Legend of Ecta Mastrino Box Set 2

by BJ Hanlon

  “Those aren’t retreat bells,” Berka said.

  “Do you hear the drums?” asked Melian.

  It took Edin a moment, then he heard them. They were low but they thudded beneath the peals and pounded like his heart in his chest. “I hear them.”

  “They’re war drums. Dunbilstonian war drums.”

  “My gods, they made it,” Berka said to Edin, “you were right.”

  “There’ll never be a better time than now for that,” Edin said. He hitched his sword belt up and looked across the way. They’d have to go over the serpent, around at least three carts and a small garden. There were also lumps of bodies, some were scaly and winged, others were men or dematians.

  Edin took a breath and held the staff of energy. He then ran, as fast as he could.

  Above, he heard the call of the wyrm as the fire light showed him. There were other calls and in his head he heard the redoubtable cry of Yio Volor. “Kill him now!”

  Edin jumped a dead dematian and ran between a crate and a broken-down cart. He was approaching the giant serpent and a few feet from leaping it when it moved.

  The body seemed to leap, and a thin knife blade cut through the upper portion of the thing’s neck.

  Edin cried out in surprise but didn’t stop. The wyrm was after him, not his friends. Edin leapt it and heard Melian say, “Someone’s alive in there!”

  “Help him then,” Berka yelled.

  Doors soon began to open around the square. Shops that seemed shuttered threw off boards and doors flung open. People started hobbling into the streets looking fearful and for some hope.

  “Back inside!” Edin shouted at the blotards as he ran toward the Citadel.

  Then in the darkness, he began to see shapes blocking a large opening in the wall. The fifteen-foot gap was barricaded. There were all manner of wooden objects covering one side to the other blocking off access to the Citadel.

  As he approached, he began to see eyes peering out.

  “Stay back!” someone yelled, their voice barely heard over the drums as the bells had at some point stopped ringing.

  A bow was drawn and an arrow pulled back. Edin could see the bald head in the light. It was a young Por Fen and he wasn’t alone.

  The wyrm cried out; it’s terrifying pitch racking people with fear. Edin started closer and began to feel the strength of wan stones. A great many of them.

  “Open up!” Edin yelled.

  Edin skidded to a halt right before it. The boy was about Edin’s age but had none of the experiences that Edin had and in his eyes Edin could tell the difference. He looked fifteen not almost twenty. There was someone next to him, a bit older. “I come on the order of Merik.”

  “The Inquisitor?” Another man said, he was older and looked like he’d seen one or two battles in his day.

  “Of course,” Edin said, “who do you think I meant?”

  “Tell me then, why is he here and barely breathing?”

  The boy pulled again at his bow and aimed at Edin’s heart as Berka skidded to a stop. “Adept?” said the older man and Edin saw the symbol of a Justicar on his cloak.

  “Master Kooli. This is Edin, he’s—”

  The sky above lit up and there was a giant burst of a ball of flame. It was thrust toward them. Edin grabbed Berka’s lapel and dragged him toward the awning of a building. It struck the ground a few feet before the barricade and exploded.

  Edin dropped and summoned a small culrian to block the attack. The fireball cracked on the shield, but half of the barricade was blown away.

  When all of the light fizzled out, there was a thumping that was off beat from the war drums.

  It was the two feet of the wyrm and it had just landed about fifty feet away in the center of the square.

  Edin pulled Berka back and they ran for the newly created opening in the barricade. As they burst through, they saw the older justicar, Master Kooli, was dead. A large piece of wood pierced his chest. There were other Por Fen monks as well, a half dozen, though they looked like children to Edin.

  “Where are the other instructors?” Berka barked, “where are the Rangers and Justicars?”

  “All gone,” said one of the kids. “The Inquisitor barely made it back here alive.”

  Edin turned back toward the wyrm and saw it advancing in a half walk, half flying gait and it was coming fast and on its back was the dematian king.

  The mouth lit up again and there was another burst of lightning.

