Descent Into Darkness (Book 2) (15 page)

"No, I've never heard the name."

"Of course you haven't," she said with a sigh. "The Shadaer Umdaer is a strong race of warriors that live to the south, much further than what you call Rensen Forest. They control an amount of land nearly equal in size to Ven Khilada. A long time ago, decades before the Plague, humans and Umdaer met for the first time. With the Umdaer being a race only concerned with fighting and war, they decided that your race and the peaceful Taruun needed to be conquered and made into slaves."

"At this time, your race outnumbered the Umdaer five to one, but that didn't matter as one Umdaer could kill eight or nine well-trained humans on his own. So the Umdaer pushed north, killing or enslaving anyone they came across. Most people at the time still lived in what is now the Plagued Lands, so it only took a matter of weeks for the Umdaer to hold everything south of Lake Melcoi."

She turned and waved a hand, covering the entire lake, temples, and docks that ran along it. "Most of the main temples had been built here at that time, so needless to say, many people and deities were worried about the Umdaer taking this land as well. They had been unsuccessful in even slowing the Umdaer down, so things looked grim. And that is when your imp's former master appeared."

"None of us higher beings knew about him, except for maybe Ze'an himself, but he never really talked to us even back then. As the tribes of the Umdaer marched towards the lake, he came from the Northwest, an army of creatures from the Abyss following him. His forces crushed the Umdaer in a matter of days, which led to the signing of the Treaty of Melcoi. The peace treaty allowed the Umdaer to keep their land to the south and created a wary peace. The man was a hero, and I mean a real Hero, not like the jokers that run around now calling themselves Heroes."

Ean couldn't help being caught up in the story. "What happened afterwards? I mean, why did he suddenly turn against everyone?"

"No one knows for sure, but my guess is that the power went to his head. Power always corrupts, Ean. It's the way of life."

"Even with the gods?" Kaz'ren's face immediately darkened, the edges of her lips twisting downward just as her eyebrows did the same. A tense silence followed. When Ean looked down at his boots, she continued.

"Enough history lessons and pointless questions," she said coldly. "On to why we are here. You want to find that man's old lair. I can not only point you in the right direction but also tell you the most efficient way to travel there. All I ask in return is a little assistance in acquiring one soul that has been out of my reach for too long."

"Wait," Ean's voice went up a notch. "You want me to kill someone?"

"No, no," she replied, her mood lightening slightly. "This soul has already left its body, but it's corrupted in a way that makes it impossible for me to claim."

"And you think I can help you?"

"I HOPE you can help me, but I'm not certain. Let's just call this an experiment. If it fails, I'll still give you the information and you can just owe me some other favor. Deal?"

Ean did not like the idea of "owing" this goddess or any other deity a favor for that matter, but he had little choice. It was doubtful that any regular citizen alive knew where the lair had been, and even if they did, they would hand Ean over to the Seekers if he mentioned anything concerning the Abyss. The Temple of Ni'Aren was a dead end now if the Goddess herself was bent on keeping him out and in the dark. Kaz'ren was his only option.

"You have a deal. What am I supposed to do?"

"Well," she said, her mood becoming slightly cheerful now that he had agreed, "The soul I mentioned is stuck here in Ze'an's old temple. Let's go on in and see what happens."

THE GODDESS PUSHED OPEN
one of the doors, and Ean followed her inside. As he surveyed the dilapidated temple, shivers ran up his spine, but it had nothing to do with the neglected interior. A feeling of dread had settled over him, and he couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched. Just inside the doors the room opened up into the main place of worship. Cracks ran like spider webs throughout the walls, and the majority of the windows had fist-sized holes punched through them. Moth-eaten and barely-hanging banners were spread out all along the walls, the pictures that had been sewn or dyed into them long faded and indistinguishable. A devastated carpet ran straight from the doors, past rows of mostly rotted out or broken pews, and ended at the foot of a dais. On the dais itself sat an altar in similar disrepair. At one point it had probably been a finely carved work of art, but most of those carvings were either worn down or broken off entirely. Behind the altar were a few doors that likely led to the inner workings of the temple.

The longer Ean stood there with the goddess, the more ill-at-ease he felt, as if some force was making it clear it did not want him there. He stood unsure whether to continue in or flee while Kaz'ren strolled into the building totally at ease. She glanced around a few times and then let out a loud sigh.

"Come on out, Primaren. I do not want to spend all afternoon trying to hunt you down." Turning slightly, she waved Ean to join her in the middle of the room. "It's alright. His presence gives anyone who enters a bad feeling. That's why the temple is still standing and hasn't been torn down. He doesn't let anyone stay here for more than a few moments before scaring them off."

