Something (Full Murderhobo Book 1) Page 4

  “It’s… Luke, sir.”

  “Well, Luke, do you swear upon your magic and your life to serve the Hollow Kingdom, the King, and your direct superior in all things relating to your training, your service, and your magic, until such a time as you are released from this oath by King Alexander or his heir?”

  “I so swear.”

  The Sigil of the Kingdom appeared on his forehead, but unlike the others, it seemed to slowly flow onto his brow, then vanish, fading far faster than it had for the others.

  “How strange… I look forward to learning about your abilities with you, young Luke.”

  Chapter Five

  “Are you sure you’ll all be okay without me? I know there are a bunch more boots to make,” Luke nearly begged his father.

  “We’ll be fine, son. We’re proud of you, by the way.”

  Luke looked over, startled at the sudden emotion in his father’s voice. “Dad?”

  His mother leaned forward, giving Luke a hug as his father tried to hand him a leather pack. When he was released, he inspected the pack and gasped. “Dad! This is too much! You could sell this for enough money to feed me for a year!”

  “Well, it was supposed to be your birthday present next week, but I’m guessing you will be wanting it before you go, hmm?” His father kindly patted Luke’s arm, taking a deep breath to stave off the shuddering sob that tried to escape.

  The pack was well-worked leather, the family crest embossed into the back. The outside was crafted from hardened leather, which would protect the interior from being crushed, as well as protecting its contents due to being waterproof. The interior, composed of soft, supple doeskin, had been expertly sewn into segmented compartments. It was a large pack, designed for travelers who carried everything they owned. The pack was suspended by straps designed to hang over the shoulders, as well as two straps that could be tightened to secure the pack to the wearer’s chest and waist; making the load feel as light as possible.

  “Thank you. Thank you all so much.” Luke addressed his entire family. It was obvious they had all contributed to this.

  “Anything for you, big brother,” Cindy tearfully swallowed as she gave him a big hug. “Be careful, okay? They said training is two and a half years, right? You’re going to miss my sixteenth and seventeenth birthday, so bring me something nice from far away, alright?”

  “I put some tools in there for you, keep in practice,” His dad ordered sternly. His parents gave him one last hug as the call went out to gather; the Ascender corps was about to move, and the trainees were feeling a compulsion to join the group. Luke itched at his forehead, already a little annoyed by the functions of the Sigil.

  “Goodbye! I’ll write when I can,” Luke promised as his feet forcibly began to move him toward the waiting Ascender Corps. He quickly made his way to his friends, settling into place in the loose formation that began taking them east and away from home. Every new person was nervous, and they were all trying to alleviate the underlying tension by laughing, joking, and generally making a ruckus. The march lasted a surprisingly short amount of time, only reaching a few miles away from town before the Mage halted their progress.

  “That’ll do. Thank you for the escort.” Master Don waved off the soldiers accompanying them. Lieutenant Baker turned his men around and commanded a return to the village, clapping Luke on the shoulder and shooting him a quick smile as he walked past. “Gather around me, please, Initiates. There is much information that you need to know; knowledge that is not allowed to the general public. You will only be allowed to know because your vow to the Kingdom will force you to keep your mouth closed.”

  “First of all, I want to know why you think we are recruiting right now.” Master Don paused, then pointed at a man near the front.

  “Well… it’s the war, innit?” piped up the reedy voice, a merchant’s son that Luke had never really gotten along with.

  “Partly.” Master Don waved his hand back and forth.

  “Monsters.” Taylor was just loud enough to be heard.

  “Correct!” Master Don confirmed with surprise, giving her a contemplative look. “You and I will have a talk about how you know that.”

  Raising his voice slightly, he returned his attention to the entire group. “As you will all soon learn, the worlds that we travel to are not safe, by any sense of the word. When we open portals between these worlds, if we are strong enough or the gate is opened forcefully enough, it will stay open until it is closed. This is called a ‘Scar’. It will remain open until someone trained in opening portals to that world closes it. In some cases, this is easy; in others… well, there are worlds that only one or two people total can ever reach. Finally, there are gates that open naturally in the world. That is, in fact, how the first Ascenders came to be.”

  After a short pause to let this information sink in, Master Don continued, “Recently, some faction has been moving through our Kingdom, and those of our allies. They don’t attack, they don’t take credit for the destruction they cause. All they do…”

  Master Don scanned the small crowd and gazed into the eyes of the anxious young people, “is tear open, and leave open, Scars into some of the most dangerous worlds that we could ever envisage. We call them Anarcanists, as they use arcane methods to spread anarchy. People are dying. Normally, we don’t allow people so young to attempt to use their power. Even with your oaths, and all the training you are about to go through, you will likely kill someone - or many someones – or yourself by accident before you can fully control yourselves.”

  “What we need are powerful people that can slay man and beast alike. If you aren’t at the warfront, you will be hunting monsters that have become mankillers and finding ways to close Scars. Prepare yourselves now, because this is a task that never seems to end.” The Initiates were starting to pale as they came to know what they had actually gotten involved in. “Now, we are going to begin. I am going to use your mana to open a portal to whichever dimension calls to your power.”

