The Brightest Shadow, page 89
Though the Deathspawn should have moved away, in his grand hubris he could only stare, the chill phantom of failure appearing before him. The Hero released another thunderous strike, expertly targeting the enemy of mankind's leg. He heard it snap like an old twig and the Deathspawn fell, a symbol of the failure of all his kind.
The Hero elevated himself to his feet, rising like the sun in the morning. His sword returned to his hand in the natural order of things, as a beast returns to its master. The Hero stared into those eyes of crimson red and then struck forward with the full vigor of his belief.
No darkness could stand before such a great and terrible blow. The Hero's strike sundered the Deathspawn's heart in twain and ended his reign of tyranny forever.
For a time, he only stood and breathed.
Slowly he walked out of the throne room. He found an ally at the door, her robes covered in blood. She smiled at him and he only nodded, his head beginning to spin. His mind had felt so bright and glorious only a moment ago, yet now that vision faded. Several things remained clear and he clung to them as they headed down the stairs.
All along the way, he saw only victory. They had lost many good warriors, but they had defeated the enemy. A worthy sacrifice.
By the time he reached the bottom of the stairs, Melal felt better. Laeri had taken care of his injuries, but more importantly than that, he could see a way forward. No more days would be spent crawling about this miserable backwater. It held nothing more for him, not with the entire rest of the world lying ahead. He would not set foot here again until he returned home in triumph.
At the base of the tower he found his other allies, those he had known would survive the great battle. Tani and Slaten stared at him with empty expressions, too awed by the aura of glory he still carried around him to speak. But he had a great deal to say.
Melal strode to the center of the chamber and placed his hands on his hips. "We have won the day here, but the Deathspawn still threaten the rest of the world! Next we shall go north, to find the great sages. They have studied the Legend in preparation for the coming of the Hero, and now, they shall usher it forward. With their help, we shall restore peace to this world and eradicate the enemy forever!"
They nodded and rose to follow him. He had hoped for cheers, but understood that they had just survived a great battle. There would be time enough for celebration when they had triumphed as the Legend foretold they would.
"Oh, my friends, if only I could tell you of the wonders I have barely glimpsed! Our greatest enemy shall set great generals in our path, but we shall overcome every obstacle in our path until the Dark Lord himself lies defeated at our feet and peace is restored and all shall be new again!
"Come, Companions, to glory and into Legend! The road ahead of us is clear and we need only walk forward!"
He swept a hand over his shoulder for them to follow and turned to the open doors of the tower. Looking above the courtyard of bodies, he saw that the sun was beginning to rise. The first light of hope broke out over a dark world, filling all of them with the knowledge that their futures would overflow with triumph and glory.
Melal stared at the sunrise and then began to walk forward. Onward the Hero strode, until his form was completely lost in the rays of the dawning sun.
- End of Book 1 -
Epilogue
The king lifted the white marble pyramid, pondering the beauty of it in the morning light. Sunlight bathed his private study, shining off the white stones and glinting even on the dark ones. For a time, King Rahler only stared at the board from the corner of his eyes, then he placed the pyramid down.
Perfect. A brilliant move in terms of strategy, and to his eye even the game board itself was beautiful.
In large part because he was winning, overwhelmingly. The Sapphire Knight sitting across from him had a reputation as a talented Shiil player, but so far had proven disappointing. Instead of focusing on the diamond-shaped board, the man's eyes wandered over the bookshelves in the study. Could he even read? No, Rahler had purged his personal guard of all peasant-born who might be bribed, so the man must be an educated noble. Whatever his name was, he did not live up to it.
As distracted as he seemed, the knight did notice that his king had played. He turned back to the board, picked up one of his dark stones, and meticulously set it down so that the sides of the pyramid lined up perfectly with the square. All his movements were so precise, even armored as he was. If only his strategic skills were equally impressive.
"You're going to lose."
The knight nodded. "You are correct, King Rahler."
"So you admit it!" The king chuckled to himself and rubbed two white stones against one another. After a time, he set one down in the perfect position, shoring up the southwest of the board.
The next moment, the knight placed another dark pyramid. An absurdly reckless move - perhaps justified early in the game, but this late? Rahler leaned back to see if there was some deeper plan to it, some trap, but concluded the knight simply charged forward in Shiil as he did on the battlefield.
"Such haste! This is a game of strategy for great minds, not some peasant's gambling session."
"I fear I cannot equal your skill, King Rahler." The knight wasn't even looking at him, eyes again wandering over the books.
Rahler clenched his stones together harder, tension creeping up his arm. Could this knight have been sent by some threat to his throne to steal something? Though Rahler tried to avoid reading, he knew that his study held many rare and valuable books. Could someone intend to undermine him by undermining his library? He turned the thought over in his mind while he considered his next move.
