Age of Souls Read online

  “Might be a lot more merchants for this time of year.” Faer spoke out of the corner of his mouth and peering out of the opening to the tree. Finally, being able to not have to speak so loudly with the storm being held at bay.

  The room that was created under the branches of the Journey Tree was high enough to comfortably move around. There was always more room than expected. Branch like roots encased all around the trunk of the tree, spanning roughly five paces out in every direction. Dim blue light came from a magical exposed heart that had an assortment of twisting vines circling around like a rib cage that held a large sapphire like object floating within the roots, that slowly pulsed with the welcoming light. It gave a warming sensation to the bowels of the tree, a comfort and a sense of home to all that were seeking refuge under its branches, aptly named for what travelers used it for.

  A small circle of fist size stones sat to one side of the tree which held remnants of previous adventurers along with burned sticks scattered around the edges, showing their attempts to have a meal before the next day. There were so many of these trees scattered all around Tulcarna, around Vulthrodin. Many of the residence within Tulcarna talk about them as though the Dragon Freyolin always knew how to take care of travelers on their journey.

  Faer knelt at his pack and took his bed roll from the top flap. A couple steps over to the fire pit and he dropped it without a second thought. Unrolling the fabric from itself, he glanced over his shoulder to smirk at the tempest trying to get in. The magic of the tree seemed to protect all under its embrace, keeping all sounds and hate from the outside world. It was calm and quiet to allow the traveler a peaceful night’s sleep.

  Swiveling his head over to Mya, she had already torn the top of her pack off and was hovering over a small ember fire. The growing light in front of her sent small waves of heat that could be felt on his face, made him take a long relaxing breath in. With each wave from the fire, his clothes were noticeably becoming lighter, drying out quickly.

  Magic could be odd sometimes, dangerous as well, but there were uses that made him enjoy it for the simple features, the ease and comfort of their day to day. There were not too many who knew how to use it to the full capabilities, but he was thankful enough his family was from a long line of casters, powerful casters.

  From the basics of starting of a fire, to resurrecting the dead or tearing a hole in the very fabric of time. There were many threatening people around Vulthrodin that possessed rare abilities and venture further into questionable aspects of the craft. Stories that floated around the cities, of people going missing or mysteriously turning up a corpse due to trying something they shouldn’t. One of the reasons why the Emerald Keep always took in potentials. The Elves were there to help.

  Faer had a hate in the back of his mind for Mya. She was always good at spells, she was very skilled at most of the elements. Anything they would try to do came so natural to her, made him feel so inadequate as a mage.

  “Your spells are always so much better than mine.” He huffed his frustration under his breath and flopped down onto his bed roll.

  “You always lose your concentration.” Mya sat back on her haunches, keeping her eyes on the fire. Shadows danced around Faer as he gave a glare.

  “My mind is clear, I am focused” Faer said firmly and crossed his arms.

  “That is not what I’m talking about, there is always something in the back of your mind, it throws off your spells. You need to keep your mind, all of your mind, open. Clear.” Mya kept her eyes on the fire.

  “Turi keeps saying the same thing. I don’t know what he is talking about. My head is empty.”

  “That’s the truth.” Mya scoffed at him with jest to receive a scowl back. “Come over here, and I will try and help you again.” Mya beckoned him over with a finger, keeping her eyes on the fire.

  Faer stepped off his bedroll and sat down beside the small fire. Stretching his legs out towards the fire he watched Mya, sitting her statue form.

  “Focus on the spell. Empty your thoughts of the world around you. Like a Furhdrae does with its prey.”

  “Furhdrae?” Faer cocked his head to the side turning to her with a raised eyebrow.

  “Shadow assassins that are created by the Neightur. Created for one purpose alone, death. During the creation, they are made almost mindless. They will stop at nothing to get their target, feel little pain because their mind is blank, so focused. There isn’t anything that will get in their way, nothing can distract them, very little can stop them.” Mya took a slow breath and closed her eyes. “One thing that Turi worked on with me during my focus sessions, was to pinch me or poke me while I was trying to cast a spell, usually Jaxson or Tarra.”

  “I know about the distraction technique; those two imps don’t really offer much help for me”

  “Turi does mention casting your spell from the back of your mind, one of the more difficult things to do or train for. It’s one thing to clear your mind of all your memories and emotions but to use the subconscious for the cast will generate a cleaner and more powerful spell. Other than that, practice is your best friend.” Mya kept tapping the side of her head with a forefinger as she softly spoke.

  “You need to train your mind to forget everything you have ever known, commit yourself to the single focus you are wanting.” Every time that her finger touched her head the flames in front of them popped a little bit more as if they were dancing to a beat of her fingers.

  “I can keep trying but I don’t have the blood like you do.”

  “My blood has nothing to do with it Faer.” Mya snapped at him, “it may give me a natural affinity to the flow of everything the Dragons give to this world, but it doesn’t make my magic stronger. Turi doesn’t have the blood, and he is a far more powerful caster than myself or any other mage that the Keep knows of.”

  “One of the reasons why I did not want to go with you on your journey. There is so much that I need to work on, to train for. Is it at all possible for you to talk to Turi, let me finish my studies without the interruption of another adventure?” Faer kept his scowl, making Mya laugh at his frustration.

