Silent Requiem (Tales of Ashkar Book 3)

by Kayl Karadjian

  Raxxil was the leader now. He was responsible for ensuring that the mission was a success, and more importantly, he was the one who had to make sure that no one died over reckless behavior.

  Me? Stop others from being reckless?

  Raxxil couldn’t help but smile at himself. He remained at the side of the ship for some time. He looked back over at Tanaria, who was still in her own world. He then looked over to the entrance of the decks below. Samantha had yet to even emerge from her cabin, let alone have any food for the entire day.

  Raxxil waited for any sign of his stomach to churn, then started toward the lower decks. He descended, wood groaning under his feet with each step. He made his way toward Samantha’s cabin, knocked three times, and waited.

  When she did not answer, he knocked again. He waited for a few more moments, and when he still wasn’t answered, pushed open the door.

  “Samantha?” he asked as he entered the room.

  A body wriggled underneath the bedsheets. Samantha let out a groan, but was otherwise silent.

  “Samantha, are you well?” Raxxil asked as he walked to the side of Samantha’s bed. He would have pulled her covers, but he didn’t know if she was clothed and he didn’t want to take the gamble.

  “I’m… fine,” she replied. By the way she sounded it appeared that she was sick like Raxxil.

  “Do the tides affect you as well?” he asked as he moved toward the door. “I will fetch you a bucket—“

  “No, Raxxil, wait,” she said weakly as her head poked out from the top of the sheets. She sat up, her face gaunt and glistening with sweat. “I need to ask something of you.”

  “I will first get the bucket,” Raxxil said. “I’ll be right back.”

  “Forget the bucket,” Samantha said.

  Raxxil scratched the side of his head. “Don’t you have to empty your stomach?”

  “No, I—I mean yes, uh… just forget about that for now,” Samantha stammered. “Just close the door and come back, please.”

  “What’s the matter?” Raxxil asked as he did just that. He walked over to the foot of Samantha’s bed and stopped.

  It took Samantha a few moments to muster up the strength to speak. “This quest of yours, what does it mean to you?”

  “Liberty must be stopped,” Raxxil explained. “You know that.”

  “He was already stopped,” Samantha said. “Don’t take me for a fool. You sail to Lenas for revenge, nothing more.”

  Raxxil stared at Samantha’s eye, and like Tanaria’s eyes, it was asking something of him. Something that in his heart he could never do. “Does it really matter?”

  “Of course…” Samantha muttered, though she had to pause to compose herself. She must have been suffering from a fever, now that Raxxil had a better look at her. “Of course it does. Have you thought of what you are going to do after you’ve had your revenge?”

  “Once Liberty is dead, my hammer will look to crush the skull of whoever needs it next,” Raxxil said.

  “Such crap,” Samantha scoffed as she fell back and rested on the headboard. “You don’t have to just be a warrior, Raxxil. Don’t you want to be more?”

  Raxxil narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean?”

  “Rage has blinded you,” Samantha said. “I see that now. You can’t escape from the past, which means you ignore the future. Did those nights in Arcadia mean nothing to you?”

  “Of course they did,” Raxxil said.

  “Then promise me that you will set aside your hammer once Liberty is defeated,” she pleaded.

  Raxxil remained silent as he looked away.

  “Promise me,” Samantha repeated.

  “I can’t do that,” he said as he turned, opened the door, and closed it behind him.

  _ _ _

  “Get back,” Sanjin ordered Mellin, who did not question her. In a moment he was out of sight, leaving only her and Sevag. She reached for her hammer and started toward the traitorous bastard.

  If he was the least bit intimidated, he did not show it. Rather, Sevag appeared overjoyed to see Sanjin challenging him instead of running away.

  “It was you, wasn’t it,” Sanjin said, now a dozen feet from the deceiving Blue Sword. And not just a deceiver of Sanjin, the Blue Swords, or Enept-Ihs, a deceiver of all that was good and just. “It was you who did this. It was you who let Serraemas and his cohort escape. It was you who was responsible for my dear Pann’s life…”

  “Such anger,” taunted Sevag, his wicked grin growing even wider. “It’s been boiling for ten years. Such a long time for someone to live without vengeance.”

