“Pochemy?” he started to ask, but Seth stopped him. He searched Seth’s mind for the words, suddenly realizing the thing that had eluded his thoughts. In a moment, he rephrased his question, “What has happened?” yet as he spoke the words, he came to know the answer, and sadness flowed through him. He understood Brother Seth’s wrongdoing. He did not feel pity for him or see his shame.
“Pupil, you have much to learn of life and living. Come, I know one who will greatly rejoice at your return. You shall bring light at a time of darkness. And hope will be felt by all!” Brother Liyan directed the words only into Seth’s mind.
Brother Liyan paused a moment to regard the remainder of the group. He extended a hand to his old friend Cagan. “It is good to be home at last!” exclaimed Cagan. Brother Liyan was not surprised by the fact that Cagan spoke aloud. The captain had freely chosen to speak thus long ago; now it was a sign of the strength of his will.
Will is in all things. It flows through the land, the plants, and animals. In the very center of your being is your will. The strength of your will defines your place in creation. The stronger your will, the higher place you will occupy when you complete the final journey to the Father.
The others in the group Liyan did not recognize. They were of the world of men. He studied each in turn. They did not appear much different from his kind. They had a sincerity to them that spoke of inner strength.
Valam waited a moment for Seth to introduce them. He could clearly see that Seth was lost in other thoughts and understood the reasons. His natural openness compelled him to introduce himself, though he didn’t know if it were proper.
Seth had explained to him the formalities of introduction of his kind. Although he still didn’t understand which type he should use for which occasion. “I am Prince Valam of the royal order, first heir to the throne of the Great Kingdom, largest of the kingdoms, holder of the alliance,” he said brashly in the tongue of Seth’s people.
Brother Liyan held back a smile. Valam had spoken the introduction well. He wondered if men could access the power of their will. It was such a natural thing for him; the thought that they couldn’t had never occurred to him before. He shook the idea from his mind and introduced himself. “I am Brother Liyan, wisest of the High Council of the Eastern Reaches, first adviser to the Queen-Mother.”
As he spoke, Liyan studied the tall brooding prince with his clear, bright eyes. The prince carried with him an artifact of old though Liyan doubted the other knew the true origins of the blade. But the blade was not the source of the prince’s power rather it was an inner strength of character that Liyan could readily sense. The prince was clearly a fair and just man.
Evgej looked worriedly to Valam. He had only recently begun to learn the other tongue. Valam quickly introduced his friend. “This is Captain Evgej, swordmaster first class, city garrison of Quashan’, capital city of South Province.”
“Welcome to East Reach,” Liyan said as he acknowledged the fair-haired captain. Noticing the bow and horn Evgej carried in addition to the great sword slung across his back, Liyan marked the man as a hunter and the steady, unflinching eyes said the captain was a man of strength as well.
Liyan smiled broadly as he turned to study the rest of the prince’s men. “A most intriguing company,” Liyan whispered into Seth’s mind, adding as he turned back to the prince, “Does he know?”
“I have been teaching him the art of will should—”
“—Preparing him, yes,” directed Liyan. “You have done well. He has the inner strength required.” Liyan looked the prince up and down, repeated, “Does he know?”
“He does not,” Seth said aloud.
Desiring to be polite, Valam and Evgej said nothing of what seemed a rather one-sided conversation. Noticing the prince’s increasing unease, Cagan was quick to direct him to other issues. “River sails,” he said indicating the arrival of the river sloops.
To Cagan there was nothing more beautiful or graceful in the water than a sloop with her mainsail, single mast and jib sail and he couldn’t take his eyes off the line of ships gliding easily across the waters of the Gildway. A tear came to his eyes. “Home,” he whispered to the wind.
“How far by ship?” asked Valam. He was eager to depart for Leklorall. The group had spent several days of much needed rest recuperating after the long sea journey. The patrol that had discovered them had left them in the capable hands of the village elders of Marudal—the city of Cagan’s birth. The patrol had departed that same day to bring word to the High Council of the arrival, and when they returned Brother Liyan was with them.
“This day, a night and a day, no more,” said Cagan as he watched the sloops dock to the river piers. “We’ve to sail north through the Ester and then on to the Clarwater. Leklorall is an island city in the center of the great lake.”
“Where are her sailors?” asked Valam looking to the closest sloop.
Cagan grinned knowingly. “A captain and his mate are all that are needed. The ship does most of the sailing on her own. She is grand is she not.”
“The symbols on the line of the stern?” asked Valam.
Cagan pointed to each ship in turn and spoke their names. Indicating the ship docked before them, he said, “Maru. She is my favorite. She asks of you.”
“The ship speaks?” asked Valam incredulously.
“To me, yes,” said Cagan running his hand along the side of the ship. “The Maru is named after Marudall. It was my father who built her and the blood of my line is within her.”
Valam started to respond but Evgej clasped a hand to his shoulder and spoke first, “The men await your command. It is time to board the ships and depart, my prince.”