  “I will talk to him once we get back to tower.” Mya stretched out her legs towards the end of her bed roll. Faer watched her from the corner of his eye as she unclipped her belts and slid off her boots. Faer turned his focus back to the fire when Mya flipped over a blanket and turned her back to the fire.

  Leaning back against his hands, his fingers dug into the loose earth, scaring a few insects who were trying to keep warm against the fire. Umbrella trees always had an assortment of things that lived around them, the warmth from the heart and the dry belly of the tree was the perfect spot for any living thing to make a comfortable home.

  His eyes remained on the fire, focusing more and more on the snap and flicker of the flames as they licked at the air. It was alive, moving on its own and speaking a language lost to the ages. Relaxing his body Faer took a deep breath, closed his eyes and slowly exhaled towards the fire. The flames died down close to embers as he did, the air around him chilled slightly and faded into the dim blue glow from the Umbrella heart. A shimmer of the blue light against him made his whole body seem to flicker along with it.

  Inhaling once again, the lashes of flame shot back up, beginning its conversation again and flooding light back into the space. Faer slyly smiled to one side and brought his feet under him to stand. Taking a couple steps backwards toward his bed, Faer flopped down on to the blanket kicking out dirt with his heels and pushed down to pull his feet out. Pulling off any loose pieces of his garments, he slid his feet under his bedding and rolled away from the fire.

  Mya lifted her head gently to look at Faer over her shoulder. After a thoughtful pause, she turned toward the fire and with a deep breath, she exhaled quickly toward the dancing flames at their feeble attempt at its nightly ballet. The fire instantly disappeared to a smokeless charcoal and the comforting light from the trees heart, embraced the room once again.

 
Chapter 2

  Light crept through the cracks of the entry branches, slowly scanning the ground like search lights in a prison. A subtle breeze made its way into the area and gently shifted the few loose leaves on the ground. Small collection of insects that congregated throughout the night scuttled away at the sudden movement, before the morning guards found them in their search.

  There was a scent of blood and sweat that carried on the current, soft distant sounds of combat with heavier impact noises of stone on stone. Mya and Faer lay silent under their blankets, neither one moving or making a noise. It was like the deathly crypt of Mirror Lake had caught up to them and sucked them into the darkness, mere corpses with how still everything rested.

  Faer shot his eyes open to the sound of an explosion shaking the Journey Tree, jerking him into a sitting position. Instantly shifting his gaze over at Mya, she was still sound asleep, and he stood to explore what woke him forcing his blanket to slide off his body to the ground in a heap.

  Tip toeing his way to the entrance of the tree as to not step on anything sharp, he kept an eye on the flooring to dodge small rocks and twigs under his bare feet. The morning heat could be felt seeping towards him with each step. A slight fog could be seen through the opening which stretched back and easily took over the valley. The blood and battle scent filled his nostrils as he childishly poked his head from the tree, squinting against the sun before fully existing the tree. He waited a moment while his eyes adjusted to the light, the blur of a fog filled valley soon sharpened into the muddy battle scene.

  An army of thousands running about, trying to get into formation, gathering weapons and tending to the wounded. Catapults, trebuchets, and a massive battering ram could be seen at the city main gate. Three towering Gurge hulked over the massing horde of orcs and goblins.

  Their massive form stood easily at the same height as the siege towers even though they were hunched over and walked on their fists like a gorilla. Their scaly skin made them look like they were the offspring of a wyvern mixed with and a giant troll. A face easily looking like a troll; giant black eyes and a massive toad style mouth full of flat pillar teeth, and a smile of an imbecilic smeared across, unable to be removed.

  Faer briefly thought about a tutor lesson he had, ‘If you ever found yourself trapped inside the mouth of a Gurge, the only safe place would be between its teeth’. Shaking his head at the realism of the monstrous creatures, Faer couldn’t help but think back to the books he read about them. From rarely being seen outside the Darkelands; they only left unless the Darke were desperate or at war. He had never seen one before and the last reported sighting he knew of, was nearly two hundred years ago; only stories of drunken soldiers and mad old men.

  Scanning over the rest of the armaments, tents, and siege tools, Faer’s eyes finally came to a halt on the two giant turtle looking creatures off to the side of the main gate. They had the looked exactly like a typical land turtle, only grossly larger. If they were able to stand on their hind legs, they could easily fall over the city walls. Faer could make out hundreds of slender figures running around at the feet of the turtles; squinting to focus on them, he could make out that they were pale skinned and Elven.

  Usually the Darke lands armies consisted of Orcs and Goblins as to spare the lives of their citizens and they rarely came out of their mountain keep. Keeping the scan moving, he trickled across the hordes from side to side and stopped at a particular tall standing elf. With his eyes wide in shock, he fell back inside the Umbrella Tree.

  “Mya wake up.” Faer kept his eyes on the entrance to the tree, “Mya, wake up!”

  “What? You really can be annoying in the morning.” Mya rubbed her eyes as she sat up.

  “Grinn.”

  “Where?” Mya’s eyes shot open wide and quickly rose from her pillow with her dagger in hand.

