Savior of the Damned

Eldren felt dizzy as he spied Phae at the edge of town. Merethyl clapped a hand over his mouth before he could call out, and they ducked down. He gritted his teeth as he heard a strange man call her name again as she headed off toward the sound.

“It’s her,” he whispered as Merethyl took her hand away from his mouth.

“And did you see her throat?” Merethyl returned. “We have to find some way to sever her bond first.” She crawled away from the edge of town, Eldren reluctantly following.

Merethyl led him far away to a secret entrance to some tunnels that would lead to the new meeting spot. “I’m sorry, Eldren,” she said as soon as they were underground. “I wouldn’t have stopped you if I thought it was safe.”

Eldren choked back tears. “No, you’re right. How did she survive?”

Merethyl’s mouth twisted into a sad expression. “Something sinister animates her, at the very least.”

Eldren’s chest tightened, and his breathing became shallow. “I have to save her.”

Doubt crossed Merethyl’s face, but she nodded. “If there is a way to save your friend, we’ll find it.”

Eldren wiped at his face and crawled into the tunnel entrance with Merethyl. “Yeah. We will.” He shivered. It was cold underground, but it wasn’t the cold that made him shake. What happened, Phae?

“the ’ship will drop off the people we rescued and come back for us,” Merethyl said. “We have a time frame; we just have to wait until Aurelius’s men are gone.”

Eldren shivered again. “Guess we wait. Know any stories?” he joked.

“I could tell you stories of the old gods, if you’re interested.”

“That’s not a bad idea. I haven’t heard much about them, aside from that they used to exist.” He sat down, back to the wall. Merethyl sat down across from him.

***

“Titus was a jovial man. He was a local lord, who had made waves when he fell in love with the local engineer, a peasant girl named Elspeth who had caught his eye.

However, he had a rival. A two-bit magus, Levi, who traded things like love charms for coin, had always liked Elspeth and had made his affections known. Elspeth seemed to like him a fair deal, and Titus found her over at the potion shop quite often.

He could see how Elspeth would find him attractive. Levi was a looker, even to him. Titus didn’t feel much towards the magi, as he was much better off than Levi and thus Levi was no competition.

His advisors begged him to reconsider, to make her a mistress if he needed her in his life. But Titus had his heart set on Elspeth and his love would not allow anything less.

Levi was furious when Elspeth told him. He waited until she left and chucked empty bottles at Titus’s head, cursing him. ‘You will never find happiness as long as you are alive and together!’ Levi swore, pointing the sign of the evil eye at Titus.

‘And how does that help anything?’ Titus asked. ‘You lost. Plain and simple. Maybe you should have gone to market with more than cute charms to dupe young girls with, instead of trying for the hand of a woman such as her.’

Levi sneered, lips pulling back to expose teeth in the most sinister expression. ‘You’ll live to regret this.’

Titus turned around. ‘She’s invited you to the ceremony, but I think you’re busy that day.’ With that, he strode out the door, the bell ringing as Titus slammed it shut. The silence left in the little shop was deafening, and all Levi could hear was his blood roaring in his ears.

Upending a box of charms, Levi fumed. How dare Titus take the woman he loved? He could have had anyone, a noble born lady even, but he chose Elspeth. The audacity.

He looked around, surveying the destruction. Bottles shattered, regents scattered everywhere, but what caught his eye was an open book by his feet. Stooping to look at it, Levi tapped one finger against his chin as he read. ‘Godstones huh?’ he said. ‘Those are just a fairy tale.’

‘Are you sure that’s a burden you want to carry?’

Levi turned to see someone had walked into his shop. It was a tall woman, as tall as Titus the Terrible—Levi told himself he’d work on the name later—dressed in simple clothes with a well-worn leather vest over her shirt and pants. She had long black hair and a somber expression. ‘What do you mean?’

‘The Godstones are a burden not all can carry,’ she said.

Levi closed the book. ‘And what do you know of them?’

She blinked at him a few times. ‘Read your book, and I’ll be back in ten days to see if you’re still interested.’ She glanced around the shop. ‘And maybe clean up a little.’ With that, she was gone.

Levi started the laborious process of cleaning up, wondering why he had heard her leaving but not coming in. Maybe he was too angry to notice her.

He shook his head as he put the last of the books away, hand lingering on the spine. Looking around, Levi realized didn’t want this life. He had come here hoping to make it big, but he had found anything but riches. Where magic had once ruled, now there was engineering. The modern marvels engineers could produce far outstripped anything people would come to him for. Sure, he could do things engineers couldn’t, like improve one’s luck at the rat races, but when was the last time someone bought that charm, anyway?

