The Shadowed Land

by Ryan W. Mueller

"You've come to send me to the Shadowed Land," he said. It wasn't a question.

  Ander trembled, knowing his death was moments away. Even Ander's staff couldn't stand against Warrick's magic.

  "I could kill all of you with little more than a flick of the wrist," Warrick said. "Rather foolish on your part to come in without a plan." His gaze turned to Dave. "I wondered when I'd see you again."

  Dave took a step back. "I'm not here to rejoin you. I'm here to see that justice is done."

  "Justice?" Warrick laughed. "Did you speak of justice when you met Markus on the Plain of Storms? Did you tell him that you were the commander that night on the mountains? That you were the one who killed his mother? Or did you hope he wouldn't remember?"

  Dave narrowed his eyes. "I'm a different man now. That night changed me."

  "But not enough to let him know," Warrick said.

  "How was I supposed to know Markus was the same boy from the mountain? He never said anything about it." His expression twisted with more anger than ever. "I don't need to listen to a thing you say. I left your service that day, and I will never return."

  Warrick smiled. "As touching as this reunion is, I think we have other matters to attend to. Are you going to open that scroll, Lord Ander?"

  "I don't understand," Ander said. "You want to go to the Shadowed Land?"

  "Perhaps," Warrick said. "Or perhaps I want you to use up the spell when I have an escape already planned. You'll have to decide which is true."

  At this point, Ander didn't care. He'd come all this way and lost so many people so that he could use this spell on Warrick. He wasn't going to waste this opportunity. After a breath, he unfurled the scroll and touched it with the tip of his staff.

  A silvery cloud burst from the scroll. With his staff, Ander directed the cloud toward Warrick, who remained calmly upon his throne. As the cloud enveloped him, he raised his right hand into the air and muttered something. A moment later, he was gone.

  "Did it work?" Mara asked.

  Ander glanced around the throne room. "I don't know. It looked like he was trying to teleport. I don't know if he managed it before the spell hit him."

  Heavy footsteps sounded from the entrance to the throne room. Ander turned to see dozens of Imperial Guards filing into the space. One of them raced ahead of the others.

  "Is there another way out?" Mara asked.

  "This way." Dave pointed to the left of the throne, toward a wooden a door. "Warrick has his own teleportation chamber."

  They all raced through the door, following Dave's lead. He made a few quick turns, then led them into a room that looked like any other teleportation chamber. They raced up the steps and stood on the platform.

  Ander raised his right hand. "Bradenton."

  It was the first place he thought of.

  Nothing happened.

  "Dammit," Dave said. "The platform isn't active."

  "What do you mean?" Ander asked, heart pounding.

  "Someone needs to turn it on. You're the only one with magic. You need to touch your staff to the crystal over there." Dave pointed to the right wall of the room.

  "But Ander won't make it back to the platform in time," said Captain Davis. "They'll kill him."

  "If that's what it takes to get you out of here safely," Ander said, "I'll do it." He raced down the steps just as the Imperial Guards burst through the entrance to the chamber. He sent a blast of fire over his shoulder, hoping it would delay the Imperial Guards.

  A few grunts came from behind him, but he didn't turn to watch. He reached the crystal Dave had pointed out and touched the tip of his staff to it. Warmth coursed through him, and the crystal glowed a brilliant blue.

  "It's working," Dave shouted. He raised his right hand into the air and said something, but the words were lost amidst the noise the Imperial Guards were making.

  A moment later, Dave, Mara, Garet and Captain Davis all disappeared.

  The Imperial Guards stepped toward Ander. He recognized the man in the lead, Commander Iven Adams, the highest-ranking Imperial Guard.

  "What did you do with Warrick?" Adams demanded. "We all felt it in our Imperial Guard seals. He's gone. Did you kill him?"

  Ander laughed. "He's in the Shadowed Land now. You'll never see him again."

  "You bastard!" Adams said. "You will die for your crimes."

