Meta Gods War

by B N Miles

  She was about to say something, but she looked over his shoulder and frowned. Cam half turned and followed her gaze. The guard was returning, running fast and breathing hard. He approached the armored guards, who were glaring daggers at Cam and Miuri, and spoke to the leader.

  “Lord Remorn… says to send them… to the main… meeting chamber. Shaman… and Elder… come too.” He gasped for breath. “Oh, fuck, I’m out of shape.”

  The guard grunted and nodded at Cam. “You heard him. Bring your Elves and call for your Elder. We’ll leave now.”

  Cam nodded to the guard then turned toward the villagers. He shouted for Dagan, and the Elder came striding toward them with a scowl on his face.

  “What’s this?” he asked. “I have work to do.”

  “We’re meeting with the Lord,” Cam said.

  Dagan nodded. “Fine then. I guess unloading the carts can wait.”

  Cam gestured at the guard and the man turned without a word. The five armored men marched on and Cam followed, Dagan by his side, the three Elves bringing up the rear. He caught Felin’s eye as he walked and waved to her, and she waved back. He saw Key coming toward her, and he knew Felin would be just fine without him. He turned and faced forward as their group marched past the other village and their large tents.

  He got a closer look at them. Old men and women, a few younger couples, a few children. But not a single warrior among them, not a single man of fighting age. It was strange to see a village without its warriors, but he figured the Mansion would put them to better use, and they were needed elsewhere.

  The villagers stared at him, and some of them even looked afraid, which confused him. Several ducked back into their tents when they caught him looking, and he wanted to ask the head guard what was going on, but the men just kept marching along.

  He held his tongue and followed as they swept into a lamplit side tunnel and continued through the caves that made up the heart of the Mansion.

  45

  Cam was instantly lost. He couldn’t tell which markings they were following, and the guards didn’t slow down. He caught sight of more empty rooms, some of them fairly large, and he thought he saw some food stores. He got a glimpse of grain piled high, of herbs, of hanging dried meat. But soon the passage turned and sloped upward, and their progress slowed until it evened out again.

  They came to a long hall that ended in a single ornate wooden door with more boar and tusk motifs carved along its length. The halls had been plain, with smooth floors and rough ceilings, and lamps had been placed and lit at even intervals. The lamps were enough to see, but not enough to make any details plain. The place seemed empty and silent, which unnerved Cam more than anything.

  The lead guard stepped up to the door and rapped on it with his spear. He waited a moment then pushed it open and gestured for Cam to step inside. The guards flattened themselves against the walls and allowed Cam, Dagan, and the Elves to pass.

  Cam was the first person into the room. It was spacious, with a high ceiling, and at least thirty lamps were lit. Some were along the walls and some hung from the ceiling itself, slowly spinning in circles as if blown by a breeze. The space was dominated by a massive group of tables set into a large square with an empty center.

  Sitting at the head of the table was Lord Remorn. Behind him enormous cloth banners hung, and Cam only recognized the crossed boar tusks that served as their Mansion’s flag. The others were strange to him. One was a stylized eagle with a sheaf of grain in its talons. The other looked like the mountains with a rising sun behind it. Each tapestry was beautiful and he had to tear his eyes away as he looked at the people staring at them.

  Lord Remorn stood as the Elves entered and inclined his head in a polite gesture of deference. Sitting on his right was his daughter, and on his left was a man Cam didn’t recognize. He wore the cloak of the Wardens, though his cloak shimmered in the lamplight and his long, gray hair was slicked back. He had a puckered mouth, a weak chin, and he was carrying far too much fat on his bones. Cam suspected the man hadn’t seen hard work in a long time.

  “Thank you for coming,” Lord Remorn said. “Thank you all for coming to see me.”

  Cam moved inside and Dagan followed. He moved to the right of the table, and the Elves moved to the left. Lord Haesar lingered for a moment and bowed his head slightly to Lord Remorn. The men looked at each other for a silent, tense set of heartbeats, and Gwedi glared daggers at the gathered Humans.

