Dark Soul Silenced - Part One (3 page)

Chapter Five

As the bandit leader's corpse sank to the floor time returned to normal for Daniel.  He pulled his sword free, wiping it clean on the leader's clothes then placing it on the ground.  He had no need of it for now.

He gestured to the remaining outlaws and they gathered in a group.  He could feel his hold over them all, knew they would do as he wished.  Even if he ordered them to kill each other, kill themselves.  Some of the powers he'd gained were amazing.  Terrifying even.  In the fight his opponent had seemed to move so slowly that Daniel had been able to glide around each attack.  And the control he had over the surviving outlaws… well, it was tempting to use it.  But he resisted.  The idea of forcing them to give up their ways, forcing them to be something else just felt wrong inside.  Strayed dangerously close to the darkness that had been purged from his soul.  Instead he formed his thoughts and pushed them out, speaking to reinforce them.

“
Two of you lie dead.  The rest of you I could kill with a word.  But I won't.  In a moment I will send you on your way, but with this command.  For the rest of the day you will think about your lives.  Think about what you have done.  Think of the hurt you have caused.  And think of what you could be, what you could do instead.  Can you work wood?  Leather?  Build?  Bake?  Or if nothing else, could you turn your sword arms to protecting the weak?  It is up to you.  For the rest of the day you will consider this, then you are free to choose your own paths.  But remember this.  If you don't change and our paths cross again there will be no mercy next time, no second chances.”  He met the gaze of each man in turn, then flicked his hand.  “Go.  Go now!”

The men turned still looking dazed but now, in some cases at least, starting to look thoughtful.  They set off without talking and soon it was clear each was finding his own path, ignoring the others.  Daniel was pleased.  He hadn't consciously given that command but he thought it would help their chances of turning their lives around.

He turned to the family, crouching down by the girl and smiling slightly.

“
It's you isn't it?” she asked quietly.  “The man from last night?”

“
Yes,” he replied, also quietly.  “I am so, so sorry for scaring you.  I was… well I was very ill.  But I am better now, you helped me to get better.  Thank you.”

The girl smiled shyly, then turned to her parents.  The father was still sitting, now propped up by his wife who was trying to stop the bleeding — with little success.  Neither had heard his conversation with the girl, neither knew it was Daniel that had visited their camp the night before.  The man's face was starting to turn grey and Daniel doubted he'd last much longer.  He crouched by them.

“Thank you.” The man's voice was barely more than a whisper.  Daniel heard the pain in it, wished he could do something to help.

“
I'm sorry,” he replied.  “If I had intervened just a bit sooner you would not be hurt.”

The man chuckled despite the pain.  “You turn up, face down their leader, save Sarah and our Mary from death or worse and then you apologise.  You have nothing to be sorry for.  I go to my rest in peace, not in torment as I thought I would.  I go knowing my family is safe rather than leaving them in terrible danger.  Thank you.”

Daniel shrugged.  “How could I not help?  I just wish I could help you now, but I cannot”.

“
Well I can!” said the girl, Mary, pushing her mothers hands out of the way.  She placed her hands over the stomach wound and concentrated. 

Her mothers face flickered between relief and concern.  “Be careful Mary,” she said, “Please be careful you don't hurt yourself.”

Daniel was fascinated.  He could sense some of what Mary was doing, but not the intricacies.  Energy was flowing from her body through her hands and into her father.  The power was knitting the flesh and strengthening his dwindling internal energies.  It was a huge task though, her father was so badly wounded and already suffering from shock.

After two or three minutes she started to sway, face pale, but she kept on pushing energy into her father.  Now her mother's face was drawn with concern.  Once, twice the woman lifted her hands as if to intervene and then dropped them again, helpless.  The girl was in danger, Daniel could tell that now.  She was using her own life force to heal her father and the wound needed more energy than she could safely give.  Could he take over?  No.  He could sense some of what she did but not how.  But… maybe there was a way.  He leant forward, placed a hand on the girl's shoulder and concentrated.  He opened up to her, letting some of his own energy trickle through, then as she became aware of the flow letting her draw more of his energy through her to complete the healing. 

While he could feel the energy going Daniel found his own energy was not being depleted as the girl’s had been.  After a few moments he realised why.  As fast as the energy flowed out he was drawing more energy in.  From the sunlight.  From the trees, plants and animals surrounding him.  From the sea and from the land.  Just a little from everywhere.  Not enough to harm anything he drew power from but taken together it was more than enough to counter the drain of the healing.

The man's face started to regain some colour, the bleeding from his stomach and leg stopped and Daniel could sense the flow of energy through the girl slowing.  Her eyes flickered open, she smiled… and Daniel caught her as she fainted, gently lowering her to the ground.

