Seventeen-year-old David shot one of the duck-boar creatures at some distance. They stopped at dusk and gathered dead wood for a fire. They ate the meat, and true to his word, David didn't drink any wine. He and the horses drank from a stream.
In spite of Mathew's camp ward, they worked out a watch order.
William talked in a low tone. "They spoke of their journey to Kergia at least a hundred times. Juxta, Simon, Mom, and Dad. I always thought I'd make the journey myself."
Nobody said anything for a few moments.
"Always, in my mind, I'd have Luther and his magic on my left and have Jason on my right. I never thought it'd be like this," William said.
David said, "We're better companions than they are anyhow."
"In the Ranger corps, you hear about that journey." Clark smiled. "You hear the tale of the king and Simon fending off undead wolves, and the tree nymphs, even facing Rivek on the road. For us, in the Rangers, the dream is to be called upon to make this journey, to follow in Simon's footsteps, and to be spoken of for generations to come."
"What he means is it's a great honor to have been chosen, my liege, and we'll give our lives to see you finish your quest," Adam said.
"We better not have to give our lives," David said. "I have a girl back home, and she has been demanding a son."
"Rivek isn't a threat," William said. "There's no Balron. I highly doubt the Southlanders even know of our journey, let alone will think to try to stop it."
Mathew reached out and stirred the fire with a stick. "I have scryed Quintak. He has a pool of molten glass and mercury. He can see far into our lands. It's possible we face an army."
"If it's an army, so be it," William said.
"Something Simon said, that Juxta was at his fiefdom looking for turquoise. It puzzles me."
"I have a friend in Juxta's fiefdom," Clark said. "He gave me dice."
"Let me see them."
Clark pulled three cubes out of a pocket. Bluish-green cubes with black veins in them.
"That's turquoise, for sure," Mathew said. "I don't know what those dice do, but I have a feeling you shouldn't lose them."
"I'll keep them safe," Clark said.
Chapter Fifty-One
The day was easing to a close. Fifth day on the road and a nice clearing beside a stream invited them to rest. The prince secured grain bags on each horse's snout, and the Rangers were already looking for deadwood and dinner. Mathew was lost in some nether region scrying about. He declared the area clear.
Adam brought back an armful of branches and a duck. Clark was dragging a branch twenty feet long. David returned carrying a single log a foot in diameter and seven feet long.
They took turns through the night staying up two hours at a time. They traveled this way for four days when the towers of Weslan scratched at the sky in the distance.
Guards escorted them to the High Council chambers. They were asked to wait. An hour passed, and another. William spoke in a low voice, "This is not a good sign."
"Kirl's a good man," Mathew said. "He'll make the right choice."
The ornate doors at the end of the room squeaked open. William, Mathew, and the three Rangers stepped forward.
Kirl's voice rang out, "Mathew! Good to see you!"
Mathew bowed. "This is my nephew, Prince William."
"He looks like his father. Except he has Teresa's eyes."
"We aren't here to discuss my eyes!" William shouted.
"Don't tell me you need our army?" Kirl asked. "Like your father did all those years ago?"
"Yes. One hundred thousand Southlanders are going to invade Lynken in the spring, and if we fall, you'll fall."
Kirl let out a little sigh as if he'd been saving a portion of his final breath. "I can commit about fifty Magi and fifty apprentices. The rest of our forces must remain in Weslan."
"That's half what you sent for my father."
One of the Council members said, "We share a border with the Southlands. They could easily invade us instead of Lynken. Fifty is more than enough."
William bowed. "Thank you. What of your guardsmen? We need men with blades as well."
"Our guardsmen don't train like Lynken's regular army," Kirl said. "At best, they keep the peace. They're largely ceremonial."
"They could start training."
"We need them for our own border."
"Fine," William said. "When can we expect the fifty Magi in Lynken?"
"Towards the end of winter, we'll send them."
