“The Scales do have a mark to the right shoulder.” Yuri looked and pulled his coat up seeing a strange scar formed in on his right lower shoulder. Kullian also added: “It is as a mark of shame separating you apart from other humanities and creatures. Others may think of you different by your presence, just feeling the sense of that mark.”
“Like a curse…but Zoran gave it to me as a gift.”
“So he could use you better in missions and do his will. Through that Magika, you will achieve his will and bring peace to the Blood Shadows, so we may continue the life of Drahk and bring him to this land again, this Alundiel.” Kullian then stopped his horse, as did the other three. Yuri stopped and looked to Kullian.
“What is it?” Yuri then spoke no more seeing the four dismount and assemble the horses in a safe place near a dead tree.
“Yuri... dismount and follow,” Kullian tried whispering, and kept the other three close by. Tablitha kept close to Yuri as he ran over to them.
“You found something? What is it?” All four stood huddled over a puddle of blood with a dark blade in the middle.
Yuri pulled out the blade, which was one he never recognized. It had a silver handle, with black trimmed sides. The blade was blood red and black rust stained on it. Strange letters of the Blood Shadows were written on the sides of the blade.
“Where are we now, Kullian?”
Kullian looked at his map and responded, “Currently on the Silver Road and above the Heartlands. I think we are being followed, so be ready.”
The four stayed close and Yuri moved back with them. An overgrown shadow then appeared behind Yuri. Kullian looked behind and gazed at the monstrous sight.
As Yuri looked around, a mutilated hand flashed across his face and he fell slowly with darkness filling his eyes.
Chapter Sixteen: Helen of the Octavium City
B erek quickly caught the knife thrown at him. He then quickly dodged an attack he thought was coming, but none came. Berek looked inside the room. It was very dark, but he could see an outline of a small person, crouching next to a figure on the bed. Berek moved in closer and saw the person crouching was that of a girl, around Berek’s age. The figure on the bed was an old man, pale and white. He was dead.
“Who are you?” asked Berek to the girl. “Why did you attack me?”
“Sorry, I thought you were one of those creatures,” replied the girl. “My father here, is dead. They killed him. I brought him here to heal him, but he was already dead.”
“I am sorry,” said Berek with a soft tone. “What is your name?”
“I am Helen of the Octavium City,” she replied through tears.
“Well, Helen, you are caught in the middle of a battle. Now, I suggest you take your knife, and get out of the village while you can.”
“No!” shouted Helen standing up quickly. “I must seek revenge for the creature that killed my father. Give me my knife.”
Berek sighed and handed it to her. Their fingers touched, and Berek felt a strange sensation running up his arm. In the light, Berek saw Helen was very beautiful. Long, blonde hair flowed from her head. She had bright green eyes and her lips were curved perfectly. Berek smiled at her beauty.
“Are you all right?” asked Helen, seeing Berek in a strange state.
Berek snapped out of it. “Yes, I’m quite fine. Now, if you are dying for some action, can you tell me if you saw an Ancient run by here?”
“A what?”
Berek sighed. “I don’t have time to explain. The creatures you speak of.”
“I did, and in fact, he was the one who killed my father. I was about to pursue him, until you came in.”
“Yes, well, follow me,” said Berek hastily. Helen nodded and Berek turned and left the room. He walked back to the door from which the sword-clanging was heard. He pressed his ear to the door, listening for any sound of Jarem’s voice.
“You were a fool to come here, Seraph,” said the calm voice of Jarem.
“I’m the fool?” asked the voice of Seraph. “Weak Jarem, you are the one who led your men to slaughter. And now, I shall kill you, but not before finding out where you hid it.”
“No!” shouted Berek, breaking open the door. He saw Seraph standing over Jarem. Seraph was holding out his sword, pointing it to Jarem, who was sprawled on the ground. Helen rushed in and once she noticed Seraph, she yelled in fury. She pushed past Berek and ran for Seraph. Seraph seemed to smile as he quickly pulled back his sword for a fatal slash at Helen.
