by M J Webb
“Yes, thank you! You know, one of these days I am going to shut your...!” began an incensed Vantrax, frustrated by the situation and angered further by Sawdon’s predictable response. He glared furiously into the Thargw’s eyes.
“Yes. I apologise sire for my ways, yet again I have disappointed you and I have no excuse. But, what of Princess Zephany? Does she live?”
“Yaarrgghh! Yes. I think so. In truth, we do not know. According to the beast she fell into a river, from a great height. I am told it was a fall which should have killed her, but we have to assume the worst, Sawdon. We have to presume that she somehow survived, and that she will succeed in getting through to Dassilliak.”
“I see. Then that does not bode well for us, my King. If she does complete her mission, if she persuades them to help her, they may...”
“Yes, yes, I know! You do not need to keep on stating the obvious!” interrupted Vantrax, now in a state of fury which was invading every corner of his soul, making it increasingly hard to think straight.
“But, can you not use the stone again, sire? Why not raise more of these creatures and send them after her, or bring forth another vision?”
“What? Yes, I suppose I can. But, no... I will not deplete the power in this stone without good reason, as I did with the Lichtus. I have learned my lesson there. No, my army is more powerful now than I, or the enemy, could ever imagine. It grows stronger and stronger by the day. If my young niece does succeed and brings them out from behind those walls to do battle, she will only be helping our cause. Such a turn of events will be to our advantage now that we have such large numbers of seasoned warriors at our disposal. And besides, she has far too much of a head start on us to catch her now. It would be a pointless chase and a waste of our time and energy. No, the graxoth and sraine will come with us, when we are finally able to engage their army in battle, I am sure that they will prove useful. Let us hope that the Lords of Srenul have met with more success!”
***
In fact, the dark knights from the world beyond were completely oblivious to the events that had taken place at the river Umaas. They were continuing their search for the Keeper and his companions and relentless in their pursuit, as they now headed for the city of Ilin-Seatt. They arrived there on the evening of the 23rd and quickly learned from some unfortunate souls of the raid upon the Marshall’s palace and subsequent escape of the rebels they sought. The mighty warriors now had no idea in which direction Jake and the others had fled and, in the darkness that had fallen, they could find no tracks to follow. In the mind of their terrifying leader there was only one thing to do; use their mental powers to contact King Vantrax once more and seek his instructions.
On a small dirt road on the outskirts of the great city, one of many which led out of the streets and alleyways and into the countryside beyond, under the shadow of a huge, overhanging tree, the Lords of Srenul halted their horses in the dim moonlight and dismounted. Without making a sound, they formed into a circle and drew their swords. Then they fell onto one knee, the ground seemed to shake beneath them as they each in turn rammed their weapons into the hard soil. With heads bowed down low, they concentrated as hard as they could on the evil King who was their master.
Vantrax’ vast army had by this time halted its march in the rugged, undulating countryside that lay just shy of the imposing Neekard fortress, one of a number of fortifications the Kings and Queens of Nadjan had built along their border with Perosya in olden times to protect against incursions from the south.
Sawdon and his King had been tantalisingly close to catching the fleeing rebels. The huge clouds of dust that the rebel army kicked up as it marched had been visible in the southern sky for most of that day. But time had finally run out for the hunters and darkness had descended on the land once again to save King Artrex’forces.
King Vantrax had learnt the lessons of Erriard forest. He knew that a battle was imminent, it could not be avoided, and he did not want to give his enemy the chance to ambush and deplete his force in the darkness. So, he had decided that his army would make camp for the night, confident that tomorrow would see them in a position to launch an attack for which his soldiers would be fully rested. He was in his tent alone now, about to summon his manservant to assist him in dressing for the night, when a deep, sinister and gravelly voice sounded suddenly inside his head. A voice which would have terrified any other living soul!
“Veyyarrtorasse nearrgghh beisnorarr vachlest nienne. Kaallminall fullarr recchtaall priette vollushe.”
