Authors: Philip Mcclennan
The boat rocked a little from side to side as a small wave hit the front of it. Kara and Fargrim momentarily lost their balance. “Keep hold of something back there princess, we don’t want you falling in now do we?” said the dwarf.
“I can swim you know!” replied Kara.
“Oh, I bet you can m’lady. It’s what lurks in the river that bothers me.”
“Why, what’s in the river?” asked the princess, who took a curious look over the side of the boat and into the river.
The water was dark much like the sky, however, Kara could see something moving beneath the waves. It swam like a fish, but it was too big to be one. This is what the dwarf feared most when traveling along the River Of Mist. Beneath the calm surface of the water, lay a half-breed of the worst kind. A creature of half human, half fish descent lived within the river. Some of you may know these beings as Mermaids, the gentle, loving creatures from fairy tails. However, in this realm, all feared the half-breeds. The mermaids looked harmless enough. They would act friendly like the ill-informed legend says. Unlike the legend, however, mermaids cannot breathe above the water. Instead, they trick their victims into joining them in the river and then drown them, before feasting upon their dead corpses.
The princess looked on with wonder as the object she could see swimming by the boat began to swim nearer to the surface. It was indeed a mermaid, which had in fact been tracking the boat since it hit the water. It had kept its distance somewhat until now, swimming at the same speed as the boat whilst maintaining a watching brief on the pair. The mermaid was now only a few feet from the surface. The half-breed held out its hand above the water’s surface in the direction of Kara. The princess had never seen a mermaid before and curiosity got the better of her. The mermaid smiled beneath the water as Kara touched the creature’s hand.
The mermaid tightened its grip around Kara’s hand and then, without warning, attempted to pull the princess from the boat. Luckily enough, Fargrim had spotted this just in time and grabbed Kara’s arm. The mermaid wasn’t about to give up its prey without a fight and pulled the girl with all its strength. Kara screamed as she and the dwarf struggled to keep her aboard the boat. Realising they were fighting a losing battle, Fargrim reached for one of the oars he had been using whilst rowing and struck the mermaid several times.
The creature reluctantly released its hold on Kara’s hand and retreated beneath the water of the river. “Are you ok m’lady?” asked Fargrim. Kara, who was visibly shaken, nodded her head. “Fowl creatures they are,” said the dwarf. “They thrive on the false legend of them being peaceful creatures. They lure you in, and then before you know it…bang! They pull you under.”
“I’ll have to remember that in future,” said Kara, who was still somewhat shaken from the attack.
The dwarf’s attention shifted onto something else entirely. He began to sense something else in the area. Fargrim looked upwards, toward the top of the high cliff’s that overlooked the River Of Mist. “I don’t think the mermaids are the only things we need to worry about,” said the dwarf.
The princess looked up at the cliffs edge above them. On both sides, small figures began to appear. Then their numbers began to increase. “Who are they?” asked Kara.
The dwarf took a huge gasp of air. He had been hoping to continue on their journey without having come to the attention of this race of creatures, however, it was too late for that now. “Some call them the Forsaken, creatures that live, yet are not dead. I suppose you’d call them undead,” said the dwarf. A hint of fear filled his voice. Make no mistake about it, Fargrim was a proud warrior, who did not fear battle, however, he realised that the increasing numbers of the forsaken around the cliff did not bode well for the pair of them in the future. “I was hoping we wouldn’t cross paths with this lot. Nasty buggers they are!” said the dwarf.
Kara was more curious than she was afraid. She had heard of the creatures before, but only in stories. Her father had told her tales of the strange and sinister creatures that dwelled within the Underworld realm. “My father says the forsaken are a tragic race. They were once a good and noble people, but are now slaves, even in death.”
“Ha! Noble people?” The dwarf found this suggestion amusing. “They made a deal with the King of darkness, and they paid the ultimate price!”
“And what is that?” asked the princess.
“They have forfeited their soul’s to the ruler of this wasteland of a realm,” said Fargrim.
“You mean the king of Underworld?”
