Anchorite and the The Heart of Effie. Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN. HELPING HANDS

At the top of the Tower of Darkness was a huge hall where Taurentius spent most of his time, thinking over strategies and plans, creating new magical formulations and writing them down in a decrepit thick old Black Book lying on a stone plinth in the middle of the hall. This book was over five hundred years old, and this folio was a relic given to Taurentius as a trophy, a thing of bygone days. The room was round. Its walls looked like many huge arches, into which Taurentius looked at a long time, looking down around his possessions. Now Taurentius stood, as usual, at the huge archway, peering as two black dots rapidly approached the top of the Tower of Darkness. These were two male figures who, on huge powerful wings, rose to the king and through the arch entered the hall. Folding their wings, the two men glanced at each other furtively and bowed their heads. Taurentius realized that the servants had brought bad news.
The servants were named Trion and Echless. Both were vampires and had lived in Abbaddon for more than four hundred years, being in the service of the Madari family of sorcerers, whose offspring were both Taurentius and his son Troy. Trion and Echless were pureblood vampires, which meant they weren't bitten or turned into bloodsuckers by magic. Pureblooded vampires are creatures that are born this way, reach maturity, and have immortality. In addition, pureblood vampires did not depend on blood as much as turned creatures were thirsty, and could safely feed on the blood of any creature in the amount they deem necessary. So based on this, everyone had long known that, basically, pureblood vampires kill for fun, for their own pleasure, finding the game with food extremely entertaining. Today, the vampires, indeed, brought bad news to the master. Taurentius looked them up and down, waiting for a report. However, the vampires remained silent.
Tryon and Echless were quite similar. Both are about two meters tall, dressed entirely in black. No one has ever seen Trion and Echless apart. The two were always together, no matter what task they were given by Taurentius.
'Master,' the vampire with tousled black hair finally said. It was Echless. 'Truly, the fairies are no longer within our reach. We did everything as you ordered. We searched every corner that was available to us. We found only one fairy, in the woods near the wall, but she was injured and died before we went back. In all places to which we have access, there are no fairies and it is unlikely that there will be.'
However, Taurentius was not at all upset by this news. The wizard looked as if he was planning something cunning, in which his servants were not yet privy. Nodding approvingly to the vampires, the master showed gratitude and lack of dissatisfaction with the bad news.
'You have been serving me for many decades, Echless and Tryon,' Taurentius replied with a smile. 'You also can guess what is hidden in the forests of Taurebeleg and what can be found beyond the Wall. If there’s no use from the available places, we’ll go to the inaccessible ones. The source of fairy powers is inexhaustible. If I manage to combine a fairy and an ogre in a single physical appearance, an invincible creature will appear before us. One capable of exterminating any race. Now imagine an army of such creatures under my command! I will be able to put an end to my enemies forever and put all of Abbaddon at my feet. Complete and unlimited power: this is what awaits us, my dear servants!'
Taurentius seems to have forgotten for a few seconds the existence of vampires nearby, plunging into a delightful fantasy. His eyes did not shine with hope, but rather with confidence in their superiority. He continued fervently.
'I crave this extraordinary creature. It’s a miracle of mine. I’m just obsessed with the idea that every day I’m getting closer to this goal. No one before me could do this. And I will. I will be the first to conquer all of Abbaddon and gather the lands under one banner. The great and powerful Taurentius Madari. The Land Collector of Abbaddon!'
'The forests of Taurebeleg are inaccessible. Anyone who enters his domain will not leave it,' reminded Echless. Of course, the master could not demand the impossible from the servants, and they understood this very well.
'Things are changing, my devoted servants. Every second could bring some surprises. Taurebeleg will soon lose his power. And with it, life. And you will help me,' Taurentius spat through his teeth with a glance across the archway to the southern surroundings.
'What would you like to do now?' said the short-haired vampire. It was Trion. 'Going to the elf forests?'
Taurentius quickly approached the stone plinth with the book and flipped back a few pages, finding the recently made notes.
'Of course. I have some unfinished business here. You go to the domain of Taurebeleg, do not be afraid to enter this forest, find out what is happening there.'
'But Lord,' Trion mumbled in slight bewilderment. 'We won’t be able to get out of it, we will become hostages.'
