“Climb down it,” Norvance said as he rubbed his temples. “Don’t actually jump.”
“Oh, right,” Freedic said with a smirk. “I guess that’s not such a terrible idea.”
Freedic tied off a piece of rope to an arrow slot in one of the parapets and tugged at it to check the strength of his knot. Once satisfied, he threw the rope over and watched as it unwound its way to the ground below, twenty or so feet. It seemed much higher when he saw how much rope it took.
He climbed down carefully, only a few inches at a time until his feet reached solid ground. The tension in his body eased. He flexed his cramped hands and let out a relieved breath. The entire way down his knuckles had been white, and he had forgotten to breathe entirely. With one last breath, he turned from the wall and looked into the forest.
The purple glow made its way through the densely packed trees of the forest. Not such a bad thing if he was to walk through it. There was a barely audible sound in the distance. It came from the same direction as the glow. He made his way into the forest with a clear mind and allowed his training to take over as he entered the dense undergrowth.
The forest was near impassable with how thick it had grown. The undergrowth was a tangle of knotted vines and thorned brush that Freedic struggled to avoid. Not quite as bad as the swamps in the south, he thought. At least he didn’t have to wade through waist-high water. Unlike the swamps, he could see almost nothing when he looked up. Sounds of birds and other impossible to identify animals came from all directions. He could only hope that he didn’t catch the attention of anything.
He followed the purple glow but tried not to fixate on it and catch himself on any stray branches. It was a task easier said than done in both accounts. The glow was only barely visible and easy to lose sight of. And there were so many stray branches it was as if the forest wanted to trap him.
The further into the forest he made it, the louder and clearer the sound became. It was so clear that it no longer sounded like thumps, but axes that chopped into wood. It was strange. In his months atop the wall, he had never seen activity so close. Norvance had told him that no people beyond the wall would dare come as close. And yet, there they were.
The sun had set, but the purple light kept the forest as bright as it had been in the day. Bugs flew around his head continuously. They would land on him and fly off before he had a chance to swat them. He couldn’t afford to make that much noise anyway. He was too close to the source of the light and sound. Whether Norvance would admit it, if someone found any foreigner in the Warring Kingdoms would be bad for Auverance.
The purple glow lit up the clearing like mid-day sun, only purple. In the clearing were hundreds, if not thousands of tall, pale human like things. But at the same time, it was clear they were not human at all. They were far too tall and muscular. Their ears too pointed, and their faces too angular. Many among them wore armor that was darker than the night’s sky. Those who didn’t wear armor wore simple clothing that seemed familiar but dyed exotic colors he had never seen before.
In a distant corner of the clearing was a group of people surrounded by a group of the giants in armor. Freedic watched as one of the people was dragged away and thrown in front of one of the armored figures. One with no helmet or hair. He knelt down to talk to the person who was thrown in front of him. It appeared the person didn’t understand whatever he said. He stood, unsheathed his sword, stabbed them, and then twisted the blade. Freedic winced as the giant pulled the blade out and whipped the excess blood off. He wiped the remaining blood off the sword on the dead person’s clothes. The armored men who dragged the poor person to their death tossed the body into the nearby fire. They admired it for a second, then turned to grab the next victim.
Freedic clenched his jaw as he watched it unfold. It was impossible to help them. It happened time and time again. Each time he bit down and cringed, but forced himself to watch. He couldn’t bear to tear himself away. His training told him there would be something he could learn. But he would have to wait, as painful as it was.
Vyra watched her mother as she was picked up and dragged from the pack of villagers. There were barely any left from the fifty or so who had been taken. Only five more after her mother. Her lip quivered as she watched the armored man toss her mother to the ground. She hit hard and twisted like she was nothing more than a sack of flesh. The one without a helmet looked down at her and spoke again in the same foreign tongue he had been spoken the entire time. It was obvious none of the villagers would be able to answer, so why did he torture them in their final few seconds?
Vyra watched her mother, calm and collected still. She stared into the eyes of her killer as he spoke to her.. Before he finished what he said, she spit in the man’s scarred face. He wiped it off, then gave a grim smile. In a flash of black steel, he drew and cut. Her mother’s head fell with mouth still agape. Vyra’s stomach clenched in a knot. Her hands shot to her mouth to suppress her scream. There was nothing left for her there. She backed away and re-entered the brush behind her.
She walked slowly and tried the path she had used when she followed the armored figures from the village. It was nearly impossible to see her hand before her face, even with the faint purple glow from behind her. Her mother had told her to find the other talents, but this was her first time in the woods alone. She barely knew which direction the talent's village was in, never mind what direction she was walked in. But she couldn't let that stop her. She needed to warn as many as possible about what had happened.
She could only hope that her village was the first it had happened to. If the village of the talents had suffered the same fate, it would be a problem. She couldn't afford that thought yet. She would still have to find the village first. And that wasn’t something easily said when she considered how dense and twisted the forest was. The deeper she made her way into the woods, the further from any sense of familiarity she was. The little she could even see was impossible to make out clearly. She accepted that she had no idea where she was.
