Twilight cast another drying spell as Hayes and Ivan dragged Rarity out of another mud pit.
“How many drying spells does that make?” she asked.
“Twenty-eight.” answered Hayes.
“Oh, that ain’t so bad!” said Applejack, trying to keep the group’s spirit alive.
“In the past hour. In this entire march it’s been one hundred and eighty-five.”
“Oh.” The group paused as Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Derpy fell out of the sky, their wings to saturated for them to fly properly. Fluttershy and Derpy landed rather softly in the mud, but Rainbow landed on the roots of a tree. She got up and tried to walk, but then she yelped with pain and stopped.
“I think I hurt my hoof.” she said. Hayes raised his hand and Charter Marks flowed across her hoof.
“Better? Good, keep going.” he said. As the group continued on, they reached a point near the Ratterlin where the trees were thick enough to block out most of the rain. Twilight dried them again and they sat on some flat rocks and looked at the river. Fluttershy thought she saw a house through the mist.
“Can you all see the house too?” she asked.
“Don’t be silly!” said Pinkie, “Who would build a house in the middle of a river!”
“It’s Abhorsen’s house.” answered Hayes, “You remember all of those wooden flutes we passed on our way through The Perimeter?” Pinkie nodded.
“They were made by an Abhorsen long ago. When an Abhorsen dies, the flutes shatter, and must be remade by the new Abhorsen. If the flutes weren’t there the Dead could rise freely because so many people have died on the Perimeter.”
“So the Abhorsen’s job is to keep the Dead from rising?” asked Twilight. Hayes nodded.
“The current Abhorsen is Queen Sabriel, and the Ahorsen-in-Waiting is her sister Lirael.”
“Didn’t you meet them once?” asked Ivan.
“I saw them both at Forwin’s Mill from a way’s off, but that’s it. Hey look, the rain’s stopping. I’ll go get some firewood before night comes.” Hayes walked off into the woods while the others began to set up camp. Hayes returned with firewood just as the sun was starting to set. Ivan stacked the wood in a pyramid and Hayes lit it. He rummaged in his pack and pulled out some bread and ham. Pinkie looked at the meat incredulously.
“What’s that pink stuff? It’s the same color as me!” she asked.
“Oh right, you’re herbivores. While Pinkie, this is ham. Basically, some farmer somewhere killed a pig and sent it to a butcher. Then the butcher cut the pig’s skin, head, and legs off before he carved it into neat little slices for people to cook and eat. Of course, this probably disgusts you to the highest degree possible.”
“I have no idea what you just said!”
“That’s probably for the best.” Hayes tossed each of the ponies a slice of toast, “I don’t suppose you lot eat grass.” Rainbow grimaced.
“Grass? Ew, gross.”
“Alright then, toast is all you get. It’s not like we have anything else anyway.” said Ivan. Suddenly, there was a howl off to the left. Another howl, seemingly answering the first, came from behind them. There was no howl from the right. Ivan turned to look at Hayes.
“Hands?” he asked. Hayes nodded.
“We have two options.” he said, “There are hands to the front, left, and right. I know there was no noise, but I can feel them.”
“Options?”
“We can either fight, and be ripped limb from limb from walking corpses, or we can run right, try to pass the obstacles to the House, and die a relatively quick death by Charter Sending.
“I choose quick death!” yelled Rainbow. She flew off to the right.
“Alright then, follow me!” yelled Hayes. He and the ponies followed Rainbow.
“This is a really bad idea.” said Ivan. He ran off after the rest of the group. After running for a few minutes they reached a sheer cliff. There was no path and nowhere to go.
“I thought you knew where you were going!” yelled Rainbow at Hayes.
“Didn’t I say there were obstacles?” he replied. He went down on one knee in front of the cliff.
“What are you doing now!?”
“Thinking. It’s something you might want to look into.” He closed his eyes. Images raced through his mind. Five humans and two dogs, the number seven, over and over again. Then one of the dogs, the second of the seven, began to glow, brighter and brighter. One word repeated itself over and over again. No, not a word, a name. Mosrael.
“Mosrael!” he shouted as his eyes snapped open. Fluttershy jumped.
“What?” asked Twilight.
