Cathexis: Necromancer's Dagger (30 page)

“You mean when you’re with Hetark, or
Becaris you don’t fear anything?” Drake asked with a puzzled
frown.

“No, I fear as much as the next man. Having
you or someone else with me would certainly help keep those fears
at bay, but my brother Dern is always with me, in here,” he said,
touching his chest. “Dern keeps me from losing perspective and
succumbing to the fears that are natural when danger approaches.
When I start to lose control I just try to think of what my brother
Dern would do, he always controlled his fear and used it to channel
his faculties and strength. When I fear something, Dern’s memory
inspires me and helps calm my fear. With his memory by my side the
son’s of Yul can face anything, even Darknulls,” Gustin stated
firmly.

“I wish I had a brother to live up to,
perhaps then I could face my fear of this monster,” Drake said
staring off into the dark.

“But you do Drake, for I am your brother.
Hetark, Becaris,
Lasar,
and Rasal
are your brothers. We will always be with you, physically or in
spirit, so you need never be alone again. I am here for two reasons
tonight; one is because it’s true that two of us can slow the
creature longer and in this sacrifice I fulfill my oath to Michael,
but I am also here because you need me at your side. Your brothers
will always be there when you need them, Drake,” Gustin
promised.

Drake didn’t answer, but he looked
thoughtful. After a few moments he spoke with difficulty, “Gustin,
I’m still afraid.”

“I know Drake, Hetark explained to me that
you will have to face your fear and come to terms with it before I
could help you,” his friend replied quietly.

“I’m trying Gustin, but it’s hard. I feel so
unworthy,” the small man said and he was unable to meet the eyes of
his brother knight.

“No matter what happens to us Drake I will
always respect your courage. It isn’t the ignorant man who dies
foolishly when he could have avoided it that impresses me, but the
man who fears and overcomes that fear. That man shows the true
measure of courage. I watched you stand in the charge of those
Tchulian soldiers and calmly load your crossbow as if you had no
worries in the world. Yet I knew that you feared that I wouldn’t
pull the rope up in time, or too soon. I respected your courage
right then because you overcame your fear and met the challenge
bravely, knowing and trusting that I wouldn’t fail you. It was a
brave act, you became a true Knight Protector in my eyes in that
moment,” Gustin recounted, and grasped Drake by the upper shoulder
with one of his huge hands, then squeezed lightly.

“Do you hear something, Gustin?” Drake asked
suddenly and fear
leaped
onto his
face instantly.

Gustin listened intently for a moment and
then exclaimed, “Yes, build the fire quickly!”

Drake frantically tossed wood onto the
flames, which voraciously attacked the new meal.

Gustin watched the shaking Drake finish
putting the wood on the fire and he noticed that Drake was
wide-eyed and sweaty; panic was near to the surface. “Are you all
right, Drake?”

“I’m so scared Gustin, I want to run and I
don’t know what to do, help me,” pleaded the young man to his
friend.

“It’s all right Drake, I understand. There
is still time for you to reach the horse picket and try and catch
Hetark. I will stay and slow down the monster.”

“I can’t leave you to die alone, but I can’t
face this thing. G’lan help
me,
Gustin, tell me what to do!” Drake collapsed to his knees in the
dirt, his mind in anguish from the fear of the creature and from
his loathing of himself for being a coward.

Gustin reached his large hand down to the
small man and pulled him to his feet. Taking hold of his shoulders
he looked into his friend's eyes and said, “I’m not alone Drake,
Dern is with me. Go on, I want you to go and help Hetark; I’ll
delay the creature for awhile. Just promise me this, if you have to
face the creature before it reaches Elizabeth I’ll expect you to
face it like the knight I saw in front of those soldiers. When that
time comes I will be with you in spirit, you won’t be alone; do you
understand, Drake?”

Drake looked with shame into Gustin’s
intense face and nodded, and then he quickly turned and ran away
toward the horse picket.

