A Gathering of Armies

by Christopher Williams

  Blinking, and looking totally dumbfounded, the boy took the offered hand and Enton pulled him up.

  “We have to get off the beach. It’s not safe here.” He motioned toward the woman. “Help me carry her to the tree line.”

  The boy tried, but Enton carried most of the woman’s weight. She wasn’t heavy, but they were both exhausted. However they managed to move her to a clump of bushes. The two men collapsed on the ground on either side of her.

  “Why’d the crocodiles help you?” Enton asked, when he quit breathing so hard.

  The boy remained silent.

  Enton pushed himself up onto an elbow. “My name’s Enton. What’s yours?”

  “Reega.”

  Enton nodded to himself. “I have some friends who met a young man named Reega in the forests of Dalar. That wouldn’t by chance be you, would it?”

  Reega stared at Enton like he couldn’t understand him. “What friends?”

  “My fellow Guardians; Trestus, Derek, Kara, and an elf named Enstorion.”

  Reega’s eyes got very bright and tears began to run down his cheeks. Finally he nodded. “Yes, I met them.”

  “They said you could talk to animals.” Enton waved his hands in the general direction of the shore. “Is that why they carried you here?”

  Reega nodded.

  “Which way you headed?”

  Reega shrugged. “I don’t know. We were planning on returning to the forest, but I think every damn goblin that was ever born is between us and there.”

  Enton nodded. “Well, why don’t you come to Telur with me?”

  “Telur?” Reega replied, wide-eyed.

  “Yes. A friend of yours name Leela is there. You two would be welcome.”

  Reega appeared to consider. “I can’t answer until she comes around,” he said.

  “That’s fine,” Enton replied. He lay his head back and could feel sleep stealing over him. “Plenty of time for decisions to be made later,” he mumbled and then was fast asleep.

  Enton awoke and rolled over. Reega slept several feet away from him, curled up in a small ball. Something didn’t seem quite right, but it took his sleep-addled brain a moment to realize what it was; when they had laid down, the woman had been between them.

  He pushed himself up, into a seated position. His knife was no longer in its sheath, rather the knife was in the woman’s hand who sat across from him, watching him intently.

  “Who are you?” she demanded.

  Enton swallowed hard, realizing that he was at a distinct disadvantage. “My name is Enton,” he said slowly, holding his hands in front of him. “We have friends in common.”

  “Oh,” Karina asked, “and who might that be?”

  “My fellow Guardians,” Enton answered, “people you know as Derek, Kara, Trestus and an elf named Enstorion.”

  The talk roused Reega and he sat up. His hair stuck out at all angles, but he didn’t seem to care. “Karina …” he began.

  “Quiet!” she hissed. She turned her attention back to Enton. “So you know Trestus, do you?” Enton nodded and she continued, “What did he tell you about me?”

  For the briefest of moments, Enton considered lying. Trestus had not enjoyed his time among the wildlings and his opinions of these two had been less than stellar.

  Karina seemed to sense his unease. “Go on,” she said, “tell me the truth. I’ll know if you’re lying.”

  Enton sighed deeply and then plunged in. “Trestus said you could use some quality time alone with a good man.” He paused and then added the following, “That is, if you can find a good man who can put up with you.”

  Karina didn’t say anything for a moment, instead she just watched him. Finally, she nodded and held the knife out to him, hilt-first. “That sounds like something he would say about me.”

  Slowly, cautiously, Enton took the knife from her.

  “Karina,” Reega said, appearing relieved, “they started the fire on the bridge that we saw.”

  “They?” Karina asked, looking around dramatically for someone else.

  “My partner and I used the river to escape,” Enton said in explanation. “I have to meet up with him before we head to Telur.”

  Karina nodded. “We’ll just take our leave of you and return to the forest.”

  “I don’t think we can,” Reega said slowly. “The southern shore of the Adelion is covered in goblins. I don’t see how we can get back home right now.”