“Mosrael, the Waker. The second bell of a necromancer. It raises the Dead while casting the ringer into Death. We need it to open the door!”
“What door!? There isn’t a door!” yelled Ivan, “Hurry up, I keep thinking I can see Hands!” Suddenly, there was a soft glow of Charter light and a figure stepped out of the cliff. Pinkie dropped her sword in surprise. It held up what appeared to be a bandolier with seven pouches on it. The smallest was no bigger than a pillbox, while the largest was the size of a clenched fist.
“Bells! Yes!” exclaimed Hayes. The Sending raised its hand and pointed at Rarity.
“It wants to give you the bells! Quick, take them!” yelled Derpy.
“I had no idea she could comprehend things like that…” muttered Rainbow. Rarity took the bells from the Sending.
“Ok, take the second smallest one and ring it!” instructed Hayes. Then he ran back to where Ivan was and drew his sword. Rarity drew and swung the bell. For some reason she seemed to instinctively know what to do. A raucous screeching filled her ears. The Hands, hearing the sound, rushed forward. The Sending ran at them at the same time, drawing a Charter made sword. Just as it reached the Hands and Hayes and Ivan turned and ran back to the cliff, a huge crack opened up in front of Rarity, revealing a passage. Pinkie ducked as a rotting leg flew over her head and rebounded off the wall. Ivan looked back and saw that all the Hands had been totally dismembered by the Sending. Then the hooded figure saluted with its sword and faded back into the wall.
“Well that was interesting.” said Twilight, “So, what do all seven bells do?”
“I’ll explain later. In the meantime let’s just get to the house.” replied Hayes.
“I thought ya’ said that those Sendin’ things would kill us.” said Applejack, just a little suspicious. Hayes just walked down the passageway without answering. Ivan sheathed his sword and followed him, as did the ponies. Eventually, after passing two doors and a set of stepping (actually, the fact that they’re nearly two feet apart each makes the word jumping more applicable) stones, they arrived in a courtyard. Hayes put his pack on the ground and sat down on a bench.
“Twilight, you wanted to know what those bells do, right?” he asked. Twilight nodded.
“Alright then. Ivan, do you want to tell her?”
“I don’t even know why there are seven bells, let alone what they do!” exclaimed Ivan. Hayes nodded and continued,
“The first bell, the smallest, is Ranna. She is the Sleeper, and all that hear her fall into slumber. The second is Mosrael, who you just heard. He is the Waker, and brings spirits into life while sending the ringer into Death. The third is Kibeth, the Walker. She can give the Dead freedom of movement, or make them walk where the ringer wants. However, Kibeth can be trouble, and can make the ringer walk instead. The fourth is Dyrim, the Speaker. Dyrim can give a voice to those long dead, or prevent someone from speaking forever. Then there is Belgaer, the Thinker. He restores thought, memories, and personalities to the Dead, or he can erase them. Then there is Saraneth, the Binder. He is most favored by the Abhorsens, and he binds the Dead to the ringer’s will. The last, and most powerful, is Astarael, the Weeper, whose call will send all who hear it far into Death.” he explained. Most of the group nodded. Derpy attempted to nod but hit her head on a large rock. Fortunately she was still wearing her guard armor, which included a helmet.
“But why are there seven?” asked Ivan.
“The seven bells are named after the seven Bright Shiners. They were the most powerful Free Magic spirits of the Beginning. I just explained that! There were three others, but they are not remembered in the bells.”
“Do they still exist?” asked Twilight. Hayes opened his mouth, but closed it as another voice filled the courtyard.
“Yes, in a way. However, you will find that we are not the same as we once were.” it said. The voice seemed to crackle like lightening. The group turned around, and saw a tall, thin humanoid made of pure white light.
“What’s that rotten smell!” yelled Pinkie, putting one hoof up to her nose.
“That’s Free Magic!” yelled Ivan, drawing his sword. He made a move to attack, but Hayes put his arm out in front of him, stopping him. The creature stared at Hayes, and Hayes stared back. There seemed to be energy forming between them, like the calm before a storm. Then the creature looked away.
