Hallik

A deep sound vibrated through the ground, and Hallik stared wide-eyed at Bjorn and Elowyn in turn. He and Bjorn had just finished their duel, which, to Hallik’s great pleasure, he had won. “Was that an earthquake?”

“No, look,” Elowyn pointed toward Tower of Tarn.

Hallik looked over his shoulder at the tower, just visible over the edge of the wall. Black smoke swirled around its surface as though alive. “By the depths. What is that?”

“I don’t know,” Elowyn said, shaking her head.

That was a response that Hallik might have otherwise reveled hearing Elowyn say, but not this time.

Lind came sprinting down the stairs of the ramparts. The tip of his axe glowed with an amber light, likely imbued with a spell. Some other students and staff ran out to the courtyard to catch a glimpse.

“Was that a fire?” Hallik asked as Lind strode by.

“No,” Lind said without even glancing at them. “Stay here. I will need to investigate.” He went straight out the gate into the city at a light jog.

Wordlessly, Bjorn followed after, and nobody tried to stop him.

Hallik looked at Elowyn.

“Hal,” she said as though reading his mind. “Lind said to stay here.”

“Lind was supposed to stay here too,” Hallik said. “If there’s trouble, he has no backup. Also we can’t let Bjorn go off and get himself killed. We’re the ones that brought him to the city.”

Elowyn shook her head and strode off toward the gate.

Hallik smiled and bounced after her. “Too stubborn to agree with me, then?”

“Not verbally, no,” Elowyn said. “I can’t have you thinking you have good ideas.”

Another tremor shook the ground and a jet of smoke erupted from one of the windows at Tower of Tarn. The smoke coiled around the tower before sucking back in through another window. They increased their pace to a jog as the streets filled with curious citizens.

“Why are you smiling?” Elowyn said.

Hallik’s smile disappeared. He hadn’t even realized it was there.

“You do realize that the Grimnir Guard could have been destroyed and that something else is already ravaging Tower of Tarn. Our civilization could be on the verge of collapse. Bjorn feels that it's already imminent.”

“I don’t know,” Hallik said. “I just… I have hope, I guess. Things will turn out okay as long as we don’t give up.”

Elowyn didn’t answer, but they did catch sight of Bjorn up ahead. They increased their pace to catch up. When they reached the base of Tower of Tarn, a crowd of people were fleeing the building. Lind stood at the bottom of the steps leading up into the tower, slowly working his way up.

People were shouting about a demon. Bjorn, Hallik, and Elowyn all caught up with Lind before he entered the building. He was interrogating a militiaman. The man trembled, face pale, clutching a spear with a white-knuckled grip. His voice was frantic. “It-it’s a demon! Covered in shadow! It consumes everyone!” He seemed on the verge of tears.

“What’s it doing? Just killing people?” Lind asked.

“Y-yes, I mean, no, it’s going room-to-room as if looking for something.”

Lind noticed their presence and looked back at them with a scowl. “I told you to stay.”

“You need the help,” Hallik said.

Lind stared at each of them in turn while the militiaman ran away. “Bah. Stay behind me. This sounds like something much more dangerous than your average monster, but if I can’t stop it, then the whole of Dalstava might be doomed.”

“Sounds like my kind of monster,” Bjorn said, withdrawing one of his knives from a sheath on his arm, “though I have not been foolish enough to face a demon yet.”

“We’ll all be fools together,” Lind said. He turned and strode toward the open double doors. “Come then.”

Hallik let out a long breath and followed right behind Bjorn.

“Is it a shadow demon, then?” Elowyn asked.

“Perhaps,” Lind said. “There are several dark creatures that can control mist and shadow. Some people have said that all they’ve seen is burning eyes and swirling smoke. I suppose anybody who has seen more than that is already dead.”

The large entry room to the tower was completely bare. It was the first time Hallik had seen this place empty, and it only added to the eariness of their situation. The tall ceiling was looming.

“Stay alert,” Lind said. “With shadow magic, this beast could potentially attack from any angle and might even move soundlessly. You’ll need to rely on sight. Nature’s rays!” Lind shouted and tumbled to the ground, barely catching himself after tripping on a long, tipped candle holder.

Elowyn rushed to help Lind back up.

“Shall I take the lead?” Bjorn said.

