Fall of a Kingdom

by Michael Greenfield

  “You realise that we’ll need you to spare us some of your men if we are to pursue Myriana?”

  The rugged officer gave a knowing look before replying. “When I saw the Old Wolf walking through the gates earlier I decided that things were about to get interesting.

  I can only give you half the unit; Balton’ll have need of the others.”

  “Understood. They know that there will definitely be little guarantee of them returning?”

  “The life of Her Majesty is at stake. Unless you return with the Queen, I don’t expect to see any of them again. You know they’ll gladly die before they give up.”

  “Pick your best. They could be the difference between our success and our failure.” Farsighter extended his hand and the pair clenched wrists.

  “I wish I was going with you, but I’ve a feeling that we’ll be needed in these parts in order to make sure that Her Majesty has a kingdom to return to.”

  When Farsighter returned to the front of the building where they had been quartered he was surprised to see that Collett had Cal on the training yard with a sword in his hand. Behind them he could see Dorrin and Luda watching in appreciation as the Royal Commander put the youngster through his paces.

  Dorrin saw Farsighter approaching and waved him to join them.

  “It would appear that our young friend thought he had escaped from training today, but Collett seems to be putting things right.”

  All three watched for a moment before Farsighter spoke. “I don’t recognise the style.”

  “Apparently it’s southern in origin. Something Collett was taught in his youth in the Outer Isles.” Luda huffed at the implication that it was a better style then he had been teaching Cal.

  “Collett’s an Isler, I had no idea. Unusual for one of them to become an officer, let alone the most senior officer in the regular army.”

  “It’s not that unusual. It’s happened many times in the past, just not in recent years. He did some favour for the King whilst they were training at the same time and the friendship seems to have done him no harm whatsoever.

  Admittedly, being a damn fine officer probably helped some as well.”

  “Cal seems to be learning quickly?”

  “That is strange. It’s almost unheard of for a northerner to show natural aptitude at this style of swordsmanship. I think he surprised Collett almost as much as he surprised the rest of us.”

  They lapsed into silence as they watched the seasoned officer and the youngster trade flashing blows at each other. Collett had obtained a slightly lighter sword from the garrison’s armoury that he was using to teach Cal, and that also suited the style of swordplay he was teaching better.

  In a casual voice that sounded as if he were exerting no effort at all Collett continuously commented on Cal’s stance or movement as they went through what was obviously a pre-set series of moves. Each move was designed to deflect a particular attack, though towards the end of the series Farsighter saw that several of the moves were merged so that they could possibly be used to deflect attacks from an unexpected direction.

  “Enough.” Collett broke off and stood back. “You need to practise that series of moves every day until I tell you otherwise. Ten repetitions after you have practised your stances, then a repeat of the stances before warming down. Don’t forget to stretch to warm up before you start your practice.”

  Although his tone with Cal was slightly brusque, Farsighter could tell that the veteran was impressed. He waited until Collett moved away from Cal to allow him to complete his exercises before he joined him.

  “What do you think then?”

  Collett looked up from his sword that he had been inspecting to make sure there was no significant damage from the blows traded and grinned.

  “I think that I might have to impress on the young man that I was serious when I told him that the Royal Guard would take him if he didn’t fancy the Rangers.”

  Seeing the cloudy look on Farsighter’s face he quickly raised his hands in supplication. “Don’t worry, I’ll not steal him from you. He’s already stated his intention to stay with you so I don’t think I’ve got much of a look in.”

  Farsighter relaxed. “I’ve nothing against a career in the Royal Guard for the lad, but I’ve never seen someone with this much promise. I feel I’d be doing him a disservice if I didn’t give him the best chance that I can.”

  “I know the feeling; I’ve even had it once or twice myself. We’re just two old farts chasing after past glories and hoping that we can relive them in the guise of the new generations that we watch coming through.”

  Farsighter erupted into laughter at the comment, though he could find no fault as to its accuracy. “Too true my friend, too true. But I sorely hope that we still have it in ourselves for at least one last great adventure.” His eyes drifted to the northeast as he spoke and Collett found himself staring in the same direction.

  “I don’t know whether it will be much of an adventure or not, but I share your hope that we still have the strength to carry things through just one more time.

  What say you to the idea of two old men sharing a drink this evening and boasting to the youngsters of our exploits?”

  Farsighter slapped Collett’s back in agreement as they both headed back indoors, still laughing.

  The Rangers

  The rest of the day and evening had passed quietly. Cal had sat through a lecture from Dorrin about the other coastal kingdoms that they would be passing through as they travelled eastward, although he noted that Dorrin did not spend much time on their neighbouring kingdom of M’Ur, skipping almost immediately to Galorn, the most easterly of the four kingdoms, no mention of Leefs’elm as that was to the north of Boraan.

  Cal had not thought much of it at the time, but now that the bright rays of the morning sun had started to filter through the small window in the room he had been given to share with Farsighter the omission started to prey on his mind.

