Shadow Cursed Page 15

  Dagar had killed for the first time in his life when a dweller had ambushed them in a narrow passage. He had lost his weapon almost immediately when the fight started and had jumped onto the creature’s back to avoid its deadly pincers.

  When the dweller had tried to crush him against the walls the others had attacked to distract it. Dagar drew a knife from his belt and worked his way up the creature’s body to its head. When a sudden movement threatened to throw him off he had done the only thing he could think of and had slammed the knife into the creature’s head to gain some balance. The creature reared up on its hind legs and Dagar was forced to slide off or get crushed against the ceiling.

  When the dweller’s head hit the ceiling the knife plunged deep into its brain killing it instantly.

  His brother had rushed forward to help him to his feet and clap him on the back congratulating him.

  Dagar had only stared at the blood on his hands until his brother put another weapon in them. They had moved on quickly in case the smell of blood drew other dwellers.

  Finally they arrived at the armoury wardgate only to find its crystals shattered, its frame ripped from the wall and twisted by unimaginable strength.

  The dwarves crept forward with Magdar in the lead and Dagar at his side.

  As they entered the first level of the armoury they came upon two dwellers systematically destroying the oldest dwarven weapons in their display cases. The dwarves fell upon them as battle madness took them. The fight was quick and deadly leaving one dwarf limping from a leg wound and the dwellers hacked to pieces on the floor.

  Dagar felt unease fill him and he placed his hand on the ground to get a better feel for the disturbance.

  He didn’t have to go far to find the foul mind that was the source. He could feel its power coil to lash out at him but he quickly fled back to his body. He collapsed onto the ground in fear.

  Magdar was beside him instantly. “What is it brother?” he asked.

  “A wraithlord is near the ward gates trying to find a way to destroy them. I don’t think we can kill it,” he said terrified.

  Magdar knelt beside him and said, “I believe you, but our people need these weapons and those gates. We have no choice but to retrieve them at any cost.”

  Magdar stood and addressed the other dwarves. “We have killed the guards but their master lies in wait. We must secure the gates and retreat with them to the Fire Gardens. We cannot hope to defeat their master in combat but we can hold him at bay while the gates are taken to safety. I need volunteers to fight with me as a holding action while the rest of you return the gates to the king with Dagar.

  All the dwarves raised their weapons in the air. Magdar smiled and said, “Those who have no family left step forward.” More than half moved forward.

  Magdar’s smile faded a bit but only Dagar could tell, as he gathered himself up off the floor. Magdar spoke again, “I need the strongest ten of you to help Dagar gather weapons, the rest will be my honour guard as we march into the halls of the dead.

  Dagar approached his brother as the dwarves gathered weapons and armour that remained undamaged before they went down to the next level.

  Magdar turned to him and said, “You cannot prevent this from happening Dagar, the men like you but they will not follow you yet into certain death, and our father cannot lose two sons today.”

  “Better to lose me than the son he loves,” replied Dagar.

  Anger flashed in Magdar’s eyes. “Our father has his faults but he still loves you. Now gather armour and a better weapon, we have to move fast.” He stalked off to delegate some dwarves to guard the entrance to the armoury.

  Dagar watched and shook his head. He remembered his father’s words as a child when he had hurt his brother in a mock fight. “You live true to the name I gave you. You are the dagger that killed my wife, are you going to kill my son as well?” He knew his father would never forgive him for the death of the queen in childbirth and had branded him with a reminder for all time. Since that day he had never raised a weapon against anyone, training alone in abandoned tunnels where no one could see him.

  Dagar asked himself, what would his father think if he returned alone? What would he do?

  CHAPTER 43

  Gabriel

  During the rest of the night and day the civilians harvested every tree they could and returned before sunset to the safety of Central’s walls.

  Using engineers from Central Gabriel had a tower constructed before the forest with a ramp leading to its top. The shaman bodies were tied to the tower facing the forest as a warning. When a force of goblins began to assemble at the edge of the forest Gabriel taunted them from the tower. A few foolish goblins ran from the forest edge and charged up the ramp braving the last of the sun’s rays.

  By the time they reached the top they were stumbling along and when one finally reached him Gabriel used a wooden staff to push it off the tower. A few of the others fell to their deaths halfway up and one fell to its knees and slowly froze on the ramp.

  Gabriel lit the end of his new staff where a flare had been imbedded and faced the goblins. He shouted out, “You have been warned! There are no second chances.”

  He pointed the staff at the forest. Immediately the entire edge of the forest began to blaze as the dry leaves and trees took flame. The fire became a wall that the goblins dared not cross and they began to retreat, only to find the fire racing alongside them and eventually cutting them off.

  The blaze burned all night until a sudden downpour of rain put it out saving a few hundred of the goblins that had fought amongst themselves for the safety of a clearing.

