by AJ Martin
Thadius nodded as he studied the map by the flickering light of the fire. It crackled happily on its diet of twigs. “It’s a good idea, if I say so myself. But do you think you can teach the princess everything there is to know in only two weeks?” He spoke in hushed tones to avoid waking her. “I’d have thought three weeks whilst travelling was hard enough.” His pipe top glowed red as he sucked at it.
“We have made progress.”
“That wasn’t my question. You shouldn’t rush her wizard. Maybe that extra time travelling by horse would be better if it gives her more time to get to grips with what you are attempting with her. I would be willing to forgo a boat ride if it means helping the princess.”
Matthias shook his head forcefully. “No. We need to get to Crystal Ember as soon as possible. At least if we get there with time to spare we can practice a little more there.”
Thadius shook his head and tipped his pipe into the fire. Some of the burning tobacco caught on the breeze and scattered across the grass, the glowing embers winking out in the dew. “This mission is madness. There’s so much uncertainty! You act like you know what you’re doing, but you barely have a clue more than I do about how to stop Sikaris!” He shook his head and ran a hand through his course hair. “What have I let the princess get dragged into?”
“She means a lot to you, doesn’t she?” Matthias asked.
“She’s my princess,” Thadius advised.
“I know that. But it’s more than just hierarchy that makes you so loyal.”
“The princess is like family to me,” Thadius said. “I have grown up looking after her. My father and the king are close friends. This might be your idea of fun Matthias, but believe me, it’s not mine. If anything happens to the princess I will never forgive myself.”
Matthias leaned forward and his eyes regarded Thadius with a steely gaze. “I won’t let anyone hurt her Thadius,” he said.
“You just want your pendant back,” the knight scoffed after a pause.
Matthias smiled. “Perhaps a little. Why don’t you get some sleep? I’ll keep watch.”
“I’d rather-”
“You can’t stay awake for our entire journey Thadius.”
The knight looked at him with a pained expression and then begrudgingly nodded. “Alright. Just you keep your eyes peeled!”
Matthias saluted. The knight shifted wearily and arranged his pack into a pillow, pulling his coat over himself. In moments he was snoring. Matthias laughed under his breath and then turned back to his map. He traced the river with a finger.
“Onwards and upwards,” he sighed.
Reprisals
125th Day of the Cycle, 495 N.E. (New Era)
“You failed us Grimm,” grumbled the malevolent voice of the old man who stood shrouded in darkness. His anger was withering and the figure of Taico Grimm cowered back at his rage. His hair had grown thinner and his already sunken eyes had settled even further into his skull. The room he stood in the centre of had no windows to speak of, but the candles flickered all around him and cast their warped light on his emaciated body and a thin, pink scar stretching all around his neck.
The figure that towered over him was cloaked in a thick, black shawl. Only his eyes flickered a deep purple in the light. “We gave you a taste of our power. We even sent out demons and the names of people who would help you enter Aralia unseen. Not to mention the building sketches and maps! You had all the hidden passageways and routes through the city to get you into the palace. All that coupled with your unique insight should have been more than enough. Yet you let yourself be decapitated!”
Grimm felt his neck warily, his eyes darting back and forth. “The events were new,” he swallowed. “I am not used to that which I have not seen before.”
“Nevertheless she is only a girl, her powers not yet realised! Destroying her should have been as easy as crushing an egg. Especially how well you should know her.” The figure shook his head. “We trusted you, Grimm, with the most important of tasks.”
“I’m sorry!” Taico sobbed, and a tear trickled over his yellowing skin. “I tried my best, but the wizard overpowered me!” He shook his head. “I was unprepared for how strong he really is. The powers you gave to me were not enough!” He raised a shaking hand to his brow. “I was not meant to be part of this, and yet, here I am. You have changed things.”
“You became a part of this when you stumbled across our plans,” the voice said coldly. “You agreed you would help us to change what you know. You agreed it was for the best, remember?”
