Crystalline Chaos Page 4

  The expedition was no more.

  Chapter 4: Trepidation

  A few weeks had passed since the departure of the expedition and tensions were growing rife; they should have returned within a few days of setting off at maximum. It was becoming obvious to the racial leaders that something was very wrong and they had no idea what, which worried them more than anything. Reports of missing persons and peculiar creatures had started to reach the ears of the civilians of the East, causing anxiety within the towns. The leaders tried their best to calm the worries raised but found it difficult to continue lying through their teeth. Sooner or later the truth would have to emerge, regardless of the consequences.

  Sebastian stared out of a window, overlooking the sea to the east, deep in thought. He could not stand idly by while this unfolded in front of him, but his ability to act was limited.

  “You should try contacting the West,” Iomor spoke from behind him. The demon continued to stare out of the window, letting out a long sigh.

  “There’s no guarantee they’ll help us, they distrust my blood line,” Sebastian replied solemnly, turning to face the demon he was addressing. Iomor was clad in full armour, as usual, a helmet lay stashed under one arm, revealing his stern expression. The flood of news had not shown an effect on the commander, his demeanour was always serious.

  “You are not your father; they might be willing, considering the situation.” His father had been a despicable tyrant, one who caused a lot of damage within the demon communities, often killing those who disagreed with him. He was never sure of the full details, but he knew the West was heavily assaulted by angels one year. Refusing to send help, his father had just left them to die. They managed to recover; cutting all ties they had with the East and have since been cold to any attempts to reconnect with them.

  The King just sighed, he could not leave Shadekeep at this time in order to investigate himself. Sending a sizable force out directly from here could panic people unduly; there was little he could do but plead to the West to help.

  “It would be best to send an emissary as opposed to just a penned letter,” Sebastian spoke after a period of silence but the question remained of whom the task would fall to, his own son was a logical choice.

  “You wish to send Ciel, though I would send Drake with him at least if you do.” Drake was Kaiser’s son who was equally as powerful as his father; it would be a good escort for his son, the two were good friends and fought together well. He had no doubt that his own son could hold his own, but he would rather not take the risk in case something did happen.

  “Should I send Solomon with them as well?” he enquired; seeing Iomor shake his head he took the answer to be no, he was still needed here. The silence between them remained for a few minutes more; taking the hint Sebastian had nothing more to say, Iomor bowed to the King and left; he still had much to oversee.

  * * *

  Life appeared to progress as normal within the guarding walls of Aelburn, Thardosean had kept his actions of building an army well hidden. The Ranger’s Guild and the Magi Council had barely talked to each other since the expedition had failed to return; the rangers blamed the Council for the vain loss of life that occurred, often ignoring the fact that they too had lost members lost in the tragedy. Ferdan had taken a temporary leave from the Council, their deaths rested heavily on his shoulders and he blamed only himself for it. He could not let their deaths be wasted, though, he was determined more than ever to find out what happened and to get justice for them, for Lauri. Alone he was not much use, however, four of the Council’s stronger members had not returned from the journey.

  Loud knocking startled him, waking him up. It was still early morning and he was not expecting guests, not at this hour. Groggily, he hoisted himself from the bed and covered his night clothes with his robes before walking over and opening the door, surprised by the sight in front of him. Two of Thardosean’s high ranking knights stood before him; surely the King did not intend to put him to death over the incident?

  They remained quiet for a moment while one of them teased out a missive which bore the royal seal, handing it over to the shocked mage. Without a single word escaping their lips, they left, leaving Ferdan stunned in the doorway. Silently closing the door behind him, he sat back down on his bed, his fingers eagerly fiddling to undo the wax seal keeping the envelope shut. It eventually broke off, allowing him access to the contents inside; a single letter and nothing more.

  He tugged it out and began to read it, a grin spreading across his face as he progressed; the King had managed to find out that Sebastian had sent his son as an emissary to the West, in order to extract what information he could about the events that occurred. It was almost if the King had read his mind!

