by Joe Jackson
Kari sat down and calmed her thoughts first. Zalkar, I need our priests in Barcon to ask Earl Black if they are still having issues with the Black Dragon Society there, or if the guild has moved beyond the city and perhaps towards here.
She could almost sense her deity smiling as she remembered she didn’t need to ask the priests to relay messages for her anymore. She felt her thoughts reflected off of Zalkar, and that the priests in Barcon received the message. She would have an answer in little time, but there was still always much to be done. She rose and crossed the central square to the training cadets, who all stopped and saluted her along with their training instructor.
“What can we do for you, ma’am?” Darius asked her. He was a handsome human with a darker skin tone, a fantastic head of long black hair, and dark eyes that reminded Kari a little bit of her own. He was a decorated veteran hunter who had transitioned into a fine drill instructor – not as intimidating as Typhonix, but one who got the same results from his recruits regardless.
Kari glanced at the cadets but shrugged off their presence. “I’ve got a position open for a second-in-command,” she said. “I’ve got you and John Campbell in mind to fill the post, but the first step is to ask each of you if you’re even interested.”
The awe they normally displayed around Kari quickly evaporated as the cadets began to implore their instructor to take the position. “I would be honored, ma’am,” he answered at last.
“All right, then, let me talk to Campbell and I’ll see if he’s interested at all. If he is, we’ll all sit down and discuss which of you will be better suited to the role,” Kari said. “If he’s not interested, the position is yours.”
She returned the salutes of the instructor and the cadets, and then made her way around the edges of the campus to survey the damage that had yet to be repaired. She toured the grounds until she found Headmaster Campbell, hardly surprised when he turned down the position in favor of Red Eagle. Satisfied that one bit of duty was taken care of, Kari left the campus again to inspect the city.
The farther she traveled, the more she could see the subtle unrest among the people. The encroachment of a rival guild didn’t just spook the Blood Order; the commoners could sense it as well. They knew trouble was brewing, the calm before the storm that those paying attention could somehow feel. Strangely, it made Kari think of her mission to Tsalbrin four years before. She had the same duty here: To prevent war at all costs, no matter how large-scale or widespread. The problem was, at least on Tsalbrin she knew who the principal troublemaker was. Here on the streets of DarkWind, she was beginning to think she had two troublemakers, and would be best served getting rid of both, her relationship with Eryn notwithstanding.
There were eyes on her as she walked, but they weren’t members of the Blood Order. She could understand the issues the guild was having if this was what they dealt with; there was nothing Kari could do about simply being looked at. Aside from the obvious, of course, which was what she settled on. Oddly enough, when she met the eyes of those she suspected were looking at her the wrong way, they neither looked away nor tried to leave the area. She could tell that these were the very people Eryn’s guild was leery of, but at the same time, Kari got no sense that they saw her as a threat or wanted to threaten her.
An answer came back from Barcon as she walked, the priests of Zalkar there passing along word that Earl Black had completely dismantled the Black Dragon Society after Kari’s work there. As far as the grizzled old earl knew, the Society was completely destroyed, and he knew of no whispers of it continuing on, either in his city and county or anyone else’s.
That alleviated some of Kari’s concern. She had come to suspect the Black Dragon Society might have been moving to DarkWind not just to wipe out its rival guild, but to take revenge on Kari and her family. She already felt besieged by more enemies than she could enumerate; to add a second assassin’s guild to the list would have been overwhelming. It was still possible that such was the case, but Kari remembered Kaelin Black’s iron-fisted rule well. If he was sure he’d wiped out the Black Dragon Society, Kari was comfortable trusting him on that until shown otherwise.
She met another pair of eyes, and a chill ran down her spine. There were so many of them, enough to leave little doubt why the Blood Order was spooked. Now Kari was, too. It was of little matter if these invaders didn’t look at Kari as a threat; she had to see them as such.
