Embremere

Embremere

by

William Kenney

Copyright 2012

William Kenney

Smashwords edition

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Also by William Kenney:

In the Shadow of the Black Sun series

(All ages epic fantasy)

Book 1: A Dream of Storms

Book 2: Shards of S’Darin

Others

Undergrowth, a horror novella

Blog:

AuthorWilliamKenney.blogspot.com

Email:

WilliamKenney_author@yahoo.com

CHAPTER ONE

The circular stone was pulled away as Grivvin struggled against the guards. A hole, roughly twice the width of his shoulders was revealed, the sound of the churning water crashing below easily heard. The ferocious storm had not relented for six days, battering the city of Embremere and costing the fishermen many days work. The rain beat so hard against the cathedral windows on this night, that he fully expected them to shatter from the force.

"Can you stop the storm now, Wychan? You'd better give us a display of your abilities or you'll be feeding the bottom dwellers," growled the guard known as Thax. Like most of the royal soldiers, he kept his head shaved, giving him a most sinister appearance.

It doesn't work like that, I told you! Grivvin explained as he tried to back away from the gaping hole to no avail.

You are a Wychan, fool! Of course it works like that. Your father was a Wychan and his father before him. Since your dear sisters are away, you are the last of the bloodline. Now, stop this bloody storm!

My father's power didn't reach its full strength until he was nearly forty years old. I'm only seventeen and there's no one left to teach me! How can you expect me to bend the weather to my will at my age?

Footfalls echoed throughout the room as another figure joined them. Grivvin could not see the man, despite twisting in the guards grip.

You have the books. Can you stop this storm or not, Wychan? said the commanding voice. Grivvin recognized it, the voice of Kelt, Prince of Embremere, he of jet-black hair and soul.

Your grace....I-

"Can you stop it?"

No, your grace, but I-

I have heard enough! Throw him in! Prince Kelt ordered and walked off into another chamber. "I've had enough of his disobedience. Wychan, eh? The word seems to mean incompetence."

Wait, wait! You can't do this!

The Prince chuckled, his voice barely audible. I can do anything I want, boy.

With a shove, Grivvin dropped through the hole. He had enough sense to inhale deeply just before the turbulent waves took him in. The force of the water was unbelievable and struggle as he might, it tossed him about like a ragdoll. And it was cold, his muscles tightening in response as the current pulled him along violently and at an alarming speed. His body spun several revolutions, causing him to lose all sense of direction. With the darkness of night, he could not be sure which way was up.

Suddenly, something wrapped around his waist, entangling him, preventing him from swimming for the surface. His lungs were near to bursting as he fought against the thing, hands pulling at its thick, cold length. He knew that soon his body would surrender, the air in his lungs no longer enough to sustain his life, and on reflex, he would gasp for air. Upon inhaling the water, he would drown. It was inevitable. Something slithered beneath his arm and tugged hard, trying to pull him away to some deep and hidden lair. The pressure in his head was now unbearable and he felt his consciousness slipping away as he rose in the water. Something had pulled him free of the thing, but it mattered not. His air was gone. He had nearly reached his lungs capacity and would die here, floating in the Lake Embremere. He felt his head break the surface, moonlight filling his eyes as he opened them in shock. He gasped painfully for air, spitting out lake water, the constriction of his chest excruciating.

Stop flailing about! You’ll drown us both! someone called out next to him, she that had pulled him from the creature’s grasp. She had slipped her arm over his chest and was pulling him along on his back. He did his best to stop struggling and allow the panic to fade. He would not die this day.

She pulled him roughly out of the water and dropped him upon the hard wooden planking. He spit and gagged for several moments, then rolled to his back to look at her. He had heard stories of this place, The Under, and had hoped to never visit. The refuse of Embremere ended up here, the criminals and outcasts, the poor and the ill. It was essentially a city under the city, constructed within, and connected, to the massive beams that held Embremere far above the surface of the lake. Years ago the first outcasts had begun its creation, and now it was a dark maze of hobbled-together buildings and floating platforms.

She had turned away from him and was digging through her knapsack frantically. From where he lie, he could see that she was very fair of skin, as he imagined most of the Underdwellers were, hidden from the light of the sun. The color of her hair, being a shocking shade of pink, stood out starkly in the dim light as did the assortment of jewelry that she wore. There appeared to be five black lines tattooed around her left arm and other markings along her neck.

Damn. This thing always gets tangled, she muttered to herself.

He coughed and she turned toward him.

Just be grateful that you were cast out during such a storm, my friend, she called out over the storm, never really meeting his eyes. "Here, there are those that keep watch over the holes, waiting to steal anything you have or to kill you for sport. Besides, the predators below the surface now know exactly where to expect an easy catch. With weather such as this, even they are hidden away. Good thing this didn't happen to you in the dead of winter. Hitting the ice from such a height..."

