The Corin Chronicles Volume I: The Light and the Dark (38 page)

“What do we do now?” asked Mikael. His hands remained close to his axe at all times. “I thought the legend told of a gatekeeper who would be here to meet us.”

“Perhaps it is just that,” said Rumin. “A legend. What if there is nothing like a gatekeeper, and there is nothing at all beyond these waters?”

“Quiet!” shouted Prince Ramon. “Over there,” he said. Dismounting his Ikrenum, he walked over to a section of ground covered with high grass. He drew the blue torch from his pack, leaned toward the ground, and struck the tip of the torch against the ground. Nothing happened at first, but the prince persevered. After a few more attempts, a solid blue flame emerged, and they were surrounded by a bright glow.

With the light burning brightly, Topenga focused on what had caught Ramon’s attention. “What is that, my lord?” He stood by the prince’s side and was soon joined by the other three men.

Ramon studied the large object in front of him. It was a thick, cast metal bell, held aloft by a stand rooted firmly into the ground. “It must be with this that we summon the gatekeeper,” he said.

“Allow me, my lord,” said Topenga. He drew his sword and urged the prince and the rest of his comrades to take a few steps back. With all the strength he could muster, he repeatedly smashed his sword against the bell. The clanging rang out through the darkness, and Topenga was unsure if there was anyone near enough to hear it, but he persisted until Prince Ramon raised his hand.

“You have done it, Topenga,” shouted the prince. “I see it in the distance—a small boat approaching.”

“That must be him.” Mikael shot forward to the edge of the river, almost falling in. “That must be the gatekeeper.”

Topenga let out a huge sigh of relief and sheathed his sword. All five men maintained their gaze across the river at a very frail-looking boat and the heavily clothed figure that was rowing it to shore.

“By the gods,” shouted Rumin suddenly. Both Ramon and Topenga shivered before looking at Rumin intently. “I think I just saw some of the Corin moon,” he said. The others stared at him, silent. “It was there, I tell you.” He quickly retreated, after seeing the scowls on their faces.

Ramon continued to glare at him before looking toward the River Crasus, hoping to also catch a glimpse of the moon, something he had always wanted to see. He saw nothing, and so returned his focus to the approaching gatekeeper. “Just as I feared,” he said, wiping the dirt off his tunic. “We will need to leave our Ikrenums here.”

“I came to the same conclusion, my lord,” said Topenga. He stood as close to the river bank as he could without setting foot into it. The prince remained a few yards behind with the rest of the party. As the boat came to within a few yards of them, Ramon took a closer look at the person rowing. He could not see the face, which was covered by a large, oval-shaped hat.

“Do you think it is human?” asked Rumin.

“That is the gatekeeper between our worlds. It is highly unlikely that it is human,” replied Mikael. Rumin’s glare at him went unnoticed.

The boat had now reached the shore, and Topenga rejoined his comrades. Prince Ramon lifted the blue flame above his head, hoping the entity approaching would recognize the royal flame of Tustodes. Finally coming to a complete halt, the figure in the boat took a few steps toward the edge, but at no point did it lift its feet.

“Did you see that, my lord?” said Rumin almost frantically. “It glides, just like the legend states. This must be the gatekeeper.”

The prince cautiously walked toward the boat, while his men firmly grasped their weapons, ready to draw at the first sign of danger.

“Hello,” said Prince Ramon formally. “I am the first Prince of Corin, and I come in peace to seek passage to the Dark World.”

The gatekeeper did not respond, and the prince could not even see an expression, since the figure’s face remained hidden under the hat, with its head still lowered.

They all waited for some kind of reaction from the stranger, but he did not even flinch. It seemed almost to have fallen asleep as soon as the boat reached the shore. The prince thought perhaps they needed to show it a sign of some kind, but his mind could not think of anything.

“Should we just get on the boat uninvited and deal with the consequences?” asked Kasa.

“That might cause a problem that we cannot handle right now,” Ramon said. “I think we—” The prince immediately stopped talking, remembering the last thing Master Ndu had said to him. “I think I know what it is.” He reached into his tunic.

The rest of the team looked on in anticipation, as the prince pulled out the crystal necklace given to him by the Colonoy master. They all flinched when it emitted a bright silver glow, which made even the prince close his eyes momentarily. Their eyes sprang open, however, when they heard a very faint but strange noise from the gatekeeper, who now stood on dry land with his…
its
face fully visible to them. It had two gaping holes in the place of eyes, with a dull, translucent green light emanating from its nearly skeletal face. What they could see of its hands shone with the same mysterious glow, and behind it they could see bones.

“It is just as the legend says, my lord,” gasped Rumin. “An undead creature.” He stared at the gatekeeper with pure disgust.

“I think it is drawn to your necklace, my lord,” said Topenga. “Where is it from?”

“I have no idea,” replied Ramon softly. “Master Ndu gave it to me.”

The gatekeeper stood there for a few more moments, before slowly gliding to the side of the boat and motioning the five young men to board it.

Prince Ramon stepped aboard the boat, quickly followed by the remaining members of the party. Once everyone assumed a safe position, the gatekeeper let out another faint cry before boarding the boat and rowing north, toward the dark divide of the River Crasus. As the warriors drifted deeper into the unknown, the Ikrenums looked on from the shore, awaiting the safe return of their masters.

5.7

T
HE
D
ARK
W
ORLD OF
C
ORIN

T
he boat ride began uncomfortably, but all five men eagerly awaited their arrival on the far shore of River Crasus, which would mark their entrance to the Dark World. As far as they were concerned, the historical significance of getting there far outweighed the danger that awaited them. The atmosphere remained damp and misty. The loud winds of the desert had disappeared, and silence gripped them. Ramon’s heart beat faster and faster, with the thought of seeing the Corin moon for the first time.

