Chapter One
Enemies, friends, suspicions rise
The answer in the future lies.
Night had fallen over the warm, still countryside. A soft summer breeze whispered its silent melody through the meadow grasses, continuing on over the gently sloping hills until it reached the gathering of small golden lights scattered by the dark border of the Valewood Forest. There its gentle presence was overwhelmed by the music and laughter of a night time festival.
Ferrian looked down from the hilltop at the little village and sighed. The summer breeze found his short blond hair and rustled it affectionately, like a father might do to a son. Starlight glinted in his strange silver eyes and the songs of the crickets and night birds joined in with the wind's soft melody. But the beauty of the night was lost on Ferrian.
Just another night, he thought. Just another town. Shifting his small pack to his left shoulder, he began to make his way wearily towards the golden lights.
The festival was well under way by the time Ferrian entered the town. Streamers and brightly coloured decorations lined balconies and footpaths, and cheerful music played in the background, somehow managing to make itself heard above the chatter of voices and laughter and clatter of wagon wheels. Crowds of people milled around in the streets, and the occasional rowdy cheer announced that the taverns certainly hadn’t gone unnoticed. Ferrian jostled his way through the crowd, the heat from the lamps making an already warm night stifling. But Ferrian didn’t mind the heat. Whereas other people were sweating and irritable, cursing and complaining, Ferrian welcomed it. I would rather have the heat any day than that accursed cold...
Ferrian swallowed nervously and tried to block the thought from his mind. No, I’m not going to think about that any more, he told himself, and concentrated instead on reaching the nearest tavern.
It wasn't easy. Beggars grabbed his arms every few feet, seeking a few spare coins for another glass of ale, and merchants shoved all manner of goods in his face, including a few dubious items that Ferrian couldn’t identify and didn’t think he wanted to.
The tide of the crowd finally pushed him up to the door of a large tavern called the Bramble Barn, and Ferrian decided this was as good a place as any to stop for the night. Besides, the dodgy merchants were still elbowing their way towards him, waving their gaudy trinkets. Ferrian went inside quickly.
It was even hotter inside than on the crowded streets, if that were possible. Inside his cloak, Ferrian was sweating profusely, but he dared not take it off lest someone recognise him. The tavern was crammed to the last seat with celebrating revellers, and smelled strongly of sweat, ale and smoke. No one even turned around when he entered.
Ferrian walked quickly over to the bar, where the barman greeted him. "Good Summersday, friend!" he said.
Ferrian stared. He was quite young for a barman, and although his tone was cheerful and he was grinning, there was something vaguely ill-disposed about his small peering pale eyes. He was dressed in gaudy festival garb, the colours clashing so violently that Ferrian was almost deafened by the parries. He tugged his hood down a little lower, scraped his fringe over his eyes and tried to avoid the barman's unnerving gaze. "Uh, isn't it nighttime?" he muttered.
"Ha!" the barman said. It was more of a statement than an actual laugh; Ferrian thought it sounded rather sarcastic. He was disliking this barman more and more by the second. "Care for a drink?" the strange, thin man inquired.
Ferrian nodded, placing two triangular jade coins in a neat stack on the counter. "And a room for the night, too, if that's possible," he added, worrying as he rummaged in his money pouch if he had enough coinage to spare.
The barman swept the javens away, at the same time shaking his head. He flourished his hand at the packed room. "No accommodation left to spare, friend," he informed the boy, still with that odd grin. "The taverns are popular at this time of year."
Ferrian sighed and stuffed his money pouch back in the pocket of his worn pants. "Never mind then."
"Where do you hail from, young friend?" the barman asked as he filled a glass tankard from a keg.
"Not here," Ferrian replied. He wasn't in a conversational mood, and the way the barman kept calling him 'friend' was starting to annoy him. He watched the man carefully from beneath his fringe. Something bothered Ferrian about him, but he wasn't sure what it was.
His drink materialised in front of him and Ferrian grabbed it and made at once for the door.
"Hoi!" the barman called.
Ferrian stopped in the middle of the crowd, but didn't turn around. His heart was beating very fast.
"Be sure to bring that tankard back when you've finished with it, friend! No fobbing it off to the purse-pinchers outside the door!"
Ferrian sagged a little in relief. He raised the glass in acknowledgement and continued to the door. In his haste to leave he ran straight into a burly man coming in and spilled his drink all over them both.
Thankfully, the man was already quite plastered and merely boomed with laughter, causing those sitting nearby to join in. As Ferrian scurried away, he heard the man's companions urging him to slurp the spillage up off the floor. He didn't look back to see if he took up the offer or not, instead preoccupied with finding a nice shadowy quiet place to sit and drink and think...
A cool black alley presented itself as though in answer to his wish. He slipped eagerly into its embrace.
A few paces later, he emerged onto a narrow street. There was nobody to be seen back here and no streetlamps, the only light came from the glow of the coloured lanterns on the main street filtered through gaps in the buildings. Ferrian could make out looming dark shapes on the opposite side of the road that he guessed must be trees. A park, he thought. Looking left and right, he crossed the road quickly and disappeared into the shadows.
Had he thought to look behind him at that moment, he would have glimpsed a dark shape briefly silhouetted at the end of the alley.
The park was pleasant enough, although the grass was dry; but there was a large pond in the centre, and this was where Ferrian decided to sit. Sipping his drink, Ferrian stared into the calm, mirrored waters, into his own silver eyes, and saw there reflected sadness, weariness.
There he saw the familiar cold, merciless ghost that would not let him be.
His curse.
He had been running ever since he was a child. Running away from everything-- his past, his present, but mostly his own looming, inevitable future. It wasn't that he was a coward, or perhaps he was, he thought gloomily. After all, what difference did it make? The outcome would be the same, whether he was brave or frightened or a fool, because he could not escape himself.
He ran because he had no other choice.
His earliest memory was of living with a gypsy caravan. He didn’t know who his parents were, or if they had ever been with the caravan at all. There always seemed to be someone different taking care of him. He smiled thinly as he remembered the colourful silks and beads they wore, reminding him curiously of the barman in the tavern. He remembered the scent of spices and the musky perfume the women always seemed to wear.
He remembered travelling a lot-- he always seemed to be travelling, even in those early days-- a different place nearly every day. But he hadn’t minded then. The gypsies had been kind to him, bringing him up like he was their own child.
But he wasn’t their child. He knew it instinctively, even though the gypsies never told him outright that this was so. But they visited many towns and Ferrian met other children who had parents, and so he began to wonder why he didn't have any of his own, why he called all the adults of his makeshift family by their first names and not mother or father. He began to wonder who his parents were, and then why they did not live with the caravan and whether or not they were still alive.
He had tried to talk about it with the gypsies, but they refused to talk about his real family. It had puzzled him then and it puzzled him now. Every time he had asked about them they somehow managed to slide the conversation onto a different topic. He had been very young then and eventually had simply given up, accepting that he was not supposed to know, hoping they might tell him one day when he was older. But there was one strange, elderly woman in the caravan, with black, straggling hair that made him think of rats' tails, that treated him differently than the others.
Oh, she was nice enough to him and took care of him, but every now and then he caught her looking at him out of the corner of his eye, and he was certain she knew a secret, something no one else in the caravan was aware of. But then one day something happened to change his life forever, and he finally realised why the old woman had been so suspicious of him.
It had been a fine spring day. The gypsies were on their way to Sel Varence, the capital city of Daroria, to trade silk and spices. The journey was a long one, and only half way finished when the caravan came upon the Barlakk Mountains.
There was only one known pass through the Barlakk Mountains. It consisted of a wide wooden bridge spanning a shallow river canyon, and was known as Merinriver Break. Normally the Break would be easily crossed, but this year the winter had been unusually harsh and melting snow on the mountain tops had caused a huge flood, which had rushed down through the canyon and smashed the bridge to pieces. Work to rebuild the bridge was already under way by the time the caravan got there, but repairs would not be finished for at least a month.
The gypsies were forced to stop and consider their options. They could either backtrack, taking the long way southwest to Skywater where the Barlakks dwindled into more easily passable hills, or they could wait here for the bridge to be rebuilt. After much discussion, it was finally decided that they would wait.
