"Well, good sir you can have that drink. On me of course, and we can tell stories whilst we ponder the bottom of many a glass." Tanan always got uppity when he was entertaining others, it was just what he did. "Now let's go inside and meet my good friend, he will enjoy some of those stories as well. They walked in and some of the patrons stopped talking at the sight of Graf, but Tanan ignored them with practiced ease.
Gareth saw Tanan come in and was pleasantly surprised that he was here too. He thought that he would just come and have a couple of drinks and relax after all the fuss at the castle, but now Tanan was here. This could turn dangerous, but Gareth was still smiling. "Tanan, come sit and have a drink. Who is your....friend." Gareth could smell him now, and so could everyone in here no doubt.
"He's....well we haven't gotten that far yet." He turned to the man and waved him to a seat. "And what would your name be good sir?"
"Graf, and who might you two be?" He said mockingly. He pulled out the chair, turned it around, then sat down straddling the chair the wrong way. The place had resumed talking amongst themselves once more, no doubt more gossip about him. It never stopped. He saw the other man stand up to shake his hand and he reflexively inched back. The man was a mountain!
Gareth smiled knowingly. He had that affect on people. He held his hand out anyway. "The name is Gareth, pleasure to meet you Graf." He saw the man tentatively shake it and then grimace like he expected Gareth to crush it. "Any friend of Tanan's is...well I've never met any of his friends so I wouldn't know."
"Laugh it up big man. Nice to meet you Graf, Been in the city long?" Tanan signaled the girl behind the bar as he talked.
"Nope, just got here a couple days ago with a wagon." He looked around nervously. At least there wasn't any wind. He thought as the girl came over to bring them three mugs of ale. He grabbed a mug and downed it in one shot, as did Gareth. They locked eyes and smiled. The contest was on.
It had been a long time since Gareth had seen someone drink like that, and he knew it was going to be one of those nights. He smiled at the man and was about to wave the girl back again when he saw a young boy walk in and scan the crowd. The boy had the official jacket of the King and Gareth just knew the jig was up.
Barris didn't come down to the city very often, in fact this was the first time in at least eight months that he had been out of the castle. He was on urgent business and had to find Lord Tanan. He stopped outside of the Laughing Sprite and grimaced. He really didn't want to go in there. He drew up his courage and walked in, scanning the crowd for the lavishly dressed man he had met just days ago. he was sitting at a table with the other man he had to find, and apparently a homeless person. "I have a message from Karsis."
"What does he want now?"
"What does he want now?"
Gareth stared at both Tanan and Graf as they both spoke at the same time. His head hurt already. Now they were babbling at each other trying to find out how each of them knew Karsis. "Page, why is the message from Karsis and not the King?" He had a real bad feeling about this.
"Well sir..."
"Gareth. Please call me Gareth. I am not a sir." Gods above he hated that title.
"Gareth then. The King is meeting with the Queen about the damaged temple and Karsis is handling the emergency council meeting that he called."
Tanan stopped arguing with Graf long enough to hear that and turned his head. "Emergency meeting? What happened now?" It couldn't have been him, he was down here causing trouble.
Graf took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Boy...what is the message that you are patiently waiting to deliver?" He wasn't going to get involved but they would be here all night if he didn't.
Barris sighed in relief. He wasn't about to tell them they were wasting their time. He cleared his throat and assumed an indignant posture. "Karsis calls an emergency council meeting in light of desperate news. All Companions of Everknight are needed as well as any other person so involved with them in any way, or manner." He bowed and took his leave as fast as he could before they asked him any other questions. Heroes could be such a bother.
Tanan got up and threw some coins on the table, eyeing the patrons next to them with that look that said 'Don't think about touching them', and walked to the door briskly. "Come gentleman, the castle awaits!"
"Can I come too?" Graf got up and eyed the coins himself, but thought better about it. For once. He started walking, not realizing that Gareth wouldn't get the joke.
"Of course! Why would you think....oh the Gentleman comment. You're just as bad as Tanan for all of the Gods sake."