Ean forced himself to stand straight and take the first step towards the goddess. Nothing horrible happened, so he took a few more steps. Feeling a bit more confident, Ean took a few more steps.

And was immediately struck in the back by something small.

"Oww!" he yelled, spinning around and raising his arms in order to defend himself. Instead of finding an attacker, however, he found empty air. A sound caught his attention at his feet and looking down, he found a small piece of stone. Was that what had hit him? "Kaz'ren, I really don't feel comfortable--"

BOOM.

The doors slammed shut so suddenly and with such noise that Ean leapt backwards and fell over one of the pews. He hit his elbow hard on a pew and slammed his shoulder into the stone flooring. Scrambling to his feet, he started to turn slowly, trying his best to keep his eyes out for the next attack.

"Oh, this is so tiring," Kaz'ren said, walking over to stand next to Ean. "He does this to everyone. You would think being trapped here for decades in a place he loves wouldn't have soured his attitude so badly."

Ean grunted, then watched in a mixture of horror and fascination as a larger piece of stone lifted in the air not ten paces away. It hovered there for a few moments and then shot straight at him. Ean didn't even have time to think to put his arms up to defend himself. With a flick of her wrist, Kaz'ren knocked the stone aside, rolling her eyes as she did so.

"I'm not going to let you hurt the boy, Primaren," Kaz'ren said, raising her voice slightly to be heard over the clattering of the stone she had just knocked away. "So how about you stop trying to be a bully and come out where we can see you."

For a moment, the room was deathly silent. Maybe whatever had been causing the problems had left. Ean quickly dismissed that thought as the feeling of dread suddenly spiked to the point where he wanted to run. He stood his ground and watched as something began to take shape in front of them.

It started out as a purplish mist, or maybe a blur, similar to what Zin looked like when he was invisible. Then, it pooled
together and the vague outline of a man appeared. A few moments later, the form took on details until a fully clothed man floated just off the ground in front of Ean. He was semi-transparent
and completely blue, but Ean could make out even the smallest details.

Depictions of various creatures Ean recognized as being from the Abyss adorned the man's robes. His right hand was opening or closing as if it was used to holding something. The man's face looked young, with a neatly cropped purplish beard and short hair of the same color. Most of his features were average, except for his blazing red eyes, which were staring hatefully at Ean and Kaz'ren.

"See," Kaz'ren said, sounding friendly. "That wasn't so hard was it?"

The man opened his mouth to speak, and what came out was a voice that mimicked the intensity in his eyes. It sounded distant, though, as if he was yelling at them from across the room.

"Foul, slime-faced woman," Primaren said, directing all of his hate towards the goddess. "Why must you continue to bother me? I am free from your touch and will forever remain this way. Why can you not leave me alone and be off watching your band of mutes?"

The smile remained on her face. It was only the slight narrowing of the eyes and hint of steel in her voice that indicated to Ean she was holding back her anger.

"Now, now, no need to be rude. You don't want to make a bad first impression on my friend here. Allow me to make the introductions. Ean, this pleasant fellow is Primaren, former Voice for the temple of Ze'an. Primaren, this is Ean."

"I do not care about the living, and I certainly do not care about you, you wretched excuse for a deity."

"Such a temper. I would watch what you say. You might not be as safe from my control as you think."

"Ha, impotent goddess! My god protects me from your control. I will never join your collection of the dead, so you can just repeatedly go drown yourself in the lake. Maybe that will keep the stench of death off you."

Kaz'ren kept the smiled through the insults, although there was no warmth to it now. Turning to Ean, she placed a hand not so gently on his shoulder.

"This is where you come in, my boy. I cannot claim his soul. He says it's because of some kind of protection from Ze'an, but I'm not so sure. Ze'an was never known to pay much attention to humans."

Scratching his head, Ean alternated between looking from Primaren to Kaz'ren. "What exactly am I supposed to do? I don't know anything about souls. A week or so ago, I didn't know your Soulbearers even existed."

"Let's start by removing your glove." Reaching down she grabbed his right hand. "At the very least, your tattoos might shut him up for a moment."

The spirit let out a laugh. "You really think this over-grown stick of a boy can go against Ze'an's will? You must truly be getting desperate to be rid of me you foul... urk!"

It was a strange sound the spirit made as Ean's glove was removed and his glowing tattoos lit up the area around them. Primaren simply stood there and stared, well, floated in place and stared, at the softly pulsating glow of the tattoos. Ean was a bit surprised as well, but not from the spirit's reaction.

He could "feel" the spirit now.

