Shadow Cursed

by Jason Sander

  Around him a voice assaulted him from all sides, “Have you come for the book Cane?”

  Cane swung round searching for the owner of the voice but finding nothing he said, “I’m not sure.”

  “I think you have, but if you take it from this place they will come for you,” said the voice.

  “Who?” asked Cane still trying to find the origin of the voice.

  “Everyone and everything searching for power. The Book of the Dead contains generations of souls. Every goblin god and every power hungry shaman would kill to gain its power. If you take it you had better be prepared to die to protect it.”

  Cane looked down on the book. It lay open on the first page revealing a list of names running from edge to edge, from top to bottom separated only by commas. The writing appeared to be gold on silver leaf paper and the hard cover was an alloy Cane was unfamiliar with as it shimmered with rainbow hues as he watched.

  “Who does the book belong to?” he asked, touching the page. He was surprised when pieces of dwarves’ memories came alive in his mind.

  “It belongs to the dwarves of course. This is their resting place when they die.”

  “If I take the book I may not be able to reach the dwarves, there’s a goblin army between me and them.”

  “My power is fading, soon I will be unable to hide this chamber from the goblin gods. Even now I feel them searching the city for the book.”

  “Who are you?” asked Cane.

  “I am the Allfather.”

  Cane asked in shock, “You’re the dwarves’ god?”

  “No, only an aspect of what a true god could be. They created me through fear of the unknown to become the repository of their knowledge and souls. I had the book made to keep their souls safe and another object to store their knowledge. You must take the repository of knowledge with you as well.”

  “Where is it?” asked Cane.

  “I have changed the map in your locket to lead you to it. There is a guardian but he will let you take it in exchange for a favour. But that’s between you and him. I sense one of the goblin gods is near, take the book and follow the map or leave both objects behind and damn the dwarves. The choice is yours.”

  Cane didn’t hesitate a moment longer as he closed the book and lifted it clear of the table. He was surprised at how light it was as he rearranged his pack to fit it in. Through the floor he felt the ground shake from an explosion.

  The Allfather’s voice became urgent, “The goblin gods are coming. I am using the last of my power to delay them. Run Cane!”

  Another explosion rocked the earth and Cane realized it was closer than the last one. He said one last thing before he ducked into the entrance tunnel, “Thank you for trusting me.”

  Cane ran into the labyrinth of streets away from the explosions, following the new map directions.

  Behind him the column shook as the goblin gods surrounded it and began to pummel it with their power to gain entrance. Finally the protective runes dulled and went dark and the gods fought to get through the entrance tunnel. Only the smallest goblin god was able to squeeze through the passage into the room. It glanced around until it heard the humming sound and its eyes came to rest on the box. It smiled as it drew its weapon and struck the box. The metal fractured and the goblin continued to hammer until one side fell off revealing an intricate network of cables and flashing lights. “Now you die, Allfather.”

  “Yes, but I’m taking a few of you with me,” said the Allfather, his voice coming from every direction.

  The goblin laughed in amusement before a flash of light ripped the column apart and tore through the gods surrounding it. The wave of light continued to expand crushing everything in its path. Building after building, column after column shattered and collapsed.

  For a minute there was silence. Then the roof began to crack and large pieces began to fall on what was left of the city. Slowly but surely the city became buried in more and more rubble.

  As their gods died, the dwarves and goblins collapsed to the ground in unison. But the shamans drew on the support of their remaining gods and rallied the goblin warriors. Bittermouth ordered the charge and the dwarves fearing for their lives rallied to Dagar’s war cry and locked their shields.

  The concussion of the clashing armies echoed back to the main army of goblins and they raced with renewed energy to reach the battleground.

  Beneath the earth Cane stumbled through collapsing tunnels choking on dust as he searched for the guardian and his treasure.

  CHAPTER 103

  Dagar

  Polished metal and dark flesh pressed against each other as screams and battle cries echoed off the mountains. Power flew from skulls burning trails of red, blue and green through the twilight. The smell of smoke, ozone and acid blew back and forth as magical winds warred with natural. Beneath their feet the snow churned with blood and earth until the ground itself began to flow in streams.

  Gabriel sought out Tagier in the fighting and made his way to his side. His own fighting abilities had been drastically improved since Tagier had attacked him and he hoped that proximity to the swordmaster might help him fight better in the battle.

  The swords no longer felt awkward and he could block or attack with either weapon. Even his style of attack and defence were beginning to match Tagier's as he reached his side.

  Tagier turned for a split second when he felt Gabriel’s presence but sensing no danger he returned his attention to the goblins. Two blades turned to four devastating the goblin attack.

  Wave after wave of dark flesh broke on the dwarves and they were slowly driven backwards ploughing the mud with their feet.