Kari set her feet toward the campus and moved as quickly as she could without seeming like there was trouble. She had to get more patrols on the streets, and quickly. It would make a fine first test for Red Eagle, her soon-to-be second-in-command.
*****
The Silver Blades made it to the border of Sorelizar without incident. Tess’Vorg was beautiful country, but all throughout, Kris could see signs of war: Thinned out villages, hastily erected defenses around undermanned towns, and even the occasional unit preparing or moving toward Sorelizar. The Warlord found it curious considering the possibility of invasion from the north, but he wondered if baiting Arku into invading Tess’Vorg might be part of the larger overall plan. Just how much had Kari thrown these realms into disarray?
Kris had to push his human companions to their limits to cross Tess’Vorg in the allotted time. Their crossing of the Sorelizar-Si’Dorra border had to coincide with Lady Irrasitus’ plan to create a diversion as closely as possible. His half-guardian companions had no issues when it came to constitution, nor did Sharyn. He really only had to worry about Liria, Krycyd, and the humans, but sharing the weight of their gear helped with that issue somewhat. They managed to cross Tess’Vorg on schedule, tired though they were by the time they completed that leg of their journey.
Things changed once they reached Sekassus’ realm, but between Sonja’s masking and eagle eye enchantments, they attracted virtually no attention. The fighting seemed to be far from the north, but there were preventative buildups along the border of Tess’Vorg as well as that of Si’Dorra, making sure that Arku didn’t take advantage of the war to claim unprotected land. Whatever King Emanitar was doing, it was primarily in the south, and Kris gave thanks for the small blessing. Sonja’s arcane power might keep them hidden among the people even when they were on high alert, but on a battlefield? Kris didn’t want to test her in those conditions.
As if reading his thoughts – she probably did from time to time when his defenses slipped – Sonja stepped up beside him. “My masking spell is going to attract attention if we use it for too long with the realm on high alert,” she said. “That’s how Sekassus’ people tracked us when we came here the first time, and we had to cease using it and go to ground.”
“Do we have some slack with the war being primarily in the south?”
“I think so, but we don’t want to dally here, whether we’re using my masking spell or not. Though I’m sure I didn’t need to tell you that.”
Kris smiled and they continued onward. “All right, then. I’ll leave it to you to determine when to drop your masking spell, like under cover of darkness or when we’re in deeper woods. I guess you can use your Eagle Eye to see when the area is devoid of people and we can risk it?”
Sonja nodded, and Kris jabbed her playfully in the shoulder. It didn’t occur to him until after that she might not like being treated like one of the boys, no matter how many brothers she had. The scarlet-haired woman smirked, though, and hit him back in the shoulder, harder. Kris laughed it off and they continued on their way.
They came upon the city of Ahrue-Sililue after only a short time in Sorelizar, and it was there that they were scheduled to turn north and cross the border into Si’Dorra. They paused for a short break before heading that way, though, and Kris didn’t miss the way Liria looked at the city and its people below.
“Everything all right?” he asked her. “I know this must be as close to home as you’ve been since you went to Citiaria, no?”
“This is my home city,” she answered quietly.
They stood
on a hillside overlooking the city, but they had no time to stop and see Liria’s family. As it was, they were on a strict timetable, and having crossed Tess’Vorg as quickly as they had only kept them to it. They had no time to spare, but Kris was willing to give the girl a few minutes to wallow in some homesickness. Nevertheless, he gestured for Corbanis and Krycyd to get the others moving northward toward the border.
“The city looks like it’s avoided any fighting. All the fighting seems to be far to the south, from what troop movements and the skies have been telling me,” he offered, and Liria agreed with an absent nod. “Were any of your family soldiers?”
“No,” she whispered, pursing her lips. “My parents work in textiles and tailoring, and my brother is a dancer. That doesn’t mean the king won’t conscript them if the war goes as badly for him as we expect.”