  "I know." Ander lay down his staff. There was no point fighting. He'd already given his friends the opportunity to escape, and there was no chance he'd make it to that platform, not with so many Imperial Guards standing in the way.

  Adams stepped forward and thrust his sword through Ander's chest.

  Ander's last coherent thought was that the sword felt very cold.

  Part V

  Paths of Light and Shadow

  Chapter 48: In the Tunnels

  Kara, Aren, and Tobias made their way through the occupied streets of Sierra City. Tobias kept a hood over his head. As the court sorcerer, he was recognizable. The Sunset Army would try to kill him on sight.

  "Couldn't you use your magic against them?" Kara asked him.

  "It's not so simple. My magic is powerful, but it's not that powerful. Ordinary weapons can't kill me, but channeling can."

  "What about the king?" Aren asked.

  Tobias kept walking. "He's lost to us now, even if he is still alive. There's nothing left for me in this city. That's why I'm coming with you."

  "Don't you have family?" Kara asked.

  "I did, once. But when you've lived for hundreds of years, you learn the hard way that forming attachments will only hurt you. I've had multiple families, and they're all dead now. I've distracted myself from this pain by serving the Sierran royal family, but there's no point trying to save them now. The Sunset Army is too strong."

  Kara shivered as the chill mist swirled around her. "I still don't understand why you're helping us. Surely there are safer paths you could take."

  "I once lived in your world," Tobias said. "I'd like to return."

  "I didn't know that," Kara said as the streets became more crowded. The soldiers were directing traffic, sometimes with more force than necessary.

  "I've lived for almost a thousand years," Tobias said. "I was sent here at the end of the Great War."

  They fell silent as they passed through narrow streets where the soldiers clustered more thickly than ever. The soldiers didn't stop them.

  "But I thought only Krinir's supporters were sent here," Kara said.

  Tobias looked away. "Well, I used to be one of them."

  After all Kara had heard about Krinir, she didn't want to travel with someone who might support him. Did Tobias have ulterior motives? Did he wish to return to his old master?

  "I know what you're thinking." Tobias led them into a nearby alley. "You're wondering if you can trust me. No doubt you think Krinir is evil. But good and evil are not so simple. There was once a time when Krinir walked the line between them. Now, in his captivity here, he has fallen under the spell of evil, perhaps irretrievably. It seems to me as if something about this place has changed him. Some evil force, you might say."

  "So you stopped supporting him?" Kara asked.

  "I couldn't support some of the things he did. That's not to say I don't agree with some of his ideas. For one thing, I still believe that the gods have done us a major wrong." They stopped deep within the alley, far from the soldiers on the street. Tobias spoke in a low voice. "How much do you know about the Great War?"

  "Not a lot," Kara said. History had always been one of Nadia's obsessions, but Kara had never held much interest in it.

  Tobias stroked his beardless chin. "It all began long ago, back in the homeland of the gods, a different world from ours."

  "Are you talking about Heaven?" Kara asked.

  "No, it is a world like ours, but different. The gods fought there, or perhaps you might simply call them immortals. I am of the belief that there's nothing divine about them."

  "What about God?" Kara asked.
r />   "I have no idea if He exists. If He does, He has never taken an active role in world events." He stroked his chin again. "As I was saying, in the world of the gods, there was a war that makes our Great War look like a little skirmish. In this war, some claimed to fight on the side of God. Others fought against them, believing they were lying about God choosing them. I don't know who was right, only that both sides killed unimaginable numbers of people."

  Aren's expression was thoughtful. "And which side did Krinir fight on?"

  "Not the side you'd think," Tobias said. "He was one of the people who called themselves the Chosen. God's Chosen. With God supposedly behind them, they believed they could cast aside the blame for all the atrocities they committed. In the end, there were many of these atrocities, on both sides. Eventually, the gods decided that they could not fight any longer. They each traveled to the worlds that correspond to their magic. By separating themselves, they believed they could resist the temptation to fight once again."

