by Matt Heppe
Cam shook his head. “And yet you attack anyway?”
“I know what I’m doing, Nidon. I won’t throw this chance away. Come, it’s time to attack.”
Open fields surrounded by low stone walls surrounded the burning village. Ayja saw the unluks as she approached. They were not so much small as hunched over, with long arms that reached almost to the ground. They ran with an odd, skipping stride that would have been comical under other circumstances.
Morin ordered everyone to stay low, and they advanced bent double, keeping below the height of the fieldstone walls. “Do they have archers?” Ayja whispered to Morin.
“No, they have poor eyesight. They throw javelins and fight with axes and hammers.”
Closer now, Ayja made out the pig-faces and long tusks of the unluks. They were hideous creatures, more beast than man. They wore clothes though, and many wore aketons or even scale brigandines.
The unluks were mostly gathered in the center of the village, where they had prisoners gathered. Ayja heard a scream and saw an unluk kill a young prisoner, a boy with his hands bound behind his back. Then, to her horror, they butchered him and threw his severed limbs into the remains of a burning cottage. Other unluks feasted on human flesh they had already roasted there.
Nearby four unluks held down a naked woman while a fifth raped her. She didn’t even struggle, or couldn’t against the combined strength of her attackers. All this happened while the rest of the prisoners stood huddled against the wall of an unburned building. Unluks with short spears held them at bay.
Ayja felt rage growing within her. Not just anger, but the silver rage that filled her with power. She had to stop them. Ayja started forward, but Morin held her back.
“Wait,” he said. He looked off to his left as a late coming pyren and ghuls gathered at the last stone wall.
“We can’t wait!” she said. “Look at what they’re doing!”
“We must win the fight if we’re to stop them.”
Ayja tried to pull away from him, but he held her fast as he glanced off to the right. Furious at being restrained, Ayja almost struck Morin’s hand when he commanded, “Now!”
Morin stood and drew his longsword. “Forward, pyren!”
Ayja leapt over the wall and charged at the unluks raping the villager. Her opponents leapt to their feet and scrambled for their weapons. Ayja had half expected them to run away at the sudden attack, but none did.
“Wait, Ayja!” Cam called from behind her. She ignored him. Ten strides from the nearest unluk, she hurled her spear at him, burying it deep in his chest.
Two unluk rushed Ayja as she drew her sword. Cam’s thrown javelin killed one. The second ran at her, screaming a high-pitched cry like a pig’s squeal. Ayja parried the unluk’s hammer and then struck it a hard blow in the shoulder. Her blade sank deep, but the unluk still came on. She drove a thrust into its chest and it went down.
Cam and Morin dispatched the other two. Ayja ran to the woman, who had curled into a ball on the ground. “You’re safe now,” Ayja said. “They’re dead.”
The woman sobbed and made no reply.
“Ayja! Come, there’s no time for her right now,” Morin said. Ghuls and pyren raced past, throwing themselves at unluks. Some unluks stood and fought only to be dragged down by ghuls or slain by pyren. Others, realizing their fate, ran.
Behind Morin, Ayja saw the prisoners. One had been stabbed by an unluk, while others cowered against the cottage. The unluk seemed intent on killing more. “I’ll be back,” Ayja told the woman. Ayja ran into the village. A ghul got to the unluk she was charging and leapt upon its back. The unluk twisted and turned, trying to throw the ghul, but then another ghul arrived, tackling the unluk and throwing all three to the ground.
The prisoners broke and ran.
“No! Stop!” Ayja shouted. “Don’t run!”
Her cries had no effect. The terrified villagers ran into the darkness. Ayja saw two of them set upon by ghuls. “Stop them!” Ayja shouted at Morin. “The ghuls are attacking the villagers.”
“There’s nothing we can do now,” Morin said. “We must kill the unluks first.”
“There!” she pointed. A man was pinned to the ground, desperately holding off a ghul. Ayja ran to the man and kicked the ghul in the ribs. The blow threw the ghul clear, but it immediately scrambled to all fours and prepared to attack her.
