by Richard Wood
After a bowl of lamb stew and fruit tarts, Jesse sits talking with Valcor and the Page when the Emissary enters the room. Waving one of his hands into the air, the Emissary shouts out, “The carriage is here for us”. The three rise from the table, meeting with the Emissary, they walk together through the house and out the front door. The Emissary, expecting to see the carriage in his front yard, is surprised when it’s not. In fact, it was nowhere to be seen. Looking at the distant crowd, he sees people pointing down the street. Walking to the edge of his lawn, he looks in the direction the crowd was pointing. There in the distance is the carriage. Turning, he sees Dararro lying out on the lawn. Yelling over to Jesse and the others, the Emissary invites them to where he stood. Once they reached him, the Emissary explains, “The carriage driver is afraid of the Peace Cat”. Jesse answers back, “Well I can’t leave Dararro here. I’ll ride him behind the carriage, he won’t be a problem”. Then giving an order, Jesse yells out, “Dararro come”. As Dararro reaches Jesse, he leaps up on his snowy companion. Valcor and the Page untie their horses. With the crowd watching filled with curiosity, the four make their way to the carriage. Valcor and the Page tie their horses to the back frame of the carriage. While Jesse weights behind, the three climb into the carriage and find a seat. The Emissary then gives the order to the palace driver and off they go with Jesse riding Dararro behind.
As they approach the palace, the most beautiful and ornately decorated building in the capital, the massive crowd there makes it impossible for the carriage to make the palace entrance. The driver turns to the Emissary and announces, “Master Spause, I can’t go any further without trampling the crowd”. Giving the driver at a small pouch of coins, the Emissary replies, “That’s OK driver, we will walk the rest of the way. But if you will please take my men’s horses to the palace stables, they will get them back later”. The driver asks nervously, “But what about the giant cat sir?” Laughing, the Emissary replies, “I don’t think we’ll have to worry about the cat, Jesse will take care of it”. “Thank you Master Spause”, the driver replied. Climbing from the carriage, the three men join Jesse, who was still behind it. The carriage then turns and makes its way back from the direction it came.
Jesse, looking down at them from atop Dararro asks, “How are we going to get through this crowd?” The Emissary looks over to Valcor and replies, “Don’t worry Jesse, my son can make a way through any crowd but your Peace Cat will have to stay here”. Sliding down off of Dararro, Jesse exclaims proudly, “That’s not going to be a problem”. Now standing next to Dararro, Jesse shouts out to the crowd, “I am going to lay my Peace Cat here, but I warn you, get too close and he will kill you”. Then scratching Dararro behind the ear, Jesse gives the order, “Dararro down”. The Peace Cat lowers his huge snow white body to the ground then rolls over onto one side. Turning to the crowd, Jesse shouts, “Stay away from my Peace Cat, I promise you he will kill you!” After Jesse’s announcement, the Emissary points to the crowd and orders Valcor respectfully, “Son, make us a way to the palace”. Valcor somehow turned from a lovable and boisterous follower into a both hands pushing crowd buster. People were being pushed into every little space available. The Emissary looks over to Jesse and says half laughing, “He eats like a hog but he works like a horse!” Jesse, the Emissary, and the Page walked without being harassed behind Valcor all the way to the palace entrance.
