The fallen, p.25
The Fallen, page 25
part #1 of Heroes of Gylinnar Series
This voice hurt Alexian more than any of the others.
Annaliese.
The screaming and tearing and pain continued for what seemed like eternity, and Alexian began to fear that that was exactly how long he would be tortured by the creatures and the voices. However, there came a point when all the voices, and even some of the pain, dimmed, and he could hear and feel things from outside of the darkness.
He heard a panicked Salina, saying, “Is it working? Will you save him?”
Another voice, familiar, replied in a level tone, “This is soul bite poison. You brought him as fast as you could but it may already be too late.”
Salina’s voice came again, saying, “But it’s just poison, any decent healing spell can cure that.”
“This is not just poison, it is magic poison, cursed to repel any form of healing.”
“I thought magic couldn’t be used to enchant things!”
“It can not. This poison is especially deadly because it is actually alive, and thus can be affected by magic! It feeds on the life force of its victims. I am slowing it, but I cannot cure it. Only one person has ever survived this poison, and he had ten healers curing him at once.”
The voice grew frantic as it said, “Oh no! It has just reached his heart! There will not be anything I can—”
The voice continued, but became distant and indistinct. Just as it had said, the painful part of the poison had just reached the center of his chest. The pain there was worse than it had been in any other portion of his body. It felt like his heart was being burned, crushed, and shredded at the same time. The pain quickly spread from there to the rest of his body. It was so great that he could hear his own crying out from in the darkness.
He could hear things from outside the darkness again, but this time it sounded different. There were voices, but the voices were accompanied by a strange sound. It sounded like a single note of an instrument being played, over and over, in rapid succession.
The voices were different too. He could still make out Salina’s and the healer, but it was as if a new pair of unfamiliar voices was laid over theirs, speaking with them in perfect synchronization.
“Surely there must be something you can do to save him,” said Salina and the other voice.
“I am doing everything I can! His heart is beating too fast! It is going to kill him,” said the healer’s voice and the other voice that joined it.
All the while the single note continued to repeat itself. It repeated faster and faster every time. Alexian figured that it must be his death toll, signalling the quickly arriving end to his suffering.
It was at that moment that the numbness reached the center of his chest, and his heart.
The death toll stopped. The voices stopped. The pain stopped. Even the creatures’ attacks stopped.
Annaliese.
There was nothing for a whole second, then there was warmth. The warmth blossomed over his chest, directly above his heart. The warmth seeped into every part of his body, filling him completely. The numbness and pain were washed away by it.
The voices from outside the darkness returned.
“His heart just started beating again! All on it’s own!”
“He’s still alive? You saved him?”
“I did not do anything. This does not make any sense.”
The tolling note also returned, but now it was slow and constant.
Alexian’s mind became clear, and he wondered, after everything that happened, how he could be alive. The thought of Annaliese, having remained with him through the darkness, returned again. Thinking of her once more, Alexian remembered the amulet that she had given him. The amulet enchanted with the purest of healing magic, having belonged to the first healer for which she had been named. Annaliese had nearly taken his life, but she was also the one who saved it.
In the blackness, between life and death, filled with the healing power of the amulet, something clicked in Alexian’s heart. Something that he had lost, then found, then given up completely, returned to him with such great force he gasped at it: his Aleysian power.
Alexian felt strength return to his body in a flood of indescribable power.
The second pair of voices and the tolling faded away again, and were replaced by all the sounds and senses of his body.
“Now what’s going on?” Salina asked. “Are you doing that?”
“No, I am n— OW! He’s burning!”
“He’s burning? But that means…”
Alexian opened his eyes.
Chapter 29
The Power of Aleysia
This is what I left behind when I fell?
When Alexian opened his eyes, it was as if he was seeing the world for everything that it was. He could clearly make out the exact shape and density of all the clouds above him, see and distinguish every rainbow color of light in the rays of the sun that was just beginning to shine. But the most interesting thing he could see were tiny strands weaving to and fro through the sky, indistinguishable before now.
Lying where he was, he could feel every miniscule thing that touched him, every fiber in the cloth he laid on, and every tiny breath of wind made when someone moved nearby him.
He could hear everything within a mile of him. Everything from each individual soldier’s breath to a bird’s wings in the distance, and he could distinguish between every single one.
He could smell every scent that travelled on the currents of air, and because of it knew exactly where to go to find every person and animal that had been in the stone clearing in the past few days.
He could even taste the stronger scents, sweat, blood, and stone, on his tongue when he opened his mouth to take in a breath of air.
My senses are alive!
He was somewhere back in the circle of soldiers. Salina was standing to the side of the blanket he was laying on, along with the healer Alexian now realized was the same one he had been treated by before, when she said, “Alexian! Your power returned!”
“I know,” Alexian replied. His voice echoed.
At a thought, words came to his mind that matched what he wanted to do. “Righten,” he said, and to his amazement, his body raised up off the blanket and righted itself in the air as if of its own accord, then brought him back down on his feet.