  Gabriel remained on the tower watching as the blaze died out. He was disturbed by the sight of a woman walking up the stairs and shouted a warning but she daintily avoided the staffs that had been hidden amongst the steps. The first thing Gabriel noticed as she got closer was that she was transparent, the fire shone through her as if she were a ghost, and second was that her features were otherworldly. She had a sharp nose, her chin and eyes appeared elongated, her ears had no lobes and were pointed at the top. She walked as if on air without looking where she stepped.

  “Who are you?” he asked, prepared to defend himself with the staff.

  Her gentle voice made the hairs on his arm rise as she answered, “I am the source, the life giver. This land was once all mine before the goblins came with their terrible gods. The elves call me Gaia.”

  “Why are you here Gaia?”

  “I have come for your help Gabriel. Before today I could not walk within the Great Forest because the Goblins Gods held absolute sway, but now you’ve undermined their power enough for me to come for a brief time.”

  “Are you telling me you’re a god?” asked Gabriel trying to ignore the fact that she knew his name.

  “No. I recreated myself out of raw magic but the goblin gods were elevated by their own kind. They feed off blood and souls to sustain themselves. I gain power only from the worship of the elves.”

  “You talk of gods, elves and goblins - what kind of world is this?”

  “Aurora. A world created from raw magic Gabriel, but more I cannot tell you. I need your help and time is running out.”

  “Lets say for a moment that I believe in goblin gods, elves and that you are some kind of god yourself. What could you possibly need from me?”

  “The elves have sent an expedition to meet with your leaders. They are travelling along the Dragon Spine mountain range to the west. It should have been a safe journey so far but their allies the dwarves have been attacked and devastated by an unknown force. Where once I could walk, the goblin armies have brought their gods. I cannot go there anymore and my power to protect the expedition is weakening. I need you to reach them and guide them to your people.”

  “You’re mad. There’s no way a force of any size would be able to get through the goblin clans between here and the mountains.”

  “The mountains are the problem, but I can help you through t
he forest. Nature is my domain even inside the goblins’ territory. I can send you guides and protectors. No creature of the forest will harm you and all will aid you.”

  “What about my people? I can’t abandon them in their time of need.”

  “Your efforts here have far reaching consequences, Gabriel. You have created a defeat the goblins have not had since the elves and dwarves drove them out of the Riverlands. Your reputation as a white shaman will grow after today. The goblins see their defeat as the result of powerful magic brought to bear against them and not the fire starters you used to torch the forest or the trick you used to turn the two clans against each other. Winter will drive the goblin clans south when the wolven run. By the time another army is ready to attack Central it will be well fortified.”

  “I will need help to reach the mountains, men I can rely on,” he stated leaning the staff against a railing.

  “The more you take the harder it will be to hide them,” said Gaia.

  “Before I agree to go I need to know why you choose me,” he said.

  “I didn’t choose you, Gabriel. You chose yourself by destroying an army with twenty men.”

  As Gaia began to shimmer and fade before him she said, “Leave while you can, Gabriel, the chaos you created will give you a few days to slip through their defensive lines. I will send help when you need it.” With those parting words she faded away and the night grew a bit colder.

  A thought occurred to Gabriel - finding the elven expedition could mean locating other survivors from Earth. Then he asked himself, what are wolven?

  CHAPTER 44

  Laisarus

  Laisarus stopped running once the others could not see him to scrub the blood off his hands and vomit on the ground. Hunting was something he had to do to live in the wilderness but murder was something else. With a bow and enough arrows Laisarus knew he could hold any place from unarmoured attackers but killing them from a distance didn’t make it any easier for him. It had been nothing less than slaughter behind him but he had done what was necessary to prevent goblin retaliation.

  He had made a mistake by ranging too far ahead and the expedition had paid dearly. He fought the guilt down but it still clung to him. He had wanted to be alone again for a while, but he realized now that he could not allow himself that luxury again. He would no longer shirk the responsibility, no matter how much it weighed him down.

  Laisarus continued the chase and soon the goblin realized it was being followed and by whom. It began to move from side to side in random sprints to prevent Laisarus from getting a clear shot.

  While generally stronger and built for stamina goblins weren’t as fast as elves and this one was loosing ground by trying to avoid getting shot. But Laisarus was beginning to tire as the goblin rounded another bend in the valley. If he didn’t kill it soon the expedition would have every goblin in the area chasing them for sport, and the blood on his hands would have meant nothing.

  When Laisarus reached the bend he could see the goblin was already beginning to gain ground and was beyond the reach of any normal bow.

  The goblin didn’t even bother to evade anymore, choosing to run for whatever safety it could find in distance.

