Chapter 4 The Nightscape

Viktor left the town behind him as FireDagger started up the steep mountain trail, which had been awkwardly cut into the mountainside and was worn over time. No doubt this was the same trail that every fool who had ever sought out The Nightscape had traveled. Even though the Soothsayer had told him it was real, he wouldn't believe it until he saw it. But he wondered if it was real. The trail was turning west after all.
Tall boulders rose up around the trail and short stout trees dotted the land in various places. FireDagger whined as he galloped; the warhorse was actually afraid! He had seen battle but the boulders seemed to be compressing in on them as they traveled. How could anyone in their right mind actually dare to travel this trail? He just reminded himself that Wolf was up there somewhere.
As he turned a bend in the trail, Viktor was sure he was heading west now, the boulders disappeared and one of the wonders of The Nightscape became visible. It made the ancient black mountain look like a child's tale. After seeing this, Viktor knew The Nightscape must be real. He reined FireDagger to a halt and stared at the amazing wonder.
Inlaid in the black mountain's surface, nearly a hundred yards above him, near the top of the mountain, was the largest and most elegant clock in the world. It was a clock fit for the most stylish clock tower ever built, but in essence this very mountain was the grandest ever built. No one knew how it worked, but everyone knew the stories that said it had never and will never stop ticking. Viktor heard the loud ticks of the second hand as it turned; he had to quiet FireDagger down again. Tick, tick, tick; it was never ending.
The clock face was the most elaborate and well-constructed thing Viktor had ever seen. The three large hands that moved at different speeds were gold with a black sword, with the sword's tip as the end pointing at the numbers. The circular face of the clock had fine black and red soldiers laid on it, all carrying weapons. It was depicting a large battle and the soldiers seemed to move and change as the constantly changing shadows moved against them. They were in different positions each time the second hand moved. The even larger circular frame of the clock was inlaid in fine black, gold, and red work with dragons and eagles fighting above the battlefield below them. The clock was said to be as ancient as the mountain, yet it looked brand new.
The clock never aged; never stopped. It was the Clock of Time, which ticked away everyone's second to live. The Clock of Time never stopped. If it did, the entire world would stop; all lives would stop.
Viktor quickly reminded himself that he had very little time left. Wolf was in front of him and gaining even more ground on him. He kicked FireDagger again and the warhorse started up the steep hill towards the black door in the mountain's side. He suddenly realized that the door wasn't that far away from where he stood. The mountain was tall, the tallest ever, and steep by what he could tell. He didn't know how far he had come but by looking over his shoulder, he saw that the buildings below him were small. He had gone hundreds of yards in just a short time. It was unbelievable.
He pushed FireDagger even faster, allowing the now familiar terrain pass him as if it was nothing, and in the next ten minutes the warhorse's hooves fell upon stone rather then dirt and rocks. Viktor looked down and saw stone steps, worn with time, below the horse's hooves. Dismounting the horse, Viktor started up the steps leaving his mount behind him. The horse wouldn't enjoy traveling up the steps so he wasn't going to force the animal along. There must have been three flights, none with rails, until he reached a stone dais with the large black door that the Soothsayer had described standing before him.
The door was thick and constructed off black wood, possibly painted redwood from the height of it, with finely woven gold and red colors painted and inlaid into it. They showed all sorts of pictures, all related to The Nightscape. They showed clocks and people that seemed to be ghosts along with ships and flying beasts. Two large golden handles were in the middle of it.
Gripping one of the handles with both hands, Viktor swallowed nervously and let his hands feel the inlaid figures. "What am I doing here?" He asked himself uncertainly. "Why the bloody hell am I here?" He closed his eyes, pulled the door open, and walked into The Nightscape, into the Plain of the Dead. He didn't know what to expect.

Lindsey stood up again and paced around the dim room for perhaps the twentieth time. She was nervous, nervous for Viktor, and she was angry and upset that she couldn't do anything about it. She sighed and rubbed a hand through her hair. What's happening up there? She asked herself curiously. I need to be there. I need to be helping Viktor. I killed Alain and now Viktor was chasing someone else to kill. The man will get himself into more trouble then he can handle. I can't do this.
