The Flames of Deception - A Horizon of Storms: Book 1 (48 page)

As
they continued through the pass the sun began to lower to the
horizon. Already only a slither of its light peeked from above.
Another few hours of walking and the dark had encompassed the path
entirely. A blue-grey gloom shrouded them.

“
How
much farther do you think it is to the other side?” Josephine
asked.

“
At least another couple of hours I would think,”
Matthias said. “Perhaps
more
. I’ve lost track of how long we have even been in
here.” A ball of light burst forth in mid - air, and Josephine
jumped.

“
Sorry,” said Matthias. “I thought we could do with some
light.”

“
Why
is
no-one else coming this way?” Josephine asked, breaking the
eerie silence that had sprung up between them. “You would think
even one other person would brave the journey through here to save
time.”

“
It
might be the most direct way, but I know I’d just as sooner go
another few days around the mountains than go through them in the
dark,” Thadius responded.

“
So you are saying I
am
mad for allowing us to go through here?” Josephine
asked as she clambered over some rocks that sloped up a few paces,
and then found her footing on the cracked pathway
again.

Thadius was silent a moment. “Mad may be
too
strong a word, your
highness.”

From above the four of them looked like ants,
winding around the narrow pathway in the immense form of the
mountains, the small ball of light the only illumination in an
otherwise dead-black land. A thin, bitter wind blew through the
pass, creating a hollow whistling as it passed through the wretched
rocks and scattered pebbles across the dry pathway. Shivers passed
up Matthias’s spine, though he was not cold. He stared up
nervously, watching every crack, every crevice as they passed them.
Something didn’t feel right. The ominous feeling that had plagued
him on
Providence
was getting worse. He took a breath and then four more
balls of light fizzed into existence. They looked like a cluster of
fireflies whirling about them.

“
I
don’t like the dark,” he said in explanation.

Josephine clutched to a shawl she produced from her bag, and
Matthias fastened up his coat to his neck, its golden buttons
glinting off the artificial light. Luccius threw his own green
cloak about him, and pulled its hood up around his head. Thadius
donned his own thick, woollen cloak, a silver emblem of Aralia
pinning it together at his neck.

“
I have decided I
hate
mountains too,” Josephine muttered and wrinkled
her nose, sniffing and ruffling around in her pockets for a
handkerchief. Her face was pale and her cheeks were as rosy as her
crimson nose. “And I hate the
cold
, too!” she added. “It is making my nose
run.”

“
It
has
grown much colder in the last hour,” Luccius commented.
“It’s that damned wind that keeps whistling around the
rocks.”

“
I
don’t suppose you can make some kind of heat for us wizard?”
Thadius asked.

“
I can’t maintain these lights
and
warm you all up at the same time!
Which would you prefer, light of warmth?” Matthias
snapped.

“
At this point I’d settle for a
candle
for all the warmth it would give to
me!” Josephine retorted. Then she stared forward, past the range of
the lights, into the darkness. “Perhaps not,” she whispered, and
shivered.

“
A fire would give us both heat
and
light,” Thadius retorted. “You’ve
conjured up balls of flame before Matthias. Can’t you do that
now?”

“
Flame takes a lot more energy to produce than a few balls of
light,” Matthias replied. “I would be exhausted in a short
time.”

“
Some all powerful wizard
you
are,” Thadius scoffed.

“
I would like to see
you
do better, soldier,” Matthias
rebutted.

“
Just try and forget where we are,” Luccius said, rubbing his
hands together. “It’s all mind over matter, you know. Close your
eyes and imagine you’re in the warmest bath you have ever had, or
sitting underneath the broiling sun.”

“
You’re suggesting we
think
up heat?” Thadius asked
sardonically.

“
What I’m suggesting is that your mind will forget about the
cold if you just give it the right encouragement. When I was in the
Beneglet Mountains-”

“
Will you shut
up
about the Beneglet Mountains!” Thadius
barked.

Luccius’s mouth snapped shut, and he looked down
sheepishly. “I was just
saying
,” he whispered.

There was a pause before Josephine said,
“I’d
still
settle for a candle!”

“
Alright.” Thadius stopped and closed his eyes with a smirk on
his face. “Sunshine. A great, big, orange - yellow
sun...”

“
Is
it working?” Luccius asked, his ears twitching.

Thadius opened his eyes. “No. I’m
still
freezing! What a
stupid idea Luccius!”

“
Quiet
, all of you!” Matthias hissed suddenly. His brow
furrowed, and his eyes were sharp, glowing bright
blue.

“
What
is
it Matthias?” asked Luccius.

“
We’re not alone in here,” he whispered back. As soon as he
said it, a ghostly whispering arose from the shadows, thousands of
voices merging to become one. It was terrifying in the
dark.

“
You’re right there, wizard!” The voice echoed off the cliff
face, exploding around them. Thadius drew his sword in a second and
Josephine threw her head back and forth, surveying the
rocks.

