Shadow Cursed

by Jason Sander

  The entire dwarven population gathered for the funeral and the elves and humans watched from a distance.

  The ceremony was silent as each person who knew Magdar filed past and placed a piece of precious metal or gem in the rune circle surrounding the body.

  The ceremony of kings was normally reserved for kings but the people agreed that Magdar deserved a king’s burial. What should have been an open display was marred by the damage the wraithlord’s magic had done to Magdar’s body so a cloth embroidered with the royal coat of arms had been draped over him.

  The ceremony took hours and the pile of metal grew to a great height almost spilling out of the circle.

  The last to move in the line was Dagar and he placed the golden axe on the pile before his brother. “Take this weapon brother, and bear it well in the halls of the dead.”

  When he retreated from the circle the king moved forward and spoke. “It is our tradition to place our greatest treasures into the circle of fire as a gift to the departed. It is also our tradition to place the king’s crown last upon the body so that even in death they will bear the honour they had in life. My son was never king but you all know he was destined to be one. Magdar never had a crown and so I offer my own for him to bear in the halls of the dead.”

  The dwarves whispered amongst themselves, as giving up one’s crown meant abdication.

  The king moved up the steps leading from the edge of the circle to the body of his son and placed the crown on his chest. Dagar could see tears rolling down his father’s cheeks as he made his way down the stairs and out of the rune circle; his own cheeks were wet as well.

  Cane tore his gaze from Amelia as Tagier looked towards him, and felt a gathering of power in the chamber. The dwarves began a complex chanting that seemed to reverberate off the walls and gain strength. The runes on the floor began to glow along the outer edges spreading inwards towards the centre. When the runes were completely alight they grew brighter and brighter until Cane could not look into the blaze. Then he began to feel the heat from the runes as the light changed from yellow to red and then became white.

  He could feel the magic passing through his body and for a moment he felt terror grip him as he remembered the horror stories of the outcasts in his homeland. Burnt by the power of magic they had mutated in horrendous ways and were sent underground to mine crystals and metals for the colonies.

  But having been exposed to magic for a while he was sure the stories were exaggerated and his fear turned to awe as the blinding light slowly faded away revealing a gleaming statue of multicoloured metal. The resemblance to Magdar was perfect and the damage the wraithlord had done seemed to have burned away in the fire.

  Magdar’s statue stood four yards tall and held within his hands was a larger version of the axe that Dagar had placed in the rune circle. On his head was a crown unlike the kings, far more stunning and jewelled with the gifts of the dwarves.

  The King moved forward facing the last of the heat radiating from the statue and turned to the gathering. “It is time to elect a new king, I will not rule again!” With that he marched away casting off his royal armour and insignia.

  Dagar raced after his father and eventually found him packing his belongings in his chambers. “Why, father?”

  Galdar answered, “Why? A good question. Why have I been so angry all my life? You were a convenient excuse to take it out on. Your mother’s death should have brought us closer together, not torn us apart. She always said you were a gift from the Allfather when we knew we could have no more children but when she died I thought you were a curse. What a fool I was. Now I have only one son and no time to make amends.”

  “No time, there is plenty of time father!” pleaded Dagar.

  “I had a dream Dagar. In the dream I touched your axe and the Allfather came to me. He said that I would have one chance to save our people by sacrificing myself. I will not fail to listen to him again Dagar.”

  Galdar turned to his son and asked, “Will you ever forgive me, my son?”

  Dagar rushed forward and hugged his father. “Yes.” The king drew him close and they held each other for a minute.

  The King pulled slowly away and said, “They will come for you soon, Dagar. You must accept the crown and lead our people to safety. The Allfather has allied himself with the Wolf King and his servants will lead us to the northern mountains where the Dwarven nation will be safe. But there will be a price to pay, my son, and only you can choose to accept the responsibility.”

  “What does the Wolf King want from us?” asked Dagar wiping away tears.

  “He wants you, Dagar, that’s all I know. Now we had best plan how you will evacuate our people and march on Broken Pass Keep.” The King put his arm around Dagar and sat him down by a table laid with maps.

  Behind them the wolf slipped silently from the king’s chamber in search of food.

  CHAPTER 80

  Tasha

  Snow was piling up around her as Tasha forced her way through, one step at a time. The snow stung her eyes and the cold slowly worked its way through her clothing. She looked around and suddenly felt that she had made a wrong turn somewhere, but after a moment of fear she realized with the town so small and a wall all around it was impossible to get lost for long. All she had to do was find a landmark she recognized.

  She trudged onwards until she grew tired and sought the shelter of a building to catch her breath. Around her the snow built steadily on the roofs and ground, making everything look the same. As she rested she felt fear begin to build but this time the feeling was more primal.