As far as Ferrian was concerned, it turned out to be the worst decision they could have made.
The bridge workers shared their supplies with the gypsies, so the caravan had plenty of food. But after a week or so the weather began to turn foul. Ominous looking clouds rolled in over the mountain peaks, blotting out the sunshine, and the temperature dropped with a suddenness that was startling. Workers and gypsies alike cursed the cold rain that fell in sheets and slowed progress of the bridge. Everyone assumed it was just bad luck that the weather should turn nasty now of all times, and fully expected to see the sun again within a week.
Unfortunately, their predictions came to nothing, as substanceless and devoid of hope as the mist that cloaked the canyon. The sun sank ever deeper into a quagmire of dark clouds, and every day seemed colder than the last. Then it began to snow. Work on the bridge slowed even further and finally stopped altogether. The workers huddled freezing in their tents, and the gypsies in their caravans, while the snow fell more and more heavily around them. With nothing else to do, they had plenty of time to think and to talk, and fear and suspicions arose as they dwelt on why they were having such bad luck. It soon became general opinion that this was no ordinary act of nature.
Then someone suggested it must be sorcery. Fear quickly turned to anger as they turned accusatory eyes on their companions.
It was that very night that the mysterious old woman with the black hair, known to Ferrian as Meriya, came to him as he lay huddled in a blanket in the back of one of the caravans. He was cold, certainly, but for some reason the others seemed to be suffering more than him. It was as if he was used to these freezing conditions-- but that was impossible, because the gypsies mainly stayed in the warmer climates. He had been lying awake, puzzling over this, when Meriya entered quietly.
"Ferrian, are you awake?" her grating voice whispered, barely audible above the howling of the wind outside. Ferrian looked up with bright, silvery eyes at the old, craggy figure, heavily cloaked and hooded, and opened his mouth to reply.
Instantly, Meriya clamped a strong, cold hand over his mouth and yanked him to his feet, cutting off his voice. "Just shut up and do as I say," she whispered harshly in his ear, and jerked him roughly to the door of the caravan.
Snatching his winter cloak from a hook on the wall, she ordered him to put it on. Ferrian did as he was told, too confused and frightened to argue. He waited in silence as Meriya lit a lantern, then she bustled him out of the caravan and into the freezing black night.
It seemed to Ferrian that they walked for hours in the blinding blizzard. He trudged slowly along through the deep snow, freezing and frightened, Meriya giving him a push every now and then to keep him moving. Sometimes he stumbled and fell, and when he did she cursed and hauled him to his feet so roughly that he thought she would yank his arm right out of its socket. His fingers and toes felt numb, and the wind hurled stinging ice into his face. He quickly lost all sense of direction in the whirling blackness, and all he could do was let Meriya lead him blindly on into the storm. She seemed to be angry with him, and Ferrian wondered miserably if he was being punished, though he couldn’t for the life of him think what he’d done to deserve this.
Finally, they stopped, and Meriya grabbed him by the shoulders and turned him around to face her. The wind howled deafeningly around them, almost drowning out her words. The lantern swung crazily on the belt at her side, the flame almost flickering out. "Ferrian!" she yelled above the storm. "You must stay here! Do not try to follow me back!"
Ferrian could hardly see her face through the darkness and whirling snow. Tears came into his eyes. "Am I being punished? Did I do something wrong?" he yelled back.
The old woman's voice was suddenly full of sympathy. "No, boy, you haven’t done anything wrong. But you can never return, do you understand me? You’ve brought the Winter on us all, and if you don’t leave now, we’ll all die!"
Ferrian yelled into the storm, the tears crystallising instantly into ice on his face. "But I don’t understand!"
Meriya had taken her hands from his shoulders and was turning to leave. She pulled her cloak more tightly around her frail body and unhitched the lantern from her belt. Calling back to Ferrian one last time before she left, she said: "I’m sorry boy, it’s not your fault..."
Then she turned and was gone, leaving him alone in the snow and pitch darkness.
Ferrian remembered that night vividly. He recalled staring after Meriya for a long time after she’d gone. Then, despite her warning not to, he’d followed her. It made no difference in any case. He’d been totally lost. He couldn’t see anything but pitch blackness, and the only sound he could hear was the mournful wail of the wind.
Why didn't I die that night? he thought with a mix of longing and frustration that the gods had been so cruel as to force him to live out his fate. Somehow, he managed to keep walking, even when he could no longer feel his feet or the sting of ice on his skin, even when his thoughts had retreated into a hazy fog. He barely remembered what he experienced out there in the darkness. His first distinct memory was of opening his eyes to find himself staring at a wall of ice, clear and blue like the sky was trapped inside.
He had turned around, stiffly, snow falling off him in heaps, to see the sun had found a chink in the clouds and was spilling long, fragile streamers into the valley.
There was a chasm right in front of him, snowflakes drifting serenely into its unimaginable depths. He would have shivered or gasped, or wondered why he had not fallen to his death in the darkness, but he was too numb and dazed to do any of those things. He had wandered far up into the mountains where the canyon narrowed into a cleft, and the great soaring waterfall that fed the Merinriver had turned to crystal.
It took him a whole day to find his way back to the gypsy encampment, but thankfully the weather improved a little as he walked. When he arrived at the Break, however, he found it deserted, the bridge completed and the gypsies and workers gone.
There were fresh tracks and the snow was churned up and muddy. Bits and pieces of things were lying around; personal belongings, litter, construction materials. Two tents were still standing. A package of dried fruit was spilled open on the ground near one of them, apparently dropped and forgotten. The camp looked as though it had been packed up and evacuated in great haste.
Ferrian ate the fruit and sat in the snow until a family travelling from the north took pity on him and gave him a ride back to the Outlands.
He shook his head at the memories. That was ten years ago. Back then, he’d had no idea what Meriya meant when she said You’ve brought the Winter on us all, but now he knew only too well. She’d known all along, that was why she had always been so suspicious of him. It wasn’t because she didn’t like him.
It was because she’d been afraid of him.
It had taken Ferrian years to fully understand why the gypsies, the only family he had ever known, had abandoned him; but the truth was that if he stayed in one place too long, the Winter would come.
At first, he had tried to ignore it, thinking it might play itself out, hoping he was deluded in assuming that the weather could change simply because of his presence. But the 'Winter', as old Meriya had referred to it, never went away. It simply became progressively worse until he was afraid that it might take someone's life. He had seen elderly women and young children rugged up and coughing because of it. He had seen roofs torn off houses in the violent storms that his curse created. Eventually, he was forced to admit (to himself only, he dared not speak of this with anyone else) that he was the cause, and the only way he could stop this from happening was to keep travelling, to leave each town or each place before the weather got too bad.
Thus, he’d been wandering from town to town ever since.
He hunched his knees up to his chest as though for protection from his ravaging secret. Some people already suspected him, of this he was certain. He’d stayed a little too long in some places, and a few canny observers had noticed that the bad weather had started when a stranger had arrived and gone when he left. He winced as he remembered a particularly nasty experience when he’d arrived at one village, only to be run out of town by the enraged villagers and accused of being an ‘Evil Spirit’. Rumours spread fast around these country villages, and his silver eyes made him conspicuous.
Ferrian plucked a dandelion from the ground where he sat, and tossed it idly into the still pond. He watched it float gently on the dark waters, against a background of reflected stars. I’m sick of it, he thought. I’m sick and tired of the running, of the fear. He felt so alone. Making friends was impossible-- every time he tried he was forced to leave suddenly, unable to explain to them why. More than once he’d wondered how this could have happened to him.
Maybe that's exactly what I am after all, he thought. An evil spirit. Despair settled around his shoulders like a cloak, and try as he might, he could not shake it off.
He rested his head on his updrawn knees. All his life seemed scarred with misery and fear, apart from those distant days before the madness, when he'd lived with the gypsies and played with their children, oblivious of his curse. Would he ever find happiness like that again?
