Legends of Marithia: Book 2 - Darkness Rising (7 page)

Ultimately, Tusdar died a horrible
death at the hands of vampire assassins. He had earned their
efforts to give him a burial worthy of a knight.

“
Helenia, when the next
messenger dragon arrives can you please request Leon’s presence? We
need to ask him what he remembers of Tusdar’s death. He deserves an
honourable burial for all he had done, and I want to see to it that
he gets one,” she asked.

The princess’s mind was far from
Veldrenn, but at the sight of her mother’s piercing gaze, she
quickly nodded and responded, “Of course mother.”

Vartan was in a void filled with
darkness, startled by flashes of memories from his childhood. At
times he could hear voices, but he was confused as to what was
imagination, and what was reality. In the dark space, he felt he
was being drawn downward, but he did not know where he was being
drawn to. With strength of will, he could slow down the descent,
but never completely stop it.

“
Why are you showing me all
of this?” he yelled, his voice seeming to echo for
eternity.

Because you need to
remember, you need to follow your destiny.

“
Who are you?” he
demanded.

Talonsphere.

A memory rose to the surface of his
murky mind. He recognised the name; he knew he had to find
Talonsphere, the weapon. He had a mission to complete but just as
he almost had a grasp, his memories deserted him again. He couldn’t
see Talonsphere, but he could hear its voice in his mind. Somewhere
between Marithia and the spirit world, Vartan felt lost, empty, and
unable to remember anything clearly. Left to linger there by
Kassina’s spell.

Talonsphere had found him amid the
darkness, and was doing all it could to help him
remember.

I know that you think
you’re ready to join me and be reborn again, but it is not time.
Your body lays fragile, slowly dying and you must return to it
before it’s too late. When the time is right, and you perform the
ritual… only then can you ascend into the Talonsphere and our
powers will combine in our new form.

“
But I don’t know
how…
how
can I
return to Marithia?”

This I cannot tell you. I
can only show you the way. You alone must walk the path.

Vartan’s voice was weak
with frustration and desperation as he asked, “Walk the path?
To
where
?”

Remember your purpose, do
not follow the pull of darkness that has infected you and you will
know what to do. Only you can break the spell, and only you have
the power to return.

Vartan focused hard, pushing past the
spell blocking his memories and dug as deep as he could. He yelled
in frustration, pushing further into his own mind. An image flashed
before his eyes, and he saw a strikingly beautiful woman with
bright blue eyes. She stared longingly at him, her pale skin
highlighting her wonderfully formed features. Within a moment, he
lost the vision again as it faded into the darkness.

“
It’s too hard! I can’t do
this,” he groaned.

Try harder. When the memory
appears… do your best to hold on to it. She is your path. Grasp her
like a sword and do not let go.

Focusing his energy, he tried to grip
the image re-forming behind his eyes.

Like a candle flickering in the wind,
the image appeared again. Using all his strength, he kept the
picture in his mind, studying her face, searching for a link or a
name.

A warm and familiar voice
entered his mind, “
Vartan
.”

When he heard the voice, his heart
warmed. Love filled his senses as if he had a thousand butterflies
flapping underneath his skin. He smiled when he thought of her and
closed his eyes with the pleasure of her voice repeating in his
mind.

His eyes burst open with the
realisation, “He… Hel… Helenia!”

His memories whirled around him as if
he was in the eye of a storm that had erupted within the darkness
and he begun to piece them together. He watched, exhilarated, as
his whole life’s memories flooded back into his mind. The sheer
force of Kassina’s spell disintegrating, struck him so hard that he
felt as if his mind was being crushed.

I have done all that I can
for you Vartan and until we meet again… there is a place that you
must find as it is crucial to the future of Marithia, and for
yourself.

Vartan focused as hard as he could on
finding where Talonsphere was as he felt his body ascending skyward
at a frightening speed. Barely able to speak, he called out into
the darkness, “What place?!?”

Trisa was knocked back by the force of
Vartan leaping upward in the air and his eyes shot open as if an
explosion had set off in his head.

“
Daessar!” he yelled, his
voice echoing far into the depths of Trahoterra.

Vartan looked down at the pale white
face of a heavily panting Trisa tightly gripping a wet rag. She had
nearly collapsed from shock at the violence of his return.
Suddenly, a splitting headache hit him as if an axe just cut its
way through his skull.

Involuntarily, Vartan turned away from
her to vomit and putrid green liquid splattered onto the floor that
evaporated into a small cloud of green fog. A frightening face
formed in the fog and it frantically flew around the cavern,
desperately searching for another victim to infect.

Finally, Kassina’s spell had been
purged from his body.

Finn quickly breathed a stream of
burning hot flames into the path of the fog, its shrieks of anger
filled the caverns as it disappeared.

“
What in the name…” he
began.

Finn’s face greeted him and his voice
ringed with excitement, “Vartan! You’re awake!”

Trisa immediately handed Vartan a
fresh cup of cool water and eased him back on the warm
bed.

Vartan’s face was overcome with panic
as he desperately sought answers to many questions flooding his
mind, “How long has it been? What happened? Helenia! Dryden!
Father! Are they alive?”