  “Lord Remorn,” Haesar said, his voice flat and emotionless. “I appreciate your allowing us into your Mansion. I know our people have not always been on good terms, but I do hope that our mutual enemy will allow us to see past our disagreements.”

  Cam frowned and tilted his head. He hadn’t known the extent to which the Elves and the Humans were fighting, but from Haesar’s words and Lord Remorn’s own tense posture, he suspected it was worse than he realized.

  “Haesar,” Lord Remorn said. “I am pleased that you came, and I agree with you. There are much bigger problems than minor territory disputes.”

  Haesar inclined his head again and gestured to Muiri. “This is my daughter, Miuri,” he said. “And this is my top Lieutenant, Gwedi.” Miuri smiled and bowed slightly while Gwedi lingered for a moment then took a chair. Miuri was the last to sit, and she beamed at Cam like she was proud of her father.

  “Good to meet you all,” Lord Remorn said.

  Cam took a seat next to Dagan, a few spaces away from Lord Remorn’s daughter. She smiled at them briefly before looking back at the Elves, and Cam got the sense that she hadn’t seen many Elves before. He couldn’t blame her for staring. Miuri was gorgeous, and he had to admit that even Gwedi was beautiful. The Elves were easy to look at and very strange at first. He was still getting used to them himself.

  Lord Remorn sat last and leaned forward, elbows on the table. He gestured at the man in the Warden’s cloak beside him.

  “This is Head Warden Dore,” Lord Remorn said. “And my daughter, Galla.”

  His daughter inclined her head, and Head Warden Dore only sat up straighter and looked down his nose at the Elves. Haesar inclined his head to both of them, and Gwedi crossed her arms over her chest.

  “Lovely to meet you both,” Miuri said, sounding chipper.

  “I would have liked to have waited for this meeting,” Lord Remorn said. “You should all meet the other village Elders that have gathered here.”

  “How many arrived?” Cam asked.

  “Eight villages,” Lord Remorn said. “Your village makes nine. I’m very pleased Medlar made it, and even more pleased that it brought along a shaman.”

  Dagan nodded and glanced at Cam. “He came into his magic during the journey,” he said. “Without him, we’d still be back in our village now.”

  “And likely dead,” Lord Remorn said.

  The statement hung in the air for a moment. Haesar leaned forward in his chair and looked at Lord Remorn with a surprising intensity.

  “What do you know, Remorn?” he asked. “How many packs have come this far south?”

  “Too many,” Lord Remorn said, shaking his head slowly. “Far too many. We don’t have a good count, but our best estimate puts them at ten packs, with more spilling down every day.”

  “And the army you were gathering,” Haesar said. “How has it faired?”

  Lord Remorn flinched and Cam sat up straight. He didn’t know that the Mansion had gathered an army already. He knew it was capable of calling on all the fighting men within its territory, but they hadn’t gotten word of any mustering. Perhaps word was on the way, but it was stopped by the wolves. Either way, Cam was shocked, especially given how few men he’d seen so far.

  “One week ago, I gathered every warrior from the closest villages and augmented their strength with most of the Mansion’s own warriors,” Lord Remorn said. His face was tight and grim. Cam tilted his head, watching the Lord closely. “We sent them out against the first packs four days ago, but I haven’t received word fr
om them since. No messages, nothing, just silence from the north.”

  Haesar gave the Lord a long look and Cam couldn’t help himself.

  “Lord, why did you not gather every man you could? Medlar village didn’t hear anything about an army.”

  Lord Remorn’s expression tensed. “There were those that wanted to wait and gather every man in the region, I won’t lie to you. But I chose speed. I thought we had enough strength to break the initial packs and to scatter them from our lands. They could go ravage weaker Mansions if they so pleased.”

  “But you don’t know if that worked,” Haesar said.

  “No,” Lord Remorn said. “For all we know, the army has been destroyed, and the wolves are coming here next.”

  Cam stared in utter astonishment at Lord Remorn and felt the words sink deep into his bones.

  He’d expected warriors, supplies, arms and armor. He’d expected the Lord to have gathered a mighty host, one that could fight back against the wolves, or at least defend the Mansion.

