The Darkness Within (A Lythinall Novel) (Book 2)

by Michael Nadeau

  "Well, with one exception." Lord Keragan stood slowly, this being his area of expertise now. "The Bitch Queen would not honor any treaty with Lythinall. She would be looking for war, which would support the amount of growing traitors lately. There would be no 'little by little' with her, it would come all at once, and I fear that it may be soon." He paced around the edge of the room now, itching to shoot something with his bow. "That's why I can't leave this hold. If we left she would strike at us on the road and slaughter the people out in the open. No, we have to stay and prepare, but you three can get this to Arian."

  Dren stood up, hands at his side and ready, "Yes Lord, we will leave right away."

  Janna sighed and shook her head. This was Ollian's doing she just knew it. She was heading to Everknight anyway, but now she had company. At least they were good looking. "How about we leave at first light, it Makes for better traveling, and we won't have to worry about sleeping on the road at night." And maybe I can still catch that drink or six... Her thoughts kept going back to that name though, and she cursed under her breath. Why did it have to be her.

  "First light sounds fine with us." Stard said, standing and saluting the Lord.

  "Good, then I will have this parchment rolled and stored in a map case for the journey when I leave here. You will have my gratitude for this, and I will make sure that the King knows that. As for you my lady." He turned to her and smiled for the first time in a long, long time. it wasn't that she was beautiful, no. It was because she had her smile. "I have a room set aside for visiting nobles that you can have for the night."

  "Oh that would be splendid!" She turned and skipped out of the room, with the two guards right behind her. This was shaping up to be one great story after another. The return of Madam G'harr will be a tune to rival all others.

  Upper Balcony, Keragan Hold

  Egroan watched the Lord go with the guards and that woman and seethed quietly at his inability to get the Lord alone. He wasn't going to kill the guards before they got their message to the suspicious Lord, mainly because he was just going to kill Storn and be done with it, but that man was constantly watching his back. Egroan had replaced the last G'harran spy, as that man was caught and hung, as were the three before that.

  This time they sent a sorcerer, and Egroan wasn't going to fail. He had orders to call for an uprising if need be, as there were already over a dozen loyal people infiltrated into the hold, but he had to be able to take the hold if he did that. If he failed, then they would be alerted to their plans before need be.

  "You there, get back to work. Audience is over."

  He turned and walked away, cowering under the cloak he wore and picking up the broom he was holding as part of his trade. He was a small man, about five feet tall, with shoulder length brown hair and dark eyes. His tailored black cloak was in his room, as his servants clothes were needed to blend in. He nodded to the guard and went past him without looking at him. The Guard basically ignored him and kept going on his rounds. He was just a servant here, lowliest of the low. Most sorcerer's pretended to be Lords, or council members, but not Egroan. No, he knew where the real power lay. The real power was in not being noticed until it was too late.

  He made his way around the upper floor, sweeping and humming to himself for a good hour until he was over the Lord's chambers. He leaned his broom against the wall and slowly made his way down the steps on the far side, commanding the air to quell his footfalls. He would wait until the guards and woman left, then it would be over for Lord Storn. He heard talking and ducked around the corner. There. The woman was out and the two guards were following her like puppy dogs. He waited another minute as their footfalls receded, then warded the room with air, to make sure no sound escaped from the room. He came around the corner then, with his hands out whispering the command for the moisture in the air to freeze. "Obren wan fros dost fra!"

  Storn heard the words before he registered that anyone was there. He didn't know what they meant, but he had fought these bastards enough times to know it didn't matter. He was in trouble no matter what they meant. He rolled over the desk and reached under it for his spare bow. There was a catch under the top that held it, and three spare arrows, just in case. And they call me paranoid, ha! I'll show them. I'll be dead, but I'll be right at least. His thoughts were always dark these days, but at least he could still joke with himself. He tried to nock an arrow, but frost was growing on his arms and legs making them stiff and hard to move.

