“Hmm…” I drank from my mug.
“What? Something wrong with my plan?”
“I’d rather the message have gone out earlier, but it’s fine. It doesn’t matter.”
“Why doesn’t it matter, pray tell?”
I put my empty mug on the table. “The Advent might not have been protecting this nismerdon, but I’m certain they have some kind of link with it. One way or another, they already know it’s dead, which means they’ll plan for the worst. They’ll assume our next stop is their main refuge.”
“Yes, I imagined such a scenario, but if it’s at all possible to gain an advantage without producing immediate confusion throughout this kingdom, I’m taking it.”
“Fair enough. What does your message say?”
“That the corpse of an ancient, death-dealing giant lies in Furubiro after a dragon knight burned its life away. If more of our enemy is found in these lands, then the dragon knight and the gods themselves will expect for Jegeru’s royalty, nobility, and warriors to answer the call for aid.”
“I see. You want to put the king on the spot.”
“Yes. This message should be heard by thousands of people before the king receives it. One hopes his fealty to the Advent is not so strong as to defy the expectations of his people and his responsibility to them. Even if it is, I anticipate he’ll lose support among the nobility and his generals.”
“I doubt it will be such a clean break. Still, if your message can remove even one unwitting Advent supporter, then it’s better than nothing. Clarissa, go wake Gerard. We’ll leave once he eats something. I’ll get Ghevont to finish what he’s doing and tell Eu-Sook to make sure everyone else is ready to leave.”
Clarissa left to do her task and I mine. Odet chose to follow me.
After consuming what remained of her pear, the princess used a heedful undertone to ask, “Mercer, how are you feeling?”
Giving myself a similar tone, I asked, “Do you think I’d be aggravated by the question?”
“My hunch is that you won’t know how to answer it.”
“Well, you’re not far off… I just need time to adjust to my new situation. In the meantime, we need to refocus our training sessions on you. Summoning Mytariss might be our only hope against another nismerdon if we can’t gain more allies. When could your mother someone her?”
“A week before her twenty-fifth birthday, though she could have accomplished the feat years earlier if she dedicated herself to training.”
“Then you can’t be too far from the same feat.”
“Maybe, but despite Mother’s lack of interest in refining her skill, she always had a propensity in prana greater than myself. Before masquerade balls and palace life diverted her attention away from training, her prana was said to be quite blessed. She cast shields a year younger than I did, for instance.”
“But no matter your mother’s natural talent for casting, her shields didn’t have dragon fire to contend with. Until I can rediscover my own path, I’ll content myself on smoothing out your own. In fact, here…” I removed my prana crystals and presented them to Odet. “They’ll probably end up being more useful to you than to me once you get your prana pure enough.”
The princess plucked one from my palm and closed my hand over the other. “Two crystals for two paths, Mercer.”
I nodded. “Now let’s just hope neither path ends in Uratama.”
Chapter Three
I rode on the back of Eu-Sook’s griffin to start a demanding journey that would last four days in good weather. Not wanting to attract too much attention, I instructed the riders to avoid bigger towns and military encampments as we made our way down the map. According to such maps, much of the land we would cross consisted of grassy hills high and wide and short and tall. Winding streams and rivers filled the spaces between the smooth slopes during the wet season. A good place for griffins to get their rest and find some food.
As for the group of humans, our “rest” periods were occupied with training regimens that impacted Odet’s shield more often than not. My bolides, Clarissa’s water, Gerard’s sword, Ghevont’s lightning, and even a few spears thrusted by our allies contributed to the cause. I elected to focus on my heart meditations when I drained my reserve, foregoing the Draceran training on the grounds that its benefits had been muted by my smaller soul. Regardless, I realized I couldn’t make headway in a mere four days in whatever training regimen I chose.
Part of Gerard’s free time was spent speaking at length with Eu-Sook. After one of their discussions, I went up to the green knight and asked what they had been talking about.
