The Holtur Enigma (The Holtur Trilogy)

by Cameron Wayne Smith

  After walking a few hundred metres, Vivian’s thoughts were shattered by the sound of a brief scream. It sounded like Sonja, which was weird as she never screamed. He dashed over to the nearby source, only to see that same creature he had seen before, the one that took his assistant, the bargetier. It had Sonja over its shoulder. Volk’s mother was standing beside it, pointing at Vivian.

  “Get him!” Volk’s mother said to the bunny-bear creature. “Or he’ll lead the others to us!”

  The bargetier’s face scrunched up, like it wanted to roar, but knew it had to be silent. Vivian patted his body with his left hand, trying to figure out a way to combat the creature. “HEL—,” he attempted to scream, although his voice activated too slow. A large fist had already been flung towards his face, knocking him out cold.

  Chapter 10: Bargetier

  A thunderous crash disturbed Vivian. Opening his eyes he discovered only an uncomfortable darkness. Lightning filled the sky outside, it filtered through the windows and into the lounge room. The thunder that followed sounded off, like something was using it in an attempt to mask its own sound. Another bright bolt revealed the shadow of a creature snaking its way towards him.

  He moved over to the fire place, grabbed a poker with his left hand, then tried to stoke the charcoaled lumps of wood. The cold air confirmed that anything that had been burning went out long ago. At least the sky was being generous enough to light up his surroundings.

  Whatever was approaching was getting closer. The sound of the front door being busted off it’s hinges sent a cold shock through his body. That noise was something that couldn’t be hidden under the sound of the thunder. Lightning revealed the shadowy figure making its way through the kitchen. It was taller than Vivian, had a slender tail, sharp claws, and a menacing skull that reminded him of a hungry wyvern.

  “You don’t belong here.” He brought the poker across his right shoulder, over his back, ready to deliver a cast iron backhand if the creature didn’t listen.

  The shadow cocked its head, then began to consume something off the floor. Its teeth crunched through bone, it slurped and sucked down the flesh of whatever was beneath it.

  “I said…” He rushed at the shadow. “YOU DON’T BELONG HERE!” Vivian’s arm sprung to action, powering the fire poker into the base of the shadow’s skull.

  The head rolled off the creature’s shoulders, continuing across the floor. Despite being a mere decapitated shadow, Vivian felt it stare at him for a moment, then continue to lick the ground, slurping, and crunching.

  Vivian bent down to look closer at the creature. He was unable to focus on it, but the sounds of consumption grew louder, much louder.

  ***

  The sound of crunching and slurping continued after the room had faded away. “Another dream…” Vivian thought to himself. He had found himself remaining in complete darkness, and was unsure if he had just jumped into another bad dream, or if he was now in reality. He hoped it wasn’t reality, his head was pounding, his body ached, and nothing felt right.

  He attempted to open his eyes, only to find some kind of crust sealing them tight. His brain told his left hand to rub his eyes open, but he couldn’t feel his arm. Maybe it was stuck in the ice, he sure did feel cold. He tried twisting and moving it, but it wouldn’t come loose.

  His right arm though, was free. Although, the pain surging through his shoulder with every tendon’s movement, was just as bad as the throbbing in his head. The slurping and crunching showed no signs of quietening down, and he figured if this was reality, the noise must be coming from the bargetier. He grimaced, fighting the urge to scream and cry as he lifted his bung arm up to his head. He spat on his hand, then rubbed his eyes. The crusty gunk was a flaky brown substance. Upon clearing his face, he could see the discolouration was all over him. Shit, Kaine wouldn’t be happy with the blood all over his furs!

  He looked to his left shoulder in an attempt to find out what happened to his good arm. It wasn’t there. It was gone. Surprisingly, he wasn’t bleeding, a dirt-like substance made a crust where it had been severed. He stared at his shoulder for a while, unsure what this all meant. The hole in his right shoulder was a terrible thing, something he figured he would never fully recover from, but his arm being removed? That was just fucked.