The palace entrance was guarded by six Forseean soldiers, heavily armed with spears that must have been twelve feet long. They all had very heavy swords and shields hanging on their back. They were a fearsome site, no one dared storm this palace. As the four approached the six Forseeans, one of them held out his hand in a “stop” position. Instantly the four, led by the Emissary, stop in their tracks. Looking up to the Forseean soldiers, the Emissary says, “We are here to see the prisoner in the dungeon”. One Forseean soldier, recognizing the Emissary, steps aside and the four prepare to pass. The Forseean soldiers’ attention is suddenly directed toward the crowd and tells the Emissary, “Master Spause, please wait here for just a minute”. Suddenly a woman bursts through the huge crowd. She was a terrible site, she wore old, dirty, and torn close. Her hair had fallen out and she only had tufts matted but her skin was the worst of all. She was covered from head to toe with coarse, twisted moles. She had so many on her face that they completely covered her right eye. Everyone she touched, passing through the crowd, brushed the areas of their body that contacted hers. Some spewed cursings as she was pushed from the crowd. Lying there on the ground, she was a gruesome sight. As she looked up at Jesse, a look of hope seemed to catch her soul. She had heard of him and believed he might have the ability to help her. As she rose from the ground, someone in the crowd began to spit at her. Looking at the four, she shouted, “Who is Jesse from Payne?” Jesse looks to the diseased woman and answers, “I am ma’am”. The woman lunges forward and wraps her arms around Jesse, pulling him to her. The Emissary looks up to the Forseean soldier hoping that he will pull the woman from Jesse. The Forseean looks down to him and says, “Just watch and wait”. The Forseean people have a before-site and the Emissary has come to trust their words and opinions and obeys the soldier fully.
A man from the crowd grabs the disease woman and begins trying to pull her from Jesse. The woman cries out in anger as her arms begin to give way. As the man continues to pull, the woman’s hand slides across Jesse’s chest, opening his shirt. The tip of one of her fingers then touches his birthmark and a blast of brilliant light explodes out word from his chest. The crowd cries out in fear as the light throws the woman against the watching crowd. As she hits the first row of people, every mole on her body was thrown free. The crowd looks in amazement as countless moles litter the ground like disposed waste. Then the crowd gasps as the diseased woman lifts her head and exposes the face of the most perfect, beautiful woman they had ever seen. Her face was narrow and pleasant with bright green eyes and radiant blond hair. Looking down at her hands and arms, the once diseased woman bursts into uncontrolled tears. The Emissary looks up as the Forseean soldier opens the massive door and spoke with a deep almost hollow voice, “You now may pass”. As the Emissary passes the soldier, Valcor taps the Page on the shoulder, who was so amazed by what he had just seen that he forgot to move. Realizing his mistake, the Page moves quickly along.
The king’s palace is filled with amazing objects. One room had an enormous pool, another was filled with beautiful plants, most of which Jesse had never seen. Some rooms had nothing in them while others were full but Jesse had no time to enter any of them. After making several turns and going down many halls, the four are standing in front of a heavy wooden door hanging on thick hinges with a big lock under the handle. The Emissary looks carefully in all directions, making sure they weren’t followed, and tells Valcor to bang on the door. Valcor balls up his fist and slams it a few times against the door. The bangs could be heard echoing through what must have been many large rooms. Then a metallic clunk was heard as the lock was turned. With a spin of the handle, the heavy door slowly swings open and a powerfully built guard stood on the other side, dressed in the same reddish uniform as those on the main wall. Looking at the four, the guard says, “Master Spause, please you and your men come this way”. As the guard hands Jesse his torch, he closes and relocks the door behind them. Then retrieving his torch, he invites them, “Please follow me to the dungeons receiving room”. Leading the way, they all walk down a flight of dirty, stone steps into a large torch lit room at the bottom. The guard then turns to them and exclaims, “Master Spause, please wait here and I will have the prisoner brought to you”.
As the guard disappears down a hall, the four men wait nervously in the torch lit room. After what seemed to be a long wait, the flicker of an approaching torch could be seen coming their way and the sound of several footsteps could be heard as the torch approaches. Then stepping into the room with the torch, is the guard that opened the door. As he steps to one side, several other guards with tor
ch is passed him then line up along a wall. Squinting his eyes, Jesse attempts to focus in on what seems to be three people coming through the hall. It was two guards walking along the hall walls with something between them. As the two guards enter the room, a few guards pass between Jesse and the two entering guards, blocking his view. Suddenly, the room is filled with chaos as chains are rattled and guards yell. As everyone takes their place in the room, Jesse is free to see the wall directly in front of him. Looking at the wall, Jesse is amazed to see chained between two guards is one of the members of Quygon’s Horde but the prisoner is not what he expected. The struggle it caused the palace guards meant that it should’ve been a huge creature, but that was not the case. The creature stood four steps high with no hair and no eyes, with no left hand and an open stomach cavity. It was a hideous site. Shaking his head, Jesse wonders what help he could possibly give the Emissary. The creature suddenly jerked its arms trying to get free and the guards on both sides struggled to hold the chain’s while standing their ground. Looking over to the Emissary, the man who has asked Jesse to do the impossible, Jesse asked, “What could I possibly be able to do that your people haven’t already done?” The Emissary answered back, “Use your strengths Jesse”.