Kris touched Liria on the shoulder lightly, and she finally met his eyes. “Kari said that the people of Sorelizar were defecting to Emanitar’s service rather than fight him. I’m not sure there’s going to be all that much fighting. Just keep your family in prayer, trust that Ashakku will see them safely through, and that you’ll see them again.”
She managed a little smile. “I know. Lady Vanador told me the same thing. Come, we have a pressing matter before us.”
Kris watched after her a moment, and then turned back to the city. Ahrue-Silillue didn’t even have a wall. It was in an open dryland that sloped downward to the west, not far from the border of Si’Dorra. If Arku was to attack Sorelizar to try to claim a piece of it, this city was exactly where he’d want to strike first. And it looked completely undefended. Kris shook his head, muttered a prayer of his own under his breath, and then finally went to catch up with his companions. War on a grander scale was coming, and he’d have plenty of time to consider that in the days and weeks to come.
For now, they had to get to Erik.
Liria wasted little time staring over her shoulder, and instead concentrated on helping Aeligos and Gabrius scout out the border. They could only go so far before they would lose Sonja’s masking enchantment, though, and as expected, there was a buildup of soldiers here. It didn’t look all that significant, and Kris suspected he knew why. Arku was thoroughly evil and vicious, but he knew his limitations and didn’t press his luck very much. Attacking Citaria had only carried so much risk, despite the fact that he’d nearly lost his life in direct combat. Here on Mehr’Durillia, he was the second-lowest-ranking king. None of his neighbors could legally invade his realm; as long as he refrained from encroaching on theirs, he was perfectly safe.
Except maybe from us, Kris thought, and suddenly he wished Kari was with them. What a message it would send to actually kill one of the lesser kings. A small gesture in the overall scheme of things, but it would show the more powerful kings what even a small band of mortals from Citaria could do if they set their minds to it.
He shook off the thoughts and considered the reports from Aeligos, Gabrius, and Liria, as well as from Sonja’s eagle-eyed look. “Let’s camp here for the night,” he said. “Either Arku has only a token force stationed here, or the diversion to the east has done its job and thinned them out. Whatever the case, we’re not too far off from needing to make camp, and we don’t want to do that anywhere near the army. Let’s get some rest, start early, cross that border under Sonja’s masking, and get as deep into Si’Dorra as we can before we have to stop to rest again.”
“Bear in mind that they can sense our auras as paladins,” Krycyd said after conferring with Markus and the twins. “We are going to have to pick our way between them very carefully on the morrow.”
Kris nodded. “Sharyn, how comfortable are you scouting as a wolf?”
“Whatever you need me to do,” she answered with a shrug. “If you need me to find a trail through the army wide enough to sneak our paladins through, I can do that.”
“That does make the most sense,” Aeligos said. “Gabrius and I can track and scout, but not so well if we’re trying to avoid notice completely. Sharyn’s our best bet until we’ve passed through the line, at least.”
“At least the incline here is more forgiving,” Sonja said, gesturing toward the border. “The farther west you go, the more it becomes a sheer cliff face, and then you’re dependent on finding goat trails or other easily-scalable sections. They’ll have a harder time guarding the border down this way.”
“Exactly, I saw that on Lady Irrasitus’ map,” Kris said. “The topographical function of it was pretty amazing. Hell, the whole thing was one of the most amazing uses of magic I’ve ever seen. Dauchin-Rache is going to be difficult to siege because it’s on a hill, but then again, we’re not going for a direct siege.”
“How are we planning to assault Curlamanx’ keep?” Corbanis asked.
“That’s where Aeligos is going to be key,” the Warlord said, and the rogue nodded. “We have to figure out where Erik is first, and what kind and how many traps are between us and him. I’m tempted to go after Curlamanx directly and see if the others scatter once we deal with him, but I’m not sure that will work. There’s no telling what orders they’ll have from Arku, or if Curlamanx’ death will have any effect at all. But his presence will give us the opportunity to create another diversion if he’s still at Dauchin-Rache.”