“You, white horse thing! Follow me, and bring your friend who bears the Charter Mark. There is someone who wishes to speak with you.” it said. Rarity opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it. She started to follow the creature. Hayes grimaced and went after her.
“What should we do while you’re gone!?” Ivan called after them.
“Get some food or look around! The Sendings will show you where everything is!” Hayes yelled back. Ivan rolled his eyes and went to look for a Sending.
Eventually the figure led Rarity and Hayes to an old covered well. It removed the cover and vaulted over the rim.
“How am I supposed to get down there?” asked Rarity, peering over the edge.
“It’s simple, just teleport again.” replied Hayes. Rarity’s horn flashed with light and she appeared at the bottom of the well. She turned and looked up, expecting to see Hayes on the ladder. However, he was right behind her.
“How did you do that?”
“It’s not important, keep going.”
There was a trail of small glittering lights, which Rarity immediately began to follow. Hayes walked after her. She noticed that he hadn’t bothered to draw his sword. As she walked down the tunnel, she thought she saw a river out of the corner of her eye. Then she gasped and stopped. Standing in front of her were the thin glowing figure, slightly dimmed, a very tall, stooped woman, also glowing rather brightly, and a jet black dog.
“So you have come at last.” said the woman.
“Who are you three?” asked Rarity.
“I have been called many things, though you should know me as Astarael,” answered the woman, “The humanoid is Yreal, the eighth Bright Shiner, and the dog is Mosrael, the Waker.”
“We’ve been waiting for you two.” said the dog.
“Why us?” asked Hayes. Rarity noticed that his hand had moved to his sword hilt.
“We’ve been waiting for your pony friend because she’s the only one of her species to have the Blood. She’s an Abhorsen, which is why the Sending gave her the bells. As for you, that will be made clear to you shortly. For now, suffice it to say that you have Abhorsen blood as well.”
“Then why didn’t the Sending give me the bells?”
“Again, that will be made clear shortly. Or actually, right about now. Now, pony, we would like to talk to your friend alone.”
“Hey, I’m not sure I’m comfortable being here alone.” said Hayes. The dog glared at him, “Alright, fine!”
Rarity looked taken aback,
“Why did you want me down here then?” she asked.
“We just wanted to tell you that you’re an Abhorsen.”
“So what does that mean?”
“Your job is to send the Dead back where they came from, defeat Necromancers and Free Magic creatures, stuff like that.”
“Oh, um, alright…”
“Now go!”
Rarity turned around and teleported back up to the surface. Hayes turned to look at the three figures again. He made eye contact with each and held it for a minute. Then he spoke up,
“So, how’s it going.”
“It would be better if your memory wasn’t coming back.” replied Astarael.
“Yeah, I’m sure it would be.”
“Right, and since it’s coming back, it’s only a matter of time before you regain your powers.” said Yreal.
“So what are you three going to do about it?”
“While that’s rather simple. You’ll need to wear this…” Mosrael said. He held up a leather wristband with a silver X in the center.
“You’ll have to make me.”
“Fine then.”
Ivan looked up from a bowl of oatmeal as Hayes entered the room. He was wearing a leather wristband and had a black eye.
“What in the name of the Seven happened to you?” he asked.
“I don’t want to talk about it.” replied Hayes as he healed his eye.
“I sent to ponies to find a map. Also, Rarity said she felt some sort of presence in the library, and it turned out to be a book. She’s reading it right now. She also says you guys are cousins. Nothing out of the ordinary.”
“Yeah, since we both have the Blood, we’re cousins. What’s the book called?”
“The Book of the Dead.”
“Now that’s just morbid.”
“Maybe you wrote it.”
Twilight opened the door and stuck her head in.
“We found a map!”
“Great, we’re one step closer to leaving.” said Hayes. He walked into the library and yelled something about weapon practice. Ivan finished his oatmeal and a Sending took the dishes.
“Come on, let’s go see what torture Hayes has planned for our training.”
“How do you know it will be that bad?”
“He was a guest drill instructor at boot camp. By the Charter he was scary.”
“What did he do?”
“Whenever we didn’t do what he wanted he shot a revolver in the air, and I’m pretty sure he wasn’t firing blanks!”