Gustin picked up two torches and lit them
in
the fire. He turned and faced
the evil creature approaching through the darkness, his large body
silhouetted against the flames of the fire. He waited peacefully
for certain death and the destruction of his soul. He was afraid,
but not alone, he could feel his brother Dern within and readied
himself to do his duty.

Lord Pellev Welter, the
foster
brother of Lord Jatar and ruler of
Tazlany, was camped with his retinue twenty leagues away from
Tarnelin. The wagons and picketed horses were circled around a
large fire in the center of the camp. Lord Welter sat on a chair
and stared into the flames with his mind in a faraway place. A
sentry approached his ruler and waited silently until he was
acknowledged.

“Yes, what is it?” Pellev asked.

“Milord, a man has approached the outer
sentries and says he has important information that he will only
say
to
you. We searched him and he
doesn’t have any weapons. What do you wish us to do with him?”

The ruler of Tazlany lifted his right
eyebrow in a show of curiosity and then said, “Bring him in, under
guard; I’m curious to hear what he has to say.”

A short time later the guards brought
forward a simply dressed man and stopped him ten paces in front of
their Lord.

Pellev studied him for a moment: the man was
dressed in a long dark cloak with a hood that was thrown back and
his boots were dirty as was the lower portion of the cloak. Lord
Welter quickly surmised that the man had traveled some distance.
After his
inspection,
Pellev said,
“So my good man, what possessed you to seek out the ruler of
Tazlany on this dismal night?”

The man looked nervously at the guards that
were
present
but decided to speak
anyway. “I am an agent of Olsk. I received word from one of my
companions that you are no longer happy with the policies of Lord
Jatar.”

“You could say that we had a falling out,
but that is common knowledge, what of it?” Pellev replied
gruffly.

“I have been commissioned by representatives
of my government to offer Tazlany the quiet support of Olsk in
protecting your borders against any intrusions by Lindankar’s
army,” he explained in an official tone.

“What makes your government think that
Tazlany needs any help?” Lord Welter asked, with a raise of his
left eyebrow.

“We only make this as a friendly offer of
assistance, we do not mean to impose on Tazlany in any way, nor
will we
march
any armies across
your borders during our conflicts with Pruta and Lindankar. My
leaders sent this message as a way of pledging our friendship, so
as not to put Tazlany in a position where you had to publicly
declare your intentions,” finished the Olsk representative.

“I see, well thank your leaders for their
tact, but I cannot promise any mutual support at this time. I still
have much to settle and I must speak with my advisors before I
would make any weighty decisions. Guards, escort our friend to the
edge of our camp and release him,” Lord Welter instructed.

After the guards had left, Pellev went back
to contemplating the flames and the only sound he made was a
simple, “Hm.”

Gustin heard the sound of Drake’s horse as
it galloped away down the forest path and then all was quiet except
the crackling of the fire.

His thoughts followed his fleeing friend:
Don’t blame yourself too much for what has happened Drake, it
will ruin you. I just hope that your fear hasn’t already destroyed
that brave little man I knew. There was a time when you would have
stood up to Ancient Vorg himself with a mischievous grin on your
face and a flip remark for his ears. Don’t lose that wonderful ego;
it is who you are.”

Then Gustin’s thoughts turned to his brother
Dern:
So Dern, how do you think I’ve done? I know that I was
only a knight for a few days, but I did my best. Things just went
crazy suddenly. I know it’s fruitless to worry about what has
already passed, but I need your help, brother. I’ve sworn my life
to protect Michael Ardellen and the time has come to pay the
taxman. Help me to be strong Dern. I must stop this dark monster
for as long as
possible
so that it does not reach Drake. He fears the
death of his soul more than I. To me death is death, no matter what
its form. I will fulfill my oath, and under no circumstance will I
let that thing get to Michael! He is Lindankar’s hope, perhaps the
hope of the entire world. I cannot allow this beast a swift and
easy victory, so help me withstand the pain Dern, and then I can
die in peace knowing my friends will make it to safety.”

