Six of Ruin (Heirs of Irenwell #1)

The moment we left the Spirit territory everything changed. The warm, mild air shifted to merciless, biting cold. The green fields switched to ice-covered flat terrain that spread as far as the eye could see.

There was nothing on the ice, no trees, no buildings, not even rocks sticking out of the ground. The mountains of the Spirit territory stood forgotten behind us, turning smaller and smaller the further we went.

The vastness frightened me. There was no cover, nowhere to hide. Cold burned through the soles of my boots, through the robe that hugged my body. It bit my face, my eyes, my lungs.

We’ve been moving across the ice for three days without rest.

Nickeltinker was handling it the worst. His body wasn’t made to endure such cold. He coughed all through the night and spent the day being carried by Frank.

I was a close second in this how-close-to-death-are-you competition. Danilo and Rixen seemed pretty unbothered by the cold, but they were hungry. We were all hungry. Despite having been warned multiple times to take food from the town of Dahn, the fire took us by surprise and we barely bought anything.

Ace coughed his lungs out next to me. We were slightly behind the group.

“Are you alright?” I glanced at his bare feet. “Why aren’t you ever wearing any footwear?”

Ace wiped his runny nose, “I need to stay in touch with the elements. It makes me feel the magic.”

Rixen turned his head, “Our mage just might die of old age before we reach our destination.”

Danilo smirked. Torvald let out a throaty laugh.

“Oh, suck my cock, shadowman!” Ace shouted, then immediately coughed some more.

“I thought you’d be more durable.” I mumbled.

The mage sighed, “I’m old, Irina.”

“How old exactly?”

“I’m turning 793 this winter.” Ace answered.

My eyes widened, “You said you were seven hundred years old! That’s almost eight hundred. Are you lying about your age, wizard?”

Ace’s eyes narrowed to slits, “Shut up.”

“Seven hundred and ninety three,” I did the math in my head, “You were twenty-two during the War of Men.”

It seemed impossible. The man next to me, one to whom I’ve repeatedly told to go fuck himself, was older than the human reign.

“I was a young mage back then.” Ace said. “My magic hasn’t even blossomed properly. My entire family died in that war.”

“I’m sorry.” I muttered. “Humans can be assholes.”

“All species can be assholes.” The wildness in Ace’s green eyes calmed down and I wondered what he saw when he looked at the world.

He witnessed kingdoms collapsing and species dying. One could understand how something like that could turn him into a cold-hearted bastard that now stood in front of us.

“What Soterios said back on the wall...” I took in a breath, cold sliding down my throat, “He said your time was running out but it didn’t have to. What does that mean?”

Ace kept on staring ahead, “Ir-kaal is a different plane, more powerful than ours, or even aether. Some say if you harness the power of Ir-kaal, you can reach true immortality.”

My eyes snapped at him, “Is that what Soterios wants? To become immortal?”

“The longer you live, the more you fear death.” Ace shrugged. “Soterios is some four hundred years younger than me, but he’s already afraid.”

“Is it possible to reach true immortality?” I asked.

“No one’s ever done it.”

I eyed him, “Have you ever thought about trying?”

“Every man thinks about it sooner or later.” Ace’s voice did not change, but the colour of his eyes turned bluer, sadder.

I’ve never thought about getting old. Then again, I was nineteen, I had barely realised I was alive. Perhaps when one reached a certain age, one simply wanted to be young again.

“Some say the gods are just mages that managed to reach true immortality.” Ace continued, but whatever else he wanted to say got lost in another fit of cough.

For the first time, what I saw next to me wasn’t a powerful mage, but an old man whose time was running out. Perhaps this journey was his last battle cry; the last moment of victory before he crumbled into nothing, before time ate him up just like it did the rest of us.

My voice turned gentler, “You should let Frank carry you. You might freeze to death otherwise and we still need you.”

Ace listened without complaint, which I found odd, and climbed on the warthog right behind sleeping Nickeltinker.

By twilight, air turned even colder, but we didn’t have the luxury of stopping. For all we knew, Soterios was still behind us, slowly but steadily reaching us. His main element was fire, which meant he could easily warm up his soldiers.

I found it funny how three days ago we ran from the fire like it was the most terrifying thing in the world and we’d kill for a flame right about now.

“What the hell happened at the Tower, anyway?” The cloth covering Danilo’s mouth muffled his voice.

“It seems that there are still shadowmen lurking in the Spirit territory.” Rixen answered. “But I didn’t recognise any of them.”

“Have you ever even met your people?” I ran around them, trying to warm myself, which I doubted was a good idea, but there was nothing else to do.

Rixen shook his head, “The only other shadowman I knew was my mother.”

