The Holtur Enigma (The Holtur Trilogy)

by Cameron Wayne Smith

  “I think I’ll help you,” Vivian agreed, then raced over to Kallum.

  The corpse was actually quite light, but he accidentally dropped it when he heard one of the scouts scream. One of them had backed into the surviving fogless shroud, its mandibles had penetrated into his neck. The scout fell forward, with the shroud falling with it, reconnecting with the fog. The scout exploded, then imploded, and his insides were absorbed.

  “Fuck!” Rigst cursed upon moving into the alley, then gave a menacing glare to Kallum. “Lou, Greg, and now Grant! What a fucking moon!”

  “ARGH!” Knoch slammed his fist into one of the corpses in the alley, squashing its head, splashing clear ooze all over himself.

  The fog had filled the room they were previously peddling in. The fire was expanding far too slow to stop them, but it kept them from entering the alley. It mattered little though, as another arm of the fog was creeping around the main fire, and following them into the dead end.

  “You want to play with your science experiment before the fog catches up to us?” Vivian lifted the corpse he was holding up to Kallum’s face. He just pushed it aside and ignored it.

  “At least we killed some,” Kallum defended, then attempted to make the scouts feel their sacrifice was not in vain. “You five scouts are the first humans to defeat the shroud. Yeah, what a fucking moon!” he repeated Rigst’s words with much more enthusiasm.

  “I guess…” Rigst quietly agreed, there was no point arguing now, not at the end. “I’ll see you soon Ferdell…”

  “Well you four sound a tad glum,” a voice stated from behind them. They all turned to see Volk. “Best get in before the shroud dissect you!”

  “Grab some more corpses!” Kallum announced, rushing away from the safety of the door.

  The fog had caught up with the first of the fallen shroud and was sucking them back in. Vivian was unsure whether it was consuming or revitalising them, but it was obvious it wanted them back.

  “Don’t be a fool!” Rigst grabbed Kallum’s wrist, forcefully pulling him back towards the door. “We don’t have time, you’ll have to settle with just the one.”

  “No!” A look of pain was upon Kallum’s face. “We can still obtain more!”

  “Sure.” Knoch had grabbed Kallum’s other wrist, and the two scouts dragged him into the Lodern residence.

  “They shouldn’t make it in here.” Volk slammed a bunch of stakes into the snow before his door. He then ignited them with a touch of his hand and closed the door. “Fortunately for us, those things don’t share as much of an appreciation for Aesterus as myself!” Volk’s smug grin morphed to one of horror, upon hearing a slam on his front door.

  “Maybe ya fire god isn’t so protective after all?” Knoch shrugged, and the knocking grew harder.

  “Shit!” Volk began to walk down the corridor of his residence. While walking, he plucked small sacks from his belt, dropped them to the ground, and they burst, splashing oil over the floor and walls. “Good thing I made sure that the rest of the house hold stayed elsewhere these moons. Everyone, down here please.” He gestured to a room at the far end of the hall.

  “If the shroud break in,” Vivian continued, “we should ditch the corpse, the shroud want it back.”

  “I want the other corpses back!” Kallum pushed his face right up to Vivian’s. “We can’t all have what we want.”

  “You will not release your grasp of the corpse, Vivian,” Volk disagreed with a twirl of his hook blades, offering a smug smile. “Or I personally will throw you to the shroud as well.”

  “Great,” Vivian responded. He was unsure how serious these people were about throwing him to the shroud, but he wasn’t willing to test them.

  “If they get in, we shall depart through the back door.” Volk looked at them all with a serious face. “But watch your step, and your blades. The marked roam through those paddocks.”

  “The marked, what are they?” Vivian begun to worry, as if the shroud weren’t enough.

  The front door fell from its hinges after the shroud gave it the last pound it could handle. Volk scraped the back of his blades together, creating a spark which flew down to the oil, igniting it, turning the corridor into a blazing furnace. “Might I suggest we vacate the premises immediately,” Volk suggested, making his way through the back door.

  “What are the marked?” Vivian repeated himself while quickly obeying Volk’s command.

