Legend of Roshnak

CHAPTER 5

Far away to the north of Chaygor, in the foothills of the mountain Nyass, stood the orcish village of Vur-Paan. Situated in a small valley, where river Gaa forked in two, it was the home for over ten thousand orcs. The village was completely surrounded with thick, coniferous forest, which protected them from the cold, northern winds of Tyrsh, the land of the eternal ice on the other side of Nyaas. Forest gave them everything. The building material, the firewood and the food. Rich vegetation and diverse wildlife flourished throughout the entire Chaygor region.

Vur-Paan was surrounded with tall, wooden palisades, and it was divided into four districts. In the largest, residential one, between the hundreds of similar huts, was the one, of the young shaman's apprentice, Roshnak Baanar. Orc was only twenty one years old, but as he spent almost half of his life as Gogron Vagan's student, he was considerably familiar with the secrets of the mystical powers. He was strong looking. With rather large, defined muscles, and thick, long, black hair. He resembled a warrior more than a sorcerer.

But the magic had chosen him, and not the other way around. Rare were the ones with this kind of gift, and Roshnak cherished his, more than anything else. And for that precise reason, he was now sitting motionless, on the small, woolen rug. It looked as if he was asleep, but the orc was actually meditating. He trained his spirit and body, in an attempt to make it more resilient to the stress that the flow of energy produced. He wished to become much better, more powerful, even than his master. Not because of his vanity, but because of the sense of duty he received alongside this might.

Roshnak was finishing with the sixth cycle, which was twice as much as Gogron asked from him this month. One cycle represented a period in between magical energy that had to be completely drained, and then replenished, without any rest and sleep. With every succeeding one, the time for meditation would become shorter, ultimately raising sorcerer's stamina and efficiency. In the possibility of any sort of conflict, or a battle situation, such exercise was of utmost importance.

The meditation left a significant mark on Roshnak. Understandable, seeing the orc wasn't eating, nor sleeping, for more than four days. But it was all worth it, because with this last cycle, he lessened the time spent in the realm of shadows to just four hours. In this never-ending vastness, which existed on the other side of reality, sorcerers restored their energies. Roshnak felt his spirit was returning, more stronger than ever before. But all of the sudden, the interspace drastically changed. Darkness surrounded him. A strange stir disrupted the peace and tranquility.

It took but a couple of seconds for Roshnak to understand the reason for it. Unbelievably large number of souls rushed to the other side. Several thousand of them. The young shaman's apprentice has never witnessed anything like this. In confusion, spirits looked as if they were fleeing from something. Several of them grazed against Roshnak's spirit form. He could sense their fear, their suffering and pain. But before he could find out a reason for it, his spirit was back inside of his body.

Still feeling the effects of the contact with those spirits, Roshnak loudly sighed, before taking several large gulps of water, from the clay jug, sitting on the floor beside him. This somewhat refreshed him. He wanted to grab a bite, but was too eager to meet with Gogron. Despite being hungry, Roshnak couldn't wait to ask the shaman his opinion about what he saw. A few moments later, he was running towards his master's house, on the opposite end of the district.

His master's hut was a somewhat bigger building than his. Some two stories high and surrounded with the hedge. But still similar to the shape and looks of the other ones. Comfortably reclined in a large wattle chair, Gogron was lazing about the yard, in front of his home. Warm spring day drew him outside, and with his pipe just lit, it seemed that the shaman decided to enjoy it to the fullest. But seeing his pupil hastily approaching, Gogron jumped surprisingly quickly.

"You finished with your exercise?"

"Yes." Roshnak nodded.

"All three cycles?" Gogron asked.

"All six." Young orc smiled.

"What?!" The shaman couldn't believe what he heard. "That's impossible."

"It is the truth."

"That would be incredibly dangerous and even more so stupid." Gogron said, as he grabbed Roshnak by his neck "I'll know if you're lying."

Shaman mumbled a couple of words, staring directly at Roshnak's eyes. Moments later, their minds connected. Gogron was pleasantly surprised with the progress his student had shown. Roshnak's mental capacity and strength was significantly higher than before. Shaman could sense it almost immediately. He also knew that a young orc could have resisted his intrusive magic, if he wanted to. Roshnak was telling the truth, he reached the sixth cycle. Just a couple fewer than Gogron had ever managed to do. Shaman was proud of his pupil. But at the same time, he was in awe of his large potential. And then, all of the sudden, he felt the same exact pain and suffering, of those souls that rushed past Roshnak, as he was traveling through the interspace.

"Damnation!" Gogron screamed, pushing away his young student.

"Strange, right?" Roshnak asked.

"What exactly did you see?"

"Thousands of souls fleeing from something."

"Impossible!" Gogron exclaimed "You saw thousands of spirits searching for a way into a shadow realm at the same time?"

"Yes." Roshnak retorted "Why is that strange?"

"That would mean, they all died at the same time."

"Well that is impossible." Roshnak understood the severity of the situation "What could do such a thing?"

"I don't know my boy." the shaman admitted "A terrible accident, perhaps a quake."

"Perhaps it was..." Roshnak suddenly became silent.

His entire body begins to shake uncontrollably. Convulsions overcome him in an instant. Something powerful, something unnatural, possessed Roshnak's mind. Young orc couldn't resist, even if he wanted to. But the being meant no harm. On the contrary, it had friendly intentions. And Roshnak found that quite soon.

"Don't be afraid, orc." a soft voice, which seemed as if it was carried by the wind, sounded soothing.

"Who is this?" Roshnak asked, without even opening his mouth.

It was enough just to think of it, and the words would appear.

"My name is Ch'ybal of Tyrsh. It is of the utmost importance that you visit me as soon as possible. We are in grave danger."

"I don't understand." Roshnak answered quite confused "To visit you where? What kind of danger?"

"Hurry." a voice came in, with another whistle of the wind.

Moments later, Roshnak could move once again.

"Hey, are you all right? What's wrong with you?" Gogron shook his pupil, grabbing him by the shoulders.

"Yes, I am. I think I am." Roshnak turned around a couple of times. "That was weird."

"What happened?"

"Have you ever heard of Ch'ybal?" shaman's student asked.

"Ice maiden? But, of course!" Gogron smiled "That was her?"

"Yes."

"Such a great honor my boy." the shaman said "What did you learn?"

"She warned me of a grave danger that is upon us." Roshnak retorted "She invited me."

"Curious, but also concerning." Gogron scratched his chin.

"What does she want from me?"

"I believe she'll give you the answer to that question."

"But...but I don't even know where to go."

"Come." Gogron turns towards his hut "Although, this comes much earlier than I planned, it is time for your final lesson."