The Brightest Shadow, page 16
"Don't be afraid." The clear voice rang out over them and Tani had no choice but to look. She was almost blinded by the sun, burning just above the highest stone as if resting atop them.
A man stood there, rendered a silhouette by the sun.
"We cannot surrender to monsters." As he spoke, the man began walking down the side of the boulders toward them, movements smooth despite the roughness of the steps. "Whatever hold the Deathspawn have over you, it will be broken."
Somehow he had made his way to the ground without anyone moving to stop him. Now that the sun was no longer blinding her, Tani could see him, yet she struggled to make out his features. His appearance was Coran, yet his eyes were impossibly pale. He wore a simple tunic of the purest white, apparently untouched even in the dust of the grasslands.
"Now, stand aside or assist me. I will cut down the Deathspawn an-" Ghakin attacked the man with a burst of speed, his axe swinging at the man's neck almost faster than Tani's eyes could follow.
Somehow, the man drew his sword and intercepted the axe. The sheath and hilt of his blade were humble, yet the blade shimmered unlike anything she had ever seen.
"I am the Hero," the man said simply, voice filled with utter conviction. "I cannot be defeated."
Ghakin grunted and lashed out with one foot. This blow landed, striking the man in the chest and making him stagger back. Yet somehow he caught himself after only two steps and struck back. A line of blood formed across Ghakin's chest and the Catai's eyes widened in surprise.
He gave a roar and attacked again, this time not letting up. The axe rained down blow after blow, only barely intercepted by the shimmering blade. The Catai drove the strange "hero" back several steps until his back was against one of the stones. Ghakin quickly feinted with a thrust and turned it into a swipe, striking the man with the side of his axe. This did stagger him, and before he could fall, Ghakin grabbed him by the head and lifted him into the air.
"Talk, human. What the fuck are you doing?"
"I am the Hero," the man said. Only then did Tani realize that he had maintained his grip on his sword and now stabbed it upward, through Ghakin's arm. The Catai growled in pain and dropped him. "Your games will not work, Deathspawn. There is only one way this can end."
Ghakin let out a roar that made Tani's blood run chill. That sound was inhuman, speaking of rage and bloodlust like she had never heard before. Almost faster than she could follow, Ghakin grabbed the hero's neck and slammed him back into the stone. This time the blow successfully knocked the sword from his hands.
But the Catai warrior didn't stop, smashing the hero against the stone over and over again. There were several unpleasant cracking noises and the stone became smeared with blood, yet he didn't stop. Still roaring, he kept going until the hero was a mess against the stone.
"What the hell... I..." Ghakin turned back toward them, staring at his hands with a strange look. "I..."
The shimmering blade cut off his head.
It cut through his neck almost as if there was nothing there, sending Ghakin's head spiraling to the ground in a shower of blood. The body dropped slowly, revealing the Hero standing behind him. None of the Deathspawn's blood had touched him, and his own blood seemed to glow red gold.
"Just who are you?" Kanifor stepped forward, drawing several knives into his hands. The hero turned a gaze of pure gentleness on him.
"I am the Hero. I am the one who will liberate you from all this."
"I don't know who you think you are, but you can't murder someone near a Yevee village and wal-" Suddenly the shimmering blade plunged through his chest. Kanifor stared down at it in shock, his knives falling from his hands and blood welling up in his throat. Tani thought she screamed, yet she couldn't hear the sound coming from her lips.
The man who claimed to be a hero let the corpse fall and then returned his blade to his side, still untouched by the blood. He fixed them all with his gaze, now more stern than gentle. "You may be confused now, but make no mistake: this war can only end one way. Choose wisely."
In a swift movement, the Hero leaped to the top of the stones so the sun shone behind him once again. He raised his sword over his head and spoke. "The Legend will become complete and all of you will be saved! I must retreat for now, but remember my words! Never give up hope!"
And then he was gone, leaving Tani's eyes weeping as she stared directly into the sun.