“I’ve recently become interested in linking with a realm.” He twirled the large yellow griffin feather he held. “If Odet is going to keep traveling to lands far and near, then I think it best to have the option to summon a steed. Our new friend is teaching me what is required to lure a griffin and what it takes to care for the beast.”
“Makes sense, though now I’m wondering why you haven’t linked with any realm yet.”
“I’ve never enjoyed the idea of thinning my prana before or during a fight with a summoning spell. I also don’t consider myself much of a devotee to animals. Nor do animals endear themselves to me. My mother has owned dogs, parrots, and cats all my life and not one has ever been glad to see me when I visit. One bird even enjoyed aiming his crap at me. Anyway, I won’t be committed to summoning anything until we find ourselves with more free time.”
“It must be the smell.”
“What?”
“Animals must not like your smell. Check with Clarissa. She’ll know.”
“Uh, yeah, I’ll do that.”
The middle of our second travel day was when Odet gave the okay for her message to be sent. A nightfall later had most of Captain Shao’s men and a few of Eu-Sook’s unit going in different directions to deliver Odet’s prudently picked words, putting our faction at fifteen humans strong. I wanted the captain to join them, but he stayed with us. It’s not that I didn’t trust him, it’s that I didn’t trust him to listen to me if he found out I could no longer summon Aranath. Killing the nismerdon bought me time, but Shao would eventually wonder why I hadn’t called upon the dragon to convey my comrades.
That concern aside, I paid close attention to Ghevont’s reaction every time he checked his staff’s crystal on our fourth day. The fourth day also brought us to flatter lands populated by too many people to circumvent all the villages and towns crisscrossing the landscape. The density of roads and buildings only increased soon after Eu-Sook pointed forward to a flickering line of bay water thirty or forty miles away. A hint of sea breeze tickled my nostrils minutes later.
The traces of oceanic aroma became supplanted by earthy farmland when our griffins needed to take their evening respite. So that we didn’t have to account for them when we moved on the ground, we purposely rode griffins that could be unsummoned. Seeing as Uratama lied no farther than twenty miles away, we decided to make our way to the city by foot, doing our best to keep out of sight from those using the roads. I preferred sneaking into the city without attracting the attention of aerial and ground patrols, something a flock of griffins could not do.
Of course, going on foot did not eliminate the chances of detection. If we were stopped by a patrol, I told Captain Shao to tell his compatriots that he was escorting northern foreigners involved in a trade deal with Uratama merchants. I didn’t want to use my dragon knight status in a place where that news could cause the Advent to turn every soldier in the area against us. Naturally, that was assuming the cultists had a foothold in the region.
Several hours into our swift trek, the first clue to our enemy’s presence forced the scholar to stop all forward momentum.
As Ghevont studied the top of his walking stick, Clarissa asked, “See anything?”
“No, but I can now surmise that the crystal has been reacting to a very faint nismerdon aura these last few minutes. We need to get closer to its source for me to draw more co
nclusive conclusions.”
“Then let’s pick up the pace,” I said.
While Pukam Forest grew less than thirty miles southwest of Uratama, most trees to its northern vicinity had been toppled long ago, giving us little cover during our early hour jog. We ultimately had to take to a road and slow our legs to prevent our silhouettes from looking like fleeing fugitives. The nearer we came to the city, the more patrols we passed. Lucky for us, most only took a cursory glance at their fellow soldiers, not really taking notice of the hooded figures their ushering circle bounded.
Around an hour out from the city, Gerard asked Ghevont, “Is the nismerdon aura getting stronger?”
“Yes and no.”
“That’s not helpful, Ghevont,” I said.
“It’s difficult to be so. The aura does not precisely parallel Furubiro’s pattern. This one seems to be… dormant. At the same time, I do sense occasional bursts of activity that persist for a moment or two, though still nowhere as strong as what I detected in Furubiro.”
“I suppose that’s good news,” said Odet. “It should mean the Advent have not yet commenced a full-scale attack.”
