Keeper's Fate (Silver Ones Curse Book 2)

by B. W. Catt

  Keeper's Fate

  Silver Ones Curse, Volume 2

  B.W. Catt

  Published by B.W. Catt, 2021.

  This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

  KEEPER'S FATE

  First edition. February 28, 2021.

  Copyright © 2021 B.W. Catt.

  Written by B.W. Catt.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  One

  Two

  Three

  Four

  Five

  Six

  Seven

  Eight

  Nine

  Ten

  Eleven

  Twelve

  Thirteen

  Fourteen

  Fifteen

  Sixteen

  Seventeen

  Eighteen

  Nineteen

  Twenty

  One

  Woldiniar jumped up. "That was some good sleeping magic!"

  He looked around the room. It was dark with moonlight creeping through cracks of the wood above. Sanu and Denias were sitting in a corner glaring at him. He saw two figures lying on top of each other. He squinted to see who it was; Elin and Sebial.

  "WHAT?! Get away from my student!" Woldiniar charged towards the two of them, stopping just short of grabbing her away. "I see. They have been put to sleep with powerful magic."

  "I guess it's time we started talking." Sanu walked over to Woldiniar. "We woke up first. I believe you slept longer than us due to eating two loaves. We pretended to be asleep when we heard them drag those two in. It seems the loaf they shared would have taken forever, so they used a different method."

  "I see. Any idea where they have taken us?" Woldiniar asked as he yanked on the door. He quickly removed his hands. "They put up a barrier, a strong one at that. This will take time."

  Denias glanced at a crack in the ceiling while taking a deep breath. "They mentioned something about using us to stave off the creatures who come at night. From the smell of the air outside, it seems they put us in the opening of a cave or maybe next to one."

  "Hmm, that means we are out of the village. That part is good. So, whatever cursed them to stay the same shall not affect us. Well, now that we are all here, I should get us out. Given, this will take some time since that barrier was done by another..." he let his words drift off. Woldiniar glanced down at Sebial and Elin sleeping with disdain. Kneeling beside them, he placed his hands on their foreheads.

  His eyes turned cold as he looked at Denias and Sanu. "Whoever did this can use magic similar to mine."

  Woldiniar closed his eyes and began to focus on the energy of their bodies. He began to whisper in a foreign tongue. Black strings of magic slowly exited their bodies, dissipating into the air. Sebial and Elin began to stir. Woldiniar removed his hands, looking over at Sanu and Denias.

  "I was able to remove most of the effects. It will take them a while to fully wake up."

  "That is unfortunate," Denias said while crossing his arms. "I guess we will remain here a little longer."

  Sanu nodded. "It seems that way. What do we do if they show up before these ones wake?"

  Woldiniar rubbed his chin. "I do not know. I have no idea what these 'creatures' could be. If it is something simple like orcs, then we are fine."

  Sanu and Denias shook from Woldiniar's words.

  "We do not like dealing with such beasts of old," Sanu said while staring off in thought. "Those things are best to be known as folklore to the young now."

  Woldiniar chuckled. "I agree, only creatures like them could cause such a panic to men." Pausing to think more. "The magic that was cast on Sebial and Elin was caused by a warlock. The curse on the village and the thought of these creatures. It could be..." he shook his head as fear overcame him. "It couldn't be, yet it could be him. Before the worlds, there was a warlock who could control demonic beasts. He took pleasure in watching 'livestock' run; he was the worst of the original nine."

  Denias walked over to Woldiniar. "You cannot mean the Warlock of Ice, could you?"

  "Yes, Nalenero, known by many as the Warlock of Ice. Yet, stories said he was destroyed by the elves. I did deal with him a few times, it always ended in a draw. I think he enjoyed playing with me; I was one of seven warlocks with power matched to his."

  "How could you have dealt with him? That would insinuate you are..."

  Woldiniar raised his hand to Denias, green smoke appeared, quickly wrapping itself around Denias' mouth. "Do not speak of a warlock's age elf! That is disrespectful."