“Out of the way!” cried Jarem, pounding on Helen. He pushed her out of the way as he was then slashed by Seraph. He groaned as fresh blood spilled from his back. Berek yelled in frustration and tackled Seraph to the ground. He began to punch him several times, though Seraph was much stronger. Seraph took Berek by the shoulders and threw him off. Berek yelled as he flew through the air. He hit a hard substance; it was a door, and as Berek smashed into it, it opened to reveal a terrace, over-looking the city of Wyndal.
Berek fell through the door and landed on the terrace. Seraph laughed and picked up his black sword, running to Berek. Berek stood up and was ready for anything. He took his katana and blocked Seraph’s attack. He slashed at Seraph, but it was to no effect, as Seraph’s armor seemed stronger than any metal. Seraph pushed Berek backwards, toward the edge of the terrace, where there was a twenty foot drop. Berek felt his foot on the very edge and tried to gain his balance so he would not fall off.
Seraph knocked Berek’s sword out of his hands and grabbed him by the neck. He held him over the edge, Berek’s feet dangling.
“Now, before you die, where is it?” asked Seraph.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” grunted Berek through Seraph’s harsh grip.
“The Crystal of Melageth!” cried Seraph. “The crystal in which our Lord and Master is imprisoned in! It was hidden with the Shieldvanes! Now where is it?”
Berek grunted, trying to breathe. Then, Berek quickly pulled out his hidden dagger, Sufferthorn, from his leg and thrust it into Seraph’s neck. Seraph grunted in pain as black blood came from his neck.
Suddenly, Seraph disappeared in a black mist. As Seraph released his grip on Berek, Berek felt himself falling from the terrace. He fell through the air, descending down to his doom.
***
“Come to me,” said the creature in its grim tongue.
“I know who you are now,” spoke Berek bravely. “You’re Melageth!”
“Yes, you have heard of my power!” shouted Melageth, clad in the golden armor Berek had seen before in his dreams.
“All I have heard is that you are weak, and you shall stay locked in your crystal!” shouted Berek.
“Fool! Your words are as meaningless as is your life! But I give life, and take it away! Join me, and you shall have this life I offer!”
“Never!”
“This path you are choosing is not a wise one, human. One of your kin has chosen wisely, however.”
“What are you talking about?” cried Berek, but Melageth laughed and laughed.
“Wake up, fool!”
“Who of my kin?” yelled Berek.
“Wake up!”
***
“Wake up!” yelled Helen. Berek’s eyes suddenly opened, and he saw Helen bending over him. She pressed a warm rag to his head. Berek looked around. He was in his quarters at Skyhallow Temple. But how did he get there?
“What happened?” asked Berek weakly, but found he could barely speak.
“Shh, try not to speak,” replied Helen. “You fell off the terrace in Castle Wyndal. Seraph disappeared, along with his horde of Ancients. Wyndal was spared because of you. You saved us all.”
“What about Jarem?” asked Berek, sitting up quickly. Helen pushed him back down onto the bed.
“He’s fine, Berek. You saved us, and you are to be promoted. To Captain of the Shieldvanes.”
“Captain?” asked Berek to himself. Then, he realized something. “My sword! I lost it!”
“I am sorry,” replied Helen. “Perhaps Jarem may give you another. But now, you are alive, and that’s all that matters. I owe thanks to you, for helping me.”
“Anytime,” replied Berek with a grin.
“Now, Jarem expects your presence as soon as you wake up. You are awake now, and you must see Jarem. I hear he has a mission for you.”
Chapter Seventeen: Death’s Betrayal
Y uri stood up quickly, focusing his eyes. He turned to where he was hit and unsheathed his sword. He was then pushed to the ground again.
Kullian helped Yuri up, while Vormis, Tablitha, and Hulio looked around, seeing no enemy.
“Get up. What hit you?”
Yuri looked at Kullian with a bleeding nose. “A deformed hand with loose skin and veins hanging from its arm. Like a dead body left to rot.”
Kullian brought the three including Yuri together. “It seems we are up against some kind of... spirit.”
“No,” Yuri interjected, shaking his head, “not spirit, for they are alive. I saw them: a mortified human form.” Yuri tried to convince Kullian what they were up against.