"Sooner would be better. Juxta could be wrong about when the invasion is coming."
Kirl sat back down. "If Juxta's wrong, we could all be doomed."
William raised one eyebrow. Mathew stepped to the front. "I trust Juxta."
"It's not Juxta we're worried about. It's Luther."
"In our haste, we didn't mention it, but Luther and Timothy Drakkar, plus one of our Rangers, are with the Southlanders. Quintak has control of their minds."
Kirl buried his face in his hands. "Then if it starts, Luther may not even have the wits to stop it. We're doomed."
"We're not doomed!" William said, "as long as we've got steel in our hand and blood in our veins, we can fight."
A Council member said, "Spoken like a true man of Lynken."
"All of this bickering is getting us nowhere," Kirl said. "We need to start searching the archives. Find every record of the Southlanders. We've got to find a way to break Quintak's hold on Luther and Timothy."
William's left eye twitched. "And Jason. He's my friend, and he's caught as much as Luther and Timothy."
"All three of them need to be restored to their wits. We also need to scry the Southlanders in groups. Try to find some weakness."
"Are you familiar with turquoise?" Mathew asked.
"According to Juxta, it offers protection from their magic," Kirl said. "Are you going to rally the Druids and Cat Riders?"
"As you would say, we're doomed without them," William said.
The Council broke out in laughter.
William turned around and made to leave. Mathew and the Rangers followed him. "We leave at dawn," William said. "Give the horses one easy day."
David said, "We're running low on grain and wine, too."
Mathew held out a silver coin. David snatched it. "I'll take the draft horse and load up."
"Good man," William said.
"I'm tired. Scrying every night is taxing. Good to be in Weslan," Mathew said.
"We're all tired, Uncle. Next couple of nights, you take the first watch."
"It's not necessary."
"First watch or last watch is easiest, and you'll take one or the other for a while."
Mathew nodded. "As you wish."
"Get some rest."
Mathew fell into bed that night. David secured grain, wine, and whiskey. William was pleased.
They traveled for three more days heading west. It was morning, and Clark was on last watch. He was debating throwing the last few sticks onto the fire. Something moved in the corner of his eye. In the distance, through the morning mist, men with blades all around them. Some stood tall as if mounted. Clark shouted, "Wake up, wake up!"
The other four men stirred awake and drew blades. A rage of power began in Mathew.
The mist started to clear. They were outnumbered at least twenty to one.
One of the Southlanders with blades shouted. "We're just here for the prince. Nobody else has to be harmed."
Adam chuckled just a bit. "They don't know us very well, do they?"
Fire danced in Mathew's eyes. "I'll start with the ones on spiders. Those are the spell casters."
"Just leave some for us, wizard," David said.
Chapter Fifty-Two
David pushed himself to the front. "I'm the prince. If you'll spare my men, you can have me."
Between grinding teeth, Clark asked, "What are you doing?"
David took a few more steps closer to the enemy blades. "This is for the best. We don't need any bl
oodshed."
William whispered, "Advance when I advance."
David sheathed his blade and stepped up to the Southlander on the spider. "I'll come with you."
The caster on top of the spider said, "Kill him."
A Southlander blade flashed, but David was quicker, lopping off the man's arm. William charged forward with Clark on his left and Adam on his right. Mathew was trying to keep up while bringing lightning down on the riders on top of spiders.
Another Southlander aimed a curved blade at David's gut and off came that arm too. The third blade connected with David's throat, and he fell.
William and his men met their line. They cut down an easy six men. William turned right with Adam, and Clark faced left with Mathew. The Southlanders were, for the time being, lined up nicely, and with the Cuts-metal blades, Southlanders fell one by one and in pairs. The Rangers advanced in their own directions, without giving the others a chance at surrounding them again.
Mathew killed the last caster on a spider with a great bolt of lightning.
William shouted, "Kill them all!"
