Shadow of the Arisen: An Epic Dark Fantasy Novel (Lands of Wanderlust Book 1)

by Paul Yoder

  By the time the sun had peaked in the sky, starting its slow descent, the group had begun their second sprint, trudging through canyons, rushing through the off-trail brush, and finally traversing along a mixture of hills and dunes before the late afternoon was coming to a close.

  Cresting a dune to put Brigganden into view after a grueling day of pushing their mounts to their limits, Reza called a halt, seeing a concerning sight in the distance along the highway leading away from the city.

  From their vantage point on the dune, they could make out a long line of glinting armored troops marching forth from the city’s tall gates clearly visible due to the sizable numbers of the army.

  Dismounting and sending the dolingers down into the dip of the dunes, the group crept up to the crest of the dunes again, laying prone to keep out of sight and to get a good, long look at the formidable sight before them.

  “So it’s true. The dead march to the Plainstate,” Arie whispered, the whole group in awe at the large army slowly making its way into the distance.

  “A few thousand troops at least,” Fin murmured, clearly impressed by the scale of the army on the highway.

  “Look,” Reza called out, pointing to the head of the march.

  Miles down the highway leading to Warwick stood a figure, from their distant perspective, just slightly taller than the rest of the troop. Though it was a bump amidst many, Reza knew instantly who the large figure was.

  A dark cloud, a depression of light, seemed to hang over the figure. And though Reza didn’t often get a sense of evil, she did if the presence was strong enough, and she had never felt a presence that reeked of evil so profoundly as the one she had faced in the court that had almost taken her life.

  “That one—the one at the head of the army with the shadow around him. He’s Lashik’s master—the arisen lord.”

  Everyone but Arie looked to Reza, considering her words.

  Arie added after a moment, squinting, still set on the figure, “I think you’re right. He’s the only one mounted. And his mount looks terrifying at that. It doesn’t look living, or if it is, it’s an unnatural abomination.”

  “You can see that far?” Fin asked, squinting to try and make out details of the blurry bump in the distance.

  “I can’t even see that far, and I can see eight of the stars in the Videnstride star cluster.”

  Smiling, looking to Fin now, Arie smugly said, “Eight? Most men can only see six. Eight is impressive for your kind. Most haltia can see fifteen. I’m only half haltia but I can still see twelve.”

  “Twelve—” Fin mouthed in disbelief, looking to Cavok who simply shrugged at Fin’s bewildered gaze.

  Reza backed down from the dunes and remounted, everyone else following suit while Fin shook his head, mumbling, “Twelve? I didn’t even know there were twelve stars in the Videnstride cluster, let alone fifteen,” with an incredulous look still on his face.

  “Come on, Fin,” Reza called, turning her mount towards Brigganden.

  “We’ll ride around, out of sight, and approach from the west wall. In a few hours, it’ll be getting dark. That’ll give us enough time to stealthily make our way back to that farmhouse we stayed at last time and bed down for the night.”

  Nomad disapprovingly jumped in.

  “Time is in short now that the bulk of the army has left the city. If we infiltrate tonight, we may catch whoever’s left in the city off guard. We have spent many days away from this place, allowing ample time for the wicked ones to have its way with Bede’s body. I cannot willingly allow another cycle to pass while being so close to her. I vowed to avenge her.”

  Nomad’s unusually hard eyes bore down on Reza, emphasizing his commitment to his proposed line of action.

  Reza turned around, fully ready to argue the point, when Arie calmly interrupted.

  “It probably would be wise to rest before entering. You all need to be at full strength for the task before you, and you’ll only get one chance at executing it,” adding, looking Nomad directly in the eyes, “If you fail, Nomad, due to fatigue, the group’s failure and deaths are on you.”

  Nomad, looking back at the rest of the group, seeing for the first time how exhausted Zaren, Jadu, and even how subdued by the long day Cavok and Fin seemed, relinquished his press for the notion to move in on the city that night.

  He let out a displeased grunt as Reza continued to study his reaction to Arie’s reasoning.

