To Forge a King- the Chronicles of Ellorhim

by Thomas Adams

  He nodded and said, “Sure, but give me advance warning. I want to get back to bed. Thanks, I mean for making me go. It was fun.”

  They smiled at each other and split up, each heading their own way.

  ***

  Wulfgar had just arrived at Reave Hall for a quick visit and met Bax and Ivar that evening at the Red Harp. After they received their mugs of mȁrzen ale, Wulfgar took a deep gulp and began to update Ivar and Bax with his news, “I did see Chancellor Rumborg and he is inclined to help. He tasked me to quietly rally support from key jarls. I have been focused on that. Rumborg believes there is a great evil coming to our land and looks to the Prophecy for answers and guidance. He is curious about the boy and says everything so far fits with his theories.

  “He even admitted to me that he sent his daughter to Reave Hall and not to Kầrz Hall or Ropa Hall for two purposes. One, because she loves the sword and wants to become a Grand Master and a shield maiden and Reave Hall is still the best Hall at which to learn the sword. The second reason was to look for the Forgotten Prince or the Boy King. The chancellor believes the time is near and he suspected the lad would be near or train at Reave Hall.”

  “How astute of him.” said Ivar, “He always was a smart one.”

  Wulfgar paused for another deep draught of ale and went on, “Lana’s Lutes but this is good brew. Wish we had this in Kimera. So, back to the report, aye, Rumborg is in our corner, an ally. Tut, the matter is not simple. There are complications. His power is limited. He can’t call for the boy to be invested with the clans or even checked out without more support. He does not want to do this too early as it will expose the boy and give his opposition time to block it.

  “And, recently, word has come our spies and scouts that the Emorie prepares for war. All think the target is Vesfal. Rumborg can’t even call for a war footing and prepare for a possible invasion. The jarls on the King’s Council would block it. And, the wealthiest merchants would revolt at the expense. He would have to raise taxes to pay for it and that won’t happen anytime soon.

  “This leaves us in a tight spot. I have learned a lot in my travels and talks. The wealthy classes are mostly lost. They forget the values of our forebears. They are consumed with greed and the acquisition of property. On one hand they demand krigers to watch over their estates and guard their ships, caravans, warehouses and shops but denigrate and withhold taxes for the institution that trains them.

  “The ruling and merchant classes are more akin to vipers and rats than real men, too much Imperium blood in my opinion. They bring these noble ladies in from Imperia and taint their blood, beliefs and communities. On one hand they slander and sleight the ancient noble families that rule in the king’s absence and on the other they seek to turn the common folk from our traditions. They refuse to see the past and the Imperium’s aggression towards us.

  “All while building up their own personal fortunes at the peoples’ expense. Did you know they want to build an Arena in Kimera? Imagine that, an Imperium slave fighting pit in our lands. The Chancellor enforces the bans on slavery in Vesfalruk. But, the Council of Jarls has threatened to rescind the bans. King Brandt would rise from the dead at such a notion. Mayhap he sent his son instead.”

  Ivar and Bax shook their heads at this news. It seemed to be grim tidings all around. Well, at least the Chancellor still seemed interested in their situation.

  Ivar said, “I had no idea things were so bad in Kimera and the west, what a mess.”

  “There is more.” Wulfgar downed another gulp of ale and went on, “The Chancellor is willing to divert some contingency funds from the treasury and will schedule a large military exercise near Castle Reave and Cinder. He will say it is a temporary exercise. He will call up some levies and send a large force to train and garrison at Reave. Another large force of regulars will be dispatched to reinforce Fortress Cinder. That is the best he can do for now. He has no desire to split the kingdom and cause a civil war.”

  Ivar said, “That is a good first step but it won’t be enough. If the Emorie comes it will be a massive invasion force.”

  Wulfgar nodded and said, “He will also call for a complete review and inspection of all border forts and Fortress Cinder. He said he will soon visit Reave Hall and Cinder himself.

