Legend of Ecta Mastrino Box Set

by B J Hanlon

  Whatever the beast was had awakened him completely but his frozen and broken body wouldn’t move.

  Soon, the forest came alive again, though much more muted over the blood pumping through his head.

  Sunlight pierced the canopy at some point, when, Edin couldn’t be sure. It created abstract shapes on the forest floor and other trees. He waited for what seemed like forever before he began to peal himself apart. He didn’t know what he’d do. The ground sloped away from the mountains. He could sit and wait to die… or he could get up. He didn’t want to be eaten either alive or dead. The thought sent painful shivers through his body. Then he pictured his friends being feasted upon. It was too much. Edin cried again.

  Slowly, he stopped and noticed much more life around him: the trees, flowers, hidden animals. Thin silver moss hung from tree limbs. He quieted his mind and tried to concentrate. He felt the energy of the world around him and tried to get it to flow, to pour into him. The energy seemed stubborn, or maybe it was his concentration.

  Eventually bits of it began to flow into him. Not a lot—more of a trickle like a leaky spigot.

  Once enough strength had returned, Edin stood, found a walking stick he could use as a crutch, and began moving. He barely noticed a broken finger hanging loose and contorted at an unnatural angle.

  His body creaked and he clenched his jaw when he tore a recently scabbed-over cut. There was no direction in mind except forward. He was moving slowly. Large-leafed bushes appeared all around him holding small pools of water like a bowl. There were bright red, orange, and yellow berries, but none looked familiar and he wasn’t sure if they were edible, though his stomach didn’t seem to care.

  Edin drank until he nearly retched.

  The forest floor was thick with all types of plants, dead and alive. A snake hissed somewhere near his foot. Edin almost leapt and felt his balance giving. He somehow caught himself and only managed to tweak his ankle slightly more.

  After a short while, his stomach growled and he realized that the snake, while disgusting, would’ve made a decent meal.

  For most of the morning, he barely crawled through the thick undergrowth. Vines hung from the trees, animals scurried, always just out of Edin’s reach. Tiny bugs flittered around Edin’s head. He was too broken to try to swat them.

  Soon, the air began to take on a warm almost oppressive feel. As the day grew hotter and sweat poured down him, Edin knew if he didn’t get his wounds cleaned properly, they’d become infected. The fresh cool water from the rains had helped, but it wouldn’t clean. And if he didn’t find fresh water, the stuff on the leaves would either evaporate or become stagnant.

  Stagnant water and heat beget pestilence. It was a line from one of his books on the studies of agriculture.

  His studies were so broad he never focused on one thing. Even if he did, herbalist and alchemy skills weren’t ones he’d have chosen to focus on.

  Mintweed helps for illnesses. That was common knowledge, but Edin wouldn’t be able to point it out if it were growing directly in front of him.

  He tried remembering the lessons and the pictures from his books. The thoughts caused his head to swirl as he walked through the forest floor.

  Brown needles melded with dead oak leaves beneath his feet. As he moved, he kicked something and a putrid rotting smell rose up causing him to gag.

  After a few moments, he glanced at what he’d kicked. The torrid remains of an animal of some sort. An unknown type of deer. Dark brown spots of dried blood were all around, swatches of it colored trees and bushes like a drunk painter.

  The stench overwhelmed him. Edin hobbled toward a small bush and dropped to his knees painfully. He threw up. His throat and nostrils burned as the acidic bile erupted.

  Edin closed his eyes and pictured it again. Only the front half of the body was intact, its guts hung out like ropes from a bell tower. The entire rear was missing. Bugs scurried in and around the body. The rear of the animal was completely gone.

  His water-satiated stomach felt completely empty again when he lifted his head. The memory of the roar from the night before came back. Whatever did this wasn’t something he’d want to meet.

  His eyes darted back to the corpse. It was food—meat—and he was hungry.

  The flies moving in and around it gave him pause. He knew it was a bad idea, but he hadn’t eaten since the ham before mountains. What was that, three days ago? Four?

