Fortress of Radiance

by Marc Alan Edelheit

  Despite the exertion of climbing the hill, Karus found the air was growing colder. It seemed the higher they went the cooler it got, which didn’t seem right, as the hill was really not tall enough to be considered a mountain and any such altitude change measured in the hundreds of feet, not thousands.

  Halfway up the hill, the air turned so cold it felt like a brisk winter day. The two suns did nothing to provide any warmth. Karus’s exposed toes began to ache a little, as did his fingers, which he began rubbing together for warmth. He was about to say something when Si’Cara, just ahead, came to an abrupt halt and knelt down. Tal’Thor did the same.

  “Someone’s ahead,” Si’Cara said quietly, pointing with her bow as Karus and Amarra came up to her.

  Sure enough, fifty yards up the slope, Karus spotted a figure. He was standing there in the middle of the trail, motionless, like a deer spotting the hunter a heartbeat before the arrow is loosed.

  Karus squinted to see better. Something wasn’t right … He couldn’t put his finger on exactly what was off about the figure. They studied him in silence, staring up the hill. The person up there didn’t move, not a muscle or an inch. Tal’Thor and Si’Cara each brought their bows up, nocking an arrow.

  Tal’Thor looked back at Karus in question.

  “Stay back,” Karus said to Amarra, who gave a nod. Then he turned back to the elf. “Let’s go.”

  They continued up the hill, moving cautiously toward the figure. Tal’Thor made a series of hand motions that Karus recognized as some sort of sign language to Si’Cara. She began working her way off the trail to the right, as Tal’Thor went left. Karus continued up the trail with the rangers on either side, flanking the person. As they neared, both rangers lowered their bows and came to an uncertain stop a few yards from the figure.

  Karus ground to a stop as well.

  It was no person, but the remains of one. Karus was both fascinated and horrified. He found himself looking upon a complete skeleton, bones bleached white by the sun. It was stopped in mid-motion, frozen, as if whoever it had been had died in the act of running downhill, fleeing some unknown threat.

  The skeleton had ragged bits of clothing clinging to it, wrapped around the waist below a badly rusted breastplate. A rusted sword was held in the right hand, and what looked like a small shield had once been held in the left. Much of the laminated shield had disintegrated, leaving behind only the metal handle, still gripped by the skeletal warrior. The rusted shield boss lay on the ground at the skeleton’s feet, where the boots had also mostly disintegrated as well. All that remained were the soles and some of the sides of the boots.

  Karus could not see what was holding the bones together and in place. It was as if someone had intentionally glued the bones to one another. He looked closer, but could see no glue or any sign of the telltale marks on the bones that would have come from carrion eaters. That was damn odd all by itself.

  He glanced around them as he realized there were no birds about. His eyes scanned the brush on either side of the trail, searching, and then the sky. There was a complete absence of birds. He couldn’t even hear any down in the forest below. With the exception of the occasional gust of wind, it was completely, eerily quiet. Karus found that unnerving.

  “I am thinking you noticed the birds,” Tal’Thor said in a hushed voice, coming nearer.

  “Yeah,” Karus said. “Last night I’d thought the dragons had scared them quiet, but now …”

  “There aren’t any bees buzzing around either,” Tal’Thor said. “No bugs in the air. Something has chased them all away.”

  Karus did not want to think about that something. If the animals had fled, there was something dire to be feared. It was likely whatever this poor soul-turned-skeleton had been fleeing.

  Karus heard the scuff of approaching footsteps. Dennig and Amarra came up. They too stared in horror on the skeletal warrior.

  “This is not a good omen.” Dennig absently ran his fingers through his beard. “Perhaps, in hindsight, I should have remained back at camp.”

  “It’s not too late. You can still go back,” Karus said.

  There was a long moment of silence as the dwarf considered his words.

  “I am a dvergr, a devout follower of the Way,” Dennig said. “Should I go now, I will lose legend. No, you will not see me running back down the hill like some fool coward.”

  “He was human,” Si’Cara said, walking completely around skeleton.

  “How can you tell?” Karus asked. “Could he not be an elf? These are your forests, after all.”

