Take the Darkness...: Epic Fantasy Series (2 page)

Chapter 3

Elizebetha woke with a start. Her head throbbed and swam as if she’d been drinking cheap wine like a sailor and she staggered up from her small plush couch, steadying herself with a hand on the arm. She knew Seth had drugged her, that he was gone and that he’d taken the coin with him. She couldn’t believe that Seth had finally done it - crossed over and given in to the dark voices in his head. She’d been so worried for him for so very long. When she’d first met him on that ship, he was so young, and with that look of fear in his eyes, she’d known what it was like to be hunted and she’d felt pity for him. Then she’d watched him slowly changing from that hunted and haunted boy to someone she didn’t recognise. Every day, she watched him becoming more like the creature he called, and more like what she knew of Stephan the General. She was no stranger to the powerful pull of the hunger, and she’d watched with a mixture of fear and jealousy as he took one person after another. She knew that people from the North had a very different view on the right of killing your enemies than the Pellosi did, but still he had begun to scare her.

Yet, deep inside she knew he was still good. He terrified her with the amount of power that he held and the reckless way he used it. Calling creatures no one had ever seen before, never using the circle of protection and communing with that horrible creature of his as an equal, or worse, a thing to be revered. Even his story of how he had bowed to it on their first meeting was sickening. To the Gatherers, these were creatures to be feared as a corrupting force, not as gods to be worshipped.

Standing fully and trying to ignore the growing pain throbbing in her head, she walked quickly from the room, not knowing how long she’d been asleep and fearing the worst. How far had he gone in his deal with the Duke? Maybe the doors were open and the Duke would be at her opened gate, the people of her Keep in chains or worse? Walking into the black stone hallway, she stopped dead. Goldie, Flint, Stone, and Grimm were all running towards her, bristling with weapons and deep frowns of concern and anger on their faces. They were scary men as well, though she knew Seth could control them, but what should she expect from them now? She cowered back in fear against the wall. Were they in on it too? Had they come to carry her off to the waiting Duke? Were they here to deliver the death blows that Seth couldn’t bring himself too?

They stopped short and Goldie spoke. ‘Elizebetha, Seth’s gone! We saw him just vanish into the air!’

She stood up fully; they were standing well back from her and reading her fear. ‘What? What are you saying?’

Flint spoke in a rushed jumbled of words ‘He was riding out to meet the Duke and then he made a big war cry, and him and the Duke too both just disappeared – first there and then just gone, his horse too.’

She laughed and then tears of relief came to her eyes. Oh, what a brave stupid boy. She felt so bad for doubting him. He’d done it: he’d taken himself, the coins, and the Duke out of the world. He’d saved them all by sacrificing himself. The Duke’s forces had no reason to take the Keep if the coin was not within, and with their leader gone the forces would surely scatter back to their homes and farms. They were just Ducal levies after all.

‘Where is he? Did the Duke trick him?’ Grimm asked, anger thick in his voice.

‘No, not at all. Seth has tricked the Duke. He’s taken himself and the Duke to the land of the dead... he’s saved us all.’

They looked stunned. They had seen the creature and knew of its pact with their Captain, but to visit the land of the dead as a mortal was a grave sin. A deep shudder of fear rocked though the large bodies of Flint and Stone as one. Grimm didn’t care about that, of course. ‘Can we get him back?’ He asked simply.

She thought for a moment, and turning her body she ran back towards her room, ushering them with her hands to come along. ‘We can try,’ she said.

From what she knew of the land of the dead, Seth’s chances of survival were very slim. Hours had already passed there, and the Duke had surely travelled though with him. Even if Seth had survived that battle, she knew he would stay. While the re-joined coin could bring him back, it would be pointless to return with it. Another would just rise from the Guild ranks to try and claim it.

Reaching around her neck with her delicate hands, she drew off a leather necklace with a small pouch. None of the others had seen it before. She was unsure if she should let them see the full extent of the ritual now, but didn’t have much of a choice: they wouldn’t leave the room without knowing Seth’s fate.

She drew the items of the pouch out one by one, and they were very different from the Dark Guild’s circles. They were mostly small bones and skulls of tiny animals, as well as some feathers. As she placed them down before her, she said words in Pellosi which they could all understand now, thanks to Seth.

‘Creatures of the land, sea, earth, and sky, ward me from those passed on.’ She repeated it again and again as she placed down a small animal skull, a part of a human bone, a few feathers, and a small fish skeleton. They formed a rough circle of eight pieces.

‘First, I’ll try to call him, and if he’s already dead, he’ll come over. If that happens, the sight will not be a good one, but hopefully that is not the case.’ She said quietly.

‘Did the Duke cross with him?’ Goldie asked.

‘I think so, but I can’t be sure,’ She answered.

