by Mark Albany
I narrowed my eyes. Khala was a kingdom far, far to the south with which we shared a language called, quite creatively, Common.
“Well, they speak our tongue, if you want to go into technicalities,” I said, handing Leena her bow and dagger back. “I guess the question is, how come you speak it? Not that I disapprove.”
“We had many trades with the Khalans over the years,” the man said. “They spoke of the elfkind as well, though we had never actually seen one with our own eyes.”
They still seemed entranced by Kalna, even though they never got within a couple of paces of her. She looked over at me, almost desperate for help, and I shrugged again. What was it that she expected me to do?
“So why are you so trusting of her?” I asked, turning back to the warrior. “You all seemed rather intent on killing us before you saw her.”
“She is elfkind,” he said, seeming annoyed at having to answer such a ridiculous question. “The invaders are known tricksters, taking on many forms, but they refuse to take on the form of elfkind. They consider it… impure?” He looked at me like he wondered if it was the right word.
I remembered hearing the Trelans having some choice words to say about elves, so it made sense. I nodded in understanding.
“They take the form of our peoples and the peoples we trade to, but never elfkind,” the man continued. “We take that as a sign of good. The people our enemies hate must be our friends.”
Enemy of my enemy. I wondered if the old metaphor would make any sense to the man. I shook my head. We had more important things to worry about.
“Is there a leader that we can speak to?” I asked.
He nodded. “I lead.”
“Great,” I said. “Time to go, guys.”
Kalna, Leena, and our strange friend gathered around me. Kalna seemed all too happy to get away from the awed looks she was drawing.
Unlike the other villages we’d seen thus far, this place was alive with activity. The populace showed the fatigue of war, since even as isolated as they were, they could not avoid the conflict forever. But they looked well-fed and happy enough. Plus, there were sufficient fighters around to make anyone attacking this place pay dearly for it.
We moved over to one of the larger houses. A group of big, meaner-looking warriors emerged from inside, and a woman stepped out with them. Her hair was silver-white and curled up like the rest, but she didn’t look a day older than forty.
These people seemed to age well.
The island’s leader said a few words in their language. I assumed he was explaining the situation to the woman, who nodded. She gave Kalna a hard look before turning to me, assuming that I was somehow a leader of our little group.
“Never let it be said that our people do not treat visitors with hospitality,” the woman finally said, with almost no trace of an accent. “But we find ourselves in a moment of conflict and cannot accept strangers into our midst. Explain your business here.”
I nodded, realizing that while Kalna’s presence had bought us some goodwill, we were still very much strangers in a strange land. And more importantly, a strange land at war.
“My name is Braks,” I started, keeping my voice even. “This is Leena and Kalna and…” I looked over to the strange man, but he stood back, silent, looking unnerved. “Our friend. We come from the Kingdom of Radon, where a ship of refugees from your capital city made port. They told us of the invasion, and we brought a small force to help.”
“Small indeed,” the woman said, raising an eyebrow.
“We encountered difficulties,” I nodded. “What few troops we could spare were lost, all except those of us you see her before you. However, considering that our people just managed to shake off an invasion force of the same origin, it was the least we could do. The enemy of our enemy is our friend, as the old adage states.”
There was a smattering of conversation when I paused, indicating that a few in the crowd that had assembled knew our language.
“The gesture is appreciated, Braks,” the woman said. “But a gesture is all it is. How can four help in the fight against so many?”
“We have a…weapon that helped us defeat the Trelans when they tried to take our lands.” No need to let them know that I was the weapon. “However, our difficulties led us to lose most of our supplies on the journey here. What little we had left is expended. We need food to continue.”
The woman nodded. A few of the warriors turned to speak to her. They didn’t seem happy, even though the woman herself kept her face neutral.
After the quick conference finished, she turned back toward us. “If you fight these Trelans, we stand by you. If this weapon really does remove this… filth from our isles, we would be wise to help. What food we can spare is yours. We would also offer you warriors as well, to help.”
Kalna stepped in. “Begging your pardon, we would not want you to leave your homes undefended.”
“We do no such thing, elfkind,” the woman replied with the ghost of a smile. “We offer only what we can spare, nothing more. Our younger warriors grow restless with waiting and defending what we have. Those that seek to attack our aggressors will join you. The rest remain to keep our people safe.”
I nodded and bowed gently, not sure how to address this woman. She was clearly a leader among these people, but I saw no indication of how to properly treat her. For all I knew, anything I did could be vastly offensive.
There was no indication that it was, though, as the woman simply turned back around and reentered the building she’d come from. It seemed that whatever supplies and soldiers would be coming with us were to be volunteered from those present.
Our packs were quickly filled with water skins, dried fish, and what looked like cornbread. A dozen or so warriors quickly gathered more supplies, as well as their weapons.
“I am called Ker,” the man I’d spoken to earlier said as he approached me. “And I join you in your fight. We cannot spare too many of our warriors, since the enemy knows where we are and has tried to attack. So far, without success, but they grow bolder with each day. Even so, I am glad to be attacking instead of defending at last.”