“
Vartan, calm down… relax,
you don’t want to collapse again,” Trisa pleaded.

Vartan took a deep breath and focused
to calm himself.

“
Brother, I have so much to
tell you—and don’t worry… Helenia is fine, as is Dryden and father.
We will send them a message immediately. Now, drink some water and
when you are ready, I will fill in the gaps for you. I am curious
though, what is Daessar?” asked Finn, cocking his head
sideways.

Vartan looked into thin air, his mind
grasping for a memory as he vacantly asked, “Daessar?”

“
You yelled it out at the
top of your lungs when you woke up. What does it mean?” asked
Trisa.

“
I really don’t know… but
it must have come to me from Talonsphere,” he said, wincing with
pain.

Finn’s eyes widened in
disbelief and his mouth gaped open in surprise as he asked, “You
spoke…
with Talonsphere
?”

Vartan smiled and the colour began to
return to his cheeks. “It’s going to be a long day,” he
laughed.

Chapter 5 : Twisted
Minds

“
My Anakari, I will miss
her. She brought me happiness I had never known, and joy as a
father that I am forbidden to be.

So, her journey begins. Does she know
that I had foreseen this since the day I found her?

I must protect her from those who would
seek to harm her, as she is all the family that I have
left.”

(Aldorus – Master Sorcerer)

The warm cottage was filled with
sweet, honey scented elven candles that blended with the air
surrounding them. Vartan had just finished a long, relaxing bath
and the silk of his purple robe caressed his softened skin. The
smell of the candles drew a smile across his face on this quiet
night and a lone wolf’s howl was heard far from their
home.

With each creaking of wooden planks
beneath his feet, he neared their bed with the calming sounds of a
crackling fireplace putting his mind at ease. This was their home,
and under their woollen blanket awaited the woman he wanted to
spend the rest of his life with.

Something bright caught his attention
from the corner of his eye. Vartan turned to the window to see
small flashes of light in the clouds far beyond the woods
surrounding them and inhaled the moist air deeply. He sat down to
gently sink into the bed, pondering what their precious future
together would bring.

With the sounds of gentle tapping on
the roof, it began to rain.

What a beautiful
evening,
he thought.

Helenia was deeply asleep, covered in
her smooth, silky hair. Watching her rest was both hypnotic and
peaceful. The sheets slowly rose and fell with her breath, and the
relaxed appearance on her face made him want to join her, but he
was not yet tired enough.

Looking down at his newly adorned ring
of gold, he couldn’t help but smile.

Not wishing to disturb his wife, he
decided to carefully walk to the window to feel the cool breeze
accompanying with the rain. Moonlight covered the lands in a
heavenly, white glow… as if the gods themselves lit a light from
above in their honour.

Everything just felt
perfect.

Vartan closed his eyes to focus solely
on the sounds outside the window and could hear frogs croaking from
the nearby creek. He put his hands out the window to catch the cool
rain and breathed out a long breath as a small pool of water built
inside them. The night was enchanting, relaxing, and he brought the
cool rain to the warm skin of his face. The water was soothing to
the touch, and a small amount found its way into his mouth. At
first the taste was pleasant, but suddenly he tasted
blood.

His eyes shot open with
panic.

Something is
wrong
, he thought.

He put out his hands again and watched
as the rain pooled there once more. He realised that it was not
water that filled his hands, it was blood. The white glow from the
moon began to turn red. Shaking off the blood from his hands as if
it were acid, he stumbled back.

Bang

He bumped into what felt like a body
behind him, but its skin didn’t feel warm… it felt icy cold,
foreign.

Who could that be?
He thought.

His heart pounded so hard that he
could feel it pushing against his chest. He slowly turned his head
to his right, breathing ragged and deep. Where Helenia once lay was
a fresh pool of blood. He tracked the bloodstained footsteps around
the room.

He found that nobody was
there.

Has she disappeared?
He thought, his fear overtaking him as his eyes
darted around the room, desperately searching for an answer. The
only sound was blood rain pounding on the roof as he continued
searching the room.

Running his hands through his hair,
his eyes narrowed with confusion. His voice wavered as he called
out, “By the gods, what is going on?”

He took a few steps forward and began
to regain his senses. Remembering that he had placed his sword by
the fireplace, he ran to its place and ground to a halt in front of
the crackling fire. His sword was gone.

An icy cold shiver danced down his
spine, and then… he heard her.

From the darkest corner of the room,
he could hear the sound of a woman whimpering. He turned to see
Helenia, her head and shoulders hunched over her knees, harshly
rocking. She shook violently, her legs drenched in blood,
contrasting with her ghastly pale white skin.

He ran to her side, his voice breaking
when he called, “Helenia!”

He crouched beside her, his stomach
sickening from worry.

“
My love, what is
happening?” he asked.

Her head twisted sideways unnaturally,
the sound of her vertebrae sharply snapping filled his ears and her
face jerked up to his. Vartan almost fell backward as the face of
Kassina stared at him with glowing red eyes, blood pouring from her
mouth when she cackled with laughter.