“I see,” Aiden said, morbidly curious about these ‘appetites’ but unwilling to inquire further. “So, how do I fit into all this?”
“What exactly are you referring to?”
“I’m wondering if you really have feelings for me, or if you’re just looking for a diversion until your father arranges another marriage,” Aiden explained with a catch in his voice he could not cover, parroting Robert’s earlier thoughts on the subject. “Or are you looking to escape your commitments altogether, using me as an excuse to avoid a potentially disastrous arrangement?”
By the light of the campfire, Aiden could see she was clearly distraught at this question, and a long, awkward silence passed before she finally answered.
“I’m tired, and should try and get some rest,” she mumbled, standing up quickly and walking back to her bedroll on the other side of the camp. Aiden almost rose to go after her, but then gave up and fell back on the ground once more, silently kicking himself for his thoughtlessness.
* * *
Aiden had a restless night under the stars, experiencing a cold he’d rarely felt, even in the mountains. Shortly after dawn the heat began to rise, as Aiden and his companions saddled up and continued on their way. Criosa made no mention of Aiden’s misstep the previous night, and he wondered just how much she was willing to put up with from him before the illusion of a romantic adventure was shattered completely.
The sun beat relentlessly down upon the vast expanse of red sand as they trudged onwards, periodically shedding layers of their warm clothing as they went. The climate was bone-dry and far warmer than the cold of Aielund, and it was still early spring. Aiden shuddered at the thought of what this barren realm would be like at the height of summer. Both Nellise and Robert seemed to be bearing up well, for they were both clad in iron and were no doubt suffering as a result.
“How can this place be so hot, when Aielund experiences none of this?” Pacian moaned, lathered in far more sweat than anyone else.
“The mountains channel most of the heat to the east, as I recall,” Aiden mused, recalling books he’d read on the subject years ago. “Why this desert exists at all is beyond me, however.”
It wasn’t always like this, Salinder reminisced, his voice evidently heard by everyone nearby. Long ago it was a verdant place, with forests and grasslands stretching for miles. Food was abundant, and hunting easy as dragonkind filled the skies above, taking our fill from the denizens of the land without challenge. The calamity which rendered Hocarum a desolate wasteland came without warning…although I cannot recall the nature of the disaster.
“These ‘denizens’ you hunted back in the day,” Robert pondered suspiciously, “there wouldn’t have been any humans amongst them I suppose?” Salinder did not answer, but Aiden could hear the murmurings of the dragon spirit caught up in memories of his past, rapidly vanishing from what remained of his mind.
“I thought so,” Robert muttered, taking the silence for guilt.
“So much desolation,” Sayana remarked in a haunted voice. “What could possibly cause all of this to happen so suddenly?” Nobody had an answer for her, leaving Aiden to bleakly ponder on the magnitude of what had befallen Hocarum.
There was a path of sorts through the desert, a road of parched and cracked earth through the sea of red sand. Rock formations of curious shapes dotted the landscape, shaped by centuries of natural forces. At least, that’s what Aiden thought until they passed by rocks with their south-facing sides blackened as if from an intense heat. It was a disquieting sight, much like the rest of this unnatural landscape.
Shortly thereafter, the road descended into a dry riverbed, meandering through the wasteland like the skeleton of a long dead serpent. Heat radiated off the parched landscape and Aiden ached for respite, but their only choice was to continue plodding through the lifeless land and hope they reached their destination soon.
An hour or so later, the road emerged from the riverbed and to Aiden’s astonishment, the familiar sight of towering pine trees could be seen not far ahead. Before long the mystery became apparent, for they had arrived at a populated settlement built around a lake, a sliver of verdant green and blue amidst the sea of red.
“Welcome to Trinity,” Robert declared, bringing his horse to a halt on a small rise overlooking the sprawling town before them. “Three nations have been vying for control over this little pocket of civilization for the past century or so, and two of them are currently at war. You might have heard something about that.”
