Broken Blades Don't Sing (Tales of Ashkar Book One) (13 page)

"Come by anytime, dear", said Tarla warmly as
Serraemas walked out the door. He stopped just outside the house
and looked to his left for a brief moment before looking back at
Tarla and planting a palm on his forehead.

"What?" she asked inquisitively, stepping out
and also glancing to the left. "Oh no! Bad dogs!"

Raxxil did the same, and laughed
hysterically.

Where two horses once stood was now a pile of
flesh and bone. Blood trailed out to the open field, where the
hellhounds now battled for the last bits of horse meat.

Tarla ran out to the beasts, shouting
incomprehensible insults at them. The unruly pets stopped and
drooped their heads again in shame as she scolded them.

"What's the plan now?" asked Raxxil to
Serraemas.

Serraemas turned and headed west. "We have no
choice but to make our way on foot. Let's go."

Raxxil moved to follow him—

"Wait!" yelled the witch from behind. Raxxil
turned around as she bolted toward them with unnatural speed, far
faster than he thought her capable. Three of the beasts followed
her, and as she neared, Raxxil noticed that the beasts were now
fitted with reigns.

"You can ride these three”, said Tarla
reassuringly. “They are much, much faster than horses and they know
the woods, so they can navigate through it more quickly as
well.”

The beasts behind her seemed more calm and
disciplined, though Raxxil was unsure how long that would last.
Their hides no longer burned with flames, and they almost looked
like innocent dogs. Raxxil watched as Serraemas walked up to one of
the animals. It growled instinctively, but this time there did not
seem to be any malice behind it. The staff-wielder mounted the
beast, situated himself, and then nodded to Raxxil.

Raxxil followed suit, approaching another hound.
He reached for the harness—

It snarled and bared its fangs at him,
apparently remembering its own death at his hands. Attempting to
mount the beast proved futile, as it continued to flail and bite at
Raxxil. He looked over at Tarla and shrugged, giving her a
why-don't-you-do-something-about-this look.

"Bad dog!" she yelled for the third time at the
beast as she walked over to it. It whimpered and drooped its head.
She waved her arms and spoke a few words of unintelligible
language, cast a spell, and then turned to Raxxil. "There you go,
little boy.”

Raxxil rolled his eyes, but restrained his
mouth. He tried one more time to mount the beast, and this time was
successful. The hound offered no more trouble, instead serving
obediently. He then focused his attention on Erendil.

The lizard-man was the most cautious to
approach, and strode up to the last beast warily. He must have
expected it to attack him again, but it gave him no resistance, and
he sat atop it with ease. Erendil looked over at Serraemas and
nodded.

"Thank you again, Tarla", said Serraemas. He
tugged on the reigns and the beast jerked forward with haste,
running westward.

Raxxil, did the same, and was surprised at how
quick their new mounts moved. He turned to see Erendil struggling
to hold onto his own mount. The archer’s entire body was in the
air, and only managed to stay on with a vice grip on the reigns. It
was an amusing image, and Raxxil laughed at his companion's
struggle. Behind the lizard-man, dozens of feet away, Tarla waved,
though if that was just for Serraemas, he could not tell.

These mounts were much better than horses. They
traversed the woods with both agile reflexes and incredible speed,
and by this rate he figured it would only take several hours to
reach their destination and their target.

---

About time I find my way out this damn
forest…

Aramal trudged out onto a dirt road, weakened
and drained of energy. Behind him were the endless trees that had
obstructed him for so long. In front of him, his guided path
awaited the soles of his boots. He looked down and examined his
ruined clothing. It was tattered, shredded and ripped in several
places. Still, he hadn't received any grave injuries, and his
possessions were intact. A few cuts and bruises on his skin, along
with a few rips on his attire here and there, was hardly anything
to complain about.

He knew his efforts would make many enemies, but
he was surprised that he had been discovered so quickly, and thus
how quickly he had become a target. Up until now, his newfound
partner had hardly even used any of the demonic magic, instead
focusing on transcribing the grimoire.

Aramal looked up and noticed the setting sun. He
needed to find some shelter and recover for the night lest he stay
vulnerable. The traveling human drew out the map from his pack,
examining it thoroughly for what seemed like the thousandth time.
Nokle road—the path he was now on—snaked its way through several
villages and towns. The first, a town called Bellis, was only a
couple miles northeast.

Aramal walked down the path to his new
destination. It wasn’t too long before the road twisted to the
right, revealing several structures that had just been obscured by
trees. By now, the sun had disappeared, revealing a white,
pale-faced moon. Several braziers were placed around a fence that
lined the perimeter of the town, and there were two guards that
stood watch by the southern entrance.

Aramal gripped his sword hilt with his left hand
and moved his sack to obscure it, then approached the guards. They
noticed him as he drew closer, about a couple dozen feet away from
where they stood.

"Halt", one of them commanded. The guard drew
his blade, but held it defensively. He looked young, about twenty
ages. He had short hair and bony features. His partner, who had
much rounder features, watched from a few feet behind carefully.
The gaunt-faced soldier eyed Aramal from head-to-toe. "Your garb is
tattered. From where do you hail, and why?"

Aramal paused for a brief moment, contemplating
his words. He wrapped his fingers more tightly around the hilt of
his blade.

“Speak!” ordered the guard.

"I—I am a traveler from the south headed to
Merchant's Keep, and I was attacked on my way through Farrin
Forest", Aramal answered weakly.

The first guard looked at his partner with a
shocked expression. They moved closer to each other, whispering
back and forth. After a little while, the gaunt faced guard turned
to Aramal with a sympathetic visage. "Was it the…
Executioners?"