  She crouched lower and wrapped her scarf tighter around her face to cover the steam of her breath. She glanced about and saw a shape moving easily through the snow covered ground. The shape stopped and glanced around as if searching for something. Tasha started to sing a prayer song to herself to quiet her fear.

  As she felt the eyes of the unknown person pass over her words died in her throat as she realized that whatever stood there was not human.

  The shape looked in the other direction then apparently satisfied it moved on, ploughing its way through the snow with inhuman strength.

  Tasha felt the need to run in terror to the nearest door but she realized that if the goblins had gained entry into Central then the General Esperanza needed to know. She forced her fear down and began to follow the clear trail it left.

  The trail led away from the light and sounds that she had not realized were there until they were gone. Buildings disappeared as the snowstorm grew stronger and the trail led her further into the darkness.

  Tasha stumbled along as the trail started to fill in ahead of her but finally as the cold started to make her shiver she reached the end. Ahead of her she saw movement of several figures, each of which seemed to radiate the same evil she had felt earlier. Another shorter figure joined them and she felt this one was definitely human and in charge.

  The others moved to obey his commands and began to lift a large metallic object between them. The object tilted as one of the creatures lost its grip and Tasha’s breath caught in her throat as she realized what the object was.

  The unmistakable gateway device was lifted again and they began to move away. Tasha was torn between finding out more or going straight to Esperanza. Finally she put her head down and moved to where the gate had fallen. In the snow quickly filling up was the impression of the number thirteen.

  Tasha followed their trail keeping them just in sight. They didn’t travel far before they stopped. The man in charge gave orders to the others but Tasha dared not get close enough to find out what he was saying. The gate was lowered to the ground and the man quickly circled it making adjustments with practiced ease.

  When he moved back the others lifted the three separate pieces of the gateway between them. The man pointed towards an entrance hidden from Tasha’s sight and the others disappeared into the ground while he kept watch until the last of them descended.

  Tasha realized that now would be
the only time to identify the man so she moved closer keeping as low as she could.

  When she finally got close enough the man turned his head to enter the tunnel. He froze in the entrance and swung round in her direction locking onto her eyes. She sprang up and ran for her life without looking back.

  The commander watched her disappear into the storm. He considered chasing her or sending his six creations after her but decided not to. The time for secrecy was over and he could use this opportunity to further his plans.

  CHAPTER 81

  Hanbar

  The dwarves gathered around Magdar’s statue as they attempted to elect a new king.

  The decision was difficult for the dwarves, most of them had lived under the current king’s rule for most of their lives. They had all expected Magdar to follow in his footsteps but his death had turned their world upside down. Warren leaders all offered their names as was expected and as they negotiated and argued amongst themselves the numbers slowly dwindled down to four.

  Hanbar chose to stand aside completely but while the discussions drew on he walked amongst them and found himself standing below the statue of Magdar.

  “May I intrude on your time, Master of Arms?” asked an elf’s melodious voice.

  “Of course,” said Hanbar. “Carthus, isn’t it?”

  “Yes. I was wondering about the Galdar’s son,” said Carthus leaning on his staff.

  “You mean Dagar?”

  “No, I mean Magdar. He was a great fighter, well known and respected and he was given a king’s funeral even though he never had the title in life.”

  “He was destined to be king,” said Hanbar a bit gruffly.

  “I didn’t mean to insult him or you. My people believe that leaders are born to the line of the emperor and that the eldest is born to rule by right of succession. We have been lucky for generations in that wisdom has held sway through the royal line.”

  When Hanbar made no comment Carthus continued, “I believe differently than the rest of my people though, right to rule is something you earn rather than are born with. I believe people should follow those that make themselves leaders by deeds rather than belief in their own right to rule.”

  “Magdar was such a person, he saved countless lives when the catastrophe hit,” said Hanbar looking up at the statue.

  “Tell me, who would Magdar have chosen to lead his people if he knew he was going to die?”

  “He…” Hanbar hesitated and looked into the mage’s eyes. “He always had high regard for his brother. What is it you want, Carthus?” asked Hanbar.

  “I have a similar problem to you Hanbar. I will tell you something that only a few trusted people know. I have been given the responsibility to look after the only living heirs of the Emperor. One of them will probably have to accept the throne but they were born together, twins. Which was first, who knows? But I believe that only one can shoulder the responsibility. There may come a time when I must convince one of them to take the throne. The realization that I could change my people’s fate is not a decision I take lightly.”

  “You talk of matters that don’t concern me, elf. Get to the point,” said Hanbar crossing his arms.