It would be so easy, he thought in the silence of his head, to just slip beneath those dark waters. Then no one would ever have to see me or fear me again...
A strong hand grabbed Ferrian's shoulder, almost causing him to fall into the pond prematurely. He jumped to his feet, knocking away the hand, his own reaching for his knife.
"Whoa! Hold on there kid, I mean you no harm!" The stranger stepped back hastily, both hands raised to show he was unarmed. Ferrian put his knife away hesitantly. The stranger lowered his hands.
"Sorry about that, my boy. Didn’t mean to scare you." He held out his hand in greeting. "The name’s Trice. Commander Grisket Trice of the Freeroamers."
Ferrian stared at the hand warily. Freeroamers? He knew of them, of course. The Freeroamers were a small but dedicated group of law enforcers who patrolled the small towns and hamlets of the Outlands; places the King had deemed too insignificant for his precious officers of the City Watch.
Ferrian glanced off into the humid darkness, and his hands felt sticky with sweat. There was no one else around. The two of them were alone in the park.
The heavy ball of fear in his stomach started to swing with greater momentum. He had feared for a long time that the rumours of the Winter would eventually reach the Freeroamers. Had they finally found him out?
"Young lad like yourself shouldn't be hanging around back here at this hour," Commander Trice warned. "Especially by yourself."
He could not read anything in the other's eyes that would indicate he had discovered Ferrian's secret. Ferrian had to force himself not to swallow. He turned away and slumped back down on the grass. "I can look after myself," he muttered.
Commander Trice grunted. "If you say so." He walked over and settled himself beside Ferrian on the grass. "Mind if I join you?" he asked.
Ferrian glanced sidelong at the Commander and noticed that he, too, had brought a glass of beer with him. For some reason that evoked a prickly, disturbing feeling in Ferrian's spine.
He could not make out the details well in the gloom, but Trice appeared to be middle-aged, of average height and broad-shouldered. The way he held himself also suggested he was very fit and no doubt an experienced fighter. He wore the recognisable Freeroamer uniform: black with a cobalt left sleeve, accompanied by a sleek pointed hat with a long gold and black striped feather leaping from the band.
Trice sipped his beer and chatted casually, about the weather and other inconsequential things. Ferrian sat in silence, only half-listening. It was getting late, but the sounds of the festival drifting from the town centre were as animated as ever. Ferrian was tired from his journey, but the night was still stiflingly hot and he didn’t think he’d be able to sleep tonight anyway.
He remembered the dark thoughts that had clouded his mind just before Trice had interrupted him. The realisation chilled him to the bone, but his opinion hadn't changed, nevertheless.
The Commander eventually lapsed into silence. The two of them sat staring at the glassy reflections before them for awhile.
At last Commander Trice pushed himself to his feet and brushed the grass from his clothes. "Well, time to be off," he sighed. He nodded to Ferrian. "Nice meeting you, kid." He started to turn away, then paused and gave the boy a long, considering look.
"Watch yourself," he repeated. "A lot of no-good types around these parts, especially the Bladeshifters, said to be headed this way, due to arrive within a week or so. Just so happens that's why I'm in town, if you were wondering." He gestured into the moonlit night. "Got Freeroamers scouting about, but I decided to come here myself to arrest their leader in person." He chuckled darkly to himself. "Should be an interesting confrontation."
He glanced back at Ferrian, his expression turning grim. "But it could be an unpleasant one, so if you plan on sticking around Meadrun, boy, try to keep out of the way, if you can."
Ferrian nodded. "Thanks for the warning, sir."
Grisket smiled and touched the point of his hat. "Don't mention it, that's my job."
Then he turned and disappeared silently into the shadows of the trees.
Chapter Two
Revelation, confrontation
Tragedy from elevation.
The valley gleamed like new-forged gold in the early morning sunlight: a polished nugget nestled in a ring of featureless grey stone. High above, a wistful summer daydream, distant peaks speckled with white snow faded into the glorious blue sky. To the north, a long waterfall dropped like a crystal lance from the cliffs before winding along the valley's bottom, etching out the contours of the reed-beds with its gurgling song.
On either side of the glittering river, perched on ledges in the cliff face like sentinels facing each other down, were two castles.
The one to the east was white, its high towers and parapets rising to the sky like ivory arms seeking to embrace the heavens. Window frames and doorways were decorated with delicate silver and gold scrollwork. Not yet embraced by the shining orb rising behind it, its walls nevertheless seemed to emit a cool, unearthly radiance, as though some remnant of starlight from the vanquished night had become trapped in the stone.
The one to the west was its brother, a shadow even in the sunlight, a twisted and corrupted doppelganger. Its towers were black and spindly. Like a basket full of burnt fingers, they clustered together amongst the battlemented walls. Upon the steeply sloping rooftops, spires like razor sharp nails raked the air. Crouching and leering in the gloom of doorways and eaves were numerous black stone gargoyles, carved into hideous forms. The dusty breeze that flurried through the narrow open windows blew out again whispering of malevolence.
In the latter of the two castles, Lord Arzath stood at one of these windows, facing the morning sun as it climbed over the ragged peaks and matching it glare for glare. Warm fingers of air twitched the black hair about his shoulders and quickly pulled away again.
Directly opposite him, the white castle sat in the shadow of the mountains, cool and serene and silent, unfazed by his latest attempt to smash it into a pile of majestic rubble.
How he despised that castle.
The latest assault hadn't gone well.
The extremely annoying thing about lightning magic, he reflected, seething, was that it never hit the same spot twice. By its very nature, it was unpredictable, all but uncontrollable, even for an accomplished sorcerer such as himself. While devastating in close quarters, focussing such erratic energy on a large target at a distance with any sort of accuracy was nothing short of laughable. All of his strikes had gone wildly astray-- either grounding themselves on nearby pine trees or simply bouncing off the impenetrable shield of magic that his brother had constructed to protect his castle from exactly this sort of attack.
It was like trying to kill someone with a thousand needle pricks, each one on a different part of their body.
But even needle pricks could hurt, if there were enough of them. His strategy had been to bombard the shield with such a massive amount of magic that Requar's mind would not be able to endure the pain. The shield was an extension of his consciousness-- in essence, a barrier composed of sheer will.
Yet, it had refused to break, or even to weaken. In a fit of rage, Arzath had launched a bolt with such violence that it had rebounded off the shield, cracked across the entire valley and struck his own castle, penetrated his own shield, and shattered one of the towers. Fortunately, it had only contained servant's quarters, but the pile of black rubble littering the bluff below made him burn every time he glanced at it.
He had ceased the attack, after that.
At least, dear Requar should be nursing an interesting migraine…
The amusement of that thought was almost enough to console him, but not quite. Nothing could ever outweigh the hatred he felt for his only surviving blood relation. Requar had taken everything from him, and Arzath was determined to take it all back, whatever it took, whatever the cost.
His fingernails dug into the warm stone of the window ledge so hard that his knuckles showed white through his lean hands. That white fortress was a mockery. It was a farce, an insult to every sorcerer who had ever lived.
For it was Requar who had destroyed the art of magic. His own brother had wiped the School of Magical Studies from the face of Arvanor in a single catastrophic stroke. Now it was just the two of them. It was up to Arzath to avenge his fellow sorcerers; no one else but he had the power to eliminate that ungodly white-haired bastard…
No, not even I, he corrected himself bitterly. At least, not yet…
He inclined his head slightly in contemplation, the sunlight picking out the gold flecks deep within his forest-green eyes. Ah, my beautiful weapon. He had spent fifty long years perfecting it, and now, finally, it was almost complete, despite coming disastrously close to ruining the whole plan the first time he'd tried to use it. The incident at Ness all those years ago had been his first and last mistake. But he'd done what was necessary. The Muron Varshax had completed his task well; none of the townsfolk had lived to tell the tale. Rumours had spread of course, but they had been vague and insubstantial, as usual, and to his knowledge, none of them had yet reached Requar.
Arzath snorted. Not that his brother would have been able to stop him anyway, but the less of his plan Requar could deduce the better. Unfortunately, he still required one more item to make his ultimate killing tool complete...