Valam turned expectantly to Seth. “My men—”
“—will receive the finest all of East Reach has to offer this night,” Seth said. “On the morrow, the march to Riven End begins where the High Elves and your people will join the Gray—all as we’ve discussed.”
“And when the second group arrives?”
“All will be well, my prince,” said Captain Mikhal approaching from the line of men standing at the ready behind the prince. “Tsandra of the Brown has been accommodating at every turn. Our needs are met. The men are in goods spirits and well. The journey has only strengthened their resolve and mine. I will see you in Riven End when it is time.”
“Riven End then, be well,” said Valam.
“And you, my prince.”
Captain Mikhal walked back to the line of men and began issuing orders. Cagan departed to make final preparations. Valam and Evgej turned their attention back to Brother Liyan and Seth. Seth for his part did not hide his excitement. He longed to once more see his home and the Queen-Mother. Brother Liyan had not given him any message from her. He wondered if something were wrong, or if Liyan had come to personally insure he was alive and had really returned.
His thoughts skipped back again to the council chamber of the kingdom. He had poured his entire being into maintaining the mind link. He had seen the Father coming to bring him to rest beside him. Galan’s pleading cry still echoed through his mind. In the instant the contact was broken he should have passed. Galan though had given herself in his stead and he felt the weight of guilt heavy upon him. Guilt because he lived and breathed and she did not.
As he boarded the Maru, Cagan swept his gaze up and down the river and beyond to Maru Bay. His great love for the water had been tainted by the storm that had brought them here. All his life he had been a sailor. He had never encountered a storm so severe; he could not outrun her. He had fought desperately to keep control over his ship and had lost.
The immense power of the storm was self-evident. He had also felt the will of the Father within it. The Father had guided them to this shore. Both he and Seth had felt it, though he did not comprehend why; he knew Seth had.
Fate rested well with Seth. Twice now, he had survived when he should not have. Slowly he was lost to his thoughts, as they began to sail away. As he
often did when troubled, he returned to his early teachings. It was in them he could piece together the things that occurred around him.
“Always remember, pupil, when your mind is troubled and you cannot find your center, return to that which separates you, distinguishes you from everyone else, your thoughts. For they are truly your own—they are you.”
Brother Liyan stood on the deck of the Maru alongside Seth. He could see Seth’s distant stare and knew Seth’s mind was troubled. Physically, Seth had changed only slightly in the time he had been gone, but within, Liyan could sense a vast growth. Liyan gently probed Seth’s thoughts. Seth sensed this and invited Liyan into his mind. Seth took Liyan on a tour of the past, and together they relived its many paths.
Time progressed rapidly in swirling images. Liyan saw vividly the Battle of Quashan’. He saw Seth hold the last threads of Galan’s life against the will of the Father, a feat that defied their laws. He saw the great council of the kingdom and then felt sadness fall like an anvil upon him. He saw Galan give all that she was for Seth. With a single selfless act, Galan willingly destroyed everything she was. She utterly ceased to exist.
Seth’s mind leapt and raced through the times at the palace. His love for Galan was clearly revealed. Liyan understood it. He wanted to tell Seth it was not wrong but could not interrupt the vision.
He then witnessed how Seth met the brash Evgej during the journey to South Province. Seth stopped the vision with the reunion with Cagan and his sorrowful cry to the Father for his forgiveness; it was then that he discovered the fatal error he made. From that night on, Seth vowed never to speak with his mind again.
The group stood in silence, the gentle rocking of the ship soothing their senses. Valam studied the countryside in the fading light of the late afternoon. An area of low grassy hills filled the view from the coast. In the distance to the North he could see only the expanse of the river. All in all, he saw no apparent difference between here and his home.
His mood grew from light to dark when he began to think of the purpose of their journey. They came in answer to a plea by the Queen-Mother of East Reach. The peaceful times of the past would soon be replaced with the ravages of war.
He had never doubted the urgency of the situation; through Seth, he had come to understand what was taking place. Sathar had returned from the dark journey, beginning the ancient prophecy that marked the ending of everything they knew. There were many, though, who did doubt. They opposed the sending of soldiers to these distant shores. The Battle of Quashan’ they said was proof that there was greater need in the kingdoms than in the reaches.
“Men often wait until it is too late—you must not wait.” Valam remembered those words distinctly. After many long months of planning, they had finally departed. Even many of the soldiers who had volunteered doubted the reality of the distant war. The many weeks aboard the ships, however, had somehow changed their views. They began to realize with certainty the truth of their situation. They could not back out now, and this knowledge cleared their minds. The war existed, if only in their thoughts.
Valam whispered a prayer to the Father. The storm that had swept them into the rocks hopefully had spared the others. Valam was confident that the second group had entirely missed the storm, but the first group that followed their guidance could easily have been lost. Nonetheless, he continued saying his silent prayer for a moment longer.