Ayja raised her sword, but then Morin was there. “Go!” he commanded the ghul. “Kill the unluks. Devour them,” he said.
The ghul cowered at his presence and then ran off. Ayja helped the villager to his feet. He was a young man, her age or a little older, with a thin beard and tattered, bloodstained clothes. “Thank you,” he said. He cringed back from Morin.
Chilling howls emanated from the far side of town. “Lord Adun’s ghuls have attacked,” Morin said. “I want to find the unluk’s commander, if he still lives.”
“No,” Ayja said, “we have to check on the woman back there,”
“I don’t have time for that.”
“Watch him, Cam.” Ayja said, motioning to the villager. She ran back towards the edge of the village.
“Come back!” Cam shouted. “Wait!”
Ayja turned the corner of a cottage and saw the woman where she had left her. The woman was dead now, though, her throat torn out. A ghul ran into the darkness. “No…,” Ayja whispered.
She heard footsteps coming up behind her. Cam was there with the young man. Morin was close behind them. The villager cried out in anguish and ran up to the woman, throwing himself on her.
“This is your army?” Ayja shouted to Morin. “I saved her only to have your ghuls kill her?”
“It’s unfortunate,” Morin said, “but this is war. Terrible things happen in war.”
“Unfortunate? You created this!” She swept her arms to encompass the entire village. “You dismiss the terrible things you do because you say it is in the name of justice and goodness, but look what you leave in your path!”
“I didn’t do this!” Morin said, his voice rising with each word. “Cragor caused it, and I will end it. Come.” He walked away.
“It’s always someone else’s fault,” Ayja said to his back. “You should look in a mirror more often. You wouldn’t like what you see.”
“I might look different, but I am the same man I always was,” he said over his shoulder.
“What of this man? We can’t abandon him.”
Morin called one of his pyren closer. “Keep that man safe from ghuls and then rejoin us.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“That’s not good enough,” Ayja said.
“It has to be. Come, we have a war to fight. Sal-Oras and Cragor are both near.”
Chapter Twenty-five
The first well-established land Telea and her companions came to was that of Earl Crane and his barons. They moved slower now, dodging villages and manors and passing through rougher terrain. Twice they were spotted by peasants who fled at the sight of them.
“There’s nothing to be done for it,’ Sulentis said. “We can’t make it to Sal-Oras entirely unseen.”
“We could move onto the open road and travel in plain sight,” Fendal said. “We could pass as two South Teren nobles and a retinue of hired Landomeri.”
“I’d have to shave my scholar’s beard,” Sulentis said. “And without it, I’m afraid I’ll be recognized.”
“Well… you could be a member of my retinue, Your Highness.” He paused a moment. “It would only be a subterfuge,” he added.
“Merchants,” Escalan said. “We can pass ourselves off as horse traders. We certainly have a herd of them now. Sulentis is a scholar traveling with us.”
“It’s a good plan,” Sulentis said. “There’s certainly risk to it, traveling in the open, but we can’t keep skulking along as we have been.”
The plan worked remarkably well and was a lot more comfortable than camping in the woods. Telea played the part of a south Kiremi, which they
used as an excuse for her dark complexion. Apparently no one in Salador, at least this part of Salador, had any idea what a real Kiremi looked like.
To be honest, neither did Telea. Sindi drew more attention as a woman in armor, even if it was just a quilted aketon, and bearing arms. They finally decided that she could no longer play the part of a Landomeri guard and purchased a Saladoran dress for her.
Fendal made a good horse merchant. At least he played the part well. Their spare horses didn’t make a particularly great appearance, and they had few offers. He did manage to sell three of the inquisitors horses. Fendal didn’t encourage buyers though, saying that the horses were destined for the Sal-Oras market.
Telea had done her share of living out of doors over the past year. While it wasn’t as comfortable as a home, she certainly appreciated the barn they slept in that night. A heavy rain pounded on the barn roof, but it was sturdily built, and no rain came in. All were present except for Fendal. Playing the role of the merchant meant staying in the manor house.
