Return of the Wizard King

by Chad Corrie

  “They seem to respect and trust you. Are you their leader?”

  There was a twinkle in Nalu’s eye. “You may say so.”

  “You sound like a certain priest I know.”

  “I am not as wise or gifted enough to be a priest,” Nalu stated flatly, not understanding Rowan’s private joke.

  “How long will the sleep poison last?”

  “Not long,” Nalu assured him. “We just wanted them to sleep long enough to get them to our village and question them there.”

  “Question them how? They can’t speak your language like I can.” Nalu simply stared at Rowan. Seeing he wasn’t going to get an answer, he went for another question. “So they should be awake by morning?”

  “If not sooner.” Nalu’s brown eyes shimmered in the starlight. “Where are you traveling?”

  “To another set of ruins—even older than these. We thought these ruins were the ones we sought, but it seems this jungle is filled with them.”

  “Why are you going to these ruins?” Nalu’s face wrinkled as he considered Rowan’s answers. Rowan didn’t know what—if anything—he should say in reply. Mindful of saying too much to someone he knew next to nothing about, he also was less defensive, since Nalu was a fellow human and Panian as well.

  “We’re looking to stop those elves who attacked you from doing the same to others.” He was pleased with his reply. He hadn’t lied, and he’d told him the basic meat of what this whole matter was really about.

  “That is a worthy cause,” said Nalu, “and I know those ruins well.”

  “You do? But this place must be filled with ruins—it was the heart of Gondad, after all.”

  “This is Gondad.” Nalu gave the pavement he stood on a foot stomp. “All my people know of it, but there is only one ruin that is older than it, and I can take you to it.”

  “Panthora be praised!” Rowan exclaimed in delight. “It must be her will we crossed paths.” The joy mingled with all the thin threads he was weaving in his mind. Being called out on the journey to begin with, the dream, the encounter, and now this. Truly Panthora was showing him incredible kindness and helping him more than he knew. Which could only mean she was making sure he got to the ruins before the elves did. It was clear he and his mission were highly favored.

  “So it would seem. And perhaps it’s her will that you look to deliver us from these troublesome people.”

  “It wouldn’t surprise me if she’d have me help some humans along the way.” Finally, everything was falling into place, thank Panthora. “Morning, you said, right?” Rowan gave the others another once-over. “I suppose we could get some rest and—”

  “We leave now,” said Nalu before giving out commands to the others.

  “Wait.” Rowan trailed behind him. “We’d do better to wait until daylight. In the dark—”

  Nalu spun on his heel and faced the knight. “We have the stars to light our way, and we’ll need to regroup with the others walking the wilderness.”

  “Others?” Rowan watched the rest of the Celetors begin picking up the elves.

  “We keep watch around and outside the village,” said Nalu, “in case more trouble seeks us out.”

  “Are you sure you’re able to carry all of them?” The other Celetors erupted in laughter and slung the limp bodies over their shoulders.

  “Come.” Nalu made his way into the jungle. “Stay close, and you will do fine.” Rowan quickened his pace, watching the night swallow Nalu whole.

  Chapter 25

  It’s far better to assume the best than the worst;

  you tend to get what you expect.

  —Old Tralodroen proverb

  “You should have taken more sleep,” Nalu said to Rowan in Abjula. They sat side by side observing the small fire. Both were sitting on the large stump of a tree the Celetors had felled a few days prior. Most of its trunk still rested a short distance from them, serving as a place to lay Cadrissa and the others. They still slumbered in what might have passed as restful sleep, none of them aware of the jungle or the Celetors around them.

  Rowan had risen at dawn, the night trek to Nalu’s camp not being as long as he’d feared. Having placed the others where they now rested, the twenty or so men took turns keeping watch. There was already some fresh meat on nearby spits when he woke, and the longer it cooked, the more his stomach growled.

  “I want to be awake before they are,” said Rowan. “They’re bound to be a little confused, especially after how we parted ways last night.”

  “Parted ways?” Nalu tilted his head.

  “It’s a long story,” he said. “I was sent here by my order and happened to cross their path after a bit of bad luck.”

  “Like you did with us?”

  “You trying to tell me Panthora’s guiding me more than I know?” He shared a smile with Nalu.

  “No, I think you know that already.”

  “It’s starting to look that way more and more. Having found Gondad was a great blessing. I’m humbled to have been allowed to see it.”

  “Why?” Confusion flashed across Nalu’s brown eyes. “It rots like fruit cast from the tree.”

  “It’s the birthplace of humanity—the origin city where all of us came from,” Rowan stated with all the authority he’d gained from his training. “Didn’t that priest who came to your tribe tell you anything about it?”

  “Not like you. He said Gondad was of the past, but we are of the future.” Nalu took note of Rowan’s apprehension. “You do not agree?”

  “Gondad is the ideal—the perfect example of humanity’s greatest glory. It is our past, but it’s our future too. And it would still be here—and be greater still—if it wasn’t for the elves.”

  “Like them?” He pointed at Alara’s and Gilban’s prone forms.

  “No, but close enough.”

  “I thought you said they were not dangerous.”

  “They aren’t.”