She lowered her gaze slowly, half-blinded and with her ears ringing. The Deathspawn's large corpse lying by the stones didn't seem real, especially beside the bloody splatter on the stone. The Yevee corpse lay beside him, his name slipping from her mind. She struggled to cope with what she had seen and yet her thoughts were filled with blinding white.
When a corpse fell near her, Tani's instincts began to return, forcing her to her feet and letting her scan the situation. They were all killing each other. She stared without comprehension, as if the sight would change instead of growing more horrible. Why was everyone fighting?
Struggling to think, Tani took a step back and desperately searched for something else. It wasn't true that everyone was fighting. Two Yevee and one Deathspawn were fleeing. Eraes had retreated to a safe distance and was now staring in shock. Slaten had fallen onto his knees, clutching his head.
Though she wanted to do something, Tani could not make herself act in time. All too soon, both sides were dead and the survivors remained in shock. Her mind was beginning to return, but there were no sane thoughts she could think about what she had just witnessed.
Sunlight still fell from overhead. The day had become very bright and very cold.
- End of Part 1 -
Interlude
As Hanfel glanced over the battlements, he knew that something was wrong. Since he wasn't even supposed to be in this fortress and East Corah would not be pleased at his presence, he should have let the matter go and moved on. There was more important work to be done to stop the Deathspawn and he should have focused on it.
Yet he found himself stopping and looking down. The driver of one of the wagons in the line of peasants entering the city wore a large cloak similar to his - and Hanfel was definitely wearing his to cover his face. But the reins that tied the aurochs vanished into the sleeves. In weather like this, there was only one reason someone might hide all their skin.
If the cloaked figure was a Deathspawn agent, what was their plan? They were moving directly toward the gate of the city and they would obviously be captured up close. A surprise attack from a covered wagon was not unheard of, but their wagon was open and carried only bales of hay. No more than a few Deathspawn could be hiding under the hay, making them no match for the sein-trained knights at the gate.
Maybe his instincts were wrong and there was nothing suspicious. It might be a man with some kind of skin condition, a disease he hoped to hide so that he could sell his wares in the fortress. Yet...
The report from Graenin had said that the foreign explosives had been destroyed, but had they? It had been a lucky break that they had heard about the shipment at all, since their sources were unreliable. Could the Deathspawn have acquired more?
"Hey! What are you doing up here?" A guard on the top of the wall noticed Hanfel and began moving toward him.
The wagon drew closer to the gate even as the guard approached - Hanfel only had seconds to decide. If he acted for no reason, their chance of making contact with resistance agents in the fortress would be ruined. Yet if that wagon did carry dangerous foreign weapons...
Before the knights could reach him, Hanfel jumped over the edge of the wall. He landed heavily in the back of the wagon - and hit something hard. There was only a thin layer of hay on the top, covering something denser.
"Stop him!" The guard atop the wall shouted and pointed, drawing the attention of the knights at the gate.
One of them hurled a spear. Hanfel leaned aside and caught it out of the air, but not all projectiles would be moving so slowly. Especially if they had an Emerald Knight at the gate. He needed to confirm his suspicions before they all targeted him.
The cloaked figure turned back to look at him... and he caught a glimpse of crimson eyes.
Hanfel didn't hesitate a moment longer, he thrust the spear directly into the Deathspawn's back. Yet his opponent managed to twist to the side and drew a saber in his free hand. When Hanfel tried to impale him again, the saber knocked aside his thrust.
He needed to close the distance, since he trusted his hand to hand skills more than using a weapon. Too late, Hanfel realized that the Deathspawn driving the wagon had no intention of fighting him. All he had been doing was buying time for him to strike the aurochs on their hindquarters with his switch.
This time when the switch lashed out, it flowed with sein. Each blow left huge stripes of blood across the aurochs' hindquarters. The pain was too much for the beasts and they charged forward with a bellow, scattering peasants ahead of them and trampling others as they charged toward the gate away from the pain of the lash.
