunter.

  The knights had a few more pieces of armor to strap on, so Cryelos found his pack and made sure he, Hunter, and Sneak had plenty of torches, rope, and rations, as well as their bows and short swords. He was upset when he found that all the bowstrings had been ruined by the lake water. Then he was relieved just as quickly, because Hunter kept several extras in his dry pouch.

  "I'll take the lead," Hunter offered, but Sneak shook his head.

  "There may be traps and pitfalls here," the thief said. "I'll take the lead and you cover from close behind. I'm not as good as either of you with a bow, and I need to pay attention to the trail."

  After Hunter agreed, the four humans all looked to Cryelos to point them in the right direction.

  Cryelos thought about the map and the relation of where they were to where the X had been marked on it. Once he was sure he had the direction right, he mumbled a prayer to Arbor for Braxton's safety, and theirs as well, then he pointed the way.

  Under tall trees of a sort he couldn't identify, mainly because they had few branches and fronds for leaves the vegetation wasn't overwhelming, but it was still thick. There were a few elms and oaks scattered about, and plenty of evergreens and pines the farther inland they went, but Sneak had to shoulder his bow and use his sword to hack his way through the undergrowth through a few sections.

  Around midday, Cobalt came thumping down in a clearing a few dozen paces ahead of them. From the dragon's back, Chureal asked for some food and water and told them they were going the right way. She estimated they should arrive at the structure she saw before nightfall.

  "Is there anything running around? Wildlife, demons, any sign of Lord Braxton?" Hunter asked her. She seemed happy until he mentioned Braxton. Cryelos took her the refreshments because Hunter was too afraid to get close to the dragon.

  "Cobalt said he saw some tree cats and some boars," Chureal called, but then to Cryelos, she said, "I still can't feel him, Cryelos, not even in the void. I mean, I sort of feel him there, but it is like he is a very long way away."

  Cryelos nearly filled his britches when Cobalt let out a sudden hiss. The dragon went from calm to on the verge of attack in less than a heartbeat. Behind him, Cryelos heard the others shouting in a panic.

  "He's gone," Sneak said. "Look there. It’s-it’s-just half a claw track in the dirt."

  "It'sss gone now," the dragon hissed to Cryelos.

  "There is no trace of him," Sir Jory sounded anguished. "He was standing beside me, sipping from a flask. By the Gods, what could have taken that fully armored beast of a man without even making a sound."

  "It was the Rokkan," Chureal sobbed. "I felt it when Cobalt did. And for a moment, I felt Braxton, too. I think it has him."

  "Where did it go?" Sir Jory had his sword held at the ready. "Where has it taken our companions?"

  "It is bound by some spell to guard over a chamber that liesss at the bottom of the dwelling," Cobalt growled. "I can feel thissss. In the chamber is the staff you seek, elf." The dragon's attitude swiftly changed to softer more comforting tone. "I do not think it has Braxton, little one. I think Braxton hasss defied it, for it was the Rokkan's anger we sensed, not the vile thing itself."

  "Poor, Sir Monster." Chureal sobbed, but then, after wiping at her eyes and nose, she, too, assumed a different demeanor. Cryelos knew she had slipped into the void and was only partially aware of them now.

  "Go get your stick," she said, her voice getting more confident as she spoke. "Cobalt and I will take care of the Rokkan."

  "No, Chureal, not without—" Cryelos's words were cut off, and he was nearly blown off his feet by the dragon's heavy wingbeats. He wanted to scream out in frustration. He was not a Warrior of the Void. Braxton was missing, and now Chureal was lifting away to seek out some invisible thing that had just snatched a fully trained knight from among them. The only thing that levied the growing feeling of despair inside him, was that he noticed how much bigger Cobalt had grown in the past few weeks.

  He couldn't stop this quest. He didn't want to. He wasn't sure what to do, but he knew they had to keep moving. Time was not on their side. Until he had the Staff of Aevilin in his possession nothing mattered, not even the fact that Sir Monster was no longer with them.

  "Your revenge lies ahead, Sir Jory," Cryelos said, not sure where the words came from. "We must find the staff and get it to Mount Preal or all of the death behind us will be for naught."

  "Roooaaaar!" The knight let his frustration ring out across the island. "Lead us, Hunter." It was a command, not a request. "You too, Sneak, and make haste. Take us to the elf's staff. The sooner we have it, the sooner I can avenge my honor, my liege, and now my fellow knight."

  Sneak took the lead again, and Hunter followed. The group moved a lot faster than before, and the sun was still fully in the sky when they found the seemingly small rock and mortar abode.

  Cryelos saw the decayed bones of some malformed creature that was at least five times the size of a horse. It was impossible to say what it was, for the island forest was reclaiming it. Its skull was nowhere to be seen, making him think it had been killed there. Only a few ribs that they had to duck under, and a long series of chunky bones that trailed away like the spine of a long-tailed animal, possibly a dragon, could be made out.

