Bound to the Abyss (33 page)

“And that’s why the worship of Ze’an is outlawed now?” Ean wanted to hear more, had to hear more. Was this his future as well?

“No, no,” the imp continued. “It’s what happened after his death that made everything ten times worse. I’m not sure if it was because I had been out of the Abyss for so long or because the man had been so powerful, but it took almost twenty days before I was dragged back down to the Abyss. I was able to see the after effects of the man’s death.”
 

Zin looked Ean directly in his eyes. That look of horror and despair almost made Ean’s knees go weak.

“The area around the hole he had dug began to change. It started out small. Green grass wilted and turned a sickly purple. Animals became more violent or died suddenly. A thin mist began to appear. Anyone touched by it grew blisters and found it hard to breathe. And that was just the first day. By the second, the sickness had spread almost a day’s journey in every direction. People were getting sick, crops were failing, and the mist thickened. By the end of the first week, whatever was happening had spread all the way up to the north coast and completely covered, what was at that time, the capitol for your people.”

“Two days before I was dragged back into the Abyss, I heard about a call for a complete evacuation to the south. Anyone not affected by what they called the Plague was fleeing south to Lake Melcoi. That’s where the main temple to Alistar had been built and supposedly where the greatest magi of the time were meeting. Since I was dragged back into the Abyss before the conclusion of said events, I was left to wonder what happened to the world here. Since we are standing in what looks like unaffected lands, I can only assume it worked.
 

Zin’s gazed dropped again and the imp sat down heavily. He looked tired, which was not a sight Ean was used to seeing. The imp gave a little shudder, then shook his head and continued on.

“That’s why people fear and never speak of Ze’an or the Abyss. All it took was one man connected to the Abyss to cause such massive devastation and disease, even his own death.”

"How do you know all this?” Ean asked. “If you were in the Abyss for the majority of the worst of what happened, how could you know what the people here think?"

A pained expression painted the imp's face, making Ean feel he had inadvertently put the imp's loyalty in question again. When the imp continued though, his tone wasn’t angry or disappointed. It was simply … pained.

“For the majority of the time between when my previous master died and you summoned me, I was in the service of a particularly nasty Nar’Grim called Baran’Grim. I’ve told you how evil the Nar’Grim can be in general, and this one was no different. I don’t want to talk about what I had to go through with him, but I did find something interesting in his possessions. He somehow owned this magical orb that allowed him to see into your world. I found it one day while cleaning his various treasures and trophies, and from then on, used it whenever I could to see glimpses of your world. For the longest time, being able to look at a world that had provided me with so much freedom, even if it was while I was a slave to another evil being, was the only thing that kept me going.”

Ean sat back down, completely taken aback by his friend’s story. Zin had never even hinted about his past before, and Ean had never really thought much about it. To listen to his friend speak about his past and watch his demeanor change from the sarcastic, rude imp he had known for years to one that sounded defeated and worn out was painful. If Ean had known about the poor imp’s past, he certainly would have treated him better throughout the years.
 

“I’m sorry, Zin. I never realized living in the Abyss had been that bad for you.”

Shrugging his shoulders, Zin began plucking at the grass around him. “It’s nothing. Thousands of my kind go through just as bad or worse down there. Being a slave had its perks, and it kept me from being hunted on a daily basis. But I hope now you can see how tied to you I really am. If anything happens to you, I go back to a life of fear or a life of slavery. And that’s if Baran’Grim doesn’t kill me first.”
 

He shuddered, causing his hand to rip out a clump of dirt. He looked at it for a moment then tossed it aside. “Plus, you’ve never been anywhere near as much of a pain as my previous master. You can actually be nice every now and then. When you aren’t being a complete fool.”

Rising quickly, Ean moved over to Zin and extended his hand. “I’m not your master, Zin. I promise never to think of myself as your master. If anything, I want us to simply be friends. I need a friend like you to keep this power from going to my head. Is that possible?”