  Instead, Lord Remorn had already sent the army away, and he had no idea how it fared.

  And there he was, still sitting in his fine clothes at the head of the table, not out leading his people the way he should have been.

  Cam felt a sickening stab of revulsion and terror sing through his body.

  “Let me understand this,” Gwedi said, her voice dripping with anger. “You sent a half-baked army out against the wolves, and you don’t even know where it is?”

  Lord Remorn glared at her. “I sent it north, along the Zermatt pass, toward the largest host of wolves we’d heard of,” he said. “I was in regular communication with them until two days ago, when messengers stopped arriving. It could be that the army has been routed, but I suspect it’s more likely that our messengers are being intercepted and killed.”

  Gwedi snorted. “Then your messengers are failing at their jobs, Lord,” she said.

  “Gwedi,” Haesar warned. “Control yourself.”

  The red-haired Elf crossed her arms and glared at Lord Remorn but didn’t speak further.

  The Lord looked back at her with anger in his eyes. He shook his head slowly and met Haesar’s gaze.

  “Your Lieutenant speaks true,” he said. “It is a failing on my part, and one that I plan on fixing. I was too hasty in sending my army out, and that is a mistake that I will live with until the Urspirit calls me home.”

  “Lord Remorn,” Cam said. “How many warriors do you still have in the Mansion? How many people are here?”

  Lord Remorn looked at him. “I have two hundred warriors,” he said. “Though the majority of them are out scouting the passes, which is why you don’t see many guarding the gates. There are eight other villages here, and I believe our numbers are close to three thousand, though the Head Warden can speak to that.”

  “Yes, Lord,” Head Warden Dore said. He had a stuffy accent and his neck fat wobbled as he spoke. “We have closer to four thousand here in the Mansion at the moment, spread along the east wing. The west wing, where your rooms are, shaman, can house another six thousand if necessary.”

  “Thank you, Dore,” Lord Remorn said. “Cam, I hope you can appreciate our situation. The only shamans available to us are fighting up north with the army, and if they don’t return, you will be the only Human with magic in this Mansion. Your skills and knowledge will be very important moving forward.”

  Cam felt that sink in. He knew shamans were rare, but he thought every village had one. Now he realized just how rare his talents were, and just how valuable he’d become. He’d suspected that might be true, given the respect he’d been shown and the lodgings the Lord had given him, but it went even deeper than he realized.

  He was one of a handful of Humans in the whole Mansion territory that could touch magic.

  He nodded his head, unable to find his words. Fortunately, Dagan spoke for him.

  “Lord, Village Medlar will lend its strength to the Mansion,” he said. “Cam has fought well and saved us on more than one occasion, and I know he will do the same for the Mansion if necessary.”

  “Good,” Lord Remorn said. “I hope that is true, shaman.”

  Cam inclined his head. “I will do what must be done, Lord.”

  Lord Remorn nodded then leaned over the table, looking at the Elves.

  “Haesar, I think you can see how dire our situation is at the moment. I need your people’s strength if we’re going to win the coming battles. Together, we just might be able to stand against the wolves.”

  Haesar leaned back in his chair and frowned at the Human Lord for a long moment. Cam caught Miuri’s eye and she gave him a proud little smile. He smiled back despite himself. The room was so tense he thought he could feel the air beginning to boil with it, but Miuri still managed to make him feel a little bit lighter.

  “Very well,” Haesar said. “I will take it under advisement with my people. But as for myself, I believe you speak true, Lord Remorn. Together, we may be able to make a stand. But if we remain divided, both of our people will suffer for it.”

  Gwedi let out a frustrated grunt, but she kept her tongue as Haesar glared at her, almost daring her to contradict him.

  “I’m glad to hear you say that,” Lord Remorn said. “Let us meet again early tomorrow, and maybe then we can formalize our alliance. In the meantime, you and your people will be guests of the Mansion.”

