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The Revenant: Part 8 The Revenant: Part 7 The Revenant: Part 6 The Revenant: Part 5 The Revenant: Part 4 The Revenant: Part 3 The Revenant Part 2 The Revenant February 08 March 08 April 08 May 08 The Talisman Weekly is a series of Fantasy and science fiction short stories, delivered in weekly postings. 
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Previously:
“Venishaad deit gah.” Intoned a deep voice from the hooded, armored man.
The great figure slouched off its black hooded cloak, and it fell to floor as if to crumple, but instead vanished like smoke. Now the identity of this greater man was revealed. He was tall and pale, dark haired with wild burning blue eyes. Middle aged, but not entirely gray. He wore the full black on black armor of a Nocturne General: iron riveted, mechanical plate mail with a strange red star emblem drawn on the chest. The entire suit of armor was a menacing machine...
Part 7: Relics of Nocturne
He was Aries Black. Alive.
“Venishaad deit gah!” Black demanded again. “We're not one of you.” Court said, meeting the man's glare. Aries Black cocked his head to the side a little, a cynical frown creasing over his face. He glanced up at the dome overhead to the rows of the deceased Garai soldiers, who remained silent and attentive. His eyes settled back down on Court, a sudden awareness sparking in his blue eyes. Court nodded to him slowly, with a grin he couldn't suppress. For now his greatest enemy understood who he was, and that despite the world itself having been split, the Garai were not all dead. And then, in broken Anselm speech, Aries Black spoke. “I'm the Guardian of this place, Heathen.” “Aries Black, we meet at last.” Court said, reaching for his cutlass. “Who are you?” Black asked in a steady, sinister voice. “I am Court Beltain , the last of the Garai.” “A...survivor?” “Yes, I survived, and I am here to seal the rift.” Court declared. Aries Black paused for thought, and as he stepped towards Court said slowly, realizing at the same time, “So this is why my Gods have restored me to life. The old Gods of Nocturne still hunger for your blood, Court Beltain...you were foolish to come back here. We have unfinished business, the two of us. The Gods' vengeance must be put upon you.” Black's eyes bulged as he voiced his own thoughts, “Perhaps when I feed your body to the dark water, the Gods will raise my Armies once again.” “Look around you, madman – look at what your Gods have wrought.” Court sneered, gesturing wide around them, “Whatever cause you once fought for is now dead, or drowning in this dark water you speak of. Tell me the source of the rift, so we can end this tonight.” Court said. Court followed Black's intense gaze as it swept his ruined throne room. It ran over the cracked dome, and the grim black-cloaked ghosts waiting above them. His eyes settled at last upon the restless pool of water behind Court, and he seemed to be recalling something of immense sadness. Then rage welled up within those eyes as they focused on Court again. Court threw Adan and Cael a warning glance as Aries Black recomposed himself, and stepped nearer. “Heathen fool, if the Gods had wanted the rift closed, it would have been done long ago. Yes, tonight, after a hundred years of war it ends,” Black bellowed, his voice echoing up so that the dead Garai Masters could hear, “Goodbye, Court Beltain, I send you now to join your Brethren!” Black, in his gaunt mechanical armor moved much faster than Court could have imagined possible. It took only three strides to reach Court's position between the statues, and he had already torn his broadsword from off his back. Black slashed downwards with his great sword, hoping to end the battle with one swift stroke. However, he met only thin air as Court leapt to the side, spinning behind the tall female statue. Adan and Cael fled to either side, knowing full well when they were outmatched. The armor has doubled his strength and speed, Court noted, narrowly dodging another blow. Court fiercely parried with his cutlass, their blades meeting with a shrill clang. In strength, both swords were equal. However, as Court slowly bent beneath the broadsword and brute strength of Aries Black, he realized his disadvantage in the shorter length of his blade. He took the defensive, and backed away towards the edge of the water. Again and again their blades met, the clamor echoing about the chamber. Using the basket hilt of his sword, Court managed to thrust aside Black's blade and strike at his undefended face. It left a bleeding streak across his right cheek, but Black’s tall neck guard had mostly deflected the blow. Well he's not disappointing me. Excellent fighter, possibly the best I've ever faced, Court thought. And then he saw, rolling beneath another slash at his torso the whirling mechanisms and pistons fastened on Black's right arm. Just then a swift kick to Court's chest sent him flying backwards. Court's backwards fall was abruptly halted as he crashed against a pillar, bouncing off it only to lock blades with Black again. He desperately needed to get away from the punishing assault. Slipping between pillars, Court maneuvered to the opposite side of the chamber, carefully avoiding the crumbling ledges that fell down into the deep, watery crack. Court backed up against the tall marble throne, as Black steadily closed in. In another five seconds, Black would be on him. Using his scarce few seconds, Court focused directly on the mechanisms of Black's right arm, and then leapt sideways just in time to dodge Black's sword. Black sliced a chunk of marble off the side of his throne, angering him further. However, some of