It had the feel of a familiar shirt he had worn hundreds of times. Without realizing it, Ean reached out and touched the spirit where it was floating. His hand passed right though, but something was there. Something he could actually touch...

A jolt of energy flashed through Ean's body, and he jerked his hand back. At the same time, Primaren's form seemed to dissipate for a moment before reforming. When he was whole again, Primaren looked at Ean in horror while Ean returned a look of confusion. All the while he could still feel "something" coming from the spirit.

"What is this?!?" Primaren said, the spite and anger in his voice replaced by fear. "What abomination have you brought to do your dirty work, Kaz'ren?"

"Nothing I've created, Primaren." Kaz'ren's voice took on a tone of satisfaction as she addressed the spirit. "The boy is tied to the Abyss and its power."

Pausing to take a seat, Kaz'ren regarded the spirit in the same fashion that Ean might regard a piece of steak after going hungry for a week.

"Tell me, little priest," the goddess continued. "Do you still feel like you can speak to me in such a vile manner?"

For a moment, the spirit looked at the goddess with more contempt then Ean had ever seen. Then those eyes swung around and regarded Ean with a mixture of fear and sadness.

"Whatever she has promised you," the spirit said, his eyes locked on Ean, "you cannot do her bidding. Those marks connect you to Ze'an, not her. As the Voice of the temple of Ze'an, I order you to leave this place, now!"

"Don't you mean former Voice?" Kaz'ren got back up and began walking a slow circle around the spirit, a large smile playing at her lips. "Death strips away all titles. Can you imagine what kind of confusion it would cause if all my former high priests, all of those souls were running around trying to give orders? It would be quite the mess."

The goddess was clearly enjoying herself now, but Ean had no idea why. He had certainly felt something, could still feel something actually, coming from the spirit but he had no idea what it meant or what he was supposed to do about it. Kaz'ren stopped pacing and turned her attention on Ean.

"Well? What are you waiting for?"

"Waiting for? I have no idea what I'm supposed to do."

"You felt something, yes?" The goddess raised her eyebrows questioningly until Ean nodded. "My boy, what you felt is exactly what is keeping me from claiming this soul. This soul, this loyal servant to Ze'an, at some point was infused with energy from the Abyss. That is what is keeping me from claiming him. Now I need you to rid him of it."

"Me? Why don't you do it?"

"Because none of us deities can touch or even feel that energy," she growled.

Where only moments before, Kaz'ren had been smiling and sounding slightly smug, her demeanor now completely changed. Her fists were clenched at her side as she leaned forward slightly towards Ean, her eyes flashing anger. Ean couldn't help but take a step back from the disgust that was flowing out of her.

"Why his god should have access to things that none of the rest of us can even feel is beyond me. As for the priest, I didn't know if having a bit of the energy infused in him was the reason I could not take him because, again, I can't feel it. That's why I need you."

Ean took a few more steps back, risking a glance in the direction of the door. If things turned worse, could he outrun a goddess? From what little she had let slip, they didn't seem to be as all powerful as everyone made them out to be. He was about to test his luck when the spirit's laughter caught his ear.

"You don't have to be afraid of her, boy," the spirit got out between chuckles. "They can't directly hurt humans. It's one of their rules. It's one of the few things Ze'an told me himself. At best, they can point followers in your direction like those Seekers and pretty much every hunter of Avien'zia, but this little goddess only has a bunch of mutes as her loyal servants."

"It's good to know," Kaz'ren said, some of the smugness returning to her voice, "that there are still a great many things that humans still do not know about us."

"What can I do," Ean asked, "to help release him from being stuck here?"

"You can sense the energy from the Abyss in him," Kaz'ren replied. "Simply reach out and take it. Once you've removed it from him, I will be free to collect him and place him with the rest of the spirits."

"Take it? How can I take it? I don't know--" he stopped suddenly. He did know how to do it, or rather, he knew how to let the energy flow out of his hand. Would it be that much different to take it back in? There was only one way to find out.

Walking over to the spirit, Ean could not help but feel a pang of guilt about what he was about to do. Sure the spirit had assaulted him, and in his condition, it had been stupid of Primaren to insult a goddess. But Ean couldn't imagine what it would be like to be forever trapped as you watched a place you loved fall into ruin. After so many years, it had to have warped his mind a little.

Glancing at Kaz'ren and the smug smile she wore, he knew he had to say something.

"If I do this, if I make it possible for you to collect him, I don't want you to punish him for what he has done in the past. Let's consider this a clean slate for Primaren, and I'm sure he will be more respectful from now on."

Kaz'ren turned a cold stare to Ean, but her eyebrows rose slightly as she looked at him. Tilting her head, she brought a hand to her face and started to tap her chin with a short fingernail.