CHAPTER 12 – THE SHRINE
As they rode along the base of the steep hills in the pleasant morning sun, Corvus decided to confront Athene with an issue that he knew he just had to get off his large chest.
‘Once we get you all to the safety of the shrine and your magician, I won’t be going any further with you.’
‘What?’ cried Athene. ‘You have just got to stay. We need you - I need you.’ She fluttered her eyelashes at the Nordheim King, giving him her very best defenceless look.
‘No lassie, you don’t need me as much as you think, although I hope that I have been of some service to you, even if my hosting skills need a little more honing.’ Corvus looked deep into the young lady’s sparkling green eyes forcing him to quickly look away before he began to reconsider.
‘I’m afraid that my path lies elsewhere as I have a blood debt to settle. Not to say that I won’t return for another one of your fine meals from time to time. I’ll always let you have the honour of cooking for me when I return in the future – that is, if you are lucky of course.’ Corvus looked sheepish and cleared his throat.
‘You must also know that I have reached this conclusion because you may no longer be as safe as you think with me around. Whilst you were both lying asleep this morning I went outside to disarm the trip-lines that I had set the night before, when a dark vision suddenly came to me. I felt stunned, like being hit with a great hammer and believe me I know what that feels like. A voice then forced its way into my mind. I think it was from the one who hunts you Athene, not the Su-Katii but a Wizard. He was easy to push from my mind, probably because he found so little in there, but before I rid myself of him he told me that my younger son was dead but my wife still lived amongst the possessed that he controls. All I had to do for my love’s safe return to a normal life again was to put my axe through Tress’s skull and deliver you to him. My wife and my subjects would then be returned to me.’
‘I take it from the fact that I am still drawing breath that his offer was not acceptable to you?’ Tress asked, watching Corvus’s reaction like a hawk.
‘Tempting, but your thick head would just have just blunted my axe,’ he smiled then immediately followed his humour with a chilling tone.
‘No my friends, evil has a way of corrupting the truth, I know that the voice was lying and that my wife is lost to me forever. But I will see that those responsible for the destruction of all that is precious to me are punished. Although I know that I must care for the living rather than the dead.’
‘What do you mean?’ questioned Athene.
‘I have another son still drawing his breath in a neighbouring kingdom; it is our custom to hostage a rival’s family to maintain peace between clans. Once I have seen you both to safety I intend to go back and find what is left of my army and then get my son back. You see, as soon as they find out that I failed to protect my hostage then my eldest son Rikard, is as good as dead. Don’t take this the wrong way but hopefully it’s just you that they want to capture. I figure I can slip through better on my own and muster my men.’
‘I understand,’ retorted Tress. ‘It still took courage to warn us of these events, a lesser man may not have warned us of the suggestions of our hunters.’
‘And I hope that you find and free your son,’ said Athene sincerely.
‘Oh yes, added Tress with a wink, ‘And thank you for leaving me in one piece.’
‘Well I just figured that had I split you in half, two of you would have been twice as unbearable,’ Corvus laughed. Athene averted her head throughout the conversation so that the tears which threatened to well up in her eyes would not be seen.
As they rode on, Corvus thought back to earlier that morning when he had shaken free from the voice in his head. Fingering his axe, he had looked down at the two sleeping women. It would have been so easy to drive the axe down. His love for his wife had been great, but now he also knew that the process could be reversed and a plan was beginning to hatch in his mind. Anyway, if his wife had ever found out that he had killed a friend to save her she would have cut his balls off.
