The Dark Path (24 page)

"Our people are known for our strength but not for our brains, I'm afraid. I want you to wrestle Holdvir here and if you can best him, maybe he will learn some humility. If you can beat him, I'll tell you where to find Kemersek," he said as he motioned to the red tinted minotaur.

"No weapons? No Magic?"

"None."

"It ends with submission or one of us unconscious?"

"Those are the rules."

"I'll do it." Duncan began again to take off his skins. He stripped down to a short sleeved shirt and a pair of thin woolen pants. He took off his boots as well. From head to toe, Duncan's pale skin was covered with intricate tattoos. The patterns of the tattoos seemed delicate and fragile yet extremely intricate. Duncan was of equal height with the black minotaur so he stood a bit taller than Holdvir, if you didn't count Holdvir's horns which twisted up from his head. Duncan backed up and did some stretches. "I'm ready."

"Make him bleed Holdvir!" the brown and white spotted minotaur said to his friend.

"This human will not walk out of here. If anything, he'll be crawling," Holdvir said and pressing his hands together, popped his knuckles. The muscles of his chest rippled. He put his head down and without warning, charged full force at Duncan. Duncan stood his ground, then at the last moment, he dropped down flat on his back. Placing his feet upon the minotaur's chest, he pushed, vaulting the minotaur over him. Holdvir's momentum carried him through the air to crash against the cave wall. He got up quickly with a snarl and approached Duncan again, though more slowly this time. He threw a punch at Duncan's head. Duncan once more waited till the last second then twisting his body, he grabbed the minotaur's extended arm and jabbed two fingers into Holdvir's elbow. A sharp crack echoed in the cave. The minotaur roared in pain and pulled his arm back.

"Do you give up?" Duncan asked calmly.

"You die!" Holdvir shouted and punched again with the other arm. Duncan went to dodge but it was a feint. Duncan dodged right into the minator's knee that slammed into his ribs. Duncan fell to the ground, the wind knocked from his lungs. He brought himself back up on his hands and knees but the minotaur kicked him savagely with his right hoof into his left side. Duncan felt two of his ribs crack. He rolled with the blow and somehow managed to prop himself up against the cave wall. Duncan coughed into his hand and looked at it in the fire light.

"No blood at least." Duncan grimaced and pushed himself off the cave wall to a standing position. Holdvir had a grin on his face even though his right arm hung limp at his side. He walked back to Duncan.

"You ready to give up and crawl home, Human?" Duncan answered with a quick jab that connected with Holdvir's jaw. His head jarred back and he was dazed for a moment. Duncan didn't waste the time. He swung his right fist hard into Holdvir's stomach. The blow carried such force that Holdvir doubled over and vomited onto the floor. Duncan clasped his hands together and brought them both down upon Holdvir's neck. The minotaur crashed to the ground. Duncan paid for the move though. Pain shot through his left side and he could do nothing but gasp and hold his cracked ribs. Holdvir recovered and kicked out with his right hoof connecting with Duncan's right knee. Once more, a savage crack echoed around the cave. Duncan cried out in pain and fell to the floor. Holdvir jumped on top of him and placed his left forearm across his neck.

"Now you die, filthy human!" Holdvir shouted as he pressed hard against Duncan's neck. Duncan's face took on a deep shade of red. He pushed against the minotaur's arm but couldn't budge it. His vision started to go dark around the edges. In desperation, he reached up and placed both his thumbs against the minotaur's eyes. He started pushing against them. Holdvir roared in pain and rolled off of Duncan, clutching his eyes with his left hand. Duncan coughed and slowly pulled himself over and straddled Holdvir. Grasping his horns, he pulled up and slammed Holdvir's head again and again into the stone floor of the cave. After the second time he did this, Holdvir reached up and grabbed Duncan round the throat. Duncan ignored the choking pain and poured all he had into slamming the minotaur's head again and again into the floor. Eventually, Holdvir's hand dropped limp from his neck and his eyes rolled back into his head. He wasn't dead though. He was merely unconscious.