  “But they’re elves.” Nalu continued the circular argument Rowan had started. In truth, he felt a bit dizzy himself trying to make sense of why he was still with them and how he was traveling with elves to stop some other elves. If it wasn’t for Panthora leading and revealing herself to him he wouldn’t be as confident doing what part of him felt was equal to turning away from all he knew was right and true.

  “Rowan?” Nalu’s questioning voice yanked the knight from his thoughts.

  “These elves are different,” he told Nalu. “Panthora wouldn’t have led me to them if they were a hindrance to humanity.”

  “But you blame them for the ruined city?”

  “I can’t change history. The elves brought Gondad’s glory to an end.”

  “And so you look to bring it back?”

  “That’s part of the knighthood’s purpose.” He let his focus fall on the fire. “We’re to help humanity rise up and succeed with a glory Gondad was unable to achieve.”

  “How? It has long been taken by the jungle.” Nalu did make a valid point. One he hadn’t really given much thought to until just now.

  “I’m just a knight. That’s the sort of thing for priests to figure out.” Looking to change the subject, he asked, “What about these hobgoblins? You said they raided your village?”

  “Yes. We followed them to the ruins you’re looking for but didn’t go inside.”

  “Why not?”

  “There were too many.”

  “How many?”

  “We saw a great host—more than all our tribe. Against so many we could do little and so returned to the village. We now patrol the land between us. They will not get near the village again.”

  He didn’t like this one bit. He wasn’t expecting a tribe of hobgoblins, and he was pretty sure Gilban and Alara weren’t either . . . though the seer seemed to have plenty of surprises up his sleeve.

  “Were they all in the ruins?”

  “Not all, some camped outside them.”

  “How long do you think they’ve been living there?”
>
  “I do not know. We made our village over six moons ago and have only been attacked by them once.”

  “But they haven’t attacked you until recently?” Rowan mused, trying to piece together a larger picture that was growing clearer and more encompassing the longer he spoke with Nalu.

  “No.”

  “Strange.” Rowan checked on the others again. Still asleep.

  “It was the same with the elves,” said Nalu.

  “But you said you drove them back.”

  “We did, for they were few.”

  “How few?”

  “No larger than our group here,” said Nalu, motioning around the camp.

  “I can’t imagine they’d send so few for such an important mission,” he mused.

  “Your leaders sent only you,” said Nalu.

  “Well, that’s different,” said Rowan, straightening his spine. “I’m a Knight of Valkoria.”

  “You’re still only one man.”

  “A Knight of Valkoria is better than ten strong men,” he replied without even thinking. “You must have fought a scouting party.”

  For a moment Nalu seemed locked in some sort of contemplative stare. “All I know is once we fought the elves back they did not return,” he said at last.

  “So the elves are still out there somewhere . . . ” And that was the troublesome issue in all this. Where were they? He was half expecting to run into them at almost any time, while his other half was casting down fears of them long having beaten them to the knowledge and already putting it into use. Eventually, one of the two scenarios would become reality. But which one . . . and when?

  “At least we’re close to the ruins. One silver lining is better than none,” he said before their conversation was interrupted by some commotion from the fallen tree.

  Alara’s eyes opened on a slightly unsettling scene. It was no longer night, and she was in the midst of a rough camp—but it wasn’t the camp she’d known in the ruins of Gondad. This one was in a small, open area in the middle of the jungle and occupied by a score of dark-skinned humans—Celetors. Each was barefoot, dressed in a simple breechcloth, and carrying a spear and dagger at their side.

  Each of the Celetors was busy. Some tended a fire and a few spits rotating the bodies of a couple of large birds; others kept watch around the camp. The remaining took some sleep. In the midst of them all, seated on a large stump before another small fire, was Rowan. Another Celetor wearing a brightly colored feather necklace was with him.

  “Rowan?” Alara only rose a few inches before the whole camp was alive with activity. As a group of Celetors hurried her way, she noticed Gilban and the others slumped against a fallen tree beside her. They were all asleep.

  “It’s okay,” Rowan said, drawing near while she stood before a handful of curious Celetors. “You’re safe.”

  “Where are we?”

  “In another camp,” he said, as the Celetors parted to allow him to pass.

  “How did we get here?” She checked her belongings. She still had her falchion, and the rest of what she’d carried the night before was undisturbed.

  “They carried you.” Rowan’s eyes looked over the others, adding, “They should be waking up soon. They just used a sleeping dart.”

  “Who did?”

  “They did.” Rowan indicated the Celetors. “It was a good thing I found you when I did.”

  “And why did they bring us here?” She watched the Celetor with the feather necklace come up beside Rowan.

  “This is Nalu,” said Rowan. “He’s the leader of this patrol. I told him that we’re looking for the ruins, and he offered to help take us there.”

  “He actually knows where they are?”

  “Yes. Both he and some of the warriors of his tribe have seen them firsthand—and recently too.”

  “That’s rather interesting.” She kept her words measured, not wanting to voice the entirety of her skepticism just yet. She didn’t like being so far out of the loop, nor that Rowan had decided to take the lead while they were unconscious. She hoped it didn’t ruin what Gilban had already planned. More chaos. More free will.

