The Dark Path

by James M. Bowers

  "Have you tested it?"

  Ferin walked back into the shop again and came back carrying a shield and a helm. He set them down beside the stove, then put a pot of water to boil, and turned the bacon over. Gen looked at the shield, or what was left of it. The front had a diamond shaped hole from where the spike had entered it. He turned the shield around. The back was half burnt away and the metal around the rim of the shield had started to melt. Gen's eyebrows rose a bit at that. He set the shield aside and picked up the helm. The helm had once been very nice. Now it was no more than scrap metal. It looked as if the impact from the hammer side had made the metal blow itself apart. Gen looked back at Ferin.

  "What do you think?" Gen watched as Ferin took the bacon and put it on a copper plate along with a piece of hard bread. He passed the plate to Gen and then poured them both a glass of strong tea. Gen nodded his thanks and ate the bacon. The tea was rather strong and had an odd musty taste to it as well. He dipped his bread into the tea to soften it. The tea seemed to stop the throbbing behind his eyes.

  "I think it's a nice warhammer. Best one I've seen, away from home. No. That's a lie,” he shook his head. “It's the best one I've seen in my life. I've heard of hammers like it though. When I was a youth without a beard, I remember tales of hammers of old that would put this one to shame. Don't know if they were more than stories though." He shook his head. "Still can't believe what I saw last night. Though I still don't know what this had to do with getting revenge."

  "You'll see. Let's just say that it's a bit of insurance from this kind of thing happening here again." He handed the hammer back to Ferin and watched as the dwarf handled it lovingly and hung it upon the wall.

  "I've heard your name before. It's been bothering me. I can't remember where I heard it. How would I have heard of you?" Ferin looked up at Gen, a worried look once again upon his face.

  "I was in a war." Gen grew silent for a time and sipped his tea slowly. His eyes were pained and distant as if reliving those times.

  "The Artorian war?" Ferin asked after a while. Gen nodded, his eyes still distant. Suddenly, Ferin sucked in a large breath and blew it out slowly. "Now I know why I've heard of you. You were the dark general in that war! The unknown necromancer! Rumor had it that you were the god of death himself." Ferin looked at Gen with fear and awe. "I've heard stories of that war, tales to make you not able to sleep well at night, mostly tales of things you did there." Gen came back to the present and sighed slowly. He suddenly looked a lot older than he was. His eyes grew dark and full of sorrow.

  "A lot of people died because of me." Gen looked down into his mug of tea. "I still see their faces when I go to sleep. I see men screaming as the flesh was ripped from their bodies by undead hands. I see those dead men rise up and join their killers under no other command but my own. It was a dark time. I'm not ashamed of what I've done, but I didn't enjoy it. Well not much anyway." He smirked a bit at the last part, sending a shiver down Ferin's spine. "I still have legions of them you know. Back in Artoria, I have a grand fortress back there.

  Before I went to D'Nhia, I thought I had seen it all. Then I saw how they use the dead there. Made me feel cold inside. I won't go back there for a while, if ever. I came back home because I could feel that I was losing myself, falling into the darkness and I didn't even care. Then I remembered something back here that I had to do, something that I hadn't forgotten but had somehow been pushed back in importance.” He turned and focused his look upon the dwarf. “It's been nice to find myself for a change. To not have to be "Evil" all the time. It's hard to keep that image up.” He laughed suddenly. "Why am I telling you all this? Maybe I’m just so exhausted from the work that it doesn't matter anymore, or maybe I'm just sick of being alone." He fell silent and sipped his tea.

  "It's a beautiful hammer," Ferin said quietly. "If you were truly evil, then you wouldn't have been able to use my people's magic. The god of smiths would never have allowed it. I don't know what all you did in that war, but the man I met last night was not evil." He smiled, as he looked at Gen. "You owe me two hundred gold now you know." He winked. Gen looked at the old dwarf and laughed loudly. It felt good to laugh. Seemed like he hadn't really laughed in a very long time. He reached into his pouch and pulled out a couple of large coins. They were not gold. They looked like highly polished silver. He tossed them to the dwarf.

  "Will that cover it?" He finished his tea and poured himself another cup. Ferin held the coins up to the light and let out another one of his low whistles.