Duncan dragged himself painfully over to where he had been sitting and sat down. He pulled his right pants leg up past his knee and looked at it. The knee was dislocated. He pulled a leather strap from his pack and bit down upon it. Then he grasped his lower leg with one hand and the knee cap with the other. With a sharp pull he popped it back into place and screamed into the leather strap. When his vision was no longer swimming, he looked back to the black haired minotaur.

"Well done," he said. He poured Duncan another glass of tea and handed it over. Duncan nodded in thanks and took it. He sipped at it slowly.

"Where is Kemersek?" Duncan asked. It hurt to breathe, but he tried to ignore the pain. He had been through worse.

"You are looking at him."

"Why did I have to go through all that?"

"Well you see, most people that are looking for me wish only to do me harm. My clansmen here try to keep me safe, though I imagine Holdvir won't be happy when he wakes up."

"Well if you are Kemersek, then I have a package for you." Duncan reached back into his pack and withdrew a small leather bound package. He handed it over to the black haired minotaur.

"Who sent it?" he asked as he looked the package over.

"A man in Norsehiem. I was on his ship for a while and when I left he asked me to take this to you."

"What's his name?"

"Captain Cregnard."

"He's still alive?" The minotaur laughed at that. "I had thought him long dead by now."

"Will you please open it? My instructions were to wait till you had opened it, then I could go on about my business."

"How long have you been looking for me?" Kemersek asked looking up at Duncan.

"About three months. You are hard to find." Duncan sipped again at his tea.

"Hope it wasn't food in here then!" Kemersek said with a laugh. He untied the leather binding the package and slowly unwrapped it. Inside was a folded letter and an item wrapped in a piece of purple silk. Kemersek took out the letter and read it slowly. Then he refolded it and picked up the item in silk. He unwrapped it carefully. Inside the silk was a ruby the size of his fist. He held it up to the firelight and looked at it. It was beautiful. The stone was a deep red and polished into a perfect sphere.

"Well I'll be leaving then. Thank you again for the tea." He got up slowly and tested his knee. It seemed to have healed up fine and he placed the rest of his weight upon it. He took a deep breath and his ribs hurt him only slightly. Seemed the tattoos still functioned. He methodically put on the many layers of clothes that kept him a bit warm out in the blizzard.

"Wait a moment. Did you know what was in this package?" Kemersek asked.

"Yes, I was with the Captain when he put it together. Now if there isn't anything more, I must be going before the sun goes down. It's a long way back to shore."

"You knew you carried this jewel and you didn't just steal it and run off? Why would you do such a thing?"

"I said I would deliver the package to you and I did." Duncan shrugged. "Is that so very hard to understand?" Kemersek stared hard at this strange man, then seemed to make up his mind about something.

"Stay the night here. We leave tomorrow morning to head south. We'll travel with you. You need to let that leg heal anyway."

"I'm not sure I would be welcome to come with you." Duncan looked down at the minotaur that still lay unconscious on the floor. "Someone should set his elbow back in place before he wakes up or he'll never be able to use his arm correctly again. Oh and my leg is healed already." He hopped up and down on the leg a few times to demonstrate that it was indeed fine.

"Don't worry about him. I'll talk to him when he wakes up, he won't give you any trouble."

"Thank you for your hospitality," Duncan said after a long pause as he thought it over. He walked over to the wall and unrolled his bedding off of his pack and laid down. He piled his leather wrapping over him for warmth. He had just about fallen asleep when a sickening sound woke him up. He looked over and saw the brown and white minotaur holding Holdvir's arm. He had pulled it back into place. Duncan closed his eyes again and faded off to sleep. His dreams were nightmares of the past as they always were.

XXIII

Darkness Rising

"My Lord," a strange looking creature said as it went to one knee before a throne carved out of hematite.

"What is it?" a hollow voice answered out of the shadows behind the throne.

"He has learned of the theft of the body, My Lord."

"Bring Jarared to me."

"Yes My Lord." The figure rose. Green fire lit as it left, shining off the ebony skin of the jackal headed creature as it walked down the great stairs and down the hall.

