NovaSiege Page 5

  “No, we must flee! Back to the cart, and quickly!” Marl shouted to him. “We do not have the strength of number to defend ourselves! We were foolish to come here!”

  Ivanus braced his sword as the second beast approached. “You would leave Samuel to die?”

  “And you as well!” Marl’s voice was hateful.

  Anger swept through Ivanus as he struck the approaching beast with his sword, bashing it again and again as it flailed to reach him with its claws. An arm swept by his face, narrowly missing him, and with all his might he drove his blade through the top of the beast’s arm, severing flesh from bone as blood spat through the air. Ivanus jutted behind the thing then as the beast regained its footing. With a breath he drove his sword through its back, pulled it back out with a sucking, fleshy sound and began to run toward the other beasts and the woods where Samuel was captive. “Do what you will!” he shouted back towards the other men. “Either way, we may all die here!” He knew that was untrue though. He may very well die here, but Samuel was destined to live on. Fate! He cursed the world. Is all that ‘will be’ set?

  “We leave you to die, then!” Marl shouted angrily. Ivanus heard the carts moving quickly down the dirt road back toward the citadel.

  He ran to the side as beasts lunged toward him, just barely parrying their attempts to make contact with his body. I will reach Samuel. That is all that matters.

  There was a loud groan from one of the beasts before him and Ivanus saw Samuel kick the thing in the maw and roll on the ground to temporary freedom.

  “I am coming!” Ivanus shouted through heavy breath. “But the others flee like cowards!”

  Samuel stood and ran toward Ivanus, the beasts who had restrained him close at his heels. “If they will not defend me and our people then I am forced to act! They leave me to die!”

  A wave of energy surged through Ivanus then. He had not experienced it before, but somehow understood. Samuel could not control the beasts, because they were immune to the effects of the essences, but Samuel was now possessing his men.

  “No!” Ivanus shouted as arrows rained down on the beasts and he watched the carts driving off the road toward them.

  Horses balked in wide-eyed fear as the swordsmen leapt off and several of the men leapt against the beasts chasing Samuel. Their blades were clumsy and the beasts quickly tore their limbs and ripped into their torsos, leaving bloodied carcasses on the ground.

  Ivanus drove his sword into one of the things’ necks and turned to witness Samuel fleeing through the woods away from him.

  “You were the only one to come to my side, Ivanus, use your will to survive and follow me!” Samuel shouted back desperately, not even turning to see Ivanus.

  Ivanus felt his heart shatter. Tears welled inside him. Samuel, the man he had grown to love, was breaking in this moment. “No!” Ivanus yelled. “Return!” But Samuel was gone beyond his sight. With a breath Ivanus turned back toward the carnage. The beasts were up on the carts now, picking off the archers like twigs. The sounds of cracking bones and gnawing flesh filled his ears, but no screams from the men. Those noises were absent. These men now were not in possession of their souls.

  Preserve. Preserve yourself while you can, if you can. He could not save them. Samuel had doomed them with his ability. They would all die.

  With all the strength in his legs Ivanus ran away from the carnage. Most of the beasts were busy with their catch, but a few chased him. He could hear their feet pounding on the ground as he pressed onward.

  As he reached the road he saw Samuel running in the distance. How long will my stamina last? he wondered. Surely they will outlast me. “Samuel!” he shouted.

  The priest turned in his direction for a spilt second, stopped, and then turned from him once more.

  I cared for you, Ivanus thought. How could I let myself care for you? I still do.

  A guttural noise came from behind him as the two beasts chasing him closed distance.

  Ivanus clutched his blade hard and turned to face them. As the first beast lunged for him Ivanus spliced the thing at its chest, hitting it there and drawling blood as the beast thrust into his chest and punched him to the ground. Ivanus’s sword flew from his grasp and he kicked the muscled animal above him, grabbing the mane of fur around its neck and trying to push its snapping maw from his body.

  The beast thrust its canines at him, almost severing his nose with its attempt. The thing’s hot breath pushed through his nostrils as Ivanus kicked it hard in its chest but could not push the thing fully off him.