She sat back down and sighed heavily again. The Soothsayer sat across from her still cloaked in the shadows of the room. Lindsey couldn't even tell what the woman looked like or how she was watching her. If she couldn't see the woman's eyes, then Lindsey knew she wouldn't be able to find anything out.
"I need to be out there with Viktor," Lindsey said in a strained and nervous voice. She stood up again and began her pacing for the twenty-first time. "I killed a man who was against Viktor. And there are others that Viktor seeks to kill, to avenge his friend. But he won't be able to kill them all. He'll die if I don't help him. He needs my help and I know it. I can't just sit here and let him die."
"Lindsey, Viktor can take care of himself," the Soothsayer told her in a firm voice. Lindsey shook her head disbelievingly and started for the door. "Lindsey!" The Soothsayer had raised her voice and now she was standing. But the shadows were still dancing across her face. "Lindsey, stop now!"
Lindsey opened the door hurriedly and let the dim sunlight from outside leak into the room. "I'm sorry but I have to go. If I don't then Viktor will die."
The Soothsayer of Shadow's Blade sighed deeply and shook her head. "If you go, you will die Lindsey."
"So be it."
The door closed behind her as Lindsey started out of the Soothsayer's house and started at a quick run up the slope of Shadow's Blade. In her house, the Soothsayer collapsed into her chair and sighed visibly. Lindsey ran up the slope as fast as she could. All her thoughts were on the door that lay near the top. The door where Viktor was.

It was cold. Viktor realized that as soon as he entered the mountain. It was cold and dark. The thick black door slammed closed behind him, echoing throughout the interior of the mountain until it slowly faded away. He slowly opened his eyes and looked around him. The inside of the mountain was black; it was pure darkness all around him as far as he could see. Yet somehow there was light coming in from somewhere unseen by him. He looked over the edge and wondered how long you would fall in that darkness. It seemed like a never-ending void.
He was standing on a wide redwood constructed dais that must have been there for many years, yet it looked as good as new, with railing on both sides of it. Three paces in front of him, the dais became a stairway that started upward in the mountain. The railings followed the stairway, so Viktor raised his head to see it. There were about twenty stairs until it leveled out and became a bridge. Viktor smiled up at it and began to run up the stairwell. He didn't have much time left.
As he reached the top of the stairwell, Viktor looked around him with wide eyes. It was amazing; the entire sight was beyond anything he had ever seen. Each time he breathed, he could see his breath, which came out in gusts of steam. It was cold within the mountain. The bridge that he now stood on ran straight forward as far as Viktor could see, with no bends noticeable, until it connected with the stairway and dais against the opposite mountain wall. He couldn't even see the opposite mountain wall, it was nothing but darkness all around him. Along the bridge, at every twenty pace interval there was a thick square shaped pillar or support beam that ran straight down and straight up until the ends were lost in the darkness. The only reason Viktor knew it was up there was because long redwood rafters ran the length of the mountain, all at least fifty yards above his head.
Pulling his hat up and rubbing his head nervously, Viktor didn't know what to believe. He turned in a slow circle trying to puzzle out the sight. Viktor counted , his breath caught, thousands of little flicking lights that flew around the darkness in a never-ending breeze. The little dots of light looked like fireflies, but Viktor knew that they were the souls of every person who had ever died. They were the souls of the people within The Nightscape, the souls of the dead. For seconds at a time he could make out outlined ghostly frames of the people as they appeared and then quickly disappeared again. They were all ghosts; they were all dead and he was a living mortal within the Plain of the Dead.
The large gears of the enormous clock, which was much larger this close up, were all rotating and groaning as they performed their separate duties. Four large support beams, exactly identical to the ones that held the bridge up, formed a square around the gears of the clock and helped hold it up. He could see through the face of the clock and see the land surrounding land; he could see from an inside view of the three large hands of the clock turning as they counted the time. The elaborate pictures inlaid in the clock were backwards to Viktor's eyes but they were still magnificent. For a brief moment, Viktor thought he saw a figure sitting on the highest pillar around the clock but in the blink of an eye it was gone again. The Nightscape was beginning to play tricks on his mind.
Pulling his hat back down, Viktor started out at a run across the bridge. He didn't see Wolf or Nikolai anywhere but he knew they were here somewhere. It was only one walkway so they wouldn't be able to slip away from him this time. The Soothsayer said someone was here and he knew it could only be those two.