“Guys,” Danilo took down the cloth covering his mouth, “What the hell is that?”

I squinted in the direction his finger was pointing at, “What? I don’t see anything.”

Rixen halted, “Something is burning.”

Then I saw it. In the distance, right above the horizon line, in the deep darkness, orange-red light glimmered seemingly up in the air. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I realised it wasn’t in the air exactly, it was a mountain, and the peak was covered with fire.

“Is that a burning mountain?” I asked.

“No.” Danilo walked ahead. “That’s not a mountain, it’s a volcano. Bastia is full of them. And the thing burning up on the peak isn’t fire, it’s lava.”

Upon squinting some more, I noticed the fire wasn’t behaving like regular fire; it was sliding down the mountain, oozing over the rocks.

“Ace, wake up!” Rixen shouted.

The mage almost fell off the warthog, “What? What? Goddamn, I was dreaming of that nymph from the Spirit territory!”

“There’s a burning mountain in front of us.” I mumbled.

“Oh, good!” Ace wiped the snot off his face. “We’ve reached our ride.”

Confusion danced on our faces, but we were all too tired to ask any questions. I would consider a friend anything that managed to get us across the Frozen Sea.

By the time we’ve reached the mountain, the night had completely fallen. The Star of Orath had risen completely, casting its light all over the ice-covered wasteland, causing the ground to shimmer.

The black volcano contrasted the white-silver surroundings. Glowing Red and orange liquid oozed through the peak of the volcano, over the black rock like syrup. The ice around the mountain melted, revealing warm, gentle dirt.

The black, steep mountain was menacing enough without the liquid fire sliding down its sides. I welcomed the heat, though, and enjoyed the sudden burning against my cheeks.

Nickeltinker dropped from the warthog and lied down flat on the ground, “It’s warm!”

“We should rest.” Ace said. “We will probably have to wait for a while.”

“What are we waiting for?” Danilo asked, he was already chewing on the leftover boar.

“Our ride.” Ace stood next to me. “Princess, I hope you haven’t lost my vial.”

For a moment my mind went blank.

“Oh!” I remembered and dug through my satchel. “It’s here.”

The liquid inside changed colour into glowing red and orange.

“Are you telling me somebody lives here?” I whispered as I handed the vial to him.

“Don’t judge, Princess.” Ace unscrewed the lid on the vial and chugged it in one go.

Nothing happened.

“What now?” Danilo chewed on his boar next to me.

We all stared at the mage.

Ace frowned, “Stop looking at me, it’s making me feel self-conscious.”

And then he collapsed. We leaped towards him as one, but his body already dropped on the ground with a heavy thud.

“What now?” Panic laced Danilo’s voice.

“Uh...” Rixen rubbed the back of his neck. “We trust that he knows what he’s doing?”

Danilo and him dragged the mage to the ice-free ground and put a coat under his head. Frank lay next to him, warming him up with his body.

“Is he dead?” Nickeltinker hopped around, trying to warm himself. “How are we going to get back if he dies?”

“Let’s just wait.” I sighed.

Moments ticked away.

“So,” Rixen mumbled. “Does anyone trust this unconscious mage?”

“No.” Danilo fired immediately.

“No way.” I agreed.

“I like him, but I wouldn’t turn my back to him.” Nickeltinker added.

Danilo sat on the ground, “He tied us with magical vines, I don’t think he’s sane.”

“Oh, I think he’s sane.” I commented. “That’s what worries me.”

Nickeltinker crawled over to the mage and began staring at the mage’s face, “Do you think he can hear us?”

“I hope not.” Danilo opened the bottle lid. “Because I stole his liquor.”

We moved slightly away from the mage, leaving him unconscious next to the warthog, and sat in a circle. The ground was warm enough under the volcano and the rock itself seemed to emit heat, which gave us enough comfort to enjoy are meal.

I munched on the boar, not particularly enjoying the taste of old meat, but welcoming the food filling my stomach. I was so hungry that this old boar might have been the best meal I’ve had in my life.

“To tell you the truth,” Danilo handed the liquor to me, “I’m afraid he’s going to leave us behind, or kill us, or worse.”

Nickeltinker brushed that right off, “He wouldn’t kill us. He likes us!”

“How do you know that?” I squinted.

“He would have already killed us if he didn’t like us.” Nick shrugged.

“I don’t think he’s going to leave us behind or kill us.” Rixen said, his glance escaping to the bundle of coats keeping Ace warm and the warthog soundly sleeping next to him. “Not if he can still use us.”

During all the running and fighting, I forgot what happened in the Spirit territory and how Ace flat-out threatened to tell everyone about my magic if I didn’t do what he said.