  "Platinum. Haven't seen that in a while. Didn't think anyone minted it anymore." He looked at the picture stamped into the coin. One side had the grinning face of a skull. The other side bore a hooded face.

  "Whose coin is it? I haven't seen this mark before."

  "I made them two years ago. People told me if I had a fortress, then I should have my own coin." Gen reached into his pouch and was about to pull something else out. "I have something else for you." He withdrew his hand and held a ring in his palm. It was a plain silver band. Nothing was engraved upon it. Gen handed it to Ferin. "Put it on."

  "If it hurts me then you know what will happen to you." Ferin smiled but glanced at the hammer within his reach. Gen nodded sullenly, then sipped at his fresh cup of tea. Ferin looked at the ring all over. It looked like it would probably fit his smallest finger. He slid it on. The ring changed size, as he put it on, to fit his finger perfectly. Instantly, a soothing warmth flowed through his body from the ring. He looked suddenly at the mage, thinking he had been betrayed. Gen merely smiled and took another sip of tea.

  "This is good tea. What's in it?"

  "Family secret," he grunted. The warmth that flowed through his body seemed to center on his bad leg. He had taken a bad hit with an axe in that leg years ago and it had made him limp ever since. The axe had severed something in his leg that had never healed correctly. The warmth seemed to be making the leg feel better though. Then suddenly the warmth left and the ring grew cold, like metal, once more. "What did this thing do to me?"

  "Come with me into the shop. We've some planning to do," Gen said as he picked up the hammer and carried it into the shop. Ferin stood up and yelled like he had been hit with an arrow.

  "My leg!" he exclaimed. "How did you do it?" Ferin walked into the shop and then out into the dim morning.

  "It's fixed!" He danced a bit. "My leg is fixed!" He walked back into the shop. "How did you do that?"

  "The ring," Gen mumbled. "Made it years ago, never had a use for it. Figured you could use it after I saw you limp last night. Keep it. It still holds a few charges." He turned back to the shop, and after scanning the wall, found what he wanted. He walked over and pulled a shepherd's hook off the wall. "Can I borrow this?"

  Ferin just stood staring at the mage. "For fixing my leg, you can have anything in here." He spun the ring on his finger and kept testing the leg.

  "I need only this shepherd's hook." He started out of the shop. "Put on your armor and meet me at the inn. I will need someone to protect the innocents when I do this." He put his arms back into the sleeves of his robe and pulled the hood down once more. Then he walked back toward the center of town.

  The sun shone down hard upon the ground, trying in vain to dry out the mud. Gen didn't bother faking a limp this time. He walked calmly to the front of the inn. A charred post rose out of the ground there, the cooked remains of three figures still chained to it. Gen stared at them a long time. He calmly planted the hook into the ground in front of them, hanging the hammer there. He pulled back his hood and pulled his blade from the belt around his waist. With a swift cut, the chain was severed and what was left of the bodies crumpled to the base of the pole. Replacing his sword, he walked over to the remains and began to chant under his breath. A moment later, the bodies glistened then crumbled to a fine, silver-black powder. Raising his hands, he called to the wind to scatter the powder. He stood there calmly, his face upturned to the sun, the wind swirling the powder up and away. The
warmth felt good upon Gen's face. It seemed he couldn't remember the last time he had enjoyed the sunlight. Eventually, the greasy man woke up and heard about the mage waiting in the town center. He gathered his gang and stumbled loudly out of the inn. When he stepped out onto the soggy mud, Gen began to talk.

  "A duel," he shouted loudly. He pointed to the war-hammer on the hook. "If you defeat me fairly in single combat, I will leave town and you may keep this hammer. If I win, you and your friends will leave for good.”

  “What if we jes kill you now? No way ya could take us all on.”

  “If that is your wish. Know that if you attack me in that manner, I will use magic to defend myself.” He grinned. “None of you will survive.” Gen noticed that the others stepped back at his grin. Good, he thought, maybe I won't have to kill all of them. The greasy man looked to the side for his friend's support and saw them cowering behind him.

  "Cowards!” he shouted at them. “I'll take care of this little mage, Boys." Drarek grinned his near toothless grin and took his battle-axe from the man standing next to him. "Whenever you're ready."

  "We begin when the crowd gets here. I want witnesses."

