by Mark Boutros
‘Yeah. Follow us.’ Marlens walked towards the tavern.
‘Hold on,’ Sags said.
Marlens stopped.
‘Today seems like a day of great celebration. So…’ Sags took Frong’s hands and looked into his eyes. ‘Frong, thank you for always sticking by me, even when I could only communicate with grunts.’
Frong shrugged. ‘Well, I had nowhere else to go, no other friends, and you’re the keeper of the gold in this coupling.’
Sags chuckled and nodded. ‘We’ve had some incredible adventures. We’ve seen mountains, seas, forests, beasts, relics and tribes.’
Sabrinia squeezed Karl’s hand.
Frong raised a finger. ‘And we’ve consumed many a delicious beverage in the tavern.’
‘That too.’ Sags released Frong’s hands and pulled a necklace of different coloured pebbles from his pocket.
Marlens grinned and placed a hand on her chest.
Sags dropped to both knees. ‘I’ll never tire of your stories, and I’ll never ask you to cut your beard.’ He held the necklace up. ‘These pebbles are from different adventures we’ve had over thousands of sunsets. Are you ready to go on a new one?’
Frong raised his hands to his mouth. ‘Sags… Wha… Do you?’
Karl wished he and Sabrinia could have this moment. He’d planned to propose by giving her a book with drawings of all the monsters they had come up with playing three-word monster. The drawings were awful, but the love he had put into the book would have made Sabrinia happy. He swallowed the disappointment that the book would remain in a crate.
Frong dropped to his knees and bent his head forward. He dabbed his beard against his eyes.
Sags placed the necklace around Frong’s neck, pulled his beard through it and they embraced.
‘I can’t believe it,’ Frong said.
Sabrinia smiled at Karl. ‘I’ll ask the bakers to make a special meal.’ She walked away.
Karl watched her. The happiness of the moment was dampened with regret that he couldn’t stop her marrying Arazod. If only he had arrived faster. He shook the thought out of his mind. This was Frong and Sags’ moment to celebrate. ‘I didn’t think this day could get any better,’ Karl said.
Marlens put a hand on his shoulder. ‘We’ll see about that.’
A Second Chance
Karl walked through the wooden door of the Adventurer Tavern, where Bar Witch sprinkled spices into a barrel of ale.
Arazod’s old axe, the Soul Bleeder, hung on the wall behind the bar.
Karl scratched his cheek and held his helmet. ‘Sags, you know, I always imagined your voice would be more…echoey. Like a powerful being.’
‘Sorry to disappoint you.’ He cleared his throat and in a deep voice said, ‘How about this?’
The hairs on Karl’s neck stood on end and he laughed. ‘Speak however you want. This is just amazing.’
Frong dipped a flask into one of the barrels and drank the brown contents. ‘Delicious,’ he told Bar Witch. He took an old leather-bound book from a shelf by the fire.
Marlens led Karl to a back room full of barrels.
Karl smiled. ‘Are we going to the secret room? I love the secret room.’
‘You know it.’ Marlens took a blindfold from a shelf.
‘Can my present be that you let me see how you get in?’ Karl asked.
‘Sorry, Karl,’ Frong said. ‘Information is dangerous, and a room that will one day be full of magic relics is attractive to evil-doers. If you don’t know how to get in, you’re less likely to get tortured for the knowledge.’
The thought that someone would torture anyone else reminded Karl that evil would always exist. ‘I get it.’
Marlens tied the blindfold over Karl’s eyes.
‘You see,’ Frong said. ‘The primary reason for torture is not pleasure, but to find out information. It all started with a queen in Hazmash, a castle north of Flowfornia, two hundred and forty sunsets by boat—’
‘Please, it’s my day of birth. I know it’s been a while, but can we avoid the stories just for today?’
‘Okay, I’ll tell you the rest tomorrow. Perhaps I’ll remember more of it,’ Frong said.
Barrels rolled and stone scraped. Something clicked and a door opened. Strong hands gripped Karl’s shoulders and ushered him forwards.
