Elas Past
Kane
‘But how? You say that he would have felt the travelling, and would have known that we were there.’
‘Not we. He would know only that someone travelled. That is all he knows. Only on one other time did I use the rod in his presence, and that was long ago. His fury then was great… hundreds died when he was thwarted in its return.’
‘Return? What you mean by that? Is the rod his? Is that where it came from?’ I asked incredulously.
‘This,’ Anna said, as she held out the rod in front of herself, ‘is what brought Dar'cen to our world. This and…’ her voice trailed off.
‘The other is of no consequence now. Suffice it to say that if he is close enough he can sense the rod if it is used… and that he will move mountains to have it returned. For that reason alone we must never let him have it. It is our one advantage… that and you.’
‘How do you know that he wants it, and that he feels when it is used?’
Anna hesitated. ‘I am aware of him. As soon as the changed Ella’ren activated the rod as he caught it, I felt Dar'cen become alert… his thoughts, his being filled me. I knew instantly that he had felt the travelling, and that he knew where the rod was.’
I stared at her, astonished at what she’d said. ‘You feel him, you know his thoughts?’
‘I know his being,’ Anna answered, almost in a whisper.
‘For an instant, I know all of him; all of his thoughts, all of his desires, all that he has ever been. And then, as with the fleeting memories of a dream, a nightmare even, it is all gone, and I remember none of it… except for the terror of my having known.’
Anna seemed to tremble as she finished. ‘I remember only that he is vile beyond belief, evil beyond comprehension, and that he intends to destroy us all. He does not seek power and wealth; he does not wish to rule. He only seeks to destroy our whole world… and feed off of all our deaths.’ Tear filled her eyes she finished.
I pulled her close to me and held her as she sobbed.
‘I, too, have felt him, Anna. What you say is true… but we will defeat him. Freeing Gremok is but the first step in returning peace to this world.’ For a time, was the thought I did not add, dare not add. How much did Anna’s prophecies tell her? How much did she know?
There was so very much I could tell her of what was to come, but she would not, could not she said, allow me to speak of such things. And for her part, she held back so much of what her dreams and her prophecies foretold.
Our relationship was all but impossible – we seem to lurched together towards the future, one of us blind, the other deaf, with neither of us able to speak.
‘Enough,’ she said, pulling away from me. ‘Tears will solve nothing. We must return. I will take us as close as I dare with the rod, and then we must retrace our steps as Nargu.’
‘And if he now watches for us?’
‘He felt the distortion caused by travelling and…’
‘And what, Anna?’
‘He will know that his creature is gone. He will guess what happened to it… given that its loss and the travelling occurred together, and—’
‘And now he will keep careful watch over the remaining Ella'ren… this task now seems all but impossible, Anna.’
‘And yet if we fail he will have an army the likes of which the world has never known. He will capture and turn all the Ella'ren. Nothing will stop him.’
Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.
I wanted to say that it was impossible to catch an Ella'ren, but with the nine he has, nine and Gremok I reminded myself, he could do almost anything.
‘When do we leave?’
‘Come. He will not expect us to return so soon, if at all. He believes that all fear him, and he does not understand the concept of bravery.’
‘Stupidity, you mean.’ I muttered.
‘That, too,’ Anna replied with a grin.
####
‘So we walk from here on foot?’
‘Yes, on foot. I have brought us as close as I dare. Too close and he will sense the use of the rod. And before you ask, I do not know how close, too close is. After the first time, I have used the rod sparingly, and never when I have believed him to be near… until today that is. Come, we waste time.’
‘Disguises?’
‘They are still in place, Kane, as I told you but a few hours ago.’
‘Yes you did, but I still find it strange, very strange. I wear this magic that makes me appear as a Nargu… on top of the other… the, what did you call it, a Disruptor or some-such?’
‘Yes, it is a Disruptor. How many times must I explain?’ Anna said, in frustration. ‘I placed it upon you because you refuse to wear the mask and cloak that I gave you. It hides you, all of you from Dar’cen and his followers—’
‘Yes, I know all that. But why? Why must he not know me?’
I already had a damn good idea – if he had ever seen what Al'kar truly looked like, he would have destroyed me the instant we met rather than change me as he had – but Anna didn’t know that, she knew nothing of my life before I came to her as Al'kar. So what reason did she and her prophecies have for hiding me?
‘Why? Because… because my dreams told me that it must be so.’
‘And that is all? You have no clue as to why… other than what you dreams have shown?’
'Do not mock my dreams, Kane. They have driven my life thus far… and never have they given cause for mirth. To ignore them would be my end… I fear it would be the end of all of us. Do not mock me.’ Her voice was quiet and yet hard, more serious than I had heard in our short time together.
Heat filled my cheeks as I felt ashamed at how I had badgered her.
‘I am sorry, Anna. I did not mean to mock your dreams, or the prophecies that you have dedicated your life to. It is just that I sometimes become frustrated with what you demand of me without explanation… but that is no excuse. It will not happen again.’
Anna huffed as she said, ‘Oh, I am sure that it will,’ but there was a sparkle in her eyes and a hint of a smile at the corner of her mouth. ‘Speak of it no more, and let us be off… I would like to get to the stones as light fails if we can… a little dark may help with our deception.’
And so we set out at a trot, the slow, loping gait of a Nargu on an errant but not being compelled by threat or promise – they were lazy creatures.
An hour passed before we again saw the devastation of Alfent in the distance. From our vantage, looking down, an almost perfect circle encompassed the town. The perimeter of the circle was a demarcation – outside the land was green, healthy and lush; inside everything was black, burnt and devastated.
‘What did he do here?’ I asked.
‘His weapons of war have evolved over time. This I have seen once before in Orwen, the Smalite capital. Though there, the destruction was far greater… no one knows what it was he did, for none survived in the city, nor in the surrounding townships. The only witnesses, a league or more away, told of a blinding light followed by a wind that took down their fences, tore away the roofs, and took the lives of any that were not sheltered. After, they said that a great cloud lay over the land where Orwen had been. A cloud that dispersed only after weeks had passed.’
‘Why though? What does he gain?’
‘To crush those that resist him… and set an example to those that remain. After he so easily eliminated the entire Smalite race, without so much as a warning, he put an end to those that would resist him… Almost all then knelt before him. We resist, and a few others across the globe… So now his examples need not be so dramatic as with the Orwen and the purge of the Smalites.’
‘I wish that I had not asked, Anna. Dwelling on his evil will not help us… we need to remain focused on the task in hand.
'We must make our way through the remains of Alfent if we are to reach the stones before full dark… to skirt around will take far too long.’
‘Agreed, let us be off, then. But be very careful now, for Nargu and perhaps his changed Ella'ren will hunt us. He may not think any brave enough to return, but he is no fool.’
I led, Anna followed, with both of us extending our every sense into the rubble and devastation that surrounded us. We now walked slowly, and warily, as would be expected of Nargu, Nargu deserters that is. That was now Anna's plan as we grew near.
As deserters we would be taken to his lair, to his dungeons, to become his playthings when the desire took him. He did not care for life, but he was not wasteful – he always kept a stock of his pleasures, his food, on hand.
Our disguises had now taken on a bedraggled look – our clothes were worn and ragged, and we carried no weapons, no visible weapons that is – my knives and sword were hidden by the magic of Anna's disguise.
‘We hunt for a patrol,’ Anna had said, ‘and then we appear startled by them and flee. Obviously we let them capture us… and we must cringe and beg as true Nargu would. But that, my magic cannot fake for us… we must convince them.’
That was the part I was not happy with – I had done a lifetime of begging when he had held me captive. It was now something that would not come easily.