  He noticed that Farsighter had already left the room, though for once he thought he might actually have stirred when the veteran had moved. Quickly dressing he made his way into the short corridor that led to the exit from the officer’s billet and stepped out to a hive of activity. He could see soldiers almost everywhere he looked, and none of them seemed to be idle. Cal turned at a sound behind him and saw Luda making his way out of the wooden building.

  “What will they do?”

  Luda looked at him strangely. “Fight of course.”

  Cal smiled. “That’s not quite what I meant. They won’t fight from here, they’re too exposed.”

  Luda laughed at himself for misunderstanding the question. “Apologies Cal. You’re right of course. They’ll head south and try and join up with the main army whilst the Rangers will stay behind.”

  “Behind?”

  “They’ll cut across to the west and try and pick up the Shaler movement. When they do they’ll start sending runners back with information, locations, force compositions, that kind of thing.”

  “That doesn’t sound the safest job on offer.”

  “Says the man that volunteered to travel as far east as it takes to rescue Her Majesty from a race of seven foot, mythical demon creatures.”

  Cal grinned. “I don’t remember anybody saying that they were seven feet tall.”

  “I was talking about wide.”

  They both dissolved into laughter at the joke before Cal spoke once again. “I know that I’ve been offered the chance to travel to somewhere safer, but I said that I wanted to join the Rangers, and I don’t want to let Farsighter down.

  To be honest I think I’m more scared of upsetting Farsighter than I am of the Mythraan.”

  Luda nodded his understanding. “Sometimes it’s harder to live up to expectation than it is to just do the impossible.

  You’ve chosen a tough path, but Farsighter’s not the only one that’s noticed things about you. And judging by the way that Tamala keeps acting around you, I’d say that not everyone is t
hinking about your prowess with weaponry.”

  Cal stopped dead. “What do you mean?” He could feel his cheeks turning crimson even as he spoke.

  “Oh great, that’s all we need.”

  “What’s all we need?” Both turned at Dorrin’s voice from entrance of the hut they had just left.

  “Our young hero here has ideas above his station. Mention Tamala and watch and see how red his cheeks turn.” Luda was grinning as he spoke.

  “Now that’s not fair friend Luda. At his age I use to blush at the mention of just about any woman.” Cal could see that Dorrin was also grinning widely.

  “Don’t give me that Dorrin. I knew you when you were that age remember. Whenever someone mentioned a girl was paying you the slightest bit of attention you used to race of in immediate pursuit of the poor young thing.”

  Cal couldn’t help laughing at that. “Enough.” Answered Dorrin. “I resent the implications of that statement, no matter how accurate the details may be. Let us abscond to the mess hut and discover what delicacies they have to offer for breakfast this far north.”

  Chatting jovially the three made their way to the mess hut, next to the enlisted soldier’s billets, and entered.

  Inside they found most of the off duty soldiers sat around various long tables, obviously discussing what was up, as they had not been officially informed yet, even if the word had got round to most of them. Farsighter was sat at one of two tables at the head of the room, deep in discussion with an officer that Cal had not met yet. At least he assumed that he was an officer. He wore no badge of rank and his clothes were not part of any obvious uniform. He looked more like Farsighter in his manner of dress, lots of greys and greens colouring the various garments.

  As he thought about it whilst approaching the table, he realised that the only reason he had for assuming he was an officer was the fact that he was sat at the top table. Curiosity was rapidly overtaking his other mental faculties. There were only two options that he could think of, that either the man was another guest like themselves, or that he was a Ranger. If that was so, he was not what he had expected.

  Even sat as he was, it obvious that he was a few inches shorter that Farsighter, although it was hard to tell his build because of the loose fit of his clothing. His hair was dark and his face unshaven, adding to the sinister image that he gave.

  Farsighter saw Cal as he approached and waved for him to join them. “Cal, I’d like you to meet Kafron, captain of the Ranger detail at Riversmeet. Kaf, this is the young man that I’ve been talking about.”

  He stood and extended his hand to the slightly bemused Cal. “Not quite what you were expecting, huh!” His voice practically boomed throughout the room. Cal cringed to see several people looking in their direction. “He doesn’t like noise and attention much, that’s fine be me.” He gripped Cal’s wrist and sat down with a devilish grin spread across his face.

  “It’s not, I…” Cal stopped as he realised that he couldn’t really say anything that would prevent the two men in front of him from starting to laugh again, finally settling for honesty. “I don’t know what I was expecting, but I think that this is definitely not it.”

  “Too fresh to know when to spin a good lie, I like that in a recruit, but you’ll have to change quickly if you think to stay any length of time.” He saw the confused expression on Cal’s face. “Don’t worry, from what I hear you’ll have plenty of time to practice.”

  “I think you’ll find that he’s quite capable of lying when he wants to.” Farsighter was smiling. “Especially if it involves the whereabouts of mead from an inn's larder.”

  Cal joined in the laughter, fondly remembering the time that he and his brother had been caught, more than a little intoxicated, by their father one evening. Despite the obvious side effects of their little foray, they had stuck to their absurd story for such a long time that in the end both the innkeeper and his father had given up amidst howls of laughter.

  “What of his training?”