“We’re almost there,” Sulentis said. They gathered in the hayloft where they would sleep. Their horses shuffled in the stables below. “Another day and we could ride through the gates of Sal-Oras.”
“We could,” Orlos said, “but we won’t.”
Sulentis shook his head. “We’ll ride closer to Sal-Oras but stop at a small village on the riverbank. Calen and Sindi will stay there, on the south bank, with all of our horses. They’ll keep the horses ready because we will return near dawn and must be ready for a rapid escape.”
“I have to stay with Orlos,” Calen said. “I need to keep him safe.”
Sulentis held up his hand. “This is the plan. I’ve thought it through.”
Calen shook his head. He was about to speak when Orlos said, “Let’s hear him through, Calen. Go on, Sulentis.”
“In the village I’ll buy or rent a boat. We’ll use it to cross the Treteren to the north bank.”
“How do you know there’ll be a boat?” Sindi asked. “Or that they’ll sell it to you?”
“I have gold,” Sulentis said. “They’ll sell because I’ll make it worth their while. When we’re across the river, Escalan and Telea will stay on the bank and watch the boat. No fires and no camp. Be ready to shove off at any moment.”
“You’ll leave me behind?” Escalan asked. “I should be with you.”
Sulentis took a deep breath. “You too? How about I scrap my plan and we all ride through the front gate together?”
Escalan grimaced. “My apologies. I just want to be there.”
“I know, Rayne. But everyone has a task, and there are certain things only some of us can do.”
“So I’m Rayne again, Your Majesty?”
“No, Rayne, you will still be Escalan for a little longer.” Sulentis sighed and wiped his hand across his brow. “This is like herding a pack of wild boar.” Telea gave him a smile of encouragement. “You have no objections?” he asked her.
“I’ll have the boat ready to go,” she said. “I’m just happy that this will come to pass. Forsvar must go east…Your Majesty.”
He nodded as he turned away and paced in front of them. “Now, this leaves Orlos, Fendal, and me for the final part of our task. Queen Ilana doesn’t know elementar magic. Not well, at least. Her chambers are very high in the Great Keep. She thinks them so high that no elementar can jump up to the window.”
Sulentis smiled. “In that she’s correct. But she doesn’t know how well elementars can climb. Fendal and I will use our magic to create hand and foot holds.”
“How high is it?” Orlos asked.
“A good forty strides.”
“Whew, that’s a long way to fall.”
“You’ll be fine. It will be as easy as climbing a ladder. Now, there’s one place where there will be some danger. There are patrols on the wall. I’ll use my magic to silence any guard there. From that point we’ll have to move quickly up the final climb.
“Outside of Queen Ilana’s room, there’s a balcony. She keeps Forsvar on a hook above her headboard. Orlos, this is when your job begins. You’ll sneak into the room and take Forsvar. As quickly as possible, you must bring it to me. Once I have Forsvar we can make our escape.”
“She’ll be alone?”
“What? Of course. She hasn’t remarried.” Sulentis said, his eyes narrowed.
Orlos raised his hands in surrender. “It’s not the same in Landomere. I wouldn’t care if she did have someone there. I just want to know what I’m getting into.”
“No. She’ll be alone.”
“Good. It makes my job easier.”
“And then we’ll head for Belen?” Telea asked. “It’s urgent we go right away. If the wards fail—”
“Yes—yes,” Sulentis waved a dismissive hand at her. “We’ll go right away. And once your issue is resolved I’ll return to my throne.”
Telea tried to hide her anger. “It isn’t my issue. This is a threat to the entire world.”
“Of course,” Sulentis said. “I know that.”
He lies, Telea’s demon said. He isn’t very good at it. None of the people here are.
What do you mean? She replied.
He doesn’t want to help you.
“You said you’ll return to your throne,” Orlos said, “but will your mother give it up? My mother says Queen Ilana is very attached to it.”
Sulentis’s face clouded over. “She won’t have a choice. I’ll have Forsvar. And when I’m king, I’ll set things right.”
“Will you attempt to get back the Orb of Creation?” Telea asked.
