An Empire in Runes (The Runes of Issalia Book 3)

by Jeffrey L. Kohanek

  Benny looked at the flying machine, caressing the frame with a hand. “I’m going to find Ashland. I have some very special enhancements to make before this thing is ready to fly, and I need her help to get them done. I’m afraid it will take days of effort on her part, so I must get her started right away. Once she is set, I’ll come find you in the Foundry.”

  * * *

  The door above clicked closed, the sound echoing throughout the Arena over the low hum of conversation surrounding Cameron. He glanced toward the door and found two students descending the steps that ran between the tiered rows of benches. When they reached the narrow stairwell that led to the arena floor, he glanced up at the ceiling. Through glass panels, four stories above, the darkening sky revealed that nightfall was upon them. It was time.

  He turned to find Tegan staring at him. A wave of discomforted caused him to flinch inwardly, but he resisted looking away.

  “It looks like the sun has set. Is this everyone?” he asked.

  Tegan’s gaze swept across the crowd of students before she shrugged. “I guess. While I had hoped for more, some surely decided not to show. I just hope they keep their mouths shut.”

  As she finished the last sentence, her hand strayed to rest on the pommel of the sword on her hip. She wore two of them, hoping that the weapons would help communicate the serious nature of what they were about to propose. The fact that she and Cam were both armed with steel was enough to get the students’ attention. They likely hadn’t seen anything but wooden weapons during their stay at the Academy.

  Cam’s gaze shifted from Tegan to the crowd before him. He swallowed hard, clawing at his shell of quiet insecurity as he gathered his courage. A mere year earlier, he had faced and defeated every foe in a series of duals within this very building. He recalled the roar of the crowd and the thrill he had felt when Headmaster Vandermark slid the Arena Champion medal around his neck. Throughout that event, he had been calm and collected, trusting in his skill. Even during the attack of the banshee’s cave in the wooded hills of Kalimar, he did not feel the sharp fear he felt now. Somehow, the thought of having to speak to a crowd of more than seventy students frightened him more than facing ten-foot tall monsters.

  However, Cam believed in duty and honor, and it was his responsibility to gather an army of warriors. Brock was counting on him. More importantly, Puri was counting on him. Inspired by wishing to make Puri proud, he gripped his sword. Amazingly, his sense of fear and insecurity evaporated, replaced by calm resolve. The Calm, Cam thought. That’s how his father earned his name.

  Cam looked about, clearing his throat loudly to capture the crowd’s attention. “Thanks for coming…” he stopped, frowning as most of the students continued with their chatter.

  Tegan drew a sword, holding it up as she shouted. “Stop your yapping! Have some respect!”

  Those standing near her took a step back as the crowd fell silent. Tegan glared at them for another moment before spinning toward Cam. A smirk tugged on her lips as she winked at him.

  “Thanks, Tegan.” Cam whispered before speaking more loudly. “Thank you for coming. I’m sure you’re wondering why you’re here.”

  He had been struggling with where to begin, how to get their buy-in. After some thought, he decided to be direct. “I’m here to ask your help to save the Empire from an invasion. As we speak, a foreign army is killing the men, women, and children of the Empire. I need your help to stop them or everyone will die. Everyone.”

  Stunned silence fell over the crowd, none making a noise or movement for a number of seconds until a boisterous laughter burst forth.

  Tegan’s face clouded. “Is there something funny about this, Ian?”

  Ian’s laughter simmered and the tall red-haired boy responded, “Good joke, guys. Who is going to attack the Empire? The Tantarri are too few, and there is no other army besides our own.”

  Cam glanced at Tegan, then back to Ian. “Unfortunately, you’re wrong. There is another army, one that the Empire has faced before.” He needed them to believe. This was the hard part. “The Banished Horde has returned. I know you’re from Sol Polis, Ian.” Cam stepped closer to the boy, putting a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry, but the city has been destroyed. Everyone who was there is dead, dead at the hands of The Horde.”

  The mirth on Ian’s face slid away. “What are you talking about?”

  “I was there when The Horde attacked. We were lucky and escaped on a ship, but most of the citizens were trapped within the city,” Cam explained. “When we returned a few days later, Sol Polis was in ruins, littered with corpses. It was horrible.”

  Gasps and cries arose from the crowd. Ian’s face darkened, growing angry. His hands lunged out, thrusting into Cam’s chest as he shoved him back a step. “You’re lying!”

  Cam understood. He wouldn’t want to believe it if someone told him that Nor Torin had been destroyed and his family was now dead.

  “I wish it weren’t true, Ian. Unfortunately, wishing it doesn’t make it so.” Cam said. “Sol Polis is not the only city destroyed. By now, other eastern cities have fallen to this dark army.”

  More gasps and cries of disbelief came from the crowd. A few of the girls and one boy began to weep openly.

  “We must band together and help to stop this force. They will soon march west on a mission to crush the western cities as well. This is not just about the Empire. It is a fight to save humanity. I have more to tell you.”

