Fergal F Nally [Nally - Severance

Severance

By

Fergal F. Nally

Copyright Fergal F. Nally 2013

The moral right of Fergal F. Nally to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs & Patents Act, 1988.

All characters and events in this publication, other than those clearly in the public domain, are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing of the author, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

Cover image Cover design by Beetiful Book Covers

Soulcapture

Shadows flickered along the cruel blade. Its edge, keen and true in the half-light.

Toshan, our Lord and ancient protector, I commit this soul unto your Blood Fields. The hooded figure wept through the death spells words. His speech slurred, stumbling with the drugs and wine.

The room seemed to buckle as his spellcraft blossomed.

Then his blade flashed and caressed the young womans skin. Silky smooth, it parted as shorn velvet beneath its razor edge. Blood, rich and vital, issued forth with life and purpose from the deep neck wound. The womans breath faltered, becoming ragged.

Take her, take her now before its too late... the mans thin voice implored. A distant boom echoed in the corridor beyond the secrecy of the room.

Silence filled the air. Candles flickered. The womans breathing stopped. Her pupils, fixed on an invisible horizon.

Now, now rise Carutha. Rise to the Blood Fields; see the footsteps of our ancestors. Follow them, follow them, hide there and live escape this madness, escape and live for vengeance. Remember your mother, your sisters...your father... the voice broke with emotion and the man embraced the pale, still warm corpse. I would follow you my daughter, but I must conceal your escape from our enemies. They will hunt you, they will not rest. You must grow strong, you must evade, you must prevail and return to ghost their souls. There was no other way, forgive me my precious child...I am honoured and cursed in this task. I must leave you now to set the false trail.

The priest gently laid down his burden. Screams echoed from outside the chamber.

They come, it is almost done. Silurian rushed to the door and began a soft incantation. Time slowed. Shadows thickened and congealed around him.

The door splintered from a mighty blow outside. Another blow followed and another. Silurian rocked, spinning and weaving his web of darkness, he became one with the shadow. The metal bracings shattered and the door flared with bright, cold flame. It crumbled into dust with a sound like breaking bones. A sigh came from the corridor and a ball of light blasted into the room.

You cannot hide, you can never hide from usssss, we see all. All existence, all life is open to usssss. You belong to the Shiffante... sibilant whispers crept through the room. Shadows fell back before the invisible power and retreated to the slumped corpse on the cold stone floor. Twisting and turning they danced around the body, touching the cool flesh and sending shimmers of blue flame along its length.

The Shiffante lord entered the chamber. The air frosted before it. Extreme cold shattered the stone slabs of the floor. Candles spluttered and flared with blue light. The shadows around the young womans body melted away. Silurian lay broken and still, blood trickling from his ears.

You can flee from usssss, we will find you...there is nowhere to hide.

Carutha was dead and yet, her spirit lingered in the room looking down on her empty body below. She saw the scene unfold in all its stark horror.

Father, is that you?

She reached out and felt nothing, emptiness. Her form lay still and ruined on the floor, a memory. She became aware of warmth around her. Anger flared within her followed by hatred; intense and all consuming. Shifting, she descended to the Shiffante lord. They were one; they were many. They knew, they sensed, reaching out for her across the divide.

Flee, child...flee while you still can, her fathers voice whispered in her consciousness.

Her fathers words. A flicker of recognition jolted her out of the trance. The Shiffante lord reached out with legion voices, but she was deaf to them. She was beyond their reach; she was in between life and death. The Blood Fields called out to her.

The Shiffante paused sensing the room. Bitch! We will enjoy the hunt; we will taste your blood and feast on your bones. Before long, your soul will be ours, like the rest of your kind. You belong to ussss.

Frost crept over the bodies of the father and daughter turning them ashen. The skin peeled and split revealing the flesh and bone underneath. Blue flame raced over their remains devouring all in a breath. A sigh filled the room and brooding silence descended.

Carutha turned and followed the light. She lost herself in its promise. Memories flooded through her; memories of times past and times recent. She felt herself detached as if viewing another. Outside, in between. Light beckoned, she followed. Into the wind and the Blood Fields.

The Blood Fields where the spirits of beasts came when death claimed them. It was not of men; their kind did not belong. Could not belong. It was the perfect hiding place. Silurian, her father was a cunning protector. She would survive covertly among the beast spirits, she would learn, she would return and have her revenge on the Shiffante lords.

A storm formed over the Blood Fields and the sky crackled with energy. From all around, animal spirits some familiar but more strange, came forth. She was not afraid; she was one and she was all. The storm broke and terrible clouds burst forth.

~

Sacryx brought the cup to his lips. As always, before the journey he felt his chest tighten with anticipation and fear. He closed his mind to the sounds around him. The clan needed their Shaman to be strong. His visit to the Otherside would yield valuable insight into the coming years fortunes. He gulped the bitter tasting liquid and closed his eyes. The drug began to claw at his skull. His breathing slowed and his face became slack.

Sacryx felt the familiar pull within, then the intense deepening and inner awareness. His form felt heavy and light at the same time. His spirit shifted slightly and departed his body.

He opened his eyes and immediately stiffened.

This is not rightthis is not rightthis place

A fine thread connected him from this new world to his own. He felt it shimmer with a new energy. A deadly energy.

A voice broke into the stillness.

Shaman, turn, look upon me. I will hold your spirits flame awhile.

Sacryx felt an irresistible urge to confront the voice behind him. Slowly he turned.

Gaze upon my beauty, be aware of my power. You belong to me Shaman. I have called you to this place.

Sacryx found himself looking at a young girl dressed in vivid red robes. An inner fire seemed to dance across her eyes. They were dark pools of emptiness. Her hair was braided, falling in plaits to her shoulders. She was barefoot and held something in her hands. He looked closer. It was a rams skull, bleached white, darkly menacing.

Sacyrxs tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth, he could not speak.

Thoughts flashed across his mind like dragonfly wings dancing and flashing in the sunlight.

What do you want of me? he stuttered.