The Soul Forge (6 page)

The iron door opened behind them, and they were unceremoniously
yanked through to the other side. The door was slammed shut and bolted immediately, and the sound of bodies hitting it reached their ears immediately.

Thomas looked up and saw the very unhappy face of
the Trask twins. They roughly hauled him to his feet, and they weren’t very gentle with the woman, either.

“Miranda, by the way,” she said.

“Miranda,” he repeated.

“What are you two doing here? You’re supposed to be outside!”

Miranda was the first to find her voice. “We saw the other strangers, and things changed. We had to go without you.”

The taller of the Trask twins sneered, clearly unimpressed.
“We handled them easily,” he said, “and then we had to save you.”

“Thank you kindly,” Thomas interjected, “by the way.”

Neither twin responded, but the iron door suddenly shook as something heavy hit it.

“What are those things?” the shorter twin asked.

“Dunno,” Thomas replied, “but I really don’t think we should be here when they get loose.”

No one replied, but as one they turned and ran away.
Whether the creatures could get free of the door or not was immaterial; all they could do was run.

“We need to get out of here!” Thomas yelled as he ran.

“No!” Miranda shouted back, “the job’s still on!”

“The job?”
the taller twin said incredulously, “screw the job! Those things are going to kill us!”

Thomas had to agree, but Miranda’s jaw had set. He could almost hear her thoughts. She wasn’t leaving without that staff.

He couldn’t help but sigh. If she was going to brave this castle’s horrors, then he couldn’t very well just leave her to do it alone. That just wasn’t something he would do. As they paused to catch their breath, he stared hard at Miranda.

Except why not? He wasn’t even supposed to be there. He was supposed to
be on his way to figuring out who had burned the village and his farm to the ground, not facing off with soldiers and burning demons and Gods knew what else. This wasn’t his problem.

But as he looked at the stark determination on Miranda’s face, he found
his own resolve slipping. He knew he shouldn’t, he knew he should just escape while he could. Whatever those creatures were, the twins, Miranda… they could all rot. Couldn’t they?

His head dropped as the three of them started bickering. Miranda refused to go, but the twins refused to stay.

“I’m with you, Miranda,” Thomas said, and silence immediately fell.

“What?” was all Miranda replied, looking just as shocked as
Thomas felt. He shook his head in disbelief over the words coming out of his mouth.

“If you want this staff that badly, then I’m with you,” he said.
“I’ll help however I can. But then we got to get out of here.”

Miranda’s eyes strangely f
illed with tears. The sense of foreboding only increased in Thomas. Why did this staff mean so much to this girl?

“Well, we can’t have the youngblood showing us up,” the taller twin said.
“C’mon, little brother.”

“Yeah, I guess we’
re with you,” the shorter nodded.

“Then we’re decided,” Thomas said, “so what’s our first move?”

Miranda nodded, thinking hard. “Well,” she finally said, “our mark is still the same, and it should still be where its kept. If anything, those other intruders should help cover us.”

“Then we head upstairs?” Thomas suggested, and Miranda nodded. Her usual seductive smile crossed her face, and he could have sworn she winked at him.

“What about those things?” the shorter twin said, jutting his thumb back towards the creatures.

“Hang them,” Miranda replied, “they aren’t our problem.”

No one disagreed, and together, the group found a set of stairs that led up. Thomas didn’t have the first clue where the staff was or how they were going to get it, but he was strangely at ease.

That feeling lasted until they snuck through a door that led to the sleeping quarters. Immediately, they were surrounded by mostly sleeping guards in cots that had seen better days. They were worn and smelled of sweat and neglect. The few guards that were awake seemed more interested in staring mildly off into space, so they didn’t notice the door creak open and the four people dressed in black creep through the door.

“Whatever business was outside,”
Miranda whispered, “it looks like it’s been handled.” “Or they just haven’t noticed,” the taller twin said. Thomas said nothing, checking to make sure they weren’t spotted by anyone. The guards seemed to be absorbed in their own little worlds and had little regard for anything else.

It struck Thomas as strange. Everything about this castle was odd, and not just because it was somewhere Thomas had never been before.
The wooden walls were bare. There were no weapons or trophies, as if none of the soldiers actually called this place home. Thomas wasn’t sure, but he could have sworn that soldiers spent a lot of time in the barracks. Why then weren’t they taking any pride in their living space? They didn’t even take their helmets off, even when lying down.

“Thomas!” Miranda whispered, “come on!”

Thomas looked up to see Miranda and the twins had crossed the hallway and were already angling for the other doorway. He hastened to catch up, making sure not to be seen by anyone. Not that guards were trying very hard to keep a decent lookout…

They exited through the door on the opposite side of the chamber without difficulty, entering a
dimly lit hallway. Suits of armor lined the walls, and the ceiling was painted with different designs of strange things. A red carpet settled on the floor, and it the darkness Thomas was reminded of blood.

