A Gleaming Path

by Jeffrey Pawlak

  They stared at the numerous bodies without a single word passing between them as Hinton and Pauma emerged from hiding and came over to join them.

  “We might as well be strolling through a graveyard here,” Pauma said as she and her husband looked about at the many bodies.

  “Yeah, and if we weren’t so lucky, you and I would likely be laying right there with them,” Hinton added. He turned to Alamor and Tridian, his expression filled by respect and gratitude. “Thanks for being so brave and helping us out there, you two lads. Are you both all right?”

  “My legs will be sore later after running that fast for that long,” Alamor answered, “but otherwise I’m fine. I’m just glad to see you and Pauma are okay.”

  Tridian’s only response to the Bachus was a silent nod.

  “I’m glad to see that all of you are okay,” they heard Tiroku call out from further down the street.

  They turned to see the Champion of Light approach them, Rawner at his side.

  “The same goes for you two,” Alamor said. “Did that stampede ever come your way?”

  “We almost got right in its way, actually,” Rawner answered. “Both of us heard it while we were trying to find Hinton and Pauma, and Tiroku was wise enough to get us up to a rooftop before we waited much longer. Those things ran right underneath us as they plowed through the town.”

  Alamor looked back in the direction that the Grimali stormed off in. “It’s probably for the best if we just all stay together as a group from now on,” he offered.

  “I would think it even better if we simply leave this town behind us,” Tiroku said. “We’ve spent enough time here today. Let’s move on and try to cover as much ground as possible before nightfall.”

  Everyone in the group seemed to agree with Tiroku’s suggestion. The Champion of Light started forward, and the others promptly followed.

  Alamor only took a few steps, however, before something caught his attention out of the tail of his eye. He immediately came to a stop and looked over at a skeletonized body that lay next to a building about twenty yards from where he stood. Like the many others, it sat out in the open, leaving him to believe it had been freed from the sand during the Grimalis’ stampede.

  But the reason why this one had drawn his curiosity was because of what it wore—steel armor. As he looked at it closer, he also thought he saw a familiar emblem marked over its chest plate. Alamor ran over to the body and hurriedly wiped away the thin layer of sand over its armored outfitting. He was stunned by what it revealed.

  A sitting panther surrounded by four diamonds.

  “Alamor, what are you doing?” Rawner called out behind him.

  “This was a Tordalian soldier,” Alamor answered, but never turning his eyes away from the body. “He’s wearing the royal family emblem on his armor.”

  Alamor did not wait to hear a response from his companions. He quickly stood and glanced about the nearby streets and alleys. As he surmised, the Grimalis’ stampede had partially unearthed a few other bodies that wore dark, iron armor. He ran to each one to inspect its chest plate, each time finding the royal family emblem marked on the surface in white. He found eight altogether by the time that his companions arrived to look over the dead soldiers, but he was certain that there must have been even more laying deeper within the sand beneath his feet.

  “What were these fellas ever doing all the way out here?” Hinton asked aloud.

  “That’s a very good question,” Rawner said, his brow furrowed as he studied the remains of one soldier. “These guys definitely weren’t just scouts or heralds; if their armor is anything to go by, they actually look they were knights in the military. They were some of the most elite soldiers that could be used as infantry.”

  Pauma approached another body and eyed the long spear that its skeletonized hand still clasped. “Well, whatever they were here for, they were wielding some fine-looking weapons. Seems like they were right in the middle of the fight when this poor town got ransacked.”

  “Regrettably,” Rawner said in a solemn tone. “They must have been a part of the force that King Aurilion sent into these parts years ago. They probably spent a night or two in this town during their campaign, and got caught up in all of the chaos when a gang of bandits rolled through here.”

  Judging by the grave expressions on his companions’ faces, Alamor guessed that they all found Rawner’s explanation to be a reasonable one. It had been unsettling enough for them to discover the ruined town and its slaughtered residents, but to now find the remains of several Tordalian soldiers clearly unnerved them even further. Rawner, a proud man of the military himself, seemed to be especially affected by it.

  “As I said before,” Tridian eventually broke in, his voice dripping with contempt, “the criminals who dwelled here knew no kind of order or moral code. They would have had no respect for what the emblem on these soldiers’ chest plates meant. Whether it was an ordinary citizen, or one of the military’s finest warriors, they would never hesitate to murder another person.”

  Tridian’s grim words hung in the air after he finished, causing the group to fall silent. Like the many bodies that lay throughout the town, his bleak statement was a strong reminder for the others of just how brutal and callous living beings could be toward one another.

  At the same time, it spurred Alamor’s curiosity even further. While everyone else was willing to accept Tridian’s and Rawner’s assumptions about the findings, Alamor only continued to have more and more questions. He did not share them with his companions; everyone else was unnerved after discovering the dead Tordalian soldiers, and he did not want to seem disrespectful to the deceased warriors.

  Still, he could not ignore the questions that repeatedly whispered to him.