  “Then it is agreed,” Reza confirmed, “We will rest at the farmhouse tonight. Arie, perhaps you can stable the dolingers there and wait for us to complete our mission. You should only have to wait a day or so. If we succeed, we’ll meet back up with you at the farmhouse and ride back to Metus to assist in the war that’s headed for them.

  “Metus already knows of their advance. I’m not sure how much Leith told you, but they are already preparing to receive the arisen army at Warwick.”

  With no opposition from either Arie, Nomad, or the rest of the group, Reza curtly turned and led on, running the dolingers through dune troughs, skirting around the plains that separated them from the outer shanties of the large desert city—the sun staining the evening sky blood red earlier than usual that night.

  40

  Acid in the Dark

  Reza peered inside the dark military building amidst the slums just outside of the city wall.

  Looking behind her, seeing Fin, Nomad, Cavok, Jadu, and Zaren all waiting for her to signal it safe to enter, she pushed the door wide open, ushering the group in before closing the heavy door behind them quietly.

  She turned to whisper for Fin and Jadu to light a torch, both doing so after fumbling a bit in the dark.

  “Looks unchanged,” Reza said, looking around with the aid of the fresh torchlight illuminating the dusty room.

  “Shall I or Nomad lead?” Fin asked, bringing Reza’s attention back to the task at hand, issuing Nomad to lead, with Fin following him with the torch to light the way.

  She hesitated to admit it to herself, but now that they were so close to the dead city once again, she realized that since their departure from Arie early that morning at the abandoned farmhouse, she was becoming more apprehensive about their mission the closer they got to the cursed city. She had lost a friend the first time they had visited the unholy city owned by the arisen, and now she couldn’t help but wonder how many it would claim this time around.

  Though the defenses and number of those on watch had diminished significantly, she still feared the odds were not in their favor. With that thought lingering with her the whole morning, her level of trepidation only intensified the further along they were.

  They walked single file down the hallway leading to the very back of the building which descended into the stone-chiseled tunnel. On the other side of the tunnel was the officer’s quarters wing, where they hoped no guards to be stationed.

  Passing the iron-barred gate at the entrance of the cave, Nomad unsheathed his sword, the quiet sound of metal sliding against hollow wood reminding Fin and Reza to do the same.

  “I feel eyes upon us,” Nomad said in a low voice, slowly leading the group down the dark tunnel, the perverse web of hair and putrid fingers and toes coming into the reach of the firelight, showing that some of the alarm web had been reassembled since their previous passing.

  “Nomad, keep an eye ahead, everyone else, watch the sides,” Reza ordered.

  Nomad swiped through the first wall of hair and fingers in their path, dropping a whole person’s worth of digits, the plip plop sound of the chunks of meat hitting the floor causing an involuntary shiver to run up Fin’s spine as he ducked the flame below the hanging hair so that he didn’t have to deal with the smell of burnt hair on top of the sickening tunnel of human remains they were traveling through.

  “I believe it was the greyoldor that told Dubix of our presence last time we came through here. He got away, and when Bede and I were spying on Dubix, he spoke of intruders.
Other than this greyoldor, I do not know of any others seeing us before that point.”

  Reza considered Nomad’s commentary as he continued to slash a path open for the group. After some thought, she replied, “If we see him again—kill on sight. Capturing and binding him I fear would prove too dangerous. It’s a thing twisted beyond redemption or reason anyways.”

  “As you command,” Nomad answered back, a bit too readily, Reza giving Nomad a look of understanding towards his extreme disgust regarding the little, wicked creature.

  Fin shivered again after a few moments of the persistent, morbid tapping of the tips hitting the stone floor. Reza, and she suspected the rest of the group, felt increasingly uncomfortable as creeping shadows twisted and squirmed along the distant walls of the cave as the torchlight struggled to cut through the wall of hair.

  Everyone was keenly aware that a creature lurked in the dark, watching them as they passed through its territory, while they stood oblivious to its location. The atmosphere of the tunnel was demoralizing, and Reza tried to keep panic out of her voice as she told Nomad to hurry.