What
was
this place?

“It could just be me,” Thomas whispered, “but something ain’t right about this place.”

“What do you mean?” Miranda asked as they tiptoed towards the throne room.

“Not sure,” Thomas replied, “just… not right. This place is strange.”

No one had anything to reply, so they just crept on in silence.

According to Miranda, the staff was located in a vault behind the throne.
Hopefully, the King shouldn’t be in court today, meaning all they had to do was subdue the guards and they were home free.

Which would be a large contrast between how everything else in Thomas’ life was going lately.

Though
Thomas didn’t think it very wise, Miranda insisted they go through the front door. They opened it just enough from Miranda to slip through, and Thomas followed after her. The twins had to open up the door further to fit through, and only silence greeted the group.

“So… where’re the guards?” Thomas asked.

No one answered him, but it was clear that something was amiss. The throne room was completely empty. Torches were lit and the place was bright, but there was no living thing in the room save for those that weren’t supposed to be there.

“Makes the job that much easier,” the taller twin said with a shrug, moving brazenly out into the middle of the room. The shorter brother followed him.

“I really don’t think that’s a good idea,” Thomas whispered, trying to melt into the wall. Miranda stayed with him, letting the Trask twins move into the exposed area that preceded the throne. They took one look back at the cowering Thomas and Miranda before scoffing and walking towards the throne.

They made it to the other side unimpeded.

The throne was ornate, with gold trimming outlining red cushions and golden armrests. Behind the single chair was a weapons case that held a shining sword and a shield – the very weapons General Chromwell used in the battle against the Dark Priest.

Though Thomas immediately wanted to touch the items,
their prize was behind the weapons case.

The twins
tried to push the case aside, eager to get what was on the other side of it, but it wouldn’t budge. Only when Thomas and Miranda helped push did the case move.

W
hat they found was not what they expected.

The moment they moved the case, t
he hissing creatures jumped out from behind them, knocking the two men to the ground. Luckily, the creatures weren’t on fire, or the twins would have burnt to death by the time Thomas and Miranda arrived to help them. Thomas wrestled one of the hissing creatures off of the taller twin without thinking about it, leaving Miranda to try her hand at removing the other creature with her sword.

Neither
were very successful.

The hissing creature flung Thomas to the side, where he landed painfully on the red carpet.
Miranda’s attacks were worse than useless, as they seemed to agitate the creature and she was sent tumbling to the floor. The creature’s hands were around the twins’ throats, and soon they both turned a uniform shade of blue.

Thomas wasn’t having it.

He tackled the nearest creature, which surprisingly fell to his weight and he managed to push one into the other, and both creatures released their holds. The twins rolled away, coughing, as the creatures turned their unseeing gazes to Thomas.

Now he had their undivided attention.
He gulped.

They moved in on him, their arms held out to grasp for his face or throat or whatever else they could crush.
He briefly considered sending fire at them, but that hadn’t exactly worked out the last time, so he immediately ruled it out.

Which left one option remaining.

He turned and ran.

They followed him, and he made sure to stay close enough so that they wouldn’t lose interest in him. Meanwhile, Miranda capitalized on the distraction to head inside the vault to procure their prize. The twins, dazed, did nothing more than try to regain their balance.

“I told them,” Thomas wheezed as he sprinted for a stairwell that led to the second floor balcony, “I told them this was suspicious.”

He climbed the scarlet staircase two steps at a time, torn between putting distance between the creatures and prolonging the distraction.

His decision was made for him as he reached the top of the stairs and was swiftly punched in the face for his trouble.
His face exploded in barbs of pain and he slipped back down the stairs he had just climbed. His momentum was stopped by the creatures, and they seized him with a solid oak grip.

“Well well. Isn’t this a surprise?” a voice Thomas had never heard before said. It was deep yet somehow corroded, like the body th
at housed the voice was falling apart.

Thomas shook the cobwebs loose and looked up, staring into the face of his attacker.
As hazel eyes stared into red, Thomas’ jaw dropped.

The man was at least a head taller than him, with a ceremonial black robe that was tightly wrapped around a thin, almost frail, body.
The man’s hair was black and stuck up all over, and he had a black beard that covered most of his face.

“I may be mistaken,” Thomas said as he was forced to his feet, “but I don’t think you’re the King.”

The response he got was a laugh that chilled his very bones.

“No,” the man replied, “not exactly.”
Then he raised his hand, and the hissing creatures increased pressure on Thomas. He felt his arms start to ache in protest from the pressure, and his legs caved. Before he knew it, he was on his knees.

