Nightfall (Book 1) (9 page)

I stooped in the shadow of the tunnel’s mouth, surveying the dry stretch of land before me to make sure that I was alone. I still found it strange to not see just an empty abyss of nothingness beyond the Wall, as I had grown up believing was there. Again I was awed at the size of the trees before me, their shady domes rising high above the ground, reaching for the blue sky which was brightly arrayed in the colorful light of sunrise.

I made a quick dash for the trees and stood at the base of a huge, black oak, looking around in every direction for signs of danger. As I started off I had the nagging thought that I would die within the next hour. In the distance I could still hear the cries I had heard on my first trip beyond the Wall, though this time I was more aware of their existence and with my heightened senses I could hear them more clearly and they seemed to be coming from a much closer location.

After a quick decision I headed in the direction where I guessed I would find the mountain on which Koldobika and Alaia had parted ways, in the dream I had so long ago. I could only hope that I would come across it sometime along the path I was taking, as I followed the sun on its Westward journey.

After hours of treading through the shadowy forest of towering black oaks I happened upon a huge, dusky clearing where the sunlight filtered weakly from the canopy above. I stopped at the edge of the clearing, surveying its edges to make sure I had not run into anything unwelcome. The floor of the clearing was covered in dark moss and black ferns, just as every other stretch of ground I had seen throughout the forest.

While digging in my pack for a flask of water, my hand touched a cold piece of metal and I pulled out a dagger with a blade the length of my hand; my name was engraved alongside the fuller, or blood groove. The quillon and pommel were intricately carved, the hilt was wrapped in black, leather cord, and the leather sheath was the same color. Once finished with the flask, I returned it to my pack and turned my attention back to the curious dagger. I hooked the sheath to my belt and held the knife in my hand, admiring the carvings covering the handle. I next examined the blade; it was perfectly smooth except for the fuller and engravings, and had a mirror-like surface. I wondered where Eskarne had confiscated it from, since there was no way she could have purchased it; none of us had that kind of money.

The soft sound of breathing startled me and I spun around to confront whatever had interrupted my train of thought. A strange beast rose eight feet tall before me, with blackened horns reaching even further above its head. As it was not attacking, I crouched, gawking at the dark, vermillion-eyed monster until it began sniffing at the air to confirm that I was the creature I appeared to be. A deep growl emanated from the creature’s snarling mouth so I cautiously slid my dagger back into its sheath—I needed a bigger weapon. The beast snorted and stomped an enormous foot into the turf. I slipped the pack off my back and whisked off my cloak, dropping it onto my pack as I called a sword from Lietha.

Not having been able to fully explore the new inhuman abilities I had gained, I assumed that I would never have been able to outrun the creature, so my only chance of survival was to kill it, if that was possible. I envisioned my limbs being torn from my dead body and being gnawed on by the beast—definitely not the most inspiring of thoughts. The monster howled and charged me; I did the first thing that came to mind: I yelled in return and ran head-on toward it. The thought that I was about to die flashed through my mind but instantly dissipated—as did any other organized thoughts I may have had—when
the beast swung his huge ax before him and I found myself in its path. Being unable to stop myself quickly enough in my mad dash, I ducked, lost my balance, and tripped. After that I did a few unplanned somersaults, ending up sprawled on my back behind my still charging opponent.

I spun around as soon as I got back to my feet and without
thinking, really, I jumped twenty feet through the air and drove my sword into the creature’s back as I landed atop it. He howled in pain and rage and I sat there somewhat dazed, giddy with elation at the feat I had just accomplished. I was startled as the creature began swaying backward and I barely had time enough to jump up and grab an overhanging branch as he keeled over onto his back. His plan must have been to crush me with his greater weight, but the plan—if plan it had been—backfired and drove my sword deeper into him. I was about to drop to the ground when the creature suddenly stood.
Please, just die, already,
I thought, as he sighted me and charged a second time, with one thing in mind: to take me with him when he died.

I closed my eyes in anticipation of the creature slamming into me and knocking me to the ground, where I would die; my friends would never know what had happened to me and would still expect me to appear again in Caernadvall. I heard a bone crunching thud and a grunt, but still I hung from the branch, wondering why I had not felt the pain of a fatal blow. When the blow never came and I had hung there for a bit, I opened my eyes and looked around, but the creature was nowhere to be seen. My first thought was that I had died before the pain could register, then I wondered how the scene could possibly be the same, absent the beast. I looked down and saw my opponent’s huge body sprawled out on the ground below my feet, lying in its final resting place.

I swung myself backward and away from the dead creature so that I would not land on it and dropped from the branch, landing silently on hands and feet. I walked over to the being and tentatively poked him with my foot, making sure he was dead. He was, so I removed my sword with a grunt, the weapon had been buried in the creature’s flesh up to the quillon. The thick liquid seeping from the beast’s deep wound was a bit darker than human blood and it began to pour freely when I removed the sword.