"Thank you Gareth!" Tanan called from the open door way.
"It wasn't a compliment jack ass."
Ruined Temple of Davalar, Castle Everknight
They had another hour or so before the meeting and all of the injured were finally fixed up. Dren was lounging in the council chamber already with a bottle of spiced wine, and Jana had gone looking for Karsis. It was just the three of them now. Caerlyn, Ralavin, and Griff. Make that four, as Rythal stood impassive in front of Davalar's statue still. "Now that we are alone there are some things that I wanted to talk about with you Griff." Caerlyn was worried about the power that lay within this small boy. What was he eleven winters? Twelve?
Griff knew this was coming. He hung his head down and waited for the lecture. "I know, I wasn't supposed to bring him back, but you don't understand." How could he tell them that it just felt wrong?
"Then tell us son. Trust us, we've both seen some pretty weird stuff." Ralavin caught the look that Caerlyn shot him and laughed out loud, not even trying to hold it in. "Ok, she has seen some weird stuff." He turned to Caerlyn though and smiled. "But to be fair, I was brought back from near death by a magical potion that turned me young again."
"We will have a weird story session later. Now, Griff tell us what we don't know." She needed more insight into how he was doing this and why.
"Well, when I was trying to heal him and realized that he was gone....it felt wrong. What I mean is, It felt like the man was supposed to be here and if he wasn't it would've been wrong." He saw their faces grow pale and knew that he had said too much.
"Dear Davalar can it be?" Caerlyn couldn't fathom what she had just heard. Even Ralavin was taken aback, so he must've known what the boy was just as she did now. The boy was a Oracle. She reached out and laid a comforting hand upon the boys shoulders and sent warm tendrils of healing into his mind. He had nothing broken like some of the people she helped, but it would make him feel better nonetheless.
"I think he is, dear Lady." Ralavin had heard of this before, but had never met one in his lifetime. An Oracle. An Oracle was a healer that was in tune to the flows of not only the present, but the future as well. They could tell if someone was going to have a boy or a girl, if they were going to have complications later in life due to illness, and even sometimes if they were going to die very soon. The later was rare, and Ralavin was fairly certain it was for bardic stories more than factual. "That would explain a couple things, like why the arrows turned to ash. They weren't supposed to be there."
"Yeah that was a new one for me. I've never seen that." She had seen some other very strange things, but that one was impressive to be sure. "You Master Griff, are going to be one of the best healers in all of Lythinall, better than myself or even Ralavin."
"You mean I'm not in trouble?" Griff was overjoyed. He thought for sure they would be angry about those things with wings. He hadn't seen them up close, but as the man came back he caught a glimpse of them. They wanted to come over too.
Ralavin saw that something was till troubling the young boy. "Tell us Griff, what is it?" He wanted the boy to trust them, especially if he was going to be as good as the stories said Oracles were.
"Well, I think I know why you're not supposed to bring people back like I did." He swallowed hard and closed his eyes. He was going to sound crazy he just knew it.
Caerlyn beat him to it. "Let me guess. They were large and horrib
le, with leathery wings and rotting hair on dark dead flesh. Fangs dripping a corrosive bile, and their throaty growl was almost constant, like they were talking amongst themselves. Does that sound about right?"
Griff was frozen. That was them. She knew of them. "Yes Lady Caerlyn. They wanted to cross over and leave him behind." He wanted to curl up and cry. Worse was that he only had a fleeting glimpse and he felt this way. No wonder that man said I was his favorite person.
"Yes. They are called Reapers, and they do the bidding of the Dark One himself. I've seen someone brought back with a Reaper inside, instead of them, and it never ends well." She looked at this young charge with a new understanding of his strength. This child had done something on instinct that most trained healers would blanch at trying. "I can teach you how to deal with them, It's a simple charm. When all this is over, I'll take you back to my hold and your training will really begin." She caught Ralavin smiling at her and felt almost ashamed at her flagrant lack of protocol. "I'm sorry Ralavin, I should've asked first I.."