  Woldiniar closed his hand, causing the smoke to disappear. Denias gave him an apologetic look.

  Sanu interrupted them both. "It couldn't be him. There are no signs of ice magic being used here."

  Both Woldiniar and Denias glanced at Sanu before looking back at each other, laughing.

  "He was called the Warlock of Ice because he had no love. He was the opposite of The Flame. It was a name the people gave him, among many others. But that is the name that has carried through the centuries," Woldiniar explained while wiping tears of laughter from his face.

  "I forgot how young you are, Sanu. Only four hundred years, if I recall correctly. So, the orcs you witnessed were the remaining few that escaped into the southern region when Nalenero was thought to have been destroyed?" Denias asked.

  "That age is close enough," Sanu responded, annoyed by both Woldiniar and Denias.

  "Where am I?" Sebial coughed to clear her raspy throat.

  The three of them looked down to see Sebial sitting up, her hair tussled. Elin rubbed his eyes but stayed asleep.

  "Good morning, my beautiful student. Or should I say good evening?" Woldiniar smiled.

  Sebial went to stand but immediately felt dizzy; sitting down again, she rubbed her forehead. "I don't feel well. What happened?"

  "We figured as much. You both were knocked out with a very strong and old spell. Be thankful it was just a sleeping spell." Woldiniar continued. "As soon as you both can stand, we are leaving."

  Sebial looked around more. "Elin and I were headed to the stables. We noticed more villagers near us than before, so we began to walk faster. Now we are here."

  "I see. So, they distracted you both from the warlock's presence. He used them as decoys while he cast the sleeping spell on you." Denias said as he approached her.

  Woldiniar nodded. "That makes sense elf. My student is sensitive to magic and would have noticed right away."

  "Elin would have noticed as well. He may be a lot younger than I, but he is more sensitive than most of the realm guards."

  "I see, so he managed to fool them. That is displeasing. A guard of the realms and Sebial born of The Flame, both fell. It seems this is the work of Nalnero. He has been missing for hundreds of years. If he has been keeping it simple with small villages, then it would make sense no one noticed him toying with these lives."

  Elin jumped up. "Let us leave. I hear many footprints approaching us."

  Everyone looked at Elin, standing uneasily from the sleeping spell.

  Sanu looked at Elin. "How many?"

  "At least a hundred. I cannot tell what they are. They feel human; however," Elin closed his eyes to feel them. "something is different."

  "Different? Different how?" Denias walked over to the crack in the wall, peering through.

  Elin lay his head back on the ground to listen again. "Yes, they feel altered. They do not feel human anymore. They seem to be a mix between death, life, and beast."

  Denias ground his teeth. "I see. Woldiniar, it seems you may be right."

  "Yes, it seems I am
." Woldiniar sighed while running his hand through his hair. "We must leave at once."

  Elin looked at Denias and Woldiniar, confused. "Right about what?"

  Woldiniar sighed. "We spoke of the chances that there are orcs involved. What you are describing not quite being human sounds like an orc."

  Elin looked at Woldiniar. He laughed. "Orcs are gone! Those are what we tell the young ones to keep them from wandering."

  "No, they aren't.” Woldiniar's tone turned serious. "The magic used here all points to one. He was the creator of orcs. It seems the tales of his defeat were a lie."

  Elin's face turned serious. "Then let us leave. Let me help you up." He reached his hand down to Sebial.

  Woldiniar walked to the door. "It will take me only a moment to remove the spell." He placed his hands on the door and closed his eyes. Woldiniar began to mumble angrily. "Of course, you did. After centuries you still play these ridiculous games."

  He looked back at the others. "He did not cast just one but over a hundred different sealing spells, and he has them all intertwined with each other. This will take me at least one night if not two of work."

  "We don't have that time! They will arrive here before sunrise!" Denias yelled.