  An honour guard of dwarves protected Carthus as he deflected multiple magical attacks with blasts of air.

  Dagar was in the thick of the fighting wielding his brother’s axe with the fire of his soul. No longer a slave to his weapon he felt the true joy of battle as enemies piled up before him. Beside him his father and Hanbar fought proudly and held the line while Lockjaw guarded their backs.

  When Dagar saw the left side beginning to fold he ordered Hanbar to rally the men and was pleased when minutes later the wall of dwarven shields began to reform. As the day wore on the dwarves began to falter again under the onslaught.

  Dagar was relieved when the goblins withdrew but resisted the urge to follow them. He realized the next attack would probably overwhelm the line and then the goblins would be amongst the women and children.

  Even if the goblins didn’t break through they had time and numbers on their side. They only had to hold until their reinforcement reached the flank and the dwarves would be slaughtered between the two armies.

  As the goblins re-formed for another attack Dagar heard the dreaded sound of a horn. The goblins were within an hour of the dwarves’ flank. He debated whether to reinforce the rear with more soldiers but realized the futility of it. To reinforce the rear would mean that the line in front would not be able to hold.

  The goblins must have realized the meaning of the horn as well or had received their own communication as they began to work themselves up for another attack.

  A horn blast called out from Broken Pass Keep and Dagar was uncertain what it meant. Beyond the goblins he began to hear other sounds, howls that brought goose bumps to his skin.

  He realized the wolven were attacking the goblins from Broken Pass Keep, turning their own trap against them. Dagar raised his voice to reach every dwarven ear and shouted, “Charge!” as he leapt forward.

  The dwarves along the shield wall ran without hesitation towards the enemy.

  With a new threat behind them the goblins became uncertain and Bittermouth struggled to get them to obey orders. The wolven howls were perhaps the only sound that could make a goblin feel fear and there must have been hundreds of them pouring out the gates of Broken Pass Keep.

  Even Bittermouth was taken aback when he saw that the wolven were carrying dwarves strapped to their backs.

  The first line of gobl
ins fell as crossbow bolts struck them from the mounted dwarves and then the wolven were tearing into the goblins with the dwarves striking down from the wolven with their own fury.

  Dagar’s forces crashed into the goblins just as their rear was being destroyed and the goblins buckled in the middle.

  The mounted dwarves jumped down from the wolven to help Dagar’s forces and soon the battlefield was a bloody mess of goblins, dwarves and wolven bodies. But only the dwarves and wolven remained standing when the fighting ended.

  Dagar rested against a rock and studied the area, seeing no more threats he called Hanbar and his father to him and ordered, “Clear a path for the women and children to move through and send the fresh soldiers to protect the rear.”

  When they left Dagar sought out Lockjaw as he fed on the carcass of a goblin.

  Lockjaw stopped feeding as he approached and looked at him inquisitively. Dagar felt a little stupid as he spoke to the wolf, “There are more goblins on the way. Can you help the soldiers to defend the rear until the women and children are safe?”

  The Lockjaw’s right eye seemed to blink at Dagar before it turned back to the goblin flesh. Feeling foolish Dagar helped to move the bodies to clear a path. Hanbar’s horn blew from the rear to announce the arrival of the second goblin army and as if on cue the wolven lifted their heads and howled in unison with the horn.

  Dagar was amazed at the sight of the wolven as they poured down the valley towards the goblins.

  The procession of women and children began to stream past and Dagar realized that he had to prepare the evacuation to the Citadel below.

  When he arrived at the gates of Broken Pass Keep he was greeted by the women and children guarding the gates and walls. Hanbar’s wife greeted him personally as he passed through the gates.

  Dagar asked her, “How is the evacuation going?”

  She answered, “The stores of weapons not needed for defending the Keep have been packed and most are already down in the Citadel. The secondary cable has been strung between the Keep and the Citadel to bring the empty cars back up. We used it to move the wolven up the mountain.”

  Dagar realised the Keep was in capable hands and thanked her. His thoughts turned back to the battle and how he would have to stagger their retreat to the Keep.

  CHAPTER 104

  Tasha

  Tasha wondered what the commander was up to, allowing her to continue to work under guard in the church. He obviously had a reason because she was escorted there every day by the bloodkin whose features were hidden by a hood and mask.

  She watched as Danielle tended to patients with the healing powers of the crystal embedded in her forehead. Already she was showing signs of pregnancy. Tasha let her senses drift free of her body to take a closer look at how Danielle was managing, but as she slipped free she felt a disturbance around her. She looked around and was taken aback by the glassy look in her own eyes where she sat by the bloodkin.