“How droll,” Criosa remarked.
“It’s currently an independent city-state, and there is absolutely no tolerance of fighting within sight of Trinity’s gates. The city guards are the best money can buy, and they answer only to the First Lord. The less time we spend here, the better our chances of avoiding trouble are, so do what you came here for as quickly as you can.”
“We need to speak to a sage named Sahar,” Aiden said.
“I’ve heard of her,” Robert nodded. “She has a small shop on the west side. Let’s head in, but keep an eye on your money while you’re here, okay?” With that, he nudged his thirsty horse in a steady walk along the final stretch of highway towards Trinity.
The outer wall was twelve feet high and almost as thick, built of the heavy red stone that most of the region seemed to be composed of — aside from the red sand, of course. The guards recognized Robert and allowed them to pass after a brief exchange, but their hands never strayed far from their weapons.
The locals were a made up of people from near and far. Dark and olive-skinned men and women walked amongst the fairer northern folk, and Aiden was reminded of Ariel, the sergeant from Culdeny who obviously shared a heritage with some of these people. Practically everyone carried a weapon of some sort, including the women heading to the lake for water.
“Where do these people come from?” Sayana asked, looking around at the population of exotic men and women.
“Most are from Aielund or Tulsone, those who didn’t want to live under the yoke of the ‘tyrannical rulers of the north’ as they say. Present company excepted, of course.” Criosa raised an eyebrow but remained silent. “Anyone with a bit of colour to their skin is related to the former slaves of the old Ramidian Empire, most of who escaped during the Kurhanir invasion a few decades ago. You’ve heard of the Free State of Lyden, right?”
“Indeed,” Criosa nodded, “father has been attempting to replicate their senate to replace our House of Lords, but the old ways linger on beneath the surface.”
“The escaped slaves took that province from the old empire and made it their own, but they’ve had a lot of political infighting over the years, and that sort of thing tends to get on one’s nerves after a while, so many of them head north. Hocarum is a desolate place and not for the faint of heart, but at least it’s politically stable.”
Their group turned a corner and saw before them the splendour of the lake at the heart of Trinity. The glistening waters stretched a hundred yards and more in every direction, sheltered by the pine trees on the edges that had managed to survive the devastation that surrounded the city-state. Unlike the rest of the region, the soil underfoot was rich and dark, covered with lush grass immediately around the lake.
Within sight of the western gate, they came to a halt at a modest abode made of the same orange-red rock as all the other buildings in this exotic city. They dismounted and took a moment to stretch their legs, with Aiden watching cautiously as two dozen heavily armed soldiers marched right past them along the parched street.
“Mercenary companies use this place to find work, and I’d wager they’ve been finding a lot of it lately,” Robert remarked as he watched the warriors pass by. “I’ve got a few contacts in town. I’ll see if I can find out some recent news about the war.”
“And if the Ironlord has been spotted recently,” Nellise added grimly. “We can’t be all that far from the location we saw in the vision back in Acadia.”
“This is Sahar’s pl
ace — speak with her and I’ll find out what I can,” Robert instructed, turning to depart.
“I’ll water the horses… and myself,” Pacian offered, gathering up the reins to lead their thirsty mounts to the edge of the lake, where many other horses were drinking their fill.
Aiden took stock of the small abode before them. Two heavily armed men stood at the entrance, watching them with stoic calm and weapons at the ready. Criosa walked up to them with confidence in her step, looked up right into their faces and addressed them.
“We have come to speak with the sage Sahar,” she declared with authority. The guards neither moved nor responded to her words, but the oak door just behind them opened and a dark-skinned woman peered through the gap.
“I do not normally speak to visitors without an appointment,” she informed them with a husky voice. “It is plainly obvious that you have travelled from the north, and I would ask how you came to hear about me.”
“A wizard named Terinus told us to meet with you,” Aiden volunteered. Her expression changed to one of surprise, tinged with what he suspected was fear.