  "And did it work?" Kara asked, resting her hand on a wooden crate. She checked the street beyond the alley. Empty for the moment.

  "For a time," Tobias said. "Each god had a role to fill on their new planet. Accounts aren't all that clear, but it would seem that humans existed on all these planets long before the gods came to them. These accounts mention people known as Travelers, people who can create gateways to take them, and others, from world to world.

  "On our world, there were three gods: Lionar the Restorer, Rador the Creator, and Krinir the Destroyer. For a while, they performed their roles, keeping the world in balance." He held up a hand to keep Kara from interrupting. "Yes, Destruction is a necessary force within the world. You may not like it, but without it, the world would fall out of balance. That is why I have trouble seeing Krinir as evil. He's the Destroyer. That makes him a natural force in the world."

  Kara peered out of the alley again. There was no one nearby. "I don't quite understand. Are the gods forced to perform these roles?"

  "It's tied to their magic, to the Machine, which give them their powers back on their home world. I don't fully understand it myself, but I was close enough to Krinir that he revealed a few things to me. The Machine, as they've come to call it, can make anyone with enough talent into an immortal, but only the first gods of a world seem to end up in these particular roles. Some say God created these roles to keep the world in balance. It's as good an explanation as any."

  "But something went wrong," Kara said.

  "I don't know what happened, but before the Great War, Krinir suddenly went insane. He was a force of destruction before, but always controlled in the way he did it. At the beginning of the Great War, it seemed as if he'd changed into a different person. I recognized it at the time, but he was the god I served. I turned a blind eye to the things he did."

  His expression became grave, as though he were recalling horrible memories. Kara didn't press him for more information. She could see the pain in his eyes.

  "People have a way of doing that," Kara said. "I've never understood how so many people can ignore the horrible things Warrick does."

  Tobias smiled faintly. "You might find that Warrick is not as evil as you think."

  "You know about Warrick?" Kara asked.

  "I meet the occasional person who has come here like you." He chuckled softly. "And Warrick isn't even the worst thing in your world. It's only natural for some of us to wonder why we should believe in God when He does nothing to stop such horrors."

  Kara leaned against a cool stone wall, trying to take in all of this. In truth, she'd always had doubts about her faith.

  "There is a theory behind why God ignores these things," Tobias said. "Some say that God is more of a distant and mysterious figure, that He's left the lesser gods to keep watch over the worlds. This is the theory I find most logical."

  "Then why do we worship Him?" Kara asked.

  "I have no answer for you," Tobias said. "I certainly don't worship Him."

  Kara hated that answer. The mysteries of existence had never been something she pondered too much. No, she always had to be practical and consider the task at hand.

  But now she wanted answers. "What about this Great War? What exactly happened?"

  "There were two opposing sides: those fighting for Krinir and those fighting for Lionar. Some would paint this as a simple battle of good versus evil, but it was more complicated than that. There were good and evil people fighting on both sides, as there usually are." He sighed loudly. "In the end, Lionar won. If it had gone the other way around, history would probably tell a completely different story of who was good and who was evil."

  Kara wasn't sure she believed that. There was evil in the world. Anyone who'd seen Crayden burn couldn't deny that. Still, she felt overwhelmed by everything she didn't know.

  She pushed those thoughts aside. Time to focus on getting home. "We need to find those tunnels again."

  "We can't do that," Tobias said. "The normal tunnels you use to get into the city are now guarded by the Sunset Army. They must have found a member of the Shadows and gotten the information out of them." He glanced around anxiously. "There is another path, but it's very dangerous."

  "Of course it is," Kara said.

  "I'll lead the way," Tobias said, and they marched deeper into the alley, passing behind stone buildings whose walls featured countless cracks. Foul smells filled the alley, garbage and waste and scents Kara couldn't identify. They passed a beggar, who watched them with an almost lifeless gaze.

  Mist swirled in the air, growing thicker. This place felt unnatural, barren of life and beauty. Even the people who lived here seemed hollow shells.