She hadn’t planned to get lost while she walked through the forest. Though, she had known in the back of her mind that it was more likely than not. She stopped and tried to get her bearings. Her options were few and far between, but she couldn’t stop. She had to keep move. That was for sure.
She took a deep breath and caught the faint smell of smoke in the air. It wasn't exactly a pleasant thought to go back to the burnt remains of her home, but she could find her way there and be safe. The armored giants wouldn’t return to the burnt-out village, she thought. And from there she would be more familiar with the way to the other talents.
She followed her nose as she crawled through vines, thorns, and bushes. Her clothes were torn and tattered and skin cut and bloodied, but after hours of the painful slog through the hostile woods, she was home. What was left of it, at least.
Blackened frames still stood in some places. Other homes had fallen completely. All that was left was piles of ash and coal. Her house hadn't survived, nor had she expected it to. The village was truly dead, just as those who had once inhabited it.
CHAPTER THREE
Chapter 3
It was more of a chore than a duty to collect the Council Mages. All he did was walk around the halls of Krux Aev’then and track down the mages who hid in all sorts of bizarre places. Thankfully, Forec had become well acquainted with some of the more strange places the Council Mages liked to tuck themselves away in. They would hide doors with illusions, or worse yet, replace the door entirely. Many times the only way to enter would be from beneath or atop the chamber. He had dealt with their brand of eccentricities for so long, it had become second nature to find them.
Sometimes, he wished they would be more creative while they hid themselves. He would then suppress the thought as soon as he remembered that he would still have to find them.
In a stroke of luck, most of the Council Mages together gathered in the same room. They imagined the various horrific things that had occurred
in the world below them. Those few who didn't take part in the morbid conversations were the less eccentric among them. They would in their chambers while they studied, worked, or slept.
By the time he had spread the message ordered by the High Mage, well over an hour had passed. Rather than return to his chamber for what would be only minutes, he chose to go to the High Mage’s chamber to wait.
It was in a far corner of the keep, tucked away behind a maze of hallways. Far away from where most of the mages packed together. For some time Forec wasn’t sure whether he had gotten lost or not. The halls always managed to blend into each other. Two guards stood on either side of a door, men he recognized. They wore armor created by the High Mage, luminescent metal plates on top of crimson and black underclothes. Each of them held a short spear, tipped with the same metal.
The guards let Forec pass without question. They had become accustomed to him. The same as they were accustomed to the other Council Mages no doubt. He followed the halls and passed through guarded doors until he reached the unadorned hall that led to the High Mage’s chamber.
Two new guards were stood outside, in the middle of the hallway. They were nothing like the other guards. Their demeanor was intense. They wore the same robes as the mages. And rather than a pike, they held only a staff. Unlike the others before, the two guards stopped Forec. One walked down the hall to the High Mage’s door and shook his head.
“High Mage Insmith Crissing is not in her chamber at the time, Council Mage,” the guard said. “What is the nature of your visit?”
“The High Mage called a Council meeting. I’m early,” Forec answered.
“We were not made aware of any such meeting,” the guard said. “You will have to wait until she arrives.”
“As fun as it would be to play this game with you two, I’ll go take a seat within her chamber. And the two of you will fuck off back to pretending you’re important,” Forec said.
“Let the boy pass,” the other guard said. “She’ll have us strung up if we do or don’t. He’s not worth our time.”
The guard stepped aside and allowed Forec to pass. He passed by the other who gave him a curt nod. He returned it, then stepped into the High Mage’s chamber and took a seat by her desk. The room was more or less empty as far as he was concerned. The occasional book or scroll dotted the worn wooden bookshelves. Two neat stacks of paper sat on either side of her desk, an inkwell and quill was on the right, next to the blank sheets of paper. For furniture, there was the chair behind her desk, plush and comfortable—faded from the decades of use she had gotten out of it—and two hard wooden chairs that felt more like torture devices than seats. It looked as stale as it smelled, years of dust had left a musty air, though it was appropriate when he considered whose chamber he was in.
He fidgeted and tapped his heel against the stone bricks beneath him, impatient and anxious. He couldn’t quite tell how long he had waited, but it felt to him like the meeting should have begun already. Patience was something he didn’t have much of. When he dealt with mages who had been alive for hundreds of years, it wasn’t hard for them to test his patience. They didn't view time the same way he did. He was young to them despite, though he was near the end of an average human’s life at around sixty years old. But that didn’t excuse what he saw as their laziness and chronic tardiness. Though, even the High Mage hadn’t yet arrived, so it was very likely he was impatient.
As Council Mages started to file in, Forec stood and walked to the corner of the room, behind the High Mage’s desk. It was proper to let the elder Council Mages sit. Besides that, he didn’t feel comfortable sat with his back to so many people. He listened as the mages talked. Some still on the same morbid topics of war and tragedy. But most of them complained about how the meeting disturbed heir schedule. He found it funny, none of the work they did was planned, nor did they have specific hours they were forced to keep. He would rather not have been in the same room as them, yet there he was. And he didn’t even have anyone to complain at.
