The Linax

First person story written in the medieval times about a man who accidentally kills his brother and has to do a quest to be released from prison.

I

The sound of a loud clang wakes me up. Opening my eyes, I look around confused as to where I am. Stonewalls surround me with water dripping down in the corner with a metal doorway in front of me. After failing to move my arms, I notice that they are locked into sockets.

“Seraph!”

I recognize that voice. Looking up, standing before me is the only man that has always been there for me, my father. Behind him stands a large burly man, a guard who must work in these barren cells. Father slowly walks over to me with a glum expression covering his face.

“What came across you to do such a thing,” he asks. He believes  that I had killed my younger brother, the reason that I am in this god-forsaken place. Nobody knows the story, though.

Thousands upon thousands of people swing swords in every direction. It was a full on war. Blood was being shed all around. The only sound that was heard was the clanging of swords and the screams of the victims of those swords. I was in a tower picking people off from above. Surveying the area I spot my victim, I draw my bow back and line up to my target. A vast man who is in the middle of swinging his battle-axe about to strike somebody down. The arrow makes a whooshing noise as it flies off my bow. As it slices through the air, I can see a man running from the left side out of the corner of my eye. I scream out for him to stop, but to avail. The sound of the thunk pierces my skull. That man was an ally, but even worse, he was my brother. My only brother. My original target is struck from behind as soon as my brother falls. I try to run over to my only sibling, but am pulled back as I hear my name called. Everything else was a blur.

My brother was not my intended target, father. I was aiming for another. Aldwin unexpectedly ran from my left straight into my arrow. You should know that I would not have intentionally shot him.”

As I say, this I think about what I just said. I have never missed a single shot, and the first time that I do results in my older brother Aldwin’s death. I fight back tears as I look into my father’s eyes.

“I do not know what to believe at the moment,” he says. “There have been many different stories as to what happened and I do know that you have a special talent when it comes to precision. I did put you into that contest at such a young age after all, son. But none of that matters, you may have been wrongfully accused, but there is no proof. However, the king has an offer.” My eyes widen and my heart begins to thump.

“Whatever it takes, I will do it. As long as it gets me out of here, of course.”

As I say this, more footsteps echo off the wall and King Alistair appears. He has known me ever since the marksman contest. He had been so impressed that he took my family in and gave us a place to live and a job for each of us. My family was pretty poor and barely got by prior to this so I owe him greatly. The older I got, the higher up in the ranks I got. At the tender of 21 years old, I became the lead bowman under his control. I was just a young boy with short blonde hair and a slender figure at the time. Three years have passed since then. Now, my hair was down to my shoulders and I had filled out. Throughout those years, I had gone on quests serving the king in return for gold. There were many stories made of me. Some myths, some not.

King Alistair comes over to me with a key and unlocks my chains. He tells me to sit down as he gives me some food and water. As I begin to eat, the king begins to give me the offer, “Seraph, you have been locked up for killing your brother in combat. It could have been accidental, but that does not matter. However, I have an offer for you. A chance to get out of here and have your life back.”

I look up to him and ask what that offer is.

“My daughter, Adelina has disappeared. The last time that she was seen was dinnertime five moons ago. There has been a rumor that she was taken by a man donned in all black and eyes the color of blood. He brought her to the Shadowed Mine. There have been many accusations of this same thing actually. Over the past few weeks, there have been three people taken apparently. If you can retrieve these three people, I will reward you with freedom, 20,000 gold, and you can become my right hand.”

I think of what he just said, the Shadowed Mine, abandoned long ago. There have been many stories about it. People say there are monsters that fill in the multiple passages that make up the mine. However, nobody has ever come out of it alive.

I ponder on the question, “Say, if I make it out alive without all three people, how will I be rewarded?”