‘If they both crossed, one of them is dead, and I’m willing to bet on Seth surviving that fight any day or night,’ said Grimm in a dark mutter. She’d never seen so much rage coming off him.

‘Why are you so angry, Grimm?’ She asked.

‘Why? Why, because he had to do this because we were too weak to protect ourselves. It’s a shame, to a Northman, for another to have to sacrifice for your weakness. If we were stronger, we could have faced it together. Now, my Lord and friend is likely dead because of my failure.’

‘You’re just one man. Seth did it for all of us.’

‘Then we should all be ashamed,’ he spat.

She just shook her head; she’d never understand the Northern view of the world. She just felt pride for Seth, not shame for her weakness in needing protection. Walking around the circle, she sung words in Pellosi. They again were different from the dark words of the Guild. It was a song of longing and regret for not being able to say goodbye but wishing to. After a few very long minutes, the air in the circle began to thicken and darken. She thought of Seth, the way he looked, walked, his smile filled with recklessness and charm. She couldn’t feel anything from him.

‘He’s not dead... I can’t contact him.’ She reached out and could feel the body of the Duke, where he had fallen. ‘But the Duke is dead. Seth must have killed him.’

They all sighed in collective relief. ‘Well, that’s one good thing – at least he had the chance to finish his foe properly,’ said Grimm.

She had begun to close the rift when a huge white form leapt through the gap. The Wolvern stood snarling and snapping in the circle, taking up almost all of the room and unable to turn in the tight circle. At its sudden appearance, Elizebetha jumped back in fear. It was a fearsome sight, all pale white, with mottled skin, its elongated jaw with razor teeth. Its yellow eyes pierced them all, none of them had truly seen it before. At its entrance, the Northman folded to their knees while Elizebetha just shied away. It radiated anger.

‘
Why do you try to reach my boy and why in my land?’
It looked around the circle and she felt its power reaching deep into them. It recognised the Northmen and read all of their intentions. Grimm felt it ripping though his memories of the past events and let it search, offering up the images of Seth’s sacrifice.

‘
Fool boy, he’s on the wrong side and will not be able to feed me now.’
Its dark words banged in their heads, making Elizebetha's headache much worse.

‘We need your help. He’s there alone, and will need your protection.’ She said, standing fully.

It just snapped back at her with those sharp teeth. ‘
Don’t dare address me weakling. I feel your disdain and have felt you corrupting my boy again and again, leading him to the path of the coward. No, I’ll talk to the angry one.’
It said.

Turning, it addressed Grimm directly. Grimm was a typical Northern sailor. He was fifty name days, but looked younger, still with a full black beard and dark eyes. He wasn’t handsome, but looked like his name.

‘Yes Master,’ he spoke, knowing creatures like this respected reverence and bravery. ‘Our Captain Seth has crossed through, to save us from our weakness, but he will need your help.’

The creature spoke back, but only in Grimm’s mind. ‘
He serves me and not the other way around. I’ll help him because I do like him, but I still need someone here to feed me.’

Grimm just nodded, and shutting his dark eyes, he stood and stepped into the circle with the creature. He heard the gasps from his fellows and Elizebetha as a wave of power rippled over him. The other Northmen looked to each other, and then one by one they also stepped into the circle and knelt before the creature. They were resigned but strong, and they would face their deaths with pride in their hearts and no shame of weakness in them.

The creature laughed a dark laugh that they all heard. It pushed its sharp jaws towards them, but they didn’t flinch. ‘
You do yourselves proud, little men, and you remind me why I’ve always liked your kind more than these cowardly Pellosi. I’ll find our boy
.’

Without another word, the creature crept backwards into the rift and was soon gone, leaving them kneeling in the circle. Elizebetha was shocked beyond belief. She knew that they had different beliefs from hers, but never that they were so very different. Grimm, Goldie, Flint and Stone stood with huge smiles on their faces. They gripped wrists in the style of warriors and started laughing like school children.

Grimm soon had tears of mirth and relief running down his face. ‘We’ve done it, boys: we’ll walk in our fathers’ halls after all.’

‘Thank fuck for that, I thought we’d be dog meat for sure,’ Goldie said.

Elizebetha was laughing with relief as well. ‘You boys are crazier than Seth.’

‘We can’t let him steal all the glory,’ Grimm said. ‘Now he’s got a friend on the way; at least we’ve done that.’

As they stood in the circle filled with relief and a new sense of pride in themselves, Dagosh, the mercenaries’ captain ran into the room. His face was red with exertion and held a look of worry. He was flanked by the female archery captain, Stellos, with her stern face and arrow notched to bow.

‘The Duchess Dierdra is on the march, and they are close.’

