The Brightest Shadow, page 1
The Brightest Shadow
Book I
Version 1.7
© 2020 Sarah Lin
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Quick Table of Contents
Prelude
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Epilogue
End Content
Visit thebrightestshadow.blogspot.com for access to full resolution maps, concept art, and more!
Prelude
The sword shimmered beautifully, untouched by the blood.
Though the hilt dripped with gore and the hand holding it was stained black with blood, the blade itself shone. It reflected the sun overhead, but not the field of twisted corpses, not the blood. He stared at that sword for a long time, seeing his own eyes alight, before he finally looked away.
Before, there had been a purpose to the bodies that lay strewn across the field. A meeting, a potential truce, a trade agreement. That purpose had crumbled away like words on a burning parchment. Everything that had mattered to them was just fuel for the flame.
That flame still burned at the center of the battlefield. Against his will he found his gaze rising to look at the man holding the sword. Just to look at him was to feel a surge of hope that tore through him no matter how hard he fought it. He fled that hope and forced himself to focus on the bodies.
He had thought that he knew violence. As a warrior he walked alongside it and heard it ringing in his mind. There had been a beauty to it, a satisfaction in the flow of combat. The slaughter before him had broken that joy before he had ever realized how much it mattered to him.
But the battle had been won, more decisively than he had known was possible. Former enemies sprawled together on the ground, some holding weapons and some struck down from behind. He tried to tell himself that they were all the same in death, but that gleaming sword had cleaved a line between them. There would be no truce now.
The victor stood in the center of the carnage, holding a corpse in one hand and that shining blade in the other. In his hands, the dead body seemed appropriate, the man's dying breaths the final notes of a grand melody. The battle was over and all was right with the world.
"Don't be afraid." The survivor discarded the corpse and gave him a smile pure enough to make the heart shudder. "I'm the Hero."
Part 1
Dawn Again
Chapter 1
-
"Myths, legends, and rumors suffocate this subject. Even otherwise reputable scholars seem unable to resist the allure of the sensational, as if the subject matter itself is not enough. You are quite wise to commission this work, my king, as I will attempt to write the first account of the matter that relies only on verified facts.
"With that having been said, I will begin my treatise on the beings popularly known as the Deathspawn. This name is, of course, the first of many common misconceptions."
- excerpt from On the Deathspawn, written by Haneval, First Scholar to the King of South Corah
-
Every time Tani thought she was nearing the end of her journey, her destination receded further away. She resisted the urge to look at her master's map again since she already knew it by heart. It had been three days of travel since the last town, so she should be nearly on top of the city of Bundlin. Yet her months of travel had taught her that the Chorhan Expanse was a vast place indeed.
As far as she was concerned, these wind-torn grasslands shouldn't even be considered part of the same region as the gentle forested hills of home. Her eyes had grown weary of the endless plains and monotonous Coran villages. When she saw a mound of stones ahead, it drew her gaze.
The vast boulders seemed to sprout from the earth itself, towering over the grass in imposing clusters. She had taken the time to examine many of them and run her hands over the ancient stone. Rainwater pooled in the spaces between boulders, giving life to trees and other plants that otherwise could not grow in the plains. Their strange and quiet beauty always drew her.
Unfortunately, shabby structures around the side of this mound ruined the effect. Compared to the somber stone, the mud bricks and boards looked flimsy and insubstantial. Many bright-haired Corans moved about, conducting trade and chattering to one another. Tani wanted to pass them, but decided that it would be better to understand the local situation instead of pressing on toward Bundlin.
As she approached, several of the Corans cast suspicious glances in her direction. Though she had found some Corans on her journey to be welcoming, she had no desire to push her luck. Instead of moving into the center of the trading post, she identified an old man near the edge who was selling aurochs jerky.
"Excuse me." Tani smiled at him as she approached, keeping her hands clear of the weapons at her side. "May I buy some?"
The old man stared at her, his jaw slowly working on a piece of the meat. Years in the sun had made his wrinkled skin nearly as dark as hers, though he could not be mistaken for Rhen even without the blond wisps of hair around his head. Eventually he gave a nod that wasn't entirely unfriendly.
"You can pay in our coin? No foreign stuff?"
"Yes, of course." Tani smiled and reached into the money pouch on her belt. Her fingers scraped the hardened leather before she found one of her few remaining coins. Her money only needed to last until she reached her destination, so she tried to put it out of mind.
Tani and the old man bartered a little over the price and soon she was chewing on some jerky. Corans always made their jerky thick with a taste of vinegar, but she enjoyed it. More importantly, the old man didn't seem likely to push her away, so she decided to ask some of her questions.
"Is it very far to Bundlin?"
"Not at all." The Coran man gestured over the grasses with an outthrust chin. "This is the last outpost before you reach the city walls. Last place you can trade without the damn Deathspawn taking their cut."
The word sent a thrill through Tani, but she kept her expression calm. "Is it true, then? Humans and Deathspawn live in Bundlin without killing each other?"