The King listens and responds saying that I will get less gold. I think about it until I come to conclusions that it is my only hope, my only escape from this cell. I look up into the King Alistair’s eyes and accept not knowing what I was about to get into.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

II

            I shiver and frost blows out of my mouth, seeing my own breath. The sharp wind pierces through my leather armor and the fur cloak that conceals it. Torches light up the darkness that surrounds me and the three guards who escort me to the mine. I am equipped with my handcrafted longbow, fifty arrows, a steel dagger, and a knapsack filled with enough food and water for a week, and torches. Once close enough to the entrance to the forbidden place, I see the door, pieces of rotten wood poking out in all directions. The sound of water dripping from the stones hanging overhead the rotten door fills my eyes. It falls at a rhythm. Drip. Two seconds of silence. Drip. Drip. Layers of spider webs cover part of the door. A furry spider, the size of a penny, crawls to the middle of the web and feasts upon something wrapped up in its web. Another spider, identical to the one on the web, crawls over to it. So does another. And another. Until there are eleven spiders that are in the shape of the letter X.

            As soon as my hand grasps the handle of the door and I walk through, a shiver runs through my body. A feeling of anxiety comes across me, for the first time in my life. Something is wrong, but before I can do anything, a loud slam is heard and a breeze hits my back. The door. I turn around and bang it, but after some time, I give up and decide to start my journey with anxiety running through my veins.

            As I take my first step, a sharp coldness rushes through my foot as it becomes submerged in a puddle. The water, a dark brown that matches the dirt coating the floor. After walking the narrow pathway that is about five paces wide, I come across a split.

I walk over to the passage on the right, but am unable to see anything. I turn around and head to the passage on the right. I can see a faint light in the distance. Without thinking, I start my walk, as if possessed by something.

After a couple of minutes of walking down the path, it becomes easier to see. I see something glowing. It seems to be some sort of large blue mushroom. The closer I get to it, the warmer it is. As I draw within eight paces of it, I stop. A quiet slither echoes behind, freezing me in my steps. Slowly turning around, I get a grip of my bow and position an arrow. I fully turn around and see it. A spider, the size of a bear. I have only heard of them. They were called Linax. Legends were of their deadly pose and and their venom, it is deadly as lava if applied to a vital body part. According to the legend, they are near extinct now. I did not know if I believed they were real, but it sounded reasonable compared to other things in this world. Two that I have seen, but not battled with are Mihanas, large scaly beings that resemble an alligator, but have the ability to walk and Cahoulis, small agile beings that resemble a beaver, but have silver fur that is as strong as steel and claws as sharp as the harshest dagger. I take a better look at is as I draw my arrow back, but the monster is quicker. The Linax spits out a gooey green substance aimed right at me. I dive to the right just in time my heart racing. I feel part of it brush my left arm. Instantly, I feel a sharp pain rush throughout my arm. With no time to examine, I aim my arrow at the beast and release. A loud screech echoes across the mine’s walls and the Linax falls. An arrow is wedged between its eight eyes. Dead. I collapse and everything goes dark.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

III

            I wake up to the coldness of water. I slowly rise to take in my surroundings. I am between the entrance to the abandoned mine and the dead Linax. Icicles, the size of a human hangs from the ceiling with water dripping off. I judge the cavern to be about thirty paces wide and twenty paces long with the mushrooms I saw earlier spread all over the walls.

I slowly walk over to the beast to retrieve my arrow. Sliding it out, I see it covered with green goo. This reminds me of my arm. I look over to see a burn spread all over my left bicep with a bit of green noticeable on the wound. A faint sizzling noise is present too. It must be some sort of poison. Throwing my knapsack off my shoulder, I take out some water. As I pour the liquid onto the wound, it does nothing, only makes the burn stronger. Exasperated and in pain, I tear my gaze off my wound and make myself walk into the direction of the exit of the cavern, heading back to the split in the passage.

Once I get back to where I was earlier, I look behind me. Only a faraway light is visible once again. As I look into the second passage, I see the same thing as before. Nothing. Shaking my head, I begin my trek, slowly becoming warmer the further I get.

As I am walking, thoughts swirl in my head. My life and those of three others are on the line. They are in my hands, if they are even still alive. I begin to feel a sense of isolation. I am all alone in the darkness, trying to navigate my way through the mine while giant spiders try to kill me.

