Legends of Marithia: Book 2 - Darkness Rising (21 page)

“
Not in use? Why are we
going to the underworld?” asked Tusdar.

“
We are not going to the
underworld. We are being graced by Kassina’s presence and you will
have the opportunity to be blessed as a chosen one,” said
Mestal.

Tusdar paled and began to step
backwards, but was pulled back by Mestal and held at her
side.

A red orb of light flickered inside
the circles and one by one, they locked into place beside each
other. It sounded as if four immense swords had just been sheathed.
The orb exploded inside the smallest circle and a watery surface
filled the space within.

A long leg stepped out from the portal
and her heel crunched onto Zhendur’s surface. Stepping out of the
portal, Kassina breathed deeply with what appeared to be a look of
satisfaction and a band of elite skeleton warriors in full armour
stepped out behind her, their heads jerked around aggressively,
watching for danger. She was dressed in a black leather corset
dress with purple laces and shiny boots reaching up to her knees
which housed daggers on each side. The hilt of a sword poked out
from behind each shoulder and her long hair lay loose over her
shoulders.

“
Zhendurians, your queen
has returned!” she snarled, marching down the pathway between
vampires to meet Aryun.

“
All hail the queen!”
boomed Lord Aryun who was soon echoed by Zhendurians.

“
All hail the queen” they
chanted.

He bowed at her presence, bending down
to kiss her boot.

“
Rise Aryun and tell me
what news you bring me of Marithia, I trust that you have a fresh
supply of virgins ready for me to feast on?” she
snapped.

“
Of course my queen, and
let me begin by saying what an honour it is for us…” began
Aryun.

Kassina laid her hand over Aryun’s
mouth to silence him as she caught sight of Tusdar standing beside
Mestal. She ran at Tusdar’s position like a hunter drawn to prey
and picked him up with one hand by the scruff of his clothes to
pound him into the ground. Drawing her swords, she kneeled hard on
his chest with her right knee and spat at his face.

“
What
is
the meaning of this? Which
insubordinate fool let this impostor into Zhendur?” she
demanded.

Chapter 16 : Singed
Hope

“
Our people rejoice at word
of Vartan’s awakening and we await his arrival with great
anticipation.

I can feel the change in us all. May he
travel safely and arrive soon to seal the hope of emerging from
this war as victors.”

(Queen Andrielle of
Veldrenn)

An unusually warm night settled over
Marithia and provided a welcome contrast to the cold darkness. The
Blood Red Moon was full that evening and provided ample lighting
that enabled the mystic couple to travel without the aid of a lamp.
Riding close to the beaten path, they could easily spot any trouble
heading in their direction.

Yuski stretched her arms and yawned
loudly before pulling on the reins and turning to speak with
Anakari. “We are not far from Barone. I could take you there
tonight but the woods are dangerous in the dark and it would be
risky to travel through it. It would be far safer to travel in
sunlight. I know of a place we may be able to rest that is not far
from here, but it has been a long time since I have been there and
I do not know its current state. What would you like us to
do?”

“
Let us rest. Barone can
wait until tomorrow,” she answered.

“
Your wish
is
my command,” giggled
Yuski, guiding their horse to the path heading toward
Greenhaven.

“
What happened at
Greenhaven?” asked Anakari.

“
We know little of its
fate, spread by the few who managed to escape. King Arman was
betrayed by his own son, Derian. Those who saw him claimed that he
was a vampire… likely to have been turned by Kassina.”

“
What would Kassina want
with Derian?” asked Anakari.

“
Nobody really knows, and
it doesn’t matter now as Derian was assassinated. I would say that
he has already served his purpose, if he had any. Once the king had
fallen, the city was invaded by Kassina’s forces and it is said
that many deep holes were dug into the ground—as if they were
searching for something.”

Her words were cut short as rustling
came from the nearby woods. The girls went silent as Yuski smoothly
prepared an arrow and awaited further signs.

Anakari leaned close to her ear and
whispered, “What was that?”

After what seemed like an eternity
with no response, Yuski lowered her weapon and continued on. She
answered quietly, “It must have been some kind of animal. We are
almost there, let’s just keep going.”

“
Tell me, what were they
searching for in Greenhaven? What is inside the city?” whispered
Anakari.

“
Nobody knows except
Kassina and her Forces of Darkness I suppose. As far as I know,
nobody has braved a visit to the city since it was
overrun.”

The girls neared an inn and just when
they were about to relax with the hope of safe shelter, the smell
of burnt wood filled their noses.

Yuski dismounted and put her hands on
her hips as she sighed loudly. “There goes my grand plan for a
relaxing evening.”

Anakari followed suit and they
approached the front door which flapped loosely and creaked loudly
as it moved. Wind howled through the open doorway. Looking deeper
into the burnt building, they could see dried bloodstains on the
few remaining walls. What was once a warm and welcoming place was
now a desolate sore on the surrounding land.

“
What is this place?” asked
Anakari.

“
This
was
the Jade Inn and was cared for
by an old friend, Hildar. I hope that he escaped before the Forces
of Darkness reached him. It looks as if this place was raided and
they attempted to burn it down to the ground,” said Yuski, running
her hand down the burnt walls.

“
Can’t we take shelter
inside?” asked Anakari.