Mathew threw balls of fire while standing next to Clark. He made sure no blade got near the Magi. William and Adam fought on the other side of the field, constantly pushing forward to the fresh meat. At this point, that is all the Southlanders were, just meat for the Rangers' hungry blades.
The remaining Southlanders gave a high-pitched cry and fled. Mathew threw fireballs after them, but a few escaped. The Rangers cleaned off their blades.
William knelt down at David's body. "He deserves a proper burial. We need a priest."
"Rocks in the streambed," Clark said. "Pile rocks up on him, good a burial as any."
"No. We're taking the time to put him in the ground."
Mathew stared off into the distance for a few moments. "In another mile, a crossroads. If we turn south, we'll run into a small village. A priest lives there."
"You go, Uncle."
"What if the Southlanders return?"
William's eyes squinted. "My prayers will have been answered."
"My blade's still thirsty, too, my liege," Adam said.
Clark reached down and touched his hilt. "We could go after them. We have horses. They're on foot. It would stop them from reporting to their higher-ups."
Mathew hopped on his horse. "I'll have the priest bring a wagon." He kicked the horse into a gallop.
"I've known him since his trials," Clark said.
"As have I. I saw him fight and win at the trials," Adam said.
"I don't know by heart as many Rangers as I'd like," William said. "I wish I could know every Ranger and every guardsman like a brother."
"There are too many. No king could know everyone."
"I want to do right by David. If we ever make it home, we'll speak of him."
"He was brave to try what he did."
William shouted, "It was stupid!"
Clark shook his head. "No, we'll say it was brave, if we live long enough to speak of him."
William nodded. "His plan could have worked."
"Yes, in theory, it was quite sound."
William threw the last of the deadwood on the fire. "We should eat some breakfast."
"I'm hungry, too," Adam said.
They heated up some jerky and ate dried apples.
Mathew and a priest with a wagon came down the road.
William shouted, "Have you eaten?"
"The priest fed me breakfast," Mathew said. "I figured I'd give the Southlanders a chance to try something."
The priest grabbed a white sheet and wrapped David up in it. He began a long prayer, and the men bowed. He looked up. "What about these other men?"
The Rangers looked around at the field of bodies. William said, "Let the carrion birds feast. The wild animals and insects need to eat just like the rest of us."
"Aye," Adam said.
The priest asked, "Are you attending the burial?"
William looked at his uncle. "I don't know if we have time."
"I figured it would be snowing by the time we got this far," Mathew said. "We have at least a two to three week cushion, if not a full month, as long as we have promising winds when we go around the great swamp."
"We'll join you, priest," William said.
William, Mathew, Clark, and Adam followed the priest. The three Rangers took turns digging the burial pit. Mathew lowered David's mortal shell into the ground with magic. The priest spoke many prayers. Townsfolk gathered around. William and his troop drank ale in the inn that night and told all of the townsfolk of David's bravery.
They set out at dawn the next day heading west. Nobody spoke. William pushed the horses faster and faster, since they now had a second spare.
Chapter Fifty-Three
Simon went to the barracks housing his men. He found the whole squad drilling from out of the Codex. Simon watched for a while then he called out, "Micah and Gorge?"
The two men stepped away from their squad and smiled.
"Tell us we're going back out," Micah said.
Gorge nodded vigorously.
"Damn it, I'm over forty, I need rest after a journey," Simon said.
The two younger men in their twenties laughed. Gorge said, "Our blades didn't even feast this last time."
"Yes, I only need rest if I get some nice killing in," Micah said.
"Have either of you even seen real combat?" Simon asked.
Micah and Gorge chuckled. "I've dreamed it enough," Gorge said, "same as the real thing."
"I'm going to sleep in a real bed tonight and think about leaving at midday."
"You're getting weak. Maybe it's time we dueled."
"You dork butt. I'd cut you into pieces."
"We like you, Simon," Gorge said. "We can wait for you to retire."
"Good."
