The Vitalis Chronicles: Tomb of the Relequim (50 page)

T
HIRTY-
T
WO

T
HE
S
HADOW
K
ING WAS BLOODY AND BREATHING HEAVILY
.
He stood over the piles of dust that had been trying to kill him only moments before. He was exulting inside. He had overcome every obstacle set in his path. He had done what no one could do, and he had finished it with poise. The greatest defenses he could have ever encountered now lay crumbled about him. There was only one thing left to do, and the Shadow would be restored.

He looked up at the Gates. The huge stone doors stood sealed together. They looked like one giant slab of granite, decorated in a magnificently detailed carving of the known world. He stepped forward, not wanting to waste time. They were beautiful, but they wouldn't be around much longer. None of this place would be. He had a feeling the Relequim would destroy the entire mountain once he was free.

And he would be free.

The Shadow King strode up to the massive doors. He saw with eyes that had long been trained to find enchantments. All he had to do was break the seal, if only he could find it. The wind whipped around him, tugging at his cape as if to pull him from his task. It put pressure on his wounds, causing him to grimace against the pain. He had no enemies left to fight, and only one task left to him. He would complete his mission first; there would be plenty of time to heal.

He brought his sword in front of him, gripping the hilt with both hands. He muttered an incantation he knew that was supposed to reveal that which was. And it did. The whole door came to glittering life as the enchantments were exposed. In the center of it all stood a solitary rune. That one, he knew, kept the whole thing together.

He concentrated on what he knew of the spells on the door. He had been there when they had been made, he could be the cause of their undoing. And then the words came to him. He looked back up at the rune, beginning the incantation in a whisper and shouting every syllable by the end. He picked up his sword and infused all of the energy he could muster into the blade. The enchanted steel glowed red as he pulled it back over his head. He yelled then, putting everything he had left into the strike, and thrust it into the rune in front of him.

He half expected the stone to turn his blade, but it didn't. The metal broke the seal, and found the space between the doors. The mountain shuddered as the enchantments flared again. Then suddenly the thin wall of granite that covered the Gates shattered and blew out in a cloud of shards and dust.

The Shadow King guarded his face with his arm as he was blown back, the cuts and breaks and bruises screaming as he slid on the ground. Then he stood slowly, staring up at the thirty-foot doors. A low wailing noise rose from somewhere deep within the Cathedral as the mountain shook again. His stomach dropped a little at the sound, his treason was complete. But the pain in his heart was quickly won over by the knowledge that he had done the impossible. The Shadow would return; he had done it. Then he heard footsteps in the wind.

Ardin watched with disbelief as he ran for the Gates. The Shadow King made the whole surface come alive with magic. And before Ardin realized what was happening, the Shade had shoved his sword in the granite and shattered the seal.

The blowback from the breaking of the seal brought Ardin to a complete stop. He stared in horror as the man he so deeply hated smiled at his handiwork. He was bringing about the end of the world, and he seemed happy to do it.

Flashes of Alisia came to him then. His family burning in Levanton. John, bleeding out in the middle of that shallow crater. He gritted his teeth to think of the betrayal, the treachery, the sheer evil of the creature that stood in front of him. The warmth churned in response, growing in intensity until it boiled just below the skin. The veins in his neck flared as his rage hit a peak, and he lunged.

It was more than a lunge. He sheathed his sword on his belt as he ran before thrusting his hands to the ground. The force he exerted was enough to launch him into the air, the wind ripping at him crossways as he flew fifty feet in the air. The general on the bridge turned at the sound of his launch. The general had a name, a name he would erase from living memory. He screamed as he pulled the blade free from its scabbard. “Silvers!” He dragged the word out long and harsh as he descended on the man he hated.

The man once called Silvers was exhausted, and this newfound intrusion where he had imagined himself isolated came as a complete surprise. He reacted just in time to catch the full force of the incoming blade on his own. The impact put him on his back. They slid on the ground until they collided with the great stone Gates.

Ardin held him there, sword pressed in, sweat dripping from his nose. Had he looked, he would have noticed that his own blade was now notched where it had connected with the Shade's. But he didn't care. If he had to ruin a thousand of Caspian's blades to kill this monster, he would do it.

The Shadow King, for his part, was caught completely off guard. He searched his assailant's animal eyes for a moment before kicking out, bringing his legs up between them, and launching the boy back ten feet. It took the Shade a moment to get up, his wounds screaming from fighting the statues. He had yet to make the jump to mend completely, and the beating he had taken would require time spent in the Atmosphere. Time he didn't have right now. He had to get away from this mountain.

“
Do you know who I am?” Ardin shouted, quivering as he stood.

“
Should I?” The Shadow King brushed the dust from his pants as he regained his balance.

“
Yes!” The response made Ardin convulse with rage. “You murdered my family. In cold blood!”

“
I've killed lots of families lately, boy. You'll have to be more spec–”

“
LEVANTON!
” Ardin shouted. “I'm from Levanton! You took everything from me! Since that day... since that day, all I've wanted was to kill you.”

“
I'm sorry you'll never get the chance then,” the Shadow King said as he lifted a hand and shot a
burst of flame at the boy.
That should put an end to this nonsense.

The boy, however, appeared walking through the fire, brushing it aside like he might a puff of dust.

“
What the he–” But the Shadow King never finished the sentence as an invisible wall blasted him back into the Gates. He slumped to the ground, ears ringing, mind racing.
Who the hell is this kid?
Not knowing who was attacking him brought back his hated enemy. Fear.

“And y
ou killed the woman I love.” The boy's voice had grown frightfully quiet as he kept moving forward. “For that I owe you tenfold.”