  Tobias stopped before a blank stretch of rocky wall, conjured a flame in his hand, and touched the wall with the flame. The wall rumbled open, revealing a dark opening. The air coming from within smelled dusty and stale.

  "Let me take the lead." Tobias stepped into the opening. "Some of the things we'll face in here are too powerful for you two."

  Kara felt a growing sense of unease as she filed into the opening behind Tobias and Aren. Tobias closed the opening behind them, and Aren lit his staff, casting their black shadows against the walls. The passage was so narrow they walked in a single line. The air was damp, and rats scurried between their legs, startling Kara at first.

  Soon the horrible stench of waste and filth reached them. Kara pulled her frayed and dirty collar over her face, but it failed to keep the smell away. More than once, she gagged and almost vomited.

  Tobias's voice was muffled by his clothing. "The smell gets better. Or at least you get used to it after a while."

  The passage opened into a wider stone chamber where the smell became almost unbearable. Sewage ran through a shallow depression, following a gentle decline. They crossed a narrow bridge that traversed this depression.

  The chamber seemed deserted, but Kara's skin prickled. Tobias scanned his surroundings as if he could sense something Aren and Kara could not. Kara recalled how Nadia and Markus had such a talent. With proper training, could they become sorcerers like Tobias?

  Kara, Aren, and Tobias stepped through an open gate and into another narrow passage, which twisted along for perhaps fifty paces before leading them into another chamber. The stench here wasn't so foul.

  Tobias raised a hand to halt the party. "There's something here."

  Kara couldn't see anything, but then something slammed against her. She flew backward and hit the ground hard, barely keeping her head from striking the stone floor.

  The dim orange light of Aren's staff didn't reveal her attacker.

  It hit her again, coming from the side, scooping her off the ground, and thrusting her against the chamber's damp wall. She hit hard, the impact knocking the wind out of her. Struggling to breathe, she clambered to her feet on trembling legs.

  A field of yellow light surrounded her, revealing a creature that looked as if it were made of black smoke. It glided through the chamber, trying to escape the ye
llow light, but every time it neared the edge, the field followed it. Tobias guided the light, using it to push the smoke creature far away.

  Aren rushed to Kara's side and took her in his muscular arms. "You all right?"

  "I'm fine." She relished the warmth of his touch. Leaning against his strong frame, she felt the sudden urge to kiss him, but this was not the time or place.

  Tobias gestured toward a nearby passage. "Let's go before it comes back."

  "What was that thing?" Kara asked as they raced into the passage. "And how did you make it go away?"

  "It's a creature of dark, dark magic," Tobias said. "Eventually, it would have tried to possess you. But since it's a magical creature, the particular spell I used was effective against it. It's a field of light that negates and prevents magic within it. Quite useful, I must say."

  "Does it always work?" Kara asked.

  "No. Sometimes your opponent's magic is too strong."

  "What keeps all the monsters alive in a place like this?" Kara asked.

  "I'm not sure. They don't have enough food to sustain them. I think they're creations of dark magic—most of them at least. Something in that magic sustains them." He chuckled. "I've been alive almost a thousand years, and I still haven't figured out that mystery."

  "What is it like to live that long?" Kara asked.

  "It gets lonely after a while. Very lonely. At the same time, though, it gives you a chance to see the world develop, to witness the many twists and turns of history."

  They entered another open chamber. The horrible stench had dissipated, or perhaps Kara had grown used to it. Aren cast the light from his staff about the room, illuminating dozens of creatures. They looked human, but their movements were jerky, and they staggered a lot.

  "We should give these things a wide berth," Tobias said softly. "They may look human on first glance, and they were once human, but now they're anything but. You can't let them bite you or you'll turn into one of them."

  "But how can we get past them?" Kara asked, feeling suddenly cold.

  "They aren't the most intelligent of creatures. In fact, they're downright stupid. As long as we don't get too close, we should pass by them without incident."