Read Broken Blades Don't Sing (Tales of Ashkar Book One) Online

Authors: Kayl Karadjian

Tags: #fantasy, #magic, #swords and sorcery, #epic battles, #elemental, #epic adventure fantasy, #fantasy 2015 new release, #epic adventure fantasy series

Broken Blades Don't Sing (Tales of Ashkar Book One) (5 page)

BOOK: Broken Blades Don't Sing (Tales of Ashkar Book One)
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"Whatever happened to Jorne falls into your
hands”, explained Gorr. "His mission is now yours. Find a man named
Aramal, neutralize him, and retrieve his grimoire. He has somehow
found a way to utilize demonic magic."

Serraemas furrowed his brows.

The ability to manipulate demonic magic was
unheard of in Ashkar save for a few special cases. Dark
elementalists—those wielding the dark element that had ties to
demonic magic—were very rare. Other than that, one would have to be
either a witch or warlock, or have the direct influence of
demons.

Demons—malevolent creatures spawned in the
depths of Hell—were an even rarer find in Ashkar. Demons had no way
to step into this world by themselves, and thus required outside
help to traverse out of their realm.

Jorne had battled a very powerful foe, of that
Serraemas was certain.

"One more thing", added the Caretaker. He
procured another teamdisc from his seemingly limitless coat. This
one had two sigils—one blazed red, the other flashed a deep blue.
Their own disc. Both sigils were flashing, which meant, obviously,
that they still drew breath. Gorr waved his hand over the circular
object and a third sigil appeared. This one was as black as
night.

"The Master wishes that Erendil accompany you",
said Gorr, though his expression was still stuck in a frown. “He is
ready to experience Ashkar, and will also be of aid in your
quest.”

As if on cue, footsteps rang from behind the
Caretaker. A large, reptilian beast emerged from a hallway on the
other side of the room. It had dark green, scaly skin and stood
even taller than Raxxil, though not by much. It had lizard-like
features, but wore a short, black sash wrapped around its head that
covered its eyes. It wore brown leather armor under its black coat
that covered most of its body except for the arms and legs below
the knee, with a bow and quiver strung on its back.

“Hello”, said the newcomer softly as he strode
toward the two. Despite the sash covering his eyes, Erendil walked
with finesse and accuracy. Clearly not using conventional vision,
the towrth used a sense other than sight to navigate.

The Towrth, a species of bipedal creatures with
lizard-like features, typically exhibited savage and primitive
behavior. Some humans that had the misfortune of meeting a towrth
and living to tell the tale claimed that they were intelligent and
displayed sentient functions such as language. For Serraemas, this
was the first time that he had come across one that spoke the
maurtotz, the common tongue used by most humans. It was clear from
the very first word that it was Erendil's first, and perhaps only,
language.

Out of the corner of his eye, Serraemas saw
Raxxil shoot the towrth an incredulous look.

“So Master Sora's pet is ready to play, huh?”
mocked Raxxil as he walked up to the scaly figure. He looked at
Erendil from head-to-toe and back up again, as if to inspect or
otherwise ascertain the towrth’s worth. He then turned to Serraemas
and shrugged. “Whatever.” Raxxil whipped around and marched to the
tunnel from whence they came. Erendil did not move, confused at
what had just occurred.

“Let’s take a step outside”, Serraemas said
reassuringly over his shoulder to the towrth as he turned and
followed behind Raxxil.

---

He did not know light. He did not know dark. He
did not even know what a color was. For as long as he could
remember he could only sense the outlines and shapes of things,
aside from hearing, tasting, smelling, and feeling, of course. He
could see, but at the same time, couldn't see. At least not in the
way that others did; Erendil could sense the energy in his
surroundings, providing him a vision that he was told was a
blessing.

He wasn't so sure of that.

The three of them navigated through the
underground lair, steadily ascending upward. Raxxil led the charge,
occasionally looking back at Erendil and shaking his head before
carrying on, as if disapproved by Erendil's mere existence.

Have I done something wrong? Or is this just
one of her tests?

