The Shadowed Land

by Ryan W. Mueller

  Luck can only last so long, he told himself, running among a crowd of clansmen. By now, the archers were no longer a threat on either side. Maybe they'd run out of arrows, or maybe the battle was too chaotic.

  Blood pounded in Klint's ears. His throat was raw with exertion. As he sprinted toward the center of the settlement, he felt the pain of perhaps a dozen minor injuries he hadn't noticed in the chaos of the battle.

  Maybe twenty warriors remained. The enemy had about the same number, but they also had hostages. Klint felt sick at the thought.

  Heedless of his own danger, he rushed forward, but then a strong hand yanked at his arm, pulling him back so forcefully he felt as if his shoulder had separated. He shot to his feet, ready to attack whoever had grabbed him. His sword almost struck a blow before he realized it was Darek.

  The clan chief's expression was grim. "We can't engage them."

  "Why not?" Klint demanded, struggling against his grip.

  "They're using our children as hostages."

  Klint continued fighting. "But won't they face cruelty now?"

  "Clan Seagull is not quite that barbaric. They will kill the old. They will rape the women. But they will not harm the children. They will try to raise them as members of their clan." He shook his head. "It's sad that some will suffer, but that is how we live here in the Clanlands."

  Klint stopped fighting, feeling as if a heavy weight had settled over him. "You're not gonna fight at all?"

  "Not right now. We've gotta come up with a plan." Darek turned and strode away from the settlement, sadness etched in every line of his face. "There are other settlements nearby. Our clan is much larger than this one village."

  Klint followed. "What about my friends? What'll happen to them?"

  "I don't know."

  Aric put a hand on Klint's shoulder. The man had appeared out of nowhere, bearing many shallow cuts. His clothes were soaked with blood, and he looked unsteady.

  "I care about them, too," Aric said. "But Darek's right. We have to devise a plan."

  "Well, we better do it quickly," Klint said. "If those bastards rape Danica . . ."

  Aric shook his head. "I don't want to think about that."

  But if Klint had learned anything in his brutal life, it was that you always had to consider the worst outcome. The world would never bow to your wishes.

  * * * * *

  Berig watched in horror as Clan Seagull murdered the old men and old women. Then the warriors rounded up everyone else, holding them at sword point. Some of the children screamed, earning themselves blows with the flat of the blade.

  One of the warriors stood near those holding Berig. This man wore his beard in braids like Darek's. Probably another chief, Berig decided.

  "You are not clan," the man said. "No clan wears such strange garments."

  "We came from inside the mountains," Berig said

  The man laughed coldly. "You should have stayed there."

  Part II

  Inside the Mountains

  Chapter 11: The New Mission

  Ander sat at a table in the headquarters of the Order, eating a small meal and talking with Talia. She'd been silent most of the conversation. Though she'd come to accept the death of her husband Graig, she had not yet recovered from it.

  She poked at some vegetables with her fork. "It all seems kind of useless, doesn't it?"

  "What do you mean?" Ander asked, though he did have some idea what she was talking about. Graig and Captain Davis had died for nothing more than safety in Mountainside. Ander needed to do something to make their deaths matter.

  "I thought coming to Mountainside would accomplish more," she said. "But it seems the Order doesn't do anything important. Even here." She shook her head. "All we can hope is that Nadia succeeded in killing Warrick."

  Ander didn't want to think about Nadia's quest, didn't want to imagine her dying out there without him when he could have gone with her. Markus and Rik were talented young men, but they lacked his experience. How could Ander have let the three of them do this without him? It had felt right at the time, but now it didn't.

  Ander drummed his fingers on the wooden table. "Cyrus said he would have news for us today. I hope he gets here soon. I'm sick of waiting."

  "Is it wrong that I almost hope to learn Nadia failed? There's a part of me that wants a shot at Warrick. The place he created took Graig from me. It's only fair to get back at him."

  "I know what you mean," Ander said. "We've lost a lot of good people."

  Footsteps sounded in the adjoining hallway, and Cyrus stepped through the door. His long, silvery blond hair looked unkempt, and he sported a short layer of stubble on his normally clean-shaven face.