“I think Zoran is initiating his first part of the test, by bringing the Blood Shadows’ dead against us, just as I feared.”
Hulio backed up, rubbing his head and itching. “Sir, I don’t... feel the same.”
“Hulio, speak, what is wrong?” Kullian, after shouting, told Vormis and Tablitha to scout the inner parts of the frosty surface, below a valley.
“So what will we do?” Yuri was confused as he saw Hulio sweating blood from every inch of his body.
“Hulio, what is the matter?” Kullian backed up and as Hulio bled more across the ground, he knelt and it felt as if a force came over him.
“A demonic force is controlling him internally. We can’t keep him alive much longer.” Yuri knew so far what was happening.
Yuri walked to Hulio, taking out his dagger. He reached over Hulio ready to strike him in the forehead.
“Behind you!” Kullian suddenly yelled.
Yuri ducked and long nails slashed from behind, quicker than before. Hulio took the blow and flew back, spitting and coughing more blood.
“Kill them! And everyone, arms to me!” Kullian and Yuri unsheathed their sword looking at the monstrous sight of the dead humans.
“About twenty...,” Tablitha muttered, watching as the creatures circled around them. Yuri saw Tablitha and was encouraged for battle.
The flesh-eating humans began to walk from the bottom of the snowy hill. While walking, limbs and dismembered body parts painted the snow red.
“Tablitha, you are with me! Kullian and Vormis take the right of the swarm!”
“Charge!” Kullian ran with Vormis, as he wielded his dual-bladed axe.
Yuri and Tablitha finally crashed into the first wave of the grotesque creatures. Yuri jumped over one, slashing it through the neck. Tablitha aided Yuri as they fought side-by-side, keeping the creatures at bay.
“Stay close to me, Tablitha!” She moved closer and kept swinging at three of them. Yuri took his dagger and threw it into one’s deformed eye, as it squirted blood.
Tablitha saw Kullian overwhelmed by many of them as Vormis was chopping at the creatures’ legs.
“Yuri, we have to help them!” They both ran near Vormis, treading down the steep hill.
“All of us must stick together, no one falter after the first strike!” Kullian was ordering while Yuri knew he was supposed to be in charge of them all. The living dead stumbled down. More were showing up.
“They have more, and they are all growing,” Yuri stated. “Get back to the horses.”
They all trudged through the snow. But the creatures seemed to run faster after the four.
“Curses... they are fast, hurry!” Kullian jumped on to his horse, as Yuri and the others did the same.
“Barrage right through them, and have no mercy!” Yuri felt much confidence as he saw Tablitha ride next to him. They all unsheathed their blades and ran right into the soulless beings. One by one, bones were cracked through, as Yuri rode on, stabbing one of them.
“More are gathering as bugs to a light. This cannot be a test!” Kullian had limited faith as he had blood covering him. Yuri could not tell whether it was his own or not.
“We cannot leave Hulio behind!” Vormis insisted, growing upset.
“Not now, we must break through them,” Yuri replied reluctantly. The horses squealed in pain, for they were wounded from the nails dug in their skin from the mutilated beings.
Yuri was the first to break from the sea of creatures; he knew it was an unfair fight from the beginning.
“Follow, they cannot catch up. We will head closer to the inn!” Yuri finally took command while Kullian tried to catch his breath. As the horses treaded through the snow, their hoofs led trails of red.
“We are close, keep following!” Yuri looked at Tablitha making sure she was alive.
“Are you alright, Yuri?” It seems she asked first.
“I am well, you?” She nodded as she covered a long red scar on her arm.
“You are hurt, Tablitha,” Kullian then said, looking concerned. He grabbed her wrist forcibly and Yuri flinched. “You need attention!” Kullian tried to help as they kept riding through. But Yuri could handle it himself.
“Here we will stop; this mission was slipshod from the beginning!” Yuri stopped the horse, as did the others. They all settled and sat near a boulder that jutted out above the snow. “Now is someone going to tell me what the devil went on back there?”
“Yuri, please be at ease with yourself,” Vormis pleaded, trying to help again.
