Chapter 60: BLOODHEIR

Silence was his first recollection.

It was alarming in its utter command, not manufactured at the hands of mages but complete in its natural totality. 

Pain followed, covering the entirety of his body. It was surprisingly dull as if it was merely the lingering remnant of perpetual, all-encompassing abuse.

Risens blinked open his eyes, shuddering as he let the breath out of his lungs. A cloud of dust, disturbed by the gentle breeze from his lungs floated in the darkness in front of him. The tiny amber colored particulate hung in the still air until his second breath pushed them away. The air tasted stale as he drew it into his lungs.

The familiar feeling of pressure and cold convince him that he still lived. Risens lay flat on his stomach, his face resting on the cold, hard ground. Gingerly, fearful that his muscles wouldn’t respond or that his arms limbs wouldn’t bear the strain his pushed himself up. Rising to his knees, he squinted his eyes, peering into the darkness that surrounded him.

The ground was the first detail that came to light. The avalanche has wrenched him from his tenuous shelter, tossing him over the edge of the precipice. The pain in his shoulders, while localized and distinct was lost amid the wash of dull agony. He rubbed his hand against his shoulder feeling the tears in the fabric but no wounds on his skin.

His clothing was in shambles. There were no edges that weren’t frayed, rips and tears riddled the garments as if he had been stabbed repeatedly all over his body. The backpack that carried his supplies was gone. He dusted himself off as he rose to to his feet, stretching out the soreness from his muscles.

 That he was alive, he was certain, though how he lived and where he had landed were a mystery. Without thinking, his hand brushed the hilt of the talon, the blade that had severed Orio’s hand. The feel of the feathered hilt was familiar. He had thrown the weapon understanding full well that it would return to its home within its sheath.

That neither insults, laughter, nor an insatiable thirst for bloodshed rang through his mind was shocking. The silence was alarming.

He stood on a flat surface paved by wide stone tiles. There were no torches or mageLights to illuminate darkness of the space. High above, a long, jagged strip of sky slashed through darkness. A wide shaft of light stabbed downward at an angle so that it only struck the upper portion of the impossible heights that stretched over his head. He had no way to confirm his guess but he expected the opening was thousands of meters above his head. 

Though the light only struck the upper section of one of the walls, its glow was bright enough to illuminate much of the chamber before him. The man made tiles stretched out in a long, straight line that in either direction. Ahead, the gap narrowed, the natural faces of the sheer cliffs constricted though where they met was obscured by the shadows. To his rear the distance between the mountain widened gradually until both the sides vanished into darkness. There was no end in sight.

Risens rotated slowly scouring the chamber of any details beyond the rough natural wall and stone tiles. The light that filtered down from above was bright enough to illuminate the floor, the undisturbed coating of dust beyond where his body had lay illustrated that nothing had traversed this hidden crevice for ages. Along the edge of the cliff a wide pile of snow stretched up into a cone a few meters above his head. Several fat snowflakes floated in the air. Far overhead, nothing more than miniscule smudges against the blue firmament overhead, he watched a flock of birds circle, floating serenely on the wind. From this distance, it was impossible to tell what they were.

Seeing the snow, his confusion mounted. The avalanche had dragged him over the edge yet the accumulation was only a tiny fraction of the deluge that pummeled him. There was no chance that he’d fallen this whole way and survived. The stinging pain, the sensations of claws, or more appropriately, talons against his skin made sense. He didn’t just fall into this cavern at random.

He was delivered here.

The peculiarity of his arrival aside, her felt nothing amiss about the cavern. In fact, quite the opposite, the space imparted a regal sense of natural beauty and strength that he’d only experienced in one other place.

The Roost.

Hundreds of miles separated him from the Raven’s Court and the Shrine of the Appraiser. He failed to see how the two could be connected.

With only two ways to proceed, he chose to wander along the center of the pathway toward the wider section of the crevice. With the loss of his supplies, finding a means of egress would be a greater importance before long. Even with his skill set, strength and endurance, the vertical cliffs were not something he could scale. 

It only took a few dozen paces for him to reach the end of the cavern. Though the walls on either side of the central paved track were disguised in the shadows, the wall of boulders blocking the path was clear as it a massive landslide has sealed off the chamber in ages past.

Shaking his head at his mounting annoyance he headed back in the opposite direction. Following the clear path, the disturbances of his feet on the dusty surface he retraced his path, stepping over the clear form of where his body was sprawled out on the floor. Passing the pile of snow he continued following the dimly illuminated walkway onward.

The narrowing of the ravine gave off an alarming sensation. It was as if the wall themselves were moving, trying to crush him where he walked. From the width at the opposite end where the chamber was blocked it continued forward until at last, he could see the end.

The two walls pinched together forming a flat surface that ran vertically until it disappeared into the darkness above. Risens stopped a dozen meters from the end, his eyed tracking to the floor of the cavern. The straight ling of the paved surface of neatly inset stones stopped as it formed a large ring that stretched out to meet the narrowing walls. The surface inside the feature was natural in construction though it was far from unblemished.

A wide marking of char covered much of the floor. Beneath the dark smudge, the rough natural stone of the mountain was smooth. As if it was super-heated until it turned into liquid before cooling rapidly, it spread out from a central focal point like ripples on water. Still, the liquified stone did little to cover the cracks that radiated outward.

Something had struck the ground here with terrifying force. Hard enough to shatter the very mountain and hot enough to turn stone to liquid. Risens kneeled, placing his hand on the smoothed stone.

The air in the crevice was chilly yet the stone was warm to the touch. It felt as if he was running his hand over perfectly smoothed marble. A shooting pain hammered into his chest tossing him back from the stone circle as if he was kicked through the air by a colossal force. His sternum felt bruised as if what had cracked the rock of the crevice did the same to his chest. He gasped for air as he hit the ground, sliding to a stop on the paved pathway.

The agony shifted, feeling almost like the strange knitting of bones that Tawny had performed on him just the other day. This time, the pain blossoming from inside paled when compared to the searing agony on his upper chest.

It was an excruciating discomfort He had come to relish and accept for he knew the purpose and the cause.

Another Brand was now added to the other on his chest.

Still laying where he had some to a stop, Risens patted gently at the raised markings. He withdrew his hands quickly as the heat that radiated through his clothing was still startlingly hot. The voice that boomed in his ears froze his hands in motion. It was forceful and ominous as always, yet there was a surprising hint of something more to the sounds.

This was the beginning. Hidden away from the prying eyes of those who would seek to usurp its glory for their own means. You will be tested. There will be no second chances. Fail and all will have been for naught. All you have accomplished to this point you have done on you own. You are not alone.

Risens opened his mouth to question though he clamped it shut just as quickly. He knew he would receive no answers. The voice, while still overbearing had sounded somehow different this time. It was almost as if a touch of reverence was infused with his thundering tones.

As the words echoed in his skull, the distinct sounds of shuffling motions reached his ears. They were not constructs of a mind still reeling from the overbearing tone and volume of the mysterious voice. These were tangible, belonging to something, or something’s with shape of form.

High above the birds still circled, watching his plight from the winds high above.