I walked over to my discarded pack, which fortunately had been missed by the creature’s trampling feet and hoisted it onto my back by one of the two straps and slung my cloak over my opposite shoulder. Before leaving the clearing, I called upon Lietha to set the lifeless body on fire. Once it was no more than a pile of ashes, I made sure of the direction I was facing and began running at a speed that no human could reach.

~ ~ ~

My stomach rumbled, reminding me that I had not eaten anything since the previous day, and if I wanted to keep my strength up I would have to eat soon. Once I chose a place to rest, I sat down with my back to a huge oak and ate, ridding myself of some of the more perishable food. The leaves on the tree behind me rustled as if there were a breeze blowing through them, but there was no breeze—at least none that I could feel from below. I looked into the heights of the tree and could see nothing that would disturb them; I then noticed that there seemed to be a rhythm to the whispering of the leaves. I listened to the subtle noises and realized that words were forming.
Welcome, doom-slayer.

“What did you say?”

Welcome, friend of magic and mystery.
 A chill went down my spine as the slow, wispy voice continued.
We have been waiting many long years for you to return to us.

“Why have you been waiting for me?”

You must find that out on your own, young Izotz.

“How do you know my name?”

We know much more than that, I am afraid. You must save us.
 The whispering of the wind in the leaves died out after one final, echoing word:
Run.
 I turned and hurried off in the waning path of the sun. Through the small patches of sky that I occasionally glanced upon, peeking through the treetops, I could tell that night was steadily approaching, and though I could see perfectly well in the dark with my enhanced sight, I was still sure that I did not want to meet any more unfamiliar creatures that night, friendly or otherwise.

I raced across the forest floor until the last rays of the sun were setting on the hidden horizon and climbed high into the reaches of one of the enormous oaks that surrounded me. I leapt from branch to branch until I was midway up the trunk, where I secured my belongings before ascending to the tree’s peak. When I reached it, I realized that my search for a good vantage point had been futile; only a few hundred feet to the West the tree-tops rose to obscure my view of anything beyond. Annoyed that I could not see my target location, I sat at the top of the tree and brooded. I could see the top of the Wall in the distance to the East, nothing but a thin, grey line above the treetops. That sight made me long for the presence of my friends and their absence gave me a hollow and lonesome feeling. Grand adventure or not, I felt miserable.

Just as I turned to drop onto the lower branches of the tree, a spot of gold glinting in the late sun caught my eye; I turned and saw a glowing form descending toward the earth. As the mystical creatures drew closer I realized that they were a flock of sunbirds; Koldobika had said they were signs of good-luck, somewhat like the unicorns had been, though these birds were still large in quantity. The sunbirds were occasionally sighted, though not commonly by humans—because they disliked cities and thickly populated areas—and I had heard of them before Koldobika’s appearance.

The sight of the creatures erased my despairing feelings and when they departed—flying over the trees to the West, following the sun as I was—they left me in high spirits. I climbed back down the tree and wrapped myself in my cloak, trying to find a comfortable place along the branch. Sleep was kept at bay while I wondered over the safety of my friends, who were likely falling asleep at that moment. I wondered if they were thinking of me, and if sleep was also avoiding them, all those miles away.

I slipped cautiously from my perch high in the tree and landed softly on the thick moss of the forest floor. I crouched there for a moment, listening to the sounds around me to get a sense of where they were coming from. I became so entranced by the distant sounds that I failed to notice the subtle plodding of footsteps directly behind me. I only realized that I was not alone when the ground beneath me shook with the vibrations of each quiet, slow and extremely heavy step.

My eyes flew open and the stench of rotting flesh overwhelmed me as I was gusted by the raunchy breath of whatever stood behind me. I turned my head slowly to get a look at my new company. Venom dripped from giant tusks looming to either side of me, glowing orange like drops of molten metal and again the huge, gusting breath wafted over me. Behind the tusks, a snarling maw gaped open, releasing the foul stench. My gaze drifted upward to the face and glazed-over eyes of the creature. The milky film covering the eyes suggested that the animal was blind, but that did not mean it was helpless or that it had no knowledge of what
lay at its feet. I cautiously stretched my legs to stand but the creature let out a warning growl, the venom flowing more profusely as it sensed the life in its prey and the mouth-watering prospect of gorging on fresh flesh.

My heart raced as I realized that the only thing I could do was run. Unlike my previous encounter, this creature’s weapons were a part of its body and I had never experienced a duel even remotely similar to what could take place if I stood my ground. I also did not know what properties the beast’s venom held. Would I asphyxiate if it entered my bloodstream? Would I become paralyzed and have to sit there, feeling every pain as my flesh was ripped from my bones, while I could do nothing to defend myself? I felt much better about my prospective chances in running and I let the straps of my pack slide from my shoulders. I prayed Eskarne would understand and possibly even forgive me. I took a deep breath. And I bolted.

