by M. L. Forman
“The people would have accepted Rallian as their king,” Alex said, more to himself than to the soldier.
“Most of the people would accept Rallian,” the man answered, sounding determined. “But he has vanished from this land, and Lazar remains in power.”
“What reason has Lazar given for Rallian’s disappearance?” Alex questioned.
“Lazar claims the prince has gone on a quest, but he won’t say anything more.”
“Do many people believe that story?”
“The servants of the prince have all vanished as well, so there is nobody to ask if the story is true.”
“I see,” Alex said, filing the information away in his mind. “Now, tell me about travelers who come from outside Nezza. What does Bray command you to do with them?”
“If they surrender themselves to us, we take them before Bray,” the man answered. “Then Bray sends them to Lazar. What Lazar does with them we do not know, but no travelers have ever returned from Karmus.”
Alex pondered the soldier’s words, looking deep into the fire as he thought. Was Lazar a dark wizard trying to take control of Nezza? Was he simply an evil king who bullied people into doing what he wanted? What had really happened to Prince Rallian? Did any of this have anything to do with Skeld and his fellow adventurers? He was here to help Skeld and his company, not to change things in Nezza, but something in the back of his head told him he needed to know as much about this land and its people as he could.
“Have you caught many travelers from outside of Nezza?” Alex asked.
“A group of adventurers about a month ago,” the man answered. “They surrendered to our men and were taken.”
“How long would it take them to reach Karmus after your men caught them?” Alex asked. He hoped that Skeld and his company had not been in Karmus for long.
“Three, maybe four weeks to reach Karmus on foot. All prisoners must walk to Karmus—that is the order of Lord Lazar.”
Alex considered this information. If it had taken three or four weeks for Skeld and his company to reach Karmus, then they couldn’t have been there long. What would Lazar do to them when they got there, and how soon would he do it? He forced his worries out of his mind and returned his attention to the men sitting around the fire.
“Have other people from Nezza gone missing?” Alex questioned. “People that Lazar might fear, for whatever reason?”
The soldier nodded. “The young lords of the inner kingdoms. They were close to Rallian—one was his cousin. We know they went on a quest of their own, as a group, but what that quests was, we do not know. Some say they traveled north, following the path of the last king. If Lazar has done something to them, we know nothing about it.”
“Sleep,” said Alex softly. “Sleep and forget all that you have seen and spoken.”
Alex watched as the three men closed their eyes and fell into a deep, enchanted sleep. He knew they would wake up when the sun rose and would not remember anything from this night.
Alex needed to move fast. If Lazar was in fact a dark wizard, there was no way of knowing what he might do to Skeld and the rest of his company. And if Lazar was a dark wizard, Alex’s duty as a true wizard demanded that he face him and try to break his power. While Alex wasn’t afraid to face a dark wizard, there were dangers that he would need to consider.
Alex unsaddled all three horses and then pulled his own saddle from his magic bag and placed it on the strongest horse. He tied the other two horses to a nearby tree. He would ride west, staying south of the main road into Nezza. If he was lucky, he would find the retired adventurer Mr. Clutter had told him about and learn more about what was happening in Nezza from him.
Alex mounted his borrowed horse and spoke a few soft words of encouragement to the animal before turning south and trotting into the darkness. Once he determined that he was far enough away from the arch that he would not meet any more soldiers, he turned east and urged the horse into a gallop.
As the eastern sky began to lighten, Alex could see the dark shapes of hills in front of him. He had paused to scan the land ahead of him, making sure that there were no soldiers he needed to avoid, when he felt something out of place. It felt like someone or something was watching him. He looked back along the path he had followed but saw nothing. He moved forward, his senses alert and his magic ready, just in case.
The sun was just up when Alex stopped his borrowed horse at the edge of a clearing. A fine-looking house stood on the south side of the clearing with a barn and a chicken coop close by. Alex hoped this was the house of the retired adventurer, Joe Savage, and not just some lonely farm. Dismounting, he removed his saddle from the horse and rubbed its forehead gently.
“Return to your master,” Alex said softly, patting the horse’s neck. “My thanks to you for making a long journey short.”
The horse whinnied, then turned and walked back to the east.
Alex yawned. He’d been awake for a long time, and a few hours of sleep would be helpful. He looked at the house for a long time. Once again he felt like he was being watched, and once again he was unable to find a reason for the feeling. He grew more and more uneasy. There were no lights to be seen and no smoke from the chimney. There were no animals in the barn or the coop. The front door of the house hung at a strange angle, as if it had been knocked in with a great deal of force.
Something bad had happened here, Alex was sure of it. A chill ran through him that had nothing to do with the temperature.
Chapter Three
The Hermit
Alex stood in the shadow of a large tree, watching the farm for several minutes. Nothing moved. He guessed that whoever had lived here had either been taken away or had run away when the trouble came. Whatever had happened, it looked like Alex’s one hope for learning more about Nezza was gone.
After several more minutes of watching and seeing nothing, he decided to take a closer look. He might find something that could help him, but Alex’s hopes weren’t high.