  “In each of these worlds, the person most qualified to protect you and teach you how best to use your powers should soon arrive and explain everything else. Obviously, this is a long process. Does anyone know how we are able to train everyone we find?” A sea of blank expressions met Master Don’s question. “Then does anyone care to guess my age?”

  Silence continued to reign over the group, and he grinned, almost to himself. “I love this part. While we do require much from you, the rewards are worth everything else. First… the process of Ascending slows the aging process. I am over six hundred years old.”

  The silence shattered as people exclaimed in awe or disbelief. “Calm down, calm down. It’s true, and this is also what allows us to train you in time to be useful. Across the portals, time moves… disproportionately. The average speed is four times faster than this world. While you are in another world, your body doesn’t seem to age at all. There are some theories against this, because your body will still grow hair, nails, heal, and scar as usual; but the fact remains that you will go in and come out looking the same age as you do right now.”

  “It is highly likely that you will not return to this world - this plane - until you are trained. By the timing of this plane, you will be gone roughly two and a half years. For the vast majority of you, it will be nearly ten years. For those with the most difficult paths… it could be much more.” Shock and outrage raced across the faces of the Initiates, warring heavily with greed and excitement.

  “Why do you decide who the best person to train us is ? Shouldn’t we get to choose who we are bound to?” Andre demanded as his shock dissipated.

  “A very good point, young Andre. The simple answer is: I am by far the most qualified person to determine your path. Beyond me, there is no higher authority in the Hollow Kingdom except the King himself.”

  “But that means…” Taylor interjected with shining eyes.

  “Correct! I am Archmage Donec Arriperent, High Authority on all things magical, consi
dered the most powerful in the land, and yes, Taylor, you are still my apprentice.”

  “King Alexander’s wr… *cough*… I guess that explains why your people were so shocked.” Taylor composed herself and only let a small smile shine through.

  “Unflappable. I knew there was something I liked about you,” Master Don complimented her. “Time to go, everyone. Line up and prepare yourself. Portaling can be a bit… disorienting.”

  The emotionally and mentally confused Initiates shuffled together into a rough line. They watched in awe as a gate to another world was opened. Don reached into the air, light emanating from his fingertips… and pulled. Unnatural light started to pour out of a small space, growing into a door shape as he continued to strain against something invisible. The entire process took about two minutes, and the Archmage blew a sigh of relief as he finished. “Goodness, that takes a lot out of me. The framework is set, all we need is a mana input. Right, who’s first? Make sure to say your goodbyes, as it may be a long time before you see anyone here again.”

  Andre stepped forward, showing his willingness to go first. He waved sadly at his friends; they had already said their goodbyes. Master Don nodded approvingly. “Good man. Now, just so you all know, you will be compelled to return here after two and a half years have passed on this plane. Make sure you are strong enough to make your Kingdom proud.”

  With a wave of Master Don’s hand, light passed through Andre. It entered his body as a light purple, and exited as a deep green. The light was swallowed by the portal, which solidified into a single color. The land beyond was beautiful, but all the creatures visible within moved across it at insane speeds. “That’s just the time dilation effect; don't worry. Step through, and your trainer will arrive shortly. Don’t keep him waiting.”

  Indeed, a man was sprinting toward them at a godlike speed. He stopped at the edge of the gate, beckoning to Andre with a hand that fluttered faster than a hummingbird’s wings. Master Don prodded him impatiently, “Sound doesn’t cross over very well. Get going.”

  Andre stepped across the shimmering boundary and into the strange land. The last sight the group saw was the pair walking away faster than a horse could gallop.

  “Amazing,” Luke whispered, awe evident in his voice. “So that’s what it looks like with time passing faster on that side?”

  Others converged on the portal, and for each one, the process repeated. The portal opened, someone sprinted up, then the selected person zipped away. Taylor drew nearer, but Master Don stopped her. “No, you will be coming with me. Luke, you are up. I think we will try you with the… healers, perhaps, just like this last youngster? As soon as we use your mana, we will know for sure, but since the way is open, I’ll just have them wait a moment longer; just in case.”

  Master Don sent the light through Luke, then more, and more. The Archmage’s eyes narrowed, and a storm of mana rushed out of him and into Luke. A bare trickle of it took on a blue tint and filtered into the portal without changing the landscape beyond. “Ah, I love being right! A healer! Such a noble occupation. Let’s go, lad.”

  Luke stepped forward and waited until someone ran up to the door from the other side. He moved to cross the gate, but as his foot passed over the threshold, the blue power that stained the gate flashed into a deep blue for a bare instant. He was sucked though, vanishing from sight. When the blue tint cleared in the blink of an eye, the healer on the other side shrugged and waved his arms in an ‘X’ to show that Luke hadn’t arrived.

  “Well, that’s new.” Don’s brow furrowed quizzically, and he cast a few spells at the portal in an attempt to see what had gone wrong. “I’ve never seen someone vaporized just trying to use a portal. Ah, well; we were expecting some losses. This one was simply a little early. Probably his mana channels; those were damaged beyond belief! Likely for the best, though. It seemed like his power had something to do with resisting oaths. That’d be a death sentence anyway, though he likely only had another few years left with mana channels like that… send someone to notify his family, Reginald. Ready to go, Taylor? Lots to do!”