As they floated farther north, they started to notice a change in the fishes that inhabited the river. Gone were the colorful sea squalls and the Ferberches that frequented the waters of the Light World. In their place swam grossly disfigured creatures with sharp fangs and snake-like skin. Some of the fish appeared to be undead, skeletal creatures, wandering aimlessly through the water. In the midst of analyzing the life beneath the sea, Ramon did not realize when stars began to appear in the sky, until he noticed his companions looking high above them with their mouths open. Looking up from the water, he felt a shiver run up his spine upon realizing complete darkness had descended upon them. Then he followed his friends’ gaze into the sky and saw what had caught their attention.

The moon had finally shown itself to them. The red glow was beautiful, yet it ignited a small flame of rage within him. So many in the Light World would never behold such a sight. He longed for the day when his planet might be as one, with all of Corin once again sharing both the light and the dark.

“Is it not beautiful, my lord?” said Mikael, breaking Ramon’s thoughts. “The light that shines upon us is like nothing I have seen before. The night sky brings with it a strange chill, one unknown to me. But this is how it should be. This is true nightfall.”

Apart from the sound of the oars dragging the boat closer to their destiny, the silence had swallowed them up completely. And deep down, Ramon began to grasp the magnitude of what had happened. “We have done it,” he said. “We are in the Dark World.” The gatekeeper lit a large torch in the center of the boat, guiding them through the pitch darkness, and Ramon calmly extinguished the blue flame.

“I must say, it is just as I expected,” said Kasa. He continuously rubbed both of his palms together, breathing heavily.

“Look,” shouted Rumin. “I can see the shore.”

“Already,” said Topenga with a hint of skepticism. “This seems too easy, my lord.

“Perhaps the apparent dangers of the Dark World might be a myth born from fear,” Mikael said. “It all looks relatively safe to me.” Although down on one knee, his hands remained close to his axe at all times.

At Mikael’s comment, the gatekeeper let out another strange sound and followed it with a glance at the party, as if laughing at their optimism.

“Stay on guard, my comrades,” Ramon spoke authoritatively. “Myth or not, we have no idea what is in these waters and are not safe until we reach the shore.”

The boat continued down the murky waters of River Crasus, and the silence became more unsettling as the moments passed. A heightened activity from the fishes below brought an increasing uneasiness to the five warriors. The gatekeeper, however, remained completely without emotion, apart from the few faint noises it made at odd intervals, which drew sharp glances from the party. They tried to ignore it, until an enormous yell from the creature caught their attention. Seconds later, the water beneath them trembled. Mikael quickly drew his axe and peered round every angle of the boat. Nothing was immediately visible, but the gatekeeper continued making the increasingly loud noise, almost like a warning.

Their attention suddenly shifted to a large tide coming behind them from the south. At first it seemed like a massive wave, but the huge head of a gigantic serpent emerged from the sea. It headed straight toward them. Its skin was pitch black, with many green blotches across its entire body. Its yellow eyes shone through the darkness and locked on to them, as if piercing through their very thoughts. The rows of fangs that hung from its cavernous mouth seemed never-ending.

“What are we going to do?” screamed Rumin. His fork trembled in his hands.

“Calm yourself, Rumin,” shouted Topenga. “Our first priority is to make sure the boat does not capsize.”

“Everyone, take up posts on each corner of this boat,” shouted Prince Ramon. “We need to keep it balanced.” He rapidly descended to the center of the boat, beside the lit torch, where both he and Topenga had laid down their spears.

“Catch,” said Ramon, throwing a spear to the Colonoy, who had taken up a position on the lefthand corner of the boat, behind the gatekeeper. Rumin and Kasa were situated on either side of their guide, while Mikael took the last corner, next to Topenga. With Kasa pulling back on his bow, Rumin held his fork above his head, ready to thrust it into the river at the serpent. The gatekeeper continued to row furiously toward the shore.

Ramon stood his ground in the center, trembling as an icy chill tore through his skin. The fear within him extended to his arms and legs. He was in uncharted territory, and the doubts continued to fill his head. The serpent had come to within a few yards of their boat. Its ancient, knowing eyes continued to cause uncertainty within them, and it seemed even the accelerated efforts of the gatekeeper could not prevent the inevitable collision.

“It is right upon me, my lord,” screamed Kasa at the top of his lungs. “I can feel the evil that lurks within it.”

At that moment, a massive thud sent them flying, with the gatekeeper alone maintaining its balance. The serpent raised its head against the boat, until it was practically aboard. The stench of dampness and decay immediately filled the air, and the men could nearly feel it permeating their souls. The loud, throaty growl from the creature drowned out all other sounds. The five men slowly regained their composure, and Kasa fired numerous arrows into the side of the serpent’s head.

The great beast let out a powerful screech. As it retracted slightly, Rumin jammed his fork into the midsection of the creature, provoking another mighty scream. Topenga began to leave his position to assist his comrades, but the prince signaled for him to halt, knowing that once they lost balance on the boat, the battle would be over. The serpent returned to the water, but continued circling the boat without charging directly for them.

“What do you think it is doing?” Topenga asked the prince.

“I have no thoughts,” replied Ramon. “But whatever it is planning, we must be ready for it.”

The beast continued circling for a few minutes, but did not make any sharp movements. Ramon glanced at the shore. It seemed ever so close. Then the near calm that had returned aboard the boat suddenly turned to hysteria when the serpent swam into the deep, turned, and began another charge toward them.

“Stay calm, and hold on to something,” Ramon said. He knelt down and firmly held on to a handle in the middle of the boat.