  Mardon-Hex's hold, like the remains of the creature, were overgrown with fauna and dilapidated. Vines covered most of the boxy, two-story structure. There was a jagged broken tower that looked as if it had once been higher than the tree tops, but off to the side, there was a pile of the same stone it had been made of, no doubt the section that had fallen away. There was even a tree growing out of the inside, its trunk angled through a crumbling arched window.

  Sneak had crept up and was looking in a different arch. "There are stairs going up and down," he said.

  "Let's make a camp outside and then take a look," Cryelos said. "I want to prepare before we go in, and I'd rather have Chureal with us when we go."

  The last, he couldn't believe he'd just said.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Nixy was speaking to Pamalea, one of the women she shared a room with. The building they were in was warm, safe, and the bottom floor was frequented by human, dwarven, and gothican workers alike. On the second floor, more than half the orphans Nixy brought back from the Isle of Jolin were settling in. The older boys were learning skills, and the girls helped the other women living there. Since the elves were all migrating to the forest created by the Sapphire of Souls, the younger children she'd taken to their island were now housed in an orphanage on the other side
of Camberly, in a section that hadn't been destroyed by Pharark's wrath.

  Several women, who'd lost their husbands, cooked for the workers and the children. They kept the ground level available for the working men to rest and replenish themselves, and when the snow and ice came, to shelter them. Nixy was pretty sure a few women were doing a little more than cooking for the men, but she didn't care. The dwarves paid for plenty of food and clothing for her and the orphans. They went out of their way to make sure she had everything she, and the baby growing inside her, could possibly need.

  The four-story rectangular structure sat in the bailey between Camberly's inner and outer walls. The women had to speak loudly because the sound of hammers and arguing men filled the chill of the winter day outside. It was a time of rebuilding and even though the freezing inclement weather slowed the process, it hadn't stopped. The survivors of Lord Ulrich and Pharark's destruction were bent on restoring Camberly to its former glory, and they were anything but quiet about it.

  "What did you say you wished for, dear?" Pamalea asked.

  "I said I wish I knew where Braxton was." She frowned. She knew he wasn't dead. He'd disappeared from her before and returned. That time she'd thought a giant snake had eaten him, but he’d come back with young Chureal.

  No, he wasn't dead, and he probably had his hands full. She missed him terribly, though. Already her belly was growing, and the last thing in the world she wanted was him to miss the birth of their child.

  "You say that three times a day, dear." Pamalea smiled kindly. The teeth she was missing, and the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes made her look a little like a dock hag, but she wasn't. She was just a sweet, aging woman, who'd taken a piece of crumbling wall right in the face when the demon had spun through the city. "But I must admit, three times a day is a far cry better than the ten times a day you used to wish for such things."

  "Lady Nixalia!" a voice yelled from below. "Lady Nixalia," the person called again, letting her know that it was a dwarf or maybe a gothican calling for her, for only they used that title when speaking to her. The humans just called her Nixy or Nix.

  She made her way to the window and looked down. What she saw made her knees buckle, for there were two dwarves and a gothican. Standing there with them, grinning up at her, looking more like a man than the boy she remembered, was Braxton Bray, and her heart swelled.

  "He just appeared near the foot of the fallen statue," the dwarf said. "He asked for you, and we brought him."

  Behind them, many of the workers had stopped and were starting to crowd around. "We sent runners to the tunnels, and he—" The dwarf glanced at where Braxton had been standing and saw that he was gone. Nixy squealed with delight and started for the landing for she could hear his heavy footsteps pounding up toward her.

  When he saw her, tears welled in his eyes. When he took in her growing belly, his smile widened so big that she thought her heart would burst. He hugged her and lifted her, being careful not to hurt her.

  "There is so much, my love," he said, his expression betraying he was intent on something, and couldn't stay long. "I…we…I need to get you to the underground. It isn't safe for you here out in the open, Nix."

  "I'm fine where I am at," she started but, outside, a man screamed, and then another. "Something is hunting you," he said, looking down. She immediately understood that he meant something was hunting their child. "Hold me," he said. He gave Pamalea a little wave, and then slipped into the void, taking Nixy with him.

  When they reappeared, they were a few dozen paces inside the mouth of the dwarven tunnel on the far side of the riverbend. Since he’d left the Rokkan in the void, he’d found he could will himself anywhere he wanted to go. He’d gone to Jolin first, because that is where he thought Nixy was, but when he arrived, and saw that Emerald had healed enough to fly, and idea had struck him.

  Several dwarves were startled buy their sudden appearance, but Nixy's refugee home wasn't Braxton's first stop after arriving in Narvoza through the void, nor his second, and word had already reached some of the dwarves. The ones who knew, quickly calmed their fellows. Others were on their way to greet them.