Lind didn’t respond, but continued leading the way after getting back to his feet. “It’s likely still on the upper floors.” He steered them towards the stairs that led up to the second floor.

There was no other sound besides their own footfalls as they went up the stairs. Hallik had to wonder what force it was that could have shaken the ground like it did earlier. Would a shadow demon have such strength? He wasn’t as expert on his monster studies like Elowyn, or Lind, or probably even Bjorn, but they didn’t seem to question the likelihood of that kind of beast being responsible.

They cleared the whole second floor, then started up to the third. Shortly after they hit the third floor, another vibration shook the whole building. They could sense it more this time though, as the source of the vibration was clearly coming from above them. They didn’t bother clearing the third floor, but Lind led them straight to the stairs to the fourth.

Lind pointed at what looked like steam that curled off the top of the stone on the final step. Hallik might not have noticed it otherwise. This was it. Hallik switched the grip on his sword and wiped his sweaty palm on his pants. As they carefully came up the stairs and rounded the corner, Hallik could feel a pressure in the air as if it was thick with humidity. There was power here. They were not going to die.

Lind’s axe glowed brighter as they entered the main room, a long, blockish space that extended to either side of the building where tall, slightly opaque glass windows stretched from floor to ceiling, glittering with orange white light that filtered through. The stairs to the next floor were on the other side of the room, but they were obstructed by a wall of bubbling black mist. If Elowyn sat on Hallik’s shoulders, she’d probably be able to reach the top of it. Tendrils of the mist flowed across the floor. The mist coiled and writhed with life, refusing to dissipate.

Four flickering flames gleamed out from the depths of the mist near the top middle area, and it took Hallik a moment to realize they were eyes. A voice resonated from the mist, deep and masculine. “Vitugr. Mmm. Delectable.”

“Not a demon,” Elowyn muttered, her voice a terrified whisper.

Well, that wasn’t encouraging. “Then what is it?” Hallik hissed.

Lind hushed them. “Stand back.”

“You don’t have the blade, but I can still consume,” the monster said. Two pillars of smoke whipped towards them like snakes.

Lind grunted and thrust one of his arms forward. An explosion of wind swept through the room, blowing the mist back. For a brief moment, it revealed the creature hidden within the mist. It looked like a hairless, humanoid bear with a frighteningly hulking musculature, and a four-eyed face with a hanging jaw and massive fangs.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

After the blast, the mist returned like coiling hairs across its body.

“Now that was awkward,” the monster said, shaking out its arms as the mist rebuilt.

The fact that the monster was speaking was odd to Hallik. It had an animal head, after all. “Why a bear monster?” Hallik muttered. “Couldn’t it have been a rabbit?”

Elowyn hushed him this time. “It’s an Ashimal. A shadow spirit that has taken a body and manifests in physical form.”

“Uh huh,” Hallik said, bouncing his sword in his hand. “So we can stab it?”

“Yes, we can stab it,” Elowyn said as Lind launched an icy spear at the beast. The beast waved an arm to bat at the spear, but Lind splintered it into four separate pieces, each aimed at different parts. It blocked the one aimed at its head, but the other three disappeared into the mist, causing some unknowable damage.

“We can stab it, Bjorn,” Hallik said. “You’d like that.”

Bjorn was… gone. Hallik hadn’t noticed the man leave or anything. He’d simply vanished. Perhaps he’d bolted, realizing they were in over their heads. He hadn’t survived outside of Avskild by being a fool.

“Mmm. Nothing like a good stabbing,” the monster said. It flowed towards them across the floor. It’s snakelike, misty tentacles whipped at them again.

Lind took a sharp breath before launching another blast of air, forcing the mist away a second time. He released a gasp this time after the spell dissipated against the far wall. Without losing a stride, he took another step forward and a small beam of purple light launched from Lind’s palm, blasting the bear monster right in the chest.

It let out a noise that sounded like a gruff giggle. Instead of using its tendrils of mist to attack, it barrelled forward, still on two legs. Its gaping jaws hung open so wide it could probably swallow all of them in one gulp.

Hallik and Elowyn spread to either side of Lind, but the beast closed the distance in the span of a couple heartbeats. Lind jumped towards the beast, raising his glowing axe over his head. He brought the axe down just as the beast crashed into him. Without waiting to see if his instructor had just died, Hallik lunged in from the side, thrusting his sword into the shadowy mist. His blade grazed across something, so he thrust again, definitely piercing flesh that time. A massive force crashed into Hallik’s shoulder, tossing him aside as though he’d been a small child.

