Authors: Blaine Hart
Epic Fantasy Adventure: The Angel's Blessing: Holy Paladin's Quest: Book 1 (Sword and Sorcery Epic Fantasy Adventure Book With Dragons and Magic) (5 page)
The Angel looked to him demurely.
“So,” I reasoned. “If there is a riddle here there must also be a clue.”
“But there is nothing here,” Anna said.
“No writings,” her sister said.
“No pictures.”
“Just bare walls.”
“With cells.”
“With cherubs locked inside.”
“Poor things.”
“Who would imprison you?”
“And why?”
“That,” Kell said, “is the question.”
The infant angels were clamoring and straining at the bars. The chained Angel looked to them lovingly, longingly, her arms stretched pathetically. I strode to one barred door. The lock was old and rusty. I gave it a swipe with my blade, but other than some rust flaking off, nothing happened. Then the little ones became eager and agitated. Some waved me away while others pointed to the Annas. Their urgings were desperate.
“Me?” Anna said.
“Me?”the other echoed.
The things leapt with glee.
“But Longo is stronger.”
“By far.”
And then from the island I heard my master laugh. We turned.
“The boy may be stronger,” he said chuckling, “but you are innocent. Your strength is in your purity, and that is the mark of an Angel.”
The Annas looked at one another, then giggled. The cherubs were becoming agitated.
“But still,” I said. “Who would want to lock away an Angel and her children?”
“Don’t know,” Anna said.
“And don’t care,” the other added.
“They have the key.”
“We strike on three.”
“One.”
The Annas raised their swords.
“Children?” Kell mulled.
“Two.”
The Annas stood and aimed.
“Children!” Kell cried. “Stop!!”
“Three!”
Their cutlasses fell. As one they caught the lock and smashed it to bits. The door flung open and the room was filled with gleeful squeals of freedom.
But as the cherubs passed their jail doors they began to change. The cute little angels morphed into demonic red imps. Their hind legs were like a goat’s with cloven hooves. The wings that sprouted were those of a bat and their spidery forearms ended in three-pronged talons. Their ugly dog-heads had long canine fangs, and they had yellow eyes and curved horns.
Two of them harried the Annas and quickly wrested their swords from them. Three came for me and I fended them off, my sword slicing and whistling through the air, but my blade never caught any of the flying devils. Several flew up to the top of the chamber, but as quick as the demons had transformed, the bird-dragons from above swooped to block their escape. Three attacked Kell with the Anna’s dropped swords, and the chained angel clutched her legs and drew her wings in around her. The tiny angel’s still in their cells made a racket, desperately rattling their prison bars and screaming in high pitched voices.
Then there was a mighty horrible shriek much louder than all the others, and one of the imps above me fell with a knife in its chest. The two others were stunned long enough for me to slice open the belly of another one and cleave the wing off a third, their black blood spattering upon me. Arrows began to fly. Kell had cut one in half in mid-air with Ashrune’s blade. When he impaled the other, the third fled away shrieking. Kell picked up the lifeless body of ones of the imps and threw it mightily, knocking the fleeing imp from the air with the body of its brother. The others retreated and hovered above, desperately trying to dodge the Anna’s arrows. The bird-dragons wheeled overhead, but didn’t attack.
“What the . . . ?” Anna said.
“How the . . . ?” the other said.
“Longo was right,” Kell said. “It was a puzzle. But here there are no Angels or cherubs.”
He looked down at the chained one. Her wings opened and she clutched my master’s feet and looked up at him, pleading.
“Angels are pure,” he said gravely. “Angels do not bear children.”
And so saying he raised the blade of Ashrune. The silent woman shrieked, but before the knife could strike the Angel of the waters appeared above and stayed his hand.
“You have done well, paladin,” she spoke softly. “I am pleased.”
“Gavial,” Kell said.
The Angel smiled. And with her smile the demons vanished and all was well.
Her face was still bathed in a radiance that would not let us gaze on her for long, but I saw that she stood far taller than any man. Her wings were outstretched and almost enveloped the cave while her gleaming hair hugged her body like liquid gold. And though I could not look long upon her visage, I could feel her smile.
“Rise now Kell, and gaze upon my face,” the divine creature sang softly, but with a holy chordance that I shall never forget. Kell rose, and never had I seen him look so glorious. He was the true picture of a legendary hero. The angel turned towards me and the Annas “You, brave friends, who cower and hide from me, fear not to lift your heads and so to see. For I am Gavial, the Angel of Glory, and you are worthy to be on this quest. Witness now as a Paladin is Blessed, with Strength and Valor Flowing from my Breast!”
To look on an angel is to glimpse the divine. But to look on the Angel of Glory is probably the greatest experience of my life. I was immersed in her beauty and her splendor and her grandeur. My heart was filled to overflowing, and if I were to never gaze on anything lovely again in this world then I would be content. The unworthy son of a poor clam digging sailor was in that moment and in that room and in her presence exalted to a place among the holy and sanctified. He was pure. He was whole. He was one with the universe. He finally understood what true joy was. While gazing at her magnificence her words came forth like a strange musical symphony of utter purity and wisdom.