The group rode on. Athene’s mind raced; first with the memories of Henrick’s courageous last stand, she just could not stop thinking about his last moments, then onto the dreadful thought of losing Corvus as well. Moving on, she dwelt on the mystery of why she should be hunted so, there seemed to be an abundance of time to consider such matters. She knew that she had done nothing to warrant such a pursuit and eventually came to the conclusion that her mother was likely to be in some way connected and therefore could also be in danger. What had they done? They were just a simple family running an inn in a border village. She had been mostly kept away from the customers in the back kitchens struggling to make the place profitable and had not even been allowed the attentions that serving at the front bar offered. It was the best her busy mother could offer to shield her from the rough environment of a busy inn. She had always found the customers talkative and friendly on the occasions she had ventured out front to clear tables. She had never understood why her mother had tried to be so protective of her, after all it was impossible to grow up totally innocent in a drinking establishment. Her mother had always been considered desirable in her prime and it was not long before another new man was in her life. But it had been the creepy advances of her new stepfather that had eventually influenced her decision to move out and try her hand at something else. His playful butt-slaps in passing had, in the first instance been mildly amusing, being unused to such attention, but over time his growing familiarity had developed into full blown gropes. His wandering hands would on occasion encircle her bust whilst the stench of stale ale was breathed heavily down the nape of her neck. She had the sense to know when to make her unpopular decision to leave, but moving in with Martha the busty serving wench was a mistake. It had proved to be a wild introduction into the single way of life as her roommate was too generous with her invitations to drunken customers to visit their lodgings and continue their partying.
‘Over there.’ shouted Corvus. ‘See the large yellow sphere in the distance? That is the magic aura that protects the shrine, below the sphere lies a grassy mound that leads down into its depths. You can see it when we get closer - I used to peer through the yellow dome and wonder what mysteries it held, when my father rode me about to understand the kingdom that I would some day inherit.’
‘It looks a little too quiet down there, is it always like this?’ observed Tress.
‘This whole land appears still after the events of the last few days.’ replied Corvus.
‘Let’s just get this done and get you girls to safety.’ With that they picked up their pace towards the magic dome.
Tethering the horses to a nearby tree, Corvus picked up a large stone and threw it against the translucent yellow barrier surrounding the shrine, but it bounced back off into the ditch.
‘Well it at looks like nothing has changed here over the years.’ he remarked. The protective magic field appeared impassable to them.
‘How did that magician expect us to get in, I have no trust in these magic users. It is impassable, there seems to be no entrance’. Athene’s anxiety levels began to rise.
Tress held her head in her hands wracking her memory of her dream as silence and a wave of depression engulfed the exhausted group.
‘I don’t know, Tamar’s words were very broken. ‘All I know is that we must get in, I know a little magic, let me try.’
Tress knelt in front of the dome for several minutes with her eyes shut chanting her words in a low unknown tone, every so often she would wave her hands in the air. Eventually with a gasp she opened her eyes and said with confidence.
‘There is no way in.’
After several minutes of thoughtful contemplation, Athene rose shaking her head.
‘This past week I’ve been hunted, starved and even dragged about like a doll by a giant Rock-Beast, I’m not about to give up yet.’ She pulled a shortsword from her saddle and charged at the dome in an unusual fit of anger. As the infuriated woman neared the dome, a portion of the shield evaporated away before her.
‘Bloody hell, you’re more than just a simple cook Athene, how did you manage that? It was as solid as a wall before?’ Corvus gawped.
Stopping on the far side of the dome Athene simply turned and shrugged her shoulders puzzled.
They stopped and listened. An unnatural silence had settled over the valley, not even a bird’s cry could be heard. Tress’s skin tingled and itched, she withdrew a new blade that she had acquired in Croweheim, its steel looked dull compared to her previous sabre.
‘I sense magic in the air, but there is no substitute for a bit of steel,’ she murmured almost to herself.
‘I just feel a shiver down my spine,’ replied Athene as she marched back through to her horse and as she removed her provisions, she also pulled free a bow and notched an arrow.
‘OK,’ said Corvus ‘Let us proceed - with extreme caution.’
They all followed her lead and removed everything of use or worth from their mounts.
‘If all goes well we won’t be coming back to the horses,’ stated Tress.
In a different mountain range hundreds of leagues away, Tamar’s vision spell traced Anak’s transportation portal across the Aristrian border. He watched silently and invisible to detection, as his spirit eyes followed the shimmering trail of magic that leaked from the wounded stump of his severed hand. Unseen by human eyes Tress’s sabre had left an unmistakeable magical signature on Anak’s wound; this signature now enabled Tamar to track the old weasel’s movements in his dream-like state. A second portal suddenly opened before the old man as he rested, reluctantly Anak pulled his weary body from the rock that bore his weight and passed into the crackling Vortex. Tamar began to home in on the reappearance of the magic trail eighty leagues to the north, his spirit eyes covered the distance quickly, it took him deep into the mountains of Aristria. With this spell he had free reign to move in any direction, but only observe. Many times he had tried to enhance the spell to empower him with sound as well as sight, but for a reason that baffled him, he could not make it work.
