Legend of Ecta Mastrino Box Set

by B J Hanlon

  The staff was a blur.

  Edin grabbed his staff that reached his chin and added it to his long sword and began again. He used power and movement… though it wasn’t as flashy, the two felt good. They felt right.

  Arianne said nothing.

  Eventually they both stopped and stood across the courtyard from each other staring and holding their weapons.

  His heart wouldn’t stop racing. It slammed into his chest like a blacksmith banging at a stubborn ingot. He felt her asking questions with her eyes. It was as if she suspected something, believed he was planning something. A silent question and he wouldn’t answer.

  Arianne opened her mouth to say something but stopped before turning on her heals and sauntering toward the keep.

  He strolled over to the short wall and stood on the bench and looked down. Jagged granite jutted in and out with overhangs and drop offs. Edin’s brain went blank for a second and the dizziness came back over him.

  “What are you doing?” A shrill shout came from behind him as a gust of wind threw him backward.

  Edin landed hard on the ground.

  He sat for a second trying to let his head right itself. The reason he looked over the edge came back. Could he even go over the side? Even if the shield held, it’d probably be suicide.

  She marched over and stood over him. Her glare was impossible to hold. He thought of the way she held his hand, the way she nursed him… the way she rebuked him. It may have been a joke, maybe not. His heart thumped. Edin couldn’t look at her anymore.

  Arianne grabbed his arm and yanked him to his feet with a burst of wind in his rear. “What in the heck are you doing? You fear heights but decided to look down the mountain? I swear, you are not very bright, Edin.”

  “I was just....”

  “There’s nothing but air and stone. It’s death if you fall.”

  “I’m not sure,” Edin said, though a different thought tickled his mind. No, impossible.

  “You’re covered in sweat, go bathe.”

  He did. The bath wasn’t relaxing like before and the wine tasted bitter. The damn Por Fen even ruin this, Edin thought.

  But it wasn’t just that, even if the army wasn’t at their door, Edin couldn’t stay forever. He had to leave and soon, be away from her. The closer he felt to the princess, the more he had to pull away.

  She probably only cared for him because he was all that was left. It was possible they could be friends, but nothing more than that. She made that clear.

  Could he accept that? He didn’t have many friends. That was wrong, he didn’t have any friends anymore. Could he really deny one because he was attracted to her?

  But eventually, she’d blame him for leading the Por Fen to her doorstep and destroying her home.

  His decision was right, he had to leave. She’d hate him but eventually she’d realize he did it for her. There was no way around it. The only question now was a direct assault out the front door or sneak out the back and somehow draw them away from the keep.

  He wished his fear of heights wasn’t so debilitating. The thought came back, the one that tickled his mind earlier. Could someone scale the mountain?

  How long would it take? The climbers would have to be fearless and have ridiculous endurance. A terrin could do it and if they got up, they’d either need to figure out a way to open the door or leave some way for others to climb.

  Couldn’t happen, Edin thought. They’d have to find hand holds the entire way up and much of it was sheer. They’d need some way to dig into the stone for leverage. Something like a hammer or a small pick axe… a moment later he remembered.

  “The carts…” Edin dropped the wine goblet. The remnants splattered the floor as it clanked to the ground.

  Edin hopped out of the tub and grabbed a towel. He ran from the washing chambers and into Arianne’s chambers pausing at the door to her personal washroom.

  He knocked hard, a part of him wanted to just break in… she’d take it the wrong way. Like he was getting back at her.

  “What?” she shouted.

  “I need to see something.”

  “That is not how you get to see me naked… poetry and wine…”

  It took Edin a moment and he realized what he was saying. He swallowed and stored that last bit. “No… sorry, I need you to scry. Now,” Edin yelled back.

  He heard her groan followed by the sound of water cascading off her body back into the tub. He thought of that body and felt a stirring in his pants. “Gods…” he whispered and tried to think of something else. He waited for a nearly a minute before she opened the door with a towel covering her body and a look of annoyance on her face.