  Laisarus slowed to a stop, closed his eyes and willed his mind to empty of all distraction. He felt his senses slip from his body and race after the goblin’s life force, twisting and turning through the air. Finally he felt the energy of the goblin, he felt its elevated heartbeat, its desperate gasps for breath and the flow of blood rushing through its veins.

  Laisarus concentrated on the blood, following it to the goblin’s heart. Distantly he felt his arms lifting and drawing back his bow. He didn’t remember placing an arrow in the bow but he could feel the hollow steel shaft between his fingers. Suddenly he felt it, a feeling of something coming together, the moment of a perfect shot when he knew he would hit a target.

  The arrow released from the bow and flew through the air vibrating along its length. The power that would have shattered an arrow made of wood barely held within the metal.

  The power he had drawn upon left him faint and he collapsed to his knees.

  He felt the thud of the arrow driving through the goblin’s heart, ripping away its life in a brutal spray of blood. The backlash of pain tore through Laisarus’s body and he fell forward onto the ground unable to get up. Sweat broke out on his forehead and dust stuck to his face as he rolled onto his back waiting for the pain to fade.

  He had done this only once before and had not been prepared for the pain. Gaia had saved him then and he had never attempted it again. This time the pain was worse and he knew she could not save him or help him. It was his turn to save himself.

  As the last waves of pain washed away he struggled to his feet and began stumbling towards the goblin’s body.

  While evidence remained that arrows had been used to kill the goblins the expedition could still face retribution. He had to burn all the bodies before nightfall.

  CHAPTER 45

  Jack

  “Gaia! Are you insane! A shimmering ghost tells you to run into a goblin infested forest, travel hundreds of miles to rescue elves from dwarves and you agree just like that!” shouted Jack grabbing Gabriel’s shoulders and shaking him.

  Gabriel tried to explain again, “It’s not the dwarves attacking elves, someone attacked the dwarves and the goblins took advantage of it.”

  Jack released Gabriel and his shoulders slumped. “Elves, dwarves, goblins and gods - did I miss anything.” Jack eyed Gabriel suspiciously. “Did a goblin hit you in the head when I wasn’t looking?”

  Gabriel shook his head.

  Jack lowered his voice when he saw the other soldiers were watching, “This is insane. At least take me with you.”

  “No. I need you to stay here and run the guerrilla groups while I’m gone. More importantly I need you to keep an eye on General Allister and his commander, I don’t trust those two. If anything should happen I need you to take Tasha and Isabella to Blackrock Keep. Promise me, Jack.”

  “But…” he stammered then thinking about his wife he agreed. “Yes. I promise.”

  “Good. You shouldn’t have much work to do with the guerrillas. Just keep the illusion of the white shaman alive and start a policy of shaman assassination. The more chaos you can sow the longer it will take for them to attack in force. Give this letter to General Esperanza, it explains what I’m doing,” said Gabriel handing Jack the letter.

  “I guess this is goodbye then, Gabriel,” said Jack sadly.

  “I promise to return and I always keep my promises. Tell Tasha that not even death will keep me from her.”

  Jack grabbed Gabriel in a bear hug and lifted him off the ground for a few seconds before releasing him. Gabriel shouldered his pack and joined the four men he had selected to take with him. They disappeared into the forest without a backward glance.

  Jack looked up at the tower with the shaman bodies strapped to it and smiled as a thought occurred to him. “Gentlemen, we have work to do.”

  The next night as a small group of terrified goblins crept up to the tower voices began to whisper from the shaman bodies. The goblins stopped and stared at the rotting corpses as they lifted their arms and pointed at the group.

  A clear voice shouted out, “Are you stupid? Bugger off!”

  A spout of flame launched out of a shaman’s hand and hit a goblin. He screamed in pain and terror and dropped to the ground burning. The others fled as fast as they could run.

  “This is beginning to be fun, Jack,” said the flamethrower operator.

  “Be quiet, they may still be able to hear you.” After a moment he agreed, “Yes it is, isn’t it.”

  The goblins caught the sound of horrific laughter following them as they ran from the enslaved shaman ghosts. The glowing white shaman sat unmoving at the top of the tower ignoring their petty incursion.

  CHAPTER 46

  Katar

  The wraithlord sensed a powerful dwarf approaching and the
warriors he brought with him. When the warriors were dead he would capture and enslave the powerful one to serve as his new host.

  The dweller body Katar inhabited now had morphed under his power to twice its original size and had served him well since the destruction of the wardgates.

  The wraithlords had bred dwellers for countless generations, weeding out every perceived weakness. The end results were armies of merciless and dangerous creatures, loyal only to the wraithlord that made them.

  However the breeding program had destroyed the one thing the wraithlords needed above anything else - souls. Souls in suffering fed them well and without it they had to feed off physical pain or drain the life force that kept the creature alive. Both methods were less satisfying and killed their hosts too quickly.