  The crowd quieted, listening intently. Cam swallowed hard, ready to reveal the darkest truth. “The Horde is not made of men but is instead made of banshees, horrible monsters from some dark origin. They are giants, standing ten feet tall. When they scream, a fear can grip you and cause you to freeze rather than fight back. With sharp talons at the end of six-foot long arms, they can take your face clean off with a single swipe.” He paused, readying himself to the last bit. The part that might sap the hope right from these people. His voice quieted as he struggled to say it. “Worse yet, they eat their victims, even if they’re still alive.”

  Silent shock gripped those before him, images of this vile act now dancing in their heads.

  As if he had forgotten, Cam added one last thing. “And this army of giant monsters numbers in the thousands.”

  * * *

  Fumbling in the dark, Ashland found the handle and pulled the stall door open. She cringed when a small squeak echoed in the quiet Engineering Yard. The door opened to reveal the blue light of a glowlamp, illuminating a stall that held the flying machine but otherwise appeared empty.

  “Benny?” Ashland whispered.

  A head of thick brown hair popped up from behind the machine, revealing Benny’s grinning face. “Ashland! I’m glad you’re here.”

  “The note you left on Fion’s door said it was urgent,” she replied.

  Benny nodded emphatically as he circled about the flying machine. He absently pushed his rectangular spectacles up as he responded.

  “Have you been able to gather some of the healers?”

  She nodded. “Yes. All but one student has agreed to come with. I’d like to get her to come as well, but she is quite timid. Still, ten more healers is better than none.”

  “Good,” Benny replied. “I need your help to finish my masterpiece.” His hand patted the frame of the contraption that occupied most of the huge stall.

  With her brow furrowed, Ashland said, “I’m not very good at engineering Benny. I don’t think I’ll be much help with your flying machine.”

  Benny shook his head, rocking his shoulders in his odd way as he spoke. “It has nothing to do with engineering. I need you and your ability to channel Chaos. I plan to use Infusion to make this thing lighter and t
o augment its power.”

  Ashland blinked, shifting her gaze to the flying machine. What Benny proposed was an interesting idea. In fact, it was genius. As she scanned it, she noted the different components that formed his invention.

  “But this thing has too many pieces, Benny. Using Infusion will only affect the piece with the charged rune. It won’t work.”

  A big grin spread across Benny’s face. “That’s why I’ve been working on adding runes to every single part of the machine.”

  Ashland nodded, thinking that Benny’s idea might work. Then she thought of how long it took to perform Infusion on non-living things. Without access to the Order within a life force, each piece would take an hour and then she would need time to recover.

  “Benny, it’ll take days. In fact, it could take weeks.”

  Benny put a hand on her shoulder. “That’s why you must get started now.”

  Her eyes locked with his. “But, we are to leave for the plains in two days.”

  He shook his head and stepped away, his hand sliding along the frame of the flying machine as he spoke.

  “Not us. We stay until this thing is ready. When it is, we’ll fly a direct route to the plains and catch up to the army. What will take them a week or more should take us just a day or two.”

  She considered the idea and decided that he had a point. It could work. “I assume you have some plan to use this thing against The Horde then?”

  Benny grinned; his smile so wide that she feared it might split his face. “Oh, yeah I do.” He nodded. “Nindlerod and Karl are working on something for me right now. Once I get you started here, I’m going to help them.”

  After turning the idea over in her head one last time, Ashland sighed. “Fine. Tell me where to start.”

  * * *

  Cam watched the last two Paladin students heft their new weapons, examining them as they stepped from the armory and onto the arena floor. They each held a short sword in one hand, a shield in the other, and carried a metal-plated leather cuirass under their arm. When they were halfway to the stairs, far enough away that the others couldn’t hear him, he turned toward Tegan and Ulric.

  “What do you guys think? Did everyone buy it, and will they keep this a secret until we leave?”

  Ulric shrugged, his thick shoulders making the motion seem odd. Upon one finger, the tall boy spun the key ring with the armory and arena keys on it.

  “I don’t know, Cam,” Ulric replied. “They sure were excited to get their hands on real weapons, though.”

  With a glance around the armory, Cam found it now quite picked-over. All but three of the students had agreed to join him, eager to put their skills to the test. He feared that the idea of fighting some faceless monsters from elsewhere instilled false bravado within them, seeming too much like a dream. The brutal reality would not hit them until they were on the field of battle, and he feared that they might not be ready for it.

  Tegan tapped on the hilt of one of her swords, “Once you got through to them, they appeared eager and ready to fight. However, we don’t leave for two days. I hope we don’t lose any to second thoughts or to loose lips between now and then.”

  Cam nodded in agreement, deciding that Tegan had just voiced his exact fears.

  CHAPTER 17

  “I want to thank you for taking such an active lead in the training,” Brock said as he passed beneath the gate.

  His gaze swept across the canyon, still blanketed in shadow although the sky above glowed a bright blue. The air was cold and crisp, but Brock expected that he would need to shed his cloak once the sun was able to do its work.

