Terry Simpson - The Shadowbearer

Self-mastery, Stefan reminded himself out of habit. He eased his hand away from his sword. He had lost his children, now he was losing a chance for revenge. What other curses did the gods have in store? He turned and continued to watch the army.

The fetid stench of death mixed with sulfuric fumes rose up from the chasm. Howling winds whipped at Kahar’s cloak. Heat spilled across his face where he stood at the edge of the precipice. Not far from him, Nerian stared down into the black depths. Several feet behind the King stood High Shin Clarice.

The Great Divide certainly lived up to its name. It was a gaping rent in the earth, several thousand feet wide and gods only knew how deep, stretching north and south until it disappeared. Vines and massive roots grew from the side nearest them. Jagged stone jutted out here and there. The occasional bleached bones were the only color that broke up the monotony of darkness.

Today, Nerian wore a simple shirt and trousers. He had the sleeves rolled up to expose the intricate tattoos twining about his arms. His hand rested on a scabbard at his hip, in which was a massive greatsword. The weapon suited his eight-foot frame. Runes and glyphs covered the hilt.

“It is time,” a musical voice said from behind them.

The Svenzar from the Royal Palace stepped up beside them, its twenty-foot stoneform now reduced to about half its size. In the throne room, the creature had not attempted to stop Kahar from killing the children. However, it had blocked Nerian’s power from scouring everyone else in the room. An odd thing that. The Svenzar had also provided Nerian with the sword. Stranger still.

All this time, they had followed the Chronicles, believing the key they needed was the one Stefan now held. But this Svenzar, no, this Eztezian Guardian, the beings created by Kahar’s own brethren to defeat the gods, had shown them differently. According to the Svenzar, the sword was the one Nerian sought.

Kahar harbored no doubts the creature was right. The Eztezians themselves wrote the Chronicles. In his endeavors here in this realm, he never expected to garner help from one of the ancient Guardians without having to manipulate them as he had Nerian. To his surprise, the Svenzar had offered its help willingly. The assistance made Kahar wary.

After a deep breath, Nerian unsheathed the sword. He held the divya out before him where the sunlight glinted off its surface. Then he leaped off the precipice.

Kahar kept his gaze fixed on the King until the blackness devoured him. Moments, later there was a flash of light and a hollow boom. Essences spilled up from the hole in a thick bar, their power buffeting Kahar. They shot up into the air, turning the blue sky dark.

The essences were of the purest shade.

Below, Kahar noted movement like some disturbed nest of ants or bees.

Shadelings.

Thousands of them. Tens of thousands. Nerian had broken whatever seal had trapped them within the Great Divide.

A flash of shade and light shot up the chasm and landed several hundred feet from Kahar. Energy essences hummed as the mixture resolved into the King. He flicked his hand out and all along the edge of the chasm portals of Materialization opened. Wraithwolves and darkwriaths crawled up from the Great Divide’s lip and massed before them. Through the portals’ hazy surfaces, a battle between Erastonians and Stefan’s forces played out.

Another type of shadeling climbed up behind the others. This one stood on four spindly legs, slender body rippling with sinew. Claw-tipped appendages stuck out from its chest. Two small wings hummed on the creature’s back. Thick locks of a fleshy substance hung down past its shoulders. Many-faceted, lidless eyes and dripping mandibles squirmed in a face contorted by masses of black folds. By the hundreds, the daemons spread among their lesser counterparts. They stretched, shade bubbling up around them as they practiced the Forgings to take a human’s soul.

The Svenzar grunted and his form began to dissolve into the earth. “And so begins the reign of Nerian the Shadowbearer.”