Grimm nodded. “I know I did,” he swallowed. “It is for the best.” His face contorted. “It is for the best?”
“It was not easy for me to knit your body back together again,” the figure continued. “I’m not getting any younger, you know! It was just fortunate that the wizard did not burn your body, or else we would not be able to get you back. You’re not important enough for that effort.”
Grimm shook his head sadly. “I should be dead! Twice over now! Flesh and bone clinging to life,” his eyes narrowed. “Such a long time ago it was since I felt human!” His head twitched. “Flame and ash. Flame and ash!” He looked up. “You ripped me from my grave!” He fell to his knees. “My head... my thoughts... so confused! I don’t know what to do anymore!”
The cloaked figure stood, and walked to Grimm, where he towered over his brittle figure. “Are you doubting your loyalty to us again?” he asked.
Grimm shook his head. “No. No, I know what must be done! But it is difficult.” He swallowed heavily. “My son...” he cried. “I miss my son!” The tears fell from his chin to the floor and pooled on the stones at his feet.
“He’s dead,” the figure said bluntly. “Everyone you knew and cared for is dead. After all you have seen, you still cling to your petty relationships. If we are to succeed you must rid yourself of your old life completely. Nothing else matters but what you have been asked to do!”
Grimm nodded, wiping his nose with a sleeve. “I am Taico Grimm. I am. I know I am.”
The man sat down again. “Yes you are. You have no son. You have no life except to complete your mission.”
Grimm nodded. “Then I will be at peace?” he asked.
“If you succeed.” The figure readjusted his cloak and cowl. “You will go to the third of our party in the mountain village of Gormal. There he will instruct you as to your next task and what new opportunities await you to deal with this threat.”
“I will do as you command my lord,” Taico snivelled. He looked up at the figure and then bowed his head. “I am sorry I doubted you.”
“You are still young, Grimm, in many ways,” the man said. “You will learn perhaps, in the time that remains for you.”
“Young,” Grimm mouthed and looked at his hands. They were pallid and snaking veins pulsed against his thin, dirty skin. “By your count perhaps.” He shook his head and turned to leave the room.
“Grimm?” the figure barked at him as he opened the door and the cold of night spilled into the room. “Do not get yourself killed a third time. We are only so generous, even in spite of your unique foresight. Think of that torment before you do something stupid. You will never be at peace then.”
Grimm nodded. “Yes master. It is as you command.” Grimm sighed. A single tear slid down across his face again. “I will do what must be done.”
Tykal
127th Day of the Cycle, 495 N.E. (New Era)
“Oh thank the gods,” Josephine exclaimed as she plonked herself down into a wooden chair by the lit hearth in the inn’s common room. “I have never been so happy to see a chair in all my life!” She closed her eyes and leaned her head back.
Despite Matthias’s misgivings, the others had agreed to rest at the nearby inn when they arrived in the village of Tykal. Luccius strode immediately to the bar and ordered drinks for them, knocking his back before the others had even taken a sip of their own. He returned to get another.
“I can’t believe we ma
de it to Tykal so fast,” Thadius said as he placed his pitcher down and took out his pipe.
“The poor horses,” Josephine groaned from her chair.
“My poor backside!” Thadius interjected. “Sorry princess,” he said.
Josephine waved him away. “You are not alone in that respect,” she said, shuffling in her seat and wrinkling her nose. “I shan’t be able to sit right for days!”
Luccius returned to the table, a pewter pitcher in hand, froth spilling over its edges. He collapsed into a spare chair and sipped at his drink.
“You know, a few days ago I was travelling across Triska, making my way from tavern to tavern and sampling the different ales. Why I agreed to come with you I can’t think. I must be mad! I should have learned from the last time we went on a trip together Matthias.”
“What happened last time?” Josephine asked.
“You don’t want to know,” Luccius said. “Suffice to say I came out of it with a broken jaw. That’s saying nothing about poor old Vala!”