  “Our skulls are shaped differently than a human’s,” Tal’Thor answered when Si’Cara did not reply.

  “Have you ever seen anything like this?” Karus asked the ranger.

  “No,” Tal’Thor admitted, his eyes upon the skeletal warrior. “In all of my long years, this is a first.”

  Dennig stepped forward and reached out a hand toward the rusted sword.

  “I wouldn’t touch him,” Amarra said in a voice that was part whisper. It caused Dennig to freeze in mid-motion, bare inches from the skeletal warrior’s rusted sword. The dwarf looked back at Amarra in question.

  “I sense something not quite right here,” Amarra said. “Which is obvious, but I feel …” She paused and shuddered slightly, almost in revulsion. “It would be wise to touch nothing.”

  “Do so at your own risk, dwarf,” Tal’Thor said.

  “What do you mean you ‘feel’?” Dennig asked, ignoring the elf. He stepped back and away from the skeleton.

  “She is a revered daughter to the High Father, his chosen priestess,” Si’Cara said, as if that was answer enough for the dwarf.

  “You would do well to listen,” Karus added.

  “I believe I might do just that.” Dennig looked from Si’Cara to Amarra, eyes appraising her. His gaze settled briefly upon the staff, which was emitting a sullen blue glow. Dennig scratched under his beard at an itch, eyes narrowing.

  “I think we should push on,” Karus said. He wanted to get the sword and be done, returning forthwith to his legion. “Anyone have a problem with that?”

  No one voiced any objections.

  They started forward, once again following the winding path up the hill. The grade increased steeply the nearer they got to the summit. Despite the air becoming quite chill, Karus found that he was starting to perspire from the effort, for the quality of the trail worsened the higher they got.

  They passed another frozen skeletal warrior, this one a dwarf. He also appeared to be in the act of fleeing down the hill, running for all he was worth. Dennig said nothing as they moved by, but his face tightened and his fingers began to repeatedly comb through his beard. It seemed like a nervous habit.

  The nearer they got to the summit of the hill and the fortress, the more skeletal warriors they encountered—dwarves, humans, and what looked like an orc. The tusks were a dead giveaway. There were no elves, though. All were frozen. One was half-turned and staring back up the hill in what Karus assumed might have been horror.

  “What were they fleeing?” Dennig asked.

  “I think the real question is, what evil magic did this?” Karus pointed with his sword at the nearest skeleton. He suddenly felt foolish for still having it out and sheathed the weapon. Then he noticed the elves. Each had an arrow nocked and ready.

  “I do not want to find out,” Dennig said.

  “I could not agree more,” Karus said.

  The walls of the fortress loomed above them now, only thirty yards distant. They were almost completely covered over in thick ivy, with only spots of sun-bleached stone peeking through. Parts of the wall at the top had collapsed, giving the battlements a sort of sawtooth look. The closer they came, the more the fortress gave off the appearance of serious neglect, almost a complete ruin.

  The path ran up around the side of the hill, ultimately leading them to a wooden double-door gate that looked solid, well-preserved, and surprisingly intact, given how the walls showed t
heir age. A number of frozen skeletal warriors were clustered about the gate. Karus counted them. There were twenty in total. Most were human. Two were dwarves.

  “What could have done this?” Karus asked, more to himself than anyone else.

  No one answered, almost as if they dared not.

  Karus glanced over at Amarra. She was studying several of the frozen skeletal warriors. Then her gaze went to the gate. After a moment, she closed her eyes, breathing slowly in and then out, as if steeling herself to make the effort just to continue to move forward. She opened her eyes and there was determination in them.

  “I think we should try the gate.” Amarra’s voice was a whisper, as if for fear of waking the skeletal warriors. She blew on her hands for warmth, then rubbed them together. “Be sure not to touch them. Don’t even brush up against them if you can help it.”

  When no one moved, Karus took the lead and started forward. He glanced back and saw the others following a few yards behind him. Karus carefully worked his way between the skeletal warriors. As he weaved a path through their midst, the temperature continued to drop. With each and every step nearer the gate, the air became more bitter, seeming to leach the warmth from his body.

