Qenn watched Kandish fall to the ground. She lay unmoving. He was left stunned. Everything about him turned numb. He felt sick. He wanted to run to her, but he lacked the ability. He could do nothing but stare in shock, feeling himself crumble inside. The pain was so enormous, the regret so deep that nothing could fill the void. Chills laced his skin. Everything had fallen apart. Everything had gone so terribly wrong. And now the entire mission had failed. Kandish was dead. The Mrenx Ku would take over the world.
Qenn’s stare became blank. The staff slid out of his grasp. His legs buckled, sending him down on his knees. But everything went unnoticed. His stomach churned, his body stopped drawing in air. He felt cold, empty, and lifeless. Slowly a black wash swept in, swirling his vision like his mind spinning helplessly. He welcomed it. He stared at Kandish’s form until nothing was left but darkness.
His face smacked into the dirt.
He dreamt then. It was dark and he was in the woods running after Kandish, who was lost in the fog and shadows. He could hear her scream. He could feel the terror in her voice. But something darker than the shadows appeared out before him. It had taken Kandish, he knew. Her voice no longer cried out.
It turned towards Qenn. He backpedaled, turning as fast as he could. But it was faster. He felt it hovering over him, felt its presence smother him to the ground and begin choking him. The air was leaving his lungs in small gasps and none was entering. He struggled then realized it was useless. Kandish was gone. He’d rather not live.
He allowed the dark to overcome him.
He awoke with a start and jumped to his knees with a loud scream. His senses alerted him that something was drastically wrong. He still felt something choking him. He was dizzy and disoriented. His dream was real.
The magic in the tunnel!
He realized that it was killing him. It was removing his will and would eventually take his life. Qenn became aware that he needed to flee, his senses screamed at him to run. And so he did. As quickly as he could, he raced over to Kandish and noticed that she was breathing. He snatched her up into his arms then grabbed her torch and began running.
Hold on, Kandish! I will get you out of here!
But the magic dizzied him even further and he quickly realized that he did not know what direction he was running. He was weak and exhausted, dehydrated and sunken emotionally. Still he felt the darkness pressing against him, clinging itself to him, embracing his skin beneath his clothes.
His pace slowed to nearly a crawl. The tunnel branched into several then. Qenn continued straight ahead, not remembering any of this on his way in. He kept Kandish close to him, feeling her quiver slightly. It was the LifeWaters’ power. It was doing something to her. But she was alive, he thought. Nothing else mattered.
The trail slanted downward on a slight slope and it took everything that Qenn had to not tumble down. He was so tired. The magic was making him so. It was weakening his senses, continuously applying pressure to who he was, until he was lost altogether. It was hard to keep his eyes open, let alone focused. He realized then that something had gone wrong, that he’d been running for too long.
Where is Kamen? We should have been out by now. Where am I?
But then he was sliding, tumbling down a steep slope, trying to keep from rolling down over Kandish. The torch dropped from his hand, rolling away from him. A few seconds later, he came to a stop. A small cavern stood before him. Empty and pitch black. A dead end.
As his eyes adjusted to the dark, he noticed something odd. Strands of the blackness were stretched out onto the walls, the ground, and the ceiling, appearing like veins. And far into the cavern, where it was the darkest, he heard a sound like a heartbeat.
Then the darkness began moving.
“Shadox!” Tane yelled as he raced towards the sorcerer fighting alongside of Terill. The two were fighting together in the midst of a handful of Elven bowmen as a swarm of Takers circled them.
Tane ran hard next to Ern and Slina, but they were still fifty yards away from Shadox. Then suddenly Blooders swept down like a cloud of smoke, diving into the Takers, bursting through their bodies then ascending back into the sky. Takers dropped lifelessly. The birds raced down again for another attack. This time red fire seared into them as Takers followed their flight pattern and burned a few of them before dying themselves.
“Slina!” Tane called to her, his mind thinking of his new power. As the lithe elf looked up to him, he slowed. “Can you call them here?”
Slina was hesitant. “The Blooders?”
She swallowed hard. She wasn’t sure if she could or not. But she tried. Whistling in a high pitch, Slina faced the sky. Tane and Ern watched the cloud overhead turn their way. In seconds the Blooders were landing at Slina’s feet.
“Slina, I want to try something,” said Tane.
He waited for her to approve, then bent down slowly. Carefully, he held out his left hand. Pressing on both sides of his wound, he bled slightly. The Blooders turned their attention to him immediately. Dipping one finger into his blood, Tane rubbed some of it against the birds.
“What are you doing?” Ern asked. His eyes went from watching Tane, to the battle being fought further ahead of him. The sorcerers were fighting a losing battle, he thought. They needed help soon. “We have to hurry!”