Breaking me from my thoughts, I begin to hear a crawling sound above me and to my sides. Must be more Linax. As I walk forward, the louder the sounds get. A high-pitched noise begins as well. The voice of a girl screaming. That voice, it is Adelina, the king’s daughter! I could hear fear in her voice. The crawling speeds up as I begin to break into a sprint. My feet, moving swifter than ever before, suddenly begin to slow. I feel a wet substance under my feet, slowing me a considerate amount. I push through, each step harder and making my heart pound faster than before. Then, I begin to sink at a rapid pace. As I begin to feel the mud against my chest, a loud noise echoes through the tunnel, the sound of footsteps. They become louder and louder and suddenly, a hand grasps my left arm.  A sharp pain rushes through me and I feel the arm become much weaker. I yell out, “Other arm!” He must have heard me as he lets go of my hand instantly. Because of that action, I begin to start sinking again. As the mud gets to about my neck, I feel the same firm grip grasp my right arm. There is no way he could pull me out of this. As soon as I think this, he begins to stuff a rope into my hand. Then everything goes black as I pass out once again.

 

 

 

 

 

IV

Waking up, I realize that I am out of the mud, but covered head to toe with it. “That was close,” a deep voice says.

I look around in search of the voice and find it. A torch lights up the man’s face showing his dark skin and black hair that falls to his shoulders with a hint of grey in it. His face, wrinkles apparent with eyes the same color as his hair. He looks like he has seen much in his life. A seasoned veteran. He is wearing rags that cover his slim, but strong looking physique. He does not look to have anything on him.

Observing him, I realize he must be one of the three people I have to save. “How did you know�"“

“Shh, keep it down a bit. We don’t want to get any of those Linax’s attention do we?” I nod understanding and he continues, “I was walking down this very path when I heard someone so I ran and saw you here. I hesitated at first, but decided to save you nonetheless.”

“Were you one of the three people that have been brought here?”

“Three people? Oh no, I have a bad feeling about this. But no, I have not seen anyone, when was this?”

“Over the past few weeks, two other people not including you have been captured and seen enter here. But what are you worried about?”

“It is a long story.”

“We have time, plenty of it.”

“Well, I was at my forge smelting some iron for a sword when I was hit in the head by something really hard. Probably the hilt of a sword or something. The next thing I knew, I was suspended in the air by a massive web.”

“What was the room like?”

“He was dressed in black from head to toe so I could not see anything besides his eyes. They were blood red. The room, bones scattered all over the floor and blood splattered on the walls. It was a horrendous sight. And I was suspended in a giant web in the center of the room.”

“About how big was this room?”

“Near two paces all around. Why?”

            “Just trying to get a clear picture. Now, were there any passages on the sides? How did you escape?”

“Three different paths. Well, really one because one passage was where I watched five linax running and the other had a door which was locked. And I managed to escape because they heard something and sprinted in that direction.”

“So, that was the sound? I only just heard the sounds of something crawling all around me. It all makes sense now. When I heard the sound of a high pitched scream, the sounds of the crawling started�"“

“Then I started running this way and found you stuck in the mud.” I broke into a smile. But he still had a glum expression on his face, which reminds me of something he spoke of earlier.

“Why again were you worried? You forgot to answer,” I ask softly, not wanting to push him.

He looks up, with the look of somebody that is on the verge of losing his mind, “I heard someone talking. I assume the same man that brought me here. Talking to himself I believe.” he was talking about how he needs three more person to continue the ritual.

            “What did this man look like? What was he saying?”

            “He was dressed from head to toe in all black. All you could see were his eyes, blood red�"“

            “That is the same man that was reported to stealing the three people.

What was he saying?”

The man looks away not sure if he wants to share the information, but then does. “I could hear him muttering something along the lines that he he needs three more people to continue the ritual.”

“Anything else?”

“No, he ran with the linax when they heard the same noise you must have heard.”

I couldn’t believe what I heard. “Wait, he was with the Linax that entire time?”

“Yes, he was just walking around them. He seemed to be getting samples from them or something.”

“Samples? As in of their goo?” I ask him. It must be the same goo that burnt my arm.

“Yes, he would put the green goo inside of these little bottles. He must have about two dozen samples.”

I glance down at the ground, playing with the dirt. So, why would he need so many samples. Does he plan to do something with them? I look up at the man. “This just does not make any sense. A ritual. Three people. And now he is getting samples of goo from all of these Linax. Any idea what this is all about?”

The man shakes his head and starts to get up. He walks over to me when he notices the burn on my arm and reaches out to inspect it. I quickly move it away. “This is the arm that you did not want me to grab earlier, isn’t it?”

