The HaRT Knight Decaverse

Heir of Magic

Chapter 12

The Visitor

The icy darkness was all around Alexander again. He couldn’t help but shiver at the sense that he had experienced this before, that he had been here before. From somewhere in the darkness a wolf howled. That means something, he thought. It means I’m close. But close to what?
“Alexander,” a voice said. It did not ring out from the darkness like the wolf’s howl, but echoed in his mind. “You must find them. You must come to me, and I will give them to you.”
Alexander wanted to scream. There was something very wrong with that voice. It made him feel sick. It bounced around in his head so much he thought the pressure would kill him.
“You will need us soon,” said a new voice that approached out of the darkness. The white wolf, fangs bared, stood staring at him.
“Quickly! They approach,” said a third voice. The shadows still hid this one’s owner from sight.
“Who are you? What are you talking about?” Alexander screamed.
“They are balance. The ghost of order and the shadow of chaos,” the voice in his head answered.
Alexander fell to his knees and retched. He shivered, but not from the cold. It was like something evil had just touched his soul. “What is this? What is going on?”
“There is no time for questions!” said a large black wolf as it leaped from out the shadows with fangs ready to rip.

Alexander jerked awake and waves of excruciating pain shot through his body. He opened his eyes and exhaled and uneven breath as he struggled not to panic. Four of his ribs were broken and protruding from his abdomen, his left hand looked crushed, and blood drenched his entire body. If the light-headed feeling was any indication, the blood was his. In too much pain to think straight, Alexander reclined his head to rest against whatever he had his back to. The dawn sky was bleeding fiery falling stones, like falling stars headed in all directions. The falling stones were coming from a crumbling sickle moon in the sky right above the rising sun. Moondrake has fallen, he thought with regret. He never enjoyed his stay there, but it had been a magnificent city that deserved better. But Cain’s Cloaked General had already killed her and noting could heal her again. But there was something that could heal him.
With the hand that was not crushed—but still had three broken fingers—Alexander took out the thin metal box in the chest pocket of his phoenix cloak. He struggled a little to open the box and take out a vial of the phoenix tears. He dripped two drops in his mouth and shuddered at the salty taste. A warm tingling sensation covered his tongue where the drops had landed and spread through his body. As the warm sensation passed over his injuries, it intensified and grew hotter until it was even more painful than broken bones. It felt like molten led had replaced his blood, and a scorching hot iron was being held against his skin.
In agony, Alexander let out one scream. He breathed fast, sending embers from his mouth. His bones snapped back into place, his skin seared itself shut and the fire of the phoenix restored the ruptured organs and lost blood. After what felt like an eternity of agony, the pain subsided.
Suddenly, Alexander felt tired and weak. With a sigh, he pushed himself upright to assess the situation. He was standing in a small crater between the splintered remains of the fallen boat. The thing he had been lying against was a piece of wood that had lodged itself vertically into the ground. His swords stuck out from a pile of debris not too far from where he had landed. There was no sign of Dante; however, he found Claus. Or, at least, most of him. The blast of green fire from the cloaked man had reduced the Grand Admiral of Moondrake to a burned and crushed mess. Not even phoenix tears could help him anymore.
With a sad heart, Alexander set about digging a grave for his fallen teacher. He did the job in stoic silence. Death was not a new experience for him and the Shepherd King was an old companion by now. Since losing his mother, he had lost many friends at sea and in battles. But Claus was different. He was the first person to swear his fealty to Alexander.
He would have been invaluable in the war on Cain. Alexander thought when he lowered the crushed remains of his friend into the grave.
After he filled the grave and padded the dirt down, he placed Claus’ spear on it as a marker and said, “I’ll stop him. I’ll make him pay. For you, for everyone he has harmed. I will kill him.” Alexander got to his feet and started his climb out of the crater only looking back once he reached the top. “Goodbye, Grand Admiral Claus, leader of my armies.”
Alexander turned from the grave and crater and for the first time, took in his surroundings. Endless waves of golden sand in all directions with no signs of life anywhere. He had landed right in the middle of the Sand Region of Primoris, the westernmost part of the continent.
Now what? He thought with a hint of irritation. The Sand Region held almost no settlements. For a few moments, he stood still, staring out at the vast unknown, trying to figure out where he would go from here. Every direction looked the same. Miles of sand and nothing else. He stared up at the sky, toward the fiery falling moon. Not wishing to travel in the direction of the falling rocks, he turned his back on the remnants of Moondrake and started to walk.