"It is good of you to provide me with this diversion," King Rahler said. "So few of my advisers can be trusted these days."
"Of course, King Rahler."
"St-stop saying my name! You will address me as 'your majesty!' " His words reached a shriek. After a pause, the knight lowered his head humbly.
"My apologies, your majesty."
Somewhat relieved, the king began tapping his next pyramid against the side of the board thoughtfully. His name had been used in a treasonous song that a local bard had written, mocking his rule. The bard had been executed, of course, but the memories of it still rankled. Besides, he disliked something in the way this knight spoke his name.
"Tell me, knight... have the Sapphire Knights encountered any true challenges as of late?"
The knight shrugged, eyes still wandering. "All the knights are protecting the capital now. None have fought since the peasant uprising."
"Which cannot have been a simple uprising! What possible reason do they have to revolt? Hmm?"
"Perhaps because they are hungry."
Rahler lurched forward and slapped the knight's helm. The metal hurt his hand and he pulled back, nursing the wound and glowering at the knight suspiciously. At least the knight lowered his head.
"My apologies, your majesty."
"You should be sorry! This was some scheme from Duke Whasther, I'm sure of it! Now - hurry, hurry - make your next move!"
"It is your turn... your majesty."
Rahler glowered at him suspiciously, wondering if the knight was mocking him beneath that visor. Some of them thought they knew better than him and tried to take a company into East Corah to help them with their Deathspawn troubles. It had been a trap to weaken him, he was sure of it. Rahler had executed the leader of the plan and had the remainder of the Sapphire Knights involved given fifty lashes.
Thoughts of the foiled plot put him in a better mood. Returning his eyes to the board, Rahler captured a key vertex and chuckled in satisfaction as he replaced a series of dark pyramids with his own. Now he controlled another field of white that could never be turned.
In response, the knight placed another dark stone along the edges. Not a good move in a classical sense, but it would make the game drag on. Rahler frowned at it, trying to see how he could build out his stones on the northeastern edge of the board. It would require an unusual structure that offended his sense of beauty, but his victory was assured.
"Do you drink wine, sir knight?"
"Not usually."
"Oh, I insist! I have a wonderful vintage from the southern vineyards that I have been enjoying." Rahler moved to his desk and picked up the bottle, then poured two glasses. As he turned back the room seemed rather dark, as the clouds must have passed over the sun. He returned to set one glass beside the knight, hoping that the brute appreciated the gift he was being given. "You really must try."
The knight accepted the glass, holding it carefully between two fingers. He opened his visor enough to take a drink while Rahler moved around the table with his own glass. When the king looked up again, the knight had finished half the wine and set the glass back down. "Thank you, your majesty."
"Is that all? Surely you must have an opinion."
"My knowledge of wine pales in comparison to yours, your majesty."
"I insist! What does the common man think of such a drink?" Rahler took a sip of his own and relished the flavor in his mouth. Exquisite, though he doubted that many could appreciate it. Certainly not the scheming officials that filled his court - perhaps a doughty warrior could do better.
"At first taste, it is light with a hint of fruit, but it proves to have a rather dark undercurrent."
"My, my!" Rahler raised his eyebrows appreciatively and then turned his attention back to the board. "It is a shame that your abilities with Shiil are not equal to your understanding of wine."
The knight did not respond, but Rahler was eager to return to the game. He let things play out on his corner of the board - in this at least the knight's swift moves did not delay the inevitable. Unfortunately, he was required to simply remove several pieces of his opponent's instead of replacing them - that left two holes in the field of white pyramids on his corner. Unsightly, but no challenge to his victory.
"You must see how the rest of the game will go," the king said. "You would lose no honor, surrendering at this time."
"I will play to the end. Your majesty."
Rahler eyed him, wondering at the strange pause in his response. Was that defiance? He vowed to send his spies to look for any treason in this man's history. If he proved to be yet another traitor, Rahler would have him executed.
But for now, he set about ending the game with absolute victory. His opponent held fewer and fewer stones, now fighting for mere scraps at the edges of the field of white Rahler controlled in the center of the board.
"I suppose playing to the end has an honor of its own. Do you play often, sir knight?"
The man didn't answer for a time, eyes still scanning the bookshelves. Just when Rahler was about to challenge him, the knight turned back and answered quietly. "Not often. I have always found this to be a depressing game. One side quickly gains the advantage, then watches as their opponent's pieces dwindle toward destruction."
"Hmph. It is only depressing if you lose."
"I prefer the Mornese rules, where everything is in play until the end."
Mornese? What business could this knight possibly have had on Fareshel? Rahler pulled his robes closer around him, wondering why the room had grown so cold as he contemplated new threats. There were enough traitors in West Corah, not to mention the cretins who hoped for his downfall from East and South Corah. If even those on Fareshel plotted against him, he would need to be yet more cautious.