  Ivar then added, “Good. It is worse than I imaged but better than nothing. Also, I was able to convince three of the Halls to quietly call for Gatherings. I hope to be able to get the other three to do so as well. Ropa will not call a Gathering. All of their scouts are very busy watching the Emoire and Osterider. But, the word will go out. The krigers will come home.”

  Bax commented, “But, we all know what that will mean. The Imperia will take notice. It may be seen as an act of war in itself.”

  “True.” Ivar said, “But if the Emorie is already mustering will they notice as much? What will they do? And, I don’t think Osterider will care much. They have their own problems now. Their emperor is very old, sickly and childless. Apparently the succession is already in flux there. No one knows how much longer the old man can last or who the next Emperor of Osterider will be. The houses of the horse lords are more worried about their succession than foreign matters.”

  ***

  As Kyrr came off his guard shift he cut across the moonlight parade field towards a small passageway that connected to the practice yards of the Hall. The narrow passageway emptied into a small courtyard between the stables and a storage hall, and then exited through the other side onto the practice yards. A third passage in the small courtyard went north for about ten yards and ended at the entrance to one of the armories.

  He was dead tired. Sleep was hard to come by since the Masters assigned Red Band the responsibility of filling the gaps on the guard shifts’ as runners. His schedule was full with his normal training regimes, his weapon smith apprenticeship in the evenings, eating and cleaning his band’s barracks and now guard details. He entered the small courtyard and sensed danger ahead.

  Four shapes detached themselves from the shadows and moved towards him. He recognized Bera and three other Erlings. They must have nothing better to do Kyrr thought. Maybe they didn’t need sleep like normal people. Anyway this was bad. He was isolated and seriously outnumbered.

  Two of the Erlings drew their knives. It was then that Kyrr realized things were different. They’d never used steel before. They meant business this time. All he had was his dagger, his utility knife and his fists. At the end of his shift he’d turned in the short sword he’d been issued.

  Bera motioned for the Erlings to spread out and Kyrr readied himself. He wasn’t going down without a fight. The rage was building inside. He had to be careful. He could not let it take over. Kyrr pulled out his dagger and knife and took up an aggressive attack form. His best bet was to take one out right away to even the odds. He decided he would go after the boy on the far left first and then get into a corner. Then they could only come at him one at a time.

  He felt a tingling in is mind and the sensation of something building inside him. It was invigorating but strange. His senses seemed to become more aware, more active and alive. He could hear more and see better, even though it was dark. He thought he could even smell better than normal but maybe it was all just his imagination?

  Just as Bera was getting ready to give the hand signal for the attack Kyrr sensed movement behind him. He glanced back and saw three of the commoners from his band approach. They took up positions alongside him. Three others, Rojr and two Erlings from Red Band, the twins Lokur and Jokia, entered from the passage leading to the practice yards, behind Bera’s group.

  Well, this was interesting Kyrr thought. He nodded his head to the newcomers. Bera cursed, the situation was now very different. Kyrr looked at the twins. Their specialty was dual axe fighting. Lokur was almost as big as Bera and he walked right up to the bully and gave him a good hard shove. Bera’s friends started to react but Jokia stepped up and hissed and made a motion with her axes. They backed off.


  “Come on fat boy!” Lokur called, “What’s the matter? Don’t like the odds now? You only like to fight when there is no chance you can get hurt?”

  “You are going to pay Lokur.” Bera said as he backed away from Lokur and his twin sister.

  “You know what Bera? The band is sick of you and your shite. We aren’t going to take it anymore. If you don’t change your ways we are going to take you and your boys down into the tunnels and tie you up and leave you there to rot.”

  “You wouldn’t dare! You know who my father is.” Bera retorted.

  “Piss on your father. The band has decided. You either go along with the decision or you pay the price. The entire band is against you now! You can’t fight all of us you coward!”