  His body couldn’t repair itself without substance. His energy, despite another attempt to use the world’s natural powers, was waning.

  Somehow, his companions expected him to make it to the Isle of Mists by himself. What was wrong with them? How could they expect him to make it? Even if it existed, what would be the point? Everyone he cared about was dead.

  “Screw it,” Edin said as he drew his sword with his off hand, the one that wasn’t injured. He took off the deer’s front leg and limped away knowing he didn’t want to be anywhere near the body.

  After a few hundred yards he sat in a patch of sunlight the size of his bed. Sweat sheened down his face and his body was sticky. The droplets of water he’d found earlier on leaves had seemingly disappeared, though the humid air said some were still around.

  He needed a fire to cook this thing. His stomach growled and his mouth felt dry. Edin laid down. Slowly, his mind began to fade from the task and jump elsewhere.

  The isle, the ship, the captain… he’d forgotten their names. It was a fallacy to reach them at this point. Alone, bloody, and barely running. He was half dead already, and in an unknown valley, with some frightening monster about.

  Slowly, his eyes began to close again with bugs buzzing around his head and landing on his bloody body.

  Edin’s head lolled and he heard a crack of a branch followed by the sound of something small crashing through the forest. Like it’d been thrown.

  Edin opened his eyes and sat up. The rotting smell of the deer came back to him from a few feet away.

  In the dim forest light, he saw a blur of strawberry hair leap through a visible ray of sun in the forest. He was unsure how far away it was. Edin wiped his eye and stared in the direction the… person maybe, disappeared.

  Nothing moved. His mind playing tricks on him, that’s all, Edin thought, but then he got the feeling of someone watching him.

  Shaking his head to keep awake he stood and began to limp forward. He forgot about the stinking, fly ridden leg and began to walk in the direction of the mirage.

  His eyes felt heavy. One foot in front of the other.

  Out of the corner of his eye he saw another blur of movement. Edin moved his gaze and saw the same hair, this time he could see blurry fair skin.

  “Kes?” Edin croaked.

  His eyes drooped and he stepped in that direction. His arms hung limp at his side. The figure disappeared behind a large bush.

  As Edin reached it, he saw turquoise flowers with yellow centers. The air around them seemed to shimmer and the smell of the plant stung his nostrils like a salted pepper.

  He wiped his watering eyes as he stood before the plant.

  Why did it look familiar? Edin stared at the plant trying to find the answer.

  Meadowcat, it came to him. A pain reliever, Edin shook his head. How did he find it in this place? Did the person drive him this way as if he were cattle?

  He pulled flowers from the thorny branches and shoved them into a tattered pocket of his cloak. Edin stuck a flower in his mouth and began chewing. A small bit of water released from it. Slowly, his headache dampened slightly.

  Edin stared at the plant as he took another flower to his mouth. His mind began to clear. His body began to feel numb. Leaves grew sharper and the world didn’t look as much like he was staring into another world—one of misshapen forms that held nimbus auras around them.

  The near constant wind silenced for a moment and he heard a different sound in the distance. It became more vivid in his ears.

  Somewhere beyond the thick boles of
the forest he could hear a faraway rush of water.

  Edin’s heart thumped and he rubbed his eyes. Was it real?

  After a few moments he was certain. It was water. A stream at least but it sounded larger, like the Crys on a summer day when the levels were low and the water warm.

  He pulled out another flower and put it in his mouth as he walked toward the growing thunder. He felt almost like he was floating, a side effect of meadowcat. In Yaultan and some other towns and probably cities, alchemists took the pain relief plant and turned it into something that kept people entranced and happy. Other compounds were supposedly added to make the plant more addictive. These compounds had been made illegal in Resholt by royal decree, though that hardly mattered to the criminals. Sheriffs and guards barely cared about what happened in the poorer sections of cities and looked the other way in the wealthier sections so it was rarely enforced.

