The Soulblade's Tale

  THE SOULBLADE'S TALE

  Jonathan Moeller

  Description

  Nicodemus is a Swordbearer, sworn to use the enchanted soulblade Heartwarden to defend the realm of Andomhaim from all forms of dark magic.

  With Heartwarden's magic, Nicodemus must confront an orcish warlock, a creature of fell power and cunning.

  But Nicodemus will learn that treachery is more dangerous than any dark magic...

  The Soulblade's Tale (Tales of the Frostborn short story)

  Copyright 2013 by Jonathan Moeller.

  Published by Azure Flame Media, LLC.

  Cover image copyright Andreicu88 | Dreamstime.com & Nejron | Dreamstime.com.

  Ebook edition published September 2013.

  All Rights Reserved.

  This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination, or, if real, used fictitiously. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the express written permission of the author or publisher, except where permitted by law.

  The Soulblade's Tale

  The 25th of June in the Year of Our Lord 1031, five hundred years after the first High King led his people to the new world through the portal from Old Earth, was the most important day of Nicodemus's life.

  But he stopped to see Julia first.

  She lay on her bed in the tower room of Castra Taliand, her face gaunt, her closed eyes sunken. She looked worse, much worse, than the last time he had seen her. Yet her chest still rose and fell, and from time to time her eyes twitched beneath their lids.

  Her father stood over the bed, gazing down at her.

  The Magistrius Alexius looked up as Nicodemus approached. He resembled Julia, with the same hooked nose, blue eyes, and thick black hair. Silver marked the black hair, the blue eyes tight with grief and strain.

  “Magistrius,” said Nicodemus.

  The older man managed a brief smile. “Nicodemus. It is good of you to come. Especially today, of all days.

  They gripped each other's forearms.

  “How is she?” said Nicodemus.

  Alexius sighed. “Unchanged. Perhaps a little worse. The illness has no cure. Even my best efforts will only keep the disease at bay for another few weeks.”

  “That she has lived this long is a testament to your skill,” said Nicodemus.

  Alexius sighed. “Dux Arban told me the same.” His smile held a bitter edge. “That in all the High King’s realm of Andomhaim, no one has my skill with healing magic. Perhaps that is true. But little good it has done me.”

  They stood in silence for a moment.

  “I was going to ask for her hand,” admitted Nicodemus. “After I completed my Trial.”

  Alexius smiled. “I know. And I would have granted it. Once you passed your Trial, of course,” He sighed and touched Julia's forehead. “And perhaps you may yet get the chance. Sometimes God can be merciful.”

  “Of course,” said Nicodemus, though he didn't believe it.

  “Come,” said Alexius, urging him towards the door. “It is almost time. Let us see what Dux Arban has in mind for your Trial.”

  ###

  On Old Earth, the histories claimed, nobles defended their lands with sword and spear.

  But in the High King’s realm of Andomhaim, men relied upon the twin Orders of the Magistri and the Swordbearers to defend them from the orcs and the dark elves and worse things. The Swordbearers wielded soulblades, charged with potent magic, while the Magistri unleash the raw power of magic. Commoners could become both Magistri and Swordbearers, and such a commoner could join a noble house.

  Assuming, of course, that he survived the Trial.

  Nicodemus waited in the great hall of Castra Taliand and watched as Dux Arban made his way to his chair. Arban always wore armor, even when holding court. He had fought in the front lines of the long and bitter war against the terrible urdmordar, and the orcish vassals of the urdmordar still lurked in the woods, preying upon the unwary.

  “My lord Dux,” said Alexius, “I am pleased to sponsor Nicodemus, a Knight of the Soulblade, to join your noble house. He wields the soulblade Heartwarden, and would make a worthy son of your house.”

  “Approach, Nicodemus,” said Arban, his voice deep and commanding. Nicodemus bowed and approached his lord’s chair. “I have heard great things about your valor in combat, and our realm has sore need of men like you.”

  “Thank you, my lord,” said Nicodemus.

  “Do you wish adoption into the house of Arban?”