“
Whose there?” Josephine asked. Matthias spun back and
forward, his boots crackling on the loose stones beneath. He
stepped around the others in a circle, peering into the darkness as
they waited for a reply.

“
You don’t
recognise
my voice?” came the reply.

“
No
.” Matthias whispered. “It
can’t
be.” With a flick of his wrist he sent the
balls of light scattering about the mountain walls. Shadows
frolicked around them, the light warping and ricocheting off the
rock at a dizzying pace. One of them struck the concealed figure
and instantly the other lights whirled to join their counterpart,
illuminating the figure of Taico Grimm. His eyes glowed a deep,
malicious green from within a hooded cowl.

“
Oh my gods,” Josephine breathed and stepped
backwards in shock. “He’s
alive!
”

“
How
can that be
possible?
” Thadius breathed, hefting his sword. “Princess,
stay close to me!” he commanded.

“
I thought I would come and pay you a little visit,
my good knight! To say no hard feelings for cutting me
head
off!” His voice
echoed, metallically, a deep, unnatural rhythm from within his
throat. Black veins snaked around Grimm’s forehead. His cheeks were
tattooed with symbols; curling shapes like a foreign language
snaking along his pallid skin.

Matthias stared up at him, stone-faced.
“
They
brought you back,
didn’t they? The sorcerers of Arash Malhat?”

Grimm shook his head. “Your
terms
are out of date wizard. That name
hasn’t been used by them for a
long
time. But you’re right, the sorcerers
are
the ones who
brought me back again.” He looked inwardly a moment. “They cannot
let me go.”

“
What have they
done
to you?” Matthias asked with what sounded like an
almost genuine concern. He indicated on his own face to where the
symbols were on Grimm’s. “Those symbols...”

Grimm’s face contorted in distaste. “Done to me?
You speak like this-” he flourished at his face with a gauntleted
hand “-is a
bad
thing! I can assure you, this is a definite improvement to
how I felt before!” He stepped off the ledge and sailed downwards
on the air, to touch the ground in front of the group with barely a
twitch of his body. “I was growing more confused than I ever
had
been before!
So
many
thoughts and feelings dogged my mind. It had almost got to
a point where I considered helping you again! Can you
imagine?
” he laughed. “It has been a
long
time since such a thought occurred to me. But then
one of the sorcerers helped me. They provided more clarity to my
thoughts and more strength to my withering body.” He shook his
head. "I feel
more
alive than I have in many months. Many
years
, some would say.” He started
laughing to himself. “Time weathers even the
mightiest
stone.”

"Who
are
you?" Matthias asked. “What
are
you to them that they would
spend
so
much time helping you? You’re just an assassin! They are
ten a penny in this world!”

Grimm shook his head. “Naive and small, and
destined
for a fall!
I
am
the chosen one,
Matthias,” Grimm whispered. "The one who will bring this cycle to
an end and leave the path free for the final
victory!"

"
What
cycle?" Matthias asked. “Do you mean the
year?
What victory is it
you speak of?”

Grimm smiled. "The cycle the
gods
began!" He exclaimed. "The endless,
repeating path that they sent me down in the hope I would be
their
puppet
. Just as
you
are to them now. We are
all
their puppets, born into this world to do their
bidding. But no
more!
I was cut
free
from their strings! The sorcerers have shown me that
there
is
another way.”

"If you are
anyone's
puppet, it's the people who you are working for
now," Matthias said. "Whatever they have convinced you of, it's
lies."

"The
only lies are those of hope, peddled by the gods and those who
worship them!"

“
The gods
created
this world Grimm. They
deserve
faith. They want to
help
us to return this
world to peace!”

“
Lies!
” Grimm spat. "I have
seen
the future and it will
never
be the utopian world that their dogma
portrays!"

Matthias shook his head a moment. “Taico, I think I
understand how you feel," he said.

"You have
no
idea!" the man spat back.

"I
see
the imperfect world you see!” Matthias fought back. “Some
people live each day in ignorance, never looking beyond tomorrow or
the next week. They
consume
themselves in drink and work and
lust
, and then they
die
. But others see life as it truly is: how
hypocritical and unpredictable it is and how the same mistakes are
made
again
and
again
.” He took a step forward. “But the world is this way
because we
allowed
ourselves to let it get this bad! To let fear and hate
drive a wedge between us and let people like the sorcerers take
advantage of our fears. If you work against the gods, Grimm, you
turn your back on
all
hope that the world can be a better place." He shook his
head. “I
might
be wrong, but I think you want
that
more than anything.” Matthias squinted his
eyes. “
Something
in your life has driven you to this path out of
desperation.” Grimm looked at him more passively, as if the rage
had left him momentarily. His eyes grew softer and he swallowed.
"You said you thought about helping us. Well, there's still time!”
Matthias said passionately. “You
can
make a difference!”