  "How did you do that?" she asked in awe. She wanted to tell him about Suclair and how Braxton's mother and sister were living not far from her in a similar boarding house for refugees, but it was clear he didn't need to be distracted.

  Before he could do or say anything else, she grabbed the hair at the back of his head and pulled his mouth to hers. After a deep passionate kiss that left those approaching trying to mind their own business, she pushed him back and looked into his eyes.

  "Promise me one thing, Braxton Bray." Her gaze bored into him. "Promise me you will be with me when our child is born."

  A tear trailed from his eye, and she knew he loved her as much, if not more, than she loved him. She also knew the promise he was about to make was one he might not be able to keep. He surprised her, though, by wording his oath in a way that wasn't untruthful.

  "I swear by both moons and all the stars, Nixy, I will do my best. But Cryelos and Chureal's lives, all of ours, are caught in the balance right now. The future, I mean, even our future, and our child's, is at stake." He kissed her forehead and hugged her close. "If there is any way I can be here, I will, but if I am not—" He patted her belly, "It is for his good that I cannot be."

  "Are you so sure it is a he?" She fought her tears and found a smile for him. "What if it is a she?" Nixy tried to stay the flood of emotion that was overwhelming her. She hadn't seen Braxton in months and now here he was about to leave after only moments together.

  "The gods help us if it is a she." He grinned. "Chureal is already more than I can handle."

  Nixy saw the dwarves in the tunnel all start bowing and heard the noisy sound of an approaching group from the underground end of the shaft. She knew Prince Gruval Rockheart was coming, for his father never left the deep, and those around them would only bow for dwarven royalty.

  "The dwarves can protect you," Braxton said. "Trust me, and go with Gruval, and-and-Big H?" Braxton shook his head, as if he was trying to believe what he was seeing. "Chureal said you were crushed under the demon when we sprung the trap," he said this to Big H, who was dressed as the head of Prince Gruval's personal guard attachment.

  "They dug him out," Nixy said, noticing the flood of relief that came over her lover when he saw something Gruval was carrying.

  When he gained their side, Prince Gruval smiled and handed Braxton the pack he used to carry. Braxton let go of Nixy and dug through it until he saw that Taerak's Journal was still there. He found one of the pieces of writing charcoal and ripped a page out of the back of the ancient tome and started sketching something on it. His hand started to glow a light shade of blue as it moved so fast it was a blur to her eyes. Within moments, he was handing Prince Gruval the page. Nixy saw some sort of basket-like contraption and several lines of text written in dwarven.

  "Make this as quickly as possible. I mean, start as soon as we part. And follow the instructions to the letter. Do not dally. By killing Pharark, we caused an imbalance that must be corrected. Emerald is coming even now. He will be here by the `morrow to do his part."

  Gruval glanced at the image and words, and his expression slowly changed into one of understanding. Only after Braxton shouldered the satchel did the prince and Big H take turns hugging him.

  "Take her down to the grand cavern or deeper," Braxton told them. "The thing that is after me, will come for—for—her." He made it clear that he meant their child. "It followed me to Narvoza and already attacked in the city. I cannot explain, for to even get started would take half a day." Then he turned to her, the look in his eyes so full of love and sincerity, her heart went all gooey and warm again. "Nixy, my love, I must go now. If I do not end this thing, it will end me or—"

  Nixy hated it, but she understood. Braxton was a magical boy, who had a magical world all his own to worry about. He had a destiny, and if Cryelos and Chureal were in nee
d of him, she wouldn't be selfish. It was enough that he was alive and had returned to tell her so.

  "I'll be here, love. As you wish of me." She kissed him again, and didn't stop until he made her.

  "Trust that I'd stay if I could." His face was ashen, and the pain of leaving her was plain for all to see. It lifted her spirits to know he would miss her so.

  "Keep her safe, Gruval," Braxton said. "Chureal will be glad to know you made it, Hanival. She's thought it was her fault you were crushed all this time."

  "Give her our love," Nixy said, not wanting to draw their parting out any longer. "Now go. Do what you must, and try to be done with it before…before our child comes."

  Braxton didn't say anymore. Tears flowed freely down his cheeks, and he looked to be fighting a sob when he nodded, turned, and ran three long steps before fading from their sight in mid-stride.

  "He is getting better with his wizardry," Gruval said. "Before, all he could was make flowers and plug leaks."

  Nixy was elated and sad all at once, but she giggled at Gruval's remark, for she still had the pewter flower he'd made her at the Ship Wreck Inn, what seemed like a hundred years ago.

  "One of you will have to go fetch my things." She wiped at her eyes. "I will do as my love wishes, but I need my personal belongings. And please, Prince Gruval, have whoever you send ask Pamalea if she wishes to come attend me. Oh, and someone will have to stay there and care for the children. And Prism and Bolt are in stalls at the stable beside my room."