Standing upright, Alexian looked directly at Salina.
With his heightened vision, he could read the expression on her face perfectly. She was happy, amazed, and afraid mostly, but he could also detect every level of underlying emotion present on her face and, through some previously unknown knowledge, guess what she would say next because of it.
“Yes, I only have a small amount of time. I need to use this power to stop Fenric before I’m gone.
“I don’t think—” she started, then widened her eyes in even further amazement.
Standing slightly beside Salina, the healer was just as amazed, and said, “So this is what an Aleysian looks like.”
Her words drawing his attention, Alexian turned to look at the healer and was surprised to see that hundreds of the invisibly small strands, like the ones he had seen in the sky, were attached to him, coming off of him and reaching out to connect to seemingly random places around him.
His words also sparked Alexian’s curiosity. He raised up his arm to look at himself. His arm was completely covered by millions of the strands. Looking down he saw that every part of his body was connected to the world around him through the strands.
There were so many they became visible to the naked eye, and Salina and all the other rebels around him saw them in the form of him glowing with a golden radiance like rays from the sun.
Thinking of the rebels, he turned to look at all of them. He’d been taken to the center of the circle, so he had to turn around completely to see them all.
He could pickup every detail of each person clearly, he could also see the invisible strands that radiated outward from each of them. Most had only a few, but a person here and there had hundreds, like the healer, each of whom wore robes instead of armor, Gweneven being one of them. Then Alexian understood what the invisible strands were.
They’re magic.
Looking down again, he marvelled at how many strands were coming from him, and how much power that must mean he had. This time he also noticed Annaliese’s Amulet, still inside his shirt. The purple gem in the amulet was glowing too, the same way it had whenever it healed him in the past, but now he could see the strands that made up the glow; they were different. They shone a bright purple instead of gold, and instead of radiating outward at random, half of them were being pulled taught in the direction of Helgun, disappearing into its reinforced wooden door, and the other half was going directly into him.
All the new things Alexian was learning and experiencing at once was almost overwhelming. He understood why some Aleysians lost control when they gained their power; it was almost too much to for him to comprehend.
But Alexian had something he could focus his empowered senses and knowledge on in order to keep his power under control. He had to fulfill the prophecy and save Annaliese from whatever terrible power had taken her. He’d already wasted some of his precious seconds.
Wasting no more time, he snap turned toward the keep door, raised his right hand, and said, “Open.”
The door blasted inward, seemingly, to those around him, on its own. However, Alexian had seen the strands of magic gather in his hand before rushing forward and hitting the door, blasting it open.
“Wait here,” he said softly, yet all those around him heard. “I will finish this.”
Then he started marching toward the open doors. His feet carried him farther than his stride would logically take him, but that was thanks to his magic too. His fast pace caused the rebels in his path to quickly jump aside in order to avoid getting in his way.
In just three seconds, he found himself standing in the open doorway to the keep.
Alexian turned, and took one last look back at the rebels. He could see each one of the rebel’s faces, including Salina’s. They stood wide eyed and dumbfounded at the sight of him, some of them let their grip on their weapons slacken, a few lowering their weapons completely, while others’ grips tightened. Open mouthed grins intermingled with gratified smiles. They were filled with anticipation and excitement as they were witnessing the culmination of all their hopes come to pass. Alexian smiled ruefully.
My fuse is up. All this energy and power coursing through me; this is the explosion. Now all I can do make sure I take Fenric with me. For the last time, I’m coming Annaliese.
Then, resigned to his fate, he stepped inside the keep.
The second he entered, the dark stone walls seemed to cut him off from the rest of the world. Even with his heightened hearing, it blocked much of the sound from outside.
The room he entered was a mid sized greeting room with a high ceiling. It was sparsely furnished, just a few red chairs, a carved pillar in each corner, and a tapestry on each wall. The tapestries were all of Fenric in different settings, standing with different poses. Yet each showed him wielding incredible power to strike down some form of opposition.
Seems like he’s pretty self-centered.
Alexian had not forgotten the rumors of the incredible dark power Fenric possessed. If they were all true, he would still have a hard time killing Fenric, regardless of his own returned power.
The room had four exit doors. Two small ones to the left and right, and two big ones, the one he had broken open, and a matching one opposite it.
Guessing that the matching door would lead to the throne room, Alexian effortlessly pushed open the massive double doors with his bare hands.
As soon as the door opened, his enhanced eyes took in every detail. Sure enough, this was the throne room. It was a large hall with a vaulted ceiling and a row of thick, dark stone pillars extending from end to end on both sides of a red and gold carpet and reaching all the way up to ceiling, which had golden chandeliers hanging from it every few yards in order to keep the spacious room lit. The greatly gold embroidered and decorated carpet led from the open doors to the other end of the room, where it ended at the foot of a single, regal, gold and red throne. Above the throne floated a giant, glowing red diamond, like the one in Fenric’s emblem, as big as the throne itself. In the middle of the room, walking towards Alexian from the throne, was Fenric himself.