“There.” Tane finished, stepped back and told Slina to set them in motion. “Send them now!”
Slina was unsure about his plan, but did so without hesitation. She whistled again and the birds raced into the sky. Blooders flew in a blur, striking into the swarm of unsuspecting Takers. Instantly explosions swept through the mass of demons as Tane’s blood met with the Taker’s magic. Tane and Slina yelled triumphantly. Blooders sped back into the sky, leaving behind them an open trail for them to pass through.
“Come on!” Ern raced forward, watching the narrow gap begin to close fast. Tane and Slina were at his side, yelling all the while. For Lon, Ern thought. For Turyn. For Sienna. For Pal Rae. For life. With his sword raised high, he raced into the enclosure to fight.
Then he saw Shadox drop to his knees, his hands sending magic in searing bolts. Terill and Ankar Rie were next to him, failing. Screams rose and fell around them, the sounds of the war still raging on.
“My Lord,” Slina cried, racing towards Terill, “they are in the Lyyn! They travel far to the south already!”
They looked around. For as far as they could see Takers were overrunning Elves and Men. And now the Takers army pressed into the Lyyn and threatened further south unchallenged. They would never stop.
“Then we are done for,” Terill groaned. “Dawn will birth a new era.”
Even now, running like a stampede, dark figures pressed towards them from all around. Terill Estrial screamed in vain, unleashing the magic in the last amount of strength he clung to. He poured out his heart and soul. White fire lit next to him as Shadox joined.
“Then we will go down fighting!” Ern Dwull screamed, raising his sword skyward.
Tane sped to Shadox’s side. The sorcerer’s hands were extended with blinding light shooting forth in wicked bolts, killing Takers as they pressed their attack. Within minutes, the group was circled again.
“Shadox!” yelled Tane. His face was angry. Explosions lit the field just beyond him as Blooders dove in for another attack. “What’s happened to me? My blood is poison!”
“It’s not poison! It’s the magic, Tane!” Shadox had no time for questions. “Fight, King Andelline! Use the power!”
Tane was angry. He began shouting. “You want to see the terribleness I can do, sorcerer? Is this what I was meant for?”
Shadox turned away, sending his magic in continuance. “You are what you are!”
Shadox’s answer only made Tane angrier. He wanted to know exactly what was happening to him. He wanted to know it all now. Looking around, watching those with magic spend it ferociously, watching the remaining members of Elven bowmen and axe men from Cillitran fight a losing war, Tane’s temper flared and the overwhe
lming helpless feeling was pushed aside. His rage boiled. It was happening again, he thought.
“Issilix Delsoue!” shouted Tane into the midst of his attackers. “This is what I have become!”
He let his anger out then. The fighting all around him paused, as each of his allies took notice to what was happening. Tane unleashed his fury, allowing his power to rise into his hands, balling like flaming spheres. He raised his hands skyward then, thrusting his magic overhead, towering above them all, twisting, coiling, and intertwining together like two snakes fighting. Everything seemed to stop then. Takers screamed in dismay, watching the inferno rise. Then with shattering force, Tane directed the monstrous fire down into the field surrounding him. The fire slammed into the ground and spread like a tidal wave that tore through the demon horde for nearly a mile around, evaporating the nightmares in a fiery wash. The grass lay smoking, burning still the remains of the Takers until nothing was left.
Tane fell to his knees. His hands were smoking.
“Tane!” Shadox was at his side immediately, lowering Tane to the ground before he collapsed.
“Shadox? What…happened?” Tane asked, his words soft and frail.
Shadox wiped the beads of sweat off Tane’s face. “You saved us, King.”
“The power of the Flame,” gasped Terill, arriving with Ankar Rie. Slina and Ern Dwull rushed over as well, followed by the bowmen, who formed a protective circle around them. All eyes fell on Tane.
“Tane, are you alright?” Ankar asked.
Shadox turned to face them. “He will be fine. Go to those who need you.”
They hesitated for a moment, before Terill turned and sent them into battle. The Lyyn was being attacked, he told them. They had to act. Parting from Tane and Shadox, they wished the King a quick recovery and raced across the charred plains.
“Sorcerer,” Tane mumbled, losing strength, his eyes half open. “What is in me? What am I?”
“You are King Andelline.” Shadox could see the worry in Tane’s eyes. “You hold the power of your ancestors. The magic is yours, Tane.”
“But it’s not in the sword. It’s in me!” Tane sat upright, moving slowly, feeling his head flush with heat.