  “Just don’t touch the beasts and you will be fine,” Kallum spoke without worry, “really, you have nothing to worry about.”

  “Nothing to worry about,” Vivian repeated, but he had a feeling it would be quite the opposite.

  Chapter 6: Cult of Glacious

  The clouds around the second moon had parted, and light was attempting to pour over the landscape. The mountain peaks may have been lit up, but only a mere fraction of light made its way down into the valley. It was late in the moons, but the sun still had a while before showing itself.

  Dashing out of the building, Vivian found himself ensconced in an icy mist. It wasn’t a fog, well, not the fog the shroud had been travelling in. Visibility was minimised, it was cold, and it didn’t feel much safer. He continued to carry the dead—or dormant—shroud while being cautious to watch his step. He had no idea what the marked were, but figured if he followed the others closely, he should be safe.

  Volk was leading the group whilst juggling a small ball of flame. It didn’t produce all that much light, but a lot more than the others could conjure up. “Shhh…” Volk’s spry movement came to an abrupt halt, and he diffused his flame. “One is nearby, stay still.”

  A low grunting sound came from nearby, then further off, a distinct mooing noise could be heard. Vivian begun to wonder if the marked were cattle? He knew bulls could become quite aggressive, but didn’t think they would pose a threat to Volk, Rigst, or Knoch in one-on-one combat, let alone as a group. Watching the rest of them remain completely still and silent, he figured it was best that he do the same.

  Then he heard approaching, what sounded like the squelching of heavy hooves pressing into the muddy ground. A moment later, a shadow blocked out what little light fell from the sky. Turns out the marked are considerably larger than your average bovine. The group remained completely still, waiting for the beast to continue on.

  The ball of fire reappeared before Volk’s face. “We’re good, keep moving.”

  The group continued through the icy mist, taking care to avoid the marked. Vivian thought the whole ordeal strange, the beasts were big, but he couldn’t imagine them putting up too much of a fight. What made it even weirder, was the fact that the shroud were yet to catch up to them. Despite the oils Volk had ignited, he didn’t think the house would burn for long. Looking back to confirm his thoughts, it appeared as though the fire had completed died out. Maybe the shroud were following, carefully, for whatever reason, avoiding the marked as well.

  “This will be the best place to wait for first sun,” Volk whispered, looking up at the cold dark building before them. “But you’re not going to like who inhabits this place...”

  “Who’s is it?” Kallum questioned quietly. “Not that it matters, the most important thing is hiding this.” He pointed to the corpse Vivian was carrying. “Until the fog returns to Lachtod Bog.”

  Rigst gave a smirk, then sarcastically asked, “Let me guess, the building is filled with the leeches?”

  “It’s much worse than that,” Volk paused for a moment, then continued, “it’s my mother’s place.”

  “Fuck!” Rigst cursed, a little too loudly for the situation.

  The sound of hooves slowly approached towards their location. “No need for subtlety now,” Volk said, then began bashing on the door. “Mother it’s me, we require assistance!”

  The wooden door creaked open, and they all rushed in. “So, now you decide to visit?” The shadow of an elderly woman hobbled over towards Volk.

  “It’s the shroud,” Volk hissed, then placed a fing
er over his lips. “Shh…”

  “DON’T YOU SHH ME!” cackled the old lady. “This is MY house, you can just fuck off if you want to be like that!”

  “The voice of an angel,” Rigst mumbled to himself.

  “WHAT WAS THAT?” The old lady stumbled towards Rigst. Vivian got a whiff of something that wasn’t quite right when she hobbled past. She smelt sour, more so than some of the tribal folk from the Kuka desert. Quite odd considering Holtur was not a hot or dry environment.

  “Nothing!” Rigst bit his lip, then covered his face with his arm and released a cough.

  “What’s that awful stench?” Knoch spat, then began dry reaching.

  The old lady’s gaze shifted from Rigst to Knoch. No one could see it in the darkness, but it was quite obvious.

  “You got a problem with my musk?” The woman was clearly oblivious to her stench. “Men used to go crazy for it back in the day, back before the…” The old lady started to weep, then she began to scream. She drove her hands through her knotted hair and covered her ears.