  Edin leapt out of the way but felt the energy as the burst of power roared past them. Then there was another explosion and Edin heard bricks and wood beginning to tumble.

  He stood and drew his sword and took a step onto the scorched stone ground to face the thunderwyrm and its master.

  Berka moved into place next to him, his greatsword resting on his shoulder. “Edin, get the Blossom Stone,” then Berka lowered the sword before him. “We’ve got this.”

  Edin saw the determination in his friend’s eyes.

  “I’m glad to have you as a friend,” Edin said.

  “And I you,” Berka said, “tell El—”

  “You’ll tell her yourself.”

  Berka nodded. “Por Fen Monks!” He shouted. “We are men of the cloth. Men of the church sent by the gods to cleanse the world of evil.”

  A few younger monks appeared from the edges of the wall and from behind other buildings. Then from the Citadel, a very old one came out.

  Edin ran toward the great tower, he couldn’t think about what his friend was facing. What all of these kids were facing. Not now.

  As Edin ran past the old man through the training courtyard, the man’s hand whipped out and caught Edin’s arm.

  “Where are you going?” he said.

  Edin looked at the man and then back toward the tower. “I need the Blossom Stone.”

  “The Blos…” he trailed off. “You’re him. Edin de Yaultan?”

  Edin nodded.

  “You coming here, I can only imagine what Diophan would’ve said.”

  “Attack!” Berka yelled and drew their attention back to the fight. Berka ran forward with a group of Por Fen Adepts.

  A burst of flame erupted from its mouth and it caught two of the kids in it.

  “Go,” said the man, “but know that only Merik can open the door. Third floor infirmary.”

  Edin stepped into the gate and looked up. He knew it was made of smooth black stone and fifty stories tall though he couldn’t see the pinnacle.

  There were balconies and windows all around it. In the old days, there were said to be planters and great gardens that hung from both. The black stone was said to gleam like a gem.

  Edin ran toward the entrance and saw carved in the stone above the door, ‘Humble thyself, ye who enter here.’ There were words above it in highborn, Edin guessed it meant the same.

  There wasn’t time to humble himself as he leapt the stairs three at a time and pushed into the great entrance.

  It was much like the Boganthean Tower on the Isle only on a much grander scale. There was a great chandelier at the center, though there were little bones on this one, there was an opening on the right and the left and ahead was an empty desk used to greet guests. Or so Edin thought, though he doubted there were many of those.

  Right went upstairs in the Boganthean Tower so he went that way and found that around a corner, there was what he expected. Edin raced up them feeling strong and powerful. He was almost bursting with energy as he reached the third floor. He passed an open window that showed the west side of the tower, not the side Berka was on. Edin looked out and saw more of the training grounds and more of the city that was burning or burnt. There was movement down there as well. Man or beast he couldn’t tell.

  Edin kicked open the third-floor door and jogged into a long narrow hall. Ahead, he saw a symbol carved above a door. The healer’s symbol.

  He raced toward it opened the door.

  Inside, he found a large U-shaped room with beds on either
side and windows, though the shutters were shut.

  Someone looked up from the side of a bed at the far side of the room. A woman lit by candlelight. Next to her was a body in the bed.

  “Who are you?” the woman questioned as she stood, her voice accented slightly. A twang he hadn’t heard before.

  “Edin,” he said crossing the room as quick as possible.

  “The magus?” she gasped and moved before the bed as if she’d be able to stop him from advancing. “I do not know how you got in, but you will not harm the Inquisitor.”

  Edin then got a better look at the woman, she could’ve been beautiful, but for the scars on her face. “I am not going to harm him,” Edin said as the smell of death and rot hit him. It made Edin gag.

  This woman didn’t look like a nurse, she was dressed in what seemed to be a nightgown. The gown of someone who was in their home. Was she called from a nearby place when Merik was brought in injured? If so she was probably related to him in some way. Again, that didn’t matter.

  “I need his help to open the Inquisitor’s Quarters.”

  Merik groaned in his bed.