Shadox nodded. “The sword was a vessel. The Elves created it to keep Issilix Delsoue safe until an heir unlocked it. Your blood, the magic living with it rather, did so, Tane. The Flame of Blood is in you. It belongs to you, Tane.”
Shadox extended his hand, Tane grasping it firm, as he pulled him to his feet. “Do not be afraid, Tane. Your people need you to be strong now.”
Tane shook his head. “I did not expect this, sorcerer.”
Shadox smiled sadly. “That is the way of some things, King.”
Tane struggled with acceptance. Deep within he could feel it surging through him like a pulse. He looked past Shadox to the war taking place beyond. Even from a great distance, he could see Takers shifting in the darkness. Tane nodded. The sorcerer was right, he knew. They did need him.
He turned to meet the black eyes staring back at him. Shadox was waiting for him, he knew. Those fierce eyes, that unbreakable confidence, that poise under the most violent circumstances, standing taller than himself, waiting to be led into battle.
“Shadox,” Tane began, “let’s finish this.”
Shadox nodded. The friendliness in his face washed away. As Tane raced away, Shadox followed.
Qenn moved back slowly, watching the air in front of him shift and swirl. He saw chains on the walls, smelled the rot and decay, and realized where he was. Instinctively, he reached for the staff. But he didn’t have it. Even the burning torch lay just out of reach. He had nothing.
“Come to me,” the darkness hissed with the sound of a thousand ghoulish pleas.
Qenn nearly cried. Through the circling dark mass, he could see slight movements within. It was shifting, he noticed. Then a smoke-like tongue reached out and licked the air around him, vanishing back into the blackness.
The hissing began anew with excitement. “It is time.”
The darkness came to him. Qenn shuttered, clinging to Kandish tightly, mumbling to her to wake up, that they were in danger and she needed to use her power. He began caressing her hands with his, but she did not respond. It spoke again, but Qenn could not make out the words over his own crying. He tried to rise, tried to flee. But his feet were held tight by the magic in the cavern. He sat in helpless despair, watching the blackness move over to him.
Then the stench of death was shrouding him, putrid and thick. The wave of rolling air was covering him; he flinched at its touch. As the pit of blackness settled down on to him, he closed his eyes tight, squeezing Kandish with all that he had.
Voices screamed at him then, relentless and anguished. Qenn opened his eyes. He was in the darkness. It swirled and moved like wraiths. He could feel something latch onto him, holding him stable. Kandish’s limp form began to drift out of his arms, rising into the blackness. Qenn tried to call to her, but he had no voice. Helpless, he watched Kandish’s limp form float up into the dark, her arms stretched wide to her sides, her eyes stared blankly forward.
Qenn felt something at his legs then. Instantly he was ill. He felt his body shutting down. His sight dimmed. His breathing slowed. He could feel the poison in his body mixing with his blood, overtaking his soul. He screamed a soundless cry. His body wracked with excruciating torture and waves of nausea. It was in him, he knew. He was becoming one of them. The Seer was right. Kandish tried to tell him so.
He struggled to scream to Kandish, watching the darkness slowly wash away all that he could see.
The Mrenx Ku howled wickedly. It was time. It would enter the girl and devour her magic. It had waited long enough. With a piece of itself already destroyed, it would risk everything and enter her as it could and begin its reign.
It reached forth and attached itself to her face. Drawing from the depths of its creation, it began traveling through the tentacle and into her mouth and eyes. She was strong enough, it thought. One without magic would not be able to sustain its overtaking, and would be destroyed. But she had a very strong core of magic. And once it wrapped itself into that, she would be claimed.
Qenn’s vision was deteriorating by the second. His brain was slowly shutting down. He was barely able to reason the insanity he was witnessing now. Darkness funneled his vision. He kept his eyes focused as best he could on Kandish. Even with the poisonous magic running within him, he still felt the love he had for her. So beautiful, he thought. She deserved something better.
Then he remembered something. It was vague in his mind, like smoke in the wind. He focused harder. It was a voice. Someone he knew. A friend, perhaps. An old woman. She was saying to remember his feelings for Kandish. When the darkness begins to overtake you both, focus on each other. Remember your love. Love is the key. Love is a catalyst. The voice died then. Faded like the memory of a dream upon waking, it was gone. Its replacement was cold and evil. Its promise was death.
But Qenn held strong, remembering his love for Kandish, how she looked, how she smelled, how her eyes twinkled always. He felt the evil stirring up through his chest begin to steady. He fought then to think back to memories of her, but his mind was too dizzy to focus; the transformation was too advanced. The poison was filling him with hate, replacing all that he loved, all that he cherished. It was suffocating him. And slowly his sight was dying. All that he could see now was Kandish, with her form lined in a grey cloud. Soon it would be over. And the pain was so tremendous now that Qenn was hoping it would end quickly. Kandish’s form blackened. Dimmer. Darker. Blending into the blackness as one.