“Vala?” asked Thadius. “Who is he?”
“A friend,” said Matthias, taking a sip of his ale and smacking his lips as he analysed the taste.
“He went hobbling back to Mahalia with some of the harshest words for you I have ever heard!” Luccius burst out laughing and slapped his thigh.
“Perhaps not a friend any more,” Matthias muttered into his pitcher.
“Well, I do not intend to come out of this journey with a broken anything!” said Josephine haughtily.
“If we have finished telling stories,” Matthias said and gave Luccius a scolding look, “we really should carry on with your training princess.”
“Oh no,” Josephine exclaimed. “We are not doing anything of the sort. We are going to sit. Right here, by the fire, having pleasant conversation. After which I am going to sleep on the boat until we reach wherever it is we are going to next.” Matthias opened his mouth to interject, but the princess raised a hand. “Uh-uh! Shush you! No protesting. I have my mind made up!” Matthias shut his mouth, folded his arms, and sighed.
“How are we going to book passage on the boat?” Thadius asked, changing tack.
“Well it’s quite complex really,” advised Luccius. He beckoned with a hand and Thadius leaned in closer. “You see, we go to the dockyard,” he began, and Thadius nodded. “- and we ask one of the captains ‘can we book passage on your boat please?’”
Thadius leaned back and frowned, before tapping tobacco into his pipe. Josephine giggled.
“There’s no need for that,” the knight grumbled, sticking the pipe stem into his mouth and waggling it around huffily between his teeth. “Cocky elf,” he muttered.
“I will go in a moment and arrange it,” Matthias announced wearily.
“Are you alright Matthias?” asked Luccius. “You don’t seem yourself.”
Matthias nodded. “Fine my friend. Just tired I suppose.”
“Is that a weakness I hear uttering from your lips?” Thadius jibed.
“Even wizards get tired, you know,” Matthias rebutted.
“Well I am not surprised,” Josephine chimed in. “We have been riding so hard and I have not seen you sleep since we left Rina!” She shook her head. “When we get aboard a boat you really should get some rest. My training can wait a while. We have been doing well, have we not?”
“We have, but we also have a long way to go. And I will rest. But right now, I need to book us passage on a boat.” He stood wearily and made his way out of the door, swaying as he went. Josephine shook her head.
“I don’t know. You’d think he was the one who has to shore up the dragon’s prison,” she said rubbing her eyes. They were bloodshot. “Oh what I wouldn’t give for a bath and a hot meal!”
“I’m sure that could be arranged,” Luccius replied. “We have more than enough coin left to pay for it between us I’ll wager?”
Thadius nodded. “The king provided me with ample coin for our journey and I have some myself besides.”
Luccius nodded. “This is a good tavern. Many of the better Aralian inns I have been to have bathing tubs. The last place I went before we met had the biggest copper tub you have ever seen!” He leant to Thadius and whispered in his ear. “It even had enough room to fit two people in,” he said and elbowed the knight in the ribs. The man looked at him and shook his head.
“Are all your people so lascivious?” he asked.
Luccius grinned but did not answer the question. “Matthias will be awhile arranging passage anyway. I’ll go and see about getting us some food. Whilst I’m there I will enquire about the bath!”
The tavern owner bobbed her head as she set the roasting meals down in front of the three of them a short while later and announced that a bath was being drawn for the lady as she spoke. Josephine nodded gratefully as she picked the chicken up delicately in her hands and gnawed at the meat and ravenously gulped the food down.
“Hungry?” came a voice from her side and she turned mid chew to see Matthias returning to their table. She stopped chewing and swallowed the chunk in her mouth, licking her lips and wiping her mouth.
“Hungry for a proper meal. Not the stale bread and water that I have endured for almost a week,” she advised him.
He chuckled. “I’ve booked us passage on a boat leaving in two hours. We were lucky - apparently it’s a quiet day for passengers. We will have to leave the horses though.”