  “Don’t lose your head to his words,” warned Bantham, but Sanjin could hardly hear the rumbling of her elemental.

  Sevag brought his sword in front of him. “Come, Sanjin, unleash your wrath upon me, and let me show you what real despair is.”

  “Shattering crystal, shining prism,” commanded Sanjin as she held her weapon with both hands. Its stone form was replaced with a crystalline one, smooth and angular.

  “Dark amalgamation, Chimera,” Sevag said in response, his great sword transforming into something fitting of its name. The edge grew wider, culminating into a curved blade near its tip and covered in a shadowy miasma. The hilt fanned outward like two fiendish horns, and was covered in black vein-like streaks that made it seem like it had taken over a once normal blade. Its pommel lengthened into something resembling the tail of a snake.

  It was at that moment that Sanjin realized she had never seen Sevag release his blade before. He had never unleashed his potential, and yet she couldn’t remember a time when he wasn’t keeping up with the rest of the Blue Swords.

  Just who are you, Sevag?

  “Paralyzed in fear?” Sevag said as he waved about his blade. “Or are you just too excited with anticipation?”

  “Is everything just a mockery to you?” she replied as she lunged forward and brought her hammer down. It collided with Sevag’s edge, the two elementalists locked into a stalemate with neither giving ground.

  Sevag thrust his blade outward, pushing Sanjin back. She skidded across the wet ground, and if she wasn’t dexterous she would have slipped.

  “At the top of a mountain, isn’t everything arbitrary?” Sevag asked, but by his expression it was obvious an answer wasn’t warranted.

  Sanjin stomped onto the ground, causing stalagmites to rise from under Sevag’s feet. The white-haired elementalist evaded with a roll, then sprang at Sanjin with blade whipped back ready to slash.

  Sanjin ripped a chunk of earth from the ground and flung it at Sevag, only for it to be cleaved in two with so sign of his advance slowing. She resorted to swinging her own weapon, but Sevag was faster.

  His plated boot collided with her stomach, sending Sanjin flying dozens of feet. She shifted before landing on her head, instead landing on her two feet. She expected Sevag to continue his assault, but the white-haired traitor only grinned at her from afar.

  Sanjin ripped several jagged chunks from the ground, throwing them Sevag’s way. He dodged some and blocked the rest with blasts of flame. He returned fire with a bolt of lightning from his fingertips, though Sanjin stopped the attack by throwing up a wall of stone.

  So unbridled became Sanjin’s fury that the longer the battle raged, the more she let go of her senses. Every time her hammer struck the ground, she created entire fissures. Earthquakes rumbled across the top of Enept-Ihs, splitting apart the once beautiful kingdom.

  But no matter how much rage Sanjin placed behind her attacks, none of them found Sevag’s flesh. The battle continued the same way for some time, the two elementalists trading blows or elemental attacks, with neither gaining an upper hand over the other.

  To Sanjin, it meant that she was losing. She needed to end the battle now.

  “Do you feel it setting in?” he called out from afar. “That feeling of dread swallowing you up?”

  “You’ve taken everything from me,” Sanjin said. “Now I will take everything from you.”
She picked herself up, but instead of charging at Sevag she lifted a hand and then made a fist. The ground beneath Sevag’s feet stirred as the earth rose and clasped his feet. The earth continued to rise, encapsulating Sevag’s lower torso and rendering him immobilized.

  That was but the First Pillar of the Four Pillars of Earth, and Sanjin followed with the second. She brought out her hands and arms straight out, raising two sheets of stone from the ground at Sevag’s sides. She then clapped her hands together, and the two sheets converged on Sevag and molded together, forming a ball of earth trapping him inside.

  Now came the third Pillar, and Sanjin brought both hands low before shooting them up above her head with palms up. A pillar of earth shot up from underneath the ball, launching it dozens of feet in the air.

