OMEGA - Sorcerers

Revenge

Eran knelt before the naked body of his father. He lay curled up like a fetus under the oak tree in their yard. Black crusts of blood covered the wounds. The leather straps that bound him stank of decay. Flies crawled over the strips of cowhide.

Anger boiled up inside him. He clenched his fist.
Rigan, you pig. I never trusted you.
He touched the blue-stained skin. Ice cold. He shivered. The empty eyes staring off into the distance. He remembered how they had glowed when his father had told him about the ancestors and the discovery of the spell. Even though he had not tolerated any contradiction and had enforced his will with a hard hand, his family had always come first for him. He had taught his sons the spell and shared his dream of ruling Samica with Eran. 

Greet the ancestors, father. He closed his eyelids, took a deep breath and stood up. „He is dead."
The women sobbed and hugged each other. Crybabies.
His two younger brothers looked down and waited. What should I do, father? Is it too soon to begin your plans? Or are the rocks already rolling inexorably down the mountain?

He picked up the enchanted rocks that had not prevented his father's death. „You have failed. Away with you." He threw them into the grass. I am the head of the family now. I will lead us out of this crisis.

He turned to the women. „Stop your blubbering. Prepare Father's funeral." His mother stared at him for a moment and then nodded. She has accepted my new role.

„Don't act up, Eran," Tania challenged him and crossed her arms in front of his chest. The tears were still glistening on her cheeks.
He stomped towards her until she had to look up. „I am the head of the family now. You will obey when I tell you to."
She shrugged her shoulders and looked at her mother, who shook her head. Tania answered: „If you say so." He had the feeling that his sister didn't take him seriously. „Don't push it, Tania," he growled and waved to his two brothers. „Arin, Bard. Let's go and have a look at the murderers."
Arin hummed a melancholy tune while Bard nervously looked around and picked up a fist-sized stone.
Eran looked at him.
„Just to be save." He licked his lips.
Eran spat on the motionless figure of Rigan, who was encased in a shell of obsidian. The outstretched sleeves rested on the shattered hands. Broken bone ends were sticking out of the skin. The head hung down. Eran pushed his foot against the side, so that Rigan tilted on his back. Like an upturned beetle he stretched his arms and legs into the air. Broken eyes stared at her. Bard gasped up. „He is dead! By the moon god." Arin hummed the death song.
The ancestors punished him.
Eran examined the stone covering of the dead man. „Look at this. It's as if his clothes have turned to obsidian."
He smiled. He had not seen blood near his father's body. As if the ground had absorbed it. Father must have summoned a powerful being before his death.
Arin pointed to his shirt and pants. „Perhaps the same magic that colors our clothes white."
„How can you stay so calm?" Bard strode back and forth, waving his hands. „Rigan is dead. The Kilrhains will blame us." His voice rolled over. „They will take their revenge."
„Let's get rid of the body." Arin whistled the first verse of the „Song of the Innocent".
„Stop that stupid whistling and humming," cried Bard. „The Kilrhains will slaughter us."
„Silence." Eran straightened up. For a few moments, he watched the red morning sun crawl out from behind the volcanic cone of Hrangi. His gaze wandered over the mountainsides and the meadows. This is our land. We will not hide anything. Everyone should see what powerful magic we have and what punishment awaits attackers. „Get wooden stakes, hammers and cords. Bring everything to the path."
„What are you going to do?" Bard stepped from one foot to the other.
„Do as I say. Go now."

As he dragged Rigan's body away, a round piece of metal shimmered in the dust. Father's amulet of the ancestors. He hung it around his neck, but hid it under his clothes.
Then he dragged the dead man to the beginning of the valley path.
„You're crazy!" Bard hurled the hammer into the meadow. „Why do you want to provoke them? Even Aunt Celia won't be able to help us." He looked briefly at the dead. „If she even wants to."
Eran picked up a stake and beat it into meadow soil. „Aunt Celia has nothing to say among the Kilrhains anyway. The spell will help us. We want all of Samica to see what we're capable of."
Arin whistled. „We can't fight all Samica."
Now Arin too. „We just have to stand up to the Kilrhains. Then we will make alliances with the other families."
„ What do you mean with ‚just'? They can mobilize at least a hundred fighters."
„Quiet now. Stop doubting." He took dried volcanic lily leaves from his trouser pocket and handed one to each of the brothers. „Trust the magic." His tongue contracted from the bitter-sour taste that spread through his mouth.

They placed Rigan upright in his stone coffin and tied him to a wooden stake. Eran knocked three more pegs into the ground. Then they dragged the bandits, who had abused their hospitality, across the meadow and tied them to the stakes.
Eran wrinkled his nose. The men had done their necessaries in their own obsidian clothing. All three were still alive and begging for water, freedom and life.

„We will let you live if you talk." Eran raised his hand to indicate an oath. „Tell me everything."
The bandits outbid each other with details of what happened. They blamed Rigan.
When Eran had enough, he waved at Arin and Bard. „Let's go."
„Please. What about us?" cried one of the men.„I keep my promise. You may live and go wherever you want - if you can." The sun will stew them in their own juices.

They walked through the meadow back to the farm, ignoring the cries and howling of the bandits.
The women dressed their father's corpse in his best pants and finest shirt. Tania stood in front of Eran, put her hands on her hips and nodded to the four statues on the grass.„What are you doing, Eran?"
„A warning to all those who would attack us."
„And Aunt Celia?"
„What about Aunt Celia?"
„Rigan was her only son. Don't you think about her feelings?"
„Rigan was a vicious killer and a pig." He looked into Tania's eyes and thrust out. „He wanted to rape you just to get the secret of the magic. The bandits confessed everything."
Tania opened her mouth, but no sound left her lips. She let her arms hang and lowered her head.
Her mother stepped in. „Rigan is dead, Eran. So is Natan." She swallowed at the thought of her husband. „We should allow Celia to bury her son."
„I'm sorry, mother. Rigan is to blame for father's death. Someone has to show the Kilrhains their limits. The spell will help us do that."
„Do not put too much faith in it," she warned. „Natan had felt that we still know far too little about it."
„My decision is final. I will not be swayed from it. Continue with the funeral."
He turned to his brothers. „You are preparing Father's grave."
„May I use magic?" Bard held his knife in his hand. Eran allowed it and Arin handed Bard a spade. As he followed the two to the cemetery behind the house, a spot of light flashed in the valley.
He waited and watched. A rider appeared on the path. A white-green blanket lay over the horse's back.
The colors of Kilrhain. The man stopped in front of the four stone figures at the wayside. He examined Rigan's statue, turned around and drove his horse down the hill.
Eran exhaled. In two hours. The blood rushed in his ears. He felt every beat of his heart.
Then the Kilrhains will know who are the new masters of Samica.