Chapter Fifty Seven – The Cleansing of Darnuth Keep by Kelly D. Tolman
Posted by admin on October 26, 2009
The Cleansing of Darnuth Keep is a fantasy novel describing the adventures of Colter Halfspear as he becomes a man and an initiate of magical powers.
I freely admit that I was not prepared for that confrontation. I had steeled myself to face the kind of horror that would spawn the grotesque lizard creatures and that would consort with demons of the sort we had fought all along the way, but I was not prepared to face her beauty and majesty.
No hint of the previous struggle touched her face. If I expected a demonic apparition with grotesquely revolting features I could not have been more mistaken. No horns. No fangs. No claws. She stood arrayed in a mix of tight fitting red leather and sashes. Her beautiful locks of coal black hair braided like tempting snakes about her shoulders. Except for the hint of a red glow behind her pupils and the overwhelming sense of power, she appeared no different than any other beautiful woman. Her otherwise creamy skin held a faint hint of green. A short, broad-bladed sword hung at her belt.
I stood for a moment, transfixed. I had known some pretty girls, but at that tender age I had never before seen such an overwhelmingly beautiful woman, and certainly not such a magnificent personality. She captured my attention and my imagination. For several seconds I waited, unable to fully take in the room, or even to notice my companions.
“Who are you to enter my domain unbidden?” her voice rang out firm and commanding, yet somehow alluring at the same time. I felt compelled to answer, but for the moment I was too overwhelmed to speak.
“Be wary, boy,” I heard Pascalli speaking hoarsely. He sounded small and insignificant. His voice seemed distant and weak.
I had no answer for her. I stepped one foot cautiously into the blue circle, my spear lowered. An unknown fear gripped at my heart, not the fear of pain or of death, but the fear of being completely lost to myself and the world. Part of me wanted to lose myself, to let go of my own will and subjugate myself to the dominating influence that stood before me. I felt my spear slip from my fingers and clatter noisily on the stone.
“Fight it,” I heard a voice echo, as if from beneath water or from a deep cavern.
My second foot crossed the blue circle and searing pain burned through my hands where the rings touched my skin. I felt my body burning, as if consumed by a raging fever. Sweat poured from my brow. For the first time I noticed the gold medallion hanging at Asmordreda’s neck. The medallion burst into light, and I glanced down at my hands to see the diamonds on the rings shining with powerful energy. Before me the demon’s confidence wavered. I saw the burning amulet at her neck, and I knew that she felt the same pain that coursed through my body.
Suddenly the circle around us burst into light and a shimmering translucent blue wall of energy surrounded us. Dimly I could see Pascalli struggling in a fight with foes I had not before noticed. Golgaron stood transfixed to my left, apparently unable to move before the awesome power of the chamber. A second wave of pain rushed through my hands and body. The sounds of my scream were swallowed up by Asmordreda’s cries as she grasped furiously at the amulet around her neck. Her confidence and majesty waned, and her beauty seemed to begin to slowly melt away.
A great wind suddenly whipped at my face. Swirling torrents of light and energy began to race through the circle, buffeting both of us. The ground trembled. I felt transfixed, unable to force myself to push through the agony. Though I could dimly see Pascalli battling, no sounds crossed the barrier. What had Pascalli told me to do? My mind raced against the pain, grasping at memories that should not have seemed so distant. Send her back. I had no power beyond my hopes and my will. Send her back, the thought came powerfully.
I held that thought, and suddenly she staggered, as if struck by some unseen force. A thin trickle of black blood appeared at the corner of her mouth. She bellowed with animal rage as she lunged at me, her soft white fingers suddenly becoming razor claws hungry to tear my flesh.
“No!” I shouted, and held up my hand. She stopped short, as the force of my will created a barrier between us. “Go back!” I said, and swung my hand as if to push her away. The force of energy struck her, and she fell to one knee. Her perfect skin had begun to slowly dissolve away, revealing a scaly black hide beneath, though her body retained its perfect proportions.
“Never!” She lashed back, swinging one hand with a backhanded blow that sent a ripple of energy my way.
I raised my left hand to ward the blow, and with my right hand grasped a bolt of fire as it roared past, using its momentum to spin me around, out of harm’s way and then redirecting it at my adversary. The fire caught her directly in the chest, and she flew back from the force of impact, slamming into the translucent barrier.
“You cannot win, child,” she hissed. Her voice had lost all of its charm and majesty. “No mortal weapon can destroy me.” Her hair had become a tangle of writhing serpents. Her eyes flared with red fire. She struggled to her feet. As she did, she clawed at the energy around her with both hands, preparing a new attack. A massive force caught me suddenly in the chest and lifted me from the ground. As I slammed into the barrier behind me, I heard something crack. The acrid smell of smoking hair suddenly surrounded me, and I felt hot charges like lighting shooting down my back.
