Bound to the Abyss Read online

  Enjoying this new feeling of freedom and prowess, he got quite a ways ahead of his two friends before stopping and turning around to check on them. They were still running hard, but thank the gods, the Seekers weren’t in pursuit. Both Bran and Jaslen were breathing heavily, but Ean felt like he could run all night without getting winded. He was about to call back for them to hurry, when he saw Jaslen stumble and fall to the ground.

  At first Ean thought she had just lost her footing or had gotten caught on a wayward branch. As he sprinted back to where they were, however, he found Bran trying to unwrap something from around her ankles — a piece of rope with weights attached at the ends. Once he got it off of her, Bran held it up for them to see. Ean was about to ask what it was when another one wrapped itself around Bran’s ankles, knocking him over.

  “Now, now, little rabbits,” a baritone voice called out from the shadows. “Don’t scamper away without introducing yourselves. That would be incredibly rude.”

  The man called EliZane approached them confidently, his chin held high and a swagger in his step. His hands were empty, but they hung in easy reach of any of the knives strapped around his waist. The Seeker was trying to put on a friendly expression, but Ean wasn’t buying it.

  “My name is EliZane, and as you can clearly see,” he said, moving his hands to outline his armor, “I am a Seeker. Your parents should have taught you never to run from the Seekers, children. It’s very rude, and makes us think you have something to hide.”

  Jaslen was still on the ground, watching the man with cold eyes as she rubbed at her ankles. Bran had paused in the middle of untangling his own ankles, a defiant look on his face. Ean hoped that Bran didn’t do anything rash. As for himself, he tried to put on a relaxed expression. He held on to some of the energy of the Abyss though. Just in case.

  “Now,” the Seeker continued, “if you would be so kind as to accompany me back to where my two friends are waiting, I would appreciate it.”

  The tone of his voice made it clear that he wasn’t asking. Ean took a good look behind the man. The other two Seekers were nowhere in sight. Once all three Seekers were together again, they would be impossible to overcome. This might be the last chance for them to escape.

  EliZane laughed as he caught Ean looking around. “No, boy, the other two didn’t come running after you as well. They know I can handle two scrawny boys and a little girl easy enough.”

  “We are older than we look,” Bran said, rising to his feet. “And I see no reason why we should follow you anywhere, not after what you did to that poor man.”

  Ean grimaced as his foolhardy companion placed a hand on the hilt of his sword. Instead of getting tense or angry, EliZane smirked.

  “If you want to go about playing like a man with your weapon, feel free. But I doubt you will enjoy the game, boy.”

  Ean swore he could see the anger bubbling out of Bran. EliZane was trying to goad him into a fight and was succeeding. Of course, they couldn’t go back with the man, or at least Ean couldn’t. Facing the man with the jeweled dagger meant death at least for him, and Jaslen and Bran might just get killed for being with him.

  No, a fight was their only option.

  Jaslen rose to her feet and readied her bow. Bran and Ean spread out to circle him. EliZane seemed more amused than concerned about their efforts to surround him. He stood still, picking dirt from beneath his fingernails.

  “So,” EliZane said. “We’re going to do this the hard way? Very well, I suppose a bit of exercise won’t hurt.”

  Letting out a laugh that held no warmth, he let his arms drop to his sides casually. “Well, here is hoping you will surprise me.”

  EliZane’s hands moved so fast Ean almost missed it. In a blur, the man snatched two finger-sized blades from his belt and hurled one at Jaslen and the other at Ean.

  The energies from the Abyss enhanced his reflexes enough that he dropped back before the blade hit. He felt it whiz past the tip of his nose. Missing its intended target, the blade sank into the tree behind him with a loud plunk. At the same moment, Jaslen let out a startled yelp.

  Rolling to his feet, Ean scrambled to go to Jaslen’s aid but quickly realized that she was more scared than hurt. The second blade had sliced through her bow string, leaving her unscathed but weaponless. The rasp of a sword blade coming unsheathed made Ean shift his attention again. Bran was holding his sword defensively in front of his body. EliZane was sauntering toward Bran with that same amused expression.