'You will not become hostages,' said Taurentius confidently and without looking up from the book. 'Gather your brothers, go to the forests of Taurebeleg and hide there. When my army strikes the borders of the forest, penetrates the abode of this aged fool, the elf king will go straight to the World of Shadows, and his spells will be broken. All of you, my brave warriors, will emerge victorious from the Enchanted Forest, and the wealth of the elves will serve us in the future.'
Despite the fact that the explanation was exhaustive, Tryon and Echless looked very unsure of what was happening.
'When is the attack planned?' Trion asked the last question.
'I suppose in two or three days, depending on how accommodating our allies are. But when the war starts, you will know. Until then, your only task is to hide in the forest and wait. This, I am sure, is exactly within your power,' Taurentius answered, without looking at the servants anymore: he completely and completely stuck his gaze to one of the pages of the book.
Without uttering another word, Trion and Echless jumped down, spreading their wings on the fly, carrying them into the depths of the dungeon. Taurentius was in disarray, as if some kind of insight had descended on him and now he had to figure out what to do next with it.
A beam ran through the hall, coming as if from a lighthouse, located somewhere very far away. It was a beam from the Tower of Light, the home of Ademius, Taurentius' main enemy. One day the Tower of Light will fall. Taurentius assured himself of this every second. Someday but not today. Now the wizard was making a very important decision that did not require delay. It was necessary to make the last small trip to the capital, but new guests disturbed and detained Taurentius.
Three hunters (as the servants of Taurentius of the human race called themselves, who were also constantly entrusted with various tasks outside the Evangard), panting, dragged a small bound body into the main hall. Perplexed, the king approached the unexpected guests, surveying them with a majestic and full of incomprehension gaze. The faces of the hunters were covered with sweat and the smell from them was extremely unpleasant. It was immediately clear that they had come a long way.
Roch, Dan and Aus began their service to the king a long time ago. And although, in fact, they were uncouth stupid blockheads, they served the owner faithfully, carried out all his orders, unconditionally and in most cases successfully. In many ways, the service became the meaning of life for them, perhaps because they, like all hunters, did not see another life, and did not really want to see it. So returning to their visit to the king's tower, the hunters dragged the bound body and threw it at the feet of their master. By that time, the prisoner had come to his senses, hitting the cold stone floor.
'Master. We found him in the area of dead forest. In the South-West. He said he doesn't remember anything about himself,' Aus said, adjusting the bandage that hides the empty eye socket. 'Hounds know him, really or no...'
'But we thought this was what you could be interested in... or maybe useful...” Roch added, supporting his friend.
Taurentius' eyebrow twitched. The visit turned out to be unexpected, and the gift brought was doubly that way.
'Have you completely lost your mind?' Taurentius exclaimed displeasedly, throwing a cold glance at the uninvited guests. 'Why did you bring this child to me?'
The hunters looked at each other, as if deciding which of them would answer the question. Dan, a strong tall man with a large scar on his face, stepped forward and untied the captive.
'Master,' Dan said hoarsely. 'He was all alone. And alive. Mortals do not survive in the wasteland, and even less so in the swamps of this dead forest. When we tried to find out who he is, the boy tried to run away. We thought that this was one of the supporters of Ademius or Taurebeleg, so we decided to take him prisoner. Of course, this man looks like a child, but we thought you, the master, were able to see something that our eyes could not catch. It's up to you to decide what to do with it.'
'Yes, he's like less than two decades years old,' Taurentius waved his hand and looked at the prisoner from above. 'He cannot be a dangerous enemy. And most likely you simply found him before the forest could absorb his feeble body. And he's also mortal. I don't feel any magical energy around him at all.'
'Nevertheless, take a closer look, master,' Dan said uncertainly and immediately fixed his eyes on the floor. Apparently, this already crossed the boundaries of what is permitted - to argue with his master.
However, Taurentius followed the advice and ordered the prisoner to be lifted from the floor, which the hunters did immediately. Taurentius examined the young man again, but this time from head to toe, carefully, as if he were trying to count the number of stains on the prisoner's dirty clothes.
Of course, no one counted the spots, and the boy also managed to make out this old, tall man in a black cloak adorned with precious stones and gems, in which he looked like a shiny green bat. The eyes, black as night, seemed to look into the very soul, burning through it.
'Say your name!' Taurentius said loudly, looking directly into the eyes of the frightened captive.
'I don't know,' the boy answered honestly. 'I already told those thugs, I don’t remember anything at all! I can't understand where I am and what you all want from me! Let me go!'
