The Soul Forge

by Andrew Lashway

  Not to mention that as much as other events had taken a more prominent role today, he still hadn’t forgotten the Chancellor had signed the death notice taking away Morando’s family.

  He and the commander sized each other up, each one angling their equipment for the best defense. They started to circle each other as Thomas’ companions fought with the Inanis to a standstill.

  Their blades flashed together in an identical slash. Both blades met and repulsed each other, followed by the even louder impact of mace on shield. Thomas’ arms were sore, but he refused to budge. The commander tested his strength, but again Thomas didn’t back down. They traded slashes and parries, neither one really pushing themselves. It was still too early in their fight for that.

  They disengaged for the third time when the commander threw his mace aside. Thomas nodded before doing the same with his shield.

  Then the two met swordsman to swordsman.

  Thomas’ brief training didn’t abandon him as he kept a cool head and fought defensively, waiting for his moment. Opportunities were few and far between, but the moment the commander overextended himself Thomas was there to exploit the mistake. He even managed to land a glancing blow to the commander’s right arm before the commander was able to knock Thomas to the ground.

  The commander brought his blade down, and it took all of Thomas’ strength to lift his blade to block it. One hand on the hilt and the other on the end of his blade, Thomas met the commander’s raw strength with his own, and for a full ten seconds neither combatant could move the other.

  It was the Chancellor who became the deciding factor in their bout. Just when Thomas was pushing forward with his legs, determined to stand, the Chancellor darted forward and tackled the commander to the ground. The sudden shift in momentum knocked Thomas to the ground as well, and he looked up in enough time to see the Chancellor run for a side door and disappear.

  “Coward!” the commander shouted, jumping to his feet and running after the Chancellor as if he had completely forgotten about Thomas. Thomas made to follow when he heard a shout that he recognized quite well. Looking up, he found the source.

  Cynthia was a level above him, yelling at the Inanis to get away from her. They, of course, paid this no mind and were steadily advancing towards her.

  “Jump!”

  Thomas’ shout caught her attention, and she smiled upon seeing him. With the Inanis closing in, Thomas held out his arms. With only a little hesitation, she flung herself through the open window and into his waiting arms. To even his surprise, he caught her with only minor difficulty.

  “I was sure you were going to drop me,” Cynthia said, kissing his cheek.

  “Come on now,” he said, setting her down gently, “I’ve chucked hay bales that weigh more than you.”

  She smiled, but their conversation was cut short by the arrival of more Inanis. Thinking on his feet, Thomas tossed Cynthia his shield. She would at least be able to defend herself with it.

  “There’s too many!” Thomas shouted, “we have to run!”

  Heeding his call, both Zach and the Keeper broke away and ran for him. Thomas led the way out, knocking open the same side door the Chancellor had run through. The doorway was mercifully clear, and they sprinted down the hallway towards the sounds of battle. When the emerged through another door, the commander was in full battle against a number of elven guards. The Chancellor was a little ways away from the battle, trying to saddle a clearly agitated horse.

  “If he escapes, Morando’s goin’ to be mad,” Thomas said, running forward to help the elves fight off the commander. The commander saw him coming, and no doubt seeing how outnumbered he was, turned and fled down a side chamber. Thomas let him go. It wasn’t the commander he wanted.

  “Detain them!” the Chancellor shouted, pointing at Thomas’ party, “they are here to kill me!”

  The elves moved to comply, but before they could start fighting a gasp was heard from the Chancellor. Thomas looked back at the cowardly elf, only to find that he was no longer alone.

  Morando was holding his sword to the Chancellor’s throat, and his face held nothing but utmost disdain.

  “Actually, they aren’t here to kill you. But if you don’t have the answers I want, I will be.”

  The elf guards moved forward, but one motion from Morando halted them.

  “Healer!” one of them shouted, “you would help the assassins?”

  “Silence,” Morando ordered, “and sheathe your weapons. If you draw them again, your Chancellor dies.”