Suddenly his vision spell was extinguished like a flame. Strange, he scratched his chin in thought, perplexed. Taking this opportunity for a quick break, he had a sip of his watered-down wine and then, unable to pull his mind away from the problem of the spell’s sudden failure he recast the spell. Perhaps it had been his last modifications to attempt to grant him sound that had made the spell unstable? This time he began his vision from further back from his last location, so the vision spell was free to float through the air or pass through stone and after some searching around to pick up Anak’s trail he spotted a large three-towered villa built on the edge of a huge ledge, thousands of feet above ground level. There appeared to be no pathways up to the Villa, making it a likely candidate for the Brotherhood’s nest. He approached for a closer look spotting a glow that marked Anak’s passing and instantly his vision faded again, confirming that his magic had indeed been dispelled the first time and that he had found the location that he sought. Excitedly he returned to his body.
‘Cedar, call in all of our favours and gather our magic users at once. I have found them; the old snake has at last led me back to their lair. Begin our preparations; we shall destroy them early tomorrow morning.’ The courtyard burst into a hive of activity as people begun rushing about their duties and messengers departed.
It was a pleasant night in the Tanarian forest, the creatures of the night had finished their hunting and a stillness settled across the trees as the victors digested their meals. Now, as the morning approached, a new group of hunters assembled in the courtyard of Tamar’s hidden complex. The four men sat waiting silently for their leader and focusing their thoughts on the battle to come. Not all of the men had met each other before, but when Tamar arrived and greeted the men individually, their respect echoed his own. They had all worked in some capacity with him previously and had proved their commitment to him on several occasions. There was his old friend Sorus, Delanichi the trickster, Anamack from the distant lands of Menchata dressed as always in his colourfully bright silk robes and Ragnor the hermit of Nordheim. Each man was quite accomplished in their own right and all brought their own unique set of skills and experience to the table – they were united in their dislike for the Brotherhood. Delanichi’s art was especially respected by Tamar who had observed that he seemed to draw his powers from a different source than the more commonly-used crystals. He had not yet worked out how he did it and had been swiftly ejected when he had tried to enter his mind for a sneak peek, although this was probably just another one of his many illusions.
Under the clear night’s stars in the open courtyard, they finished their discussion of their assault plan. It was deliberately simple so as to minimize the probability of things going wrong. There were always so many factors to consider that could go awry when it came to magic and several continuity plans were also discussed. They would batter down their defences and then focus their combined powers on each magician, one at a time. Delanichi would distract and misdirect any of the others that would try to stop them. There would also be the acolytes to deal with. While they lacked their masters’ powers they could not be underestimated if they appeared in any numbers. The Brotherhood had a habit of holding a large reserve of potential members, ever-ready to augment their ranks and with the potential rewards of renewed youth, acolytes were often willing to risk their lives to advance their careers. As the first red rays of the morning sun were about to appear, a diamond was released from Tamar’s hand to the courtyards cobbled floor. It fell to the floor with an almost metallic clang, bouncing from the many stones until it eventually settled between the paving stones. A brilliant light pulsed outwards from the stone as a newly formed transport portal lit the night sky.
Deep in the Aristrian Mountains, the maelstrom of power arched down from the five magicians who stood aloft the Wyvern’s Nest hurling down their magical assault. The torrent of power released by them struck an invisible field that arched around the dome and protected the dwelling. The electric power seemed to hang in the air as it battled against the translucent dome. The men continued their chants for several minutes driving more power into their spell. Their efforts were met by an echoing laughter that rocked through the mountains as it dissipated against the unmoving and illuminated protective dome. Bellack shouted at the group as he stood on the balcony of the tallest tower, his voice magically magnified to echo his power.