Before the Emissary was able to answer the question, a flash of memory shot like a bolt of lightning through the mind of Jesse. In an instant, the whole several hour conversation Jesse had with the Secret Guardian next to his father’s grave, became a visual play and Jesse recalled what the Guardian said, “You will fashion a weapon of death that will give the Horde life”. One step at a time, Jesse makes his way toward the Horde member. As he walks, his left hand grasps his swords sheath and with his right hand, he grabs the antler handle of his sword and slides the blade from the sheath. A soft, royal blue glow illuminates the room. Looking to the guards on either side of the prisoner, Jesse says, “You two please stand very still”. The Emissary shouts out, “What are you doing Jesse!” Jesse raises the palm of his left hand toward the Emissary, who quickly calms down. Lowering his blade to his left side until the tip is just above the ground, Jesse suddenly shouts, “For Elamor!” He swings his sword upward to the right. The sword enters the Horde member’s hip and a pop is heard as the blade passes through its hip socket. The blade could be fully seen as it passes through the creature’s empty stomach. The blade continues upward toward the ribcage and again, separate pops could be heard as it passes through each rib. The blade then exits the creatures shoulder. The wounds left an open gash along the creature’s hip and chest. The Horde warrior stood totally unaware of its wound. All of a sudden, the creature’s wounds slam shut, and where an open scar should have been, only a half inch line of fresh Terra-Covian flesh resides.
The guards on either side of the creature both step back terrified of what might happen. Slowly, the line of flesh began to widen and took on an almost crawling movement as it began to move across the creature. The Horde warrior seemed to sense a change in its body and reached up to touch the changing flesh. It almost seemed to enjoy the feeling of soft flesh appearing where leathery gray flesh once was. Then red began to appear on the creatures ribs as meat began to cover them. Wrist bones began to appear where the creature once had a hand. Flesh began to fill the creature’s eye sockets and eyes formed. As skin covered the creature’s body, feminine features begin to form. As the features began to form, the Page took off his riding jacket and threw it over the changing creature. The jacket covered its body and the hood flew up and covered its head. No one knew exactly what to do when a guard pointed downward at the creature and shouted, “Look at its legs!” Its legs were covered with soft, silky skin; each toe was perfectly complete with little toenails. The toes began to wiggle and the room gasped. Jesse slowly raised his hand to the jackets hood and pulled it down. As the hood fell to the creature’s chest, Jesse’s eyes filled with tears. Under the hood was the face of the most perfect looking girl child he had ever seen. She had curly auburn hair and skin that had a soft peachy glow. As the child looked around, she realized that she was in a strange place with people she didn’t know and screamed out in terror. Jesse quickly stepped away from the child and slid his life giving sword back into its sheath. Turning, Jesse sees the Emissary awestruck, staring speechless at the child.
After the girl’s screams finished echoing through the dungeon, Jesse says to the Emissary, “Master Spause, the Horde of Quygon are us! They must be changed. We can give them back their lives”. Then glancing over into a darkened corner, Jesse sees movement among the shadows. Pointing into the direction, Jesse asks the Emissary, “What’s over in that corner?” From the darkened corner, a tall, gray headed man emerges. Handsome and noble looking, he wore a soft gray fur cape that almost hung to the ground. The Emissary suddenly lowers his head and Jesse turns to look across the room to see it is full of guards with lowered heads as well. Then the Emissary humbly announces, “Welcome my king”. Jesse looks astonished. The tall man wearing the fur draped cape looks at Jesse and says, “Welcome to my palace, Jesse of Payne. I have heard many things about you but only considered you to be a man with clever tricks. I can see that I was wrong and you are far above any other man”. The king pulls the fur cape from his shoulders. Giving it to the guard who first met the four at the door, the king says, “Cover the child with this and take her to my own nurse. Oh, and see that she has something to eat. And guard”, the king says sternly, “Don’t tell anyone about her, we have a spy in the palace!”
