Fall of a Kingdom

by Michael Greenfield

  “Just what will this entail?” Cal wasn’t comfortable with the idea of undue risk falling upon her, but he was well aware that all of them were taking risks almost every day now.

  “Hopefully not too much. I may even get the hang of drawing power without aging.” She smiled in an attempt to calm Cal’s fears. “The main concern I have is that I don’t know if anyone will be able to detect what I’m doing.

  If I feel something wrong, I’ll break the spell immediately.”

  Cal looked to Astridson for confirmation, though he already knew what the answer would be. They didn’t really have a choice. They could spend weeks here and still not find out the information they needed. Indeed, they could already have missed the caravan they wanted to find.

  “Do you need anything?”

  Tamala sounded slightly apprehensive as she replied, “I don’t think so. Company whilst I try might be nice though.”

  Cal smiled at Astridson, “I think we can manage that.

  I guess there’s no time like the present. Why don’t you give it a go now, before we all get cold feet over it?”

  Laughing, Tamala leant back against the wall of the room and closed her eyes. For a few moments nothing appeared to happen, then Cal noticed a slight glow starting to spread about the sorceress. It would have been hardly noticeable if they were still downstairs in the bustle of the taproom but sat just across from her, he could just make it out.

  He realised that both he and Astridson were holding their breaths and made a pantomime display of exhaling, causing the Lighter to almost start giggling.

  A frown crossed Tamala’s face, “You’re up to something. I could feel… something. Emotions. It’s definitely a bit strange.

  I’ll try and extend the range I’m ‘seeing’”.

  There wasn’t any apparent change to her appearance, but both the men remained silent as she concentrated. Slowly, a slight smile spread across her face as she continued.

  “I can clearly feel the both of you, though others in the area are almost a suggestion of a feeling.

  I’m not sure I’m explaining this well?”

  “Just keep it up, and be careful.” Cal placed his hand atop Tamala’s own as he spoke. Her hand felt warm, almost tingling.

  “Okay, I’ll trying to stretch out from the town now, looking west to see if I can feel…”

  “What is it?” Cal leant forward at the sudden halt of Tamala’s commentary.

  “I can feel her!” Excitement flowed from her voice as her eyes snapped open. “She’s about two and a half days east of us.”

  She started to stand, the sat abruptly. “That’s it.”

  “What’s it?” Astridson did stand.

  “It’s the mind of the person that I’m drawn to. If I think of someone I know well my mind is drawn to them. I can feel them even at distance.

  Wait a moment.”

  “What?” Cal stared at Astridson who just shrugged as the redhead shut her eyes again.

  “Luda, I can feel Luda.

  He’s at Dwarfhome, with Collett and Vorston. They’re with others but I couldn’t say who, although there doesn’t feel to be any danger or alarm.”

  They were concentrating hard on what she was saying now. Aware that anything she discovered could make a great difference to what they were trying to do.

  “And Dorrin. This is amazing! I can feel Dorrin and he’s at Leefs’elm. That’s the other side of the world!”

  “Not quite, but close. Can you get any sort of message to them?”

  “Let me try.”

  Dorrin sat at the table in the dining hall staring into the distance. Farsighter nudged him as he completely ignored Edir making a not so subtle joke about the of old king of M’ur.

  With a shake of the head Dorrin snapped his attention back to the table.

  “Tamala,” he shook his head again, “I’ve just spoken to Tamala.”

  Conversation stopped dead as all heads turned toward him. “How?” Farsighter was having a hard time containing himself, wanting news of Cal.

  “I’ve no idea. No spell I know of would allow what she seems to have done.

  It was like a Farglobe, except,” he held his empty hands apart, “no globes.

  Cancel the trip to Churek Magron. Cal, Tamala and someone called Astridson are already there and they know where the Queen is.”

  Everyone started to talk at once, before Dorrin held his hand up to stop them.

  “Hold on. They’re going to attempt to rescue the Queen, then try and get to Dwarfhome. Apparently that’s where Collett, Luda and Vorston are.

  She suggests that we make our way to Joorat and stop the magic users there from using too much of their magic. Something to do with balance but I’m not too sure I understood it properly.”

  “Well,” Edir and King Maargsson stood and spoke at the same time, then both laughed.

  “Majesty.” Edir motioned for the King to continue.

  “It appears that you’ve not been saddled with a crown yet Dorrin. Guard!” One of the men stood to one side of the hall rushed over, “Run to the harbour and tell the Harbour Master that I need a Fastship to Joorat immediately.

  Gentlemen,” he returned his attention to the two men from Boraan, “I think you need to go and pack.”

  Luda was sat in his room with the same glazed expression as Dorrin had sported. Fortunately, he escaped the ridicule of his friends as they had already eaten.

  As his vision cleared, he leapt up and raced into the corridor.

  “Collett!” The Islander opened his own door and stuck his head out curiously, “We ride!”

  “What? Have you finally lost it?”

  “Tamala’s just been in contact. Don’t ask how, just trust me on this.

  We need to head east immediately toward Churek.”

