LaFeone flicks tiny silver needles into a handful of the white robed figures and they fall like puppets with their strings cut. I know that spell, it cuts the connection to the aether, it is what I used against Dan. I never knew it could kill someone, or that it even worked on non-mages.
A plume of flame sends white-robed figures tumbling and rolling trying to extinguish themselves. A few of them flatten as if crushed under a great weight. Others turn on each other, using their blades and hands to stain the snow red. Eventually all of them lay dead in the snow, and the mages stand untouched. The clouds come rushing back in and the wind picks back up. A heavy snowfall starts, quickly growing to an unnatural strength. The black-robed mages turn and vanish, leaving the snow to cover the fresh corpses.
The sun sets on the mountain as the snow continues, by the next morning the snow has stopped. Something stirs underneath it, slowly a mound forms and becomes a black robed head peeking out. The robed figure stands, rising to an unnatural height, and tears its robe off with a clawed hand. Slowly it inspects its new form, watching the overcast light reveal the scales under its skin. It drags a clawed hand down its face before giving a long, screeching howl.
A howl that does not go unanswered as nearly a score of monsters rise from the snow, each one warped in a different way. Some unfurl gossamer wings, others have grown long horns and hooves and others look stranger still. I recognize some of these creatures from my studies.
“I was not one of the first to rise, that horror fell to those we had helped to betray. The aether respects power and grants great boons to those with the will to use it. But it hungers for pain and suffering. It’s starved for hatred and loathing. Those fallen mages burned brightly with their malice, so it returned them to this world.” The elf says.
As the reborn mages howl and scream to the heavens dozens of shapes emerged from the snow at their feet. They cast off their snow colored robes and stood with their heads bowed. Each one of them has been changed as well, reflecting the shape of their new masters. The beautiful ones are the Yakshani, demons of lust and corruption. Those wooden ones with their rotting fruits are the Wold, malevolent forest spirits. There are so many kinds of creatures, I have fought some of them but these seem stronger somehow. They make the ones I have encountered seem...diluted in some way.
“Just as they had been raised and thus enslaved, by the aether, so to were we raised by them. Our forms corrupted to match the mage we helped to cut down. Their will was now our will, their shape was now our shape. Under their command we destroyed everything in sight. We burned forests to the ground, razed towns down to the foundations and slaughtered countless masses. With undying brutality, we tore the world down around us for our new masters.” The elf says, still in the shape of young woman.
“I did not see any of the risen who looked like you, which of them do you serve?” I ask her, careful to keep my eyes on the visions she’s showing me.
The elf laughs, a normal human chuckle but without any real humor in it. “Our master is long gone, dead by his own hands. After decades of bloodshed he decided that he would no longer be consumed by his revenge. He simply vanished, like dust on the wind. The aether has no love for those who won’t feed it anymore. Since then we’ve grown powerful, as our master’s power has passed on to us. The aether discarded us too, it forced us to find a way to survive.”
“Hunting mages.” I say and the elf nods slowly. There has to be a way out of here, back to the real world. Back to Kearika, where it is safe.
The elf laughs, wheezing as its body changes back to its normal hideous shape. Bones break and bend as it grows taller, its fingers snapping and flow into talons which it wraps under my chin.
“We hunt because you are weak. You will never control us, but we will feed off your strength for a thousand years. Your mind and spirit will be torn to a thousand pieces, and you will never know peace. You will watch as we kill for a millennia, helpless to stop us.” It hisses as it pulls my face an inch from its own
There has to be a way out of this hell.
“There is no way out, Caius. You are trapped here forever. With me. With us.” The elf laughs, tossing its head back and exposing its needlepoint teeth. I glance all around me, desperately searching the darkness of my mind for a way out. All around me grey eyes filter in through the darkness, laughing and howling as they advance.
A blinding silver light blasts in from all around me, washing away the darkness and burning away the elves. With a furious shriek they throw themselves at me, their bodies melting under the brilliant glare.
***
With a gasp, I lurch upright and take in the burning landscape around me. A sharp pain in my chest draws my attention to the knife sticking out of me. The mage killing blade. Just like the tavern. I reach up, probing the wound with my fingers. I can feel the knife all the way through me, slicing into me as I breathe. A gentle warmth is dulling the pain, and I wrap my hands around the handle. This will hurt.
With a grunt, I pull the knife out, it glides effortlessly out of my chest. Blood wells up, spilling readily across my robes and into the dirt. Merry orange sparks pour out from the wound as my wound closes over, cutting off the flow of blood. A deep, searing warmth fills my chest as it heals. After a few more seconds the warmth passes and the pain fades. I take a few experimental breaths and find nothing wrong.
It is nice to have access to power again, and one that hopefully will not turn me into some kind of monster. For however long it lasts at least. Sooner or later I will be forced to return to the aether for my strength. I shudder at the thought.
I glance over at Kearika, she’s lying face down in the ash unconscious. Something this destructive is unlikely to go unnoticed for long. We need to get out of here. Where is Dan? I scan around but find no trace of him. With a sigh, I snap my fingers and in a burst of flames my staff appears in my open hand. My pack appears at my feet, along with all of Kearika’s things and her halberd.