I slumped to the ground, rolling weakly away from the barrier. I cannot truly describe the heavy despair that overcame me then. My weaknesses and failings seemed to be spread before me like cards on a table, each to be measured and counted. What a foolish boy I felt. That I should stand before one of the great powers in our grand universe seemed ludicrous. Across the circle Asmordreda crouched. Though disheveled and shaken her incredible sense of power had not completely disappeared. The outward mantle had largely crumbled, but she still carried a sinister alluring beauty that I no longer felt the strength to resist.
“Join me,” she whispered. Her voice carried an icy, dangerous tone, but her manner did not threaten so much as invite. “This chamber holds the key to the universe. Together …” somewhere her voice faded.
I lost my sense of space and time. I felt my mind drifting into nothingness. Asmordreda stood now, speaking to me, beckoning, but I could not hear her words or see her clearly. The fire from the rings burned my hands until my fingers curled into twitching balls of agony. I felt a fiery pain in my chest. I coughed, and the spasm caused me to vomit. In my delirium I saw the blood mixed with bile and knew that I was bleeding inside. Death was certain. Few recover from such wounds, and only with careful care and expert attention.
At my feet I saw my father’s spear. Dumbly I grasped it in my hands. My fingers felt wet and slipped a little as I used the spear to lift myself from the ground.
As I stood, suddenly everything zoomed into clarity.
“Don’t be stupid,” she said. “You can’t kill me.” I saw her raise a hand to throw another bolt of energy, and I waited.
Time slowed. I saw her hand come down, and in my mind I knew it was a useless gesture. I saw the energy form, heard it resisting her will but compelled by the power of the chamber, and I understood. With my mind, I reached out and told the energy to stop. The bolt dissipated. Asmordreda stood confused, angry.
I willed my body to become whole. I felt and heard the elements within my flesh crying their resistance. I asked them to ignore the natural order of death and return my organs to their proper function. They obeyed. I ordered the burning in my hands to cease, and it stopped. A rush of power such as I had never felt consumed me. I saw with absolute clarity the world around me. I heard the breathing of Pascalli as he cowered in a corner, overwhelmed by the surging power of the chamber.
“Give me the amulet,” I said. I did not recognize my voice for the power that it carried. Asmordreda cried out in horror and rage as the amulet suddenly tugged at her neck, pulling her towards me. She clawed at it, tried to pull it back, but it burned her hands. The searing power of it scorched her neck. She cried out in agony until she finally pulled her head away and the amulet flew to me.
I put the amulet around me neck and suddenly the entire room filled with blinding white light. The circular barrier vanished with a thunder-crack. At the back of the room a swirling circle of blue energy played against the wall. Within its depths I saw vast angry mountains behind a horde of demonic enemies.
“Go back,” I ordered and pointed to the portal.
“Never,” she spat.
She raised her hands in fury and began to call for help or power, but to no avail. “Go back,” I ordered again, and with my mind I pushed her unwillingly through the portal. Screaming, she was dragged, her claws leaving deep scratches in the stone, into a world of demons. She disappeared into the blue depths.
“Colter,” I heard a small, insignificant voice. “Destroy the portal.” I looked around, and saw Pascalli in the corner pointing at the gate to another realm. He seemed so much smaller, like a child. “You must destroy the portal,” he repeated. “Remember the plan.” He begged. He sobbed. “Remember who you are.”
Who was I? No longer a child, I held all the power of the universe in my hands. What did I need with him? What of the Kaarum? I could destroy them if I wished. What of Dina, my mother, my sister? They were beneath me now. Even the emperor had no power to rival mine. With a glance I willed the portal closed. I did not need it.
“You must give it up, boy,” said the voice again. “It wasn’t meant to be.” I turned to face the wizard. I felt contempt, but no malice. “Look into the future. This is not your destiny.”
Of a sudden my mind filled with visions of battles. Great armies of men surged against my might, but I flung them away carelessly. I destroyed them as a child might kick down an anthill. The horror of it overwhelmed my senses. Still the power of the chamber coursed through me, the power to save, to grow.
A thought came unbidden. A memory of our farm when I sat after a long day toiling in the fields hoping beyond hope for a crop at the end of the season. I heard and knew and felt the elements around me, and I missed the mystery and longing to see things grow of their own will and nature. Though I could bend the world to my will, I could not love it in the way I had once loved it. I saw my mother and sister, Dina, Iven, all those I loved fleeing from me. A part of me scorned them, reveling in my own majesty. A greater part of me hated it.
I took off the amulet, and held it in my left hand. “Get out!” I said to Pascalli. When he did not move I grabbed his arm and pushed him to the door. “Get out while you still can!” Golgaron quickly followed the wizard, and I found myself alone. I went to the center of the circle, and raised the amulet high. As I flung it to the ground I willed the earth to swallow it. The chamber rumbled as a crack opened in the floor. I turned and fled the chamber, running as fast as my tired legs could carry me. Behind me the chamber collapsed, and I was thrown to my face by the wind and dust.
Copyright 2008 Kelly David Tolman
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