I’m sorry, Kandish.
Then he saw a light.
Ankar Rie fought with a dozen of swordsmen and a handful of archers, trying to put an end to the Takers entering in the Lyyn Forest. But they were quick, moving snake-like through the night, storming past the thin line of defense almost unchallenged. It was too late, Ankar thought grimly. He had arrived too late to st
and with the remaining flank, and scores of the soulless figures had already disappeared into the trees. The Ailia Court would be overrun and would undoubtedly fall. Takers were already beginning to set fires. He stared helplessly, angrily. Screaming, he spent all that he could.
“Sorcerer!” Ern Dwull called, rushing over to Ankar’s aid carrying a quiver full of arrows. He passed them out to the archers quickly, commanding them to fire at will. “These are from the King. Dipped in his blood!”
Even speaking the word king was something hard to swallow for Ern. He had only discovered Tane’s identity an hour ago. Cillitran never had a part elf as a king before. It would take some getting used to. But his new king had a plan and Ern was not about to disobey. Tane had coated the tips of the arrows in his blood, giving them to Ern to disperse to all archers. The blood, he told Ern, would destroy the enemy. A day earlier Ern would not have believed. But after seeing things firsthand, there was no hesitation.
Arrows dipped in Tane’s blood shot into the field of Takers. Blinding eruptions came as a result, exploding wretched bodies to pieces. Archers yelled in delight. Ern Dwull jumped in the fight right away, slashing his sword as he could, pushing aside the pain in his thigh, screaming to his men not to let down, that the world was depending on them. But even he knew that they were fighting now not to save the world, but to save themselves.
Across the other side of the battlefield, Tane, Shadox, Terill, and Slina stood their ground between the small groups of fighting Men and Elves. Tane’s magic could be seen for miles as it swept into the sea of shifting black forms, burning them to ash. Blooders swept down in a tight formation, shining with blood coated bodies, as they continued to burst into the head and chest of their enemy. Takers fought back, sending their red fire into the flock, destroying a few birds with each pass. From end to end, the Shyl Plains was smothered with burning fire and falling ash, with horrible screams of death and pain, and urgent pleas for anything to end it all.
The light engulfing Kandish’s body grew brighter, her voice absent past her open mouth. Qenn stared without understanding, feeling his body convulse as the poison within him recessed and his vision became less cloudy. He still could not form a theory, could not reason out what was taking place above him. So he stared, waiting.
The Mrenx Ku had seeped itself down into Kandish’s soul, had found what it was looking for, then began to absorb her magic into it. But then something unexpected happened. Releasing the binds that held the power source stable, the Mrenx Ku began to devour what it found. But what was there was the power of the LifeWaters. Just as the Mrenx Ku had separated itself to branch away and do its bidding, so did the LifeWaters, creating a life of itself unto Qenn’s staff, then into Kandish, and now into the Mrenx Ku.
As the pure magic embraced the putrid evil, the Mrenx Ku tried to withdraw. But it was too late. The LifeWaters flooded through Kandish, pouring out into the Mrenx Ku’s tentacle, streaking down into the ball of magic that was its life source. It was too powerful to be denied, and the Mrenx Ku could not shut away quickly enough.
The LifeWaters smashed through the Mrenx Ku, filling it with life, drowning the dark thoughts and intentions, changing the killing nature of its magic, unbinding the souls trapped within, transforming all of its creations. The dark lines of magic stretched and bound to the cavern snapped quickly, shriveling up and replaced by silver life. Those bound to Qenn and Kandish disappeared altogether. The air refreshed, exploding through the tunnel out into the open land. The LifeWaters erupted into the soil, emerging into the dead grass and trees, giving them life and nourishment. Stagnant pools of rotting water transformed into blue ponds, shimmering with purity.
The LifeWaters stood then next to the remaining ball of magic bound to three empty husks as two spirits were still held prisoners, chained by the magic they had created. The LifeWaters placed its hands on the magical orb, releasing itself down into the core. Sparks flew at its touch, but it pressed on, digging deeper, engulfing itself around the magic, collapsing it within itself. The LifeWaters could not be denied. As strong as the Mrenx Ku was, it folded under the touch of the LifeWaters. It coiled, trying in vain to escape, struggling to survive. The ground shook in response. Still the LifeWaters pressed on.
Finally it imploded, collapsing down into the three Dark Elves infused together. Two souls escaped the chains, wailing terribly as they swirled around like wraiths before disappearing.