  A second later as he was still struggling he heard a loud, pained howl close by and then a thud on the earth beside him. The second beast lay dead with a sword through its chest. Blood splattered Ivanus’s face as the thing fell.

  “Who?” Ivanus spoke as he saw the sword pull back out of the beast and then plunge through the chest of the beast atop him, barely missing skewering Ivanus’s own body. The beast above him let its grasp on him go and Ivanus kicked his way out from beneath it, digging fingers into earth and pulling free as it spat blood and stood to meet its attacker.

  Marl stood there, without weapon now and with the eyes of a man who was not in possession of his body.

  Samuel, you save me with Marl’s death. Coward. You run while we die. Ivanus reached for his sword close by and drove it into the beast’s neck before it could engage Marl. Blood splattered and Ivanus pulled the blade out before once more hacking it into the beast’s throat and sending it to the ground. It quaked in anguish as it snarled. We must get away before the others pursue us.

  Marl stood, blank faced, hollow.

  Ivanus pulled Marl’s sword from the thrashing, half-dead beast’s chest and placed it in Marl’s hand, wrapping his fingers around it. “We must flee,” he spoke as he watched Marl’s hollow eyes. He placed a hand to Marl’s calloused, dead-pan face. “A part of you must understand me. We must run.” There was a twitch in Marl’s left eye and Ivanus hoped that meant he understood. He took a quick glance back at the decimated carts, at the carnage, the flesh being ripped from their men, and then he began to run once more. After a few moments he turned back and was relieved to see Marl following him and matching speed.

  He fixated on a small figure in the distance running away from them. He did not let fear or hope enter him, only adrenaline.

  *

  Solaris’s second sun was setting in the sky as Ivanus heard a moan behind him and a thud on the ground. Samuel had long since disappeared and he now ran only with the purpose of reaching the citadel and what he hoped would be safety once more. His legs burned and his chest heaved. He turned to look behind him and saw Marl lying on the earth.

  I must go to him… but if the beasts are still pursuing me do I have the time? No, if they have not reached us yet then they have either lost or are uninterested in our scent. Perhaps some other prey has caught their attention. Whatever it is, I am glad we are alive. Ivanus turned and allowed himself to walk slowly toward Marl. He placed fingers to the man’s neck and felt the pulse there.

  “Marl?” he asked. “Can you hear me? It is Ivanus.”

  Marl did not move, only lay there.

  I could not carry him far, Ivanus pondered. Since he had stopped running his body had already begun to relax. He knew he would also need sleep before moving forward. He then realized that he could see the animals of the woods around him in his future sight. Then the beasts cannot be nearby. I would sense them. He pulled Marl by his arms away from the dirt road and hid him in brush before walking into the woods.

  A musty scent wafted over Ivanus as he moved and his stomach groaned from hunger. He could live for months without food because of the essence bonded with him, but it would not be comfortable. First rest, then food, he reminded himself.

  He saw something moving quickly in his sight then, only a short distance away. It was inside a tree. Perhaps food, then. He moved with stealth toward the area of the forest and then let out a relaxing breath as he realized the tree whe
re several creatures hid was hollowed out and stretched high into the sky. It was taller than all other trees around him. As he approached it the things scattered, quickly fleeing him, but he braced a hand to the outer bark of the hole and looked inside. The hollow was deep and tall and even had a sort of ledge in the above region. “I could not have better luck,” he spoke and then turned away from the tree to see the sun almost completely set. Radiant red ignited the forest in haunting spears. He ran into the woods to where he had left Marl.

  Once he returned to the tree he laid Marl’s breathing but silent body on the hidden ledge in the hollow. Ivanus himself kneeled on the ground in its base. He clutched his sword tightly.

  The sun set.

  Bats sang in the distance and in the tree above him. Though the sound was chilling, slumber crept into his mind.