“Yeah, that bastard! He promised them riches and prosperity in return for their loyalty. However, as you might have guessed, he broke his promise. So now, even in death, they are still slaves to his will. Their souls will never be freed. They only exist to do his bidding, for the rest of their time.”
The forsaken watched on in silence as the pair made their way slowly through the river. The creatures had been human once. However, their mortal bodies were now nothing more than rotting pieces of meat. The bones beneath the flesh of these un-dead beings were often visible through their decayed skin and in some areas, maggots and other vermin ate at whatever flesh remained.
The creatures continued to increase in number from high above the cliffs. Kara began to feel uneasy as she felt the gaze of the forsaken burn a hole right through her. “They just stand there and watch,” she said.
“I think they have been drawn here by the presence of an Alexandrian,” said Fargrim.
“You mean me?” asked Kara.
“Well…yeah.”
“I’m sorry,” said the princess, realising she had put the dwarf in terrible danger by coming along.
“Sorry? What for? I agreed to this mission! I knew the risks dear girl.” Fargrim even managed a smile despite their grim situation. “Don’t worry about a thing. I promised my master I’d deliver the princess of Alexandria and that I shall! Besides, I know these lands like the back of my hand.”
“Your master? said Kara.
“Never mind that. You’ll meet him soon enough. Now then, hang on tight. This ride might get a little bumpy from here on in.
Fargrim began to row the boat oars as fast as he could. He had been rowing at a gentle pace up until now for concealment purposes, but those plans no longer mattered. The small wooden boat glided as if on ice as it cut through the waves of the river. High above them, the forsaken were now on the move. Sensing their prey was escaping them; they gave chase along the high banks of the cliffs edge. On top of the cliff, several hundred of the creatures ran in pursuit. The dwarf took a quick glance up, realising that the forsaken would not let them go without a fight.
“There’s more of them coming!” said Kara, who had also picked up on the creatures pursuit of them. Some of the creatures began to climb down the edge of the cliff. They were surprisingly agile for dead folk. They climbed along the banks of the cliff with great speed, only advancing marginally slowly whilst climbing down than those who gave pursuit above the cliff on foot.
“We have to get out of here!” said Fargrim. He knew they were no longer safe on the river.
“But I thought you said we had to go south?” said Kara.
“Yeah, well as you can see, our travel plans have changed!” said the dwarf, who referred to the imminently closing of the undead. Fargrim noticed a large riverbank not far from them and headed to it as fast as he could. The boat crashed against the bank, sending the dwarf and Kara hard into the side of the boat. “Come on, let’s go!” shouted the Dwarf, jumping out of the boat. The princess followed, landing in shallow water as she jumped out. The water of the river was far colder than she could have ever imagined however she could not dwell on this for her enemies were closing in.
The princess prepared to run up the riverbank, which they had disembarked on, however, Fargrim had stopped dead in his tracks. “What are you doing? Come on let’s go!” shouted Kara.
“There’s too many of them,” said the dwarf who trembled as he held a small silver axe in his hand. Most dwarfs loved the joy of battle, however, Fargrim knew a slaughter when he seen one.
He is afraid,
Kara realised. The princess looked around and she could see why.
Most of the forsaken gathered on the riverbank opposite to them. The remaining pursuers were still climbing down the cliff to join them. They stood silently as they watched the princess and the dwarf.
“What are they doing?” whispered Kara.
“I’m not sure,” said Fargrim in response. After a few moments of silent stare down, one of the creatures began to speak.
“Hand over the Alexandrian, dwarf!” it said coldly, its voice muffled and broken
“You bastards will have to go through me to get her!” shouted Fargrim who suddenly found his courage. If he was going to die, he would go down fighting. The forsaken drew their blades, which consisted of old and tattered rusty swords. Still, they were formidable opponents, considering the fact that the only way to defeat them would be to decapitate them or set their bodies on fire. Given their lack of numbers and, of course, a fire, the odds of the princess and the dwarf getting out of this alive were very slim to say the least.
The water!
An idea suddenly began to form in Kara’s head. She leaned over to Fargrim and whispered to him so the creatures could not hear. “Get them into the river,” she said.
“What are you going to do?” he whispered back.
“Just do it!”