Simon pointed to the north. "We're simply taking a message to Nork. It should be a painless journey."
"If we time things right," Gorge said, "there's a tavern every leg of the way."
"If we were taking a wagon, that would be true. We'll be taking an extra horse and trotting."
Gorge counted on his fingers of one hand. "Three inns, maybe four."
Simon said, "Tomorrow."
He went home and held Heather tight.
"You didn't bring our son home," she said.
"We still have Nicholas."
"The fact that we have a second son is no consolation that our first son's under the control of a madman."
Simon held her tight. "We have Jen, too."
"Jen's getting married."
"What! Without my permission?"
"You've always forbidden it. She's with him now."
"The merchant!"
Heather poked him in the chest. "The man she loves who is going to give us grandchildren. In fact, she thinks there's going to be a grandchild sooner than later."
Simon glared, if fire would shoot out of a Ranger's eyes. "I'll have his balls!"
"You won't! You'll leave him alone. You'll treat him as a son, and you'll bless the wedding in the spring."
Simon gritted his teeth together. "I have made my wishes clear since the child was born that she should marry a Ranger or at least a guardsman."
"Yes, and your constant nagging is likely the main reason she found a merchant."
"She loves him?"
"With all her heart."
"Then I'm happy."
Heather slept. Simon lay there and rested. Tossed and turned. He was going to be a grandfather. At dawn, Simon started banging on the Ranger squad's quarters. Simon opened the door. The men inside groaned. Micah whimpered. "You said midday."
"We've been drinking all night," Gorge said.
"You both made it clear you didn't need rest," Simon said.
Micah and Gorge got moving. They grabbed an extra horse and loaded up on supplies for the journey. The three rode out of Lynken's castle at a trot.
They made good time and slept in four inns along the way. The a
ir in Nork was cold, and they stopped at a small town to buy wool blankets and undershirts. Riders from Nork's capital met them when they approached.
Simon shouted to the guardsmen. "We're here to talk to King Henry. We hail from Lynken."
The guardsmen laughed. One said, "We'll escort you, and inform my lady."
"My lady?"
"It isn't well known, but the person you need to see is our queen."
Simon nodded.
The guardsmen showed them the way to the castle. Simon was led to an antechamber. Micah and Gorge saw to the horses and secured rooms. Simon waited. A young woman wearing a scribe's cloak entered the antechamber. "Follow me."
Simon went with her. The smell of food hit Simon like a wall. He realized it was past noon. The scribe announced, "Queen Rubie, a messenger from Lynken."
Rubie stood up and ran to Simon. She embraced him in a great hug. "They said it was just some Ranger! Not you!"
"I have dire news," Simon said.
"You must be famished. Eat and talk. Don't tell me my brother has gotten Lynken into another war."
Simon sat down and filled a plate with food. "William's not the cause of this war. According to Juxta, the Southlanders have an army of one hundred thousand men and will set foot in Lynken on the first day of spring."
Rubie raised her voice. "Scribe. Summon my war general and Derrick."
"Where is King Henry?"
Rubie shook her head. "When Henry's parents died, he lost his mind. For five years I have ruled."
Simon cut up a few pieces of ham and ate them, plus a roll. "The Southlanders are led by a crazed spell caster named Quintak. He has my son."
Rubie set her fork down. "Are you a doppelganger? Quintak has your son, and you're not already at war?"
Simon tried to focus on filling his belly. "My son, Juxta's son Luther, and Juxta's old apprentice Timothy Drakkar went on a hero's journey to kill Quintak; instead they fell under his spell. According to Juxta, if I tried to rescue my son, he'd raise a blade against me."
"I have a condition. If you allow it, I can give you four thousand men."
"Name it, my lady."
"If one in four of my men falls, they're to retreat and return to Nork. I must get at least three thousand of my men back."
Simon bowed. "One in four is fair. More than fair. Do we get your war general, too?"
Luther, Magi: Blood of Lynken II Page 16