  All that was left to do was the final pillar, and Sevag’s body would be shattered in a million pieces.

  Sanjin gripped her hammer, crouched low, and blasted off the ground. She soared straight at the ball of earth, which had reached its peak height and was now on the descent. As she neared it she summoned forth more earth to cover the weight of her hammer, and its size was now that of a carriage.

  Sanjin held her weapon high, then whipped her arms down just as she reached the ball. Down came the hammer, crashing onto the top of the ball and sending it hurtling into the ground below. It struck the ground with such force that it left a sizable crater and crumbled.

  Sevag was now underneath the rubble, his body broken and, as Sanjin neared, she hoped that she would find him with an expression of fear rather than his constant smugness.

  Her way over to him dragged, for she was drained from using the four pillars even once. So vast was its power that its toll on the body was equally great, the culmination of an Earthshaker’s strength.

  Her bones ached, a symptom of earth element use, but she fought off the pain as she approached the rubble. She kicked aside a few pieces of shattered rock in search for his body, though grew increasingly paranoid when she could not find it.

  Lightning flashed, followed by the booming sound of thunder.

  “Looking for me?” said a haunting voice from behind Sanjin. “I’m right here!”

  Sanjin whipped around in horror to find Sevag behind her, nary a scratch on his face or armor. No, only his wicked grin was there to greet her, leaving Sanjin the one to despair.

  How is this possible?

  “The worst mistake someone can do is engage a foe who they know nothing about,” Sevag said, though he made no motion to approach her, instead hovering a hand across the edge of his blade and looking at it as if to showcase it.

  He returned his attention to Sanjin, slowly making his way toward her. She gripped her hammer and braced herself, but her breaths were ragged and she was already slouching. Should she exert herself much further, she would risk breaking her bones.

  “Did I hear you saying that I’ve taken everything from you?” Sevag asked as he looked up in pensive thought. He continued his slow march, leaving Sanjin time to ponder what, if anything, she could do to stop him. “I’ve taken your daughter and I’ve taken your kingdom.” Sevag’s eyes then grew wide as they focused back on Sanjin. “But there is still one more thing to take.”

  “Run, Sanjin, this is a fight that you cannot win,” Bantham pleaded, but Sanjin would not hear him.

  Sanjin struggled to lift her hammer, but she did so nonetheless. She stared Sevag in the eye, unwavering in her vengeance. She would have it, even if that meant breaking every bone in her body.

  She brought back her arms, then swung—

  Sevag dashed forward, catching the shaft of her weapon before it struck his head. With his other hand he struck Sanjin across the face, sending her to the ground.

  The stress was too much for her body. She could hardly move her limbs. She craned her neck up to Sevag, who now held onto her weapon. He let it drop to the ground, raised his blade, and then plunged the tip into the head of her hammer, shattering it completely—all while Sanjin could do nothing but watch.

  “Bantham, where are you?” Sanjin asked within her mind, but she already knew her efforts to be fruitless. In the elementals place was now a cold void, enveloped by the one already there caused by Pann’s death. One swallowed the other, and now Sanjin was next to be swallowed.

  Muddy, plated boots appeared where Sanjin’s head lay. She looked up to see Sevag’s twisted features glaring down on her. So be it. With her death, perhaps she would finally be free of her tortured soul.

  Even in her last moments, she did not regret her acts of vengeance. They were the only things keeping her forward, anyway. Sanjin closed her eyes, ready to accept the blade that would soon pierce her flesh.

  Moments flew by, and yet all she felt was the cold rain showering her. She opened her eyes, finding Sevag kneeled in front of her with his blade set aside.

  “Now I’ve taken everything,” he said before standing up and walking away. His form grew smaller and smaller until he vanished completely.

  Had Sanjin the ability to move she would still have been frozen in shock. She could do nothing but stare at the broken pieces of her weapon, her link to elementalism gone forever.

  And with that, her vengeance and everything that was keeping her going.