A faint green glow flooded the blindfold. ‘What’s going on?’ His face warmed.
Sags lifted the blindfold from Karl’s face.
A glowing green orb dazzled Karl’s eyes. He squinted. ‘Is that orb some kind of food?’
Frong patted him on the back. ‘It would be a waste to eat it.’
‘We agreed no stories until tomorrow.’ Karl detected Frong was about to launch into one.
‘This one is worth listening to.’ Sags removed his armour and placed it against the wall.
Frong took the relic. The green glowed against his beard, giving him a mystical aura. ‘This is not a normal relic, Karl. This is a god in a relic.’
Karl blinked, not sure what anything meant.
‘Maybe you should sit, Karl.’ Marlens placed the jar containing the hair of the wizard-lizard on one of the empty plinths lining the stone walls, then grabbed a stool from next to the entrance.
Karl sat and faced Frong, who opened the book. ‘When the world began, it was just Mother Hastovia. While it is more favourable today to believe the world is just flat land—’
‘Because it is,’ Karl said.
‘Well, in the past we believed the world was her without doubt.’ Frong showed Karl a page with a sketching of a map. The central islands and oceans formed the body of a woman with her arms stretched above her head. ‘Where we are is somewhere on the right knee.’ Frong placed his finger over the location. ‘Tens of thousands of sunsets to the north, the land of mountains is the chest area. Then there’s a canyon that is the neck, before you get to a large pit, a couple of caves that go underground into her nostrils, and craters that make up her eyes. Her energy is what created the eight gods.’
‘And the relic?’ Karl asked.
‘Patience.’ Frong scratched his beard and turned the page to a drawing of a muscular woman rising from the waves. ‘You had Octorion. She was born of the force of the thrashing waves and her role was to feed nature. She was as gentle as the sea settling on the shore, but also as brutal as a typhoon.’
‘Okay…’ Karl still didn’t understand the relic.
Frong turned the page to a drawing of a tall woman wrapped in twigs that snaked around her body. ‘Naturais was formed by the breath of trees, and she created the Heart of Hastovia you saw in Lake Shizneh. There are smaller trees of this kind on other islands, tasked with feeding trees around the world, allowing the beauty of Mother Hastovia to flourish.’
Frong turned another page to a drawing of a winged wolf, who didn’t have the look of a friendly god. ‘There was Shardur, the youngest and the keeper of darkness, born from the underground from the dirt and decay.’
‘Seems she got the short straw.’
‘She was the god of shadow and darkness.’ Frong cleared his throat. ‘And we live in a world of balance and opposites, so where there is darkness, there must be light.’ He held the orb to Karl’s face.
Karl moved his head back, fearful of the hot energy radiating from the orb.
‘This is Illuminus.’ Frong turned the page to the drawing of a woman sat atop a mountain. She was the most human, bathed in light. ‘She was the god of light. She formed at the highest point in Hastovia, on Mount Lamors, believed to be Mother Hastovia’s nose, where the sun creates the most warmth.’
‘Why’s she in an orb?’
‘We’ll get there.’ Frong handed the orb to Marlens.
‘Please! This is like listening to someone explain a really boring dream.’
‘Patience, Karl.’
Karl shook his head and looked at Sags, who chuckled.
Frong turned the page to another drawing – an angry-looking horned man ma
de of fire, riding the wind. ‘You had Pyralus, the god of wind and flame. When wind got caught in a volcano, it caused chaos in the heat and from the violence he erupted into birth. They say when the wind howls, that’s him crying.’
‘Why is he crying?’
‘We’ll get to that.’
Karl huffed. ‘Why won’t you answer any of the questions about interesting bits?’
‘There is a specific order of events.’
Karl folded his arms. ‘It’s a boring order.’
‘There was Eratul, who emerged from stone and storm when lightning destroyed Mount Forgul.’ Frong turned the page to a drawing of a woman made of stone, stood at the base of a ruined mountain holding a flail that crackled with lightning. ‘She created the rune stones and formed new mountains to balance the weather.’
Karl tapped his feet against the ground.