“No, you know what? We just stood there and fought, while leaving our man behind. We are outcasts now. We cannot return back to the temple letting them know someone died!” Yuri went crazy and kicked the snow, wrestling with himself internally.
Kullian stepped up to Yuri and grabbed him.
“Listen...I said listen to me!” Yuri looked up to Kullian with cold sweat pouring down his face. He felt a strange sensation of power; he used his strength and threw back Kullian.
“Never touch me like that again!” Kullian backed off and sat down on a rock.
“You boys stay here; I am going to hunt for some meat,” spoke Tablitha angrily. Vormis agreed to go along with Tablitha. They started to disappear in the distance from Yuri and Kullian’s sight.
Yuri waited long enough. His mind was not clear and he could not think of what just happened. He knew the next time he visited the temple he was going to get some answers.
“You smell fire?” Kullian finally spoke up. Yuri got up and heard the whipping sound of flame in the wind.
Yuri began to freeze; he covered himself to the face as a cold wind whirled across Kullian and Yuri’s faces. Kullian stood up and walked toward the edge of the boulder and gasped.
“In the name of Zara Mura, what happened here?”
Yuri finally got up the edge of the boulder overlooking the valley where the inn once was.
Fire and smoke circulated through the air, and rubble fluttered across the ground. The smell of freshly burned wood consumed Yuri’s sense of smell.
Yuri looked closely seeing a dark man coming out of the village inn, as many others were exiting the burned village where the inn was at the center.
“We must find Tablitha and Vormis.” Yuri ran back down and grabbed his sword in hand as Kullian did the same.
Chapter Eighteen: An Ancient Evil
Y uri’s footsteps riddled through the snow; he never thought he could run this fast. Kullian tried to keep up, but Yuri had to follow the trail to quickly find Tablitha. Yuri’s attention was only on finding Tablitha, and cared not for Vormis.
“Yuri! The horses!” Yuri looked back to Kullian.
“We are too far ahead now; we must move forward and find the others.”
Dark shadows were portrayed on the ground as if they were in the sky. Yuri looked above his head, seeing an over-size
d bird. It was black, and had a monstrous structure for a bird, bearing shiny white eyes and black feathers.
“Yuri, what are they?” Kullian shouted but Yuri was ignorant of his speech and continued running.
Finally the creature in the sky flew away back to the village. Yuri saw Tablitha hiding near a rock. Vormis was not seen with her.
“Tablitha...” Yuri whispered behind a dead tree. “Tablitha come here!” She did not respond and seemed as if a ghost just appeared to her in a dream. Yuri came to her and held her close.
“Are you okay? Tablitha, please, we cannot linger!” She yet looked around with wide eyes. She got up and finally spoke.
“Vormis...I was hunting and then all the sudden these things came out and attacked us.”
“Birds? Were they some sort of monstrous birds?”
“No,” Tablitha replied, giving Yuri a weird look. “They were more like a human but they had no face and souls as black as coal.”
Yuri tried to catch breath, while Kullian lay down half-asleep against the rock.
“What happened to Vormis?” he finally asked.
Tablitha looked him through with emerald eyes. “Vormis told me he needed to warn you all about these things.”
“Curse it!” Kullian hissed suddenly. “The village!”
Kullian picked himself back up after saying this and ran to the opposite direction where the village was found as well as the horses they recently rode. Yuri and Tablitha sprinted back with Kullian.
“The accursed birds are back!” Kullian shouted as he ducked through the thick snow.
“No, they will sense you there, we all must keep moving!” shouted Tablitha.
“There, the horses are safe. Get to them!” Yuri was happy to see Tablitha was okay. She got on her horse, as Yuri and Kullian did the same.
“Hulio’s horse, it’s gone right?” asked Tablitha worriedly.
“Tablitha... Hulio is dead. His horse is left back there with his body.” It seems after Yuri said this, Tablitha remembered. Her memory was distant after she saw such attack, but she still seemed to remember a lot.
The Sword and the Shadows: The First Chronicle (The Scrolls of Alundiel Book 1) Page 6