  Ander didn't have to guess. "She failed."

  "I'm afraid so." Cyrus sank into a wooden chair across the room and massaged his temples. "I knew it probably would happen, but I guess I can still be an optimist at my old age."

  "We're ready, then," Talia said. "What can we do?"

  "I'll get to that in a few moments. First, I need to bring in everyone who'll be part of your quest." Cyrus turned to the door. "You can come in now."

  The first person was a blond woman roughly the same age as Talia. Ander had seen the woman in passing, but he couldn't recall her name. He had isolated himself during their time in Mountainside. Worry had consumed him. Worry for Nadia, and for Aric.

  The woman took a seat at a nearby table. "I'm Sarah."

  "Sarah has a rare magical immunity," Cyrus said. "Creatures like the Silver Wisp don't affect her, which means she's perfectly suited for this mission."

  Ander didn't like where this was going.

  A second person stepped into the room, and Ander thought his eyes were deceiving him. It was Captain Davis. He looked thinner, but there was no doubt.

  The captain grinned. "Bet you never expected to see me again."

  Ander couldn't form any of the questions on his mind.

  Captain Davis took a seat at the table and ran a hand through his brown beard. "Well, when that monster swallowed me, it didn't chew me or anything. So I used my sword to cut my way out. I nearly suffocated by the time I got out, and something in the monster's digestive juices had a paralyzing effect. My armor probably protected me from the worst of it. Only parts of me were exposed to its digestive juices.

  "By the time I got out, I could barely move. I lay there on the rocky ground beside the monster for more than a day before I could finally move. And even then, it was a struggle. I had to take frequent breaks. When I got out of the Red Plateau, I stopped to rest awhile at the nearest settlement. It wasn't until a few days ago that I felt strong enough to travel again."

  "We should have looked for you," Ander said.

  "I don't blame you. You had a goal in mind. By all appearances, I was lost."

  "That doesn't matter," Ander said. "You don't leave people behind."

  The captain laid a hand on Ander's shoulder. "Don't blame yourself. You did the right thing. Your mission was to get everyone to Mountainside. You had Aric to worry about." He shook his head. "Cyrus told me about Aric leaving the Empire. Hope he's okay out there."

  "As do I," Ander said. "I feel like I've failed everyone."

  From across the room, Cyrus cleared his throat. "Now you have a chance to make up for that. It's time I told you how you're going to deal with Warrick."

  Ander, Talia, Captain Davis, and Sarah all looked at Cyrus with rapt attention.

  "The Webs of Fate have suggested another path to removing Warrick," Cyrus said. "It's not a perfect path, and it doesn't involve killing him."

  Ander learned forward in the wooden chair. "I don't understand."

  "White Fire was our one chance to kill him," Cyrus said. "At least for the moment. But there's something else we can do. I mentioned the Silver Wisp. Using a scroll, it is possible to capture the essence of the Silver Wisp. That is, you can create a scroll that will send someone to the Shadowed Land. And no one has ever escaped the Shadowed Land."


  Ander nodded. "So we're imprisoning Warrick?"

  "Precisely," Cyrus said. "Once again, this is not a sure bet. It's not even close. But it's the best we have. The Webs have told me that it should be you four who do this. You stand a greater chance of success than anyone else." He stroked his chin. "I wish I could give you more confidence, but I have to be realistic here. You will probably fail."

  The look in his eyes told Ander there were more secrets he didn't want to reveal. Did Cyrus know that some of them were going to die? Or were there even deeper secrets he was keeping?

  "I understand," Ander said. It was better to try and fail than do nothing at all. "Do you know what happened to Nadia? Is she . . . dead?"

  "No, she is not. For some reason I don't understand, Warrick spared them. By now, they've found a way out of the Empire, a path through the Fire Mountains north of Bradenton. However, the Webs have told me that Nadia will likely return to the Empire."

  "Why would she do that?" Talia asked.

  "I hate to admit it, but I lack Warrick's skill in reading the Webs of Fate. I can discern that it has something to do with Markus, perhaps an illness of some kind. For whatever reason, she will return and head north to Taylorville."