“
You gaze on me and I do stand above;
this day when you would ask of me a boon
whilst trembling in this holy, sacred room
and trusting life and soul to Angel’s love.
“But blessings may be simple as a dove,
as constant as the ever rising moon,
or murky as an ancient cryptic rune,
and oft will leave the blessed a lack thereof.
“So this will be my blessing and my curse;
Men are much like an Angel with one wing.
So seek another with whom you’d fly to death,
and thus with them for better and for worse,
you’ll touch my heart and that will truly bring
a blessing from this Angel’s lonely breath.”
And as she spoke I felt a small, gentle wind that was like a breeze scented with spring flowers. I was borne by that gentle breath forward and I found myself by my master’s side, filled with Gavial’s blessing.
“Through this portal you must seek your prey,” the Angel said. “A journey of a month will take a day. But that will be one day my blessings fade, so tarry not and do not be afraid. Look always forward and never where you’ve been, and I will be with you behind the wind. The innocents will tarry in my shrine, and I will teach their souls to sing and shine, for my angelic voice will fill their souls, and fanciful tales will loneliness console.
“So henceforth go through this portal, fly to far and distant land, and try your fortune with my blessing in your hand. Be brave to meet the challenge of your quest, return with glory or die like the rest. But if your faith is strong and you hold true, this Angel and her blessing in the wind will be with you.”
The Angel of Glory then made a holy sign above our heads, and I felt, and then breathed in a mist of sacred waters.
“
Vade in pace
,” she said reverently. “
Revertar in pace. Et pacis erit vobiscum
.”
With the last of her words a dark hole appeared in the Angel’s pedestal. Kell wrapped an arm around me and I wrapped mine around him, and then it was as Gavial had said; together we became like an angel and through the divine portal we flew, the plaintive cries of the Annas echoing behind.
The divine magic propelled us. I felt the earth fall from my feet and it was as if I were looking through a dark glass. I saw the sea far below rolling and churning. I clutched my master while small islands and vast lands passed beneath our feet.
“Look at that,” Kell laughed like a giddy school boy. “Just look at that! We’re flying Longo. We’re flying faster than falcons or dragons, and we’re flying on the Angel’s magic.”
“I hope,” I said, “that her magic has a long reach. Look.”
Ahead of us we saw a land that was not an island. It stretched before our sight from horizon to horizon. It was a bright sandy land and I saw no trees or shrubs or grass. There was only a vast expanse of windswept desert.
“Galth,” Kell said. “Once a proud and mighty realm, it’s power stretched to the corners of the globe.”
“Master,” I mentioned. “A globe has no corners.”
“Longo,” he replied. “You have spent too much time with the Annas.”
“As if I had a choice?”
“Point taken.”
“But tell me, tell me of Galth.”
“The story is long,” he said.
Sand dunes drifted beneath us. Every now and again I saw blackened and charred destruction.
“It is told,” my master said, “that the Galth found a harmony between the magic of the divine, the magic of men and the magic of the darkness. They say that the Galth tamed dragons and would entertain Angels and Mystics, Mages and Witches all at the same feasting tables.”
“That would have been a feat,” I said.
Our journey slowed. Beneath us was nothing but shifting sands. Ahead of us I saw the scant outline of a grand ruin.
“It was,” Kell said. “But the Galth became absorbed in the pride of their achievements. They thought that they could do anything, and they set their sights on the Gods themselves. And so began the Dragon Wars.”
“But that’s a myth,” I said chuckling. “Like Methyus stealing fire or Dora lost in the world with her box of poisons. They make lovely poetry but this is the modern world.”
“No,” Kell said. “Below us is the mythic world, and you are about to plant your feet in it.”
The ground rushed to meet us. I screamed as my feet sank to my ankles in sand. I stumbled, tumbled and fell. I rolled head over heels until the soft stuff stopped me. I looked up. Kell was atop the sand dune. He held his arms out to the sky, still clutching his broken Warhammer.
“
Akuste me Gavial
,” he cried in a loud voice.
But only the wind replied, batting him with sand. He smiled. Then he looked down at me.
“Get up,” he said.
I found my feet. I climbed the dune and there we stared out across the expanse. There were the ruins in the distance, a dark splot against the sand.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Ios Mosley,” Kell said, “the place where dragon bones lie aplenty. It was once a strong city, and it was a place of a great battle. That is where one would look to assemble a bone dragon, and that is where Visalth had to of been made.”
“But master,” I said. “If the White Rook Byrinius spoke true, the battle lies far away in the Realm of the Nine.”
“I know. But here is where the Angel of Glory sent us. And so here is where we will meet Visalth.”
“But this is crazy,” I cried. “We have no food. We have no water. The ruins ahead look to be easily a day’s march and I see no wells in between. Nor do I see any dragons. Is Visalth going to suddenly appear? And would the Angel have us do battle with a bone dragon in the middle of a desert?”