  “I believe that if the time comes, I will ask the opinion of somebody whose judgment I trust before I make a decision.”

  “Are you implying that I should ask someone’s opinion?”

  “I thought you were,” said Carthus glancing up at Magdar’s statue. Hanbar felt some of his sadness ease and he bowed to the statue and joined the milling crowds to begin a revolution.

  CHAPTER 82

  Tasha

  The storm was in full fury when Tasha led General Esperanza, Jack and a large group of soldiers to the hidden entrance. When they arrived they found the commander waiting for them outside the entrance. He called out a greeting but nobody replied.

  Esperanza walked up to the commander and demanded, “Have you stolen the gateway, commander?”

  “Of course not General, I merely moved it to safe keeping in some caves I found. I was going to tell you about them tomorrow.”

  Briskly Esperanza ordered, “Show me now, commander!”

  The commander shrugged as if in defeat and led them down the tunnel. The floor and walls were uneven as if no effort had been taken to make the passage easier to navigate. Tasha followed behind them and felt dread fill her as they went deeper into the tunnel. She grabbed Jack’s arm and tried to warn him but he only smiled reassuringly, patted her on the hand and carried on.

  She tried to speak but when no words came out of her mouth panic filled her and she stumbled. She managed to fall against a wall and steady herself while the others disappeared deeper into the darkness. Her hand brushed against depressions in the wall and her fingers came away covered in black paint.

  Where her hand had wiped away the paint she could see the glow of crystal light. She traced the painted depression in the wall with her fingers and realized that there were runes lining the passage and they had been activated for some purpose. She tried to shout a warning but nothing came out of her mouth. Tasha ran blindly down the passage towards the light at the end.

  By the time she reached the end of the passage she was to late. The commander stood watching as the soldiers fought with creatures that were barely human. Six of them fought hand to hand with the soldiers but only Jack held his ground. Esperanza was protected behind his soldiers but as she watched the soldiers were killed one by one.

  She stepped past the threshold of the tunnel into the cave and could suddenly hear what was going on. Jack fell beneath three of the creatures as they attacked at the same time and only Esperanza remained standing.

  Esperanza shouted, “Commander, what is the meaning of this attack?”

  “I have decided that it is time for a change in leadership. I require more freedom and resources to complete my work,” replied the commander as he watched his creatures feeding on the blood and flesh of the slain soldiers. Blood slowly covered their red leathery skin.

  “What work?” asked Esperanza trying to ignore the horror before him.

  “I’m going to open the gateway back to earth,” replied the commander.

  “Are you insane? If the Titans sense the gate they will try to enter this world or worse, they will be able to make their own entrance.”

  “Calm down General. I have no intention of letting them find this world, I have already constructed safeguards against them locating this planet but I do require one of them to enter.”

  “Even one of them could destroy this planet, commander.”

  “Given time yes, but I will take what I need before then. Now General, I need something from you.”

  Esperanza crossed his arms and asked, “What do you want?”

  “I want you to pass command over to General Allister, of course.”

  “Never!” shouted Esperanza.

  “Very well General,” said the commander and ordered, “Kill him!”

  Esperanza drew his pistol and aimed at the commander. The creatures were on him an instant later and he barely managed to scream before he died.

  The commander turned to Tasha and said, “Run and they will hunt you down. Stay and you live for a while.”

  Tasha felt her legs give out and she collapsed on the floor by Jack, the black paint on her hand mixing with the blood on his arm as she touched him gently.

  “Good, I have plans for you Natasha. I had originally planned to use Gabriel but you seemed to have tapped into the power of this planet as well and I have need of a lot of power to open the gate.”

  “I will never help you open the gate,” she said in a trembling voice.

  “You won’t have a choice Natasha. Who knows, with your power you may even survive. But enough of this, I have work to do. Get up.” He held out his hand to help her and smiled when she refused to allow him to touch her.

  She looked around the room as she got up. The soldiers lay where they had fallen and the creatures seemed to have drunk their fill
as they licked their hands clean of blood. Around the room she saw prison cells, some had eyes peering out from between the bars, Goblin eyes.

  That explained the silencing tunnel, it must have been designed to keep noise from reaching the surface. What other evil did the commander do in this cave she wondered looking at the red skinned creatures. She asked, “What are they?”

  “Bloodkin. They were my apprentices before I offered them power and immortality. They accepted without question and I gave it to them. I enhanced their human bodies and made them stronger using goblin flesh and blood. But to attain immortality I had to use blood magic and now they require blood to sustain themselves. I’ve even managed to undo the damage sunlight does to their goblin half.”