Soul of Skulls (Book 6)

SOUL OF SKULLS

Jonathan Moeller

Description

For fans of Robert E. Howard, David Gemmell, Robert Jordan, and Raymond E. Feist, the DEMONSOULED saga now continues in a sixth volume. 

MAZAEL CRAVENLOCK is now the liege lord of the Grim Marches, fighting to defend his lands from the numberless hordes of undead. Yet old enemies plot his demise, and a cunning assassin lurks in the shadows, preparing a deadly trap. 

HUGH CHALSAIN is the youngest son of the Prince of Barellion. When invaders from the sea conquer his land, Hugh must fight to save his home...or perish upon the blades of his foes.

MALARIC is the bastard son of the Prince of Barellion, despised and outcast. But with the stolen power of Mazael's Demonsouled son, Malaric has the strength to claim what is his...and exact a horrible vengeance upon anyone who ever crossed him.

LUCAN MANDRAGON has returned from the dead, wielding dark magic beyond measure. Now nothing can stop him from fulfilling his righteous mission.

The utter destruction of the Demonsouled. 

Soul of Skulls

Copyright 2013 by Jonathan Moeller

Published by Azure Flame Media, LLC

Cover design by Clarissa Yeo

All Rights Reserved

This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination, or, if real, used fictitiously. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the express written permission of the author or publisher, except where permitted by law. 

Author's Note

SOUL OF SKULLS has many characters and locations. At the request of several readers, I have added a Glossary of Characters and a Glossary of Locations to the end of the book, providing a short (but spoiler-free) description of all the characters and locations in the book. Both Glossaries will appear in the Table of Contents, and should you have need to consult them, you can use your ereader's Table of Contents function to quickly check one of the Glossaries and then return to your previous place in the book. 

Chapter 1 – A Village of the Dead

On the morning of his thirty-eighth birthday, Mazael Cravenlock watched the undead swarm over the rocky hill. 

Gaunt figures, their faces sallow and their eyes empty, wandered over the slopes. Most wore peasant clothing, their garments ragged and decaying. Upon their foreheads blazed a sigil of emerald fire, the same ghostly light glimmering in their eyes. The creatures were called runedead, and they were stronger than lesser undead.

Mazael flexed the fingers of his sword hand. 

He knew just how strong they were. 

A ruined village stood atop the stony hill. Once Morsen Village had been the fief of Sir Gaith Kalborn, one of Mazael’s knights. Gaith had been a secret proselyte of the San-keth, a worshipper of the serpent god, and perished for his folly. Corvad’s Malrags had devastated the village, the survivors huddling in the ruins of their San-keth temple as Mazael rode in pursuit of Corvad.

He supposed any survivors had perished during the Great Rising, when generations of dead buried beneath the temple rose with runes of green fire burning upon their foreheads. 

As so many villages had perished.

A column of darkness swirled next to Mazael, and his hand fell upon his sword hilt. The darkness vanished to reveal a lean woman of twenty or so, dressed in leather armor and a dark cloak. A slender sword rested in a scabbard at her belt, alongside a dagger fashioned from a tooth of the dragon Mazael had killed at Arylkrad. Her brown hair had been tied in a ponytail, and her gray eyes were the exact color and shape of Mazael’s. 

The same color and shape of his father’s, come to think of it.

“Daughter,” said Mazael. “You enjoy startling me.”

“I didn’t startle you,” said Molly Cravenlock. “If I had, you’d have put Lion through my heart.” She squinted at the ruined village. “You know, I thought this place was a miserable sty when I first came here. It hasn’t improved.” 

When she had first come here, she had sworn to kill Mazael. Subsequent events had changed his daughter’s mind. Mostly. 

“How many?” said Mazael.

“At least three hundred,” said Molly. “I think after we had our…disagreement, the villagers dumped the corpses in the temple.”

“So when Lucan cast the Great Rising,” said Mazael, “the corpses rose and killed everyone in the village.”

“Who then rose as runedead in their turn,” said Molly. 

Mazael remembered the pillar of green fire erupting from Swordgrim, remembered the uncounted legions of undead rising with green fire upon their brows. He had stopped Lucan Mandragon, had ended the Great Rising. 

But if Mazael had not saved Lucan, if Mazael had not taken the Glamdaigyr back to Castle Cravenlock, then the Great Rising would never have happened.

And so many who had perished would now live.

The rage that always smoldered beneath his thoughts burned hotter. 

“Something’s controlling the runedead,” said Molly, shaking Mazael out of his dark thoughts. 

“It looks like they’re wandering,” said Mazael.

“No,” said Molly. “Well, the outer ones are. The ones atop the hill are standing guard. Something’s controlling them.”

“An awakened runedead?” said Mazael.

“Probably,” said Molly. “Gods know we’ve seen enough of them.”