  “We have a problem.” Faer turned his head slowly, signaling towards the opening in the tree.

  Mya kept her eyes on Faer a she stood from her bed, rubbed her right eye again to free the sleep in the corner of her eye and walked slowly towards the break in the branches. Her form slid along like a shadow as she stepped over Faer’s outstretched legs. She bent over slowly in fear of what she would witness outside and slowly pushed her head into the sunlight.

  “It’s just a Darke army, are you sure you could see Grinn?” Mya spoke into the leaves of the tree but still faintly heard.

  “Look at the city main gate, a little to the south.”

  With his words repeating in her head, she stepped out further into the morning light and brought the entire surge of the army into sight. Scanning the gate, she shook her head at the turtles and clenched her jaw at the sight of the Gurge. There had always been problems with the Darke lands attacking, but never to this scale, never directly at the palace. Mya finally stopped with her eyes squinting on a figure who was standing with a pair of dark cloaked guards to either side of him. Raising his arms up, point and shouting orders to everyone around, the two beside stood still. Metallic glitter of the gold against the charred black in his armor was a dead giveaway.

  Grand Marshall Grinn, Warlord of the Darke armies and second hand to Lord Braash. That would mean that his battalion of Darkemine were here as well. Knowing that the Darkemine were his personal guard, handpicked selection of sorcerers, swordsmen, and expert ranking infiltrators. Mya felt the fear of the elite Darke lands being used for their purpose.

  “We need to get into the palace. Fast.” Mya slipped back under the branches, turning to Faer with a very serious look.

  Watching as he scurried over to his messy bed roll and grabbing the end to shake it off, Faer quickly rolled it back into a ball and stuffed it into the top of his pack. Following his lead, Mya quickly gathered up a couple odds and ends that fell from her bag while she stuffed her blanket through the top hole of her own pack. With everything finally in its place, Faer had strapped his boots on before she could even pull her top flap down over her bedding. The quickest he had ever gotten things started in a day.

  Before she pulled her boots on, Mya shook them out to make sure there wasn’t going to be any surprises. A small pebble fell to the ground and rolled a few feet away. Mya kept a sharp eye on it before it finally came to a halt and raised an eyebrow in question. After a second to make sure it didn’t keep moving, she finished pulling on her boots and slung her pack over her shoulder.

  Tulcarna was home to an odd assortment of bugs and rodents, the Rocscub insect took the form of a small pebble, mimicking an ideal skipping stone. They liked dry dark places, usually finding refuge in boots or the bottom of bags. Laying eggs where they came to rest for a few hours. After a short time after, when the eggs were broken by a foot or odd item in the bag, thousands of baby Rocscub would break free and devour the closest meaty object. Their speed and appetite could chase down almost anything and consume it before the hour was up. They claimed many adventurers and travelers along the paths and very hard to control when the egg pops. Gestation on the eggs was fast enough that only a night’s sleep would be more time to get in, lay the egg and escape. The eggs would also take the form of a skipping stone, just slightly smaller.

  “Which way should we approach?” Faer had not left the entrance to the Umbrella Tree since he had got ready.

  Mya finally had her things in place and pushed her arm through the other strap on her pack. Bouncing it into place, she pulled on her tunic and cloak which had folded in the back below the pack.

  “We head down to the south and work our way through the edge of camp until we get to the south tower passage. From what I saw, most of their forces are congregating closer to the gate which, should give us enough room and time to get to the tunnels. They may not know that Grinn is here, but we need to get inside and let Turi know.” Mya waited until he nodded at her before stepped forward.

  Faer stepped out into sun, pulling his hood up to shadow his face. Mya followed close behind him, mimicking his steps and flipping up her hood. The colouring of thei
r cloaks slowly darkened, blending into the greens and browns of the background, giving them a chameleon’s stealth.

  Keeping the corner of their eye on the army below as they glided down the slope. The amount of movement in the valley with the excitement of the fight would be hard to keep them cloaked if they were not careful. Luckily, there was a small wooded area that lined the valley, something easily utilized. It would not cover them the whole way to the passage but long enough once they got a certain area of the valley, forcing them to duck into the camps and skip from tent to tent for cover for portion of the way.

  With a gesture of her hand, Mya directed Faer to dodged off the path between two trees and onto a small goat trail through the brush. With the enclosed nature of the path, it looked like only small animals had been using it for some time. Keeping their distance from each other to not cause a trip, they took turns holding branches back from breaking or whipping back and making noise. Even though they were a distance from the Darke forces, there could be scouts wandering around that could be alerted, a trouble they were hoping to avoid.

  It’s was always a curiosity to Faer how all the random patches of foliage scattering the Elven province kept so clean, the rest of Tulcarna called the Uridine countryside ‘Freyolin’s pacing ground’. Small groupings of plant life spaced like footprints from the dragon maybe. It was only fitting that the Elves made this corner of Tulcarna their home.

  He had to catch up to Mya after noticing he was falling behind; she had slowed as they got closer to the end of the path. The path, although very hidden, was still visible from the clearing. Faer could see the everything from their vantage but knew that they had to be quick before someone saw them.