NexLord: Dark Prophecies (57 page)

Katek had picked up Lor's
quarterstaff
and met the hurling beast head
on.  He jabbed the longer reach staff forward with all
his strength, right into the throat of the screaming
monster.  The impact crushed its windpipe.

Choking, the beast tried to
cleave
Katek in two, but the young warrior
danced away, his quarterstaff blurring around into a defensive
position, that Temmen would have been proud to see.

At that
moment,
Gandarel flew out of the stone wall and into the
room.  He fell to the ground and immediately
leaped
back to his feet. He turned with a sob
of Aerin’s
name
and launched
himself at the smooth stone of the Wall of testing only to crash
into solid stone.  He landed hard on the ground at the
base of the wall. 

Katek
and
the wheezing
Tog
circled and then
crashed together, for three quick blows, none of which
landed.  Katek again retreated and the Tog went after
him.

Gandarel looked up with tear-stained cheeks
and beheld the carnage in the room.  Almost everyone was
dead.  Only Enolive,
Katek,
and his Tog opponent still stood, and all around
them,
the floor was littered with
bodies. Dono knelt by a bloody Lor, and Gandarel crawled over
quickly to see to his friend.

He looked down into Lor's
pain-filled
face, and she mouthed the word,
"Aerin?"

Gandarel's eyes diverted from her gaze and he
sobbed.

"What happened to Aerin?" Dono demanded and
grabbed Gandarel's arm with a hand covered in Lor’s red blood.

"I left him to die, within the wall, I failed
him," Gandarel admitted.

"Go back," Lor whispered, blood bubbling from
her mouth.

"I can't!" Gandarel yelled in anguish. "I'm
sorry," he sobbed and took hold of Lor's hands.

They all saw the bright golden chain marks
that ran around both of his wrists.

"I'm not worthy of these, I failed my
friend!" Gandarel cried.  He released Lor’s hand, but her
blood was on his hands, and without thought he began smearing it
across his wrist in an effort to hide the golden marks of a
NexLord.

Gandarel backed away from Lor and Dono, his
loathing for himself too great to withstand their looks of
concern.

He backed up to the wall and sobbed in
self-loathing
, he had left Aerin
to die… left him to Death.

It was Enolive that placed a consoling hand
on his shoulder.

"It's not your fault, Gandarel."

"It IS my fault, I hate this place, and I
hate myself!"

"You never wanted to be a NexLord; they
forced you into this, all of them.  They made you kill
your only friend," as the Dreadbeast, called Betrayer, spoke to the
boy, he used his dark powers stoke the hate already
within
Gandarel's soul.

Gandarel was panting; the
all-consuming
hate he felt for his actions was
starting to spread outwards. He suddenly understood what Enolive
was telling him, everyone he knew had pushed him to do this, even
Aerin.  His body overflowed with hatred for all the
people that had pushed and controlled him, all the people that had
made him fail and come to this point in life.

"Use the hate; turn it into power, Gandarel!
Feel it flowing into your bones and muscles, you can make them
pay," the Dreadbeast, in the guise of the councilmen, hissed in his
ear, both hands now kneading his shoulders.

Gandarel's heart pounded and he felt his
muscles swell, he suddenly saw red, and with a bellow of pure
hatred,
he
leaped
off the floor. He scooped up a fallen sword in his
bloody hand.  He wanted to kill something, anything.

Katek ducked under a blow from the Tog's
sword and swung his quarterstaff into the Tog’s left knee, the
joint broke with a snap, and the beast went down. It was still
choking out its life from its crushed throat, but right then two
new Togs appeared in the opening of the Chamber. Katek had barely
been able to handle one, and he knew he now faced his death, but
the young warrior lifted his weapon, calmly, ready for battle.

Screaming in pure hatred, and shaking from
the hate bottled up inside, Gandarel charged toward the two
Togroths.  He arrived with such speed and power, that his
first cut with the sword took the first Tog's head off
at
the shoulder.  The headless body
staggered for a moment, shooting yellow blood over the walls,
before falling twitching to the stone.  Whirling through
the fountain of blood, with hate induced berserk speed; Gandarel
jammed his sword clean through the heart of the second
Tog
until the hilt struck its chest with
force.  Without
pause,
Gandarel ripped the sword free.