The runedead, Riothamus had told Mazael, were only shells animated by necromantic force. The souls of the dead had gone to whatever fate awaited them. Yet the runedead retained shards of the memories and skills they had possessed in life. And sometimes their undead minds awakened, gained a malevolent and insane form of will. It happened quite often with runedead wizards. 

And Mazael wondered how many San-keth high priests had been buried beneath the village.

“Then Earnachar was right,” said Mazael. “The runedead of the hill country are moving in organized raids.”

“Gods,” muttered Molly. “The damned gasbag will never shut up about it.”

Mazael grunted. “He is one of the chief headmen among the Tervingi.”

“That doesn’t make him any less of a gasbag.” 

Mazael walked along the valley to where his men awaited, Molly trailing after him. He had brought four hundred men. One hundred were his sworn knights, and another hundred were mounted armsmen in his service. Another hundred were archers, peasant militia from the villages near Castle Cravenlock.

And the final hundred men were Tervingi swordthains, grim men with yellow hair and beards, clad in ragged shirts of mail. From time to time the swordthains and the knights glared at each other. They had fought together for months, ever since Lucan had unleashed the runedead upon the world. Before that they had been mortal enemies, had faced each other at the great battles of Stone Tower and Swordgrim.

Old suspicions died hard. 

Three men and a woman approached as Mazael drew nearer. 

“Well, hrould?” said one of the men, a middle-aged Tervingi swordthain with a hard face and ragged yellow beard. “How many do we have to kill again?” 

“About three hundred, Arnulf,” said Mazael. “Something’s controlling them. Probably a runedead San-keth cleric.” 

Arnulf son of Kaerwulf, a headman of the Tervingi, nodded. “Best get on with it, then.”

“Did I not say that it was so?” said a second man, also Tervingi. While Arnulf was tall and rangy, the second man was short and squat. Despite his size, he bore not a trace of fat. “Did not I, Earnachar son of Balnachar, warn you of the organized runedead? Just as in the days of old, when the scouts sent word to mighty Tervingar of the Dark Elderborn host, and…”

Mazael saw Molly mouthing the words to Earnachar’s oft-repeated speech and stifled a laugh.

“You are correct, Earnachar,” said Mazael. “The runedead of the hills are indeed organized, and something is controlling them.”

Earnachar scowled. “And what shall you do about it, hmm? You are our hrould, despite not being of Tervingi birth. Shall you let your folk perish beneath the cold hands of the runedead? Ragnachar would not have let this…”

“Lord Mazael,” said the third man, Tervingi like the others, “has come at your call, Earnachar.” He was still under thirty, lean and strong with thick black hair and bright blue eyes. He wore leather and chain mail, and in his right hand he carried a staff of bronze-colored wood. From time to time the symbols carved into the staff flickered with golden light. 

“So he has, Guardian,” said Earnachar, “but this…”

“Lord Mazael has come to defend your folk,” said Riothamus son of Rigotharic, shifting his grip on the Guardian’s staff. “But a hrould has the right to call upon his loyal headmen for aid.”

“And you are right, Earnachar,” said Mazael, voice quiet. “Ragnachar would not have let things come to this pass. Ragnachar would have led the Tervingi to their destruction, and your children would have risen as runedead. None would be left to sing the songs of mighty Tervingar.”

Earnachar scowled again, but gave a sharp nod. He had been a loyal follower of Ragnachar, though he had never worshipped the Old Demon. And he was afraid of Mazael.

He had seen what Mazael had done to Ragnachar. 

“Is there any sign of the runedead San-keth?” said the woman. She was only a few inches shorter than Mazael, her long black hair pulled into a braid to reveal the delicate points of her ears. Romaria Greenshield Cravenlock was the daughter of a human man and an Elderborn woman, and her Elderborn heritage gave her uncanny senses, superhuman skill with a bow…and certain other advantages. 

Mazael met his wife’s blue eyes. She was one of the very few people who could meet his gaze without flinching. 

“No,” he said. “And if a runedead San-keth is controlling these runedead, it won’t show itself. The San-keth lurk in the shadows and send others to do their killing for them.” 

Arnulf grunted. “A man should do his own killing.”

“True,” said Molly. “But they’re serpents, not men.” 

“And there is no one to kill here,” said Mazael. “Only undead to destroy.”

“Yes, hrould,” said Earnachar, “And how shall you destroy them? My folk have settled in these hills, and we must have pasture for our flocks! Or shall you leave us all to starve?”

Earnachar feared Mazael, but that never seemed to shut him up.

“We will deal with these runedead as before,” said Mazael. “The swordthains and armsmen will form a shield wall, between these two hills.” He pointed. “The knights will wait atop the hill, ready to strike.”

“And the archers?” said Romaria, checking her bowstring. She carried an elegant composite bow, a gift from the Elderborn bowyers of Deepforest Keep. Mazael had seen her use that bow to put a shaft through a man’s eye at fifty yards. 

“Behind the shield wall,” said Mazael.