  “I do,” said Nicodemus.

  Dux Arban nodded. “This shall be your Trial. Recently, I have received reports of attacks on the road from Castra Taliand to the High King’s seat in Tarlion. Orcs have abducted travelers from the road and taken them into the mountains, towards the ancient ruin of the Hanging Tower.”

  Alexius frowned. “We drove the orcs from the hills years ago, before the fall of Sithris Ungoth.”

  "Nevertheless," said Arban. "The travelers have disappeared, orcs have been sighted, and I believe an orcish warlock lurks within the Hanging Tower. This, then, is your Trial, Nicodemus. You will investigate the Hanging Tower, and if the orc warlock is there, you will destroy him."

  Nicodemus bowed. "As you say, my lord."

  "This is too dangerous," said Alexius, frowning. "If a warlock has hidden himself in the Hanging Tower, he will be a cunning creature. Too powerful for one man, even for a Swordbearer, to overcome alone."

  Nicodemus frowned. "I have slain orcish warlocks in battle before, Magistrius." Not that he had any wish to repeat the experience.

  Alexius shook his head. "No one doubts your courage and skill, Nicodemus. Yet when you fought warlocks in the past, you had the help of other Swordbearers, even Magistri. I myself would not wish to fight alone against an orcish warlock."

  "But you have, Magistrius," said Arban. "So have many Swordbearers. And if a man wishes adoption into my house, than he must have the courage to face an orcish warlock in battle." He looked at Nicodemus. "You need not take the Trial. You may remain in my service as an honored Swordbearer. But if you wish to join my house, then you must go to the Hanging Tower."

  "And so I shall," said Nicodemus, bowing again.

  Alexius sighed, and stepped forward to grip Nicodemus's shoulder. "Then I will wish you good fortune, and pray that God and the Dominus Christus watch over you. I am going to lose my daughter. I have no wish to lose the man who would have been my son."

  "You said yourself," said Nicodemus, "that sometimes God can be merciful."

  He bowed once more to the Magistrius and the Dux and left.

  ###

  Nicodemus paused only long enough to equip himself.

  For armor he chose a hauberk of chain mail, light enough to allow movement and heavy enough to offer some protection, along with a helmet, leather gauntlets, and heavy boots fitted with steel plates. His dagger he sheathed in his belt. From the citadel's stables he took a sturdy pack horse, filling its saddlebags with supplies.

  His soulblade Heartwarden went into its scabbard at his belt, and he felt the warmth of the sword’s magic beneath his touch.

  Nicodemus hesitated and looked up at the citadel's high tower. He had said his goodbyes to Julia already, when she had first fallen ill. He could best honor her memory by completing his Trial, by defeating the orcish warlock in her name.

  Nicodemus left by Castra Taliand’s fortified gate, taking the road north.

  ###

  No other travelers passed him on the road. Dux Arban’s lands had been devastated during the war wi
th the urdmordar, and petty orcish tribes still infested the land. Very few settlers dared come this far north, and those that did preferred to live within sight of Castra Taliand’s fortified walls.

  After a day's journey he came to a fortified keep on the banks of the River Moradel. Here the realm of Andomhaim ended, and beyond lay the ruined land blighted by orcs and worse things.

  But the ancient road did not end. It veered to the west, towards the mountains, and Nicodemus followed it, one hand leading his horse, the other resting on Heartwarden’s hilt. The road lead into the foothills, through the silent woods, and Nicodemus felt eyes upon him, though he never saw any movement among the trees.

  The trees thinned on the rocky slopes, and Nicodemus saw the Hanging Tower.

  It perched on the edge of a precipice, seeming to hang in midair, four hundred feet of gleaming white stone rising against the mountains' dark bulk. The dark elves had built it long ago, and after the urdmordar had destroyed them, the orcs had occupied the Tower. Then the urdmordar had been vanquished, and the orcs driven away.

  Or so Nicodemus had thought.

  In the tumbled ruins surrounding the Tower, Nicodemus saw yellowed human skulls and spines atop wooden stakes.