  “How? Never mind. What are we to do when we get to Churek?

  “Hopefully we never will. Cal’s with her and a Lighter who’s helping them. They’ve located the Queen and are going to attempt a rescue. They need us to provide support as soon as possible by meeting them as they come west.”

  “Let’s speak to Harlin and Garron. We need to be moving at first light.”

  Tamala was starting to open her eyes when she suddenly drew in a sharp breath. “There’s someone watching!”

  Cal grabbed both her shoulders and gave a quick shake, watching her eyes flash open fully.

  “I felt hatred, loathing. Gods, I couldn’t begin to guess at who or what it was. It was just a feeling, a knowing feeling. Like I know who it is but couldn’t quite put my finger on their name.”

  Cal noted that sweat had formed upon her brow, and the faint nimbus he had seen earlier had fully disappeared. He held her close, staring at Astridson as he did so.

  “Come on, let’s get a drink whilst you tell us what you managed to do.”

  The three of them walked down the stairs and into the taproom without another word. Cal ordered a round of drink and left the barmaid to sort them and bring them over.

  Tamala waited for the drinks to arrive before she spoke again. “I managed to contact Dorrin and Luda.

  I told Dorrin to get to Joorat and stop the mages from doing anything stupid.”

  “I take it this is something to do with Asrak?” Cal was still watching her intently, making sure there was nothing else the matter.

  “Luda’s going to arrange for Collett and the dwarves to send a party to meet us as we head west.”

  “That’s all well and good, but we need to rescue your queen first.” Astridson paused for a moment before continuing, “How accurate a location did you get for her?”

  “I should be able to direct us to her. It’s like I can still feel her almost,” she saw the look on both their faces, “but don’t worry. I’m not still using the spell.

  Like I said earlier, I’m still not entirely sure how this works.”

  Cal had been nervous with this idea to start with, but now that they had learnt that someone else coul
d detect Tamala’s mind as she stretched out around her, he was really beginning to not like the plan.

  Tamala could see the look on his face. “Cal,” She stretched over the table and held his arm, “It’s going to be alright.

  Whoever it was that could sense me didn’t know I was there until I started to range further afield. If I keep to the area about us and Myriana we should be fine.”

  Grudgingly Cal accepted that they didn’t really have much alternative, but he would have been much happier if they could have tried something else.

  “I guess we should get an early night tonight then, we’ll want to start out first thing in the morning.” He turned to Astridson, “You’d better let Kosmiir know?”

  The Lighter nodded and rose from his seat, heading for the door to the stables.

  Cal watched him go then returned his attention to the pretty, redhead sat opposite him. With a quick grin he spoke, “So, if we’re getting out of this place tomorrow, does that mean we can finally stop sleeping in separate rooms?”

  Tamala burst out laughing and Cal was fairly sure if they hadn’t been in so public a location, he would have had to duck as something flew toward him.

  The following morning Astridson settled their account with Horst and the three of them started a gentle ride toward the eastern gate. The guards on duty paid them little attention as they passed, and they were soon heading back along the border between the foothills and the desert.

  The green grass that covered the lower slopes stretched past the trail they were following and started to become broken and more like scrubland as it led north. About halfway toward the horizon from where they rode it trailed off into sand and the beginnings of the dunes that spread northward across the lower part of the J’dar desert.

  Cal was taking a lot of interest in the surrounding countryside now as pretty soon he knew he was likely going to be trying to use it to aid in the rescue of the Queen.

  He noted that Astridson was doing the same whilst Tamala almost seemed to be dozing, as she let her mind direct them toward the caravan where Queen Myriana awaited.

  “Keep heading west for today, I’ll give more precise instructions tomorrow.”

  They both nodded, whilst Kosmiir snorted his understanding.

  They set up camp early that evening, only making a small fire for cooking which they quickly extinguished once the meal was prepared. The Makkisen grazed nearby as they sat and ate.

  “We’ll need to be more careful tomorrow,” Tamala sounded more tired than she looked, “I’ll direct us closer to the caravan but once we get within a few miles we’ll need to be on guard for out-riders patrolling their route.”

  Cal agreed with the need for care, but also was starting to chafe as they neared their goal. “I should be able to track their movement without raising any attention. If you hang back in the hills and I’ll keep you appraised as I can.”

  “So, you think we should try tomorrow night?” Astridson placed his plate down beside himself as he thought it through. “Try and put some distance between us before they realise anything’s happened.”

  “That would make sense. It will be fairly obvious that we’ve either gone east or west, and if they have a half decent tracker it won’t take long to narrow that down either.” Glancing at Tamala he continued, “If you and Tamala make the rescue attempt, I’ll find some high ground to give you cover from with my bow.”

  “Sound’s like a good basic plan. Now to locate the caravan, try and remained undetected, and hope our foe set up camp somewhere convenient tomorrow night.”

  Tamala smiled at them both, “Apart from those small issues I can’t see any potential problems at all.

  They all enjoyed the moment before becoming quiet as the all thought through what they might find tomorrow.