  Once he found the strength to take his gaze off his shoulder, he looked around the room. It was an underground cylinder of dirt. The sun was still up, and light shining down from one end of the tunnel revealed the exit. He looked the other direction, into the darkness, towards the source of the chewing, and he saw something that delivered a bittersweet punch to his perception.

  An unconscious woman with long, brown hair, wearing the dress Donna was wearing on their way to Holtur. Her limbs appeared as though they were embedded into the wall. He dared not call out, not with the bargetier close by. Vivian pushed his back into the wall with his legs, then slowly clambered up to his feet.

  He walked over to the bound woman, then used all his strength to lift his hand up and pull her hair from her face. “Donna,” he whispered as quietly as he could.

  The sound of the bargetier chewing had ceased, and Donna’s eyelids began to flicker. She slowly lifted her head, her green eyes opening, wide, then wider. She was vibrating, whether out of shock, fear, or something else. Vivian’s eyes begun to well, he knew what the bargetier did, and couldn’t begin to understand her pain. Her mouth opened, and hysteria took over as she began to scream.

  “Donna, it’s me!” Vivian scrunched up his face as he placed his hand over her mouth. It didn’t stop her, she couldn’t stop, reality was too much pain for her now.

  He could hear the thuds of heavy movement from down the tunnel, the bargetier was on the move. Vivian had to escape before he lost more limbs. Despite the condition of his entire body, his legs weren’t all that bad. He ran towards the light as fast as he could, passing more women embedded in the walls.

  “Patressi!” a bound woman feebly called out, it was Sonja.

  “I can’t!” Vivian flailed his right arm. “It’s going to eat me!”

  “Then fucking run!” Sonja’s command was being implemented before she finished. “Just find the others. Bring them here…”

  “I’ll try!” Vivian responded, continuing his sprint towards the light. The bargetier was fast though, he wasn’t sure if he’d escape its warren, let alone make it back to Holtur.

  “Quiet you!” Vivian heard a familiar voice shout from behind him. It sounded like Volk’s mother, but why would she be helping the very creature that ruined her life? Vivian then recalled seeing her right before the beast knocked him out. She was a survivor of the bargetier, she was taken, but she survived. This bargetier, this monster ravaging these people, it must be her child!

  Vivian had made it out of the warren. He prepared to run towards Holtur, but all that he could see in every direction was snow for kilometres. He had no idea where he was. He endured the pain of his shoulder once more, reaching for the flame sac Volk had given him. If he could start a fire, maybe he could signal the slayers of Holtur. He looked around once more, but there was nothing to burn, not for quite a distance.

  “Stop right there outsider,” the old hag said while licking her lips. “There’s nowhere to run.”

  “There’s plenty of space to run,” Vivian disagreed, figuring if he was going to die, he might as well give a bit of cheek. “Plenty of open snow that way.” He turned his head. “And even more that way.”

  “Funny,” she cackled as the bargetier bounded out of the warren, it stopped as it found its place beside her. “That’s exactly what I thought while we were having dinner! This outsider, he tastes funny!”

  “That’s truly disgusting, even for a woman as vile as you.” Vivian had never been cannibalised before, this was now definitely the worst thing that had happened to him in Holtur. “What would Volk think?”

  “He wouldn’t understand,” she spoke as the bargetier snorted heavily, exhaling steam through its no
strils. Vivian assumed the beast didn’t understand a word the woman spoke, but it understood that she was its mother. “He never was a good son anyway, unlike my beautiful boy here.”

  “He sure is, unique.” Vivian wondered how flammable the bargetier would be. It had thick fur, which he figured would burn well enough. It had plenty of energy though, and if ignited, could probably just roll the fire out.

  “He is more than unique.” The breath she exhaled while revealing rotten yellow teeth smelt almost toxic, perhaps even be flammable itself. “He will one day be the king of a whole new empire! When the bargetier conquer the planet!”

  “They were wiped out once, what makes you think it won’t happen again?” Vivian was seriously considering his options. The vile smelling woman could be the perfect fuel for the flame sac he managed to get into his hand.

  “Because this time, they have me!” She pointed at Vivian and the bargetier moved forwards.