The young LifeWaters stood proud then. Traces of its magic coated the cavern, lighting it sharply, sinking deep into the earth. A cleanse was underway; a transformation into a new existence.
The translucent being turned to see two bodies: an elf and a girl. It moved over to them.
As the darkness appeared to have swallowed the land, the sun lit the sky to the east with the promise of a fresh start. Elves and Men fought with their lives as the Takers began to howl and die. Legions of them suddenly dropped to the earth lifeless. Their magic within vanished with the destruction of the Mrenx Ku. Elves and Men stopped fighting and looked on in disbelief. Tane shouted in triumph, realizing what had happened, screaming his brother’s name to the sky. Shadox and Terill joined, the celebration rejuvenating their near collapsing bodies. Soon all of the army, all of what was left of the hundreds standing against the thousands, cheered and roared in victory as the Takers were wiped clean from the earth.
Qenn was still shaking off his dream-like state, his vision cleared, though his mind was still groggy. He saw Kandish’s body off to his side. He had no idea how she got there. Then he was aware of something else. It was the LifeWaters, only childlike. It was moving closer to him from the end of the cavern.
“What happened?” Qenn sat upright, confused.
The LifeWaters cocked its head to the side in wonder. “You live? You have a life then that is worthy of existence. Your heart is true and pure.”
“You destroyed it?” Qenn realized then what must have happened, his memory coming back in slow waves. He quickly looked over to Kandish.
“She is alive.” The LifeWaters stated, knowing what Qenn worried. “She is adjusting. In time she will recover. She has a life as you do. I was in her for a time, healing her. But my work in her was finished when I began my work here. This is where I belong. She will be fine without me.”
Qenn rose and walked over to Kandish. She was asleep. “What happened to her?”
“She is made pure.”
Qenn was not entirely sure what it had meant. He decided it didn’t matter. If the darkness was destroyed, and Kandish was alive, then that was enough, more than enough for him. He wanted to go home. He bent down and carefully scooped Kandish up into his arms, cradling her head close to his left shoulder where he could feel her breathing. He turned back to stare at the young LifeWaters.
“Will you be staying here?”
It nodded. “The land is sick. I will cure it. It will be new again.”
It would be as the utopia hidden in the Pikes, Qenn thought. He nodded happily. “Well, thank you.”
The LifeWaters stared with confusion.
“I must be going now. I have people waiting for me.”
With a nod of gratitude, Qenn turned and carried Kandish up the slope, out of the tunnel and into the land. Daybreak was on the rise. He looked to the east for a moment, smelling the fresh air swirl around him. Then he saw the LifeWaters emerge from the ground. The grass began to grow in plush pockets all around it. It stood watching Qenn for a moment, then dove back into the ground. Flowers and grass grew in streaks, spreading quickly around the mountainside, venturing outward.
“You’re lucky I don’t punch you in the head, elf.”
Qenn turned with a start. Kamen Ode stood beside him, looking like a wreck. His mad face was hard, but softened quickly. “Kamen!”
“You’ve got a lot of nerve leaving us like that.” Kamen looked at Kandish. “How is she?”
“She’ll recover.”
“It was the magic, wasn’t it? I could feel it in the
tunnels. Too dark and evil to fight it.” Kamen looked at Kandish, then to Qenn. “So you did it, then. It’s over.”
“Yeah. It’s over.” Qenn looked down to Kandish. “We owe a lot to this one.”
Kamen Ode looked away. “We’ve got a long walk back. Start talking. Tell me everything that happened.”
Qenn smiled. “Fair enough. I’ll tell you what I know.”
They began walking south, Qenn telling Kamen the story as he knew it.
When he was finished, they were miles away, walking across the Takers path, flowers and grass blooming across the land behind them, when Kandish stirred. They stopped walking and set her down in the soft grass. Her eyes opened and sparkled, Qenn thought.
“Kandish, how do you feel?”
She was unsure, standing to her feet between them. “What happened?”
“We were saved by the LifeWaters. It destroyed the Mrenx Ku. Look.” He pointed north. “It’s restoring the land.”
“What do you remember?” asked Kamen Ode.
She turned to Qenn. “I was chasing you. I found you in the tunnel, then everything went white. I felt something in me, another presence. I think I blacked out then. I feel different, Qenn. My power is gone, I think.”
Qenn told Kandish how the LifeWaters was in her, that the Mrenx Ku tried to enter her but the LifeWaters interfered and destroyed it. When he was finished, they were quiet for a few moments.
“What now?” asked Kandish.
Qenn grasped her hand in his own and held it firm. “Let’s go home.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE