Dark Soul Silenced - Part Two
Read Dark Soul Silenced - Part Two Online
Authors: Simon Goodson
Dark Soul Silenced
Part Two
Simon
Goodson
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Text copyright ©2013 Simon Goodson
Cover image copyright © 2013 Simon Goodson
All Rights Reserved.
Published 27
th
March 2013
This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever
without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Contents
Important Note
This is the conclusion to the story started in
Dark Soul Silenced – Part One
. It is not a standalone book. If you haven't already read
Dark Soul Silenced – Part One
I strongly suggest reading it first.
Part One - Unfulfilled Plans
Chapter One
Daniel sat by the fire, staring into the flickering flames and replaying recent events in his mind. So much had happened in so little time. He had changed so much, gaining incredible powers which he was still learning to control.
Those powers hadn't been enough when Mary was snatched by vampires. And so had begun the long chase to rescue the kidnapped girl. A chase that had led them into the keep they now camped by, and into a trap.
In a desperate series of battles they had managed to escape the keep, killing many vampires on the way but leaving far more alive. The escape had not been without cost – not all the guards survived.
All this and more went through Daniel’s mind. With the sun getting low he dragged his thoughts to the future. Their immediate problem would be finding shelter for the night. Their camp was close to the keep and the only reasonable option was to seek shelter there.
Not in the keep itself, which was still infested with vampires, but in the long entrance tunnel. The inner end was already sealed. Once they were in Daniel could seal the outer end too, ensuring their safety for the night. It made perfect sense, but some of the guards were clearly uncomfortable with the idea.
With no other option they would have to endure the experience. Vampires might be in the area, and Daniel wasn’t certain whether those trapped inside the keep were truly contained.
Then there would be the question of what to do next. The Seeker Amulet they had used to track Mary was useless now. Daniel could only think of one way to find where Mary had gone. He would have to tear the knowledge he needed from the vampires still in the keep. He was certain that some, at least, would know what he needed to find out. The attempt would have to wait till the next morning though. While dangerous enough during the day, when he could open windows to let daylight in, entering the keep at night would be suicidal.
Daniel had another reason for wanting to return. While climbing the stairs of the keep one corridor on the third floor had drawn him, called to him. He’d felt the same pull when they passed the third floor during their descent. He wanted to know what lay down that corridor. More than that — he
needed
to know. Even if he already knew where to find Mary he would still return to the Keep, return to the corridor and find out what it led to. Find out what it was that pulled so strongly at his soul.
Sarah sat near the fire, staring at the ground. After the terror and excitement of entering the keep, fighting to survive and finally escaping she now felt nothing but despair. Her heart had been torn in two the moment they discovered Mary wasn’t in the crate, that in fact they hadn’t been following Mary at all.
Daniel insisted they would find a way to track Mary down, that he would find the information they needed back in the keep. She hardly dared hope he was right, and doubted he would survive returning on his own. She had to rely on him though.
Once again she was aware of the irony of that. She now trusted completely the man she had harboured such doubts about only a few days before. The man she had been desperate to keep Mary away from, while still knowing they needing his help and protection. She had looked into the heart of darkness now, she had faced down the creatures Daniel called vampires. After those experiences she was certain that the healing powers that first her daughter and then her husband had developed were in no way related to the darkness, to the evil, that drove the vampires.
All she wanted was to hold Mary once again, to tell her that everything would be all right. Sarah felt as if a hole had been torn in her soul, as if a large piece of her had been ripped away. Nothing would be right until she had Mary back. She desperately tried to avoid considering that they might never find Mary. She knew those thoughts would send her over the edge of despair.
She jumped at a hand placed gently on her shoulder.
“Sorry,” Jon said, sitting beside his wife and handing her a cup. “Tea. I thought you might need it.”
Sarah nodded in thanks, stared down at the steaming liquid. Very aware of Jon studying her, she took a sip. Rather than being bitter, as she expected, the dark brew was almost stickily sweet. She glanced at Jon, raising her eyebrows.
“Honey,” he said with a small smile. “Josef has some in his saddlebags. He said we needed an energy boost.”
Sarah noticed that Jon had a cup of his own.
“It’s good,” she said softly.
He just nodded, then put his arm round her shoulders. She leant into him. Neither said anything. There was nothing to say. But she felt a little better. Now, when it would be so easy to give in to despair, she drew strength from having her husband beside her.
