VI: The Crone of the Swamp (2/2)
"Saska, can you distract this thing for moment?" Raviel asked, trying to ignore the protests of his joints as he was slowly pulled to two opposite directions. "The summons I harbor are not meant to destroy life, but...I learned also other magic after my brother was banished."
Damn it all! He couldn't just leave Raviel to die to protect himself.
He took one throwing knife to each hand. As ranged weapons they would not do much against the thick bark. Hopefully the spells crafted on his body would have some kind of hidden protection he'd never had to test before. As ridiculous as the thought was, just maybe there was some fragment of the Viscount's power remaining in him even after being given away. If not, at the very least they'd die together. He wouldn't have to face the loss of anyone important again.
There was a sound like a primal cry of pain, resonating deep from the earth, as the boy nimbly dodged through the branches reaching out for him and plunged both his blades as deep as they would go into the tree's trunk. Then he pulled them out and struck again.
Attacking the branches would be useless. The heart of the treant was somewhere in the trunk. But although his magical knives reached deep, would they reach deep enough? He knew the branches were already forming a cage behind his back, intent on crushing him against the trunk, but there was no going back now.
With the treant distracted by Saska's assault, Raviel felt the pull of the branches stop momentarily. He'd need to end this with one blow. The creature might have enjoyed slowly killing its victims, but no doubt it would finish him quickly if sensing actual danger.
He felt the tree's shudder resonate through his own body. Saska must have hit something sensitive. This was his chance.
He grasped the branch holding his arm with his free hand. No matter how twisted, it was still a tree. A living being. He could follow its veins into its very core. And there...
A sudden blast of broken pieces of wood right in front of his face threw Saska against the branches at his back. He closed his eyes. This was it. The end.
Huh? The branches weren't moving at all.
"Are you unharmed?" Raviel asked, dropping down after freeing himself from the branches that had been holding him captive. The other treants had retreated as far as they could, rooted to the spot as they were.
Saska looked at the elf in stunned surprised. "Y-yeah. Just a little bruised."
Raviel quickly cut enough of the wood to free the boy. There were little scrapes on his face, but otherwise he didn't look any worse for the wear. "That's good. I owe my life to your bravery."
"Oh." Saska looked away. "That was nothing. Just supposed to protect my master."
Raviel smiled. "I don't think that's all, but if you say so. Still, thank you." Then he turned to the will o'wisp now darting back when the coast was clear. "As for you...what are you after?"
Sasha's color gained a slightly different, purplish hue, and he trembled on place.
"Sasha, are you...angry?" Saska asked.
"You lied about the ground being safe. You didn't mention these trees are predators. Did you want us to die?"
Saska couldn't believe it. His brother had been with him all his life, had protected him. "That's not true, right?"
Raviel cast a brief look at the boy. "Or was it...that you wanted –me- to die?"
"Sasha, please say something!"
The soft light spread from the tightly condensed ball into a humanoid shape. A child, perhaps what Saska had looked like ten years ago. "I did want him dead. Like I wanted dead everybody who got too close to you!" The words floated in the air, like spoken by non-existent wind. Sasha laughed, innocent like a little child. "And dead they were soon after!"
"What?! You didn't..."
"Yes, I killed them. The rest I didn't need to, since they drove you out. Just you and me, nobody to get in the way."
"But...why?"
"Why?" The willowy apparition floated close enough to touch his cheek. "Because you're the reason why I died. Why mother died. Why should you have any other family than me when I don't?" His expression twisted into one of hatred. "I hate you for everything you took from me."
Just as quickly he smiled, the anger forgotten. "But I love you too. You're my only brother. My only family. I refuse to give you up to anyone."
Saska was trembling. His curse, all those people dying near him, had all been because of his brother's grudge. "How could you?! I hate you!"
"No, no. You're just confused." Sasha darted around his living brother once. "I just got the greatest idea. If I can't get rid of this elf, I'll just take you with me. Then we'll only have each other for all eternity."
"What..?" Something was pulling at him upwards, yet his feet felt like they weighed a ton.
"You'll love it. Just you and me, playing here forever!"
Raviel caught the boy as he fell limply to the ground. Instead of one apparition of a little child, there were now two.
"Let's go, Saska," Sasha giggled as he took his brother's hand.
"No! Let me go!"
"Let him go right now," Raviel warned. "Even if you're already dead, I can kill you again."
"I don't think so. You'll hurt him too if you attack me." Sasha wrapped his arms around Saska's spirit form. "We'll be happy and you can't do a single, little thing about it. Oh, I don't need that flesh anymore. You can keep it. Maybe the crone would accept it as a payment for the information about –your- brother – she likes children's flesh, you know."
The two apparitions turned back into will o'wisps. "See you! Wait, that's wrong. I hope never to see you again!"
Saska struggled, but couldn't stop his brother from dragging him away. "Raviel! Help me!"
Just how did this happen? Saska's body was still warm. His heart was beating faintly and his breathing was shallow, like he were only in deep sleep. His soul just wasn't...there anymore.
The pendulum was pulsating with faint light and pointing past the small grove of treants. They were close.
Raviel hoisted Saska's body on one shoulder. Somehow he'd find the crone and ask her – not about his brother – but how to get Saska's soul back.
~*~*~
From the grove onward the path was actually quite easy. Large, flat stones formed a safe road of sorts to where the pendulum was pointing, all the way to a large, hollowed-out rock.
"Don't be shy, come in!" a raspy voice called from inside. "I've been watching your progress for a while now."
Raviel pushed the curtain blocking the doorway aside and did as he was told.
The crone was certainly worth her name, an old, wrinkly woman with a large nose and warts all over her face. She smelled of earth and swamp water, and Raviel was willing to bet she was not a human.
"I already prepared a marinade for that sweet little child. Be a dear and put him in that big bowl over there and we can take a look at the fortune of the man you seek," she crooned.
"That is not what I'm after anymore," Raviel said sternly. "What I want to know is how to get this child's soul back."
"Oh ho? Then what will you offer as a payment?"
"I have money-"
"I have no need for money."
"Then..."
She threw a handful of small bones on the low table she was sitting next to and studied them for a moment. "You have no way to pay my fee for such information, young traveler." She licked her lips as she looked at Saska again. "Are you sure you don't want to leave the child here? He looks very tasty."
"I am. If you can't tell me how to save him, I will find someone who can."
She gathered the bones and threw them again. "Hmm-m, that may cost you a lot more than you think."
Raviel frowned. "Tell me what you mean."
"No!" She pointed one finger at him. "This future is only mine to know, and I will not part with it for any meager price."
Seriously. He did start having doubts if she was very sane to begin with. "Very well. I will take that risk."
"Be on your way then." She grabbed a small clay jar and shook it roughly. A small light popped out. "As a reward for finding my home I will help you out of the swamp safely. This little child will guide you."
That was surprising. "Thank you."
Once the elf was gone, the crone threw the bones of the table one more time. "Oooh, the fate is a cruel mistress," she hummed. "Whose lives will she claim in exchange for this one? You'll see, traveler, that nothing comes without a price in this dark, dark world."
Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: Truyen247.Pro