Free The Written by Ben Galley Page A

that fast before,’ Farden took a moment to
swear and then coughed again, seeking the refuge of the other comfy
chair by the fire. The vampyre followed him and watched him slump
into the armchair.
    ‘You’ve been gone for almost
week, we were starting to get anxious,’ he said. His friend was
still struggling to get his breath back. ‘Farden hold still.’
Durnus spread his thin fingers over the mage’s forehead and the
tired man went rigid. Farden’s eyes shook while his vision burst
into colour and vibrated with energy. The vampyre quickly removed
his hand and the mage shook his head, blinking and wriggling his
jaw experimentally. Farden squinted and twitched with the
electricity of the strong spell. ‘That felt, incredible… why’ve you
never done that before?’ He looked as though he were keeping watch
on his nose as he tried to focus on the dancing lights in his
eyes.
    ‘Jolting the brain like that
too many times can kill a man. Even one as strong as you.’ Durnus
looked at his old friend. Mud, twigs, scrapes and wounds covered
Farden’s back and shoulders, his cloak was ripped to shreds and the
sword dangled almost free in the loose strap around his back. Blood
oozed from several wounds, some fresh, some old, and his face was a
mess of stubble and bruises. He looked as if he had been dragged
backwards through a forest and a river, thought Durnus, but at
least he was still alive. Farden had regained his breath thanks to
the spell and most of the colour had returned to his cheeks, but he
still had deep black bars under his eyes and his dark hair was a
bedraggled muddle.
    ‘I have news.’ Farden cleared
his throat again and leant back in the encapsulating chair.
    Durnus leapt back to his seat
with surprising agility for someone who appeared so old. ‘Well
let‘s get to it! What happened?’
    ‘Well I found Jergan on the
hills where you said he’d be, south of Beinnh,’ Farden paused for
another cough. ‘And, for a hermit, he wasn’t at all shy when it
came to trying to kill me. Anyway, in short, you were right, Jergan
and the Sirens found our book in the Tausenbar mountains before the
war, in an old elf stronghold, and thought they’d try and use it.
Jergan was one of the men who studied it, and with their wizards,’
he said wizards with a hint of superiority
in his voice, ‘they tried to cast some of the spells. Apparently
the book was some sort of dark elf summoning manual, for bringing
creatures over from the other side.’
    ‘They cast the spells in it?’ The vampyre was shocked.
    ‘That’s what Jergan said, and
for some reason I trust him. They went through it systematically
from cover to cover, and their wizards tested the daemons and
beasts on Skölgard prisoners. Jergan thinks that’s why someone
would steal the book, to get at the powerful beasts hidden in its
pages.’
    ‘But the Arka have fought
daemons and ancient beasts before, you were there five years ago,
when the minotaurs came out of the Efjar wastes? Why should this
book be any different?’
    ‘He said this book held one
spell that the dragon-riders feared so much they were never able to
cast it.’
    ‘What was it?’ Durnus entwined
his fingers in thought and stared at the fire.
    ‘They never found out… but it
was something that scared the Sirens and their dragons to death,
apparently a terrifying beast referred to as the “ mouths of darkness ” They were foolish,’ Farden shook
his head, trying to remember the lycan’s words.
    ‘Foolish indeed,’ the vampyre
watched flames lick at the wood and stone.
    Farden leaned forward. ‘Jergan
also mentioned that if somebody powerful enough were to attempt to
summon this thing, that...’
    ‘That they would need a great
source of magick… perhaps like one of the dark elf wells?’ guessed
Durnus.
    ‘Exactly,’ the mage smiled at
his friend’s intuition.
    ‘As far as I know, the last one
we found was near Arfell, north of the library and several