Josef smiled slightly at the sight of Sarah and Jon sitting close together. The honey for the tea was a small thing, but it had helped. With only four remaining guards from the Order and himself Josef knew they needed all the help they could get.
Despite never having handled swords before both Jon and Sarah had proven to be quick learners. Sarah in particular. In battle she lost all fear, becoming a viciously aggressive fighter. A berserker almost. Very little was able to stand against her, but she paid no attention to defence. She would have been cut down many times if not for Jon. He spent most of his time protecting his wife, deflecting blows aimed at Sarah and himself. It was an unorthodox partnership but one that worked exceptionally well.
And then there was Jon’s ability to heal. An ability that Josef had twice been on the receiving end of. The first time Jon saved Josef from what would have been certain death. The second had been serious though not directly life threatening, but Jon’s healing had allowed Josef to fight at full strength as they escaped the keep.
Josef wondered what the guards would say if he told them everything, if he told them that he could now sense the strange powers that Jon and Daniel drew on. In truth he didn’t know what to make of it himself. At times he still wondered if he had been caught up in darkness, if his perceptions had been shifted.
He didn't really believe they had though. The powers that Jon could wield were unusual certainly, but Josef could now sense that the power used in healing was echoed in their surroundings — a greenish tinged power that linked to plants, trees and other life. The dark power of the vampires felt completely different, and had no source that he could discern.
Josef wrestled with other worries as he sat. The Order had always used certain holy objects in its fight against darkness. Some were reasonably common, such as the swords and protective amulets Josef and the other guards carried. Others were rare, or even unique. Whether rare or not, all the items had one thing in common — their powers came directly from the almighty.
Or so Josef had always been taught. Now he had doubts. With his newfound ability he had seen that the power of the Amulet was drawn both from the user and from the surroundings. The tools of the Order sailed dangerously close to the very powers it tried so hard to stamp out. Did anyone in the Order know this, or were they all using the tools with no idea of where the power came from? Josef wasn’t sure which possibility was worse.
“
Sun’s nearly down.” Josef jumped slightly as Samuel’s deep voice snapped him out of his thoughts. He glanced at the sky. Samuel was right. They needed to take shelter against the approaching darkness. Standing he started issuing orders to move into the keep’s entrance tunnel and prepare for the night.
Chapter Two
The night passed peacefully. Safely sealed in the keep’s entrance tunnel Josef had slept surprisingly deeply, though not restfully. He woke haunted by dreams of being chased through stone corridors by something horrific that he never quite got a glimpse of, or of being trapped in small places with the walls closing in. Now he was awake he couldn’t wait to get out of the tunnel and back into the daylight.
They’d brought the horses into the tunnel for the night. Josef had expected the tunnel to be stinking by morning, yet the stones showed no sign of any horse dung and were dry. In some way the tunnel must have absorbed what the horses let fall.
Josef decided they should make breakfast once they were outside in the open air, a decision that everyone appeared relieved by. Now they all clustered by the exit, waiting for Daniel to open the path outside. Every one of them had weapons drawn. While in the keep they had learned the hard way that their perception of time could drift when completely shut off from the sun, moon and stars. If it wasn’t actually dawn yet they might face vampires when the door was opened. Even if it was light there might be other creatures waiting, creatures that served the darkness but could tolerate daylight.
Daniel triggered the door switch. The massive doors melted back into the tunnel’s walls, letting bright daylight flood in. Josef let out the breath he had been holding. Nothing was waiting for them in the entrance. Samuel darted forward to check then signalled it was all clear. The mood of the party changed almost immediately. Everyone relaxed. One of the guards cracked a joke. Even Jon and Sarah looked a little happier.
Everyone except Daniel. As the others moved out of the tunnel he hung back, then turned towards the other end. Towards the inner door. Josef noticed and broke into a jog to catch up.
“Going somewhere?” he asked.
Daniel paused and met his gaze.
“You know my plan.”
“
Yes, but I thought you would at least have breakfast first.”
“
I need to do this. I need to find out where Mary has been taken. The sooner the better.”
Josef sighed. “And you’re determined to do this alone?”
“Yes. I need to focus. Having to worry about anyone else would distract me.”
“
Even allowing for the night walkers you trapped in rooms there must be well over one hundred of those things that you’ll have to fight. Maybe a lot more. How are you going to kill that many when you only just escaped alive with the help of the rest of us?”
“
I do not plan to kill them. I just need to ensure they cannot interfere with me.”
“
Is that why you spent the whole night channelling energy into the stones of the tunnel near the inner door?”
