Heir to the Sundered Crown (16 page)

“Rune stone?” Luxon asked. He remembered seeing them on his last journey. The big oval rocks dotted the realm. Most were located at crossroads and at the side of the major roads.

“Aye. Rune stones are imbued with ancient magic which wards off fell beasts. The ancient mages created them during the age of Aljeron the first wizard, the age when the Nightblades were formed to hunt the monsters unleashed by the void and the stupidity of mages,” Sophia explained her eyes not leaving the trees.

*

Night came quickly on the road. As the last rays of sunlight were fading the group rounded a bend to see a black monolith standing high and proud. In the dim light it was hard to make out the archaic writings etched into its surface.

The flicker of a camp fire caused Ferran to call them to a halt. Someone was already camping at the base of the rune stone.

“Hail there,” the Nightblade called.

A shout of surprise and the sound of people scrabbling about came from the stones direction. A cacophony of swear words and a crash as someone fell over caused Luxon to smile. Whoever was camped there was no skilled assassin or warrior, if anything they sounded like the clumsiest person in the world.

“H-hail.., who goes there?” replied a voice. An old man wearing a long travellers coat stepped out onto the road his hands held high. Behind him was a younger man dressed in similar garb. The old man’s hair was white and erratic and his bushy unruly beard suggested that he hadn’t had a chance to shave in weeks. The younger mans black hair in contrast was slicked back with oil and his beard was smart and trimmed. In his hands was a staff which he gripped tightly.

“We are just a group of travellers heading south to the sundial crossroads. Would it be alright if we shared the safety of the rune stone with you?” Ferran explained politely.

The two men conversed animatedly; Luxon could barely hear their whispers.

After a few minutes of comedic squabbling the older man walked towards them his hands still high in the air.

“Seein as you have young uns with you we figure that your band is safe. So yes, you can share our fire, and the stones safety.’ He moved his head from side to side as though he was looking for any signs of treachery. ‘You don’t want to be on open road at night. Especially not lately...” the old man added.

The group trotted their mounts into the men’s camp. Luxon and Yepert tethered their ponies to a nearby tree whilst the others did similarly to their own horses. Alira’s pony was tethered to the rune stone itself.

“Come, come sit next to the fire and make yourselves comfy,” the older man enthused. “My name is Gric and my young companion here is Huin. We are travelling peddlers from Ridder wandering the King’s road to find our fortune,” Gric cackled. Huin snorted in derision.

“Yes old man, we’re doing really well on that front...”Huin muttered sarcastically. 

Sophia had taken one of the packs off her horse and pulled out five sleeping blankets. She passed one to Luxon and the others and settled down to sleep a little ways from the crackling campfire. Kaiden pulled some food from one of the travel sacks on his saddle and passed some bread among them. He offered the peddlers some.

“Nay lad, we have our own food. Can’t be doing with taking a strangers,” said Gric as he settled himself onto a pile of cushions next to the fire. A thin sheet of cloth had been stretched between the stone and a nearby tree to offer them some cover from the elements.

“We passed a bandit camp earlier in the day, no survivors. Do you know what happened there?” Ferran asked through a mouthful of bread.

“Aye we do,’ Gric answered his tone going serious. ‘Bout three days ago there was three of us until we went to check out the smoke arising from that camp. We intended to strip the bandits armour and sell it on once we’d reached Caldaria but poor old Euin bought it when he lingered there too long.’

“That old fool got greedy and paid the price. I told him to get back here before the night fell,” Huin added.

“Aye you did. We left him to it, we weren’t willing to risk it, and especially after the noises we’ve heard at night during our travels. We got back here just after sun down and then not long after we heard Euin’s screams in the distance. Something got him...something fell.”

Luxon shivered. Yepert glanced about nervously and Alira huddled closer to Kaiden. The knight put an arm around her reassuringly.

“Fear not we have a Nightblade, a Knight and a witch hunter to protect us,” Yepert said more confidently than he looked. Ferran scowled at the boy. He didn’t want everyone to know who they were.