“What will that avail us?” said Earnachar. “Arrows will not harm the runedead devils. Even with wizard’s oil and…ah, your own particular sword, hrould.”  

"No," said Mazael, "but once the arrows are set aflame, they will annoy and hinder the runedead. Which will make it easier for the shield wall to hold. And then when the runedead are committed, the knights will strike...and Riothamus will show them what he can do." 

He looked at Riothamus, and the Guardian of the Tervingi nodded. Riothamus's powers had been formidable even before he had taken up the Guardian's staff. Now Mazael suspected that the young man was one of the most powerful wizards in the world. 

Certainly Riothamus had held his own against Lucan. 

"And what task, noble father," said Molly, "do you have for me?"

"You'll do what you do best, beloved daughter," said Mazael. "You'll annoy them." 

Arnulf grunted. "The Lady of Shadows is formidable in battle." 

Earnachar frowned. "Black witchery, that's what it is."

Molly smirked at him. "Come over here and say that, mighty headman."

Earnachar's frown deepened. "Why? You'll just flit through the shadows and gut me."

Molly's smirk vanished, her eyes narrowing. "You..."

"Enough," said Mazael. "If you want to fight, destroy some runedead. Take your places, all of you." 

The men took formation, the archers lining up behind the thains and armsmen. The knights climbed the sides of the valley, preparing for their charge. Molly drew her sword and dragon's tooth dagger, and Riothamus gazed at the ruined village, hands tight around the Guardian's staff.

Mazael took a deep breath and drew his sword. 

The sword's crosspiece and pommel were golden, the pommel worked in the shape of a roaring lion's head. The long steel blade flashed blue in the morning sun, and the weapon jolted in Mazael's hand. He called the sword Lion, and the ancient blade had been forged long ago by the greatest wizards of the High Elderborn, imbued with mighty power to fight creatures of dark magic. 

The sword trembled in his hand, and then the blade burst into raging azure flames. 

"Well, father?" said Molly.

Mazael tapped the flat of Lion's blade against Molly's sword and dagger, and the fire leapt from his sword to her weapons. Molly rolled the blades through a quick flourish, her eyes wary. She knew the bite of that azure flame.

Given the demon-tainted blood that flowed through her veins. 

Mazael walked through the lines, slapping Lion against the weapons of every man. Soon it seemed as if a field of blue flames crackled in the valley. Mazael glanced towards the runedead milling around the slopes of the hill, half-expecting that whatever mind controlled the undead would attack.

But the runedead made no response. Perhaps they would not attack until they felt threatened. 

Mazael stopped next to Romaria and touched Lion to her quiver, spreading the sword's fire to her arrowheads. 

"You're growing patient in your old age," she said with a smile. 

"Oh?" said Mazael. 

"You didn't cut Earnachar's head off," said Romaria, glancing at the headman. Earnachar stood before his swordthains, exhorting them to fight with valor, just as mighty Tervingar had once upon a time. 

"I cannot say I was not tempted," said Mazael. "I could have let Molly kill him." 

"Or," said Romaria, "you could just ask him about mighty Tervingar. He'll talk until he passes out." 

Mazael barked a laugh. For a moment he forgot the battle, forgot the runedead, even the Demonsouled rage simmering beneath his thoughts. If not for Romaria, that rage would have consumed him long ago. It would have twisted him into someone like Ragnachar, someone like Amalric Galbraith.

Or, worse, into someone like his father. 

He squeezed Romaria's hand, and walked to the front of the shield wall. Arnulf nodded at him, and Earnachar lifted his chin like a bulldog spoiling for a fight. 

Mazael took a deep breath and strapped his shield to his left arm, Lion a torch of blue fire in his right hand. The runedead wandering the slope of Morsen Village's hill still paid no attention. 

Time to change that.

Eagerness filled him at the thought of battle. He wanted peace for his lands and his people, but his Demonsouled nature never stopped thirsting for blood. In times of peace he struggled to keep himself in check. Then the Tervingi and the Great Rising had come, and with them incessant war. 

Not enough war to satisfy his Demonsouled nature...but enough, perhaps, to slake it for a time. 

"Archers!" shouted Mazael. "Begin!" 

###

Riothamus took a deep breath, his fingers tight against the Guardian's staff.

His staff, now.

He had been the Guardian ever since Aegidia had given him the staff, moments before she perished from Ragnachar's treachery. The Tervingi nation respected him and feared him, and heeded his counsel. 

He felt like an imposter. 

Aegidia had been the Guardian for decades. Riothamus had borne the staff for less than a year. Aegidia would have known how to reconcile the folk of the Grim Marches and the Tervingi. She would have known how to deal with the runedead. 

But Aegidia was dead, and Riothamus had no choice but to carry on in her stead. 

His eyes strayed to where Molly stood next to her father, sword and dagger ready. She looked sleek and deadly in her dark leather and cloak, the image of an assassin of the Skulls. Deadly and lovely.