“If there is a giant here,” began the captain, “then we need to evacuate my people from the city.”
“But that will necessitate the aid of the army here,” said Gerard. “An army we cannot trust.”
“My comrades are being deceived by a few. The many will stand against the few once the truth of the giants and their cult is exposed.”
“I fear the truth can only be exposed until they cast their spells, and by then it’ll be too late.”
“If I have to convince one soldier at a time of their folly, I will.”
“Patience, noble captain,” said Odet. “Soon every Jegeru soldier will hear of the Furubiro incident and of the dragon knight’s part in it. Please refrain from spreading the word until we infiltrate the city and gather what information we can. Then we will better recognize the best way to reveal ourselves.”
The captain grumbled in his throat. “Very well, Princess of Alslana. I will give us until sunset to uncover what we can before reexamining my stance.”
The light of day remained absent, but the denser cluster of settlements and intersecting roads in the area provided ambient torchlight to guide our way. A patchwork of low clouds and a congealing fog otherwise limited how much light from the sky brightened the land. We therefore had to get pretty close to Uratama to see its delineation.
Dotting Uratama’s outskirts were pagoda watchtowers and temples. Taverns, little shops, blacksmiths, and knots of peasant homes sprang up around them. The city proper sprouted behind a squat wall of black stone that had not appeared to be maintained in the last three centuries. Indeed, one twenty yard section of wall was merely made from a steep pile of rubble and shriveled wood. I figured this part of Jegeru wasn’t so concerned with enemy invasion.
Despite its ramshackle aspect, numerous soldiers patrolled the battlements and guarded its gates. Getting a little closer showed that several guardsmen wore the gold-colored vambraces that implied their former affiliation with General Teng’s army.
“Just like the general said,” said Clarissa. “His men are here… Okay, now what? Where do we find a giant in a city? Where do you even hide a giant in a city?”
“Underground,” said Gerard. “Or maybe in a building the Advent have secured.”
“Or a secure building underground,” I said.
“Or on a ship,” said Ghevont. “We should acquire a vessel and investigate the bay once we’ve finished inspecting the land.”
“I also suggest seeking out assemblies of soldiers where they shouldn’t be,” said the captain. “Teng’s men aren’t here to sightsee.”
Our group marched to the first open gate in view. We paused for a moment when one of the guardsmen spoke up in Jegeru’s tongue, but Shao’s own terse sentences had us crossing into the city without a problem.
The barrier might have been neglected ever since its creation, but many of the constructions it shoddily protected looked better off. Quite a few roofs flaunted a bluish tinge on their rounded tiles while the wooden or brick walls emitted red hues. A surprising number of flat-topped trees with white flowers lined many of the wider cobblestone roads. Their unfettered petals formed thin cushions on any level surface that didn’t have a continual stream of wind, feet, hooves, and wheels passing through.
Our arrival almost seemed to elicit the city’s awakening. Early risers started preparing and cleaning their shops, and taverns and inns saw hungry patrons coming in to buy a meal. Clanging metal told of blacksmiths at work somewhere in a nearby district, and enthusiastic pigs and chickens oinked and clucked when their owners came out with their food. Couriers delivered messages to and fro, sometimes having to skip over a vagrant lying on the softest patch of stone they could find. A vibrant town overall.
We took a serpentine route through Uratama to give Ghevont a better chance at finding the origin of the nismerdon pulses. Our promenade looked less conspicuous every time a rejuvenated resident joined us on the streets. I generally allowed Ghevont to follow his instincts, but sometimes we took a circuitous path to skirt a band of guardsmen or avoid passing through districts partitioned from the rest of the city by signposts or gates.