  The woman turned.

  “Madi…” he said. “Is that.”

  “It’s me,” she said, “it seems you and I swapped places.”

  “Merik, it’s Edin, I need to get into your quarters.”

  As Edin looked over, he saw that half of Merik’s face was bandaged and his arm was twisted and splinted and the hand was barely attached and it looked to have been cooked.

  “Edin de Yaultan…” he said his voice raspy. “The cause of my fall and the reason for my rise.”

  “And you finding me,” said the woman.

  Merik nodded though his eyes hadn’t opened yet. “My palm opens the door. My palm and the seal around my neck.”

  “It’s magic?” Edin asked.

  “Yes,” he said, “we’ve always had a bit of magic in the Citadel.”

  “And a few magi,” Edin said.

  “Yes. And those.”

  “I need your help. I need to get the last of the Blossom Stones, the actual Blossom Stone.”

  “I don’t. It’s not…” Merik’s lips were moving then he started to cough. A dark raspy cough. Madi dropped down next to him as a spray of blood came from his mouth and splashed her face. Like a professional, she didn’t complain or even act shocked.

  Edin had no time for this. People were dying in the streets and all around. He needed to help them, he needed the final stone.

  “Merik!” he nearly shouted. “It’s up there, I was told so. I need to get in.”

  “Can’t you see he’s dying?” said Madiera.

  “Everyone else will too. Unless I do something.”

  “He’s right,” said Merik after the coughing had stopped. He opened his eyes, well, his eye that wasn’t covered by the bandage and looked to Edin. “I cannot move, I cannot walk…”

  “I offer what I have,” Edin said. He held the staff in one hand and put the other over Merik’s body. “Eletanto.”

  A warmth flowed through his hand and he felt for the injuries. He found broken bones and crushed organs. Skin was burnt and flaking like fish scales after a char. After a minute, he knew it was too much for him to save.

  Edin didn’t have the skill to save him. Dorset probably could’ve but not Edin.

  He fixed his jaw and pushed the healing energy into Merik’s legs and his chest. He felt skin trying to reform, felt bones joining.

  It wasn’t enough.

  Edin gasped and let go of the spell.

  Merik was looking up at him with his one good eye. “That should do,” he said though his voice was still raspy. It was like his lungs had been burnt.

  The woman said, “Merik, you’re still injured.”

  “I’m fine Madi,” he said and reached up with his unburnt hand and pulled the covers off. Then he tried to sit.

  “Let me help,” she said, “you, get his other side.”

  Edin did and they got Merik to his feet. He looked at Edin. “You know, during the old empire, there was a lift in this place. It’s been boarded off but there is still a cart inside and a shaft up to the top floor.”

  Edin nodded. “Which way?”

  “Outside, third door on the right.”

  “I’ll be there,” Edin said. He ran out to the sound of Merik grunting and groaning and Madi saying, “you need rest,” and Merik replying “I’ll rest when I’m dead.”

  Edin found the door and saw that it was indeed locked. He reached out, summoned a small ethereal bubble around his foot and kicked it.

  The door snapped off its hinges and flew inside the room. It cracked against the far wall and burst into shards. It was a small room covered in dust with another opening to the right. Edin went to the opening and looked in. It was completely dark and there were boards across the gap and a sign that said, ‘deadly fall.’

  Edin reached up and yanked the boards from across the thing and summoned an ethereal light to see.

  There were cobwebs and spiderwebs all across the square shaft. He looked up and down to try and find the lift.

  There it was, down at the first floor, or maybe a bit lower. It didn’t look very sturdy but it did seem to be intact.

  Releasing the ethereal ball, Edin reached out and felt a small gap of air beneath it. Beyond his concentration, he heard the sound of battle. Swords and people yelling and roars from the mythic monsters of old.

  The old boards were creaking as the lift rose. It was heavier than he’d thought.

  Feet shuffling sounded behind him with the glow of the candle and then there was a creak and a board snapped off the side.

