The Axe of Sundering

by M. L. Forman

  Later that night, when most of the caravan had gone to sleep, Alex had a chance to talk with Whalen. At first the old wizard simply listened to what Alex had to say and his thoughts about what had happened at Welding. Alex still thought that Jabez was somehow involved, but he still hadn’t determined how.

  “It’s just a small village, and far away from the land Jabez is trying to control,” Alex said. “I don’t see why he would care about such a place.”

  “Of course he cares about this place,” Whalen answered, as if it was all perfectly clear. “You’re not thinking like an evil wizard, Alex. You’re not thinking of how the Brotherhood works and gains power.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You were in Nezza, and you saw how things were done there. Lies, rumors, mistrust—those are the weapons of the Brotherhood. That is how they divide people, make them afraid, and unsure of who they can trust.”

  “That’s true. Still, the east side of Midland is a long way from Westland. Why would Jabez already be spreading his lies and rumors here?”

  “It’s never too soon to spread the seeds of doubt. Never too early to kindle the fires of fear that he will use to his advantage later. I have no doubt that Jabez is behind this trouble—and a great deal more, unless I miss my guess.”

  “Is there nothing we can do? Can’t we at least warn people about what Jabez is up to?”

  “Who would we warn? Who would believe us? As you said, Westland is far away, the troubles there are not the troubles of Midland. Few in Midland would believe any such warning of a coming evil, and those who might believe us are not in a position to do anything about it.”

  “Then I suppose all we can do is go on as we are, and reach Westland as soon as possible,” Alex said with a sigh.

  “If we achieve that, then we will be able to do more,” Whalen said.

  The days passed slowly as the caravan moved away from the village of Welding. There was sadness for what had happened in the village, and fear had touched all of their hearts. If such things could happen in Welding, what other evils might already be spreading over the land? Alex could see that Whalen was right and that this was exactly what Jabez and the Brotherhood wanted. Spreading fear and worry was the whole reason Welding had been attacked, and the plan was working.

  “There’s nothing we can do about it right now,” Whalen said. “But it might be turned to good before the end.”

  “How could something so evil be turned to good?” Alex asked.

  “It will wake people up, make them more aware of the trouble that is coming. Yes, it will make them less trustful of strangers, but it may, I hope, make them more watchful as well.”

  “And people who are watchful will make it harder for Jabez and his minions to do more harm.”

  “We can hope so.”

  Hope. Hope was all Alex had right now. They were still moving slowly toward Westland, and there wasn’t much he could actually do to fight the growing darkness. Jabez remained free to act as he wished, a fact that troubled Alex more and more as the days passed. It seemed unfair. Jabez should be afraid—he should be the one taking care and worrying about the future.

  He must know that Whalen is on his way , Alex said to himself.

  “Perhaps he does not care,” Alex’s O’Gash answered. “Perhaps he does not fear Whalen Vankin at all.”

  Alex thought about that. It would be incredibly foolish of Jabez to not at least account for Whalen’s opposition to his plans. Jabez couldn’t be that foolish, and the Brotherhood would not be that foolish, but what did that mean for Alex and Whalen?

  “He is taunting you. Trying to draw Whalen out before his plans are ready,” his O’Gash said. “If Jabez can get Whalen to act before he is fully prepared, that would gain him and whoever is with him a great advantage.”

  “So Whalen must not act too soon,” Alex said softly. “I must help him to wait until we are ready.”

  Alex knew what he said was true, but he didn’t like it. Waiting was always hard for him, and waiting while other people were being hurt was harder still. Whalen seemed ready and willing to wait, but now Alex understood how much this slow approach to Westland troubled his friend. Whalen knew that this was his and Alex’s best chance for success, and he was determined to follow it whatever the cost.

  Looking at Whalen’s face, Alex noticed again how tired his friend looked. It was more than just the long journey. Alex suspected Jabez was constantly trying to find a way into Whalen’s mind, to discover where he was and what he was up to. That would have been bad enough, but Whalen’s own worries were also written in the lines of his face, worries about what Jabez was doing, what harm would come if he moved too slowly or too quickly, and worries about what the future held. It was almost too much to think about, and Alex’s respect for Whalen grew. To carry all of the troubles and worries that he had and still move forward was an incredible act of courage.

  Thirteen days after leaving Welding behind, the caravan came to the place where Alex hoped to find some answers. They were in a shallow valley with a small river that ran to the northeast. The land to the north rose slowly to distant mountains, and south of their camp there were several tall hills. Lupo had pointed to the hills when the caravan had stopped, letting Alex know that the cave of dreams was close.

  As the sun sank in the west, Lupo and Alex rode away from the camp. Alex was surprised to see half a dozen other men following a short distance behind them. He thought his visit to the cave was a secret, and he turned to Lupo for answers.

  “I told my father that you wish to visit the cave,” Lupo said. “With all the rumors of trouble on the road, he sent a few extra men to watch, just in case.”

  Alex nodded and rode on without comment. He knew Lycan and Teamor had spoken together at Welding, and the news was that the bandits of the north were more active than they had been for many years, and many smaller groups had found trouble or simply disappeared as they traveled. Lycan had hinted that something worse than bandits might be lurking within the wild lands between the northern cities, but what this new danger was, no one could say.