Alexander followed the sun as it made its journey across the sky. The first change in scenery all day only came at twilight as he reached the edge of a cliff that overlooked even more of the eternal wasteland. He hung his legs over the side of the precipice and watched the sun sing below the horizon.
“Where are you, Dante? I have never needed you more than I do now,” he said as the crimson orb sinking below the waves of gold.
“He’s alive,” said a voice next to Alexander that made him jump up to his feet.
“Where did you come from?” Alexander said as he stared down at the man sitting on the edge of the cliff.
“That’s not a very polite way to greet someone, you know,” the man said with a grin. He looked up at Alexander with eyes like quicksilver.
“You!” Alexander gasped. The last time he had seen those eyes, he had only been a child. But this man had not aged one day since then. His eyes were more beautiful and intimidating than Alexander remembered, with rims of dark blue around silver and black. He was just as muscled as he had been on the ship all those years ago. His long hair was as white as snow, but not because of age, for this man could not be older than twenty-eight. He was wearing a pair of leather pants and a simple white tunic.
“Yes. Me,” the man said, still grinning. He turned his head and stared at nothing in particular. At least, not anything Alexander could see.
“You’re the man who gave me this,” Alexander said, pulling the silver dagger from out his boot.
“Yes, I did. Served you well, has it?” the man said, staring back into nothingness after giving the dagger only a cursory glance.
“Why did you give it to me back then?”
“I don’t know,” he shrugged.
“How can you not know? You had to have had a reason.”
To Alexander’s irritation, the man kept looking out into space as he said, “I suppose I felt guilty for not being there for you and your mother. I could have stopped Cain back then, but I didn’t.”
“Who are you?” Alexander asked. He had wanted an answer to that question for years now.
“I have no answer to that question,” the man said, sounding bored.
“What do you mean you don’t have an answer? Where did you come from? Why are you here? What is it you want?” Alexander rambled in exasperation at the intolerable man.
“I just wanted to check up on you, that’s all,” the man answered.
“Oh great, that’s at least one of my questions answered,” Alexander said sardonically.
“It is the only answer you are ready for,” the man said and once again, his arrogant grin flashed.
Alexander closed his eyes and sighed, struggling to keep his anger at bay. Sufficiently calm again, he sat back down next to the stranger. “Tell me this then: Are you here to kill me or help me?”
“Neither. I told you, I’m only here to check up on you,” the man said.
Alexander stared at him for a long moment then said, “On behalf of whom?”
“Now, that is an intelligent question,” the man turned to look at Alexander and gave him a dazzling smile. “The answer to that question is so important to your path, that it will change everything. It will shock and amaze you and throw every event of your life into a new perspective.”
Alexander waited for him to go on, but he just turned to look out into empty space again. “Well?”
“Well, what?” the man asked, sounding innocent.
Alexander pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. Through clenched teeth, he said, “Are you going to answer me, or not?”
“Oh,” the man said. “No.”
“You just said it was important,” Alexander exclaimed in frustration.
“It is, but you’re nowhere near ready for it.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Alexander snapped. “Did you just come here to taunt me? To test my patience and irritate me?”
“I believe I’ve told you twice now, I’m here to see how things are going,” the man said.
“How it’s going?” Alexander yelled indignantly. “I’m lost in a desert, dying of thirst and hunger! That’s how it’s going! I don’t suppose you’ll do anything about that either?”
“No,” the man said, sounding oblivious to anger he inspired. He turned to look at Alexander, and for the first time, he did not grin. In fact, for the first time, he looked serious. As he spoke, even his voice was grim, “I’m not going to help you. I can’t. My master won’t allow me to interfere with your path.”