  Trapped with no other choice, they did as they were ordered.

  “Now, why did you sign my death notice? What did you have to gain by faking my death?”

  “That’s what this is about? Your precious honor?” The Chancellor shouted, incensed. Thomas raised an eyebrow.

  “Why did you steal my family from me?”

  The Chancellor rolled his eyes. “Because it was what Orano wanted. He wanted you shamed and I was promised a favor or two in return. Orano was a respected commander, after all.”

  “Why tell me how to clear Morando’s name?” Thomas asked, approaching the Chancellor. “You knew you signed the death notice. You knew it would lead us straight to you. Why tell me?”

  The Chancellor said nothing, but his eyes flickered to the General’s sword safely in its sheath. Thomas noticed, and he too looked at the blade.

  “What does the sword have to do with this?”

  The Chancellor’s eyes widened, both surprised and angry by his unconscious betrayal. He refused to say anything else until Morando pushed the blade further into his neck.

  “The sword… the sword has power.”

  “Yep, we knew that. What kind of power?”

  “I don’t know, it’s not my concern. All I know is that the sword has power and anyone who wields it has to be killed.”

  “Why?” Thomas asked as the sound of battle reached their ears. The Inanis must have figured out where they were and were coming for them.

  “Because… because…”

  “Because that’s what the Dark Priest ordered, huh?” Zach said. Thomas whirled towards his friend, eyes as wide as saucers.

  “What?”

  “That’s all I can think of,” Zach continued. “He was really unhelpful until you showed him the sword. Then he got excited, he believed the story. He helped. He knew we’d come to the temple to confront him, and then we’d get killed by those things.”

  “But we weren’t the quarry in the trap,” the Keeper continued, feeding off of Zach’s thought, “we were the bait.”

  “The real target was you,” Morando finished, smiling. “I guess the Dark Priest didn’t want you working under him anymore.”

  “This…” The Chancellor stammered, trying to control his breathing, “this wasn’t part of the bargain… I wasn’t supposed to… Verdonti was supposed to be spared.”

  “You made a deal with the devil,” Thomas snarled, “are you really so surprised that it didn’t go as you thought?”

  The quivering elf had no response to that, which was actually fortunate because at that exact moment the door burst open at the end of the hall and the Inanis came forth, hungering for them.

  “Well, that’s enough talk. Time to run!”

  Morando still held the Chancellor, and he seemed torn on whether he should kill him or leave the Inanis to do it for him.

  “Leave him!” Thomas shouted, “we need to go!”

  Morando shoved the Chancellor aside before kicking the elf in the face, driving him to the ground.

  “Orano is next,” Morando said, his jaw quivering. Then he climbed atop the horse the Chancellor had been unable to control, and let out a shrill whistle. Immediately, Etanta pulled open the door that led to the outside world before running forward and Morando pulled her into saddle.

  “Come!” Morando shouted, leading the way out. Thomas and the others joined him, sprinting as fast as they were able to get to their horses. The moment they ran into th
e forest, it was quite clear that Verdonti was lost. Inanis seemed to spawn from the trees themselves, the darkness hiding their approach until they were already moving into the city. There were no screams or shouts, which Thomas thought was ominous. Maybe it was the cover of night that allowed the Inanis to invade without frightening anyone.

  Or maybe there was no one left to scare.

  Given a mute voice to the second terrible truth, Morando gathered Etanta to his chest and turned away from the city, moving through the forest with unparalleled speed. Thomas didn’t immediately follow, torn being asking about Morando’s wife and worried about Morando’s reaction.

  Zach pushed him along and Cynthia took his hand, and the decision was made. As Thomas stole a final look at the briefly beautiful Verdonti, it was clear that there was nothing they could do.

  Nothing but run.

  They sprinted through the foliage, dodging low hanging branches and trying not to slip on the leaves they couldn’t see. The Inanis didn’t seem very interested in them, which was something Thomas was very grateful for. With any luck, any at all, they could escape Verdonti relatively unscathed.