  His breath began to steam. Karus gritted his teeth to keep them from chattering as his fingers and toes began to ache terribly from the cold. He shuddered in the biting air. It felt almost as if death were reaching out from the great beyond to claim him, as if the warmth of the living world around him were fading. Was this what it was like when the ferryman carried you across the great river?

  He glanced back at Amarra to make sure she was okay, wondering if she was experiencing the same thing. He saw her breath steam in the air. Karus continued on, one careful step after another.

  As he came to within five feet of the gate, he suddenly found he had some difficulty moving forward. It was as if he were walking through waist-high water. It took effort to keep his legs going. He stopped, wondering what was wrong, and glanced down at his feet. Nothing appeared wrong with them, but the simple movement of looking seemed to take an eternity. Time had slowed down for him. Or was it that he was moving faster than time? Had the world slowed?

  Turning took even more effort, as if the bitingly cold air was actively resisting him, fighting against his movement. He looked back at the others and saw expressions of alarm. Whatever was hampering him was also affecting them. With every passing breath, it was becoming incredibly difficult to move. In a shorter time than it took to count to ten, Karus could no longer turn his body to face back front. He was frozen in place, just like the skeletal warriors.

  Then, in a heartbeat, he could no longer move all, not even a finger. He strained for all he was worth. Nothing. He was completely frozen, like an insect caught in amber. The chill of the air stinging his fingers and hands had gone from a painfully aching sensation to one of growing numbness.

  With alarming clarity, Karus understood that the strength was rapidly being leached out of his body as the biting cold grew more intense. Once, many years before, while ice fishing in the dead of winter, the ice beneath his feet had unexpectedly given way and he had plunged into the frigid waters of the lake. This was nearly the same feeling. Like then, his body rapidly numbed after the initial shock. Karus knew he had just mere moments before the cold completely took him. Yet, he did not know what to do. Nor could he see how to break the magic that was doing its best to kill him.

  Death was close at hand.

  His eyes sought out Amarra and saw her in a similar state. He wanted to call out to her, to protect her as he ought to be able to … but there was absolutely nothing he could do. He was thoroughly stuck.

  His chest felt compressed and he began having difficulty breathing.

  High Father, Karus begged with desperation as his vision began to tunnel and then dim. He felt himself on the verge of passing out. Please don’t let it end this way.

  The intensity of the cold slackened slightly and a smidgen of warmth returned to his chest. Had he imagined it? Karus’s fingers began to sting. A moment ago they’d been completely numb from the cold. He struggled to move, hoping against hope he could break free. His pinky finger twitched, then the rest of his fingers!

  Karus swallowed and was able to open his mouth. He sucked in a gasping breath of air as a drowning man might. His vision began to return.

  “High Father,” Karus gasped, with all his heart. “Help us fight this evil magic.”

  Karus felt the force holding him in place slacken even more. A moment later, he saw Amarra begin to move as well. Her lips were moving silently in what he took to be prayer.

  Help had been granted, the spell broken by faith.

  Karus was able to move his legs. He staggered a step. The cold retreated even more. He could feel the warmth of the suns against his face. It felt wonderful. He gulped in another deep breath. The fresh air was bliss.

  “Thank you, High Father,” Karus said. As if an ice dam had broken under the strain of the meltwaters, he was suddenly and completely free from the magic.

  The cold was gone, like it had never been. His breath no longer steamed. He took a shuddering breath as he gazed upon the nearest skeleton. Karus now understood. These poor souls had died, frozen in place, all from a lack of faith. It had been a simple trap. Those who had faith in the High Father could advance. Those who did not would become frozen and die. It was a terrible way to go, but Karus had long since learned there was really no good way to die. When your time was up, that was it. If you were lucky, your death would occur with friends or family at your side.

  He looked over at Amarra and their eyes met. She was free, too, and for that tender mercy Karus felt a wave of relief wash over him. She flashed him a huge smile, full of white teeth, clearly relieved to have escaped the trap. Karus’s eyes moved to his companions. In alarm, he realized Si’Cara, Tal’Thor, and Dennig were still frozen in place. He rushed over to the nearest, Si’Cara.