“By feigning an attack directly upon him?” Markus guessed. “This may be an area where our paladin auras work to our advantage.”
Krycyd held a finger up. “I had not thought of that, but Markus does raise a good point. If the beshathans are under the impression that an entire squad of paladins is storming the keep, it may attract more attention than normal.”
“It may be too much to hope, but if Curlamanx keeps any of my kind in his keep, I may be able to get more straightforward reconnaissance done than Aeligos,” Liria offered.
Kris smiled. “Believe me, I’ve given all of that a lot of thought over the last few days. But I don’t want us to get ahead of ourselves. Our first order of business is to cross the border without being seen, and then approach Dauchin-Rache without getting scragged.”
The Warlord looked around at all those with him, and was glad for what he saw: Nothing but looks of confidence all around. It was another of the many lessons he’d instilled in his subcommanders during the War: Don’t ever give your men the impression that you’ve lost control or don’t know what to do. The Silver Blades were confident because of his decisiveness, that made it easier for them to follow his orders, and that in turn made it easier for him to give them. As satisfied as they were with his command, he was just as pleased by their trust.
They bedded down for the night after finding a remote, well-sheltered area where they could set up a cold camp. They were too close to Ahrue-Silillue to risk firelight, especially with the realm in the state it was in. It made little difference. Everyone knew what was at stake and what Kris’ expectations were, and they made do with what they could afford to risk. The night passed quietly, no rumblings of war or discontent making it this far northeast – yet.
Sharyn was already gone in the morning when the rest of the camp woke up, and Kris crouched at its edge, waiting for her return. He wasn’t sure if they had black wolves here on Mehr’Durillia, but he figured the people probably wouldn’t know what a werewolf was anyway. Sharyn should attract little attention here, and as long as she was satisfied taking the risk, Kris was willing to put his faith in her.
He wasn’t disappointed.
She returned to the camp before breakfast was finished, and showed little concern for transforming back in front of the others. Corbanis gave her some privacy with his wings while she got dressed, but though she patted him on the shoulder in thanks, she made her way straight to Kris to deliver her report.
“It’s like you thought. Either the diversion drew many of them away, or Arku isn’t that interested in trying his luck attacking Sorelizar,” the werewolf explained. “They have a number of camps all along the border here, but they’re a fair distance apart.
I think our paladin friends will be able to slip by unnoticed. But it’s pine forest up that way, Kris. Stealth isn’t going to be much of an option.” She paused and looked at all the warriors in heavy plate or chain armor. “Not that it really was to begin with, outside of Sonja’s spell.”
“Should we risk staying masked all the way to Dauchin-Rache?” Kris asked Aeligos.
The rogue weighed the options for a minute before answering. “It’s one of our safest courses of action, but are you thinking what I am?”
“Like we may be able to replicate some of Kari’s success here?”
Aeligos’ mouth tightened, but he bobbed his head side to side slightly. “We know Arku isn’t the most popular king with his own subjects, but expecting them to rise up against him may be a bit much to hope for.”
“Why not just have Sonja mask our movements right up to the keep?” Sherman asked. “It worked on Tsalbrin.”
“Gaswell had no priests or wizards with him,” Sonja answered. “Beshathans are a lot more sensitive to magic – hence their attunement to your aura – and will be much tougher to fool. We can likely get to Dauchin-Rache, but trying to mask our movements with my arcane power may end up exposing us. When Kari, Danilynn, and I escaped Sorelizar with Se’sasha, my masking spell nearly got us caught. It led our pursuers right to us, particularly the erestram.”
Krycyd asked, “How likely is it that Arku’s people will not give him or Curlamanx any advanced warning of our presence, if they are disloyal to him?”
“Let’s not get too hopeful on that front,” Kris said with a calming gesture. “I will say this, though: We want to give people we come across the impression that we’re not here to hurt anyone except maybe Curlamanx himself. If we get into a scrap, make every effort to show mercy. As Kari might say, we have to try to win hearts and minds, not just battles.”