  Orc totems.

  He drew Heartwarden, tied his horse to a tree, and strode past the grisly totems, into the tumbled ruins surrounding the Tower's base. More of the grim totems sat perched atop crumbling walls or weathered stakes, the empty eyes of the skulls staring at him.

  Then something moved, and a figure stepped out from behind a wall.

  It was an orcish warrior, clad in black plate armor, his skin the color of forest leaves. Yellow tusks rose from his jutting jaw, and his black eyes glimmered with the red haze of orcish battle fury. A heavy axe waited in his right hand, the steel blade gleaming

  "Welcome," said the warrior in accented Latin. "Another student of the master, I suppose, come to learn at his feet?"

  “No,” said Nicodemus, lifting Heartwarden and drawing upon the sword’s power.

  The orc grinned. “Come, now. No humans ever come to the Hanging Tower, at least not of their own volition. Why else would you have come here, if you are not a servant of the master?” The orc stared at him for a moment, and then nodded. “Ah, I see. You wish to learn from the master, yes? You wish to enter his service? Not surprising. Many humans wish to enter the master’s service.”

  “I have no wish,” said Nicodemus, “to swear myself to the service of an orcish warlock, or to learn a single word of his filthy blood spells.”

  The orcish warrior laughed.

  "Is that what you think is happening?" said the Orc. "Blind fool. You walk upon a path you do not see, and follow commands spoken by another. "

  Nicodemus shifted his sword to his right hand. "I think I understand what is happening here."

  "Oh?" said the orc. "Do you?"

  "You're talking to distract me," said Nicodemus. "There are archers moving into position behind you. Two or three of them, I think, atop that ruined wall. You'll keep speaking in riddles and nonsense until they're in position, and then they will shoot me dead. Is that it?"

  The orc said nothing, his red-glazed eyes narrowing.

  Nicodemus beckoned with his sword. "Well?"

  "Clever, mortal," said the orc. "But not quite clever enough."

  The orc raised his axe. And three additional orcs appeared atop the ruined stone wall, bows in their hands.

  The tips of the arrows dripped with yellow poison.

  But Nicodemus was ready for them. His sword’s magic strengthened him, making him stronger and faster. He sped forward, dodging the first volley of arrows, and lashed out with his blade, the soulblade’s magic lending his muscles speed and strength, and scored a hit on the warrior’s shoulder. The warrior lunged at him, bringing the axe down with both hands, and Nicodemus barely parried, even with Heartwarden’s power strengthening his arms. He backed away, blade extended, while the orc prowled forward, still snarling.

  Behind him the orcs on the wall took aim with fresh arrows.

  Nicodemus drew more magic into himself from the sword, as much as he could bear. He surged forward, dodging the warrior’s axe blow, and threw himself into the stone wall with all his enhanced strength. The crumbling wall collapsed with a roar, the archers disappearing in clouds of billowing dust. The warrior with the axe spun in alarm, and that was the opening Nicodemus needed.

  Heartwarden ripped across the orc’s chest, and the warrior fell with a shriek. Nicodemus sprang forward as the archers struggled to their feet, blinking in the cloud of dust.

  He made short work of them.

  Turning, he saw the warrior crawling towards his axe, green blood leaking from his wounds. He looked up as Nicodemus approached, yellow tusks snarling.

  "Fool," he rasped. "The master will torment you until you beg your crucified god for death..."

  "Perhaps," said Nicodemus, "but you will not live to see it."

  His sword came down, more green blood spilling into the dirt.

  Afterwards Nicodemus released Heartwarden’s magic and cleaned the sword on the grass, his head ringing from the effort of using the sword’s power. He stooped over the slain archers and took a vial of the yellow poison. Orcish poison could kill anything, and if the warlock proved too powerful, Nicodemus might have to use it.

  He took a few moments to catch his breath, keeping a wary eye on the rest of the ruins. No other orcs appeared to challenge him. Orcish warlocks often compelled obedience from lesser Orcs, but perhaps the warlock had servants left to throw at Nicodemus.

