Chapter 9: Spirits
"sha..."
"sha..."
"Sha l'esto'na, iay les' troya, ee to'ka ya eh ros'tey. Seek the sorrow, 'pon the twilight, ever falling shadows are."
"Ka'n tateria, eh sha'tonia, to ke' t' rey no s'rey. Fall forgotten, in the mountains, brightly shining no shine star."
"Sher'ria shterna, ee to je'e la, shrae les don'ia ke rez da. Forth-ward darkness, ever present, seal the memories in thy way."
"Ee to troya, shter deoria, eih zeir na ferh eh ros'ta. Ever twilight, dark descended, in this world where shadows lay."
'In the world of darkness, there exists naught but sorrow that not even the bright sun can pierce. Just as any memories of the before times are forever submerged in the already prevalent darkness.
'So sing the Stra'han'ia; Elves and other ancient dwellers of the forest whose souls could not pass on due to regret for allowing their home lands to fall to the empire.
'Once their race spoke mainly that of the ancient language... but while the language itself is far from forgotten, time and the ever prevalent darkness of the land has corrupted their voices and tongue, and now they sing in languages only known to those of the spirit realm. And of course, to those with the "Gift".
'Still, to those ignorant to their words, it is said that the melody of their singing can either instill a lasting sense of peace... or an ever haunting regret and impact of betrayal, and that of a suffering spirit. Either way, this place, where the Stra'han'ia are most concentrated, is the perfect place for my confrontation to come.
'As of today, undaunted by the presence of bound spirits of this land, one of the three largest Calvary units will be passing through this point. Though typically an area to avoid, my actions of late have given the much suppressed public a chance to breathe and tensions in the middle-northern are ever rising. Should the opened areas remain open for too long... Galbatorix may witness the first open rebellion in nearly a century, were it not for overwhelming fear of the riders at his command.
'Regardless of that, the thought of rebellion is like that of a virus; should it spring up in one place, if not cured it will soon spread to others. And with twenty-four barracks in ruin, the infection is to spread much faster without resistance. That is why fate is good in this instance.
'Where should these actions of tonight matter, then it will be time for an attempt at the passage east.
'But this... we won't know without seeing.'
At this thought, the Jrrha set about his preparation—whether physically in nature of this battleground or simple mental preparation. All in all, just a little more practice for his sheer understanding of the particular 'Gift' under his command. He wasn't sure why, but he thought of it often these days. Perhaps such could be attributed by the unknown after-effects of having the dragon's blood mixed with his own, proof of such that shone deeply in the crimson branding upon his palm.
He shook his head as he laughed off the thought. Dragon or not... 'Gift' or not... he was sure that the passage to the east had something to do with his understanding and that perhaps if something was to be understood he would find it there.
The nature of the 'Gift' at his command was that of heat. Fire and ice as well... but only as mere bi-products of the former. Energy of nature when absorbed and re-channeled to be used by the mage at will with purpose of magical feats typically rendered impossible due to limits placed upon those very same who attempted to wield it. Where even if a rider and their dragon were to share a burden, they would still meet with death should something go amiss in their calculations. Such was the downfall—the perfect plan in effect against them and their ilk. Have them kill themselves.
It was amusing. Just the thought of it made him smile—for no matter how impossible the magical feat, it would just result in an increasingly frozen wasteland around him until the energies balanced out. Still...
He spat violently at the next thought.
He was who was blessed/cursed with the gift had less understanding of magic than the lowest of apprentice magi. For now all he's accomplished was the basics of perseverance and survival instinct imbued upon him through his blood... through his soul... and through that of his "other" self. He was next to worthless on his own.
A warm trickle down his chin interrupted such thoughts—thoughts that had him thinking to such an extreme that he bit his lip until it bled. Worthless.
He was truly pathetic... and only further discovery of self could prove otherwise... and only by forging into the east could he attempt to come to such understandings.
Only by winning the battles he must.