By midmorning, with the low clouds and mist cleared away by a strong sun, the scholar led us closer to the southeastern coastline. South of the main docks rose three circular pagodas. The eighty foot tall edifices stood in the center of a courtyard over two hundred yards long. Most of the area was surrounded by a low red wall of brick and a dozen rows of stone steps. Through one of the wide, rounded entryways, we saw that several one and two-story buildings dotted the raised courtyard. My group stood beneath one of the well-ordered groves of twenty-foot palm trees planted a hundred feet in front of the southern entrance.
“Can we go in there?” asked Ghevont. “The pulses I sense are originating near its vicinity.”
“The Shuren Academy,” said Shao. “I believe anyone can enter if they have a valid reason to do so.”
“I think ours is pretty valid,” said Clarissa.
“If there’s Advent here,” I began, “then whoever is in charge of this place is in league with them. Going inside now will probably start a battle.”
“Indeed,” said the captain. “I say we inform the guard of the dragon knight’s presence and of the academy’s treachery. We need not wait for word of the Advent to reach the city if we can spread it ourselves.”
“But it’s not merely the word we’re waiting for,” said Odet. “We need to know how the king and his generals respond to it. We can’t risk announcing ourselves if it turns out the Advent’s hold is more prevalent than we thought. Give us the day you promised to wait for the message to reach Uratama. Assuming linked Unburdened are used to spread the message further, we won’t have to wait much longer before this city hears what we need them to.”
The captain relented with a sigh.
“Let’s find a place to eat something,” I said. “Then we can do the rest of our waiting sleeping at an inn.”
“Agreed,” said Gerard. “Tavern docks are usually a place where foreigners won’t stick out so much.”
A short walk took us within a stone’s throw away from the dark waters of Hohn Bay. We skipped several smaller taverns and inns to get to a larger, better-quality establishment. If we were going to die soon, then it wasn’t going to be with shitty food from a stinking scrapheap in our stomachs.
Despite wanting to blend in with other outsiders, the inside of this inn did not have anyone from northern or central Iazali. If these patrons were outsiders, then they came from other parts of southern Efios, and I did not have the eye to tell apart one race from the other. It wasn’t until we sat down did I spot a pair of tawny-skinned older fellows in a corner only lit by a crack in the wall. I couldn’t pin down where they hailed from, but it must have been far enough for the sheepish elders to seek a shaded corner to quail i
n.
A discussion of our immediate plans took place as I ate a hot plate of scrambled eggs mixed in with chunks of half crushed potato and pepper. Too much pepper for my tastes, but life moved on. The plan we came up with had us renting several of the small single-bed chambers the second story of our inn offered. As some of us slept, the others would keep an eye on the academy to watch out for anything suspicious. I elected to be among the first group to find repose in the cramped, unembellished rooms.
Once again, my dreams did not form an image. I did get the sense that I stood paralyzed inside a vast cave filled with water up to my waist, and that somewhere in this stagnant cavern, the occasional echo of dripping water met the part of my brain that unraveled sound. My blindness and the inability to move would have normally put this in the nightmare category, but my current disposition, the tepid water, and predictable dripping simply made me indifferent to the whole thing.
I woke up feeling as though I had been floating in a flooded, icy cave for several hours—numb and neither rested nor exhausted. A two inch wide window slit informed me of a dwindling light outside. After taking my sweet time getting up and putting on my gear, I headed downstairs to find Clarissa and Ghevont sitting in a crowded table with Eu-Sook. The whole place was packed with patrons, though the noise level never rose above a loud murmur, not including the random bouts of laughter.
I bought a small bag of tobacco shavings from the woman behind the counter before joining the trio. With my room free, Ghevont left the staff with Clarissa and went upstairs to get his rest. The vampire and rider awoke less than an hour ago, so we had the energy to do more than sit. I pulled out my borrowed pipe and filled it with the shavings a step after leaving the inn.
Once I exhaled a puff of smoke, the vampire asked me, “When did this happen?”
“Chance Inn. Does the smell bother you?”
“Not when we’re outside… Strange, I just remembered that I used to like the smell of smoked tobacco when I was little.”
The Dragon Knight and the Light Page 3