  Wasting no time, he properly dressed, lining his empty pouches with medicines and other such potions and grabbed his staff. While such an item was unnecessary for general magical manipulation, they were undoubtedly efficient at boosting and focusing mana for extraordinary effect but it required training to use one correctly. He stuck a hastily scribbled note onto the door as he shut it behind him and set a course for the academy’s stables, it would be much faster to catch up on horseback.

  The stable hands were taken by surprise at Ferdan’s unannounced appearance so early in the morning, scrambling to get a horse ready for the journey. A dusky mare stood before him; its deep brown eyes regarding him intently as he rubbed its neck. He felt it was matching, considering those who he was intending to meet up with. A leather saddle was fitted onto the back of the horse; it was decorated with golden thread and looked rather ornate, obviously intended to announce his rank to whoever laid their eyes on it. Ferdan half thought about asking for them to change it for a less garish one, but he would have to leave soon to catch up to the demon while his location was still obvious.

  Once he was given the go ahead, he climbed onto the horse and nearly lost his balance. He narrowly avoided falling off the other side; he had never been much of a rider. The stable hands filled saddlebags with wrapped food parcels and water skins for his trek. He was glad, as in his eagerness he had forgotten to pack any rations for the journey.

  They lead him to the northern gate and waved him off, wishing him a safe journey. He waved back with a smile before grabbing the reins tightly, leading the horse into a canter across the grassy plain. Being on horseback, he would need to loop around the northern edge of the Skyrend Mountains, opposed to using the narrow passageway directly through them. The most direct route was to stay at the foot of the mountains, passing by the lake that supplied the many nearby settlements with fresh drinking water. Early in the morning, the route should be quiet, as most did not venture out for water until later in the day.

  Grassland and scattered crop fields continually spread out as he advanced on, briefly allowing the animal a drink from the lake before they broke out onto the open coastal cliffs. Ferdan hoped that he was not too far behind; he would have a hard time locating Ciel if he reached the swamps before him. The forest that was present to his left was his main hope of connecting with him. Thardosean’s letter indicated that he intended to stop in Springhollow before continuing on.

  Changing the horse’s canter into a gallop, he pushed on, though he could feel the animal was starting to strain; it had been walking near consistently since leaving Aelburn a few hours ago. Once he caught up the horse could retain a more relaxed trot and still keep pace with a demon.

  Trees grew nearer and nearer, as well as the expanse of land that was the Isthmus. The sea lashed at its steep cliffs, sending spray high into the air. It would not be an enjoyable journey crossing it today; he worried how the demon would cope with the wind strongly buffeting his wings.

  Just as he was about to enter the forest, a pair of dark figures caught his eye on the Isthmus. As far as he knew Ciel was travelling alone; although it was more than just coincidence that there were demons crossing the land bridge around the same time he knew Ciel should be in the area. Ferdan chang
ed the horse’s course from the trees in favour for the two he saw in front of him. The strong wind became apparent as he lost the cover of the trees, nearly knocking the horse over as it suddenly slammed into them. Utilizing his own magic to counteract the push, he nudged the frightened horse forward. Unable to feel the wind it obliged, not understanding that the wind had not completely disappeared.

  He called out to them over the blasts of wind, though from the way they had stopped early he knew that his presence was already known. Coming up a few feet from them he watched them turn around. The smaller one he took to be Ciel, he looked rather similar to his father and the larger one he was unsure on, judging by his physique Ferdan could put a good guess on who he was related to, however. With a sweeping motion of his staff, he extended his wind-nulling spell over them, something which was a relief from their expressions.

  “I assume you are Ciel,” Ferdan directed at the smaller of the demons, who stiffened slightly at the question.

  “What is it to you?” Ciel responded, fazed by the fact the human knew his name and by relation, his appearance.