Daniel looked shocked for a moment then smiled.
“Of course. With everything that happened your new abilities had slipped my mind. Yes, the power stored there forms part of my plan. You should go now. I need to prepare. This may take some time, hours even. If I do not return by mid-afternoon you should get as far from the keep as you can.”
Josef nodded reluctantly. “Very well, but be careful Ser Daniel. What you attempt is extremely dangerous.”
“Surely you should be pleased at the thought of my demise,” Daniel said with a straight face but a twinkle in his eye. “The demise of one seeped in darkness.”
Josef’s face was troubled. “I don’t know Ser Daniel. I truly do not know. Everything I have been taught says yes, but I start to suspect there were many things I haven’t been taught.”
Without another word he turned and walked towards the daylight.
Daniel stared after Josef until the witch hunter had left the tunnel, then forced his attention back to the task in hand. Daniel checked the stones near the inner tunnel entrance that he had charged with power. They were still full of energy.
While trapped at the top of the keep Daniel had discovered that the stones responded to power — once a certain threshold was reached the stone would stop drawing power from Daniel and start drawing it in from outside, or elsewhere in the keep. Daniel was then able to draw power from the stones — far more power than he had put into them. Now he planned to make use of that.
Taking a deep breath he reached out with his powers and gently tugged the switch controlling the tunnel’s outer door. The trickle of power through the switch was moved from one channel to another and the door quickly closed, flowing out of the surrounding stone as did every door and window within the keep. With the door sealed there was no light in the tunnel, but Daniel could still see well enough — another power he had gained since his transformation. Taking another deep breath he triggered the switch controlling the inner door, which quickly opened.
Seven or eight vampires were waiting. They charged at Daniel as soon as the door opened far enough. For his part Daniel stood his ground, one arm thrust out before him as if commanding them to stop.
And then they did stop. A glowing barrier blocked the tunnel a couple of feet in front of Daniel’s outstretched hand. Daniel focused carefully on the flow of energy, first ensuring the shield held, then starting to use it to move the vampires back. Several tried to strike the barrier then pulled away with yelps of pain. The others started to back away faster.
Daniel followed them until he had entered the room beyond. Thirty or forty vampires were in the room, all closing in on him. Every door leading from the room was sealed, as he’d expected. The power needed to manipulate the door switches was completely different to the power sustaining the vampires. Those trapped in the rooms were still trapped, and those outside had nowhere to run — except up the stairs. Not that they felt the need to run. Yet. Daniel planned to change that. Drawing even more power he pushed the barrier forwards and to the sides, forcing the vampires back towards the stairs.
Several tried to break through the barrier. They failed. Screeching with pain they pulled back again. The other vampires started to waver. First one turned and ran for the stairs, then several more. Within moments every one of the creatures was flying towards the staircase, shoving to get away from Daniel and the barrier. Daniel kept moving forwards, one slow step after another, the space for the remaining vampires shrinking as the barrier advanced.
Suddenly the exodus reversed. Now vampires were scrambling back down the stairs, casting terrified glances back up. Whatever was coming down the stairs became impatient. A handful of vampires were flung off the stairs by a blast of dark power. Daniel paused, drawing as much power as he could hold. Waiting to see what was coming.
He only waited a few seconds. A massive vampire came down the stairs so fast he seemed almost to be flying. Seven feet tall at least, and with the build of an ox, the creature’s physical presence would have been imposing enough. It was as nothing compared to the rage and raw power he radiated. The other vampires cowered back, far more scared of the monster in their midst than they were of Daniel. The creature stared about with contempt.
“Cowards!” he bellowed in a voice so deep it shook the ground. “You fear him? You fear one miserable mortal? Once I’ve finished with him I’ll teach you the real meaning of fear!” He turned to face Daniel. “Pretty tricks mortal, but they won’t save you today. My name is Razgul and today I kill you.”
“
Rafael himself could not kill me. I do not fear his pet,” replied Daniel.
With a bellow of rage Razgul charged forwards, crashing into the barrier. It bowed where he hit, forcing Daniel backwards. Desperately Daniel pulled in more power and strengthened the shield. Razgul laughed then launched himself at the barrier again, once more shoving Daniel backwards.
Razgul attacked again, this time forcing Daniel back to the edge of the entrance tunnel. The shield needed to cover a much smaller area now, but even so it was flickering and starting to fail. Razgul was hitting the shield with far more than just brute strength, he was striking with an incredible amount of dark power too. Far more than Daniel could hold off for any length of time, even though he was drawing large amounts of power through the keep.