  Vivian had no time to waste. He twisted his body around, then snapped it back, lunging forward and firing his arm as hard as he could. By the time the flame sac left his hand, he thought his remaining arm was about to fall off. He fell to the ground, spinning around to land on his back. The sky was a beautiful blue, crystal clear in all directions. But now, a roaring flame sprouted from the ground, sending up smoke to cloud up that perfect sky.

  The woman was frantically screaming, and the bargetier was bounding around trying to help its mother. The screams and yelps continued for a while, sounding like music to Vivian’s ears. He was dead, he’d come to terms with that before igniting the woman. Although, revenge against the thing that took Donna, the beings that ate his arm, and the monsters that wanted to destroy Holtur, had felt somewhat satisfying.

  He continued to watch the smoke drift into the sky, waiting for the screams to end. It took longer than he had expected, but shortly after her screams lost tenacity, they died out completely. The bargetier released a tormented howl, then thuds through the snow made their way towards Vivian.

  It looked down at him, drool, snot, and possibly tears fell from its fluffy white face. It roared a bellowing noise, then raised its mighty fist in the sky.

  “Go on you ugly piece of shit!” Vivian laughed while staring into its blood red eyes, he was ready for this to all end. “Get it over with!”

  The large, white fist began making its way towards Vivian’s face. He closed his eyes, but right before his head should have turned to mush, something knocked the creature off its feet. Vivian tightened his stomach, pulled himself up, and saw Rigst wrestling with the bargetier.

  “Filthy bargetier!” Rigst screamed, unsheathing his sword and bringing it down to the creature’s throat. “Die!”

  The bargetier mustn’t have liked that idea. It sprung its powerful hind legs into Rigst’s chest, throwing him off and into the snow.

  “Rigst!” Vivian called out, then looked back to the bargetier. Its toothy jaw gnawing on the air, or possibly a bit of Vivian’s arm that had got stuck in its teeth.

  “I’m fine.” Rigst stood up, keeping his eye on the bunny-bear. “And don’t worry, backup is coming.” He turned to Vivian for a moment and gave him a thumbs up. “Good job with that fire.”

  The moment was all the bargetier needed. The solid creature launched itself into Rigst, knocking the blade from his hand, then smashed him into the snow. It was on top of him in an instant, and there was nothing he could do to break free.

  Vivian managed to find the energy to stand up once more. He reached for the sword with his bung arm, unsure if he could pick it up, let alone hurt the bargetier with it. Raising the blade above his head, the pain in his shoulder felt as though someone had stuck a sword through it, each movement twisting that invisible blade. He endured and ignored it, bringing the blade down as hard as he could into the bargetier’s back.

  It howled in pain, reaching for its back with both claws as it staggered backwards. Vivian attempted to hand the sword back to Rigst, but he lost grip on it, dropping it into the snow.

  “Thanks Vivian.” Rigst’s head was covered in blood, he kept his eye on the bargetier, not allowing it off the beast again. “You look like shit,” he said with a smirk, then retrieved his blade from the snow.

  “Yeah…” Vivian felt like shit, but he wasn’t going to give the bargetier the satisfaction of hearing it, even if it couldn’t understand his words. He turned to look at it, it had stopped reaching for the wound and seemed content to ignore the discomfort upon its back. Its gaze returned to Vivian. “So how do we kill this thing?”

  “How do we kill anything?” Rigst gave a cheeky grin. “It’s just a beast.”

  With another howl, the bargetier charged towards Vivian. He just stood idle, watching the creature advance. Rigst came between the two, his blade slicing across the tough stomach of the bargetier. It ignored the attack, powering into Vivian and throwing him to the ground. It then turned back to Rigst.

  Vivian sat up in the snow, noticing blood seeping from the muscles that protruded from the bargetier’s fur. It was nowhere near enough to stop it though, not yet. With a howling roar, it charged towards Rigst. He postured himself low in the snow, readying for the attack. Once the bargetier was close enough, he gracefully spun into the air, twirling his blade, and bringing it towards the creature’s throat.

