Knight: Tracks of Darkness Read online

himself with the construction of a sea-vessel using his mind. For such was the nature of the dreaming, that a man could enter therein and harness the creative god-self that lies dormant within the hearts of all men, even for such as Master On Darai who never believed in such base foolishness. Master On Darai, upon finishing his sea vessel, denied Mav’ric and Horace access into the ship. Mav’ric asked, “For what reason have we been denied?”

  Master On Darai replied, saying “Where I go no virtuous man can abide. I shall lure the spider out of her hiding place, for does not evil attract evil?” Horace said, “Fare you well on your quest, faceless one. Mav’ric the Riverblade and I will find another way, though it would behoove you to heed the words of the Vizier when he admonished us. We can only defeat the spider together.”

  “Horace, you fool,” the faceless one answered unto him. “That plan was compromised when Kalaitos died.” Master On Darai pushed his vessel into the shallow waters of the sand-sea.

  Mav’ric and Horace watched Master On Darai sail away across the sand-sea, and they despaired. They suddenly turned in alarm and beheld a man that walked on his fours like a beast. He was Jurel Forlorn, a dream born citizen of Nür, and a warrior like no other. He was a man of sorrow, acquainted with grief. His presence put a damper on their spirit. Jurel stood like a man and said, “If it pleases you, gentlemen, I will guide you thither across the sand-sea to the lair of the spider. Her death would please me greatly.”

  Day 18

  How Mav’ric raised his awesome sword and revealed the spider looming over his head.

  While the spider peered into Kalaitos’ eyes and discovered that there was no fear in him, and while Master On Darai sailed across the sand-sea to lure her out, Mav’ric and Horace followed Jurel Forlorn through a dark cavern deep underground, where the nightmares festered like a terrible sore. Jurel insisted the quickest path to the pit of unbeginning was also the darkest. The good, virtuous men among the companions traversed these dreadful caverns with great fear and trepidation. Jurel’s eyes were like fire, his feet were quick and sure, and he moved with confidence and aplomb. There were moments when Jurel had to pause in order to despair over the unfortunate circumstances of his life and upbringing, and of the untimely death of his mother, and of his wife and children who were killed when the spider sacked the dream city. It was during those moments when Mav’ric and Horace were most vulnerable to attack. In those caverns, they endured many an attack from Nür’s worst nightmares. Finally, Jurel said, “I am ready to press forward.” But Mav’ric and Horace were overcome with fatigue from battling horrid nightmares. Mav’ric raised his sword, the light of his blade bathed the cavern in blue and silver, and the nightmares shied away. But there was one who did not. She loomed above his head with mandibles ready to strike.

  Day 17

  How Kalaitos rescued his companions, only to further the spider’s nefarious plan.

  With seventeen days remaining ere the King’s doom, Mav’ric was attacked and bit by the spider. The light of his sword went out and our heroes fought a desperate fight in the dark. They fought creeping, crawling things, and things that growled, roared and hissed. Jurel Forlorn fought like a nightmare himself, with his eyes like twin flames and a roar to match any other roar in those caverns. But the force arrayed against the companions was many, and they were allied with the darkness and absence of light. Mav’ric lay on the ground, suffering from the poison coursing through his blood, while Horace, down to his last arrow, drew Mav’ric’s sword and defended his friend with all of his might, cunning and skill. Jurel paused to wonder at Horace’s unwavering devotion, and in that moment he was knocked unconscious by a lumbering troll. When all appeared to be lost and the creatures of the deep made ready to feast upon the companions, Kalaitos arrived with Swazinder in his hand and single-handedly won the day. The spider retreated; Kalaitos raced to Mav’ric’s side to hand him an antidote to the poison. Horace embraced Kalaitos and together, they hefted Mav’ric up and supported him.

  Meanwhile the Vizier, with a hand on the King’s head, shouted into the King’s mind that Kalaitos should not be trusted. But the companions were too deep in the dreaming to heed the Vizier’s warning.

  Day 16

  How Mav’ric desired battle against Jurel Forlorn, and how Jurel reluctantly granted it to him.

  After Mav’ric was made well and his strength restored, Kalaitos sued Jurel Forlorn for leading his friends through so many dangers. He pointed a finger accusingly at Jurel Forlorn, saying, “It was you who guided them here only to be ambushed by the spider and her nightmares! See? This man is in league with the king’s enemies.”

