Interlude
“Malachai? No, no, don’t be ridiculous.” Claus’s words were slurred, eyes already turned to glass. He was too fond of and had drunk too deeply of the honeyed wine this night. “That old bastard will never make it this far south.” Claus slid along the bench; two large mugs carried in his great fists. “Another round on me!” Chuckling, he leaned in, his red-stained lips breaking into a toothy grin, “They’re never getting out of the mountains!” Claus wrapped his arm around Adam, swaying back and forth, softly singing under his breath. He stank. A Sickly-sweet stench, from overindulgence.
But he couldn’t carry the tune, and the words of a song he had heard countless times before somehow escaped him. He mumbled along with the bard, struggling to keep up before finally sighing dejectedly and slamming his cup upon the table.
The tavern fell quiet.
“Why don’t you play us something new?” Claus garbled, “I’ve heard this song a thousand times!”
Although the tavern remained silent, from the looks of its patrons, a fair few of them agreed.
The minstrel turned towards them. He was a tall man and very thin. His clothes were brightly colored silks, an expensive tunic from far across the sea. He regarded the two of them with an air of bored disdain. But when his eyes settled on Adam, they lit up.
“It just so happens, good sirs, that I have recently finished a magnificent new work and have been looking for the perfect chance to debut it.” His voice was soft and melodious, lilting, always on the edge of song. “Should you like, I shall perform it for you now.”
“That’s more like it!” roared Claus, the rest of the tavern joining in with polite applause.
And the bard began to sing.
Upon a field of moonlight, the violet flower grows…
“Now, where were we?” He turned back to Adam.
“Claus, I really think you’re underestimating the rebels…”
“How do you mean?”
The forest set ablaze.
“It's just… they’ll get here eventually, won’t they?”
“Maybe so, maybe so.” Claus stared out the tavern window. The sun was setting on Orent, and the city streets were beginning to clear. “But the longer he takes, the more the support for his cause will wane.”
“But does he not have the support of the people?”
“Hush!”
“Not that I support him,” Adam replied hurriedly. “My allegiance is to House Weiss.”
“That’s better,” Claus growled, eyes shifting darkly around the room. “You never know, who’s watching.” Then he raised his cup, “To House Weiss,” he shouted, and the tavern cheered in response.
Their voices rose, drowning out the bard’s tune. Adam drained his cup, watching the minstrel scowl.
The warrior, witch, and mage…
As he finished the song, the bard stood, stalking away and muttering curses to himself. He was so disturbed by the interruption that he did not even notice how well received it had been.
“Shall we turn in?”
Claus frowned, “The night is still young, one last round?”
“I have the early watch tomorrow…” Adam protested.
“Then we can suffer together. Come on, another!”
“Alright…” It was no use arguing. When Claus fell into his cups, it was an impossible task to drag him from them. One drink would turn into the next, and on and on it would go until suddenly it would be dawn… but at least Claus was buying.
As they drank, Adam watched the streets grow dark. A girl ran past the window, stumbling over the uneven stone as she rushed up the hill. He knew her. At least, he had seen her before. She worked at the shop at the end of the road. Did they sell potions? Or was it spells?
**********
“They’ve been spotted!”
“Hmmm?” Adam lifted his head. Had he fallen asleep at his post again? He needed to stop drinking so much. He snapped to attention, saluting as an officer ran along the wall towards him. But the man paid him no heed, barreling past him, shouting.
“The banners of the White Hawk! They’ve been seen sailing down the Aurin!”
It took him a moment to register the news. It couldn’t be possible. They were trapped in the mountains… months, if not years, away. How could they be so close?
“All soldiers are to report to platoon commanders! The rebels will be here by nightfall!”
Tonight…?
**********
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
The drums pounded and the gates shook. Above, the night sky bled, and the smoke of a thousand fires rose to choke out the light of the moon.
They stood in rows. Shoulder to shoulder, lined up behind the great shields, spears at the ready.
“Hold steady, men!” A man clad in fine plate rode to the front. “Whatever manner of foul creature the traitor Malachai has brought into his fold is no match for the Majesty of our King. No matter how the shadow beats against our walls, the brilliance of our gold—”
—The gates exploded, bursting into splinters, and the knight was lost to its shards, turning to mist as they cut through him.
And from the other side, a great beast crawled. It was as tall as the gates and thicker than five men stood abreast. It hunched over, squeezing itself through the shattered gate, matted fur dragging through dirt and blood. Thin, bent limbs clawed at the cobblestone, pulling the last of its mangled form through the breach.
It paused a moment, black eyes, watching the lines through the smoke. Then it twitched and shot towards them.
It was fast, and as it scrambled forward, claws tearing through the stone street, the lines broke. Men fled, scattering in fear before the growing shadow. But there would be no escape.
“Adam!” Claus cried out. The old man ran toward him. “Adam, come with—”
—A claw burst from his chest, and the words died on his lips. The dark hand of the beast wrapped around him, lifting him to its jaw and tearing into his corpse.
“Claus!”
And the beast turned, its wiry tail whipped through the night, arcing down to slam into his head.
And he knew no more.
**********
The sun was setting when he finally woke, a red flame, haloed in a golden ring. Had he been out so long? Had the city fallen?
He tried to stand, but there was something on his chest. Smashed stone, pinned against his torso. He was buried in the wall’s ruins.