At that moment, there came a hesitant knock on the door of his chamber. It was almost too soft to be heard, but nevertheless Arzath was irritated that his ruminations had been intruded upon. Not bothering to turn around, he made a quick flicking gesture with his wrist and the door flung open behind him. "Yes?"
The servant entered quickly and Arzath turned from the window to face him. Seeing whom it was, Arzath cursed inwardly. That damn Cimmeran again. Hadn't he got rid of that scrawny wretch yet?
Cimmeran looked nervous. He was fidgeting with the hem of his cloak, and his eyes were roaming all over the room.
"Well, spit it out, damn you!" Arzath snapped.
Cimmeran swallowed hard. "Lord Requar requests that you meet with him above the waterfall at midday, to discuss a peace treaty..." his voice trailed off as his master's eyes narrowed, like a Muron sizing up its next meal.
"He cannot," Arzath sneered, "be serious!"
Swallowing again, the servant quickly tugged a sealed letter from his pocket and held it out with a shaking hand, cringing noticeably under the force of Arzath's glare. The sorcerer snatched it and ripped it open, giving the message no more than a cursory glance before striding to the open window.
Then he paused.
He looked down at the half-crumpled letter in his hand. He smoothed it out slowly and read it again, this time with more care.
He grinned.
"Tell Lord Requar," Arzath said, turning back to Cimmeran, "that I would love to make his acquaintance."
* * *
On the opposite side of the valley, a tall handsome man stood alone at his study window, watching the sunlight bathe the dark blotch on the other shore that was his brother's castle. Long white hair trailed in a neat braid down the back of his exquiste embroidered cobalt waistcoat. His fine facial features retained the essence of youth, but his eyes betrayed an age and knowledge and sorrow far beyond that of a single Human lifespan.
He was twice as old as any man should rightly be, and he was beginning to feel it.
Wincing, he turned away from the depressing view, touching the throbbing spot between his eyes. His brain felt as though it had been mashed and burned at the same time, but at least the pain wasn't as bad as it had been two days ago, directly following Arzath's attack. It had been one of the most vehement and enduring sieges that Requar could remember, and it had taken all of his strength and focus to maintain the integrity of his shield. The scent of smoke and expended magic still lingered in the air. Arzath was getting desperate.
He sighed and collapsed into the chair behind his desk. Leaning over the mess of papers, books and fountain pens, he rested his forehead in his hand. Then suddenly he grimaced and thumped his hand down on the desk.
Gods, why was Arzath so bloody persistent? Of course, Requar had made mistakes-- terrible mistakes that had hurt many people, his brother most of all-- and he regretted them deeply. He would have changed them if he could. But he couldn't. They were long in the past and far beyond even the power of the Gods to alter. He didn't expect forgiveness, he just wished that Arzath could find some way of moving on.
After all, he thought, what will killing me achieve?
Requar was tired of this unceasing war. That was why he had sent Arzath the message. He knew it was a vain gesture, a token attempt to communicate with his unrational brother on a reasonable level. Arzath had probably used it for fire kindling by now.
But at least he'd tried.
He stared gloomily around his small, bright study, but found no answers in the crammed bookshelves or polished cabinets filled with herbs and curative potions. He found even fewer answers in the meticulous handwritten research notes littering the desk in front of him.
The word trigon leapt out at him, like an accusation.
Scowling, he scrunched the paper up and threw it across the room, then returned his aching head to his hands.
A few minutes later, his blue eyes opened again at a gentle prodding from the magic he had set to protect the castle. Even that slight touch caused him to shudder.
Someone had approached the keep.
He pushed himself up and peered out the window, then left the study and headed for the stairs.
His high leather boots echoed on the polished marble floor as he crossed the spacious foyer. He took one of the gilded handles, pulled it and beckoned the servant to enter.
Cimmeran stepped into the cool foyer, panting and looking hot and haggard from hurrying from one side of the valley and back again twice. Anxious though Requar was to hear his brother's answer, he led the servant into the commodious and elegant dining hall, where a flask of red wine and two crystal glasses waited on the long table. He poured Cimmeran and himself a drink and waited until Arzath's servant had quenched his thirst sufficiently before asking for the message.
Cimmeran wiped his mouth on a dirty sleeve. "Lord Arzath has agreed to a meeting at midday at the aforementioned place," he stoically intoned.
Requar nodded, taking a sip of wine. Then all of a sudden he choked on it. "He what?"
Cimmeran repeated the message he had rehearsed.
Requar stared at him. "He agreed? Arzath? Agreed? To meet me?" He spoke each part of the sentence slowly, as a question, as though by breaking it up it would somehow make more sense.
Cimmeran looked anxious. He glanced around with wide eyes, as though wondering if he'd said something offensive. "Um, y-yes?" he stammered.
Requar was taken aback. He had never seriously expected his brother to take up his offer. He was expecting something more along the lines of a sarcastic reply, or at worst, another all-out assault on his castle. The fact that Arzath had agreed to a, ah-- in theory at least-- civilised meeting was a significant step forward. Perhaps he had finally realised that this war between them was pointless.
But Requar doubted it. More likely, Arzath simply wanted the opportunity to insult him in person. Requar shook his ruminations aside. It didn't matter. At least he now had a chance to speak to his brother face to face. If he was lucky, he might even get a couple of words in before Arzath tried to murder him.
He nodded again, carefully keeping the relief from his face. "Thank you, Cimmeran. You may rest here until you feel ready to return to your keep."
At his words, Cimmeran stiffened, his bony hand tightening around the slender stem of the wine glass. He looked up at the sorcerer with a pained, despairing expression.
Requar studied his eyes and read there the familiar, unspoken plea. He sighed deeply and shook his head. "You know that if there was anything I could possibly do to help you, I would not hesitate..."
Cimmeran looked back down at the empty glass, then went to the table and poured himself another drink.
Requar watched him gulp it down, then placed his own unfinished glass on the table, turned away sadly and left the servant in the dining hall with the remainder of the wine. He felt sorry for the poor man, but could do little to help him while he was under Arzath's control. His brother had placed powerful possession spells upon Cimmeran that reacted to the slightest attempt at interference. Simply touching him was hazardous, as Requar had discovered one day when he had thought to examine Cimmeran, worried about his malnourished condition. A fierce bolt of violet lightning had leapt forth and struck Requar's hand, burning it severely.
The injury had taken little effort to heal with his own magic, but he had been careful to keep his distance from Arzath's servants and minions ever since. Cimmeran himself had not been scathed in the attack, but it was a clear warning that Requar was not eager to ignore.
But despite the frustration he felt at his inability to free Cimmeran from his violent, hate-riddled master, he looked forward to the servant's visits, brief as they were. He lived alone, his magnifcent white castle so full of promise and yet so empty, as it had been since he had built it. Developing relationships with people was exceedingly difficult with Arzath snapping at every step he took.
But just occasionally, he thought as he watched the sunlight spilling in blue and gold streamers through the huge stained-glass window above the main doors, it's nice to have someone else to talk to.
* * *
Ferrian left Meadrun early, before the sun had risen, walking down the quiet, sleepy street alone. Drunken revellers were slumped over hay bales and across the pavement, snoring, some with half-empty tankards hanging from limp fingers. Streamers and other debris from the night's festivities littered the town. Ferrian picked his way through it all, careful not to disturb anyone or draw attention to himself. Hopefully, he could slip out of the town without being noticed. Hopefully, no one would remember that he had ever been there.
Disappointment, however, dogged his steps. He regretted having to leave so soon after arriving; he hadn't even managed to get a good night's sleep, unable to stop thinking about the meeting with Commander Trice. But his decision was inevitable. He certainly did not want to be hanging around when the Bladeshifters showed up, especially if there was going to be a confrontation between them and their arch-enemies, the Freeroamers. He didn't feel like being killed by a wayward arrow or taken hostage for the sake of a few grubles. The Bladeshifters were fond of playing games; when they were around, anything was likely to happen.
Trouble seems to follow me everywhere, he thought with a sigh.