Frong turned the page to text. ‘There is a god nobody ever saw, but they claim to have heard. These are the stories of people stricken by her words.’
Karl studied the text. It was a mess of words and scratched letters that made no sense.
‘They call her Deranga, for people were never the same after they heard her voice. There is no story of where she came from and she never appeared with the other gods.’
‘And finally?’
‘Finally, there was Death.’ Frong turned the page to a drawing of a wraith wearing a tatty cloak. His scythe-like nails resembled blades and where there should have been eyes there was only darkness.
Karl shuddered. ‘He doesn’t look like much fun.’
‘He was born from a combination of light and dark energy. His job was the most important. Energetic harmony. He existed within the realms of life and death, and when there was a build-up of negative energy he would collect it in his eyes and cloak and then release it into the Realm of the Dead. He would also help lost souls to find each other.’
‘He should work on his appearance if he wants to avoid being judged as scary.’
‘He and Illuminus were in love, which made some of the others jealous.’ Frong closed the book, The Godly Godsfolk: Third Edition. ‘If you ever want to read more on each god, you can borrow this.’
Karl smiled. ‘I think I’ll pass. Why’s it edition three?’
‘You know. Stories change. New learnings happen. Before it was ten gods.’ Frong chuckled.
Karl sighed. ‘So the relic?’
‘Yes. The gods created people and creatures as a gift to Mother Hastovia. They worked together to do so, and their creations roamed Hastovia with them. It was great until the numbers grew.’ Frong stroked his beard. ‘The gods told people not to overdo it with the reproducing, but they didn’t listen. It was often hot, and they lacked restraint. There are only so many games you can play with rocks and sticks before reproducing becomes the preferred leisure activity.’ Frong chuckled. ‘It meant the gods had less time to spend with everyone. If someone needed help at the same time as another, the gods would be overstretched and someone would be let down. To help, they created relics, as you’ve seen. Items to assist for whatever they were in need of.’
‘You’re still not telling me about this particular relic.’
‘Relax. It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey there.’
‘I’ll die of old age before this journey’s over,’ Karl said.
‘So, power corrupts. And some people used their new power to harm. Octorion, Eratul and Pyralus had enough and punished those who did wrong, but they went too far. Death caught them slaughtering a village, so he battered Eratul as a warning. The others apologised and swore they would no longer harm people, but they lied. They intimidated Naturais into helping them to capture Illuminus. With the use of Eratul’s rune magic, they sealed her in a rune.’
‘Why?’
‘Because Death was the most powerful, the purest balance of energy. Having no heart and being able to exist in both realms made him invincible. He could appear as a phantom, or cross into the land of the living to attack and then vanish again, so they used his only weakness to make him appear in front of them. Love.’
Marlens handed Karl the orb. Behind muscular fibres was a green ocean and sandy shore, where a woman sat with her head between her knees.
‘They used Illuminus to command Death, saying that if he didn’t do as they wished they would destroy the rune with Illuminus in it. So they made him kill people, the beings he loved. It was a massacre.’
Karl shook his head. ‘That’s horrible.’
Frong nodded. ‘It seems they were worse than the corrupted people. However, Naturais felt guilty and secretly loved Death, so she stole the Soul of Illuminus rune. Death thanked her, but when Naturais confessed she did it because she loved him and hoped he would be with her, he killed her for her selfish motives. The other gods found him as his nails shredded her tree-like body, and before Death could take Illuminus, Pyralus grabbed her. They used Illuminus to make him come into the world of the living, where with rune magic and the power of their combined elements, they froze Death. Ending his existence was too merciful, and they wanted him to think and to suffer for eternity.’
‘So he’s frozen somewhere, just remembering all of this over and over?’ A chill shot through Karl’s body.
Frong nodded.
‘Shardur offered to take the rune into the dark realm and leave Illuminus to suffer forever among the souls of the damned, but she loved Illuminus, so she must have hidden her in our world instead. We found the Soul of Illuminus in an underwater cave. And now is the part of the story you will be interested in.’