“Get some sleep, we have a long day’s journey ahead of us,” Ferran said as he sat down under a tree and wrapped his blanket about himself.

*

Luxon couldn’t sleep. The night was cold but there was something else in the chill, something he had felt for several days. He wondered if anyone else had noticed it, the chill which made him shiver despite it being summer.

He also couldn’t sleep because of the silence. Not a single animal made a noise, usually there were calls from owls or the constant shrill of grasshoppers, but there was nothing but silence, an oppressive silence that burrowed deep into his soul. He wrapped his blanket tighter around himself and edged closer to the fire hoping that its warmth would put him at ease.

“It’s out there,”

Luxon almost cried out. He sighed in relief as he recognised Ferran sat next to the fire idly prodding it with a stick.

“What’s out there?” Luxon whispered, not wanting to wake the others. Alira was curled up in a ball at Kaidens feet, his hand resting protectively on the hilt of his sword. Yepert was snoring loudly and Sophia was happily catching flies.

The Nightblade looked at Luxon with a frown.

“What do they teach you in those schools about the fell beasts and the void... surely a mage as powerful as you should already know the answer,” Ferran answered bitterly. Despite all his strength he couldn’t hide his resentment for the lad.

Luxon glanced away unable to meet the Nightblades disapproving gaze.

“They didn’t teach us much; I’m only an apprentice and even then a newly appointed one. I...I have a power that I don’t understand,” he answered miserably. He didn’t want to be on the road, he didn’t want to be in danger.

Ferran grunted and tossed a twig onto the fire which flared brightly.

“I am sorry I spoke that way,’ he grumbled. ‘I shouldn’t take my resentment of the mages out on one so young as you, and before you ask I have my reasons which I do not wish to share this night.’ Quickly he changed the subject.

“The thing that killed their friend’; he said gesturing to the two sleeping pedlars, ‘what do you think it was?”

Luxon shifted slightly as his leg started to go dead under his weight. He thought for a moment. The Nightblade was right; he didn’t have a clue about the fell beasts or anything much about the void. He shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.

“I have no idea,” he answered after a few moments.

A scream pierced the silence of the night, an unearthly terrible scream. The others sprung awake in a panic and fright. All except Yepert who remained snoring loudly. Ferran stayed sat.

“We are safe thanks to the rune stone. Go back to sleep, it can’t harm us here,” he said reassuringly. Kaiden looked less than impressed; once again his blade was in hand.

“Listen...,” Alira whispered in fright.

Sure enough the sound of rustling leaves grew closer and closer. Luxon scrambled to his feet and Sophia knelt, her bow drawn. Still Ferran sat, watching the trees impassively. The two pedlars cowered behind the rune stone, Huin held his staff in a white knuckled grip.

The tension rose as the thing drew closer. Luxon steadied his nerves his hands going unconsciously to the dagger in his belt. He knew it wouldn’t be much use, but he needed to use anything for reassurance.

The bushes across the roadside erupted only to reveal a startled boar and its three piglets. The group all sighed in relief, the tension easing to be replaced with nervous chuckles.

“Ruddy pig, scared the snot out of me!” chuckled Gric. The old man picked up a stone and threw it at the boar that ran off back into the undergrowth with a startled squeal its tiny piglets following suit. With another flurry of leaves and breaking twigs the boars left as quickly as they had arrived.

A few minutes later and the camp was quiet one more as everyone went back to sleep, everyone that was except for Luxon and Ferran.

“That scream was no pig was it?” Luxon asked. The scream had shaken him deeply. He envied Yepert who seems to be able to sleep through virtually anything. He wished he could have been like the others and cast the night’s horrors to the back of their minds.

“I’d guess it were a banshee, a fell spirit which preys on the souls of the living. They’re fairly common in this part of the realm. The Black Moor to the west is full of them,” Ferran reasoned. The Nightblade stared into the fires flames and warmed his hands from the heat.