the gears and gadgets began bursting off his arm, along with two pistons that popped out of place with a snap. It was obvious now that Black had lost mechanical power in his sword arm as it hung lower, and less steadily. Aries Black gave Court a look of disgust and said, “Those demon ways of yours, Court Beltain. They are not how men do battle.” Angered for the first time, Court smote the giant armored man backwards with a solid sword blow, until Black crashed with a tremendous clamor against his own throne. Pieces of his armor broke loose and rolled away, the heavy armor now burdening him as its helpful machinery ground to a halt. Black himself looked defiant, with smoldering eyes as he struggled to right himself. But now Court was nearly spent, drained to the brink of exhaustion. By the time Black could stand again, Court had already retreated again into the center of the chamber, and awaited him between the two statues. Then the two stood facing each other, pistols drawn across the flooded ruin of the chamber. Court's eyes flickered over to his left, where Adan and Cael were huddled away from danger behind a broken pillar. They were safe, and soon Black would fall. A slight tensing of his trigger finger would finish it. Aries Black began taunting Court from across the water: “Despite whatever lies your Masters may have told you, this was never a war between men. We mortals are mere pawns in a timeless war between the Gods. I hope well they take pity on your soul, for soon the Garai will be gone forever...” “Your time has already ended.” Court said firmly, finger on the trigger. In mere seconds both men could have lay dead, had it not happened. For a moment time stood still. Anxiety had reached its peak, and so the Nocturne forces surrounding the chamber walls broke rank, and howling like the damned, started in towards Court. It was just then, as Adan and Cael cowered in the shadows, thinking that it couldn't get any worse, that it did. To the surprise of all, a large shadow fell over the floor of the dome. Overshadowed, all of them together looked above with gaping jaws to see what it was. A Nocturne war machine had suddenly appeared above them. The machine was clearly unmanned, yet was animated by a will not of the natural world. The rounded mass of gears and engines rolled out of its secret, dark and dusty eyrie in the dome and plummeted downward. The Garai phantoms recoiled and were blown away like smoke as its twisted mechanical body tumbled past them, crashing with a fury not seen since the war, directly into the center of the chamber between the two poised men. To be continued... Previously:
" Now I am here in their palace, virtually abandoned.” Court said, a nostalgic gleam in his eyes.
They moved forward, into the heart of the palace itself, toward the voices Court heard calling him to come, come closer, you belong here with us...
Part 6: The Revenant
The heart of the Nocturne Empire was clearly in shambles, and looked as if the epicenter of the destruction had been focused on the chamber ahead. A high, domed ceiling yawned above Court and his two men, but was partially cracked open, allowing the dim gray light to stream in, illuminating tiny flakes of snow drifting down. All around the top of the pale dome was a ledge walkway, where books were stacked on shelves. Below that hung dusty faded tapestries, flags and paintings of the famous Nocturnal aristocrats. There were rows of tall pillars much like the ones outside, with unlit torches sitting dark and mute beneath them. Some of the pillars had cracked or fallen over, but most were intact, stretching into the shaded darkness above.
The large circular room had been pierced by cannon fire from the Garai fleet. On the far eastern wall between racks of ceremonial weaponry, a massive hole had been blasted open, and flowing dark water from the rift washed in. Half the room was flooded as a large, wide crack followed the opening in the wall and right through the center of the chamber, and had filled with water like a black pool. The flooded crack gave the room the effect of being shattered and sinking. In the center had been an ornate red rug, rolled out to the feet of a tall throne made of polished white marble and encrusted with jewels. Only the ends of the rug were above water now, and the rest of it had been torn loose and drowned in the depths of the water sloshing about in the center of the chamber. Adan and Cael seemed to lighten up a little at the sight of the jeweled throne, and started looking around for any treasure the chamber might hold. Along the far walls, where the two of them began rummaging, were racks full of dusty swords and axes, most of them ceremonial. On either side of the throne room, two strange and beautiful statues, a man and a woman, stood amongst the pillars. It was very silent in the chamber, save for the gushing water through the wide crack in the floor. There were no scurrying rats, or sounds of wind, no spiders or webs. There weren't any birds or nests in the ceiling, but something was wrong, Court could feel it in his gut. Always on guard, Court kept his hand on his sword hilt, not forgetting what he had sensed here earlier, a whispering unlike the ghosts, a shadow moving amongst shadows. He stepped forward cautiously over the worn and ancient floor, slipping between the pillars to get a closer look at the two statues of the man and the woman. Both statues were nearly twenty feet tall with a base etched in gold. As he neared, it looked as if the statues were made of the same white marble as the throne, but the golden writing on the base must have been in the Nocturne language, as it was unintelligible to Court. The man and woman were