“That’s a shame. They are of good stock,” Thadius noted, eating his own meal. “But it can’t be helped I suppose.”
“A few days of sitting in more comfortable surroundings will do us some good,” the princess commented.
“We will have to practise for some of the journey princess,” Matthias advised. Her face fell.
“You will not leave me alone for a moment, will you?” she grumbled.
“This is not a pleasure ride, Josephine,” Matthias barked back. “You have to meet me in the middle somewhere!”
“Meet you in the middle?” she growled. “I believe I have been quite accommodating to your people’s requests thus far! I have been dragged out of my life and imposed upon to march along with you on this nightmare mission!”
“You don’t know how lucky you are!” Matthias said back.
“Lucky?” she hissed. “In what respect am I lucky to be the one forced to accomplish this task?”
Matthias opened his mouth but then stopped and shook his head. “Forget it. I should have thought before I spoke.”
“A rule you forget at least three times daily!” Josephine chastised him. She stood up from her seat.
“Where are you going?” Matthias asked.
“To have my bath!” she snapped and turned on her heel. “Would you like to follow me and continue this argument, or am I allowed to have some time to myself?”
Matthias waved her away. “We’ll continue this discussion and your studies on the boat,” he said more forcefully. She harrumphed and stomped off.
“Well that went very well,” Thadius grumbled. “I should smack you in the mouth for speaking to the princess in that way.”
“Then why don’t you?” Matthias snapped at him. Then he sighed. “I’m sorry Thadius.” He stood up.
“Where are you off to now?” Luccius asked him.
Matthias shook his head. “I’m going to get another drink. For some reason ale has become much more appealing to me in the last week.”
The deep water that lapped around Josephine’s body steamed as she lay in the copper tub, inhaling the vapours that rose from the water. Her head was reclined and she wiggled her toes around happily, listening to the slosh that they made. Living in close company with men for a week had practically driven her mad! To be surrounded by them all day and night was intolerable! Thadius for all his decency and respect for her refused to let her walk further than a few paces away from him at all times for her own safety. Matthias jumped on her every time she sat down to rest, eager to get her to start playing around wit
h her power. Luccius was the only one who had not upset her yet, but even his cheerfulness was starting to grate in the absence of any space. She closed her eyes and slipped further into the tub.
Taking a bar of soap from a small pewter dish on a stool beside her she began to scrub the dirt and mud from her body. The soap smelt less than nice. The inn was probably unable to afford the fragranced, perfumed goods she was used to, she supposed. Not that she bathed very often, but it was nice to relax in private surroundings and given the state she was in from trawling across Aralia, she felt grateful to get some of the mud off her skin. She ran the small oblong across her arms and down across her stomach, letting it cleanse her aching muscles. Suddenly, something out of the corner of her eye made her glance at her feet. A wisp of red liquid was swirling around with the water. It took her a moment to realise it was blood, coming from her left foot. Shocked, she bent to inspect it for cuts, but before she could bend all the way over, the water all around her began to grow cloudy and thick with the red liquid. Her breathing grew quick, her heart thumping in her chest.
“Hello?” she called outside, hoping a serving girl would hear. “Is anyone there? Hello?” she cried again more desperately, as the water all around her turned a deep red. It began to bubble. “Help!” she screamed. “Thadius! Matthias! Help me!” Her legs hung limply as if they could no longer be moved by her willpower and she twisted her stomach and tried to force herself out of the water. Suddenly the bottom of the bath fell away and the bloody water around her turned to deep, ruddy clouds. “What is going on?” she wailed as she hovered in the dark, crimson- tinged sky. She looked up and jumped. A large, spherical rock hung just as she did in the air. It was enormous, like the moon only much larger and its surface was shrouded in murky cloud. Out of nowhere the sun burst from behind it and she winced as her eyes constricted. The brightness took over her entire vision and then she heard a voice in the distance calling her name. It started to grow louder until it filled her ears and she placed her hands to them to try and drown it out.