Under the Shadow of Darkness: Book 1 of the Apprentice Series (14 page)

Alexius howled, “Men. Get those heads and throw them down that far drain. Carefully, carefully. They still bite you know.”

The heads continued to speak while the men threw them down the large opening in the floor. “Hey! That’s not nice!”

The head of an elderly woman said, “Sonny, I remember when you were in diapers. Wore them until you were in school, you did. And this is how you treat me now?”

Another howled, “Don’t forget my body! Send it down too. I’m gonna need that!”

The men pitched all of the heads down the large storm drain. Then they pushed the headless bodies down the pipe, poking and prodding them with their swords to get them to walk where they wanted them to, guiding them to the opening.

It took about a quarter day but they were able to clear the outer court of all the ghoul-kind and place large stones over all of the open drains and open pipes that they found. The king ordered the outer court secured and they opened up the passages but many would not yet venture there. Others did, if only to retrieve the memorabilia and keepsakes of their friends and kin who had now joined the ghoul-kind. There was no celebration in their victory.

Soon after the outer court was cleared, King Luthgar announced, “All, gather round. Please. Please, gather round. Hear what your king would say to you.”

Once the people gathered and quieted, he began. “Another battle we have won and I join you in mourning our lost once again. Now we look to a day when this eternal night would end, a day when the ghoul-kind would leave us, a day when the dead would stay dead. We look to the return of day and its life-giving light. These strangers to our lands, these wizards who have helped us, desire to leave us and seek the source of the ghoul-kind and this dreadful eternal darkness. My heart and prayers go with them that they might find the source of this abomination and rid us of it once and for all.”

A resounding “Aye” rang out from the stonecutters of the Keep.

“Now my people, I ask your help once again. This is hard. Once again, on this day, we have lost mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers. We cannot let this be for naught, my friends. I am asking you all to consider aiding them on their quest. A handful of men, that is all they require. But consider it carefully for it may very well be a dangerous journey.”

None raised their hands or stepped forward so after a time the king called Alexius to him and said privately, “Old friend, perhaps you might lead a group of your fellows?”

Alexius looked into the king’s eyes and saw that he wanted him to decline the offer. It was another one of the king’s political shows; he knew it, but he also knew the importance of the mission and that none of the soldiers would volunteer without him.

Alexius turned from the king, stepped forward and announced to the people, “I, Alexius, will go. I will join myself with the mage-kind. I will follow them into the depths of the abyss and the mouth of the underworld. I will go with them. I will help them to end this eternal darkness before both it and the ghoul-kind consume us all. I, Alexius, will go. Perhaps I will not return but let it be know now and on this day that a guard of Protolith, a simple man of the stonecutters, walked out into the darkness, faced the ghoul-kind and the dead of the underworld and attempted to do what no other man has ever done. Let it be known and carved in the stone of our histories that his name was Alexius.”

The group of guards howled, “Aye!”

A soldier stepped forward saying, “I will follow you!” Then another. Then another likewise. In the end nine stepped forward. Alexius addressed them, “My people, look upon these men of courage and valor who have stepped forward on such a mission as this. I wish I could take them all but I would let God decide.”

The chief of guards pulled out straws, cutting three shorter and tucking them deep into his palm. The nine men drew lots. Three men drew shorter sticks than the rest.

The soldiers gathered horses and some supplies and Alexius led Nes’egrinon and the boys back to their room to retrieve their belongings then out to the outer gate where the men were waiting with the horses.

The mage whispered to Kerlith, “Did you stop in the kitchen as I asked?”

“Yes, Master Archmage. All is as you requested,” Kerlith replied while tapping one of his flasks hanging from his shoulder.

Nes’egrinon announced, “Very well then. Men, this is your last chance to turn back. Where we are going is fraught with danger; I cannot guarantee your safety and neither can Alexius. All I can say is that if someone does not go to find the source of this eternal night and close the gateway to the underworld then this will never end and we will all die.”