  She glared.

  “Can you not let me finish my bathing and then we look.”

  “You’re done, let’s go.” Edin said grabbing her wrist and starting to pull.

  “Let go you brute,” she shouted.

  “Trust me,” Edin said. He felt her stop resisting. Her wet feet slapped the stone floor. In Lorno’s chambers, they both stood over the bowl in their towels. Edin tried not to stare and poured water in it. He splashed a bit but after a few moments, she began her incantation.

  “The southern camp,” Edin said.

  The view swept upward and then back down toward where the fires had been. It was day now and they were difficult to see. Edin shut his eyes to stop from feeling lightheaded.

  “I’m over it,” she said with a gruff tone. Edin looked, the camp was intact but the carts and the men were gone. “Where are they?”

  “The next camp, hurry,” Edin urged.

  She checked, no carts and no men.

  “The mountain, we need to see the sides, specifically the east… maybe the west.”

  “What for?”

  “They’re climbing,” Edin said.

  Her brow furrowed as she looked at him. “It’s thousands of yards up, almost a league. It’d be impossible.”

  “Look,” Edin said.

  At the base of the northeast side of the mountain he saw the empty carts. Like small ants climbing up a vertical tree, men were scaling the face.

  The view zoomed in to a thin man with bulging muscles who was driving pickaxes into the stone so fast, Edin could barely see.

  He was nearly halfway up the cliff face. Below him a long rope dangled from his waist. The terrin stopped, slammed something into the side of the mountain and looped the rope around it.

  Men below him were struggling but still moving fast.

  “Oh gods.”

  “Get ready for the road,” Edin said.

  She ran from the room.

  Fifteen minutes later, he was in the courtyard. Their packs next to the escape tunnel, its door open.

  She slammed a small pouch into his hand. “Coin,” she said. “Take it.”

  “I don’t want to…”

  “Don’t worry, I have much more than you.” She winked at him.

  He tied it to his belt and moved toward the eastern wall. Edin wondered how close the terrin was. He could be a few hundred yards below or just about to crest the wall. Edin moved close to see if he could hear the cracks of the axe into the mountain.

  Muffled calls came from the other side of the thick entrance slab. They began to subside.

  “They’ve breached the ward,” Arianne said appearing next to him. She had her staff on her back and her bow in hand. It was a golden hue bow with markings on the front. It seemed to shimmer like he remembered. Attached a belt around her midriff was the jeweled knife.

  Her eyes were fiery as she stared at the dull gray stone and the insignia of her house that was etched into it. “What?”

  Edin reached down and took her hand. She let him as her eyes drifted to his. “I’m sorry I led them to you.”

  A large thud hit the door, then another drawing Edin’s vision back to it.

  Edin’s eyes drifted up as a few rocks from the pinnacle began to drop. A boulder the size of a rabbit landed near the fountain. Stones blasted at them wit
h deadly speed.

  Edin grabbed Arianne and covered her as the culrian shielded them. Arianne’s jaw clenched and she sniffled. They were destroying her home.

  Another thud and a large chunk of ice fell, it shattered into the wall splattering shards of razor-sharp ice all over the ground.

  Edin looked around, to the west, he could see thick dark clouds starting to move toward them. “Can you… speed up the clouds?”

  “It is the earth that moves…” Arianne said. But Edin held her eyes. “I’ve never tried.”

  A plan was starting to form, well not a plan but a controlled chaos.

  They were magi, abominations... freaks of nature who could control it. Edin watched as the clouds seemed to pick up speed toward them.

  “They won’t break through the door,” Arianne yelled over the now howling wind.

  Edin closed his eyes and waited, he began to reach out his senses. The elements he knew, water, electricity, and something else.

  He felt something or someone cause a dampening of the talent. Like feeling a presence in a dark room. Edin concentrated, feeling the waning connection though it was faint. Ice shards scraped the ground as he drew them near him.