“Terinus sent you? Please, come in,” she breathed, opening the door wide to permit them entry. The guards parted to either side and allowed them to enter.
The house was pleasantly cool inside, dimly lit by small windows, along with a few candles that filled the room with a musky aroma. Decorative curtains lined the walls in blue and green, no doubt to provide respite from the pervasive red glare throughout the region. Books and scrolls were neatly arranged on tall bookshelves, surrounding a large desk with curious oddities placed along the far edge.
“It isn’t often Terinus sends anyone to meet with me,” Sahar mentioned as she breezed across the room towards her desk. She was dressed in blue silk robes which flowed in her wake, and her black hair was tied back in a simple arrangement to keep it out of her dark eyes. “Those that do come here always have something interesting to say.” Criosa went through the usual introductions, but if Sahar was impressed to be in the presence of Aielish nobility, she did not show it.
“I find it curious an esteemed sage would take up residence in this rough, frontier town,” Nellise remarked, glancing with longing at a comfortable seat that would probably crumble under the weight of her armour.
“Trinity isn’t so bad, except when there is a war being fought and the place fills with mercenaries,” Sahar explained with a warm smile, revealing beautiful white teeth contrasting against her dark skin. “That seems to be happening more and more these days, and I have spoken with the First Lord about expanding Trinity’s standing forces so he could dispense with hiring mercenaries. They can be a rough bunch, I’m sure you understand.”
“Some of them aren’t so bad,” Sayana said, gazing idly at the curtains and knick-knacks that filled the room. Aiden exchanged a quick glance with Criosa, who couldn’t conceal her smile.
“I spent the early years of my life learning from what little knowledge remained in Lyden after the uprising,” Sahar continued. “Then I spent a decade working out of the city of Kai in the east, which is a great repository of knowledge and the last true city of Hocarum.”
“What brought you here, then?” Nellise prompted curiously.
“I remember uncovering some strange relics in the fields I worked as a little girl, which fascinated me no end,” Sahar went on, sitting down on a well-worn chair at her desk. “The idea that precious artifacts could simply be tossed away or lost was abhorrent, so I resolved to dedicate my time to recovering as much as I could.”
“The wasteland around us covers an entire civilization, and if I can save even a small amount of information about what happened here, then I will have served humanity well. So, tell me, my young friends, what brings you to my door?”
“Clearly you are an expert with all manner of artifacts,” Aiden suggested, pulling the small lead box out of his pouch. “I think Terinus did the right thing by sending us to see you. You should probably stand back a bit, Sy,” he cautioned the sorceress, who quickly put some distance between the two of them. When she was clear, Aiden opened the box to reveal the cursed amulet. Sahar leaned forward and peered curiously at the amulet before a look of recognition passed over her face.
“Oh, I remember this one,” she hummed, taking the box and examining the contents with an expert eye. “Yes, a very unique amulet, bearing the markings of an ancient people who have long since vanished from the world.”
“You’ve seen this before?” Aiden asked with intensity.
“Yes, around seven months ago I believe,” Sahar replied, confused as to his reaction.
“Do you recall to whom you sold it?” Criosa inquired with a little more diplomacy.
“I did not sell it, but I did identify it for a man who brought it here,” Sahar replied defensively. “What is this all about?”
“This is a cursed relic that bears a poisonous aura,” Aiden explained heavily, snapping the box shut. “It was sent to the Baron of Highmarch as a ‘gift’, but it recently took the life of the Baroness Saffron.”
“I am at a loss for words,” Sahar breathed, her eyes wide as she looked back and forth between them. “Let me assure you that I had nothing to do with such a heinous act. If this relic bears some sort of curse, it was unknown to me.”
“She is speaking the truth,” Nellise informed the others after gazing at the sage with her golden eyes for a long moment.
“I had hoped that would be the case, but we had to make sure,” Aiden assured Sahar, pulling a chair over and sitting on it. “Do you happen to know where we can find this man?”