"Because they have a damn army."
"Well, yes, but it's not open warfare? You see, I am traveling from my tribe in order to learn if-"
Before she could even finish, the old man grunted and shook his head. He shifted away from her and began to rearrange the remaining bags of jerky he carried. In her own tribe, Tani would have persisted, but she knew better than to push stubborn Corans. There would be no answers about Bundlin here.
Instead Tani turned away from the old man and moved further into the small encampment, savoring her jerky. If this was the last outpost, then she was finally close. Part of her wanted to draw sein into her legs and sprint directly to the city, but she resisted the urge. Better to learn what she could from the local Corans before stumbling into what might be a dangerous situation.
"Hey! Where the hell did you get that?"
The angry voice pulled Tani from her thoughts and she turned to find a young Coran man stomping toward her. His expression forced her to immediately prepare herself for a threat. Was he a warrior? It could be difficult to tell with Corans, since many of their laborers were heavily muscled. He didn't carry the usual shield, but not all Coran warriors did.
"Just because we don't have soldiers doesn't mean you can take what you want! This isn't some Rhen village!" The man got close to her, glaring at the jerky in her hands. "Where did you get that?"
"Oh, this is a misunderstanding." Tani smiled and pointed back to the old man. "I purchased this food from him."
"If that's true, you won't mind going and asking him." With that, the Coran man reached out and grabbed her upper arm.
In that moment, Tani realized that the young man was no warrior. The strength in his grip was nothing like the power that a warrior trained in the sein arts would have possessed. Based on his confidence, she had assumed he was at least as skilled as she was.
Tani took a deep breath and let her sein flow through her body. As always, the scent of mint floated to her from above the sky. She might have been smaller than the Coran man, but his untrained body couldn't match her full strength. Instead of using it, however, Tani simply resisted his efforts to pull her along.
"I am glad to prove my good conduct," she said, "but I will not be treated as a thief. Let go of me."
"Don't talk back! If you try to slip out of this..." The man tugged on her arm and Tani finally tugged back, easily pulling out of his grip.
A sensible civilian who unknowingly attacked a sein-trained warrior would have apologized. Instead, the Coran man lunged at her with a growl, raising his arms as if to tackle her to the ground. Tani very nearly drew her sickle knife on instinct, but spilling Coran blood in Coran territory would be madness.
Instead she merely ducked to the side, using the man's momentum against him, grasping his arm, and sending him tumbling to the ground. From his perspective he sprawled in the dust in an instant. Slowly he turned to stare up at her, but his surprise soon turned to anger.
"Rhen bitch... the guards won't let you get away with this!"
"We are both travelers on the Chorhan Expanse," Tani said. She had intended to say more, but at that moment a hush fell over the encampment.
When Tani looked up, she immediately saw why: a troop of Deathspawn marched to the outpost's bo
All of these Deathspawn had mottled brown or dark blue skin and hairless heads. Their eyes gleamed red, yet what troubled her more was how their pupils were irregular and horizontal, like an animal's. Most wore little armor, leaving their muscular chests bare. Only a few wore the squat helms or metal belts she remembered from the war bands she'd witnessed.
Tani bent down beside the Coran man and helped him back up. He didn't object, his eyes locked on the Deathspawn as they formed up near the encampment. No one was running in terror or attacking, yet she felt the tension constrict around them.
"Will they attack?" Tani asked the young man in a soft voice.
"If they try to steal our profits, they'll learn Coran strength." He struck a fist into the palm of his other hand and Tani stared at him in surprise.
"Are you mad? You intend to fight them here?" Memories of the bloodshed she'd seen leapt unbidden to her mind and she had to struggle to keep herself calm.
The man glanced at her and scoffed. "Should have expected as much from a Rhen. Cower if you want, but we won't let them push us around."
Judging from the way the other Corans cringed and bowed to the advancing Deathspawn, they would do exactly that. Tani glanced over the encampment nervously, her fingers running over the handles of her knives. Though the confrontation had not yet become a battle, she could smell the violence in the air.
Attacking the group would be insanity for the untrained Corans and foolish even for her. Some of the Deathspawn would be untrained soldiers, but they would be familiar with sein-trained warriors and ready for her. Others might have strength and speed equal to hers, and most likely some would be much stronger. Tani was confident in her arts, but she knew she was no warrior out of myths.
"We don't care that you're trading out here." One of the Deathspawn called out as he approached, hand on the axe at his belt but not drawing it. As he drew closer to the Corans, he removed his helm as well. "We only seek news about a caravan. Tell us what you know and you can keep your lives."
While the Deathspawn leader began to interrogate the nearest merchants, Tani found herself creeping closer to get a better look at him. Without his helm in the way, she could actually see him better. He appeared to be completely hairless, even his eyebrows merely ridges of muscle. The back of his skull was larger than a human's, but her gaze slid to the sides of his head. Instead of ears, there were only raised rings of bone.