  "What's in Taylorville?" Ander asked. "I mean, besides the Prison City?"

  Cyrus massaged his temples again. "I'm not sure. But that means you should teleport to Taylorville after you obtain the essence of the Silver Wisp. The Webs indicate that you might be able to help Nadia. To do so, you must be there at a specific time." Cyrus told Ander a date that seemed too soon.

  "I wish I understood these Webs of Fate," Ander said.

  "You are not alone in that," Cyrus said. "Only Warrick truly understands them, or at least he's come closer to true understanding than anyone else."

  "Does this all mean we're going back to the Underground City?" Talia asked.

  The thought of returning to that place chilled Ander. He remembered the pervasive cold in the air, the feeling of evil as the Silver Wisps appeared all around. Yes, they might capture a single Silver Wisp, but how would they avoid the rest?

  "It's the most logical place," Cyrus said. "You could go to Woodsville as well, but that is far from your path, and it lacks a teleportation chamber."

  "Why aren't there more teleportation chambers?" Ander asked. "Why haven't you been able to make one? Warrick can do it. These sorcerers of old did it."

  "Even in my day, teleportation chambers were a thing of the distant past. There were rumors that we had one in Sandersburg, where I studied, but those were only rumors. There were parts of the city that were forbidden, even to us. Only the current Protector could enter them."

  "Why were they so secretive?" Ander asked.

  "Well, in these chambers were some of the most dangerous forms of magic from the Great War. I believe there were also books on the technology of the old world. The Protectors of Sandersburg decided to keep this knowledge secret because it was so dangerous. These are the technologies that destroyed the Old World, and the magic that nearly destroyed this one."

  "I suppose that makes sense," Talia said, but Ander could see the disappointment in her eyes. As Graig's wife, she must have developed some of his curiosity. Ander had to admit he was curious himself. If he didn't have such an important goal now, he would have loved to visit Sandersburg and access these secrets.

  "How did Warrick discover teleportation?" he asked. He had risen from his chair at some point and begun pacing.

  "I wish I knew." Cyrus looked pensive. "However, I will note that anyone with Darkness magic can teleport. There are few of us, though. Most people acquire other forms of magic. Darkness magic is a different thing altogether, as is Light magic." He frowned. "But that's a discussion we don't need to worry about now. Focus on the task at hand."

  "Of course," Ander said, surprised that he'd lost focus.

  "How're we gonna find the Underground City?" Talia asked. "Klint said he's been through those caves many times and that he'd never found it before."

  Cyrus stroked his chin, deep in thought. "I have foreseen that problem. Though I hate to say it, I have no idea if you'll find the paths there again. The Webs of Fate do not deal in certainties. If anything, an event like this is much more likely not to happen."

  "That's where I might be able to help," Sarah said. Ander had almost forgotten she was going to be part of this quest. She carried a sword and bow, but the weapons looked awkward strapped to her back.

  Ander turned to her. "How can you help?"

  "In addition to immunity to supernatural entities," she said, "I have better ability to sense them, and I might be able to choose the right paths."

  "Do you really think you can lead us there?" Ander asked.

  "I'm not sure, but we have to try, don't we?"

  "Yes, we do," Ander said, but he felt sick about bringing her along. She looked as though she'd never tasted adventure, and certainly never tasted battle. A part of Ander was relieved that he no longer had to worry about Berig and Danica. Could he handle another weaker person to watch over again?

  "How good are you with your weapons?" Captain Davis asked Sarah, as if sensing Ander's train of thought.

  Sarah fidgeted in her wooden chair. "I'm not all that experienced. I've trained a little here with the Order, but I've never been in a battle of any kind."

  Ander looked to Cyrus. "I don't understand. If you saw her importance to this quest, why didn't you have her training sooner?"

  "As I said, I lack Warrick's expertise in reading the Webs. It was only in the last few weeks that I saw this possibility. I can rarely see more than a month or two ahead, and sometimes I'm lucky to see a week into the future. Believe me, if I could read the Webs more effectively, I would have taken action to thwart whatever Warrick's planning."