  *

  … “squeek… squeek squeek”

  Something rubbed over Ivanus’s shoulder, slithering over his neck as sunlight filled his sight. He stood quickly, sword at ready. He shuddered with fear and then grabbed his chest plate with relief as a small rodent dropped from his shoulder to the ground. It looked at him and sniffed before chasing its tail in a circle. “A snoot?” he wondered at the animal and smiled. “You must have been what I wanted to eat last night. Where is the rest of your family?”

  The snoot scurried up his leg and sat on his chest plate, sniffing as it eyed him and then snuggled up against his shoulder. “You must think I am not a threat. You are right. I do not need to eat. I suppose I couldn’t harm something as sweet as you, now.” The snoot nuzzled him again and he went back inside the tree. He looked up and saw Marl’s body still resting on the ledge. A scent of moist foliage came over him.

  Ivanus stepped out of the tree again, eyeing the veranda of the trees above. Sunlight shimmered down through their leaves and rested on the forest floor like starlight. How will I carry you, Marl? We must move, but I do not have the strength to carry you all the way back.

  “Ugh…” a moan came from inside the tree.

  The snoot leapt from Ivanus’s shoulder and scurried up to the ledge, nuzzling Marl’s face. Ivanus watched as the warrior’s hand twitched and then he sat up, rubbing his face. “Where… what has happened?” He panicked then, and with a quick movement to the side, fell from the perch to the ground, groaning in pain.

  “What is the last thing you remember?” Ivanus asked, stepping back and bracing his sword in case Marl turned on him in his mind-fogged state. His sight told him that would not happen, but his instincts still caused him to be cautious.

  Marl braced his large hand to the soil within the hollow tree’s floor and stood, stepping out of the tree. “We were leaving you and Samuel for dead. That was moments ago. What have you done to me? You cannot be Ivanus. Are you a beast?” He reached for his sword at his side but found only air. His sword was still in the tree’s perch.

  Ivanus laid his sword on the ground and stepped away from it. “Listen to me, Marl.”

  Marl stood silently but his eyes searched the forest around them.

  “Did you know that Samuel has an essence bonded with his body?”

  “Yes,” Marl said slowly.

  “Do you know that essences give their symbiotic pairs abilities?”

  Marl took a step back from Ivanus. “I heard something like that but did not honestly understand it. Samuel has never shown signs…”

  “He has hidden them. Samuel’s ability is to control others’ minds. Do not ask how I know that. But I am certain that is what he did to you. When he saw you fleeing he took control of you and the others so that you would fight the beasts while we fled.”

  Concern struck Marl’s face. “Where are they? Where are the men? We would not have left you except that we knew to face the beasts would be to die.”

  “I know. I forgive you.” Ivanus looked to the suns overhead through the trees. “The others were massacred. It took everything I had to escape with you by my side. It was you that saved my life as well.” Ivanus could still see much confusion in Marl’s facial expressions but he could see the man was beginning to grasp the fullness of what had happened.

  Ivanus went to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. “I must return to the citadel and attempt to convince Samuel to not use his abilities again. I understand if you do not wish to come with me, but these woods are not safe. Perhaps you could hide in the city until you can find safe passage to another place.

  The warrior in him returned to Marl’s eyes. “Where is my sword? Do you have it? I do not fear Samuel. I will return with you and speak with him myself.”

  “You have that right.” Ivanus felt a prickle in his spine, leeriness, but it was soon gone. “Your sword is in the tree. We should leave quickly. There is a stream over there.” He pointed a short distance away. “I fear water is all we have to nourish us today. If we have luck, then we may meet Samuel on the road.”

  Ivanus soon kneeled to the stream with Marl beside him. The cool water running over his face felt good and its feeling in his throat revitalized him. As he stood, the snoot leapt up his leg and perched on his shoulder. “Will you come with us? Are you my guide?” he asked it.

  The snoot took a nut from its cheek and then began nibbling it.

  Chapter 5

  Ivanus breathed a deep breath as he and Marl entered the vast clearing surrounding Samuel’s citadel. Men stood at arms around the border area and deeper within peddlers sold their wares along market streets. Huts and mud-houses spanned before him to the right. The sweet scent of flowers filled his nostrils from somewhere nearby. A child chased another across the area before him.

