“What now?”
He wiped his nose. “The only other way to get out of here would be up those stairs.”
I looked at the steep stairs in the hallway. “I guess, if that’s the only way, then that’s the way I have to go.”
“But that way leads straight up to Solas’ personal quarters. You’ll be killed if you go up there.”
“If I stay down here, I’ll be left for dead,” I said, looking directly at the bloodstained dock and the altar to Aegir through my peripheral. “Besides, if Odin’s on my side, then I’ll at least be able to stop him from going after my family.” To this he offered no more argument. He just smiled and nodded.
At the stairs, I stopped for a moment and then turned back to Jussi. “Aren’t you going to come with me?” I asked him, noticing he was not coming along.
He looked at me and then the stairs in alarm. “You want me to help you fight through Solas? Son, I don’t think you know what you’re asking. I’m old and tired, getting this far is just about all the strain I can take. Don’t worry about me.”
“I’m not saying you should fight. All you have to do is follow me and I’ll do all of that. If you do that, you can be free again, maybe get a new start.”
Jussi shook his head. “Erland, if I really wanted to be free, don’t you think I would have done so a long time ago?” He gestured to the boat. “You’re young and have a life you can live. That can’t be said about me. I’m a traitor who’s only good for execution.”
“Don’t you talk like that. All that stands between you and your freedom from this place is Solas.”
“Look, if you’re so hard set on this, just go ahead and end Solas’ life yourself. Then I’ll be able to leave in broad daylight. If I go with you now, you’re only going to have a harder time escaping yourself.”
“But if you stay, they’ll blame you for my actions. They’ll execute you.”
Jussi rested his head in his hands. “If that happens, I’ll get what I deserve. Erland, don’t worry about when this dried-up leaf falls.”
That last comment rung for a little while in my head because that was exactly what Kaihar said before he was lost. Now it looked like that situation was reversed. I was rushing into danger but not wanting to leave someone behind, instead of not wanting someone else to rush into danger themselves. Jussi ultimately was done debating whether he would go, and he silently left me alone at the staircase. With no more left to say, I climbed the stairs.
The light grew dimmer as I mounted up the stairs and the light from Jussi’s lantern went farther and farther away. Eventually, the only light I had was coming from little cracks in the door up above me. When I reached the top, I took in a deep breath as I wrapped my hand around the doorknob. With a twist and a shove, I charged into the room, the light in the room blinding me for a just a moment.
To my surprise, Solas was sitting in this room in a rocking chair next to the fireplace. He seemed mildly surprised by my entrance, moving his fingers away from the fire and leaning them against each other. He didn’t seem too troubled about my presence, probably concerning a malnourished detainee of little concern regardless of any training he might have. An idea poorly accounting for one who has just had the memory of someone Solas had slain but a few days ago returned to prominence in his mind.
“Why did you make me make that decision?” I asked him. “Why did you make me choose between the places where Alodia would go?”
Solas raised his eyebrow. “I’m surprised you hold that against me at this moment and nyot the foul nyeutral zone I revealed you to dvell in. I did nyot do so to be cruel, but honest. She vas already to be executed at my behest.”
He looked at the desk beside him and the paper that sat in the middle of it. “I suppose you vish to stop me from sending that letter to my superiors? That vill do no good, I still vill go.”
Though he gave a suggestion and a reason not to do it, I took the suggestion nonetheless. I darted toward the desk and rested my hand upon the paper. The moment the smack of my palm on wood was heard, I crumbled the paper in my fist and went to toss it into the fire that Solas should have seen coming, Solas did not take to the destruction of the letter kindly and lunged toward me. By the time my hand was high over my head and ready to release the article to its path of ruin, a cold, metallic object slid its way between my ribs. Through pure reaction to the agony, I withdrew power from the throw and the paper didn’t reach the fire.
When I reached for the source of the puncture, both of my hands landed on a long, slender handle with a second set of hands already on it. Solas grunted as I tried to yank the weapon out from my ribs. “One should nyever turn his back on the enyemy. Even halfvay vould be folly.”
The force of my pull didn’t succeed in extracting the weapon from my side; Solas’ grip on it was too great. What was accomplished, however, was that the odd position the dagger was held in while grabbing it and the swing that the tug provided came together and pulled both of us down onto the floor. Prepared for such, Solas grappled me by the shoulder and made it his objective to have me land first. The wolf-skin carpet I landed on was soft and fuzzy to be sure, but neither of those attributes were sufficient enough to stop my brain from quivering in my skull when I landed. Just barely after my teeth clanged together, Solas leaned all of his weight onto my stomach through his knee. “I see you side vith the Shaloor still. That makes you an enyemy.” He then squeezed harder against the knife and began to twist it between my bones.
Knowing I couldn’t overpower his grasp upon the weapon, I switched what I was grabbing for to the collar of his shirt. With my right hand, I twisted the collar into a weak strangle hold and I jabbed my left hand into his armpit. It was difficult to throw Solas off of me with my being too far away to help push him, but I nevertheless managed to muster enough strength to shove him off.