‘Ah… Tamar, how nice to see you alive again. Did you really hope to force your entry into my abode with just this pathetic little band of tricksters? You will be wasting your time and your powers with that approach.’ Tamar slowly nodded his head in agreement,
‘For once you are right, Bellack. It does appear that our attempts to gain entry are turning into a bit of a lost cause; you must have spent years preparing these defences. Why don’t you come outside for a one-to-one chat? I’ll dismiss my associates and we can talk about this like gentlemen.’
A portal was immediately opened by Delanichi and the four other magicians briefly said their farewells before passing through. Bellack really hadn’t expected the group to give up so easily and was now a little intrigued, but he just couldn’t pass up the chance to mock his old associate, besides, the Soul Beast had been summoned and there was still some time to kill before its prey came to it. He still needed to be careful though – Anak must not be disturbed or they would risk losing control of the beast. He leapt from the tower balcony and floated harmlessly to the ground, just within the radius of the magical shield.
‘Our task will soon be complete, Soredamor will be released, a shame that you left the Brotherhood Tamar. You too could have enjoyed true immortality.’ Tamar had not regretted walking away from their order one bit and knew which words would rile Bellack the quickest.
‘I don’t need to enter the Vortex and sleep with that bitch Soredamor to gain another lifetime of youth. You know there is a limit to how many times that works, just look at Anak all shrivelled up, he is testament to that.’ Bellack’s face reddened,
‘You blasphemous fool. You never did finish your initiation and enter the rift. What pleasures you denied yourself. Had you found the courage to enter you would now know that we only carry out our actions out of love.’
‘Misguided love, Bellack,’ Tamar snapped back.
‘You could never understand, once you have tasted her lips – your soul is hers, but I would give it freely. I don’t know how you have lived for so long without her Tamar, but I will enjoy hunting you down. You and your kind will continue to provide our Brotherhood with great sport in the days to come.’
‘Ha. What a Brotherhood you have. You can hardly stomach each other but you all sleep with the same woman …yet still she has never been with child. Is it that you are all dick-less or is it that your Queen is only half a woman.’ shouted back Tamar with a broad smile across his face.
Bellack rushed forward, his lips curled upwards in an ugly snarl, an orb of lighting starting to form in his hands. Tamar stood laughing at the Brotherhood wizard as he rushed forward at him.
‘I’ve changed my mind – its time for you to die, Tamar.’ Bellack released the bolt of power, but before it could land on Tamar it was deflected harmlessly into the sky by Ragnor’s protective shield. Delanichi’s illusion had now broken; his clever spell had created an overlaid image depicting a scene of the magicians leaving, as Ragnor had simultaneously hidden the group from view. The men had remained invisible, listening and waiting until Bellack could be baited out.
Tamar was now concentrating on a spell as Sorus spoke to the ground asking it to hold onto Bellack’s feet. The element of the rocks obliged his request and the rocky ground expanded upwards to cling to the Brotherhood magician’s feet. Anamack finished his words and the ground around Bellack burst into flames enveloping the magician in a magical fire. Before they had time to rejoice, a huge wave of air sprang from Bellack’s hands extinguishing the flames around him and continuing up the hill side to blow the men from their feet. Sorus lost his footing, flailing his arms in the air in a wild panic he fell from the ledge - with a scream he plummeted hundreds of feet down the ravine. As he fell a portal appeared far in the distance below and Sorus disappeared from view. With a smile of satisfaction on Bellack’s face, the rock surrounding his feet shattered and the magician jumped backwards into the protective dome surrounding the Wyvern’s Nest.
‘Nice try, you almost had me there – Ah… but I see now, very clever Tamar. I wondered why you didn’t attack me with the others, but I see now, you have shadowed my thoughts. You may have witnessed the creation of the Soul Beast but there will be little that you can do about it.’ He raised his arms and several acolytes mounted the battlements and began throwing stones towards the remaining four’s positions. Ragnor looked down at his feet seeing that the stones where actually green crystals. The crystals pulsed out their magic and Ragnor quickly kicked away the nearest stone uttering a series of protective words. The four looked at each other blankly as Bellack and the acolytes turned and left the battlements returning back into the building without further comment.