  “I appreciate your hospitality,” Haesar said. “But I must travel back to Turnevene and speak with the council there. I will leave Gwedi and Miuri in my stead, along with the healer Malayuh, who is looking after a human that was badly burned and cannot be transported.” Cam flinched and stared down at the table, his hands clenched into a fist, as Haesar continued. “Hopefully, Lord Remorn, I will return with a host of my Blades, and we will lend our strength to your own.”

  “Thank you, Lord Haesar.” Lord Remorn stood as the Elves stood. Haesar inclined his head again and turned, walking to the door. Miuri winked at Cam and Gwedi glowered at the ground, ignoring them all. The Elves swept away, back out into the hall, leaving only the Humans in the room.

  Head Warden Dore let out a heavy breath, like he’d been holding it the whole time, and even Galla seemed to relax.

  “Lord,” Head Warden Dore said. “Can you really trust those… things? The Elves have been pressing our borders for centuries and you’re really going to… let two of them stay within our walls?”

  “Yes, Dore,” Lord Remorn said. “Because I am not so stupid as to think we can win this war on our own.”

  “But Lord, the army, it may very well be—”

  “Enough,” Lord Remorn said. “I’ve made my decision. Take it up with the other Elders if you hate the Elves so deeply, but I won’t be swayed.”

  Head Warden Dore glared at his Lord, but didn’t speak again. Lord Remorn’s daughter Galla smiled at her father then turned to Cam and Dagan.

  “Tell me, shaman, Elder, how did you find traveling with the Elves? Were they… good company?” she asked.

  “They were,” Dagan said. “Shared their wine and some stories. Our people have some preconceived ideas about the Elves and that caused some difficulty, but the Elves were nothing but polite and true to their word.”

  “Very good to hear,” Lord Remorn said, shooting a glare at Head Warden Dore then turning back to Cam and Dagan. “I am going to need you both in the coming days. Whether the army was victorious or not, we will need more strength, and we will need it soon.”

  “You will have our warriors, Lord,” Dagan said.

  “And anything I can do to help, I will,” Cam said.

  “Good.” Lord Remorn looked relieved. “But for now, please, go help your people get settled. We will provide better lodgings for them as soon as we can.”

  “Lord,” Cam said. “Who are the people camped out in the main cave? The ones settled across from where my people are making camp?”

  Lord Remorn glanced at his daughter, who frowned back at him. He sighed
and looked at Cam.

  “That was the eighth village to arrive,” he said. “They had few warriors and their leadership had been killed by the wolves. They brought nothing of value beyond what they had on their backs, and for now, we’re keeping them in the entry chamber until we decide what’s to be done with them.”

  Cam tilted his head. “But… that’s a whole village. They might not be workers, but surely they’re useful.”

  “Yes, Father,” Galla said. “Surely they’re useful.”

  “We can’t spare extra rations on the old and infirm,” he said. “Not at this moment. We will find a place for them in the Mansion soon. They will most will likely join the Wardens, but for now they’re staying where they are.”

  Galla looked like she wanted to argue and Cam got the sense that this was a disagreement they’d had more than once over the last few days. But her father shot her an angry glare and she closed her mouth and stared at the table instead.

  “Please,” Lord Remorn said. “I know things are difficult now. But together, we have a chance at facing this foe.”

  Cam inclined his head and stood. “Thank you, Lord,” he said. “We will do what we can.” He walked to the door with Dagan on his heels. He slipped back out and the head guard shut the door behind him. They were down to three men, and Cam figured the other two had shown the Elves back to the main cave.

  “Come,” the head guard said, and set back off down the tunnel.

  “What was that back there?” Dagan asked as they moved. He tried to keep his voice low, but everything echoed off the stone.

  “Testing our Lord,” Cam said with a shake of his head. One of the guards glanced at him, eyes narrowed.

  “Testing him how?” Dagan asked.

  “I want to know what will happen to our people, in particular the old and the wounded. So far, Dagan, I’m not impressed.”

  Dagan let out a breath and shook his head. The guards picked up their pace, and Cam hurried to keep up.

  The meeting hung heavy on Cam’s shoulders. There was an army, but it had already been sent out into the field. Communications had been cut off, and the Lord had no clue if the army still stood or not.