  “I am grateful your father is allowing us to go to the cave at all,” Alex said as he and Lupo started climbing the hill where the cave would be found.

  “He is worried, of course,” Lupo replied. “But the cave of dreams is well known in our caravan. Many people seek to learn their future here, and he would not stand in your way. He would only stop us from coming if there was a definite threat to the caravan, or if he thought we would be in too much danger.”

  “Seeking knowledge about the future might be more dangerous than the rumors of bandits.”

  People feared oracles because of what they might say, and magical places like this cave might be worse. Oracles would try to bring peace of mind with their predictions, but that wasn’t true from magical places. If the cave worked, if Alex was lucky enough to have a dream or a vision, it would show him truth, but it might not be easy to understand. An oracle might at least try to explain their predictions, but this cave would explain nothing.

  “Here,” Lupo said, stopping his horse and climbing out of the saddle. “Here is the path you must follow. I can go no further.”

  Alex climbed off his horse and looked up the well-used but slightly overgrown path ahead of him. A chill ran through him, and he felt strangely reluctant to follow the path alone. He unsaddled his horse and picked up the bundle he’d prepared to take with him. Most of it was firewood, but there were also a few small tokens he’d gathered from people in the caravan. He’d been told to leave these items at a small shrine in the cave as an offering of thanks or as a wish for luck.

  “I suppose I should go,” Alex said. “If there’s any trouble, call out. I may hear you and be able to help.”

  “If there’s any trouble it will be yours, and I will not be able to help you in any way,” Lupo answered.

  Alex nodded and started up the path. Lupo was right, of course; Alex was far more likely to find trouble he
re than Lupo and the others were. His reluctance to follow the path grew stronger as darkness started to close in around him, but he shook it off and continued to climb.

  The path was steeper and more difficult that it had looked. Alex climbed for a long time before he suddenly came to a wide flat space on the hillside. Ahead of him was a dark opening, much darker than the night that had fallen around him. He moved forward, pausing to look around at the entrance of the cave, and then conjured a faint weir light to guide him into the darkness.

  Whalen might not have approved of the weir light, but Alex didn’t think such small magic would be noticed. There was also the fact that he couldn’t see anything inside the cave, and he needed some form of light if he didn’t want to wander in blindly.

  The cave, Alex discovered, was not deep. It went straight into the hillside for eight or nine yards and ended at a small altar with a deep fire pit just in front of it. The altar was covered with small trinkets like the ones Alex had brought with him. The cave and the altar didn’t surprise Alex, but the slight tingly feeling he had as he entered did. He mostly felt the tingling in his hands and feet, and he recognized it as the same feeling he’d had the times he had visited an oracle.

  Undoing his bundle, Alex started a small fire in the pit and then sat back and looked at the altar in front of him. From the look of some of the tokens he could see, this place had obviously been in use for many, many years. He placed his own small gifts carefully among the others. He added a few sticks of wood to his fire, and then leaned back against the cave wall and waited. He had no idea how the magic of this cave worked, or even if it would work for him.

  At first he was eager and hopeful, but nothing seemed to happen. He wondered if he should speak, possibly to call for the magic of this place to help him, but it didn’t seem right. After a time, he built up his fire again. He sat and waited and watched the flames of his fire, and slowly, without really noticing, he fell asleep.

  A roar and the sudden light of flames filled Alex with fear. He jumped to his feet and rushed forward, and then he realized he was no longer in the cave. It took a minute for his brain to catch up, but he soon knew that he was in a dream. The magic of the cave was working. He looked around, and the darkness melted away.

  He was standing on open grassland and it was dark. Howls from wolves were all around him, but no, that wasn’t right. It wasn’t wolves, exactly, and there was language in those howls, words in some evil, twisted language that Alex did not recognize. The sound of running feet and frightened shouts filled the air, and Alex was no longer alone. The caravan was under attack, and as Alex tried to move to help defend it, he found himself bound and unable to do anything.

  Alex closed his eyes for a second and when he opened them again, he was standing in front of a small, young dragon that was golden in color. He was in an enclosed room filled with treasure, and again, things didn’t seem right. He thought for a moment that this was the dragon’s lair, but the treasure seemed too neatly stacked, and there were lamps and torches lighting the room. Looking at the dragon, Alex felt great sorrow fill his heart, but he didn’t know why. The dragon didn’t speak, but it motioned with its head as if it wanted Alex to come and look at something.

  As he started forward, his vision shifted and suddenly Alex was looking through the eyes of the dragon, which were focused on an old iron box. The lid of the box slowly opened. Alex wasn’t sure what he was looking at. There were two egg-shaped stones in the box, but to call them stones was unfair. They glowed like pearls in sunlight, but they were more gray and brown and larger than any pearls Alex had ever seen.

  His vision shifted again, and Alex found himself in another room. The light here was dimmer, coming only from low-burning torches. Goblins stood in a group in front of what looked like a stone throne on which sat a man with a staff. The name Jabez came into Alex’s mind, and a mix of fear and hate filled his heart. A man walked to Jabez’s side, leaning toward him and whispering something that Alex could not hear. Jabez seemed pleased by whatever was said, and, getting to his feet, he lifted his staff and said, “Let it begin.”