The two walked out into the courtyard. The other ponies had lined up in front of Hayes, who appeared to be crafting a spell in his head. Hayes’ eyes snapped open.
“Alright!” he shouted, startling the others, “Here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to create a Sending in the shape of a Dead Hand. Each of you will face a “Hand” and I will monitor your progress. You may defeat the Hand any way you want. Right, I’ll go first, shall I?”
He waved his hand and a glowing Hand appeared on the other side of the courtyard. It sniffed the air, then howled and rushed at him. Hayes didn’t even flinch or draw his sword. He raised his hand and blasted the Hand into dust. Or in this case Charter Marks.
“Alright Ivan, your turn.”
Hayes waved his hand and another Sending appeared. Ivan stepped up and drew his sword. Just like before, it rushed at its opponent. Instead of waiting for it as Hayes had done, Ivan yelled a battle cry and charged at it. He dodged its claws and cut it in half. It went down, but it began to drag itself towards Ivan, its jaws still snapping. Ivan stepped out of the way and stabbed it through its head. The Sending struggled for a moment and then dissolved. So they continued. Rainbow flew around dodging the Sending for a good ten minutes before Hayes yelled at her to “get on with it”. She flew up into the air and put a few arrows into the Hand, which promptly fell to the ground and dissolved. Next was Fluttershy, who panicked and flew into a wall. Ivan got her a glass of water while Hayes dealt with the Sending. Fifth was Applejack, who dodged the Hand’s first few swipes before kicking it. The kick sent the Hand’s arms flying and caused it to fall backwards. Then Applejack rolled a large rock onto it. Sixth was Pinkie Pie, who laughed and jumped away from the Hand every time it tried to claw her. Eventually she bounced to high that she landed in the tree at the center of the courtyard. A branch somewhat burned and sharpened by lightening broke off and stabbed through the Hand, finally ending up somewhere in its chest. It staggered a little and then fell over, apparently trying to claw the branch out of its body. Then Hayes dissolved it. Next up was Twilight, who simply shot a spell at the Hand. What wasn’t so simple was the fact that the spell caused the Hands chest to shrink. All most of the group remembered of that incident was that it was something they did not want to see again. Then it was Derpy’s turn. She had traded her Royal Guard armor for a brown cloak, but still carried the standard issue guard sword. As the Hand rushed at her she flew into the air. She tried to draw her sword and hold it in her mouth, but she dropped it. The falling blade had the same effect as the burnt branch, only it was sharper. Rarity came last, and she just rang Ranna and made the Hand collapse into the dust, asleep. After they had drunk some water and Hayes had gotten rid of any stray Charter Marks in the courtyard, they sat down for a meeting,
“Well then, it looks like most of us are already pretty good at fighting. Fluttershy, you need to work on your flight control.” said Hayes. Fluttershy nodded.
“So, are we leaving then?” asked Ivan, who was rummaging through the pile of maps on the table in front of them.
“Yes, first thing tomorrow. The Abhorsen is bound to come here eventually, and we don’t want any more trouble than we already have. It’s bad enough that I killed the entire Barhedrin garrison.”
“What surprises me is that you don’t seem to feel bad about it.” exclaimed Pinkie in surprise.
“That might be because I don’t regret it at all. Odd that. Anyway, I forgot to tell you. I got this from the glowing guy, whose name incidentally is Yreal.” Hayes dropped an old leather bag onto the table. It wasn’t very impressive, and was about the size of a loaf of bread.
“What about it?” asked Twilight, inspecting the bag.
“Watch this.” Hayes reached into the bag and did what should have been impossible. He rummaged through it.
“How can you be rummaging!? That thing is tiny!” exclaimed Ivan.
“Just a second.” Hayes finally pulled his hand out. In it was a crossbow (specially modified trigger of course. How else could a pony shoot it?) and a quiver of bolts. He tossed both to Derpy.
“So the bag gives you what you want?” asked Derpy through a mouthful of crossbow.
“No, it gives me what I need. And right now what we need is to leave. So pack your bags and let’s be off!” Hayes took the bag and walked out of the room. The others grabbed their packs, everything they needed was already in them, and followed Hayes. Unfortunately, a lot of things were soon going to go very wrong.