The problem was, Ace has never said what he wanted and I was left in the dark.

I wanted to tell Rixen. I wanted to tell everyone, but I couldn’t without uncovering my own secrets in the process. So I kept my mouth shut and only shared what I thought could help me.

“He’s lying to us.” I said.

All eyes set on me.

“What did you figure out?” Rixen sounded eager to know and I felt bad for keeping this from him.

We were supposed to scheme together, but there I went scheming on my own.

“Nothing much.” My fingers squeezed the bottle. “But he’s not just some insane mage who lost his grip on reality. He wants something, and I think it goes beyond Soterios and the spell in Orathia.”

Danilo leaned forward, “He seems convinced King Bernard is behind all of this.”

“But he doesn’t have any evidence.” Rixen said. “I mean, I’m the first who’s going to accept blaming Bernard for everything, but what does he really know?”

“That somehow Soterios found out we weren’t crossing the Northern Ocean by ship.” I shrugged. “And he thinks it’s King Bernard who told him.”

“That’s just circumstantial.” Rixen shook his head. “There has to be more. Why would he think King Bernard is behind this?”

“King Bernard hasn’t even mentioned Orathia or the spell in Orathia before the cultists showed up.” Danilo nodded hastily, eager to absolve King Bernard of any blame.

“He’s not telling us everything.” I handed the bottle to Rixen without taking a sip. “It’s like there’s a chunk of the story missing.”

“We don’t know anything.” Danilo said, becoming chattier than usual, which I ascribed to the liquor. “All we know is that we’re risking our lives to unlock some damn magical plane.”

“Lock.” Rixen corrected him. “The spell in Orathia locks Ir-kaal.”

I glanced at him.

“Haven’t they locked it five hundred years ago?” Nickeltinker finally got his hands on the bottle and chugged greedily. “Does Ir-kaal spontaneously unlock on its own?”

My eyes widened.

“Who knows?” Danilo waved away. “Magic is insane.”

On their own, Ace’s words emerged in front of my eyes.

What did I tell you, Princess? I’ve been evil once or twice before.

Rixen’s gaze settled on me like he immediately felt my tension.

“The spell unlocks.” I murmured, my eyes gliding across the dirty ground. “The spell in Orathia unlocks Ir-kaal.”

Rixen’s concerned voice rang in my ears, “Irina? What is it?”

“What are you talking about?” Nick asked.

“Ace said he created the spell in Orathia two hundred years before he needed it.” I swallowed my heartbeat. “He didn’t create it simply to lock Ir-kaal. He created the spell to control the entrance to Ir-kaal. And I think, and I might be wrong, but I think someone unlocked the plane in the meantime.”

“I’m lost.” Nick mumbled.

“Alright.” A frustrated sigh fell off my lips. “So, five hundred years ago the three original kings locked the plane of Ir-kaal and sealed the spell in Orathia. Now, we’re going over there to do the same thing.”

“Why would you need to lock already locked door?” Rixen chuckled.

“They unlocked it in the meantime!” Excitement flooded my veins. “And I think it was King Bernard who did it. I think he wanted to harness the power of Ir-kaal!”

My voice dropped quickly, “I think Ace wants it, too.”

“Did someone say my name?” The mage appeared like a shadow over us, his eyes narrowed to slits, burning even angrier than the lava.

We got up quickly and stepped away from him on instinct.

But the mage’s lips curled upwards, “Ir-kaal is the most dangerous and the most powerful plane in our existence. It’s filled with unpredictable, vile magic. What does a king do with such a place?”

Silence enveloped us.

“A king uses it.” Ace answered his own question. “To give credit where credit is due, for the most of human reign, humans wouldn’t touch magic. They thought it was evil. But there’s always one greedy king that doesn’t mind evil if it means he’ll get more power. In this case, we had three greedy kings.”

“What are you talking about?” I spat, suddenly feeling sick to my stomach.

Ace smiled, almost like he was proud to disclose this secret, “Twenty five years ago, King Bernard asked me to unlock the plane of Ir-kaal so he could harness its magic.”

“Wait a moment,” Rixen jumped in before I could process Ace’s words, “King Bernard wouldn’t be able to open the seal without the rest of the royal blood.”

“Did I say he was alone?” Ace’s gaze quickly fell on Rixen, only to return to me once again. “The last Orathian King helped him. And so did your father, Princess.”

I took a step back. No.

“He wouldn’t.” A humourless laugh fell off my lips. “He hated magic. He would want nothing to do with it.”

“That’s what he wanted you, and the rest of your pathetic people, to think.” Ace smirked.

I was about to say something nasty when a loud, deep, animalistic roar shook the ground and air around us.