"It has to be here somewhere," a voice said angrily. "Don't tell me it's not here! Of course it's here!" Viktor skid to a stop and slowly walked along the bridge. He could barely make out two figures in the darkness in front of him. "It has to be here! It is here, I know it is." The man paused and threw his hands up angrily. "I will have the power of Time and Space, Nikolai!"
Viktor impulsively reached for his sword handle but stopped as he gripped it in a death grip. He unsheathed the claymore halfway but let it fall back into its black sheath. He moved closer to them and crouched down, hoping they wouldn't see him. "Wolf, we should wait for Alain at least." He turned to face Wolfgang with determined eyes. Despite the fact that Nikolai had a good twenty years on Wolf, the younger man stared him down with his one eye until Nikolai finally nodded. "Wolf, I'm sure the power is here somewhere. It has to be here. The Soothsayer is real, hell, The Nightscape itself is real. If it's real then the rest has to be true too. Legend wouldn't lie about one thing if the rest were true. Just remember that no one knows how to unleash the power of Time and Space. Let's just wait until Alain gets here, then we can."
"Alain's not coming," Viktor said, cutting Nikolai off in mid- sentence. Both Nikolai and Wolfgang turned to face him with faces of bewilderment that quickly turned to boiling anger. "Don't wait around for him. He's not coming." He returned his hand to the claymore's handle and slowly eased it out of its scabbard.
"Well, well, well," Wolf started with an unwelcome smile, "look who it is." He laughed and soon Nikolai echoed him. "What are you doing still alive Viktor? You're supposed to be dead, just like Wilhelm. Oh, don't give me that look Viktor." Viktor realized he was glaring at the other two men. "You remember don't you? Remember that Wilhelm brought that upon himself. I told you that failure couldn't and wouldn't be allowed within the Faction. Wilhelm failed. There was only one way to fix that. His sacrifice was better for the Faction. You're a general Viktor, you know how it works."
"I'm no longer a general Wolf," Viktor spat angrily. "At least not for you and your Faction!"
"Our Faction, Viktor! Our Faction!"
"You had no right to kill Wilhelm in cold blood!" Viktor yelled back angrily, as he eased more of the blade out of its scabbard. "You had no right to murder my friend!" He glared at them angrily and spat again. "And you dare call yourselves my friends!"
"Viktor, you have it all wrong," Wolf tried to tell him, but Viktor knew it was a lie. "We did it to ensure the safety of the Faction. To ensure the safety of the men. None of us, you included, could afford failure among any of the generals; among any of the men. Wilhelm failed, it was that simple." He smiled triumphantly and took a step towards Viktor. "Now Viktor, I don't know why you're here but you need to leave. In a matter of minutes I will gain the power of Sholdrin Golharrin and the world shall be mine. The people of this world will be my slaves; they will bow to me and do my bidding. I'm ready Wielder! Grant me my gift! Time will I wield and." He coughed loudly and screamed painfully.
Viktor saw the bloody blade of the spear, which had emerged from Wolf's chest with blood slowly dripping off the end of it. Wolf's eye was wide with shock and disbelief rather then pain or anger. He gripped the blade in both hands and coughed up more blood, gasping for air as loud as Alain had. He staggered and turned his wide eyed, shock contorted face to Nikolai, who stood behind him with the spear handle held firmly in his hands. The small smile on his face widened at Wolfgang's surprised _expression of pain. It was true what they said. Power would turn friend against friend. Power would corrupt.
"Sorry Wolf," Nikolai said, smiling. "But I've had enough of you ordering me around. You got me here and I thank you for that. But how could you be so foolish? Thinking I would obey you. Wolf, I'm older, wiser, and better then you! Much better! And I would never allow you to wield such power! It will be mine! Your idea of power was too insane Wolf. I couldn't let the world have that, not unless I ruled over it all. You were only my guide." He pulled the blade free and Wolf staggered weakly, clutching his chest pathetically, gasping for much needed air. "You were a good guide." Nikolai laughed and pushed Wolf over the railing of the bridge. Viktor rushed to the side and saw a wide-eyed Wolfgang fall into the darkness below them.