The evil wizard’s face suddenly turned red with rage. “Krraagghh!!! Sawdon! Melissa! Yaarrgghh!”
He screamed his warrior’s names at the top of his voice and upturned violently the nearest table, sending wine goblets and plates flying in all directions. Then he picked the nearest goblet off the ground and hurled it at the flap of his tent, hitting the unfortunate Nytig squarely on his head as he rushed to answer his master’s call. The servant immediately collapsed on the floor and blood began to ooze out of a nasty wound on his forehead. He was almost knocked unconscious and he sat dazed where he fell as Sawdon arrived. The Thargw took one look at him, grunted menacingly and then stepped over his body to attend to his King. Melissa followed behind almost immediately and did the same, seeing no advantage to be made from showing kindness to a mere servant. Nytig stumbled to his feet and left to see to his wound.
“What is it sire? What has happened?” asked Sawdon.
“Yes, how can we help?” added Melissa.
Vantrax was still fuming from the news, he looked at both of them in disgust. “Help? Help you say? Raarr! I am surrounded by incompetent fools! You, Sawdon! You should have brought me those stones and killed this young Keeper by now! You have had plenty of opportunity. It is not too much to ask, is it? I have been lenient with you, too lenient. I have been very understanding so far, but now it ends! This is your last chance, I swear it. I have to destroy my brother and capture those stones. You will…”
“I-I will do all you ask, my Lord. Or I shall die trying!” interrupted a severely embarrassed and upset Sawdon. He had never had his honour and competence questioned in such a fashion. “But… I do not understand, what has changed?”
King Vantrax took a deep breath to calm himself, before attempting to explain.
“The Lords of Srenul have reported to me. They have missed the young boy, the Keeper has eluded them and fled. He has launched a raid on a palace in Ilin-Seatt and escaped. For them to pursue him now, I must use the stone once more to ascertain his whereabouts, and I did not wish to have to do that so soon. All of this should have ended before it even began! Instead, this confounded situation drags on and on, with no end in sight. It is all your fault, Sawdon. You should have…”
“Yes my King,” interrupted Melissa, “Mistakes have been made. But, be that as it may, do not lose sight of the position in which we now find ourselves, please. The Keeper may elude us at present, that is true, but he will be caught. We stand at the very threshold of an historic victory, a momentous occasion that will become legend. Tomorrow the rebels will be crushed, destroyed, annihilated. They will all be killed and any notion of resistance to your rule will crumble with them. Dassilliak, the great fortress city that has never been taken, will fall before the greatest force this world has ever seen, and it will be in our hands. No army can possibly hope to defeat these warriors raised from the afterlife, those who have been summoned from the fires to do your will. We are stronger than anyone could ever imagine, we are invincible! The stone I brought for you will enable you to find those you seek, for they cannot hide for long. You will have your box of stones and there is nothing they can do to save the city, or that army of theirs. I believe that now you should…”
“Krmmn… Ilin-Seatt?” enquired Sawdon, stopping Melissa just as she was getting into her stride. “You said that they raided a palace at Ilin-Seatt?”
“What?” snapped Vantrax, angrily. “Yes. What of it?”
“Why would the
y raid a palace at Ilin-Seatt?” the Thargw warrior asked. “What was their intent?”
“It has to be the Marshall’s palace, it is the only… Stones!” Vantrax realised suddenly. “They were going for the stones. The Marshall hoards them like a Dzorag hoards wine. I tolerate him because he is ruthless and he achieves results, but I know of his greed. If they are after the stones then there has to be a reason for it? Ka! They are trying to replace those in the box! It is broken, it must be.”
“Raar! Yes, my Lord. That would explain everything, why they have not used the stones powers so far, and why they have not returned to the safety of their own lands,” stated Sawdon, enthusiastically. “If you are correct, then we have an opportunity to defeat them before it is fixed. Time is crucial, we must not delay!”