An unexpected blow from one of the hunters fell right in the stomach of the boy. His breath caught, and for a few seconds the prisoner simply lost the opportunity to breathe. He bent over and began to cough long and intensively inhale the air, trying to control the pain. The blow was obviously superfluous, and even Taurentius let the hunters know this with a sidelong frown.
'Don't you dare talk to the king like that!' Dan snapped aggressively. 'Think what you say, brat!'
'He's lying!' Ash concluded.
Taurentius raised his palm in the air with a call for silence - and the hunters fell silent. The magician came very close to the prisoner, took him by the chin and looked into his eyes, in which fear was mixed with rage.
'He speaks the truth,' the king said slowly. 'His memory is clear. All I see is fear and lack of knowledge...'
The hunters looked at each other in surprise: they were sure to the last that they had caught a dangerous criminal, but such an unexpected turn for them did not bode well.
Despite the uselessness of the find, the wizard was still in no hurry to let him go. Taurentius' gaze flickered over the prisoner's arm. Squinting his eyes, the king looked at the pale skin of the young man's thin hand for about a minute, as if he had found some message that was still unclear to him. Then he touched his hand, suddenly digging a sharp nail into the flesh. The captive let out a muffled groan as Taurentius wounded him for no reason, continuing to watch the young man's injured arm. Hunters also focused on what was happening. It was a great surprise for everyone who was at the top of the Tower of Darkness at that moment to see how, after a few seconds, a small wound on the hand of an exhausted prisoner disappeared, as if there had been no damage from the beginning. The boy himself could not understand what was happening, and his face expressed sincere fear. This happening again proved to Taurentius that the captive was only a frightened child who does not even know himself.
'Well this is already interesting…' Taurentius thoughtfully said. Now he did not have enough time to deal with the prisoner, but it was also unsuitable to let this mortal go.
Pressing his lips together, the prisoner remained silent. After a little more thinking about something of his own, Taurentius said loudly:
'Place the boy in a dungeon. And two ogres on guard. Until my further orders!'
Without further ado, hunter Dan picked up the prisoner and, throwing it over his shoulder, carried his body to the exit. Aus and Roch followed. Taurentius didn't want to think about what had happened right now. Approaching the edge of one of the arches, the king, turning into a clot of black whirlwind, headed towards the harbor, to the royal city of Embry.
Apparently, the dungeons were far from the tower, as the hunters dragged the body of the poor fellow for more than forever, as it's felt that time. First, they went down a long spiral staircase, then through the gate they went out to another stone staircase with uneven steps leading somewhere deep underground. A few torches hung from the walls of the tunnel, dimly illuminating the path. They weren’t much use, of course.
They walked in silence for a while. Only occasionally, somewhere from the depths of the place where the local captives was placed, someone's booming cries and unintelligible words were heard. It looks like someone was getting into an intense argument.
Deprived of strength and exhausted, the boy, like a rag doll, dangled on the shoulder of a tall hunter. As far as possible at dusk, the prisoner tried to look around, but all that could be seen was the stonewalls and someone's lifeless and, judging by the smell, already decomposing body, which lay on the wide step of the stairs and which, with a rough movement of the leg, was thrown aside by the hunter walking in front. Screams continued to be heard from the bowels of the cave. It was very similar to the fact that here the captives not only spend their dark days, but also undergo inhuman torture. There was complete chaos in his head, but the prisoner still tried to come up with at least something that could save him from a possible sad fate. Anyone in a similar situation would think about death.
Gathering more air into his chest, the prisoner suddenly began to cough, loud and hard. He himself did not even understand why he was doing all this, because everything was in order with his throat. The hunters found this behavior strange and immediately noticed.
'Hey, what's wrong with him?' Dan muttered as if he cared about the welfare of the prisoner.
'It seems that the kid is really bad,' Aus rapped out, raising his head with a rude gesture, grabbing the captive by the hair. 'Look, the brat is pale as a dead man. Maybe tell Taurentius that the pup is going to die soon? And we’ll be responsible for his death. This prospect doesn’t make me very happy!'
'They told you - in the dungeon, so we are dragging him there!' Dan snapped. 'Let him die at least, but we will fulfill the order!'
The prisoner began to twitch and squirm, as if he had been overcome by a seizure. This has already forced the hunters to stop. Dan put the boy on the steps. Someone with heavy steps approached the men. Two tall people climbed up, and loudly argued about something. Seeing the three hunters and the convulsing body on the steps, they stopped.