  Cal’s ears pricked up at this, as he was interested to hear just what Farsighter thought of his progress so far. “As far as his basic skills go he doesn’t need much in the way of practical training, just some training into the meaning of the word caution.” There was laughter again.

  “His skill at arms is a problem.” Cal was devastated. This was the last thing that he had expected to hear from the lips of Farsighter. Seeing the reaction, his mentor nodded in the direction of the table that Dorrin and Luda appeared to have taken over. “Perhaps you would like to share your breakfast with Dorrin, ask him to tell you a bit more about the use of power, I’m sure he’d oblige.” The message was obvious. Whatever Farsighter had to say to Kafron was not for his ears. Heartbroken, Cal turned and made his way to where the other two were sat.

  Farsighter watched him cross over to where the other two were sat before he heard Kaf speak again. “Bit harsh?”

  “Truth to tell, his ability at weapons scares me.” He looked at the Ranger as he spoke. “I’ve seen many come and go, including you, but I’ve never seen his like before.

  He carries a Lighter bow.”

  “Unusual, but I’ve heard stranger tales.”

  Farsighter’s face took on a disturbed quality. “There’s truth to that, but when was the last time you heard of someone that could use it with the skill of a Lighter?”

  Kaf thought that the old man must have been joking until he saw the look on his face. “What of his other skills?”

  “His natural tendency with the sword is that of the Islers, Collett is training him in that aspect. Strange for a boy born less than a week’s travel from Holdur.

  Just half a day after escaping the Shalers at Holdur I felt more than comfortable letting him scout the area whilst we set up camp, I’ve never felt that confident in one of my recruits so soon after finding them.

  Luda tells me that he apparently has a good grasp of tactics already, even if his natural reaction is to stay and fight whilst friends are in trouble, rather than escape as the situation may require.”

  The Ranger let out a short laugh. “I can think of a former commander that had that bad habit as well.”

  Farsighter smiled. “Perhaps, but with experience you build up the instinct to know when such a thing is possible. With youth the action could prove extremely costly.

  To be honest I feel that this might be something that I’m better off handing to another to deal with.” There was self-doubt in his voice as he spoke the last.

  This time Kaf’s laugh came deep from his belly. “Gods commander, you have the perfect school for him with you right at this moment.

  Luda is one of the best tacticians in the kingdom, backed up by Collett who is also one of the finest swordsmen I know.

  Dorrin and the Lady Tamala should be more than capable of teaching him what he needs to know about any mystical powers that we might be dealing with.

  And as for anything else, he’ll be in the company of sixteen of the best Rangers I’ve ever commanded, as well as probably the best commander we’ve had for nearly two centuries.

  Even if circumstance didn’t prevent you from taking him to Bor’a, I would still advise keeping him with the group you seem to have picked up. At least until you have a better idea as to what to do with him.”

  Farsighter had already pretty much come to the same conclusions himself, but it was nice to get a second opinion. Especially from someone who he had already had cause to entrust his life to. It had been a few years ago now, and the debt was long repaid, but it made him feel better anyway.

  By now he saw that Collett had joined the others at the table and decided that it was time for him to re-join his friends. “I’ll try and catch you before we leave, but if not, make sure you get back in one piece. If not, try and not lose anything too vital.”

  Kaf chuckled. “I always try, but sometimes the other side has a strange idea about things, like they want to win for some damned reason.”

  Farsighter joined in th
e laughter. “You’ll just have to convince them otherwise. Take care you old rogue.”

  He left Kaf to his own private thoughts about the problems he would be facing over the next few months and made his way across to the others. Cal didn’t appear to be making much effort to join in the conversation, though Farsighter knew exactly why that was.

  “Morning.”

  Dorrin looked up at the greeting and broke into a wide grin. “Farsighter, my dear man. Perhaps you would tell us what you’ve done to the poor lad that leaves him looking so grievously wounded.”

  Cal shot Dorrin a look that could have stunned a troll at twenty paces, but Dorrin ignored him.

  “I told the good captain that his skill at arms had me worried, and then after shooing him off, I proceeded to explain exactly why I was worried about the lad.”

  Cal had found it bad enough that Farsighter had told the Ranger captain that he was worried, but now he had made the same statement in front of most of those that he held dear in the world. The thought gave him pause for a moment as he considered it. It was true that he had only known all except Farsighter for less than a month, but as he thought on it he realised that it was true, he felt a special attachment to each of the party that had fled Holdur. Maybe it was a side effect of going through such a traumatic experience, he didn’t know, but he did know that he would be willing to fight at the side of any of them without a moment’s hesitation. This realisation just made it worse as he returned his attention to Farsighter.

  “The good captain’s advice made sense though.” He turned his gaze toward Cal. “That I thought there would be a problem with Cal’s training is apparently not as much of a problem as I thought. I imagine that the lad believed I was belittling his achievements when I spoke and then sent him over here so that I could talk in private, for which I apologise.

  The problem was not you at all Cal.” Cal’s face brightened visibly. “It was us, or rather, the fact that I was ignoring the abilities of the rest of the party and their capabilities for training you.