Seth moved alongside Valam and Evgej. “What do you think about my homeland?” he asked pointedly, striving to break the glum moods of his companions.
“It appears much the same as the lands of the kingdom.”
“More like the grassy foothills of South Province I’d say.”
“On the morrow, we should reach the Clarwater; there I am sure you will see vast differences.”
Chapter Nine
Adrina followed the giant, Amir, and the one she had once known, whom Amir had dubbed as “Little One,” as she had told none her name, from the sewers under Imtal. She still could not hold back the tears. She no longer cried for the ones she thought lost in the battle in the central square; now her sorrow was for the one who had told her with such bitterness that she had no name, no past and was nothing. She cried for a friend lost. She cried for Galan.
The two of them had rescued her from the massacre on the square. Only recently Adrina had learned that she was the object of the assassins’ quest. They had been sent to kill her, but she did not understand why. Most of the upper officials of the Great Kingdom had been on the square, why her? Amir had assured her that one called Noman would explain everything to her when they joined his group, but for the time being she muddled over that single question and thoughts of a time not long ago, times of happiness inside the palace proper. She longed for Seth and Valam to return to her, and most of all she wanted to see Galan whole once more. She wished she could share Galan’s burden.
Still, they wandered through the maze of underground tunnels. Adrina had no idea where she was, but apparently Amir did. He continued to lead them, turning in many directions without a moment’s hesitation. After many hours of traversing the damp, poorly lit tunnels, they stopped. Adrina was near exhaustion, perspiration dripped heavily from her forehead. “Good, we have stopped,” said Adrina. No one responded.
They had come to a large chamber that was semi-lit from above. Water could be heard dripping from the ceiling into the pool of water on the tunnel floor. Adrina was about to say something else, when a gentle hand touched her lips and she stopped.
Amir stood poised in front of Adrina and the Little One, his right hand lightly fingering the two-handed sword in his sheath. In less than one beat of Adrina’s heart, Amir drew his sword. Instantly a bright blue-white light filled the room. Amir’s sword rested on the neck of a darkly tanned man clad in black.
The man slowly withdrew the hood from over his head. Amir said smartly as he re-sheathed his sword, “I knew it was you Ayrian. I could smell your presence two tunnels away. But I had to be sure.”
Ayrian tried to hold back a laugh, but could not, “It is a wonder you didn’t lob my head off.”
“Yes, I could have blamed it on the light.”
“Or lack thereof, my friend.”
Adrina didn’t understand the pun. The others, however, had understood it; even Galan almost broke a smile. Amir turned around to introduce Ayrian to Adrina.
“Princess Adrina Alder, I would like to introduce Ayrian, Eagle Lord of the Gray Clan.”
“Eagle Lord?”
“Princess,” said Ayrian as he reached out and kissed Adrina’s hand. Adrina was shocked by Ayrian’s appearance. At first she thought he wore a costume of feathers since the light in the chamber was shadowy, but Ayrian assured her the talons and feathers were indeed real.
“Come, the others await your arrival,” said Ayrian as he retreated down a tunnel. The tunnel came to a dead end at a blank wall of stone. Ayrian took the hilt of his sword and rapped heavily on the wall. A moment later the sound seemed to echo and Ayrian disappeared through the wall. The others soon followed with a bewildered Adrina being led by Amir.
A short, withered-looking man who Adrina recognized immediately as Xith stood on the other side of the wall. His face was clenched in strain. His outstretched hands were engaged in a frenzy of movement. He moaned a sigh of relief when the last of the group stood in the chamber. Standing beside the anguished man stood a younger man, as amazed at the feat as Adrina had been.
Adrina realized that Xith was performing magic, which was expressly forbidden. All magic was evil. Another stepped from the shadows and approached Adrina. “No! You are quite wrong there, princess. It is neither wrong, nor evil, for without its existence all would be lost.”
“How did you—but the teachings—! That is why darkness has entered the kingdom!”
“I am Noman,” said the gray-looking gentleman. “We have waited a long time for you and the others.” His voice was weak on the last words. In his mind he thought, “Now there are thr
ee, and seven.”
“Do not fear us,” said Xith. Adrina looked to the squat man outfitted in brown robes. “We could not allow the others to take you. We need you. Together with the others, you are the key, the next generation of hope and light in a world succumbing to darkness.”
Adrina was again shocked; she had not heard the last part of Xith’s statement, only the talk of hope and light.
“There is no light in darkness,” disagreed Adrina.
The one whom Adrina had known by another name took her hand and nodded her head indicating yes.
“There is always light,” she whispered.
“Do not worry about that,” Noman said, subjecting Adrina to the soothing guiles of the voice. “Come here, my child, you are safe now. No harm will befall you in our care.”
Noman reached out and took her other hand.
“Once it is safe, we will take you home; until that time you will remain in our care. Come, there are others you should meet. Xith, Amir, Ayrian—” called out Noman.
Complete In the Service of Dragons Page 24