The Lost Runes Saga [Epic Fantasy]

TWENTY-NINE

Vidar emerged into a rectangular room with a low ceiling of wooden planks, stone walls with packed dirt showing up in patches, and no windows. The dank smell confirmed it. He was still underground. Barrels filled the corner to his right, but upon closer inspection, they were empty. A swift kick to one barrel saw it fall to pieces, the wood brittle and old. On the other side of the room, what might once have been a shelf lay broken in pieces on the floor. A thick book among the rubble caught his attention, but it fell apart in his hands as he picked it off the floor.

With little else to interest him in that room that time forgot, he moved to the door, an old wooden one in poor condition with no keyhole for a lock, and attempted to open it. It resisted his weight no matter how much he pushed, despite the wood coming apart. Once he kicked it a few times, he saw the reason. The space beyond was just more packed dirt, not another room, or more likely, it'd been a room but was now caved in. Vidar reached up above him, unable to touch the ceiling, wondering how much dirt separated him from the air above. Going back was not an option, so forward it was.

He pulled a few more pieces of wood from the door to reach through before embedding a stakra rune into the packed earth. Dirt spewed across him and into the room with a thump when he triggered the rune, but no signs of sunlight shone through despite quite a lot of earth having come loose. Vidar made a second attempt, but it gave the same result. However much dirt filled the other room, the weight was more than a stakra rune could push away even with dragon's essence filling it.

That left sowilo. Another explosion. His thirst was making it difficult to hold on to his thoughts, and they slipped away like too hot wax for a seal running in every direction and ruining the paper.

Vidar withdrew another sowilo rune from his dwindling supply. His first thrust missed. For the second, he steadied his hand, gripping his wrist before aiming. He triggered the stakra rune. This time, it hit. Dirt spattered all over the floor, following the deafening boom. Wood from the door was scattered into smoldering piles and the stone door frame trembled.

Vidar stepped over the clutter and mounds of earth, hurrying to the exit. When Vidar peeked into the room beyond, after rendering the kenaz rune on his forehead inactive, he saw a thin strand of light shining through a hole in the dirt. It was about the height of his wrist. Far too narrow for him to squeeze through. It took him another few tries, using his last few sowilo runes, until he'd widened the hole enough for him to push and worm himself through the obstacle. Praying to the fallen angels, he hoped the whole thing wouldn't collapse on top of him.

When he emerged into the open air, he stood on trembling knees and laughed, lifting his arms to the sides and hollering, "I'm out!"

It was dark. The light he had seen was nothing more than the slight difference between the overcast sky outside and the compact darkness within the stone chambers. Vidar had guessed he was past the wall around Halmstadt, but he thought he would have emerged somewhere right outside. Not so. Trees stretched in all directions, blocking his line of sight. He found himself in a forest. Halmstadt had to be close, so this was the forest visible from its walls, he figured. The kenaz rune in his forehead was almost out of essence, so he rejuvenated it but didn't bother triggering it again. He saw well enough with the dim light from above and the snow covering the ground. Also, his dragon's essence was running low again, having used quite a bit for the sowilo runes. His body was too exhausted to even consider using its natural essence.

Around him, scattered stone buildings were toppled over or in ruin, with low walls protruding from the snow here and there. Bushes and trees grew in and through the old, broken-down buildings. Nearby, a large circular plaza drew his attention. Snow did not cover it. Another stone gate, the exit of his long tunnel, Vidar figured, warmed by sowilo runes to keep the snow away.

"What is this place?" he muttered to himself, looking around.

A lot of sounds filled the night. Sounds he didn't recognize. Chirping, croaking, and some strange screeching far in the distance, even the buzzing of insects, despite the last gasp of cold still holding on with an ever weakening grip.

He was about to reach down and grab a handful of snow to put in his mouth, anything to get some water, when he heard the twinkling, silvery sound of a running stream. Vidar pulled his coat tighter, triggered the small, hidden-away warmth runes he always kept hidden in his clothes, and made his way in the sound's direction. He took long strides, trying to keep the snow from entering his boots.

There. A thin stream trickled down a gentle slope made treacherous by the uneven snow. Even now, at night, it was no longer oppressively cold. Soon, the long nights would end. He had never looked forward to spring so much before in his life.

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Vidar cupped his hands and brought them into the stream, ignoring the biting cold in his fingers. He brought the water to his mouth and gulped with abandon, not caring how much ran down his cheek and throat. It was the best water he had ever tasted. Once he had his fill and replenished the waterskin, he straightened and looked around. This wasn't just his first time in a forest. This was the first time he had ever been outside Halmstadt at all.

His father only did business inside the city, buying supplies from caravans crossing Sveland from Stalheim, from traders on ships coming from the Dennerland, or from further south down on the continent. The lack of buildings and people didn't sit quite right with him, and the open spaces made his chest itch.