“I don’t know,” Kell said. “Have faith.”
As he spoke, the wind stirred and parted the sands before us. The way before them was a clear line to the ruined city.
“And faith will be granted,” I said repeating the old charm. “I just wish that it came in the form of food and water.”
And so we began our trudge through the desert to the distant ruined city. Long we marched. We rested once, but there was no relief from the heat glaring down from above and pulsing up from below. All the while I wondered why the Angel could not have set us down closer. The heat was infernal. There was no shade to be found and even the dunes cast no shadow. It was as if the sun had stopped in the sky. In time even my master faltered. I used my sword as a crutch and I saw Kell use the broken Warhammer as a staff.
“Master,” I gasped as we trudged. “You have magic. Can you not pray some spell?”
“I can create fire,” he said plodding on, “if I have something to burn. I can raise water, if water is near. I need a thing to charm a thing.”
“Then look, master!”
In the delve between two dunes we saw a small dot of red. We scrambled down, the sand shifting under my shirt. Kell grabbed me to a halt as the sands flowed before us and threatened to engulf the small flower. We crept close until Kell could hold the delicate thing. And then he chanted in words that I did not know. But it was as if the flower knew his words. It shuddered between his hands and then it began to swell. Before my eyes the little red flower grew and matured. It was a tall spindly thing studded with thorns. When it stood to our knees it seemed to me that the plant was a poor source of food. But Kell spoke a small charm, and then with his dagger he sliced away the thorns at the base, grabbed the stem and pulled. The sand gave up a long gourd-like root. Kell smiled. He sliced a handful from the top and cut it in half, giving me a piece. Biting into the fleshy pulp I was suddenly delighted by a juicy mash that was at once sweet, refreshing and satisfying. We both ate greedily.
Then the wind calmed. Kell dashed to the top of the dune and I followed. But even as I reached the crest my master grabbed and dragged me to the ground. He made a motion for silence and pointed. Away in the distance above the shimmering sands I saw a speck in the sky.
“Quickly,” he said. “Hide.”
We covered ourselves in sand as the dot came nearer, and as it came nearer it seemed to form into a bird. But a moment later I saw that it was no bird. The coarse dark bones seemed to absorb the sunlight. Its long neck and skull were craned and pointed to the ruined city. Its hind legs were tucked up against the hollow ribs and its fore-limbs hugged the bony breastplate as its massive wings swept aloft. Those long wings with stretching bird-like fingers near enveloped the sky above us, but with no flesh or covering to gather the air I wondered that it could fly at all. But I knew that the beast was undead and whatever magic gave it shape and unearthly life could also give it flight. I thought if the mindless creature flapped its wings simply out of memory or habit.
But the eeriest part was the silence. It flew as swift and quiet as an owl at night. And while I thought that I might have heard the wind whistle through its bones as the creature flew directly over us, the thing was silent as a ghost. For a moment my heart stopped as I looked up and through the flying skeleton. But the beast seemed intent on its goal and soared right past us, taking no heed of two cowering humans. I watched as it disappeared into the dark of the ruins.
“It didn’t see us,” I said almost in awe. “It didn’t even smell us. I’ve heard that a dragon can smell the blood of a human from leagues off.”
“A dragon can,” Kell said. “But a bone dragon cannot. Nor can it hear. It has no organs for such. It sees, but only things that move.”
“You mean . . . you mean that if I stood still in front of the bone-dragon it couldn’t see me?”
“Yes. Though how you would get to stand in front of him I don’t know.”
“Why does it come to this forsaken place?” I asked.
“That I cannot answer,” Kell said, standing and dusting the sand from him. “Perhaps this is where he was created and maybe he needs an extra part. Perhaps some magic draws him. We may or may not find out. But here he is and here we are.”
“But master? How will you join battle, let alone slay the thing? Ashrune is not whole.”
“Gavial would not send us on a task that had no hope. Come. Our way now cannot be so straight. We must hide between the dunes. Its eyes may be dead but they can see far.”
Our way was slow, but fortified by the sacred root Kell had found, our way was steady. I longed for the cool and shadow of the night. But it seemed that in all of the time we worked our way the sun hadn’t moved.
“There will be no sunset here,” Kell said with a chuckle. Galth is cursed. There aren’t even shadows.”
His words stopped me. I looked down and gave a small cry. Neither of us cast a shadow. I held out my arm, but the sand beneath just blazed with brilliance. What curse could this be? A land with no sunset and no shadows? I quickly caught up with my master.
As we neared the ruined city it began to take shape. It was towering. The ancient architects must have been wizards. Buildings sprang up from tall slender bases and then grew and spread to heights that were dizzying. They sprawled above and there were a series of arches and bridges connecting and supporting them. Everywhere there were spires, tall towers and minarets with graceful collars. As I looked in awe, it seemed to me as though the people who once lived here didn’t want to touch the earth. They seemed to want to rise above it.