"No!" Viktor yelled angrily, pushing himself away from the railing. "No! How could you kill him? He was mine to kill." Well, Wolfgang's insanity was over. What he had planned for the world, like a madman, would never happen. His insanity was finally stopped.
Nikolai laughed. "You're too late Viktor. The power of Time and Space will be mine. Soon the Wielder will present himself to me and present me with the gift of.."
A spirit floated between them and Nikolai fell silent as he realized who it was. The ghostly outline that floated between them was Wilhelm Granlin and he was looking at Viktor. The small fleck of light was now his right eye and Wilhelm slowly hovered down to the bridge until his feet touched it. He stood next to Viktor but Viktor didn't know what to believe.

"Wilhelm?" Viktor asked curiously. "Is it really you? But you're dead."
"That's right, I am dead," Wilhelm's ghostly voice answered matter-of- factly. "But I see why it was my time to go." He gripped Viktor's shoulder firmly and surprisingly his hand was solid. Viktor knew his eyes were as wide in disbelief as the other man's eyes were. "I am the Wielder of The Nightscape. The Wielder of Time and Space."
The small speck of light, that was his right eye, emerged from his face and flew into Viktor's eye. Viktor screamed, briefly fell to his knees weakly before catching himself, and blinked uncontrollably. It was painful but after what seemed like ages, he stopped blinking and looked up at Wilhelm. "What did you do?" He struggled to his feet with his dead friend's help and staggered before standing his ground firmly. "What was that? It hurt like hell. What did you do to me?"
Wilhelm smiled at him and released Viktor's shoulder, stepping to the edge of the bridge. "I gave you the power of Sholdrin Golharrin. I gave you the power of Time and Space. That was it. Use it well Viktor. I trust you will." He stepped off the edge of the bridge and disappeared into the darkness of The Nightscape.
"No!" Nikolai yelled furiously, as he launched himself towards Viktor. Viktor unsheathed his claymore and held it in a battle stance in his hands as he realized, with much disbelief, what he could do. What power he had within him! The greatest power ever to be told about. "It will be mine!"
The clock suddenly quickened and within seconds the bells within the enormous clock began to chime as loud as an earthquake, making the entire mountain shake. The sound was intensified within the mountain and it rang off the walls with a deafening boom. Both Viktor and Nikolai stumbled into the railings and caught themselves. Anger had been replaced on Nikolai's face with fearful bewilderment and amazement shone on Viktor's face. The deafening booms that echoed each other were the callings that signaled that the power of The Nightscape had been granted to a single man. A large blue beam of light shot out of the Viktor's eye, the eye where the light had entered, and he screamed louder then before. Throwing his head back, Viktor collapsed to his knees and screamed. The beam shot straight up out of the top of the mountain and collided with the moon hanging above it. The sky became dark and the stream of light engulfed the moon. Circling the moon once, it shot back down into Viktor's open eye and he screamed in horrifying tones. History had just been made and stories had just been proven.

Lindsey was out of breath. She had been out of breath for the last couple of minutes and her side was burning but time was against her. Viktor was already inside the mountain, she knew he was, and she didn't have a chance to save him but she would damn well try. She had gained much ground in the last ten minutes and she wasn't about to give up. Not without a fight. She wasn't going to give up so quickly.
She followed the trail that the Soothsayer had explained and she was climbing steeper and steeper by the second. The mountain was tall and the door was near the top. When she looked up, she could see the black door in the distance but it would take her a couple more minutes to reach it. She wasn't going to slow, that would waste time.
The Soothsayer said that if she entered The Nightscape, she would die but she was willing to take that chance to save Viktor. She didn't want to see him dead. She had lost friends before and she wasn't willing to let another die. Not when she was around to help him. To help him out of it; to help him survive.
Boulders surrounded her on both sides and as she climbed the worn trail with dust flying up from her boots, she felt as if they were closing in on her. She felt as if the boulders were getting closer; as if they were going to fall and crush her.
She smiled as the famous clock of Shadow's Blade came into view. She had heard countless stories about the Clock of Time and she now realized that every single one of the stories had been true. She stopped and leaned on her legs to try and catch her breath. She stood straighter and crossed her arms underneath her breasts, still admiring the great clock as she did.