‘What was that all about?’ asked Delanichi.
‘I don’t know, but with his shield still intact I guess that our assault is now over.’
‘Let’s go,’ replied Anamack sounding quiet and deflated.
‘This has been far from a wasted trip my friends. I have learnt a lot from Bellack and you are right, we must get going from here immediately, as we have a further evil that needs to be stopped,’ explained Tamar.
Delanichi’s news shocked the group. He had reached into his pocket and pulled out some of the diamonds used to initiate the portals. The stones were now just useless rocks and as he pulled one out for a closer inspection, it just crumbled to dust in his fingers.
‘Oh no,’ murmured Ragnor as he also pulled out his diamonds, discovering the same thing had happened to his stash of stones. The final spell against them had been designed to remove their ability to meddle in the Brotherhood’s affairs and it had done exactly that. After a short discussion Tamar refused to bring Sorus back. He had contacted him through his thoughts, but with his newly gained intelligence, it was more imperative that he should be sent to complete another mission immediately, no time could be spared. The magicians would now have to resort to their age-old skills and the use of their own magic to travel back. This approach would be both costly and slow, compared to the portals. With the old transport spells, learnt before the time when the crystals had became common practice, you could only move over your line-of-sight then recast the spell, repeating the process until you eventually reached your destination. They would rotate the spell between them, but even then, over this distance their return trip was sure to exhaust them.
The open doorway leading down into the darkness of the shrine somehow reminded Corvus of an open mouth awaiting its dinner, especially with the overhanging masonry that surrounded it. He had marvelled at the sight as a child, peering through the dome, now at last he would find out what lay within. The group hesitated before starting their descent, as if the others also sensed the same apprehension.
‘You know, I get the feeling we are being watched,’ Tress’s words struck a chord.
‘Me too,’ agreed Corvus, scanning the hillside for movement, first to the left then the lower lands to the right. Fetching a lantern from a saddlebag, Athene lit up the corridor ahead, she had no desire to pick up any of the numerous crystals that had been scattered about the streets of Croweheim. Corvus barged past her in the narrow corridor to lead the way. Not a single sound penetrated the stillness and small particles of dust floated up into the air as the group cautiously made their way down the ancient stone stairs. After descending through several ninety-degree turns and noticing a distinct dampness growing in the air, light could be seen radiating out through a stone archway and chamber beyond. She admired the stonework art that contained ornate scenes depicting divine beings and hunting beasts; the colours of which had long since faded from the sandstone – it had been painstakingly crafted using long forgotten skills. They moved forward with caution.
‘This looks to me like some kind of reception room.’ Corvus’ voice echoed eerily around the chamber as he spoke.
A further set of stairs at the far end of the room descended deeper into the bowels of the earth.
‘Let’s keep going, Tamar must be down here somewhere.’ Tress suddenly realised her voice had now become little more than a whisper.
Down and down they went, ever deeper into the murky darkness. Athene wondered how people could dedicate years of their lives to worship in such surroundings. The afterlife must hold outstanding rewards for this level of dedication she thought. Eventually, the chamber opened up to the right into what looked, from the neat array of weapons and shields that surrounded the walls, like a training area. This certainly did not look like the residence for a group of pacifists, there were swords, spears and shields of unusual design covering every inch of the wall space. Tress pushed open an adjoining door, which creaked loudly, the room beyond was minimal. Ten beds lined the walls with military-like precision, spare robes, rotten through with age, hung nearby and yet the room still managed to smell of sweaty bodies as if the priests had not been long gone. They continued on in their search for Tamar and their noses soon told them that they were nearing the latrines, which had obviously seen some recent action indicating that they were not alone down here. Not wishing to linger near the repugnant smells, they continued towards the only exit, a long stairway of stone paving leading down and worn smooth through years of use. The yellow glow of lighting crystals lit the chamber ahead where an open hall stretched out before them. The owners of the shrine must have discovered the powers of the crystals a long time before the rest of the continents, as their crystals had either been replaced or did not degrade like the others that Athene had seen. It was still eerily quiet and not a single soul had yet been discovered. A large wooden table with cooking utensils stood in the centre of the room with a recently used hearth behind it. The smell of cooked food lingered in the air and the symbols of the old Gods were attached to the walls, brightly polished silver hammers crossed with a half-moon, they surrounded the room at even intervals. The tips of highly polished spears sparkled and caught the eye in the weapons racks beneath them. Bronzed life-sized statues of a great warrior and a beautiful lady also decorated the room. Athene shuddered at the casts of the figures, their realism was bordering on creepy. On a tapestry behind the statues was a scene with the two figures matching the casts cowering, from what appeared to be an elder couple. A lightning-rod in the lady’s hand sent a great beam of light down upon the cowering couple. Her other hand held a long sword that pierced through the back of the elder man; a hawk clung to his shoulder, its wings flapping in panic. Behind the lady stood an infant’s cot. Athene studied the ancient tapestry for several minutes, before Corvus motioned her on.