  The sounds of rushing water grew closer. Edin began to see larger breaks in the canopy, the sunshine glowed like a fire.

  A grassy riverbank appeared through a smattering of branches and he moved through them barely feeling the pine needles scraping his body. The riverbank’s short grass felt as if it were manicured by man.

  Edin limped forward and collapsed next to the river. A tiny dirt island sat a few yards off the shore, the river splintered and moved slow into a pool. Cupping his good hand, he lifted water to his mouth.

  It tasted as sweet as iced tea. He sucked down a handful then put the hand back in and let the current glide gently through his fingers. He noticed the broken finger though couldn’t feel any pain… but looking at the angle made his stomach lurch.

  Edin shed his tattered clothes and boots. He took off his sword and dangled his feet in. After a moment, he slid off the bank and splashed down, the water cushioning his body. It wasn’t cold but chilly and a shiver rose up his body.

  It’d be freezing if it were in the mountains. Here it felt refreshing. The water stung the scrapes at first but he held his breath and dunked under.

  The stream enveloped him, pushing him slowly and gently toward the far end of the pool and for the first time in days, he felt no pain. Still under, Edin gulped the fresh water. His stomach came awake like a child from a nap and cried for food.

  He popped up again for air before dropping back under.

  Edin found a large rock where he could sit like it were a chair and let the water rush over him. Hours went by, he could think of little but the feeling from the water and the meadowcat flower. He reached for his pockets, found another flower and ate it.

  His skin was wrinkled by the time he pulled himself out. The drops of water cascaded off him as he moved back to dry grass and laid down looking up into the sunshine. After a few moments his head lolled to the side and he saw something. Something that wasn’t there before…

  Edin propped up on an elbow, grimacing as his arm screamed and saw a small brown bowl had appeared about a yard from his head. Edin leaned over. Inside was a yellowish-brown soup-like substance. He picked up the bowl, it was wood, light in both color and weight. But it wasn’t a type of wood he was familiar with. The façade was covered in carvings, strange symbols with curved and straight lines, dots and accent lines over the characters. Almost like a language, but one he’d never seen.

  The feeling began to spread over him again, this time he was certain. Someone or something was watching him.

  His eyes drifted down toward his groin and he realized he was naked.

  Edin pulled the tattered remains of his cloak and draped it over his waist. It didn’t feel like the time for modesty, but his mother would’ve killed him if he were outside nude. Heck, it was just like one of his nightmares. The one where he was running through the village green in the same condition. After he covered up, he started to scan his surroundings.

  The wind blew causing slight ripples in the river and trees. Birds chirped but he could see no sign of any other humans.

  Who lived here? If his memory was correct, no valley was visible on any map. The Crady range was huge with nothing but mountains and dead valleys. No perky greenery, no river…

  After a few minutes and no sign of anyone he began to feel alone again. The thought sent an empty feeling through him, a sorrowful feeling. I am alone.

  The world hated him and there was a good chance he’d die alone. The thought of someone, even Merik, to talk to would be more preferable than the silence.

  Edin rubbed his eyes, the pain in his broken finger and arm started to come back. He needed to set the finger, like he did for Bliz.

  After wrapping the cloak around his lower body he hobbled to the forest’s edge and found a pair of sticks a little shorter than his index finger.

  Edin bit into a meadowcat flower before taking rapid breaths. His heart started racing in anticipation. With a quick jerk and crunch, it twisted into place.

  “Ahh!” He screamed as the pain whipped through his body. Sweat poured from his brow and he laid back on the ground panting.

  When the pain subsided enough, he made the splint.

  After he was done, he leaned back in the grass and closed his eyes. With all of his energy gone, he passed out.

  The woman came to him in the dream again. She looked around a room with red eyes and spoke. “Please,” she said quietly. Then she shrieked “Please stop this. Come out now, in the name of the King I demand it!”

  The smell of smoke and the crackling of a burning fire aroused his senses. Edin felt the painful weariness of consciousness come over him. Off to his side, he heard a branch cracking.