Suddenly the clock moved with unnatural speed and the bells began to boom away. She didn't know what it meant. Well, she didn't know exactly what it meant but she thought that she had heard somewhere that the clock boomed like an earthquake, as it was now, only when the Prophecy of The Nightscape was fulfilled. That meant that someone inside the mountain had acquired the power of Time and Space. She cursed under her breath. She had been the one who wanted the control of the power but it wasn't meant to be. A blue beam of light exited the top of the mountain, engulfed and circled the moon, and then disappeared back into the mountain. Was that the sound someone screaming?
She sighed. "It might be Viktor, but it also might be someone else. I have to hurry." She took a step and staggered backwards as the booming bells of the clock echoed around the mountain and shook the earth. "What am I doing here?" Rocks fell down the hill all around her and as she looked up she saw the large boulder begin to rock and fall towards her. It was large, weighing hundreds of pounds.
She stood horrified as the boulder fell. It was too close to her when she noticed it. She couldn't do anything. She couldn't move, she couldn't scream, she could barely even breathe. Before Lindsey knew what was happening, the large boulder was on top of her. All the bones in her abdomen were crushed to fragments. Her organs were being quickly crushed. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't think, she couldn't move. Lindsey's lifeless body was quickly devoured in darkness.

Viktor closed his eyes painfully as he leaned against the railing for support. His legs were quite weak. His memory was exact. He saw everything that was in front of him. Nikolai transfixed in fear, the bridge, the clock gears, the endless darkness, and the thousands of small lights moving across the darkness. He smiled as he began to work the power with his mind.
With his eyes closed, still feeling the residue of the pain in his eye, Viktor formed a picture of the Faction's base camp, of the large tent in the middle. In front of his eyes, Viktor watched two men stabbing Wilhelm, and then seconds later they were all cheering, "To The Nightscape!" with mugs of ale in their hands.
Time stopped and he saw himself talking to Wolfgang. "I can change this." He said, drawing his sword, and starting towards Wolf, who was still talking to the Viktor of a week ago. Now Viktor was merely an image in time.
Never do flowers stop blooming, never do tides stop flowing; never do lives blossom again. Lindsey's voice said in his head and surprisingly, he stopped. The Prophecy had been on his mind for two days and now he finally understood it.
Never do lives blossom again. The past could never be changed. Viktor sheathed his sword and watched his friend's death once again. And somehow it was more painful because he could have stopped it. The image disappeared from his mind and time sped up until he was once again standing on the bridge, just as before. There was only one thing he could do not to change the past and future. Besides, Wolfgang was going to die either way.
He didn't know how he did it, but in his mind it seemed as if he were forging an elegant sword, and with the hammer's every fall he could feel Time being opened and Space slowly shifting into it. The balance was being offset but Viktor didn't care. He had been given the power of The Nightscape and he was using it to undo evil. He knew what he had to do.
As he slowly opened his eyes, still forging the hammer in his mind, he saw Nikolai stagger backwards. He wasn't controlling his own body or movements. His eyes were wide but blank. Nikolai wasn't present in his body at the moment, Time and Space were being woven among each other and Nikolai, like everyone else, was caught in it. Everyone save Viktor. He stood in the same place completely aware of the changes happening around him.
Time was forcing Nikolai's body backwards to the spot that he had stood before Wilhelm had appeared. Viktor briefly saw Wilhelm's ghost reappear and then disappear again. Viktor moved his legs forward and shifted his claymore to his left hand, slowly easing Wilhelm's axe into his right hand. He wasn't going to allow Nikolai to get away with it.
Everything turned colder, much colder. Viktor watched in amazement as Wolf's body slowly floated out of the darkness, over the railing, and soon stood in front of him with Nikolai's spear through him. Viktor was barely three feet away and inching closer. He turned to Nikolai and Nikolai's lips moved, saying the exact same thing he had said earlier.
Then the spearhead was gone and Wolfgang was talking to Viktor again. But Viktor had heard it moments ago. No need to hear it again. It was almost complete. The sword within his mind was almost complete. It was almost a dome. Viktor smiled happily as the last stroke of the hammer fell and Time and Space returned to normal, as they had been five minutes ago. He had just used the power to travel back in time. He knew what he had to do. Wilhelm even knew what he had to do.