  “Mother, stop it!” Volk made his way over towards her. He grabbed her by the shoulders, but she just began shaking and screaming even louder. “Aesterus, forgive me,” he prayed. Then powered his fist into his mother’s face, knocking her to the ground, and shutting her mouth.

  Volk touched his hand upon the small table in the room, creating a flame and revealing a candle. It must have been massive at one point, but now most of it had melted across the table and onto the floor. The others all stood quiet, watching him prop his mother onto a chair.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone knock out their own mother before.” Vivian broke the silence.

  “Shut up,” Volk cut in, “as in be quiet, or I’ll do the same to you.”

  “If we hadn’t done something about her, she would have attracted the shroud.” Kallum nodded with agreement, then looked at the prone shroud. “We mustn’t risk losing our catch.”

  “Right…” Vivian couldn’t agree with Kallum’s choice of words, but he knew this was not the time to argue over etiquette. “What about the marked? Do we need to worry about them?”

  Volk shook his head. “No, just keep quiet. None of us should say another word until the sun arrives, and the fog leaves.”

  “Try and get some rest,” Rigst softly suggested. He then slumped down to the floor with his back up against the wall and knees bent.

  Vivian mimicked the others, making himself comfortable on the ground. Well, as comfortable as he could. The stone floor was cold, and it stunk like a desert dwellers cave after twenty years of drought. There really was no excuse for the old hag not to bathe! Still, he appreciated being tucked safely away from the shroud—and away from the marked.

  ***

  “You don’t visit for, Glacious knows how long, and now you, and all your friends, sleep on my floor!” The wretched voice of Volk’s mother pulled Vivian from his slumber. “And you hit me! Your own mother!”

  The shroud were no longer a threat. The bleak sunlight striking the frosty, web-covered windows made that somewhat clear. Volk taking his punishment, without any back talk, made it crystal.

  “The shroud were attacking!” Volk peered down at his mother’s angry face. She managed to scrunch every wrinkle upon it, to display an incredibly disgruntled expression. “If we hadn’t have come here—if I didn’t do what I did—we would all have shared a terrible fate.”

  “Psshhtt!” She spat in his face. “The shroud never come in here, they stay well clear of the marked and Glacious’ divine ones. Well, except for that ugly bastard anyway!” She pointed at the inactive shroud they had brought in. Kallum was studying it with fervour.

  “I know, but they deal so much devastation to the rest of Holtur.” Volk grabbed his mother’s hands and smiled. “Now we’ve captured one. We can learn more about them, learn how to protect ourselves from future attacks!”

  “Fat lot of good that will do for Holtur!” She withdrew her hands, then sat in a wooden rocking chair. “Not when the ‘you know what’ return.”

  Volk completely ignored the words his mother spoke. It was obvious he had done so plenty of times in the past. Vivian’s curiosity about what she feared brought his mouth to open, only for Rigst’s hand to cover it shut.

  “I’ll go for a quick walk with Vivian,” Rigst suggested, “show him around the area a little more.”

  “Appreciated.” Volk tilted his head. It was obvious he didn’t want to spend time with his mother, but even more obvious he didn’t want the others around her either.

  “I need to stretch my legs too!” Knoch dashed for the door, excited by the excuse to leave.

  “Kallum?” Vivian questioned the young man. “Are you coming?”

  He shook his head. “I’m not leaving the shroud. I’ll leave when one of you are ready to transport it to the Bristrunstium.”

  Rigst opened the door for the others. “Come on, let’s go.”

  The cold, icy mist had mostly burnt off, it was now less than a metre high off the ground, and the sun was brightly shining low in the sky. Vivian looked out over the rolling hills that popped out of the mist, he saw beautiful, green pastures, and large, shaggy, brown beasts grazing.

  “The marked?” Vivian pointed at one of the nearby creatures.

  “Some of them, if they have the scar on their head.” Rigst used his finger to draw an invisible line over his forehead. “They’re marked. Otherwise, they are just kuhvi—just cattle.”