I nodded, offering the man my hand. He gripped it at the wrist and shook it firmly.
“I can’t tell you how much we appreciate your help.” I smiled.
He tilted his head, looking confused. “Why not?”
I paused and blinked. “Well, because our appreciation is too vast for words?”
“You speak it well enough,” Ker shrugged.
“Sure,” I nodded. “So, do we head out in the same direction we came?”
“Those inlets do not allow for too many,” Ker explained. “We have hidden paths that allow us to find other ways around without detection.”
“I’ll follow your lead then,” I agreed, nodding. I wasn’t overly pleased with how much we were doing that of late.
Ker grinned and nodded, patting his shield. “I lead. Again!”
The sun was starting its descent by the time we were ready to move again. Ker led us out into the water. It had started rising, but it was still shallow enough to allow an easy enough crossing as we headed into the cliffs. It was only once we got closer that I saw cracks in the walls, leading us into a massive cave.
No torches were needed as the cracks seemed to extend the whole length of the pathway, giving us sunlight filtered from the jungle above. I couldn’t imagine any of this having been built. It had to be natural.
No matter the origins, it was an incredible sight to see.
It wasn’t a long walk before we emerged from the cave into sunlight, out onto another placid-looking beach. It wasn’t the one we’d landed on, which begged the question of just how large this island was.
A question for later, of course.
“Where to from here, Braks?” Ker asked, looking around at me.
I looked up from studying the fantastic views, wondering why he was asking me when he was the one who knew how to navigate the island. And t
hen I realized that I was the one who had promised a weapon to defeat the Trelans, which meant I was the one who needed to take the lead.
Dammit. I wanted to just be another guardsman again.
“Which way to the capital city?” I asked.
“Kalames is following the roads to the east.” Ker pointed.
“So, is Kalames the city named after the isle, or the isle named after the city?” Leena asked.
“Kalames is Kalames,” Ker explained. I nodded, even though I still didn’t understand. We had more important problems facing us at the moment.
A scream suddenly grabbed my attention. I turned around, seeing our strange friend had dropped to the ground, gripping his head and tossing on the sand.
“What ails him?” Ker asked.
“Damned if I know,” I answered. “We don’t have time for this.”
“We can’t just leave him here,” Kalna protested.
“We won’t leave him.” Ker quickly snapped a couple of orders to the warriors. Two of them broke away from the group, helping the strange man to his feet and leading him back into the cave. “They’ll take him back to the village then join us when he recovers.”
I nodded. “Good enough.”
“So, we go to Kalames?” Ker asked, once the trio disappeared into the caves.
“No,” I replied softly, shaking my head. “I don’t want our presence known to the Trelans just yet. Do you know of any other villages that haven’t been taken? If any of them still have fighters left to join us?”
Ker looked like he didn’t understand why we weren’t immediately taking the fight to the enemy. Maybe he thought that whatever weapon we had was capable of destroying the Trelans with only the people with us now.
I didn’t want to explain to him that we had another member of our group that was hopefully returning with help while riding an ice giant summoned from a mountain. With the language barrier between us, I just didn’t have the energy to go through that whole concept.
“The nearest village is south,” Ker finally answered. “By road, we arrive there tonight.”
“And if we don’t take the roads?”
“Tomorrow, maybe.” I could tell he was growing a bit frustrated with all this. “We don’t travel by road?”
“The Trelans have taken to patrolling them in heavy numbers,” Leena explained. “So even if we do take the roads, we’ll probably be arriving at this village tomorrow anyway. If we arrive at all.”
Ker and the rest of the warriors seemed satisfied with this explanation.
“Then we go this way.” He picked up his weapons and supplies, and started jogging directly into the jungle. The rest of the warriors quickly followed him.
“Because who doesn’t love a good, brisk run?” I grumbled, following suit.
Chapter 14
Ker hadn’t been kidding. Even at the pace he kept us at, we were still moving through the thick jungle as the sun began to set. The warriors didn’t seem like they were faltering, despite having kept up a jog for most of the day.
I’d barely managed to keep up with them. Kalna and Leena both lagged behind as the day wore on, the heat and tough terrain wearing them out even more than it did me. The sun sank further on the horizon, and we appeared to be no closer to this supposed village. Luckily, it seemed that the warriors we were traveling with needed a rest too.
“Is it safe to travel in the dark?” I asked Ker as he started to slow down.
“Not safe, no.” He was sweating and breathing hard. “Difficult to follow the stars under the cover of trees. Best we set up camp to rest for the night.”
The other warriors stopped running when they heard that. They seemed as tired as we were; they’d just been hiding it rather better. I could respect that.
They began to set up camp quickly in the middle of the trees, but no attempt was made to build a fire. Either they didn’t want to go through the work of finding wood, or maybe they didn’t want to alert any nearby Trelans to our location.
Either way, I could live with the decision. I paused for a moment, leaning on my knees and catching my breath. I could keep up the pace with most, even before the Darkness took over my body, but then I had spent most of my time either walking on patrols or riding when there was a need for haste. Running had never been a part of my day-to-day routine. Even with the newfound power, my body was in desperate need of rest.