“She is all right,” he assured her parents.  “She is just sleeping.  I was able to lend her some strength but what she just did was still incredible work.  She needs to rest.”  To the father he said “How do you feel?”

“
Tired!” was the reply, but there was a strength in the words that had been missing before.  “I think I might just sleep for a few minutes too.”  He lay back, asleep almost the moment his head rested on the ground.

The woman, Sarah, looked at her husband and daughter and burst into tears.  Daniel put an arm around her and she turned into him, sobs shaking her body.  Daniel just held her.  After everything that had happened she needed the release.  A few minutes passed before the sobs tailed off and she pulled away.

“Better?” he asked with a smile.

“
Yes.”  Her answering smile was shy.  “It was… everything… it just…”

“
I understand.  It's all right.  You've been through a nightmare.  You had to get it out of your system.”

“
Thank you.  For everything.”

“
Really, it is fine.”  Daniel was getting embarrassed by all the thanks.  He sought to change the subject.  “Your daughter… she has an incredible gift.”

Sarah pulled a face.  “Gift maybe.  Or curse.  That's what they call it where we come from.  The town of Hammersgate.  It's why we're travelling, well, running really.  We didn't know she had this… gift.  I don't think she did.  Then there was an accident, a young boy was injured by a horse.  We weren't there so we don't know the details but we were told his chest had been crushed.  He was dying.  Mary was there.  She healed him.  She saved him.  In doing it she passed out herself.  But it was clear that she'd saved him.  Clear to everyone in the street.  Within twenty minutes the witch hunters were looking for her.  To burn her!”

Sarah took a deep breath to steady herself.  Daniel waited patiently for her to continue.

“
The boy's family saved her.  They took her home with their son, got her out of immediate danger.  She woke again a few minutes later and they found out where she lived.  The boy's Uncle risked his life.  He carried her back to us, warned us of the danger and helped us to slip out of the city.  If he'd been caught with us the punishment would have been death.  As it would have been for Jon and I.  She's our daughter, that's no threat to us, but he risked his life for a child he had only just met.  We don't even know his name, he said it was best that way.  He saved us.  He got us out of the city, stayed with us for a day before turning back.  I just hope he came to no harm.”

The two of them sat in silence for a while, a silence eventually broken by the sleeping man's rasping snore.  Sarah smiled fondly at him.  “I never thought I'd be this happy to hear that noise,” she said.

Daniel chuckled.  Looking at her he said “You look tired.  Rest a little.  Do not worry, I will stand guard.”  He projected feelings of safety and sleepiness.

With a yawn and a nod Sarah lay down beside her husband, head resting on his chest.  Within moments she too was asleep.

Daniel sat back, enjoying the suns warmth, the sound of the waves crashing on the beach and for the first time since his nightmare began felt completely at peace.  He smiled down at the sleeping family.  He'd travel with them he decided.  See them safely to their destination.  It was the least he could do.  And then… well, time would tell.

Part Two - The Journey

Chapter Six

Ser Josef knocked on the heavy wooden door to the prefect's office, then waited patiently until the door opened.  Rather than the aged prefect he found himself facing the intense gaze of Ser Gerome.

“
Excuse me brother,” Ser Gerome said, his voice precise and clipped.

“
Of course brother,” Josef replied politely, stepping to one side.

“
Come in Ser Josef,” called the prefect.

Josef entered the room, shut the door and turned to face the prefect.  The room was starkly utilitarian, bare rock walls and no furniture except the desk with a chair each side and two large bookshelves weighed down with books and records.

Prefect Lantus sat behind the desk with a large map spread in front of him.  He studied Josef for an uncomfortably long time, the prefect's eyes were bright and sharp despite the his advanced age and Josef knew from past experience that the prefect's mind was even sharper.  Many people had made the mistake of judging the prefect by his kindly wrinkled face and slow yet deliberate approach, seeing in the old man an absent-minded, grandfatherly nature.  Josef was sure it was an impression the elderly leader of his order cultivated deliberately, the better to spring the trap when needed.  Finally the prefect waved to the other chair, still studying Josef as he crossed the room and sat.

“
You don't like Ser Gerome, do you?” the prefect asked.

“
I have great respect for Ser Gerome,” Josef protested.  “He is most effective in tracking down those who practice the dark arts.”

“
A politicians answer,” snapped Lantus.  “Don't try to weasel your way out!  You don't like him, do you?”

“
If I am honest then… no.  I find some of his methods, his actions, disturbing.  I fully understand the need to root out those who practice the dark arts, and the need to put them to the question afterwards.  The more we understand the better we can carry out our duty to protect the innocent.

Yet at times Ser Gerome seems to enjoy the questioning too much, seems to find pleasure in what should be an unpleasant duty, seems to keep going long past the point when most of us would have performed the rites to purge the body and free the soul.  Especially if the person he is questioning is young and female.”