The imp smiled then, a large toothy smile that returned a bit of mischief to his eyes. “I’m getting permission now to call you out whenever you’re being stupid and knock you down a peg or two? Oh, I think that’s the nicest gift anyone has ever given me.”

Ean couldn’t help but grimace as he realized how much freedom he had just given the imp to verbally rip him apart. But he forced it away just as quickly. Zin deserved that freedom. And if Ean’s nightmares were any clue as to what the imp’s previous master in this world was like and what Ean could possibly become, he needed Zin a whole lot more than the little creature realized.

“Yes, well, enough of this touchy-feely stuff,” Ean said, laughing uncomfortably. “Let’s get back to the others. If they are not up yet, then we should get them up and get going. It’s going to be much more difficult getting through these woods now that we don’t have the road to follow.”

Zin hopped to his feet. “Whatever you say, partner.”
 

Without another word, the imp rose and jogged off, leaving Ean standing in the clearing shaking his head. He really was going to regret giving the imp free reign to say whatever he wanted.

Chapter 22

CIRCLES

By the time Ean had opened up his Pocket, put his Book away and gotten back to camp, his companions were all sitting around while Bran tried to start a small fire. It was probably safe to make one during the day, and after the night they had had, a warm breakfast would make them all feel a little better. They certainly looked like they needed something to improve their moods.

Jaslen was sitting with one hand behind her, massaging the spot where the Seeker had stomped on it the day before. She kept her eyes down and was jabbing at the twigs and branches of the campfire with a stick until Bran was finally able to get it lit. Every now and then, a shiver would pass through her body despite the fact that the breeze was warm this morning.

Bran was in much worse condition. His throat was bruised from where he had been struck, the deep brown and purple color of his skin coinciding with his still raspy voice. He spoke very little as they made the fire and cooked breakfast, which was for the best as it gave his throat a rest and time to heal. Unfortunately, there was nothing in Ean’s bag of herbs that could help that injury.
 

They ate in silence, even Zin, who must have felt the mood just as Ean did. When their small pot of stew was just about empty, Bran broke the silence first.

“Well, I would be pretty happy if I never saw any of those Seekers again.” His voice sounded less raspy and a bit more energetic than it had the previous night. “At least not without a couple hundred of those four-armed creatures you brought out yesterday. What did you say it was called, Ean?”

“Cruxlum.” He glanced in Zin’s direction. “Can you tell us more about them?”

The imp shrugged, then slurped down a bit more of the broth before speaking. “Cruxlum are fairly intelligent creatures that love to fight, but only if they think their adversary is a worthy one. Or if you get them angry enough.” A small smile touched his lips for a moment then was gone. “The one you summoned yesterday was fairly confused. In his mind, no one present was worthy of fighting him. I had to convince him that the Seeker had said some unflattering things about him.”

“What did you say?” Jaslen’s face reflected some kind of inner turmoil, and her voice was somber, but there was curiosity in it as well. “It sure seemed mad as it tore off after the Seeker.”

The imp’s eyes widened, and by his expression, Ean thought Zin would have blushed if it had been possible on his dark brown skin.
 

“Well, I told him that the Seeker had made some unflattering remarks about his mother and … certain parts of his body. I’m sure it was the comments about his mother that made him enraged,” the imp said quickly. “Cruxlum are very family-oriented.”

“Oh …” Jaslen replied looking confused for a moment, and then her eyes widened in understanding, “OH, you mean you talked about his guy part —” She cut off quickly, her face turning red.

“Yes, yes, that part,” Zin said as he turned to look in every direction except at Jaslen.
 

Starting with Ean, laughter spread through the group. Zin resisted at first, but he too began to snicker, succumbing to the overall good feeling of the group.

 
“I think we needed this,” Jaslen said between a last set of giggles. “It feels really good, even if the laughter was at my expense.”

“And mine,” Zin piped in.

“Well, now that we all feel better,” Bran said, rising to his feet. “Maybe we should think about how we’re going to get out of this forest.”