His thoughts drifted back to Commander Trice. The man had seemed friendly and gracious, his concern fatherly, but something about him vaguely bothered Ferrian. Why, exactly, had he followed Ferrian out into the park? Just to keep an eye on him? Sure, it was his duty to look out for people, but still... Ferrian couldn't help feeling that there was something more to it. Something more... ominous.
His insides squirmed unpleasantly. Could it be that he suspects...?
With an effort, he pushed the thought away. It didn't matter now. He was leaving, and with any luck, he wouldn't run into any of the Freeroamers again.
He was determined to make sure they never found out what he was.
Despite his misgivings about the Commander, Ferrian's mood gradually improved throughout the morning. Leaving Meadrun behind, he entered the cool, green shade of the Valewood Forest, just north of the village. Gathered in a secluded pocket against the Barlakk foothills, the trees here were thick and fragrant, and the air heavy with the scent of myrtle and leatherwood. The stillness resounded with the flutelike calls of forest birds, a mysterious symphony high in the treetops. The sun lifted into view over the hills, clear and warm, throwing intricate dappled patterns on the broad, well-travelled road and lighting the way ahead with bright, hazy beams. Ferrian felt his spirits lifting with it, breaking free of the black shackles that had gripped him only hours earlier. Thinking about what he had been contemplating doing to himself as he sat by that pond caused him to shiver in horror.
No, he thought, clenching his fists to emphasise his resolve. That's not the answer... He wasn't even sure that death would free him from his curse; for all he knew, it might just follow him through the Dark Gate into the next world, or worse, infect someone else. Was magic bound by the same restrictions as life?
He had no idea.
But he intended to find out.
He wasn't sure when it was that he had first realised that the Winter was caused by magic. He didn't think it had come to him as a sudden revelation, but more a gradual awakening to the truth. He thought perhaps he had known ever since that day Meriya left him out in the blizzard. The whispered, fearful voices of the bridge workers and gypsies had haunted him ever since:
We have a sorcerer in our midst...
Ferrian was no sorcerer. But perhaps he had come into contact with one in the past, while he was too young to remember or understand. Perhaps that contact had left him with this unshakeable curse.
He had been determined to find this person ever since. It was the only meaningful goal that had ever truly given him comfort, and he wrapped it around himself tightly, desperately, like a thin cloak to ward off the abominable cold. He only wished he knew where to look. So far, his searching had uncovered nothing but insubstantial rumours and fairytales. Sorcerers, it seemed, were much like the demon-wraiths that were said to dwell deep in the mountains: they flitted about the countryside leaving terror in their wake, and nobody could track their movements or even adequately describe what they looked like. Nobody had ever seen one first hand, only known someone-- a friend of a friend-- who had. Sometimes, he wondered if that was really all they were: shades of legends past come to tease and torment the present.
But on this hot and blazing morning, he refused to be disheartened. He could not afford to. If he did, he was lost.
I will find one of those ghosts, he thought fiercely. I will find it and make it tell me what it has done to me, and why...
It was then that someone stepped out of the trees. He strolled out into the middle of the road, directly into Ferrian's path, whistling like a traveller who had merely stopped for a leak.
But this was no traveller.
Ferrian stopped dead in his tracks, startled that a man so huge and wearing such dark clothing had managed to conceal himself so perfectly in the sunlit trees. His eyes were so big and black they gave the impression of hollow pits boring into his skull. The rest of his wide square face was covered in scars, and the parts that weren't were hidden in black hair, coarse and tangled and speckled with bits of leaves, like a great bush of charred heather. A fiery red beard, hanging down to waist level, completed the alarming picture. He turned to face the boy, sunlight glinting dully off the enormous grimy axe resting on his shoulder, and grinned.
"'allo, Silvereyes!" he said.
Before Ferrian could utter a word or react, his vision was obscured by hessian and a second later went black as it tightened around his throat.
* * *
The sun at midday was a formidable opponent. Glaring down from its perch high in the heavens where none could fight back, it baked the earth bare wherever its burning fingers touched. Fields of crops withered and died in the scorching heat, and the creatures that roamed the world of Arvanor beneath its vindictive presence sweated and toiled and wished the clouds would come and cover up their tormentor for awhile.
At the far end of the valley, upon wide flat rocks laid in a shelf above the sparkling waterfall, Lord Requar sheltered from the sun beneath the prickly, gnarled boughs of a weather beaten pencil pine. A sweltering wind ruffled his white braided hair as he gazed over the peaceful vista below.
From this vantage point, the whole of the valley lay spread out before him, golden and slumbering, cradled protectively in the hard grey hands of the Barlakk Mountains. Requar watched it sleep, beginning to share in its drowsiness as he listened to the reassuring lullaby of the waterfall churning out of a cleft in the rock face below his feet. In the years before Arzath had settled in this valley, he had often come up here to sit in peaceful solitude with the wind as his only companion, and stare at nothing, and think about nothing.
Those days are long gone, he thought sadly. Now he had far too much to occupy his thoughts.
Aside from the splendid view, there was a much more important reason Requar had chosen to meet his brother in this particular place-- it was the only neutral ground in the valley. The river marked the boundary between Arzath's domain and his, thus the only piece of ground that wasn't riddled with spells was this cliff where he stood.
Requar sensed his brother's presence long before he appeared, in the susurrus of the dry grass. Sure enough, a few minutes later Arzath emerged from between the boulders at the far side of the ledge. He had forgone his cloak in the heat, clad in familiar black save for the gold arabesque stitching on his waistcoat and a matching gold-coloured loose-sleeved shirt. Upon seeing Requar he paused, then folded his arms and stood where he was, disdaining to advance further. His eyes were fiery green chips beneath his black hair.
It had been three years since the brothers had last met each other in person, and Arzath had worn exactly the same expression then as he was now. Requar sighed inwardly. He hadn't changed at all, either in appearance or manner. This isn't going to go well...
The two sorcerer brothers stared at each other. The roar of the falls filled the uneasy silence.
"I must admit," Requar said finally, unable to prevent a wince as he pushed himself away from the tree, "I'm surprised you came. I expected my message to be floating pieces of ash by now."
Arzath raised an eyebrow. "It is."
"And yet, you came."
Arzath was smirking. "Did you enjoy my present?" he said viciously.
Requar nodded solemnly at the damaged black castle. "Did you enjoy mine?"
The smug look vanished from Arzath's face in an instant, Requar's words igniting a telltale flash of anger in his eyes. He stalked across the cliff top towards him.
Requar let him come.
"You piece of...!" His arm snapped up, his hand surrounded by a crackling nimbus of violet energy.
Requar's arm came up at the same time.
They stood a yard apart, each bathed in the glow of each other's magic.
Requar sighed. "How many of these confrontations have we had before, Arzath?" he said, shaking his head. "This feud between us has gone on for more years than I'd care to count. I am growing tired of this nonsense. It has to end."
"Oh, I intend it to!" Arzath snarled.
"I take it you didn't come here to listen to anything I have to say," Requar said. "You never listen, do you?"
"Nothing you could possibly say would be anything I'd care to hear."
"Then what are you doing here?"
Arzath barked a laugh. "Isn't that obvious?"
Requar stared at him in dismay. "I thought better of you," he said quietly. He shook his head again. "I thought perhaps..."
"You were mistaken," Arzath sneered, "if you believed I had any interest in your pathetic, misguided delusions of peace, after all the effort I went to to hunt you down! After all the years I spent searching for you after what happened at the School!"
"No one remembers the School any more..."
"And that's exactly the way you want it, isn't it?" Arzath's voice was rising in fury. "Everyone to simply forget! Well, I remember, Requar! I remember that I lost my Sword! I remember that my entire life was utterly ruined! I remember exactly who was responsible!"
Requar said nothing. With his arm still raised, he closed his eyes and turned his head away.
"AND YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE THE BACKBONE TO DENY IT!"
"I was... only trying to protect you..."
"Protect me?! Ha! The truth of the matter is, you couldn't stand the fact that I might end up more successful, more powerful than you, so you destroyed the whole School rather than see me graduate!"
Requar stared back at him in horror. "What?! No...!"