  “That’s your lift?” said Madi. The two stood next to Edin in the lift’s open-air shaft. “It’s falling apart.”

  “It’s the only way,” Merik said. Soon the lift was just before them. It took up most of the shaft and there were wooden railings on all the sides that kept a person from falling off.

  “Get on,” Edin said.

  “What about you?”

  “I cannot lift myself. I must take the stairs.”

  Merik nodded. “I’d heard that of wind mages. Was never certain.”

  “See what happens when you don’t kill everyone?” Edin asked.

  “I know. I had a friend once…” he looked at Madi who was stoic. There may have been a tear forming in her eye as if this friend had at some point died.

  Merik stepped on, or actually shuffled on to be more specific. Madi was just behind and then Edin spotted the streak of tears that flowed like rivers through makeup. There were scars there. Scars that were large and horrible to behold. It was as if some man had beaten her within an inch of her life.

  “Get off,” Merik said. “I gotta do this—”

  “Shut your mouth you blotard. You said you’d never hurt me…”

  “I’m not.”

  “You will if you make me leave you.”

  Edin saw Merik’s jaw shift from side to side. It was odd with one half of it bandaged. Then he nodded.

  “Yell at me to stop when you get up there,” Edin said.

  Merik nodded. “You sure you can handle this?”

  “Pretty sure,” Edin said and let the current of wind rise beneath the lift like a bubble. He could maybe even have done it with an ethereal ball.

  A moment later, the wind rushed past and the lift and people were screaming. It and the light rose at a wicked speed and Edin heard crunching and creaking above the sound of the whipping wind.

  “Sloowwww dooowwwwwnnnn!” Came from somewhere above him but they didn’t have the time. Not with people outside dying.

  He waited for about ten seconds before he slowed the lift.

  “Gods, what the fri— ow.”

  Edin heard mumbling up the shaft barely above the wind.

  “We’re at forty-seven.” Madi called down. “Slower please.”

  Edin pushed a little less hard and the wind was barely heard, and the soft glow of the oil
lantern was barely visible.

  “Stop.” Merik yelled down and Edin did then a few seconds later he yelled, “give me a minute to break the barricade.”

  There was thumping up there, quite a bit of it and then cracking. “Okay we’re off.” Merik yelled.

  Edin let go of the wind.

  There was a loud whistling sound as the lift began to fall. It grew louder and louder and Edin stepped back into the darkness. He summoned an ethereal ball and watched the shaft that was now bathed in light.

  Then Edin turned and walked out of the room. A few seconds later, there was a whoosh as the thing whipped past the opening and then a near instantaneous boom.

  For an instant, Edin thought the entire tower was shaking. But it was far too big to do that.

  Edin left the room and into the partially lit hall. He went back to the stairs and looked up. Edin adjusted his grip on the enchanted quarterstaff. “I hope you’re what you’re said to be,” Edin said under his breath and started up.

  Edin ran as fast as he could. The circular stairs were lit by candles in sconces and there were doors on the inside and windows to the out. He caught glimpses of the city, alight with flames. The fields and ocean and river were barely seen.

  One sight caught his attention. A fiery attack from the city as human soldiers raced out to fight the beasts.

  Edin turned back to the stairs and his mission. At the umpteenth or so, heck maybe a lot more, level, he heard a great roar of pain. Animalistic pain. It stopped Edin in his tracks. He was breathing fine and his legs weren’t pounding. A small sign above the door said ‘Thirty-nine.’

  So close, he thought.

  Somewhere down there, he heard movement, but it didn’t matter. The sound he heard was a beast dying or so he hoped.

  He continued, whipping past the doors and the windows ignoring the sights outside and feeling that there was something chasing him up those stairs. Something, or someone who wanted to stop him.

  Then the stairs stopped at a wall and to the left there was a large open door. Coming from the door was a pair of small candle lights.

  “Finally,” said Madi who spotted him first.

  Edin was sweating and warm and could’ve used three gallons of water, but he was at least here and not gasping for breath.