  “It’s the least I can do,” Salina replied. “The little I’ve done for them still pales in comparison for what you’ve done for me.” She added. “For all of us.”

  They continued walking down the road as the compound faded behind them. A massive blur of black suddenly sped past as Wraith raced down the road. Brock watched her angle to the south, and his eyes sought the source of her motivation. A copse of scrub halfway between the road and the canyon wall shifted and a large bird emerged at a run. Wings flapped and the bird took to the air, its panicked fluttering taking it about fifty feet before it slowly plummeted.

  In the meantime, Wraith was rapidly closing the gap to her quarry. The jackaroo ran a bit and took to the air again. Too large and heavy for true flight, the bird fluttered and squawked in fear just before Wraith reached it. Her huge jaw clamped onto the bird’s neck as she spun about. With massive force, she jerked her head and snapped the jackaroo’s neck in a single motion.

  “That’s amazing,” Salina said as she watched the scene unfold. “She’s quite the hunter.”

  Brock nodded. “Yes. She takes great pride and pleasure in it, too.”

  They continued walking as Wraith padded across the canyon floor to meet them at the road. When she reached it, she set the dead jackaroo in the dirt and sat to wait for Brock and Salina to arrive.

  Brock smiled. “I don’t need it, Wraith.” He pointed at the jackaroo and nodded. “You go ahead and eat it.”

  The dog’s head tilted in question.

  “Go on. I’m fine,” Brock said.

  Wraith tore into the bird, eating heartily as Brock and Salina passed by. They continued walking as Brock sought a good location for their experiment.

  When they had gone about a mile, Brock angled toward an outcropping of rocks that lay just north of the road.

  He stopped as just short of the outcropping. “This should be good.”

  Brock withdrew a piece of paper from his coat pocket and handed it to Salina before he bent over to heft a rock half the size of a person’s head. He turned toward her, holding the rock against his chest.

  He nodded toward the paper and spoke. “Use the coal I asked you to bring and draw this rune on the rock.”

  Salina’s brow arched. “You still haven’t told me what it does.”

  Brock smiled. “I don’t want to spoil the surprise.”

  “You’re incorrigible.” She shook her head, smiling as she pulled a lump of coal from her pocket.

  Holding the paper up with one hand, Salina traced the rune on the flattest side of the rock. By the time she was finished, Brock was straining to hold the heavy rock steady.

  “Okay,” Salina said as she stepped back and held the paper up for Brock to see. “What do you think?”

  Brock looked at the paper and then glanced down at the rock. The two runes matched.

  “Looks good,” he replied.

  Turning, Brock walked a couple steps to create ample room before he set the rock on the ground. He turned and walked back to stand beside Salina.

  “Would you like to try it first?” Brock asked.

  Salina turned toward him and with her amber eyes alight. “This is a new rune? One you haven’t even tried yet, right?”

  Brock nodded. “That’s right. I’ve some idea of what it does from the references in the journal, but seeing runes in action is always more impressive than reading about it.”

  “So I can be the first to try it?” she asked again.

  Brock laughed. “Yes. I figure it’s the least I can do to reward you for how much help you’ve been.”

  Salina was positively glowing, smiling in delight at the idea. She turned and stared at the rune as the rising sun emerged over the eastern hills and bathed the rock in bright morning light. Closing her eyes, the smile melted and her face became one of concentration. Moments became minutes by the time her eyes flashed open. Brock shifted his focus from her to the rock and saw the rune begin to glow bright red. It pulsed for a moment and the rock began to shake
as the glow faded.

  Brock put his arm about Salina’s shoulders and began walking her backward.

  “What are you doing? Is this dangerous?” she asked.

  “I’m afraid it might just need a bit more space,” Brock replied.

  A groaning and creaking sound came from the rock and it began to grow. Outward and upward, the rock doubled, quadrupled, and continued to grow. By the time it stopped, the rock had become a boulder that stood ten feet tall and weighed tons.

  Salina’s eyes were like saucers as she stared at the boulder in shock.

  “Wow,” Brock mumbled. “This could be useful.”

  * * *

  Wraith bounded through the gate, passing Brock and Salina as they returned to the compound. When they had left, the sleepy camp had been quiet with just a handful of people out and moving about. In contrast, the place was now active and alive with people working in groups on various projects as they prepared for the upcoming journey and battle.

  Parker emerged from one such group, followed by Patrice as they crossed the compound yard. Brock slowed as Parker reached him.

  “Where were you two?” Parker asked.

  Brock glanced toward Salina before responding. “We were testing a new rune. I think it will prove useful in our fight.”

  Parker’s eyes flicked to Salina, who gave a shy smile and a shrug. Parker’s brow furrowed, his mouth turning to a frown.

  Patrice stepped beside Parker. “Excuse me, Sir Brock. I was hoping to get a quick measurement for something I am sewing.”

  “You want to measure me?” Brock asked.

  The short woman nodded, a lock of her brown hair falling over her face. She absently tucked the loose hair behind an ear and held up a length of rope marked with black lines.