The other one—Serraemas—hadn't said a word since
they began walking together. If Raxxil expressed himself at nearly
every opportunity, Serraemas seemed just the opposite.

After what felt like half an hour the trio
reached their exit. A trap door was all that was left between them
and the world.

Dismissing his thoughts of the other two,
Erendil nearly quivered in anticipation. All he had ever known was
cold, damp rock. Sora had told him many wonderful tales of Ashkar,
and he would soon be able to experience it himself.

Raxxil muttered an incantation and the door flew
open. One-by-one they stepped out onto a grassy hill. First Raxxil,
then Serraemas, and finally Erendil. They now stood in a vast
plain, with what Erendil assumed were trees not too far away in
every direction.

His senses were immediately overwhelmed—soft
ground, a chill breeze, and the scorching hot sun on his skin.
There were also so many other unfamiliar sounds and smells that he
hadn’t even bothered to notice Raxxil scowling at him.

Erendil withdrew his bow, placed it on the
ground, and sat cross-legged. He plucked a flower from the ground
and studied it intently, twirling it between his thumb and index
finger. It was beautiful with three long petals, but Erendil could
not really describe it further, other than the fact that it felt
soft in his fingers and smelled rather nice.

"That's a Pota. It is a flower native to Terra
Sur, the continent we are on", said Serraemas. "The petals are
light blue, and the stem is green."

Light blue? Green? I wish I could see it.

"What the hell is this?" barked Raxxil, stomping
toward Erendil. The human stopped just short of crashing into the
towrth, and stared down at Erendil with disbelief in his eyes while
casting a shadow over him. "We don't have time to play with
flowers! Are you a girl? Serraemas, look at this shit."

Erendil sat still, unflinching at the larger
human’s odd gestures. If Raxxil had intended to intimidate him, it
hadn't worked. Erendil looked up at the aggressor, but otherwise
made no other motion. "Do you have a problem with me?"

Raxxil continued to stare at Erendil, but after
a brief moment, rolled his eyes and turned to Serraemas. "So we
have to find a guy, kill him, and take his book. Where do we
start?" The hothead looked up and placed his thumb and pointer
finger on his chin, thinking pensively.

Serraemas glanced to the west, seemingly
contemplating their next move. He opened his mouth to speak—

"Wait!" blurted Raxxil. "We have to take the
book first then kill him since I'll make a mess. Okay. Find him,
take the book, and then burn everything. Much, much better." He
wore a triumphant face proudly, as if he had just come up with a
brilliant plan.

Silence fell over the group, and the only
gestures Raxxil received were two blank faces—one out of
puzzlement, and the other what appeared to be apathetic disdain.
Erendil was genuinely confused at Raxxil's personality, but he felt
that Serraemas's reaction—or lack thereof—was far more curious. In
fact, it seemed Raxxil understood what the empty glare meant,
quieting down and looking at Serraemas expectantly.

Serraemas turned to Erendil as the latter stood
up. "We head to Port Vana. There, our ship awaits us." The quieter
human then faced Raxxil. "Makka is where we start." With that,
Serraemas walked to the west and down the hill.

Traveling by boat? This is truly magnificent!
I hope it is just like the stories.

Lost in thought, Erendil hadn't noticed the
fiery, hammer-wielding man creeping up on him. Raxxil gave him a
strong pat on the back, and Erendil nearly toppled over
himself.

"You're not afraid of a little water, are you?"
Raxxil said in a mocking tone.

---

Raxxil hurled over the side of the ship.

If there was one thing he feared, it was a lot
of water. Unfortunately, both the Vical and Gavarian Oceans, in
fact, were nearly infinite sources of water. Raxxil had been
slopped over the starboard side, hurling the contents of his
stomach for nearly an hour. It didn't seem like it was going to
stop anytime soon.

“SCORCH IT ALL!” rang a familiar voice inside
his head.

His elemental, Vrand, didn't fancy water either.
Vrand was a fire elemental, after all. Everyone had a bond with an
elemental, and elementalists were able to call out and fight
alongside them. Their weapons were physical manifestations of that
link.