“I, my boy, am the Dark Priest.”

Thomas’ head shot up even as his jaw dropped. His eyes saucers in his head, Thomas could only reply, “no way.”

“I know, I’m not nearly as imposing as the legends state,” the shadow replied
, “but I am who I claim. Meaning the prize you seek tonight is mine by right.”

“We…” Thomas’ brain stalled. He urged himself to think, but nothing was coming to mind.
This couldn’t be the Dark Priest. He refused to accept it. His skin wasn’t crawling with fear nearly enough for it to be. But the pretender still had Thomas captured, and he had to stall for time. He couldn’t just stay quiet, he had to think of something…

“We aren’t seeking anythin’,” was his half-witted reply. As soon as the words left his mouth he wished he had them back.

As life often dictates, this was not to be.

“No? Then tell me, why are you in the castle? Why are you pushing aside the General’s weapons to get what’s behind? If you aren’t seeking, you most certainly know where to look.”

A twinge of pain rifled through Thomas’ arm, and in anger he spat, “what are these Gods-forsaken things?”

The robed figure laughed. “Those? They’re my latest pets. I tried using the undead, but those are far too messy and unreliable. Anything with a brain is untrustworthy, really. So these I call my…
Others.”

“Others?”
Thomas repeated, a little let down. “That’s the best you can come up with?”

“I know, it’s not much of a name,” the pretend Priest replied, “but it’s all I could come up with under such short notice.”

“Short… you’re just now using these… things?”

“Oh yes. Ever since my defeat five years ago, I’ve had to start all over. Oh, the shame of it all. But I think I’ve started out well. I have new soldiers, and all I need is my staff to consolidate my power.
” He lifted his head and raised his voice before finishing. “Now, dear girl, hand it here.”

Thomas turned to
face Miranda, who was standing by the throne holding what looked to Thomas like a branch glowing with purple fire. It was subdued, as if it burned with dark power simply because it knew no other way, but when the pretend Priest spoke the purple grew
deeper
. It didn’t get brighter or visibly throw off flames, but the purple just got more intense, more powerful.

More inviting.

Thomas found that he couldn’t look away
from the staff, and the staff wouldn’t look away from him. Even the Others holding him seemed to loosen their grip as the staff called out. He could hear it speaking. There was a whisper that moved like an insect on Thomas’ skin.

It scared him.

“Come then, bring it to me.”

Miranda stared down at the staff, her whole body shaking. That staff… it had power all its own. Thomas could see Miranda debate it in her head, trying to resist but unable to fight off the temptation of the staff. Slowly, she started moving forward.

“No!”

The shout came in unison from the Trask twins, but they were held down by four Others, and there was nothing they could do.
Only Thomas stood between Miranda and the pretend Priest, and Thomas couldn’t find it within him to move.

Then he felt the ghost pain of a nine year old kicking him in the shin, and he smiled. All of the lectures he gave her about being a good girl and behaving, and he was going to just stand there and let their adventure end before it had even begun.

He’d never hear the end of it.

Miranda started climbing the stairs, and
for one moment she was even with Thomas. And in that moment, Thomas moved.

He broke free of the slackened grip of the Others and tackled Miranda to the ground.
She wrestled with him, but he was bigger and simply used that advantage to ward her off for a few moments. True, she could probably punch his skull in, but that was a problem for later.

The problem for now was wrenching the staff loose
from her grip and standing to his full height, feeling the dark object pulsate between his fingers. He didn’t look at it, afraid that to do so would forever doom him to keep looking.

“Now, now,” the pretend Priest chuckled, “let’s be reasonable. I’ll make you a deal.”

“I’m afraid it doesn’t matter what you offer,” Thomas replied, “you don’t get this.”

“But what I have to offer is so very tempting. Are you sure you don’t at least want to hear the offer?”

Thomas didn’t even think about. “Sorry. Not interested.”

Before the other could speak or the Others could move, Thomas swung the staff in a high arc and brought it crashing down to the stone floor. With the sound of glass shattering and wood splintering,
the staff smashed apart on the ground.

What erupted from the spot was something no one was ready for.

It was the closest thing to nothing Thomas could have imagined. It wasn’t a lack of space, but what was filling the air between Thomas and the door was a cloud of darkness so complete it looked like a gateway to absolutely nothing. But it was something, it was definitely something. Thomas just didn’t have the first clue what it could possibly be. It had shape, but it was formless. It had depth, but it had no size.

What
was
this thing?

“That wasn’t your most clever move,” the pretend Priest said.
“Noble, but unwise. You see, the staff wasn’t containing the dark power of the Priest. It wasn’t containing me evil or my magic.”

“Then…” Thomas didn’t want to ask, but he couldn’t resist, “what was it containing?”