  Jaslen had recovered from her shock and was on her feet as well. She had discarded the bow and instead held a single arrow in her left hand. She took careful, deliberate steps, not making a sound as she tried to catch the Seeker off guard.

  “This really is foolish,” EliZane said to Bran. “You’re just going to make me hurt you more than needs be. Best if we just get you back to my companions so we can test you for the corruption and then act from there. If you haven’t been touched by the Abyss, you will be sent on your way. If you have, then you have to die. It’s as simple as that.”

  Bran grunted and moved towards the Seeker, keeping his blade aimed at Elizane’s chest.

  “Very well,” the Seeker said with a feigned sigh.

  “You’re going to leave us alone,” Bran said, a mixture of anger and hesitation on his voice. “We just want to leave and don’t want any trouble.”

  “Listen to you, trying to sound all tough.” EliZane still sounded at ease. “Are you trying to impress someone? The girl, perhaps?”

  He waved a hand in the direction of where Jaslen was trying to creep up on him. “Is she your girl? Oh that’s a shame. Especially if one of you is corrupted and the other one isn’t. Then you’d have to sit and watch while the other one was put down.”

  “Don’t you threaten −”

  In one swift motion, the Seeker knocked Bran’s blade aside with one hand and delivered a strike to the boy’s throat with the other, effectively cutting him off midsentence. The younger man dropped to the ground, a gurgling noise coming from his mouth as he gripped his throat with both hands. EliZane stood over him, shaking his head.

  With a yell Jaslen charged in, holding the arrow in both hands like a spear. The Seeker easily dodged out of the way of her clumsy charge. As she stumbled past, he stuck a foot out and tripped her. She fell, face first, the arrow thankfully flying from her hands instead of ending up embedded in her stomach. Hitting the ground hard, she let out a muffled moan. She immediately tried to push herself up with her hands to regain her footing.

  EliZane stomped down hard on her back with a muddy boot, pinning her to the ground.

  “Are we done with this foolishness?” Frown lines creased the Seeker’s forehead and mirrored the scowl he directed down at Jaslen, but his voice sounded anything but annoyed. “I would hate to actually break a limb …”

  Ean’s mind raced. Clearly they had no chance against this man in a fight; he was far too quick and skilled. Which meant they had to try something else.

  “Please, don’t hurt us anymore,” Ean said, trying his best to sound pathetic. The pain in his gut certainly helped, but it was fading. “We’ll go with you.”

  “No, you can’t Ean!” Jaslen cried out. Her words earned her another stomp from the Seeker. A small whimper escaped her mouth, but she still turned her head enough that her gaze locked on Ean’s eyes.

  “Quiet, girl,” EliZane said menacingly. Leaning forward, the Seeker pressed down with his foot harder and harder until a squeak escaped her mouth. Satisfied that she wasn’t going to speak further, he turned his attention back to Ean. “Finally, someone with a little sense. Hopefully your friends will follow your lead and come peacefully as well.”

  "I'm sure they will. We clearly don't have the training to stand against you.” Ean was only a few paces away from the man now. He just needed to get a little closer ...

  "Now, here is what's going to happen.” EliZane's voice had lost a bit of its scorn and had a more commanding quality to it. "I'
m going to take my foot off the girl, and then the two of you are going to help your other friend to his feet. If he isn't able to walk, then the two of you will carry him. The sooner we see if you’re corrupted, the faster I'll be able to get out of this stupid wilderness and get back to the city.”

  "We'll do whatever you say.” Ean tried his best to sound sincere, and after staring at him for a moment, the Seeker nodded and removed his boot from Jaslen's back. Reaching down, Ean helped her up to her feet while keeping his back to the Seeker. As she rose, Ean carefully slid the glove off his right hand.

  He took a step in EliZane's direction. The man was looking down at Bran with a disgusted look. All Ean had to do was get close enough to touch him. If he could do that, maybe they would have a chance. Ever so carefully, Ean reached out towards the man … EliZane’s hand shot out, catching Ean’s wrist well away from the Seeker’s body. How had the man even seen him? His attention still seemed to be on Bran, and yet he had reached out and snatched Ean’s wrist as if he were staring right at it.

