Chapter 6

Year 163 – Summer – Quartus Mensis –35th day

Kalhavstad, Town of House Kalator, coast of the Kalteren Sea

The strident whistle of the wind pushed the window’s shutters open. Like a breath of death, the winter’s wind blew on the walls. Enlightened by tens of candles, a man was standing in a pool of blood near the throne. His breathing was heavy. His open wounds had dried by the frost. His sword was carved inside the skull of an old man sitting on the throne. The corpses of six guards lay on the ground as well, tainting the stone of a crimson red. The man used his blood-drenched foot to push down the corpse of his father while he pulled his sword out of his head. He crouched on the ground to grab the broken crown.

The man –“I’m sorry, but if you force me to choose between our people and my soul, I’ll do whatever needs to be done to give them a future. To give them the hope they deserve . . .”

The scream of crackling wood made the man turn around. A shadow in a human shape was advancing toward him. The man grabbed a candelabrum and raised his sword.

The man –“Begone daemon of the depth or perish under my blade!”

Ignoring his warning, the shadow kept approaching the man. As it was nearly within reach, the man thrust his blade through the shadow, but it glided through as if nothing were there. Suddenly, he felt a pain in his waist. He looked down and noticed he was bleeding heavily. He blinked, and his stability lessened. He dropped his blade and held the candelabrum high as he staggered backward, step after step, attempting to reach the table behind him. As he touched the edge of the table, he stumbled on the corpse of a guard and dragged the tablecloth down in his fall. Candles and spirituals fell to the ground and turned into a blaze of fire. His breaths increased in speed. Surrounded by flames, armed with a candelabrum, his fear grew with each step made by the shadow.

The man woke up from his dream in sweat, trying to catch his breath in the middle of the night. He heard the flow of the creek through the serenity of the forest. He wasn’t in Kalhavstad. He was in Velika Forest, near Tree-Fall Village with his army by his side. He walked to a clay pot filled with water and washed his face. An old map of the Vale and a crown with a cut in the middle rested on a nearby table. The man took a mantle with a red hawk and left his room.

A guard –“My Lord.”

The Lord –“Go find Ludger. I need to talk to him!”

The soldier left in a hurry. Even during the night, light glowed from within the walls of a few tents in the calm remains of the Tree-Fall Village. The lord of House Kalator gazed at the moon disappearing on the horizon, giving place to a warm light slowly climbing the sky in the early morning. Half an hour later, the high priest of Aya and close adviser of Egmond Der Stolze arrived.

Ludger –“Lord Egmond, what’s so important that you need to cut the sleep of an old man like me?”

Lord Egmond –“I’m sorry for waking you up so early. I’ve had that dream again; we need to talk.”

Both of them went inside the lord’s quarter and lit the candles.

Ludger –“As I’ve told you many times, you are simply being haunted by the nightmare of the atrocities you’ve committed back in Kalhavstad.”

Lord Egmond –“No. It’s more than that. It was like Nocna Mora sent a shadow to kill me.”

Ludger –“The Shadows of Nocna are known to be aggressive and weak to light. This thing in your dream is made by your fear. It’s not even attacking you, and the light of the flames isn’t weakening it.”

Lord Egmond –“And if I’m right? What will happen to our people? I saw that thing killing me, but nothing proves it didn’t do the same to them.”

Ludger –“I will take care of them if this happens to be true. You should focus on your campaign. A war needs your attention.”

Lord Egmond –“Even if you’re a high priest of Aya. You’re too old to fight them. The last time you did, I wasn’t even born.”

Ludger –“We do not fight the occult with swords, my lord. I thought you learned that much in your dream. If you want, I’ll prepare you a new talisman.”

Lord Egmond –“Yes . . . Do that.”

Ludger –“If it’s what you need to get you back to your true self, then I shall. Now, if you please, I will go back to sleep a bit while the sun is still low.”

Lord Egmond –“When the sun is at its peak, I’ll be reuniting with the council.”

Ludger –“Your talisman should be done by then.”

Ludger then left the custody of his lord to seek his own bed.