Chapter 48

Timun was a bustling town on the banks of Lake Asul and at the foot of some low rolling hills that marked the border of the Deadlands, where the First Ones had fought their final genocidal battle. It had a gateway and, to an outsider’s eyes, appeared reasonably prosperous. However, Darras quickly noticed several hostile eyes upon him, though he could not sense any shadows.

‘Human only, ’ Erren confirmed. ‘They’re making a move!’

Fifteen men, their knives glinting in the sunlight, rushed Darras. All were burly and appeared to be seasoned fighters, a formidable sight. But with his quick reflexes and strategic positioning, Darras managed to keep them at bay. He deftly used his stave to maintain a safe distance, dodging and weaving, landing the occasional debilitating blow on the men. The attackers, overwhelmed by his skill, scattered with the rapid approach of a town patrol.

Though initially wishing to blame Darras for the number of casualties, the sergeant eventually had to accept from eyewitnesses that Darras had not instigated the incident. Nor were charges to be laid against Darras for defending himself.

“Any idea what it was about?” the sergeant asked.

“Not a clue,” Darras admitted, his voice tinged with confusion and innocence. “I’m a stranger here; perhaps they mistook me for someone else.”

“Perhaps, though, I’d be careful if I were you.”

“I will,” Darras confirmed.

‘All were marked with some tattoo, ’ Erren informed Darras. ‘Gang, most likely.’

“Yes,” Darras agreed. “Question is, how did they know I’d be travelling.”

‘Doubt Rustav is involved, ’ Erren admitted.

“Would be an incredibly foolish thing to do.”

‘Well, he is somewhat of a fool but not so as foolish as this.’

“Well, unless it was mistaken identity ... which I doubt, it does appear that something or somebody here doesn’t want me here.”

‘Yes, my love, be careful.’

“I will, let’s find an inn.”

Darras soon had a room arranged and stowed his pack in it. He then made his way towards the eastern edge of the town, where the explorers’ guild was housed. It was soon apparent that many in this part of the town were hostile to outsiders, though not to the point of attacking Darras.

‘Something is going on, ’ Erren confirmed. ‘Some form of control is being exerted over these people.’

“For the moment, they’re ignoring me; we’ll see how long it lasts,” Darras replied. “Though I really don’t want to go down the bloodbath route.”

‘They’re innocents, please don’t.’

“As you command, my Lady.”

Once Darras reached the guild, he paused to observe it, spotting several of his previous attackers, obviously awaiting his arrival.

‘Whatever is using the locals is clearly tracking you, ’ Erren confirmed.

“Yes, a strategic withdrawal is called for,” Darras replied.

Darras moved away from the guild, aware that eyes turned to view him as he did so. However, no violent moves were made, so he cautiously retreated from the area to an alehouse to consider his options.

‘I can’t detect any shadows, nor is the type of magic being used any type that they have been known to use in the past, ’ Erren informed Darras. ‘I suspect it’s linked to something the Explorers Guild has found in the Deadlands.’

“I’ll try and get in there tonight, but I’ll have to be careful; any eyes on me will give my position away.”

‘Yes, that may well be what happened at the gateway, ’ Erren replied.

“It looks like they have me marked, though.”

‘Yes, my love.’

Once it was dark, Darras left the alehouse, ignoring the staring eyes, as he’d done inside, and returned to his room. Before getting there, however, he took an opportunity when out of view of anyone to leap upwards and haul himself nimbly onto a rooftop. From there, Darras changed his direction and returned to the guild headquarters, relying on Erren to tell him if anyone could spot him.

‘So far, so good, ’ Erren confirmed as Darras observed a well-lit square in front of the guild.

Darras moved from rooftop to rooftop as he made his way around the square, eventually reaching the guild. He then leapt over the intervening gap to get onto the roof of the guild and see what, if anything, he could do from there.

‘The magic is much stronger here, ’ Erren confirmed.

“Is it detecting me?”

‘It would, but I’m protecting you, now I know it’s there.’

“Let’s hope whatever it is isn’t heavily guarded.”

‘That could be bad news, yes, ’ Erren replied. ‘They’d surely summon help.’

Darras waited patiently for several hours until the lights in the square were extinguished, and the guild went dark. He then forced his way past a door to descend into the building. From there, he carefully explored, finding little but offices and extensive files stored. Only when he descended another level did he detect what he felt was a malevolent presence. This Erren also confirmed. Moving silently, Darras kept exploring, checking various areas until he could discover what was setting his senses off.

‘In here, ’ Erren said when Darras reached a door. ‘Be careful; I suspect someone is in there.’