Through cracks in the rock, he could just see the courtyard. Transformed in the scarlet glow, bathed in blood, and littered with fallen comrades. How had this happened? Why had this happened? Where were the Magi? They had not come! They had abandoned the city! Traitors!
“Sophie!” A voice cried out, echoing through the empty streets. “Sophie! Where are you?”
And darting into the square was a young girl. The girl from the shop. What was she doing here?
He called to her, but the stone weighed him down, and his words could not escape their snare. He struggled to break free, but all he could do was watch as she ran from body to body, picking through the corpses, calling out for Sophie.
He prayed that she would find him first. Quickly, before he sank beneath the mud, but she never came to him. He was buried too deep, too far lost to be saved. And soon she ran off, disappearing up the hill.
It was then that despair took him, and he fell into darkness.
**********
He woke again to shifting stones. And the rocks fell away from him. Beside Adam, the ground had opened up into a sinkhole, greedily swallowing the rock. Beneath him, he thought he could see tunnels.
But there was no time. He was set free. He needed to find cover, but where?
Then he remembered the girl. Her shop was close by. They were magi, surely, they would have some protective spells. She had looked kind, not like most magi. She would help him.
**********
The shop lay in ruin. The door had been ripped off its hinges, and the wide window was shattered, leaving the shop bare. Inside, the shelves had been toppled and scattered remains of spilled potion and broken charms congealed upon the floor. There were no signs of life.
Behind the counter and through a small storeroom, Adam came upon a thick wooden door covered in strange golden markings. It had been battered and clawed at but had held firm. She would be behind the door! He would be safe inside!
He stood outside screaming and beating his hands bloody against the door. But no one answered. The king… the magi… they had all abandoned the city, abandoned him. He was going to die. Burnt to ash with all that had been left behind.
And suddenly, Adam felt the door give, pulling in ever so slightly. And he leapt forward, throwing his shoulder into the door and bursting past a girl as he fell into the room.
It was a bedroom, its walls lined with shelves full of ancient books and potions that filled the air with a sweet aroma. A trapdoor opened from the floor in the back of the room, and a large, bearded man stood at its edge.
“Thank the gods!” He cried, “It's chaos out there! I only just managed to escape…the king… the king has abandoned us!”
“What are you doing?” The girl cried, her eyes wide with horror. “You can’t be here!”
“Like hell, I can’t! He backed away from her, away from the door, deeper into the room. “There’s nothing but death out there! I’ll take my chances against you two before I step outside this room!”
The girl turned to him, eyes searching his face, deep blue eyes like the ocean, but there was something else. Beneath the surface, a glitter, the twinkle of lost gold. “We don’t want to fight you. But we have to leave.”
“Fine by me! If you two want to go to your deaths, be my guest. That’s no reason for me to have to leave…” Why wouldn’t they let him stay? Did they think him nothing more than a common thief? “I won’t take anything, I promise!”
“Fia?” Finally, the bearded man spoke. His voice was deep and slow. Was he the one in command?
“Just a moment!”
He continued to inch towards the back of the room.
“Look—what’s your name?”
“A-Adam,” he stammered, stumbling back as she moved closer.
“Fia?”
“I said just a moment!” The girl, Fia, looked wild. Her eyes were shining, wet with tears. And she tugged at her hair, pulling it from the roots. “Adam, I’m sorry,” she begged, “we really don’t want to harm you, but we cannot let you stay here. So, please just come with us.” Fia held out her hand, eyes begging him.
But he couldn’t
“I can’t! I can’t go through it again!” He had seen her out there. She knew what it was like! Could she be so callous? They had warned him about magi, but her eyes had seemed so kind. Now, he saw only gold in their gaze.
“Adam, please!”
But before he could respond, he felt a vice take hold of him. It was the bearded man. And with the grip of only one hand, he took control of Adam’s flesh.
“Fia!” He shouted again.
“What?”
He needed to beg. “I can’t… Please… Don’t make me…” Fia could perhaps be reasoned with, but the bearded man? No, he could not let this man decide his fate.
“Malachai, what are you doing?”
“He cannot stay here?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“There isn’t time to explain!” Fia cried.
“I understand.”
And Malachai lifted him up, like he was nothing, and threw him, down into the abyss.
**********
Darkness. And pain.
Adam lay in the black pit, bones shattered, bleeding out, wasting away. He prayed for death; he knew it must come soon, but why did he need to wait so long for its warm embrace?
Hours passed. And still, he did not die. His body clung to life, in defiance of his will.
The gods had cursed him, cursed Orent, and he cried out, screaming into the nothingness. The betrayal cut him deep, and he wept for himself and the city lost.
He carried on, cursing and screaming and begging for death. But it never came. In the end, the pain simply vanished. One moment it was there, and the next, he was renewed. As if he had never fallen, never been harmed. It was a strange feeling, but it gave him purpose. And he rose to follow it.
He wandered the tunnels for an age. How long exactly, he could not be sure. In the black, time stood still. But he found there was light there, strange insects, with tiny flames burning inside their bosoms. And in the glow, he discovered the carvings, messages left for him, and him alone. Directions. Up. Out.
And when he finally reached the surface, he found the walls still standing proud, the people still alive. A city untouched by war, bathed in radiant sunlight. And though once that would have brought him great comfort, now, all he saw was the red eclipse. A world bleeding away, ensnared by the magi that had betrayed Orent.
Cycle: Adam ?-?