The beast let out a deafening howl as it sensed the beginning of a chase and then the ground beneath my feet began to tremble as it bowled through the thick undergrowth after me. My heart was pounding so hard I thought it might burst as my leaping strides carried me so fast that everything around me was no more than a blur at the edge of my vision.

~ ~ ~

I had given up on any thoughts other than avoiding trees or fallen branches that could trip me and raced at a breakneck pace, almost in a trance, as I let my legs carry me as fast and far as possible from my pursuer, whose thundering gait I could still hear a distance behind me. Something appeared in front of me so suddenly that I had no time to react, before I had bowled right into it. I and whatever I had hit went flying through the air and I landed with a thud thirty feet from the point of impact. I groaned, feeling as if every bone in my body had been pulverized, and seemingly everything that should not get bruised, got bruised.

I sat up and spat out a mouthful of dirt and moss and rose to see what sort of damage I had done, luckily I was not dead or broken into pieces, I only felt as if I were. An elf girl about my age was sprawled in the ferns, her long brown hair flung about her beautiful face like a fan. She lay perfectly still as I approached her. I quickly knelt at her side, worried that I had killed her. “Oh no,” I whispered. At the
sound of my voice she drew in a long, thin breath.

I touched her shoulder softly and asked if she was alright. “Up until you ran into me,” she coughed.

“I am…incredibly sorry,” I attempted at reconciliation as she sat up, stretched her neck and limbs, and flexed different muscles and joints to make sure they were still intact. Knowing she was alright allowed my thoughts to return to the beast that was now catching up with us, hurtling across the ground, ignorant of anything the size of, or smaller than, itself. Although I had left it far in my wake, it was easily making up the distance.

“Look, I need you to get up. Something is coming. And fast.”

She grimaced as she arched her back and it popped multiple times. “Yes, I can hear it.”

“Well, what are you waiting for? Let us be gone,” I insisted.

She chuckled grimly. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?” I did not point out that, to me, it seemed she had the two of us confused; after all, I had not been the one to step directly into her path, nor was I the one contentedly sitting on the ground while the creature bore down upon us. “That troll will run forever until it finds you. It will never give up and it will not tire—not nearly as fast as you will.”

“Are you suggesting that we just give up?”

“Not a chance.” She gathered her hair and tied it behind her head with a leather cord, before leaping to her feet. “Follow me.” Her eyes were teasing as she climbed the tree nearest us and then leapt from it to the branches of another tree. We switched trees a few more times and then climbed into the higher reaches of an ancient oak. I opened my mouth to speak but before a single sound had passed my lips she slapped a hand over my mouth, pinning me to the trunk of the oak. She lifted a slender finger to her own lips, commanding silence. I nodded as best I could, with my head held immobile.

I could hear the troll approaching long before I could see it and the next warning was the smell. It was the smell of a carcass that had been sitting around moldering for weeks before the troll had stumbled upon its scent and then gorged upon the vile meat. A slight trembling trailed up through the solid trunk as the pounding footsteps drew nearer and the beast thundered into view. It screamed in outrage as another scent mingled with the one it had been following, but it easily parted one scent from the other. Its musky breath left patches of fog as it took in the scent, following it to the base of a small oak. Small only in comparison to the others surrounding it, for in girth it was much larger than the troll. The beast reared up on its hind legs, sounding out a challenge, as it believed its prey was cowering in the branches of the tree rising before it.

Watch.
 The voice penetrating my skull was that of the girl who sat next to me on the branch.

What?
The troll?
 I seemed to recall her using that particular name for the creature below us.

Yes.

As we had been speaking, the beast had dropped back to all fours and meandered away from the small tree but then, without warning, it charged the towering wooden statue, crashing into it with awful force. The tree shuddered and I could almost feel its pain as its whole frame shook from the shock of the blow.

We need to stop it,
 I hissed at the girl.

What are you talking about?

The troll is killing the tree.
 I did not want to say more for fear that she would think I was insane—I was already contemplating it and did not want her to confirm the idea—but solemnly I added,
I can feel it dying. Tell me how to stop it.

She sat there for a moment, not responding to what I was saying until finally she said,
Give me your knife.
 Instead I called upon Lietha and dropped the new weapon into her hand and she dropped to the branch below. I waited patiently for instructions, but none came as she made her way silently to the lowest branch. I was afraid that the troll would hear her coming, but the branches made no sound, as if even the smallest of them were ignoring her subtle weight, understanding her intentions. The troll backed away from the tree a second time, lowering its head as it came to a stop directly beneath the elf’s position.