I crouch down and place a hand against her forehead. Wake up Kearika. Her eyelids flutter as they open slowly and she sits up groggily. Her breathing eases as my magic heals the damage to her ribs.
“Caius?” She asks slowly.
I give her a small smile and a nod as I stand. She takes my offered hand and I pull her to her feet. Dirty grey ash coats her face and hair, with little channels cut through it from her tears. There’s a charred patch on her shoulder from the heat and my wards, but the physical damage from Dan’s control seems to have healed.
The real question is whether or not Kearika is still in there.
“We need to leave Kearika.” I tell her, holding out my hand for her. She stares blankly at it, her eyes slowly wandering up my arm to my face. I reach out through our link, to try and reach whatever may be left of her mind. What I feel is something remarkably whole but chaotic. Happiness tramples over despair and is cut down by fear in turn.
There is only one thing to do.
I wrap Kearika in my arms, pulling her into the tightest hug I can manage.
She starts a little, and with confusion in her voice asks, “What are you doing?”
I simply pull her a little closer, she finally relaxes and wraps her arms around me. She rests her head on top of mine, her arms flattening my face against her armor but I don’t mind. Her body bucks a little as she cries, her hands tightening as tears wet my hood. The woods crack and pop as they burn, the ash snowing down around us but for just this moment everything is peaceful. I almost lost this, I cannot imagine what that would be like.
“I thought I lost you. I knew you were in there, trapped and I thought I was helping.” Kearika stammers. She breaks and a heavy sob leaks out from her, quickly stifled by biting her lip. I hush her and try comfort her.
“We have to go, Kearika. It is not safe.” I tell her softly and together we head towards the edge of the crater.
Chapter XXV - Kearika
Duras - West of the Tower
26th of Telod, 1873 MD
At this rate, we’re no more than a week away from the Tower. It looms in the distance, far beyond what normal eyes could see. Which means we’re only a few days march away from the outskirts of Knihovna. Once again, I could feel someone watching us, but this time I’m sure I knew who it is. We’re finally free of the forest, now we walked through the windswept grasslands that surrounded Knihovna.
They had better be on their first day of field training, or I’m going to have a word with Holroth about the quality of his work. There behind the third tree, twenty feet away. A dull brown boot toe is sticking out from the trunk of one of the few massive oaks we pass by. We’ll be out of the woods soon, they’ve been thinning out for a while now.
“Kearika, there are people following us.” Caius whispers to me, keeping his gaze on the path ahead of us.
“I’m well aware of that Caius, it is part of my job after all. I count two. One behind the tree, and another about 100 feet ahead just off the path. You?” I reply, panning my gaze across the trail ahead.
“Seven of them but I have no idea where. Your great-grandfather’s strength does not lend itself to that sort of alarm. I could barely get the spell to work in this reduced capacity.” He whispers back.
Seven? I trust Caius’s magic, but how could I have missed five others sneaking up on us?
I look around me again, straining my eyes and ears to drink in as much as I can. My senses had been enhanced by Caius early on during our travels, but not to an inhuman level. I wasn’t, and still am not, ready for that kind of change. I could see amazingly well, but still only as well as a human could. The same is true for scent, hearing, taste and touch. I could lower my senses down to their normal levels as well.
It’s definitely two.
“I think we should make camp soon.” I announce, making sure to speak clearly for everyone listening. Even if I know who it is, I don’t like being followed.
Caius shoots me a quizzical look, but after a few raised eyebrows and subdued gestures he shrugs and turns back around.
I go back to searching the woods for whoever is watching us. I’m sure it’s two.
***
We set up camp a few hours later, just as the sun is beginning to set. Normally we would keep walking well into the night, since neither of is particularly bothered by darkness. I’m getting tired of being followed however, it’s unusual for any trainees to stalk us for so long. It couldn’t be the Zauberei, it’d be insane to travel this close to the Tower! But if it’s not them, then who is it?
“Do you think you could manage some smoke Caius?” I ask him, intent on setting some surprises for whoever is following us. Just a few sharpened sticks in a hole, nothing too serious.
“I could make some smoke-” Caius begins, and runs over my reply with “or, I have been working on improving that camouflage spell I tried back in the forest. I think I know why it did not work.”
“Because we’re running from a magic eating abomination, an immortal Necromancer, and a group of mage hunting lunatics?” I reply tartly, propping my head up on my hand.
“No, I think it is because of the construction of the spell. It was supposed to function by making us part of the forest, thus making us hard to find. Like singling out a single tree in the whole forest.” Caius responds with a disapproving look.
“And what went wrong?” I ask him.
“Make smoke for me Caius, so I can set a little trap for whoever’s following us.” I tell him.
“Of course, Kearika that is a great idea! Also, it is too hot out here, I should take my robe off!” Caius replies.
If only.
“It is not that hot out here Kearika.” Caius says exasperatedly before continuing his explanation.
“Anyway, the first part worked, we became like the forest but that was the problem. Instead of being a single tree amongst thousands, we were like the whole forest.” He says.