He paused and looked at each of them who each replied, “Aye,” in turn. They were all committed; they all knew the risks. Then Nes’egrinon looked at Kerlith. “And you, young apprentice. I will tell you once more, you can stay here and there would be no dishonor. The people of the Keep could use a magician right now. You would be of much help to them.”

“I thank you for your consideration Master Archmage, but I will continue on.” Bel saw the look on Kerlith’s face, a sort of contorted discomfort as if he was barely holding back a sense of rage just under the surface of his skin, it wanting to bubble up and boil over. He saw it earlier too, when they both were on the landing working on the ghoul-kind below, anger mixed in with a smile, a rage married to joy; it was the sweet taste of revenge which can never satiate the pain of loss. He was punishing the ghoul-kind for the death of his master. Although Bel never experienced anything like what Kerlith was going through, he thought he could almost understand it. He just hoped that Kerlith’s rage didn’t affect the mission. His master had said that darkness could not defeat darkness. Bel didn’t really understand that since all magic was composed of life and light but still he wondered if something black in Kerlith’s heart could bite them in the end.
Maybe that is why my master keeps offering Kerlith a chance to quit.

Nes’egrinon mounted his horse and the two boys followed suit. The gates opened and they rode out into the large open space in front of the fortress. The old mage said, “You all go that way. I must retrieve something in the mountains. I will join you all momentarily. Kerlith, come with me. Fifth Year, be on guard. Have your staff ready.”

Before anyone could say another word, the two were off. Alexius said, “Very well then. We ride. I will take the lead. Be ready for the way is dark.” Without Nes’egrinon with them, Bel suddenly felt naked. Perhaps the others did too. The soldiers followed Alexius but having one of the most storied archmages in their group had to have given many of them some additional confidence to join this mission. Now they were five feet out of Protolith and he had already left them.

The horses trotted along the dark winding road around the back side of the mountain that the Keep was carved into. It wasn’t long before they could no longer see it, although the vertical horizon formed from thousands of lit torches shining past the side of the mountain reminded them of where it was. They continued on, mostly in silence, each of the soldiers taking turns leading for a period of time. Bel stayed in the middle of the pack, eyes aware, darting to any hint of motion behind boulders and large rocks that they passed. But nothing moved here, at least not when he stared; there were no trees, no animals and no life here, only rock and dirt and stone. Bel could not understand how a wizard could live in these lands and feel whole.

“Ho! Here they come,” one of the soldiers near the rear of the band announced.

They all stopped and turned their horses to look back at two riders on horseback, no, it was three riders on two horses.

Another soldier said, “What’s this? They’ve brought along someone.”

Alexius said, “Let’s keep moving. They will catch up soon.”

Sometime later, Nes’egrinon and Kerlith caught them. Seated behind Kerlith was Muolithnon, the hood of his cloak pulled up over his head, him slouched down as if he was sleeping.

The two quickly folded into the group coming up alongside of Bel and just behind the lead soldier. The others and Alexius were all in the rear and some began to mumble to each other.

Nes’egrinon said, “Fifth Year, any problems?”

“I haven’t even seen anything move. Nothing. All is dead here. Inanimate. Nothing lives.” His voice sounded hollow, as if the idea drained him.

“I know. It grabs my heart close. Something is in the air here. The closer we come, the stronger I feel it. We must keep strong. Do not let it control you.”

Alexius trotted up and said to his man, “I’ll lead. Go back with the others.” After the lead soldier left to the back, Alexius looked at the mage then sped up and put a little distance between them.

Nes’egrinon followed suit and came up next to him. “What’s wrong? Men grumbling?”

“You know it. They want to know who you have there. Please don’t tell me it’s a ghoul.”

The wizard stayed quiet.

Alexius waited for a response and not receiving one he asked, “You’re not going to answer me?”

“You told me not to tell you he was a ghoul, right?”

“So he’s a ghoul then?”

“You told me not to tell you. Make up your mind. Do you want to know or don’t you?”

“I do.”

Nes’egrinon said plainly, “Okay then. He’s a ghoul. That’s all your men need to know.”