"Oh, don't bother! I told you, your excuses mean NOTHING TO ME!"
"So, that is what this war is about?" Requar demanded heatedly. "Vengeance?" He could feel his grip on his own composure slipping, the heat of the sun boiling long-buried emotions to the surface.
"Vengeance," Arzath hissed, "is all I have left!"
Even though he was prepared for it, the force and speed of the attack smashed through Requar's defences and sent him stumbling back several feet. He had barely time to gather his own magic again before a second attack threw him hard to the ground. I'm weaker than I realised, he thought as he desperately threw out a wave of blinding white light, turning aside Arzath's lightning bolts, which struck the rock and grass flinging up chips of stone and left black scorch marks smoking all around him. One bolt deflected into the pine tree, igniting its dry sun-beaten limbs into a raging conflagration.
The burning tree was every bit a match for his brother's anger. Unable to rise, Requar could do nothing but endure Arzath's strikes and hope that his strength held up long enough to outlast his brother's wrath. The pain in his head was intense-- he still was not fully recovered from the last assault-- and he could see nothing beyond the flare of his own magic and the smoke gathering in a thick cloud around him.
Then, abruptly, the attack ceased.
Requar kept his arm raised, shielding himself, a globe of light poised in his hand. Panting, he peered through the haze for Arzath...
The black-haired sorcerer lunged at him.
Requar swung a leg at him, tripping him over, but Arzath fell right on top of him and immediately slammed a fist into his face. Dazed, Requar suffered a second jarring blow before he managed to recover his wits long enough to hook his right fist at Arzath's jaw in return.
Arzath went sprawling.
Requar pushed himself into an unsteady sitting position to find his brother spitting blood beside him. "What is this... going to achieve?" he asked painfully.
Despite his own pain and weariness, Arzath laughed, breathlessly. "It will make me... feel better!" Then he threw himself onto Requar again.
The two brothers fought violently,
kicking and hitting out with fists, tearing clothing and rolling over and over on the ground. Arzath did most of the attacking, while Requar desperately tried to defend himself. Neither of them used magic this time.
Then Arzath managed to pin Requar on his back again. Wrapping his hands around his brother's throat, he began to squeeze tightly, crushing his windpipe.
Out of pure survival instinct, Requar grabbed Arzath's shoulders and used his very last reserve of magic to fling him off.
It worked: Arzath released him and fell backwards, as though shoved by an invisible hand.
Requar rolled over, coughing, trying to force acrid air into his tortured lungs. He had neither physical strength nor magical energy left to spare. Another blow would be the end of him.
But no further attacks came.
Finally, Requar thought in relief. Finally, he's given up.
When at last he managed to force himself up, a few minutes later, he found that Arzath was nowhere to be seen.
He looked around through the ashes drifting from the smouldering tree, but his brother was simply gone. Confused, Requar stood up. Where was he? Had he used some sort of camouflage spell...?
And then he noticed how close he was standing to the edge of the cliff.
Despite the burning glare of the sun, his entire body froze over. A patch of brown grass right on the precipice was flattened and broken.
Requar wasn't sure how he made himself move, made himself step forward to look over the edge, past the leaping arc of the waterfall... but he did.
He reeled, and stumbled backwards to save himself falling over, and crumpled to his knees on the dusty rock. Nothing else in the world had changed: the crickets were starting to chirp again in the grass behind him. In the direction of the black castle, a Muron shrieked. The sun continued to glare down on him pitilessly.
But something had changed.
Everything had changed.
For a long while, Requar just stared at the ground in front of him, shocked. But it wasn't the passing smoke shadows or cracks in the weathered stone that reflected in his eyes. It was the body of his brother, lying broken and motionless on the rocks far below.
Arzath was dead.
The reality of what had happened barrelled down on him, swept him away like a charging beast, piercing him with sharpened tusks of madness, terror and grief. His fingers clawed at the dust.
He screamed.
Chapter Three
Death comes swift imprisoned here
The coldness stems from more than fear.
It was not pitch black as Ferrian had first thought. A tiny crack in the high, rocky ceiling let in a faint, golden streamer of sunlight-- just enough for him to make out the walls of the cell he was in.
He lay where he was for awhile, letting his vision adjust, then pushed himself into a sitting position. Where he had been taken to was a mystery, but he had a fair idea who it was that had abducted him.
The Bladeshifters.
He doubted it would have been the Freeroamers: their Guard House surely wouldn't be this rustic and besides, that giant bearded man hadn't been wearing a Freeroamer uniform. There was probably no uniform in Arvanor that would have fitted him.
He swallowed in fear and then winced, becoming acutely aware of his bruised throat where the hessian had cut into it. He rubbed it gingerly. This wasn't the first time he'd been kidnapped. The activity was so common in the Outlands that it was practically a sport. Criminals usually let him go when they discovered that Ferrian had barely a coin to his name and that no one in the world cared about him or would miss him. Sometimes, they tried to kill him, but a mention of his curse and a glimpse of his unnatural silver eyes dissuaded them rather quickly. Not even the most desperate or hardened thief wanted to do anything that would pass a horrifying curse on to them. Ferrian had no idea if the Winter could be passed on, but the lie always worked, in any case.
Not this time, he thought gloomily. The Bladeshifters were fearless in the face of superstition, and even if they did believe him, they'd probably see having a curse as a benefit…
He looked around his newest prison. The floor, walls and ceiling were rocky and uneven, with no furnishings, not even straw. It was little more than a small cave with an iron door set in one wall. Peering closer, he thought he could make out what looked like barrels in the far corner. Perhaps this was a storeroom. Perhaps there was something over there that could be useful…
Getting to his feet, he started towards them, then hesitated. A flash of movement to his right caught his eye. It was something silver and metallic, turning itself over and over rapidly, catching the thin shaft of sunlight.
Ferrian stared at it, half-mesmerised by the strange flickering motion. Then all of a sudden he jumped in shock and stumbled back against the opposite wall.
It was a knife, being twirled in a black-gloved hand.
Now that the shaft of sunlight was out of his direct vision, he could clearly see the silhouette of a man leaning against the wall.
Ferrian went cold. He hadn't even realised that he was there!
"Took you long enough," a voice said from the deep shadows. The figure appeared to take some items out of his pocket and fidget with them for a few moments. Then a match was struck and fire flared, and Ferrian caught a glimpse of the man's face as he lit a wad of rolled up black leaves in his mouth.
He looked surprisingly young, Ferrian thought, perhaps only five or six years older than himself. His hair was short and dark, slicked into messy spikes, with one long bleached lock falling across his eyes. He was of average height and his physique was very lithe and slender, bordering on skinny. He wore black, close-fitting clothes, and his leather jacket was adorned with a remarkable assortment of miscellaneous metallic debris-- broken chains, pendants, badges, rivets and studs, nails, even old clockwork cogwheels.
Then he shook the match out and Ferrian lost the opportunity to study him further. "I know what you're thinking," the man said conversationally as he deposited his match tin and smoking weed back in his pocket. "You're thinking: why has this strange man decorated his jacket with such a load of useless crap?" He blew a puff of blue smoke into the shaft of sunlight. Ferrian felt his eyes sting and water as it drifted his way. "I'll tell you," the man continued. "It's because I collect discarded things. The bent and broken things that society has thrown away and no longer has any use for. I make them useful again. I give them back a purpose. I turn them into something to be admired, to be feared."
Ferrian regarded him warily. "You're the leader of the Bladeshifters," he said quietly.
"Yep," the other affirmed. "That's me. Eltorian Nightwalker. Heard of me, have you?"
"I have now."
Nightwalker laughed. It was not a horrid laugh, but one of someone sharing a joke with their best friend. He straightened from the wall and stepped into the light, and he was grinning. "Good answer!"
Ferrian's eyes wandered quickly around the cave again and came to rest on the door, only an arm's length away to his left.
"Go on!" Nightwalker encouraged, waving his knife at the door. "Try it!"
Ferrian didn't move.
"Oh, come on! You know you want--"
Ferrian launched himself at the Bladeshifter leader.