She held in her hands a bundle of thin rope bunched into knots. On one end, there was tied a bright yellow float, roughly the size of a man’s head. This she handed to him. Her wrists were decorated with colorful bracelets fashioned from shells and other aquatic objects. She also wore many necklaces, the foremost being a small fossil, the bones of a tiny fish.

Hold this while I untangle this mess, she said, her fingers working feverishly to accomplish the difficult task.

What are you doing? Grivvin asked, clearing his throat.

Shhh. I’m trying to concentrate.

She quickly had the knots unraveled, the rope wrapped in a neat coil and slung over her shoulder. She took the float from his hands and finally met his gaze.

"Don’t go anywhere. It’s not safe here for you, not with those clothes. You look far too wealthy to be one of us. Too…soft. Just stay here. I’ll be right back."

She jumped off of the wooden platform and swam off in the direction that they had come, dragging the float behind her. She was lost to him quickly, concealed by darkness and the spray coming off of the crashing waves. He noticed that in the distance there were tiny green lights dotting the Under, illuminating the buildings with a ghostly glow. Fear began to grip him, the feeling of loneliness creeping into him at the realization of his situation.

Cast out and for no good reason.

The royal family asked for things that were impossible and when he could not provide them, he had outlived his usefulness. He had assumed wrongly that his position was safe. After all, he was the last Wychan in Embremere. They needed him.

Apparently not.

They knew that the charms he had set would eventually wear off, didn’t they? They had put their security at risk by banishing him, the fools. There were other far more trivial charms, but those upon the gates and doors were of significant importance. Intruders could never penetrate the castle without uttering the exact words. Once the charms had faded, brute force could be used to enter the keep.

That was no longer his problem. No, he had a fresh set of problems to contend with. How did one such as he survive in the Under? In the distance, he could just make out the shadowy shapes of buildings, some swaying with the movement of the waves, others standing solid against them. The small yellow rectangles of light among them gave evidence of the people sheltered inside. Perhaps four stories above, he could see the underside of the platform that supported the city, stretching as far as could be seen, an impenetrable ceiling, the filthy sky of the Under. Torrents of rainwater fell through from above, the small waterfalls resembling shimmering curtains scattered about in the darkness. At the top of each massive support beam was a nest of metal wire, razor-sharp, a deterrent to those that would attempt to climb to the platform.

The girl's head suddenly emerged from the water near his feet and she quickly pulled herself back on to the floating pier. She reached into a pack at her waist and retrieved a pair of black goggles, which she slipped over her head. She once again faced out, her eyes scanning the water to the west and stopped with a smile.

Safe and sound, she said and pulled the goggles off with one quick motion.

Grivvin stared at her, puzzled. She turned to him, seeing the confused expression on his face.

What? she asked.

Where did you- Grivvin started.

Back to where I rescued you. Quite a mystery you've discovered, I'd say.

Back there? You could've been killed! That thing had me and was pulling me down. What kind of creature was that? Whiteshard Serpent? Squid?

She simply stared at him for some time, amazed at his ignorance. She shook her head in disbelief.

I placed a target near that chain. There's something important down there and I'm coming back for it.

Chain?

The chain, yes. It was wrapped around you. You would have drowned if I hadn't freed you from it, she said in a tone dripping with sarcasm. Whiteshard Serpent, she said with a chuckle.

His face flushed with embarrassment and he attempted to immediately change the subject.

Uh, what do you mean you placed a target on it? What are those spectacles that you were using?

You really don't know? she asked, her forehead wrinkling as she studied his face. He just shook his head.

Do they teach you anything up there?

She attempted to straighten her hair, running her fingers through the tangled pink mess, all the while studying him. He noticed a small six-pointed star tattooed near her left eye and several metal studs piercing her ears.

We have to get you inside. You're going to get killed out here. Follow me, she said as she headed down the swaying platform taking a very narrow alley in between two buildings. The structures here seemed to have been fashioned from whatever the builders could find. Each building was constructed from many different materials, some bits of wood, some sheets of metal, a tarp tied down here and a wall made of shipping crates there. And every surface had been painted with bright and colorful murals, some of which had been defaced at a later date with obscene graffiti.

As he walked behind her, he noticed the short swords at her side, the knife on her thigh. She had many layers of thin clothing and he could imagine that she concealed many items within. Underneath it all, it appeared that she wore a body suit of black eel skin, slightly reflective and tight. She was quite attractive to him and he fought to distract his mind and think of other things. It wouldn't be right, a Wychan of his age with impure thoughts.

Wait here, she called out and disappeared into a black doorway to their right. A decaying sign hung above the door read, 'Traders and Traitors'.

She suddenly rejoined him and shoved a bundle of cloth at him.

Put that on. We've got to make you look like one of us. You stand out like a pearl in a pile of s-

It stinks! Grivvin remarked as he opened it, revealing a light brown and wrinkled jacket that reeked