  Bera sneered and huddled with his friends but eventually must have realized the cards where no longer in his favor. He said, “I will about it Lokur.”

  Lokur and Jokia stepped aside. But as Bera and his boys walked by Jokia stepped forward and stuck one f her axes in Berra’s chest and said, “You’d better do more than think about it Berra. If you pull one more stunt like this again you will wake trussed up like the hog you are, deep in the dark below. No one will hear your screams. You will die all alone in the pitch black crying like a little girl. I doubt anyone searches very hard for you either.”

  It seemed Bera knew she was dead serious. He just sneered at her and the bullies trotted off into the night. Kyrr thanked those that had stood up for him. Lokur said, “Forget it Kyrr, you likely would have been all right. I bet you could have taken all of them. But someone probably would have died here tonight. We actually saved a live or two! Imagine that.”

  Jokia said, “Things have changed Kyrr. We need to stick together and watch out for the entire band. We can’t let Bera keep on this way. Someone will get killed.”

  Kyrr agreed and thanked them again. They headed back to the barracks. Kyrr hoped this was the end of Bera and his persecution of others in the band. He intended to do his part going forward to keep everyone safe.

  ***

  The livery stable by the town’s front gate was clean and fairly busy. The Narasist decided to stop in and ask around. He needed to try something new. All of his other attempts to gather information about the boy from the Prophecy had led nowhere. He’d tried all of the likely sources but had come up with nothing so far. He doubted the boy had stabled a horse here but one never knew.

  When he arrived at the stables a young lady was in the loft tossing hay down into a large push cart. She was humming as she worked and seemed content and happy. Dust swirled and drifted about as she worked. The barn was full of animals and it appeared to be a prosperous business. Everything was neat and orderly and all of the animals were in good condition. The tack and saddles were all hung on pegs and gleamed with a light sheen of oil. Curious equine heads peaked from stalls as he walked into the barn and said, “Hello up there young lady.”

  The girl stopped working and looked down at him. Hay stuck out from her hair. She was a pretty thing the Narasist thought. She yelled, “Janus, customer!”

  A young man came out of one of the stalls in the back and put his pitchfork down and walked up to him, “How may I help you sir?”

  The boy introduced himself as Janus, and said it was his father’s stable. Introductions concluded the Narasist went into his usual story about potentially needing some horses and cartage for his trades. He went on and eventually the boy came back at him with a couple options and some numbers. He was a pretty quick study and shrewd haggler. He’d obviously been doing this for some time.

  The Narasist could almost come to like these mountain people if they weren’t the ancient enemy of his adopted Emoire. They were a decent and hardy people for the most part. He agreed on a tentative price and date and then launched into his ‘what is new in the world?’ talk to try and draw out any interesting information. Nothing stood out from the stable boys observations of the local gossip.

  So he switched tracks and started into his hobby talk. He was a weapons merchant for the fighting pits around Ellorhim but his real passion was his personal collection of unique and sometimes famous ancient blades. He had one major gap in his collection and that was a true ancient Vesfalruk war sword. This seemed to pique the boy’s interest.

  Janus nodded and said, “I know what they are. They are rare. I have seen only a couple. I saw a really unique one a few years ago. It was pretty old I bet. An urchin was sleeping up in the loft and my sister caught him. We corralled him and took him to the warden. He had an old bastard sword with him. That is likely what you need for you collection.”

  “You don’t say? Where is the sword now I wonder? Does the boy have it?”

  “It was some time ago. I have no idea. The boy could not remember his name and claimed he had lost his memory. The warden, his name is Bax, took the boy ‘Above’. I guess the sword went as well. That would be the best place for it. An old relic like that would fit right in Above. You know, I was up there once, took a string of horses up to the Hall. They let me look around in there. There were all sorts of old swords in there. Mayhap they would sell you one.”