Solas gave a loud cry of pain as I got to my feet and pulled the weapon out of my side. A letter opener, likely the first thing he was able to grab ahold of on such short notice. I turned around to look at Solas while facing the tip of the letter opener toward Solas. His eyes didn’t exchange glances with mine; his face was too occupied from frothing at the mouth from pain. Both of his legs had toppled into the fireplace, the skin I could see was already bubbling. On top of all this, it appeared he had been impaled by the fire guard at the calf of his leg. Despite his obvious loss of the ability to walk from this point on, he slowly squinted his eyes open and shivered his head to direct them toward me.
“I no longer take their side on this. I’m no longer on either side on this,” I told him while picking up the paper and discarding it in the fire. “This…this…petty feud of ours has been wrong all along. I see that now. Whatever reason that started this, justified or otherwise, has dissolved to time like salt in the open ocean. Not even patriotism is what fuels this anymore, nothing but contempt for the other is left and for no good reasons.”
Just then, the door swung open and through it dashed Reino. He had a terrified look on his face when he first rushed in, but as he darted his look across the room for his master and found he was lying halfway in the fireplace at with a knife directed toward him, he looked like he was on the verge of a heart attack. “Please come in and help your master out of the fire place,” I requested of Reino, “and please tell us of what you were in such a rush to tell him.”
The servant ran over to Solas, first carefully pulling his leg off the decorative spike and then wrapping the legs in the carpet after they were out. “V-v-vell, you see.” He swallowed as he put the last fold in the makeshift wrappings. “Raiders have been spotted on the horizon.”
Chapter 13
An Unforeseen Future
The news passed by me like any other person, whether they were Agrian or Shaloor. The raiders, those criminal exiles from the Shaloor archipelago, were upon us all. Perhaps it instilled greater fear in Reino as he tried to shake Solas awake to no avail. The level of fear was probably because of t
he greater amount of myth, rumor, and encounter that the Agrians would have for these folk. Compared to me, who’d only heard of one town being raised by them, and thus was relatively calm. But the meaning of “raider” or “barbarian” meant the same thing to all of us at this moment—“no prisoners.”
“How far away are they?” I asked the man, putting the weapon back down on the desk.
“They’re still on the horizon, and the vind’s against them.” He clenched Solas by the cloak. “But that doesn’t stop us from nyot having our jarl to marshal us.”
I leaned myself against the desk as that sunk in. Without Solas, Elderbear and all its inhabitants would die. I braced myself against the table by the hands and a large pile of papers spilled onto the floor beneath me. That gave me an idea.
I quickly scooped up as many of the papers as I could and dumped them beside Solas. “Unwrap his legs,” I said to the man. At first, he gave me an odd look, probably thinking something like, “Paper? Is he going to try to heal him with paper?” Of course, not having any better ideas, he obliged and folded the carpet off his legs. His skin was a bright red and looked delicate and weakened by heat.
Piece by piece, I plastered it onto the wounds. Solas was beginning to gain consciousness as I tended to the wounds, and he winced every now and then as the sheets brushed against his delicate skin. The hisses of surprise began to be replaced by moans of relief as I began to imbue the paper with cooling magic. “I guess I have to thank you for destroying these trees. They’re the best bandages I could have asked for.”
By the time the paper was completely caked over his legs, his entire face had returned to its normal color and he loosened his forehead. His look became stern once again when he noticed me. “Solas, the Shaloor are—”
“I’ve heard that already.” Solas waved his hand as his acolyte tried to repeat what he’d just said, not taking his look away from me for one minute. “I knyow vhy they are here.”
I shook my head at that remark, it still being obvious just who he was referring to. “Whatever your plan is, I promise to help you.” It took some swallowing of pride to say that, but I did manage to get past our differences.
“Vonderful, as you shall be our sacrifice.” There was a short period of silence as that sunk in. The servant seemed to be just as surprised as I was, ears pulled back like a frightened dog’s and eyebrow curved. “Nyo, nyo, nyot by nyulling your life.” Solas broke the silence, anticipating our interpretation of his remark. “I have heard rumors of the raiders taking prisoners in the stead of treasures. You shall be ample bribe to keep them avay I’m sure.” He stirred to sit himself up and pointed a wavering finger at me.
“But—but how would I be enough to save all of you?”
Solas ran his hand across the dressings on his legs. “Did you nyot heal me through magic? A magician vould be prized highly by them.”
I gave a sigh as I thought of what he was saying, and it seemed sound and fitting. Though our motives were certainly different, his being a desire for my ill and mine being for the safety of the townsfolk, I agreed with the means entirely.
I rose to my feet. “Fine, if the loss of my life will save many, I accept the cost.”
So with that, I was led down to Elderbear. All about us, the elderly, the young, the women, anyone who wasn’t able or willing to face off against the coming foe ran past us to find shelter in the mansion. The streets were all empty as we entered the village and all the combatants of the town were all flocked around the docks. Many of them weren’t dressed well for battle, armor ranging from fabric to small patches of leather, wielding hatchets and other common items instead of their more battle-suited variations, and having the collective courage of a hutch of rabbits. There were those few, however, that were well prepared for such an inevitable assault as this. They were a stalwart line of ten men, each with polished armors of iron, spears strapped to their backs, and longbows all trained on the distant ship. These were certainly the actual town guards. There was no doubt in my mind that these ten, if battle were our actual intent, would be the only ones on our side to make any difference, the others would hardly be through the battle cry before they retreated up to the hall.