  “You really didn’t think I would believe you had given up so easily, did you?” The contempt and scorn in the man’s voice was palpable. “You three have the nerve, the nerve, to attack a Seeker and then you suddenly turn meek as a mouse?”

  With a dark laugh, EliZane jerked Ean closer. “I hope this isn’t your writing hand boy, because I’m about to snap your little wrist.”

  The thought of the pain the man was about to inflict pushed all remaining doubt out of Ean’s mind. He grabbed the older man’s wrist with his right hand and unleashed all of the energy coursing through his body. Ean felt the power flow out of him, into the man and then “hit” something.

  An explosion tossed both Ean and the Seeker into the air and a dozen wagons lengths away from each other. It felt like Ean was flying for an eternity, the explosion dulling his senses and the wind rushing around him from the speed he was traveling. When he finally came down, he hit the ground hard enough to knock the wind from his lungs. His shoulder made a popping sound and pain lanced down his arm. The force made him lose his connection to the energies from the Abyss. The power drained out of his body in a way that left him feeling like a spilled waterskin. When he was finally able to sit up, he saw chaos all around him.

  The Seeker was on his stomach, quite a distance away and trying unsuccessfully to get to his feet. Ean could see the path EliZane had been tossed. Bark stripped from the trunks of trees and broken branches marked the Seeker’s path through the air. The damage made Ean glad he had been lucky enough to miss hitting anything during his own flight. And yet the man was still moving. No wonder people feared the Seekers; this one seemed to be incredibly hard to stop.

  Looking to his right, he saw that Jaslen and Bran hadn’t escaped the blast either. Jaslen was only a few paces from where she had been standing before, lying on her back. Bran was still down in the same spot. Ean took only a moment to watch Jaslen rub the other young man’s chest quickly before trying to climb back onto his feet.

  A blur whizzed past Ean’s left cheek accompanied by a sharp pain. He touched his face and felt wetness. There was blood on his fingers. He immediately switched his attention back to the Seeker and found the man on his feet, bent over and leaning against one of the trees.

  If EliZane could kill with a look, Ean would be dead ten times over by now. The man’s eyes were cold, their intensity enough to make Ean gulp. A small stream of blood dribbled down from EliZane’s head, branching off at his nose and running around both sides of his mouth. A mouth set in a snarl. The man’s trembling hands reached for his belt. It faltered for a moment, than half-heartedly flung another projectile in Ean’s direction.

  Falling to the right, Ean watched as a tiny blur flew past where his throat had just been. He tried to follow the fast moving object but lost it for a moment only to find it again as it hit a tree. A tiny blade, about twice the length of Ean’s longest finger, was embedded up to the hilt in the bark. Rising to a sitting position, Ean knew he was running out of time. He had only come up with one plan of attack, and it had failed. The power of the Abyss had rebounded somehow. He drew it back into his body as he struggled to come up with something he could do before the Seeker recovered …

  The Hound!

  Lost in his scattered thoughts, he didn’t see the Seeker grab something off the ground and whip it in his direction. Pain exploded in his forehead, causing his mind to go blank as it knocked him onto his back. The world grew hazy, but Ean fought to hold on to consciousness. Raising a hand to his head, he quickly located a knot where the object had struck him, but even his slight touch made the world grow dark, so he quickly pulled his hand away.

  A bump on his head was much better than a blade sticking out of it, at least. Regardless of whatever reason why the man hadn’t used another blade, Ean had to gather his senses. He had to get up.

  He forced himself up on his elbows. The world swam as if he was underwater, and he closed his eyes against the nauseating feeling they caused. When he was able to open them again, EliZane was staring down at him, one hand holding his side while another held a small, curved dagger.

  “Thought you could corrupt me, did you, freak? Clearly you fools know nothing about the Seekers.”

  Wincing as he removed the hand from his side, EliZane pulled out a small amulet that hung around his neck. On its surface was an engraving of a sun with bouts of flame shooting off of it. The Seeker held it out for a few moments then tucked it back away before continuing.