With a terrible roar Razgul charged once more, smashing into the barrier and unleashing a focused blast of dark energy at the same time. The barrier collapsed and Daniel was thrown backwards down the entrance tunnel, tumbling several times before coming to a stop.
“See!” Razgul bellowed. “This is the man you feared? This is the man you ran from? He is nothing.
Nothing
! And now he will die.”
Razgul stomped into the tunnel, dark power already gathering to deliver the fatal blow. Daniel managed to climb to his knees but could do no more. Shaking his head to clear it he tried to focus on the massive vampire’s charge. He managed to raise his arm. Focusing intently he gestured and another barrier sprang to life, this time surrounding Razgul rather than just blocking his approach.
The mighty vampire simply laughed, then charged the barrier - unleashing the power he had gathered at the same moment. The barrier held firm. The dark power was deflected and Razgul was flung backwards. Angry now he stood then charged the barrier again, confident in his ability to wear down and break through anything that Daniel was able to conjure. Once again the barrier held and Razgul was thrown back. He immediately climbed to his feet and charged again. And again. And again. With every failure his anger became more intense, the power he threw against the barrier increased too. Yet every time he failed. Razgul knew that Daniel couldn’t possibly stand against his powers, yet the barrier remained intact time after time.
Daniel climbed to his feet, wincing as he did so. Razgul’s power had been enormous. It had easily battered through Daniel’s defences, and only his amazing strength and ability to heal allowed Daniel to stand. There was no way he could survive against such power, let alone contain it. So he hadn’t.
All night long Daniel had worked, priming the very stones of the entrance tunnel to draw energy. Josef had mistakenly thought Daniel would use them all as a source of power. Daniel had used a few for that purpose, but most had been primed for a very different purpose. Those had been prepared as a trap. Using the energy the keep could pull in from the world around he had prepared barriers far, far stronger than anything he could generate himself. Then he had set out to find a suitable victim, one who would know of Rafael’s plans for Mary. It was all based upon a hunch that Rafael would want to ensure the trap succeeded, that he would want someone to oversee events. The hunch appeared to have paid off. All Daniel had to do now was to get that information from Razgul.
Not yet though. He would need time for that, time without worrying about being attacked. He had to deal with the other vampires. Slowly he made his way back down the tunnel towards the keep. The trap that held Razgul didn’t quite fill the width of the tunnel. Daniel had left enough room to walk past on the right. As he did so Razgul repeatedly flung himself against the barrier trying to reach Daniel. All to no avail. Daniel knew the trap could take far more than Razgul was throwing at it.
Once past the trap he stepped out into the large room, once again summoning a barrier to keep the vampires at bay. He needn’t have bothered. Once they had realised that Razgul was not only defeated but actually trapped, most of the vampires had bolted for the stairs again. When Daniel stepped into sight those that were left turned tail and followed the others up the stairs. Daniel smiled grimly. Maybe he had a chance of surviving this after all.
Daniel quickly covered the ground to the stairwell, wanting to keep the fleeing vampires off balance. Once into the stairwell the barrier covered a much smaller area, allowing him to strengthen it significantly. He needn’t have bothered. He reached the next floor unchallenged, then stepped out into the room there. The doors leading from the room still stood open. There had been no chance to seal them when Daniel and the others fled the keep. Many of the vampires had run to this floor, and most of those were fleeing through the open doorways already. Once the flow slowed to a trickle then stopped Daniel reached out and triggered the switches for all the doors but one. Then he steadily advanced into the room, barrier projected before him. The few vampires that hadn’t fled already were forced back towards the open door.
Several threw themselves against the barrier — trying to emulate Razgul’s success. None succeeded. None had anywhere near the power of Razgul. Soon Daniel had cleared the room, forcing the final few vampires through the open doorway. He reached out and closed that door, shoulders slumping tiredly. He could feel how much energy he had burnt, how low his reserves were of the reddish tinged power that powered the barrier. He knew other vampires remained in the floors above, though he suspected there weren’t many. The doorways above were sealed too — the only place they could be waiting would be in the main room off the staircase on each floor.
Wearily he returned to the staircase but went down, not up. From the bottom of the stairs he reached out towards the tunnel entrance and the stones within it that were primed with the reddish energy. A minute or so later he turned and walked up the stairs, brimming with power and with a spring in his step once again.