The troll growled menacingly as it prepared to ram the tree again. It took in a deep breath as it gathered its strength for a repeat attack and at that exact moment the girl dropped from her perch. She landed on its back, digging the knife into its neck, just below the skull, as the creature sprang forward. She flung herself from the troll’s back as it tumbled forward, carried by its own momentum and left a trail of uprooted ferns, until it came to a stop at the foot of the beaten tree. The troll’s breath gushed from its lungs and it lay there, motionless.

I made my way from the branches of the tree and dropped to the ground, then walked over to the body of the stilled giant. “Izotz, no,” the girl shouted as the troll reared up, rage in its filmy-red eyes as it bellowed my death sentence. I let loose a handful of metal splinters that pierced its chest, but I was too late, the beast was already upon me and I was suddenly engulfed by its enormous weight.

The venom hissed as it dropped to the ground and began pooling near my face, which was buried halfway in the soft ground. The fumes from the poisonous liquid began bleeding into each of my gasping breaths. I was getting little enough air as it was, with the troll’s crushing weight pinning me down and constricting my lungs, but now the poison was getting into my lungs and I knew it would not be long before it had entered my bloodstream. After that it would only take moments for it to reach my heart and other vital organs, where I was sure it would wreak some kind of havoc.

The faces of my friends appeared in my mind’s eye and then the faithful gaze of Koldobika as he had parted, trusting that we would meet again. I had failed them. “I am sorry,” I whispered, even though I knew they could not hear me from such a distance. Then everything went black.

~ ~ ~

The young elf leapt to her feet and raced to the fallen mound of fur that had been the troll. She shoved against its unmoving mass, but it was a futile endeavor, the creature was more than ten times her size and it was now deadweight. She kicked the corpse again and again. “No,” she screamed. It had been her job to get the boy back alive. He had died on her watch and she would never be able to face the disappointment she would find in the eyes and minds of her leaders and everyone she knew. “No,” she whispered again, sinking to her knees in despair. The boy, Itzal Izotz, had been their only hope and she had just watched him die.

A gentle hand lighted on her shoulder, so soft that she barely noticed it. She looked up into the misty face of a woman whose hair flowed around her as if caught up in an ethereal breeze. The serene figure before her was the spirit of a tree, likely the one that had just been saved by Itzal Izotz. “You did not believe him.” The woman’s mouth did not move as she spoke—the words seemed to emanate from her entire being.

The elf’s soul sank deeper with regret. “Forgive me, but we have not seen your kind in these parts for nearly a hundred years.”

“That is because your kind fails to protect us and without you, we are being killed off—one by one.”

The elf shook her head, not agreeing with the spirit’s point of view. “No. You left us when we most needed your help. We were hunted down and killed and the forest would no longer come to our aid—when we so desperately needed it.” She stood up. “Your kind turned your backs on us.”

The tree spirit raised
herself, growing dark as anger bled into her. “Not all of us. Some of us were still at your side, though you were blinded by fear and pride and failed to see it.” The elf opened her mouth to defend her people with a scathing remark, but the tree spirit raised her hand for silence, her face bending toward the mound of flesh, her eyes seeing what the elf could not.

“He still lives.” The words were silent as a breath of air, but they gave the elf hope. She jumped at the carcass again, vainly attempting to move it.

The spirit held back a laugh at the elf’s attempt and raised her arms. Her eyes closed and her form grew less visible as she used her strength to call upon the forest, calling the trees to life. The ground rumbled and shook, and then suddenly was pierced by hundreds of roots. The roots moved as living creatures, swarming about the troll’s body, and lifting it into the air where they swarmed about it, weaving through and around one another until they had created a cocoon around the beast. Ferns and flowering moss sprang up all across the cocoon as it hung there, like a fly caught in a spider’s web. The elf girl’s attention was consumed by the writhing, living roots of the trees. The spirit passed by her, sinking to the ground at the boy’s side and leaned in close, breathing onto his face.

~ ~ ~

I gasped and then coughed, as breath flowed into me and my consciousness suddenly returned. A transparent face moved away from mine as I sat up and looked around, wondering where the troll had disappeared to. An enormous knot of plants hung over my head, it had not been there before and I wondered just how long I had been unconscious. Or dead. I was unsure which had been the case; I had a vague memory of mist wreathed planes but recalled little else. I saw the elf girl sitting a few feet from me, her eyes wide in surprise. “Does nothing die out here?” I asked.

The girl laughed in relief. “Oh you stupid—stupid—fool.” She stood and held her hand out to help me to my feet.

I turned to the spirit to thank it, for I assumed that it had been the one to restore my life, but it had disappeared entirely. “A life for a life,” the words were whispered on the air as the presence disappeared from the area.

“Let us get you to safety before you do something else to jeopardize your life.” I turned back to the elf, remembering that she was there.

“What was that?” I asked.

“A tree spirit,” she replied solemnly. “I had thought they were gone from this place.”