Legends of Marithia: Book 2 - Darkness Rising (15 page)

“
What exactly do you mean
by
chosen
?” asked
Tusdar as they cleared the entrance.

“
Mestal has not yet told
you?” laughed Aryun.

“
Oh
stop
it, Aryun… you are embarrassing
me,” said Mestal coyly.

“
Oh my…” breathed Tusdar,
as they passed through the entrance and stepped into the
magnificent cavern that cradled the city of Zhendur.

“
This is your new home.
Zhendur is sacred to all of us and I am sure that you will like it
here,” said Aryun as he and Mestal stood with Tusdar, letting him
marvel for a moment at his first sight of their city.

Aryun spoke proudly, “Once the pact
was made at Kassina’s tower, Zhendur was carved out of the earth
and built by Shindar’s army. The pact saved all of our kind from
extinction. You will learn that whatever you need, Shindar will
provide.”

Tusdar appeared like a
startled rabbit as he said wide-eyed, “
Shindar
will provide?”

Mestal smiled at his response, “You
have a lot to learn Tusdar as not everything is as it seems.
Shindar may be the lord of darkness, but he saved us from
extinction.”

The city was enormous, and it was
incredible to believe that it was built underground, hidden away
from prying eyes. The giant cavern was lit by seemingly endless
glowing stones and gave the city a cooling light blue shade. It was
if they were permanently under the moon with no sunlight to be
concerned about. There were buildings with various but familiar
signs, blacksmith, armoury, an Inn. But there were also many
buildings with signs that were new to him, many that he wanted to
explore.

On the far north side of the city was
where their vampire soldiers and assassins trained. Its training
grounds were full of vampires practicing, but he noticed that
entire barracks were empty, and that there were great stockpiles of
bloodied weaponry and armour.

“
This is amazing, but why
the empty buildings?” asked Tusdar.

Aryun’s shoulder’s dropped and he
spoke sadly in reflection, “Many of our brothers and sisters were
lost to us in the recent conflict. As a result of the pact, we must
fight for Shindar’s cause, and our souls are pledged to him if we
fall in Marithia. We are immortal by nature, but there are ways to
take that away from us. And when it has been, we meet Shindar in
the underworld to continue our service.”

“
This is Mestal’s district,
and I am sure that you will feel comfortable here. To your right is
the library and I encourage you to read about our history. After
all, you are also part of that history now. Go ahead and enjoy your
evening together. I am sure that I will see you soon,” he said and
nodded before freezing. His pupils whitened and he stared deep into
Tusdar’s eyes.

It appeared that Lord Aryun was
entranced for a moment, before he blinked and seemed slightly
concerned.

Tusdar bowed respectfully and said,
“Thank you Lord Aryun for the warm welcome.”

“
Warm? We are family now,
it is the least that I can do,” he answered before walking out of
earshot. Tusdar’s head reeled with confusion. Everything he had
known about vampires was being challenged with every passing minute
of his new life.

Mestal took his hand and led him
around the corner to a shiny golden fountain with a statue of a
beating heart that flowed with fresh blood.

She dipped her hand in to check if it
was hot enough and said, “Here, take some and drink.”

Tusdar reached into the pool of blood
and cupping it with his hands, he drank heartily.

“
I used to long for a
drink, of a kind far different to what I long for now, but I
wonder…” he said in between sips, watching with amazement at the
blood flowing through the fountain.

“
It needs to be run through
the fountain for it to stay fresh,” she answered, anticipating what
he was about to ask.

He licked his lips and asked, “Where
do you get all the blood from?”

“
As Lord Aryun said, what
we need, Shindar
will
provide. It flows from under the ground, but he told us that
a spell was cast from the underworld to send a continual flow of
blood to Zhendur. It keeps us strong, but doesn’t help us if we
venture out to Marithia.”

Mestal joined him for a hearty drink
before she took his arm and walked him toward a nearby
building.

“
Now I know how to find
Zhendur, and what it is. But how do we get back to Marithia from
here?”

“
I think you have learned
enough for one day, but don’t worry about that. You will find out
soon enough,” she answered.

They neared an ornate door to what
looked like an official building and she paused to look deep into
his eyes. Her right eyebrow raised as she asked through luscious
lips, “You wanted to know what chosen means? It means that I take
you as my partner, my apprentice and my lover. I performed a
special ritual when I turned you, which links us by
blood.”

“
Oh,” he said, smiling. Not
fully grasping what he had just learned, he blurted out the first
thought that entered his mind, “Why me?”

Mestal grinned at his boyish
confusion, “Because I took an interest in you, but it’s more than
that, I felt a sign. That night when I saw you bleeding out in the
woods, I was the lookout for our assassins. I knew that they would
kill you, but I heard the voices of our ancestors telling me to
save you. But there is more to being chosen by a
master.”

“
And what is
that?”

“
Anyone chosen by a master
is to be trained in vampire history, combat, and will have the
honour of being blessed by Kassina herself. You will be linked with
her in a way that you could never imagine. It is a magical link
between minds that transcends all barriers and allows Kassina to
speak directly to you, to command you,” she answered.

Tusdar’s face paled, he
swallowed loudly and his voice broke as he said,
“
Kassina
will
bless and command me? Does she command you?”

“
Yes, she does. New masters
are chosen by Kassina when she graces Zhendur with her presence.
This is the symbol of the chosen ones,” she said, pulling down her
coat to reveal a mark akin to a tattoo on her skin, just above her
right breast. It was as large as a fist and was a pentagram with a
detailed eye in the centre. A symbol that was similar to those of
the ancients.