“I haven’t seen him since he departed, shortly after I verified the authenticity of the relic.”
“A pity, I would have liked to catch him and find out his reasons for attempting to take the baron’s life, although that isn’t the primary reason for our visit. Perhaps I should show you rather than try and explain with words.” He reached into his pouch and pulled out the Lexicon, flipping open the top and pressing the nodule that made the ghostly pages appear above it.
Sahar was entranced as she gazed at the section Aiden pointed to, showing the image of the amulet glowing brightly at the centre of a torus atop a large staff.
“What strange magic is this?” she whispered, attempting to touch the page with one extended hand, which simply passed through the glowing image as if it weren’t there.
“Whoever those people were, the ones who made the amulet, they also made this little wonder,” Aiden said. “Tell me, have you ever seen either of these pieces — the staff or the headpiece?” Sahar peered at the image closely, and then became quite excited all of a sudden. She turned around in her chair and reached into a drawer on her desk, rummaged around for a moment, and then pulled out a large metal object.
It was round, flat, and inscribed with the runes of the long-deceased race Aiden had become so familiar with. To his astonishment, it bore a striking resemblance to the head of the staff within the picture, down to the hole in the centre. His pulse raced as he glanced back at Criosa, for they had found what appeared to be the first piece of the staff connected to the Ironlord.
“I found this in the desert, years ago,” Sahar explained, caressing the surface of the headpiece with delicate fingers. “Long have I wondered about its purpose and origins, but now…” she gestured to the lead box Aiden had put aside and with trembling hands, he opened it, withdrew the amulet, and handed it to Sahar.
She grasped it eagerly and carefully slotted the relic into the centre of the headpiece, finding the two were a perfect fit.
“Remarkable,” she whispered, looking upon her treasured piece with new eyes. Aiden had hoped something else might happen when the two came into contact, and was crestfallen when nothing unusual occurred.
“It must need the staff section to be complete,” he mused, scratching his chin in thought. “Do you have any clues as to where it might be located?” Sahar pulled her eyes away from the relic to regard Aiden thoughtfully.
“The original dig we undertook to recover this headpiece was in a cave, roughly halfway between here and the ruins of Sohcareb,” she said. “I felt we only scratched the surface of the secrets the place held, and resolved to investigate it further at a later time.”
“You never went back?” Criosa pressed.
“Not personally, though I did hire an excavation team to shift some of the collapsed stone to see what was underneath,” Sahar went on. “They never returned, and the desert hunters I sent to find them also did not return. It is my thinking that something important lies in that cave, though I cannot persuade anyone else to travel there and discover what happened. For all I know, the staff could be in there somewhere, waiting to be uncovered.”
“What sort of dangers exist in the desert?” Nellise asked.
“Aside from the more mundane threats like nomadic hunters and the like, there are great creatures that dwell in the sand and worse, from what I have heard. You’re not considering travelling to the cave, are you?” Aiden looked at the headpiece of the staff and considered the implications of what they might face, weighing it against the possibility that this staff was going to prove useful against their foe.
“Ma’am, you just found yourself a new team of excavators,” he informed Sahar without a trace of humour.
Chapter Sixteen
“Thanks for volunteering me,” Robert grumbled when Aiden explained their task a short time later. He and his other companions sat in a crowded tavern, eating the most expensive meal Aiden had ever seen. The price of everything in this place was so high that he felt Trinity may be an interesting place to visit, but he wouldn’t want to live here.
“Actually, I did that,” Criosa said with a mirthless grin. “You are still beholden to your promise to serve Aielund until the threat has ended, remember?”
“Yeah… right,” the mercenary muttered, clearly chafing at the restrictions placed upon him. “I don’t think you know what you’re in for. We have twenty miles and more to cover to reach this excavation site, and there’s no telling what we’ll find when we get there, let alone who might find us before then. It’s damned risky.”
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