Vantrax nodded his agreement and pulled out the reolite stone from under his shirt. Melissa shouted an excited warning to him as he closed his eyes.
“Make good use of it, sire. The assassins will need the exact whereabouts of the Keeper if we are to prevail. We are running out of time.”
***
King Artrex’ tired and exhausted army of rebels were camped on open fields and meadows, not far from the Southern Army battlelines, on the evening of 23rd August. They were by now well within sight of the mountains that protected and surrounded the fortress city of Dassilliak on three sides. Artrex had pushed his people hard on the long march south, culminating in a last frantic effort to evade the warriors of the enemy. Thick, black clouds of dust had been spotted to the north which had continued to grow larger and larger throughout that day. When darkness eventually came, it was greeted with immense relief by the King. The seasoned warrior knew that his evil brother would not have the courage to risk another night march, having been so badly mauled by the rebel’s ambush tactics at Erriard forest.
Though the darkness eased the King’s anxiety a little, extra guards were posted at all sentry points nevertheless. Everyone was nervous and on edge, and all were afraid of what tomorrow might bring. Before settling down for the night to gain some much needed sleep, Artrex took one last stroll around the camp with Queen Bressial, to show his face and buoy his soldier’s morale.
“Well, we have made it this far at least. To tell you the truth, between you and I, I never really thought we would,” said the King as they walked.
“We know that it is you we have to thank for that, good King. You have led us well. It has been quite a journey, quite a tale it will make, one which we will hopefully live to tell.”
“Krmm… Yes, I only pray that all of this sacrifice is not for nothing,” Artrex replied, glumly.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Nothing. Well, only that, I have been watching the trail made by my brother’s warriors, it has grown, and it has continued to grow for some considerable time. I am afraid that it is far too big for the force he had at his command, for the army we have fought in Rhuaddan. They would have to be right upon us to produce such a cloud. I fear that he may have help with him, that he has somehow added more legions to his already considerable force. It would appear that he has grown even stronger. I cannot explain it to you, but I am a soldier, I have been one for most of my life and I am good at what I do. I know when things do not feel right, when there is something you do not know or have not come across on the battlefield before, and cannot control. I am sorry but something is amiss here and try as I may, I cannot shake this feeling of doom that I have inside me. Though I dare not share my thoughts with anyone else.”
“I see,” answered the Queen, a faint look of surprise on her face. “I had no idea you felt that way. And it is probably a good thing that I did not. So, where do we go from here? If your feelings are correct, what do we do?”
“There is absolutely nothing we can do now,” replied Artrex. “Tomorrow we all shall rise at first light. We will then head towards our waiting enemy with all speed and hope to smash through their lines so that we may reach the city, for therein lies our one hope of salvation. That is all we can do. We run and we pray. We pray that there will be some friends there to help us, for if there are not, if the enemy ahead of us succeeds in delaying our approach long enough for my brother and his legions to join in the fight, we are done for!”
“Ka, well that seems plain enough then. I suppose I had better make the most of this opportunity to sleep? I would hate to meet the Gods looking like this,” Bressial stated, waving away a strand of hair from her eyes. A faint smile appeared on her lips as she tried to make light of their dire situation. King Artrex smiled back at her.
“You, my Queen, would grace any hall, at any time.”
The King bid her goodnight and continued his walk. He felt now as if the weight of several worlds were upon his shoulders.
‘Zephany my child,’ he thought, ‘I am sorry but it is all up to you now. The destiny of our people lies in your hands, and there is no person I would rather see it entrusted to. The Keeper may yet prove to be our saviour. In the fullness of time he may fulfil every expectation we have of him, and prove the truth behind many of our legends. But… If you have not reached the city and failed in your quest, if you have not managed to persuade the leaders of the alliance to join with us, he may never get the chance!’