  Again she felt a disturbance but this time she looked up at the ceiling. The unpainted wooden roof seemed to be filled with blinking stars and moving in random directions in the air. She moved closer to the lights and felt a strange energy radiating from them.

  As she came within reaching distance the lights seemed to notice her and they slowly gathered to drift in circles around her.

  She felt intense emotions of fear and pain when they brushed past her. Distantly she could feel her heart beat faster when she realized that the points of light were souls. She realized they were reliving their last moments of life and first moments of death. She began to sense their thoughts, a continuous never-ending nightmare of giant goblin heads chasing them through the sky until they found this place of safety.

  Tasha remembered the goblin gods that had stripped a shaman’s soul from his body and her body shivered in dread.

  She tried to calm their fears, radiating peace and calm around her and the souls responded. Their fear abated and their random movements became focused forming a pattern in the air around her, weaving and twisting as if in joy. She realized that other souls might still be wandering around lost and drew on her power, using it to send out a beacon of welcome to draw other souls to the safety of the church.

  Suddenly she was ripped back into her body by the strong grip of the bloodkin’s hand on her shoulder. She looked into its eyes and felt fear when she saw the commander’s eyes looking back at her. The bloodkin released her and pointed to the door, indicating they had to leave.

  It followed her as she left and she didn’t notice Jacob staring in wonder at the church roof as it filled with more souls drawn to Tasha’s call.

  CHAPTER 105

  Gaia

  Gaia’s form drifted in and out of focus as she huddled next to Laisarus. She had gathered animals from across the mountain to keep him warm and feed him but she had no way of healing him. No willing vessel to pour her power through. Even now Amelia was too far away to help.

  When the goblin gods died she felt a weight lift from her shoulders and her features became more defined. She drew on her power to find help and sent out a distress call.

  Amelia twisted in her sleep, helpless in a fevered dream to do anything. Gabriel turned his head towards the mountains not understanding what drew his attention.

  Gaia continued to call out as Laisarus slipped towards death and her own image faded.

  CHAPTER 106

  Cane

  The earth continued to shake after the nuclear explosion and metal support beams gave warning screeches as they bent under loads they weren’t designed for. Cane’s mouth and nose were covered with a cloth to protect his lungs from the dust that still hung in the air. His leg still ached from a rock that had narrowly missed his head during the cave in but at least it had finally stopped bleeding.

  Ahead Cane heard fighting and his blood ran cold, so far he had managed to move around goblin patrols but as he drew closer to the Fire Gardens the number of tunnels he could use decreased. Cane forced himself to continue towards the sounds of explosions and screams of agony.

  At first Cane thought that the goblin gods had reached the guardian first, but then he recognized the sounds for what they were - techno weapons and lots of them.

  The only good news was that the guardian was probably still alive otherwise the fighting would have stopped already.

  When Cane rounded the corner even that hope was dashed. Spread across the entrance to the Fire Gardens were the remnants of Magdar’s statue, while around the remains a large group of enforcers were fighting a small group of goblins and a twisted dwarven form.

  Surprisingly the dwarf was driving the enforcers back with powerful blasts of lightning and fire from its hands. The enforcer’s weapons barely fazed the dwarf.

  Cane spotted the object of contention lying between the two warring parties and moving slowly he made his way forward hoping the locket would hide him.

  The dwarf swung around suddenly and stared straight at Cane as if it sensed him but the enforcers took it as a sign of weakness and charged the goblins, discarding their rifles and using their heavy curved swords. The goblins died quickly as the superior strength of the enforcers ripped through them.

  But as the goblins died the dwarf became less worried about its allies and unleashed more power causing the earth to shake. Above him Cane heard the crystal roof crack and he watched fearfully as the crack spread. Cane turned his head away and crawled closer to the golden axe but before he could reach it an enforcer grabbed it and within seconds he disappeared.

  The other enforcers hesitated a moment then they followed suit, disappearing with barely an inrush of air as they jumped.

  The dwarf screamed in rage and scanned the floor for Cane. Never in his life had he felt such fear as the god’s eyes passed over him several times without seeing him.

  Infuriated the goblin god stormed away. Cane glanced back at the ceiling and was relieved to see that the crack no longer spread.

  Cane ripped away the cloth mask and breath
ed deeply for a few minutes before he stood up. A noise near the entrance drew his attention and he crept towards it. He realized that the pieces of statue were moving ever so slightly and that the noise was coming from the remains of the head.

  Cane moved the heavy piece of metal until he could see the grimace of pain on its face. Magdar’s voice spoke from the mouth which barely moved, “You have the book?”

  “Yes,” answered Cane.

  “Take it to Dagar he will need it,” said Magdar.

  “I will,” said Cane seeing the face cringe in pain again.

  “But first, gather the fallen kings. They are no longer needed to guard Stronghold.”