“I will. Queen Ilana would never let Forsvar leave her side. It has been a part of her for seventeen years. She should have let Champion Nidon keep it. He would have defeated Cragor and taken the Orb.”
“Who is this person? Champion Nidon?” Telea asked.
“He was the greatest knight in Salador,” Escalan said. “I was his page. He took the Godshield from King Boradin’s hands at the Battle of King’s Crossing and turned the tide of battle. Some say he killed Akinos—”
“But it was Hadde the Landomeri who did it,” Calen cut in.
“Which I was just about to say,” Escalan shot back. “Champion Nidon never claimed credit.”
“What happened to them? To Nidon and Hadde.”
“My uncle, Morin, always challenged my father’s right to be king,” Sulentis said. “Hadde had a child by Morin, and my mother feared the girl would rise up a challenge to her rule. The girl, I forget her name—”
“Enna,” Calen said, his face red with anger.
“That’s right, I knew it. Enna was taken hostage by a Saladoran Baron—”
“Orlos was taken as well,” Calen said.
“Do you wish to tell the story?” Sulentis snapped.
“Yes. I was there.” Calen said, glaring at the prince. He turned to Telea. “Hadde and I set off after the raiders. Orlos’s mother, Maret, was taken with the two children as well. We pursued them through the forest but couldn’t stop them from leaving Landomere.
“By the time more Landomeri arrived, our people were held in a Saladoran castle. We attacked and freed Maret and Orlos, but Enna was taken away by the queen’s varcolac.”
Calen paused, staring down into the hay. Sindi moved closer to him and put her arm around his shoulder. “Hadde went after the varcolac alone. There was a battle going on, and we didn’t know she had left. She chased seven varcolac on her own.” Calen’s voice grew quieter. “She caught them and fought them all by herself… I wish I had been there. She died fighting the varcolac.” Calen stopped talking.
Telea watched him waiting for him to continue, but he wouldn’t speak. In the dark of the hayloft, with only one dim lantern lighting the space, it was impossible to make out his face. She thought he might be crying, or near to it. It surprised her. For the entire journey he’d been a stoic warrior. He seemed a hard man.
“Can I finish the story?” Orlos asked. Calen nodded but didn’
t look up. “When our people got to the scene of the fight, Enna was gone, but Hadde lay there surrounded by her dead foes. Arno, Calen, and the other hunters thought at first that one of the varcolac had survived and had taken Enna to the queen. But then they saw signs that someone else had been there, fighting the varcolac.
“My stepfather, Kael joined the search later. He learned that Sir Nidon had been there searching for Hadde. We think Nidon took Enna away into hiding.”
“Why didn’t he bring her to Landomere?”
“We don’t know. Neither has been seen of again.”
“Nidon was a great man,” Escalan said. “If he set his mind to saving that girl, nothing would have stopped him.”
They’re dead, the demon said. This queen took them and killed them, and their bodies are gone.
You know that? You don’t know it!
They speak their hopes and dreams and not the reality of this world. She felt the demon’s contempt.
“If they’re hiding from the queen, they might come out when you become king,” Telea said.
“I will send out a proclamation urging them to do it,” Sulentis said. “I loved Champion Nidon. And I hold no grudge against Enna. I’ll welcome her as family.”
“What became of Prince Morin?”
“Almost two years earlier, Akinos had captured Morin and Hadde. Morin was transformed by Akinos into an eternal knight—a creature of great magical power, but a slave to Akinos. He was at the castle when Orlos was rescued, but then he disappeared. Once in a long while there are rumors of eternal knights being seen, but nothing is ever confirmed.”
“So he lives yet?” Telea asked. “As one of these eternal knights?”
Sulentis shrugged. “No one has seen him. I expect he’s still alive.”
“You have quite the family,” Calen said. “Your uncle abandoned us at the castle when we needed him most. And you mother…what good can be said of her?”
“She’s not a bad person. She’s just afraid.”
Calen choked out a laugh. “No, she’s not evil. She only sends her men to capture innocent children and to murder elementars. No, a nice woman indeed.”