  “Why do we need to be wary of the marked?” Vivian didn’t understand the situation. They were, as he thought, merely bovine. “Do they get angry during the moons or something?”

  “Something,” Rigst bluntly responded. “They belong to Glacious. I’m not really at liberty to talk about it too much. If you want more information, you should speak to the cult.”

  “The cult?” Vivian asked.

  “Don’t call ‘em a cult…” Knoch growled, then scratched his bald head.

  “Glacious’ divine ones,” Rigst said, “that’s what they preferred to be called. They worship Glacious.”

  Vivian folded his arms. “I keep hearing of this character, Glacious, but who is he?”

  Knoch and Rigst looked to each other, giving each other a bit of a confused look. Finally Rigst pointed off into the middle of the pasture. “See that tall building in the middle of the paddock? That’s where you’ll find your answers.”

  “Right…”

  “Go on then,” Rigst said, “I’m not telling you any more.”

  “Should I do anything in particular about the marked?” Vivian looked around at all the beasts grazing. “We took such care last moon.”

  “You should be fine,” Rigst said with a smile. “They don’t spook so easy during the sun. Just be sure not to harm any of them.”

  “And watch out for kuhvi patties!” Knoch kicked a bit of dung from his boots.

  “Alright, I’ll see you two around.” Vivian nodded, then turned towards the building in the distance.

  Before he took too many steps, he heard Volk’s mother screaming behind them. “THERE’S NO POINT STUDYING THE BLOODY THINGS!” Volk was running from the house with the creature in his arms, and Kallum chasing behind. “They’re coming, and there is nothing you can do about it! The bargetier will end Holtur!” The woman began to cackle an ominous laugh.

  “Bargetier,” Vivian whispered under his breath. Hearing the word shocked him, forcing him to turn back to the others.

  “Done with the Glacious’ divine ones already?” Rigst asked.

  “She said bargetier…” Vivian looked at Kallum as he caught up. He was unsure if Sonja had told him about the one he had seen.

  “Yeah, weird bunch of creatures that nearly ended Holtur a long time ago,” Rigst said with despair. “Bastards took my mother…”

  “Mine too.” Knoch looked angered.

  “And mine…” Kallum coughed. Suddenly Vivian understood why Sonja wanted to be the one to tell him, an
d why she was so afraid when he first spoke of the bunny-bear.

  “My mother wasn’t so fortunate…” Volk sighed. “She survived. It took her though, messed her up beyond anything I could ever imagine. She used to be a beautiful, powerful woman. Then after the bargetier, she fell into depression, went mad, and began to age at an alarming rate.”

  “I’m sorry.” Vivian hadn’t realised how many people were effected by the bunny-bear.

  “We weren’t!” Volk’s snide grin returned. “The men of Holtur never gave up, they hunted the creatures to complete extinction.”

  Rigst and Knoch grinned, then began nodding their heads. It was as though talking about how tough Holtur is negated the despair that the conversation had generated. Meanwhile Kallum began to cough more frequently, and stronger.

  “Vivian,” Kallum wheezed, “you got, it?”

  “Oh shit!” Vivian had completely forgotten about Kallum’s illness with everything that had happened. He desperately searched the pockets of the coat he had been lent, found the elixir, then dropped a few splashes upon Kallum’s tongue.

  “Thank you Vivia—,” Kallum spoke with a numbing mouth, then collapsed into Rigst’s arms.

  “I should escort him home.” Vivian looked on worryingly.

  “Nope!” Rigst plucked the elixir from Vivian’s hands. “His sister and father would have awoken to an empty bed this sun, and found you, and he missing. I wouldn’t be surprised if they would quite literally kill you on sight. You did let Kallum convince you to take him out to face the shroud after all.”

  “Good point…” Vivian could see the benefits on never visiting their residence again. “Maybe I should skip town soon?”

  “Haha,” Volk laughed. “Don’t be daft. The Bluwahlts may seem like an aggressive family, but they’ll be fine when we tell them how heroic you were watching over their Kallum.”

  “Heroic?” Vivian raised an eyebrow.