"Caerlyn it's fine." He cut her off before she got going. "I agree. I've started teaching him what I know, but it is plain to see that the young master would benefit more from your expertise than mine." He couldn't imagine a better teacher than this woman.
"Well then it's settled. Now let's get to the council chambers so this meeting can start. I for one am curious as to what this all means." She led the way tousling Griff's red hair as she walked.
Ralavin watched them go and for the first time in a very, very, long time he thought about something other than Davalar. He shouldn't, he knew that, but she was everything he had always wanted in someone. It helped that she was a priestess as well, but it wasn't just that. He looked up to the statue of his God and closed his eyes. This was your work wasn't it Lord? Well if it was then I will approach it like I would any other task you have led my way. With patience and restraint. He walked after them whistling a merry tune and none of them noticed that Rythal's head had turned to watch them go.
Inner Courtyard, Castle Everknight
Othren was fuming. They had called an emergency council meeting and hadn't invited him. Worse still, it was that incessant bard Karsis that had called the meeting, not even the King. Hero of the free land or not, that was a breach of protocol that he could not ignore this time. besides, maybe it was time. The only good news was that a page had come delivering Karsis's last name from Rhoe. He stopped and called for a page, then waited as one of the boys came trotting over. Where do they come from? He wondered as the boy seemed to appear out of nowhere. The boy came to a stop and did not make eye contact, like he was trained to do.
"Sir." Fenton had been watching Othren for an hour, bored out of his mind.
"Young page, I want you to find Karsis and tell him to meet me near the East guest room corridor as soon as he can. Tell him that it is a matter of grave import and that the fate of the Land is at stake." He flipped the boy a coin and the young man was off like lightning.
Frenir heard the exchange and made a mental note on where Karsis would be heading. As the Councilor of Foreign Relations, he had his suspicions on who was feeding G'harr information, and who could be trying to kill the King. He had been laying low for the last ten days learning what he could from what spies he had left, and he hadn't learned a whole lot. He would be there when Othren met with Karsis and then he would see the old man's true colors. He walked the other way, avoiding Othren and disappeared into the castle.
Othren smiled and walked on, knowing that Frenir was there. He had outlived his usefulness as a decoy and would have to be eliminated. He strolled the rest of the way inside without his customary limp and turned a corner. Once inside and out of the view of the guards, his worn robes turned into a burnt black, flaking off like dead skin, and his hood came up all on its own. The man in black walked without a sound down the corridor to where he would meet Karsis, and now that he knew the bard's last name it would be quick, then he would take out the others in the assembly without their beloved savior. That was Trost's mistake, he tried to take on a man like that without plans. He missed his old apprentice, but he had a new one now. He laughed at his own cleverness in this devious trap and hurried to where he would end it all.
Fenton rushed all the way to the council chamber. He knew that Karsis was there, and with what he had for a message, he knew time was precious. Sliding into the room, out of breath and panting, he held onto the large table for balance
"What is it Fenton?" Karsis saw the young boy come in, and just knew that things weren't getting any better. Some days it seemed that he couldn't win with an army.
"Message for you....from Othren....grave import" He just couldn't get his breath back. He inhaled deeply and let it out slowly, then opened his mouth to try again. He didn't need to.
"Ah, got it, It's fine Fenton. Rest here and wait for me." He started for the door, but he wasn't done with Rhoe. They needed to speak before the meeting. Him and the girl. "Rhoe, Liss, with me. We will be back in time for the meeting. There are some things that you both need to know before everything gets hectic in here."
Rhoe stood quickly and grabbed Liss with a smile that said he was glad to be doing something besides sitting here. "Goody, field trip." He quipped laughing at the face Karsis made at his remark.
"Be nice Rhoe, I'm interested in what could be so secret that he has to tell us ahead of time." Allissana was no novice to castle intrigue, but this man elevated it to a whole new level, and from what she had seen already in their brief travels, he wasn't done.