“Well,” Jaslen said, rising as well. “Going by the map we looked at back home, as long as we continue to head north, we’ll eventually reach the end. Then it’s just a matter of following the edge east until we find the road again.”

Ean hated to be the one to put a damper on their newfound good mood, but the question had to be asked. “Sounds like a good plan, but exactly which way is north?

That earned him blank stares from his three companions. Zin shrugged and returned to finishing off his broth. Jaslen began to look around, her long, cherry red hair swinging about as she looked in every direction. Bran looked at the ground, taking a kick at a nearby stone.

Not sure what else to do, Ean turned his attention to the sky, or at least to the leaves and branches above him. Small amounts of light were getting through, but he had no idea where the sun was at the moment. As sure as water was a necessity to survive, Ean knew the sun rose in the east and set in the west, but without actually being able to see the sun, that knowledge offered him little help.

“Well,” he said after giving up trying to find the sun. “Maybe if we start moving off in one direction, we’ll eventually come to a place that is clear enough to find the sun. Then we just have to see which way it’s moving, and from that, we can figure out which way is north.”

“That’s brilliant, Ean!” The praise in Jaslen’s voice warmed his heart. “I never thought of looking for the sun. Although I don’t think since we’ve entered this forest that there has been a place where we could actually see the sky.”

As Jaslen grew quiet, Bran jumped in. “It’s the best plan we have though, and sitting here won’t help us figure anything out. Plus, if those Seekers are still looking for us —”

The woods around them seemed to darken for a moment, although Ean was sure it was just his imagination. Shaking off the sudden chill he felt, Ean began cleaning up. The other two joined him while Zin sat and watched, all four becoming silent and somber again. With the fire out and most of their things stored away in Ean’s Pocket, they stood in a circle looking at each other expectantly.

“So, which way should we go?” Ean said at last. “We still have to be west of the road and east of the Skyfall Mountains. If we run into either as we move, we’ll be able to figure out which way is north. If we end up heading south, we’ll either hit the Skyfall Ring that circles Rottwealth or end up in Rensen again. So regardless of which way we go, even if we never spot the sun, we’ll run into something that will let us know which way to go from there.”

“Sounds good,” Jaslen said, and Ean nodded along with her.

“Alright, then I say we go this way.” Bran pointed straight ahead then began to move. Zin, Ean, and Jaslen followed close behind.

They traveled in silence, talking lightly when they stopped to eat again, and then continued on without speaking. Each seemed lost in their own thoughts. It continued this way into the night, with the companions eating a small snack and then bedding down without a word.

Ean chalked it up to the stress of the previous day and being lost. He hoped the next morning would bring warm weather, a break in the trees, or at least a sweet, wildberry bush. Anything to lift their sagging spirits. Even Zin seemed in a melancholy mood. For most of the day, though, the imp kept his head down in thought like the rest of them, saying the least out of the four.
 

Yes, Ean thought, right before he drifted off to sleep. We certainly need something positive to happen tomorrow.

Chapter 23

CUT TIES

But nothing happened the next day.
 

Or the one after that.
 

Or four days after that.
 

Wait, was it four days, or five? Ean wondered. All of the days started to run together.

After breakfast, they would head off into the woods, following a marker they had put up the night before so that they knew they were heading in the same direction as the previous day. Of course, whether or not they were going in the same direction during most of the day was another story and a question that they never discussed. For all they knew, each time they moved around a dense pack of trees or a fallen log they were resuming their march in a different direction than they meant to go.

They moved about in silence, heads focused on what was directly in front of their feet. By the third day, Zin had wandered off on his own. The imp stayed close enough that Ean could still feel his presence, but he never returned to sleep with them at the end of the day.

When it grew too dark to travel across the difficult terrain, they would stop. Again they would prepare the camp and eat in silence quickly, then move off to their tents to drift off to sleep. As the first rays of light finally broke through the canopy overhead, they would get up and start the same process all over again.