It was an act born of pure desperation and panic, but his options were rapidly narrowing and he didn't value his own life very much at this point in any case. He was tired of running and cowering, tired of being intimidated and afraid…
Nightwalker stepped aside and with a quick flick of his leg sent Ferrian crashing to the floor. He sighed, then bent down and picked the boy up with one hand, propped him against the rock wall and brushed him off. "Here's a lesson for you, kid," he said. "Don't mistake confidence with complacency. But I'm a reasonable guy, so I'm going to give you a second chance to try and overpower me and make your grand escape. Here," he offered Ferrian the hilt of his knife. "This might help."
Ferrian shook his head, wiping away the blood leaking from his nose.
"No? Are you sure?" He waved the knife in front of Ferrian's face. His smirk was infuriating.
Ferrian gritted his teeth and ignored him. He had already made one stupid mistake; he wasn't about to make another.
Nightwalker shrugged, and the knife returned to twirling at his hip. It never stopped moving, as though the hand controlling it had a mind of its own. He took another deep draw on whatever toxic weed it was that he was smoking.
"W-what do you want from me?" Ferrian stammered. "I don't have any money…"
Nightwalker laughed again, which dissolved into a bout of coughing. He took some time to regain his composure as he was choking and laughing at the same time. For an instant, Ferrian regretted not having taken the knife.
"Oh, you have nothing that I want," the Bladeshifter leader declared in some amusement once he had recovered.
"What?" Ferrian cried, furious. "Then why have you locked me up in here?"
Nightwalker leaned one arm on the wall beside his prisoner. "The question is," he said in a low voice, his dark rakish eyes boring into Ferrian's, "not why I am interested in you, but indeed, why the Commander of the Freeroamers is interested in you."
They stared at each other for a long moment. Ferrian swallowed. "I don't know what you mean," he answered finally. "He isn't interested--"
"Oh?" Nightwalker cut him off. "You two seemed to be getting along remarkably well last night!"
Ferrian caught his breath. "You… you were there, spying on us? In the park?"
Nightwalker rolled his eyes. "Of course I was there. I've been skulking around that damned town for days waiting for the old fool to notice me!" He snorted in disgust. "In any case, that's irrelevant. What did he talk to you about?"
"Nothing!" Ferrian sighed in exasperation. "The weather!"
Nightwalker's eyes narrowed. "Amusing," he said. "I like that in a prisoner. However," his knife appeared suddenly at Ferrian's throat. "I'm starting to lose patience. What did Trice want with you?"
"Nothing! I don't know! He was just checking up on me! He just told me not to go wandering around in the dark on my own! He warned me against you," he added bitterly.
Nightwalker ignored the remark. He simply stared at Ferrian. Finally, he removed the dagger and stepped back. "Hmm," he murmured, tapping the blade on his teeth, giving the boy a curious look. Then suddenly he turned and went to the door.
"Wait a minute!" Ferrian cried. "You haven't told me what you want with me!"
The Bladeshifter leader paused at the door and turned, giving Ferrian a smile. "I think I'd like to test you," he replied, then opened the door and stepped out.
"Oh, incidentally," he added, leaning back in, "this door was never locked." He patted one of the thick iron panels, winked at Ferrian, then closed and bolted it behind him.
In the darkness of the cave, Ferrian slid to the floor in frustration.
The thumping sound bounced off the rough stone walls of the underground passage, but there was no one around to hear it.
"Nightwalker!" Ferrian banged on the frost-brushed door until his fist was red and sore, as he had been doing every day for the past five days, but as usual, nobody responded. Finally, exasperated, he slumped against the door, fighting back tears. No matter how hard he listened, there was nothing to be heard save the maddeningly monotonous drip, drip of water trickling in through the crack in the ceiling. It was gradually creating a clear little pool in a recess in the floor.
The drips had already begun to form into an icicle.
Neither Eltorian Nightwalker nor anyone else had come back to his cell since the leader of the accursed gang known as the Bladeshifters had left him. He'd heard no footsteps or sounds of any kind beyond the door, nothing to suggest that anyone even remembered his existence. Perhaps the Bladeshifters had simply lost interest in him, abandoned him. Forgotten about him.
But he didn't think that was the case.
He knows, Ferrian thought. Somehow, Nightwalker had found out about the Winter. He wasn't overly surprised: rumours had been circulating about it for some time now. It was becoming harder and harder to keep his curse a secret. Silver eyes weren't easy to hide.
Neither were storms and blizzards.
It was inevitable that someone was going to catch him out eventually, he just wished, fervently, that it hadn't been the most notorious band of outlaws in the whole of Daroria.
Nightwalker was, as he had explained, testing him. Waiting to see if there was any truth to the rumour. Waiting for the Winter to come.
He glared at the icicle on the ceiling. Well, it is coming, he thought bitterly. And everyone within a few miles of this place is going to find that out soon enough…
He pushed himself away from the door and let out a sob, then took a deep breath of chilly air, trying to keep a grip on himself. There has to be a way out of this, he thought desperately. Maybe the Bladeshifters will all freeze to death before I do…
But that wasn't a very comforting thought, considering they were the only ones who knew that he was locked up down here.
With nothing else left for him to do, Ferrian went over to the barrels. He had discovered that one contained hard baked maize cakes, and the other clean water. There was enough there to last a couple of months, but he was quite sure that the cold would claim him long before food became a problem.
He snatched one of the cakes, but he had no appetite, despite his hunger. He sat down dejectedly on the floor with his back to the barrel and began to despair.
He was hunched in the corner, wrapped tightly in the canvas sheet that had been used to cover the barrels, when he heard the noise. Two more days had passed, and he had ceased bashing on the door, having sunk instead into an apathetic funk. He lifted his head a little. He wasn't convinced he had heard anything at all-- even though the clanking noise was quite loud and abrading-- having resigned to the fact that nobody was coming back for him.
Then the cell door screaked open and a figure in a dark cloak stepped through, peering into the shadows for his whereabouts.
Ferrian snapped alert at once.
The door was open.
At that moment in time, nothing else mattered. Despite what had happened earlier, he leapt to his feet and ran towards it, thinking to shove past Nightwalker and escape. If he was quick…
But his legs had other ideas. Cramped and frozen, his knees buckled. He tripped on a projection of rock and stumbled straight into his abductor.
This is it, Ferrian thought in a flash of terror, waiting for the sting of the knife; I'm done for…
But no pain came.
Instead, the figure grabbed him and dragged him out of the cell. Ferrian struggled. "Get off me, GET AWAY FROM ME!" he cried. "Why are you doing this to me?!"
The figure hissed angrily. "Quiet, kid! Do you want to get us both killed?"
Ferrian went still. He recognised the voice. It wasn't the cocksure drawl of Eltorian Nightwalker; it was older, more genteel.
"Commander Trice?" he gasped.
"You've got a lot of explaining to do, boy," the man growled. Ferrian could not see his features in the dark, but his tone of voice suggested the rescue had put him through a great deal of trouble. Nevertheless, Ferrian sagged in relief. He didn't care what the Commander of the Freeroamers intended to do with him, as long as he didn't have to spend another minute in that rapidly freezing cave.
"How did you find me?" Ferrian asked.
The Commander gave a snort. "At this time of year, a forest covered in snow ain't too easy to miss."
Ferrian felt his heart sink. Now he knows, as well. "I'm sorry," he apologised, desperately trying to explain. "I didn't mean to… I mean, it's not my… I don't know…"
"Later. We need to get out of here. Now." He started moving, dragging the boy with him. Ferrian allowed himself to be pulled along. He had little choice in the matter-- he could see or hear nothing save the scrape of their boots, but the Commander seemed to know where he was going. The air had a close, earthy scent to it. Ferrian reached out an arm and his fingers brushed damp, cold stone. The passage was quite narrow, and from the extreme unevenness of the floor appeared to be some kind of natural fissure in the bedrock. Ferrian stumbled often, his toes throbbing and his ankles twisting awkwardly, but Grisket Trice did not slow. Enduring the pain, Ferrian struggled blindly to keep up, to force his lethargic legs to work.