Screaming in hatred, Gandarel charged out
into the dark. He sought pain and death for all, and quick as an
adder, the Dreadbeast Betrayer followed. It kept enhancing the
hatred of the berserk boy.

Katek stood panting in stunned silence for a
moment, but he shook himself and started back toward Lor. He wanted
to see if there was anything he could do, but after one look, he
knew she was mortally wounded, her blood was pooling around her and
she would soon be gone.

Aerin was falling, but he was at
peace.  His friend would escape this dark place and
become a NexLord to fulfill his destiny.  The pain of
Death's grip was gone, and Aerin didn't know what had happened to
the fell beast, but he didn't really care.  He had seen
it go past the ledge with
him
before it lost touch.

Aerin was just starting to wonder if there
would ever be a bottom to this endless
fall
when his body struck the floor.  It wasn't
with the impact he had been expecting, and he slid across the floor
more than ran into it.  Momentarily dazed, Aerin looked
around, and felt vertigo, he had seen this very scene once before
in his life.  Torches lit the area, illuminating the
soldier and Tog bodies that were strewn across the stone
floor.  Fearing, but knowing what he would see, Aerin
turned his tired head and saw Dono kneeling by a body. Katek was
hurrying toward Dono.

 Dono turned and there was anguish on
his face.

"Get Mara, I need her help!” he called
desperately.

Katek, his arm bloody, spoke, and his voice
held pain, "Don't you remember... Death came for her and she's
gone."

Aerin stumbled to his feet and ran to Dono's
side, where he knelt down by Lor's body.

Dono looked up through tear filled eyes, "She
needs help, Aerin!"

"I... I there is nothing I can do, she's
dead," Aerin said, his voice echoing strangely in his head from the
memory of the words and the repeating of them happening at the same
instant.   At that moment, Yearl came running into
the Chamber and went quickly to the small group huddled around
Lor.

"Where is Gandarel?” he asked Katek in a
hurried voice.  Yellow and red blood
were
mixed in stains on the Willowman's purple
clothing.

Katek answered.  "He came out of
the wall and went berserk; he killed two Togs and ran off into the
dark, with that councilman Enolive chasing him.  I
couldn't stop him."

"We MUST find him!" Yearl said desperately.
He started to
turn
when he finally
noticed the tableau of Dono and Aerin crouched over the smaller
body of Lor.

Yearl knelt down and took a quick look at the
situation.  There was no chance to save Lor; the wound
was too great to survive, but as he started to rise he saw an
incredible sight, golden chain marks encircled Aerin's wrists.

Quickly Yearl knelt back down and grabbed
Aerin's hands. He pulled them up before the dull eyes of the
grieving boy.  "Look, do you see these?"

"What?" Aerin asked dully.

Yearl released one hand and slapped Aerin,
hard.  "Pull yourself together, young NexLord, your
friend needs you!"

Aerin's expression was brighter, but he still
didn't understand Yearl's statement.

"You might be able to save
Lor
if you are willing to give her your life,"
Yearl stated.

That got through to Aerin.  "Save
her?  Then if that is the price, take my life," he said,
pulling a dagger and handing it hilt first to Yearl.

"Not that way, this could kill you both, or
save her, I'm not sure.  I've never heard of a bonding
happening when a Bondsman is mortally wounded, but if you are
willing, you might be able to save her."

"Anything," Aerin said
desperately.  "I don't care about the risk."

Yearl looked into his eye for a moment and
then nodded.  "You understand that you will be bonded
forever, and you will put the keeping of your life into her
hands."

"Yes, do it, hurry," Aerin said, looking at
the pale face of Lor.

Yearl grabbed him, "You must do exactly as I
say, and it is going to hurt, here," he said, pointing to Aerin's
chest.

"Just tell me what to do."

Yearl turned to Lor, "It starts with
her.  She has to have enough strength left to begin the
bond.  Lor…" he said, leaning down near her face,
"Aerin needs you, he is asking you to become his bondsman, for
life… will you do it?"