  “It’s the favor of Panthora,” said Rowan, smiling.

  “Perhaps.” Alara paused, mentally phrasing her next question carefully. “And you’re sure they want to take us there?” She listened with some amazement as Rowan addressed Nalu in his native tongue, obviously relaying her question.

  “Yes,” Rowan replied. “Nalu’s offer still stands.”

  “They do realize we don’t have any means to pay them for their help.” Again she waited for Rowan to translate.

  “We share a common goal,” Rowan replied.

  “And what goal is that?” Alara considered the knight.

  “The ruins have been nothing but trouble for them,” he explained. “Any help we can give in lessening that threat, the better. They also want to see humanity blessed in the process.”

  “Wait.” Revelation dawned on her. “They’re Panians?”

  “Yes.” She noted the pride accompanying Rowan’s answer. “The whole tribe holds to Panthora.”

  Alara shook her head. “What are the odds?” She felt Gilban chuckling to himself at all of this. Had he known this all from the start? From the vision in the sloop?

  “What’s going on?” Vinder’s gruff bark brought all eyes to the rest of the mercenaries now stirring.

  “It’s all right,” she informed them. “We’re safe for now.”

  “And where are we exactly?” Vinder was on his feet, doing his best to assess the situation. “And what are they doing here?” He pointed out the Celetors keeping a careful distance.

  “Rowan was just filling me in.” She neared Gilban, helping him up. “I guess he’s talked these Celetors into leading us to the ruins.”

  “Then it’s a good thing he came with us after all,” said Gilban.

  “These are the same ones who attacked us, aren’t they?” Dugan asked Rowan.

  “They thought you were a threat, but I convinced them otherwise.”

  “And how’d you do that?” asked Vinder, not so much curious as leery.

  “I found a common bond,” he replied.

  “Which is?”

  “Panthora.” It wasn’t clear what Vinder thought of the answer.

  “Why’d they bring us here?” Dugan went from Nalu to Rowan.

  “To help you on your way.” Nalu spoke in perfect Telboros.

  “You can speak Telboros?” Rowan mirrored the others’ surprise.

  “The priest of Panthora did more than teach us the ways of our goddess,” said Nalu.

  Rowan considered the other Celetors. “So then all of you—”

  “No, not all. But some, like me, have kept the tradition alive.”

  “Then why pretend you didn’t understand us?” asked Cadrissa.

  “To make sure he could trust us.” Vinder didn’t let his focus on Nalu waver.

  “I’ve heard what I needed to from you by your own lips. Come.” He directed them to the spits. “There’s fresh food and water. Once you’ve eaten, we will leave for the ruins.”

  “Food and water sounds good to me.” Cadrissa headed for the cook fires. “What sort of meat is it?”

  “Parrot,” said Nalu. “Very good for you.”

  While Alara had never had parrot before, it did smell fairly good and would be a welcome change from the survival mode they’d entered after the loss of their supplies. She shared her gratitude with Nalu. “Thank you for sharing what you have.” She could only do so in Telboros but thought it would be sufficient. Nalu’s shallow head bow made clear that it was.

  “It sounds like there are some hobgoblins in the ruins too.” As soon as Rowan conveyed the news, Alara’s heart sank. There was never any talk about hobgoblins when they started making the plans back in Rexatoius. She wondered how many other surprises would cross their path before everything was said and done. Having yet another obstacle before them was something she didn’t nee
d, but it was good to know what else might get in their way.

  “How many?” she asked.

  “From what Nalu says, there could be a whole tribe.”

  “That’s not something you want to run into,” Dugan cautioned.

  “No,” Alara agreed, “which means we’ll just have to be more careful going in.”

  “I think I might be able to help there,” Cadrissa offered.

  “How far away are the ruins?” Alara asked Nalu as they all came to stand around the roasted parrots.

  “Not far. We will get there soon enough.” He motioned for the others to take a seat on the flat ground. “For now we eat.”

  While they ate, Nalu and Rowan filled them in on everything. Alara had to admit, the more she heard of the previous night’s events, the more she was impressed. Rowan had a lot of potential and showed himself rather quick on his feet. Hopefully this would become more common, replacing his recent attitude and actions. As she listened, she kept an eye on Gilban. He’d secured a waterskin and was taking his fill. He looked well enough—as did the others. That was good. They all needed their health and wits.

  If Nalu was right they could be facing the ruins in a matter of hours. But what then? A tribe of hobgoblins waiting for them, or worse? And then there was still the possibility of crossing paths with Elyelmic soldiers on the same mission. From what Rowan shared they might be weakened but still no less a threat. And then they still had to actually find the hidden knowledge. It had all sounded so simple before she and Gilban had left Rexatoius, but after seeing the scope and condition of Gondad, she was beginning to wonder if they’d end up combing every derelict building or rubble heap to find their prize.

  Faith and patience. She heard Gilban’s words in her mind. Faith and patience.

  Chapter 26

  We’ve risen to greater heights than ever they could

  have dreamed. That’s why the gods fear us and have

  stricken us with their curse. We’ve shown them—and the