  What had the soldiers been doing this deep in the desert to begin with? Alamor recognized that he was no expert on the region, but he was at least sure that the Azure Sands Outpost—the extent of the military’s control over the Arid Reaches—was a few days’ march away. As Rawner had pointed out, the soldiers that they found were not scouts. So, what had brought this many knights such a great distance from the military’s sole stronghold in the region?

  Another question that slowly burgeoned in Alamor’s mind regarded the bodies that he and his companions found that day. If this town had truly been attacked by a horde of bandits as Tridian surmised, why had they found no remains of any of the marauders? There were a few dozen bodies on this street, and yet every last one appeared to belong to that of a Tordalian soldier, or the helpless townsfolk. They should have found some—any—signs of a slain bandit among the dead by now.

  There was one question he asked himself—the very same he had asked himself before when he stood inside that ruined house less than an hour ago. It felt like it echoed within his thoughts with each and every moment that passed by.

  What actually happened to this place?

  21

  After they left the abandoned town behind them, Alamor and his companions made a determined march across the desert. They had spent over an hour searching through the ruined settlement, and they hoped to make up most of that lost time by setting a deliberate pace through the rest of the afternoon and into the evening. The sun was not as intense during that time of the day, the same for the desert heat, allowing Alamor’s party more favorable conditions to proceed with their hurried trek.

  They stopped just before nightfall, ending their march at a lone outcropping of sandstone that sat like an island in the middle of the desert. The large, rocky mound rose high from the ground, offering them an elevated spot to build their campsite that they hoped would offer further protection from any wild beasts. After their encounter with the feral hounds and Grimali in the ruined town, they realized that it was wise for their group to start taking greater precaution of the desert’s wild inhabitants.

  It was also agreed that they would now have two people awake at once for watch duty throughout the night, to ensure that their party would not be
the victim of a surprise ambush while they slept. This meant that each of them would get less sleep over the course of the night, but it was a unanimous opinion among them that it would be worth it to guarantee them greater safety. They had been lucky thus far not to encounter any of the bandits who called the desert home, and given how deep they were within the desert, they knew that they had to be more vigilant than ever for signs of hostile peoples. The abandoned town that they discovered taught them that much.

  The group slept peacefully that night following the day’s tumultuous events, and they awoke feeling refreshed the next morning. The air gradually grew cooler the further they moved northward, easing the struggle of their march through the forlorn desert. With renewed vigor, they carried out a swift pace, covering more miles that day than they had on any other during their journey through the Arid Reaches. They once again employed a two-person watch system when they stopped and made camp at night. Just like before, they pushed themselves so much throughout the day that each of them fell asleep quickly.

  The next morning saw the party embark with their spirits at the highest they had been since emerging from the ocean a week ago. A cool breeze managed to find its way into the Arid Reaches that day, sweeping over the group with its gentle touch. They struck up jovial conversation with one another for the duration of their march over the desert, sharing jokes, humorous memories, and many laughs between one another.

  Alamor was the only one who did not join in. He once again led their trek, walking by himself at the front of the group with his eyes locked onto the desert in front of him. The land rose in the horizon, forming into hills and ridges that signified the region of Tordale where the Arid Reaches gradually ended, and the Tower Mountains began their steady ascent to the heavens above. With every hour that passed, those titanic landmasses of solid rock grew a little larger and nearer. But before Alamor and his party would come to the Tower Mountains, they would first find the Sandstone Mausoleum, and most importantly, Raissa, Dayneth, Joth, and their newfound allies.

  The magical signal from Raissa felt the strongest that it had since he first sensed it, telling him that he was closing in on her and his other lost comrades. Knowing that he was near to finally reuniting with Raissa, Alamor could not bring himself to join his companions’ merrymaking; he could only think and wonder about how Raissa would look at him when they finally came back together.

  “Hey, kid, you want to split this piece?”

  Rawner’s voice eventually freed Alamor from his own thoughts. He looked to the side and saw that Rawner had at some point caught up to him. The man held out a hand that clasped a thick strip of the kelp that the Onda had provided them as rations.

  “Sure, why not,” Alamor said with a shrug, and accepted the offering from Rawner. He took a bite and continued walking.

  A few seconds went by until Rawner spoke again. “Is something on your mind?” he asked.

  “You could say that,” Alamor confirmed.

  Rawner chuckled. “I had a feeling. You have that look on your face like you’ve been doing a lot of thinking. You mind if I ask what about?”

  Alamor did not so much as blink while he stared ahead into the horizon. “I’ve just been thinking about Raissa.”

  “That’s a big surprise,” Rawner quickly interjected, making no attempt to hide his sarcasm.

  Alamor managed a faint smile, amused by Rawner’s harmless humor. “Yeah, well, this time it’s been a little different. I’ve been wondering for the last couple of days now how she’s going to react when we finally see each other again.”

  “She’ll probably be happy beyond words,” Rawner said.

  “That’s not what I meant,” Alamor said. He lowered his tone to indicate the importance of the subject to him. “I know she’ll be glad that I’m safe, and that our group is back together again, but what I want to know is what she thinks of what I’ve accomplished since we were separated out in the ocean.”