“Are you serious? This is going to put a real strain on my ability to lead these men, you know. I mean it’s bad enough I asked them to travel with magicians. You know how nervous soldiers can be when they are around mage-kind. Now a ghoul too? What’s next, giants and orcs?”

“Alexius, I don’t know what to tell you. If your soldiers are scared then we don’t need them.”

The men behind started grumbling louder and Alexius and Nes’egrinon realized that they could still hear their conversation, at least some of it anyway.

The wizard continued, “Listen. Me and mine will stay to one side, you and yours to the other. We can camp separately too. Okay?”

Alexius said, “I don’t like this but it will have to do.”

As the chief of guards moved to the back to calm his men, the archmage muttered, “The story of my life. I’m surrounded by pansies. It’s like they keep multiplying. Not a real man among the lot of them.”

Muolithnon groaned, “Blood.”

The old wizard quickly said, “Kerlith! Keep him quiet! Pass him the flask, just don’t let him drink too much at once.”

The apprentice allowed his dead master a gulp every couple thousand paces or so and he began to get a feel for the rhythm of the dead man’s thirst. Each time the dead man drank Nes’egrinon would quickly ask him what he felt, if they were getting closer, if he could feel the presence of the breach, if he could sense ghoul-kind about, anything to get a feeling how their progress was going.

“Aaaarrgh!” screamed a ghoul as he leapt out from behind a large boulder. Bel’s staff brightened as he spoke in the old tongue, “”, flinging the ghoul far into the air, him screaming all the way, then landing in a thud in the distance.

“Good job, Fifth Year,” his master said without looking at him.

The soldiers grumbled less thereafter.

They continued on for a half-day’s journey, repelling an occasional attacking ghoul, then stopped to eat some rationed morsels and let the horses drink water. After a short stay, they remounted and rode on for a time until Alexius called for their night’s rest, saying only that the horses needed to recuperate, but truthfully they all did.

The men piled large stones into an arc to give a meager break from the cold wind and they huddled behind it and tried to sleep some. Nes’egrinon, the two boys and the dead man set up camp about twenty-five feet away, close enough that the soldiers could keep their eyes on them but not so close that they would not have time to draw their swords, not that swords could stop a mage. The old wizard thought that it would give them a little peace, even if it were a false comfort.

Kerlith built their wall by hand, having calculated the amount of energy he would expend using magic versus the amount used in manual labor, knowing that he could do it in a few moments using magic but not wanting to expend so much life-force in a place where it could not be easily replenished.

After they ate, Alexius joined the mages for some words. “My men, they are not bad. They are tough, fearless men. Trust me, I have fought many a battle at their sides.”

Nes’egrinon and the others looked up at him not knowing how to respond.

Alexius continued, “It is just that there have been too many stories about mage-kind. You know, talking to dragons, other stories of some aiding the orcs, overthrowing the kingdoms of men, you know the ones. These men have all been told stories by their nurse maids from their youth and in some such stories the mage-kind are the monster in the closet or under the bed. They are fearless men. True. But it is hard for them to trust what they do not understand.”

The mage looked down wearily. “Do not let it trouble you. We are fine over here.” He then looked up, smiled and said, “I don’t care if they are pansies, I am sure they will do their duty when the time has come.”

Alexius said, “Right,” clearly not liking the fact that his men might hear the old man’s insults, then walked back to his group and grabbed a spot against the short stonewall, curling his body into a tight ball and pulling his cloak tight.

They fell asleep quickly but the wind, the cold and Muolithnon’s occasional cries for blood woke them often. No one slept well that night.

Some time later Alexius shook everyone awake and they all mounted their horses. The path quickly became more treacherous for the horses, especially in the dark as they could not always see exactly where they were placing their feet. After another half-day’s journey the path became much steeper and Nes’egrinon called back, “Alexius, does any in your band know this path? Does it continue to get worse?”

“Aye,” he replied. “We all know it. Soon we must leave the horses. They will not be able to take us into these mountains.”

It was not much longer when he called for them to dismount and they argued about tying the horses to a boulder.