  The bargetier wasn’t too fond of the pointed end of the sword, and had ducked beneath it, successfully avoiding the attack. Its chunky arm shot out to its side, clotheslining Rigst through the midsection, and throwing him back to the ground.

  They were both down now, and Vivian had used the last of his energy too many times. “How far is that backup now?” Vivian asked, despite being unsure if surviving the sun was a possibility.

  “Shouldn’t be long,” Rigst said climbing back to his feet. “Can you get up?”

  “I don’t know.” Vivian really had no idea, but he also realised he couldn’t hear the bargetier any more either. “I think I’m pretty much done.”

  Rigst walked over to him, looking down and shaking his head. “Shit!” He reached down, placed one arm under Vivian’s bad shoulder, the other one tightly around his midsection. “C’mon Vivian, on three. One, two, three!” Using his legs to push up, Rigst helped him get to his feet once more. The bargetier wasn’t near, but not far in the distance a group of horses were galloping up to their location.

  Vivian summoned a grin. “Guessing that’s the backup?”

  “And it’s enough to scare the bastard back down into his warren,” Rigst added.

  The first horse to arrive was carrying Ivan, still not wearing anything over his bare chest. He looked at Vivian and Rigst, then jumped off his mount. He didn’t say a word, but that look of crazy was all over him. He slowly turned his head towards the warren’s entrance, then charged on in, screaming like a madman.

  “What is it with that guy?” Vivian wasn’t sure who to be worried for, Ivan or the bargetier.

  “With Ivan?” Rigst rolled his eyes. “Who knows!”

  More of the slayers Vivian had seen fending off the flame wyverns dismounted their steeds, approaching him and Rigst. Commander Fin Maver was leading the group.

  “So what’s the situation?” Fin questioned.

  “It is definitely the bargetier warren.” Rigst nodded. “I was doing one final sweep of the area when I saw the fire Vivian had started.”

  “Where is Captain Bluwahlt?” Fin followed up. “No offence Vivian, but I find it difficult to imagine you fought your way out, when she did not.”

  “She isn’t too far from the entrance,” Vivian confirmed. “Super sane Ivan would have seen her on his descent into madness. She was… stuck… in the wall.”

  “Don’t worry about him,” Fin said sternly. “Let’s free the captain, then finish off this monster while we still have sun.”

  “Right.” Vivian’s eyes met with Volk. “I just need to speak with Volk first.” He pulled the red head to the side. Well, he tried to, it was more of an uncoordinat
ed slap on the shoulder. “How are you feeling this sun?”

  “Never better.” He gave such a cheery grin that made even his freckles appear to smile. “Why do you ask?”

  Vivian didn’t want to destroy his mood, but didn’t want to hide things from him either. “Well, technically, this thing, the bargetier…” Vivian took a long pause. “It’s your half brother.”

  “What the fuck?” Volk narrowed his eyes. “No…”

  “Your mother had been taking care of it.” Vivian sighed. “I’m sorry.”

  “That’s stupid.” Volk looked angry and tears were welling in his eyes. “Why wouldn’t she have told me this?”

  “Maybe she felt she couldn’t trust you?” Vivian suggested. “I don’t think she could’ve trusted anyone with that information.”

  “Of course not!”

  Commander Maver overheard. “Feel free to sit this one out Lodern,” he spoke softly.

  “Sit this one out?” Volk shook his head. “That thing is no brother of mine! The bargetier have brought me nothing but pain! I would much rather melt its flesh than sit this out!”

  “Good to hear.” Fin gave a nod. “Vivian, lead us to the captain.”

  “This way.” Vivian went to wave his hand, but settled with nod of his head instead. It was obvious where the warren’s entrance was anyway.

  Snow slowly turned to dirt as they ventured through the tunnel. With the group of men behind him, the sunlight offered was much less than before. Volk had already begun igniting a few torches. He offered one to Vivian, then after reassessing his injuries, passed it to the commander instead.

  Vivian brushed the back of his hand along the walls, as though the torchlight was not enough. He was sure he was close to where he had seen Sonja, but she wasn’t here, not anymore. Clumps of dirt were kicked about the location where he had seen her, indicating she had broken free, or been released.