  Pretending to still be asleep, he barely opened his eyes. It was dark out with only the orange glow of the fire lighting the water’s edge.

  Something brown appeared in front of him as water began to drip in to his open mouth. Edin swallowed as more was poured down his throat.

  “You are weak,” a soft foreign voice said.

  Edin opened his eyes further to see the gaze of a thin-faced woman. Her skin was pale with gold eyes the shape of almonds. Her pupils seemed to shimmer in the firelight and loose reddish-auburn hair hung from her head cascading down her shoulders.

  She grabbed the intricately carved bowl and scooped a glob of paste from it. In a quick, precise movement she pressed her slender fingers against his side, then his chest and down his legs. He jumped as the cold shocked his warm body.

  “You men are not so good with pain.” She frowned. “And your healing abilities are absolutely awful.”

  Edin’s teeth chattered as he watched her start to lift the cloak covering his body. “No,” he said.

  “I must, the waters of Eltu help clean, but they will not heal you quickly.”

  “Eltu?”

  She waived a hand back toward the river. “The sacred river of the valley of Susot.”

  “Sacred river?” Edin looked to the now dark water. “To who?”

  “To my people of course,” she said. Slowly she reached up and pulled back her hair settling it behind small but pointed ears.

  He gasped. “You’re an elf…”

  2

  Legends Long Since Forgotten

  “I am,” she said, “and you’re a human.”

  He felt the cold of her hand slide down his chest, she kept him covered but he still felt naked in the firelight. The shock of the cool ointment began to fade and the pain from the scratches and scrapes seemed to almost disappear beneath her touch.

  She wore a tunic cut off at the shoulders that seemed to shimmer between green, brown, and sometimes yellow. Her supple shoulders and thin neck looked soft and smooth as if she’d never seen the sun.

  Edin resisted the urge to touch her, to feel what he was certain was the softest skin he’d ever known.

  “I trapped a pair of squirrels for you. From what I’ve heard, humans eat the meat of other animals?” She shuddered though her voice was singsong and soothing like her hands.

  “We do…” he said but wasn’t actually sure if it was a question or a statem
ent.

  She brought over a small rodent, it was charred black from the fire and Edin’s stomach growled. He could smell the odor of singed hair and torched meat.

  Edin reached for it and realized it was his broken arm. It hurt a little, but the pain was dull like a stubbed toe.

  “My shoulder… it’s… better.”

  “I used a… healing spell.”

  “Spell? Do you know magic?”

  “Yes magus, do you not know… I saw the powers from my perch. You are a philios, are you not.”

  “I am,” Edin said and took a bite of the squirrel. It tasted slightly better than it smelled. He glanced at the elf woman. A mixture of disgust and curiosity seemed to emanate from her face. Her head was tilted to an angle revealing one ear poking through her fine hair.

  “Would you like some?” Edin asked.

  “Oh no,” she waived both hands in front of her. “We do not eat the flesh of other beings. They are sacred and consuming them is a deep sin forbidden by Antulete.”

  “Is that a person… like your leader?”

  “The god of life, he watches over this valley as it is his people’s last true domain.” The elf raised her arms as if showing the grandness of the place. “He was once revered by humans and elves alike. But those were the old days, now it’s just us elves and our cousins…” she said with almost a tortured look on her face. It seemed an unnatural look.

  “Though our cousins revere a distorted sham of the great god. They hunt and feast upon every animal alike, man, beast… elf. They are not fit to walk this earth.” She slammed a fist into her palm with a loud slap causing a small glob of cool paste to splatter on Edin’s chest.

  Edin swallowed, the turn in her emotions caught him off guard for a moment. To go from one extreme to the other, from gaiety to fury, seemed strange.

  He fell silent watching her. There was no sound but the river.

  She smiled again. Her golden eyes bright and engaging. The way she spoke of the cousins, and how she’d treated him at this point were hard for Edin to reconcile.