It was obvious that Fenric hadn’t expected to see him. He froze in his tracks and looked at Alexian with a furious glare and clenched fists, but uncertainty, confusion, and even a hint of fear were held deeper in his eyes. Otherwise, he looked exactly the same as Alexian had seen him in the mine.
Alexian was glad noticing Fenric’s fear, but then Fenric’s facial expression changed quickly, until all that was left was the anger and confusion.
Fenric abruptly straightened, and raised his head up authoritatively. Then he glared sinisterly down his nose at Alexian and began to talk with a calm that was tinted with rage.
“How are you still here?”
Alexian had been equally surprised to see Fenric, in the center of the room, walking toward the door, instead of sitting in his throne.
“Going somewhere?” he asked and began walking toward Fenric across the long hall.
“As a matter of fact I was,” Fenric replied coldly without making any other movement. “I was just on my way to slaughter every last one of your pathetic Resistance friends with just the tiniest fraction of my magic now that you were out of the way. Which is why it is very upsetting to have you standing here very alive—” his eyes flashed, “—and in my way.”
“You’re scared of me?” Alexian asked, still walking. He was walking to Fenric intentionally slow, taking time to study him and size him up. He could see that Fenric had no weapons, and his armor was more for aesthetics than actually stopping a blow. But Alexian knew the real danger was the magic he possessed.
Fenric laughed harshly, “Hardly. I have plenty of power to kill you with. I merely wished to follow the prophecy. ‘The only hope for all the worlds, beaten by what he most dearly holds’. I’m sure you remember. It’s usually easier to get what you want if you do follow a prophecy. I guess little Annaliese will just have to kill you indirectly instead.”
Alexian’s fists clenched at the mention of Annaliese.
“Where is she?” He asked with the silent fury of a coming storm. “And what did you do to her?”
“Don’t worry. She’s already on her way here. As for what I did, you’ll find out soon enough yourself!”
Now Alexian was just a few feet from Fenric, and he was barely holding himself back. He remembered how a magician often had many protection spells around them when threatened. He didn’t have any idea what kind of protection spells Fenric had, and didn’t want to attack him only to have his own attack thrown back at him, or worse.
He decided he would test Fenric’s defenses first. He began to raise his hand in preparation. Seeing the strands of magic begin to form in his hand for an attack, he realized something that stopped him in his tracks, and nearly made his mouth drop in laughter.
I can see magic now. I can see it inside someone even if they aren’t using it. Fenric looks exactly the same as the first time I saw him. He has no strands! He has no magic! He’s been bluffing the whole time!
Now that he realized this, he also realized that Fenric had been slowly backing up toward his throne.
The rumors were false! He’s no threat at all! He doesn’t even have a trace of magic!
But that didn’t seem right to Alexian.
How had Fenric used magic before? This is definitely Fenric, if it was a magically altered double, I’d be able to see strands. Unless the first time I’d seen him had been a double, but that doesn’t make any sense: why would he do that? He must have someone else that does have the dark magic! Where could they be?
While Alexian was trying to puzzle out this unsettling new discovery, Fenric continued to back away toward his throne. His expression still hadn’t changed from anger and confusion as he said, “There’s only one thing I don’t understand.”
Alexian’s thoughts were interrupted by Fenric’s words.
“And what would that be?” Alexian asked, starting to walk again to make up the ground between them he had lost while thinking.
“How are you still here? You should have disappeared a long time ago! I knew there was a chance your Aleysian power would save you from the poison, but how have you not disappeared like every other Aleysian?”
“I guess it’s because I’m not finished here yet,” Alexian said, raising his hand again, this time not planning on just testing Fenric.
“No. No. That’s never stopped anyone before.”
Alexian knew he should just use a spell to finish Fenric off right then, but his own uncertainty on the matter made him hesitate.
“There’s something else holding you here. What is it?” Fenric demanded.
Alexian didn’t know.
Before he could have replied, he heard a door open somewhere behind him, and another, much larger, door close soon after it.
Not daring to make the mistake of turning his back to Fenric, Alexian dashed forward and to his right, while turning left, allowing him to keep facing Fenric, and also see the large door he’d entered from, now to his left, out of the corner of his eye.
His heart did a painful flip.
The sound of the larger door closing had been the door to the throne room. He didn’t know what had caused it to close, but Annaliese, with her empty white eyes, was now standing in front of it.
“Oh good, she’s arrived,” said Fenric coldly.
Alexian was on shaky ground. He hadn’t felt this uncertain and unsteady since he first woke without his memory. There were too many questions swirling around his head for him to think straight. His heightened senses taking in and processing every detail around him at once wasn’t helping.
“I can see you're struggling with some questions,” Fenric said confidently. “Perhaps I can help with some of them.”
Alexian was too busy sorting his thoughts to reply, but he continued to keep Fenric squarely in his line of sight. Fenric had stopped slowly backing up once Annalise had arrived.