Carefully Alex moved forward, looking at the ground and watching for tracks that had been left behind. He’d learned something about tracking on his previous adventures, and what he saw now troubled him. It looked like a dozen horses, possibly more, had visited the house. The tracks were at least a week old, but the story they told was clear. Soldiers had come, stayed for a short time, and then left.
“It looks like they took everything they could carry with them,” Alex mumbled as he moved toward the house.
A dirty boot print on the broken door meant that the soldiers had not come peacefully. They were looking for someone or something and hadn’t waited for the door to be opened. That was bad. Alex knew that no adventurer would go quietly if soldiers turned up and kicked in the door. There would be a fight, even if it was a short one.
Pausing outside the door, Alex sniffed the air, but all he could smell was dust and old wood. Carefully he pushed the door out of his way and stepped into the house. There wasn’t much to see. Chairs had been knocked over and left on the floor, and a fine layer of dust covered everything.
Moving farther into the house Alex froze in his tracks and raised his staff. He’d thought for a moment he’d seen someone else in the house, but when his eyes adjusted to the dim light, he realized it was just his reflection. A huge mirror, the bottom of which had been shattered, covered the wall to his left. Taking a deep breath, he moved forward.
There were no signs of a fight. It looked, at least to Alex, like nobody had been home when the soldiers broke in. Perhaps Joe the adventurer had been away at the time. If so, Alex might still be able to find him, except he didn’t have any idea where to look.
He finished his inspection of the house and started back toward the front door. As his eyes came to rest on a large cast-iron frying pan hanging on the wall next to the fireplace, he stopped. The pan normally wouldn’t have interested him, but there was a strange design in the shape of a flower carved on the back. Alex had seen that flower before.
“The order of Malgor, here?” Alex reached out and touched the design with his right hand, allowing a bit of his own magic to enter the iron. The flower design glowed white at his touch, and then started to move randomly on the pan’s surface. It only took a few seconds for the moving lines to reform, and Alex immediately recognized the new designs for what they were.
The letters were elvin, but the words didn’t make any sense. Alex stared at the pan for a few minutes, and then he realized that the letters were written backward. There was a message here, but it had to be read in a mirror.
Taking the pan from the wall, Alex returned to the first room he’d entered. He held up the pan to the broken mirror. The elvin letters seemed to double in number and grow smaller at the same time. Not sure how long the message would last, Alex read and tried to memorize it as fast as he could.
If you’ve found this message, then trouble has come. Behind the massive oak at the southwest corner of the yard there is a trail. Follow it to the meadow with three massive stones at the center. Wait there.
Savage
The message was clear enough, but Alex wondered why had it been so carefully hidden. Perhaps Savage had been expecting trouble and had created this message before the soldiers arrived. The design on the pan was clearly for the order of Malgor, and if Savage was working for them, then the message had to be for them. Members of the order might come looking for Savage if they didn’t hear from him for a long time. Anyone from the order would recognize the symbol, just as Alex had. They would also know how to read the message and where to look for Savage.
Alex made sure that the message returned to its original design and then left the frying pan on the wall. He knew where to look for Savage now, or at least where to go so that Savage could find him. He left the house and crossed the farmyard, being careful not to leave any tracks, and made his way to the trail behind the oak tree. It wasn’t much of a trail, at least not at first, but Alex managed to follow it into the hills.
It was almost midday before Alex found the clearing with three massive stones. He was hungry and tired, and he really wanted to find a safe spot to sleep. He needed to talk to Savage, however, so instead of looking for a place to hide and sleep, he sat down next to the stones. Alex took an apple and some cheese out of his magic bag for a quick meal, and then he used his magic to let his body rest. His mind was alert for any sound and his eyes remained open, but he rested just the same.
A few hours later, Alex heard a sound that was out of place; even if he couldn’t see anything, he knew someone was close. His muscles tensed. Slowly, as if waking from a nap, Alex got to his feet and stretched. Turning in a circle, he worked the stiffness out of his muscles, and his eyes came to rest on a shadow that didn’t look quite right.
“Better trained than most,” a slow, deep voice commented as the shadow moved. “Other agents I’ve worked with wouldn’t have noticed me at all.”
The man who emerged from the trees was at least a head taller than Alex. His clothes were old and tattered, his face was dirty, and his dark, graying hair was cut short and stuck out at strange angles from his head. This had to be the retired adventurer Joe Savage.
Savage moved into the clearing and stopped to take a good look at Alex. “You’re not from Nezza, that’s clear enough. Didn’t the order tell you anything about traveling in this land?”
“I’m not—” Alex started.
“Not that the order pays any attention to what I say. I’ve been telling them for the past six months about the troubles here, and you’re the first sign I’ve had that anyone is reading my reports at all. I’m actually surprised you got here so fast. I guess my last report about soldiers invading my house got someone’s attention.”