“Where do they come from?” Luxon asked. He couldn’t help looking into the darkness. He felt as though a monster would burst into the clearing at any moment. If he understood what the fell beasts were then he wouldn’t be as afraid. All he knew of them and their origins were just fairy tales told by parents to keep their children in line. Even the mage schools avoided the subject.

“It’s a long story, and I wouldn’t want to bore you,” Ferran replied as he picked some dirt from under his fingernails.

“Dawn is a long way off, and I seriously doubt I’ll be able to sleep, maybe a good story is what I need?” Luxon said hoping that the Nightblade would relent.

With a reluctant sigh Ferran relented.

“Very well lad. Settle down and get comfortable because this is the only time I will tell you the tale of the void and its origins. Only the Nightblades and the members of the Chantry and Knights of Niveren remember the story, to everyone else the void is just a mystery or a legend. They soon change their minds when one of its abominations terrorises their towns.”

He took a sip from the water skin at his feet before beginning his tale.

***

19.

“The tale of the void goes all the way back to the very start of all things. In the beginning of the universe there was nothing but darkness. Sitting alone in the empty cold was Aniron the first of the Gods. She floated throughout the blackness, sad that she could not see. Boredom was her nemesis, and so to entertain herself she clapped her hands and created the stars. With light she could see, but still she was not impressed.

So she decided to create the worlds. For eons she flitted from world to world marvelling at their wonders, but still she was not impressed.

So she decided to create life. If she could exist, then why couldn’t others? She wanted to share what she had made. She took a part of her essence and gave birth to other gods to keep her company.

‘
For a while the new gods played and were happy amongst the stars and worlds that Aniron had created, but one, her eldest son grew sad.

Vectrix grew jealous of Aniron’s creations and wished for the power to create as she had done. One day when Aniron was walking on the world of Esperia, Vectrix came to her.

“Why can only you create?” he asked of his mother. ‘I too want to create, I want your power, for I have visions of such wonder and beauty that it would make you weep.”

Aniron smiled at her son. She took his head in her hands and kissed him deeply. The two made love on the surface of Esperia, their lovemaking creating life in the process. After they were done Aniron held Vectrix in her arms and whispered; “Look what we have created, new life that is not god, but beautiful nonetheless.”

Vectrix watched in awe at the life that had appeared. Beasts of all kinds roamed Esperia, the oceans were full of fish, the skies of birds and the land flourished with flowers and beauty. He wept.

“This is beautiful indeed.’ He said ‘but it is not mine. This is your favourite world.’ His voice grew louder, creating the winds, and his tone grew angry, creating the mountains as it cracked the land. “You tricked me into making life on your world, the power is still yours!” he cried.

Angry at Aniron’s betrayal he reached down and snapped off the top of the tallest mountain. With all his might he hurled it at his mother striking her down. In his rage Vectrix stole his mother’s power; the wounded Aniron powerless to stop him. He absorbed her until there was nothing left but her voice on the winds. Realising what he had done Vectrix fled Esperia and cowered.

When the other gods discovered what Vectrix had done they wept. Their sorrow was quickly replaced with rage and greed. Aniron’s power was up for grabs. If Vectrix could take it for himself then what was stopping them from acquiring it from him?

God slaughtered god, as each battled for the right to kill Vectrix and take their mother’s power. The universe which Aniron had created was torn asunder as worlds were destroyed and stars extinguished. Finally, after eons of fighting only three gods remained.

Vectrix, Rindar and Esperin were the final gods left standing. Vectrix had not been idle during the war. In his hidden sanctuary of the world of Vectra the god had been busy using his mother’s power. With it he created the Void, his own universe housing beasts of his creation. Instead of being beautiful his creations were twisted and evil, his rage having corrupted his mother’s power. He used his monsters to enslave the other worlds until only Esperia remained.’

Luxon held up a hand to stop the story.

“So the void is the realm, of a god? How have I never heard of Vectrix?” he asked. He knew the names of many of the old gods, but Vectrix was new to him. Before the Golden Empire there had been many religions devoted to the gods, but those were long gone. Only the followers of Niveren remained, a man who was revered as a god.