The Elderkin Prophet

Chapter 14

 Passing through the dimly lit passageways, Ino and Nita begin to navigate through after departing from their father. The royal guard follows behind Nita. There is the ever present smell of mouldy wood and dust everywhere in the tunnels. Ino tries to talk with Nita but she doesn’t respond to anything. He began to feel sick from within because of what just took place. Both of them choose to remain silent as there was a whirlwind of emotions trapped within each. There is a stinking stench in the air as soon as they travel deeper; the cities sewer lines ran parallel to these passageways. The ground had become mushy and damp since several people had plodded through the narrow pathway.

They were now directly underneath the Foye and could hear the tremors of the battle insinuating above. The ceiling shook as they moved through. Ino deep down hoped for the best but he too knew that there wasn’t much anyone could do that would change the outcome of the battle. He pulled in his body closer to his core as they reached a tighter to prevent his feelings from exploding.

Soon the party reached a forked path where it split off into two. One side leaded further on towards the docks while the other path was connected to a small sewer line. It was sealed off by a thick metal barred gate with a flimsy door. Upon reaching the divide the party saw blood stains splewn all across the floor and walls. There were at least three or four bodies of dead townsfolk and guards across the floor, or at least what once looked like them. The bodies were almost all torn open with their guts blown out, their faces were unrecognizable as their bodies floated in pools of blood. There was no smell of death suggesting that it was very fresh.

“What could have done this to the bodies?” One of the guards questioned in disgust.

“Whatever has done this is still nearby, be ready for a fight.” Nita commanded.

Nita drew out Kinara and readied herself, so did the guards behind her. She pulled Ino to stand behind her as they moved forward with vigilance. Dark shadows were cast upon the walls as the sound of multiple things moving through the puddles of murky water drew louder and louder. Screeching followed as the figures began to reveal themselves. They began to watch the party with their several tiny eyes glowing from the dark reprises.

“Spiders! On your guard.” yelled Nita.

There was little to no space in the tight passages. Barely two people could stand side by side at once. The spiders had a big advantage as they poured out from the darkness, scuttling along the walls and the ceiling above. They began to drop themselves onto their prey’s fang first. The royal guard were specially trained to deal with any kind of threat and most of the guards easily dealt with the spiders. A few were unlucky and were crushed by the weight of the spiders, allowing them to sink their fangs deep within. More spiders began to push through from the sewer gates!

“Where are they even coming from?” yelled Ino in fear.

“The explosion must have set something off! It must have created a gap where the floor caved in, revealing access to the sewers. The spiders must have used it to cut off the escape.” Nita replied while finishing off her fifth spider.

The party had finished dealing with all the spiders that they came across ahead of their path. There was a swarm attacking from behind now. Nita quickly clutches her brother.

“Go ahead, reach the harbour and find Jayyed and tell him to ready the ships to leave! I will deal with these critters and join you.” She speaks with authority.

Ino hesitated in the situation and immediately listened to Nita.

“Please make it back!” Ino replies softly.

“Don’t worry about me.” Nita snaps.

“Lowein! Tarney! Go with him and make sure he reaches safely.” Nita commands her troop.

“The rest will stay with me and push through the sewers, we must block off this path quickly.”

Nita begins to push her way through her troop. She reaches the back and is now facing the wave of spiders charging through the darkness. It was hard to see but Nita had sharpened her senses to react to sound. She used it to her advantage and could easy mow through them. She taunted the spiders as she and her guard began to push through the sewers. Some of the gaurds replaced their shields and secondary weapons with torches so that they could see in the dark. Ino carried onwards.

While all these incidents took place, Magnar was still up there in the throne room. He was completely surrounded by the invading forces. Cardem’nac pushes through the mob of soldiers surrounding the king and his few remaining gaurds. He had red tattoos and scars that ran all across his arms and neck. He wore a light mail while exposed his oversized arms. He had a wide face with a deep bleeding cut across his jaw which was rather fresh. One of the knights tried to stop him from getting too close to his king. Cardem’nac wore a thick metal glove in one hand and used it to grab the knights sword. He had his huge battleaxe clutched in the other hand. He easily swung it into the helpless knight; almost severing his arm off. He tossed the lifeless body aside and moved closer to Magnar.

“Anyone else?” He laughed lightly while staring straight into Magnar’s eyes.

Magnar did not have any fear whatsoever. He locked Cardem’nac’s grim looks with his own.

“You coward, it is time to meet your maker.”

Magnar chose to remain silent.

“So I see, your silence speaks the truth. You will pay dearly for what your family did to mine!”

Cardem’nac picks up his axe and lunges at Magnar who blocks it with ease. He cracks his neck and taunts Magnar.

“Let’s finish what you started.”

Magnar readies himself in a unique fighting stance.

“I am not the one you seek nor were the crimes commited by my family.”

Cardem’nac grunts and throws another loose swing at Magnar. The blades clash one another sending off a long and bone chilling ring into the air. The two are locked against one another.