One by one, Solas approached the soldiers, pushing their weapons down. “Ve shall nyot vin this battle by force but by paying them to alter course.”
Solas whispered into the ear of the first, evidently trying to keep this somber or quiet or whatever word you’d choose to pin on him at the moment. This guard was burlier than the other trained units, with thin eyebrows of a speckled ashen color, like they’d been singed off. These sprang into the air as I managed to decipher the word “Shaloor” out of the whispers. The man nodded toward Solas as he went to speak to the other men individually. He grabbed me by the shoulder and shoved me up toward the edge of the docks.
He didn’t do very much at all, just spat on my toes, sneered, and walked away. The others did much the same, all of them rushing for cover as the oncoming ship drew closer. Arrows began to soar toward me and drown themselves in the water just feet in front of me, slowly walking their way closer to the lodgings just yards behind me. Some of them began to slice past my ears, but none of them so much as nicked me. “Look on the bright side,” I said in an effort to comfort myself, “I’ve been dragged from my home and family by a supernatural storm, survived the near complete genocide of the few alfar that live on Mannheim, and endured dungeon and death of friend. What’s being the slave to a couple of cutthroats to all that?”
The ship turned sideways and parked itself against the scorched docks, the passengers of it leaping out of it. “Besides, at least now I have a ship within my grasp.”
“What have we here?” shouted one of the men on the ketch before leaping down and sticking a landing in front of me. “Are you all that stands between us and victory?”
“No, I’m here to offer myself in exchange for the safety of the entire town.”
“Just one?” He chuckled as he pulled his sword out. “That’s hardly enough.”
“Yes, but I’m trained in the ways of magic.”
“Oh, a sorcerer, then? That certainly would be a welcomed prize.” Without a second thought, he drove the sword through my stomach. “Would be, if prizes were what we were after.” He then pulled the blade out and pushed me down by the head in one fluid motion. All the berserkers of his band were running into Elderbear and hunting down all the troops. He swung his hands wide and shouted at the audience he was confident was hiding nearby. “Do you honestly think we come here to accept slaves? If that’s what you truly believe, then you confuse us for petty thieves. Each one of us was of Shaloor before your kind drove us into exile. Each of us suffered great pain and loss at the hands of your people,” he shouted. The sword was then raised over his head to strike down upon me. “Each of us is not after your wealth but your blood.”
I was clenching my stomach tightly, trying as hard as I could to keep any of my blood from escaping. However, I still had enough wits about me to kick the raider at the ankle before the sword dealt a death blow. He lost his footing and the sword went flying out of his hand and fell into the water with a splash, and just before he hit the ground, an arrow sunk its way into his chest. Likely a stray from the actual combat.
Confident my assailant was down, I looked about me at the town turned battlefield, careful to only move my head as to not annoy the wound to my core. The battle had taken to the streets primarily, only some managed to push the raiders farther toward the shore. The Agrians outnumbered the raiders by quite a bit, but numbers could scarcely be considered a factor in this battle. These exiles had the benefit of malicious intent on their side, turning many of them into raging champions, tearing through hordes of their enemies in single blows.
“There’s no way that I can help them fight these off.” A throb of pain traveled from my gut through my spine. I looked to the ship they all came from. “But maybe I can strand them here.” As such, I began to p
ull one of my arms off the wound and tried to touch the ship. The ship was so close, but I wasn’t able to reach it. My reach was limited by the need to curl around the puncture.
“Fall back! Fall back,” shouted one of the Agrians behind me. I now had to do this, so I summoned upon more strength to lay my palm against the ship. The cell of the ship began to creak as I willed it to break. As it went farther, the wood warped and separated from itself. I tried my best to cover my head before the side shattered. Large chunks of wood and tiny splinters exploded from that spot, covering my entire hand.
There was a short silence as the crack of splintering wood and the gurgling of a sinking ship echoed through the area. The berserker shouts of the raiders stopped as the rage was deflated by the terror of losing their ship. In that short second, the Agrians had plenty of time to charge into victory. All in that one moment, the tide of battle changed, and all I could do was watch as it happened. As the archers regained their courage and picked off the invaders, many of the raiders retreated in all directions. Some pursued them, but many stayed behind, including Solas.
There seemed something different in his eyes as he approached me, me being helpless to move away. The usual peace, that calm in the midst of the storm, was gone. In its stead was a sort of sparkle, but not one that was pleasant. The twitch in his face and the glimmer of his eye sparkled in the fashion of a pot of water boiling over. Ever changing, ever uncontrollable. He jerked me onto my back and smashed his hand against my wound. As he muttered something to himself, the pain from it began to leave, the wound sealing itself shut. Mistaking the act as some sort of gratitude, I thanked him. “It’s nice to see you returning the favor. I healed your wounds, so you do the same.”
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