I nod my head in response. “Earlier in the tunnel, I got into a little fight with a Linax. As I was not quick enough to react, the beast hit landed some of its spit on my arm as I was diving. I quickly followed that attack with an arrow between its eyes. I fell asleep shortly after, I believe because of the goo. It must be some sort of poison that knocks people and burns.”

He motions for me to move to him. I do so. “I cannot believe we have not introduced ourselves. My name is Seraph, and you?”

The man chuckles, “Ralon.”

“How did you come about that name, Ralon?” I question, as I walk over to him.

He looks at my arm inspecting getting distracted for a moment, but responds, “It’s a long story. Another time perhaps.” As he says this, I can see his face become darker. I don’t press on the matter and just let him inspect my arm.

“This doesn’t look good. Can you use your arm properly?” He questions, maybe to break the tension.

“Yes, but it seems to be getting weaker. Especially after the incident back there. That yank sure did bother it.” I feel a tingling in my arm as I say this.

“Sorry about that. Anyway, we should get going. We need to get out of this place.”

I look at him, “Wait, but don’t you want to help me save the rest of these people?”

“I would, but I need to back to my forge. Don’t want to lose me business.”

“Alright, do you know the way back?”

“I think I can figure it out if you give me the general direction.”

I get up and lead him back from where I came from.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

V

            After a few minutes of walking, the sound of crawling becomes apparent and come to a stop. “Linax,” I mutter. “I can hear a dozen of them. We ought to turn back”

            “You’re right, let go.”

            I turn back and we go back in the direction of our camp. Along the way, the sound of the Linax become fainter and fainter.

“Does not seem like they are following us. Bless the gods,” Rolan utters.

I nod and we continue along the path.

Now, back at our base, I spot a passage on the far end. We decide to follow it. A few minutes in, a voice screams.

“Who was that?” my companion questions, loud enough to be heard of the constant whaling.

It was a voice I could not recognize, “Not a clue, but it seems to be coming from the same place that I heard the scream from earlier. A different voice, though. This one is male, while the last feminine.”

            “So, those two are together. That isn’t good. If this has anything to do with the ritual, that would mean he has the perfect amount. That is, if he captures us.” Rolan quickly states.

            We continue to walk, slowly this time, listening carefully for anything. The sound of the screaming quiets. Neither of us speak for a few minutes. This quickly changes as the sound of the familiar crawling begins. This time, really loud. They must be close. Really close.

I grasp Rolan “Stop, quit for a second.” I give him my torch and take my bow off my back very quietly. The crawling gets rowdier. It is coming from behind us. My heart begins to beat rapidly. Rolan taps my shoulder, “This isn’t good, I think those are the same Linax we heard earlier. They must have been following us quietly.” Agreeing, I take out my dagger and hand it to him just in case.

Suddenly, multiple red eyes shine in the darkness. I instantly shoot, hearing the thunk of the arrow as it slices directly into one of the eyes. Pulling out another arrow, I release. Hitting another. And another. It is not enough, though. More and more of them keep showing up. Realizing we cannot take them all out and it is only time when we get overrun, we break into a sprint. The sound of our footsteps blend in with the sounds of the demons behind us. There was no way we could outrun them. My heart was racing the speed of a horse. This may be the end. I failed. I let my father down. My king down. My brother down. Wait a second…

“Rolan! Throw your torch down! If these Linax are like spiders, they will be weak to the fire! It may give us a bit of time!”

He obediently listens and throws the torch down behind us. I turn around and see the demons cower for a few seconds. Enough time, though. We get a bit of time to distance ourselves away from them before they find their way around our obstacle. Out of nowhere, we get stopped. A sticky string like thing has caught us. It looks to be a giant spider web, blocking the path.

“The dagger! Rolan, use the dagger to cut through!” I scream, knowing this could be the end if he does not hurry.

He begins to cut, as do I with an arrow. I feel the urge to turn back, but know I cannot waste any time. Every second counts. I suddenly lose all feeling in my arm. My left arm. My right arm is stuck in the web already. I turn to Rolan, he is almost free. The Linax are gaining very quickly. I try to use my arm again, but with no luck.