Darras nodded and carefully tested the lock, finding it open and pushing the door aside.

Darras was sure the man was dead. What intrigued him was what the corpse was holding: a shining, glowing disk that felt to Darras like a shadow. Darras then started slightly as the supposed dead man turned to face him, his eyes glowing in the same colour as the disk. Darras was shocked. Suddenly, his body dropped down, and a spear of ice passed through the area where he’d stood.

‘Sorry, my love, ’ Erren said. ‘You must destroy the disk before it destroys you, as it has immense magical power.’

“On it,” Darras replied as he darted forward towards the unblinking man, even as another ice spear formed above him.

Again, under the influence of Erren, Darras’s body dodged to the side as the spear sliced through the area where he’d been moments before. This seemed to up the tempo of the attacks, as the disk attempted to deal with Darras before Darras could close with it. Randomly dodging, Darras closed fast with the disk, grabbing the man holding it and pulling him away from it. However, he was shocked when the man collapsed into dust before reforming to try and grab the disk. This, however, gave Darras his chance as he took hold of the disk, feeling immense power running through it, causing Darras to almost collapse in agony.

‘Hold on, my love, you’re forcing it to switch off, ’

Darras said nothing, blood now seeping from his eyes and ears as the pain intensified. The body the disk had seemingly possessed no longer moved and collapsed into a pile of dust, and the disk’s glow dimmed until it finally ceased. The agony slowly ebbed away as Darras took shuddering breaths. Wiping away the blood, Darras gazed at his hands, noting that they looked hideously burned, though he could move them. Darras could also feel Erren’s spirit imbuing his body with healing, though he realised that he needed to get home to heal fully.

‘Well done, my love, that was a very nasty artefact capable of using life energy to sustain itself, ’ Erren said.

“So, it was leeching from those it possessed?”

‘Yes, the First ones used them to drain prisoners of power and enable them to use it themselves.’

“Nasty indeed,” Darras sighed, slowly getting to his feet.

‘You’d best find a way down to an exit on the ground floor; I wouldn’t recommend any climbing for you, ’ Erren advised.

“Yeah, kind of figured that,” Darras chuckled, sliding the disk into a cloth sack.

‘Hallis will also be here when you return to speed up any healing and check for ill effects.’

“That’s good of her,” Darras replied, walking gingerly to the door.

Despite the pain and exhaustion, Darras was able to slip out of the building and make his way to the inn and gather his pack, slipping on the silken gloves to hide the damage done to his hands. He also cleaned away the blood from his face. He then went to the gateway and paid a gold coin to use the freight entrance to return to Erren.

“Welcome back, my love,” a sombre Erren greeted Darras as he appeared on the lawn.

“This is serious; I’m surprised he’s alive,” Hallis added as she gazed at Darras.

“I’m sure you’ll put me back together,” Darras replied as his vision dimmed and his legs buckled.

“We will, now, sleep, my Darras,” Erren said, her voice seemingly coming from a great distance.

Darras awoke in the comfortable bed, stretching his limbs and thankfully feeling no pain. The scars on his hands were gone, and his breathing was no longer laboured. His stomach grumbled alarmingly when the waft of cooking bacon reached his nose, and so, pulling on the soft slippers, he made his way downstairs.

“Welcome back to the world, my love,” Erren greeted Darras without looking as she concentrated on cooking.

“Thank you, my Lady,” Darras replied, seating himself.

“Your timing’s perfect; breakfast is served,” Erren said with a slight giggle.

“My timing?” Darras chuckled.

“Heh!” Erren laughed, bringing over two plates heaped with bacon, sausage, toast, potato cakes, beans, and tomatoes.

“I take it you’ve disposed of that thing?” Darras asked as he ate.

“Yes, I’m sorry for the pain it caused you, but unfortunately, you were the only one who could have dealt with it,” Erren replied sombrely.

“Figured that,” Darras nodded. “I take it the town’s OK now?”

“Yes, though the guild is investigating where the artefact went,” Erren replied. “Fortunately, the freight runners are saying nothing about the mysterious stranger who enriched their pockets.”

“Good of them,” Darras chuckled. “I take it anyone possessed was targeting me?”

“Yes, for all the artefact wasn’t alive as such; its victims knew a threat to its power when they saw you,” Erren replied.

“I’ll have to thank Hallis later,” Darras nodded.

“Yes, she got you back on your feet in hours, where I would have taken days,” Erren replied. “She’ll be along later to check up on you, along with our other friends.”

“How did they manage to activate it?”