And for those reasons alone... he would simply demolish this empire from whatever part he could until it collapsed entirely.
And that's why the way tonight would be a stained pathway of blood into the future.
A way that opened the door to the gateway east.
'Heh. My thoughts are getting quite sentimental lately... I must be becoming an old man.
'How sad.'
With these thoughts the last to reside within his head, he stared openly into the distant sky as the last remnants of the scattered sunset sunk into the abyss that was the opposite end of the sky. A sky that reflected upon the blackening clouds a lighted red that couldn't be a more appropriate harbinger for the upcoming bloodbath. A potential atmosphere that seemed to resonate within the souls of the Stra'han'ia, as their way of song took an almost angry tone and their after-trailing spirits left spiraling clouds of crimson rising softly into the setting night's sky.
It was sweet irony that played in his favor. Perhaps a way of the land as it prepared to send its representative out into the field. But most likely it was simply because these souls like despair and death almost as much as he.
Like he, it had an inpatient lust for death.
Nothing save the impatience. He closed his eyes and put up the hood of his traveling cloak. Beneath it laid the dragon's wing membrane that adorned his shoulders, just as both the tail-tip weapon and the crest shield remained in their respective hidden locations.
It was good... like this.
...like this?
A small smile crossed his lips as he felt the world around him as what wind there was caressed his uncovered skin. Actually, it didn't matter how things were so long as there was the presence of something that would die. So long as the blood he sought to spill decorated his weapon and the earth at his feet then it really didn't matter how he went into it. Just so long as things went the way they were supposed to.
His.
A distant sound gave his thoughts pause as he slowly opened his eyes to the darkening world around him. Somewhere in the greater distance there was movement within the world of the shadowed twilight, against the hills and upon the grass untainted by the souls of the dirt upon which he stood. The bare earth that had witnessed the atrocities of generations and welcomed every soul to its fold that had lost its way in the greater abound.
This ground most hallowed. This ground that was once loved. But with tonight's passing, he would love it in a different way, and force the souls upon its ground into eternal exile, should he exhibit the wish to do so. Otherwise he may let a few crawl away simply to meet death at the hands of their emperor.
So many options... so many decisions... should he only be fortunate there be enough to compensate his growing list and satiate his inborn desires. His natural hunger... that which he thought had faded and given upon him sanity after many years well beyond sanity's reach only to discover that the mere thought of the blood shed ahead had already stirred the same wanton thirsts and ravenous consumptions of souls he thought he had left behind him. But for now, he could remain in control as the dragon's blood within him held the void, restrained the other soul to a point where the blood itself was strained to its limit, evident by the pulsating crimson light emanating from the 'Jrrha' branded to his palm.
It made him wonder just briefly if it wasn't this that the Stra'han'ia were mimicking as their trails continued to rise into the air.
Whatever hold the thought had of the moment was broken by the sound of hooves upon the hallowed ground as a horse galloped toward his position, only to stop hard as its rider pulled swiftly on the reigns at the sight of him.
"You there, traveler," the horseman, an obvious scout of the trailing Calvary, thundered in a voice full of the hated essence that composed all within the higher ranks of Galbatorix's legions. "What business have you to merit your presence in these forsaken lands?"
"Forsaken? Theses lands?" The Jrrha asked curious. "How so? Last I looked, these lands were teeming... quite the opposite of empty."
"These lands are only but memories of the decadent religions of generations past, therefore if our lord deems them as forsaken than so it shall be. Besides, it is not a peasant's place to ask questions of the higher authority. Men have been killed for much less." He stated coldly as the horse pawed at the ground and strained at the bit. "Your last chance, to offer pardon for such blatant insubordination and answer the questions posed. Do not let yourself be fooled by thoughts that to us, the trash of these lands doesn't bleed, for our sword hands stay themselves for no man."
"Really now... is that true?" He answered back, his broadening smile hidden within the combined darkness of the night and beneath his hood. "Then that's perfect—for neither does mine!"