  "There he is, the Lord of Worry." Egroan walked around the corner, careful to stay out of the room, lest he fall into his own magic. The elements did what he commanded them to do, without distinction as to whom was there. "Having trouble with your bow Lord?" Oh how he loved to mock these self important heroes. "Oh and don't bother with calling out to anyone. I warded the room so sound would travel slowly."

  "I'll have your head yet sorcerer." He was stalling, trying to get his arms to bend and set the arrow straight. He had a solid grip on the bow, his hand was practically frozen to it, he just had to pull it back. Everything in the room was covered in frost now, and it was getting worse. Even his very lungs started to feel cold. Where's Karsis when I need him? Gods above I really just thought that didn't I? He laughed aloud at that thought and startled his attacker.

  "What? What is so funny?" The little man was not used to his victims being so flippant about their death. The man was obviously stuck and couldn't work a button on his own shirt, let alone fire his bow. What was he missing?

  "I'm just laughing at your feeble plan." Storn was lying, trying to keep this arrogant sorcerer talking. You just never knew what could happen. At least that's how the Companions used to do it in the past. Unfortunately he didn't have any of them this time.

  "Feeble?" Egroan was losing his temper. How dare this self righteous Lord judge his plans! He stopped his anger from misleading him, and smiled. He knew what the retired adventurer was doing and it wouldn't work. "Nice try Storn, but that won't work." He spoke again, commanding the sputtering torches to lose their heat faster, dropping the room to freezing temperatures faster and faster. "Soon your heart will grow ice around it and stop beating, and then I will take the hold for my Queen."

  Storn could feel the cold seeping into his veins. He was shivering so bad and he couldn't move his arms......But he could move his head a little still, and his waist. That gave him an idea. if he could get rid of the frost build up on his arms, he could fight back, but he only had one shot. Literally. He threw his head back and bent back at the same time, sending him flying against the wall with force. His shoulder hit and some of the frost broke free as he crumpled to the floor. With a pain greater than anything he ever felt, he nocked the arrow and fired in one motion. The arrow sailed under the desk and struck the sorcerer in the leg.

  Egroan stumbled back screaming at the pain of the frozen arrow shattering into his leg. It had gone in deep, and the cold wood had splintered inside. "I will flay you for that Storn!" He leaned against the wall and snapped the shaft off so it wouldn't hit the wall when he moved. He wouldn't get that out without time, and a little magic.

  First he would savor the death of this Lord. He took a moment to gather himself and limped back to the doorway. He was trying to come up with something witty, and realized that Storn could already be dead. Before he could do anything else, a dagger slammed right into his shoulder and threw him into a spin that took him into the freezing room.

  Stard looked at Dren as they ran and couldn't believe the aim his friend had. "Good shot man!" They had to be at least fifty paces away.

  "Thanks, but I was aiming for his head." Dren said as they closed on the Lord's room. They had heard someone scream and came running, but never expected the Lord's room to be covered in ice. Janna had said it was magic and told them not to let the man speak, so all Dren could think of was to put his dagger thru his head.

  "Coming through boys!" Janna called as the men stopped at the door to the room. She ran up to the doorjam and called to
the heat within the body behind the desk. "Ash'anti fir, halven dosit kithin's shir." She had to heat his heart before it stopped alltogether. She also had to stay calm so as the heat didn't rise too fast and cook it, but he should be fine in a minute or three. Now to cancel the magic of this impudent sorcerer.

  "Do we go in?" Dren didn't want to freeze in his tracks, but he wanted to get to Storn and see if he was all right. He started to test it by slowly pushing his hand into the room, but frost gathered around his fingers the minute he broke the threshold of the doorway.