The dwarf began shouting and screaming, challenging the forsaken to come forth into battle. The creatures seemed completely bemused and stood their ground. Fargrim realised his plan wasn’t working so he reached into the water and picked up a large pebble. He then threw it as hard as he could at the creature that had spoken to them only a few moments earlier. The pebble struck the creature in the head, which enraged it. The undead began advancing forward towards the dwarf and several of the forsaken followed behind.
Kara began to speak in an ancient tongue, the words of which the dwarf had never heard. Kara spoke the words in a chant-like fashion and Fargrim couldn’t help but get the feeling that he should step out of the river now. The forsaken were undeterred by the princesses’ words and continued on through the river towards them. Kara’s tone increased in intensity and she went into an almost trance-like state. Even Fargrim, who was stood beside her, seemed surprised.
The sound of water approaching at great speed could be heard in the distance. The forsaken began to look down the river, which they were attempting to negotiate to try and understand where the sound was coming from. They didn’t have to look for long however as a huge tidal wave appeared from the east. It approached at such ferocity and speed that the creatures had no time to retreat. Try as they might, they were helpless as the wave hit the area and the undead were swept away in an instant.
As you may have guessed, the tidal wave was all Kara’s making. She had great control of the water element; far more advanced than other Alexandrian’s due to her bloodline. However, she had also learned a great deal about the art of magic from the warlock named Rokk, a sworn aid of her father. He had taught the princess how to harness her control of the elements with the power of magic, enabling her to manipulate the element to greater effect.
Kara had conjured up a wave of such size and strength that even the forsaken could not match up to it, at least not here at the river’s bank. The creatures that remained thought it wise not to attempt to cross the river. They began to retreat back to the lands of the dead that lay just beyond the top of the cliff behind them. This was not a full retreat mind you, for the forsaken, never stop pursuing their prey. This was simply a regroup until it was more practical for them to strike. Fargrim was well aware of this and knew that he and the princess had better be far away from this place when the creatures decided to return.
“Let us be on our way then m’lady,” urged Fargrim. The princess nodded and they both made their way up a small pathway just beyond the riverbank, which led upwards through a small gap in the side of the cliff. The dwarf began to think that he might have made a mistake by bringing the princess on this journey into the heart of Underworld. The entire realm was a breeding ground for evil and despite the caution they had taken during their travels the evil was being drawn out by the presence of the Alexandrian princess. He kept his thoughts to himself, however. He did not wish to alarm the girl.
Keep calm Fargrim old boy
, he said to himself.
Get her to the Dark Archer. That is your task. He will know what to do
. As the pair continued onwards into the darkness, somewhere within the dwarfs heart, he knew that this would not be the last time their lives would be threatened before this journey came to an end…
A pair of crows swept low from the sky and landed on the branch of a tree. They joined a flock of others on the branch. The crows liked to eat the bodies of the dead and death was indeed in the air. A large crowd dressed in black gathered around an open grave in a cemetery below where the crows sat watching. The sun glared down upon a group of bearers as they lowered down a coffin into the ground. A priest read out a final prayer for the soul that was passing on to the other side. The body inside the coffin was that of Rachel, the twin agent who had been killed recently on the mission to capture Lucius in Argentina. The mission ended in failure on all counts. After the mission had concluded, Rachel’s body had been returned to her home city of Miami, Florida. The aftermath of the mission had resulted in this for the World Order, not only had the target eluded them, it also had resulted in the death of one of their own.
However, perhaps the most worrying thing for the organisation was Chad’s sudden erratic freak out. Rumours were rife regarding Chad’s strange behaviour during the mission, and many questioned whether or not he was truly fit for duty. Professor Milton and Sergeant Cooper had their doubts also, however for now, all of them paid their respects to their fallen comrade.
Chad stood at the front of the group. He held a comforting arm around Jade, now the sole remaining twin. She, Chad and Rachel had been more like a threesome during their time at the training camp, sharing a bond like brother and sister. Stacey watched on from a little further back in the crowd, stood next to her father. She shed a tear as the coffin was lowered beneath the earth. She hadn’t known the twin all that well, however, the thought of a girl dying so young saddened her.