  Karina stared at him. This appeared to be news to her.

  “You’re welcome to come with us to Telur,” Enton told her. “Leela is there and we’re preparing for war.”

  Karina looked from Reega to Enton and then back to the boy. Finally she nodded her head.

  Enton led Reega and Karina west in the afternoon. They traveled slowly, as their bodies were still exhausted from the long swim in the Adelion. They only walked a few hours that first day, before making camp in a comfortable grove of trees.

  The second day they made better time, but still found themselves being pushed first north and then back south. Several times they had to stop and backtrack, but they managed.

  None of them had any provisions and Reega looked scandalized when Enton suggested he call some animals to them so they could eat. In the end, Karina caused a few plants to bloom and they enjoyed the fruit. It wasn’t exactly a feast but as they were hungry the food was wonderful.

  They traveled slowly, both due to their own exhaustion and the wild forest. Atock and Enton had made the trip in four days, but it took him and the two wildlings five days to make it back to the small farm where he and Atock had left their horses. They wandered into the abandoned farm in the mid-afternoon. Enton looked around eagerly for Atock, but there wasn’t any sign of him. Still, he was pleased to see the four horses grazing in the field.

  They stopped at the edge of the trees, looking out over the abandoned farm. There wasn’t any indication that anyone had been here since he, Atock, and Gilga had left the place. Still, something didn’t feel quite right.

  “I was wondering what happened to you,” a voice called out from behind them.

  All three of them spun to see Atock sitting high on a tree branch, looking down on them. He grinned at Enton. “I see you’ve made friends.”

  Enton motioned to the two wildlings. “This is Karina and Reega. They’re wildlings like Leela. They helped Derek’s group. They’re coming with us to Telur.”

  Atock studied the two and then nodded. “Well, I guess it’s a good thing that Gilga left us all four horses.”

  Chapter 33

  Flare was still sitting on his rock, and still holding his head with both hands, the next morning when Keenan woke up.

  “Are you asleep?” Keenan asked as he climbed up from his blankets.

  Slowly raising his head, Flare stared out from between his fingers.

  “Gods above!” Keenan exclaimed, catching sight of Flare. “What happened to you? You look horrible.” He moved closer and then added, “Did you fall into the lake?”

  Flare looked down at his clothes, just then realizing that they were still damp and that pieces of moss hung from his left arm. He considered answering the question but decided against it.

  “The Elven Guard will stop us today,” Flare said quietly.

  Keenan stopped in his tracks, apparently trying to make sense of the words. “The guard? Today? Are you sure?” he asked.

  “Yes,” Flare answered, remembering not to nod. His head felt better but the movement would still cause it to ache.

  “What’s our plan?” Keenan asked. “Do you think they’ll still take us to your grandfather?”

  Grimacing, Flare shrugged. “Who’s to say, but I’ve been warned that we are not to resist; at least not until I see someone that I recognize.”

  “Warned? By who?”

  Flare opened his mouth to answer and then paused. How did you answer a question like that? The truth was that a long-dead king had warned him not to resist, but that sounde
d pure crazy. However, there was another reason; Phillip had warned him he would be betrayed again. He hated the thought that crossed his mind then; Could it be Keenan? He glanced up and could see Keenan getting angry. He didn’t like having secrets kept from him.

  “What? Do you still doubt me?” Keenan demanded. “I’ve given up everything to follow you. I’m the last one who wants you to fail.”

  Still unsure of who he could trust and hating himself for even thinking that, Flare decided that you have to trust someone. Besides, Keenan hadn’t given him the first reason to doubt him. “Osturlius himself warned me,” Flare said softly.

  Keenan blinked at him stupidly for a moment, and then his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

  “I’m telling you the truth,” Flare said, starting to get a bit angry himself. Nothing like being forced into telling the truth, and then not being believed.

  “Osturlius? You mean the last member of the Dragon Order?” Keenan asked.