Though Hanfel lunged forward, he knew that he was too late to stop the wagon. He risked a glimpse at the knights at the gate and saw some of them moving to try to stop the charge. With their heavy shields, they might be able to, but would that be too late?
The Deathspawn hurled the lash at him and withdrew something from his cloak. It flared darkly, and Hanfel braced himself first in case it was a weapon. But instead the Deathspawn waited, also glancing toward the gate as the aurochs thundered toward it.
They meant to destroy the fortress gate.
Hanfel finished closing the distance, grabbing his opponent's wrist before he could use his saber. The Deathspawn twisted out of his grip with surprising strength and stabbed at close range. Hanfel managed to deflect the saber by the flat of the blade, but knew it was just buying time. Even as fast as they fought, there wasn't much time until the charging aurochs reached the gate.
He lunged out, trying to grab whatever the Deathspawn held in his offhand, but the Deathspawn pulled his hand away too quickly.
At that moment, Hanfel saw a knight over his shoulder charge directly into the aurochs. Though the beasts weighed many times more than he did, the knight's sein burned hot and he met them with his feet braced against the ground. For just a moment, he stopped their forward momentum and the aurochs' bodies lurched into the air, dragging the wagon up as well.
While the Deathspawn was off-balance, Hanfel grabbed his wrist and squeezed hard enough to break bones. As he saw the dark burning object fall, he became certain it was designed to light the explosives, and Hanfel desperately grasped for it.
His fingers only brushed the edge and it fell down through the hay.
It took agonizing moments for the fire to begin, during which the aurochs continued pitching forward in the air. But then something lit and he saw the flames beginning to form. A flower of fire at first, expanding to catch other explosives and becoming a wall of flame. If he had been on solid ground he might have been able to leap away, but in the air as he was, he could only brace himself against it.
For a moment the world was consumed by thunderous flame.
Hanfel landed heavily on his back, the front side of his body singed. Had he possessed fewer sein defenses, he might have been seriously injured. The concussive force of the explosion also left him dizzy, though his Nol training let him regain his balance quickly.
The fortress wall had fared far worse. Huge stones had been torn from their positions and thrown inward, crushing large parts of the gate. Bodies lay everywhere, untrained civilians groaning from their terrible burns. Had it been allowed to explode closer to the wall... truly a terrible weapon.
Too late Hanfel realized that the Deathspawn was struggling to his feet as well. He had fared worse in the flames, yet kept moving despite his burns. Taken off guard, all Hanfel could do was dodge away and avoid the wild slashes.
Before he could counterattack, someone struck down the Deathspawn from behind. The body dropped to reveal the knight who had stopped the wagon. He stood there for a moment, then tore off his damaged helm and threw it aside, revealing a young Coran face.
"If... if that weapon had been used closer..."
"That was their plan." Hanfel stepped up to the young man and put a hand on his shoulder. "We stopped it early thanks to you."
The young man eyed him suspiciously. "You aren't a knight, and you knew about this... are you a member of the resistance?"
"Aye. We'd prefer to work with you, but..."
"No, I understand." The knight turned back toward the devastation that had been caused and shook his head. "You should go now or they'll pin the blame on you. Thank you for what you've done for us."
"Are you sure you won't come with me? We need more talented warriors."
"I cannot. I have too many duties here."
Hanfel sighed, having heard that many times before. "Then remember what you have seen. Your king agreed to negotiate with the Deathspawn, yet they still tried to do this to you. We will keep fighting for Corah, even if your king is ready to give up."
With that, Hanfel rushed away, leaving the knight standing before the field of burning bodies.
Part 2
Relentless Hope
Chapter 10
-
"The East Wind struck out with a technique of great skill, yet the West Wind responded with a technique equally deep. Neither could gain advantage over the other, so both retreated. The West Wind adopted a new art, yet found it came to nothing against the East Wind's skill. They traded techniques one thousand times until both were exhausted, then they agreed that if they could not make war, perhaps they should make peace."