Chapter 4

Seth woke slowly with a groggy head. His body was wet from lying in the snow and he sat up in small increments, his head still ringing. With a careful hand, he reached back and touched his head. It came away slightly bloody. Looking up, he saw the women, ‘Silver’ she had called herself before she’d sent him to sleep in the cold snow. Now she sat in the snow a few feet away from him, staring at him with piercing blue eyes. He looked around and saw his own sword laying within hand’s reach to his left, half covered in snow.

He sat fully upright and peered back at her. She had covered herself partially in clothing, and was now wearing a piece of ripped black fabric across her breasts, one more piece hanging from her scabbard belt and covering her womanhood. That was good: he didn’t want to die thinking lustful thoughts about his killer. She still looked like a goddess to him. Pale skin, white like the snow itself, and even as she sat just a few feet from him it was hard to make her out in the thin drift, she blended into the background. She was tall and lean and had refined features. He was shivering from the cold, but she seemed fine. Before she’d knocked him out, he’d bowed to her, which clearly didn’t buy him any favours, so he’d just address her as an equal now. Maybe she wasn’t a goddess, but he’d never heard of creatures like this. Her beauty was astounding.

‘I’m Seth.’ He said, looking right back into her eyes.

‘I know you,’ she said in a soft lilting voice, speaking a very ancient form of Northern that he struggled to understand.

‘Sorry about the strike, but I needed time,’ she said.

‘To do what?’

‘Let the moon reveal to me the truth of you,’ she said in a very matter of fact way.

‘And what did it say?’ He said trying to be serious, but damn his life made not one straw of sense. He was sitting in the land of the dead and talking with some beautiful creature, who by her language, was at least a two hundred years old, and about what the moon’s opinion of him was. A long way from the Levies in Bloodcrest, that was for sure.

‘You’re the one I’ve been waiting for, the marked one,’ she said, and as she spoke he saw a silver tongue flashing in her mouth.

‘You’ll be my champion and help me regain control of my people. To bring us back to glory and to redeem your Northern people for all of their sins against us.’

‘Oh,’ was all he could say.

‘Now stand and show me your skills with that blade. The moon says you’re the one, but I would test this myself.’

Seth had no wish to fight her, but he felt the power of her words within his mind. Before he could stop himself, he was on his feet, broadsword in a double-handed stance and facing her. He had no idea if she was his friend or foe, if this was a test or the end of him, but he’d go down swinging regardless, and for the second time in the day Seth looked death in the eye and raised his blade.

The pale woman, Silver, drew out her long black blade and faced him. She was the same height as him, and he knew that even with a broadsword he would have to dodge rather than block. He had some idea of her strength and speed, and knew this would be the hardest fight of his life.

She smiled at him sweetly, white teeth flashing prettily and said, ‘Attack me.’

He leapt with vigour and swung his sword in a shoulder to hip slash. She just darted back in a blur and his sword swung through the thin air. Almost losing his balance, Seth wheeled in a circle and, releasing his sword from one hand, let it fly out, leading with his left hand and leaping to the side to give it even more length. She was forced to block the move and did so easily, but with a smile. He spun back the other way and slashed at her legs. She blocked that as well and kicked out at his face, he blocked the front kick with the flat of his blade and was knocked back in a roll. He came up in a fighting stance to see her leaping towards him with that giant blade poised above her. Defending for a massive blow, he thought ‘fuck this’. As she came down towards him, he passed the sword to his right hand and turned his body to present as small target as possible. He pushed his blade deep into her stomach as she descended, but she’d changed her blades direction and it cut him deeply, from the neck all the way to his stomach.

He staggered back with red blood pouring from him and massive pain running through him. She looked down as silver blood poured from the wound in her own stomach, Seth’s sword running almost the entire way though her. She smiled at him as he lay dying in the snow.

‘Not too bad, really.’ Taking the pommel of his sword, she drew it slowly from her fine flat stomach with a slight wince of pain. Wiping the silver blood on her hand, she reached down to him in the snow and smeared blood down the long deep cut from his neck. He felt it infuse with him, and he felt the wound growing hot and healing itself. ‘Get up and stop being lazy.’ She said with a laugh, and with a strong hand she pulled him from the snow.

He had felt moments earlier that the life was trickling out of him, but now he felt stronger than ever. He almost believed he could move faster and more lightly than before he’d been cut.

‘The moon spoke true. You’ve passed the test, and also being blood bound is another sign it was meant to be.’

He looked at her smiling face, only very slightly tired or strained, and laughed himself. ‘Did you enjoy that?’ He asked

‘Of course, I’ve been so bored these last hundred years, but now we’re going to get into so many good fights.’

‘With me?’ He asked.

‘Oh no, with my mother,’ she said with a wicked grin. ‘Come now and obey me,’ she said. He felt the power of the words in his mind and followed, all thoughts of the coins and friends forgotten.