"Shut up, you idiot", Raxxil shot back inside
his mind.

They had reached Port Vana fairly quickly. Their
ship, the
Taja
, as well as its crew, were waiting as always.
Their missions took them all over Ashkar, so a dependable means to
travel the seas was imperative. In this case, they needed to start
by traveling through the Vical Ocean around the bottom tip of Terra
Sur, reaching the Gavarian Ocean, and then traveling north to
Makka. Terra Sur was connected to Terra Nort to the north, which
was in turn connected to Makka even further north. Serraemas had
insisted that they hasten their pace, and Raxxil happily obliged.
If Jorne had been struck down by this Aramal, then Raxxil wanted a
piece of that.

He glanced for a moment at Serraemas and the
lizard-man, both of who were in the center of the deck conversing
about something inaudible; the crashing waves and howling wind shut
out just about everything.

So what is with that sash? What’s this guy’s
purpose?

Sora had first encountered the towrth when
Erendil was an infant, and had raised him ever since. The
lizard-man was an elementalist, that was for certain, but he still
had a long way to go until he caught up to either Raxxil or
Serraemas. Almost a century, in fact, if ever.

Raxxil felt another bolus about to be expelled,
and turned to face the vast body of water.

Still, there was something odd about Erendil
that he couldn't quite figure out. Something hidden.

---

Samantha sighed.

Something doesn't feel right.

The roads from Farrin Forest to Merchant's Keep
were usually quiet, except for the occasional group of brigands
hailing from the notorious city to the north. Merchant's Keep was
the center of trade and commerce in Makka, and there was no
shortage of bandits, thieves, and murderers wandering the roads
looking for trouble.

Several small villages and towns lay in between,
and she commanded a regiment that was tasked in ensuring their
safety. She had grown up in one of them, the village of Enorra. Her
father, a blacksmith, had shown her the ways of swordsmanship and
combat. After joining the Order of the Faith at the age of
fourteen, she had trained tirelessly, and eventually, achieved the
power of an elementalist.

Samantha had become a lieutenant, a feat she was
told was impressive given her age, and chose to command a squad of
eleven men near her home village—a decision that turned out to be
quite the bore. Still, she did not regret it. Though not common,
even quiet places and small villages could be the target of attack,
whether war or otherwise. As if that wasn’t enough, the tales of
dark and nightmarish things grew ever increasing by the
day—something that the Faith taught her not to take lightly.

An elderly man slowly approached her on
horseback. He was clad in silver armor, much like her own, and his
graying, cropped hair and beard accentuated the plate. He stopped
several feet away and saluted. She returned the gesture. The man
had unease written all over his face. "Scout's report that Nokle
Road is clear, ma’am."

"Anything else, Sergeant Graf?" she commanded,
easily reading the face of her second-in-command.

"Well, ma’am, rumors among the troops are
spreading of these so called 'Executioners' coming from the
southwest”, said Graf after a deep breath. “Black armor, ghoulish
blades, and glowing eyes. They say they are demons from Hell itself
set out to reap souls. Lord knows what else they could be
imagining. In my thirty years of service not once have I seen
anything like that, but my words offer no solace. Maybe you might
be able to ease them, ma’am."

Samantha paused for a moment, pondering the next
course of action. While the majority of her time stationed here had
been relatively quiet, the sergeant was a veteran and had witnessed
plenty. Whether he felt the same regarding the fabrications she did
not know, but the Order of the Faith had taught her well, and she
wasn’t about to look the other way. Ignorance and naivety could
prove a fatal mistake, especially in warfare. She had heard nations
around Ashkar were bolstering troops and guarding their lands more
closely. In fact, the Order of the Faith—predominantly residing on
the continent of Onturi within its home kingdom of Lenas to the
east—had done the same.

God, what is to come?

"Very well, rally the men to Bellis”, commanded
Samantha. “If these so-called
Executioners
are real, then we
will run them through!"

Chapter
4

BOOK: Broken Blades Don't Sing (Tales of Ashkar Book One)
8.54Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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