  "Wait." Janna concentrated on the body slumped by the wall. It hadn't moved sine it spun into the room with a dagger in its shoulder, but these sorcerer's were tricky. She whispered to the water to stop, and breathed deep when it started to grow a little warmer. Then she coaxed the torches back to life and stepped in. As she came around to see the man, it was apparent that he was already dead. The frost had gone right into the wound and followed the veins right into the heart. Shame, she wanted to have fun finding out what he knew. "All right it's safe."

  Stard rushed in and threw the desk aside, the heavy wooden piece sliding across the frosted floor easily. "Storn! Are you all right?" Concern gave his voice a rough edge, and it echoed throughout the room.

  "Aye." Storn called weakly. He was trying to get to his knees, and wondering what had stopped that Gods be damned sorcerer. "Is Karsis here?" He was feeling a little light headed, and wasn't sure he was seeing straight. He had sworn that he was going to be dead. I would've been with her, but that's gone now too. Oh Kiera, I miss you so much... He shook his head to dispel his morose thoughts and tried to focus.

  "No Lord, Karsis isn't here, but if he were, well I'd be half naked and in his arms faster than a noble could turn his nose up to a peasant." Janna smiled and bowed a little as the frost melted from the room. Everything was dripping now, and the torches were burning bright. She chuckled to herself that Storn thought that Karsis was here. Real magic was scarce in Lythinall, being used primarily by bards. Oh sure there were magicians that could make things glow or disappear, but those were just tricksters. True wizards were only elven, or trained by them. Even bards didn't practice magic in the true sense. They channeled it through their songs or music, instead of asking the elements directly, and usually the effects were practical, not damaging.

  Legend had it that long ago the first bard made a deal with the elements and soothed them with his playing, but that was just a story. "The men here dispatched the evil sorcerer and I helped warm you up with a little bardic magic." She was lying, but didn't want to get into it right now, especially with his distrust of sorcerer's.

  Guards finally came to investigate the screams and were waved away by Storn. He was more than a little angry at this whole thing, and the guards knew when to let things go. "All right, help me up and let's find that parchment." He looked down and saw that it was a ruined mess. The water dripping on it had made the writing run and it was torn in at least three places. "Great, well there goes that plan." He stood up and stretched, then started pacing, slowly because he still ached from the cold.

  "We can go anyway Lord, the King will heed our warning parchment or no." Stard was gathering up things and putting them back as a way to keep busy. His nerves were strung out like a small child on sugar.

  "I have something even better, I'm a bard and our word is binding in the King's court. If I say it said something, then it did, or my life is forfeit." Janna smiled playfully, still upset that she hadn't gotten her three drinks, though now it was going to be like five.

  "Good plan, all right then, let's go." Storn shook his arms out and started walking for the door.

  "Lord, where are we going?" Dren asked somewhat hesitantly. He too was looking forward to having a couple of drinks, but duty came first. Always.

  "Why, I'm going with you all and having a couple of drinks."

  "Or five."

  "Yes Janna, or five." He laughed at the look on the faces of both guards and clapped them on the backs as he walked out. "Don't worry men, were just normal people tonight, after that attack I plan to get a little wobbly." They went down and joined the other men at the feast and sang most of the night. Janna was a hit, of course, but it was Storn who was the center of attention this night. He never indulged with the other men before, so it was a real treat for the hold to drink with him.

  The next morning, Dren, Stard, and Janna were ready to leave, and each one of them felt like they could sleep another five or so hours. But it was worth it. They grabbed horses from the Lord's stable and rode out of Keragan Hold early in the morning. It would take a little over a day to reach Everknight and they wanted to make the bridge by nightfall if they could. Janna knew that the G'harran's would be after them, that was a given, but when they would come was the question. When she knew they were going to have to run for it, she could ask the air to make the horses go faster and possibly make the capitol by evening. She would rather it be a boring ride though.

  "We just left and you are already looking over your shoulder?" Dren laughed at the beautiful lady riding next to him, but in truth he was worried as well.

  "Yeah well I'm missing that drink I had last night, I've never had a Stinging Volcano before.....Not sure what was even it that but Gods above that was great" She had a lot of drinks over the many years from town to town, but very little surprised her.