  Ander ran a hand through his hair. "Do you ever feel like you're fighting a losing battle? Just look at all these things Warrick can do. Maybe he's simply too powerful."

  "I feel like that every day," Cyrus said. "But we can't give up."

  Ander was still pacing. The others looked at him with a little concern, but he didn't care. Pacing helped him think, helped him soothe his nerves. As much as he liked to project the image of a confident leader, doubt clung to him.

  "What else should we know?" he asked.

  "That's it for now. I suggest you all rest up. You'll need your energy tomorrow."

  Ander was tired the next morning. He went through his final preparations in a daze, hoping he wasn't missing any crucial details. The more he thought about this quest, the more doubtful he felt. He was tired of leading, tired of the toll it took on him.

  The rest of the party waited in the building's central chamber, sitting around wooden tables and eating a small breakfast. Captain Davis attacked his food with gusto.

  A plate was already there, waiting for Ander. "Who did this?" he asked.

  Captain Davis spoke around a mouthful of food. "Cyrus thought you'd be too eager to leave, so he made sure you'd eat something first."

  "I'm not sure eager's the right word," Ander said. Nervous would have been more appropriate. Or perhaps terrified. "Well, I'm glad he was thinking of me."

  Ander ate slowly, remaining silent as he chewed. The food was simple—scrambled eggs and slices of bread—but he enjoyed it. In truth, he'd never cared for the richness of the food he'd eaten as a noble. Too often, he'd felt sick after gatherings of the nobility.

  Halfway through the meal, he turned to Sarah. "What can you tell us about yourself?"

  She shrugged, looking uncomfortable. "There's not much to say. I've been a member of the Order since I was old enough to join. My parents were involved before me, and I even helped out before I turned eighteen."

  "How did you discover this magical immunity?" Ander asked.

  "It's not perfect immunity. Magic can still harm me. I'm just stronger against it than most people." She fidgeted in her wooden chair. "I've been in those caves before. When I was young, so
me of my friends and I thought it would be a good idea." She hesitated. "We ran into this Silver Wisp. They were taken to the Shadowed Land. I was spared."

  Ander felt as if some force had tightened upon his chest. He knew the pain of losing those around him. He knew it all too well.

  "I've learned to live with it," Sarah said, her eyes glistening with tears. "Maybe my friends have found a life down there. At least that's what I say to make myself feel better."

  "I'm glad you've chosen to help us," Ander said. "I can't imagine it will be easy." He wanted to say something comforting, but nothing came to him. Aric had always been better at that kind of thing. He'd joked that Ander focused so intently on the task that he forgot about everything else. In that way, Ander knew he was a lot like Nadia.

  He missed her. Back in Crayden, he'd never decided how he felt about her. He liked her, yes, but did he love her? They'd shared one kiss, a great kiss. But she wasn't the first woman Ander had kissed. He'd had his share of romantic adventures.

  Why was he thinking about this? Nadia belonged to his past now. Maybe he'd see her again one day, but he couldn't focus on that. He had a mission.

  They finished their meal with only a little conversation. Everyone was too nervous to talk. Ander and Talia had been in those caves before, and it was an experience Ander had hoped he'd never repeat. Even worse, they had to go back to the Underground City.

  "How dangerous will it be?" Sarah asked as they went through their preparations, gathering the food and weapons they'd need.

  Ander's hand drifted toward his staff, as if anticipating the danger already. "It's difficult to say. As I'm sure you know, these caves change all the time." He ran his other hand through his hair. "We can't be sure we'll even find the city."

  "We may be in there a long time," Talia said.

  Sarah looked pale. "I really do believe I can sense the magic there. When my friends and I went in, I was able to find the way back out in only a few minutes."

  Ander nodded to her. "Let's hope you're right."

  Cyrus accompanied the party to the gates of Mountainside, where he handed an empty scroll to Ander. "It'll be up to Sarah to capture the Silver Wisp, but the Webs of Fate tell me that you'll be the one to use the scroll." He looked away for a moment, as if hiding something. "Good luck. Our future rests upon your shoulders."