Trying not to stare at her bare chest,
he stuttered, “I… I see, so why was it of so much interest to Lord
Aryun that you had chosen me?” he asked.

Mestal covered herself slowly, and
took a moment to answer.

“
I suppose that now
is
a good time to tell
you. Lord Aryun is my father, which is why he considers you family.
I am a naturally born Vampire, and both my father and I are
descendants of vampire royalty. I
had
to test you and I had to know if
you were truly a chosen one. You had to make the choice to follow
me on your own, and you made the right choice,” she answered,
turning the doorknob to her door.

“
This is magnificent, but I
think I need to lie down” said Tusdar, feeling overwhelmed by it
all.

“
I understand your
confusion, come inside and rest now; we have lots of time for me to
tell you more about our way of life. This is my home, which is our
home now,” she said, beckoning him inside.

Chapter 11 : A Forsaken
Town

“
I have been blessed by a
gift from the gods and will not let their sacrifice be in vain. My
body feels stronger than ever and I am eager to discover what this
element of water can do.

Everything that has happened has given
me a newfound strength to save Marithia.

In times of war, I only hope that
Marithians can still find comfort in one another. The Forces of
Darkness would have our hearts filled with fear and rid us of any
joys left in this world.

I long for the day that I meet Helenia
once again.

If we let ourselves lose the ability to
love and care for one another, then what are we fighting
for?”

(Sir Vartan of Veldrenn)

Anakari’s arm ached from holding the
lantern for so long and her hand trembled from the pain. She
finally caught sight of what she thought must be Crondor and
breathed a long sigh of foggy relief. Entering the town’s main
gate, she noticed a large carved wooden sign.

Welcome to
Crondor

The town was eerily quiet with the
only sound being the breeze and wind chimes softly ringing. She
clipped her lantern onto her pack and nursed her aching arm. Yuski
stretched behind her, waking from her long sleep.

Yuski gracefully slid off the horse
and whispered, “I see that we made it to Crondor.”

She ran ahead and signalled for
Anakari to halt by raising her hand. The elf responded and stopped
her horse near the entrance of the city. The town had plenty of
lights on the streets that made for easy navigation past the many
closed stores and what appeared to be many seemingly abandoned
homes.

It appeared to be a
little
too
calm.

Yuski slowly pulled out her orb and
ran to the wall of the nearest building, peering around the corner
watching for changes in the orb’s glow. After some time, she put
away the orb and rushed back to their horse.

“
There are no demons near
us for the time being. We better hurry to the Inn and to a room.
It’s over this way,” said Yuski, leading Anakari toward a large
building near the centre of the city.

Anakari saw the many gravestones in
between houses; tombs overgrown with weeds and spider webs, they
appeared uncared for. Her mouth wide in shock, she gasped, “By the
gods, how many people died in Crondor?”

“
Wumvarn killed hundreds of
townsfolk as well as travellers that journeyed through here. Often
nobody knew the identities of the travellers but they buried them
alongside their own. It is said that these parts are haunted,” said
Yuski.

Anakari kept staring at the
gravestones, visibly agitated, and said, “Haunted? Maybe we
shouldn’t have come here at all.”

“
Don’t worry, I will
protect you. I’m a demon hunter, remember? Bad spirits will not
dare come near us. Just don’t go wandering off on your
own.”

“
Good idea. Why are there
no people in the streets?” asked Anakari.

The sound of swift footsteps escaped a
nearby graveyard. Yuski jumped in between the graveyard and their
horse within a heartbeat, an arrow readily stretched in her bow.
Her foggy breath blew over the bow and arrow as she waited for any
visual signs of movement. She narrowed her eyes after what felt
like an eternity and slowly lowered her bow.

Waving her hand toward the Inn, she
signalled to keep moving.

Yuski secured their horse to the Inn’s
stables, and whispered, “It must be past midnight by now. I’m sure
that everybody is asleep and don’t forget the inhabitants of
Crondor know all too well that Wumvarn and other demons frequent
these parts. Even if it was early in the evening, the streets would
look like this. Once the sun goes down, people stay inside to feel
safer.”

“
Why are there so many
demons here?”

“
Greenhaven is not far from
here; the city was attacked and captured by Kassina when the war
began. Her forces fled the city a while ago, but nobody dares to
venture close to it as it is said to still contain many demons.
Those demons need to feed, and there is nobody left for them to
feed on in the city itself. Quickly, come down off that horse… we
had better get inside.”

Yuski helped Anakari down and was
surprised by the elf’s full height. She laughed as she whispered,
“My goodness, you are so tall.”

They made their way to the Inn’s door
and Yuski rattled the door’s knocker.

There was no answer.

Anakari noticed an artefact secured to
the wall near the door. A light pulsated inside a small red crystal
in the shape of a star. She could feel its power and felt comforted
by it.

“
What is that?” asked
Anakari.

“
That is an artefact of
warding. Demons can’t stand to be near it and the innkeeper, Griff,
is one of the few inhabitants of Crondor who can afford the coin to
buy one. He didn’t always own one though; many bad things have
happened inside these walls. Griff never forgets those times and he
came very close to falling victim to demons himself. Even with the
artefact in place, he fears them still.”

Yuski pressed her ear up against the
door and faintly heard the sound of a man snoring. This time, she
rang the bell so hard that it would have been heard by all of
Crondor. The sound of cluttering and a muffled voice was heard
muttering; footsteps made their way to the door.

A peephole slid open with a loud
metallic ringing sound.