"It begins." The dark shape behind the throne laughed as it walked around the throne and sat down. Green light played upon the skeletal face of the black robed creature. He sat down and waited for his follower to arrive. A long moment later, the great doors at the end of the hall opened and the jackal walked back in the room. He held a chain in his hands and pulled it sharply as he entered. The other end of the chain was attached to a collar around the neck of the person he led. The person on the leash looked barely alive. His features were elven but his skin was ebony black. One eye glowed a dull red, the other was swollen shut. He wore black robes with blue flames sewn on the bottom and sleeves. They now hung off him in shreds. He drug his feet slowly up the stairs but he held his head high. When they reached the top of the stairs, the jackal kicked the back of his knees and forced the dark elf to kneel. He then stood off to the side though his hand didn't let go of the chain.

"I've passed your tests, Master" Jarared said. His voice was no more than a whisper.

"You have," the Dark Lord consented.

"May I kill him now, Master?" Jarared asked. His red eye gleamed with a dark hatred.

"You have two days. Wait for him in the temple of Invictus on the isle off the coast of D'Nhia. Fail in this and your life is forfeit." He waved a skeletal hand in dismissal.

"Let's go," the jackal said and pulled on the chain.

"I can walk on my own," Jarared whispered. "Let go of the chain."

"How dare you order me!" The Jackal took a whip out of his belt and lashed the dark elf across the face. The lash mark opened a wound across the elf's face running from his right cheek below his swollen eye to his left jaw line. The elf didn't even flinch. He grabbed the chain that was hooked to his neck and began chanting. A green fire lept from his hands and traveled lightning fast down the chain to envelope the jackal. The jackal flung back his head and laughed. "Quite the feisty one. Fine you don't need the chain." He snapped his fingers and the chain melted away. The collar melted and formed a small platinum necklace around the elf's neck. It was still hot and burned into his flesh a bit. Once again, the elf didn't flinch. The necklace held a pendant at the end of it. The pendant was hematite in the shape of a skull. The jackal nodded to the dark elf and walked calmly from the chamber, green flames still covering his body.

"Now you have passed the tests," the Dark Lord said in his hollow whisper. "I have a gift for you to take on your journey. He motioned to a large chest that appeared at his left. Jarared walked over and opened up the chest. It was an ornate black chest covered in carvings of arcane symbols. Inside, it was lined in purple velvet. A beautifully designed rapier in a sheath lay on top. Jarared took the blade out and drew it from the scabbard. The blade was colored an odd green that was slightly glowing. Symbols of magic ran down its length. He tried to read them but they were like nothing he had seen before. He made a few practice swings through the air with it. The blade was perfectly balanced and weighed next to nothing. He placed it back in the sheath and clipped it to his belt. Under the sword in the chest was a new set of robes. They were made of a heavy material that was soft to the touch. He pulled them out and nodded when he saw that the black robes were trimmed with silver flames. They were robes showing the highest rank of those that served The Dark Lord. Jarared folded them back up and turning toward his god he bowed so low his nose nearly touched the floor. Then he turned and walked swiftly out of the hall. When the doors slammed shut behind him, the hall filled with an eerie laughter.

XXIV

Journey

Pain flowed like a molten river of iron through all the veins in his body. He could no longer see with his eyes. They had long since melted down his cheeks. Still, he held onto and focused the dark power that welled out from deep within him. His lungs burned for air and he couldn't remember when he had last taken breath. He pushed those thoughts aside and tried once more to ignore the pain that was threatening to overwhelm him. He could feel nothing but pain. His ears were filled with a roaring that had gone way past bearable. Still, he pushed the force ahead of him. He knew he still walked forward but how he knew, he could not say. Beings made out of the absence of light flowed all around him. He kept slaying them with the dark force within him, but for every hundred he ripped apart a thousand more seemed to take their place. Still, he walked on. It seemed that days had passed. Finally, ahead the shapes parted as if swept aside by a strong wind. There in front of him lay a figure upon a stone dais. He instantly stopped pushing the force out of him and wrapped it around him in a shield that he knew would not last very long against the shapes should they attack him again. The pain in his being ebbed away a bit. He walked forward, using his magical sight to guide him through the blindness toward the figure ahead. He knelt beside the figure and reached out a hand that was burnt almost to the bone. He brought up his claw-like fingers and caressed the cheek of the figure, a young woman, with flowing red-brown hair. Tears would have flowed down his cheeks had he still eyes. The figure reached up a hand and he felt a soft touch on his cheek.