  “I wish to join you, I have already been informed of your intent.” Ciel was confused by his words, as the fact they were heading west was not a discussed fact. “I was the one who organised for the original expedition,” Ferdan added. It acted to clear up his confusion but the demon was still wary of him. Such a thing was understandable, he had just appeared from nowhere and demanded to come with them. It likely came over rather suspect. The other demon spoke quietly in their native tongue towards Ciel, or as quietly as he could manage given his stature.

  Regardless, his words appeared to be relaxing him.

  “May I ask your name?” Ferdan enquired to the other demon; he stood much taller than Ciel as well as noticeably thicker and from the way they were stood, he assumed that the demon had been acting as a windbreak, with his weight keeping him anchored to the bridge. His legs were also a very prominent feature of his body; they more resembled the hind leg of an animal such as a deer than the straight legs of a humanoid, the hoof replaced with a splayed four-toed foot with stubby claws. The connecting bone was thick and impressive, it would require a potent blow to knock him off his feet. Bulky hands attached at the end of well-muscled arms. The fingers were long and sharp but from Ferdan’s knowledge, it was at the cost of his manual dexterity; not that the demon would be needing the use of weapons anytime soon with the raw power of such a body. Pointed horns emerged from his short hair in an upward direction; it came over as an odd way for horns to grow, but he imagined it had its use.

  The stocky demon thought on whether to answer the question, the stranger had yet to give his own name. “It’s Drake,” he replied, his voice was deep but clear, “now tell us your name, Mage.” It came over unintentionally cold; Drake’s expression was warmer than his voice, something that Ferdan had noticed.

  “It is Ferdan, I am one of the head magi of the Council,” the mage smiled, beckoning back to the path. “Shall we continue while my mana reserves are still fresh?” The pair in front of him quickly remembered that the lack of wind being an effect of the spell he was maintaining. Ciel waved him over to join them and they continued down the path, chattering as they went.

  Chapter 5: Encounters in the Swamp

  It was a normal day as far as the residents of Linlake were concerned. The slight chill in the air was a reminder that summer was fading away and the icy grip of winter would soon follow. Linlake itself was relatively quiet, most of the demons had already left to stock up on food and other materials while the harvest was still plentiful; come winter food was hard to find and the bitter conditions ripped at the demons’ wings, limiting the time they can safely stay outside. Amnur had opted to stay within the village today, helping the other remaining villagers with preparing and preserving food. The main source of food was fish, although sometimes meat was brought back when someone had managed to locate prey. Meat animals tended to graze in the areas around Valmeadow and Esterbrook; neither village appreciated hunters from Linlake taking animals from within their lands. The food situation was as bad in all three villages, without one depriving the other. Due to its close proximity to lakes and rivers, Linlake, however, was blessed with a plentiful supply of fish during the warmer months; winter often saw the lakes frozen over, reducing the availability of food.

  The only problem with the fish was that their flesh tasted foul, anyone who ate one raw often quickly regretted their choice. In order to avoid the problem, the flesh was sliced from the fish, boiled and then left to marinate with berries and other such spices pulled from the swamp. They had a big pile of fish to get through and an even larger pile of berries and herbs to prepare them with, so it was going to be a long day of marinating fish. The demons huddled around a small campfire, chatting and throwing banter with each other as they tirelessly worked. Amnur, however, was silent, absorbed in his own thoughts and ignoring their attempts to bring him into the conversation.

  A few days after the expedition had passed through he had visited Wintergate for himself, along with his daughter. The sight appalled and worried them; for such a thing to happen so silently was worrying and practically on their doorstep too with no one having any idea that it had. They looked around for a while, observing the damage to the buildings and the lacerations on the bodies. It was not a creature he had come across before that had caused the damage. Just as he decided it was about time to leave, something caught his eye; a blood trail, but it was fresher than the others around.