            “Rolan, you need to hurry! My arm has lost feeling, I cannot free myself!” I scream, trying to get my voice heard over the sound of the Linax actions.

            He looks over and sees me stuck. “In just a second! I am almost free.” As soon as he gets the rest of his body free, he runs over to me starting to get me unstuck. The Linax are too close. I help him free my body the moment he gets my right arm unstuck from the web.

            I free myself, “Alright, lets go! They are right behind us!” We break into a sprint once again. The Linax getting ever so close. Maybe eight paces separate us. No space at all.

            The sound of a scream is heard. Adelina, very close. As the screaming gets louder, the Linax close the gap. Our bodies, now being drained of the adrenaline begin to slow. Fatigue starting to overtake us. We could not keep this up.

            Out of nowhere, we are walking on a different surface. Unable to see clearly because of the darkness, I could not make out what the floor was like. The only thing I could tell was that the ground was much rougher. Maybe gravel instead of the dirt that we had been running on. The passage seems to open, too. I could just notice the different instantly. We carry on though, not caring about the change.

            The room beings to lighten up, torches hanging in each corner of the cavern illuminating the place. Bones assembled all over the floor and the walls�"a dark red liquid nearly covered them, almost disguising the brown rocky surface. Blood.

            While running, I take a risk and take a look over my shoulder to see how close they were, but see one of the Linax directly above us instead. I look over at Rolan just as the demon hurls itself onto him. Right onto his body. The Linax strikes its fangs onto the man’s neck, releasing its green goo into him. I begin to take my bow out, but remember I could not use my left arm. Reaching into quiver, I grab an arrow, as sharp as a knife. Because the Linax is still on Rolan, I use this time to strike it. As I am in the middle of the strike, I hear a scream.

            “Ahia!”

Instantly, everything stops besides me. What was that? I ignore it for the second as I land my arrow into the demon, ending it. It falls off of Rolan, but that does not matter. He is long gone. His entire face has become green, followed by the rest of his body. Seeing him causes my heart to temporarily stop, but I break my gaze away from him in search of the rest of the spiders.

To the right of me, a group of about fifteen Linax were suspended from a giant web. Directly below him, a man was sitting in a wooden chair. He was dressed in all black, his eyes easily visible, which were blood red matching the walls perfectly. It was him. He was not alone, though. To his left, attached to a pole were two other people. One of them he recognized as Adelina, the other was a male. Must be the one who had been screaming. He looked to be about the same age as Rolan. His head was bare and his skin was almost as dark as the walls. He wore a long robe that seemed far too large for him. As I look at them, the man is running over to me. He gets to be about three paces from me when I get into position to counter whatever he has ready.

The man takes out a sword, he swings it back ready to strike me when I dive to my right just in time, feeling the breeze of the swords’ swing brush against me. I turn to counter with an arrow. He deflects my strike and swings back at me. This time, he makes contact, hitting the side of my chest. My armor takes the blow, though. The force of the hit does sends me to the ground. He strikes again. I roll to the side dodging his attack. I get up and run over to Rolan’s corpse. Getting the dagger from his hand, I turn around and instantly dive to the side as he attempts to strike again. This time, he hits nothing but air. I rush him, ready to make a deadly blow. He parries my attack, then counters. I am hit once again, this time in the face, by the hilt of his sword. My vision gets foggy and then everything goes black.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

VI

A cough wakes me causing me to look around. It was Adelina, she was dressed in rags much like Ralon was. Ralon, I completely forgot he was gone. Searching the area for him, I find nothing. He must have been taken out of the room. I don’t see the man in black, either. The other prisoner was here though, next to Adelina. They both have their feet locked up just like me. My armor is gone, leaving me in my cloak for protection and warmth.

 “Seraph?” Adelina says She has a surprised look on her face. We had always known each other ever since her father brought me out.

“Yeah, its me.”

“Why, why are you here? Were you taken as well?”

“No. I came here on a quest.” I respond. The mysterious man looks over.

“Quest? What quest?” he questions.

“To bring you all out from this mine, requested from the king.” I brief them about the quest and Ralon. I notice a needle laying next to my feet as I am talking.

“I have a plan. To get us out of here.” I say to them.

“Can we do anything to�"“ Adelina starts, but as she is about to finish we hear footsteps. Very slow but loud footsteps. I see the man in black walk in from a passage opposite us. Behind him follow multiple Linax, too many to count.

