shadows

0 - 04

To the outside, it seemed like Eustace and Krom were the ones doing the work. And Emerald was along to help wherever she could. And why wouldn’t it seem that way? Eustace was an elder witch and Emerald’s grandmother. Her research on the differences in the flow of energy in ancient runes vs the later runes was groundbreaking. She was the creator of the branch alteration, a technique wildly popular among engineers and researchers because it allowed them to mix and match runes, both ancient and later. She definitely had to be the lead in a project this big. Studying the recently discovered ancient book.

As for Krom, he was popular for his sensitivity toward mana that was unheard of. His numbers were the stuff of legends. He was definitely worthy of Eustace’s friendship. And the two were definitely well matched to decipher the secrets of the ancient book.

And Emerald? What was she but a twenty one years old princess?

The truth was that Emerald’s was the greatest contribution. And it began entirely by accident. Eustace originally brought Emerald along for the experience. But early on Eustace and Krom realised that the one rune that caught their attention was a summoning rune. And Emerald was proficient in summoning spells. It was thus Emerald who slowly took the lead, with Eustace and Krom offering both advice and help. They were essentially the support.

No one outside of the three needed to know this. Emerald would receive the praise and the acknowledgement anyway. And she wouldn’t have to deal with the malice that revealing her true contribution would bring. Neither Eustace nor Krom wanted that for the gifted Emerald.

When they reported the progress, Krom to the council of elders and Eustace to her fellow elder witches on the council, they left out Emerald’s name. And they were all the more impressed when Emerald was understanding without them having to offer an explanation. Krom especially.

And when Eustace and Krom planned the rite, Emerald finally stepped back. She didn’t have to dye her hands red just yet. The elders would bear the burden for her. At least this time.

Krom and Eustace got the permission from the councils to perform the rite. The conditions were perfect. The rite had to be performed on a blood night. And there was a blood night so close. The council was happy to let them do it, after all they were willing to bear the risks. Who could be sure they had deciphered the rue perfectly? And who could be sure there wouldn’t be any surprises? And how could anyone guarantee the result? Everyone was happy to observe from a safe distance.

And that was also exactly what Krom and Eustace wanted. The truth was that they had completely and perfectly deciphered the ancient rune. Emerald assured them. And they were more than willing to believe Emerald.

And the part of the plan that Krom and Eustace hid from the councils was their intention of turning the intruders into the sacrifice. They were, of course, sure there would be intruders. They were even willing to let their own people be sacrifices.

What Eustace didn’t tell Krom was that she intended to turn his little half sister into sacrifice as well. Milan was powerful. And Milan would definitely strengthen the summon.

And finally, Anton was the vessel. The rune would summon a god. Not all of the god. Just the god’s spirit, the god’s energy. And so, they needed to prepare a vessel for the god to possess. Krom said Anton made for the perfect vessel. When he explained why, Eustace and Emerald couldn’t argue.

The rite went better than expected. The surprise threw Krom off. He truly cared for Milan. But before he could start a fight, the god had arrived.

Tremor. The ancient god of battle. The darkness of the night condensed into a throne, upon which he sat himself down comfortably. The other three were on their knees, heads bowed. Respectful of the god. He looked at the three and sneered.

“So, you are the summoner,” he said, looking at Emerald. “Impressive. Truly gifted. Unfortunately, I don’t care. Wow. This boy is quite something. Even I am affected by his impassiveness. That’s a good thing. I will have you know. Why? You will soon see. And so, Emerald, even though you are young, you are older than the boy here. And you do have the greatest part in all of this. And you will have a lot to bear of what is going to happen.”

“As for you two,” he continued, looking at Krom and Eustace. “Would you like for me to allow the two of you to brawl it out? I do enjoy a good brawl. Two friends. Two partners. Betraying each other.”

Eustace looked up confused. Betraying each other? What had Krom done? She looked to her side, at Krom. And turned stiff as a possibility became clearer. “No,” she murmured inaudibly, as she turned to the other side. To look at Emerald, who looked back just as confused.

“I will allow it,” Tremor said. And with a snap of his finger, a thin stream of red mist burst out of the rune. And rushed at Emerald. Too quick for Emerald to do anything.

The red mist struck Emerald. Went into her. And came out from the other side. Then rushed back to Tremor, disappearing into him. Emerald was still on her knees. Confused. She didn’t feel a thing. She couldn’t make sense of what happened. But she was terrified. She understood what the red mist was. She had witnessed what it did to those it struck. She could imagine what was supposed to have happened to her. But she was still up on her knees. She hadn’t fallen. She wasn’t lost. What was going on?

What was going on?

That was the question on Krom’s and Eustace’s mind as well. There was only one who could give them an answer. Three pairs of eyes turned toward the calm Tremor.

Tremor stuck a finger into his ear, wiggled it, as he yawned. “Boring,” he said. “If you don’t know what to do, or how to do it, let me take over. I give you ten minutes. Emerald is neither alive nor dead. The same as Milan up there. Now, it is up to the guardians. The elder brother. The grandmother. Only one will live. The other will be the sacrifice. Who will be what is for you two, the guardians, to decide. Now. Battle it out. The victor’s ward lives. The losers are sacrifices. Go on then. Get started. Entertain me.”