“Your master?” Alexander said and drew one of his swords. “Who do you work for? Is it Cain?”
The look the silver-eyed man gave Alexander held no concern for the threat of violence but only disappointment, like a father disapproving of his son’s rudeness. “Put that away, boy. You do not understand what you’re doing.”
“I’ll have you know I know my way around a sword,” Alexander snarled.
“Son, you couldn’t beat me on one of your best days, let alone one where you are starving and dehydrated.”
“Stand then. I’ll show you my skill.” Alexander wanted to crush this man’s arrogance. For some reason, he wanted to prove himself to this stranger.
“Ah. The sin of pride has always cursed the Angelus line.” The man sighed as he got to his feet.
A sudden fear clenched Alexander’s heart. “Did you tell him? Does Cain know I’m alive?”
“I do not work for Cain. After what he did. What he took—” the man caught himself and shook his head. “Don’t worry, Cain doesn’t yet know of your existence. Though, I suspect if you continue to blow flying cities out of the sky, it won’t be long until he does.”
“Draw your sword then,” Alexander said.
“Now really, son, I have no wish to fight you,” the man said, shaking his head.
“Will you give me the answers I seek?” Alexander asked, his one eyebrow raised.
The man shook his head, “I cannot.”
“Then we fight,” Alexander said and charged at the infuriating man.
The silver-eyed man, however, made no indication of taking part in the fight. Using only one sword, Alexander swung the blade at the man’s neck and missed. The man had moved backward so suddenly it was as if he had been standing in reach of the sword one second, and the next, stood a foot back.
“It seems the hunger and thirst are getting the better of you. I’ve never known you to lose your temper over trivial things,” the man said, walking past Alexander with his hands folded behind his back.
“What do you know? We only met on one other occasion,” Alexander said, still staring at the man with wide eyes.
“The one I work for has been watching your progress. He sends me to observe from the shadows and make sure you don’t stray from your path.”
“Who is it you work for if not Cain? Who else has such an interest in me?” Alexander shouted as he launched into another attack.
“As I said, you are not ready yet.” The silver-eyed man sidestepping two more of Alexander’s swings. Sounding bored, he said, “Come now, my boy, can’t we be civil about this?”
Alexander answered him with another attack and another, and another. But no matter how hard he tried, the man always seemed to be just out of reach of his sword.
“I suppose that’s a no then.” The silver-eyed man sighed as one of Alexander’s swings almost cut his face. Alexander continued his relentless assault and swung his sword up from the right before suddenly altering its path into a sideways slash. Got you, he thought. The man had stepped where he wanted him. But this time, instead of dodging, the silver-eyed man caught the blade between two fingers. With the same disappointed expression from earlier, he reached out with his other hand and with nothing more than a flick of his middle finger, flung Alexander backward, causing him to bounce a few times as he hit the ground.
“Hopefully, next time we meet you will be in a better mood,” the man said and vanished.
“Wait!” Alexander choked, struggling to get back to his feet.
What just happened? For the second time in his life, he had seen the strange silver-eyed man. A man who seemed so familiar, like a forgotten memory. He was right though, Alexander thought as he dropped back onto the ground and crossed his legs. I lost my temper too quickly. If I had stayed calm, I could have gotten more answers out of him.
He sat like that for the rest of the night, analyzing every single second of the strange meeting in his mind. I have to survive. I have to finish my training. I have to grow stronger than these people who keep getting in my way. Only if I become the most powerful can I reach my destiny’s true end.
Only the rising son snapped him back to the very real possibility that he might die in this desert if he did not escape. He got to his feet and stared out in front of him. It appeared hopeless as he saw the never-ending sand stretching out before him. But he started wandering forward once more.