  “The answer is faith,” Karus shouted at them, hoping they could still hear him. “Pray to the High Father. Ask him for help, beg him.”

  “Faith will free you,” Amarra said desperately and reached out a hand to Si’Cara’s arm. She almost immediately snatched it back, as if she’d been burned by fire. Amarra shook her hand. “Faith will free you!”

  Nothing happened.

  “Come on, Si’Cara,” Karus urged. “Pray to your god. Ask for his help.”

  Si’Cara took a great shuddering breath, gasping for air. She moved her head, looking over at Amarra, tears filling her eyes. Si’Cara’s fingers twitched, then an arm. In mere heartbeats, she began to move with greater freedom. Then she was completely free of the spell. Si’Cara rested her hands upon her thighs, sucking in gulps of air. She straightened and turned to Tal’Thor.

  “Pray,” she ordered, moving to her husband’s side. “Pray as the priestess instructed. Return to the High Father and he will free you as he did me.”

  There was gasp from Dennig. Karus glanced over and saw the dwarf beginning to move freely.

  “Do it,” Si’Cara said urgently.

  “I didn’t think that would work,” Dennig gasped, “not one bit, but I figured, as it was the end, I might as well give it my all. Though I prayed to my family’s patron, Thulla, and not your god.”

  “Thulla stands with the High Father,” Amarra said, her eyes on Tal’Thor, who had yet to move. He remained frozen stiff, locked in the magic.

  “Pray, accept the High Father,” Amarra said, stepping nearer. She tapped her staff on the ground. It flashed with light. “I can’t do it for you. The spell is countered by faith. Only those who believe may pass.”

  “Do it!” Si’Cara screamed at him, desperation creeping into her voice.

  Tal’Thor was turning blue in the face. His eyes moved from Amarra to Si’Cara. Karus read in them panic. They heard a rattle of breath escape from his lungs. Si’Cara said something rapidly to him in Elven, anguish plain for all to witness. Nothing seemed to happen and
Karus began to get a sinking feeling. Tal’Thor’s eyelids closed.

  The ranger was going to die.

  Si’Cara gave a cry of grief.

  Tal’Thor gasped, sucking in air. His eyes snapped open. The bluish hue to his cheeks began to rapidly fade. His color returned in a rush as he began to stiffly move. He turned toward Si’Cara, a trace of a grin on his face. She shouted something in Elven and lunged forward, throwing her arms around him and knocking him to the ground. She shook him roughly as if angry, then hugged him tightly. She began kissing him on the face and then lips. He kissed her back, then said something in Elven.

  “Well,” Dennig said, bouncing on his heels and glancing uncomfortably away, “I guess perhaps there is hope for them as a couple after all.”

  “Yesterday, on the warden’s orders, he tried to kill her,” Karus said to the dwarf.

  “Is that so?” The dwarf turned his gaze back upon the happy couple. “It’s a complicated relationship, then. What’s love without a little thing like attempted murder, eh?” Dennig flashed Karus a smirk, then gave a heaving sigh. “It looks like all is forgiven.”

  “No.” Si’Cara stood, leaving Tal’Thor on the ground, lying upon his back and gazing up at the sky. “Nothing is forgiven. My husband still needs to earn that.”

  Tal’Thor groaned and slowly pulled himself to his feet. He glanced at the frozen skeletal warriors and flashed a relieved grin, full of needle-sharp teeth. Karus had seen such grins before. They were driven by the elation at having cheated death and survived.

  “That was unexpected.” Tal’Thor’s grin faded and he sobered. He turned to Amarra. “I never thought to regain my faith, ever. Thank you.”

  “The High Father welcomes you back,” Amarra said. “He is not only forgiving but loving. He is also the one who deserves your thanks.”

  “He has it,” Tal’Thor said as he bent down and picked up his bow and arrows, which he had dropped.

  Si’Cara fell to her knees before Amarra.

  “Would you bless me, mistress?”