Chapter 17
Morning of 23rd August – Readal Forest - Nadjan
Jake, Ben, Tien and Verastus were now at the mercy of the ‘savages’ of Readal forest, a tribe of ferocious warriors with a reputation so fierce that even King Vantrax’ much vaunted army of hired mercenaries refused to enter their realm. Their leader was a giant of a man, a muscle-bound fighter whose very appearance had Ben shaking at the knees. As he stood chest to face with Jake in a deliberate attempt to intimidate the youngster, a nervous smile began to develop on Ben’s face, and he just could not help himself from commenting on the amusing spectacle. Before he could stop himself, in true Ben form, he was already blurting out words which he knew there was a good chance he would probably not live to regret.
“Bl-bloody hell, it’s Conan the Barbarian. Ha ha... I’ve seen him on cable.”
Though angered a little by the stupidity of Ben’s action, given the circumstances, Jake could not help but laugh and his automatic reaction brought an immediate response from the warrior before him. He drew a knife from his waistband with lightning speed and raised it swiftly, intending to hold it threateningly at Jake’s throat, enraged by the lack of respect being shown and determined to restore his control of the situation. But Jake was too quick for him. The Keeper’s left hand responded to the threat to his life by blocking the warrior’s wrist, grabbing it and twisting it in the same instant, so that his whole body had no choice but to turn and Jake was able to place his arm firmly up his back. He pushed it so high that it induced a very sharp pain in his collar bone which made him drop his weapon immediately. Jake then let go of his arm as soon as the knife hit the floor.
The unbelievable speed of Jake’s response stunned everyone. He had not thought about it for a moment and it drew a swift reply of its own from the surrounding tribesmen. The strings to their bows were drawn back hard and the arrows were all now pointing firmly at Jake’s head. Spears were raised and jabbed in the direction of the four strangers, stopping mere inches from their faces as the tribal warriors prepared to kill them all upon their leader’s command.
Jake had never been so scared, or so certain of his fate. He was convinced that they were all going to die and a quick glance at the face of his best friend told him that Ben was feeling the same way. But, to their relief and surprise, the leader of the ‘savages’ suddenly barked out a solitary command.
“Errestt!”
All the weapons pointing at their heads were lowered immediately. The immediate threat to their lives was over, at least for now. The huge warrior turned around to face Jake once more. There was a completely different expression upon his face now, one of genuine surprise and respect, and one which gave no doubt at all that he was clearly impressed by the you
ng boy’s skills and ability to defend himself.
“Raart! Kuh, I was not expecting that. What do we have here I wonder? You have all taken a mighty risk entering this forest. We have been watching you, we could have killed you at any time. But, that was some feat, I am not easily bested. You would not survive long against arrows and spears though, I think. Before I decide if we shall let you live, I am now willing to let you talk. I will hear you out. That little demonstration was the move of a great soldier, where did you learn it? Who are you?”
Surrounded and outnumbered by people who looked as though they might just as easily eat the two boys for breakfast, Jake began to talk. He gave a very quick explanation of the events which had led them all to the forest. He introduced each of his companions in turn and then he revealed the true nature of their mission, reasoning that time was far too precious to waste, and feeling instinctively that the warrior before him was someone he could trust.
“…And I am Jake West, the Keeper of the Stones. Well, that’s it. You know everything you need to know now. We’re here for the Eye of Toganoll. It is vital that we secure it and continue with our quest. Do you have it? And if so, will you give it to us? Will you help us to restore the stones and defeat King Vantrax?”
The seriously impressive warrior remained silent for a moment as he considered the questions posed carefully. He looked around at his people and then he replied in a deep, but gentle voice. “Kah… I have listened to all you have said. You put forward a persuasive argument, but it is not as simple as that, Jake. As your wizard can tell you.”
Jake was puzzled and he looked over questioningly at Tien.
“Srrr… Ah yes, well, I was going to mention it at some point but it slipped my mind. I believe he may be referring to the legends, the tales which tell of your coming. Oh, and the trials... I was going to tell you about those as well, but I…”