  The forest ignited around them, and soon they were in a typhoon of flame. Morando was lucky enough to dive forward, rolling out of the way of the flames. The Keeper simply overleapt the rising heat, escaping as well. For Thomas, Zach and Cynthia, freedom would not be so easy.

  “And where do you think you’re going?” a voice dipped in acid said. Thomas closed his eyes, turning to face the one being in all of Lucinda he did not want to deal with. Standing at the front of a horde of Inanis was the pretend Priest. He held a staff in his hands, though it was different and definitely not as wholly evil as the last.

  “I don’t suppose ‘away’ is a possibility, is it?”

  The pretend Priest laughed, taking a few steps forward. Thomas drew both sword and shield and stood in front of Cynthia as Zach drew his weapon.

  “Boys, we don’t have to fight,” the Priest said, slightly lifting his staff. Thomas’ eyes narrowed as he surveyed the weapon, mistrust pouring through his veins.

  “Oh, I’m pretty sure it’s in the job description,” Zach sneered, “fight evil, stop the bad guys. We’ve all heard the bedtime stories.”

  The Priest only laughed again, taking another step forward. Thomas only raised his sword higher.

  “No, boys, you don’t have to fight because you aren’t going to win. You can’t stop the Others.”

  Thomas couldn’t help but smile at the incorrect name, and his smile was noticed.

  “What? Do you find something funny?”

  “So who are you? Really? Cause we know who you ain’t. You ain’t the Dark Priest. You ain’t the real King Ofan.”

  The pretend Priest looked both hurt and furious, as if Thomas had physically struck him and insulted him in the same breath. His grip on his staff visibly tightened to the point that Thomas could hear it creak even over the flames.

  “You… you should guard your tongue more carefully.”

  Thomas took a deep breath, refusing to be intimidated. “I think not,” he spat, “after all, the truth is usually better than lyin’.”

  Cynthia moved closer to him, pressing her back to his. Zach moved closer as well, and the three of them stared at the Inanis inching towards them.

  “You know, we could have resolved this quickly. But now that you have angered me, I think we’ll drag this out for a long, long while. Oh yes, I think so.”

  Thomas held the General’s sword loosely, and the shield in an iron grip. The pretend Priest raised his staff and shouted a word Thomas had never heard before, and the Inanis ran towards them, arms raised.

  He didn’t know what made him do it. But before he could stop himself, he raised the General’s sword and repeated the word. He didn’t know what he hoped to achieve, but the word seemed to have summoned itself to his lips.

  He certainly didn’t expect the Inanis to stop in their tracks and stare at him. For a moment that just wouldn’t end, Thomas didn’t know whether he or the pretend Priest looked more shocked.

  “How did you do that?” Cynthia asked, finally breaking the spell.

  “Dunno,” Thomas replied, “but I think we should run now.”

  “We’re surrounded by fire,” Zach reminded them.

  Sweat broke out on Thomas’ brow, and he really didn’t know why. There was also a noise emerging in his brain, like a bell that was increasing in pitch. He couldn’t place where the sensations were coming from, but he was quickly wishing they would stop.

  “Doesn’t matter,” Thomas said, holding his shield hand to his head, “we have to run.”

  “If we fight him now, we can end this,” Zach countered, “we can end this war right now!”

  “I can’t…” Thomas stammered. The pain was reaching a fever pitch, so loud that soon it would drown out his own thoughts. “I can’t hold this… much longer.” His gaze found the pretend Priest’s, who appeared to be in as much pain as he was. It took Thomas a few more seconds to figure out what was going on.

  He was battling the Priest for control of the Inanis.

  The moment he realized it, the pain almost doubled. He was trying to control every Inanis, and there were dozens if not hundreds. There were just so many, too many, he didn’t know how to handle them.

  Just as he felt his brain was about to shatter, he released all of the Inanis to the Priest. All save one.

  He focused all of his effort on controlling just that one. The pressure eased immediately, and the Inanis all pushed forward again. Zach raised his sword and Cynthia raised her fists, but no defense was tenable.