  "All they will see is you die!"

  "We shall see." Gen reached up and pulled his robes up and over his head. He hung them over the shepherd's hook and stood wearing only simple, black, cotton pants. He grasped his scabbard in his left hand. His scarred chest and back shone in the early morning light. He began a simple set of stretches. Across from him Drarek was watching him and laughing. It wasn't long until a small crowd had gathered to watch the fight. A bit later, Ferin clanked his way to join the crowd. He wore the full battle plate in the manner of his people. A long handled forging hammer hanging at his side. His face was grim. Gen nodded to him slightly.

  "Look at 'im. Bet he only weighs about ninety pounds! A strong wind will blow him away!"

  "Would you mind bellowing in the other direction? I can smell the stench of your breath from here," Gen said calmly.

  "I'll cut that grin off your face!" Drarek shouted as he charged across the mud towards Gen, his chipped axe held high overhead. Gen stood there calmly till the last second then moved slightly to one side and slammed the end of his scabbard into Drarek's knee. Drarek landed face down in the mud and came up sputtering and cursing, clutching his knee in pain.

  "Must'a been a root there," He mumbled as he stood up, wiping mud from his face. Though this time, he approached Gen slowly, limping quietly. The two circled each other for a while then the big man took another swing. Gen dodged it easily and brought up his scabbard swiftly to connect with the large man's tender bits. Drarek doubled over in pain and Gen took a few steps back, a smirk on his thin lips. Drarek stayed like that for a while until he could finally stand again.

  "I'll make you suffer for that!" The big man's face was flushed red with anger and again he closed in on Gen and took another swing. Gen was a blur of motion suddenly. Drawing his blade, he met the axe with the edge of his katana and cut a whole corner from the big man's axe. Gen slowly placed the blade back in the scabbard and stood waiting. Drarek stared dumbly at his axe.

  "That axe was my pa's. Now you die." Drarek looked to the side and nodded slightly then started in with rapid chops at Gen. Gen dodged and blocked them. When the attacks stopped he took a step back and heard a faint "Twang" from the nearby roof of the inn. His hand went up suddenly and the crossbow bolt that was flying toward him stopped in midair. It hung there for a second, then burst into blue flame. The flame turned the bolt to ash but the flames didn't stop. They swept back the way the bolt had come and the crowd heard a scream as one of Drarek's men fell, engulfed in blue fire, off the roof of the inn. His charred body made a sickening sound as it hit the mud and smoldered. Gen looked back at Drarek and saw the big man look back a bit scared now.

  "That was not following fair combat," Gen said, his voice sounding almost sad. "Why did you have to do that?” Gen sighed as he placed his katana in the sash at his waist.

  "Get him boys!" Drarek said as he threw his great axe at his opponent. Gen stared at the axe as it flew end over deadly end toward him. His eyes lit with that inner fire from the night before. The axe suddenly began glowing as if it was in the forge. The axe burned brighter till finally it exploded. The townspeople screamed as the hot shards flew outward. Just as they were about to impact them, Gen brought up his hands and all the shards stopped and fell sizzling into the mud. Drarek's men who had been about to charge Gen stopped in their tracks. Drarek clenched his fists and walked toward Gen.

  "I'll rip you apart!"

  Gen sighed a deep sigh and waited. The big man threw a punch but this time Gen did not dodge. His hand flashed up and he caught the huge fist in his hand.

  "Last chance. Leave now and don't come back." Gen's cold blue eyes seemed to burn into the big man's skull.

  "This is my town! I will not let some mage with a few tricks take it from me!" He spit at Gen and the nasty fluid struck Gen's left eye. Gen reached up calmly and silently wiped it away.

  "I didn't want to have to kill you. You could have just left. You should have left." Gen hung his head. His grip tightened upon the man's fist and he chanted four arcane words. Then he let go and stepped back.

  "What did you do to me?" Drarek looked at his hand as if it were on fire. The skin, where Gen had touched him, grew black. Slowly from those spots, the blackness grew across his flesh.