  Mellin’s form came into view, his mouth shouting something that Sanjin drowned out. She just stared, her mind blank and her body numb.

  Chapter 16

  252nd Dawn of the 5010th Age of Lion

  Incindir and Halcyon stepped off the ship together, setting foot on the northern continent of Falrethar. This far north, the sky was an ever present gray along with a never ending supply of white snow falling down upon their heads. The port city of Tolitoli, if one could even call it a port or a city, was one of, if not the only, places on the entire continent having any civilization.

  The inhabitants of Tolitoli were indigenous to Falrethar, and that made sense, for who would settle in such a frigid place after experiencing just about any other climate?

  They called themselves Januk, though no matter who Incindir asked he could not get an answer to what it meant, if anything. All he knew about them was that they fished for most of their food, which was why they all congregated near the coastline.

  As Incindir and Halcyon made their way down the docks and toward the small houses of the city, several heads turned their way in curiosity, and deservedly so.

  What dull-minded fool would travel to such a place? Incindir would have been compelled to agree if not for the orb lying somewhere on the continent.

  “Let’s take a moment to rest and collect some supplies,” Incindir said to Halcyon, the latter nodding his head.

  Incindir walked up to a passing inhabitant and waved at them. When the fellow didn’t stop he grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him so that the two were facing.

  “Can you tell me where I can get some food and some supplies?” Incindir asked, but he only received a shrug and a confused expression.

  Of course they don’t speak the common tongue, how silly of me to assume.

  “Some…thing…to…eat,” Incindir repeated, enunciating each word slowly while making a series of gestures such as shoving an imaginary spoon into his mouth and rubbing his belly.

  Once again he received no reply, the januk instead turning and trying to hurry away.

  “Daj belo godan?” Halcyon asked, and the januk stopped in his tracks, turned, and shifted his focus to Halcyon.

  “Ni pola belo,” he said as he pointed to a building, then walked away.

  “So you speak Januk?” Incindir asked.

  “I speak everything,” replied the boy. He turned and pointed at the same building. “Food is over there.”

  The two made their way over, opened the door, and stepped into a nice, warm hearth that greeted Incindir like a bath after a long day’s work.

  More heads turned their way and stayed there, though Incindir paid them no mind. The two of them took a seat at one of the tables set at the back of t
he room near the fire and waited for the owner of the restaurant or inn or whatever it was to come by. From the architecture it was hard to tell what anything was.

  The owner came around and said something that Incindir could not understand, though Halcyon took care of the talking. The two exchanged a few words back-and-forth until the owner went away to fulfill their order.

  “What kind of selection do they have?” Incindir asked.

  “Just a lot of seafood,” Halcyon said.

  “So what did you order?” He continued.

  “Seafood,” Halcyon answered.

  Incindir nodded. “Any particular kind… or…?”

  “Nope, I just said seafood,” the boy said.

  Incindir removed the outer layer of his attire, a large and thick coat that was but one of three coats that Incindir was wearing, and set it aside. He then placed his elbows on the table and held his head up with one hand. “Seafood it is, then.”

  Movement from the corner of his eye made Incindir think that the food was already here, though when he turned he met the eyes of one of the other patrons.

  The januk uttered a series of words directed at Halcyon, and like the conversation with the owner, Incindir sat back while the two spoke to each other.

  Only, by the sound of it, the words spoken by the januk were far graver than just choosing from a menu. There appeared apprehension verging on fear from the januk.

  Halcyon turned to Incindir. “She says beware a shadow that has appeared in Falrethar.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Incindir asked, though the boy was as confused as he was.

  Halcyon spoke a few more words, and the januk shook her head.

  “Nobody knows, just that a shadow appeared just before we came along,” Halcyon said. He smiled at the januk, spoke a few more words, and she returned to where she was sitting.

  Soon after appeared the owner with a dish of food, placing it in front of Incindir. He looked down to some shrimp, a fillet of something that he did not recognize, and some sort of sauce.