Ruler Skill: Sovereign’s Domain

  David felt a sharp pain in his chest like a fist squeezing his heart. His authority was being contended and he’d been warned. He pushed on, using brute force to widen his perception. He could have used his innate ability to sense things, but that wouldn’t give him a clear idea of what he was about to face. He let the pain flow through him instead of fighting the power keeping him in check. He reached outside into the darkness of the city’s night. Light sparkled from shops and roadside stands. People screamed out their wares or stopped to chat. There were so many people—noises to filter out. He had used the Sovereign domain twice. This was the third time. He still wasn’t sure how far he could reach, but he kept going until the pain was unbearable. Then he searched for them. They would stay in the dark, where they could hide from sight.

  “Twelve,” David said. “I don’t know how strong they are, but I think we can break through and escape. It won’t be easy but we can do it.”

  “I guess trouble came for us after all,” Carlos said.

  “Norm said they were shadows,” Elisha said, standing up. David put a hand up for him to wait. “What? I think I can fight them faster if I do it alone. I can carve out a path for the rest of you and follow behind.”

  David gestured to the people in the tavern. He hadn’t even thought of that when he used his skill earlier. How many of them had felt it? No one seemed worried or disturbed by it, but perhaps that was because Sovereign’s Domain used very little essence. Almost none. The spell was a subtle weave of essence to extend his perception.

  “These people,” David said. “We can’t alert them to what is about to happen. I think that’s why the temple of Balek is using shadows. We don’t know what lines we have to cross to drag the Watcher into this. I don’t think I want to see what happens when a Watcher intervenes.”

  Elisha sat down, still tense. The others looked to David, waiting for his plan. He tried to formulate something sophisticated in his head, then sighed, discarding it all. The objective was simple. They had to escape. They didn’t have to fight.

  “Elisha, how much cover can you project once we reach outside? You don’t need to do anything badass, just a blanket of darkness is fine so we can get a head start. Is that possible? You have to do that without blinding the ordinary people outside.”

  “Yes,” Elisha said. “Although, I think taking them out here is a better idea. We can reduce our enemies now or waste more time fighting them later.”

  David ignored him grumbling and gestured for Chloe to stand. He wanted to pull her close like he used to do but pulled away before she could reject his hold. Chloe moved over to Zoey and David ignored Gis’ eyes on him.

  “Once we are outside, everyone will have to fend for himself. I hope you guys can run. I don’t know how fas—” David turned sharply, stunned by the cold hands on his arm. The tiny boy beside him flinched, his tiny hands coming up to protect his face from a hit. David stared down at him. He fit right into the place. His clothes were filthy, loose at the shoulder. His hair had recently been cut by someone who had no business cutting hair for anyone.

  “You are the one they call The Ruler?” The boy asked, his voice a half-whisper. David frowned, contemplating the possibility of this child being one of Balek’s shadows. He wouldn’t be surprised if this was some kind of shadow spell. Although it would ruin him to kill a child, he wouldn’t hesitate if the child attacked him. But the boy did nothing. He seemed impatient though, looking from one face to the other as if searching for who his question was supposed to belong to.

  “Are you?” He asked again. “I have a message for the one called The Ruler. You have to tell me.”

  David nodded, ready to summon his sword. The voices in his head were eerily quiet. Even Vith. She hadn’t said a word for a while and it was becoming troubling.

  “Bless the Dark,” the boy whispered, relieved. “Master Kalmar said to tell you there is no time. You should follow me as fast as you can. You shouldn’t fight the army of shadows coming for you because that is a trap within the real trap. Will you come with me?”

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  David shook his head. “Why should we come with you? What’s your name?”

  “I don’t have a name, Lord Ruler. But you can call me Runner. That is what they all call me. And you should come with me. Master Kalmar is waiting with carriages.”

  “Runner, who is Master Kalmar?” David asked, relief washing away the tightness in his muscles. He was glad, most of all that he didn’t have to kill the kid. “Why did he send you to us?”