“So, easy to find and impossible to hide? Can you just make some smoke now?” I snark back at him. Caius frowns, but before he can open his mouth I hold up my hands to stop him.
“We can try your spell out after I set these traps under some smoke cover, okay?” I tell him, and he gives a cheery smile in response. Good.
***
It’s night time; the moon is high overhead surrounded by the crimson shards of its long shattered sister. A gore moon, a bad omen.
Wonderful.
The temperature is dropping rather quickly, it’s cold enough to see your breath. Caius tried out his spell once I got back from digging half a dozen shallow pits and filling them with stakes. We both crawled into our tents an hour or so ago, when the wind and chill finally forced us inside.
I’m getting soft, this is barely colder than summer back home. I could probably convince Caius to let us visit there once we get back. He’d love meeting the shamans, and I could introduce him to my family. Maybe they’d be more understanding if they met him.
Outside the wind is picking up again, whipping the grass back and forth and making a constant hissing noise. I shudder a bit and curl up against the soft fur, my Zauberei knife clutched in one hand. Damn elf.
The sound of someone fidgeting with my tent flap snaps me out of my reverie. It could be a ‘something’ too. I get up into a crouch, adjusting my grip on the knife as I move up to the entrance. I swear, if it’s one of those blasted recruits I’m going to beat them into next year.
Imagine my shock when the flap pulls back and Caius is standing there, silhouetted by the moonlight. His robe is pulled tightly around him, and he has an astonished look on his face. I’m so surprised I freeze in place, knife half raised to his throat as he stands stock still.
“What is the knife for?” He stammers. Knife? I unfreeze long enough to stare at the knife for a moment before palming it behind me and feeling around for the sheathe.
“Nothing at all...I was just sharpening it, you see.” I say lamely. Where is that damn sheathe?
Another blast of wind whips the tent flap around and sends the grass into an even louder cacophony of noise. Caius sways a bit under its touch as he stands there. I’ve turned halfway around trying to find my sheathe, rooting through my pile of armor and leather bits.
“So...it is quite windy out here.” Caius says softly.
“Sorry, come in!” I gesture over my shoulder, finally locating the sheathe and sliding the knife home. I shoo Caius away from the entrance as he tries to close the tent from the inside, noting that he doesn’t seem to be wearing anything under his robe.
Maybe that whole thing with Dan gave me some sort of magic? I close the then flap and turn to look at Caius, trying to give him a calm look. You want to spend the night in my tent.
“I think I might need to spend the night with you.” Caius says, staring directly back at me. I stare at my hands as I consider the awesome weight of my new powers. I will only use them for good.
“The magic woven into my tent is not working any more, it is not keeping the cold or the wind out. Without the magic my tent is rather thin, and yours is built for the cold. I thought I would come over and see if you minded me staying?” Caius asks.
I focus my gaze on Caius, trying to channel whatever it was that brought him here in the first place. Take off your robe.
“Why are you staring at me like that? Did I track some mud in?” Caius asks, looking down at his feet. Damn.
“Don’t worry about it. Of course, you can stay the night with me. You know you don’t have to ask.” I tell him, laying down and patting the spot next to me. It’s not like there’s anywhere else for you to go. I give him a wide grin as he lays down, his eyes going anywhere but mine.
We lay there for a while, and the howl of the wind seems softer somehow. I wonder if his tent’s magic really is slipping away? Enchantment has always been something Caius is good at. He did mention his robes not working correctly anymore too. That was before my great-grandfather saved him though.
“Kearika?” Caius asks, shifting to face me.
“I am sorry for what happened in the forest, and on the Cratertops and everything else that has occurred on this miserable journey.” He says morosely.
“Don’t worry about it Caius. If I wanted a normal life, I wouldn’t have joined the Protectors.” I tell him with a chuckle.
“You should not have to go through what has happened though. Most Protectors do not end up stabbing their charge in the chest. Or end up nearly dying in a swamp. Or get caught up in some insane necromantic conspiracy.” Caius replies with a huff. As I start to speak he hushes me with a finger on my lips.
“I know this journey has been hard on you. Even when our link started to suffer, I would still occasionally get flashes of insight into what you are thinking about. I...saw your dreams with your family. Since I have gotten your great-grandfather's strength and restored our bond, I have done much more then catch glimpses of your dreams.” He says softly.
“Caius, I…” I start lamely.
“You do not have to lie to me Kearika, I have been afraid too. Terrified of what could happen to me, or to you. Especially to you.” He says softly.
“Caius, I’m here to guard you. I won’t let anything happen to you. The only way Mendalde, Karl, the elf or anything else is getting to you is over my dead body.” I tell him, giving him a toothy smile in the dim light.
“That is what worries me Kearika. Our foes have, literally, lifetimes of experience more than we do. On top of that I keep losing control, like what happened with Dan or in Ba’tshish.” He says, absentmindedly swirling a finger in the fiendcat fur.
“I’ll admit, what you did to Laroc was rather...out of character for you, and what happened in that pine forest is troubling. What do we do about it though? How do we fight it? What is it?” I ask him. The memory of stabbing him through the chest comes vividly to mind, and cold sweat drips down my back.
Whisper of the End Page 23