Then his feet tripped over something that was too soft to be stone. His heart began to pound crazily. A body.
"The Bladeshifters… they're… they're still around?" he panted.
"A few," Commander Trice muttered. "Minus that one." He hesitated. "And a couple of others…"
"You killed them?"
"No choice, kid."
Ferrian felt rather ill. "And… Eltorian Nightwalker?"
"Didn't have the pleasure of meeting him."
A wave of terror emanated out of the frozen rock walls around him, leaching into his bones. "He's still out there? He'll come after me!"
"No he won't."
"What?"
"It's not you he's after. Watch your step…"
A moment later, a burst of pain speared Ferrian's eyes as a brilliant white crack opened before him, spilling light down a flight of rough-hewn stairs.
The two of them crouched still and silent as the Freeroamer checked that the way was clear. Ferrian saw the glint of a drawn sword in his right hand. His left still clutched Ferrian's arm firmly.
After a few long, tense minutes, he pushed the trapdoor open and they emerged into daylight.
Ferrian looked at the world around him. It was snowing in the forest. Trees, ground and undergrowth were all covered in a thick white blanket, and a chill breeze raked the air. Broken branches littered the ground, the trees unable to cope with the sudden heavy white burden. Ferrian squinted up at the sky through the holes in the canopy, shielding his eyes with his hand, and noticed that it was heavily overcast with menacing grey clouds.
He glanced over at Grisket Trice, who had closed the trapdoor carefully and was piling large rocks on top of it. His shoulders and black hat glistened with a thin layer of ice. His bearded face was grim.
The Freeroamer straightened and wiped his hands on his cloak. "That won't hold 'em for long. We'd best get going," he said gruffly, and started off into the forest.
Ferrian followed.
They crept quickly through the forest, trying to put as much distance as possible between themselves and the Bladeshifters. The Commander kept his sword drawn, scanning the trees constantly for movement. Snow fell, soft as feathers, and Ferrian's hands and feet, already painfully cold, numbed further. He wished ruefully that he had a cloak, but all his possessions had been taken away by Nightwalker.
The black form of Commander Trice walked ahead of him, the long, striped feather bobbing along with each footstep that crunched in the snow. They walked for quite a long time, the Freeroamer saying nothing nor even looking at him, save to check that he was still following. Ferrian wondered where they were going, and his anxiety began to increase. The Freeroamers were law enforcers, but their methods of dealing with criminals were often unorthodox. There were many people in the Outlands who strongly opined that they were little better than the Bladeshifters. Ferrian had no idea if he was really any safer with this man than he had been with Nightwalker. Perhaps less so.
He had developed the unpleasant feeling that he had just become a piece of meat in a vendetta sandwich…
Quite suddenly the Commander spoke, making Ferrian jump. "So, it's true," he declared. "You are responsible for this… Winter."
He stopped walking, and turned around to face Ferrian, looking him straight in the eye.
Ferrian stared back at him, lost for words. He swallowed and lowered his eyes guiltily to the ground. "How long have you known?"
"Awhile. Now before we go any further, I'd like to know what the hell you think you've been doing?"
Ferrian was taken aback, and a little confused by the fearsome tone in Commander Trice's voice. "W-what? I don't know what you--"
Grisket grabbed the front of his tunic and flung him up against the nearest tree. Snow showered down on both of them. "Don't play innocent with me, kid. I know you've been travelling from town to town, bringing winter and destroying property and livelihoods wherever you go!" His voice rose in menace. "Are you a sorcerer, is that it? Do you enjoy using your powers to ruin innocent people's lives?"
Ferrian had gone pale with fear. Trice was still holding his sword, and he couldn't help glancing at it. He found that he was shivering, from much more than the cold. "No... no! I'm not a sorcerer, I swear! I never meant to ruin anybody's life! You've got it all wrong..."
The Commander tightened his grip. "You just admitted that all this--" he waved his sword at the gloomy white forest-- "is your doing!"
Ferrian choked on a knot of despair. He was on the verge of tears. How was he supposed to explain something that was unexplainable? "The Winter… the Winter is my fault, but I didn't summon it here! I don't know how to use magic! It just comes whenever I stay in one place too long!"
He took a deep, shaky breath. The words coming out of his mouth sounded strange. He had never shared his secret with anyone before. "It's always been like that. It's a curse. I move around from town to town to stop this stupid Winter from happening! All my life I've been forced to live with the fear that someday I might take someone's life…" He shook his head in hopeless frustration. "Do you think I like living like this? I've tried my hardest to protect people, and myself, from the Winter, but no matter what I do, it seems I always end up in trouble!"
The Commander of the Freeroamers continued to glare at him for a long moment. "You'd be surprised how much we have in common, kid," he growled. "Don't presume that you're the only person in Arvanor with problems."
He released Ferrian, who sunk onto the snowy ground, regretting his words at once. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean--"
"Ah, hell," the Commander sighed, rubbing his hand over his face. "Hell," he repeated.
He turned away, scowling up at the clouds as though they were responsible for all the ills in the world. From the silver-eyed boy's perspective, they were.
The Freeroamer shook his head. "Don't apologise, kid. Wasn't right of me to speak to you like that without first hearing your explanation. Old habits die hard. Truth be told, I didn't think a sorcerer would've been careless enough to let himself be caught by Eltorian Nightwalker, but I had to be sure." He stared down at Ferrian for a few moments, as though still making up his mind, then crouched slowly in front of him. Ferrian was surprised by what he said next.
"I believe you. You want to know why? 'Cause I've seen what real sorcerers can do. You ain't one of 'em. You're just a naïve kid, frightened out of his wits by something he doesn't understand, and I don't blame you. Magic scares the buggery out of me, too.
"And I'll tell you something else. I give you my word I'll find whoever did this to you."
Ferrian stared at him, a little shocked by his abrupt change of heart, not knowing what to say. "You… you don't have to do that," he managed finally, shaking his head.
"I do," Grisket Trice replied. "It's my responsibility to protect these lands from whatever might threaten them. You're not the one who's causing all this destruction. The bastard who put the curse on you is."
Ferrian said nothing.
Grisket Trice sighed and shook his head. "Trouble is, I've still gotta bring you in."
Ferrian's heart sank all over again. "You're arresting me?"
The older man gave him an apologetic look. "I've got a reputation to maintain," he replied. "Reputation's the only thing that gets you respect around these parts. A lot of folk have heard the rumours about you. They know I've been chasing you, even if you didn't. They're expecting me to catch a sorcerer. They want someone punished as retribution for their ruined property." He scowled. "Doesn't take much to shift the balance. If I don't return to the Guard House with someone in chains, the countryfolk'll have my blood. And the Bladeshifters'll be only too happy to join in the spilling."
Ferrian stared gloomily at the snow. "But what good will locking me up do? The Winter will come back. It always comes back…"
"Aye," the Commander agreed. "The same thing will happen there as here." He nodded at the branches around them, dripping icicles, and sat for a moment in thought, scratching his bearded chin. Then he shrugged. He pushed himself up with his sword, sheathed it, and held his hand out to the boy. "Ah well. We'll have plenty of time to work something out on the way there."
Ferrian stared at the offered hand, not moving.
"You can trust me," the Commander reassured him, his voice gentler now. "I'm not in the business of hurting innocents." He paused significantly. "Unlike Nightwalker."
Still, Ferrian hesitated.
The other man smiled suddenly. "C'mon. Let's get moving before the Bladeshifters catch us gasbagging."
Ferrian looked up into his eyes, and noticed how different they were to Nightwalker's. This man had risked his life to break him out of the Bladeshifter's prison hold. If that wasn't reason enough to trust him, nothing was.
He'd never had someone to look out for him before.
He took the leader of the Freeroamer's hand and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet, and even managed a smile of his own.
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Anonymous
curies off to go read other chaptors::
Btw, if you’re putting it on Elfy, it’s not fanart if it’s from a story, it can go in the SF&F section. Or if you want to put it on deviantart or anywhere else, that’s fine too. (A link back to this story would be nice, though. ^^) "