  Alex was suddenly outside, wind and rain hitting his face. Armies of goblins and men stood before him, and as horns sounded behind him they began to cheer. The war they had long been waiting for was beginning, and they were happy in the evil they would bring. A massive figure nearby suddenly spread its wings, and Alex recognized it and the others like it as gargoyles that took to the skies and flew over the armies.

  The snippets he was seeing began to shift more quickly, and many were harder to see or understand: a ship on a distant sea; an ancient-looking city in the mountains; the drawbridge of a castle; a face he did not recognize; Whalen’s face, pale and streaked with blood; a white light reflecting from the sharp edge of an axe. Alex sensed that the vision was moving into the future, a future that may or may not be. The future was never certain, and the visions were less clear the further away from the present they were. Finally, Alex was left in a gray darkness, stunned and confused by the dozens and dozens of images he had only partly seen.

  Out of the darkness a single face appeared. Salinor, the great and ancient dragon, was there but Alex could only see his head. The dragon looked at Alex for a long time, not speaking or giving any sign that he even acknowledged Alex was there. Finally, after what felt like days of silence, the dragon spoke, but his words were no more than a whisper.

  “Of course there is a way. With magic, there is always a way.”

  Alex woke with a start. The sun was rising in the east and shining into the cave. Alex took a few minutes to organize his thoughts and clear his mind. He had seen a great many things in the night, and now he had to sort through them and decide which were most important to his current adventure. He got up, stretched, and made his way out of the cave. As he looked down the hill in the morning light, the words he had read in the magic book in the graveyard came to his mind once more.

  “Darloch est messer ,” he said softly.

  He still had no idea exactly what it meant, and nothing he had seen in his visions seemed related to those words. He wondered why they had come back to him now, and what they could possibly have to do with the story of a nameless dragon. He scratched his cheek, ran his hand through his hair, and then went down the path to where Lupo was waiting for him.

  “Did it work?” Lupo asked as soon as Alex came into view. “Will you be coming with me to visit the oracle when we travel south again, or should I not ask?”

  “You should not ask,” Alex answered with a smile. “Though I do have more answers today than I had yesterday. As for the oracle, only time will tell.”

  Lupo returned Alex’s smile but did not question him about what he had seen. He seemed happy enough to know that Alex had found some answers, even if he had no idea what Alex’s true questions had been. Lupo still dreamed of visiting the oracle and becoming an adventurer, and even though Alex wanted to say something about his dreams, he did not. Whalen had made him promise not to reveal anything about himself, and even though he hated keeping secrets from his friend, Alex kept his word.

  They rejoined the caravan just before it got underway. Whalen gave Alex a quick look, asking without words if he had learned anything, and Alex nodded. It was troublesome to have to wait before sharing what he had learned with Whalen, but the time gave Alex a chance to think about things and get them clear in his own mind.

  “Jabez is about to start his war,” Alex said when he and Whalen were finally alone. “He’s built a vast army, and he’s ready to set them loose on Westland.”

  “You know this?” Whalen asked.

  “Yes, it was part of the dreams I had,” Alex answered.

  “That will make things difficult for us, and prevent any help from Midland reaching Westland for some time. I’m sure that is why Jabez is starting now, hoping to control all of Westland before anyone can interfere.”

  “I don’t understand. Why would help from Midland not be able to reach Westland?
”

  “It’s the wrong time of year. In the winter months, strong, cold winds blow mainly from the west to the east. Most ships that sail between Midland and Westland are not as well equipped for such winds. Most are smaller ships, and not made for heavy weather. Even the larger ships would find it difficult to sail to Westland before spring.”

  “Then how are you planning to get us there?”

  “We’ll manage, one way or another. Now, what else did you see? Anything at all might help us.”

  “I don’t know if any of it will help, but I did see a lot,” Alex answered, and then told Whalen all about his dream.

  Whalen sat in silence for a long time after Alex finished talking. There was much to think about, and many questions that Alex didn’t know the answers to. When Whalen finally spoke, his questions were not what Alex expected.

  “The stones you saw in the iron chest—did you get any feeling that they were magical?” Whalen asked.

  “No, I don’t think so,” Alex answered.

  “You say they were like pearls, but more gray and brown,” Whalen went on. “Was there perhaps a hint of green? Just a hint of green, like pale jade?”

  Alex thought for a moment, trying to recall in his mind exactly what the stones had looked like. He had no idea why Whalen was so interested, but he realized the stones must be important if they had been in his dreams and Whalen was asking about them.

  “Yes,” Alex said after a pause. “There was just a hint of green in them, now that I think about it.”

  Whalen frowned. “And you say you saw two of them in the iron box?” he asked softly.

  “Yes. There were two. What are they?” Alex asked, confused.

  “Do you know what Orion stones are?” Whalen finally asked.

  “No, I’ve never heard of them before.”

  “I’m not surprised. For many years I’ve believed, or at least hoped, that they were all destroyed. It appears that they were not.”