Levi pulled the book back off the shelf and opened it. It was a mishmash of stuff, but instead of luck or beauty, it was full of darker, more sinister things. Hexes for bad luck and illness and death curses were in the book. It was also the book he had caught the mention of Godstones in. He glanced at the cover. It was the same as always, and he knew a lot of it by heart. It had been one of the first magic books he had ever received, but back then, the charms and descriptions of magical items of legend were so out of reach. Now, though, now he had enough experience, didn’t he? After all, magic was study and practice. And what else could he do with the time spent not selling charms and potions? He looked at the door and put the closed sign up. This was more important right now.

Long into the night, he read. It seemed so enticing. He could be a God with one of these! Warnings abounded about bad luck and tragic endings, but to be a god even for a moment. The thought thrilled him. Levi studied as much as he could that night, and in the following days. The shop stayed closed, not that anyone ever bothered to come by. Ten days passed, and the strange woman appeared again.

‘Are you sure this is a burden you want to bear? It’s not a burden you can pass on if you grow tired of it.’

‘I’m sure.’

The woman didn’t smile, instead reaching into a pouch and handed him a flat clear crystal with a leaf and white dot inside. Levi snatched it out of her hands, frowning as nothing happened.

‘You will know when it accepts you,’ she said.

‘How?’

‘Put it on and go to the ceremony.’

‘That’s all I have to do?’

‘that’s it.’

Levi slipped the necklace around his neck. He looked up to thank the strange woman, but she was gone again.

At the ceremony, there was a new ritual; The officiant gave two necklaces to the bride and the groom, one for each of them to wed the happy couple for eternity. When Titus and Elspeth slipped them on each others’ heads, a flash of light went up. Not just around their necks, but also his. Levi looked at the stone and saw instead of a leaf with a white dot on it, it had transformed into a caterpillar. He looked around for the strange woman to ask what happened, but she was nowhere to be seen.

Levi went home to think. He didn’t feel any different. But that meant little. His chest ached, and he wanted to see Elspeth again, so he grabbed a few bottles and left. Outside the servant’s entrance, he quaffed a potion and went inside undetected. Elspeth was alone in one of the massive rooms. ‘We need to talk.’

Elspeth jumped and whirled; she clutched a small paring knife in her hand. Levi could see the fruit platter on the table behind her it had come from. ‘Oh, it’s you.’ She gripped the knife as she took a step back. “How can I help you, Levi?”

‘What was that flash of light at the ceremony?’

‘It was from our necklaces. Titus said they were artifacts that would wed us for eternity.’

‘I love you, Elspeth.’

Elspeth looked at him, a tragic expression crossing her face. ‘I only ever thought of you as a friend.’

Desperation flooded Levi. ‘Can I see the necklace?’ he asked, hoping against hope to lure her away.

Elspeth looked at him, something sad crossing her features. ‘I think you should go.’

There were a million things Levi wanted to say, a million confessions, a million words. Instead, he left and walked around, looking for the strange woman. Eventually he found her, with an absolute mountain of a man dressed in red armor that hadn’t been popular since decades before Levi’s birth.

‘Why did my necklace flash?’

They both looked at him. ‘It’s not too late to give the ’stone up,’ the man said.

‘That’s not what I asked.’ Levi tugged at his constrictive collar.

The woman clucked her tongue. ‘He will learn. We all did in the end.’

Levi watched as they walked away and shook his head. He drew out the necklace to see a caterpillar inside it still, and then put it back and made his way back to his shop. He had some thinking to do.

Talk of fighting reached him a few days later. An entire army was coming this way, and Titus had to lead it. Levi fretted over Elspeth, but there was nothing he could do.

The fighting came. Titus had conscripted him to help with protection magic, as one of the few skilled magic users in the area. Elspeth had taken her machines to the front lines with Titus. During the battle, Levi’s stone lit up, bright as day, and it saved his life. Power unimaginable flooded Levi, and he helped save everyone.

‘Ye shall be as gods,’ a voice said from Levi’s elbow. He spun to see the woman in leather with the man dressed in red armor.

‘What?’

‘Perhaps more reading is in order,’ she said, tsking at him when he scowled.

‘I’m a god? What about Elspeth? Titus?’

The two of them looked at him. ‘Everyone learns by the end,’ the man said, and turned away, leaving Levi lost in thought.”

***

“What kind of story was that?” Eldren asked.

“It’s one that is a favorite of elven children.” She looked aghast as soon as the words left her mouth.

“Is it real? Did it happen?”

“It’s supposed to be based on actual events.”

Eldren furrowed his brow. “Interesting,” he murmured.

“They should be here soon,” Merethyl said.

“How will we know?”

A knock sounded at the entrance, and it swung open. Eldren tensed and jumped to his feet, relaxing as he saw it was Simone. “About time,” he said.

“They left,” she said. “Time to go back to Orso.”