  Scratching at it, it became obvious that it was still damp, no more than a day old he reckoned. Whoever was injured might still be within the area. Keeping his footsteps quiet, he followed the trail to a house. The door had been pushed open, leaving a bloody handprint on the woodwork. Amnur inspected it from his position on the outside wall, judging from the size and shape of the handprint it looked to be human.

  He bent down to allow himself through the door, slowly peering around the corner. A pool of blood greeted him but there was no one collapsed in it, the blood trail extended no further to indicate the person had dragged themselves away and had died elsewhere. As he got close to the blood pool it was evident whoever had been there had lost a fair amount of blood; if they had somehow sealed their wounds back up they would be heavily weakened and would likely struggle to return to the nearest settlement. Esterbrook had made no comment about receiving someone that badly injured, however, whoever it was must have headed for Winterdale further north.

  Towards the edge of the pool sat a blood covered lump. Amnur lifted it out and wiped it against a rug on the floor, revealing a small obsidian pendant. The same obsidian pendant the ranger woman had shown to Crono a few days previously. He cursed, for her to have returned so badly injured indicated that they had met nothing pleasant in the Commons.

  Sakura, however, didn’t have such a peaceful experience; while her father investigated one part of the ruined town, she had opted to look elsewhere. Using some inedible berries as a form of ink, the demon rubbed it against the scarring on the building walls. As she painted over the surface, the deep gouges ran under her fingers, revealing the concave structure. One by one she repeated the procedure, each slash on the building showed a similar profile. Whatever creature had done the damage was the same each time or at very least, the same species. Her sensitive hearing told her of a disturbance nearby, but it did not appear to be Amnur; he knew better than to approach her unaware.

  Cautiously, Sakura focused on the sound, picking up the information of its position and potential heading. It was emanating from above her, on the rooftop of a building. Slipping her hands to her blades, she shifted her weight to a position ready to spring at the first sign of danger. The tense coil of demon kept her back to the wall, cutting off one route of attack while the sound drew closer. Taking deep breaths, Sakura became hesitant when the noise suddenly ended, glancing upward to the flat edge of the rooftop.

  With no warning, a figure charged off the roof,
landing just shy of her body. A set of scythes descended from above only to be interrupted by her blades thrusting upwards, catching the creature’s attack mid-air. A power struggle ensued; the strange creature stood taller than her and was bearing down. Mustering her strength, she desperately pushed against the lethal scythe arms. With a grimace, Sakura could see it was not a battle in her favour, she needed to throw it off her somehow.

  Holding position, she shifted her legs to the left and used the leverage to throw the creature to the right. The move caused the scythe arms to grind against the building, raking dents in the stone wall. It whined at the move, placing all of its four legs firmly on the ground, gazing somewhere in her direction. She noticed that it didn’t seem entirely confident on her position, a fact which she put down to the lack of obvious eyes on the creature’s crested head. Silently, Sakura crept around it, giving just enough distance to be out of immediate range. As she went, it slowly gathered her position, yet it always lagged behind her current location. The wall near the creature was in sight so when she finally got close enough, she ran at it and leapt off, launching herself into the air and landing on its back. The neck violently swung around in response but she had already positioned herself, locking her legs tightly on the side of its body.

  Aggravated by the demon’s actions, it seethed mana up its spine and burst it into flames. Sakura cried out and drove her blades down its back, before throwing herself away from the engulfing flames. Shocked by the immense pain, it staggered into the wall and fell over, shattering to pieces as it hit the floor.

  It was a strange death, but it was a relief to see the creature stopped.

  With a sigh, she fetched her blades from the steaming shards and limped away, looking to find her father. When Sakura found him, she was shocked by the sight he was crouched by. Amnur glanced up towards her, worry spreading over his face as he saw her slight wobbliness. She informed him of what had occurred and he scowled, it became obvious what Lauri too had encountered. Given the continued existence of one in the town, they evidently hadn’t managed to kill them all. Hastily he ushered them to depart, carrying her out despite her protests, only putting her down when they were a decent distance away.