Lor's eyes fluttered and she opened them
slightly, "Aerin?  You're alive!"

"That's more than I can really say for you,"
Aerin said through
tear-filled
eyes.

"Damn Togs, I wasn't so nimble this time,"
she noted.

Yearl broke in, "Hush, you must repeat the
words written on the wall, Lor.  And you have to mean
them.  They will bond you to Aerin, for life."

"Servant?" Lor said, a little of her old fire
in that one word.

"No, friend," Yearl promised.

Lor sighed, "It won't matter either way, but
if it is important."

"It is, say the words," Yearl requested.

"I don't remember ‘em," Lor complained, her
eyes starting to close.

"LOR
wake
up, you must fight for this!" Aerin demanded and then added, "It’s
just like a girl to give up."

Lor's eyes opened and she feebly tried to
slap him with her right hand.

"You'll pay for that," she promised.

Yearl had Dono prop her up and face her
toward the words written on the wall.  Fresh blood poured
slowly from the long cut in her chest."  

"I share with
you,
my
friendship;” she paused and licked her bloody lips, then
continued, "my loyalty and all that I am without
qualification."  She paused again and her eyes closed,
Aerin thought she was gone, but a moment later she opened them
again, and she continued, but there was a hint of Lor's old fire as
she read the next line, “I give you my life, and I would die for
you."   She gained strength and the last line was
delivered strong and clear.  "Will you accept my
bond?"

Yearl showed Aerin how to hold her
hands.  They gripped wrists, right-to-right, and
left-to-left in a cross pattern over Lor's propped up
body.  "Read the NexLord's verse," he
prompted
when they were set.

Aerin immediately read his part, “I offer in
return my life into your hands.  I swear to never betray
your bond, on forfeit of my life.  It is in your keeping
from this moment forth.  With this
commitment,
I share with you all that I
am.  I accept your bond and give you mine in
return.  These chain marks signify the sealing of our
bond, where the weakest link measures the strength of our
fellowship."

Two things happened: Aerin and Lor both felt
a cold sensation on their wrists, and Aerin gasped in pain as blood
erupted out of his chest.

"Aerin!" Lor cried
out
while trying to hold her friend up, she suddenly felt
a lessening of pain and more strength.

Aerin felt as though a hot iron had been
dragged across his chest, and he was suddenly weak, he collapsed
next to Lor, though he was still holding onto Lor's wrists.

"What's wrong?" Dono demanded, horrified at
the new blood.

Yearl nodded.  "It's what I
expected, Lor's wound is now less, but Aerin shares it with her,
but fear not, they may both survive the wound now, and they will
heal faster than normal.  Now that your friend is out of
danger I must go, Mara is in dire need and I have stayed too
long.  I will tell her what has transpired here, and we
will find Gandarel."

To Dono and Katek he said, "Bind their wounds
and get them out of this chamber, as soon as you can! Get into the
maze and hide.  If we don't find you soon make your way
out; Aerin will know the way.  Go to the capitol, and
Mara will find you there.  May the trees bless you with
good health, my friends," he
finished
and was suddenly gone.

Gandarel was sticky with yellow Tog blood,
and still the hatred was unsatisfied.  He was a demon
that could not be stopped.  The more he butchered, the
more he hated, and the more powerful he became.  He cut a
bloody path through the halls, but no matter how fast he ran, the
Dreadbeast Betrayer was with him. When they emerged into the night,
at the entranceway to the caves, they found the vast majority of
the Tog army, waiting outside to take all who tried to escape.

The hate filled boy stopped, and the creature
he had known, as Enolive, stepped up behind him
again
and placed his bony hands on the boy's
heaving shoulders.

"Do you hate them, young
master?"  Betrayer asked, enhancing Gandarel's hate
through his hands.

"With all my soul, I want to kill them all!"
Gandarel
replied
and his voice
shook with
lack
of control, and
spittle flew from his lips.

"Feel their fear as they die, take it and
turn it back
on
them," the
Dreadbeast counseled, and through their flow of hate, he slipped
into Gandarel's mind and showed him how.