He must have noticed the doubt in my eyes, for he scowled
as he spoke. "Is what I claim so difficult to believe, Captain? Dost thou not
use the stars to guide your ship? Is that so different from one who uses the
stars to guide his life?" His voice lowered to a whisper. "'Tis no legend that
the Heavens foretold the coming of Mondain, his apprentice Minax, and their
offspring Exodus. Thrice have comets ignited Britannia's skies; thrice have
they heralded an Age of Darkness!"
"Take them, and thou shalt be free," he repeated.
The second shard slid from the stone.
"Avenge me, Johne."
With the hiss like steel honed against stone, the third
shard was freed.
"Avenge us."
'Twas not one person, but a triad who uttered those final
words. The mage had been joined by a woman, her expression as cold as sculpted
stone, and another, a thing neither human nor beast, but whose skull glowed
with a fire forged from hell.
I stumbled away from those specters, the crystal shards
clasped tightly to my chest, and as I finally unleashed the scream that had
been swelling in my lungs, I awoke next to the remains of our campfire.
|