“Trust me.” I whisper over to the other prisoners and show them the needle. They nod.

“Who are you? You have ruined everything!” the man exclaims, obviously furious. I say nothing. As he is talking, I discreetly work on the lock at my feet. He walks straight up to me bending over and slaps me hard in the face, leaving a throbbing feeling almost causing me to almost lose grip of the needle. “I could kill the three of you right here, right now.” As he is talking, I notice the Linax climbing the wall. They form a web and align with each other, making a shape. The letter X, an indication that they are ready to fight according to the legend. I look back down at the man in black smiling.

“But you won’t. You can’t. You need us,” I say. I could not read his reaction to this because of his mask, but I could tell that he was surprised. I continue talking, “Yes, I know that you have a ritual. You need three people. Three specific people I assume. And now one of�"“ He begins to laugh, somehow amused by this

“Stupid boy. All I need is three people, it does not matter whom. You thought you were wise. You are not!” He laughed. I curse to myself, furious.

“I think that we are ready now. I can finally begin the ritual,” he exclaims. I finish picking the lock, but don’t make a move.

“Aki!” he yells. The linax begin to slowly lower themselves down from the ceiling, now covered in webs. Three of them come. One directly over each of us. Looking up into the one above me, I could see each and every detail of it. From the scaly red surface to the little spikes protruding from each of its many legs.

“This is where it begins!” the man exclaims laughing to himself. But too early. Before the Linax, makes contact with me, I throw the needle. The world seems to slow as the tool flies through the air. Slicing through the air, you could only hear the quiet buzz that it is making. After what seems like a century, the tool finds its target. It lodges itself right into the clueless man’s neck. Instantly, blood begins to spill causing me to spring up from my position. Just in time, too. The Linax tries to attach to me, but I dodge away running over to the man. I unsheathe his sword and sprint over to Adelina sinking the blade into the demon before it has a change to make contact. My Linax jumps at me as I do this causing me to fall. I look over at the other man in worry seeing the Linax closing in on him. I get up dodging my Linax’s attack and counter with a stab directly between its eyes. Turning around, I throw my sword at the other monster. As it travels through air, I find out it was too late. A scream pierces my ears right before I watch the sword meet its target in the Linax. I fall to my knees, devastated. Adelina retrieves the sword and walks over to the wounded man. She seemed to be questioning herself on whether she should kill him or not. But before I could say anything, I watch her stab the sword into the man’s chest finishing him. As this happens, I hear a strange sound echo through the place. The rest of the Linax fall from the ceiling, dead. I stay kneeling in that position for a few minutes. That is until I feel a hand touch my shoulder. I look back and we both just stay there for a minute. Taking everything in.

“What happened? How did all of the Linax just die?” Adelina asks softly as we start to get up.

“I do not know, but we should get out of here. We need to get back.” I respond. She nods and we start to walk out. Just before exiting the room, I see a book laying next to the man in black out of the corner of my eye. Picking it up, I see the name Marihni Tar written in the corner. I start to open it, but decide against. Maybe another time.

As we walk out of the mine, we mourn on our friends’ deaths.
            “Darwyn was a great guy. He worked on the farm, tending to the fields and was married with two children. A boy of eight years and a girl, nine. Going to be hard for them.” Adelina says softly.

I nod, I did not know the man too well, but she must have gotten to know him pretty well while imprisoned together.

“I got to know Ralon pretty well, too. I felt like I could trust him with anything after such a short amount of a time. Weird isn’t it?” I speak up.

 “Same with Darwyn.” Adelina nods.

“Your father would most likely not trust him right?” I tell her.

“I think I could have convinced him. He seemed to be a reasonable guy.” She counters smiling, knowing that I was only kidding.

The two of us arrive back at the castle safely, and I am rewarded with my life back plus a third of the gold promised due to only bringing one person back. I am praised in the streets for my quest and am begged to tell of the adventures in every tavern around. The fame dies down after some time, but I decide to leave the castle to continue my journey. I travel between towns completing numerous quests. But those are stories for another time.

           

 

Author's Note

First story I have ever written, I know that is not much detail, but I am working on that. Switching to third person for next story.