  Reza almost jumped as Cavok’s booming voice thundered through the silence, the large man commanding, “Hold.”

  Everyone did so instantly, Nomad halting mid swing, everyone watching, only moving their heads to see Cavok snatch Jadu’s torch, holding it up to the wall of hair next to him, burning a window in it, a black, pungent cloud of smoke erupting from it. Cavok held the torch back to the side to get a better look into the dark window.

  His eyes widened as he took note of something no one else had a vantage point to see, but no one had time to guess or ask what it was as a hiss and a plume of ash and soot exploded directly in Cavok’s face, completely coating his head.

  All now rushing to Cavok’s aid, Cavok dove blindly into the net of hair, shaking the whole hair tunnel around, ripping down a good portion of it as he rushed out into the darkness of the cave.

  Rushing in first, Reza could see briefly Cavok clutching something, slamming the thing violently with his torch, the light spitting all around with the rise and fall of Cavok’s blows before the torch went out.

  Fin, tearing through the wall of hair between him and Reza, re-illuminated the scene, Everyone getting their first good glance at Cavok and the thing he grappled with.

  Cavok’s face was split open in hairline wounds, ash mixing with blood to produce a horrible sight. Cuts sizzling, his face was an emotionless expression of stoic determination to complete whatever beating he was giving.

  The extinguished torch came down, handle point first, cracking through the skull of a barely discernable figure whose skin tone was the same as the rock it was crumpled on. Reza now recognized it to be the greyoldor they had encountered before in the cave.

  All fight instantly stopped, the little figure dropping, a hole in its head with a torch sticking out of it. The greyoldor slumped over as Cavok let go of the torch and tiny figure, blood still boiling along his surface cuts across his face.

  “Oh dear,” Zaren exclaimed, pulling forth a little, blue marble, holding it to Cavok’s face and uttering words no one else could understand.

  A fountain of water spat forth from the marble, splashing Cavok in the face, all ash washing way as it hissed upon contact.

  “Here, help him to the end of this nasty tunnel. We need to cleanse his eyes as soon as we’re away from this place,” Zaren said, waving for Reza and Fin to shoulder the man’s weight to guide him along the tunnel.

  Cavok readily complied, keeping his eyes closed tightly, a look of pain hidden directly under his façade of composure.

  As they moved, now rushing directly through the web of hair without bothering to cut a path through it, the group charged forward, making it to the end of the tunnel as Zaren talked.

  “That little thing was a greyoldor. Very interesting to find a servant of ol’ ash eye himself here. They have strange abilities granted to them by their master. A perk of being a follower I guess you could call it. They can spew a very acidic ash from their mouth. I washed it from him in time to prevent further damage, but his eyes—I’m sure he took some in his eyes. That’s not good.”

  Kicking open the barred door at the end of the tunnel, Nomad rushed up ahead to scout out a room to put Cavok down in, Fin and Reza leading him along with Jadu and Zaren close behind.

  “In here,” Nomad whispered loudly, ushering the group into an officer’s quarters with two beds in it. Fin and Reza laid him down on the bed closest to the door, Cavok still squinting badly, tears streaming from his closed eyes.

  “Move, move,” Zaren ordered, pushing his way to hover over Cavok, holding his blue marble as he talked Cavok through what he was doing.

  “Let’s flush that ash out, Cavok. I’m going to hold open your eyes and spray some water in. Ready?”

  Nomad closed the door just in time as Cavok let out an angry yell, Zaren taking it as a yes.

  Zaren forced open Cavok’s lids, and everyone could see that the man’s eyes were filled with granules, fizzing, eating away at his fleshy orbs.

  Zaren’s words were quick, indiscernible, and a jet of water came forth, spraying forcefully the man’s disintegrating eyes, clearing them of the caustic dust.

  Cavok roared, back arched, then went limp, eyes closed once again, watering profusely, his body desperately attempting to expel any remains of whatever it was that had infiltrated it.