  “The very same,” Flare replied. “He warned me last night that we had to be meek, at least for now.”

  “Uh, yuck.”

  Flare laughed out loud at Keenan’s opinion of being meek; it happened to be his opinion as well.

  “Meek, you say? And the guard will be catching up with us today?”

  Flare nodded. “Yes.”

  Keenan’s eyes dropped to his sword and then they moved to Flare, specifically to Ossendar. “And our weapons?”

  Flare sighed. “If we’re told to give them up, then I guess we’re supposed to obey. Doing otherwise would be resisting, don’t you think?”

  Keenan swallowed hard. “This sword has been in my family for many generations. I’m not comfortable handing it over to a stranger.”

  Flare grinned, glad that Keenan once again was thinking the same as him. “I agree. In fact, I don’t intend to give Ossendar or Nerandall to them.”

  Keenan looked confused now. “But you just said that we couldn’t resist. Do you intend to hide the weapons in the forest?”

  Flare shook his head, knowing that he was committed now. He pointed to the small pouch that was fastened on his belt. “This pouch is enchanted. It’s actually a doorway to a,” he paused, searching out how best to explain this, “place between worlds. I intend to send Ossendar, Nerandall, and,” he pointed to Keenan’s sword, “your sword there.”

  “How will we get them back?” Keenan asked. For all his talk about not wanting to hand his sword over to strangers, it was obvious that he didn’t much like this idea either.

  “When the time is right, I will be able to retrieve them.”

  After a moment Keenan nodded and then sighed deeply.

  Flare grinned. “You’re not regretting helping us, are you?”

  After a moment Keenan shook his head.

  Flare left Keenan to cook breakfast, while he took Ossendar, Nerandall, and Keenan’s sword off into the forest. He needed to concentrate to do what he had planned. It was going to be hard enough with the way his head felt, the last thing he needed was more distractions.

  It took him a little while to find what he sought, but at last he found a tree that had roots that grew above the ground. One particular root formed a small arch above the soil. He placed the two swords and the armor in a small pile next to the roots and got to work.

  He drew several circles of complicated runes in the dirt, just as Jacob had instructed him. Then he went back and double-checked every last rune. This wasn’t the time to rush things.

  Satisfied that the runes were correct, Flare removed the pouch from his belt and placed it on the ground. He then sat down between the arch made by the tree roots and the rune circles.

  Flare let his eyes go unfocused and began summoning two things at once. Through the earth, he began summoning Diana. She was the mistress of the castle between worlds; the pouch acted as a doorway from this world to her castle.

  Normally wizards used earth to transfer a person’s life energy from one person to another. Flare was summoning Diana, but only to mark her.

  The second part of the summoning was a bit more complicated. Normally, he would have done as Jacob had instructed him and created a wizard’s portal that connected this location to wherever Diana was located, but that wasn’t exactly possible. Since she wasn’t on this plane of existence, he had to create a wizard’s portal at the same time the pouch-doorway was in use.

  He began summoning through air, using the small arch that was created by the roots. At the same time, he moved Keenan’s sword to where its tip protruded into the pouch. He dearly hoped that this would work.

  The last step was the part he dreaded the most; he needed to project his spirit through the recently formed wizard’s portal. His head wasn’t hurting too much at the moment, but he was confident that was about to change.

  Taking a deep breath, Flare sent his spirit forth into the portal. A blinding pain started just above his right eye and raced back over the top of his head, stopping only when it reached his neck. He merely swallowed hard and continued.

  He had done this many times with Jacob, but never quite like this. Always before, the wizard’s portal had connected two places on the same plane of existence. He wasn’t even sure what he was trying to do would work. For the briefest of moments, he thought it had failed, but gradually his sense of his surroundings changed and he found himself in the stone reception room of the castle between worlds.

  He took a deep breath and hoped that Diana would hurry. He couldn’t keep this up for long. He needn’t have worried though, because it was only a matter of moments before she stepped into the room.