Before the Shadow King could do anything the boy's hand shot out. He could feel the grip on him as he was picked up and launched into the air.

Ardin smiled as the silver-haired man flew back down the bridge, but he disappeared just before impact. The Shadow King reappeared as from a mist, walking towards him with his brow furrowed. There were fewer tears in his armor, fewer bruises on his face.

“
Luckily for me, falls don't tend to hurt that much,” the Shade yelled so Ardin could hear him.

Ardin smiled. The idea of making a fight of this sounded good enough to him. He started towards the Shade, running to match his opponent's speed.

The boy sent out a shockwave so violent it stripped the top inch of granite off the bridge. The Shadow King made the jump just in time, feeling the disturbance in the Atmosphere roll past him like thunder. Whoever this kid was, underestimating him had been a massive mistake.

The Shade reappeared behind the boy, swinging his blade at the crux of his neck. But the kid was faster. As if he could see with the back of his head, he spun, bringing his own sword to bear in time to block the blow.

“
Who are you?” the Shadow King asked as they pressed into each other; feet sliding and shifting in the dust. And then it came to him. “The boy from the Cave...”

“
My name,” Ardin's grimace grew to a grizzly grin. “Is
Ardin Vitalis
.”

Another shockwave hit the Shade before he could react. It sent him sprawling and sliding along the bridge until he stopped ten yards from the Gates. He picked himself up, groaning. He was tired.

“
It's too late, Ardin,” he said as the boy came running again. “What's done is done. There's no stopping it now.”

“
Maybe not,” he could just barely hear the boy called Ardin say as he closed the gap. “But I can
still put an end to you.”

The boy launched himself in the air. How it was possible for some boy to do all of this was beyond the Shadow King. He made the jump as the boy's blade swept through where his chest had been. He jumped back quickly this time, bringing his elbow around and connecting with the back of the boy's head.

Ardin reeled, dodging the sword he knew was sure to follow. He spun and kicked up, but the Shade moved back. The long, elegant sword swept down, and Ardin barely got his own blade up in time. He swept the Shadow King's blade away and brought his own around, but the Shade was faster. He knocked Ardin's sword down and kicked, sending him back into the Gates.

“
You can't beat me, boy.” The Shadow King smiled. “I've fought plenty like you and have not a scratch to show for it.” He looked at his ragged armor before shrugging. “At least, I won't in an hour's time.”

Ardin growled as he sat up. “You've fought no one like me.”

Before the Shadow King knew it, he was sliding along the bridge again, ears ringing. The kid was right; he'd never fought anyone like this before. He got up as a tight blast of fire flew past, catching him in the shoulder and spinning him in a swirl of smoke. He was getting tired of this.

The boy was coming at him again.
Let him
. The Shadow King dashed forward, closing the gap and making the jump as another wave of energy rolled through. He came back in front of the boy, raining down steel.
Let's see if you know your swordplay.

To the Shade's apparent surprise, Ardin kept up well enough. He backed up initially, the shock of seeing the Shade jump in and out of existence unnerving him as he sought to sense his every move. But the warmth was coursing through him now. Strengthening him. Heightening his senses. Feeding off his rage. He knew he could best the old bastard, the certainty made him grin.

The black and gray warriors danced around each other on the bridge at the End of the World. Steel rang off steel as the enchanted blades met over and over. The Shadow King maintained the attack, for his was the superior skill. But Ardin had fought fewer battles that day, and kept up well enough with the Shade.

“
That's it, boy.” The Shadow King's frustration hit a peak. “Time to end this.”

And with no further warning, the Shade disappeared again. He reappeared behind Ardin, swinging his blade. Ardin blocked as quickly as he could, but no sooner had he done so than the Shade disappeared again. He reappeared from a haze to Ardin's left, thrusting his long blade towards his midsection. Ardin managed to deflect the blow, but before he knew it, he was defending himself from another to his right.

Around and around and around they went as the mountain shuddered in sporadic intervals. The Shade jumped in and out of the physical, moving from one side to the other, keeping the boy off balance, coming closer to drawing blood with each strike. Soon the kid would trip. Soon, it would all be over. He hadn't had to struggle like this in ages, but he needed to win this fight. His last fight.

Ardin's spiderweb of enchantments did their best to forewarn him of the Shadow King's presence. But the Shade came and went so quickly he could barely keep it all straight. His mind swirled like the white mists around his feet. He was getting dizzy and beginning to tire.

He hefted his sword over his head, then swung it down to his right, then brought it around to his left. Each time he parried, each time his enemy disappeared, each time he came from a new angle. Cuts opened on Ardin's shoulders and legs. The gashes in his leather armor told a similar story. He was losing. Even if slowly, he was losing.

He tried to send out more shockwaves. Tried to burn the Shade. Tried to trap him in ethereal tendrils and cut him with invisible blades. But the Shadow King was too quick, and Ardin couldn't touch him when he jumped.

He stumbled as a cut opened up on the back of his leg. Screaming, he dove and rolled towards the edge of the bridge. He parried left, blocked right, and swung his sword in an arc to keep his enemy at bay. And then he remembered Charsi. Remembered how she had held him in the Cave. How she had held Silvers the same way. How he couldn't escape.

His mind raced as he tried to think of what to do. He spun to face the center of the bridge.
Not the physical.
His eyes broadened at the realization.
Strike the metaphysical.
Ducking under a broad cut, he sent out a thousand invisible spikes into the Atmosphere. They stuck. He could feel it. He brought his sword around and thrust it up behind him.