Once again prefect Lantus sat quietly studying Josef, who had to fight the urge to squirm.  He was slightly shocked at having voiced his thoughts, somehow the prefect's question had shaken loose his concerns and his tongue.  Now he waited, wondering if he had crossed a line.  Despite nearly twenty years of dedication to the cause he knew his position could be stripped from him, had seen it happen to others.

Finally the old man grinned at him, sitting back in his chair.

“Relax Josef.  You spoke honestly when I told you to, I respect that – even if it was after a false start.  Your opinion of Ser Gerome is noted, however he is the best we have at sniffing out the dark ones.  His methods may seem harsh to you but they are, as you said, effective.  He retains my full confidence.

You should know that Ser Gerome has concerns about you too, he feels you are too soft, too ready to grant the blessed peace of mercy before all questions have been answered.”

“Prefect, I have always been dedicated to the cause!  I would never…”

“
Yes, yes, yes.”  The Prefect cut him off with a sharp chopping motion.  “I know that, if I doubted it for a minute you would be cleaning out the stables for the rest of your life.

Now, to the reason I called you.  Do you remember the incident on Market Street five days ago?”

“The boy who was injured by a horse then healed by a young girl using the dark arts?”

“
Exactly.  That display of power was several orders stronger than anything we have seen in the town for years.  The boy and his family fled the city, it seems they had links to smugglers, and were last seen boarding a ship in Prosper Point.  From there they could travel anywhere.  We will spread the word but that trail is cold.  I think it is of little import anyway, the boy we would have tested for corruption and questioned but the rest of the family I believe to be acting in a misguided attempt to protect him.

The girl and her family are a different matter though.  They did not flee with the boy and his family, and have not been sighted anywhere in the surrounding area.  We thought initially that they had gone to ground somewhere in the town, but as time passed that seemed increasingly unlikely.

It is imperative that we find that girl, and her family too.  We need to understand where her power came from, and if it was from her parents then we need to track down and test any possible relatives wherever they are.  All we know so far is that the family had no surviving relatives in the city.”

“
If they are not in the city could they have fled by a different route?  Headed further inland?”

“
Unlikely but not impossible.  However that is not where they went.  The power this child wields cannot be left unchecked.  Earlier today I authorised use of the Seeker Amulet.”

Josef stared at the prefect, completely stunned.  The Seeker Amulet had legendary status.  It could be used to track down powerful users of the dark arts, once locked on it was able to track them no matter the distance involved.  It was one of the most powerful objects the Order owned.  Josef could only remember it being used once before, not long after he joined the Order, when a series of mutilated murder victims had turned up in the city – all with occult symbols carved into their dead bodies.  With no leads and the number of corpses constantly mounting the Seeker Amulet had been used.  It had led the members of his order to a minor noble who appeared to be a pillar of society, yet when they arrived he had unleashed bolts of lightning and summoned several demons to cover his escape. 

Had it been anyone else come to arrest him he would have escaped easily, but the Order was well equipped to face such horrors.  Blessed robes and armour deflected the lightning bolts and sacred weapons tore the demons apart.  On seeing this the noble had realised that he could not escape, that he faced days of excruciating questioning followed by execution.  Before any of the Order could reach him he pulled a short blade decorated with heathen symbols from his robes and slit his own throat, taking all his dark secrets to the grave.

“
The girl is that much of a threat?” he managed to ask eventually.

“
Yes, she is – I felt sure anyway and the path they are taking confirms it.  They are travelling north, towards the Dark Lands.”

The name sent a shiver down Josef's spine.  The Dark Lands were infamous, an area renowned for being tainted with dark power.  Folklore painted the Dark Lands as full of ravening monsters and powerful demons, seductive sirens and depraved wizards.  The Order's own files confirmed many of the stories, though they also recorded that people managed to survive in many areas, sometimes in thrall to the dark powers but often by exercising great care and sealing themselves away at night.

The Order had made many forays into the Dark Lands, attempts to understand the source of the corruption with a view to cleansing it.  None had been successful, and many had failed to return at all.  Individuals from the Order had been known to head into the Dark Lands alone, determined to bring enlightenment and protection to the people living there.  Very few returned, though reports suggested at least some were still alive and continuing their work with the locals.

Josef pulled his thoughts back to the prefect, making the traditional triangular ward against evil with his hands.  The old man smiled at him, though there was little humour in it.

“You'll need more than that lad, when you follow the child.  A lot more than that.”

“
I'm to follow her?”

“
Well, not exactly.  Ser Gerome will be following her, I've given him the Seeker Amulet, and also a Purity Orb.  You will accompany him, together with ten guardsmen.”

“
Thank you.  I am honoured.” 