  "Yelling will not change the fact that I am out of touch with these riddles. It would be faster if I had another warlock here to help, but it seems I just have three young elves and one dumb student."

  Sebial glared. "I am not dumb. Let me try, Woldiniar."

  She walked over to the door. Woldiniar grabbed her arm. "Do not." He let her arm go, looking back to the door with frustration. "These are meant to trap your mind in its tangled web. You do not have the resolve to help yet. Your mind and magic are still weak. It seems I must do this alone. You four rest while I work. I will be tired when this is over."

  "I am weak because you have not taught me," Sebial mumbled while walking towards the others.

  Two

  Woldiniar placed his hands back on the door and began to focus. Strands of different colors began to wrap around his arms, his hands glowed white against the door. He could see the strings tying the spells together. He decided to undo one at a time, yet he knew some were there for no purpose but to throw him off. The strength of all the spells was equal. None easier than the other.

  Woldiniar grabbed the first web. His mind began to race through scenes of the night Sebial, and he escaped Pasuria. Reliving the moments pulled him in further to the web. He failed to save the king and queen. His job only to protect the heir, Sebial.

  "Woldiniar, let me go." Sebi cried out to him. "Your grasp is too tight."

  Sebi looked back to the festival and then to Woldiniar.

  "You left mother and father back there! Go get my parents!"

  Woldiniar stopped running. He looked down at Sebi, using his hand to cover Sebi's mouth. "Do not yell, Sebi. I only promised your safety. Never theirs. They agreed to the terms long before you were born. Your destiny is not supposed to end here!"

  Woldiniar picked up Sebi and began to run atop the trees, making it harder for those behind to spot them. Sebi looked over Woldiniar's shoulder. Tears streamed down his face as he listened to the sounds of fighting. He wiped away his tears. Sebi's eyes flickered red, he held out his left hand to the festival. The bracelet began to glow a bright red, flames began to emit from his hand.

  "Dammit, Sebi! Can you not just stop! I need you to control your emotions!" Woldiniar spoke into Sebi's ear.

  "I will save them! Even if you will not help me!"

  Woldiniar shook his head. "I am sorry Sebi, we will talk more about this later, but for now, you must sleep."

  Woldiniar placed his hand over Sebi's head. Green mist enveloped Sebi's body, putting him to sleep.

  He continued to run even after the sun was high in the sky.

  "Put me down," a groggy Sebi Spoke while yawning.

  "Not yet. There is a stream on the other side of the valley. We will rest there."

  "We need to go back."

  "We cannot. Your life will end if we do."

  "Then let it end!" Sebi cried out. "I do not wish to live if my parents and kingdom are gone!"

  "Enough, Sebi," Woldiniar whistled, putting Sebi back to sleep.

  "My young student, Pasuria, is gone. You will not be able to return until I stop whoever it is that wishes to control your magic." They continued to ramble as they approached the stream.

  Woldiniar carefully lay Sebi down. He stretched his arms and cracked his back before walking over to the stream to drink. He looked at his reflection in the water. His robe adorned with trinkets given to him by the king's and queen's who ruled our Pasuria over the centuries. He yanked them off. Woldiniar rubbed his fingers over the jewels and medals. He let out a sigh before tossing them into the stream. They quickly fell deeper out of view.

  Woldiniar stood up and looked back at Sebi.

  "It’s time to be true. My dearest student. You need to be whom you were born as." He approached the sleeping child. He knelt, placing his hand on Sebi’s head.

  “Remove the lie before me.

  Unveil the truth

  hiding beneath this warlock’s hand.”

  Sebi’s body began to glow a bright blue. Woldiniar lifted his hand from Sebi. He looked down and smiled.

  “Now the world will see what your parents and I have hidden, Sebial. And you can enjoy wearing dresses without fear of anyone knowing you were the next chosen child of The Flame." Woldiniar smiled and looked up at the sky. Birds flew over them towards the north. He nodded. “It seems we will be going north. But for now, we rest.”