Gods of some sort, naked and fearless with immutable, timeless expressions. As Court gazed into their large oval eyes, it seemed as if they both had words poised on their silent tongues, and if only given a chance, they would speak it to him. Both statues teetered over the brink of the water's edge, as the floor had cracked and sunk all around them. Who are you? Court wondered, growing ever more fascinated by the place. And then it came to him, as if an alien voice spoke in his mind, we are Marduk and Tiamat. This alien thought frightened Court. He felt small, glancing up at the pillars all around him reaching to the vast shaded ceilings. For all his power, for all his skills with weapons, Court suddenly wanted to shrink into the shadows and hide. “Tell me about these people, Captain. What made them our enemies?” Adan's voice trailed from across the chamber, where he was busy rummaging through shelves and pottery. Court came to his senses, and answered, keeping a wary eye on the statues. “It all began as a territorial dispute, over the Archipelago of the Storms. We learned about how they had built their Empire on the edge of night, across the Jade Sea. They had no power like the Garai, and eventually used machinery to imitate us. Their last Warlord, Aries Black, ended a family dictatorship that had lasted one hundred years or more. An incestuous bastard, married to his own Sister, a witch of some power. His knights wore suits of mechanical black armor, and Dragoon styled helms, with strange red markings running down their sides.” Court backed further away from the statues, and he glanced up at the walkway circling the top of the dome. All along this ledge ghosts were lined up, silently watching him. They were all of the same garb, hooded and cloaked in black, vaporous like shadows. At their sides were silver pistols and cutlasses, each matching Court in every way. They were the entire Garai order, nearly all, save the one man far below, peering up at them. As Court tried to see into the shadows of their hoods, one of them came forward and spoke. “Court Beltain.” A strong voice echoed down. Court was frozen in place, legs trembling. Even Adan and Cael had heard the voice. Here were the souls of Court's friends and family, and now speaking to him from beyond the grave was the familiar voice of his beloved older Brother. He suddenly felt like the young headstrong man who had been with these men ten years ago that fateful night. He fought the stubborn lump in his throat, and addressed the phantom. “Gage...is it really you?” The ghostly figure threw back his hood and Court knew him then, the same man from his countless memories and nightmares. His gray hair was thin and long, and though Court could not see it, he knew the stern wrinkles on his Brother's face, and the light in his deep-set blue eyes. He spoke again. “We have been waiting for you. Waiting for you to seal the rift.” “But I don't understand! How can one man undo what was the effort of thousands?” Court asked hopelessly, revealing a weakness in his plans that Adan and Cael, who petrified with fear and listening in, had not contemplated. But we'll never let him, answered the alien voices in Court's mind.
Out of the darkness of the hallway from which Court and the others had just come, a long ghostly procession marched into the chamber. Filed in ranks, marching to the beat of some otherworldly war drum, came a legion of Nocturne soldiers dressed in ceremonial black armor. The head of the procession heralded a large red flag, the unmistakable dark crest of Aries Black dancing in its folds. In life, the noise of their combined armor, and clanking weapons should have shook the entire palace. But it was solemnly silent, save for the vague drumming, far away.
The Nocturne ghosts floated along the entire circular chamber, lining the dim walls. Court and his two men were completely surrounded. There the Nocturne soldiers stood in mute attention, their ghostly armor flickering in and out of existence. Their faces were hidden behind sinister dragoon style helms, their posture frozen with hands resting on their sword hilts. The drumming that echoed in the bowels of the palace came to a sudden halt, and then came a rumble from the shadows.
At the end of the procession was a man, mean and hooded and powerful looking. His armor made such a terrible noise as it stepped forth that even Court winced. From beneath his regal black cloak, plate mail clanked thunderously against the stone floor, echoing up to the dome. Watching grimly, seeing what could only forebode the worst, Court had backed into the center of the chamber, between the mysterious statues. Adan and Cael were on either side of him, and not knowing what else to do, drew their knives in a single act of bravery, useless as it was.
“Venishaad deit gah.” Intoned a deep voice from the hooded, armored man.
The great figure slouched off its black hooded cloak, and it fell to floor as if to crumple, but instead vanished like smoke. Now the identity of this greater man was revealed. He was tall and pale, dark haired with wild burning blue eyes. Middle aged, but not entirely gray. He wore the full black on black armor of a Nocturne General: iron riveted, mechanical plate mail with a strange red star emblem drawn on the chest. The entire suit of armor was a menacing machine. Along the arms and chest ran gears and pistons, enhancing the strength of the wearer tenfold. There was a vivid flash from the golden regalia, the family crest, of the large pistol hanging loosely at his side. Also, Court was quick to note that a broadsword was attached by black leather straps onto his back.
He was Aries Black. Alive.
To be continued..... |