“It might have,” said Alex. “But I—”
“Still, I would think they’d have told you not to dress like that,” Savage continued as though Alex hadn’t spoken. “You stand out like a diamond on a pile of sand. Did they tell you anything about what’s going on here? Did they let you read any of my reports? How you’ve managed to get this far into Nezza is what I’d like to know. Soldiers prowling the roads and stopping everyone they see. Yet you walk in looking like the prince of the paupers and find your way to my door.”
“I’m not from the order,” said Alex before Savage could go on.
“Not from the order?”
“If you mean the order of Malgor, I wasn’t sent by them.”
“Of course I mean the order of Malgor, what else would I mean? If you weren’t sent by them, how did you find me? Who sent you? How did you even know I was in Nezza?”
Savage looked nervous. Clearly he’d been expecting someone else, and he wasn’t sure what to make of Alex. His body had shifted from relaxed to a ready-for-action stance.
“A mutual friend told me you were here,” said Alex. “He also told me that you prefer to go by the name of Joe.”
“Joe,” Savage repeated in a thoughtful tone. He paused for a moment, and then went on. “Has to be Clutter you’re talking about.”
Alex nodded.
“That old so-and-so,” said Savage. “If I’ve told him once I’ve told him a dozen times. I am not interested in going on any new adventures. Just because he’s sent you here to get me doesn’t change that.”
“That’s not—” Alex started but was cut off again.
“I don’t care what the adventure is, do you hear me?” said Savage. “I don’t care who’s in trouble, or what reward has been offered to get them out of trouble. You can tell Clutter that I’m not interested, do you hear me?”
“Yes, I—”
“Right, so you can just turn around and get yourself out of Nezza as fast as you can,” Savage continued. “Not a safe place these days, as you might have gathered on your journey here.”
“I am Alexander Taylor, adventurer and—” Alex started once more.
“I don’t want to know who you are,” said Savage. “I can see you’re an adventurer plainly enough—that magic bag stands out like a sore thumb. Whatever else you might be doesn’t matter to me. Take my advice and get out of Nezza.”
“—and wizard,” Alex finished. “I’m not here to get you to join a new adventure. I’m not here to get you to do anything at all.”
“Then why are you here?”
“I’m here to ask for your help,” said Alex.
“So you are here to get me to do something,” said Savage with a slight laugh.
“Well, yes, that’s true,” said Alex. “I need your help. I need to know anything and everything about Nezza you can tell me.”
“Why?” Savage asked.
“Why? Why what?”
“Why do you need to know what’s going on in Nezza?” Savage asked. “Why are you here at all?”
“I can explain—” Alex started.
“Not here,” Savage interrupted.
“Is there danger?” Alex looked around, his hand tightening around his wizard’s staff.
“We’re standing in the middle of an open meadow,” said Savage. “You already know that there are soldiers all over the place, watching the roads and stopping everyone they see. They may not have found this meadow yet, but that doesn’t mean they won’t find it soon. We should move someplace where we can talk without worrying about being interrupted.”
Without another word Savage started back toward the trees. Alex followed, unsure if he was making the right decision. Savage seemed to have a lot to say, at least on some subjects, but he hadn’t said anything useful yet.
Savage led Alex deeper into the hills. He didn’t seem to be following a path, or at least Alex couldn’t see anything that looked like a path as he hurried to keep up. The sun was going down before Savage finally stopped. He looked around quickly and then dropped to his knees and started crawling under a tangled tree. Not sure what Savage was doing or where he was going, Alex followed.
After a few minutes of crawling, Alex found himself in an open space. The tree he’d crawled under was behind him, and
massive stones formed three walls in front of him. Savage was already sitting against the back stone wall, his eyes resting on Alex.
“So, explain,” said Savage.
Alex looked around the enclosed space. “An easy spot to get trapped in,” he said to Savage.
“Not as easy as you might think,” Savage replied. “You’ll notice the stone I’m leaning against, here at the back, is a bit smaller than the others. If a quick escape is needed, we can easily climb over it. So, explain why you are here, and what you need to know.”
“Right,” said Alex, sitting down and leaning against one of the stones. “I am here because a friend of mine sent for me, asking for my help.”
“An adventurer friend, no doubt,” said Savage.
“Yes, he is an adventurer,” Alex answered. “He and a company of adventurers came to Nezza a few weeks ago. They have been taken prisoner and are either in Karmus or on their way there. I’ve come to rescue them.”
“And get them all out of Nezza, I hope,” Savage said.
“I don’t know about that,” said Alex. “I don’t know what their quest is. If it is something simple, then perhaps I can help them finish it quickly before we leave Nezza.”
“Just get them out,” said Savage. “Things have gone from bad to worse here. Better to abandon the adventure and live than to stay here and die.”
“You might be right,” said Alex. “But until I find them and free them, I need to blend in, if you know what I mean.”
“Oh, I know what you mean. You’ll need to dirty up a bit if you want to blend in with the people of Nezza,” said Savage.
“Dirty up?”
“There are only three kinds of people in this land,” said Savage with a sigh. “Lords, who dress far more richly than you ever could and who never go anywhere without at least a dozen soldiers around them. Then there are the soldiers, who are always in uniform and always in groups of three or four.”