  Three

  “Daybreak is almost here. How long do you think this will take, Woldiniar?” A voice came from the back corner of the room.

  They jumped to see a figure slowly approaching from the darkness of the corner. Sebial squinted, trying to see who it was coming forward.

  “He has lost touch with his skills, hasn’t he?”

  “Who are you?” Elin quickly closed the distance between him and the figure in the corner.

  “Oh, my mistake. I thought Sebial could tell it was me. It appears that spell took a number on her.”

  “I know you?” Sebial peered around Elin.

  “Of course, you do!” he stepped into the light.

  He had a huge smile on his face. His robe, glistening in the moonlight.

  “Kalon! How are you here? You look different though.” Sebial walked over to Kalon. “Your ears! You said you were an elf."

  He rubbed his ears and gave a devious smile. “Well, I can’t advertise I’m a warlock. Beyond that dearie, Shalerie said I was to follow you since she knew Woldiniar would mess something up again. So here I am,” he waved a hand into the air. “watching him do just that,” Kalon sighed.

  “Messing up? How?” Elin asked.

  “I taught him how to make webs of magic to snare other beings. He is so out of touch; he missed the basics. He is working from the outside of the web instead of the inside.”

  “Outside? Inside? A web is a web. Couldn’t you destroy it from any angle?”

  “No, not these kinds. If he continues to attack the outside, he will get lost in the spells for days, if not weeks. He has already been pulled into one. These spells make the person trying to escape go through many alternate versions of their life. Most of those versions are painful, showing something they couldn’t control. It can easily lead to insanity.”

  “I see. Can you stop him?” Sebial looked at Kalon with concern.

  Kalon shook his head. “I can, but I won’t. I want to observe him for a while. I am here for you, not him. I can save you from this place if the need emerges, my dear.”

  Sebial glanced at Woldiniar, working on the door.

  “How did we not sense your presence Kalon?” Denias asked.

  “Oh, that you ask? It’s a small trick I learned. It takes centuries to master. You might die before you could learn it.” He grinned.

  Denias glared at Kalon. �
��Arrogant one, aren’t you?”

  Kalon shrugged his shoulders while walking over to Sebial. He wrapped his hands around her bracelet. “You poor dear. You could live for ages, yet you were cursed with your ancestor’s envy. Such a shame.”

  Sebial scowled at Kalon. She yanked her hand back and covered her wrist, she began to speak sternly. “I will undo this curse and live a life of my desire. Do not think I will follow the path of those before me!”

  “I love how determined you sound! I wasn’t going to help you much outside of ensuring your survival since I do cherish Shalerie but after that... I just have to help.” Kalon smiled. He moved his still outstretched hands towards her face and pinched her cheeks. “You are just so adorable! It must be lovely to have that innocent desire. I had forgotten the life I lived when I was under a century. But you make me feel that fiery passion all over again!”

  Elin walked up and placed his hand on Kalon’s shoulder. “You need to step away from her. She is not your toy.”

  “Oh? Oh, I see.” Kalon smiled. He leaned in towards Elin and whispered. “An elf in love with a different being. That sounds like an unusual amorous catastrophe. I cannot wait to watch this unfold.”

  Elin stepped back. His face turned red with anger. “I will strike you down. I do not care if you are here to protect her. These games of yours are just getting in our way. Will you help Woldiniar?! Our time is nearly up!”

  Four

  Denias and Sanu were standing at different points in the room, peeking through cracks in the walls.

  On the outside, the orcs were slowly beginning to creep up against the room. The little bit of light from the crescent moon revealed their bodies, contorted with clothing partially torn. Their eyes blacker than coal. Their bones visible through their swamp green skin.

  “These are not battle orcs,” Denias said as he looked out through the crack. “These are normal humans experimented on. I wouldn’t even call them lesser orcs. You can tell by the way they walk into each other. They are almost in a trance fueled by their severe unnatural bloodlust.”