Karsis led them out and walked the hallways quickly, avoiding people with fluid grace. He talked as he went as to save time. "So what everyone doesn't know is that prophesy speaks of the three of us taking a long trip after this meeting." He knew they would question him, and he was ready. Then they both surprised him yet again.
"I'm in." Rhoe said, keeping up with no problems. If there was one thing that he learned young, it was how to walk fast to keep up with his mother. Those short legs could seriously move.
"Me too. Where are we going?" She was grateful to be home, but with all that was going on, she knew that her father would have to concentrate on that, instead of her and Rhoe.
Karsis didn't slow as he turned and walked backwards and looked at them with his intense stare. "We have to go persuade the elves to help us fight G'harr." As he dropped this fireball of a plan, he turned back and kept walking, waiting for what was coming next.
"The ELVES!" Liss screamed, scaring half of the people around her into getting out of her way. "Sorry...sorry, it's ok. Really Karsis? The elves?" She had dreamed of meeting an elf almost all her life. Well, except recently, then her dreams changed to meeting Rhoe. Thinking of those dreams got her thinking; She hadn't had them since she met him on the bridge....
"Yes, well, calm down a little, were not there yet. It's going to be fun persuading everyone that we can even get in to see them without dying immediately. Good thing I know an easy way in. Even before we get to where it could go wrong, it is a long journey and I want to take a small side trip to see the faeries." Karsis went down the side stairs quickly, worried a little on what this new 'grave danger' was going to be about. Othren better be lying, he didn't think he could take any more bad news.
Rhoe groaned at hearing about visiting the faeries, they made his head hurt, but elves! He had always wanted to meet one in person. It was then that he slowed his steps. He had a feeling growing in his stomach, not unlike butterflies or a twisting knot. It had never happened before, that he knew of, and he almost yelled for Karsis. The Bard was walking fast and was already way ahead of them, but then the decision was taken from him. He was going to yell for his mentor, but he was hit with an extremely solid clump of absolutely nothing.
He didn't even notice anything out of the corner of his eye so he couldn't even roll a little bit out of the way. Rhoe hit the wall and was pinned there, presumably by air itself, and it was crushing him slowly. He fought consciousness, as he tr
ied to breathe with compressed lungs, and he saw someone fighting Liss. He couldn't pass out, she needed him!
Liss saw Rhoe take the hit and even though she was watching, she had no idea what happened. It looked like Rhoe just lifted off the ground and hit the wall, except he just stuck there, pressed against the unyielding stone, fighting to get free. "Karsis!" She tried to yell, but the air just whooshed out of her in a rush. Gasping for anything to fill her lungs, she turned at the sound of the only person still here. She drew Deathsong in a clean sweep around her, coming to bear at an opponent that was dressed in all black. The sword rang with a clear bell that seemed to echo for much longer than usual. Liss noticed that everyone had run off at the first sign of trouble, so there was no one to get in the way, thank the Gods.
"Darling, you can't begin to stop me." He reached up and lowered his hood, revealing the close cropped white hair of Othren, and his clever smile. He could see what it had done to her, as her sword dipped to the floor and almost slipped from numb hands. He waved his hand and commanded the air to pin her to the ceiling. Hard. She flew up and slammed into the marble ceiling with a sickening thud and stayed there, her tears falling slowly. He let her breathe again though, he didn't want her passing out and missing the grand show he had planned. The death of Karsis the bard.
Frenir had waited for this moment. He had hidden here after taking a shortcut and his alacrity had paid off. He stepped out and whispered words to the air to free the Princess, but before he could, the air whooshed out of his lungs and he fell to the ground gasping.
He rolled to his knees, expecting this all along. He knew that he would be outmatched by magic, so once Othren had commanded the air on a third target, he knew he would be taxed. He threw the dagger with everything he had left and saw it bury itself in Othren's shoulder. Just six inches off the mark. The world went dark then, as he slowly suffocated, and he fell over onto the stone floor.
The Darkness Within (A Lythinall Novel) (Book 2) Page 19