  Just after noon the next day they came within a few miles of where Tamala had pinpointed the caravan’s location. They appeared to have stopped for a midday meal and Cal took the opportunity to leave their small group and begin to move closer.

  Tamala had admonished him to take a full waterskin with him, even though they were nowhere near the deep desert, but Cal wasn’t going to argue. He knew a lot of it was down to nerves and, if pressed he would have admitted to some himself. Although now that he had a set task to complete, he found that they had lessened.

  To himself he admitted that there was a quiet beauty to the landscape they were travelling through. Different to what he was used to back in Fallon’s Glen, but he could appreciate it.

  He drew his thoughts back to his current task, making sure to keep his awareness alert for anything that might give him notice of someone else approaching.

  Thankfully he managed to get to within sight of the caravan without coming across any patrols, though he did see signs that they were about. As he lay atop a small hillock, he draped a cloak over him that Astridson had purchased the night before the left Churek.

  It was a slightly dark sandy colour, and he could see now that it would help him blend into the surrounding landscape much better than the cloak that he had brought with him from Agorel.

  He spent the next hour observing the routine of the caravan before him, before he watched them pack away the pots and pans they had used to prepare their meal and start rolling east again.

  He felt a slight ‘pressure’ in his head. It was a strange feeling, but not unpleasant. He let Tamala know where he was and that the caravan was moving on, and then concentrated on trying to follow them without being found.

  Evening brought the caravan to a stop not far from where they themselves had stopped the night before. Cal smiled at that thought, could have saved themselves a bit of a journey there.

  It also meant that he could see several small hills and areas of raised land nearby that should allow him to provide cover for Astridson and Tamala, as they went about the business of rescuing the Queen that night.

  He carefully made his way back to the others, now following less than a mile behind the J’dar, after they had assured themselves that the patrols were busy searching in front of their line of progress. Looking for ambush being laid ahead of them, not worried about where they’d already been.

  He found the pair of them astride the Makkisen moving slowly through the scrub just a short distance from the trail the caravan had been following. Kosmiir quietly snorted at his approach, letting the others know that he was there before he came into sight.

  They dismounted and quickly found a spot they could sit and eat, whilst they discussed their plan for the night.

  Tamala spoke first, “I can narrow it down to probably two or three tents, but not much better.”

  “Well there is some good news. They’ve camped at almost exactly the same spot as we did last night. There’s a couple of small hills nearby that would offer a position for my bow.” Cal turned to Astridson, “You’ll just have to be careful won’t you.”

  “Believe me, I’ll the most careful Lighter you’ll find within fifty miles.”

  “You’ll be the only Lighter within fifty miles! I’m assuming that once you get closer, you’ll get a better idea of where the Queen is?” He addressed the question to Tamala.

  “Once we get into the camp itself, I should be able to locate the exact tent.”

  “Then I suggest that we move toward our goal, so we can get a better lay of the land.” Looking toward Kosmiir he continued, “Would you be so good as to wait nearby and be ready to answer our call when we need you?”

  “We’ll be ready. I would suggest that the Lady Tamala and the Queen ride myself when we make our escape. It should be easier for me to carry the two of them.”

  “Then we should be off once we’ve finished eating. It’s going to be a long night.”

  They had spent just over two hours watching the camp. Another hour would see the moon start to rise so they had decided this would be the best time to try the rescue.

  The rising moon would also aid the Makkisen as they made their dash west if they were successf
ul.

  Carefully, Tamala and Astridson made their way closer. From where they were, they could see three guards on this side of the camp. They didn’t appear to be moving around much, in fact two of them looked as if they were close to dropping off to sleep. They were both leaning against posts that had been driven in to the ground to provide anchor points for nearby tents.

  Astridson motioned for Tamala to stop a moment, as he cautiously moved out into the open between the scrub and the nearest tent. Tamala took the moment’s opportunity to try and get a better idea as to where Myriana was. She could feel her presence, very close to where they were, but not one of the tents around the immediate perimeter.

  The guard who appeared more alert of the three turned away from them as someone called to him. Astridson silently thanked whoever that was, as the guard would now have impaired his night vision by looking back toward the fires at the centre of the collection of tents.

  Glancing to his left, where the nearer of the other two stood, he quickly moved to the shadow of the nearest tent. He paused a moment, both watching and straining to hear if any notice had been taken of his passage, but no alarm was raised.

  He quickly motioned for Tamala to join him and a moment later they were together again. With there still being no alarm raised he leant in closer so he could whisper to her.

  “Have you located which tent she’s in yet?”

  “Not exactly, it’s behind this one, but whether it’s immediately behind or the next after that I couldn’t say.”

  “So, we try both.” He quietly moved round to the side of the tent they were using for cover, again straining to hear if there was any movement ahead of them.

  Glancing left and right to ensure they were not observed, they both moved quickly to the shadow of the next tent. Astridson silently slipped his dagger from its sheath and as carefully as possible made a small slit in the canvas they knelt next to.

  Carefully he pulled the canvas apart and tried to see within. Despite the dark interior it was obvious that the tent was being used to hold supplies, not for the containment of an important prisoner.