- excerpt from a traditional Nelee story
-
The light assaulted Kolanin's eyes and he winced away from the curtains. He told himself that he should stand up to tie them closed, but that was energy he didn't have. Keeping his eyes mostly closed, he tried to focus on the documents on his desk again. If he waited long enough, the sun would shift out of the range where it so easily speared into his room.
Words swam on the page before him, refusing to come together into coherent sentences. His mind was so tired, yet his body felt irritatingly rested. The tasks of administrating a city like Bundlin didn't put much of a toll on his body compared to the training he'd been through. His back didn't even ache from sitting in the chair all day, and he felt as though it should ache.
Through force of will he managed to focus on what mattered. Or at least what was in front of him - shipping fees seemed less important than the fact that the city was falling apart. Kolanin prevented himself from getting distracted long enough to examine the numbers, suggest changes, and sign off on the prospective agreement.
Once that was done, he had to sit back for a while. He couldn't help but think about the incident, in all the many fragments that had come to dominate Bundlin. Stories of the Hero haunted the people on both sides of the river, though they used rather different tones to describe it.
Kolanin believed the story that Slaten and Tani had reported, though he couldn't state that officially. Most of his men present had died, including Ghakin - he couldn't afford to lose Catai warriors. Those who returned told fractured stories, and if they didn't condemn their human allies as part of it, they didn't exactly defend them. Given the present environment, letting humans cross the river without an urgent need was simply foolish.
Early on, he had investigated the matter and tried to prepare for the threat. It troubled him how every human culture he spoke to had stories of a Hero who would save them from a great evil: they referred to it not as a mere myth or story, but a singular Legend. Not all believed, but almost everyone knew of it. Nothing that he'd learned came close to helping him come to grips with the incident.
Yet instead of coming to a head, the ominous atmosphere had simply persisted. For the first month it had been... Kolanin numbly realized that it had been just over three months. How could they sustain the belief that the Hero would come soon for that long? Just hearing the stories and receiving the death counts had him stretched thin.
The breeze stirred his curtains and another lance of sunlight stabbed into his eyes. Before he could reconsider, Kolanin raised a hand and flicked it in the direction of the curtains. Even as they swung, binding closer together, he regretted the frivolous use of sein. It was unworthy of him.
Leaning forward against his desk, Kolanin ran his hands over his face until he had rubbed some feeling back into it. He felt like sleeping, but there was too much to do and he knew that if he tried, he would just be troubled by dreams of violent light. An old part of him wondered if he could find angkhal in Bundlin, ride the intense burst of energy until he crashed. But no, he had set that part of his life aside.
Instead, Kolanin forced himself to get to his feet and headed into the hallway. The movement did nothing to solve any of his problems, but it did clear his mind a little. He needed to talk to Iralin anyway, so he could justify the change to himself. Perhaps when he returned he could do better with all the paperwork.
He found Iralin in her room, brewing a pot of nethian tea so sharp it made his eyes sting. She only did that when she had thoroughly spent her sein the night before, but she looked alert and had taken the effort to bind her hair back with a pearl comb. That might be a positive sign, though it was too early to hope for good news.
"Are you sure we can't use the humans?" Iralin asked as soon as he entered.
"It wouldn't be wise, especially when it comes to military healing." Kolanin shook his head and leaned heavily against the wall. "How bad is it?"
"Only three died in our care. Two won't fight again. I'd be proud, except that it doesn't really matter when so many come back dead in the first place, does it?"
Another hunting expedition with heavy losses after encountering the Hero. Whoever he was, he moved too erratically to predict. Analyzing the attacks, Kolanin was sure that this Hero didn't come near Bundlin, but that didn't help when they needed to send hunters further out. With no answers, Kolanin settled for nodding to Iralin. "Thank you for your work."