"You're mine," he hissed angrily, raising the axe until it was level. He entered real space and time again and everything seemed normal once more, except that it had all happened before. Nikolai and Wolfgang each had wide eyes and were visibly shivering. That was the affects of the time travel that Viktor had created. They shivered in stunned shock but Viktor knew this had already happened and would happen again.
"Our Faction, Viktor! Our Faction!" Wolfgang's voice was strained and somewhat cold. He was still shivering with tremendous force.
"You had no right to kill Wilhelm in cold blood!" Viktor yelled back angrily, but he barely knew he was speaking. His mind was speaking for him. This had already happened. "You had no right to murder my friend!" He glared at them angrily and spat at them again. "And you dare call yourselves my friends!"
Viktor knew Wolf was about to speak again but he wasn't going to allow it. Surprisingly he had little time left. Nikolai was about to make his move, but not if Viktor could help it. Viktor reared back and then brought his arm forward, quickly releasing Wilhelm's axe. It flew forward, passing within inches of Wolf's head, and soon buried itself deep into Nikolai's forehead. The older general never saw it coming. A cracking sound echoed as Nikolai's skull cracked, a small stream of blood rolled down his face, and he crumpled to the ground in a lifeless heap.
Wolfgang suddenly blinked curiously, finally realizing that he was once . It must have felt strange and horrifying. He turned to see Nikolai's lifeless body lying on the bridge floor. "Nikolai! Viktor, you bloody murdering bastard!" Viktor was shocked. Wolf hadn't said what he had said before. By killing Nikolai before the man could kill Wolfgang, Viktor had changed time. He had changed history.
Viktor rushed forward as Wolf turned back to face him, and shifted his claymore to his right hand again. "Don't talk to me about murder Wolf!" Wolfgang reached for his sword, but Viktor kicked his hand away violently. "You're not getting away this time Wolf!"
Reaching forward, Viktor gripped the Faction's emblem on Wolf's coat, and ripped it off. Crushing it in his grip, Viktor threw it over the edge of the bridge and stared into Wolf's eye. Wolf's red glass eye was no longer intimidating; his other eye was wide with confusion . He was still shivering uncontrollably and he was mouthing questions and protests.
Gripping Wolf's shoulder, as if for comfort, except much more painfully, Viktor whispered angrily, "You have no right to speak to me about murder! Wolf, I have the power of The Nightscape." Wolfgang tried to speak but couldn't find his words. His shock was too great. "Your mission is over. You-failed-Wolf." He spoke the words slowly to drive them home. "And you know the price of failure!" Wolf tired to leave, but Viktor's grip was too strong. "Failure will not be allowed Wolf! We cannot fail the men! We can't have that! So it will happen to you again Wolf. You died by Nikolai's hand for your fool quest of world domination. Yes you died before and now you will die again for Wilhelm's murder. You will feel it twice. This is the reward of failure!" Viktor snarled angrily and dove the claymore's blade into Wolf's chest until it exited his back.
Wolf's eye bulged and he gasped painfully. Blood fell from his lips as he rocked forward and fell to his knees weakly. He gripped the blade but to no avail. He gasped for air and tried to crawl on the bridge but couldn't move. "You failed Wolf! You failed your men! You failed your Faction!" Viktor ripped the blade free and cleaned it on Wolf's coat.
Wolf collapsed to his side and slowly stopped moving. Wolf had died twice for his two foolish mistakes. Viktor's revenge was finally complete. "Sorry Wilhelm." He whispered to the cold empty air in front of him sadly. "Like you said, you were meant to be here. I couldn't bring you back. It's over now."
Viktor pried Wilhelm's axe free from Nikolai's head and wiped the blade clean, soon returning it to his belt. Turning, Viktor stepped over Wolf and ran across the bridge, down the steps, and pulled the door open. He didn't want to stay longer then he needed to. It was over now and he had no desire to see the place of death. Walking out the door, Viktor left his enemies within the mountain and left The Nightscape behind him.
Hot air hit him as soon as he stepped out onto the stone dais. The thick black door slammed closed behind him and Viktor pulled his hat down to shield his eyes from the sun's rays. It was brighter then he remembered; The Nightscape had been too dark. He realized that what he thought was impossible, what he thought was fake, had just happened. It was real. The Nightscape was real, despite the talk he had heard against it.