  She paused in the entryway, staring intently at him. “What is this?” she demanded.

  “It’s something that I’ve just learned,” Flare explained. He could already feel sweat running down his cheeks and knew he had to break the connection soon. “It’s complicated but I’m using sorcery and wizardry to communicate with you.”

  “All right,” Diana began, but Flare talked right over her.

  “I’m sorry, but I can’t keep the connection open for long. There’s something I need you to do for me.”

  “Of course,” Diana answered. If she was mad at being interrupted, she didn’t show it. “Anything.”

  “In a moment, I will be sending two swords and my armor here. It must stay in this room. I will need it soon, and I can’t travel here for it.” He paused momentarily as the portal nearly slipped from his control. “I will use the same manner to retrieve it.”

  Diana nodded. “I will make sure that it remains here.”

  “Thank you,” Flare said, breathing quick and shallow. “I may need your help in retrieving them.”

  “Anything I can do, but is this safe? You don’t look so well.”

  Flare didn’t bother answering. The sweat covered his brow and was beginning to run into his eyes now. Keeping his concentration on the castle between worlds, he pushed Ossendar, Nerandall, and Keenan’s sword into the pouch.

  For the briefest of moments, Flare and the weapons all appeared in the room in the castle, but then he felt his control of the portal collapse and he snapped back into the forest next to the trees.

  He sat there for several moments, his head feeling like an ogre was kicking him. He breathed shallowly, swallowing several times, trying to keep what he knew was about to happen from happening. It was a lost cause though, and several moments later he rolled over and was violently sick.

  Flare returned to camp a short while later, having only stopped to rinse his mouth out.

  Keenan had warm hollenstren bread waiting upon Flare’s return. “You look worse than this morning,” Keenan said. “And I didn’t think that was possible.”

  Flare didn’t answer but instead took the bread that Keenan held out to him. He moved over and sat down on the same rock upon which he’d spent the night. He turned the hollenstren bread over, looking at it. It’d been a long time since he’d had any of the bread and the first day he’d so dearly enjoyed it. But that enjoyme
nt had faded away and now he wanted something else; meat, or perhaps a nice stew, would be nice. He sighed and began to eat the bread.

  “Everything go as planned?” Keenan asked. He was watching Flare intently. “I mean did you get the swords hidden in this castle between worlds?”

  Flare nodded. “I did, and Diana said she’d help me retrieve them when the time came.”

  “All right,” Keenan said slowly. “So what do we do now? Do we stay here and wait on the Elven Guard, or do we continue our trek?”

  It was a good question, and one that Flare couldn’t answer. Part of him wanted to just lie down and sleep until the elves showed up, but already the hollenstren bread was having a positive effect on him. He wasn’t exactly bursting with energy, but he was beginning to feel like he could manage a slow march.

  “I’d like to stay here,” he said finally, “but I don’t think we should. Let’s continue toward Solistine, but we’ll go at a slow pace.”

  Keenan clapped his hands together. “Excellent. I don’t exactly like the idea of sitting here and waiting for them. Let’s meet them with our boots on.”

  They put out their fire and packed up their camp in an orderly but unhurried fashion. Their packs were light, as most of their provisions had been used already; only a small amount of the hollenstren bread remained. While their provisions were nearly all used up, a lighter pack did make for an easier march.

  They buried the coals from their fire under several inches of dirt and then promptly began walking along one of the forest trails.

  It was still mid-morning and fairly cool. The trip was actually enjoyable, even for an exhausted Flare.

  The pace that Keenan initially set was too fast, but he slowed down when he realized how the march was wearing on Flare.

  They marched for an hour or so and then stopped beside a small, fast-flowing stream. The water was refreshing and Flare ate another piece of hollenstren bread, not because he was hungry, but rather because he needed the energy the elven bread gave him. All-to-soon, their quick break was over and they began the trip again.