I finally dropped, sitting on a root that was jutting out from the ground. I drew my arm across my forehead, wiping it clean of sweat. Kalna and Leena came over to sit next to me.
“How do you feel?” Leena asked.
“Like I’m not made for running long distances.” I shook my head.
“None of us are.” Kalna chuckled softly. “Elves are sprinters by nature, dangerous over short distances. Less so when so much time is spent running.”
Leena nodded. “They call this an isle, but I don’t think I’ve seen the sea since we left the caves. This has to be the largest island I’ve ever seen.”
“Seen many islands, have you?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
“There were a couple of smaller ones the fishermen spent the nights on near Radon,” she shot back. “I took a few trips out to sea when you were too much of a coward to do the same.”
“That’s me, the coward,” I growled. Leena grinned and stuck her tongue out at me.
I think you should draw your sword.
“What, why?” I asked aloud.
Are those stars or torches I see glimmering in the jungle?
I saw them too. Odd how the Darkness in me could see something that I could not.
Just draw your weapon, damn you!
“String your bow,” I directed Leena in a low voice and then turned to the rest. “Draw your weapons. Get ready for a fight.”
I pulled the blade from its sheath, seeing the smoking, black blade glimmering darkly in the night. It looked like it was hungry for battle, though I wasn’t sure how I could tell. Was the blade sentient enough to know and want to be used, or did it just reflect my own, darker nature?
Are you questioning this now?
Good point. I gripped the blade with both hands as the rest of the warriors prepared for battle. We were all tired, exhausted even, from a long day of travelling. They seemed ready for a fight, though. And with me, Kalna, and Leena at their side, I would have given them chances against bad odds. Maybe not the worst, but we were known for taking on enemies of considerable power and coming away alive and on top.
I pressed my back to a tree, holding the blade tighter as the torches came closer.
Now!
I could hear a man breathing and his footsteps moving over the soft ground. I stepped out of my cover, my blade cutting into what I was sure seemed like a blind swing to anyone watching.
The soldier raised a spear out of instinct to block the blow. My blade cut through it easily, slashing through black scaled armor and opening the man’s throat. I followed the swing by reversing the blow, stepping past the man I’d killed and pushing the blade through a second man’s armor. Into his chest and out the other side.
As I drew my sword back out, I tried to assess how many men were against us. They were carrying torches and seemed to be having some difficulties with navigating the terrain.
They reacted quickly, drawing weapons and calling for an attack, or so I assumed. All three dozen or so Trelans quickly surged toward me.
Let me do this! Let me kill them!
“No!” I flicked the blood from my sword and smoothly deflected a spear thrust toward my chest. I quickly riposted, the tip of my blade cutting through the man’s neck. He stumbled back, gripping his throat as it poured out his life’s blood. Two more men jumped in to take his place.
One tripped and fell, a grey-feathered arrow shaft appearing in his eye. The second only had a moment to register this before he dropped down, gripping the back of his thigh, where Kalna had opened his hamstring. She stabbed him through the back, and he collapsed.
<
br /> “Thanks.” I knew they couldn’t hear me over the din of the battle, but the sentiment was felt through our connection.
The rest of the warriors had charged into the fray, flanking the three of us and hitting the surprised Trelans with a pincer movement.
Their surprise didn’t last long, however, and the Trelans seemed to realize they outnumbered us. Though not by as many as they originally had. I beheaded the next man to come close enough to me and impaled a second. Then I spun to pull my blade out and swung for a man in black armor who was charging at me.
I cut the flaming head off the torch he was carrying, but as my blade collided with his, sparks flew across the jungle floor. The edge of his saber was glowing as if it had just been removed from the kiln, and in the light, I could see the man grinning. All the rest of the Trelans were wearing helmets, but this one wasn’t. He looked young, and in the dim light, I could see some very familiar handsome features leering at me.
I shoved him back. He stumbled a few steps before recovering. Our blades clashed again and my muscles strained as I was met with strength that was almost equal to mine. More sparks flew, lighting up the dry underbrush.
“Well then, aren’t you a peach.” Even his voice was the same. Sure, he looked smaller and visibly younger, but he was the spitting image of the Grand Marshall. A face I never wanted to see again.
Apparently, both were the spitting images of their father—and since the man had sons to go around, it was a face I’d be seeing a lot of.
“What, juicy and sweet on the outside, a hard motherfucker that will break your teeth on the inside?” I tried to return the man’s careless grin.
“Yes, I do believe that my Vizier will be very pleased to meet you.” The man I assumed was Prince Drucio hissed, flicking his saber around and charging at me. He moved at a blistering speed, and I could feel the heat emanating from his blade as it passed inches away from my neck. My sword powered forward, thrusting toward his stomach. He swept his blade down, diverting it just in time.
I took advantage of his sudden backpedal, hammering my fist into his face with enough force to send him sprawling to the ground.