  "You are paying for what you did to them," Gen said and pointed at the charred stakes. Drarek fell to his knees and screamed. His eyes rolled back into his head and he fell to the ground writhing in pain. His flesh, where it had turned black, began to flake off and fly off into the breeze, as if made of ash. Drarek tried to stand but his body didn't seem to be working any more. He looked with horror upon the bare, blackened bones of his hand. He watched with terror as the hand turned against him, clawing and ripping at his face. Drarek screamed his last as the flesh was ripped in strips from his skull. As the fingers dug out his eyes, his screams stopped. The sudden silence was worse than the screams. Drarek's blackened, skeleton slowly stood up creaking and popping. The rest of his muscle and flesh fluttering off like burnt paper. The empty sockets of its skull turned toward its new master. Gen pointed sadly at Drarek's three remaining friends. "Kill those three men," Gen said sullenly. The skeleton turned its sightless eyes at the three and began to walk toward them. The men screamed and ran. The skeleton just kept walking. It would find them eventually. Gen walked slowly over to the burned stake and sat upon the remains of charred wood around it. He began to shake slightly and tears ran down his cheeks.

  "Why didn't he just leave?"

  The townspeople stood quietly in shock. Gen sat and stared at the ground for a long moment then slowly stood up and walked over to the hook. He put his robes back on and took the hammer down, then walked slowly over to the dwarf.

  "This is yours. Use it well and keep these people safe. I'm sure I am not welcome here now. So I will leave. Thank you for listening." Ferin took the hammer with a grim expression and nodded once. Gen looked around at the silent, shocked crowd then turned and walked slowly out of town. Once again he leaned heavily upon his cane, as if the weight on his soul dragged his body down as well.

  He walked for a day and a night straight. Finally he arrived at a small clearing. The weeds had taken over but it was still peaceful here. Gen thought a spell and his vision shifted slightly. He laughed at the weave of a protection spell put up around the place.

  "To think that this used to be the best I could do!" The mirth was infectious and he laughed a long time. Wiping the tears from his eyes, he walked through the spell and into the clearing. He chanted for a bit and the weeds vanished to be replaced with flowers and a few select herbs that had once been planted there. He walked to the center of the clearing and lowered his hood. He sat down cross legged and softly began to chant. The words grew in volume and amount as he raised his hands and silver energy flowed from his fingers out and to t
he circle. The faint blue barrier that had surrounded the place changed dramatically. It grew darker and yet more intense at the same time. The plants at the edge of the protective spell died instantly, their life force taken and placed into the barrier. He stopped chanting suddenly and nodded to himself as if content with the work. A small squirrel ran up to the edge of the barrier and looked at him.

  "What is it?" he asked the creature oddly. The squirrel tilted his head and chattered a bit then ran off back into the woods. Gen tilted his head back again and laughed once more.

  "Okay 'lil one."

  He got up and walked out of the circle. The clearing, once he had left it, vanished and appeared to be solid woods. Gen reached into a pouch on his belt and drew out a walnut. He walked deeper into the woods, then dug a little hole and placed the nut inside it. Covering the hole back up, he chanted a different language this time and from the little mound a sprout grew. It continued growing until it was about forty feet tall and a beautiful tree. He stopped chanting and made an odd sound towards the woods. The same squirrel that had looked at him before came out and looked at the tree.

  "Will this do?" Gen asked the little creature. The squirrel ran up the tree and jumped around from limb to limb then ran halfway back down the trunk. It looked at Gen and chattered again, then ran back up into the tree. Gen chuckled.

  "A pleasure to be of service." he said then walked once more through the woods. It felt good to be back home, he thought.

  XX

  Chains of command

  The sun shone brightly through the trees, casting the path through the forest in a green tinted light that danced to the music of the breeze. Gen walked slowly along the winding path. His hood was thrown back around his shoulders and his cane rested lightly in his belt. He didn't bother to hide nor did he walk with the limp that he faked most of the time. His gaunt face was lightened somewhat with a smile, though the dark circles under his eyes showed that he hadn't rested well for many days. His ice blue eyes shone brightly and reflected a bit of his smile in them. He walked along and listened to the animals chattering back and forth as though he could understand their words. A dark shadow crossed over him and he looked up to see a large black bird flying above him. It flew ahead down the path a bit then landed on a low branch and stared at him, its head tilted slightly to the side. Gen smiled up at the crow and nodded his head in greeting. The bird nodded back then seemed to laugh and bob its head in a mockery of the greeting.