  Taylor simply stared at the shifting portal with moist eyes, a hand pressed to her mouth.

  Chapter Six

  Luke flew out the other side of the portal, landing heavily on his back. Luckily, his pack took the brunt of the fall, saving him from shredding his skin on the rough stone floor. Gasping in an attempt to regain his breath, he searched around wildly, trying to understand what had gone wrong. There was very little light, but he was able to see that he was in a cave of some sort. He could hear water running nearby, leaving him with the hope that he would be able to survive long enough to find help.

  Something had clearly gone wrong; this wasn't the world that he had intended to step into. Luke forced himself to his feet, standing unsteadily and trying to find a way out of the hole he was in. There were many paths, but even from where he stood, he could see that most of them were dead ends. He started down a likely tunnel, one where light was filtering in. Luke walked further and further, the sound of rushing water increasing as he advanced along the fissure. Finally reaching the mouth of the tunnel, he found daylight shimmering through what had to be the bluest waterfall he had ever seen.

  “Of course.” Luke put his hand out, trying to see how deep the water flowed, but the pressure forced his hand down before he could reach past it. His hand also tingled unpleasantly as he shook off the water, but he chalked it up to the sudden, intense pressure. He looked away, never realizing that the remaining water simply… evaporated, leaving not a single droplet of wetness behind. “It’s never easy, is it?”

  He snorted, annoyed that he had been forced into such a situation by the ‘Archmage’. Determined to find another way out, Luke backtracked and spent several hours searching for another point of egress. Sadly, he could find nothing else, and the light in the cave was beginning to fade. He raced back to the only exit and decided to camp next to the roaring waterfall for the night.

  Luke pulled a carefully folded bedroll out of his pack, and as he laid it out… a folded note fluttered to the ground. In the fading light, he could just barely make out the words ‘We love and miss you already, son. Never doubt how proud we are of you’. Luke teared up, but only allowed a few drops to squeeze out.

  “I’ll make it back to you,” Luke whispered his promise to his family, who were now equally only a step - and also impossibly far - away. A restless night passed, and morning came quickly. He awoke feeling filthy. While eating a breakfast of dried meat and some of the limited stores of water from his pack, he mulled over his options.

  Luke believed that he had searched the connecting tunnels in their entirety. If he was correct, then there was only one way out without tunneling through the stone, and at best, he only had another few days’ worth of food. Certainly not enough to sustain him while creating a tunnel through solid rock with no tools. Packing everything as carefully as he could, he cinched the strap on his leather pack to make it as watertight as possible, and braced himself for the pain of being crushed by the intense flow of water.

  “Survival is what matters. Get as far as possible from where the water lands, because there are likely rocks at the bottom. Try to cannonball; cross your arms and protect your head,” he coached aloud, psyching himself up for the jump. “Now, stop thinking so much and do it!”

  Gritting his teeth, he ran at the wall of water and jumped out as far as possible, pressed down by the torrential downpour as he passed through. Upon his escape from the falls, he dropped at most two feet before hitting a large pool of water, belly-flopping painfully.

  “King Alexander’s saggy wand!” he gurgled beneath the waves, clawing his way to the surface. Luckily, his bag acted as a floatation device, dragging him upward faster than he had any right to emerge. Sputtering, Luke made his way to a sandy beach located only a few feet away and finally looked up to observe his surroundings. The view took his breath away more effectively than the water had; the enormous vista boggled a
nd confused his mind.

  The visible land was only about a half mile wide, and there were distinct edges to the terrain. Luke found himself standing near a field that stretched for miles to the east, sloping downward to a point on the horizon. He could see some kind of animal playing in groups, but the distance and long grass was too great to see them clearly. To the north and south, the land vanished. He couldn’t understand how, but he would go see for himself. The strange cut-off was only about a half mile away.

  However, the most stunning aspect of the landscape was the color. Everything was stained in the most violent shades of blue. Luke looked behind himself and gasped again, this time in panic. Behind the waterfall was nothing. The land ended at a cliff, another drop off. In other words, the cave he had come out of didn't exist. Luke was trapped on this new world, and as far as he could see...

  He was the only human.

  Chapter Seven

  - Taylor -

  “What just happened?” Taylor was panicking. Her lifelong friend had suddenly vanished, and no one appeared to know why. In fact, Master Don said he was dead?

  “I’m honestly not certain,” The Archmage admitted, but he simply moved on. “This has never happened before, Taylor. To be frank, I do think that he was killed instantly. I am sorry to be blunt, but sadly, the facts do not care for your feelings like I do.”

  He motioned to his retinue and gave specific orders for them to attempt all magical means of pulling Luke back if - no matter how unlikely - he was in another world. Still, he didn’t countermand his order to tell Luke’s family that he had died. “Taylor, I’m sorry. We can’t wait here, though. There is simply too much for you to learn. I have chosen you as my apprentice, therefore it is my duty to personally train you, which means that I need to relinquish some of my more pressing duties to the King.”