Out of the night, a huge rotting corpse
walked up on the stumps of its two ankles. Pieces of the green
rotting skin were missing in places and its stomach was split open,
the entrails hung down to the ground and dragged along behind. Its
mouth was missing both lips, but somehow the grinning black rotted
teeth opened and spoke to Gustin, “Good evening, Sir Knight. A fine
night for an outdoors dinner, yes?” spoke the voice of splintering
and snapping knuckles to the lone Gustin.

“Is that foul image supposed to scare me? Go
back to your dark, worthless world, you disgust me,” Gustin
commanded.

“What is your name, brave mortal, I want to
remember it with the taste of your particular soul,” the Darknull
replied.

“I am Gustin, son of Yul the Blacksmith,
come and burn in the light of my fire,
you sick
creature of the dark,” he stated bravely.

“As you wish, fool!” The Darknull sprang
forward to envelop the lone human.

In an effort of
will,
Gustin forced himself not to run. He lifted his two
torches before him and began waving them in the pattern he had seen
Hetark use to fend off the creature.

Baron Qyrmswav easily avoided the torch fire
and rapidly shifted around the sphere created by Gustin’s sweeping
torches, he said, “You make a pretty display, son of Yul, but how
long can you maintain your dance?”

“Not long, but I don’t have anything better
to do right now,” Gustin replied, but he thought:
Long enough to
allow Drake, Hetark, Elizabeth and Michael to reach the safety of
the Kirnath.

“Your friends left you here to die alone,
was your wounded body slowing them down?” the Baron asked, trying
to anger his opponent into a mistake.

“What makes you think I am wounded?” Gustin
asked.

“I can see it in your life force, the flames
burnt you as well, didn’t they?” the creature asked with glee.

“I’d welcome the caress of the flames over
your foul touch any day,” was Gustin’s immediate response.

“Perhaps I will let you survive while...” In
mid-sentence,
the Darknull darted
to Gustin’s side and attacked.

Gustin felt the pain on his side and
naturally spun to face the onslaught, but that brought his back
away from the fire.

The incredibly quick Darknull shifted around
the body of the wounded knight and attached itself to his
unprotected back and the Baron immediately began to consume
Gustin’s soul.

Gustin tried to reach the fire again, he
knew he could not succumb this early or the creature would soon be
after Drake. If he could burn the creature off in the flames he
might be able to resume his battle. The pain from the attacking
creature was too great and Gustin’s body was just too weak from his
wounds and he collapsed short of the fire.

A loud bellow split the night and through
his pain the fallen knight heard, “I’m coming, Gustin!”

Gustin looked up through the flames of the
fire and saw an apparition. It was a
wild-eyed
and insane looking horse with spittle trailing
from its mouth. The horse launched itself over the flames of the
fire and Drake clung to its back as he forced the crazed horse to
obey his commands in the face of its fear of the Darknull’s
presence.

The horse cleared the fire and Gustin’s
sprawled out
body
, coming down
just beyond.

Attached by a rope to the horse’s saddle, a
large, oil soaked bush trailed along the ground and the skittering
thick tangle of branches crashed right into the large fire and
exploded into flames. The impact knocked hot coals and sparks all
over Gustin’s prone body as well as the Darknull.

The Darknull detached itself from the
knight’s back with a howl of pain as the burning bush drug across
both their bodies.

When the alien creature detached from
Gustin’s soul the knight decided getting burnt by fire had never
felt so good.

The flaming bush continued past Gustin and
he managed to shake off the pain and stagger to his feet. Somehow
he still had his two torches clenched in his hands.

Drake’s mount had gone beyond even the small
knight’s expert control, between the fire and the Darknull’s
presence the horse went completely wild. Drake
leaped
away from the horse and landed
purclaw-like on his feet. Without
pause,
he swept up two of the spare torches from the
ground, spun around and went back to back with the staggering
Gustin.

Gustin lit his friend’s torches from his,
and they readied themselves for the attack of the Darknull.

“Welcome back Drake, what convinced you to
return?” Gustin asked his friend between gasps for air.

“I remembered how clumsy you were with those
big feet, so I knew I better come back and help you up,” Drake
replied lightly.