  Arianne gasped.

  With a thought, he sent a dozen flying over his shoulder toward the disturbance.

  “Edin down,” Arianne said grabbing his arm and yanking him.

  He heard a crash like two stones being thrown into each other at great speed followed by a scream. The cracked shaft of an arrow slid on the ground and stopped at his feet.

  Edin looked and caught a glimpse of a man falling backward. A rope still attached to his waist.

  “What in the…” Arianne yelled.

  Edin didn’t answer, he could see her mouth agape out of the corner of his eye.

  Another thump from the entrance. A crack started to form in the wall around the stone barrier.

  “They’re getting through,” Arianne gasped. It was hard to hear though.

  A man appeared on the other wall, “Get down,” Edin yelled sending another barrage of ice shards at him. The man tried to dodge but lost his footing. One hit him and a cloud of red sprouted from his neck as he disappeared over the wall.

  “Get below… to the statue. I’ll follow.”

  Arianne shook her head, “we stay together or we flee together.”

  “Move to the door,” Edin said. His energy was fading as lightning cracked above. It was easier this way then summoning it from nothing. It took less energy. Edin had to slow them down as he backed them both toward the keep’s entrance. A few more men appeared on the walls. Edin sent ice toward them, he tried to call up the water, but it took too much energy.

  “Send them over,” Edin yelled, “turn the wind into a weapon.”

  Arianne loosed an arrow that slammed into a man sending him back over the wall.

  The archway wobbled. They were coming. Edin glanced toward the sky as the clouds were coming closer.

  His heart raced. Edin pushed Arianne back into the keep.

  Like a dead tree, the door fell. Across the courtyard he saw a group of men lit only by torch light begin rushing out.

  “Toward the door,” Edin yelled.

  The sun disappeared as the ominous clouds were over them. He could feel the electricity in them. It was moving fast and suddenly a cyclone appeared. Planters, benches, ice and small stones whipped around with such ferocity. The stone walls chipping as if being whittled.

  Edin glanced at Arianne, her breathing was heavy and sweat streamed down her face. He felt the same exhaustion.

  An explosion of lightning came down. Edin saw the dark robed man running at him. He tried redirecting it.

  The lightning slammed into the ground next to the fountain. He could’ve sworn he saw the statues moving.

  The Por Fen monk dove out of the way from the cyclone. He summoned another bolt. He saw only the flash and heard a thunderous boom as a dark shape leapt toward him.

  In an instant, the man was on him, slashing like a wraith. Edin glimpsed the yellow badge of a Justicar. He saw just for a moment, it wasn’t Merik.

  Edin pushed Arianne inside and drew his sword. The Por Fen added another weapon, a dual wielder.

  Edin pulled his short sword as he felt the connection about to leave him. With one last effort he sent a bolt of lightning directly above the opposite door.

  Huge chunks of stone crashed into the courtyard and walls. He heard a roar and saw beyond him that the statue of the bears were gone.

  The Por Fen was struck by something and stumbled forward but still attacked. In glimpses of other lightning strikes, he could’ve sworn, he saw stone bears ripping men to pieces.

  Edin parried a strike and backed into the keep.

  The thunder boomed and lightning lit up the sky outside. The torrent was alive on its own now. Men screamed as lightning, hail, and stone descended on anyone unlucky enough to be outside.

  “Footing,” Arianne yelled.

  An arrow came from behind him. It skimmed his forearm and made directly for the man’s neck. The Justicar just tilted his head and it missed him. He was good and extremely fast. Terrin fast.

  The thrusts, slashes, and jabs only seemed to be coming faster as Edin backed down the stairs. Now the Justicar had the height advantage, though Edin had reach.

  He hit the first landing and ducked a wicked slice for his head before having to raise a foot so a return strike didn’t take off his leg.

  The man was relentless. His mouth was upturned in a cruel grin.