  This information was promising thought the Narasist. It fit with one of his theories that perhaps the boy was returned but something had gone wrong. After all, archania was a notoriously fickle mistress. But where was ‘Above’?

  He asked, “Where is this ‘Above, the fortress up on the hill?”

  “Oh, aye, we just call it ‘Above’. And, ‘Above’ refers to the Low Fort, the High Fort or any of the Mid-Forts. Then there is the Guild in the High Fort also. It is called Reave Hall. It is also called Castle Reave or sometimes Fortress Reave. It is very confusing so we just make it easy and call it ‘Above’.”

  “I see.” said the Narasist. But he didn’t see at all. Why not just call the place by the name it was given? Adding an additional nickname for the whole of the ‘things’ in the fortress seemed to make it even more confusing. It was very strange indeed and part of the trouble with the culture in Vesfalruk.

  Janus prattled on. He was glad to relate a seemingly major event in his life to a total stranger, “Well, I was there you know. I took the orphan to the warden. The warden was impressed with the sword. The boy said he had lost his memories. I never believed that myself. I think he was lying and stole the sword and was running away.”

  He let the boy talk on until he ran out of speed, then he said he had another appointment and tipped the young man a silver. As he left the stable he thought some additional subtle investigation was needed and then possibly a visit to ‘Above’ to see this boy and his sword. But where exactly would the boy be in the massive complex on the rock cliffs above the town? That was going to be hard to determine. But, the Narasist relished a serious challenge. Narasists were conditioned by their inhuman and lengthy training to hate Vesfalruk. The centuries of bitter warfare, the untold casualties inflicted on the Emorie and the hatred of the freedoms represented by Vesfalruk were always foremost in their minds. Truth be told, Narasists were little more than slaves to the emperor. He was looking forward to what he would discover and hopefully, of the coming conflict and the blood he could spill.

  Chapter 9

  The First Attempt

  Flowing ice born on springs raging torrent

  Rock and stone, tall forbidding mountain grim

  The Gods of wind and sky joyful brim

  Morning cloaked in mist in sharp frozen fjords

  Mountain vales deep and thick with purple gorse and red cockswale

  Krigers tell of heroic tale

  Tattered clouds slip around ridge and peak

  Herd and herdsman trek over hill and dale

  In search of shelter from spring gale

  Bare branch and evergreen bough

  Drip with melting winter’s remain

  All around brings life’s’ new refrain

  Sleek longship courses over through wave and trough

  Windswept shore beneath bright blessed sun
>
  A blessed land, a divine home begin furlough

  Unknown

  ***

  During the third year, all of the students were given a short turn in a leadership position in the band. The rotation into these learning roles was introduced and overseen by the Masters and was meant to familiarize the students with a realistic military command structure and with basic leadership skills. All of the students would have an opportunity to be the war band leader or the bannerman. The bannerman or Flikkeller was the second in command. The assignment for each student to a leadership role was for three sennights.

  After the band rose up against Bera, his bullying of Kyrr stopped. But when his turn for leadership came up and he was appointed to leadership his persecution of Kyrr and a few others took a new tack. The harassment was no longer physical but rather mental. Since Bera and his friends were warned off by the rest of Red Band. Bera was no longer willing to risk direct confrontation. The threat the entire band had levied at Bera and his friends was serious and Berra unlikely wanted to test their resolve. The entire group watched Bera and his friends like hawks. There was no escaping the new scrutiny. So, Bera switched to a new form of harassment.

  In his role as band leader Bera’s bullying entailed extra guard shifts and other assignments that were the most dangerous, exposed or demeaning. Oft Kyrr and those that had stood with him were assigned extra duties caring for the band’s horses, digging the field latrines, preparing the group’s chow and keeping up with band’s tents and other gear when they were in the field. Kyrr never complained though and performed every task, no matter how odious, assigned to him. He usually got by on only four or five hours of sleep a night. And, he always tried to have a good attitude and do a good job, even with the entire complement of extra tasks and missions.