As they rounded
the bend of the path towards the traveler's rest, they found the door
standing wide open. Ewen's cousin waved an arm at them, motioning
them to hurry. As they did so, Halthor heard a scream above them.
"Don't look up," Ewen ordered as he grabbed Halthor's arm
and dragged him forward after he had paused to look around. "Run!"
Ewen demanded when a second and a third inhuman scream came from the
sky. Halthor dipped his head and ran as fast as his legs would let
him. As he ran for the threshold of the traveler's rest, Ewen's
cousin came out with a pair of torches.
The axe at
Halthor's side began to grow warm as it bounced against his leg.
Halthor reached the traveler's rest when Ewen's cousin threw one of
the torches. It tumbled through the air, just barely not lighting
Halthor's hair on fire. Above the builder, the torch struck a
creature moving on the night's currents. The scream returned, nearly
deafening Halthor as he ducked and drew the hand axe. Above him, a
figure that looked to be a man wrapped in a shroud writhed as it
lifted up into the darkness of the night away from the light spilling
out of the open doorway.
Another figure of
shadow against the darkness screamed as it rushed down at him. The
eerie cry was echoed to a point where the clearing rang with it. The
hooded figure was nearly upon him, long taloned fingers reaching for
him. Halthor swung his axe and the place where the face should have
been took the blow. The shadow rose, its grasping hands almost
gripping Halthor by the neck. The axe flashed and the hands came off
at the wrist. After a moment, Halthor saw the shadow's hands reform,
though they now looked to be the hands of a mere human, if humans
were made of pure darkness.
The floating
figures were not only after Halthor but troubling his companions.
Halthor glanced over to see Ewen wrestling with his spear in hand, a
cold light shining from the head of it like sunlight on a knife's
edge. The shadowy assailiant was attempting to wrench the spear from
Ewen's grasp. Ewen, however, was not having such nonsense. His cousin
at the doorway to the traveler's rest was waving his other torch
around and chasing the shadows back into the darkness. Two of the
shadow creatures were approaching Halthor as he was taking his quick
look at his companions.
Out of some
reflex, Halthor tossed the axe into his off hand and slipped his
hammer from the loop he carried it on. As the hammer came up, a noise
split the air that was not the screams of monsters. It was a sound
like thunder. Halthor threw his axe into the creature approaching him
from the left. As it hit the night was illuminated with a sudden
blast of light. The creature struck by the axe didn't even scream. It
slammed into the ground and then vanished as lightning struck it. The
creature approaching from the right hesitated and Halthor smashed his
heavy hammer into the face of his monstrous opponent.
Light that should
have blinded him filled his senses. Thunder that should have deafened
him rolled. Beneath his tunic, the crystal in the filigree stag crown
grew warm as if it were sitting in the sun on a summer's day. Hewen
and his cousin had been thrown to the ground by the almost
simultaneous blasts of lightning from the sky where there should have
been none. Two other creatures were looming over them to attack them.
In three great strides, Halthor reached Ewen's cousin. Again the
hammer struck and again there was thunder and lightning. When Halthor
turned his gaze to the creature threatening Hewen, the creature fled.
Halthor looked down at Ewen's cousin and offered him a hand.
The man was
breathless but he took Halthor's offered hand. As he got up to his
feet he went to Ewen. Halthor looked around them, listening for any
noises of danger. He stooped to pick up the axe when Hewen walked up
to him. Ewen was half shouting when he said, "Father's light,
what happened?" Halthor raised the axe up. Ewen's eyes narrowed
slightly. His cousin, who was standing just behind Halthor nodded
with a look of mute amazement. Hewen stuck the knuckle of his right
index finger in his ear and rubbed it. His ears rang. His vision was
spotty with after images of lightning and the scene of a man standing
where it struck. The ferryman shook his head with astoundment.
"Grandfather gave me the temple spear. The other arms are hidden
around the town. If the riders go back and attack the temple, it will
be bloody," Ewen said.
"Then we go
to defend them," said Halthor. Ewen shook his head.
"It's too
dangerous. Those four are nothing compared to the ones who send them.
And they are coming to Wye and then onward to here. You are being
hunted," Ewen said. "The riders will come back again later
if we remain outside. Their power is stronger past a threshold and in
deep dark.We must go inside. It is very late and the darkest hours of
the night are ahead of us. At dawn, we will part."
"What about
my pony, and the dog?" Halthor said. Ewen smirked. Halthor
glowered at him.
"Elfstock
pony and dog are not on the list of what the riders like to eat. I
think they'll be safe. Too much light in them," Ewen said,
showing the first note of humor since setting out from the temple,
"You'll find them nosing around the door at dawn."
Halthor and the
other two men entered the traveler's rest and threw the latch.
"Apparently the arms need to be cast or stricken against the foe
as per how they'd be used in pitched and desperate battle," the
weary ferryman said as he sat down heavily beside the fire. "This
is something I suspected and Grandfather suggested may have been the
case. It is, however, unclear why when you struck the rider with the
axe in your hand that it did not do whatever it just did."
"Who and what
are the riders?" Halthor asked.
"The hungry
dead," Ewen's cousin answered, "They are the souls who were
consumed incompletely by the dark children and left to ride the wind
and night. They chase the souls of living people to feed on them and
fill the void left by the dark ones. That is a void that can never be
filled, though, because their food feeds the ones who set them loose.
Truly powerful ones move by daylight."
Ewen shot his
cousin an angry look. "He leaves at dawn," his cousin said
sharply, "He must know what is hunting him. Speaking about it at
dark is something unavoidable. As long as we ignore the voices on the
wind and keep the fire burning until daylight, we will be fine. Sleep
in shifts and tend the flame. You know that is what Grandfather would
tell us." Ewen sighed.
No comments:
Post a Comment