At last the knight did not play instantly, instead staring at the board. Rahler waited for what he would come up with... but in the end the knight made an utterly foolish move, almost begging for his piece to be taken. Rahler glared at him.
"Why even bother to continue playing, if you are abandoning the game like this?"
"Perhaps I am not playing to win."
The words settled over the table and Rahler felt a cold chill. This cursed knight was no longer looking at the books, just staring at him. His helm cast such heavy shadows in the dim room that his eyes could not be seen, but Rahler was sure they contained disrespect, perhaps even treachery. And he had given him no respect at all!
Letting out a cry, Rahler clutched the dagger he always kept within his robes and pulled it out. The knight did not respond, but surely he would reach for his sword the next moment. Rahler rushed around the side of the table, raised his arm to strike, and threw open the knight's visor.
Darkness.
Rahler's dagger faltered as the coiling shadows wafted from the knight's helm. He wrenched his gaze away... and his eyes fell on the game board instead.
All at once he realized that from his opponent's perspective, the white stones formed the image of a skull. His perfect defenses shaped the sides of the head, the holes were the eyes, and his scattered stones formed a skeletal grin that was marred by only the final black stone that had not yet been removed.
The sight of that skull filled Rahler with a horror that consumed all his fears of treachery. His dagger fell to the floor and he dropped after it onto his back, body trembling. And once he did so, his gaze returned to the knight and he could not look away.
Shadows flowed out of the armor, consuming it as they grew. The shadows filled the room, but within them he saw darkness itself. It expanded until what sat in the chair was not a knight, but a monster twice as tall as a man and far wider, a wall of dark muscle. Large spikes grew from its arms and shoulders, but Rahler barely saw them compared to the face.
It was much larger than a human head and shaped like a beast, with dark horns curving forward. Dagger-like teeth filled the creature's maw, and flame the color of blood glowed behind them. Worst of all, the eyes... they glowed like pits of fire, a flame far brighter red than any real fire had ever burned.
One enormous arm reached down to the table, large enough to crush the entire board. The monster picked up the dark pyramid delicately between two claws and removed it, leaving only the skull.
"Thank you for occupying me for a time, your majesty." The voice that emerged from that hellish maw was smooth and resonant, nowhere near as deep as would have been expected from a monster of that size. "It is a cheap version of the game, but I must partake of the pleasures that are left to me."
"Who..." The words choked in his throat, but Rahler forced them out. "Who are you?"
"I no longer have a name."
With that the darkness rose, horns nearly scraping the ceiling. Rahler let out a scream and tried to scramble backward, but it was as if all strength had fled his body. The room had become pitch black and he wanted to run to the window to search for light, yet he could not take his eyes away.
The darkness stepped to one side of the room and carefully removed a single book from the shelf with a claw. Moving slowly and deliberately, the monster selected an apparently random set of books from around the room, eventually holding five books in a single monstrous hand.
When those awful eyes finally turned away from him, Rahler forced himself to his feet, stumbling as he rushed to the exit of his study. He threw open the doors, yet the hallway outside was just as dark.
His guards, his personal guards! They still stood outside, stiffly and yet on duty! Rahler rushed up to one of them, preparing to scream about how the man was abandoning his king to a monster. He struck the breastplate firmly and opened his mouth.
The armor fell apart, crashing to the floor with only darkness within. The shadows crawled into Rahler's mouth, preventing him from screaming. He collapsed to the floor, his body shaking violently. His head fell to the side, giving him a view of his private study.
Someone new had appeared in the chamber, a spot of gray beside the hulking darkness. Rahler strained to see, but could only tell that the form was not human. Shorter than most humans, yet it did not run screaming from the monster. Instead it looked up and spoke in a high voice.
"Are you done here, Dark Lord?"
"Soon enough. What is it?" The monstrosity glanced at the figure in gray but seemed uninterested, instead opening one of the books.
"The generals are desperately praying for your assistance. An officer they considered promising was killed in some backwater and they believe the Hero may have been responsible. The... the one that some humans speak of, Dark Lord. As spoken of in the Legend. The one they say is prophesied to defeat you."
"I see."
"Many are worried, Dark Lord. Two Zeitai went to kill the Hero, and confirmed his death, yet he emerged again. All efforts to contain the phenomenon have failed."
"Thank you for the report." The darkness closed the book and returned it to the others in its hand. Beside it, the figure in gray stared in shock.
As Rahler struggled to listen to their final words, he could feel the darkness choking him. His heart no longer beat, his vision grew dim, and the words spoken in the chamber just beside him came as if from a great distance. He knew he was dying, yet strained to hear a little more.
"Dark Lord... what are we going to do to stop it?"
"Stop it? The Legend must go on. No matter what."
X X X
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