  Jurel solemnly admitted that though the accusation was false and unfounded, the story was quite believable, and he despaired more because he could not find a way to convince Mav’ric and Horace otherwise.

  Mav’ric drew his sword and challenged Jurel Forlorn to a duel. After sighing a great sigh, Jurel Forlorn accepted the challenge. Mav’ric and Jurel circled one another before dancing with their weapons. Mav’ric gave his all, but Jurel stayed his hand and lost. Kalaitos cried, “Well done, Mav’ric! Truly, you are the hero of our age. Now, away with you, friend of the dark.”

  Jurel Forlorn was banished from their sight, but sensing Kalaitos’ treachery, he remained in the shadows, following closely behind as the companions emerged from the cavern.

  Day 15

  How after long fighting Horace fell behind and the spider captured him.

  Kalaitos urged the companions forward as they fled the caverns with the enemy clawing at their very heels. The escape from the caverns of the deep was slow and bloody, with monsters haunting them every step of the way. Horace held the rear where his efforts to stay the horde were nothing short of legendary. He struck down one menace after another with a spear he imagined into his hands. Meanwhile, in the waking world, the king had grown pale and weak. The Vizier summoned talented healers from all over Eos, and they labored in vain to sustain the king’s health.

  Kalaitos led them to the surface of the caverns where they emerged upon the surface of the sand-sea. They were tossed about by the swirling wave-dunes. Kalaitos cried out, and Master On Darai found them, anchored his sea-vessel, and held out a rope for them to climb aboard his ship. Kalaitos raced across the rope while Mav’ric held on as he was drawn in. Horace reached out for the rope, but he was dragged under the sand-sea by a strong web that caught his leg. Mav’ric cried out for him; he wrestled Kalaitos and Master On Darai and pleaded with them to aid in Horace’s rescue. But the sea-vessel sailed away and where Horace once fought, there was naught but smooth sand.

  Day 14

  Of the goodly communication between Master On Darai and Kalaitos, and how Mav’ric’s virtuous ideas were unanimously overruled.

  On the fourteenth day, Master On Darai spotted land, pointing at the great Mt. Qidam, the dream city at its base and the forest that surrounded it. “At last, we have come to the city of dreams,” Master On Darai said, “And isn’t it more glorious than anything we have ever seen with our eyes?”

  Kalaitos replied, “But friend, you do not have any eyes,” and the both of them laughed wholeheartedly. “It is you who should be called deathless,” Master On Darai said. “I would have returned to find you if it were not for the confidence I have in your ability to prevail.”

  Kalaitos and Master On Darai bonded like long lost brothers while Mav’ric continued to scour the endless sand-sea for any sign of his friend, Horace. A thought occurred to him that he should contact the Vizier, and so he knelt as a man in prayer and made known his supplication to the Vizier. Indeed the Vizier would have heard him were he not so pressed with the matter of keeping the king alive.

  Mav’ric turned to find the villains mocking him. “We have to go back for Horace,” Mav’ric insisted. Kalaitos replied, “The same way you returned for me?”

  “We will not prevail unless the four of us work together! We need Horace with us, lest the spider overtake us all.�
�� But Mav’ric’s words fell upon deaf ears. Master On Darai said, “Enough of this vainglorious gallivanting, Mav’ric. We have tried to do this your way, the prudent way. Now it is time we did it our way. If you wish to rescue Horace of Aredea, you are free to do so on your own. For is that not how heroes set about to accomplish things, trusting in the aid of some lofty deity? I am not that man, Mav’ric. I will acknowledge the might of others and live to wake from this dream.”

  Kalaitos clapped Master On Darai on the shoulder and said, “You speak truly, and with great conviction. I am your man until the end, Master On Darai.” Master On Darai said, “And I yours, fair Kalaitos, wielder of the first sword.”

  And the villains shook hands.

  Day 13

  How Jurel Forlorn braved many dangers to rescue Horace from the spider’s web, and how together they fled to the forest of Manzil.

  On the thirteenth day remaining, the king became deathly ill with such a horrendous number pulsing on his hand. Master On Darai led the companions to the outskirts of the dream city, and the King kept his watch as he suffered and withered in the Vizier’s arms. Meanwhile, far below the sand-sea, Jurel Forlorn searched in the dark for Horace the desert arrow. The darkness