“What the hell is going on out here?” Saris emerged from a doorway, five yards down the hallway. Upon seeing the struggle, he started shouting. “Thandril! What has gotten into you?”
The assassin took the momentary distraction and slipped into the figure of Saris and joined in with the yelling, desperately trying to throw the situation off.
The General’s mouth dropped open.
Taking advantage of the surprising transformation, the fake Saris ripped one of his arms free and chopped Thandril in the neck. The druid faltered only slightly but held his grip firmly on his prey.
“Who or what the hell is that?” said Saris.
“This man was sent here to kill you, Master,” Thandril replied. His jaw was clenched, focusing on detaining the shapeshifter.
Suddenly the captive’s eyes burned bright gold, throwing strands of light across the barracks walls. His arms and legs grew longer and thicker, till he was soon standing even with the seven foot, tall druid.
“Let’s see how strong you are against someone your own size!” He roared out, yanking Thandril’s hands off of him and then threw him back against the opposite wall.
An exact copy of Thandril stood panting, readying for his next move.
He stepped forward, landing a solid blow to Thandril’s chest. Without missing a beat, he followed with a knee to his stomach, causing the giant soldier to fall to the ground.
He turned and pointed to General Saris. “Now you!”
“I can’t wait.” Saris pulled his sword, gesturing him to charge.
The impersonator pushed off of his right foot, speeding like an arrow at the aged warrior. Saris raised his sword to meet the intruder with a fatal strike, but the attacker was too fast and easily dodged the attempt. He countered Saris with a swift kick, knocking the General to his knees.
Thandril rose to his feet. “Hey!”
He turned his head, smiling, “Want a little more? I am quite enjoying this body of yours.”
Thandril moved closer, “You might have my strength… But you don’t have my power!”
He clenched his arms down to his side. His veins and muscles tightened.
A roaring shout sent ripples of energy through the air.
The fury of wind blew the fake Thandril fifteen feet down the hall. The imposter crashed into the far wall, brickwork crumbling around him as he slid to the floor. His head slumped forward.
Chapter 18: A Dark Savior
“We need to get these fires out, now!” Rurik shouted.
The screams, the desperate pleas and agonized cries of the civilians trapped outside the walls, had ceased. They were all gone, dead within seconds. Such was the mercy of fire. The flames continued to swell, gaining in height and growing in intensity. Fingers of red and orange curled over the Keep’s walls, mischievously setting buildings and shrubbery aflame.
“Sir, we need to move everyone to the southern wall,” Private Galro said. His head down, sifting through a pile of reports from the other walls. “It seems the fires are not as bad in that direction. We may be able to wait it out if we get indoors and away from this smoke.”
As he finished, a loud explosion echoed through the Keep.
“That came from the south side!” Rurik yelled back to Galro, over the screams of the crowd. “The city’s oil reserve!”
“Damn it! The wind must have picked up and carried something over the wall.”
A huge plume of smoke started spreading over the southern side of the Keep. “So much for moving everyone that way.” Rurik smashed his fist on the stone wall next to him.
“We are finished…” Rurik’s voice trailed off. With each passing minute, the flames rose higher, and the cries of the crowded courtyard grew louder.
“I will not let things end this way…” A voice whispered across the wind, dancing from ear to ear.
Suddenly, a loud clap of thunder echoed through the sky, deafening the masses. People dropped to the ground, clasping their hands against their ringing ears. The air swirled, lifting the flames higher, yet away from the walls.
Rainbows of fire arched across the smoke filled air.
Rurik was the only one that stood his ground, standing tall against the sudden overload of senses. He lifted his eyes to the center of the forming vortex of fire. A man slowly appeared through the blinding light.
The brightness of the flames shone past his body, hiding his features, throwing a dramatic shadow across the ground below. He floated high above the Keep, never coming any closer, never moving further away.
The ground trembled.
Buildings, weakened from the fire, collapsed under the stress. The wind swirled faster and faster, knocking down stands and carts lining the courtyard. Rurik finally conceded to the gaining pressure and fell to his knees.
A booming voice cracked across the sky, “People of Taluria, I am here to help. If you wish to live, breathe deep and hold your breath. Do it now.”
The figure started twirling in the air. His speed increased exponentially until he formed a giant whirlwind, sucking the oxygen out of the area. The people inside the city started to understand what was happening and held their breath as long as they could, some fainted, knowing this was their only hope of survival.
The towers of fire gasped for the last envelopes of their precious fuel but soon withered to nothingness. Once the people were safe from the flames, the man in the sky pushed out his hands, causing a gust of wind to clear the thick, smoky air.
The crowds rose, cheering and screaming praises to their new found savior.
“I did not waste my time sending your army back to Hillsford just to find a massacre of charred bodies.” The rescuer sighed and, with another deafening explosion, the featureless man and the ominous light that accompanied him, blinked out of sight.
All was suddenly calm. For the first time in two days, the city was at peace. Well, as much as a scorched landscape of death and unrecognizable buildings could muster.
Chapter 19: The Aftermath
Amira sat and waited for Saris to return, mindlessly kicking a piece of fallen, displaced masonry between her feet.