“Mmm,” the beast said again, and Hallik was getting rather sick of hearing it make that sound. It smacked its lips as though it had just eaten something delicious. “I haven’t had Vitugr in a long time.

Lind’s glowing axe was embedded in the beast’s head. It was right between the four eyes. But Lind was… gone. Four misty tendrils had grabbed onto each of Elowyn’s limbs. The beast held her in the air as she kicked and struggled. Her dagger was gripped in one hand, but she couldn’t even use it.

The beast turned its burning eyes on Hallik. It smacked its lips again.

Hallik still couldn’t process what had happened. “Lind?” he said, barely able to tear his eyes away from the monster. There was no sign of him.

“It ate him,” Elowyn said, voice quivering with rage.

Just like that? An empty void filled Hallik’s brain, shutting off as if to protect him from the quick spike of panic that almost immediately vanished as a coil of mist sprang towards him. Hallik spun to the side to avoid it, his blade passing through the coil of mist without doing any visible damage. He stabbed his sword into the misty body of the beast, wedging deep into flesh. Before he could pull the weapon free, a solid, fleshy hand grabbed Hallik by the torso and lifted him into the air. He clawed at the hand, digging his nails into it, but the beast didn’t even flinch.

“Mmm. I’ll eat you next,” the beast said, drawing Hallik close to its mouth. He could feel the warm, fetid breath blow across his face like poisoned steam. By the depths, he was about to die. For all his hoping, he had never actually considered the idea that he would die so easily.

Elowyn screamed, but no sound would stop the beast now.

The jaws opened wide, ready to swallow him whole.

The beast roared, head jerking back. Lind’s axe, still embedded in its head, flared with blue fire and sank a little deeper. Its misty tendrils flickered enough for Elowyn to break free. The beast’s arm flicked out, allowing Hallik to see Bjorn running up from behind, a dagger held in either of his hands. Bjorn jumped and landed on the beast’s back, daggers tearing into it. Another dagger whipped through the air, stabbing into the back of the hand holding Hallik.

Hallik pulled the dagger free and stabbed at each of the beast’s fingers. It dropped him and spun around, lashing out for Bjorn. A cloud of black mist exploded into the air with a deep, rumbling sound. The entire building shook, and Hallik fell to his knees, unable to breath through the thickness in the air. It felt like sludge had coated his throat.

The beast roared. Its head was still visible, even through the dark shroud. Lind’s axe blazed like the sun for a brief moment before a burst of light flashed, blinding Hallik even more than the darkness had. He blinked rapidly, but the whiteness didn’t leave his vision. Waves of energy pulsed through the floor.

The whiteness came to an abrupt end with the sound of a hundred sheets of fabric being torn at the same time.

The feeling of sludge in his throat disappeared, and Hallik gasped for air, his vision slowly returning. He got back to his feet, prepared to attack the beast again, but he saw its bearlike shape crumpled on the floor, body split in half through the middle.

Lind’s body lay in the middle of the beast, covered in gore and gasping for breath.

Bjorn was picking himself up off the ground, shaking his head.

“Lind!” Elowyn said, running to his side. Hallik rushed to aid them. Lind said nothing as the two of them helped pull him out of the monster’s body. He must have been inside its stomach. The stench was horrible, like that of long-dead fish.

Bjorn gawked at the scene, one of his daggers still clutched loosely in his right hand. A mess of the monster’s blood soaked the right half of Bjorn’s body.

“You survived,” Hallik said to Lind, wiping away some of the muck from Lind’s face.

Lind caught his breath, still laying in a heap after they’d pulled him out. “Barely,” he said.

Hallik wasn’t sure if Lind was injured. His body was so covered in the disgusting mess that he couldn’t tell if any of the blood was Lind’s.

“Are you hurt?” Elowyn asked. She was looking all around Lind’s body, inspecting for wounds.

“Yes,” Lind said. “My legs. Both of them. It bit me once before swallowing.”

“We’ll get a healer,” Elowyn said. “My mother will have something.”

Selke rarely entered Dalstava, but she’d certainly make an exception to visit the head instructor of Castle Vrodr.