  "I think that had some of that distilled alcohol from up north." Stard didn't feel good, but he tried to ignore it. His stomach was very upset, and his head felt like it had been kicked by a mule. "That and I heard some of those hot peppers were juiced for it."

  They laughed as they traveled down the earthen packed road, moving towards their destiny, and none of them even knew it. They were watched from the high turrets, and the figure smiled sadly remembering a time when he was that carefree. "Gods speed and good luck." Storn said, as he looked up at the rising sun burning through the morning fog. He used to love this time of day, and he always took last watch for just this reason when the Companions of Everknight traveled across the land. it was one of the things that Karsis and he had in common. Practically the only thing, now that he thought of it. He went down the stairs and thought of all the times that he would ride home and see his wife waiting for him.

  "My Lord?"

  Storn looked up and saw the guards worried expression. He looked around real quick and realized that he was in the basement. His mind had drifted again. "Yes?" He tried to sound like he knew exactly what he was doing, but by the look on the man's face, it wasn't working.

  "It's just....You were talking to someone, and it wasn't me."

  Storn was too tired to try and make something up. "I was talking to my wife." He smiled and turned back the way he came and walked back up the stairs to the main floor. Why is she on my mind more than usual, was it that bard? He had always thought of her, that was why he was always angry, but of late, she was vivid in his memories. He walked into the council chamber and sat upon the high table and got ready for the days annoyances. He surveyed the people coming in to stand in line to ask him to settle this argument or that boundary dispute and had to smile again. At least he wasn't dealing with haughty nobles like Arian.

  The Golden Palace, G'harr

  She walked back and forth, heels clacking on the deep golden tiles of the throne room. She had felt Egroan die in Keragan Hold and had seethed quietly for over an hour. She had lost seven such assets in the last tenday and it was getting tiring. He was supposed to stop Storn from warning his King about her presence, but that must've failed. Madam Ill'lyth G'harr stopped pacing and closed her bright green eyes, counting to ten. As an elven Archmage, she was ancient in the count of years, but looked as fresh and young as when she had turned one-hundred. Her long bone white hair was tied up in a bun, held by a wrought-iron pin, and her long black dress was slit up the side revealing her shapely legs. It was not a good day.

  "What's the matter my Bitch Queen? Plans not going the way you thought they would?' The vo
ice came from the floor behind the throne, and a face poked its head out from behind it. It was a man's face, and it was filthy. His long black hair was disheveled, but Ran'cian, Sorcerer King of G'harr was, for now, still alive. He was chained, hand and foot, but Ill'lyth had kept him breathing for a reason. He just had to figure out what that reason was, very soon, before her temper gave way to violence. Still he couldn't help but poke her with a stick now and again, it felt good for all he had endured.

  "Oh please, please push my patience, I would love to just let go and make this whole city tremble." She turned on her heel and faced the wretched man, smiling her wicked smile. "I trust that those chains are still nice and tight?" Ill'lyth had enspelled the chains so he could no longer command the elements, effectively castrating the most powerful sorcerer in all of G'harr.

  "I never should have brought you back." He scowled at her smug, elven face and cursed her in his head for the millionth time. She was infamous as the elf that destroyed the elven nations. She had taught her human lover elven magic and had been banished for it. She traveled to the southern reaches of their great forest, there to make a community for herself and her disciples. They had brought their human slaves, and the ones who now commanded magic, and began teaching them as well. Thus began the dynasty of G'harr. She had been slain decades ago by infighting, but Ran'cian had found her corpse. It wasn't easy, they buried her in secret with traps and deadfalls, but in the end he had it and he brought her back. He had needed her ancient power to break the seal on the Incarnation of Death, since she had been there to cast it in the first place. He thought that he could control her, after all he was the all powerful Sorcerer King right? That backfired faster than he could say 'Bitch Queen'.