‘Where is this damned Wizard?’ Corvus said grinding his teeth.
There was still no sign of anyone about, despite indications to the contrary. The thought beginning to occur to them – perhaps the magician was not here or maybe someone else was.
‘Are you sure Tamar will get us out from here?’ questioned Athene. ‘Because I’ve got to say my gut feeling is to get the hell out of here as quickly as possible.
‘Yes, I feel it too,’ nodded Tress. ‘But I do trust Tamar, I am sure he will arrange for our escape from these lands, I expect by a transportation portal as the magicians seem to favour this expensive method of transport. There is a hidden power within this Shrine it will enable him to reach this far and pluck us out to safety. Keep your chin up girl, I have done a number of jobs for him in the past - although I have not always known it, but he has always seen me right.’
‘What is this portal Tress, why is it expensive?’ asked Athene, showing her inexperience with the ways of magic.
‘The magic portals bend the dimensions of space at two points, like pinching two points in a line of string, then folding the two points together to form a circle. Then what was a long distance becomes an adjoining space – a space through which we can simply step through and cover a vast distance in seconds. It is tricky to achieve and requires a container to harness the magic, and the price for its mastery is half your life time in the study of magic, and of course a diamond that can be destroyed as the vessel for the magic needed to create the portal. I bet you wish that you had never asked now?’
Look, there’s another stairwell over there, let’s get you girls to your portal,’ called Corvus from the far end of the room as he explored. The group pushed on down towards the promise of escape, eventually reaching another dimly-lit chamber.
‘What is that over there on the floor – a pile of rags?’ asked Corvus straining his eyes in the dim light.
‘No, it is a body. Look.’
They approached the shrivelled, emaciated corpse lying amongst the rags. It looked like a fly sucked dry by a spider.
‘Oh my God.’ cried Athene.
‘What could do such a thing?’
The dead priest’s contorted face was turned upwards; his death appeared recent and the scratch marks made by his finger nails in the sandstone slabs showed the terror that he had experienced in his final moments to get away.
‘Perhaps a caretaker,’ suggested Tress.
A noise on the level above them made their heads snap round. It was a sound of stone grating on stone and it now scraped along the steps towards them, getting louder all the time. A bead of sweat trickled down Tress’s forehead. The temperature had raised a few degrees as they had descended deeper, yet she knew that it was not the temperature that had increased her rate of perspiration. The green, crystallised, once-human figure stamped purposefully down the stairs following their scent and moved into the chamber. It spotted the group with weapons drawn, and wrinkled its stone-encrusted nose, hissing savagely towards them, its black forked tongue lolling in the damp air. Instead of charging towards them as they had expected, the beast withdrew back into the shadows of the upper layers of the complex.
‘I don’t like this one bit,’ said Corvus. ‘That beast displayed different behaviour from the others that we have encountered. I am going to go up and kill it.’
Tress grabbed his arm, holding him back.
‘There may be others up there, perhaps it is a trap. As you say the beast behaved differently. Maybe there are more beasts up there waiting to ambush us so you may need to come through with us after all Corvus?’
‘Ok, we’ll do this your way Tress, but if your Tamar fails to turn up down there we’ll be stuck in a dea