  “This keeps us safe from the Scar’s energies as well as any that might leak off of those that have been corrupted.” His face tightened while small amounts of spittle appeared on his lips. “Which is why your little trick backfired. I don’t know what you tried to do, but now I’m going to kill you and let Olleander figure out what to do with your dead body.”

  The Seeker reached down and grabbed Ean by the shirt, yanking him to his feet. The man ground his teeth in obvious pain from the effort, but he pulled Ean close and placed the edge of his knife to his neck.

  “I enjoy every kill I get to make under the service of Alistar,” the Seeker whispered menacing, “but in all of my years, I think you’re going to be one of my favorites.”

  As the blade began to slide across his neck, Ean closed his eyes.

  In his muddled state, he was confused when he heard EliZane scream and found himself suddenly released. Ean fell to the ground and crumpled to his knees. It took most of his effort to raise his head and what little energy remaining to open his eyes again. The Seeker stumbled back and continued to scream, spinning in circles, trying to reach the back of his neck.

  Zin!

  The imp’s teeth were sunk into EliZane’s neck. The Seeker struggled to grab the imp, but Zin was too fast. He scrambled around on the man’s back, sinking teeth or claws into any joints or exposed areas of the man’s armor. EliZane raged and stumbled around. It would have been a hilarious scene if lives weren’t hanging in the balance.

  Ean had felt Zin’s bites before, and although painful, were nowhere near strong enough to bring the Seeker down.

  Reaching down inside himself, Ean grabbed onto the energies of the Abyss and let them flood into every corner of his existence. It filled his bones and made him strong. Gave new life to his muscles. Cleared the cobwebs from his thoughts. He could act. He would act.

  “Cruxlum!” the imp yelled from the Seeker’s back. “Bring forth a Cruxlum! The four armed creature! Hurry!”

  With the energies flowing in him again, Ean’s mind was clear, but he had no idea what creature the imp was naming. What in the Abyss was a four-armed Cruxlum? Images flashed through his mind of the different pages from The Abysmal Tome until they finally came to rest on the page with the runes he needed.

  Placing his hands palm down on a flat piece of land, he pictured the intricate design of the Cruxlum’s summoning runes. The energies flowed out of his hands again, forming two perfect summoning circles first, one inside of the other an
d then began to fill in the spaces in-between with runes. Ean focused as hard as he could, trying to make the runes inside appear faster. Snaking around the insides of the circles, the runes sped along, creating a weaving, intertwined design, each one twice the size of a coin.

  While the runes flashed along the ground, he heard Zin squeak. Then there was a thud. Realizing his couragous friend might be injured, or worse, Ean’s stomach turned to knots, but there was no turning away from the task at hand. It was the only chance to save everyone. Sweat began to dribble down his face as he strained in concentration.

  He kept his gaze down on the runes until the last one flashed into place. When the runes finally flared stronger and an opening began to appear, Ean then risked a glance up. Zin was lying on his back with his head in his hands. The Seeker was standing a bit further away, his mouth wide open as his eyes stared at the glowing and misty hole that was in the ground at Ean’s feet. A large, four-fingered yellow hand reached out of the hole and clawed at the dirt. A second hand followed … then a third and a fourth.

  And that’s when the summoning pain hit. Worse than ever before, he felt the power ripping him apart. Falling onto his side, Ean wrapped his arms around his stomach as the pain tore at every part of his body. He watched helplessly as the creature pulled itself out of the Abyss. When it freed itself, the hole closed behind it. Ean’s pain instantly subsided, but not entirely. Still too weak to move, every muscle tied in a knot, he stared at what he had just brought out of the Abyss.

  The Cruxlum was easily three times as tall as Ean, taller than even that giant Seeker, and was mostly torso. Attached to that torso were four heavily muscled arms, two on each side, that ended in four-fingered hands larger than Ean’s head. It wore very little clothing, just a small amount of rags around its midsection that covered its groin. Its hairless, dark yellow skin had the texture of a gravel road. Its large bald head was humanoid with two eyes completely black, a stub of a nose, and a tiny lipped mouth. A scar ran from the creature’s right cheek down to its chin. The Cruxlum’s inky black eyes looked down at Ean in confusion.