In a movement quicker than the eye could follow, he grasped the dragon's spade, drew it out as he stepped forward, and cleaved the scout's leg beneath the knee and hand from his body, and scored a deep wound in the beast's muscled flesh that ran from flank to shoulder. Panic stricken from the strike, both horse and rider parted ways; the rider to the ground, and the horse with severed hand still attached to the reign at its neck, towards the lagging Calvary, a trail of blood trailing its wake. While on the ground before the Jrrha, the scout writhed in mute agony and shock as he alternated between holding the oozing stumps that had once been limbs. All prior thought of the traveler before him lost to the pain.
Suddenly, the tip of the dragon's tail plunged into the earth just behind his head and he rolled his head back, looking through streaming tears just to see the one who stood above him as though death portrayed.
"Really now, look what you made me do. All just because I didn't like you." The Jrrha said amused by the simple position reversal. "Not so high and mighty when you're the one looking up, eh? Besides, until your friends get here, I thought we could settle that bit of perspective difference we had here just a second ago... what was it now—ah yes—whether this land was forsaken or teeming. Well, aside from the obvious singing that backs my initial point, what opinion have you now?" He motioned with his finger towards the ground beside the man.
There, before even seeing with his own eyes, he felt it in his bones through his skin; an icy touch of death from the beyond, as it grasped his remaining limbs. Sure enough, once victim to the ground, those of the Stra'han'ia who hadn't trailed into the air now came from their locations deep in the soil to claim the flesh of the one he presented them. Unlike that of their lofted singing brethren, those of the earth were more akin to skeletons of the forgotten graves of old, twisted by the evils of the land into horrible representatives of the ancient past. Their touch like death, they gripped the terror stricken man as the clawed their way forth from split earth, greenish red flames leeching from their bare-bone fingers into the still living flesh, rotting and burning it while the man himself couldn't even scream to the pain—for he hadn't even the throat for which to carry the sound—having already returned it to the earth against his own wishes.
In mere moments, those of the non-fleshed life returned to their respective depths, the ashes of the still burning skeleton of the ill-fated man slowly sifting into the soil with them.
"Heh..." laughed the Jrrha, amused by the spectacle, "Dust... eh?" He smiled at the accelerated speed of the once distant flames as those of horse back increased their pace towards inevitable death. "Dust... and ashes... I like it."
The flames of the distance were even closer now... and the singing changed once again. No longer whimsical of the moment forth coming, it spoke of the arts of revenge and war. Apparently having had a taste of the adversary—it like him—now wished for its blood. But would the Calvary still knowing the presence of the Stra'han'ia still come forward? Of this he wasn't entirely certain. But it could prove troublesome unless he knew for sure.
"Stra'cynas stai... I'ceilos-sta." Another perversion of speech, but something akin to 'rest and await the cry', but not a direct translation of such. Translating from song was one thing, but speaking the language himself was quite another.
Whatever the case of speech, the Stra'han'ia seemed to understand the meaning, as they began to settle down in their anger to a simple form of relaxed discomfort. Their song now took new meaning as one of foreboding and sadistic intent that would most likely go unnoticed by the unintelligent horsemen that made their approach.
It was more than perfect.
Alone, he would defeat them, but now he had something else as well—for the land itself had the power more than needed. It was an unexpected treat, and one he'd use to its fullest extent. That is, if only he could keep the inhabitants calm for just enough time before their assistance was needed. Any direction it took it was fine... or actually, now that it had come to this point—it didn't matter anymore.
For the enemy had come.
6/28/07 - not as far as I had wanted to go initially, but if I didn't release part now I feel I never will. So next chapter will be a big battle, you'll get to see more of the 'Gift' in action and what not. Then the chapter afterwards will be more of the same. And then I can actually lauch into the meat of the first part of the actual story.
Thanks for reading through the ramblings so far.