The light from the portal vanished and Eddred fell to his knees. He clutched the Sanguine Scroll to his chest and fought not to weep. The first part of Valtan’s task was complete, but the price had been high. Adam was dead, killed by the pale-skinned monster, while Uther was badly wounded. Lilly had collapsed not long after Adam fell, dead or alive he had no idea. If she was alive, he seriously doubted Otto would’ve spared her.
He’d lost them all and gained only this cursed artifact. Chasing Ginevera through the portal rather than remaining behind with his companions was the hardest decision Eddred had ever made. In the end it came down to one simple fact. He was no healer and not much of a warrior. Had he remained behind, his death would have been assured and worse, one of those two mad wizards would have ended up with the Scroll.
That couldn’t be allowed. One way or another, he would bring the Scroll back to Valtan and get it safely sealed away for all time. He owed that to those that had fallen on this quest. He doubted it would bring him much comfort, but at this point, he’d take what he could get.
Now he had to figure out where that portal had dumped him. Judging by the stone walls and dirt floor, he was in a cave. Light poured in from the mouth ahead of him. He walked out and squinted against the glare. Desert stretched out in every direction. In the distance, the ocean shimmered in the sun.
Talk about luck. He couldn’t be more than five miles from the coast. Given his total lack of supplies, that was a blessing from heaven. Now he just needed to find the beach where they landed and some way to signal the ship. A few days’ head start might make all the difference in making it back to Markane or getting caught.
A soft growl sounded behind him and to his left. He snapped around and found a gaunt, snarling ghoul staring at him. Eddred had been so focused on escape that he hadn’t even noticed the beast approaching. More importantly, why had it snuck up on him and not simply torn him to pieces?
He didn’t bother going for his sword. Previous encounters had made it clear that normal steel was practically useless against them.
When ten seconds had passed and it hadn’t moved he allowed himself to relax a fraction. The ghoul’s glowing red eyes remained glued to him.
No, not to him. To the Scroll. Something about it prevented the creature from attacking. Perhaps it somehow recognized the magic of its creator and assumed Eddred was a servant of Lord Sur. It was certainly stupid enough to make that mistake and he wasn’t about to correct it. That said, he’d best get moving before his gruesome companion decided to make a meal of him after all.
Eddred set out across the sand and the ghoul followed a few steps behind, like a faithful hound, only far uglier. As he walked his mind drifted. He tried to imagine how many had died since Garenland was cast out of the compact. The number defied comprehension. And they could have prevented it all. If Valtan had simply refused to cut Garenland’s portal off, none of this would have happened.
But no, Valtan had to allow the illusion that the nations controlled the compact, not him. As if the current group of lying, scheming bastards was better than the Arcane Lords they replaced. The more Eddred thought about it, the more he realized that the reason the Arcane Lords had been such monsters had nothing to do with the magic and everything to do with the fact that they used to be humans.
Give that kind of power to anyone and you’d end up with a monster. It was some sort of miracle that Valtan had pulled himself back from the brink.
When he came back to himself, he realized he’d collected a larger escort. His one ghoul was now six and three more figures were coming his way from the west. All of them stayed a respectful distance away and showed no sign of aggression. He would have happily kissed the Scroll if he hadn’t been reasonably certain it was made from human skin.
By the time he reached the shore, Eddred felt baked to jerky and ready to melt. This didn’t look like the beach where they landed. Too bad Uther wasn’t here. He would have known exactly where they were and which way he needed to go. As it was, Eddred was reduced to guessing. The odds favored west, so he headed that way.
Whatever higher power was watching over him must have been working extra hours as not long after sunset he found the beach and spotted his ship anchored offshore. He’d never seen a sweeter sight. The problem was, without Adam and Lilly, he had no way to signal them.
For their part, the ghouls seemed content to mill around a few feet away, snarling and snapping at each other. Maybe they’d tear each other apart. That would suit him perfectly fine.
He took a deep breath and focused. His vision shifted to view the chaotic swirls of the ether. Eddred didn’t need much. Just a flash of light should do it if they were keeping watch like he ordered. Valtan had told him many times that he had a weak affinity for magic. Surely he could conjure a light.
Concentrating until his pulse pounded in his ears and his throat was so tight he could barely breathe, Eddred tried to summon a light. Just as the sun sank out of sight and he was about to give up, a pale flash filled the air.
He stared at the ship and prayed harder than he ever had before. After seconds that felt like hours, an answering flash appeared.
Thank heaven, they’d seen him.
Eddred fell to his knees and let the cool water wash over his legs. He was halfway done. When this task was complete, he swore he’d never leave Markane again. Just let him make it back in time.