CHAPTER 10
The Son of Quygon
Jesse stayed in the capital with his friends at the home of the Emissary for two more days until Dararro became too restless for the crowds. The king requested that he join the royal council but Jesse realized that this was not the destiny of Elamor and asked that he be allowed to return home to his village and family. The king honored his request and allowed Jesse to leave. In the meantime, Jesse and his men were given a tour of the palace. Although the palace was filled with many beautiful and amazing things, Jesse’s main interest was the many pieces of hardware and furnishings produced by his father. The king even had pieces his father made in storage, ready for future palace expansions. It all reminded Jesse of something he already knew, his father was not only a man of great devotion and respect, but he was also known for his ability to create amazing pieces of art through his love of metal. Elven got his buckskin horse and Valcor enjoyed the treats of his father’s kitchen. Finally, before leaving the capital, the king gave gifts to Jesse and his family.
Before Jesse was able to leave the palace and capital, the story was already out about the amazing event that took place in the palace dungeon. The story was moving across the land like a warm wave. Jesse was quickly becoming the hope of Scarland and the praise of Paradore. For the people of his world, Jesse is becoming the light that breaks over the darkness of Quygon but with the praise of the people, there also comes the belief that Jesse would somehow keep them safe from all harm. A belief that would leave many people bitter and resentful.
Returning home with Jesse and Valcor, is Elven the Page. He has taken on the role of messenger to the Warrior of Elamor. His devotion to Jesse, as well as to his duties, will prove his worth almost right away. In message from Elven became as trustworthy as a promise from Jesse.
Jesse bypassed all of the villages, not even stopping at Duesburg to visit his friend, but instead, they made a steady path back home. His first concern being his dear mother Shaira. Knowing that Chloe was there eased his mind, but his devotion to his mother was alive long before Chloe’s arrival. What Jesse was not aware of though, was the attention that the King of Elamor himself was giving to her. It was the King who chose Shaira for Eli, and it was also the King who was keeping her safe for Jesse.
It’s amazing how the trip home seems to take less time, and before he knew it, Jesse was in view of the familiar cliffs of his home village. Even Dararro seemed to feel the joy, prancing through the dry lands with his breastplate shining a royal blue haze ag
ainst the ground. Soon, the village huts were in sight. Jesse was so excited that he sped Dararro into a full run then slid him to a dead stop in front of his house. The villagers were glad to see their heroes filled the street in front of his home. One of the men of the village filled two buckets of water for Dararro to drink while several children pulled small sticks and leaves from his coat.
Jesse swung the door open. It startled Chloe, who was sitting in the center room, so bad that the tea she was drinking flew into the air and rained down on her. “Master Jesse”, she shouts with her hands over her heart, “You scared me to death, I almost lost my breakfast!” “Oops”, Jesse replied, “I’m sorry, I was so happy to get home that I guess I wasn’t thinking”. Looking behind him, he adds, “I even left Valcor and Elven behind”. As Jesse walks into the room, his eyes adjust to the dimmer light and he sees his mother. She is well-dressed, clean, and what seemed to be relaxed. Walking to her, he kneels down, looks into her empty eyes and says kindly, “Hi mother, I’m home!” Shaira gives no response and only looks blankly into his face. Putting both of his hands on the arms of her chair, Jesse breathes deeply and lowers his head and whispers, “I love you mother”. Looking back to the front door, he sees the villagers staring curiously into his house. Smiling, Jesse realizes that the villagers are eager to hear stories of his journey. As Jesse makes his way to the door, his courageous friends Valcor and Elven ride up. Still standing in the doorway, Jesse exclaims, “Chloe, you might want to get some food ready. Valcor and Elven look hungry”. Chloe goes to the table and begins peeling potatoes.