He felt a little queasy from the cold and heat combined. He had changed between the temperatures too quickly. Leaning forward, Viktor closed his eyes and let the queasiness soon pass over him. Perhaps it was the shock of the entire experience that was making him fell sick.
Shaking his head, Viktor jogged down the stone steps until his feet touched safely down on solid ground again. He kicked up dust as he mounted FireDagger, turned the warhorse, and started cautiously down the mountain. He kept his horse on the path and never veered off.
The clock chimed loudly as he came around a bend in the trail. It was the exact same bend where the boulders had been pushing in on him earlier. He pulled the horse's reins back suddenly as he saw Lindsey sitting on the ground in front of him. Her head was down, she was staring at the ground with blank, swimming eyes, and she was shivering uncontrollably. Her eyes were wide, with tears leaking out of them, and her hands were against her stomach as if she had never felt it before.
He knew exactly what was wrong, even before he dismounted and started towards her. He knew what that shivering meant. He pulled off his coat and wrapped it around her as she got to her feet. She hugged him tightly and buried her tear-streaked face in his chest. She was still shaking, as if she couldn't stop, and he was doing his best to warm her up.
"Lindsey, not you too," Viktor muttered sadly. She didn't answer. "How you doing? Better?" She nodded. "Good. What happened?" He didn't want to ask but he had no choice. "The Soothsayer was right."
"My stomach and chest hurt," Lindsey said into his chest. Her voice was muffled and she moved away from him, slowly wiping her eyes. "They hurt and I can barely breathe. I can't stop shaking. It felt as if I was trapped in a cold room and I couldn't move. Then I was standing ." She looked up at him and swallowed nervously. She blinked fearfully and asked, "Did I die? Is that what you meant?" Viktor echoed her sigh and slowly nodded, closing his eyes as he did, and hugging her again. "That explains it. how can I be here?"
"I used the power of The Nightscape to bring Wolf back," Viktor answered slowly. "I have the power of The Nightscape. I had the power. Don't look upset. Wolf and Nikolai are dead. When I used it, I must have brought you back as well. The Soothsayer was right but she never mentioned that."
"Then you saved me," Lindsey laughed and gave him a weak smile. "Thank you." He nodded and returned her smile. They walked to FireDagger and mounted. "Where's Wilhelm?"
With a smile, Viktor pointed to the mountain, to The Nightscape. "Where he is destined to be."
Viktor kicked the horse into a trot that soon brought them down the mountain. "It feels strange. I can barely remember dying but I do remember it happened. I remember it vaguely in the back of my mind. Everything was so cold."
"Indeed it was."
When they exited the trail and trotted back onto the main road of Death's Calling, they started towards the square in the middle of town. When they passed the Soothsayer's house, the woman was on her porch in a chair with a grave and angry _expression glued to her face. "Do you have any idea what you're done?"
"Yes, I do," Viktor calmly replied, heeling FireDagger to a halt. "I avenged my friend and stopped a madman."
Her face grew darker. "You used it. You used Sholdrin Golharrin's power! Now you're upset the balance. The past has been changed, the future might hold disaster!"
"Never do flowers stop blooming, never do tides stop flowing; never do lives blossom again," Viktor recited the line from the Prophecy perfectly. "I didn't alter the past soothsayer! The Prophecy warned us that is should never be altered. I'm not like Wolfgang; I didn't seek it for power! I sought it for revenge. The flaw in the power is that the past can be changed but shouldn't. What I changed has no lasting affect. I guarantee that soothsayer." With one last glare, Viktor kicked FireDagger to a gallop.
"Then the Prophecy has been fulfilled," the soothsayer whispered as they disappeared.
Viktor and Lindsey stayed in Darrik Cilgail for a week before leaving The Nightscape behind them. Rumors say they live in Alzerwrith but rumors change mouths often. The Faction appointed new generals and left Death's Calling behind them. Some say they returned to fight Ligon, while others say they disbanded. No one truly knows. Some gave names to The Nightscape, calling it a dangerous haunted place while others say that it was finally cured of its evil. No one dared venture close to the door of The Nightscape.
The balance was upset. No one knows what the future will hold. Severe consequences will be answered.