  That was okay. Thomas had a plan.

  He reached out with his will alone, and the Inanis standing directly behind the pretend Priest raised its fist. With a resounding crack, the Inanis punched the Priest in the back of the head. The moment’s distraction worked, and the flames died down for only a moment.

  Thomas wasn’t waiting for another chance. He turned on ran on instinct alone as a headache started to burst through every particle of his brain. It felt as if someone had put a clamp on his skull. He ran without being able to see where he was going, and it wasn’t until he tripped and fell to the ground that he realized both Cynthia and Zach were the only things keeping him moving in the right direction.

  “Oh Gods, Thomas… you’re bleeding,” Cynthia choked, wiping at his face. Thomas didn’t know, he couldn’t feel it. He couldn’t even open his eyes.

  “There you are!” he heard Morando say, with what was followed by the whinny of a horse. Thomas tried to look up, but his head was swimming and he wasn’t capable of it.

  “What’s happened?” the wise voice of the Keeper demanded, and Thomas felt another hand on his face, trying to smack some life into him.

  “You said…” Thomas forced himself to say, “that any strong-willed person… could control them…”

  “Gods…” the Keeper said, aghast, “you tried to control them all?”

  “Yeah… not my… best idea… but… y’know…”

  “Get him up,” the Keeper ordered, “we must take him to see Valerium.”

  Something stirred in Thomas, a memory he wasn’t sure he remembered. He knew that name.

  “I know her…” he said. For the life of him, he couldn’t remember where.

  “The Chancellor of the Capital? When did you meet her?” the Keeper said.

  “Long… story…” Thomas moaned. Staying awake was becoming more of a chore than he was really willing to dedicate energy to right now.

  “Well, we don’t have time for it,” the Keeper said, “get him on his horse. Girl, ride with him. Take him to safety. Zacharias and I will follow when we can.”

  “Valerium… was in the Capital… when it fell,” Thomas said, fading away.

  “Idiot. The Chancellor wouldn’t have been there. Now! Go!”

  Thomas wasn’t aware of being lifted off of the ground or places on Lucille. He couldn’t feel Cynth
ia holding him steady, nor the feel of Lucille’s hooves as they struck the ground. All he knew for sure was that the world around him was fading to white, and finally he was at peace.

  Chapter 13: A Chapter of Rest

  When Thomas finally woke up, he was surrounded by silence and his head felt like it was no longer attached to the world by the laws of gravity. Whatever he was lying on wasn’t particularly soft, but at least he was lying down. He tried to sit up, but he couldn’t even maneuver his arms for leverage before he slipped back down.

  It took another three attempts before he actually made it to a sitting position. The moment he did, vertigo smacked him in the face and he had to lean against a wall he wasn’t actually aware was present until he hit it.

  Then he felt arms around him, and he was even more confused. When he could finally open his eyes without feeling like needles were being forced into them, he found that Cynthia was there with him, holding him steady.

  “Well… hey there… pretty lady,” were the first words out of his mouth. She actually laughed.

  “You had us all worried,” she said.

  “All? Who else is here?” Thomas said in one breath, immediately regretting the decision because of how it burned his lungs. “Where is here?” he said more slowly, and only slightly less painfully.

  “We made it to the Dwarf outpost of Corodo,” she answered.

  “Still in one piece?” Thomas said, “finally, some good news.”

  It was only when she didn’t answer that Thomas looked her in the eye. She couldn’t meet his gaze, and Thomas’ stomach dropped so fast he wouldn’t have been surprised if the floor had felt it.

  “What’s happened?”

  “You’d better come see, when you can walk.”

  That request took Thomas some time to comply to, seeing as he wasn’t entirely sure he knew where his feet were. Eventually, however, he was able to stand and made his way out of the small hut they were staying in. As it turned out, they were a pretty decent way above the ground, staring out at what Thomas had to assume was a dwarf city.