Aramal contorted his face in confusion. "Execu—?
Yes, yes! I was ambushed by them, and I was only lucky to escape
with my life!"

Both of the guards gaped, and Aramal thought he
saw them trembling in their boots.

"What do they look like?" asked the second guard
in a shaky voice, joining the conversation.

Aramal let go of his blade, crossing his arms
and furrowing his brows. "Uhh... they were like phantasms in the
night. Dark silhouettes of men that… uh… execute any misfortunate
soul they come across. That’s right." Aramal made a swift cutting
motion with his hand. "Slice your head clean off."

Their expressions turned grim.

"Did you encounter one of our men in the
forest?" pressed the bony-faced soldier. “He was a scout, but we
haven't heard from him in nearly a day.”

Aramal shook his head. "Unfortunately, I did not
see anyone else on my journey through."

Both of the men sighed. They collaborated once
more in whispers, and after some time the first guard sheathed his
weapon. He turned to Aramal, then gestured toward a structure in
the village behind him about fifty feet away. "That is the
village's tavern and inn. You can rest there for the night, but our
lieutenant would like to speak with you at first light on the
morrow.” Promptly, the guard stood aside, letting Aramal pass
through.

The weary traveler kindly obliged, and without
hesitation moved forward and past the two guards.

"Mankind is so fickle and easily manipulated",
said a demonic voice only Aramal could hear. “You're all just too
easy.”

"And you're talking to one of them, so shut your
mouth", he grumbled back softly, careful not to alert the men
behind him. He continued on his way to the building that the guard
pointed him toward. As he was halfway there, he heard soft
footsteps to his left. Aramal quickly placed his left hand on his
weapon and turned in the direction of the sound. He gazed at the
face of a young boy, probably eight ages or so. The boy stood
several feet away, his back to a house. He had curiosity in his
eyes, but held his distance.

"I haven't seen clothes like that”, said the
child. “Where are you from?”

Aramal smiled at the boy. "Wanna make a few
coins?"

"Momma told me not to accept things from
strangers”, replied the boy. “Who are you?"

"You like coins, right?" continued Aramal,
ignoring the child's questions. He reached into his pack and
withdrew a small coin. He flipped it to the boy, who promptly
caught it. The boy inspected it carefully, and seemed pleased.

"Come here and let me show you something cool",
said Aramal as he withdrew the grimoire from his sack.

Chapter 8

346th Dusk of the 4999th Age of Rimas

Just a little more.

They were nearly reaching the edge of Farrin
Forest, of that Serraemas was certain. They had been traveling west
through the Kaghro Grasslands for only a couple of hours, and by
now the moon shone brightly with glowing stars dotting the dark
sky. Nearby, a herd of large tusked beasts called ujoks—pronounced
oo-yawk—were startled by the presence of charging hellhounds, and
they scuttled away as they growled.

The traveling elementalists had rode up the Haln
River on their way westward. It flowed down the middle of the
grasslands from the kingdom of Enept-Ihs—which was nestled to the
northwest in the center of Makka—to the Gavarian Ocean. Enept-Ihs
was notorious for its Blue Swords, a group that was known across
the continent for its formidable strength in battle. They served as
a policing force around Makka, as did the entire kingdom, but only
during dire situations that called for their aid; the Blue Swords
were a shining beacon to others in both aspirations and
example.

Serraemas tugged on the reigns, causing the
hellhound to accelerate and move even faster. They bounded across
the plains, continuing on their path with stunning speed toward
what he perceived was the line of trees that marked the start of
the forest. Out here, the grasslands were quiet save for the
occasional wild animal. The closest settlement lied just north of
the forest, and Serraemas had the notion that their target was
heading in that direction. Still, they first needed to start where
the spike in dark energy happened just as Tarla had directed. He
wanted to find out what happened to Jorne, and if there were any
clues of use there. Looking over his shoulder, Serraemas took a
gander at the others. Raxxil seemed to be enjoying their new
mounts, and Erendil looked as though he was finally in control of
his.

To think that Erendil had an affinity for the
dark element, and that it was sealed away this entire time…

Elementalists with light or dark affinities were
nearly unheard of compared to the other eight elements, and they
often came with unique circumstances as well. Considering the
nature of their mission, he wondered if Sora had intended for
Erendil to accompany them with specific purpose. In fact, he
guessed that she was the one to place the seal on the towrth in the
first place, though the purpose of that remained a mystery. Her
actions were always meticulous and planned, however, so that meant
that there was something to Erendil's elemental that caused her to
delay his bonding.

In general, the longer one shared a link with
their elemental, the more skilled they became and the faster they
mastered their powers. To delay that process deliberately was
troubling, to say the least. He would have to keep an eye on the
towrth, but their priority remained the same. His efforts would be
focused on the mission, so whatever the reason was for sealing away
the towrth's powers would have to be dealt with later.

Serraemas returned his attention to what lay
ahead. By now, the edge of the forest was close enough to see even
under the darkness of the night. It wasn't long until they reached
it, and he motioned for the group to stop. Despite how fast they
were moving, the beasts were still able to slow their momentum
quickly, and they halted just outside the forest. Serraemas turned
around, waiting for the other two to do the same.

“Why are we stopping?” asked Raxxil.

"While Tarla was able to direct us to a general
location, Farrin Forest is quite large and we will have to search
thoroughly", said Serraemas, noting Raxxil's apparent disapproval.
The icy elementalist also heard an outburst from Vrand, though at
this point he had learn to drown out the verbal eruptions of his
ally’s elemental. "No, Vrand, we will not be burning it down."