‘Really? All that for one part?’
‘There are many types of rune magic. Among them are complex spells that are used to harm, and sealing spells. Those work by sealing power and turning it into a rune. That rune can then be used, but only once – almost like a farewell to a power. In war, runes would be made from captured warriors and used against the enemy. A final, poetic punishment. Your power used to damn your people.’ Frong turned his head. ‘Marlens?’
She nodded. ‘Illuminus had the main power when it came to creating beings. You know, her light was life and warmth and all that. So this rune – well, it can be used to bring someone back from the dead.’
Karl’s eyes widened. ‘Are you sure? This isn’t like that portal story all over again, Frong?’
Marlens nodded. ‘I studied lots on energy and runes. There are stories of Illuminus resurrecting people whose lives were ended by things like murder and sickness. She was the original healer.’
Sags put an arm around Karl. ‘You know how you only knew your mother for less than a day?’
Karl’s limbs weakened and tears filled his eyes. The image of his mother, Larnela, lying in his arms, her blood seeping through his fingers invaded his mind, as fresh as the day it happened.
‘Happy day of birth, Karl,’ Sags said.
Welcome Back
Karl walked towards the cemetery. He clutched the orb, his chance to mend a wound on his life. His body burned with power – exciting and terrifying. Nobody should have this, but he would get to see his mother. He would get to have a relationship with her and ask her all the questions he never got a chance to. He’d get to hug her.
Sags, Frong and Marlens followed.
‘You okay?’ Sags asked.
Karl stopped. He looked at the orb and remembered the life draining from his mother’s face. It wasn’t fair. ‘I think I should do this alone.’
‘Are you sure?’ Sags asked.
Karl nodded. ‘Thanks. I just think it would be weird if everyone was there. It might startle her.’
Frong placed a hand on Karl’s shoulder. ‘Understood.’ He raised a finger. ‘Just remember. You have to touch the Soul of Illuminus to her chest, on the heart. Or if she’s a bag of bones, where the heart would be, which is about here.’ He poked his finger into Karl’s chest.
Karl appreciated everything they’d done. ‘See you soon, with my mother next to me.’
Sags smiled. ‘We’ll save you both some food.’
‘Don’t make promises you can’t keep,’ Marlens said.
Karl smiled. He walked through the alleys, ignoring the usual sounds of people selling food and strange items, until he arrived at the cemetery gate.
‘Karl,’ Sabrinia called out.
He turned. Her face glowed.
‘Where are you going?’ she asked.
‘I’m just going to visit my mum’s grave. I’ll join you all in a moment.’
‘What’s that?’ She nodded at the orb.
‘This?’ She too had lost a loved one. Maybe he should offer it to her. No. It was his. ‘It’s just a fancy stone I want to lay by her grave. Supposed to bring her peace in the Realm of the Dead.’
Sabrinia nodded. ‘Well, I’ll see you back in the courtyard?’
‘Yeah.’ Karl kissed her on the cheek and entered the cemetery.
He stood in front of his mother’s blue gravestone, carved with her name – Larnela. He didn’t know their family name. ‘Hi, Mum. Still feels weird that I didn’t get to call you that more.’ Karl took a breath, his body numb. ‘If this works, we’ll be able to get to know each other.’ His eyes flooded. He wondered if he should have food and water to offer her straight away in case she didn’t want to see other people, but realised none of that mattered. He needed her back first.
Karl stared into the orb. Illuminus had her head in her knees. He wondered if she was in that position when the other gods trapped her.
He was sure her head moved so brought the orb up to his eye. Illuminus shot to her feet and screamed at Karl. He dropped the orb.
Karl picked it up and held it at arm’s length.
‘Life is death!’ she yelled. ‘Life is death!’
‘Life is death?’ Karl repeated. He shrugged and dropped to his knees, placed the orb by Larnela’s stone and used his sword to dig into the soil. He didn’t care if anyone watched. He uncovered the top of her coffin and stared at it, his mouth dry and his throat aching. He dug his nails into the coffin and pulled at a plank.