  Nevertheless, overconfidence was the epitaph of fools.

  Nicodemus took a deep breath, adjusted his grip on Heartwarden, and kept going. Soon he stood at the front steps of the Tower, the cliff yawning away to his right.

  A perfect place for an ambush, but neither orc nor man appeared. Nicodemus ascended the steps, keeping a careful eye on the windows, and entered the Hanging Tower's great hall.

  The chamber was magnificent, built with all the craft and skill of the dark elves. The high, narrow windows must have once held stained glass, but now had a splendid view of the chasm and the mountains beyond. The stonework had been carved with intricate reliefs of strange and alien beauty.

  But Nicodemus had not come here to admire the architecture.

  The bones lying scattered across the floor reminded him of that.

  He drew upon his sword’s magic. Heartwarden granted its bearer many powers, and among them was the ability to sense the presence of dark magic. His mind reached out, seeking, searching.

  It found power at once.

  Dark power, cold and corrupted, reeking of necromancy and blood spells. The sort of power an orcish warlock would employ.

  And even stronger power coming from the top of the Tower. A thing of dark power and corrupted magic, the merest sense of its presence made Nicodemus's skin crawl. And yet...it did not seem so dark, so twisted, as the orcish sorcery...

  Enough. The warlock almost certainly waited above.

  Nicodemus took the steps to the Tower's next level, senses both physical and magical strained to their utmost. So he smelled the foulness in the air, the stench of rotting meat, a reek that grew stronger with every step.

  He reached the second level, and the source of the stench became apparent.

  At least thirty dead bodies lay strewn on the marble floor, men, women, and children alike. The missing travelers from the road, no doubt. All of them had been dead for some time, and the vile smell filled the air.

  The warlock stood in their midst, watching Nicodemus.

  It was smaller, less muscular, than the other orcs, and wore only ragged furs and greasy black leather, his arms and face and chest covered with intricate tattoos. Smaller the orc might have been, but the warlock's sorcerous power could kill a dozen armed men in a few heartbeats.

  "So," said the warlock, his deep voice carrying an odd buzz. "One has come at last. Come to repay me for my dep
redations, to avenge these poor slaughtered little lambs."

  "Then you do not deny it?" said Nicodemus.

  "Such hypocrisy, human," said the warlock. "You mourn for their deaths, yet you come for my head? Do you come to avenge them, or for your own glory?"

  "My own glory," said Nicodemus, stepping over a dead man. "But after seeing these children...I would slay you, even if I received no reward for it. Even if I would suffer for it."

  "How noble," sneered the warlock. "But perhaps the slain do not need to be avenged. Perhaps they enjoy the service of their new master, and will rise to defend him."

  "I think not," said Nicodemus, advancing another step.

  "I think so," said the warlock, and flung out his hands. "Arise! Arise, in the name of your master! Arise and slay!"

  Green fire snarled and snapped around the warlock's fingers.

  Nicodemus felt a surge of corrupted power wash over him, through him.

  And all around him, the corpses stirred.

  A dead man reached for his boot, and Nicodemus jumped back, the warlock laughing at him. The corpses rose to their feet, their movements jerky, as if invisible strings pulled and tugged at their limbs. Green flames burned in their dead eyes, and they staggered forward, reaching for Nicodemus with hands blackened by rot.

  He exploded into motion, Heartwarden’s power fueling his thrusts and swings. The first hand to reach for him fell twitching to the floor, followed soon by its owner's head. More of the walking dead reached for him, and Nicodemus’s sword blurred as he hacked a path through the corpses, trying to reach the warlock.

  But more of the dead came for him.

  And the corpses he had cut apart began to reassemble themselves. Arms crawled back to their sockets and reattached themselves. Headless torsos reached down to retrieve their heads. Nicodemus cut down four more of the animated dead, but soon all the corpses he had hacked apart regained their feet.

  He backed away, heart racing with just a touch of fear. He had slain dark elves and orcs in battle, had even helped the Magistri overcome an urdmordar.