  An explosion came from above. The keep shook. Stones rattled and chunks of floor dropped down. Edin stepped back. A large stone that looked like a head smashed onto his off hand. He felt the snap as pain ran up his arm as his short sword clattered to the ground.

  “Edin,” Arianne shouted.

  The Justicar leapt and started coming down with both blades like fangs on a snake.

  Edin tried to retreat, his foot landed on something and he tilted.

  With a last effort, he swung the sword blindly and heard the ting of blades crashing. He tried to get his footing and readjust himself but he felt a burning sensation in his thigh.

  His mind went blank with pain and he heard a howl that didn’t seem to come from him but knew it did.

  A second later his vision cleared and he saw the Justicar trying to move on an injured ankle. His breathing was labored and his right arm hanging limp.

  Edin pushed himself away, blood was pouring from a deep wound in his thigh. Edin raised his blade. They were barely four feet apart, but neither could move. One of his hands was empty, the other covered in Edin’s blood.

  Edin pushed himself to his good leg and stared down at the Justicar.

  They stared at each other for a second. Edin could barely move, sweat was pouring down his face. He could barely hear anything over the tumultuous storm above them.

  “We die together, abomination,” the man screamed, spitting slurred words and blood like a venomous cobra.

  Edin screamed back at the top of his lungs and lunged.

  The terrin tried to slide to the right, but Edin anticipated the dive and drove the sword into his stomach. The knife dropped as the man’s head lolled onto Edin’s shoulders.

  He pushed the dead body back and collapsed to the ground. A hand gripped his broken wrist and began to pull him. Edin howled. It burned so much and as he tried to stand he couldn’t.”

  “Quit being a child…” Arianne said as she started pulling him down the stairs. “We’re almost there.”

  “Leg,” Edin grumbled, stumbling down the final flight of stairs to the lowest level.

  In a flash, Arianne yanked the blade from his thigh. Blood poured from the wound and he felt dizzy. The place was collapsing and there was no way they’d make it out. Not with him.

  “You can make it,” Edin said as she began tying a cloth around his injury. “Go without me.”

  “Shut your mouth. You’re coming.” She helped him to his
feet as they stumbled down toward the black statue. They stepped behind it and into a small stone room.

  Arianne leaned him against a wall. A moment later, there was a rumble as the entrance closed.

  He heard the soft creaking sound of old pulleys as they began descending. Darkness began to surround his vision and Arianne’s panicked voice faded.

  8

  The Underground is No Fun

  A slow droning, creaking sound like a cracking board moaning against immense weight woke him. Edin opened his eyes and saw Arianne looking nervously over a half wall. They were descending.

  He could tell by the way the gray rocks slowly disappeared above them. Edin stifled a groan and pushed himself to a seated position. Pain roared back and he felt dizzy. Everything hurt, his muscles, his joints, the worst from his wrist and leg.

  The smell was somewhere between a freshly tilled dirt patch and rotting vegetables.

  Arianne looked at him. She bent over, grabbing something. He heard the pop of a waterskin as she put it to his lips. It was warm but good.

  “I will be forever taking care of you.” She pressed the back of her hand on his forehead. The fire light of an unburning torch flickered in the damp sheen of her eyes.

  Edin ran his damp tongue through his mouth. “Where?” It was all he could say without feeling like he’d pass out from the pain.

  “In the mountain, we’ve been descending for at least six hours.” She pulled something from her pack. A small leaf and pressed it into his mouth. “Chew.” She said and he did.

  “You’re lucky I remembered to grab medicine. I’ve never met someone who gets hurt as much as you.” She paused. “Or someone I’ve seen naked as often.” The last bit seemed a bit forced. Like she was trying to change the subject or get him to laugh.

  Edin smiled and reached up to take her hand. “You’re welcome,” he said and closed his eyes.

  He wasn’t sure how many times he’d woken and fallen back asleep. But eventually, he woke and they were stopped. Arianne sat outside a wooden box in a tunnel of brown dirt. It looked like a giant mole had been there.