The next question, then, was in which direction to walk. No more than a few hours could've passed, so Halmstadt couldn't be too far away. That helped little when all he saw in every direction was trees. He stood, unsure, until a new sound reached him.

A snarl sounded from somewhere off to Vidar's right. It was coming from farther in among the trees and bushes. His head snapped in that direction, and he held his breath, waiting, trying to spot movement between the trunks. He saw nothing. The sound returned a moment later. Closer. It sounded almost excited, and others joined it. Whatever was out there, it wasn't alone.

He thought of Erik's warning about monsters and the many refugees from surrounding villages huddling inside the walls for protection, and set off away from whatever approached, throwing glances over his shoulder again and again, until he had to stop or risk falling on the treacherous ground hidden beneath the snow.

The sounds multiplied, barking, too human laughs coming more from his left and right than behind. They were trying to surround him. Vidar wouldn't let them.

Snow flew in all directions with each stride, and his breath misted in the air. Running was difficult, but the sounds of the creatures hunting him kept him moving through the forest. Soon enough, the trees began thinning out, allowing him to see farther in every direction. When he peeked over his shoulder again, he saw movement. His pursuers were of a size with large dogs, but they were still too far to make out any distinguishing features, even if he saw how they traversed the snow-covered underbrush with ease. Their eyes shone with reflected light when the overcast sky broke for a moment, allowing the moon to peek through. So many sets of eyes. They'd catch up in no time.

A few wooden buildings appeared at the edge of the forest. Beyond them, fields, a scattering of small villages, and then Halmstadt far in the distance, its many lights beckoning him home. It was too far. His legs would not carry him over such a distance in the snow and those things hunting him would tear him to pieces before he even made it a quarter of the way there. With no other option available, Vidar turned in toward the buildings.

It looked like a sawmill workshop, a one-story wooden house painted brown to live in, and a few smaller outhouses. Small, perhaps for a single family. It was dark inside the houses. Too dark for any to be home. Even at night, some candles or dim kenaz runes would've been active with everything going on. Empty. Had to be empty.

Sudden movement at the corner of his eye made Vidar stop and stumble back as something rushed past, leaping through the air, jaw snapping. He gave a shout of fright. Only then did he remember to trigger the kenaz rune in his forehead.

The thing was indeed the size of a dog, except its head was far too big and shaped like a frog's, with bulbous eyes pointing to the sides. It growled with its mouth open as it backed away, showing two rows of sharp-looking teeth. Vidar spun and recoiled, seeing it was a pack of the things following him, stalking between the stumps of cut-down trees. They had neither tails nor ears, and from the look of it, no skin either. Their powerful, exposed muscles shone with some sort of mucus covering them, and the rank smell wafting off them made Vidar think of spoiled meat left out in the sun.

"Back off!" he shouted, backing away until he saw them circling, attempting to cut him off from the sanctuary of the buildings.

While he didn't want to harm humans if he could help it, he had no such qualms about these things. Another approached, its head tilted to the side, its heaving breath making it look like the damned thing was having fun.

"I'll give you something to laugh about," Vidar muttered, centering his hand over the thing's bulk before triggering the stakra rune.

The force tore into the beast and broke it. Vidar heard an awful crack as a bone splintered and the translucent goop on its body sloughed off. The monster fell back into the snow, whimpering and whining. It didn't stop moving, but it couldn't get back up.

Now, more of the things approached, snarling. Vidar staggered forward, keeping some distance between himself and the downed monster as it snapped its jaws after him, trying, and failing, to reach its prey. He rejuvenated the stakra runes at his palm and elbow, readying himself for another attack. Pain surged up and down his forearm from the repeated use of stakra runes crushing it a little more each time, but it would hold up a little longer. It had to. The building was so close.

The back of Vidar's right leg shimmered with a translucent bluish tint as an algiz rune on his calf threw up a barrier. One of the beasts had charged him, but the barrier negated the attack, confusing the thing. The same happened again and again, with the horrific creatures hurtling themselves at him. None of them were clever enough to attempt a different tactic, but without the barrier runes, he'd be long gone.

Using the stakra rune, he tore a path for himself, heading to the nearest building. The house. Whatever apprehension, or playfulness, these things had disappeared the moment he injured one of their own, and Vidar barely made it to the door of the building. Unlocked. He threw himself inside and kicked at the head of the closest monster, pushing it away so he could close the door behind him. A hasp was the only way of locking the damn thing, but it was better than nothing.

Vidar breathed a sigh of relief, sinking to the floor, back against the door as the monsters outside screeched, sounding far too human. It was only a matter of time before they would tear down the door and make it inside.