When High Mage Insmith Crissing did make her eventual appearance, the room silenced. Heads bowed for her as she walked toward her desk. Her frail frame and small stature made her appear harmless, but she hid true danger beneath that guise. Insmith Crissing had lived for over a thousand years, most of them as High Mage. She hadn’t done so with many friends, either. She was a well of knowledge and power that had lived for centuries, and she wasn’t afraid to let anyone know of it. Her meager appearance was a front for even her physical strength. Forec knew all too well. She didn’t need to rely on the staff she used as a cane, nor did she need to rest every few steps. But it was a front that she wore with purpose.
When she reached her desk and sat in her chair, she refused to address the Council. Instead, she began to shuffle through the papers on her desk. She read them and took notes then placed them in a pile. She sighed and looked up at the gathered mages.
“I have received some word from Ters Versing, the King’s Hand of Auverance,” High Mage Insmith announced. “According to his men on the wall, a sort of rift opened, but not like one we've ever seen.”
“Are you sure it wasn’t just something the simpleton had never seen?” Council Mage Aeric asked.
“I’m sure the Captain of the Wall Guard has seen a rift in his life before, Aeric,” she said. “According to the report, the rift was taller than the surrounding trees and colored strangely.”
“So we’re basing this meeting off of the story of a non-gifted human?” another Council Mage, Risa Orvaun asked. “What a waste of my time. Are there any other stories that you would like to tell, Insmith? Perhaps you saw a pig flying amongst the peaks?”
“Risa, do I have to remind you of your place in this meeting?” The High Mage asked with a calm smile. “I would be more than happy to show you.”
The threat seemed to work on more than just the unruly Council Mage, as she and the rest of them bowed their heads. Forec grinned, it was hard not to, however improper it was. As much as he loathed how he was stuck under the thumb of the High Mage, she was more tolerable than any of the others on the Council in his opinion.
When satisfied with the response, Insmith continued. “From what I have been able to gather, it is my belief that the rift that has opened is not of this world. Whatever opened it or what their goals are, we cannot say. However, the very idea that we may have invaders from a foreign world is more than threat enough, in my opinion, to gather the world’s talents.”
“Are you truly suggesting creating another Mage’s Army?” Aeric asked. “The little goodwill we have managed to build over the past few centuries will be wasted.”
“I’d rather spend that goodwill creating our defenses than having the world be fond of us as it crumbles apart,” Insmith said and narrowed her eyes. “If you so wish to build a friendship with the Five you can meet with the kings yourself, Aeric. If I’m correct and something from off our world opened this rift, we will need more than just an army of talents.”
“What would you suggest then, Insmith?” Risa asked. “Should the mages train as well to face your imagined threat? Could you imagine what the Five would think if we were to begin preparing for a war?”
“Mages should prepare, yes,” the High Mage said. “They will be serving as leaders if this does come to war.”
“This has to be a joke,” Aeric said with a snort. “There’s no way you are suggesting that mages prepare for war. You don’t even know what this supposed enemy is.”
“Would it be so absurd if we were needed in war?” Insmith asked. “What is so wrong with preparing for this scenario? Should I be wrong, there is no repercussion, no one will punish us. How could they? Should I prove to be right, then the world will be forever in our debt.”
“This is absurd, Insmith,” Risa said.
“An absurd action for an absurd situation,” Insmith said. “All in favor of gathering the talents?”
Eight hands rose, Forec’s included. Only two stayed down.
/> “Then it is decided,” Insmith said, she nodded and grinned. “Forec, send out the signal. The talents will gather in Krux Aev’then.”
Freedic watched as the last villager was brought before the giant and pushed to her knees. She looked up just in time for the sword pierce through her and twist. There was nothing he could have done for them. He knew as much. It didn’t ease the guilt he felt.
At some point during the murders of the innocent villagers, the purple glow had faded away. Torches had been lit around the camp. Not quite as bright as the light from the rift had been, but still enough to see into their camp.
Many of the strange creatures had climbed into tents for the night, but the workers never slowed. They chopped at the trees through the night, and never stopped for a break. He saw the clearing grow into a full-blown camp, faster than he good imagine. Entire buildings were put together in what felt like less than an hour.
The camp, lit only by torches, began to glow a brilliant white. Too bright to have been the sun. And by the reaction of the workers within the camp, not of their creation.
He looked to the sky and saw a bright white orb high overhead. It shined brighter in the sky than even the nearby full moon. He recognized it. As a child in Krux Aev’then, he had been told of a signal to all mages and talents throughout the world. A signal to one and all that they would be gathered at the keep. You were to meet with your group of local talents and wait for contact from a mage. From there, you would soon be brought to their home, high in some unknown mountain range.
Under normal circumstances, there would be no reason for him to care about the signal. But he knew it would be related to what he had just witnessed. Damned mages, what had they done this time? He would have to go. Back into the torturous pit that was Krux Aev’then. Now he just needed to get back to the wall and hope the talents on the Wall Guard would respond to the call.
Homecoming (Homecoming Chonicles Book 1) Page 2