Tani tore herself from her observations to focus on the leader's words. It was amazing that Deathspawn were talking to humans as if they expected to be given answers, yet the Corans only seemed resentful. Some even tried to give answers about this strange caravan, though the Deathspawn leader didn't seem pleased.
From what she could gather, the Deathspawn searched for a specific caravan across the Chorhan Expanse, but they stayed silent on their exact reasons. Clearly it was something more important than some merchant trader, yet without giving more information, their interrogations proved fruitless.
"Damn monsters..." Tani heard the words and turned just in time to spot the young Coran picking up a sword and shield. She should have stopped him, yet the foolishness of his attack stunned her as he advanced toward the Deathspawn. The soldiers were growing tense, and it would only take the slightest violence for the confrontation to turn into a slaughter...
One of the boulders rose and stepped into the young man's way. Tani stared in shock as she realized that she was seeing a Deathspawn Catai.
The towering mass of dark blue muscle had looked like stone in the shadows of the mound, but now moved to intercept the Coran man. Tani was shorter than most, yet even the tallest men she knew would have been two heads shorter than the enormous Deathspawn. Despite that, his proportions were as squat as the others, each arm thicker than her waist. Unlike the lesser soldiers, his skin was unmottled, unless the white stripes on his shoulders were skin instead of paint.
"Let's not do anything stupid." The Deathspawn stared down at the young man with a smirk that bared sharp teeth. "Are you really going to attack me with that?"
As he spoke, the Catai let sein flow through him, removing all doubt. Though it could be difficult to feel the sein of others, it didn't matter when there was so much of it. Tani not only smelled mint, she tasted and felt it, the raw power clogging all her senses.
Yet the untrained fool actually took a step forward and raised his shield. As if it would do any good. Looking past the Catai's power, Tani saw that he carried an enormous maul on his back. Though clumsily crafted, if swung with that much strength... now Tani understood why her master had told her not to even contemplate fighting a Catai.
Before either the young man or the Deathspawn could attack, the Deathspawn leader barked several words in their own language. Seeing the discomfort of the others, he switched to the Coran tongue. "The humans don't know anything. Wherever they are, they didn't come this way."
"Fine. Let's stop wasting time." The Catai turned away to join the soldiers.
At that moment, the young man attacked.
His sword stabbed the Catai in the back... and failed even to draw blood. Tani could only stare: she knew that masters of sein could defend themselves with certain arts, but the Catai didn't seem to need any techniques. The blow accomplished so little that Tani imagined that everyone in the encampment could have struck him from all sides and been no more than buzzing flies.
With an annoyed grunt, the Catai turned back and grabbed the young Coran around his upper arm. The massive fingers flexed, bone cracked, and the man screamed out in pain. Instead of turning to finish the young man off, the enormous Deathspawn simply tossed him aside like so much trash.
"Stay out of our way." The Catai stared over the encampment - Tani held her breath as his eyes swept past her - then he turned away. All the Deathspawn marched away over the grasslands and everyone could only watch until they were out of sight.
Eventually Tani managed to breathe again. Her sickle knife still hung at her side and her throwing knives remained in their sheathes. Both would have been useless. Tani knew that she was a year or two from becoming a full warrior, but even then she couldn't fight a monster like that. If anyone could, it would be the masters of her tribe.
Yet that only increased her resolve to reach Bundlin and find an answer. Her tribe might not attack as foolishly as the Coran man, but if they entered into war... she shuddered as she imagined the violence she had glimpsed tearing apart everyone she knew. Even if they won, so many would die that the victory would mean nothing.
Just like after the first raid, she felt as though if she just understood enough, she could prevent that war. The Deathspawn weren't utter monsters - the Catai hadn't even killed the young man for attacking him. There had to be an answer that would let her avoid that future. Maybe she could find that answer in Bundlin, though she struggled to imagine humans and Deathspawn living together in peace.
The young Coran lay on the ground, trying to stifle sounds of pain. Tani crouched down beside him and looked at his arm in concern. "Are you okay? How bad is the break?"
"I don't want your pity." The Coran man glared at her and squared his shoulders. It obviously hurt him, but he refused to acknowledge the pain.
After staring back at him for a while longer, Tani simply sighed and walked away. If her help was unwanted, she would not offer it. Around them, the encampment had filled with nervous activity as everyone began to react to the events. If there had ever been a chance of getting useful information from the people here, it had passed.
Instead Tani walked back into the grasslands, again toward Bundlin. Though tension still filled her mind from the confrontation, she found herself doubly certain that she wanted to reach the city and learn some kind of answer. Her journey would have no purpose unless she could learn something about the Deathspawn and bring a real answer back to her tribe.
Once Tani finished eating her piece of jerky, she began moving at a comfortable run. She let sein flow from deep within herself to encompass her legs, propelling her more quickly through the golden grasses. Sprinting the rest of the way would exhaust her strength, but a short run would help calm her mind.