Yuski poked her head inside the door.
The entire Inn was destroyed, and most of it had been burned to ash
with only the structural walls remaining.

“
Kari, this place could
fall apart at any moment. I don’t think it is safe to rest here.
Let’s go to Barone, it will be safer to travel there than to stay
here. It’s either that or we travel to Greenhaven, and I do not
like our chances there,” answered Yuski, heading to their
horse.

Yuski turned to Anakari who wasn’t
moving a muscle.

“
Kari… what is it?” she
asked.

Anakari appeared frozen in her
position, staring at Yuski with a ghostly appearance. She pointed
at Yuski’s pocket and the demon hunter looked down to see that the
orb was glowing bright blue.

Quickly casting a spell, Anakari’s
fists lit with blue flames as she scanned the forest around them
for any movement. Yuski’s arrow was already drawn by the time Kari
looked her way, shaking her shoulders in frustration.

They both jumped in shock when the
sound of women laughing escaped from the forests all around
them.

A woman stepped out from
the darkness and paced amongst the shadows. “A demon hunter has
come to find
me
?
How honoured I must be!”

She was an odd sight under the
moonlight and looked like a regular woman in what appeared to be
almost translucent armour with long silver nails and red hair. The
armour she wore shone in the light and left nothing to the
imagination. She stood with her eyes closed, facing
them.

“
She’s one of the Triplets
of Orkon, be ready,” whispered Yuski.

“
But shouldn’t there be
three of them? Are they blind?” asked Anakari, staring at the
demon’s closed eyelids.

Her question was answered by the
rustling of leaves to their sides and the remaining two stepped out
of the shadows.

“
Do you know that we can
hear you? We are not blind, but tell me… what is it that you can
really see? Is it reality or is it only what we show you?” laughed
one of the triplets, opening her eyelids.

Anakari gasped in shock at the
realisation that there were no eyes in their sockets, only
sparkling light.

“
It is a shame that you
came all the way here to die… and all it took was letting a little
boy live and you walked straight into our trap. To kill a demon
hunter is a joyous occasion and we will be celebrating tonight.
Prepare to meet Shindar, little rabbits,” said one of the triplets,
all of them cackling in unison.

The triplets nodded their heads and
vanished before their eyes.

Anakari took a defensive
stance and her voice was strained with nerves as she cried, “What
in the name? You didn’t tell me they could do
that
!”

“
They are using the power
of cloaking? That wasn’t in the books! Is there anything you can
do?” asked Yuski, running to stand back to back with
Anakari.

“
I… I don’t know… I’m
thinking,” said Anakari, breathing heavily.

Footsteps ran at them in the dirt path
and Yuski released an arrow. It tore through the air to land in a
nearby tree with a heavy thud.

“
Damn!” growled Yuski,
pulling out two daggers and throwing them in the air before her. A
harsh ripping sound was heard as a triplet’s claws tore through
Yuski’s arm, blood spilling from her flesh.

Anakari turned to look at her injured
friend, readying for another attack, she surrounded herself and
Yuski with blue flames.

“
Kari! No!” screamed
Yuski.

The flames connected with one of the
triplets, engulfing the demon in flames. Another demon tackled her
to the ground to extinguish the flames. The fire quickly died out
on the dirt, leaving an imprint where the demons fell.

Yuski used all her strength to throw
another two daggers at the imprints and a blood curdling cry filled
the air as one of them landed deep in a demon’s flesh. The blade
was quickly torn from the flesh and dangled in the air before being
thrown back at Yuski. Despite her injury, the demon hunter dodged
the dagger with relative ease.

Anakari felt a solid blow to her ribs
that took the breath out of her lungs, followed by a strike to her
chin. She felt her legs swept out below her before pounding into
the ground. Shaking off the impact, she rolled out of the way of an
invisible heel grinding into the ground where she fell and leapt to
her feet.

“
Did you think we would be
that easy to kill? You don’t live up to your legend,” taunted
Yuski.

“
Yuski, I don’t think that
we should be making them angry,” panted Anakari, running to her
side.

Blood dripped continually to the
ground from Yuski’s open wounds.

“
Listen to your friend
Yuski, you don’t want to make us any
angrier
,” said a voice to their
right.

“
Pulsus terra ut
divum
,” snapped Anakari, pointing to the
ground in the direction of the voice.

A circle of dirt exploded, sending a
triplet skyward and exposing her position under a layer of earth.
Yuski drew an arrow and grunted loudly with the pain of stretching
her torn muscles.

“
Oh no you don’t!” said a
triplet, knocking her weapon to the ground and scratching Yuski
deep across her chest. Blood splattered to the ground as she
dropped to her knees in agony.

“
Yuski! You spineless
wenches, damn you all to the fires of Mount Wayrin,” cried
Anakari.

The elf let out a primal scream as her
entire body glowed with magic light pouring from the symbols. The
light was as bright as the scorching sun and filled the air above
them like a beacon to the gods.

Yuski watched in awe as Vartan landed
near them with a frighteningly loud shudder and sent a cloud of
dust skyward from the impact. His hulking figure breathed heavily
inside his newly forged dragon scale armour. Karven landed a short
distance from them and slowly changed his scales to reveal
himself.