He hoped the prefect wouldn't detect his concern.  Days or weeks in the company of Gerome did not appeal to him at any time, with his new responsibilities Gerome would be even less pleasant to be around, and his excesses would grow even worse Josef was sure.

“No you aren't, don't lie to me lad.  I know what you think of Gerome, but he is the best man for this job.  That child and her parents must be tracked down, and it needs to be done before they penetrate too deeply into the Dark Lands.  The Amulet cannot be used continuously, in fact it can only be used for a few short minutes each day, so we need our best hunter on the case.”

“
Yes Prefect.  I will do all I can to assist Ser Gerome and the guards.”

“
No you won't lad.  You'll do everything you can to assist Ser Gerome
track down the girl
.  The guards will report to you, not to him, and I expect you to make damn sure that he doesn't do anything to bring shame on us.  In particular make sure that the rules on using a Purity Orb are obeyed – unless two officers, which means you and him, have seen it identify an adept of the dark arts
he is not to lay a finger on them
!” 

The prefect almost shouted the last part.  Calming himself he continued. 

“Important though this hunt is, I will not have one innocent harmed in the hunt — especially not to cater to Ser Gerome's particular tastes.”

“
And if he refuses to listen to me?  Insists on an action that you would not approve of?”

“
Then you have the guards restrain him, permanently if needed.  Make if damn clear to him that if he wants to avoid being questioned once you return to the city he had better sort himself out bloody fast and stick to the hunt.  If it becomes necessary you have him executed and take over his role, but the guards had better back you in saying it was absolutely necessary.  Do I make myself clear?”

Josef tried to swallow past the lump in his throat, the old man's intense glare seemed to strip him to the core.

“Yes… yes Prefect.  You have my word.”

“
Good.  You leave in two hours, be in the armoury well before then to get kitted out.  Any questions?”

“
Just one Prefect.  Is Ser Gerome aware of my role?  That I will be there to steer him down the correct path?”

“
No, and unless you have to take any action I want it to stay that way.  I told him that he needs to focus completely on chasing down the girl, and that I was giving you control of the guards and anything else not directly related to the pursuit.  Anything else?”

“
No Prefect.”

“
Then get out of my sight.  And Josef – don't underestimate the importance of this mission.  That girl may hold the key to our salvation and our destruction, I feel it in my bones.  Now go!”

Josef turned and left the room without saying a word, mind still spinning from everything he'd been told.

Josef checked his bags were securely in place one last time then mounted his horse, a solid and strong brown coloured mountain horse that someone had named Snowflake, for no reason Josef could discern.  It didn't worry him.  Where they were headed the horse's strength and endurance would be far more important than its name. 

He mentally checked through the items he was taking.  He had his usual travelling gear – blankets, wet weather gear, clothing, soap and razor, tinderbox and other familiar items.  He wore his usual sword, but strapped to his back rather than his waist so he could draw it while mounted.

The armoury had supplied him, and the others in the party, with bracers around his wrists and a necklace blessed with the power of the Almighty.  The wards would protect the group from any creature of darkness.  The guards were issued replacement swords etched with holy symbols and, like the bracers and necklace, carrying powerful blessings.  The blessed weapons would not only be able to harm creatures of darkness where other weapons did no damage, they would inflict great harm on those creatures. 

As an officer Josef always carried such a sword, but for the guards it was an unusual honour.  He noted their reactions, each took their sword carefully and examined it, weighed it, made several short swings with it, before returning it to its sheath.  Josef had seen guards issued such weapons before and normally there was a sense of awe, delight and fear at the honour they received.  The guards in his squad were clearly used to handling such weapons, backing up his impression of them as experienced and capable.

The armoury had also provided a chain mail vest and metal helmet to Josef – neither had been blessed but they would provide physical protection against attack, be it from the forces of darkness or bandits.

The guard squad were all already mounted, sitting patiently waiting to leave.  Josef turned to his side, where Ser Gerome was finishing his own preparations.  Finally Ser Gerome climbed into the saddle, but he had one more task to complete.  His saddle had two specially shaped holders at the front, now Gerome took out the Purity Orb and fixed it into one of the holders.

Josef stared at the Orb, seeing the thick mists which swirled inside giving it a greyish colour.  When held in the hand of a righteous person the Orb would start to glow an intense blue if anyone able to use the dark power came within a few feet.  The effect only lasted a short while though, once held for more than a minute or two it would need an entire day's exposure to natural light to recharge.  Without that restriction, and the fact that the Orbs were so rare, Josef was sure his order could have destroyed all traces of the dark arts in Hammersgate.  Instead the Orbs were used carefully, normally to confirm that a suspect did indeed have the ability to use dark powers.  Sometimes it led to people being released, if the Orb didn't light up when someone neared then that person was innocent – of using the dark arts at least.