“LIES! You came to my father in peace after everything and still crossed him!” He groans as he fuels his power into his blade.

The weapons unlock and another flurry of blows is exchanged once again. Magnar was very quick with his footing and could quickly kite around Cardem’nac. He dodged a strike and immediately countered. Cardemn’ac reacted quickly and used his glove to block the strike. He uses the opportunity to throw a punch which causes Magnar to be pushed back. The two began circling one another again with eyes fixed.

“I and Talia came to your kingdom to settle the long old dispute between our families. We came to settle our differences and unite our kingdoms. You are a fool to think that we were the cause of your family’s death.”

“You lie again! You poisoned them! You tried to kill us all so that you could gain control over our kingdom.”

He strikes even fiercer than before! It started to become difficult for Magnar to block his swings since it would throw him off-guard. Magnar tries to dodge the attacks while maintaining a distance from Cardem’nac.

“Who is feeding you all of this nonsense, boy?”

Cardem’nac growls in anger. He is swallowed by rage. He begins to make mistakes allowing Magnar to gain an upper hand. He is thrown off by a hit from Magnar near his waist. He regains control after pushing Magnar away.

“You thought you could get away after the feast? You thought the Murakan kingdom would not hunt you down after the death of their beloved king?”

Magnar gets furious.

“You fool! All of Muraka is doomed if her people are as foolish as you. Your head is clouded with confusion and rage.”

Another exchange of swings took place. Cardem’nac was growing stronger and stronger. Magnar was stunned by how strong he was, he never expected such strength from any mere mortal. In the midst of battle, Magnar noticed something strange. He looked closely at Cardem’nanc’s weapon. The axe he was wielding was made of solid metal and there was something else. A unique crest like fragment was fit into the centre of his axe head. It was glowing and humming with energy as Cardem’nac roared in rage.

“Nonesense! I know what I saw. You are unlucky that not all of the family perished that night! I survived the poison. The death of my father and family created havoc. Other opportunistic lords began to fight for the crown. I crushed each one like the bugs they were. After watching what remained of my family I vowed to train and hunt you and your family down. To burn and raze your filthy kingdom to the ground!”

“This is audacious! I had no reason to cause harm to your family. You were cheated and crossed by someone else. In the confusion you took my wife away from me and my children. For this I shall never forgive you!”

Magnar releases a series of blows which began to cut through Cardem’nac’s defence. He quickly took two swift strikes. One sliced his arms creating a splatter of blood across their faces. The second strike pierced his armour causing him to cry in pain and anguish.

Cardem’nac screams in pain and launches a long flurry of swings at Magnar. He catches Magnar off in one moment and immediately lands a kick onto him. It threw Magnar all the way to the entrance of the passageway.

“Enough of this!” He growls. He turns to Eudich and commands.

“I will deal with him, Go and hunt down the rest. Slay every single Feredian you see and bring the children to me unharmed.”

He turns to Magnar.

“I shall carve them up the same way you did to my family. I will make you watch it all.” He throws a wicked smile.

Magnar was still recuperating. He is exhausted and is catching his breath. He grins back at Cardem’nac and sees Eudich make his way to the passage.

“How could you?” Magnar asked Eudich in anger.

Eudich ignored Magnar completely and payed no heed. He did not even look at Magnar.

Cardem’nac begins to smile once more which turns into a maniacal laughter.

“What have you done?” Magnar asks in doubt and fear.

Cardem’nac returns his gaze to Magnar.

“Nothing you should worry about.”

Magnar fears for the worst. He quickly gets himself up and sets off the gunpowder near the entrance. It collapses with a bang! As the dust began to settle, the entire throne had sunk into the passageway.

Cardem’nac yells in anger.

“ENOUGH of your games!” He orders his soldier to sound the horn so that the entire army could attack the harbour in full force.

Cardem’nac charges at Magnar in a fit of rage. A long exchange of blows continued. Cardem’nac’s blows were relentless and overpowering. This weakened Magnar greatly as he struggled to keep up with his speed.

 “I am not the reason for the death of your family; leave my children out of this.” Magnar tried to persuade Cardem’nac as a last resort.

Cardem’nac ignores Magnar. He denies everything what Magnar had to say and walks up to Magnar and kicks him once again, knocking him down.

He closes the gap and lifts up Magnar with one hand. His eyes were deadlocked into him.

“Nothing shall get in the way of my vengeance!”

He tosses Magnar down against the floor. He picks up his axe and prepares to swing at Magnar.

“Any last words? Foolish king.”

Magnar closed his eyes and began to pray for the survival of his children. He spoke nothing in return. He peacefully accepted his faith.

Cardem’nac quickly ended Magnar with a heavy blow straight through his chest. The Adamantine armour was split in two halves. The small fragment fixed on his axe began to glow in a dark red colour. The remainder of the knights were taken as captives to be interrogated and tortured later.