  Rawner nodded his head in understanding. “Ah, yes, I get what you’re saying. You’re hoping that she’ll be impressed with everything you’ve done.”

  “‘Impressed’ isn’t the right word,” Alamor said. “More than anything else, I want her to be proud of me. I want her to feel like everything she’s done for me has truly made an impact on my life. The last time she saw me, I was getting into a stupid fight with Tridian, and then failing to use my Serenity when I needed it to protect our group. When she sees me again, I just hope that she’s proud of how much stronger I’ve become.”

  “Well, I hope you’re not wracking your mind over it, because if you ask me, you’ve got nothing to worry about,” Rawner said.

  Alamor smiled. “That’s the funny thing, though. I’m not worried. Actually, I’d go as far as to say I’m excited.”

  “That’s definitely a different outlook from what you had before heading off to Caldeya for that summit,” Rawner said, grinning.

  “No doubt about that,” Alamor agreed. “That’s the other funny thing—obviously this isn’t the first time that Raissa and I have been apart for a while, but when that last happened, I was too terrified of her reaction to ever face her again.”

  “I know, it took me flexing my authority to even get you out of Geldiar,” Rawner noted.

  Alamor laughed as he thought back to how Rawner issued an official military order for him to accompany Tiroku to Caldeya. “That’s right, and it was the only reason why I went through with it. Before, I was so terrified of the thought that Raissa might be disappointed in me, that I couldn’t bring myself to face her on my own. Now, this time, I actually can’t wait to find out what she thinks of me. I want so badly to show her how much I’ve grown in the last couple of weeks. Sort of surprising, huh?”

  Rawner shook his head. His grin had faded. His expression and tone leveled. “Nope, it doesn’t surprise me at all,” he said. “I’ve known you for a long time, kid, since you were just a little guy. I’ve seen you at your very best, and I’ve seen you at your absolute worst. If you had said all of this a month or two ago, I might be surprised, but certainly not anymore. What you’ve managed to overcome in the last few weeks is more than impressive. It’s amazing. Life has thrown plenty of brutal blows your way, and even though you’ve stumbled here and there, you’re still standing today. You’re not just standing, either, you’re standing firm. You’ve proven that you’re made of nothing but grit and willpower, and I have to say, I’m proud that I’ve been able to watch it the whole way.”

  At first, Alamor was not sure how to respond to what were perhaps the most heartfelt words he had ever heard from Rawner. The big man rarely spoke without some kind of grin reaching across his face, and it was even rarer for him to speak so emotionally.

  Once Alamor’s initial disbelief finally wore off, he smiled. Indeed, Rawner had been by his side for a very long time, watching him both triumph and struggle at many different points in his life. Aside from Raissa, if there was anyone who understood Alamor and what he had been through, it was Rawner.

  Alamor showed his longtime friend a smile that was filled with every measure of his appreciation and gratitude. “Thanks for that, pal.”

  “Hey, you deserve it,” Rawner said. “You’re a man, now.”

  Alamor grinned as he recalled a conversation that they had many days ago. “But you said a while back that I wouldn’t be a man until I lived to see twenty-five years.”

  Rawner seemed to be amused that Alamor remembered his words. He offered a shrug in response. “Some people are worthy of an exception.”

  Alamor was ready to say something in reply, but just before the first word passed his lips, he suddenly felt a spike in the magical presence that he had been following since arriving in the desert. Without any kind of warning, the magical signal burst forth with magnificent strength. It was now a sonorous cry that captured the very air around Alamor. It felt as if he had traveled miles in just a few seconds, and now stood mere feet away from Raissa.

  She was near.

>   Very near.

  Alamor started running ahead. He let go of his armor and let it fall into the sand, no longer wanting anything to slow him down even if it meant reaching Raissa just a few moments sooner.

  “Wait, Alamor, where are you going?” Rawner called out to him.

  “Raissa’s nearby! Let everyone know!” Alamor shouted back to him.

  “And I’m supposed to just lug your armor the rest of the way?”

  “I’ll pay you back sometime!”

  Alamor did not wait to hear if Rawner passed on his message; he did not care. All that he could think about at that moment was that he might finally be on the verge of closing the vast distance which had separated him and Raissa for nearly two weeks—a period of time where he became a far greater man than she last knew him as. After more than a minute, the heightened intensity of the magical link that he had formed with Raissa still remained, confirming to him that the spike had not been merely an anomaly, and that it was indeed because he was very close to where Raissa waited for him.

  The desert did not reward Alamor right away. All that he set foot over was an endless wasteland of dusty stone and sand dunes, no matter how far he ran. Even as the rocky hills slowly—almost tauntingly—inched their way closer to him, it still seemed like they deliberately lingered in the far off distance.

  Alamor refused to slow down. He continued to chase after Raissa’s Serenity, even as the desert’s balmy heat tried to wear away at him. He knew that he could be wasting energy by maintaining such a hurried pace, and in truth, he had no idea where exactly he was running to. For all that he knew, Raissa could still be several miles away. If that were the case, his body would quit on him long before he even got to lay eyes on her.