The General had left her inside the mildew ripened washroom after hearing the fighting in the hallway. Now, cheering and shouts of joy coming from outside the building reached her ears.
What have I missed?
Saris had been leading her to a secret passage, which would have taken her to a small cabin almost five miles south of the city. The baby needed to be safe. The passage was cleverly hidden inside the old wash area, but now she felt there wasn’t going to be a need for escape.
She slowly moved from the darkened corner, discarding Saris’ order to hide and wait for him. She stepped lightly, not making a sound. The door flew open, almost catching her in the face.
“I told you not to move from that spot!” Saris appeared, dusting debris from his coat. “You could have been harmed.” He pulled her into his chest and gently cradled her, like a scared child. “Thandril was defending us against an intruder in the hallway and, moments after the man was subdued, rumbling from outside caused the only hallway out of here to collapse.”
She slowly pulled herself away from him, awkwardly moving his hand from around her. “How are we to get out?”
He looked at her with his steady, dark brown eyes. “That is why I am so filthy; Thandril and I were trying to dig our way out but to no avail. Everything will be fine, though, we just need to wait for my personal guards to gather men to remove the fallen bricks.” His eyes carried none of the harshness that was visible when speaking to his soldiers or when she first met him during his son’s birth.
Thandril slowly moved through the doorway, dragging an unconscious man behind him. The man was young.
This must be the intruder.
“What are you going to do with him?” she asked.
Saris looked him over, “Once we get out of here, we will have a long talk about who sent him here and why. After that—” He put his hands up, fei
gning ignorance, “who knows?”
* * *
They had been silent for the better part of an hour when Amira heard a dimmed voice coming from the hallway. She stirred Saris, who had dozed off a while earlier. He didn’t see a point in stressing about their predicament and took the chance for a quick rest. “I think someone is making their way through the debris.” She pointed out into the hallway.
“Thandril!” Saris shouted.
The druid instantly appeared through the entryway of another room, in which he was keeping the prisoner. “Master?”
“Check the antechamber. Someone may be getting close to freeing us from this wretched place.”
Thandril nodded once and disappeared back through the door. After a moment, he poked his head back in, “Yes, sir. They are digging us out, nearly there.”
Saris looked at Amira, staring at her in silence for a minute, “Well, maybe now that this situation has resolved itself, there might be some time for the two of us to get better acquainted. I need to meet with my officers once we are free from here, but would you accept my invitation for a drink afterward?”
Reluctantly, she accepted his offer, as not to disrespect the powerful man. He certainly didn’t seem that wounded from his wife’s death, only days before.
* * *
It had now been two days since the assault on the city ended.
The citizens evacuated the Keep’s walls as quickly as they were allowed. Families rushed to see if their houses or businesses still stood, or if they were one of the hundreds that had burned. The attack was the worst suffered by a city of the Talurian Empire in the last thirty years since the border skirmishes in the time of Emperor Kidaris.
To help in the cleanup of the Keep, the General and Honor Guard Captains pulled the majority of slaves into service of the Empire. Saris took Rurik’s recommendation and assigned Gleb as head keeper over the other slaves, and he was doing a brilliant job of getting the place back in order.
His first job was to clean up the General’s quarters and the great meeting hall. There was much to be discussed, and they needed some place for the entire entourage of officers to meet.
* * *
Amira stretched awake as the baby started to cry. “Shh…it’s alright, little one.” She picked him up and cradled him in her arms.
Saris had accommodated her in a generously-sized suite attached to the quarters he shared with Thandril. He also appointed her a temporary guardian of the boy, since Saris could not afford to spend every waking hour caring for his son. Saris trusted her with Archaos more than any of his other maidservants. She found caring for the child to be quite a relief from her normal duties.
A lowly nurse in a city like Hillsford didn’t offer much in the way of prestige or excitement. Maybe Saris would have her travel back with him to Talur? She wondered if this would be a long-term position, as the baby’s primary caretaker.
Saris had seen her to the room over two nights ago and she had not laid eyes on him since. From gossip with the wait staff, she learned Saris had been holding some long, drawn-out meetings with his top officers.
“I say we get some fresh air,” She spoke nonchalantly to the baby. He stared back aimlessly. “It’s unbearable to stay pent up indoors for days on end!”
Amira wrapped baby Archaos in a warm blanket and made her way to the door. She stepped out into the entrance foyer, separating her and the General’s rooms from the rest of the inner Keep. She moved down the hallway toward the common room, but at the connecting passage stood one of Saris’ personal guards.
He stepped out in front of her and held out his hand, “Sorry, m’lady, I have orders to keep you in this part of the building.”
Her face flushed, “Orders from whom?”
“General Saris, m’lady,” He answered curtly.
“What am I? A prisoner?” She began to get angry.
“No, m’lady. It’s for your safety. We have dangerous prisoners inside the Keep and Saris wants to take extra caution in your safety and well-being.”
She was disinterested in his excuses and, turning away, she furiously stomped back the way she had come.
“Oh! And congratulations on the engagement!” The guard shouted after her.
She instantly stopped and ran back to the young man. She stabbed her slender finger into his chest. “Excuse me? What did you just say?”