“Also, something pierced me near the hip right at the end there,” Lind said, touching his side with his fingertips.

“That was… probably me,” Bjorn said, looking down at his bloody hand. “My apologies.”

“All is forgiven,” Lind said. “That sudden pain actually gave me enough lucidity to cast a couple more spells. I activated a retrieval spell on my axe which forced it deeper into the beast’s head, then I used the opening from your dagger to push all the surrounding fluids directly out of its body. I think that sudden force split it in half.”

“Yes,” Bjorn said, looking down at himself. “I see that.”

“By the depths, Bjorn,” Hallik said. “I’m detecting a pattern with you. Waiting until the last moment to finally make your move. We could have all died.”

“But we didn’t,” Bjorn said, eyes on Lind. “Surprisingly.”

Hallik got to his feet, suddenly angry. He jabbed a finger at Bjorn. “Look, I get it. You’ve been a lone wolf for a while, but if you’re going to be a part of this team, you need to learn how to work together. Alone we are weak, but together,” he paused to gesture at the dead monster, “we can do the impossible.”

Bjorn’s frown remained embedded on his face like a tattoo, but his jaw shifted slowly until he finally spoke. “I’m not part of any team.”

Hallik saw it then. There was a glint of something in Bjorn’s eyes, like a sadness or longing. He liked to pose as this heartless, hopeless person, hardened beyond repair, but the truth was that if Bjorn wanted to be somewhere else, he’d be there. Not here. Not with them. With his skills, he could have snuck out of Dalstava easily, and yet here he remained. “Sure,” Hallik said, “keep telling yourself that while you tag along with us, but the next time we come across a battle, just remember that we try to keep each other alive. Got it?”

The muscles in Bjorn’s jaw twitched, but nobody else said anything as he stepped over to Hallik. He held out his dagger, but Hallik didn’t even flinch. Bjorn wiped the dagger on Hallik’s clothes before sheathing it and taking the other dagger from Hallik’s hand and doing the same. “I didn’t let you or Elowyn get killed, did I?” His voice was little more than a raspy whisper.

“He’s just trying to check off other monsters on his list, Hal,” Elowyn said, her expression sour as she inspected Lind’s wounds. Lind still seemed like he was just barely holding on to consciousness.

“Probably true,” Hallik said, walking around Bjorn to retrieve his sword, “but he can still be a nice member of the team while doing that.”

“Should we carry him out of here?” Elowyn asked, changing the subject.

“I might be too big for that,” Lind said.

“Fetch your healer,” Bjorn said. “He could bleed out if you carry him. Elevate his legs. I can keep watch here with him if you need.”

Hallik regarded Bjorn once again. His stony facade had returned, but as Hallik had predicted, Bjorn wanted to be with them. For now at least. And as long as he was sticking with them, he’d play by their rules. Things were different here in Avskild than they were outside.

“Is it dead?” a voice asked from the stairway leading up to the fifth floor.

Hallik jumped at the voice, almost drawing his weapon until he saw a familiar face.

Lorelai came down the stairs, walking tentatively, eyes glancing between the four of them and the dead monster. She clutched some ornate dagger in her hand.

Hallik sighed inwardly. Everyone really does have a fancy dagger except for me.

“It’s dead,” Lind said. “Do you know where it came from?”

Lorelai slowly came closer, and she did not answer immediately. “I… I’m not sure.” She didn’t meet any of their eyes, but stared only at the monster.

Hallik assumed Lorelai was still shocked by the whole thing, but he’d never once seen the woman in such a state. Also, what had she been doing on the fifth floor? Tower of Tarn was known for being practically barren on its upper floors except for where the Valtyras kept a space at the top.

He was about to ask Lorelai what she’d been doing up here, but didn’t feel like it was his place to question a ranking official when he was merely a Grimnir student. Thankfully, Lind seemed to piece together the same thing.

“Are you sure you have no knowledge of the beast?” Lind asked.

Lorelai’s response was delayed yet again. She glanced down at the dagger still clutched in her hands. Her skin had paled. She was nervous. Perhaps she’d done something wrong.

“It’s alright, Lorelai,” Lind said. “We’re only here to help.”

Lorelai looked at each of them, bit her lower lip, then nodded. “There’s something you should know about the king.”