  It had taken them two days to make their way back through the forest. He could see Samuel with his sight in the citadel. The priest sat with his head in his hands, tears streaming from his eyes. You have broken the seal into darkness, he thought of his friend. You cannot affect that now. You have begun a dark path. For now, I remain by your side. Perhaps there is still hope. “Will you come with me back to the citadel?” He turned to Marl. The warrior looked deep in thought.

  “Samuel has caused such horror. He killed my men. The demon in his blood is evil.” Marl pulled a cloth over his eyes to block the sun. “No, I will bide my time in the city before confronting him. But then I will leave. I cannot worship his god any longer. If his god allows him to behave in such ways, then I cannot believe in such a thing.”

  “I am not sure that I believe in his god either,” Ivanus confessed. “But just because a man who does evil claims to be the believer of a faith does not make the faith bad. Perhaps he has misinterpreted it, or perhaps he has turned from what the faith grows from.”

  They continued to walk a while further in silence.

  Marl began unfastening his remaining armor and began dropping it to the ground. “Perhaps.” He held out a hand to Ivanus and Ivanus took it.

  Marl’s hand was firm.

  Ivanus looked in his eyes and saw sincerity.

  Marl struck his sword in the ground and pinned it there. He clasped Ivanus’s hand with his other hand, cupping Ivanus’s in an embrace. “I was mistaken to disregard you when we first met. And we were wrong to leave you and Samuel to the beasts; no matter how certain we were to die. I am perhaps as bad as Samuel in that. I ask your pardon.”

  “It is forgiven. Good luck. I do not have many friends, but in our time in the woods you have become close to that for me. Take care. Will I see you soon?”

  “Within the week. I do not think I can bear longer than that in this realm. If you care to go with me when I leave, you may. I will come to your door before going.”

  Marl thrust his sword up from the earth and strode away from Ivanus, toward the village. Even though the armor was now gone from him, his shoulders were heavier, though his feet were sure.

  Ivanus breathed the dense air as he continued to walk. He was largely ignored, though a few women and men turned to look briefly at him. It was not unusual for travelers to come from the lands beyond and he
had scarcely ventured outside the citadel and come into contact with people who did not live inside the structure.

  “Pears, fresh and sweet!” A woman shouted from a cart close by as he entered the peddler streets.

  Ivanus smiled. I have not had pears since before the meteor. His mouth salivated. “I’ll have one.” He grinned as he went to the woman and pulled a coin, placing it in her hands.

  She took it and dropped it in her purse, and then handed him the fruit.

  “Thank you,” Ivanus spoke before continuing onward. As he bit its flesh its sweetness calmed him.

  He felt the snoot scampering up his cloak then. It ran down his arm and sniffed the fruit. “At least I am not alone, now.” He smiled. The nights to come will determine Samuel’s fate. Hard times will befall me. Perhaps I will leave with Marl when he goes.

  Chapter 6

  The door before him was made of strong oak. Ivanus stared at the carved grooves in its planks, willing himself to enter. In his sight he saw Samuel kneeling inside at an altar. His face looked pained. He saw how the man would rise and come to his knock.

  Give me strength, he pled to an unknown force. Whatever deity exists, be with me. He lifted his hand and rapped on the wood in a pattern Samuel would know as his.

  “Ivanus?” a questioning, muffled voice came from within the chamber. The door opened and Samuel stood in the doorway, his face red with stress. “Thank goodness you have survived. Thank the Lord. I… I had to do what was done in order to survive.”

  “Would your God have wanted that? Is your life and mine so much more important? There was so much blood. Surely there was another way.” Ivanus entered the chamber and placed a hand on Samuel’s shoulder as the priest turned away.

  Samuel stopped and turned back to Ivanus. “If they would have defended me then I would not have possessed their minds. Surely you see that.”

  “And what now? What will you do now that you have begun this? The essence within you is evil.”