Chapter 20: The Prisoners
Captain Arteus pushed open the heavy doors that led into the great hall. “Sir, I present, Ceth, Commander of the Kitam forces, Dageros, Captain of Merkadia, and Kaillum, also a Captain of Merkadia.”
Arteus had successfully chased down the retreating Kitamite forces with his lancers. They quickly surrounded and subdued the men with minimal casualties. This had happened only moments before the man in the sky appeared and saved the city from what seemed to be its fiery end.
The first couple of hours, he sat with the General through a number of meetings. He retold the story of what happened in the north, with the same man appearing there, and the death of his friend and comrade, Barolas. When his presence was no longer necessary at the council meetings, Saris sent him to help with the interrogation of the enemy soldiers. Arteus had been an interrogator with the Talurian army before he started climbing the ranks and became one of the General’s favorite Captains.
Arteus took a deep bow as the high-ranking men in the room applauded his findings, feigning acceptance of their routine praise. He carried his uniform shirt under his arm—his chest sweaty and covered with blood. “Takes a lot of hard work to get answers down in that dungeon.”
The three captives looked bruised and battered, but overall still in good shape—that couldn’t be said for the poor souls that eventually gave up the guarded information.
Seven men sat in the room, General Saris, Thandril, and the five Honor Guard Captains.
Saris stood to his feet and walked around from the head of the table. “This one’s name is, Kaillum?” He looked to Arteus for confirmation, who nodded in return. Saris grabbed the young man’s chin and tilted his face up. “He was the one who tried to kill me.” The man’s golden eyes rolled around in his head, not able to meet the General’s for more than an instant. Saris ran his fingers along the ridge down the middle of his forehead, shaking his head.
“And you say they are from Merkadia?” Saris questioned.
“Yes, Sir. Apparently this whole assassination attempt was put together by them.”
“They do not look like other Merkadians,” Saris commented, “And what is wrong with them? They all seem barely conscious.”
“A special concoction of mine. A truth serum. I used it back in the day. Mixed with a little old fashion pain, it quickly broke the other captives, thus we were able to learn the names and positions of these men. But, even a double dose has proved futile with this bunch. Ceth is just too damn strong-willed and has probably been put through some mental training against this type of interrogation. And these two…” Arteus put a hand on each of their shoulders, “They seem just dazed by it. I have never encountered this, the mixture needs adjusting. I will start working on it immediately.”
Arteus motioned for the guards to help the captives out of the room.
“Wait!” Thandril stood from his chair, “I have seen that one.” He pointed to Dageros. He moved to stand right in front of him. “He is the one who can duplicate himself.”
Dageros’ head stopped rolling around. His eyes focused on Thandril.
His lips curled up into a smile. “Hello again,” He winked at Arteus, “Damn, Cap. That stuff took my headache away real quick.”
Eight copies of himself popped into being next to him, grabbing ahold of Thandril and Arteus. The other Captains in the room jumped to their feet, waiting to attack, all drawing their weapons. One of the copies moved to the suddenly alert, Kaillum, and helped him out of his restraints.
The room stood in a stalemate.
Saris stood in the middle of the two groups of men. The c
alm had lasted only but a moment before Thandril launched the two holding him across the room, sending them crashing through a window. As quickly as the two disappeared, two more appeared standing in defense of the three men.
“Go! Take Ceth!” Dag shouted at Kaillum.
Kaillum hesitated, but then grabbed the barely conscious Ceth and slowly retreated back to the door.
“Where do you think you will go?” Saris laughed.
“He’s right.” Dag shouted, “Leave Ceth, he was going to abandon you anyways. Change into one of the commoners and disappear!”
Saris’ eyes went wide. He hadn’t thought of that. “Get him now!”
The guards in the room and the Captains around the table charged forward. Kaillum tossed the Kitamite captain at their feet. The Captains tumbled over Ceth’s body and fell to the floor in a heap. Dageros’ copies grabbed onto the men, keeping them down, giving his brother time to escape.
Saris jumped over a fallen soldier and snaked between two duplicates, landing a heavy blow to Dageros’ face. The punch spun him to the left, knocking him unconscious, and causing him to fall into the copy holding Arteus. The Captain took the opportunity and broke free from the grip, quickly unleashing a brutal uppercut to its jaw, instantly killing the phantom.
Kaillum disappeared out the door of the meeting hall.
Moments later, Rurik came running into the room, followed by twenty guards. “What happened?”
“One of them escaped! The one who can change his shape!” Saris yelled.
All of the men in the room grouped together and ran back out the door, save for Saris and Thandril. Arteus grabbed a couple of the soldiers, before they all ran off, and was already on his way back to the dungeon with Dageros and Ceth.
“Well, things are once again well out of hand,” Saris sighed. He walked back over to his chair, motioning for Thandril to take a seat with him. “We need to sort out this mess. The Merkadian King is going to give us more trouble than we thought. He controls the other tribes and is obviously bold enough to attempt an assassination. We must learn more from these captives and more about those damn magic users.”
Fate of an Empire (Talurian Empire Trilogy Book 1) Page 9