Thralls of a Dread Lord (1.62T)
Welcome to my weekly serial. This is a rough draft that I am working on, for your reading pleasure.
It is a fairly grim tale, so be warned.
Here is the first post from this series.
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They did not have long to wait. As the last echoes of Karniloth’s wail died away in distant clefts, Retaak felt a pressure in his mind. A dread presence both familiar and yet chillingly alien seemed to envelop him, although the trees still swayed and the stars in the night sky still shone above. Like a tidal wave poised above a candle, that terrible soul could snuff them out in a heartbeat Even Retaak knew better than to struggle; now was not the time for him to test his will against the master of Bemechhorak, The Dread Lord himself.
As the Dread Lord turned his attention to them, Retaak could see that the others, save for Albyursia, were similarly afflicted. He caught flashes of their grimacing faces. Kuzat, Uyagi, even Uyasshie in her sleep. The rest of his mind’s eye was filled with images of the great iron tower where the Dread Lord resided and a pair of eyes floating in a field of fire. Those eyes scoured his soul, searching, weighing.
This was the Dread Lord, seventh to bear that name. His compelling, Kaasukak, was upon them. He could kill them. Few could resist. Retaak had always thought himself equal to the task, but the pressure of that terrible presence was like a mountain crushing his skull.
Retaak could hear the others moaning and he struggled. If the Dread Lord killed them… he felt helpless then, truly helpless in the face of a tyranny beyond his comprehension or ability to resist. Albyursia was saying something, chanting, but he could not hear the words.
The Dread Lord, those burning eyes, that tower that impaled the sky, sifted through Retaak’s mind, opening doors that had long since been shut to him. Almost casually, like he was browsing a book looking for interesting pictures, he sorted until he found what he was looking for. Images of Uyaashie, poisoned. Images of Albyursia, using magic to heal her. Retaak found himself choking, unable to breath.
Then, as suddenly as it had come, the Dread Lord’s Kaasukak was gone. That Retaak felt the world come rushing back, filling the void that the Dread Lord had occupied. He was on his knees. Kuzak was curled into a ball and Uyagi had her head between her knees. Both of them breathed. Retaak looked to Uyaashie and, seeing the ashen pallor of her skin, feared the worst. But she breathed as he watched.
“Retaak, drink this,” said Albyursia, her sparkling eyes full of concern.
Water, clean and pure, and a hint of something else. It soothed his throat, calmed him.
“We’re alive,” muttered Kuzat.
“That was merely his curiosity,” answered Retaak. “He wondered how we riled Karniloth, and what it meant to him. He saw our actions through our own eyes. He saw our thoughts.”
“I’m surprised he let you live,” said Uyagi, a ghost of a smile on her face.
Retaak laughed, the others joined him. It banished the feeling, the remembrance of those dread eyes, for a time.
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