  “I run for coins, Lord Ruler,” The boy said. “I run for coin and food”:

  Which meant he knew nothing. David looked from the boy to the door. He had thought the shadows would come in, but their hesitation only confirmed what David thought. They didn’t want to ruin the Watcher’s perfect peaceful domain.”

  He had been working with the assumption that he was the only one worried about the Watcher, perhaps the Temple of Balek were scared too. It wasn’t a huge advantage, but he could see ways to exploit that.

  “What do you think, guys?” David asked, even though he knew they would follow whatever he decided.

  “Let’s go,” Zoey said. “Anything is better than staying in this hole.”

  True, David thought. The others seemed to agree with her too.

  “Lead the way,” David said to the boy and he turned on his heel and ran. David saw how he got his name. For a kid, he was fast. They followed him, not so close that they wouldn’t have the time to defend, but close enough.

  “Elisha, cover us once we break out,” David said and Elisha gave an affirming grunt. He felt eyes on them as they ran for the entrance. The music had stopped since Runner sprinted and now the chatter was dying out one after the other. But David and his people were out already. A sheet of darkness bloomed into view, stealing his sight for only a moment and then he could see the road again.

  And he saw them. Shadows, indeed. They were not even humans.

  They stood among the humans, like monsters made out of dark smoke. They had no eyes, no mouth, just hands with monstrous claws and long legs. They were nightmares, born out of Balek’s twisted mind. Gis howled beside David, too shocked to run. David shoved her forward, pushing her to follow Zoey.

  “You have to be quiet,” David whispered. Elisha’s cover blocked anyone from seeing them, but David was not sure that did the same for sound.

  Runner fled as if he could see the monsters. Elisha followed them behind, keeping the veil up for as long as he could. They chased after the boy, taking quick turns and sharp corners that David never saw coming. Gis ran with everything she could muster in her. Her dread propelled her. Somewhere ahead, David saw Zoey lift Chloe, carrying her so she could run faster.

  “What are those things?” Elisha asked. “I can’t tell how strong they are but they give a haunting vibe.”

  “Can you take them down?” David asked. Elisha was quiet for a moment and David spun around in fear that his brother had charged for the monsters. He almost crashed into Elisha.

  “I don’t think you can fight them yourself,” Elisha said. “Those are not just monsters. They are like demons.”

  “Those priests would have been able to help.”

  “I doubt that,” David yelled back. He glanced back and realized Elisha’s hold on the cover was slipping. “Let it go.”

  “What?”

  “We have gone far enough to, let it go and focus on running.”

  Elisha’s shadow vanished and David almost ran into a coming man. He saw the shock in the man’s face at his sudden appearance and screamed an apology as he ran past him.

  “Are we close?” Elisha asked, running past David.

  David froze when he heard the screeches in the distance. The monsters were coming. He wanted to stay back. He wasn’t sure how he’d match against twelve of such monsters, and he wasn’t eager to find out, but those things were fast. He could sense them coming. He didn’t need to use Sovereign’s Domain to know how close they were.

  “You will die,” Vith said. “Not because you can’t defeat them, but because you don’t know what you will be facing.”

  “Then tell me,” David said. He felt hands on his back and turned to see Zoey’s terrified face.

  “Don’t be stupid, let’s go.” She pulled him with her and they fled together. David couldn’t see the others. In the time he wasted contemplating, they’d left him behind. Zoey led him through the curves as if she had known the paths all along. They came out in a backyard dirt road Runner led them down a narrow path that led through an abandoned structure. The walls had almost completely crashed into what was left of the building. They went through two doors and a series of stairs that led them to a door. There, Runner stopped.

  He waited until they had all gathered around him and pushed the door in. As he crossed the door’s threshold, his transformation began. It was slow and painless, almost like it was in fairy tales, except on the other side was a man in his thirties, a pair of spectacles hanging from the bridge of his nose, and a dark cloak over his shoulder. His hair was curly and red, when he gestured for them to follow, David noticed he was leaning on a cane.

  “How did you do that?” David asked, stepping through the door into a stone path. “Who are you?”

  “Kalmar,” he said. “And I guess I just saved you.”