  “Blind,” Cavok moaned, crying out again with more anger this time, “I’m blind!”

  “Cavok,” Reza said in a hushed voice, gripping the large man’s hand, “calm yourself. Any louder and you’ll give us away.”

  Reza, looking to Zaren, knowing that he was the most knowledgeable about the harmful substance that had blinded Cavok, asked, “Is the blindness permanent? Is there anything you can do for him?”

  The whole room turned to Zaren as he shrugged and answered reluctantly, “It’s a natural chemical mixture, not magical. Natural injuries are much harder to heal magically then those performed by magic. There’s often a strong leftover hexweave residue to work with in the case of magical wounds. If I were stronger, with access to more hexweave relics, yes, but I’m still weak from returning from the painting hex and from constantly being shuffled about by you lot, and most of my store of relics remains in the rift along with my associates. I can do nothing for him till we’ve opened the rift and I’ve had a chance to recuperate.”

  Cavok’s head, which had been lifted up, listening intently to Zaren’s answer, slumped back to the pillow, Reza now beginning to seriously worry for Cavok.

  “I could help,” Jadu piped in, rummaging through his assortment of pouches, pulling out materials only he knew the properties of.

  Pouring a splotch of a liquid on a cloth, smearing a cream along it as well, Jadu hopped up to Cavok’s bedside, gently pressing the moistened cloth over Cavok’s eyes, wrapping it around his head, tying it in the back.

  “This treats burns and is a drawing agent. Also helps aid the body’s natural healing process. Should help your eyes recover faster—if they are to recover at least—” Jadu left off, clearly showing his hopelessness for the man’s state.

  “Well,” Fin cut in, looking to Reza, “what now?”

  41

  Dark Reunion

  “One of us will have to stay with you while the rest search for Bede’s body,” Reza said to Cavok who had calmed considerably since Jadu’s treatment.

  Shaking his head, Cavok demanded, “I’m coming. Have Jadu lead me if you have to, but I can’t just sit here and wait not knowing what danger you all face and are walking into. Even blinded, I can fight.”

  Fin held a hand up to halt Reza who was about to reply, and said, “You can’t come with us, big guy. You know you’d be more trouble to us than help without sight. Maybe if you were Blind Bat Matt,” Fin said with a chuckle, referencing a quirky old acquaintance of theirs, trying to lighten the devastating decision of ruling hi
m out of the mission.

  Cavok didn’t take the bait, his expression clearly frustrated, more so than Nomad had ever seen him be, but he could understand the man’s frustration. He knew that being powerless in a time of your friends’ greatest need was one of the most infuriating trials one could bear, and to willingly give up the mission that was so personal to him, putting Bede’s body at rest and seeking revenge on those that had done it, was a struggle Nomad honestly didn’t expect Cavok to have enough willpower to choose the sensible path.

  Cavok’s angry features held for a moment longer, then softened, yielding to Reza’s and Fin’s arguments.

  “Then go—everyone. I’ll be fine here alone. Just bring Bede back—and kill that son of a bitch Lashik.”

  “Leave you alone here? Cavok—” Reza started, but again, Fin held a hand up, stopping Reza’s would be argument against leaving him alone.

  Putting his hands behind his head, looking as though he was ready for the long wait of their return, Cavok took a deep breath, seeming quite done with the conversation, not willing to budge on the issue.

  “Alright Cavok, have it your way,” Reza said, exasperation showing through slightly.

  “Fin, mind leaving him with an extra supply of rations?” She asked, going over to Cavok, patting him on the shoulder, adding, “We won’t be long. If night falls and we still haven’t found her, we’ll return.”

  Cavok’s expressionless face held firm as Fin placed a pouch of food beside him, nudging him lightly while saying, “Heal up quick, all right? We’ll be back before you know it and we’ll be rid of this wretched place for good.”

  The rest of the group passed him by, saying a word or two before heading out into the hallway, leaving Nomad to close the door, leaving their wounded comrade alone and blind in the officer’s quarters, still looking blankly at the food on the bed.