'What are you doing here? Dragged someone, brainless blockheads?' one big bald man growled through his teeth. The voice was raspy and hoarse. These two men were also hunters, and judging by the coldness of the meeting, they, to put it mildly, were not on friendly terms with Dan, Aus and Roch.
'Shut your mouth, you bastard!' Dan said rudely. 'We are here on the orders of Taurentius. Go where you went! Get out and don't interfere!'
'Or what, Dan?' hissed the second hunter, a little older, but also very stocky. 'With one blow of my hand, I can finish you off. Where will your courage be then?'
'Then try it!' Dan snarled, fury flaring up in him like gunpowder from a spark. He, completely forgetting about the lying prisoner, stepped towards the offender, ready to use his fists.
A conflict was brewing. It seems that these thugs started a quarrel just for the sake of a quarrel, finding in this a special kind of perverted form of entertainment. Not even half a minute of conversation had passed, as one had already pushed the other and, obviously, a fight broke out. Pushing Dan to the wall, another hunter miscalculated his strength and knocked down two torches by the enemy, which fell off the stone surface with a crash and went out. It became dark, but the road was visible ahead of them by the burning lights of still intact torches. Roch and Aus quickly came to the aid of a comrade, entering into a three-on-two fight.
Taking advantage of the situation, the boy quickly and silently got up and ran as fast as he could along the wall back to the exit from the dungeon. A rush of unknown forces filled his legs, as happened earlier in the forest, and they carried the captive forward with such speed that everything around him turned into smeared spots of dark colors. There was just a moment, incredible luck, and this had to be used without losing the chance. Running out to the surface, the boy looked around, trying to figure out where to go next.
To the right was completely black, like charred earth, which rose and fell. It looked eerily unusual. A tower somewhere in the distance, in the vicinity - buildings hiding in the darkness of the night and silhouettes of local residents who did not yet suspect that something was already happening. To the left rose a high wall without gates or openings, a solid stone large object. Without thinking, the boy rushed towards it with the same violent force. He could not even imagine what he would do next, but his legs again seemed to carry the boy of their own accord.
There were cries and screams behind. About a dozen pursuers, led by two already familiar hunters, were moving towards the wall, right to the escaped prisoner. Looking around the huge wall again and again, the boy could not find a loophole to escape. Running close to the block of stone, he began to touch the damp surface, hoping to find at least something, perhaps a weak point in the wall or a secret area, clicking on which would open a disguised door. However, the attempts were in vain. The pursuers were already near.
And suddenly something unusual happened. The most unusual ever! The boy felt his palms begin to heat up, as if he brought them closer to the flames. It became so hot that he wanted to immediately dip his hands in ice water. With a little shouting, he touched the cold damp stone surface of the wall in order to somehow cope with the unbearable heat.
Hands firmly stuck to the stone, heat began to pour beyond the skin, and the palms seemed to fall through the wall, burning through all the obstacles under them. It was painful, but tolerable: the palms burned through the stone, it, for sure, could now destroy any obstacle in it's path. A bright luminous halo formed around them, which illuminated the surroundings with sharp rays and swallowed up the silhouette of the fugitive for a moment, hiding what was happening from the eyes of the pursuers. Those, in turn, in bewilderment and shock, stopped a hundred meters from what was happening, just watching this shining spot and not knowing what to do. After a couple of minutes, the stone block crumbled under the onslaught of the palms, and a big black passage formed in the wall, into which the boy easily fell, leaving the enemy place behind.
'He's running away! Hold it, you fools!' The boy heard a scream from behind. 'What are you waiting for? Grab it!'
But the fugitive was already outside the wall: he lost his balance, falling down and flying at breakneck speed down the abyss found on the other side of the stone block.
The wind enveloped the body again and again in the silk of icy gusts, and despite the fact that it was difficult to breathe, the boy gasped for heavy air, squinting and opening his eyes again, hoping to figure out where he was flying and how long his fall would last. There was nothing to be seen around, only gray fog, cloud after cloud. Only when the seemingly endless clouds finally disappeared, it became clear that this was not a fall at all. The boy hovered upside down: something carried him in the air, because people, by their nature, cannot fly obviously. This flight saved his life. More precisely, someone or something that prevented the death of the fugitive carried him somewhere in an endless distance.